# Chapter 8: And So, Return! (10000)
The land after the starfall was a beautiful celestial realm filled with colorful nebulas, where the scorching gases of countless shattered stars mingled together, raising stardust at light speed across the Steel Continent. Countless rays interwove, making the aftermath of this destruction appear as magnificent as paradise.
However, although the vast majority of the impact force from the falling stars and the energy released by supernova explosions would be absorbed by the Steel Continent, before new stars could be conceived and recondensed, the environment within a radius of several light-years centered on the rain of falling stars would be unsuitable for survival.
Even the [Glory City], with its long history, most advanced technology, and protective arrays, was no exception.
The First Patriarch of the Ash Cult, Mara Moniga, descended wearily to the central plaza. She had just joined forces with the other Patriarchs to maintain the stability of the Glory City's shield, blocking the relentless bombardment of stars. Otherwise, the divine arrays, partially damaged by the earlier attacks from Carlis and the others, might not have withstood the full impact.
If it were Mara alone, enduring the rain of falling stars would not be a major issue. Her power was sufficient to stroll through the torrent of a supernova explosion and walk along the edge of a black hole's event horizon. As the strongest Transcendent of the Ash Cult, her status surpassed all leaders of the Ten Thousand Nations Alliance, second only to the 'Heavenly Sword Empress' and the 'Demon-Slaying Great Emperor,' who held the most powerful Divine Artifacts. But to disperse her power to protect the vast Glory City, a moving world with a radius exceeding seventy thousand kilometers, was indeed an extremely arduous task.
"Damn it!"
Even the usually good-tempered First Patriarch now stood in the center of the plaza, staring up at the direction where Carlis and the others had departed, speaking with resentment: "What exactly do these ancient reawakeners want to do?! Aren't they also part of this world? Why must they obstruct our efforts to save the world?!"
And how did they even know the coordinates of the Glory City?! This was a cult secret. Even with Gloam guiding them, they shouldn't have found their way here so quickly, let alone planned a starfall attack! Someone must have leaked information!
Following Mara, the other Patriarchs and Legendary experts who descended one after another to the central plaza were also extremely puzzled. One elderly man frowned deeply: "Setting that aside—perhaps they also have their own plan to save the world, and they also need the Soul of the Star Saint? The power of the Star Celestial Soul is indeed an authority we cannot yet understand. These ancient experts might comprehend some of its hidden secrets."
"Impossible. We have already explored nearly every path—within these Three Realms and Nine Heavens, aside from 'Recreating the Sacred Soul,' there is simply no other way to save the world!"
Mara's words were firm. This was the result of tens of thousands of years of research by successive generations of the Ash Cult's high-ranking members, an indisputable fact. But now, neither anger nor complaint would help. She turned around and asked seriously: "Is there any remedy? We still have eight Crystal Obelisks providing energy... Can we, together with our own power, continue to operate the Shadow Star Track at low power?"
Regarding this, another Patriarch responsible for this matter shook his head and said regretfully: "I'm afraid not. With our current technology, there is no way."
"Moreover, First Patriarch, the most important issue now might no longer be the shrinking of the Shining Zone or the approaching extinction of the Twilight Zone... The problem we should be most concerned about right now is the increasingly rampant Chaos invasion."
This was indeed the truth.
Hearing this, even Mara could only let out a long sigh... It had nothing to do with Carlis and the others taking away the Star Celestial Soul. The Chaos invasion was a disaster that would eventually come. Even without the ancient experts reawakening, they would still have to fight those monsters.
"Because for a long time, we have been moving stars, gradually turning the Twilight Zone into a dead region. This is equivalent to removing the natural barriers and seals."
A relatively young-looking female Patriarch with long curly hair gripped her scepter tightly. Her pale green eyes surveyed the dreamlike stellar clouds surrounding the Glory City, and her tone was somewhat bitter: "The radiance of stars has the effect of purifying and blocking small-scale Chaos. This is a natural divine barrier, enough to protect individual colonies from Chaos invasion. But now, the originally dim Twilight Zone is already full of holes. Chaos can easily drive straight in and attack the Shining homeland."
"If the Sacred Soul plan fails and we do not create our own Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, our World Will, then before the flame of this world is extinguished, we will probably be destroyed by Chaos first."
