Chapter 16: Nothing More Than This
"Joshua, are you alright?"
In the silence, the warrior could vaguely hear a rather urgent calling voice, the voice of an elven lady, carrying the unique gentle tone of those from the Eternal Lake region. At the same time, a surge of foreign energy was released, seemingly attempting to block the connection point between the Plenty Evil God's remnant and himself.
Because of this action, Joshua snapped out of the cold, dark illusion. He exhaled, then actively severed the link with the Plenty Evil God's remnant, pulling his consciousness back to the real world.
Opening his eyes, Joshua turned around. He saw Verdani pressing one hand on his shoulder, pure Nature's Force surging, as if trying to awaken him from his prolonged immersion. Although it was unnecessary, Joshua still forced a smile and nodded, saying, "Thank you for your help, Nature Mentor. I'm fine."
It was now late at night. Joshua had been linked to the Evil God's remnant for over four hours. Even Lamotte, the Western Mountain Sword Saint who was the slowest at clearing the Black Forest, had finished his work two hours ago and arrived at the Chaos Spring in the center of the Black Forest.
Seeing Joshua alone, linked to the Evil God's remnant, this Holy Sword Wielder said nothing more. He just shook his head, stood to one side, and leisurely lit a cigarette—a habit he had kept from his early years before becoming a Legendary.
Originally, according to the plan, Verdani, Faina, Lamotte, and Joshua were supposed to join forces and directly use their Legendary power to erase the Plenty Evil God's remnant from the material world. Whether to link with it or not was unimportant, because no one could guarantee extracting valuable information from the chaotic whispers of an Evil God. But since Joshua wanted to try, the others were willing to let him—yet the attempt took so long that even the Nature Mentor, who had the most confidence in the warrior, felt something was wrong.
So she acted immediately, preparing to forcibly cut off Joshua's link with the Evil God.
"What exactly did you see in the illusion?"
Verdani and Faina jointly performed a check on the warrior. She confirmed that Joshua was not tainted by Chaos and his mental state was relatively normal. Then, she patted the warrior's chest and asked somewhat curiously, "Why did you stay so long? It's been almost five hours."
Nearby, Faina, who was reading a Grimoire, shrugged. "And you even subconsciously took a step back. That's not like you. Could a mere illusion really scare you into retreating?"
This joke immediately sparked a round of good-natured laughter around them, because everyone present knew it was impossible. Not to mention other things, in the battle to seal the World Will, Joshua had slain the Black Dragon King and two Demon Lords in succession. Such a dangerous situation as a Legendary-level gauntlet hadn't scared him off, so how could a mere illusion?
But Joshua didn't laugh along. His expression was grave, and the atmosphere around him became heavy, the laughter gradually fading—and at the same time, with a sharp, piercing grinding sound, the twisted light circle behind the warrior, where the Evil God's remnant was located, suddenly shattered! The twisted light circle, dozens of meters in radius, had been the source of all chaotic energy around, but in an instant, all the chaotic energy self-decomposed amidst sharp, fragmenting sounds, and the entire twisted light circle collapsed layer by layer like broken glass, then vanished into nothingness!
Vaguely visible at the very center of the circle was a strange shadow resembling a plant leaf, but it appeared only for a moment before disappearing, as if it had never existed. Along with it, all the surrounding chaotic mana vanished completely, leaving no trace of its existence whatsoever!
Seeing this, the cigarette in Sword Saint Lamotte's hand slipped from his fingers. Faina, who had been flipping through the Grimoire, subconsciously closed the book. The Nature Mentor, standing beside Joshua, instinctively took a step back, assuming a combat stance.
But the anomaly ended there. Aside from the complete dissolution of the Evil God's remnant, nothing unexpected happened.
"Lord Count Radcliffe?"
Lamotte, standing at the outermost edge, stared at where the twisted light circle had been. He straightened his body, stamped out the cigarette butt at his feet, and turned to look at Joshua. In a questioning tone, he said, "Do you know... what exactly happened?"
"I extracted all the information from this piece of Evil God's remnant, so it self-decomposed."
To this, Joshua replied succinctly. "I was immersed in the illusion and made you wait so long. My apologies."
No one cared about Joshua's apology. Now, everyone had only one question.
What had Joshua seen in the illusion that could cause the millennium-old Evil God's remnant to self-decompose?
Faina was the first to ask. She and Joshua often exchanged letters on theoretical matters, and she was one of the first Legendary experts to travel to a civilized alien world and communicate with the Midgardian civilization. The two had a good personal relationship, so Faina didn't hesitate to ask.
