# Chapter 25: Value, Courage, and Sword I
Death Shadows were not the first to appear in the Grandia World, nor had they always been such ferocious forms.
To the northwest of the Saint's Tomb, at the four great holy cities, atop the towering and majestic defensive line of [Construct Fortress Kalora] — entirely composed of steel and cannon barrels — an officer wearing heavy protective gear, gazing into the distant horizon, suddenly recalled this land from thirty years ago for reasons unknown to himself.
Back then, Death Shadows were not called Death Shadows. These beings derived from the departed living were called Echoes by the people. Under the special primal crystal energy of the Grandia Continent, before a person's soul dissipated, it would imprint its mark upon heaven and earth, forming something akin to an epitaph. When all harsh conditions were met, the Echo would reappear, recreating certain behaviors or words of the living person. Relatives who witnessed this would regard it as an auspicious omen, thanking the deceased for their protection.
The Grandia World was a single world composed of one entire continent. According to the Saint's creation legend, this continent lay at the very center of the four great oceans, and the edge of the world was nothing but void and chaos. Throughout history, there had been no shortage of curious adventurers who wished to explore the ends of the sea, but they and their ships ultimately disappeared at the edge of sight, never to return. However, according to certain adventurers who decisively turned back midway, they had seen the Echoes and warnings of those predecessors, which was why they quickly returned and did not continue forward.
Thus, Echoes were not originally ferocious forms that devoured all living beings. They had always existed as epitaphs of the dead, final blessings before death, and vessels of certain inheritances. The Saint's Tomb was a place where countless Echoes remained.
Unlike the Echoes of ordinary people, the residual phantoms left behind by the powerful in this world were far stronger, capable of some degree of thought and reasoning, and could even leave behind partial inheritances. However, their existence would plunder the free energy from the surrounding heaven and earth, turning fertile lands barren and causing forests and lakes full of vitality to wither and dry up. Therefore, for the safety of this world, whenever possible, the vast majority of powerful figures and great individuals would be sent near the Saint's Tomb to be buried and sealed before their deaths.
Now, with heaven and earth undergoing drastic changes, Echoes had transformed into Death Shadows, seeking to exterminate all life in the world. The massive sealing array clusters of the Saint's Tomb were humanity's final line of defense. If even these were breached, then nowhere in the entire Grandia World would remain habitable. The awakened phantoms of countless great figures and powerful beings would be enough to destroy the world they had once lived in.
Caressing the mana cannon barrel at his side, the officer recalled many things — scenes from many years ago when he had conversed peacefully with his father's Echo, and scenes from many years ago when his hometown was devoured by pitch-black Death Shadows.
But his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sight before him — at the edge of his vision, opposite this massive construct fortress, before the walls gleaming with steel-gray light, black mist suddenly appeared. It drifted from the distant northwest, obscuring all light along its path.
The sun was dimming bit by bit, as if something was gnawing at the light from within.
The army of Death Shadows had arrived at this moment.
On the walls of Kalora Fortress, countless cannon barrels began adjusting their angles in unison, preparing to load ammunition. Clearly visible runes and magical array paths emerged in the void. Bronze war banners fluttered and danced atop countless gun turrets and watchtowers. Everyone was ready to meet the assault.
Not only that — at the other three directions of the Saint's Tomb, the remaining three cities also made the same response.
Before a city coexisting with a colossal vine that seemed capable of entwining mountains, as tens of millions of seeds rained down like a downpour, countless thick thorns and exploding pods appeared around the city walls. They flickered with dangerous azure light, as if ready to erupt in violent explosions at any moment. Within the city, massive war trees also awakened from their slumber and began advancing toward the battlefield.
Below the city built within the mountain, at the foot of the peak, countless shattered rocks seemed to come alive, spontaneously combining to form enormous, sturdy earth elemental guardians. They formed endless ranks of elemental armies, standing ready at the mountain's base.
Behind the towering walls, within the city ruled by giants, accompanied by the piercing sound of electric arcs flowing, the entire city was enveloped by a massive semi-circular thunder barrier. Under the direction of the giant upon the throne and the support of countless human operators, the whole city seemed to have become lightning itself. Even steel, upon touching those electric arcs, would be instantly vaporized.