"...No more. We must hurry to the City of Knowledge!"
The situation was so dire, especially after Mara condensed a communication array and listened intently to her subordinates' reports, that one could see the First Patriarch's hands trembling. After listening, she immediately looked up and said in an extremely solemn tone: "They have detected a Chaos cluster totaling over three hundred billion—and that's just the vanguard—rushing toward the Southern Sky Star Region. There are even more Chaos monsters behind. The City of Knowledge's forces cannot hold them off!"
Even though they were regarded with suspicion by various nations, the Ash Cult still considered themselves the guardians of civilization. Around the City of Knowledge was the gathering place for the knowledge and heritage of all the Light-Chasers of the Ten Thousand Nations Alliance—all Light-Chaser experts shared the consensus that under disaster, the Glory City could be destroyed, the Heavenly Sword Nation could be destroyed, but the City of Knowledge must not suffer the slightest damage!
After a brief rest and repairs, they set off again. Even after being attacked, the Ash Cult still unhesitatingly departed, preparing to go and help others on the path of order.
But just as the enormous disc-shaped moving world city once again lit up with a blue force field halo, preparing to propel the entire city into warped space—
A sound came from the distant horizon.
It was an ancient language, carrying vast and mighty power. It came from the far end but seemed to resound right beside one's ears. Whether one was a Legendary Patriarch or just an ordinary Ash Cult follower, every intelligent being heard this voice.
And the owner of this voice was very familiar to everyone present. It was Carlis, the one who had led the ancient experts to attack their Star Saint.
"What exactly is she saying?"
Startled by this voice that seemed to resound throughout the Three Realms and Nine Heavens, Mara looked up at the still-bright Shining Star Region. She asked the others in confusion, as if seeking an answer.
And someone answered her.
"This is... a plea for help."
The Eleventh Patriarch, who had once been taught by the God of Knowledge and History, happened to have studied various ancient languages. Listening to the voice, he repeated with some difficulty: "She is calling... seeking help... She wants to awaken something, to make everything..."
"To make everything what?" someone asked urgently.
The Eleventh Patriarch was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice:
"To make everything rekindle."
These translated words brought bewilderment to all the high-ranking members of the Ash Cult. Both Mara and the other Patriarchs couldn't help but feel a desire to laugh—a bitter laugh.
In these Three Realms and Nine Heavens, seeking help?
Seeking help from whom? Who could help?
If mere calling had meaning, if mere pleading were useful, then the calls and pleas of the Light-Chasers would have drowned the entire world long ago. In these tens of thousands of years of confusion after the gods fell, the Light-Chasers had always called for salvation, but only the Ash Cult had taken action, forging a future for themselves.
No one could save anyone, and no one needed to be saved by anyone. Everyone could only rely on themselves—at least for now, that was the truth.
But they, letting out bitter laughs, did not know.
This seemingly simple plea for help condensed the sweat of an entire race over countless years, condensed nearly all the bloodline of an entire race. Behind this simple call was the burned-out ashes of the Silver Fairies—and it was not truly a cry for salvation, but an effort, a materialization of spirit.
It drifted through heaven and earth, but it did not sound like lamentation. Instead, it was like the most passionate cry—this voice pierced the Nine Heavens, penetrated the earth, and ran through all existence.
And so, under the bewildered gaze of countless people, heaven and earth resounded.
The 'Three Realms,' which had been stagnant for one hundred and twenty thousand years and intersected with the Steel Continent—the Heavenly Sword Realm and the Earthly Axe Realm—began to tremble violently under the call of this voice. The two immensely huge 'Worlds' themselves were slowly pulling out from the Steel Continent. They began to move, began to awaken.
At the same time.
At the center of the Ten Thousand Nations Alliance, at the edge of the accretion disk of the Black Giant Star.
The 'Heavenly Sword Empress,' stationed at this 'Central Zone' closest to the axis of all things in the Three Realms and Nine Heavens, staring at stars falling like meteors into the deepest part of the Shining Zone, the accretion disk of the Black Giant Star, suddenly felt her accessory vibrating—the strongest Divine Artifact from the Nine Heavens was humming, and a tremor from her soul beat against her heart like a drum.
"Are you calling to him?"
