Chapter 1056 - Set the Worlds Aflame with the Fire in the Heart (1/2)
Are you refusing?
In response, the Sage paused blankly for a moment before smiling in relief.
Ah, yes. While you are indeed Miracle and War, you would certainly refuse every decision that demands a sacrifice.
Because miracles are indeed such a thing.
***
It would only be a miracle to discover not a single casualty after horrific natural disasters such as a great downpour, the ground splitting apart, and the mountains crumbling.
It would also only be a miracle to have not a single man fall when invaded by another nation, with armies and citizens all going up in arms to engage in terrible war over day and night.
On the other hand, if the Multiverse were to face a dire threat like now other and countless individuals were to sacrifice themselves, fighting as much as they could and pall their price, so that their 'today' could be exchanged for the one fraction of hope that is 'tomorrow' and in turn pacify the threat…
Would that be a miracle too?
No! That would be no miracle!
”Sage, I am a champion more powerful than you are.”
A hand reached out from the infinitely blazing Flame, pressing upon the shoulder of Holy Light and gently pushing away that radiant human figure.
Striding out with a single step and taking his place, the warrior who directly faced the onslaught of countless mayflies spoke with a steady voice that resounded across worlds.
”I have already surpassed you—and, as such, I would be able to make a decision.”
”And my decision is to have no one get hurt or die, to redeem all regrets, so that Future would have not one bit of gloom and miserable total triumphs!
Clear the game with a single attempt!
Defeat the powerful foe in just one try!
The definitive and perfect ending! A final chapter without regret!
And the greatest future!
He had trained in the path of the Extraordinary, slain infinite Chaos and untold legions of Evil Gods. He kept himself alight despite despair, fighting alone in the Initial Flame for over one hundred and twenty thousand years—if sacrifice was all it took for salvation, if sacrifice was all it took for victory, was the warrior and war itself even necessary?
He, Joshua, had fought until the present moment not to sacrifice what he cared for, the people he loved, or everything else—for that matter!
The Sage showed an expression of astonishment in the instant when he was pushed away. He was not alone either, for Shadow, Elements, Ether, and even the Wise One of the Future who shrouded the Initial Flame, as if wanting to envelop it, leveled a stunned glance at him too, countless thoughts circulating under the illumination of the Initial Flame.
However, there was not a single exchange.
The differences between them required no exchange at all: the clash between conflicting paths, the battle between the right and the right which were an eternal contradiction is muted, never resting and never yielding.
And at this very moment, Joshua, who had taken the Sage's place and was now stuck at the last, tiny gap over the Dyson Sphere of Multiverse Mayflies covering the infinite Initial Flame, was spreading his world molding four arms, firmly keeping the gap open.
Meanwhile, his will would still resonate through every Wise One present even without needing words, as well as the heart and minds of all beings in the Multiverse!
Sacrifice is the easy way out!
Having someone give up on something and pay a certain price in a resistance was just no different from a child throwing a tantrum at an a.d.u.l.t…victory gained through sacrifice was very much taking a short cut and cheating!
The true victory…the true and complete triumph would be needing no one sacrifice themselves or pay the price, but to take every step of the journey with the aid of all predecessors, and with punch after punch, beating down the ever-powerful enemy in an upright manner—and just like that, with the greatest power and the greatest talent, the hardest diligence, the finest fortune, and opportunities, open a radiant path towards the heavens amidst abyss of absolute darkness!
Victory was only obtained through that: a most difficult, painful, honorable, and praiseworthy victory!
Yes, it would indeed be difficult—too difficult. In fact, should it not be asked that how could anyone achieve such a thing?! It was simply unreasonable and virtually impossible!
But if it was not done just because it was too difficult, why even bother to fight? Why struggle? What would opportunity even be for?
Rouse your spirits and fight, and hence bring about salvation to dire affairs!
Every person and every being were all warriors and heroes who could save themselves! All life and all worlds had been born to resist, to do battle against the Multiverse where everything was 'too difficult'!
”And I am all of that given form!”
