Soul of Searing Steel

Defend? Resist?

"Is Chaos an existence that can be banished?"

The powerful answer echoed back and forth across the void. After hearing the question asked by the python, Joshua lifted his head. The long River of Time was flowing relentlessly on his sides. He was looking into the eyes of the Will of this world and laughed with disdain, "If we keep on thinking about putting ourselves in the position to defend, that thought only allows us to resist. That's why we will never be able to defeat Chaos! Waiting for others to invade first before we strike back? What a joke."

The man with black hair and red eyes sneered with the corners of his mouth raised. His eyes flashed with red flames. After that, he spoke clearly, one word after another, "Besiegement, annihilation, purification—only complete destruction is the one and only most suitable way to handle them!"

"We must first exterminate them before they bring the battle to us!"

His last words were struck into the heart of the Will like a hard nail being hammered in solidly. His words did not carry even the slightest sense of hesitation.

Instead of feeling enraged after being rejected, the python that was coiled up was getting even more interested in the man that stood before it.

"As I mentioned earlier before, I will soon perish. And I might become a new Evil God after I die."

It continued to speak in a low voice, "Will you think of destroying me then?"

"Of course I would."

Joshua replied without showing even the slightest sense of hesitation. It was not because the Will could see through his thoughts. It was because he answered based on exactly what he wanted to say, "Steel python, you've begun unleashing the steel rain that would slow down the destruction of this world since 600 years ago. From that point of view, you would rather die as a Steel God then turn into an Evil God. Even though it was a futile attempt to struggle, you would not want to fall without even trying to resist."

"So destroying you would probably be the greatest wish you ever had."

"Hahahahaha!"

The husky laughter was vibrating the entire void. The vaults of the stars were shaking as well. Meanwhile, the steel python was still looking into the eyes of the warrior. The silver pupils of the snake seemed to be reflecting the fates of all living beings. It looked like it was smiling, however, it spoke in a serious tone, "Joshua, the descendant of Steel."

"Your future and your fate, is so uncertain. Even as a world, I cannot predict them."

The solemn voice echoed in the ears of the warrior. The Will of the world then slowly spoke, "From you, I can see two different qualities. Battle and Destruction."

"If you continue to grow with such raw and pure Order energy, you may be able to become the savior of worlds that battle against Chaos, or you could fall and become the new Evil God would destroy worlds."

Speaking of which, the python fixed its eyes upon the green crystal that Joshua was holding in his hand. It looked at the faint combusting flame right in the center of the crystal. Then it nodded gently and said, "Fire, is existence, is sacred, is Order, is human's wisdom and civilization. It contains everything. You who possesses the Flame Seed that the Sage inherited should not walk onto the path of Chaos. I look forward that you shall become the next…"

Before the python could finish its words, suddenly, a strange sound was heard echoing across the void from afar.

Beep—Buzz! Buzz!

The sound was extremely sharp as if it was the wailing sound of a siren, however, it also sounded like the buzzing sound of a cicada. The sound pierced through the eardrums, irritating people and caused people to lose focus.

Joshua looked around strangely, however, he saw nothing. Regardless of whether it was the vaults that were made of stars or the dark void, or the River of Time, everything seemed very normal. There was nothing out of ordinary.

This was the inner side of the world. It was the existence between illusion and reality. Other than himself and the Will of this world in the form of the python, he had no idea who else could make such a voice here.

Meanwhile, when the python heard the voice, it instantly revealed a troubled expression on its face. Its silver-white scales stopped rubbing against each other as if the python was listening carefully.

Soon after, it opened its mouth after remaining in silence for a brief moment and said, "Go back."

"I have seen everything. Descendant of Steel, return to where you should return to then."

Upon saying that, before the warrior could open his mouth to ask his question, the inner side of the world between reality and illusion began to collapse gradually. The vault formed by the stars was shattered by the violent shake and turned into countless light dots floating around in the void. Meanwhile, Joshua's spirit and his body had returned to the real world.

*****

In the real world.

The enormous light ball that had engulfed the entire mountain area was still releasing light indefinitely under the foil of the steel rain. It appeared extremely holy and pure. However, all of a sudden, along with a long groan like a battle cry, the light ball began to shrink intensely. After that, the lights gathered onto the warrior's body.

Under the endless light gathering into his body, Joshua took a step forward. He walked out of the shining radiance and got back to the real world.

The moaning wind blew across the plains, and Joshua stood up straight on his feet. He looked up and looked at his surroundings. Meanwhile, a surprising scene was happening right before his eyes.

Along with the turbulent winds, the earth in his surroundings rumbled from tremors. Meanwhile, gravity seemed to have become unbalanced, allowing countless gravel to slowly float over into the air.

The sky was dark. The areas were no longer dark because of the radiance that shone into the surroundings earlier. However, the black mist of Chaos had returned. They became even thicker and denser than before now. Along with the endless spreading of the black mist, the black and red veins gradually spread on the land that was already on the verge of collapsing and disintegrating.

Countless gravel were flying in the air due to the imbalance of gravity. The world had lost its sense of direction in that moment, causing people to become unable to differentiate between left and right.

This was a gravitational imbalance that has had once occurred back in the fortress before this… Well, it made sense though. That was one of the signs that the world was coming to an end.