This beautiful lady, who appeared elven, with violet hair and golden-green eyes, named 'Eulandale,' pressed down on her sword—a Divine Sword that was essentially a fragment of the Sword Realm's core. This friend of the Grand Scholar Mycroft, who greatly admired Carlis and had personally sent her off to the Twilight Zone, this highest leader of the Ten Thousand Nations Alliance, let out a soft sigh, her expression revealing neither joy nor sorrow.
"Really... hurry back already."
At the edge of the Twilight Zone, in the very center of the endless Chaos monsters, a dignified man who appeared dwarven, with white beard and white hair, holding a black giant axe while slaughtering and intercepting a Dark Lord, slightly narrowed his eyes amidst the fierce battle. The demon-slayer named 'Izel' first chuckled softly, then burst into loud laughter. He raised his giant axe, and waves of destruction spread in all directions, turning all incoming Chaos into dust and nothingness, returning them to darkness.
"You're excited too?"
"So am I!"
In this already decayed, already withered time and world, the deity who had departed and returned once again saw a variable called 'hope.'
"What exactly is happening to this world?"
What was all this?
The stunned members of the Ash Cult did not know the answer to this question. They could only watch as time passed. Before the enormous changes in the Three Realms had even ended, starting from the distant, now extremely dim Twilight Zone, countless stars began to extinguish. A great darkness was spreading from the lightless zone at the far end.
It was a Black Dragon.
A Black Dragon so immense that its body alone could span the heavens, comparable to a world.
It came from the border of the world, pitch black like an abyss. It spread its wings, and millions upon millions of stars were thus shrouded in a dark curtain, then rapidly extinguished. The dragon let out a high-pitched roar, its sound shaking the Nine Heavens. Countless stars, like fragile candle flames, were easily blown out by the storm brought by this roar.
One could see that on the Black Dragon's chest, there was an extremely bright crystal core—the only light in the darkness, the only star in the dark curtain. It flashed rapidly, warping space-time, making all distance meaningless. It was also this core that absorbed the power of millions upon millions of stars, growing ever brighter.
"Chaos God?!"
A Patriarch spoke in shock. This was very similar to the most terrifying Chaos monsters recorded in ancient texts, which had appeared during the Chaos War after the fall of the ancient gods—they awakened from the dark borders of the world, devouring all light and order. But immediately, someone else denied this speculation: "No, no—that light is very holy... far holier than these millions of stars!"
The Black Dragon flew past rapidly, having nothing to do with anything on the ground, leaving only violent space-time storms blowing through heaven and earth. In the fallen moving world cities, Light-Chasers who had long forgotten their own glory and civilization looked up in confusion. These people, who spent their days farming and raising livestock with hardly any time to look at the stars, saw that after the Black Dragon extinguished the stars, countless more stars followed, like flying meteors.
It was light—almost endless light, covering the entire sky. The Black Dragon extinguished all stars along its path, turning them into its own power. But after this deep darkness came the light of billions upon billions, countless warships!
Above the Nine Heavens, the roar of steel resounded in all directions. Countless different Transcendent powers, and even purely mechanical forces, produced jets, force fields, and flames, all turning into the most conspicuous, brightest radiance!
They leaped, they flashed, warping and reappearing across this vast, endless Nine Heavens, like the twinkling starlight in the void of the multiverse!
What exactly was happening?!
No matter how confused they were, none of the beings in the Three Realms and Nine Heavens knew the answer to this question.
But without a doubt—this was a change within changes. All destinies, all fates, all that was predetermined, even the nearly eternal trajectories of the stars, were now disrupted, torn apart, turned to nothing. And the dim future that had hung over the Light-Chasers was naturally no exception. Whether what was coming was destruction or rebirth, at least it was no longer 'predestined' despair!
Regarding all this, whether it was the Ash Cult or other members of the Ten Thousand Nations Alliance with Legendary experts, they were all at a loss. The experts among the Light-Chasers did not want to stop the Black Dragon from continuing to extinguish stars, but setting aside whether they could defeat it, the location where it flew was above the Nine Heavens—the top of the nine floating continents that even the gods could not reach! The Steel Continent's terrifying, almost absurd gravitational barrier that prevented all life from going higher had no effect on it. This Black Dragon flew as freely as if it were in its own home, without any restraint!
