Soul of Searing Steel

The turbid toxic sea parted, while Joshua crashed like a meteor down to the deepest depths of the Dead Sea Abyss. But apart from the steaming vapors, the expected tidal wave that engulfed the world never formed, nor was there the imagine destruction that could affect the tremendous mass of the realm.

As Joshua descended upright, eight complex energy patterns intertwined around him as he raised his lower left arm. The silver armor that was the warrior’s body melted, extending and morphed into pieces of white crystals carved with beautiful runes, covering the joints of his fingers, arm, and elbow.

Meanwhile, gravity beams that were almost visible to the naked eye took shape around Joshua’s hand, dominating the tons of Dead Sea waters so that they would not cause apocalyptic tides because of his landing.

Even if the Dead Sea Abyss that been empty without even the smallest of bacteria, unrestrained dismantling of the world’s constitution was a bottomline that Joshua set for himself.

Gravity advanced along the trail set by silver luminous mist, with the sea parting before it in terror, revealing the path towards the Nether River. The divine light of the Seven Gods followed right behind him, their signs swirling and illuminating the dark depths.

When Joshua met Yana Milo and learned about the truth of the Abyssal Paradise, the Seven Gods themselves had sought him out when he headed to keep the peace in other worlds. At the time, the Seven Gods revealed their own point stance that they would help uproot the threat in the Abyss, before heading to the Abyssal Paradise to get rid of the calamity that came out of nowhere.

“We don’t have any related memories.”

The God of Wisdom and Choice spoke rather emotionally, “But we know that there is a large seal in that place.”

The God of Conservation and Reformation nodded then, before adding with a dull voice, “Yes, all that we know is that the seal would bless mankind in several thousand years—twenty-five hundred years, to be precise. However, we know not that such terrible Chaos lurks within, and that a single mishap would birth such a powerful Evil God.”

The existence of the Glorious Era had kept the Seven Gods in the shelters. Their making perhaps aided them, but they were uninformed about the truth.

It was a rare humanlike moment for the deities who complained for a while about the era that kept their memories incomplete, before they requested that they follow him to the Abyssal Paradise.

“We now know about the circumstances in that place: Chaos was piling, an Evil God was growing—if we do not purge it at once and suppress the growing Chaotic force in that place, this entire galaxy might not survive.”

The God of Law and Freedom spoke then, before raising a possible suggestion. He was a human-form deity, and yet His followers were mostly elves and dwarves or humans in isolated regions.

“Now, without the Evil God of Wither, Project Rebirth could not continue. Moreover, there is only one way to destroy the Evil God before its form completes.”

“Breaking the seal.”

Seal was as much a suppression as it was a protection. According to the Seven Gods, the massive seal that covered all of the Abyssal Paradise was basically a gathering of all Chaotic force and world remains, an artificially grown Evil God and a circle that was cleansed by Wither into a ‘world’. Now, with the power of Wither having been consumed by Joshua and with the lack of a way to purify it, the Project Rebirth seal became an artificial Evil God maker.

The only solution hence is breaking the seal and dispersing the artificially gathered Chaotic force, cleansing every single bit of it.

And only Joshua could do that.

They were approaching the Nether River. Joshua could see the tide of negative energy that slowly flowed over the ocean depths: ink-black water moved quietly along the long river, and though there were raging tides stirring over the seas above, it was unaffected at all.

To reach the Abyssal Paradise as soon as possible, the Nether River which connects all Abysses was the only choice.

***

The corruption of Chaos and the power of Order were correlated. Order was toxic to Chaos when powerful—any form of Evil God power would be purified by Order power stronger than its own, whether it was mana, aura, lifeforce or Steel Strength. Vice versa, when Chaos power was of sufficient level, even divine power could not withstand its Chaos.

A single god’s power would have been able to counter the dangers of outer seals, but it would never withstand the Chaos corruption at the core anchor point of the seal. Furthermore, the gods could not bless each other to strengthen their divine abilities—they were mutually unaccommodating, and could only bless other champions.