Before the defensive line formed by these four great cities, a gray, heavy mist was rapidly spreading and expanding, occupying half the sky.
Black waves, like ocean tides, surged fiercely toward the defensive line.
The final war had arrived. Whether it was the High Commander of the undead or the four city lords, they all knew part of the truth of this world. They understood their duties and knew how cruel and hopeless their final end would be.
One hundred three thousand — that was the quota the Creator had left for them. Apart from the final remaining one hundred three thousand, everyone else would turn to nothingness, perishing together with this world.
— But no matter how hopeless, you must fight to the end and prove your courage.
That was the advice left by a Saint who was like a star at the dawn of creation. This advice had been preserved within the inheritances of these top-tier existences for a thousand years, never disappearing.
— Prove the value of your existence.
— That is the essence of salvation.
Thus, before the walls of Kalora Fortress, the officer in heavy protective gear gripped the signal gun in his hand. Although he did not know this advice, decades of hardship and battle, the loss of his family, and the fall of his homeland filled his heart with fury and courage.
"Prepare!"
He roared loudly, raising the signal gun in his hand. The amplification array on his chest spread his voice across this entire section of the wall. Above the cannon barrels, the light of charging mana crystals illuminated countless resolute faces. From atop the wall, looking down, one could see that darkness had already covered the distant mountains and plains. Endless black Death Shadows emerged from the mist — these Echoes of the departed, awakened by some mysterious power, had transformed into bloodthirsty, cruel monsters, surging forward like a turbid tide.
"Fire!"
The trigger of the signal gun was pulled. Four pale pillars of light rose from the four directions, entering everyone's sight.
Instantly, the massive steel walls of Kalora Fortress began to tremble violently. Following this command, countless runes on the silver-gray walls shimmered brightly in response to the surging energy. Energy channels stabilized in the atmosphere lit up with arcs of light, like white rainbows piercing through the entire city. Thousands upon thousands of cannon fire in different colors erupted violently under this abundant energy supply. The recoil force even shook the entire city, causing countless construct structures to collapse. Tens of millions of light projectiles arced through the air, fell upon the earth, and bloomed with the most dazzling radiance.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Explosions and shockwaves instantly covered all the Death Shadow armies in the direction of Carlos Fortress. Even the gray mist was dispersed considerably by the powerful energy impact. The first wave of Death Shadows was completely annihilated, but successive monsters were pouring in endlessly. Although their numbers were not infinite, they equaled the total number of all the dead in this world.
In truth, it was not much different from being infinite.
At the other directions of the Saint's Tomb, the other three cities also began fighting simultaneously. Rhythmic and regular cannon bombardments, magical sweeps, and the charges of massive war trees and earth elemental armies were efficiently harvesting the low-level Death Shadows. Strategic magics at the Earth Realm level, and even Heaven Realm level, were launched from the cities, covering several square kilometers of land. Everything at the edge of sight was washed clean by these great magics, completely turned over.
But under the assault of several waves, even dozens of waves of successive Death Shadows, the holy cities' defensive lines continued to retreat. In just half a day, the front line of battle had been pushed from nearly ten li before the cities to the vicinity of the city walls. Constrained by this, many powerful magics could not be employed.
"Commander! The enemy front line is too close to the wall! Let the artillery and spellcaster units withdraw!"
On the watchtower at the edge of Carlos Fortress's wall, a soldier wearing black exoskeleton construct armor stood before the officer who had given the order to attack. He shouted amidst the roaring cannon fire and chaotic explosions: "It's time for us to take over!"
"Damn it!"
The officer in heavy protective gear ground his teeth. He stood atop the tower, his gaze sweeping across the front line. The facts were exactly as the other had said — some Death Shadows were already using their nearly weightless nature to begin climbing the walls. No matter how advanced the mana cannons were, they could not strike enemies on the wall without damaging the wall itself. But even so, he turned his head and glared at the young man before him: "Son... Captain Falin, do you want to die that badly?!"
And the young man, born and raised in the end times, revealed a helpless yet resolute smile.
"Everyone has to die."
He said: "But I want to die with value."
But just as he spoke these words, at the edge of the nearby watchtower, the observer who had been monitoring the subsequent forces of the distant Death Shadow army suddenly let out a cry: "Reporting, Commander! There's something!"
"What is it?!"
