# Chapter 23: Rise and Fight (5800)
Light.
Endless light was spreading through the void, like a vast tide.
This tide surged violently, as majestic as a heavenly river. It expanded with surging force, causing the star rivers to tremble, the myriad realms to sway, and all heavens to be immersed within it.
Darkness.
The most turbid darkness stood firm within the void, like solid rock.
The rock was incomparably stable. Even when struck by the surging tide, it only produced insignificant splashes and fragments. The torrent that could shake worlds crashed against it without shaking it in the slightest, as if it were eternal, impervious to all calamities.
Illuminated by the light, the darkness had never been so conspicuous. They approached each other, neither fast nor slow, neither urgent nor hesitant. Countless dark tentacles writhed in the void, their movements as stiff as shadow puppetry, making one wonder if this was merely an illusion.
But this was no illusion.
This was real.
The ripples of Chaos surged forth, and a suffocating despair spread through everyone's hearts.
The aura was identical to the Evil God army encountered in the Biros Star River—silent, nearly shielding all detection. If not for the fire Joshua ignited illuminating the void, no one would have been able to foresee their arrival, just as the Biros Star River had shown almost no signs before being invaded.
Did they even need to guess? The truth was so obvious—those darknesses beyond the myriad star rivers, where even light could not reach its end, were like stars, or even more numerous than stars, clusters of tentacles. What composed them were Evil Gods.
They were all Evil Gods.
The sky-filling dark tentacles slowly converged, approaching from all directions, like a fist gradually clenching, ready to grasp the entire myriad star rivers in its palm. Watching them, those who had been shocked, delighted, and filled with hope by the fire Joshua ignited now fell silent. They trembled, their lips moving as if wanting to say something. Their shaking hands tried to clench but always failed, falling limply to their sides.
A powerful being from another world floated in the void, somewhat resembling a giant wingless dragon. He had just slain an Evil God moments ago, immersed in the joy of being strong enough to resist the World Devourer's invasion. But now, he stood frozen in place, not even noticing when a floating world wreckage collided with him. His robust arms and body seemed to have withered, losing their original sense of power, drifting along with the world wreckage that had struck him.
An arthropod being resembling an upright spider stared unblinkingly with all eight eyes at the sky-filling light and the thick, slowly approaching darkness that the light could not penetrate. He watched in silence, all four hands holding weapons loosening... Beside him was a nearly half-destroyed fortress, with large amounts of fleet wreckage floating in the void. Anyone could see how much they had paid to hold this position in the previous battle.
Similar beings, similar powerful entities, were numerous, very numerous.
The overly bright light illuminated the heavens, allowing the entire myriad star rivers, all beings capable of observing the void, all life that could gaze into the distance, to witness with their own eyes the darkness beyond the world star river, beyond the myriad star rivers, approaching, too vast to comprehend.
And precisely because of this...
Despair was spreading.
"What... what are those things, those things..."
A powerful being from the Lund civilization trembled as he muttered to himself. The metallic minerals composing his body had scattered, and his originally spherical body was now pitted and scarred. This proved how many bitter battles he had endured, that he indeed had the courage to face the Evil God army—but now, this huge iron ball, even the electromagnetic hum of his body carried a sobbing tone: "Don't tell me... don't say those are all Evil Gods..."
To his almost pleading question, no one answered, no one dared to answer. Because that was a darkness and chaos whose quantity exceeded the total life count of the entire myriad star rivers, a tide of Evil Gods enough to drown all things.
Intelligent life has a limit to how much despair it can bear.
They could accept fighting against endless enemies until the end of their lives, even the destruction of their civilization, all for the sake of seizing a sliver of hope for the future. They could accept that in this dark multiverse, light was actually the rare side. They could even optimistically think, while defaulting to their own annihilation, 'At least our descendants still have a chance to live under the light,' and thus possess the courage to face death calmly.
But this did not mean that possessing such courage allowed one to remain composed when facing an absolutely overwhelming enemy, an absolutely overwhelming—one could say 'inevitable and hopeless'—defeat.
