# Chapter 6: Willing to Be Ashes (11000)
"...I understand your thoughts. We are sorry about this. But there is no way I am handing the Star Saints over to you."
Mara's expression darkened. She naturally recognized who the other party was—it was the Star Saint they had failed to discover, along with the ancient powerful beings who had been released recently. Facing Carlis's condescending threat and announcement, she also transformed into a stream of light, soaring into the sky to face the reincarnation of the Steel Serpent from afar. At the same time, over a dozen streams of light shot up from throughout Glory City, hovering behind Mara.
As the product of the former union of the Pantheon of Ten Thousand Gods, a super-large organization spanning the entire Shining Zone and billions of mobile world-cities, the Ashes Order's strength was formidable. With just Glory City's population of over a hundred billion, they could field over a dozen divine inheritors and Legendary experts. If they gathered all their power, even facing the endless tide of Chaos surging from the Dark Zone alone, they would have no fear. But their sphere of influence was simply too vast; it was impossible to easily clench such a loose organizational structure into a fist.
Even so, gathering the power of a hundred billion people, ten billion Transcendents, an entire super-large mobile world-city, and eighteen Legendary experts was enough to contend with those revived ancient Ultimate-level experts in the sky. Although the enemy had only half their numbers at most, distress signals had already been sent. As long as they delayed long enough, experts from all over the Three Realms and Nine Heavens would converge to surround them.
"Then let us fight!"
But this imposing display did not cause the slightest change in expression on the faces of those prehistoric experts in the sky. They had encountered situations millions of times more spectacular than this. Each of them was a legend among elites. A single World Star River might only give birth to no more than ten civilizations capable of producing Legendary-level lifeforms, and the proportion that could break through the Legendary limit was like the proportion of ordinary humans breaking through to Legendary. Each of them was an expert who could dominate a World Star River and hold a great name throughout the Multiverse Star River. Below the Near-Saint level, they were the strongest!
With Carlis's decisive declaration of battle, an enormous vortex immediately appeared above Glory City. The massive spiral in the former Steel Serpent's hand stirred the incredibly heavy air of the Steel Continent, transforming it into a raging violent tornado that raged wildly. Without hesitation, she directly thrust this drill, capable of shattering a star in an instant, toward Glory City's barrier!
The battle had begun. This was a confrontation between the revived ancients and the present holders. Ancient experts awakened from ruins, intending to destroy the world, and contemporary experts who had endured hardships, intending to save it. There was no room for compromise between the two sides. Even if one side sympathized with the other, even if one side understood the other, conflict was still inevitable.
But what the Ashes Order did not expect was that this battle was essentially just a delaying action, a spectacular 'diversion.'
An inconspicuous beam of light had, several dozen minutes earlier, followed the exhaust of a ship entering the city and slipped inside this enormous mobile city. Not only that, but this beam of light also carried several other beings.
"The battle has begun. We must complete our mission."
At the edge of the world, in the endless agricultural zone, Eagle squinted as he looked at the brilliant sparks erupting in the sky. The Steel Force spiral had not yet broken through several layers of divine power arrays before it was deflected aside by the power of the inheritor of the Star God, who controlled gravity, the current First Patriarch. On one side was the former Steel Serpent, the World Will itself; on the other was an expert who had exhausted their path. Both were masters of Steel Force, but the latter held the advantage. Carlis's power had only recovered for a little over a decade and could not compare with Mara's centuries of unceasing arduous cultivation. But at this moment, Mycroft also joined the battlefield. Although she seemed casual, she surpassed Carlis by far in both power and technique.
In addition, the other eight revived Legendary experts also began charging toward different directions of the world-city, engaging in battle with other Ashes Order Legendaries. Although it looked intense, there was a sense that these people were fighting deliberately—not so much trying to defeat their opponents as 'delaying,' drawing as much of the Ashes Order's attention as possible.
"Gloin," Eagle said, lowering his head to the somewhat dispirited Grand Inquisitor beside him, "you said that Glory City is where the many Star Saints are located, and also the central control hub where the Ashes Order manipulates the Shadow Star Track and transfers stars. That's why we came here."
"Don't worry about your compatriots. None of us are indiscriminate killers. Their battle is only to cover our infiltration. As long as you quickly let us rescue the Star Saints, no one will die."
"Now, tell me, where is the place where you hide and control the Star Saints?"