But Joshua didn't directly answer the Eastern Sea Sage's question. He took a deep breath, then looked up at the sky and said calmly, "To be honest, if it weren't for the Plenty Evil God's memories, I simply couldn't imagine it... We are too young."
"The multiverse we inhabit is far too young."
When Joshua said this, his heart was full of emotion and disbelief.
Because if the Plenty Evil God's memories were not mistaken or lying, then according to the research of those high-energy civilizations from 160 million years ago, this multiverse, which includes the Mycroft World, had only been born a mere 3.2 billion years ago.
What does that mean? The Earth is 4.6 billion years old, yet this multiverse is only 3.2 billion years old. That means the time Earth has existed alone is longer than this multiverse!
Of course, the flow of time differs in each world. If calculated by standard time, it's possible that the multiverse is only 3.2 billion years old, while some worlds within it have already passed tens of billions of years. But honestly, Joshua hadn't encountered such a situation yet. Whether it was the Carlis World or the Siberia World he had visited not long ago, the time flow in both worlds was roughly the same—unless someone of Fatlervi's caliber was manipulating time, that would be another story.
But compared to Joshua's emotion, the other Legendary experts all showed polite smiles to hide their confusion. Although they understood the concept of 3.2 billion years, they didn't understand why it could be considered "young."
After all, a world takes only a few thousand years to be born and take shape. For intelligent life to start from scratch and nurture a civilization takes at most a few million years. With the existence of supernatural power and Ancient Dragons, the probability of civilization being born and stabilizing greatly increases, and the speed is accelerated. The entire Era of Falling Stars hasn't even lasted a thousand years.
Talking to them about the concept of 3.2 billion years, how could they understand its significance and empathize with Joshua's emotion? For them, an ancient civilization from 160 million years ago was already astonishing enough.
Understanding this, the warrior couldn't help but sigh.
160 million years ago, the prototype of the Plenty Evil God—one of the first batch of high-energy civilizations that formed the World Star River—should have been the first intelligent life after the entire multiverse environment stabilized. They lived around the First Flame, nurturing a brilliant civilization. They could move the coordinates of worlds, cross the void at will, and even determine the age of the multiverse through certain means, artificially creating planes and small worlds at will.
And in the long records of such a brilliant civilization, there was not a single trace of an Evil God.
It wasn't deliberate deletion or failure to discover. In fact, according to the records of those civilizations, Evil Gods simply didn't exist in that era. Those ancient civilizations were selflessly pursuing the ultimate of civilization—how could they look like they were threatened by Chaos invasion or external forces? That era didn't even have Void Behemoths; all worlds were directly created from nothingness by the First Flame.
Only at the end of the illusion, after a long stretch of darkness, when all ancient civilizations had turned to dust in the Void Great Maelstrom, when familiar chaotic energy filled the void, and even the First Flame began to contract, did the first Void Behemoths and the most ancient Plenty Evil God quietly come into being.
Nearby, all the Legendary experts listened intently to Joshua's account. The warrior had no talent for speech, narrating everything in the simplest, most straightforward words and tone, but everyone, including the Platinum Vine Mother who had secretly extended a vine to listen, was immersed in the truth.
"All philosophical questions eventually turn into practical ones. Why does an apple fall? Why do all things exist? If you deduce carefully, you can arrive at many truths, such as gravity and electromagnetic force... but Evil Gods are different."
At this moment, the warrior's face was extremely solemn. He recounted what he had seen in the Plenty Evil God's illusion and expressed his understanding of it: "They reduce practical problems back to the original philosophical, conceptual ones. We originally thought that Evil Gods were just the most powerful demons, the most powerful Void Behemoths—threats with physical forms. But we were wrong. They don't exist at all. Evil Gods are actually a kind of law that can forcibly alter the composition of matter, a special concept. As long as one is dominated by this law and concept, even the most normal world can become an Evil God."
"Evil Gods don't exist?"
The previously silent Faina spoke up. As a Sage pursuing the truth of the world, her expression was heavy. "Joshua, what exactly does this mean?"
"It means that Evil Gods are actually a natural phenomenon. Just as Holy Light was created by the Sage, Evil Gods were also created by some other existence—a natural law that originally didn't exist in this multiverse at all."
Joshua replied calmly. "Evil Gods don't bring about the apocalypse—they are the embodiment of a certain apocalypse. They are the existence of the apocalypse itself."
"World destruction is just the trigger for their birth, like an earthquake. The real endpoint isn't the destruction caused by the earthquake, but the tectonic pressure accumulated in the earth's crust."
Instantly, the entire bottom of the Chaos Spring fell silent. No one continued to ask questions.
Evil Gods weren't originally present in the multiverse from the beginning? They were a law and natural phenomenon created by some existence?
