Chapter 1043 - The Unforgotten Ten Thousand Years (1/2)

[To forgetful cowards, all heroic tales and legends are nothing but lies. They would declare those numerous sacrifices in the past as folly or madness, mocking the great courage that they hold. I understand that children born into the light and living in exceeding freedom would never understand the cruel darkness to come, only considering it a joke most cruel—they would leave cautionary tales of martyrs out of sight and out of mind, only focusing on the flowers and pleasantness before their own eyes to the point that they would never see the shroud that has already reach them.]

[But the truth would always be the truth, history would never be lost, and sacrifices never forgotten. I hold conviction that this record would always remain to turn things around. We will remember once more the tribulation of being covered in darkness, weathering all hardship to be reborn in the fire. We will reclaim honor and glory, to rise again from the nothingness. I firmly believe that fate is decided by ourselves, that the future would always be in our control. By enduring through the long, cloudy ignorance and bewilderment, we would certainly reclaim hope and the path to truth.]

[Unnamed Archivist, early-Schism period, preface of the Book of Hope]

[The Solitary Journey, Year 150]

***

After a long era of dormancy caused by the darkening of the stars, the races finally and slowly recovered from the grievous injury.

Previously, thousands of Legendary champions had died valiantly in that Solitary Journey with nothing remaining of them. Those who survived no longer had the strength for development either, and could barely hold together the shambling civilizations from falling into the depths of ignorance.

Now, however, everything was turning for the better, with the change that Holy Light and Shadow had brought about finally presenting positivity. The light and flame of worlds were certainly embodying Holy Light attributes, with countless worlds that were dormant or infected by the Chaos slowly recovering from the cleansing and rejuvenating Holy Light, filling their gaping wounds. As for Shadow, the connection between the many worlds of the Multiverse had also brought about the Mana Tide and Extraordinary essences from other cosmos, and like a stream flowing into a low ditch, vigor was restored upon the cosmos.

Then, as the Void civilizations were gradually healed, the civilization known as the Mycroft Starfall Union stood out.

A great nation whose influence reached across the cosmos, their center was the most remote Lost Galaxy which had also been seriously devastated in a single ancient battle, yet it was still the first to rise up like a stubborn coil—the harder it was pressed, the higher it reached on the rebound. Even as the other civilizations were still reclaiming their former national borders and activating lost monitoring beacons and surveillance sentries, the Starfall Union had already assembled a massive fleet to visit the civilizations nearest to them, one after another.

Meanwhile, in the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds within the world of Mycroft, the heart of the Starfall Union was also the origins of the former Glorious Era and the home world of one Wise One along with a Demi Saint, a realm which had almost fallen several times but had always revived time and time again. It was perhaps out of such experiences that the people of Mycroft were simply dauntless, and could always rise again before other races. Even after the great war—later named the Solitary Journey—had left it in a critical state, it had never actually affected their strong position.

Now, under the leadership of a Void fleet of twenty super-dreadnought battlesh.i.p.s carrying seventeen new and old Legends along with nine gods, they had once again appeared upon the stage of the cosmos, attempting to assemble a great alliance of Order. There were those who gladly joined and those who firmly refused, just as some doubted the power of the Starfall Union and intentionally challenged their position as leaders, with others also doubtful about whether the Union had the strength to maintain Order in the cosmos after losing their Demi Saint.

”If you wish for a fight, then a fight is what you get.”

The God of Might and Justice, one of the former Seven Gods, was acting as the representative of the Starfall Union and hence coldly issued a declaration of war. ”We will destroy your fluke of a doubt, and have you witness the power of 'Order' and 'correctness'.”

***

War.

War had always been unavoidable.

While the civilizations which had fallen in past agony and hence no longer dared to look up at the Void or even any darkness were no cause for worry, those civilizations ready to challenge Mycroft were major problems—a challenge meant resistance, and resistance meant that there will be a showdown. Moreover, without absolute power which could determine outcomes beyond a shadow of a doubt, there would only ever be 'dissatisfaction' and 'grudges' coming to be, and as those two emotions festered, a squabble would escalate into war.