"Ah—look!"
And shortly after the Black Dragon flew past, heading straight for the central region of the Shining Zone, before the Ash Cult Patriarchs could recover from the shock, another astonished voice rang out. A burly Patriarch with arms like crab claws raised his steel-colored pincers, pointing to the high heavens. Everyone followed his direction and looked, then stood frozen in place.
Because they saw—the 'Heavenly Sword' and 'Earthly Axe' that had originally stood on the Steel Continent, intersecting like an X, were now moving violently. Accompanied by a vast space-time distortion phenomenon, these world-like weapons—no, should be said, weapons like worlds—began to slowly separate from the entire 'Steel Continent,' the entire silver world!
One could see the solid world barrier being torn open, or rather, automatically opening a portal. An immensely huge crack slowly opened, revealing the vast, endless void of the multiverse behind it. These two enormous world-weapons separated, flying toward the two sides outside the crack in the void, toward two enormous world structures immersed in darkness, like arms, and were thus grasped within them!
The sword and axe, returned to their positions!
And the stars that had originally been attached to the Heavenly Sword Realm and the Earthly Axe Realm also rapidly extinguished, turning to nothing during the process of the two realms shaking and departing. This meant that the brightest, most prosperous core area of the Shining Zone was completely plunged into darkness. If one looked from the distant lightless zone, one could see that within the originally bright Shining Zone, two enormous and continuously expanding 'Dark Shadow' zones had appeared!
Apocalypse! Great disaster!
Although most moving world cities in the Shining Zone had energy reserves that could sustain activity in darkness for a period, how vast was the dark area brought by the departure of two of the Three Realms? If it were warships, it might be fine, but an entire world city could never escape this shadow zone. This immediately caused countless Light-Chasers in this area to despair, thinking the apocalypse had arrived.
What they thought was indeed correct—this was indeed the apocalypse.
But that did not mean no one would come to help them.
Just after the two realms separated from the silver world, the flowing lights that had been racing across the dark sky began to 'fall' one by one. Countless Void Warship clusters that had warped in following the Black Dragon began to descend toward the countless moving cities on the ground. The Light-Chasers, who thought they would be plundered by invaders after facing destruction, were surprised to find that those strange aliens riding the enormous warships and speaking unfamiliar languages opened their warships' cargo holds. They shouted loudly, maintaining order in various places across the world cities, beginning to evacuate the people.
Countless ships from the Multiverse Grand Alliance had long honed an extremely refined and rapid evacuation template through numerous battles against Evil God clusters. Transferring people from planets and worlds was exactly their specialty.
And not only that—besides these densely packed ships, like countless stars, seemingly about to empty the entire Three Realms and Nine Heavens, in places unseen by most Light-Chasers, in the deep, extremely dark regions of the lightless zone, there were even more numerous and powerful ships and experts fighting against the nearly endless Chaos clusters, firmly blocking these dark Chaos that could easily annihilate the entire Shining Region, and rapidly exterminating them.
Finally, unable to endure—unable to endure this inexplicable development, unable to endure this world where no one knew what was happening—a point of light rose from the Glory City. First Patriarch Mara Moniga blocked the path of a low-flying Void Warship. Her spirit vibrated with confusion, bewilderment, and helplessness, but carrying a persistent spirit of getting to the bottom of things, she asked the plant-like alien pilots inside the ship:
"You... why have you come?"
And these aliens, who called themselves Midgardians and had a personality as approachable as plants, smiled and answered her question.
[We come for the oath!]
—For the founder of the order of all realms, the establisher of the Multiverse Grand Alliance, for our deity, our faith, our savior, our protector, and the guide of all our beliefs, we come for Him!
And as if to echo the Midgardians' words, other voices rose from the endless fleet, answering Mara and the Light-Chasers' questions.
[We come to fulfill the covenant!]
That was a race whose name was unknown. They piloted their ships, flying past, but their hearty laughter still echoed through heaven and earth.
—For the guardian of all order, the shaper of the original Magic Net, the first executor of the Exchange System, the founder of multiverse spiritual entertainment culture, the expert who brought us peace, tranquility, and all precious things, we come for Him!
[We come for faith!]
Next was a devout voice, the spiritual echo of some psychic race. Their tone was extremely devout, as if reciting scripture. Their words were firm, like a hammer striking an anvil.