On the other side, Alpha did not hear Eagle's question to Gloin. The moment he entered this world-city, this man who was worried about his wife and children and wanted to personally come to rescue them felt a strange 'call.' This call was so direct, as if it were ringing directly in his ears, guiding him toward a certain place.
Unsure whether this was a trap or an illusion, Alpha looked up toward the direction of the industrial zone. He was about to say something when Gloin, after a moment of silence, also pointed in the same direction.
"In the underground of Industrial Zone 51. That's where the control center of the high-precision nanomachine manufacturing plant is located. There's a large underground space, and most of the found Star Saints are kept there."
The direction he pointed was the same as what Alpha had sensed. Eagle made a brief check and confirmed that Gloin was telling the truth. Without hesitation, the three continued to transform into undetectable streams of light, flying toward the so-called Zone 51.
Industrial Zone 51 was far from here, and along the way, there were many sensitive detection arrays covering and intercepting them, forcing Eagle, who did not want to be discovered, to take detours. Even at the speed of light, it would take a full half-second to arrive—of course, for Alpha and Gloin, it was the time it took to blink, and they were at the edge of Zone 51. The whole process was faster than opening a portal, stepping through, and closing it.
This place was located in the center of Glory City's industrial zone, completely surrounded by all kinds of enormous factories and steel structures. Within the surface area of an entire ordinary planet-world, everything was covered by various super-giant structures, metal factories, and energy array cores emitting light. Unlike the planting zone, which had relatively pleasant scenery and a large number of organic flora and fauna, the industrial zone was a purely artificial steel sector. Thanks to the Ashes Order's gift from the God of Ten Thousand Machines, their industrial production made extensive use of activated nanomachines, resulting in little pollution, high efficiency, and no need for natural organisms to maintain the ecological cycle.
Standing in the center of the industrial zone was a giant structure shaped like a massive pyramid, fifteen thousand meters tall. In essence, it was a world-city production base. The structure exposed above the surface was just one of its entrances. Its true body was a star-scale manufacturing center that penetrated the entire foundation of Glory City in the underground space below. Zone 51 was located right next to this giant pyramid, wrapped in layers of extremely tight defenses.
If it were just Gloin or Alpha alone, they would probably have to put on an infiltration show right now, evading layers of sentries through a series of thrilling and dangerous actions, using one strange high-tech device after another, and ultimately sneaking in undetected. But since a Legendary Ultimate-level expert was with them, things were not so troublesome. After confirming the entrance and exit locations with the now haggard Gloin, who no longer had his initial vigor, and the area where the Star Saints were supposedly undergoing centralized training, Eagle sent a covert message into the sky.
And in the sky, upon receiving this information, the many ancient experts perked up. Eagle had found the target. Now they needed to draw the Ashes Order's attention. So, an instant later, accompanied by a terrifying pressure several times stronger than before, the floating stars and celestial bodies above the Steel Continent where Glory City was located began to shift their trajectories under the will of the experts. One could see star after star continuously descending, followed by hundreds of stars being guided. They had locked onto the Ashes Order's headquarters, preparing to create an artificial rain of falling stars!
This undoubtedly made the already vigilant Ashes Order members immediately withdraw their attacks and begin to concentrate their power, preparing to withstand the impact. Glory City's divine power barrier could indeed block a rain of falling stars, but if other Legendary experts' attacks followed closely, the barrier at its critical state would likely be torn apart. The hundred billion people of Glory City would be turned to ash by the force of stars colliding with the earth. They had no choice but to go all out.
"You said this was just a feint!"
Staring blankly as the fireballs in the sky gradually grew larger, larger, until they covered the entire sky and all vision, Gloin immediately turned his head and growled in a low voice at Eagle and Alpha beside him: "You call this a feint!?"
Even if stars rising and setting were an everyday occurrence, that did not mean the residents of the Steel Continent could calmly watch a star fall toward their heads.
"What else would it be?" But what greeted him was Eagle's nonchalant expression. Back when they fought against the Evil God cluster, they had turned half a World Star River into a fortress cluster. Every battle where the fortresses faced Chaos was more spectacular than this one: "This really isn't a big deal. Alright, let's keep moving. Ninety percent of the defensive forces have been pulled away to reinforce the barrier. This is the perfect time for us to infiltrate."
The defenses of Zone 51, which had most of their forces pulled away to reinforce the barrier, could not stop a Legendary expert. In fact, they couldn't stop one even originally. But to be cautious, Eagle did not want to reveal any clues, so he required a completely flawless infiltration. Now, leading the two light-chasers as light, this Pope of the Mycroft people sped through various passages and conduits toward the underground of Zone 51.