Soon, in the era where the Chaos had barely left for too long, there was another outbreak of war between different Order. Steel shards and world fragments were left strewn over dimensional turbulences, for those were memories of that which was not worth remembering, an era overflowing with bloodl.u.s.t, cruelty, and apathy. That did not only include battles waged in the name of unifying Order, but also the differences between the many civilizations and races which a certain warrior of the past had repressed by force. Having been held back for so long under Chaos and calamity, everything was finally bursting out in the present.

Even so, the inferno of hate would eventually burn out. After the prolonged age of conflict and after the Starfall Union had conquered most of the civilizations within their present cosmos with overwhelming force, a great assembly of Order finally came to be. It certainly must be mentioned that the Order, which was built upon the blood of champions and races, was as tough as steel, and it was only then that the countless civilizations and races across the cosmos could finally rest and recuperate.

Still, the leaders of the Starfall Union did not slow down after establishing a solid foothold and uniting all factions across the cosmos. All of them looked up to gaze at the depths of the Void, towards the network of Shadow Trails. It was the way with which the endless Chaos swarm had cross boundless distance to arrive upon their cosmos, and likewise, it would be able to bring the agents of Order into the distance.

Therefore, once again, following innumerable deaths and sacrifices, a brand new and blossoming great era of development that belonged to all civilization and beings began, founded upon the multitudes of corpses and ruins.

[The Grand Development Era, five hundred years after the Solitary Journey]

It ought to have been a normal morning. Amidst the countless exploration bases at the edge of the cosmos, millions of professional explorers would set sail on such a morning with hope, bringing along the complementary resources that the assembled governments provided along with their specialized Void exploration vessels that had seen considerable use, heading out towards the Shadow Subspace deep within the Void with the assistance of artificial intelligences, commencing a long voyage entirely dependent on luck. Most would only be able to find ashes of fallen cosmoses and return in disappointment, although there was also no lack in the lucky ones who could find cl.u.s.ters of worlds simply hovering in the Silent Void.

Such successful explorers would get rich overnight and become lauded heroes of the assembled governments, with the isolated star cl.u.s.ters terraformed by the government's own professional explorers into a springboard for voyages into the Silent Void, a base where other explorers wanting to go deeper could resupply.

Within those centuries filled with dreams, hopes, and aspirations, countless restless elements became the daring vanguard of those voyages or even Void pirates roaming everywhere. The most influential amongst them were also the most lucky ones who would find remarkably hidden worlds in the Silent Void, which they would use as their base. The complex Shadow Subspace would also provide them shelter, whereas pirates with their specially modified warsh.i.p.s were even more elusive, causing major headaches to the Union Fleet when they tried to catch them.

Still, rather than saying that those pirates were robbers who stole only from other explorers, it would be more appropriate to say that they were a group of anarchists who wished to be freed from all constraints, and were descendants of civilizations or races which were left in wretched states in the past during the establishment of assembled cosmic governments of Order. To maintain their independence and 'freedom', the pirates would plunder any ship in sight without restraint, but rarely kill any explorers—in fact, there were even some explorers who would make secret pacts with the pirates to keep an eye out for new, isolated worlds.

In return, the pirates certainly did not hold back when it came to their rewards. There was even a spreading rumor that one particular explorer had become the Liege of a World—in the truest sense of the title—when he found a small cl.u.s.ter of remote worlds for those pirates, gaining reimburs.e.m.e.nt that no work with the federation could bring.

Nonetheless, in the face of a growing group of free pirates, the allied governments posted exorbitant bounties on their heads. Moreover, any individual who could capture or kill the leader of the pirates would be granted the autonomous rule of an entire world along with the highest browsing clearance in the Unified Archives, which also included the path and experience of a certain Demi Saint which had ascended to the utmost point.

Hence, overnight, millions of bounty hunters departed and led the assault—the war between the hunters and the pirates lasted for centuries, while the explorers would head for the most distant reaches of the Void with such profoundness as their backdrop.

However, amidst such an era, it was on an ordinary morning that was no different from mornings before that a most important piece of news like no other spread throughout the entire cosmos!

