Chapter 22: Halted Here (5600)
Simply killing an Evil God is, in fact, a completely meaningless act.
Because Evil Gods are inherently corpses—they are the undead of civilizations, the wreckage of worlds. They are weapons that move autonomously for the mastermind behind the scenes, completely self-operating tools. Destroying them, blasting them into slag, brings no benefit to this multiverse whatsoever. In fact, it can be said to add a massive pile of garbage.
To draw an analogy: destroying a 'locked-in possibility' cannot change anything, because they were already dead. Whether they are destroyed or not is utterly meaningless. It's like destroying a weapon—it cannot stop the war from continuing. It only lets the iron slag fall into the mud, staining the earth scarlet with rust and blood.
Killing an Evil God is useless.
Therefore, it needs to be burned.
Return the 'locked-in possibility' to this multiverse—burn the dead corpse to ashes, let the ashes condense into soil, and let new seeds take root and sprout in this new soil. Only then can it be considered meaningful.
Although the possibilities restored after being burned are no longer the possibilities of the civilizations from which the Evil Gods originated, this is not important. Just like the reincarnation of souls, aside from the powerful beings who observe this cycle and witness the entire process of these worlds' birth, destruction, and rebirth, who truly cares or needs to care about this?
This is equivalent to melting down a weapon, reducing it back to iron, and turning it into farming tools for tilling the fields or tools for building homes. Simple destruction is useless against Evil Gods that have long since died. Only transformation, using fire to burn, is effective. Only in this way can one truly fight against the Evil Gods, against all this chaos, and make the multiverse bright again.
And the power to achieve this 'transformation,' this 'burning,' is the path that Joshua has chosen!
Its name is—
...
The light that turns even the void into daylight is spreading.
The light released from the Dead Star River has already spread across the entire region. Like a tidal wave, the torrent of light expanding through the void has now reached the Viros Star River. People in the Pioneer Fortress cluster lift their heads, watching with slight bewilderment as the light engulfs the fleet and the fortress, just like the Great Magic Tide, gently enveloping everything.
After that, even the Silent Void is illuminated. The eternal darkness and gloom of the void are swept away. As the light continues to advance, all beings who can see the Silent Void are shocked to discover that the Silent Void, which they once feared, worried about, and regarded as the source of darkness, is actually very beautiful. Countless worlds, countless fragments of shattered stars, and steel particles are floating in the void. They were previously nonexistent, but with the arrival of the light, these fragments reflect the light, casting vast and incredibly magnificent colors. These countless colors mix together, beautiful like a shattered dream.
The light, mixed with power, shocks all beings across the myriad realms. Under the torrent of this light, the positions of worlds are shifted, but then they are drawn back by the undulations of the waves. Many worlds, like wooden balls floating in a tidal current, spin and drift with the flow of light, causing the entire star river to begin to tremble slowly.
And this is the might of a Near-Saint.
"...Finally, you have reached this step."
In the Pioneer Fortress cluster, Nostradamus, holding a grimoire, slowly closes the book in his hand. Before him lies the corpse of an entire army of Evil God minions, torn apart by shattered spacetime. The old mage, who followed the warriors to the front lines, raises his head, gazing at the passing light, and cannot help but shed tears of joy.
This is what he has accompanied, witnessed, and hoped for all along. Finally, the man on whom everyone placed their hopes has reached this step without disappointing anyone.
"Ah, how enviable."
Beside the shattered corpse of the Chaos Evil God, the God of Might and Justice looks up at the light. A faint smile curls at the corner of His lips, as if recalling many memories from when He was still human. Unbeknownst to anyone, not only legendary experts but even deities have gradually been surpassed by him, even left far behind. But why does this not feel strange to gods and men, but rather, a sense of inevitability?
All I can say is congratulations—my friend. Everything you have experienced and fought through has been so heavy, but it is precisely because of all the heavy burdens you have borne that you have finally, today, reaped the true reward.
"Saved again. Heaven knows how many times I owe you."