This was also a very large manufacturing plant, with production workshops and control rooms arranged in a highly regular pattern. It was originally supposed to assist the adjacent world-city manufacturing center in producing large precision machinery, such as world barrier generators, anti-gravity array cores, and the like. Eagle noticed that some of the technology held by the Ashes Order seemed to be inherited from Mycroft—or rather, the entire essence of the Light-Chasers was a large hybrid formed by mixing the former Mycroft civilization with numerous other civilizations' technologies.
This was not surprising. Eagle knew that Joshua had created things like Civilization Heroic Spirits. His world was originally a giant experimental ground prepared for reviving various civilizations. Even though he had grown this powerful, his essence remained unchanged. The essence of the Light-Chasers should be beings reborn within his world from the extracted memories of the origin civilizations of the various Evil Gods Joshua had killed. These civilizations, which had once fallen into Evil Gods, rose again and fought against Chaos. Joshua probably intended to use this method to gradually eliminate the remaining Chaos within his body after his divine annihilation.
But the deeper Alpha went, the more puzzled he became. The feeling of being called grew stronger, but he did not see any 'living areas' along the way that would allow people to live. Gloin seemed to be telling the truth—the many Star Saints were here, somewhere deeper—but this place was indeed just a pure factory, without any life support equipment. The Ashes Order's industrial production was mostly fully automated, requiring only a small number of technical personnel for maintenance, and those technical personnel generally worked on the surface, which was the strange appearance of these giant factories exposed to the outside.
He felt a sense of unease, and this unease was gradually growing.
Until, under Eagle's leadership, they arrived at a place deep underground, seventeen kilometers below Glory City, protected by numerous strict arrays. At that point, this doubt and unease reached its peak.
It was an abnormally large steel lake, entirely forged from mithril alloy rich in energy affinity. In three dimensions, it was a cylindrical pit with a radius of over four kilometers and a depth of eight kilometers. This pit was filled with a light blue, star-dust-like shimmering, illusion drug liquid. As a scholar, Alpha could easily tell that it was 'Mental Solvent' made from Cranel Grass and various other auxiliary materials. It could activate and enhance mental power, accelerate cultivation, and was considered an expensive luxury and cultivation potion. Outside, even a finger-sized vial of Cranel Mental Solvent could sustain a Silver-rank spellcaster for a month.
But now, what appeared before the three was a vertical cylindrical lake with a radius of four kilometers and a depth of eight kilometers, filled with this precious solvent. One could see ripples on the lake's surface, as if something was moving in the depths. And this lake was also the core of a large array. Amid the movement of countless steel and machinery, energy patterns shimmered with a hazy light, illuminating the entire underground factory.
"...Alpha."
Suddenly, Eagle spoke. His expression did not change, but his eyelids drooped slightly. The Pope in the form of a young boy held back Alpha, who was a bit excited and wanted to move forward because his perception was already very strong. He said in a low voice: "It's dangerous ahead. You're relatively weak, so don't go."
Then, he glanced at Gloin beside him. But he found that this Ashes Order member, who had been somewhat dispirited since being captured by the awakened experts, had now perked up again. He met the Legendary expert's gaze without the slightest wavering in his eyes. This made Eagle frown slightly.
"No, Patriarch."
Because he knew Eagle's true identity as the Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods, Alpha had been using the Light-Chaser term for Pope to address Eagle. This middle-aged man's voice was almost pleading: "Let me go. I'm not afraid of danger. I can feel it—my daughter is calling me... She's happily greeting me, I can feel it..."
"...Happily?"
With an almost imperceptible sigh, Eagle did not continue to stop him. Silently, he led the two toward the large array and the solvent lake before them. One could see that around this lake, there were numerous runes made of purple crystal, densely packed to form an extremely complex integrated array. Purple crystal was a material with excellent affinity for mental power and souls. Paired with mithril, it could be used to forge various equipment and devices that enhanced spellcasting ability. And now, these precious materials were all extravagantly piled together, forming a complex, crisscrossing, and extremely powerful network.
The lake's undulations grew stronger. The things inside were moving more violently. The light blue star-dust solvent rippled, beautiful as a dream.
What was the Ashes Order doing? Where were the Star Saints? Various possibilities hinted at the answer, but Alpha still refused to believe it, not even thinking about that aspect.
