Chapter 9: Codename Star Cluster

Chapter 9: Codename Star Cluster

"Saving the world."
Repeating the words simply, Joshua felt no excitement from this overly noble term, because he had accomplished such a feat before. Thus, the warrior calmly stared at the will that had suddenly appeared within his spiritual sea, and asked seriously: "Azure Radiance must be the Azure Orb, and the so-called inheritor is me."
"I can understand all that, but could you explain the specific reasons and your origins? That way, I can make preparations."

The silver light orb spun within the warrior's dark spiritual space. Unlike Little Light, which was almost translucent with a visible core, this orb was composed entirely of silver liquid metal-like luminous matter forming its body. After confirming Joshua's question, the silver light orb immediately replied in a calm, monotone voice without any inflection: "Third Inheritor, the Dominant Will of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground is at your service."

Following that, the light orb, calling itself the Dominant Will of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, used a mechanical, emotionless yet highly organized manner to inform Joshua of everything it knew, one by one. Under the silver radiance, the warrior's face remained calm, revealing nothing of what he was thinking. This continued until the light orb stopped narrating and Joshua spoke: "I understand."
"The Sage... could converse with the World Will."

After listening to the Dominant Will's account, Joshua closed his eyes. He paused for a long moment, seemingly digesting the information. Then, he opened his eyes and muttered to himself: "This is only natural... When the Azure Orb first awakened, I should have realized this fact—a teenager who grew up in a mountain village could, whenever he wished, traverse time and space to travel to other worlds. Without the help of the World Will, no amount of talent could make that possible."
"And that innate power—reviving the dead, healing everything, being close to the essence of all things in heaven and earth—how similar is it to the Steel Shards I obtained before? The Sage was born able to communicate with the world, and as a youth, he traveled the multiverse, gaining power that surpassed all."

Just like not long ago, when Carlis invited Joshua to help Him and other worlds, such things had certainly happened to the Sage, and he had done them well.

Now, many previously inexplicable events and objects had found their explanations. Joshua's understanding of the history of the Sage's era, thousands of years ago, grew clearer and clearer. And because of this, he now knew the true function of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground.

At the end of the previous era, the Sage led his disciples and joined forces with the gods to construct the greatest project in the history of the Mycroft World: a vast demiplane independent of the world itself. This project was so immense that even with the gods working together to search for world fragments in the void, it took nearly a hundred years. The moment this colossal demiplane was completed, due to the nature of its materials and the power bestowed by the Sage, it gained the ability to connect to any orderly plane within the multiverse.

It was a gate to the future, a horn of expansion. Its very existence signified the path of civilization's progress. The Sage saw in it the future of the Mycroft Continent's races, who were nearing their limits. Kings saw new territories and power. The warlike thought of war and conquest. Merchants envisioned new markets and immense wealth. Even beggars and criminals were filled with hope, because before new worlds, even those who had fallen to the lowest rungs had new possibilities.

Fanaticism descended upon the entire Mycroft Continent.

And that was exactly what the Sage wanted.

Standing at a height far above the gods, the Sage surveyed the multiverse from the void. He could sense darkness spreading in the endless distance, seeds of chaos taking root in world after world, blossoming into flowers of destruction and death. This was not something the Evil Gods themselves could achieve; behind them, a darker existence lurked in the depths. To help and save those worlds in need, the Sage divided his own power, granting the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground immense authority.

In his plan, the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground would connect to countless worlds in the distant multiverse that had been tainted by chaos and needed help. Such worlds were extremely sensitive to external reactions and very easy to enter. Then, led by the gods and numerous powerful beings of the Mycroft Continent, the races, having nearly reached their peak, would help those worlds expel chaos, settle in them, and expand their influence. The Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground would then distribute the rewards sent by the helped worlds' wills to ordinary people who couldn't communicate with the World Will, granting them the power to achieve transcendence.

First, start with worlds where chaos had invaded lightly—perhaps just a few people needed to kill a few weak monsters. Then, move to those more deeply eroded, requiring multiple factions and several teams to descend together. Circulating back and forth, many worlds would be reborn, all intelligent life on the Mycroft Continent would be elevated through transcendence, and the Mycroft World itself would become a world above worlds, a level called the 'Order Anchor Point.'

To this, the gods and the World Will all agreed wholeheartedly. They knew the Sage was using their power to fulfill his own wishes, but they were willingly driven. Beyond this, the Sage also established emergency protocols. For worlds eroded extremely deeply or civilizations facing imminent destruction, he would personally descend to eliminate the chaos. If an accident prevented him from acting, his twelve saints would handle it.

This was the true body of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground: the [Multiverse Incident Processing Hub].

Recalling the information relayed by the Dominant Will, even Joshua felt a storm within his heart.

It was a bridge for a world to step into the multiverse, a channel for a civilization's ascension. It was the light that saved countless worlds from chaos, a means for order to expand itself endlessly. The existence of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground was the ultimate expression of intelligent life's 'curiosity' and 'desire.' Its meaning could not be described in words, for it was sublimity and glory itself.

Because of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground and the Sage, in terms of morality and responsibility, you need to switch to Divine Mechanism form and prepare to depart."
"Okay!"
"Ding-a-ling?!?!"

Compression wasn't a big deal for Little Light; it had been curious before and Joshua had squeezed it into various shapes. But the warrior's sudden roughness now startled it a bit. However, this wasn't the time to worry about that. Both Ying and Lin had long been prepared. At Joshua's command, they collectively transformed into weapon forms, grasped in his hands. After that, the warrior turned to Nostradamus, who had just deactivated his combat readiness and was approaching with a confused expression, and said succinctly: "Urgent matter, leaving now."