At the very front line of the Pioneer Fortress cluster, in the high-risk war zone resisting the invasion of multiple Evil Gods, the most dangerous period has passed. Loranda floats blankly in the void, his armor and body shattered, looking as if he is about to die. But as the light sweeps over him, his eyes flicker. The paladin feels his injuries rapidly healing. This familiar sensation reminds him of the time long ago when, under the protection of the God of Nature, he fought against the numerous minions of the Calamity Evil God.
Come to think of it, he only acts so recklessly occasionally, but that man treats this kind of thing as a daily routine.
"Ha..."
Brandon, who has just ended a bitter battle with a group of comrades, sheathes his twin swords. He exhales, and the blue light in his eyes, which flared up from using his full power, slowly dims. Before him, a flesh-and-blood Evil God, covered in wounds from the Order Twin Blades, is disintegrating, dissolving in the light. The blonde swordsman is too exhausted to speak a single word, but as he gazes at the light coming from afar, he reveals a tired yet sincere smile.
A sense of security from being protected? No, of course not. It's simply joy for a friend. The only pity is that from now on, even a sparring match where he gets beaten up is impossible. So, to keep his friend from getting bored, he must also work hard and grow as much as possible.
The torrent of light continues to expand, not stopping because it has enveloped the Viros Star River.
It can be seen that, starting from a certain point between the Dead Star River and the Viros Star River, a massive sphere of light is rapidly expanding. From the perspective of the multiverse star river, it looks like an extremely huge patch of light has lit up at the edge of the entire multiverse star river. And because this patch of light is so bright, so dazzling, the light of all worlds in the entire multiverse star river dims, their attention stolen away.
Whoosh—Buzz—
Accompanied by a strange roar, all the Evil Gods that had invaded the Viros Star River and even the Silent Void, and had not yet been destroyed, whimper and retreat in panic. They flee in terror towards the depths of the Silent Void. But this is not due to fear; it's simply that they are blown away by the power of the light torrent, irresistibly hurled towards the other end of spacetime.
And besides that, all the Chaos minions and severely wounded Evil Gods turn to nothing the moment the light arrives. They are all ignited, scattered into ashes. And the moment they are ignited, they become torches themselves, becoming tributaries of the torrent, becoming part of the vast and majestic flame light.
At the center of the fire, between the Dead Star River and the Viros Star River.
Infinite light and fire spin and churn. Billions upon billions of ignited Evil Gods and minions, turned into streams of light, rotate around the giant god. Accompanied by violent roars, the two world star rivers, the Dead Star River and the Viros Star River, even briefly break free from the great rotation of the multiverse star river. They begin to move around another axis.
Countless world stars are torn from their original orbits by a vast force. Some purely dead worlds without life are even shattered in the light, then reshaped, endowed with rekindled fire. It can be seen that the two world star rivers, like two spiral lines, begin to move and merge under the power of someone, even becoming his accretion disk, an incredibly huge super vortex.
Joshua stands in the void. Around him are countless worlds, flames turned from the corpses of countless Evil Gods. In his hand is the core of the Near-Saint Evil God, completely ignited. The warrior stands at the axis where the two star rivers churn, gazing into the vast, endless void. The immeasurable flames surround him, making the man's gaze even purer and more resolute.
"I see. The information hidden in the core of a Near-Saint Evil God is far clearer than that of an ordinary Evil God."
"This immense possibility, this overly powerful force, this other path to the peak... No wonder, no wonder the Sage achieved Sagehood after slaying the Plenty Evil God back then. Nothing happens without reason."
Burning the core of the Evil God, Joshua instantly reviews all the memories condensed within the Evil God. Unlike when he bore the memories of the Death Evil God, he is no longer troubled by these things now.
Soon, the memories of the civilization that was the original body of the Condensed Evil God are extracted from the large swathes of confused and chaotic information. Just like before, Joshua watches their origins, growth, and achievements from beginning to end as an observer, and finally, their destruction.
There is nothing much to say about it. It is merely the story of a species originating from the ocean, a civilization thirsting for the 'ultimate,' using 'hope' to nurture the bitter fruit called 'sorrow.' Unlike other tragic destructions, the birth of the Condensed Evil God was, to some extent, a case of the civilization getting what it asked for. There is nothing to grieve or regret. It's just that this firm determination of 'succeed or die' was exploited by the mastermind behind the scenes. He induced the civilization's failure, then revived their corpses, turning them into an undying eternity.