Priest Omni, legendary explorer, the invincible sacred shield, and heir of the Demi Saint had returned with the Spark , the great ark and the flagship of the Voyager Fleet from the other side of the cosmos!

***

It had been a rewarding journey: the heirs of the first explorers brought with them unique resources and data from another cosmos, and hence received the most honored reception from the assembled cosmic governments. That was also the moment when everyone learned about a legend who had unfolded in another cosmos.

Before the Solitary Journey began, the Voyager Fleet, which had already departed, had entered a predicted subspace passageway. The volatile Shadow Space was not anything a civilization of the time could have foreseen, just as prediction with Demi Saint abilities was not 100% assured. The fleet had assuredly gone through tribulations too, having gotten lost several times in the Void and almost crashing into world fragments or being collectively wiped out in the trap left by some lost civilization. Still, in the end, they managed to reach at the frontier of another cosmos, even setting base and developing in one of the fringe galaxies.

Now, led by several Legendary champions, the Voyager Fleet had founded a local faction upon another cosmos, with their very name starting to circulate amongst powerful indigenous Void civilizations—but out of self-preservation and believing that it was the right timing, the Voyager Fleet was on the move once more after consolidating their force.

This time, it was to guide and not to explore—under the guidance of the Spark along with the support of all assembled governments serving Order, millions of explorers, fleet and even pirates gathered into a tide, rushing towards the other cosmos without looking back.

It was in that same monumental tide of advancement that—in a moment of great luck or perhaps utter misfortune—a party of explorers was caught in an undercurrent of the Shadow Space. They hence arrived in an unknown and unfamiliar part of the Silent Void, waiting for their own hopeless deaths in the Void after having their engine die on them.

That was when they encountered an ancient fleet whose ship designs were unusually familiar.

Then, summoned by a mysterious power, the entire party of explorers and their entire ship were teleported into the flagship of the fleet—another massive ark known as Glimmer. There, they were received by a rather young champion while they sincerely revealed their origins and their plight before asking the champion for help.

”Ah, so you're from home.”

Hence, with a smile, the champion revealed a truth that left the party in utter shock: the champion—a Legend—was Arlwa Diamond, who was also from Mycroft. He had been entrusted by the predecessor of the Starfall Union before the Solitary Journey to carry with him a copy of the Unified Archives, and journey into the most distant depths of the Silent Void. Now that the war was over and the darkness had receded, a middle-aged man in the party who was moved by Arlwa's sacrifice and contribution (as well as for his own glory) indicated that he hoped for Arlwa and his fleet to return to their cosmos, to obtain the praise and honors which he deserved.

However, the champion calmly refused the invite.

”The Wanderer Fleet is never turning back or stopping. I will keep sailing forward with everyone aboard for all eternity…after all, what was the price that my mentor paid in protecting us? On the other hand, I have only suffered the most insignificant of solitudes, and have already maintained a spark of civilization…please return. Thank you for telling us news about home, and if you could, please pass the word that 'Arlwa is still advancing'. These four words would suffice.”

Later, as the explorers would embark on the return journey along the trail through which they floated after their ship's engine was repaired, some of them were reluctant to leave—they volunteered to join the lonely flotilla, willingly joining their eternal expedition.

Indeed, the tales in such a profound era would be endless if they were to be told completely. But like how every era and story would only ever come to a close, the final moments of the Grand Development Era culminated in another war.

This time, it was not between the varying cosmoses that served Order, but between Chaos and Order.

***

When the official fleet of the Starfall Union arrived upon the new cosmos that the Voyager Fleet had discovered, an envoy from another cosmos had reached that same cosmos as well.

What they brought, however, was a letter beseeching salvation and lamenting in despair—a tentacle of Evil God legions had invaded their home, destroying uncountable civilizations and worlds. They were now fighting however they could but would not last much longer, and the envoy, who was sent in a last-ditch struggle by every being in their home cosmos, was to seek help from any existing Order that might be out there.

An Order was in need of help, and so another Order shall answer.