They arrived beside this lake. They could already clearly see that in the depths of the lake, there was a huge, perfectly round shadow. It rose and fell in the depths of the solvent, its movements stirring the lake. And now, as Eagle, Gloin, and Alpha approached, that huge, perfectly round shadow seemed excitedly trying to approach, to surface from the solvent. But every time it began to move, it seemed to become timid again and retreated to the bottom of the lake, repeating this process.
"Come out. Don't be afraid."
Finally, it was Eagle who spoke. He calmed the huge existence at the bottom of the lake, telling them not to be afraid or timid. He was indeed a Pope, and his soul was that of a kind old man. Sensing the gentle goodwill and kind guidance emanating from him, the huge existence at the bottom of the lake stopped its contradictory undulations and slowly surfaced.
Gloin remained silent, while Alpha excitedly wanted to move forward—but soon, he froze in place.
Because what appeared before them was a huge sphere.
A sphere about three kilometers in diameter, glowing, gray in color, with a large number of silver light points floating and sinking inside it—a 'spiritual mass sphere.'
In other words, it was a giant, physical soul formed by countless souls bonded together.
The moment this giant soul surfaced from the solvent lake, a huge roar and fluctuation erupted in the soul world of everyone around. It was like a star, a soul's star, bursting with endless power and vitality. It eagerly released its light and heat, illuminating everything around it. In that instant, all life below Legendary, including other Ashes Order members still guarding the surface, fell into an illusion. In the illusion, they were illuminated and enveloped by eternal light, as if entering a warm dream.
And the moment Alpha felt this fluctuation, he also fell into this illusion. At the same time, the soft laughter of his daughter, Siberia Farst, came to him. She seemed to be saying something, communicating with her father about something. But Alpha could not hear clearly, could not understand. Blood began to seep from his mouth and nose. Sensing this, a mournful cry came from the giant soul sphere. It quickly sank back into the lake, leaving only a small part exposed.
And after immersing itself in the mental solvent, this overwhelming soul fluctuation dissipated by more than half. This lake seemed to be used to isolate this powerful soul fluctuation and maintain the existence of this soul sphere.
It was only then, when his mind was beginning to grow a bit dazed, that Alpha heard the much clearer voice.
"Daddy, you finally came. A few years ago, they said you would come. You're very late."
"I'm sorry, Daddy. I wasn't paying attention. Does it still hurt?"
Hearing his daughter's voice, Alpha perked up again. His eyes refocused. The man felt a slight touch on his face—it was materialized mental power carefully touching him. With a bitter laugh, Alpha wiped his face, using his sleeve to clean away the still-flowing blood. He stood up and, with trembling but firm steps, walked toward the nearby lake, toward that huge physical soul.
Eagle did not stop him. He just turned his head and looked at Gloin beside him with an unprecedented, stern gaze. But Gloin did not care at all. He also stared at that huge soul sphere, his eyes expressing something between sorrow and pride. But in the end, this Grand Inquisitor's eyes only held calm indifference.
Now, the situation was clear.
That huge physical soul sphere was precisely the fusion of the souls of many Star Saints. Each silver light point was a still-active Star Saint soul. They were connected by the gray soul medium, simultaneously unleashing their terrifying soul power, far surpassing any life form. And this power was usually absorbed by the entire mental solvent lake and transmitted to the surrounding array.
This was an artificial, super-large Saint Soul. It housed infinite authority, a holy soul capable of commanding the stars and all things. A living 'star controller.' One could imagine what the Ashes Order relied on to achieve the feat of controlling the stars in the sky.
"My child... my child..."
Kneeling before the lake, Alpha wanted to leap into it to touch that huge spiritual mass, but he dared not. His own body was relatively so filthy—what if it contaminated this lake? The man initially just called out hoarsely, but then tears streamed down his face. Extreme self-blame and grief made him unable to speak. The materialized mental power seemed to want to wipe away his tears, but could never finish.
But soon, there were no more tears. Alpha was not an ordinary person. A brief emotional loss of control would not truly destroy a Transcendent's sanity. He stood up again, then turned around in a rage and charged at Gloin.
"You knew, didn't you?!"
"You knew from the very beginning, that's why you kept it from me, right?!"
He punched the other. Gold-rank power condensed, enough to split huge mountain rocks, to shatter thick city walls and even mountain bodies in one blow. This power struck solidly on Gloin's face. With a muffled sound of flesh and blood exploding, it shattered part of his skull and jawbone. Half of his cheek became hollow, blood spraying out.