[Information Search: Evil God army drowning the myriad star rivers... the Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate did describe it as an army enough to drown world star rivers, completely covering the entire myriad star rivers]
The information transmission of the Triple Veil also carried a rare sense of gravity: [Information Search: Even, according to its description, the entire myriad star rivers was completely erased—perhaps the myriad star rivers it was in originally encountered such an army]
It was a psychic intelligence machine aggregate, usually without any emotion of fear, but beings like it were not many.
Even Joshua was stunned.
The hand that had crushed the condensed Evil God core slowly lowered, the light gradually dimming. The warrior looked up, gazing at the sky-filling infinite darkness, his expression gradually shifting from shock to gravity, and finally to solemnity.
"One, two, three..."
He counted softly: "Ten thousand, hundred thousand, million..."
Unlike other beings who could not discern details, the warrior observed those dark tentacles and could clearly see how many among them were Evil Gods, how many were Chaos minions, and among the Evil Gods, how many were Near-Saint Evil Gods, how many were ordinary Evil Gods.
But as he counted, he stopped. He did not waste time on meaningless things, counting the endless dark tentacles, counting how many Evil Gods were among them.
Because merely, at present, in the batch of Chaos tentacles closest to the myriad star rivers that could be seen at a glance, there were forty-five Near-Saint Evil Gods.
They flew calmly through the void, invading from every direction of the myriad star rivers, leaving no gaps. All the tentacles converged together, like a 'strangulation' with no blind spots. This momentum and quantity were even more terrifying and unstoppable than what the Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate had encountered.
Even the possibility of escape did not exist—because the endless Evil God tentacles were like an incredibly huge net. Any existence above a certain scale would inevitably be discovered, filtered out, and hunted down.
"Priest and Alva..."
Joshua murmured to himself, his tone heavy: "And the ether ring world we forged... can it really deceive these Evil Gods and safely evade them?"
As for this Evil God army attacking from every direction, setting aside the question of whether they could escape, even if Joshua could slay Near-Saint Evil Gods, it was fundamentally impossible to block them in time—those forty-five Near-Saint Evil Gods were only in the closest batch of tentacles. Behind them, who knew how many there were, a hundred times, a thousand times, or even greater orders of magnitude.
"No, not to mention blocking them."
Facing multiple Near-Saint Evil Gods, whether he could even win was actually unknown.
Joshua sighed. Although he had enough confidence, he would not be arrogant enough to deceive himself into believing it—he was indeed very powerful, but could any Near-Saint be considered 'weak'? Could any civilization and powerful being that could advance to this realm have exploitable weaknesses?
However, watching this scene, Joshua finally understood why the situation had suddenly become so perilous.
"Yes, the Shadow Subspace created by the Shadow Sage."
He said in a low voice, the warrior couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile: "This is the only explanation."
The Shadow Subspace created by the Shadow Sage affected the entire multiverse. It connected all isolated myriad star river clusters, allowing future civilizations to cross endless time and space to resist the endless Evil God clusters—but at the same time, the channels that connected all worlds also made it easier for countless Evil Gods in the void to gather together, launching invasions and destruction at a faster pace.
Even the Holy Light could be considered a guide for the Evil Gods. The brilliant light in the void was like a beacon, a lighthouse that echoed and guided the Evil Gods forward—of course, civilizations could also do this, which was one of the original characteristics of the Holy Light.
From a future perspective, the war against the Evil Gods might be a united struggle of multiple myriad star river civilization clusters. Greater strength and more resources could directly resist the Chaos tide that a single myriad star river could not withstand. This was indeed far better than a single myriad star river fighting alone. Different knowledge and civilizations mixing together and communicating would naturally bring them closer to the truth, producing more powerful beings, Near-Saints, and even new Sages.
This was probably the hope the Sages spoke of.
Indeed, this truly was hope. Joshua had long understood this, which was why he had always had confidence in the future.