—For the Near-Saint God, the Demon-Exterminating Saint, for the expeller of all darkness, the Heavenly God who protected our homeland and brought our civilization a future and hope, we come for Him!
[We come for protection!]
Those who spoke these words were a simple human fleet. They piloted silver-white Holy Light warships, truly flying through the Nine Heavens like light, upholding the heart of order. The gentle practitioners of the Holy Light path, who helped all they could, answered warmly.
—To awaken the natural enemy of darkness, the destroyer of Chaos, to let this ancient banner stand again, to let the horn of light's counterattack against the source of darkness be blown once more, we come for Him!
[We come for struggle!]
Like metal grinding against metal, a hoarse and stubborn voice seemed to rise from the deepest abyss. But within this terrifying voice was an extremely passionate will. They spoke as if shouting:
—For the one who shattered the Primordial Calamity, the last War God of the multiverse, for the battles and slaughter, the sacrifice and dedication that established everything one hundred and twenty thousand years ago, we come for Him!
[We come for glory!]
A massive star warship brought a warped space-time trajectory. The spirited humans raised the Starfall Banner, long buried in ancient history. The descendants of the Mycroft people set sail, heading toward the center of the world.
—To revive the Star God, the Steel Creator, for the second rising sun of our civilization, the expert destined to lead us to the end of the sorrowful cycle, we come for Him!
[We come for order, future, and hope!]
Like surging waves, endless passionate cries arose. They were the cries of all heavens, all realms, all races. They were the voices of all whose hearts burned with fire, releasing endless light!
—For the savior giant god, the bulwark of order, the lonely one who leads all realms forward, bearing the hopes of all beings—we come for Him who sacrificed Himself for us, the strongest god who illuminated all realms with His own flame!
[We come for salvation, tomorrow, and the call!]
[We come to make this world rekindle, crossing all realms and stars!]
The massive Black Dragon let out a roar that resounded through the Nine Heavens. On its back were countless familiar experts, countless familiar old friends—all who were still alive, all who could make it in time, all who held 'connections' with that man from the past, all gathered here. And they were charging without hesitation toward the center of the world, toward the Black Giant Star!
—For our Soulflame King, for the Lord of Ten Thousand Armies of this multiverse, for some people's master, some people's comrade, some people's aspiration, some people's reverence!
—We are the knowers of ancient history, those who have not forgotten the myths and legends of the past!
—We are the witnesses of that battle, the blazing flame of one hundred and twenty thousand years ago!
—We come for Joshua van Radcliffe!
—We come for Him!
[Memory dies, leaving only ancient legends remaining in books. History is forgotten, leaving only the lingering charm of myth circulating among ruins.]
[Looking at these heavens and stars, everywhere are departed memories. Some are forgotten, some are remembered. In this immeasurably long time, no matter how glorious the story, no matter how magnificent the epic, they will gradually be annihilated, gradually dissolve, like tears in the rain.]
But now is not yet the time to forget. Now is not yet the moment to let go!
Even those who had never known, who did not remember Joshua's name, races who did not know Joshua's deeds, under the deliberate promotion of some people and the dignified demands of some civilizations, had absolutely used, experienced, played with, or even still used the things that man had left behind—whether it was the Psychic Terminal, the Magic Net, the forum template, or spiritual illusion games. As long as they used these, as long as they lived using the Multiverse Points Exchange System, then they must have inadvertently seen that man's name left in the corners, used the creations he and others had made together!
He was the first in this civilization era to invent these things.
His name had never truly fallen silent, never truly been lost. In this dark multiverse, there were always people who would from time to time remind the beings of this world, remind everyone that although he had long passed away, he had never been forgotten.
Countless Void Fleets, following the Black Dragon's trajectory, came from the border of the world. They advanced mightily, heading toward the center of the Three Realms and Nine Heavens, where the Black Giant Star was located, under the gazes of all Light-Chasers—gazes filled with shock, fear, or a hint of hope and prayer.
And at this moment, all the stars that had been releasing light were completely extinguished. The former Three Realms and Nine Heavens, the current Steel Continent, everything gradually returned to darkness. All energy was dissipating, all motion was slowing.
