Chapter 1051 - Thus, Returning! (2/2)
[We had come for salvation, a tomorrow and to answer a call!]
[We had come so that this world could reignite, and hence crossed the multitude of stars and realms to reach this place!]
The roar of colossal black dragon reverberated throughout the Nine Skies. Upon her back, there were countless familiar champions just as there were also countless fallen—every single being who were still alive and were able to make it in time, each existence whom that man from the past was familiar with and had a connection with had all gathered here.
And all of them were not hesitating, moving at the top of their speed for the center of the world where the dark giant star was!
For our King of Searing Souls, for the Lord of all Armies in the Multiverse, for the Master, for the comrade, for the admired of many, for the worshipped of many!
We are those who know that ancient history, people who have never forgotten the past myth and legend!
We are the witnesses of that battle, the blaze brightly alight a hundred and twenty thousand years ago!
We have come for Joshua van Radcliffe!
That is whom we have come for!
***
[Memories die. All that are left are legends of old recorded within the books, for history is only too often forgotten, leaving only echoes of myths reverberating amidst ruins.]
[Looking at the stars from afar, there would only be ever-present perished memories. Some of them would be left forgotten, some of them kept at heart—but following the untold, prolonged epochs, regardless of how glorious a tale it is or how majestic an epic, everything would slowly wear away and slowly dissolve like tears in the rain.]
But now was not the era to be forgetful.
Now was not the moment to let memories slip!
Even those individuals and races who could not remember Joshua's name at all or did not know of his feats, as those people deliberately pushed things along and the imposing request of certain civilizations, all of them had certainly used, experienced, and were actually still a customer of things which that man had left behind. Whether it would be the Spirit Terminals, Mana Net, forum templates, or virtual reality games—as long as they had used such things and made a living through the Redemption System, all of them would have stumbled upon the name which that man had left on certain places, consuming inventions he worked with others to make!
He was the first to invent all of that in the civilization of this era.
His name had never truly been left in stillness or had been genuinely lost. In the dark Multiverse, there would always be those who would keep reminding all the beings in this world that, though he had long since been gone, he was never ever forgotten.
Hence, the endless Void armadas were following after the Black Dragon from the edge of the world, advancing in great numbers. While every Lightchaser looked on in astonishment, terror, as well as a beseeching with the faintest trace of hope, the sh.i.p.s arrived upon the center of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies where the dark giant star was.
At that very moment, all the stars which were shining had gone out completely—in the former Three Worlds and Nine Skies, the present Steel Continent, all was gradually returning to dullness. Every trace of energy was dissipating, whereas every form of motion was slowing down.
Time was stagnating, while space was being compressed. Energies were dying while all that was physical had been engulfed in the gloom. Elements and ether were still, Holy Light and Shadows obliterated—even the most primitive of lifeforce and the magical radiance of creation were slowly reduced to nothing amidst the stillness of equality.
The six-fold boundaries of death were respectively the fading of the will to fight, the loss of spirit, the death of the body, the stillness of the soul, the loss of a memory, and the passing of an existence.
It was the most genuine of rules, the most definitive of reality. Such was the Truth which applied to all domains in the Multiverse.
Even so.
Even so!
The will to fight of the warrior had yet to fade!
The spirit of the warrior was still passed on!
The body of the warrior was not yet destroyed!
The soul of the warrior was still fighting!
”All the beings in the Multiverse still trust in your power and call upon your name!”
In front of the Core Ignition before the giant dark star, Zero Three's voice resounded alongside the dragon's cry, with the Steel Pythons and the many champions all declaring in one voice, ”Your memory has not been forgotten! Your existence has not diminished!”
”Return! Reignite! Now is precisely the moment that the darkness would come! The warped hand of the Chaos is still spreading from the distant reaches of Origins—the battle of the Wise Ones is locked in a stalemate, but that is both the direst situation as well as your favorite place, a challenge which you enjoy the most!”
Their calls shook their world, their shouts killing the stars—as the gods who had come dashing in from the other side all sonorously invoke a single name.
”Return! Burn anew, Joshua van Radcliffe! Your enemy is still here in this Multiverse!”
At that very moment, every single light had died out.
And yet, the world which was deathly still did not respond at all to the calls of every existing being.
Still, that was not the ending, because as all living beings were left in silence and everything was engulfed in the coldest of death, and the world itself began to truly step towards their end, the endless realms within the body of the Giant God who had long since passed away began to fight against death itself with the most upset of wrath!
Hence, the faintest of sparks was thus set aflame because of the heart of conflict at the precise center of the world.
It had nothing to do will the invoking, hope, or even expectations and the future. The Flame of conflict was ever so pure that its small light could glimmer and illuminate its vicinity so faintly. The faintness did not actually signify anything, because it was the tiny divide between light and dark, the border between life and death, the boundary between cold and warmth—it was separation and contrast, conflict and contradicting, the divide between existence and oblivion, the border between life and death.
[It is war.]
As death comes to an end, the new would hence be born.
As the Flame goes out, the ashes would burn anew.
The death and end of an existence was the return and rebirth of another!
***
Meanwhile, Alpha Falster was holding a small silver chest and walking amidst the dark World Inner.
The trail to the shrine was infinitely long as much as it was one step away. Stars were streaming towards different directions like separate rivers beside Alpha, but they had all now paused and ceased all movement. Likewise, the Vault of Stars which should had been far high above and shining dazzlingly was now a sheet of gloom as well.
Even so, Alpha did not at all understand what everything he saw meant. Step after step, he simply and determinedly stepped forward in his body which was virtually no different from mortal flesh into the heart of the World Inner, towards the most imposing throne of the shrine.