But this also meant another thing.
That was, after the Saint and the Shadow Sage, the first star river civilization to bear the changes they brought, the first to face the great calamity of the era's end, would probably not have time to unite other myriad star rivers. They would have to face the ultimate final calamity—which future multiple myriad star rivers would need to unite to face—with only the resources and strength of a single star river.
Just like what everyone was seeing now—the sky-covering dark tentacles that even filled the void were approaching. This was a Chaos cluster capable of destroying a myriad star river who knows how many times, an enemy that future multiple myriad star river civilizations would need to unite to defeat, and even then, they would need to fight bitterly and stalemate.
And now, facing them were only the civilizations of a single star river.
The light dimmed. Joshua looked up at the dark void. The giant god's four hands hung at his sides, his gaze fixed on the distant end.
—The first to eat crab is always at a loss.
—The first to arrive at a new continent always encounters new plagues and dangers.
—The first to open a new path always doesn't know what lies ahead, what gains there are, or what enemies there are.
First, first, first—first is the supreme glory. The first means before all things, able to obtain the most precious first-hand information.
But first is also the most dangerous, because there is no experience at all, so one can make mistakes that could be called foolish. Because one can only cross the river by feeling the stones, one doesn't know whether ahead lies solid rock or surging whirlpools.
—They have already arrived, far faster than anyone imagined.
Now, the myriad star rivers where Joshua was located had to face these things—the first myriad star river to encounter the future multiverse-level great calamity. What they saw now, what they witnessed, would be precious information for future civilizations, enough to make future myriad star river civilizations fearfully unite, no longer having any unnecessary friction or conflict.
But I'm afraid, future civilizations wanting to know this information would only be able to dig it out from ruins and relics.
"Too many."
"Too urgent."
The warrior muttered to himself: "I... have no time left."
There was not much time left.
He had only just broken through to Near-Saint not long ago. Even though he had a deep foundation and the guidance of many Sages and other Near-Saints' paths, he was still far from the Sage realm. He still needed accumulation, tempering, thinking, and verification to steadily breakthrough and advance to a higher existence.
But now, there was no leeway left for him to develop peacefully.
The Biros Star River, the Lost Star River, many star rivers, and even the entire myriad star rivers—all the powerful beings who had come to the front line, who were about to come to the front line, who were still guarding their homes—fell silent. They fundamentally didn't know which direction to defend, because endless Evil Gods were about to strike from every direction. Their silence might not be due to fear, but it was undoubtedly filled with despair.
Fear and despair are different—even a fearful person fights hesitantly, but it cannot be said that there is no hope for victory in his heart, no hidden flame. A despairing person can die generously, but their heart is already cold, because they know that only death and failure are the only outcome.
The Seven Gods and other powerful beings of Mycroft stood together. Yi Zhe touched his beard. This dwarf god didn't know what to say, just sighed. But Yue Ai was unexpectedly not worried. She had long harbored a death wish and viewed the future with indifference.
But other gods and powerful beings could not be as calm as these two. Some closed their eyes, as if unable to bear the despair of continuing to watch. Some took out communication arrays, as if wanting to contact familiar relatives, but when they opened their contact lists, they didn't know what to say.
Say last words? Too early, too ridiculous. The battle hadn't even started yet. At least wait until the other Evil God tentacle clusters really arrived.
But saying 'I love you,' 'I love you all'—would it be useful?
The courage of unity, the will to resist—did it have meaning?
Firm belief, bloody battle, fight to the end, never retreat—the previous propaganda slogans all had 'victory' and 'hope' as a glimmer of light to induce people to stimulate their full strength. But now, these words had become hollow and illusory. Could they still be spoken loudly?
Too naive, too cute. What unyielding will, what passionate spirit—in the instant of contrast with the darkness, it was like a child's babble.
"What can we do?"
As if talking to himself, as if asking, Mie Lü said: "What else can we do?"
This was indeed a good question—because for a moment, no one could answer, once again bringing silence.