Time was stagnating. Space was solidifying. Energy was dying out. Matter was shrouded in darkness. Elements and Aether were silent. Holy Light and Shadow were extinguished. Even the original life force, the radiance of creative magic, was gradually turning to nothing in equal stillness.
[The six realms of death are: the dissipation of fighting spirit, the loss of spirit, the death of the body, the withering of the soul, the forgetting of memory, and the passing of existence.]
This was a true and unerring law, an indisputable fact. In this multiverse, this was the truth that applied to all domains.
But.
But!
The warrior's fighting spirit had not dissipated!
The warrior's spirit still had inheritance!
The warrior's body had not been destroyed!
The warrior's soul was still fighting!
"The beings of the multiverse all believe in your power, all call your name!"
Before the Black Giant Star, the [Core Igniter], Number 3's voice resounded together with the dragon's roar. The Steel Serpent and many experts spoke in unison: "Your memory has not been forgotten! Your existence has not dissipated!"
"Return! Rekindle! Now is the time when darkness descends! At the distant origin, there is the distortion of Chaos spreading—the Sages' battle has reached a stalemate, and this is the greatest predicament. This is also your favorite environment, your favorite challenge!"
Their cries shook the world. Their shouts extinguished stars. All the gods who had flown from the distant horizon shouted a name in unison.
"Return! Rekindle! Joshua van Radcliffe! This multiverse still has your enemies!"
At this moment, all light was extinguished.
In response to the beings' call, the dead world gave no answer.
But this was not the end.
Because with the silence of all things, everything returning to the coldest stillness, because the world itself was truly beginning to enter extinction, this long-dead giant god's body, the Infinite Realm, began to fight against 'Death' unwillingly and angrily!
And so, a tiny spark, at the very center of the world, was ignited by this 'heart of struggle.'
Unrelated to calls and hopes, unrelated to expectations and the future, this flame of struggle was so pure. It shone, its faint light illuminating its surroundings. But smallness meant nothing, because it signified the division between light and dark, the boundary between death and life, the threshold between cold and warmth—it was division and opposition, relativity and conflict. It was the dividing point between existence and nothingness, the dividing line between life and death.
[It is battle.]
—When death reaches its end, new birth begins—
—When the flame is completely extinguished, the ashes rekindle—
The end of a being's forgetting and passing meant the reappearance and return of a being!
And at the same time, Alpha Falster was walking within the inner side of the dark world, holding a small silver box.
This was a hall path that could be said to be infinitely long, or could be said to be reached in a single step. On both sides of Alpha, rivers formed by stars flowed. But whether it was the left or right side, the two rivers flowing in different directions were now completely stagnant, no longer moving. Similarly, the starry dome that should have been lofty and brilliant was now also dark.
Alpha did not understand what everything he saw meant. He just walked step by step, extremely firmly, toward the front. With a body that could almost be called mortal, he walked toward the very center of the world's inner side, toward the solemn altar throne.
The bloodline of the Silver Fairies, the last and first, the only and first vassal race (juàn zú) of the Steel Giant God after the Chaos Era, this man who bore the Steel Serpent's instructions, the hopes of many experts, the future of all Light-Chasers, the expectations of billions upon billions of beings, and all responsibilities, held the small box before his chest and stepped onto the stairs leading to the throne.
Then he began to pray calmly.
[—O God.]
[The creator of all things in this world, the Heavenly Father who created these Nine Heavens and stars, the Three Realms and all beings.]
He walked, stepping up the stairs under an increasingly strong and heavy pressure. The blessings and protections of many experts lit up on Alpha's body, but these powers were useless. Facing the pressure of the Steel Continent's supreme authority, all external things were meaningless nothingness—walking here could only rely on one's own heart.
So Alpha continued to pray softly.
[—Heavenly Father.]
[If you truly, truly can awaken.]
[Then bring the ordinary happiness that is insignificant to you to this suffering multitude.]
[I do not pray for my daughter's recovery, nor do I pray for my own glory. I do not pray for the innocent lost weaklings to be resurrected, nor for the thousands of moving worlds, the billions of extinguished stars to be reignited... Although I am sad, I do not pray for hope. Although I am lost, I do not harbor extravagant desires. I only wish that sunlight can exist, that order can continue.]
[—Our Creator.]