Joshua's will was leaving the Initial Flame trembling and causing it to fire sparks out of its vicinity. At that single instant, the event light cone which was 'restraining' the Wise One of Shadow had been shattered, and the hostile circ.u.mstances which 'held back' the Wise One of Elements and the destructive tempest that 'threatened' the Wise One of Ether had stopped.
And now, the warrior had taken the place of the Holy Light and took the brunt of the direct onslaught unleashed by the Wise One of the Future!
There is no falsity in what you say, and sacrifice is certainly the easy way out…
The Holy Light which was pushed away—the Sage who had experienced Joshua's power—was already regenerating his body, and as he watched the warrior back, he smiled in relief again.
However, making a choice is to endure the possibility of defeat as well.
Joshua, if this challenge against miracles is destined to be our defeat, there would no longer be independent intelligent beings in the future of the Multiverse, just as there would be no resistance. The Multiverse may exist, but there would be not a single mind to acknowledge it, nor would there be any minds that could understand our former resistance and battles…we would be no more than a dream: forgotten when the dreamer wakes up, or like a book finished that would never be opened again once closed.
If we exist but without purpose at all, just like the countless mayflies transmitting information, he asked serenely, would you still hold on? It is such a meaningless resistance and battle.
”Victory and purpose?”
All the Sage received in reply was a sneer.
”I just want to fight. What does victory, outcome, hope, or courage have anything to do with me? Even if defeat is destined and being forgotten is a surety, even if my life should be without meaning at all…I would still fight on in this very moment.”
”Even if I would have fight against Future, Eternity, and everything that is too difficult, or even the ending awaiting the Multiverse…”
Joshua did not hesitate at all to move past where the Sage formerly had been, shattering the obstructing layer of Future Mayflies to head deeper into the Initial Flame as the last exchange from his will exuded.
”It would be no different!”
You really are a fool…
Freeing himself from the infinite event light cone, Shadow teased the warrior as he moved to where Joshua was.
…just like us.
Freeing himself from the worst possible world, Elements laughed at himself as he moved to where Joshua was.
Doing the same meaningless thing over and over, and yet expecting different results
Freeing himself from the tempest of devasting existence, Ether laughed carefreely as he moved to where Joshua was.
Is that not a vivid portrait of ourselves?
It is indeed.
Is that the will of Miracles?
The Sage's mild words were reverberating around the remnant Flame as he moved to where Joshua was. Along the way, he would find that the radiance of the blazing Flame was even more glaring than the Initial Flame itself.
But wanting victory requires sacrifice. The Multiverse has always been that way, just as it is no exception even now.
He caught up with Joshua, who was incessantly advancing, diving deep into the swarm of mayflies and approaching the Initial Flame.
In the face of Future's absolute advantage, we could only at most maintain a stalemate even after you have joined us.
If the Evil Gods beyond this world would wipe out the Multiverse, we would still be defeated.
Sacrifice is necessary for an assured victory.
”Is it right just because it is the way it has always been?!”
It was such a stubborn reply and such a determined rejection.
At the same, boundless light appeared around Joshua's body as a power that could rule over all probability and all universal principles unfurled, sweeping away and obliterating every mayfly in range—still, the mayflies were equally inexhaustive, for they embodied power to rampage across endless worlds. Now, they were dashing towards the Initial Flame, bent on suppressing Joshua along with the other Wise Ones following behind him.
At that very moment, the warrior felt the monumental pressure that Holy Light experienced: those were unlimited, swarming memories, a crushing power and limitlessly cascading information and will.
I would create unlimited parallel worlds and unlimited possibilities for the future, and surpassing even the unlimited itself, heading off beyond the Multiverse to a stage even more profound!
I acknowledge the chance of my defeat, but that is the cost to be paid in the name of final victory: a little sacrifice in comparison.
The deepest and staunchest consciousness of the Wise One of the Future was overflowing in the zone closest to the Initial Flame. He was ensnaring and engulfing the Initial Flame, intending to swallow the Root of the Multiverse into its own stomach—and when it would succeed, that was when the Ruler of Infinite Futures and the Multiverse Mayflies would thus come to be!
The endless legions of the Evil Gods and the mayflies that kept spreading beside the Initial Flame were actually two sides of the same coin that was the Wise One of the Future.