Seeing this, even the enraged Alpha was stunned. His Gold-rank power was less than a mosquito bite to Gloin, who was at the Ultimate Peak. If he punched him, even the automatic energy flow of the other's internal energy cycle would send him staggering back a few steps. This result could only mean that the other party had not only given up defense but had also completely restrained the power of his internal cycle.
But this did not extinguish Alpha's anger. Gritting his teeth, he raised his fist again and swung it toward Gloin's chest: "You're repenting now?! After doing something like this, you can't bear it?! Getting hit by me feels like atonement?!"
Don't be ridiculous!
This punch aimed straight for Gloin's heart. It could follow the momentum to swing upward, smashing the Ashes Inquisitor's head to pieces. Energy surged, and it could also completely shatter the other's internal energy cycle. If Gloin really did not defend, this blow would be a sure kill—unless he followed the Soul's Ultimate Essence, where the incompleteness of the body was meaningless.
Gloin indeed did not defend. But Eagle intervened.
A faint holy light shone, blocking Alpha's fist. Eagle looked at him with a calm gaze and said softly: "Let him explain. Killing him won't change anything. It's better to ask if there's a solution."
This was indeed rational advice. Alpha could not resist Eagle's restraint either. He could only drop his hand dejectedly, turn his head, and look at that huge soul still rising and falling in the lake.
And Gloin, without changing his expression, covered the wound on his face with his hand. Soon, flesh proliferated, and his face roughly restored itself. To Alpha, who was still glaring at him fiercely, he did not say much, just stated flatly: "They are all still alive."
"All of them. From the very beginning until recently, all the Star Saints are alive. At least their souls are alive."
"Don't lie."
This statement made Eagle frown. He shook his head and rebuked: "So much soul medium, spiritual mass bonded body fusing all the still-active Star Saint souls together without rejection reaction. Where else could this soul medium come from? You say all the Star Saints are alive? That's not how you tell a lie."
"Where else could it come from?"
And Gloin stared at those gray spiritual masses—different from the silver light points inside them, which were exceptionally beautiful and dazzling, these were even ugly and dim soul mediums. His gaze was like looking at rows of tombstones, grave mounds one by one. After a moment of silence, this Grand Inquisitor said loudly, in a tone full of pride: "From us."
"All of us."
The word 'us' has different uses and meanings at different times. But at this moment, for Gloin, the Grand Inquisitor of the Ashes Order, the 'us' he spoke of naturally referred to no one else—the collective of all 'Ashes Order members.'
"The screening was indeed very difficult. Souls with matching frequencies were too few. But there were many righteous people in the Order. After hearing our purpose and difficulties, the vast majority were willing to dedicate their souls as raw materials and fuel to maintain the Star Saint collective, the 'Celestial Instrument Soul.' This is not a painful thing, but an honor."
Turning his head to look at Eagle, who was expressionless as if thinking, and Alpha, who showed a look of astonishment and could not quite understand, Gloin smiled. His voice was calm: "We did indeed dissolve, or rather, used a secret method to destroy the Star Saints' physical bodies, allowing them to merge in soul form, falling into the dream world we created, to control the stars in the sky. But besides that, we dare not do anything else to them. The Star Saints are the power to save our world, the existence capable of continuing the flame. They are the only object of worship for the Ashes Order, which has lost its gods."
The gray spiritual mass was slowly but inevitably volatilizing, even under the envelopment of the array and the wrapping of the solvent. Without the wrapping of this spiritual mass, the active silver souls inside would undoubtedly lose their protection, eventually deteriorating into the same soul medium as this gray spiritual mass.
Therefore, replenishment was needed. Gloin looked up at a large conduit above the dome of this lake. When it began to operate, the conduit would descend, injecting the already prepared soul medium into that huge 'Celestial Instrument Soul' to maintain its existence. The raw material for this soul medium was the souls of Ashes Order members whose frequencies were close to those of the many Star Saints, capable of coordinating and aggregating their power to control the stars of the sky.
"What do you take life for?! Tools, parts, or firewood?!"
Even the angry Alpha could not help but lose his voice at this moment. He raised his hand, wanting to accuse Gloin and the Ashes Order of this reckless disregard for life, casually treating the souls of intelligent beings as parts and fuel. But for a moment, he himself did not know what he was indignant about on behalf of those Ashes Order members. Just a moment ago, the man wished he could burn the entire Ashes Order to ashes, destroy them one by one. But after learning this truth—whether it was true or not, but highly likely so—his anger and grief transformed into deep confusion and sorrow.