Before finishing his words, he decisively pushed off the ground. In an instant, the flat earth of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, unchanged for a thousand years, shattered, twisted, and churned under a terrifying force. Countless rocks and dust flew into the sky, and a streak of red light, reaching extreme speed, shot toward the center of the demiplane amidst a sharp, piercing roar.

"This—what's going on?!"

Nostradamus stared in shock. Not only that, but three other uncertain wills came from other directions of the demiplane. The old mage had no idea what was happening. Joshua's inexplicable fainting earlier had already made him anxious. Now that he had finally woken up, before Nostradamus could even breathe a sigh of relief, this guy was causing another accident, flying toward the dangerous, silver-mist-shrouded center of the demiplane.
"And how is he unleashing his full power?"

That was what amazed Nostradamus. Although the rules of the demiplane were extremely similar to the Mycroft Continent, there was a fundamental difference at the deepest level. It seemed connected to something grand and ancient, possessing an awe-inspiring authority that made people instinctively retreat. Other Legendary experts had been cautious, unable and unwilling to exert their full strength, but Joshua had broken their understanding.
"Has that Count Radcliffe analyzed the nature of this demiplane?"
"Very fast."
"Rushing into the ruins at the center of the plane is too reckless."

Unlike the other Legendary experts, each with their own thoughts, Nostradamus only felt an unprecedented fatigue—a fatigue that had been building in his heart since he first met Joshua, now reaching its limit. This made the usually calm and rational old mage let out a helpless sigh: "Why is there always so much trouble..."

Before his words faded, faint blue ripples flickered around his body. These ripples were like light, or clouds of particles, delving into the depths of spacetime and unfolding a shimmering, uncertain portal. The next moment, Nostradamus stepped into it, shaking his head: "I can only chase after and see what's happening."

On the other side, Joshua had arrived at the edge of the plane's center, shrouded in silver mist. He could already see the vast, familiar yet unfamiliar ruins.
"Silver Obelisks, Ancient Stone Tablets, First Flame Totems, Arbitration Hubs, Steel Anchor Points."

The warrior recited the names of these ancient structures and ruins from his past life in his mind. Along the way, he even saw several giant divine mechanisms in hibernation—massive killing machines with pale blue phase-shift armor shells, still damaged and unrepaired, showing the difficulty of the battle back then. He even spotted a massive graveyard of divine mechanisms, where hundreds of destroyed remains were piled up. If nothing unexpected happened, that was the most precious treasure in this demiplane. Obtaining them would allow the Mycroft World of the Falling Stars Era to rapidly catch up to the Era of Radiance.

After all, the civilizations shared the same origin, with almost identical magic and technological baselines. Moreover, the current Mycroft Continent civilization was a fusion of multiple races, making it even superior in this regard to the Era of Radiance.

Flying past at dozens of times the speed of sound, Joshua didn't pay too much attention to those buildings and remains. They weren't his goal. Now, the warrior had arrived at the base of the dim gray sun, beside the massive central obelisk.
"Silver Sky Radiance, the artificial sun in the sky, is my true body."
In his spiritual sea, the Dominant Will was relaying information: "The plane's center is at the top of the Multiverse Quadrant Positioning Device, the Myriad Realms Obelisk. Its damage level is much lower than mine. As long as energy supply is sufficient, it can achieve nearly one hundred percent success rate."
"Where does the energy come from?"
"Burning my soul."

Speaking in the same emotionless voice, the Dominant Will issued the next command: "Proceed to the top of the obelisk, Third Inheritor. Serial number 000001, First Emergency Mission Transfer is ready. I cannot maintain this for long. Please depart as soon as possible."

After a moment of silence, Joshua directly landed on the top of the massive obelisk. In that instant, a tremendous force shook the tower, shattering the dust and rock shell covering its surface, revealing the tower body made entirely of pale silver metal and deep blue crystals.
"I am ready."

The warrior looked up at the sun above, which was gradually brightening, and said: "Depart."

The Dominant Will fell silent, not responding. But in contrast, the light from the obelisk and the sun above grew stronger and stronger.

The Myriad Realms Obelisk, a kilometer-high man-made structure scientifically named the Multiverse Quadrant Positioning Device, trembled. Activated for the first time since its creation, it released a mesmerizing, hazy glow under sufficient energy supply. Pale blue crystals charged along the pathways, spreading grid by grid toward the very top. Joshua stood at the center of the plane, gripping his weapons, gazing at the eternally gray sky of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. His eyes seemed to pierce through the multiverse, seeing the path of light leading to the far ends of all worlds.

—One day, I too will walk that path.

Thinking this, the warrior lowered his head. He saw that the crystals were fully charged, the obelisk ready. In that moment, Joshua felt the spacetime around him become ethereal. Dim and dark, like the void, spaces appeared around him one after another, filled with countless twinkling stars. It was a miniature of the multiverse—vast star rivers, star clusters, and even nebular structures appeared before his eyes. Among them, a red light marked the location of the Mycroft World—an inconspicuous dot in the multiverse, almost never noticed unless specifically pointed out.
"Anchor world positioning complete."

The Dominant Will's calm voice echoed throughout the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. Everyone, including the Legendary experts, looked around in surprise, then toward the silver sun that had brightened to illuminate the entire sky. At its base, a vast dark space was expanding, filled with countless stars rapidly flickering, as if determining something. This was a mysterious object temporarily beyond anyone's understanding, the greatest legacy of the previous era. The voice continued: "Beginning search for target world... Seventh Quadrant, serial number 175,493, life world. Codename Star Cluster."
"Multiverse Quadrant Transfer preparation. Countdown: three, two, one, zero."
"Transfer initiated."

The moment the countdown ended, the dark space suddenly contracted, vanishing like a black hole devouring everything.

And the person within it had already departed for the distant beyond.