# Chapter 29: The One Who Holds Authority 6200
In the Siberia World, all things were shrouded in a hazy obscurity, chaotic mist covering heaven and earth, sinking into the darkness of unknowing... But just as this darkness seemed as if it would last forever, a great light suddenly blazed forth from the heights of the sky, making the world as bright as day.
It was the stars in the heavens, and the spiral tower at the center of the world, releasing a deep blue radiance as if from the underworld, forming a vast net that covered everything. This net took the shape of a hand, reaching toward a certain place in the sky. The resistance forces and soul puppets on the ground could clearly see what this great net sought to capture — another source of light in this world.
A burning steel giant.
In response to Fatlervi's declaration, Joshua spoke not a single word, for only silence was the highest form of contempt. He disdained to argue right and wrong with the other, because the battle between them had nothing to do with right and wrong or understanding — Fatlervi's actions filled him with disgust. The Dominator felt no guilt for harvesting billions of souls, so today he would send the other straight to the eighteenth level of hell.
This was the reason for battle. This was the value of power.
He liked this the most.
As the profound deep blue giant hand came striking, Joshua stood there motionless. Instead, he spread his arms wide, allowing the other to attack. The next second, the energy giant hand that enveloped the puppet suddenly clenched and tightened, as if trying to crush a toy in its grasp. At the same time, the steel structure behind the giant puppet silently opened.
Huum————
Something began to hum in the atmosphere, like tens of thousands of butterflies fluttering their wings, like a low horn sounding in the wind.
The snova-21 puppet transformed by Joshua's Steel Force had long since become vastly different from its original appearance. It possessed black-red armor like teeth and claws, and a ferocious dragon-horned helmet. Now, when the long-hidden steel modules behind the puppet activated and released, two gray-silver light strips nearly a thousand meters long could be seen suddenly erupting from within!
A majestic and heavy aura pierced heaven and earth. These two light streams drifted endlessly, wantonly stirring the surrounding energy. They resembled the wings of angels and gods, but their shape was more like butterfly wings made of light. Pure and refined Steel Force surged and extended within them, eroding the surrounding dust, crystals, energy, and even all things. The originally clenched deep blue giant hand struggled under this erosion, but ultimately turned into countless bubbles and light fragments, countless soul energies retreating like a tide.
But it was not over yet. With a tremor of these two enormous light streams, infinite silver dust fell from above. Countless most minute steel particles, uniquely belonging to Joshua, fell into the world. They were like schools of piranha, greedily surging toward the scattered energy fragments, then devouring them completely. At this moment, even Fatlervi, whose heart was like solid rock, felt a sense of crisis. He sensed something dangerous spreading before him, something he could not control.
Like... cancer!
Under Fatlervi's horrified gaze, the silver Steel Force fell upon the earth. In an instant, the light of metal began to spread, vein-like structures rapidly expanding in the span of a breath.
Peak after peak, hill after hill was eroded and dissolved, turning into a sky full of silver light mist. Whether organic or inorganic, whether matter or energy, everything was assimilated by the unbound Steel Force. This scene was simply a nightmare. Within seconds, an entire mountain range was assimilated by the Steel Force. Now, these rising steel mists suddenly began to shine, emitting a bright light. Amidst the intense glow, they rose into the high sky, and above the head of the giant puppet that was Joshua's incarnation, they condensed into an enormous metal meteorite.
Spraying steel particles, eroding the world, Joshua tyrannically controlled the matter of the Siberia World, turning it back to attack the world itself.
The next moment, the mountain-sized meteorite fell. A burning sun lit up in the sky. The terrifying friction caused the atmosphere within a thousand miles to boil, transforming into an inconceivable shockwave — it pressed down toward the spiral tower, as if wanting to crush Fatlervi and his throne into fragments.
In truth, if this meteorite truly fell upon the earth, it would not merely be a matter of the spiral throne being crushed into pieces. The enormous impact and earthquake would sink the center of the continent. A depression reaching deep into the earth would trigger a fatal-level shock capable of splitting the continent, destroying all life upon it.
So it was impossible for it to strike.
"Still."
A faint voice sounded. Heaven and earth seemed to blur. The meteorite was falling, the air was burning and wailing, but this scene suddenly froze into a photograph — the man at the top of the spiral tower took a step forward. He gripped his scepter tightly and extended his arm. Invisible ripples spread with him as the center, and time thus came to a halt.
A low yet grand voice came from the thin high altitude. Fatlervi spoke only a single word, causing the meteorite to stop falling. He raised his Steel Serpent scepter, suspending the movement of all matter. The soul light from the stars in the sky surged and churned at the tip of the scepter, descending thousands of light pillars, converging at the top of the silver scepter.
