# Chapter 30: Final Choice (1)
Starlight floated above the desolate plain.
Joshua raised his head to look at the shimmering coordinate in the darkness, silent for over ten seconds. Only then did he lower his gaze to survey the vast, desolate plain before him.
This was a land utterly foreign to a warrior—boundless, barren, deathly still, without a trace of life. At the edge of the earth, a black highland faded into shadow, shrouded by sandstorms and dark clouds.
The sun and moon had both been extinguished; starlight was obscured by overcast clouds. The world was deep and dark, with no light in the sky save for the purple lightning flickering within the mist. And at that moment, the starlight coordinate suddenly rose, extending toward the horizon's end, drawing a silver winding line that led straight to the summit of the towering Gaitar Highland.
No darkness, however profound, could conceal this light, for it was the final mark left by Akhal.
Joshua gazed at this deep, dark path of light, a chill of death spreading through his body. It seemed like a road of no return leading to the River Styx, but even if it were the true underworld, the warrior had no reason to retreat now.
Shaking off the layers of high-density rock that had condensed on his body, Joshua took his first step.
—The nameless knight.
Though he still did not know the knight's name, the warrior understood from the depths of his heart that he was a worthy, honorable powerhouse deserving of all glory.
Even if he had destroyed the world, driven countless deathly shadows to kill innumerable people, even if the two of them had exchanged fewer than ten words and their battle had lasted less than an hour—this would not change, not in the slightest.
Every spear thrust, every strike, every fluctuation of gravitational waves contained the knight's unwillingness and confusion, his bewilderment and release, and finally, that heart that faced everything with equanimity. In merely a few exchanges, Joshua had come to understand more than most people what kind of person his opponent truly was, and what heavy truth he bore.
Now, he had set down his burden, silently turning to dust as he died, and Joshua took over everything he carried.
Advancing along the path guided by the light, Joshua suddenly realized his heart had grown calm to the point of coldness. He waved his hand, and the Dragon-Hunting Sword Lance, which had fallen in the distance, transformed into a streak of light and returned to his grasp.
"It has always been like this."
He thought somewhat indifferently: "Battle is like this. It has never changed."
Fighting against human powerhouses was completely different from battling Chaos Monsters and wild beasts. When the warrior thrust his spear or pulled back his fist to strike, what he sought to shatter was not mere life, but the opponent's will. What he unleashed was not only weapons and fists, but also his own conviction and soul.
Every exchange between the two sides was a collision of spirit and will, a battle of conviction and perseverance. The mere strength or weakness of power could only determine advantage or disadvantage; what truly decided victory or defeat was the soul.
Just like that previous strike.
The powerful gravitational fluctuation caused earth and stone within dozens of kilometers to rise into the air, drawn by the gravitational source condensed within the old knight's body. These billions of tons of endless rock would collapse and compress under tens of thousands of times—or even more terrifying—gravity into an inconceivably super-condensed substance, sealing him tightly—or crushing him to death within. The layer of high-density rock that had already solidified on the warrior's body was clear proof.
And facing such a powerful, terrain-altering celestial-level attack, Joshua's only response was to abandon his physical body, transform into a giant of Life Energy, and with the awakening (juewu) of abandoning his life, imitate the self-detonation of a Fusion Core Star, driving the Life Energy within him to burn, fuse, and transform it into the purest heat, impact, and light, unleashing it with all his might.
He had nearly reached the end—in the final moment, Joshua had almost abandoned his physical body, using this final, most blazing self-sacrificial strike, attempting to break through this invisible prison capable of trapping a star.
If everything had truly developed that way, then this would have been a perfect battle to the extreme, one that would make a warrior's blood boil to the utmost—staking life and everything on the line to see who would ultimately claim victory.
But nothing in this world could ever be perfect.
[Prison Star Heavenly Prison] had been interrupted.
A spiritual fragment carried by the terrifying gravitational fluctuation told the warrior the name of this technique and also foreshadowed the knight's end. It was indeed a powerful skill worthy of its name. If one could withstand this strike without dying, the warrior could use this collapsing, compressing gravity to shatter his own tough "eggshell," causing his life essence to transform and sublimate to the Legendary Realm.