Was it really necessary?
It could only be this way.
"This is how life is used."
Gloin straightened his clothes, stained by his own blood, and replied in a low voice: "Life is firewood. Fighting Chaos and dying in battle, or becoming part of a giant machine that guides the stars' movement, becoming its fuel—there is no difference. If my mental frequency were suitable, I would have thrown myself into it long ago... I'm old. They won't send me to the battlefield. But I could never become a Legend. Originally, I wanted to become soul medium in the end, to contribute my last bit of strength to this world. But it's a real pity—I'm not worthy."
Gloin's calm tone contained deep self-mockery: "The Ashes Order once excavated from ancient god ruins a certain peculiar authority related to the 'Soulflame King.' It could burn souls, restoring light and order to the world. And we were willing to be the fuel of the fire, to burn and turn to ashes, to return the future and hope to this world. That was the original intention of the Ashes Order. But we are not worthy. In the entire Three Realms and Nine Heavens, there is not a single life that can burn its soul to restore this world according to the description of that authority."
"Worse than death is wanting to die but being unable to. I am in pain. All of us are in pain. In this Three Realms and Nine Heavens, which seems bright but is actually surrounded by endless darkness, no matter how we live, we can only feel despair, watching our world's flame go out bit by bit. On the contrary, only through sacrifice can we feel a little joy—at least that is a solid contribution to the world's future."
"Death is liberation. Death is sublimation. This is how life is used. Rushing headlong toward the direction you want to die, and finally throwing yourself into it without regret—that is the instant of burning, and the meaning of existence."
Gloin was not lying. Eagle was certain. He had indeed spoken the complete truth.
The power of a single Star Saint, even with amplification arrays and the assistance of the power of experts in numerous crystal obelisks, could not move tens of millions of stars. Only by aggregating all the Star Saints together, through array joint amplification and resonance, could they easily produce a power where 1+1 was greater than 3. An aggregation of many Star Saints could easily alter the sky.
But how was the fusion and parallel connection, amplification and resonance of souls to be achieved? No one had ever done anything like this before. The Ashes Order did not possess this technology, so experimentation was needed.
And the ultimate success of this experiment, the development of the technology, was the credit of countless Ashes Order volunteers. Their sacrifice created the prototype of the 'Celestial Instrument Soul.'
The Star Saints were too important. Without complete preparation, we dared not harm them in the slightest. So we first used our own lives to pave the way for this technology and the future saints.
The Ashes Order was truly single-mindedly dedicated to saving the world.
If they could do it themselves, they would never let others do it. If they could avoid sacrificing others, they would never send others to the battlefield.
But alas, the weak cannot make perfect choices.
The power of the Star Saints could not be replaced by anyone. Whether it was Gloin or Mara, ordinary people or Legendary experts, none could imitate it in the slightest. The power of the Star Saints seemed to be a part of the natural authority of this world, naturally capable of commanding all things.
For the revived experts, this was easy to understand. In the past, the Steel Serpent's armor had merged with Joshua. They were originally a part of him. Not to mention that the Steel Serpent itself was the Son of Fire and Steel, holding powerful Steel Force. The internal authority of the world it held was essentially equivalent to a part of Joshua himself.
"The purpose?"
For a moment, even Eagle did not know what to say. At this moment, piercing alarms could be heard. The Ashes Order personnel on the surface had finally noticed something wrong. They had discovered the intruders. Powerful auras were breaking away from the battlefield above Glory City, willing to be severely injured to rush back for support.
But Eagle was not nervous. He just continued to ask Gloin: "The power of the Star Saint, the reincarnation of the Steel Serpent, can control the Steel Continent and the movement of stars. That's not surprising. But are you really just transporting stars to the Shining Zone to sustain the Light-Chasers' existence? That's not saving the world; it's just barely surviving. You must have other purposes."
"We want to condense the power of all the Star Saints to call upon the world itself."
Gloin held nothing back. He straightforwardly stated the Ashes Order's ultimate goal: "We suspect that the Star Saints are fragments of the Heavenly Father's soul—at least fragments of this creation part—which is why they are all born into the world in female forms and races. The other parts of the Heavenly Father, the power, authority, and might to control heaven and earth and destroy Chaos, are still sleeping. We intend to have the Celestial Instrument Soul awaken those sleeping powers of the Heavenly Father, to let our Creator awaken again and save this world."