"Annihilate."
Another word was spoken. Authority gathered — at the top of the tower, at the center of the world, endless energy was converging and sublimating. Because amidst the stillness of all things, the Dominator of Time was commanding the stars, drawing upon the energy of billions of souls, wanting to completely obliterate the powerful enemy from another world.
Space was trembling. Beneath the mountain-sized meteorite, a barely perceptible distortion of space appeared accompanied by thunder. The next instant, this distortion point rapidly expanded into a visible spatial wrinkle. This wrinkle ripple was still rapidly growing larger. It swept across the ground with thunder, causing soil, sand, and stone to disintegrate into atoms. All chemical bonds were erased. Electromagnetic force became fragile. This was destruction based on the essence of matter. No physical matter could escape.
Fatlervi released this tremor. He wanted to destroy all visible and invisible things before him from their very foundation of existence.
In the sky above, the metal meteorite collided with the spatial distortion. Instantly, the entire world fell into silence — Joshua's attack and Fatlervi's authority erupted in that instant. Their vast and majestic power expelled all air within a thousand miles in that single moment, creating a vacuum. All clouds, mist, and dust were blown away by the super storm. The terrifying shock flattened all protruding structures on the ground, turning uneven hills into flat land!
The ground cracked. Lava flowed out. In the Siberia World, such a huge vacuum region appeared for the first time. The invisible spatial wrinkle was dispersed by the immense force, and the huge meteorite also shattered into countless fragments, raining down upon the earth.
At the same time, Joshua in the sky suddenly erupted. He rushed rapidly toward the spiral tower. Silver Steel Force formed miniature planet projections around his body.
Even if only an incarnation, even if only a projected puppet, Joshua's understanding and control of the Steel Force at this moment was in no way inferior to his true body. He had already seen through the essence of Fatlervi's time-stopping ability — it was the cessation of matter motion. So he simply and decisively released his Steel Force, eroding the world, turning his surroundings into another world that the other could not easily stop. Joshua tyrannically took the matter of the Siberia World for his own use, then used it to attack the other.
The huge meteorite had been thrown down only to force out Fatlervi's methods other than time stop. Now, he had seen it — it was a superpower attack developed based on electromagnetic force, capable of weakening the connections between matter. But this kind of attack had no meaning for Joshua, who could perfectly control every single material particle in his body!
In response, Fatlervi still wore an indifferent expression. Around the silver Steel Serpent scepter, a thousand colors surged — these were the physical condensation of tens of thousands of authorities. A thousand years of reality, plus the frozen time exceeding five thousand years — such a long time had not been wasted. Apart from his own stasis ability, Fatlervi had long known how to use superpower units to wield other superpowers.
The scepter moved slightly. Invisible waves spread.
Bang, bang, bang, bang. Joshua, who had been flying rapidly through the air and was already close to the spiral tower, suddenly stopped advancing. Muffled sounds erupted continuously all over his body. Then he plummeted from the high altitude, crashing into the earth. His terrifying mass directly blasted a deep pit into the ground. As the pit appeared, the surrounding earth also collapsed continuously like dominoes, forming a basin tens of square kilometers in size — within this suddenly appeared hundred-fold gravity field, all natural structures would collapse and reshuffle.
Fatlervi stood atop the tower looking down, watching the lava boil underground, the smell of sulfur spreading. If it were an ordinary life form, its body would have collapsed under the hundred-fold gravity long ago. But he knew that this descender from beyond the void, who could cross that infinite energy barrier, would not be so easily defeated. So he saw the puppet, immersed in the lava region exceeding the pressure of the earth's core, stand up again. It seemed completely unharmed, only the light on its body burning even more intensely.
Standing up from the lava, Joshua shook his head, flinging off the flowing lava on top. At temperatures of several thousand degrees, even the paint on his surface could not be scratched, let alone his armor damaged. But the next moment, endless light streams fell from above. Fatlervi showed no mercy. While maintaining the gravity field, he used more than a dozen different superpowers to bombard the entire basin wildly.
Nuclear fusion flames raised mushroom clouds in the basin. Thunder with total energy exceeding 700 million kilowatts scattered them again. High-energy lasers capable of instantly creating nuclear fusion fell like rain, poking the earth full of holes. The gravity field also began to change rapidly. Some positions instantly exceeded a thousand-fold gravity. Other places even became zero-gravity zones. Completely different gravities pulled at the steel puppet at the center of the basin, as if wanting to tear it apart completely.