If the other Wise Ones would spend too much time culling the Evil Gods in the Multiverse, the mayflies would seize that opening to expand themselves to envelop more of the Initial Flame, or even all of it, and in turn achieve their goal—if that was the case, the existence of Evil Gods would become unnecessary.
But likewise, if the Wise Ones headed for the origins of the Initial Flame to mount a resistance against the Wise One of the Future, the being destined to be Infinite would be firmly suppressed. All he could do would be to sit and watch from as the outer reaches of the Multiverse, where the Evil Gods held infinitely greater advantage compared to Order and consumed all eras and worlds of Order.
Then, when the Initial Flame would be kept intact by the Wise One's combined might and no longer leak while also leaving the many cosmoses without stopping, there would no longer be new cosmoses born. That would also mean that the Evil Gods of Chaos would hold control over the future, while all aligned to Order were fated to be destroyed at their hands in the endgame.
Therefore, from a certain point of view, the Wise One of the Future, who possessed the two great advantages that were 'antiquity' and 'future' respectively, was truly invincible.
It was a multiple-choiced question, with each choice being mutually exclusive. Something out of 'A' or 'B' must be picked, and there could only be one selection.
And choosing either would still mean defeat.
Don't you understand? All of you are destined to fail.
Even if the Wise One of the Future could not actually give form to the worst possible outcome from unlimited parallel worlds and he could only fight against Joshua with the mayflies that were his true form, his consciousness appeared to be mocking.
All of your efforts have been meaningless.
”But that does not mean that we would give up.”
”The purpose of my existence, the purpose of life's existence, and even the purpose of your existence, 'Future', is to lay waste to all that is impossible.”
Striking out with a punch, Joshua plunged deeper into Initial Flame. It was a strike that would have unleashed negentropy upon millions of worlds in the cosmoses beyond and form the frame of a Vortex of Creation: a basic infinite cycle which would create an entire galaxy. Here, however, all it did was to shatter a tiny cl.u.s.ter of mayflies, destroying one out of the unlimited form of the Wise One of the Future, which was actually also less than the numbers he had created in response.
But now, the Sage, Shadow, Elements, and Ether were joining him—it certainly would not be too difficult, since five Wise Ones were combining their powers to resist the pressure from the Wise One of the Future, even if they would not claim any results.
They could also feel that the Wise One of the Future was exhausting his own full power then. The strength he had been sparing even against the four Wise Ones was all now being used to fight off the newly ascended Wise One that was Joshua.
The battle between beings of the Infinite transcended space, time, substance, and energy.
Their existence and will pierced every single corner of each world across the Multiverse, and they could simultaneously fight or retaliate at once in each corner of boundless vast spaces.
As long as no one would stop them, they could create machines that would produce many singularities that entirely ignored the movement of distance: information, logic, fate, destiny, causality, and everything else could be created by their hands, tools to be produced without limit.
Therefore, the battle between the Infinities would at best be locked in a stalemate, but the Wise One of the Future was special in that he and the Evil God legions shared a duality within a single form. In addition, it had not been the Wise Ones' plan to merely fight out to a stalemate, but to stop Future from bringing his plan to fruition.
Meanwhile, though Future's plan was just a little fraction away from accomplishment, for the gap to widen between both sides required the other Wise Ones to pay a price greater than Future in order to reverse the almost complete and determined reality.
That was also why the ascension of a new Wise One would do no more than maintain the stalemate against Future, while leaving the worlds beyond exposed to the Evil Gods' continuous assault and the keep the causality of end times intact.
Moreover, the stalemate of the Wise Ones was no different from awaiting the coming of Future, an advantage which was simply overwhelming for Future.
So, right now, how would Joshua turn things around?
It was a question every Wise One was thinking.
The answer to it was very simple as well.
Through a miracle, naturally.
And not from Joshua alone, but a miracle born out of every existing being!
***
”I so declare!”
After plunging deep within the infinite swarm of mayflies ensnaring the Initial Flame, Joshua finally felt the actual radiance of the Root. In the end, in the battle between the Wise One of the Future and the other five Wise Ones where there was now single split second or effort afforded for thinking, the warrior issued his declaration and emanated a change that would distort all of the Multiverse!