Following the Age of Chaos, the race known was the Silver Fairies were the Giant God of Steel's earliest and also last spawns. Now, the man who shouldered every single responsibility, the entrustment of Steel Pythons, the hopes of many champions, the futures of all Lightchasers, and the expectations of trillions of beings was holding the tiny chest before his body and was claiming the steps up to the throne.
Then, he began to pray serenely.
Dear God.
The Creator of all life and all thing in this realm, our Father who had molded the Nine Skies and the Three Worlds.
As increasingly profuse and heavy presence was thrown upon him as he climbed the steps, the blessings and protections of the many champions also began to shine upon Alpha's body. Even so, those powers were not at all useful, because everything that did not belong to the Steel Continent were insignificant and nonexistent to the highest power that dwelled within—the journey hence depended upon one's own heart.
Hence, Alpha continued praying softly.
Dear Father.
If you could really awaken.
Please grant the most insignificant and ordinary of happiness upon the suffering beings.
I pray not that my daughter is brought back to me or that I be glorified, nor do I beseech that the weak and the innocent could be granted rebirth, or that the millions of moving worlds and faded stars would come to life again.
Though I am mourning, I ask not for hope.
Though I am left at a loss, I do not desire for anything.
I just wish that the sun exists, and Order can continue on.
Our dear Creator.
I only yearn that you can bring us true light to keep illuminating this land which has seemed eternally bright, but is only ever overflowing with despair and darkness.
And that…is all there is to it.
The man prayed as he climbed step aft step towards the top of the throne. Beneath the darkened Vault of Stars above the World Inner and encircled by the streams of motionless stars, Alpha gently placed the silver chest onto the Throne of Steel which was infinitely spectacular, and was also now devoid of might but exuding only a tender warmth.
Before the silver chest and the imposing throne, Alpha had quietly voiced his wish. Still, it was as if he was muttering to himself without any intention of getting a response.
However, he received an answer.
”No.”
The answer had reached him from the throne.
The answer had also reached him from the dark skies above.
The answer had even reached him from every corner and every tiniest spot of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies.
”I refuse to grant you your wish.”
Alpha looked up in shock but he could see nothing, not to mention that he had already left the World Inner since some unknown point in time. Still, in the end, he appeared to catch a glimpse of some light that shone from the dark vault above—at the same time, every person inside or outside the world, all the people and all the beasts had all heard it as long as they were able to hear.
The Chaos which was rampaging across the world, along with the Evil Gods swarming beyond it across endless distance—all of them had stopped moving, frozen in place upon hearing that that grand, deep voice.
A voice which had appeared once again upon the Multiverse.
”Because I demand that all of you must yearn for the extravagance of greatness beyond greatness.”
”Because I demand that all of you must greed for a hope that is greater than hope itself.”
”If there is no courage to actually bear such greed and no imagination for such yearning, one would only be fated to be meat for others, falling down on your own knees, bending yourself to yield before the hollow future that darkness and the Chaos promises.”
The great voice rumbled thunderous with divine might and resounded over the Multiverse. When they heard that familiar voice which seemed to not have changed at all, black dragon, Artificial Intelligence, Steel Python, human being, along with every other race and being which had held expectations felt warm tears welling in their eyes.
In the mean time, that voice was stubbornly declaring his will to all of the Multiverse.
”Normal happiness? I would never allow that!”
”All of you deserve the greatest future!”
***
In the center of the realm of Steel, the faint Flame of War had completely died out.
But at the same time, on the small chest upon the throne within the World Inner, a seed which someone had left a hundred and twenty thousand years again was being restored from the stillness of Divine Death!
Thus, light began to shine!
In the Void of the Multiverse, a simmering crack of immeasurable proportions appeared instantly, stretching across boundless distance!
The splendor of the Initial Flame illuminated the vicinity of the great crack, with infinite faith and prayers converging upon it.
Hence, exclamations echoed!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Against death! Against the future! Against the Chaos!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Be it life or death, existence or oblivion, past or future, there was only eternal, incessant battle!
”Your life and mine, the fate of all things across worlds, as well as the yearning for happiness, purpose, connections, and the things that are cherished!
”The future of the Multiverse, the end of the eternal struggle between Order and Chaos, along with the outcome of all trust, invocation, courage, and will to fight!”
”All those struggles!”
In the Void, the sacred and might voice echoed. The resounding horn and the thunderous war drum echoed throughout worlds, while endless divine power was reaching out from the depths of the Root!
The voice of the one deity was resonating across the horizon and sweeping throughout the entire Multiverse!
”How could it be surrendered before fighting!”
A new Flame was burning anew, and the silver continent was shining infinitely once more!
The eyes of countless Lightchasers and the countless beings from other worlds across the Multiverse hence turned and were fixated upon it.
Ah, the Flame, the Flame.
The light that once illuminated the dark Multiverse now illuminated the nine stars and brightened all living things in the three worlds. It once again erupted away from the pitch-black core, before igniting the Continent of Steel.
***
Hence, in the dark Void of the Multiverse, the dark World Barrier which was left dimmed for over a hundred and twenty thousand years began to stir with radiant ripples of silver and crimson.
In the Void, the four-armed god who was clenching his weapons opened his eyes once more, with inexhaustive fighting spirit and divine radiance swirling and brewing within. A long time had passed, and yet the Flame which the light ignited had not dimmed a fraction, but instead burned with greater vigor.
The Giant God raised his sword and axe.
Because he could sense that there was still a fight to be had in the world, that there was still the will to fight, and because he could sense that there all living beings still had the courage for resistance!
Therefore, the one born to fight had hence returned!