—But now, had it really come to the point of being helpless, only waiting for death with eyes closed?
Joshua deeply sighed.
—He didn't smoke. Even if someone invited him, he would refuse.
—He didn't drink either. Only when good friends raised their glasses would he respond.
He was indifferent to gourmet food, uninterested in carnal pleasure and enjoyment. He didn't kill time; even playing games and taking walks had their purposes. He never used any indirect means to wear down his will. He always did what he wanted to do, ensuring no impact on others, being the purest version of himself.
He didn't need smoking to relieve worries, didn't need drinking to drown sorrows. He didn't need gourmet food or carnal desires to numb himself. The warrior needed nothing. He did what he should do, what he wanted to do.
Even if it made others feel regret, feel reluctance, that was still his choice.
This time, naturally, it was the same.
"Ah, how fortunate."
Breathing out a low sigh, the man raised his head, reaching out his hand to grab the darkness in the sky, just like when he was a child, eagerly reaching out to grab the stars.
"Fortunately, I have always been an abnormal person, always a madman. I long ago thought that one day this would come."
—In a world without miracles, I fantasized about fighting powerful supernatural enemies. In a world with miracles, I fantasized about fighting stronger and stronger opponents. The world loved me, making my fantasies reality. Until now, I still feel joy.
—But even so, I understand very well that reality is always worse than I expected, worse than I fantasized. Even things I cannot fantasize about might truly exist in reality.
The man clenched his hand, as if wanting to grab all the sky-filling darkness. But just as a child cannot grab stars, he only clenched his fist emptily, punching toward the sky.
"I have always thought that I could successfully become a Sage, defeat the behind-the-scenes manipulator, achieve my goal, end the sorrowful ring cycle, restore peace to the multiverse, and reshape it with my own order. Then, perhaps I could also change myself, make myself not so madly anticipate battle, at least occasionally enjoy time living happily with family and friends."
"I really thought so. I really love them. The hopes and wishes they confide in me, I can all hear, all want to respond to."
But now, the dream was broken.
"This is the battle waiting for me. I understand. Eternal, endless enemies that annihilate everything—this is the battle belonging to me. I long ago thought there would be such a day. But when it truly became reality, it was still a bit hard to accept."
Earlier, the light the warrior had lit went out, returning everything in the silent void to darkness, letting the normal light of the myriad star rivers faintly shine. This way, the distant approaching enemies could not be seen. Everything was peaceful, as if what had been seen before was all an illusory dream.
This way, many powerful beings, many existences could deceive themselves, saying those were all fake, all nonexistent. They could temporarily break free from despair and restore normal thoughts.
—But Joshua had already awakened from true despair!
So, he clenched his four fists again. The warrior unhesitatingly raised his right hand high.
He lit the light again—a light far brighter, clearer, and more surging than before!
This light lit up again, startling everyone. It once again crossed the myriad star rivers, traversing the silent void, completely illuminating all enemies, every detail, without a doubt. This immediately stirred up a great commotion, causing many who had barely calmed down to tremble, covering their eyes, approaching collapse.
Although they knew it was wrong to think this way, they couldn't help but blame, resent the warrior who made them see the truth. They couldn't help but complain—couldn't he let them numb themselves a little, slowly accept this fact? Did he have to make them despair, make them give up on themselves?!
But a voice rang out, like a desolate horn, like an impassioned war song.
"Although the future is cruel, never escape or fear it."
His voice spread throughout the myriad star rivers, heard by all life. The four-armed giant god raised his right fist, looking up at the void, staring unblinkingly at the endless enemies. His tone was solemn but not lacking in heroism: "Those who do not rise and fight will never have victory descend upon them."
The man's voice laughed, carrying justice, courage, hope, determination, filled with arrogance, anger, killing intent, destruction.
—The light that illuminates all things shines through all worlds.
—The dark clusters writhe, approaching the world.
—The burning flame is about to reach its end.
—The wind of light howls.
—He is now filled with determination—