And after Joshua completely reviews all the information contained within the Condensed Evil God, he naturally comes to understand the path of the Condensed Evil God—another route to Sagehood.
Condensation, fusion, growth, then evolution and sublimation—merging the power of all beings in the entire civilization into one, bypassing the long period of power accumulation for transcendent beings. Countless beings, already powerful in their own right, fuse together, then break through the high-hanging door, skipping countless steps and trials, sublimating into a 'Near-Saint' level existence.
This can be said to be the most stable advancement route. A civilization that originally communicated through a psionic network can essentially be considered an incredibly huge transcendent lifeform. By truly fusing and condensing into one through a ritual, this lifeform naturally sublimates into a Near-Saint existence. The 'Infinite Divine Power Variable Source' of the Takur Annihilation Order, and the 'Civilization Divine Descent' once used by the High Patriarch, are actually similar steps. However, the Takur Annihilation Order chooses one person as the carrier of the civilization's power, briefly elevating them to a state close to Near-Saint. Although this causes the carrier's divine annihilation and cannot fully reach Near-Saint, it is safer for the entire civilization.
"By learning from the path of another Near-Saint, another civilization, another way of thinking in the pursuit of infinity, I can become stronger."
Holding the light aloft, Joshua gains insight. Just as a deity unifying another opposing divinity can make themselves stronger, a Near-Saint can do the same to become more powerful. While all roads lead to Rome, for one specific road, how another road is paved, what its decorations are, what unknown difficulties it has traversed, and what setbacks it encountered during its construction—these are all valuable lessons and experiences to learn from.
The more one accumulates, the closer one gets to the infinite realm of the Sage. All previous Sages did the same thing during this period. If infinity is a sphere, then they were initially a point on its surface. The more they accumulated, the larger the point became, expanding into a surface. Finally, when this surface completely envelops the sphere, they themselves become the embodiment of infinity.
And now, the paths that Joshua holds are actually exceptionally numerous.
The Power of Emotion, although not yet a complete path to infinity, is undoubtedly full of potential. Joshua is its creator, but he deeply knows that he is probably not the one truly suited for it. The warrior's battle lust far outweighs any other emotion. Such a pure will is, in fact, unsuitable for this power that embraces thousands of things.
The method of the Sage's achievement, and the method of the Psionic Sage's achievement, although not yet clear, their common concept of a 'super-large single world,' an infinitely growing, infinitely expanding ultimate sanctuary, is actually a direct path to Near-Saint, to infinity, or rather, to 'absoluteness.'
This is actually a very suitable path for Joshua. But the essence of this path is 'isolation.' The ultimate sanctuary isolates the multiverse from itself. This way, the mastermind behind the scenes might be unable to influence it, but similarly, it cannot influence the mastermind. Moreover, given the mastermind's power and realm, the possibility of Him interfering with the ultimate sanctuary cannot be ruled out. This would be far too passive.
And the Steel Force that the warrior is familiar with, if consistently followed to its end, truly reaching the 'Steel' achieved after the First Flame illuminates the void, the 'Steel' that is the true origin of the myriad worlds and the multiverse, could also reach the Near-Saint or even Sage realm. But this path might have already been walked by someone. The unknown Life Energy Sage, whose existence cannot be confirmed but who indeed had signs of birth and death—if He truly existed, then He must be the pioneer of this path.
And He has failed. Just like the Psionic Sage. Joshua was only suspicious before, but now, after seeing the Condensed Evil God, he confirms that the paths on which those Sages have been defeated and vanished are nearly impossible for another Sage to emerge from. Behind those paths, darkness awaits.
"The path of the Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate is also very good, but the problem is the same. Compared to 'infinity,' which can change the multiverse, the ultimate path of 'absoluteness,' no matter how it is modified, is far too self-contained. It simply cannot solve the final problem."
To put it bluntly, it's just a turtle shell, and one where it's unknown whether the enemy can break it.
