Chapter 57: The Warrior's Answer
Defense? Resistance?
"Chaos is not something that can be expelled."
Hearing the Steel Serpent's question, the warrior raised his head, the river of time flowing ceaselessly by his side. Joshua, facing the World's Will, still smiled disdainfully. "If you always hold onto thoughts of prevention and defense, then you will never be able to defeat Chaos. Waiting for others to invade before counterattacking? Ridiculous."
This black-haired, red-eyed man grinned, flames flickering in his eyes. He spoke slowly, word by word: "Encirclement, cleansing, purification. Only complete annihilation is the sole suitable method for dealing with them!"
"Before being attacked, we should eliminate them first!"
His final words were decisive, without a hint of hesitation.
The coiled Steel Serpent was not angered by the refusal. On the contrary, it grew more and more interested in this human before it.
"As I said before, I am about to die. And dying like this, I could also become a new Evil God."
It spoke in a low voice: "Would you want to eliminate someone like me?"
"Of course I would."
Joshua's answer was without hesitation, not because the other could see through his heart, but because he truly wanted to reply: "Steel Serpent, from the Steel Rain that has been falling for six hundred years, doing its utmost to slow the world's collapse, I can see that you would rather die as the God of Steel than become an Evil God. Even if the struggle is utterly meaningless, you don't want to just..."
"Eliminating someone like you is probably your greatest wish."
"Ha ha ha ha ha."
A hoarse laugh shook the void, and the dome forged from stars trembled. The Steel Serpent gazed at the warrior before it, its silver serpentine pupils seeming to reflect the fate of all things. It seemed to chuckle lightly, then spoke seriously: "Joshua, descendant of Steel."
"Your future and destiny are so unfathomable that even I, as the World, cannot guess them."
A solemn voice echoed in the warrior's ears. The avatar of the World's Will spoke slowly: "From you, I can see two traits: battle and destruction."
"If you continue to grow, holding such pure Order Force, you might become a savior fighting against Chaos, or you might become a new Evil God who destroys the world."
Saying this, the Steel Serpent shifted its gaze to the blue crystal in Joshua's hand. It looked at the faintly burning flame within the crystal and nodded gently: "Fire is existence, is holiness, is order, is human wisdom and civilization. It contains everything. Holding the flame left behind by the Sage, you should not walk the path of Chaos. I look forward to you becoming the next—"
The Steel Serpent had not finished speaking when suddenly, a strange, abnormal sound came from beyond the void.
*Crackle! Crackle!*
The sound was piercing, like a siren or the chirping of cicadas. It penetrated the eardrums, causing irritation and making it impossible to concentrate.
Joshua looked around in confusion but saw nothing. Neither the star-forged dome nor the dark void and river of light showed any abnormality. There was no unusual movement.
This was the inner side of the world, an existence between illusion and reality. Aside from himself and the Steel Serpent, the avatar of the World's Will, he didn't know who else could make a sound here.
Hearing this sound, the Steel Serpent's expression turned grave. Its silver-white scales stopped rubbing together, as if it were listening intently.
After a moment of silence, it spoke in a deep voice: "Go back."
"I know everything now, descendant of Steel. Return to where you should return."
With that, before the warrior could ask, the inner side of the world, between reality and illusion, began to collapse. The star-forged dome shattered as it shook, scattering into countless drifting specks of light. Joshua's spirit and body returned to the real world.
**The Real World.**
The massive sphere of light that had enveloped the entire mountain range was still releasing endless radiance. Against the backdrop of the Steel Rain, it was sacred and holy. But suddenly, accompanied by a long cry like a battle roar, the sphere began to contract violently, then converged entirely onto a single person.
As the endless light gathered, Joshua stepped forward. He walked out of the radiance and returned to the real world.
A bitter wind swept across the plain. Joshua stood upright, raised his head, and looked around. An astonishing scene was unfolding before his eyes.
With the surging wind, the surrounding earth rumbled and roared. Gravity became unbalanced, causing countless fragments of rock to float slowly in the air.
The gloomy sky, which had brightened from the earlier light, was now being reclaimed by black chaotic mist, even thicker than before. As the chaotic mist spread endlessly, black-red veins gradually extended across the earth on the verge of collapse.