Still, even Legendary champions would have trouble embodying the blessing of multiple gods. Even Igor, Pope of the Seven Gods Church would have to make every preparation possible to at once employ all Seven Gods’ power, and could only use one or two within a limited timeframe.

Only Joshua was different.

Though he called himself human, he essentially was a world, and a world could accommodate ten gods and billions of lives to flourish in its body. Mere blessings of seven deities were nothing for him.

He was the only beings who might be enough to resist the Chaos corruption at the core of the seal.

Joshua touched the Nether River. The Dead Sea Abyss was unusually vast, with its widest frame reaching eight thousand meters. The Nether River, which permeates all of the world, would have been a distinct wonder visible from beyond the atmosphere if the surface was not drowned in the Dead Sea.

Without any hesitation, he dived deep within it at once. The Giant Steel God that was ten thousand meters tall even after shrinking hence instantly sunk into the Nether River that was no more than a thousand meters deep.

Thus, Joshua saw darkness.

All was negative energy that reflected no light. Joshua had clearly just entered the Nether River a second before, but it already appears that he had entered the boundless depths of the oceans, as if there was no concept of borders. Meanwhile, negative energy corruption that was comparable to the Black Dragon King’s Nether Sea Blast washed over Joshua’s body at once.

It was the most profound of negative energy. Kanor the Nether Sea Dragon and King of the Black Dragons only learned that power from the Nether River itself, and no object could survive such corruption. All would be reduced to ashes, leaving the purest of Steel remains, a corruption that not even Supreme Champions could withstand.

For it was a river that formed, gathering the soul cycles and corpses of Steel Pythons after worlds had perished.

Joshua was no demon nor Abyssal creature, and could not stay immune from the Nether River’s natural corrupting nature—it was precisely why, as a simple interloper who triggered his Steel Strength vision, he could clearly feel the vast and surging Nether River contained Steel Particles from countless different worlds.

The Abyssses were long dead worlds. Unlike those realms which had been destroyed by champions or Void fleets, they probably were realms which were dying a slow death or were punished indefinitely. Even so, the Abyss was would never stop breaking apart, collapsing, and unlike the Void Vortex, it would not become a great swirl of Steel Particles like what happened to the thousands of worlds that had been destroyed in the battle between the Shelter civilization and the Evil Gods.

That was because the Nether River would form in the Abyss. It was a silently running river that steadily draws out the disintegrating Steel Particles of that world, sending them all to the bottom of the Abyss and the former Vortex of Creation, become raw materials for new worlds.

Where Nether River existed, even dead worlds would not leak their Authority and fragments so that they catalyzed into Steel Particles that awakens supernatural powers in the Great Mana Tide—only worlds instantly destroyed could have the blessing of such tragedy.

The Nether River was hence a part of the Multiverse’s nature, a post-destruction cycle. It breaks own all matter with the purest of negative energy, turning worlds into nothing and granting it new life.

While it did not appear deep or wide, Joshua felt that he had seemed to enter another world after diving into the Nether River. If he must make a comparison, it would be the World Inner where Steel Pythons live: The Nether River was a realm of its own, independent yet connecting all Abysses. Like a gigantic network and the branching of small capillaries, they branch away and connected, finally integrating into the real, true network.

Joshua could sense that his back was illuminated by the divine power of the seven gods. Their light was a rare illumination within the lightless Nether River.

“The original form of the Nether River inspired the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds. The form in which it connected countless dead worlds gave the Sage and the gods the idea to create the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds itself, linking countless worlds of Order.”

The God of Might and Justice’s message flowed to him. Joshua nodded in return—being one who often used the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds to move around, he sensed a partial likeness between it and the hub from the start. The only difference was that the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds allows him to select a position and move there immediately, while they had to follow the Nether River’s flow towards the depths.

Moving along the Nether River by following the endless Steel Particles washing out, Joshua and the Seven Gods advanced along the stream, moving to the Abyssal Paradise.

Negative energy without light cascaded without rest, with a silver luster flashing within. Seven dazzling dots of light followed, and like flying stars that streaked through the silent night, Dargin past the Nether River with might that stirs the seas.