Before the closing curtains could fall upon the Grand Development Era, the sparks of expedition were already igniting it. In the millennia where the torment that Chaos wrought was yet to be forgotten, all the brave ones of two cosmoses assembled—soon, a gallant expedition of voluntary forces was fully assembled, all of them embodying wrath and heroism, Order and hope, as they journeyed towards the distant stars.

[The Age of Expedition, Fifteen Hundred Years after the Year of Rebirth]

For Extraordinary individuals who lived for extended eras, that Journey of Order a thousand years ago seemed to have happened just yesterday. Everything from the sacrifice, the battle, down to the final triumph, was carved into their memories, never to be forgotten.

On the other hand, a thousand years was dozens of generations for mortals. If they could not even remember the name of their great-grandfathers, how could they still keep ancient histories in their mind? In addition, those difficult historical textbooks were not so easily memorized, and when they were born, the Cosmic Alliance of Order—the great supermassive union of civilizations from eight different cosmoses—had already risen to its peak. Hence, apart from the fleets that were clearing the Void and slaying Chaos in the fringes of Alliance borders, the diverse civilizations had already forgotten about war, Chaos, or the horrors of the Evil God.

They were born in a time of prosperity and bathed in the sun, as if light would perpetually shine upon them. They grew up in bliss and without worries—it was not a bad thing, and as a matter of fact, it was what the many champions and warriors who struggled and sacrificed for all that hoped to see.

In this era, culture amongst civilizations truly peaked, with the borders separating civilizations, races, and nations across the cosmoses fading. As the allied governments diligently eliminated discrimination and indoctrinated the concept of 'Life and Order are one', the alliance of nations and civilizations finally became a genuine Federation. In turn, the first chairman of the Federation was a champion from the Starfall Cosmos: Saint Roland, champion of Mycroft.

Still, the follower of the Holy Light was not actually the most powerful amongst the Cosmic Federation, but he was the fairest, the most popular amongst the masses, and acknowledged by respective factions. Unbiased, he was certainly the leader the newly founded Federation most needed.

Soon, with the founding of the Cosmic Federation, as well as the consolidation of new laws and calendars, all life across multiple cosmoses would be hammered into a single iron plate under the wills of champions and civilizations, an iron fist that clenched and could destroy all Chaos!

But unusually, the new calendar of the Federation did not use the year of its founding as its first year—the leaders from the Starfall Cosmos and the first leadership of the Federation declared somberly that for all life in the Multiverse, the year should be remembered as Year Fifteen Hundred, something which people from the other cosmos had difficulty understanding.

When that happened, the people from the Starfall Cosmos would always gladly explain the reason therein: once they spoke, it would be the telling of a legend of sacrifice, salvation, preservation, and battle.

The tale of a man, a god, and a true warrior.

And that year was incidentally fifteen hundred years after Joshua van Radcliffe had sealed the endless swarms of Chaos.

***

[Federation Calendar, Year Three Thousand]

”Finally, we're getting close.”

In the depths of the Silent Void, a part journeying with the most advanced recon vessel was streaking through the darkness.

It was not an unusual sight in the first place. Even as the Cosmic Federation flourished and life could not become easier, there was no decrease in the number of explorers journeying within the Silent Void—whether under the first, second, or the inc.u.mbent fifteenth chief, every civilization made it their duty to unite more cosmic civilizations, and it was therefore likely to run into a Federation Fleet whenever one moved through the Void.

However, if anyone were to carefully observe the true identities of the crew, their tongues or jaws may have dropped off—the tiny ship had seven Legends and three gods aboard, meaning that it contained a total of thirteen pinnacle beings!

At the moment, the peerlessly exuberant exploration fleet had abruptly stopped.

And what was ahead of them was a darkness—pitch-black, silent, impenetrable and ever expanding.

Like a wall that spanned across the Void, the boundless darkness had no dimensions or end in sight. It was no different from a sturdy barrier which separated the Multiverse, raised there without a sound, and yet slowly and steadily expanding.

”This is the temporal trap. Took us three thousand years to finally catch up to him, to reach this place from which he left.”

The first to speak was a Legendary champion whose gaze appeared to have gone through the vicissitudes of life. Saint Roland, the former and first Federation Chief spoke with a rare tremble in his voice. ”Would we find his remains if we cross this barrier? Or is he still alive and simply slumbering within?”