Countless fragments of rock flew into the sky due to the unbalanced gravity. In that instant, the world lost its direction, making it impossible to distinguish left from right, up from down.
This was the gravity imbalance that had appeared in the fortress before—one of the omens of the world's destruction.
*Crackle! Crackle!*
Like an insect vibrating its mouthparts, or like metal grinding against metal, the strange noise echoed between sky and earth, then entered Joshua's ears. The warrior frowned. He sensed many unpleasant elements within this sound and wanted to confirm its source, but even with his perception, he could not find it.
Then a voice came from within his mind.
"Listen, warrior of order."
The Steel Serpent's voice slowly resonated deep within Joshua's mind. It was now utterly serious, its hoarse voice extremely solemn: "What you hear is the wail of a civilization at the moment of its extinction, the cry of its name vanishing from the world. This is the wreckage of a world, the ashes of fire, the long-dead kingdom of death—also known as the voice of the Chaos Evil God, in your terms."
"So this is the voice of a Chaos Evil God?"
Muttering to himself, Joshua looked up at the sky. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and smiled: "Just its voice can make the earth's gravity unbalanced. Truly worthy of an Evil God. Is it going to descend?"
"No, of course not. Famine has already left, seeking a new target. Now, it has sensed the existence of the flame from afar and commanded its remaining servants in this world to extinguish it."
"ROOOOAAARRR!!"
Amidst the strange, piercing insect sounds, three enormous roars erupted at the edge of the earth. Three colossal monsters, no less imposing than the Ultimate Wild God from before, appeared in Joshua's field of vision.
Among them was a giant beetle-like creature with a horn, a multi-legged giant insect resembling a spider-centipede, and the strangest one, a hybrid of a dragonfly and a bee, with a long body and a tail stinger dozens of meters long, surrounded by a purple-blue halo. They had different forms, but they shared several traits: all were at the Ultimate level, and their chaotic aura was extremely dense.
"Three more Ultimate Wild Gods..."
Seeing these three monsters, Joshua couldn't help but frown. Although he had just gained a new talent and his injuries had been healed, even so, in his estimation, he could only barely contend with one Ultimate Wild God at full power.
Now, three appeared at once. It was really too much honor.
But even so, he showed no fear. A curve appeared at the corner of Joshua's mouth, revealing his white teeth. Facing the three rapidly approaching giant monsters, he smiled with a fighting spirit.
Then the Steel Serpent's voice appeared again deep within the warrior's heart.
"Your world is being watched by Evil Gods. Besides Famine, Plague and another Evil God are also watching that world."
It did not exaggerate, simply stating the facts it knew: "Descendant of Steel, although you rejected me, no matter what your choice is—whether you want to fight or protect—you need power."
Indeed, Joshua could not refute that.
And the Steel Serpent, Carlis, smiled and said to Joshua: "Now, try this power first."
The low voice grew fainter and fainter until it became ethereal. In contrast, a powerful force surged through Joshua's body in an instant.
The blue crystal in his hand, as if stimulated, flickered violently before gradually sinking into Joshua's arm. Then, it turned into a stream of light, arriving at the warrior's forehead, forming a crown-like mark.
"So this is what Moria called the Soulflame King?"
Thoughtfully, Joshua looked at his hands. Red Battle Qi ignited within them, then gradually transformed into a black fluctuation.
The fluctuation of killing intent spread slowly through the atmosphere like ink. Under the power given by the Steel Serpent, this Glory Force, unique to Joshua, revealed its true nature.
Countless tiny black soul fragments formed wave after wave of fluctuations. The souls of all the creatures Joshua had killed had partly become the warrior's power. These souls burned slowly, mixing with Joshua's will, becoming his Glory Force.
The more he fought, the stronger he became. This was his unique power.
Now, Joshua was enveloped in black killing intent fluctuations. As the crown mark on his forehead flickered, sparks began to ignite within the thick black killing intent. As the sparks expanded, his entire suit of armor cracked like broken porcelain. Through the web-like gaps, flickering firelight shone, sometimes strong, sometimes weak.
Ashes, mixed with sparks, scattered from the edges of his armor, like wandering fragments of killing intent. Glowing red specks began to drift in the wind. Between light and darkness, it seemed as if its owner was burning.
To be continued.