Chapter 56: A World of Sorrow
Clutching the flame tightly in his hand, Joshua’s crimson eyes stared directly at the source of this light. He gazed seriously at the faint fire, as if it were reflecting all things in the world within it.
Joshua’s body and will were led by this firelight, traveling deep into the world.
He had initially thought this was a spontaneous action of the Azure Orb, similar to the inheritance trials he had experienced in his previous life. The Sage’s relic would test or examine him in some mysterious place, then grant him an advanced inheritance, just like the time in the family cemetery.
But he was wrong.
An endless stream of light, like a river, swirled around the warrior’s body, leading Joshua across some unknown boundary, allowing him to see the ‘world.’
Although it was described as seeing, in reality, Joshua was ‘sensing’ with his spirit. Countless pieces of information surged directly into the warrior’s mind, making him sigh at how superficial the world he had observed with his own eyes was, and how complex and magnificent the real world truly was.
He sensed it.
A will.
It was a mind that enveloped the entire world, bearing all things. It had existed since the heavens and earth appeared from the void, and would exist forever.
This great mind was guiding him, spreading along the veins of all things.
The river of time flowed beside Joshua. Countless overlapping afterimages, layers upon layers of endless images, formed a flowing tableau.
Joshua saw.
He saw the chaotic and tangled veins beneath the earth.
He saw countless mineral veins and rocks, already withered and decayed, turned to dust.
He saw deep underground, the ruins of cities from thousands of years ago and the remains of all living things.
He saw the core of the earth, the black clouds covering the surface, and the cold winds encircling the seas. He saw the structure of the world, the blueprint of creation—everything, all that existed.
He also saw that evil existence, invading from the void, deeply rooted in the flesh of the earth, using strange crystals as feelers, constantly writhing and expanding its territory.
He saw that the veins of chaos had already deeply cut into ‘Its’ flesh, eroding Its core, corrupting the world, turning it into a barren, famine-stricken world.
Joshua was led here. He watched all of this, and in his eyes, he seemed to see visions of the future.
The world, under the erosion of evil, began to collapse.
Water dried up and solidified; time and space fell into stillness.
Wind ceased to flow; mana and elements dissipated into nothing.
Earth twisted and crumbled; the land and all things turned to void.
Fire was completely extinguished; all existence returned to chaos.
Finally, the vision ended. Joshua came back to his senses, only to realize that the river of light that had brought him here had reached its end. The surging stream of light roared past his side but no longer led him forward.
Joshua stood in the dark void. He looked up, and what met his eyes was a dome forged from stars.
The first deity of the world was the world itself—this was hardly shocking news.
But he was still somewhat puzzled as to why the World Will would appear before him—a mere ordinary warrior, currently at the Gold-rank.
So Joshua directly asked, “Then… why bring me here? And why have you appeared?”
“Because of the flame.”
A deep, gentle voice echoed in the void. The massive Steel Serpent slowly coiled, gazing at Joshua and the faint firelight in his hand, and said, “I, who was originally asleep and about to die, awakened and descended here precisely because I saw the appearance of the flame.”
“Then, have you come because of this flame?”
Joshua raised the cyan crystal in his hand, the faint firelight burning slightly within it. His expression was calm, and he didn’t mind its scrutiny.
“No.”
The Steel Serpent was very peaceful, but its words surprised the warrior: “Although I awakened because of the sudden light, I have no desire for your fire.”
It stared quietly at Joshua, as if he were more interesting than the flame. The Steel Serpent said with interest, “What would it matter if I had your fire?”
It had no reason to deceive and simply stated its thoughts: “All my children have long since died. Their decayed corpses now lie within my body. Even if you passed the fire and let me linger on for another thousand years, I could not give birth to a second civilization or ignite my own flame again.”
Saying this, the Steel Serpent seemed to be mocking itself.
But upon hearing these words, Joshua felt somewhat uncomfortable for some reason. He frowned and said, “No. If all life is your child, then not all of your children have died.”
He looked up, gazing at the World Will, which was like a planet, and said in a deep voice, “Number 3, an artificial intelligence, also exists. She traveled across the barren wilderness for a thousand years, preserving the only remaining spark of your flame.”
“…Perhaps.”
After a moment of silence, the Steel Serpent said softly, “If it were a thousand years ago, I would have directly taken it by force. If it were a few hundred years ago, I might have considered trading with you for this flame. But now, I will not let you suffer any loss.”
It looked at Joshua with increasing interest: “Young man, to possess such quality of Order Force… this is the best means to combat Chaos.”
“I know you come from another world, but that doesn’t matter. You have many questions in your heart… go ahead and ask. As repayment for awakening me, I can answer your doubts.”
“The Evil Gods.”
After thinking for a moment, Joshua asked firmly, “The root of everything is the invasion of the Evil Gods. What is their origin and purpose?”
The question was met with no immediate answer. After a moment of silence, the Steel Serpent’s body slowly writhed in the void, and soon, a reply came.
“The Wild Gods, the Crystal Insect Yulmades, the Children of Famine… Their world began with a fire in the forest. The flames of civilization burned among the swamps and forests. As a civilization that, after millions of years, finally developed to the point of being able to enter and exit the void, they swore to pass their flame to other worlds.”
“But, just as there are isolated islands in the sea, tragically, within ten thousand years, they found no other worlds.”
“They were located in the Ember World of the Fireless Land. For them to develop a civilization was a miracle among miracles. But this time, there was no miracle.”
When the Steel Serpent said this, there seemed to be a faint trace of sorrow in its voice: “The civilization developed to its limit, all resources were exhausted, yet they still could not find another world in the Astral Realm. Civilization began to regress, and gradually, they could no longer enter or leave the Astral Realm.”
“Driven by increasingly scarce resources, they devoured their own world—hollowing out the soil and rock, truly consuming all matter. They emptied the earth, carefully using energy, trying to maintain the cycle as much as possible, until a thousand years, ten thousand years, a sinking eternal calamity.”
The massive body coiled around the river of time. The Steel Serpent’s gaze was fixed on the contemplative Joshua. Its voice was hoarse and deep: “At first, there were billions of people. Then it became tens of millions, a hundred thousand, a thousand, a hundred, ten, one.”
“Until the last person also died in endless solitude and hunger, the fire of their civilization finally lost its fuel, extinguished in pain and despair.”
“And the world, in this despairing pain, was also twisted.”
The Steel Serpent’s narration neared its end.
“No one knows how long after, a world that had developed mana technology, in its endless void exploration, came into contact with this barren world wreckage.”
“And thus, the sorrowful God of Famine was born.”
The World Will of Carlis lowered its head, coiling its body that obscured most of the void, and said, “As for the purpose of the Evil Gods, no one knows. But they only bring despair, pain, famine, war, plague, and death—that is beyond doubt.”
It looked directly into Joshua’s eyes and said calmly, “I am the Steel Serpent Carlis.”
“Descendant of Steel, now that you know all this, are you willing to become the guardian of the world, to drive away Chaos and defend the borders of Order?”
And Joshua was thinking.
After a moment: “I refuse.”
(To be continued.)
…