”No.”

Nostradamus, Ultimate Legend, Lord of Dimensions, and architect of pathways between cosmoses promptly breathed that single word. He then stared at the dark barrier before them for a long time before slowly continuing, ”It is not like most temporal traps generated through varying speed…this temporal trip is quite simply an event horizon expanded through human means.”

”It is a box, a seal—one which still surpasses our imagination after three thousand years. All Chaos and darkness is compressed within it, and we can't go in, just as what's inside could never come out.”

”Event horizon…is that to say that in the end, he had transformed his body into a supermassive singular realm?”

Though her words were a question, it was a statement of certainly. Zero Three, the former Seventh Federation Chief, had an imposing air to her and appeared more like an empress now, although there was still irrepressible agitation in her voice. ”In other words, time could be passing very slowly in the event horizon!”

”More than that, at its heart…a scene of the final moment of the battle might still remain within!”

”That's not for certain.”

Lisa Kronos, Marshal of the Western Quadrants and Federation Commander of one hundred and four armored fleets shook her head with composure. Dressed in military regalia, she calmly added, ”I know the mentor's power very well, and before he ascended as a Demi Saint—or Ultimate Legend, for that matter, he already had considerable control over dimensions. Even if it is to destroy the Evil Gods, he would never stagnate the time in his own event horizon to such extent…I also have reason to suspect that he would even accelerate time inside to destroy the Evil Gods he had sealed inside.”

It was indeed very likely. Lisa's words also brought another wave of silence, leaving humans and gods pondering.

Nonetheless, they were still helpless and without options against that dark event horizon—a single dimensional wall regardless of how much they pondered. All of them could only make guesses and then sigh.

”We have not even approached the level of Demi Saint after so long. It would actually take Imperator Amos another few millennia to fully consume the Abyss of the Galaxy of Bloodbath, and use that power to force an ascension to Demi Saint. It is just too far and too treacherous a path, and perhaps only Imperator Amos only could make it.”

The God of Life was speaking. She had gone outside and into the Void, where she had materialized a massive hand with divine power to touch the event horizon. Her expression became crestfallen as soon as she touched it, however, as she noticed that her divine power was instantly consumed by the black wall and leaving her control.

Retreating inside the ship, the God of Life shook her head. ”The threshold of True Gods and Ultimate Legends is a border that High Legends can hardly cross even at the cost of self-destruction. In turn, to Ultimate Legends, the Demi Saint is another unbelievably massive border—apart from Imperator Amos and the few beings or collectives which require certain conditions to display Demi Saint ability, we simply do not have a practical grasp of that path.”

”The cosmos may be diverse in beings, but it is basically impossible for another fellow like that man to come into existence.” The God of Might and Justice could not help breathing a long sigh at the endless darkness which was also infinite protection. He lowered his head to look at his hand, and said softy, ”How fortunate we are to exist in the same age as he has.”

”How unfortunate it is for us to witness the end of that era as well.”

”Whatever the case may be, we can't let explorers or champions of other civilizations come near this place.”

In the end, Galanoud, the former Nature Magister and present Sovereign of Life and the new God of Nature, summed things up. ”We have to seal this area because it is also for their own good—even True Gods would be swiftly corrupted if they simply touched this event horizon.”

”Then, allow me.”

A black dragon girl who had been silent until now stepped forward.

Looking around at everyone else, Black the Legendary Ancient Dragon smiled and said composedly, ”I volunteer to stay here, and watch over this part of the Void.

None could stop her, not even Zero Three and Light.

As one of the beings closest to the man in life, the black-scaled Ancient Dragon assumed her colossal true form and stood guard upon the event horizon. In tandem, the Federation Government secretly pulled several worlds there to build a massive world fortress as strongholds in the Void.

Then, while silent times of peace moved on rapidly following the cautioning and warnings that countless people spread by word of mouth, the legend of the colossal 'Forbidden Zone for All Life' hence spread amongst Federation explorers.

Soon, unknowingly, another few millennia passed.