# Chapter 60: Legacy of the Gods 7000
*Continent of Strife: Arrival*, *Continent of Strife: Glory*, *Continent of Strife: Dragon Calamity*, *Continent of Strife: Far Frontier*, *Continent of Strife: Divine Descent*, *Continent of Strife: Embers*.
The Earth Federation's massively popular fantasy game series, [Continent of Strife], had been occupying the top ten of the full-immersion game popularity charts since its simultaneous server launch across the entire star system nine years ago, and had topped the charts several times. Its true body was a solid steel frame.
"...You should go in by yourself..."
After a long silence, the Fairy Queen spoke in an inexplicable tone: "No wonder the formation showed a Void Behemoth several hundred meters tall... I can't send you over."
Just as Joshua himself reached out to touch that ink-black Void Portal and disappeared into the teleportation, a faint voice came from somewhere unknown: "So he's the type that looks thin in clothes..."
Unaware that he had received such a strange evaluation from a certain Fairy Queen, as the teleportation ended, Joshua opened his eyes and looked around. He found himself in a strange space.
Crimson red light, scorching high temperatures, rumbling vibrations that shook everything, and magma flowing rapidly all around the surrounding space—Joshua understood where he was in just a fraction of a second. He raised one hand, shattering a thick energy arc that had just leaped up from beside him, then turned his head to look at Israel beside him: "Deep within the earth?"
"Yes." Without caring why Joshua had arrived later than him, His Majesty the Emperor nodded: "A special space opened around the earth's core—to be precise, a node of the seal."
After a brief exchange with Israel, Joshua continued observing his surroundings. This place was undoubtedly near the earth's core. At the bottom of the mantle, viscous lava flowed at a maddening speed under the effects of high temperature and pressure, as rapid as a river rushing down from a snowy mountain. Here, charcoal would be compressed into diamonds, and adamantite would lose its form. Except for Legendary experts, even Ultimate-rank beings would struggle to survive here. Yet in such a harsh environment, there existed a massive spherical empty space. Although it occasionally contained energy arcs hundreds or thousands of meters long, this alone proved its miraculous nature.
Israel stood in the center of this space filled with crimson magma light. He raised his left hand, where a simple, unadorned gray bracelet on his wrist was flashing. One by one, runes containing infinite mysteries lit up along the curve of the bracelet. Just by seeing these runes, Joshua instinctively knew their pronunciation and meaning. The very existence of this powerful ancient language transcended logic, representing existence itself—it was divine speech circulated among deities.
As all the runes lit up, Israel clenched his left fist. The gray bracelet detached from his wrist and floated autonomously in midair. The ancient patterns upon it began to separate one by one, spreading outward in all directions. The chaotic energy arcs scattered throughout the space were guided by these runes, transforming into straight lines. Within seconds, a massive three-dimensional matrix formation filled the entire empty space. Overwhelming sealing pressure emanated from it, even causing Joshua to frown warily.
"What is this, Israel?"
"This is a legacy from the primordial age."
Facing the warrior's question, His Majesty the Emperor lowered his head, gazing at the earth's core not far away, concealed by countless streams of gold-red magma. He spoke in a low, calm voice completely devoid of emotion: "Resonance begins."
As soon as the words fell, as if resonance had occurred, three nearly identical massive formations lit up in the distance. They too surrounded the earth's core, but were so far away they seemed separated by half a continent. These four enormous sealing formations occupied the four cardinal directions, as if completely encircling the earth's core. Between them, streams of magical power spanning tens of millions of kilometers connected them all. Huge runes shimmered with divine radiance, completely sealing the earth's core.
"Four sanctuaries, four seals. After the lost three hundred years, countless survivors emerged from the sealed sanctuaries. What they faced was a homeland that had completely transformed into an alien world, along with frenzied magical beast attacks."
Watching the end of all changes, Israel spoke softly, whether to himself or to Joshua: "After a hundred years of battle, the four major human settlements appeared one by one on the continent. The faith of the Seven Gods of Humanity spread unconsciously. At that time, my ancestor, the founder of the Diamond family who had nearly unified the entire northern settlement, encountered the Fairy Queen and the God of Justice descending to the mortal world. He supported my ancestor in establishing the greatest kingdom on the continent, but in return, my family had to bear a responsibility."
"This sealing formation deep within the earth's core?" Joshua naturally knew what Israel was talking about. He frowned deeply and asked: "What exactly is it sealing? Wait..." Joshua suddenly remembered something: "Right... The Sage reshaped the Mycroft Continent using the corpse of the Plenty Evil God as a foundation. Could it be?!"
"It's not that 'could it be.' How could the Sage leave such a hidden danger? But it's not far off. For humanity, it's even worse."
Letting out a light laugh, Israel raised his head and looked around at this empty space deep within the earth that could still hold its place and remain undestroyed for a thousand years. He seemed relieved to finally be able to confide this heavy secret to an outsider: "Look, Joshua."
His Majesty the Emperor extended his hand, pointing at the solid earth's core radiating high temperature, and the countless ancient runes faintly visible around it: "This is the seal left by the previous generation of gods."
"It separates us from heaven and earth, firmly locking the world's will within the earth's core—since that day countless years ago, the star belonging to Mycroft fell. It disappeared from the multiverse, until not long ago when you rekindled it."
Joshua's pupils contracted slightly. He finally understood what the lingering doubt in his heart had been! It was about the will of the Mycroft World! He had communicated with Carlis, conversed with Ilgena, and even the nascent world will of the already extinguished Grandia World had begged him for salvation. He was the Soulflame King, the intermediary between worlds and life. As long as he existed, he should not have been unable to detect the Steel Serpent of the Mycroft Continent!