"If that really doesn't work... we will unite the power of all Light-Chasers, to let the Star Saints become the self-will of this world. In other words, to recreate a 'Heavenly Mother,' a 'World Will.'"
Although Gloin was a bit hesitant about the later part of the plan, he was not at a level to know the final plan. But based on what was known, this was indeed a somewhat feasible plan. Although for Eagle and the others who knew the truth, this plan was full of loopholes and had an extremely low success rate, for the Light-Chasers living in this Three Realms and Nine Heavens, who had never seen other small worlds, this was the only possibility.
As for the end, whether awakening or creating the Heavenly Mother would lead to the destruction or rebirth of the Light-Chasers and all things—that was not something they could control. But at least the Ashes Order had done everything they could.
"Sad and respectable sacrifices..."
With a deep sigh, Eagle shook his head. Alpha also looked at the huge soul in the lake with a complex expression. Most of the Star Saints did not feel pain—at most, they were a bit bored. While controlling the stars, they could enter and exit the dream world prepared for them, enjoying a life as real as reality. Although this was indeed hard to accept, and they missed their families, as time passed, most of them got used to it.
They were the saints of the Ashes Order, the princesses of everyone. Although they had imprisoned the princesses in the castle tower, they did their best for them in other aspects.
"I really hope we can find a path that doesn't require any sacrifice."
There was no more time for unnecessary talk. Sensing that the Ashes Order's Legendary experts were about to arrive, Eagle sighed, then transformed into an endless mass of light. His body expanded, covering the entire lake, the array, and even a small part of the underground factory. Then, the old Pope turned all of this into pure and gentle holy light. An enormous light humanoid appeared on the surface of Glory City.
With one punch, he knocked out the Ashes Order Legendary expert who had come to support. The chaos of thought organs caused by distorted light speed, under the circumstances of a surprise attack, was not something ordinary Legendaries could withstand. Without any delay, Eagle directly flew toward the outside of Glory City, carrying everything with him.
"Stop him!"
Realizing that the Star Saints, the Celestial Instrument Soul, had been taken away, Mara Moniga, who was in a fierce battle with Carlis and Mycroft, the two Steel Serpents, was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. Behind her, a series of distorted light patterns began to appear. A pure black gravity well, capable of swallowing even light, began to form, enveloping the light that Eagle had transformed into. This First Patriarch was actually pushing her own power to the brink of self-destruction, just to stop the old Pope.
But who among those who had fought alongside Joshua had not seen such tactics? Before the two Steel Serpents could even act, Eagle was too lazy to dodge. An ancient expert who looked like a jellyfish swung his tentacles, and a series of extremely precise space-time oscillation transmissions easily disassembled Mara's gravity well. It was only at this moment that they truly showed their real strength.
Soon, Eagle, moving at light speed, broke free from the Ashes Order's attack range and jumped away. When the Ashes Order's experts wanted to turn around and detain the other ancient experts, they too had already used various techniques to teleport away.
In less than an hour, they had achieved their goal, rescuing the Star Saints. What they left for the Ashes Order was a scene where not a single person had died, but everything was in chaos, and they had to endure a series of subsequent star impacts. They could not pursue. And that was the purpose planned from the beginning.
Although it was so successful.
But no one, not even Carlis, looked happy.
They gazed at this Three Realms and Nine Heavens, as if recalling the Multiverse Star River they had once belonged to—that dim, lightless multiverse. They recalled the endless darkness and Chaos, and also the final flame that burned brightly in the darkness, bringing hope to all beings.
"What do we do next?"
An ancient expert emerged from his memories. To them, these were things that had happened not long ago, still vivid. This expert, shaped like an iron ball, buzzed with electromagnetic waves: "We stopped these natives from creating an artificial world will to replace Joshua. But what do we do next? Do we replace them in awakening Joshua?"
"No."
Carlis replied. She perked up and said in a deep voice: "Want to awaken Joshua? How could mere 'Light-Chasers' be enough? These people and us, in a sense, are originally a part of Joshua. To use an analogy, a person cannot pull their own hair to lift themselves off the ground. To awaken him, we must use power from the 'outside' at the moment of restart."
"Next, we will head to the world's frontier, to the great rift that connects to the external multiverse."
"That is the most important step of our plan."