They strode through hundreds of worlds instantly, and could see over hundreds of branching flow of the Nether River gathering into the main stream, carrying endless remains of worlds and becoming a part of that cycle.

Joshua’s will sweep past glancingly, ascertaining the position of those Abysses to avoid deviating from his path. Even so, it was that moment when he saw the face of his students at the flickering source of the Nether River.

In the Fifteenth Abyss, Lisa the Drakonid girl was riding Syndicate’s shoulder and looking into the distance of that world, while Syndicate himself stood upon Zero-One the Steel Elemental’s palm. That being said, the Steel Elemental itself had climbed atop an ancient tree which had turned into stone, with the trio passing through the planet’s grey mist and watching the weak sunrise in the distance.

In the Thirty Third Abyss, Nick the dwarf was crouching in front of a boulder and frowning at the Metal Ooze monster on top of it. There were many condiments and kitchen tools placed beside him, and he appeared to want to cook the still-alive creature that trembled in fear. That was clearly difficult, however, since the hunter siblings and Karin were precedents: their continuous vomiting and downing of antidotes made evident that they tried more than once but never succeeded.

The Fifty Seventh Abyss was a world assaulted by meteor rain from the Void. In the dry, cloudless sky, a sturdy metal car was streaking a long white trail in the skies. The fiery storm of meteors was hot on their heels, and as the silent world was filled with rumbling and explosion, the car was also lively with curses of infighting: however, Clergy, Mage, Alchemist, and Priest were simply rambling—to ensure that Rider to drive well and evade the threat, everyone had to do their best to dodge the crashing meteors.

But unusually, a certain spot on the continent was a temporary encampment that had no signs of meteor crashing. Even so, it was clear that the flying car had quickly fled that spot… there was no telling why they had to leave the safe base, and ran off to the outside and be baptized in fiery brimstone.

In a brief instant, Joshua saw many worlds: Gold and Supreme champions were following Legends, heading towards other worlds through the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds to pacify conflicts within the galaxy. Innumerable Extraordinary individuals left their home, be it out of choice or on their own accord to save other worlds, just as some answered the call and headed to surrounding Abysses to wipe out all aberrations within, preventing unrest that would threaten them later.

They left Mycroft for the first time, journeying towards the stars to save all worlds. It was not only Joshua, the Seven Gods, and the Legendary champions: Every person from the Starfall civilization were doing their best to counter the threat.

Just as the champions headed for the source of the greatest danger, everyone, champion or normal person, strong or weak, fought for the fate of their galaxy. The magical factories of various lands worked overtime to forge the cutting edge of weapons and armor, while the internal discord was slowly held back—what they faced was a trial, one that was dire and mattered to the survival of all, including worlds.

Every member of civilization had mobilized. Not only the champions fight.

Joshua could not help but smile earnestly at the sight… it was what he expected, what he wanted to see.

Champions had a duty, just as mortals do. Civilization was not one person’s toy but an angry tide gathered from millions of individuals. While that movement could well destroy itself and vanish in a puff of smoke someday, before that, the most insignificant drip in the tide or the wave itself would strive forward—though Legends and gods would keep the heavens from collapsing, it did not mean that others could entrust themselves all upon them, and rest in ease.

For they are the pillar of the future.

***

Joshua and the Seven Gods flew past countless Abysses, without turning back.

However, when they passed the Hundredth and Sixty Second Level—the Sleeping Dragon Abyss, Joshua suddenly felt a great force breaking through the boundary of the Nether River, approaching himself and the gods.

There was light of five different colors. Five energies emanating radiance of crimson, blue, green, black and white gathered into one force. It was at once pitch darkness and pure white, a divine power that interchanged cycles and embodied profound might, revealing itself.

It was the power of the Pentashade Dragon God, patron deity of the Pentashade dragons.

An enemy? Or an intent to stop their operation?

That idea did not take shape in his mind for long when Joshua suddenly saw that the Pentashade radiance paused very close beside them. The power that held no killing intent or threatened abruptly rose, gathering into the rune the shape of a dragon eye in the Nether River and darted right towards Joshua’s body.