Joshua had thought about similar questions before, but successive events had interrupted every deep contemplation. Coupled with the fact that the Mycroft Continent was a dead world, the warrior felt that perhaps this world's will had long since died—but Carlis proved with its own existence that the resilience of a world's will surpassed any lifeform's imagination. Even a Steel Serpent like it, which had nearly withered for a millennium, could regain vitality with the injection of new flame. Then the Mycroft World, which had received all the flames of the Grandia World, should absolutely not continue to remain silent.
And the complete silence of the previous generation of gods was also very strange. Even the Father of Nature could survive for so long under such difficult circumstances. Why did all the gods of the Era of Radiance, the victors, disappear entirely, leaving behind only clearly new-generation deities?
Until now, the answer had probably been revealed.
"The previous generation of gods sacrificed themselves... to seal the world's will?" Joshua struggled to digest this information. He shook his head—not out of disbelief, but simply because it seemed utterly preposterous: "Since it wasn't corruption by evil gods, what reason would cause the gods and all races to seal their own mother?"
The answer was simple. In fact, without needing Israel to respond, the warrior had already thought of the answer himself.
If this mother hadn't made the first move, why would the gods and the races dwelling on this land go to the trouble of sealing the will of the world they lived in?
"Exactly. Perhaps She believed that all disasters originated from humanity. Perhaps She thought that the existence of life itself was the source of destruction. Or perhaps She knew that She was already dead and wanted to fall into the abyss—there are countless reasons, but only one result: this Mother of All Things wanted to erase everything on the continent and restart the ecological cycle."
Israel's tone returned to calm. He spoke in a flat voice: "Compared to us, She loved the Black Forest and the magical beasts that multiplied while we were still in the sanctuaries. Except for the bloodline survivors of the Earth Mother Goddess from the previous era, we were no longer considered Her children... And I couldn't say anything, because millions of people couldn't accept that the land beneath their feet was actually their enemy."
"If one day the seal is broken, we will have only three choices: kill our mother, be killed by our mother, or leave this world."
"A forsaken race..." Listening to Israel's somewhat helpless voice, Joshua suddenly thought of the Astral Dragons for some reason. Whether the Five-Colored Dragons or the Metal Dragons, they were powerful races from other worlds. Their worlds had once suffered a great calamity, forcing them to flee. The warrior suddenly said: "They know this too. Otherwise, they wouldn't have so inexplicably launched the Dragon Calamity, wantonly attacking the human-elf alliance that was stronger than them."
It seemed that was it. The existence of the world's will, the whereabouts of the gods, the countless ruins buried in the earth, and the origin of the Era of Falling Stars—all seemingly complex mysteries actually began with one simple thing: the Mother of Creation no longer loved Her former children. That was all.
Although the lost three hundred years of history remained unexplained, the other questions had received answers that were far from pleasant.
"Yes. The Five-Colored Dragons somehow learned of this. They wanted to compete with us, the forsaken, for dominance over the world, attempting to become the rulers of the Mycroft World and be fully accepted by Her."
Israel showed a sarcastic expression: "Unfortunately, they failed, so they could only flee to the abyss. Meanwhile, the Metal Dragons, who had always opposed them, gained the right to continue multiplying in this world. How laughable."
Having said this, His Majesty the Emperor took a step toward the earth's core. The high temperature and pressure seemed completely nonexistent to him. His clothes showed no signs of scorching, as if they weren't in an underground environment with temperatures of several thousand degrees. As Israel walked, he continued: "That's why I have no regard for those scheming people. They know nothing. This land has no value worth conquering."
Israel kept approaching the earth's core, and Joshua walked alongside him. Israel didn't stop. There was a blazing fire in his eyes, hotter than the surrounding magma: "This land nurtured our ancestors, and it nurtured you and me. This is our homeland, but ultimately, it is not the final destination for us or our descendants."
"Joshua, I regard you differently."
Turning his head sharply, Israel met Joshua's gaze and said directly: "I am the Emperor. I need to govern this nation. Before seeking possibilities for the future, I must first be responsible for my people's present. I am bound to this land. I want to reach for the stars, but I cannot sever my ties... You are different. You have traveled through several different worlds and perfectly accomplished your goals. You understand how to find worlds with life, and you know what kind of environment humanity needs."
"I understand what you mean."
Joshua narrowed his eyes slightly. He couldn't help but recall the information Carlis had told him: that many world wills needed his help to eliminate the Chaos seeds parasitizing within them. Without a doubt, this was a task that required traveling between various worlds. In the process, seeking future land for the many races of the Mycroft Continent was not a difficult matter. Thinking this, the warrior couldn't help but shake his head. He felt as if everything was flowing along with some current, just like back in the Earth Federation, when that mysterious designer interviewed by the government had said—as if everything naturally operated, and then everything fell into place.
"I have to say, Israel, you are the most un-emperor-like emperor I have ever seen." Having arrived above the earth's core, feeling the scorching temperature, Joshua suddenly laughed for some reason. He said calmly: "What you think about, what you pursue, is completely different from what I knew before. Perhaps this is the difference between reality and illusion—I truly admire you."
"Cold and timid people never know what success or failure is." Above the earth's core, Israel, who hadn't fully understood what Joshua was talking about, also laughed. He closed his eyes, then opened them again: "Those who dare not act will be laughed at by heaven."
"And I am, after all, a warrior. Courage and victory are my creeds."
"Even if the opponent is this world?"
"The same."