But everything came to an abrupt halt. Akhal's final strike, after breaking through all of Joshua's defenses and pushing him to the brink of burning his life and soul in counterattack, had burned itself out.
He was too old.
The warrior clenched his fist, causing wounds that had not yet healed to split open. Blood dripped onto the earth, splashing up a few grains of dust. The deep red blood beads seemed to want to gestate something the moment they left his body, but in the end, they turned into droplets of shattered blood, absorbed by the dry sand of the ground. The weapon in Joshua's hand seemed to sense the turmoil in its master's heart and remained silent.
A thousand years. Akhal had been dead for a thousand years. If the Ulan Empire had not exhausted the nation's strength to find his imperial tomb, dig out his remains, and use the most profound psychic secret arts to reassemble his soul imprint scattered across the entire continent, this old knight would have long since turned to ashes. How could he have been revived as a Heroic Spirit and unleashed a Saint Domain-level strike? But even so, he had reached his end. His battle with Joshua was his final persistence. The Prison Star Heavenly Prison burned not the energy within Akhal's body, but his soul.
He had no margin left. He had indeed struck with all his might. It was just that he was old. That was all.
The knight who had been defeated by time still did not obtain the most perfect ending.
And Joshua arrived atop the highland.
The gale howled, forming a vortex, turning sand and stone into blades that tore at everything caught within. The black sandstorm in the Gaitar Highland was like the most solid city wall, an impregnable fortress, barring all visitors at the gate.
The path formed by starlight passed through this dust, extending toward the center of the highland. The warrior did not stop but instead accelerated.
With one step, the scenery beside him blurred. The scorching gale swirled around him, like a red-hot iron cone piercing into an endless storm at high speed. The pitch-black storm churned and rolled under the impact of this violent (kuangbao) force, beginning to disperse. The power of nature bowed before a single man. One could see the originally massive storm vortex splitting in two at a visible rate, like Moses parting the sea, retreating to both sides of the highland, revealing the path the warrior walked in the middle.
Joshua seemed somewhat dissatisfied. He raised the Dragon-Hunting Sword Lance and slashed horizontally at the black sandstorms on both sides.
Thus, the storm continued to retreat. The energy source forming this massive vortex was pierced by invisible Life Energy radiation, losing most of its power.
After a short while, the warrior slowed his pace. He raised his head and looked at the majestic giant city before him. This was the end guided by the path of starlight, his destination.
Ulan Empire, Imperial Capital Gaitar.
Beyond the black sandstorm lay a magnificent city. This city sat between two slightly raised hills, upon which stood six towering black towers inscribed with countless runes. The city walls were entirely built from polished, square gray stone. Sturdy fortresses and arrow towers stood behind the walls. One could see four heaven-piercing light pillars in the city's center, piercing the sky and stirring the black clouds above into a bottomless giant vortex.
In this city, which could be called the origin of the deathly shadows, there was not a trace of any deathly shadow. Joshua sensed carefully and indeed detected no hint of deathly stillness—but he also sensed some strange presences within the city that were neither dead nor alive.
Naturally, no one opened the city gates, so the warrior came before the city wall. He clapped his hands, and a hurricane swept through. The sturdy city wall, like a castle built of sand in a tidal wave, easily collapsed into countless fragments. Gray dust spread forward, paving a path, allowing Joshua to enter the city without hindrance.
Inside the city, all was dark. There came chaotic and strange noises. One could see rows of residential buildings shrouded in shadow. These buildings were arranged with extreme precision, not like the layout of a city, but rather like part of some giant formation. At the city's center stood four tall obelisks, with ruins of three more obelisks around them. They were entirely enveloped in a dark, glossy sheen. The heaven-piercing light pillars originated from them, piercing the sky.
Joshua glanced at the obelisks, then lowered his head to look at the residential buildings. The presences neither dead nor alive and the chaotic noises came from within. If they were some evil monsters, the warrior would not mind eliminating them as a matter of course.
But the result made him pause slightly.
