Chapter 58: Soulflame King
[Fire Burns Chaos, Forged into Steel, Steel Gives Birth to All Things, Thus Begins Life and Death, Life Extinguishes and Death Rusts, Ashes Scatter into the Void, Chaos Recondenses, Fire Rises from Embers, Cycle Repeats, Reincarnation Without End]
A warrior wreathed in flames stood upon a land covered in dust and gravel. Sparks from his armor scattered behind him with the rushing wind, and tangled strands of hair brushed across Joshua's face, only to be swept aside by a steel-clad hand.
Light-dust rose from his scar-covered armor. The ground beneath his feet grew light and unsteady under the distorted gravity. Wild winds swept through the mountains, carrying a series of howls. Joshua's eyes were slightly open, his expression calm, as if he were listening intently—listening to a hymn of praise that came from the ancient past.
[Born from Fire, Arising from Steel, Soul as Fuel, Body as Kindling, Wisdom Never Extinguished, Order Endures Forever, Heritage Cycles Onward, Until This Very Day]
That hymn carried the fervor that had filled humanity since its birth, along with the accumulated wisdom from countless sages of the past. The mark left by the Azure Orb burned fiercely on his forehead, and thousands of echoes overlapped, converging into a single sentence.
[Let the Fire Rekindle]
His crimson eyes opened. Joshua scanned his surroundings: the gray earth, the black clouds, and the white cold wind flowing between the mountains and hills. Three colors manifested before his eyes. This scene, like a black-and-white painting, made the already desolate Carlis World seem even more hopeless.
Lightning flashed through the layered cumulonimbus clouds. Mountains and earth crumbled under the chaotic gravity, mingling with drifting dust and smoke as they floated through the sky on the wind, scattering chaos into every corner.
"Master!"
A clear voice rang out behind the warrior.
Joshua turned to look. The black-haired, golden-eyed Divine Mechanism youth ran over from not too far away. After a hurried sprint, Rin stood beside the warrior and grasped Joshua's arm. He looked at the crisscrossing cracks on his master's body and the flickering flames within them, his face overflowing with concern.
"...Rin, prepare for battle."
This was not the time to explain where he had been. Without further words, Joshua patted Rin's head. He trusted that his weapon would understand him.
"Yes!"
As a weapon, there was no need to ask anything. Since his master needed him, he would answer the call. Rin firmly grasped the warrior's left hand. The black tattoos on the backs of their hands flickered with the glow of arcane power. In a dazzling flash of light, Joshua tightly gripped the black great-axe.
A surge of immense power instantly coursed through the Divine Mechanism. On the black axe's body, traces of flame and ash also appeared. Swinging his weapon, which tore a piercing howl through the air, Joshua felt the spark that the Steel Serpent had fused into his body at his forehead. The Azure Orb burned the souls he had accumulated from past kills, releasing tremendous strength.
"What kind of power is this exactly?"
Even in his past life, Joshua had never experienced anything like this. The vast power gained from killing the Ultimate Wild God was being slowly consumed. He silently asked the Steel Serpent in his mind, while turning his head to look at the three enormous monsters flying toward him from afar. His heart burned like fire, yet was as calm as steel.
"The power that grants existence to all things."
The Steel Serpent's deep voice echoed in the depths of Joshua's heart. "The power to protect the world, to resist chaos—the power of the Soulflame King."
"Soulflame King?"
"You are not yet that. The souls you have stored are still too few. But perhaps one day, you will reach that level. So, I have imbued you with my power, allowing you to experience this strength in advance..."
"This may be the last thing I can do for this world."
Having spoken slowly, the Steel Serpent's voice gradually faded, then vanished entirely, as if sinking into complete silence.
"The power... of protection."
Repeating the Steel Serpent's words, Joshua uttered these syllables.
Protection. To him, it was a truly unfamiliar term.
Originally, for Joshua, a person who couldn't even protect themselves had no reason to exist. A person's life was nothing but a continuous battle against oneself and countless hardships. No one could have another fight in their place.
Moreover, no matter how much one protected, it was never as clean as simply annihilating the enemy.
But now, he was beginning to understand a little.
Even in a world where all things had sunk into chaos, where life and civilization had been wiped out together, remnants of flame still survived.
The mobile city controlled by the Artificial Intelligence Girl was already covered in scars, yet it stubbornly continued to travel through this nearly extinguished world, following the orders of its master from a thousand years ago, searching for traces of hope.
Protection was not a meaning, but a responsibility, a persistence.
"Civilization does not exist in isolation, and the world is not a playground for a single person."
Murmuring thoughtfully to himself, Joshua seemed to recall a time long ago, before he had crossed over.
The Ashen Ruins, the Naya Fortress. The warrior and his comrades had together intercepted the invasion of Chaos Demons. Amidst the countless meteorites falling from the sky, they swung their swords freely, releasing the exhilaration in their hearts... Perhaps that wasn't exactly how they thought of it, but it should have been part of protection.
Because of someone's betrayal, Joshua had failed in his past life. He hadn't seen the final outcome before being reborn into this world.
But in this life, he would not fail.
"If the Mycroft World falling into chaos is what they call fate,"
Joshua's deep voice overpowered the howling wind.
"Then when such fate faces me, it is no longer fate."
To those who seek to change it, fate has never been fate.
Is this the reason I crossed over?
As he finished speaking, this question flashed through Joshua's mind, but he quickly shook his head.
"Don't get it wrong."
I just think that whether it's Evil Gods or Chaos, they are quite suitable as enemies.
The dark sky hid the sun without a trace. The frozen earth shattered, crumbling into nothingness under the chaotic gravity.
Standing on the last remaining patch of intact land, Joshua gazed into the distance. The rushing wind whipped against his body, scattering sparks into the air. He exhaled a breath, and white steam rose, turning into ice crystals before dissipating into the void.
Three Ultimate Wild Gods were rapidly approaching from afar. Their massive bodies, rubbing against the air, produced a crimson glow and shockwaves. Around them rippled translucent waves like water, shattering and pushing aside drifting rocks and mountain peaks. Their target was Joshua, who shone like a sun in their eyes, his entire body radiating the brilliance of order.
Slowly raising the great-axe in his hand, amidst the black fluctuations of killing intent, the flames that had been mere sparks began to burn. They covered his armor, licking at Joshua's body.
Looking at the howling monsters charging toward him, Joshua grinned.
Fighting against destruction and the apocalypse?
I like it.
(To be continued.)