But even Fatlervi, who styled himself the incarnation of world and order, could not ignore the never-disappearing aura. The violent energy fluctuations had long blasted through the crust and mantle, yet Joshua's presence grew ever more pronounced, impossible to conceal even by nuclear fusion explosions.
The next instant, with the eruption of a majestic, vast, and terrifying aura, the dust-turned crust and lava sea were pushed aside by silver light. All superpower attacks were scattered, forming a perfectly circular void several kilometers in diameter. The black-red steel puppet was within it. A thousand different superpower attacks were perfectly defended against by Joshua, whether it was unreasonable matter conversion or inexplicable spatial transfer.
But at this moment, the warrior, who raised his head preparing for a second charge, faced —
A sun.
"Do you think it is who that pushes the sun every day, causing day and night to alternate?"
"Do you think it is who that maintains the order of the world, allowing all things to survive?"
Fatlervi had already left the top of the spiral tower. Now, he stood at the highest point of the Siberia World, aligned with 1,600 soul stars. And above his head, a huge positive energy fireball with a radius exceeding 150 kilometers was burning fiercely. It released endless light and heat, spreading warmth and brightness throughout the entire world.
Undoubtedly, this was the sun of the Siberia World.
"Damn it, he really seized the position of the Steel Serpent!"
By now, how could Joshua not know who had kicked the Steel Serpent Siberia out of its own body? It was undoubtedly Fatlervi. Though he did not know how it was done, at this moment, holding the power of the world, he could indeed call himself the incarnation of order and the world without shame. He could even mobilize the power of the sun to attack him!
This level of superpower was far beyond what even some Legendary experts could match! No, could this still be called superpower? This was clearly the authority of a god!
The Time Pusher's face was like solid rock. He turned his back to the burning sun, letting his front fall into shadow. Fatlervi raised the Steel Serpent scepter in his hand. The huge sun split into clusters of fireballs. These fireballs were filled with blazing positive energy. But as he continuously filled them with various abilities, these originally golden-orange fireballs transformed into chaotic black-red light orbs. They pulsed as if alive, overflowing with the aura of destruction and annihilation.
"It is I, Fatlervi, the Time Pusher."
Each black-red light orb originating from the Siberia sun possessed the energy to instantly destroy a mountain range, melting the mountains into flat land. A dozen or so light orbs falling simultaneously would be enough to flatten the center of the entire Siberia continent. The aftershocks they caused would turn the entire world into a burning hell. Not to mention the spiral tower, which was extremely close — the aftershocks could even destroy all the soul puppet gardens on the surface, turning the entire Siberia World into a lifeless dead zone.
This was world-destroying authority. But Fatlervi did it anyway. His gaze was indifferent. Then he swung his scepter from top to bottom, pointing directly at Joshua's location. Instantly, a dozen or so destruction light orbs shot out like a string of fireballs, crashing down one after another!
Shocked by Fatlervi's ruthlessness, Joshua was nonetheless unafraid. Perhaps other Legendary experts would find it difficult to deal with these energy orbs, but for him, this was hardly a challenge. He had once faced a void mother beast in the Starry World, igniting a gas giant — he had personally created a real sun!
Boom! The huge puppet broke free from gravity, stomping the earth. Using explosive force, Joshua flew straight up toward the sky like a reverse meteor. Beneath him, countless burning crust fragments and lava were also lifted by the energy of flight, forming a bright light band behind the warrior.
Boom! The steel puppet directly pierced through the first light orb. Instantly, infinite thunder and disintegration beams erupted in that moment, forming a black-red energy nebula in midair. Amidst rolling thunder, the puppet slowed slightly, then continued charging forward, smashing through the second and third destruction light orbs!
But this was the limit. While smashing through the fourth light orb, the dragon horns atop the huge puppet's head broke off. While smashing through the fifth light orb, the puppet's right hand exploded. By the time it smashed through the sixth light orb, the puppet's outer armor was half-melted, and the entire body was about to be scrapped.
After all, this was merely an incarnation of Joshua that had descended. It was not a true steel giant god. The puppet's armor had not evolved to the level of degenerate matter. Fatlervi had long judged the limit of this warrior's body, which was why he had simultaneously created fifteen light orbs to bombard.
The seventh light orb was about to fall. Joshua raised his head, locking eyes with Fatlervi from dozens of kilometers away. The two stared at each other. One saw coldness. One saw satisfaction.
"Good move!"
With a low shout, two gray-silver light streams sprayed out again from Joshua's back. Surging Steel Force began to converge in the warrior's hands, condensing, then transforming into an extremely heavy double-bladed mountain-cleaving giant axe. A trace of red light flashed in the observation lens of the puppet's head. The next instant, Joshua charged once more toward the falling light orb!