In every residential building, there were indeed writhing, strange monsters. Their bodies seemed like a mixture of mud and earth, bound within rooms that were almost sealed. Sensing Joshua's gaze, these monsters stopped making noises, trembling as they fell silent, not daring to continue. And in an instant, the warrior saw through their essence.
They were humans who had been deeply infected by the deathly aura of the underworld, completely mutated into some kind of bizarre existence.
Twenty-seven years ago, the apocalypse mutation occurred in this city. The power that reversed life and death, light and dark, transmitted endless underworld aura to the entire world, awakening an endless army of deathly shadows. The residents of the imperial capital, who were closest to this power, had been mutated into these strange monsters.
They—them—these beings who still retained consciousness made noises that were cries of pain and pleas. Ordinary humans might not understand this mutated language, but at Joshua's level, he could clearly comprehend its meaning.
Neither dead nor alive, their bodies turned to mud. Even if they died, they would become deathly shadows. So these beings prayed not for resurrection, nor for death.
But for rest.
"Ah..." Letting out a soft sigh, the warrior closed his eyes. Then, he opened them again and walked steadfastly toward the city's center.
The fate of the Grandia World had been entrusted to him by that nameless knight. The truth lay before his eyes. Joshua would not stop for this.
And so, in the next moment, the warrior stood before the remaining four obelisks.
The city's center was a vast plaza paved with white granite. Seven obelisks had been erected according to a pattern upon it. At the center was a platform of unknown purpose. Now, with the deaths of Arman, the deathly shadow swordsman, and the old knight, three obelisks had turned to ash and dissipated, leaving only the remaining tower bases.
Joshua felt that the black light flowing on the four obelisks made him very uncomfortable. Decaying Steel Force spread outward from them as a center. It seemed this was the core of the corruption. So he struck out, using a spiral spear force to break them all. There were no formations or barriers blocking him along the way. The process was so simple it made one suspect it might be an illusion. After withdrawing his hand, the warrior inexplicably felt a lightness in his chest, as if some promise had been fulfilled.
And in the distance, in the direction of the four Holy Cities, the deathly shadow commanders who had been entangled with the four Holy City lords suddenly froze in place. The spellcaster controlling the crystal puppet looked relieved. The mist humanoid muttered something in a language difficult for ordinary people to understand. The summoner who could summon frozen bone dragons and various otherworldly creatures looked somewhat regretful, as he had been gaining the upper hand in the battle. The archer holding a metal longbow shrugged and laughed freely.
The next moment, these undead powerhouses, who carried the destiny of an era, vanished with the wind, dissipating into nothing.
"What happened?"
Whether it was the machine elder, the elf lady, the dwarf warrior, or the giant, all were shocked and confused. But then, understanding something, they immediately looked toward the Gaitar Highland, their gazes full of surprise.
In the distance, four pitch-black light pillars dissipated. The vortex-like black clouds gradually calmed. The endless deathly aura no longer spread to every corner of the world but accumulated in place, shrouding the Gaitar capital, which had long been infected to resemble the underworld, in darkness.
This darkness was like the embodiment of death and annihilation. It was bottomless, containing no light or sound. Whether the howling wind or the wailing of monsters, all were devoured by this darkness. Everything was like the time before the world was born, still in the non-existent void of chaos.
But a single point of light ignited.
The seven obelisks and the entire Gaitar capital formed a grand formation—no, not just these. The dust storm on the highland, the cold wind on the desolate plain—all were part of this grand formation. Heaven, earth, and all things were encompassed within it. This city was merely the center that collected and converged everything.
And at the very center of this grand formation's core, a hazy light mass suddenly appeared. It had no shape, no color. Aside from existing, it could no longer be described by any language. It did not seem transparent, nor was it solid. While emitting light, it also expanded and contracted like a living thing, as if it had life.
A hand reached out from the darkness and grasped this light mass.
Joshua Van Radcliffe knew that this was the truth of everything. Whether it was the strange attitude of the Fourth Inheritor, the past of Urban Deni, the reason the deathly shadows slaughtered the living and destroyed the world, or the world's fate that the old knight had spoken of—all the answers were contained within this mysterious light mass. By grasping it, he could learn everything.
So he grasped it without hesitation.