Beep— Buzz! Buzz!

The noise sounded as if it was an insect's vibrating mouthpiece, as if produced by metal surfaces rubbing against each other that echoed between heaven and earth. The noise then rang in the ears of the warrior. The warrior frowned. He could feel that the noise carried along many elements that made him feel uneasy. Hence, he wanted to confirm the source where the noises came from. However, no matter how hard he tried to observe, he could not find anything.

Meanwhile, a voice was heard from within him.

"Listen, warrior of Order."

It was the voice of the python. The voice was heard from the depths of Joshua's soul. Its husky voice sounded extremely serious at that moment. "What you hear is the mourning of a civilization that is already extinct, their crying when their names were wiped off of this world. That would be the wreckage of the world, the ash of Fire, the dead kingdom that had left the world back then. That's also the voice of the existence that you 'Evil God of Chaos'."

"So that's the voice of the Evil God of Chaos?"

He whispered to himself and looked up to the sky. After a moment of silence, Joshua shook his head and smiled. "It can cause imbalance to the earth's gravity by merely using its voice. That is truly worthy to be deemed as the Evil God… Is it going to descend here?"

"No, of course not. 'The Famine' had left this place, off to search for a new target… Now, it has noticed the existence of another Tinder. It is commanding all of its servants remaining in this world to go on and extinguish that Tinder."

"Rawghhhhh!!"

A strange and harsh humming sound once again echoed in the ears of the warrior. Three roars that were extremely loud were heard from the end of the other side of the land, followed by the appearance of three gigantic monsters that were approximately the size of the Supreme-Tier Aragami within Joshua's vision.

Among the three monsters, one looked like a gigantic horn beetle with a humongous shell, another one looked like a colossal spider-centipede sort of monster with many legs, and the last one, also the strangest one, looked like the combination of a dragonfly and a bee. That monster had a long body and a tail that was more than ten meters long, with a stinger at the end of it. Blue halo was seen surrounding the tail as well. These monsters had strange and bizarre appearances. However, they had a few similarities though—that would be, these monsters had the strength of a Supreme. Meanwhile, the presence of Chaos on them was extremely dense.

"So… another three Supreme-tier Aragami…"

After seeing the three monsters setting foot within his sight, Joshua could not help but to furrow his eyebrows intensely. Although he had only acquired a new Gift not long before this, and his injuries had been healed as well, however, even though that was the case, by his own assumption, he would only be capable of keeping one Supreme-tier Aragami occupied by moving around it if he went all out without reserving any of his strength.

Meanwhile, currently, there were actually three Supreme-tier Aragami heading towards him. Well, this was really a little bit too much for him.

However, even though that was the case, he did not reveal even the slightest sense of fear. Joshua's mouth curled up and revealed his white teeth. He faced towards the three giant monsters that were rapidly approaching. He revealed a smile that was filled with the will to battle.

Meanwhile, the voice of the python was once again heard deep down the heart of the warrior.

"Your world is being peered at by the Evil Gods. Other than 'The Famine', only the Plague and the other Evil God are paying attention to this world."

It did not express any anxiety or nervousness at all. It was merely narrating the facts it knew to Joshua. "Descendant of Steel, although you've rejected me, however, regardless of the choice you made, to battle or to protect, you will still need power, strength."

Indeed, Joshua had nothing to refute this point.

The deep voice began to fade. The voice had even faded away that it could no longer be heard. On the other hand, some sort of extremely powerful strength had instantly gone through the body of the Warrior.

The green crystal orb in his hand seemed to have been agitated by something. It began to flash intensely as it slowly sunk into Joshua's hand. After that, it turned into a stream of flowing light, going all the way up to the warrior's forehead and formed itself into a symbol of a crown.

"I see… so is this the 'Searing Soul' that Moreila has been talking about?"

Joshua then looked at both of his arms looking as if his mind was flooded with thoughts. His Combat Aura began to brew all around his body. Then, the Combat Aura turned into waves of black energy all around him.

The Satsui Hadou appeared like ink, spreading its color into the atmosphere, expanding. Under the support of the unknown strength that was given by the python, the special Glorious Strength that only Joshua possesses had revealed its true nature, its true attributes.

Countless black and tiny fragments of the soul had constituted themselves into a series of fluctuating energy waves, one wave after another. Countless living things that were killed by Joshua—their souls were becoming a part of the warrior's strength. These souls were slowly combusting, fusing themselves with Joshua's will, turning themselves into his Glorious Strength.

The more he fought, the stronger he would get. That would be a special power that only he possessed.

Now, Joshua's body was completely engulfed by the black aura of Satsui Hadou. With the flashing symbol on his forehead, along with the black murderous aura that was blazing densely, sparks were beginning to set off more often all over his body. Following the sparks that were getting more frequent and intense, the gaps and cracks looking like spider webs all over the warrior's entire armor began to spew fire of lights that seemed weak and strong at times.

Ash, mixed along with the sparks that came from the edges of the armor sides were crumbling down like pieces of fragments that carried the murderous aura. The red lights that were flashing began to flow in the same direction as the wind. In between light and the darkness, it seemed as if the owner of this power was combusting.