Roughly tallying, aside from the path he is currently walking, Joshua has already gathered paths like the Power of Emotion, the Super World, the Steel Force, and the Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate. Now, he has added the Condensed Evil God. Besides his own accumulation, receiving the inheritance of predecessors and seizing the paths of others might also be a good method.
Thinking this, Joshua muses, "If that's the case, as long as I kill a few more Near-Saint Evil Gods, I might be able to skip the thousands of years of accumulation that even the Sage couldn't avoid... This is the most dangerous and fastest shortcut I know."
Thinking this, the man instead reveals a carefree smile.
"But I like danger."
Saying this to himself, the giant god laughs heartily, exerting force. His five fingers, gripping the core of the Condensed Evil God, close, emitting a majestic roar that shatters even worlds.
In that instant, the light explodes. Even more vigorous flames are ignited.
Everything is swallowed by the blazing silver.
At the edge of the multiverse star river, the silver point of light that was originally just a patch also shatters in the same instant. Then, it begins to expand endlessly once more, becoming a rising supernova!
In this instant, the junction of the Dead Star River and the Viros Star River suddenly becomes the center of the entire multiverse star river. Compared to the radiance blooming here, the light of all worlds and the darkness between them are suppressed together. It feels as if there is only one light source, one center in the entire multiverse star river.
And this nearly infinite light continuously spreads from this center towards the distance, sweeping away all darkness in its path, awakening all that is dead, reviving all that is destroyed, and re-endowing all that has passed with possibility.
Everyone witnesses this radiance with joy. No matter how cold and indifferent a person might be, upon feeling this light, they naturally feel invigorated, a nameless joy—as if they have been given something they never possessed before.
The light continues to spread. Even, following the unreasonable propagation speed of the void, which depends only on energy level, even the Lost Star River welcomes Joshua's light. The entire multiverse star river is covered by this torrent, which in a short time rivals the Great Magic Tide. It even surpasses the scope of the multiverse star river, sweeping towards the deepest parts of the endless Silent Void, clearly reflecting the ruins of countless former star rivers and the wreckage of countless worlds.
If someone asks what hope is, then this is undoubtedly it. Regardless of how other intelligent lifeforms perceive it, at least humans are social, light-seeking creatures. Bathing in light with comrades, feeling the immense power of their own strong one in the distance—this is probably the manifestation of hope in reality. Even if another Evil God invasion comes, even if endless Chaos minions drown thousands of worlds, they feel they still have the courage to fight on.
But.
There are still some things that even this radiance cannot penetrate or illuminate.
Right at this moment, which should be full of hope after defeating the Near-Saint Evil God, the divine light spreading endlessly in the Silent Void is suddenly absorbed. The radiance that can penetrate worlds and drive away Evil Gods is absorbed by something too turbid, too vast, sinking into the shadows. And not just in one direction. The nascent forms of this darkness appear in all directions of the multiverse star river, only differing in the time of their appearance.
—Overly bright light reveals overly turbid darkness.
The light bypasses these turbid darknesses, continuing to spread into the distance. But in doing so, it instead outlines the shapes of these numerous darknesses, allowing these colossal existences to be presented before everyone's eyes.
They are, huge clusters.
They are, darkness slowly writhing in the endless void.
To put it in words, they are like countless tentacles, extending from the extreme distance that the light cannot yet illuminate, reaching towards the multiverse star river. These tentacles shift and advance, moving towards the multiverse star river with a seemingly slow, yet actually extremely fast and firm momentum and aura.
And the fastest tentacle has already touched the multiverse star river. And what it touches is precisely the Viros Star River.
But... how to put it?
What the Viros Star River resisted was merely the extremely insignificant front end of one tentacle among thousands. The colorful, dyed sky that everyone saw in the Silent Void earlier, which manifested the presence of numerous Evil Gods, was merely a tiny, one-sided fragment reflected from the surface of the dark tentacle's front end, like the facet of a black diamond illuminated by a strong light.
Finally, the surging silver torrent reaches its limit. It cannot continue to spread, cannot observe the end of these darknesses, the origin of these tentacles.
Faced with these vast darknesses.
The light halts here.