Waving his hand to dismiss the young man who served as captain of the wall defense squad, preparing for battle, the officer frowned and asked loudly: "Report in detail!"
"Over there!"
The observer lowered the telescope in his hand and handed it to his commander, while pointing in a direction: "Ten o'clock, at the edge of sight, behind those Death Shadow armies!"
The officer took the telescope without hesitation and looked in that direction.
Then he blinked in shock.
It seemed like an illusion, yet it did not. Behind the distant Death Shadow army, at the very center of their formation, waves of black were being lifted up, like a tsunami. But the officer could clearly see that the so-called black waves were tens of thousands of Death Shadows. They were being lifted by some force, even knocked away in patches, blasted into the sky, thus forming a scene like waves.
Boom!
A dim red light appeared amidst those surging waves in the distance. A low, indistinct sound followed from afar. If one did not pay deliberate attention, it would easily be drowned out and ignored by the cannon fire around Kalora Fortress. But the officer accurately caught it.
What was it? A hidden tactic of the Death Shadows? Reinforcements from other holy cities? Many thoughts flashed through the officer's mind, but he rejected them one by one. The power of the Death Shadows was fixed. Over twenty-seven years, the holy cities had confirmed the information of all powerful figures who had fallen outside the Saint's Tomb. The high-ranking officials knew all the Death Shadows of unsealed great figures and powerful beings, and among them, there was absolutely no red light like the one appearing in the distance that was lifting up massive waves.
As for reinforcements from other holy cities, that was even more of a joke. Although the four holy cities were all remaining human settlements, due to the different philosophies of their city lords, they were competitors. Cooperating to deal with the Death Shadows was their limit. How could they dispatch powerful beings to help another city defend?
Where did this light come from?
"Ah! The Death Shadow formation is in chaos!"
Beside him, the observer who had taken out a spare telescope shouted again in surprise, and in the distance, a dim red light, like a meteor, swept away a large patch of Death Shadows along with the dark clouds above them, revealing the gray-blue sky behind.
The once orderly dark army fell into disarray. Some continued advancing toward Kalora Fortress, while others surrounded the location of the light.
And upon the earth.
A man bathed in starlight.
Because the sun had gone out.
The sun and moon of the Grandia World were merely extremely condensed energy aggregates that burned and extinguished along with the world itself — this was the essence of celestial bodies in a small world with a round sky and square earth. The so-called Fusion Core Star was a fragment of this massive energy aggregate. But the stars were different from these dim lights on the verge of doomsday. They were reflections of other worlds in the multiverse. A star twinkling meant that a world was in crisis.
Now, the stars in the sky were being disturbed by a light mist that seemed like a river of stars, sweeping across the multiverse, releasing light far brighter than usual.
The Great Magic Tide was approaching. The broken Grandia World was about to receive its baptism.
And that was when the end would come, when all things would return to nothing.
The warrior stood upon the earth, advancing slowly. Within a radius of three thousand meters centered on him, there was not a trace of any Death Shadow. Countless ferocious and brutal monsters tried to rush forward, to tear apart this seemingly ordinary human. But the moment they entered this domain, they felt their bodies become light, as if the force that had been holding them to the ground had suddenly disappeared, or had been canceled out by some other power.
Countless Death Shadows surged toward the man like waves on the sea, but the outcome did not change. The moment they stepped into the warrior's domain, they were simultaneously repelled by an invisible force, knocked away, blasted into the clouds. Because they had lost gravity, tens of thousands of Death Shadows were knocked flying like a towering wave, disappearing into the mist, utterly unable to approach the target at the center.
The man walked amidst countless crimson gazes, his expression unchanged. His clothes fluttered in the strong wind. Countless rocks and dust floated beside the warrior, orbiting him like satellites. The earth, soaked in blood and shadow power, was purified by the blazing light of life released from his body, turning into patches of steaming white ground. One could even see dark golden magma cooling at the footprints left by the man.
Joshua van Radcliffe walked silently amidst the myriad army. The violent Death Shadows were no more dangerous than dust in his eyes. The distant roaring cannon fire and the holy cities engaged in fierce battle could not attract his attention. The warrior never interfered in others' battles or affected others' resolve.
At this moment, he was simply focused, single-mindedly advancing forward, toward the higher place within his heart.