Boom! Boom! Boom! The warrior raced through the air. He skillfully swung the giant axe. The huge and invisible mass wave cut into the destruction light orb at the most delicate angle, inducing its self-destruction — no longer using brute force, but beginning to use technique and weapons, Joshua shattered three destruction light orbs in an instant. He took another step, the giant axe falling. The tenth destruction light orb self-destructed and annihilated. The incomparably terrifying aftershock followed the guidance of the giant axe, flying toward the earth. It cut through the eastern mountains of the Siberia continent, carving a long canyon through the vast mountain range.
But at this moment, the silver giant axe also turned into fragments. The excessively violent energy clash was too much even for weapons condensed from the Steel Force. The remaining five destruction light orbs, under Fatlervi's control, simultaneously attacked from all directions — this time, it was no longer the probing of before. Two powerful experts, having tested each other's ability limits, were finally about to begin a true frontal collision!
Facing the simultaneous attack of five destruction light orbs, Joshua did not condense another Steel Force giant axe. He simply stopped in place, and then.
Began to 'breathe.'
Standing in the high sky, Joshua spread his arms as if embracing the world. Then, the chest armor of the huge puppet fell away, revealing the transcendent module behind it — a burning miniature sun!
Boom, boom — the miniature sun vibrated, emitting a roar far surpassing thunder. Under the warrior's control, it began to rotate. Instead of releasing energy, it actively absorbed energy from its surroundings. Instantly, a violent storm swept through the high sky of the Siberia World. It was as if it wanted to devour everything around it, endlessly swallowing the surrounding free energy. One could even see starlike fluorescent dots appearing in the air, then flowing into this miniature sun with the wind that had turned into translucent ripples.
This was what was called 'one who devours heaven and earth'! Instantly, the surrounding light dimmed. The bright sunlight became deathly still, as if everything was heading toward destruction and termination — even 'time' itself!
The five destruction light orbs that were about to hit Joshua suddenly slowed down. Their advancing steps grew slower and slower, slower and slower, until finally, as if frozen, they crawled forward at a turtle's pace. Witnessing this scene, Fatlervi in the distance could not help but widen his eyes. This was the first time he had shown an expression other than 'indifference.'
The next moment, he knew the reason.
It was the strange phenomenon that appeared when all things had their energy drained, approaching absolute zero.
Around Joshua, matter and energy had fallen into stillness. Because the energy that moved all molecules had been drawn away. The five destruction light orbs had long collapsed into loose nebula-like matter — these were the material particles that supported their existence apart from energy. At the center of the huge puppet's chest, the miniature sun, now several times brighter, erupted with a terrifying aura. Supported by such energy, Joshua's originally broken dragon horns and melted armor were rapidly repaired. In just one breath, the giant puppet was restored to its original state, and even began to grow larger, becoming stronger —
Time was an illusion, at least for most material universes. It was a scale of matter motion speed, just as space was a coordinate of matter motion. Time stasis, in a certain sense, meant all matter stopped moving — Fatlervi could achieve this miracle through the authority of the Steel Force. Although Joshua was not so direct, he could similarly achieve a similar effect by draining all energy from the surrounding world, causing all things to stop.
In such low temperatures, not to mention the destruction light orbs that had their energy drained, even the sun would dim considerably upon contact, forming visible sunspots.
Stopping the absorption of free energy from the surrounding space — this was also an enormous burden on Joshua's core engine — the warrior raised his head, looking at the silent Fatlervi. At this moment, his puppet body had grown even larger and stronger, beginning to transform toward his true body, toward nearly indestructible degenerate matter.
Fighting in a world with matter and energy, Joshua had never feared anyone, any existence. Even Fatlervi, who held the authority of the world, was no exception.
At the highest point of the world, the Time Pusher, with his back to the sun, still did not speak. His brow was furrowed, as if pondering a way to deal with Joshua. But in the end, he shook his head.
"You are strong."
Fatlervi said thus: "For a moment, I could not think of any way to deal with you... So."
"Let us begin anew."
The next instant, the world stopped. In Joshua's eyes, which held both anticipation and unavoidable surprise, time once again flowed backward... The sun moved toward the east. Mountains rejoined into one. The sunken earth bulged. The shattered crust merged. Countless puppet gardens and steel factories destroyed by the aftershock were reborn.
Everything returned to its original state. But Joshua, who was exerting every effort to resist the reversal of time, vaguely noticed.
In the sky, one star seemed to have dimmed slightly.
That was the only difference.