The warrior did not evade, instead extending his right forearm to catch the divine rune—a mass of power surged, but did not hurt him. The power of the Dragon God that could destroy a world with a single breath flowed like a warm spring along the warrior’s protective armor, solidifying into a thin dragon scales armor.

Another blessing.

Then, both Joshua and the Seven Gods could hear a faint, weak voice wafting to them from the other side of the Nether River.

“Though… we are enemies…”

“But Mycroft… home…”

Joshua and the Seven Gods did not stop, and kept moving along the Nether River, rapidly crossing Abyss after Abyss.

Although the Pentashade Dragon God passed on its power without concern about exposing the coordinates of the Sleeping Dragon Abyss, its voice was still lost in the erratic flow of the Nether River. The negative energy and Steel Particles would erode even divine strength, which was why a mere message would almost instantly diminish.

None responded.

Abyss after Abyss were traversed. There were special demonic forms swimming on the surface of the Nether River. They were the Ferry Demons, entities naturally born within negative energies, and like remnants of perished worlds, they could cross Abysses much easier than other demons. That was why they were messengers of the Abyss, and exist in whichever realm demons existed.

Nevertheless, there were clearly many Ferry Demons obviously fleeing to upper Abysses against the flow, as if running away from something terrible at the bottom of the Abyss. The fleeing Ferry Demons then noticed the silver light and the luminous orbs of the Seven Gods that were heading downstream and were left shocked, unable to understand why any living thing would deliberately approach the incomparably dangerous Abyssal depths.

But there were many things that others did not have to understand.

As they kept diving and heading deeper, Joshua saw another familiar world. It was Kronos, home of the Drakonids, the former Five Hundred and Eighty Seventh Abyss—presently the Three Hundred and Fortieth Abyss. With the awakening of the Ancient Dragon and supply of water from oceanic realms, life cycles were rapidly recovering in that world, allowing it to gradually move away from the Abyss. It would probably be another thirty years when their orbit would link up to Mycroft to become one of the world’s satellites. Naturally, it was not the outcome of a natural process, but an orbit that Nostradamus planned and steered.

The presence of the Ancient Dragon meant that there was no Nether River on Kronos. Although the Drakonids had developed a small conflict over the path which they would rebuild their civilization, the Ancient Dragon and the stationed mages of Mycroft swiftly pacified the conflict.

The Ancient Dragon of Thunder, being in the Abyss as well, noticed the human and gods that were streaking through the Nether River too. It stretched its wings and growled at thin air, as if thrilled.

The teleportation of the Nether River was far faster than moving through the Void. Joshua and the Seven Gods never paused, with nothing that they saw even delaying them.

Soon, they left the middle-upper levels of the Abyss where there was still life, and began to move through the Sixth Hundredth and Sixteenth Abysses: realms that were truly dead and only left with their remains.

And the first parting was coming.

***

Joshua and the Seven Gods were passing by a world which was mostly collapsed—it had no continent or surface, only a barely surviving core and frozen mantle.

However, it was the moment when the beautiful youth human form of Merlin, the God of Order and Destruction abruptly stopped in His tracks. He simply smiled at everyone and nodded, and said softly, “This is the former homeworld of the Haida civilization, once under the Glorious Era’s protection and having been recorded in the Unified Archives. In the Final Battle, the Evil God of Disparity descended upon that world and utterly destroyed it, with the 1.7 billion population of Haida dying with no survivors.

“From here on out is the outermost position of Project Rebirth’s anchor points… Haha, I’ve suddenly remembered a great many things for some reason—the purpose of Project Rebirth was not to revive the Glorious Era, but also the other Void civilizations that fought alongside us back then.”

Apart from being emotional, He said nothing else. In the Nether River, the human form of Order and Destruction began to disintegrate, finally turning into its holy crest that was a dark blue Ouroboros. Blue divine power flashed within the Nether River, illuminating dozens of worlds around.

“It’s time to say goodbye.”

“I bid my leave here.”