[I only yearn for you to bring true light, to shine upon this pitch-black land that appears eternally bright but is actually filled with despair.]
[That is all... nothing more.]
The man only prayed. Step by step, he reached the top of the throne stairs. Under the dark starry dome of the world's inner side, surrounded by the stagnant rivers of the inner world, Alpha gently placed the silver box in his hands upon the extremely majestic steel throne, which now no longer held any pressure, only a gentle warmth.
Facing this silver box and the majestic throne, Alpha softly spoke his wish, as if talking to himself, not expecting any response.
But he received an answer.
"No."
A voice of reply came from the throne.
A voice of reply came from the pitch-black sky.
A voice of reply came from every corner of the Three Realms and Nine Heavens, from every smallest place.
"I reject your wish."
Alpha looked up in shock, but he saw nothing. Unbeknownst to him, the man had already left the inner side of the world. But at the end, he seemed to see some light beginning to shine from the pitch-black dome—and at the same time, everyone inside the world, everyone outside the world, everyone and everything in the multiverse that could hear, all heard it.
The Chaos rampaging inside the world, and even the Evil Gods surging in the distant infinity outside the world, all stopped in their tracks, frozen in place, listening to that majestic, deep voice, the voice that had once again appeared in this multiverse.
"Because I demand that you must yearn for the good beyond good."
"Because I demand that you must harbor hopes greedier than hope."
"If you dare not even possess this kind of greed, dare not even imagine this kind of extravagance, then you can only be destined to be at others' mercy, to bow and submit before the false future offered by the dark Chaos, to sink into depravity."
This enormous voice, carrying the thunder of divine power, resounded throughout the entire multiverse. Hearing this familiar voice that had not changed at all, whether it was the Black Dragon, the Artificial Intelligence, the Steel Serpent, humans, or other races, all beings of all realms who held expectations could not help but have tears in their eyes.
And this voice was still stubbornly declaring its will to this multiverse.
"Ordinary happiness? I will never allow it!"
"You deserve the best future!"
At the center of the Steel World, that spark of [battle fire] was completely extinguished.
But at the same time, within the inner side of the world, on that throne, within that small box, the seed left by someone one hundred and twenty thousand years ago began to revive from the stillness of divine annihilation!
And then, light shone!
In the void of the multiverse, in an instant, an immensely huge, bright crack spanning endless distance appeared!
The radiance of the First Flame illuminated the surroundings of this enormous crack. And endless faith and calls converged here—and thus, cries arose!
—Fight! Fight! Fight!
Against death! Against the future! Against Chaos!
—Fight! Fight! Fight!
Whether life or death, existence or nothingness, past, present, or future, it was always an unceasing battle!
"—Our lives, the fate of all things in this world, and the yearning for happiness, meaning, connection, and what we love!—"
"—The future of the multiverse, the end of the eternal struggle between order and Chaos, and the outcome of all belief, calling, courage, and fighting spirit!—"
"—All these struggles!—"
In the void, a vast holy sound rang out. A desolate horn and thunderous war drums simultaneously resounded through all realms. And the [Infinite] divine power was bursting forth from the depths of the Great Source!
The voice of the [One God] was resounding through the sky, sweeping across the entire multiverse!
"—How can we lose without a fight!—"
A new flame began to rekindle. The silver continent once again radiated infinite light!
Countless Light-Chasers, countless beings from other worlds in the multiverse, all watched this place, gazed at this place.
—Ah, flame, flame.
This radiance that had once illuminated the dark multiverse, lit up these Nine Heavens and stars, brightened the Three Realms and all things, once again burst forth from that pitch-black core, and thus ignited the continent called Steel.
One could see, in the dark void of the multiverse.
At the barrier of the black world that had dimmed for one hundred and twenty thousand years, light patterns interwoven with silver and red began to appear.
In the void, the four-armed Heavenly God, who tightly gripped his weapons, once again opened his eyes. Endless fighting spirit and divine light swirled and brewed within them. After a long time, the flame formed by this light had not only not dimmed but burned even more vigorously.
The Giant God raised his sword and axe.
—Because he sensed that there was still battle in this world, still fighting spirit!
—Because he sensed that all beings still had the courage to resist!
And so, the one born for battle—
Here, returns!