This completely shattered everyone's common sense. According to their previous understanding, the truth that Evil Gods equal the remnants of dead worlds was absolute, with no other explanation. But now, it was as if someone had suddenly told them that 1+1 actually equals 3, shattering all their original cognition.
And Joshua, who had absorbed most of the Plenty Evil God's remnant memories, had silver light flickering in his eyes. He looked at the Legendary experts around him, who had all fallen into deep thought and were even considering taking out communication devices to contact friends and companions, and said in a deep voice, "This is just a guess, not a hundred percent fact. No one knows if the Plenty Evil God's memories could be flawed. You don't need to notify other Legendaries so quickly."
"No, Joshua, this is very important."
The Nature Mentor looked up. She was holding a mirror-like communication artifact, seemingly contacting the Fairy Empress of the Eternal Island. Verdani heard the warrior's words and then looked up to explain, "The Evil God's memories are information you analyzed, and we trust you. And most importantly, the point that 'Evil Gods were not originally present from the beginning.'"
"Yes, Verdani is right."
On the other side, Sword Saint Lamotte nodded heavily. This casually dressed Legendary expert rarely frowned, his face serious. He said solemnly, "To be honest, many high-ranking figures in various factions—like those sorcerer royal families in the Western Mountains—were filled with uncontrollable fear after learning of the existence of Evil Gods. They believed Evil Gods were unstoppable, that even if one was destroyed, a second, a third would come, endlessly, without end. But if what you say is true, that Evil Gods are not a natural phenomenon present from the birth of the multiverse, then it means they were indeed created by some existence, like my sword—a tool forged by humans."
"Since they can be created, they can be destroyed. Since they have an origin of birth, there is naturally the possibility of their complete end."
Faina had already sent the information. After all, she was the highest leader of the Eastern Sea faction. Her expression was no longer heavy, but instead had a hint of a smile. "Listen, I originally thought Evil Gods were some phenomenon that existed from the birth of the multiverse, like matter attracting each other, or high-temperature objects transferring heat to low-temperature ones—something that completely robs you of the courage to resist. But now, knowing this, I instead feel that Evil Gods are 'nothing more than this.'"
Faina's last "nothing more than this" was deliberately imitating Joshua's usual tone—she imitated it perfectly, even correcting her voice with magic, which made the warrior himself pause for a moment. Then, the Eastern Sea Sage briefly sensed the current time and turned around gracefully, flying into the sky. "It's already very late. The Black Forest has been cleared, and you've awakened. Leave the rest to the Vine Mother and the Prison Void Dragon. I need to return to the Eastern Sea first."
With that, accompanied by the fluctuation of space magic, Faina disappeared cleanly into midair.
Then, Sword Saint Lamotte also said his goodbyes. Before leaving, he shook hands with Joshua and showed him the information terminal he had made into a ring.
"This is a good thing."
Lamotte said with a smile. "My wife rarely gives me gifts. She's now a loyal fan of your Moldavia Industrial Group. Our home is full of those interesting magical tools you invented... This little thing allows me to chat with her anytime, even when I'm wandering the world, without having to prepare a large communication array and mana source at home like before."
"This is the future trend of magical tool development."
Joshua shrugged. The two didn't exchange too many pleasantries. After turning around, the Sword Saint turned into a phantom, disappearing from the real world like smoke.
"I don't have much to say."
The last person was the Nature Mentor. This beautiful elven lady smiled gently at Joshua and said softly, "However, the Elf Clan has already joined the Empire's External Exploration Plan. When it officially launches, I will come to the Empire to visit you, Lord Count, and personally witness the beginning of the first exploration operation."
"Very welcome. You will not be disappointed."
Soon, the Nature Mentor's body also turned into fluttering leaves, dissipating into the world. In an instant, the entire center of the Black Forest, the bottom of the former Chaos Spring, was empty. Originally, according to the plan, the Evil God's remnant was to be completely sealed with an 'Alien World Sealing Technique,' but it had been completely destroyed by Joshua. The entire center of the Black Forest would gradually return to normal over the next ten or so years, becoming a normal, fertile forest.
Joshua was silent for a long time. His body slowly rose, leaving the bottom of the Chaos Spring. He stood on the soil of the Black Forest, which had turned into white sand.
"Is it ignorance that breeds fearlessness, or are they truly not afraid of the truth at all?"
The warrior sighed. He said in a low voice, "Although it's just speculation, if Evil Gods really are, like Holy Light, a natural phenomenon created by some incredibly powerful existence... then who is this existence? And how powerful is it?"
And what was its purpose in creating Evil Gods?
But this contemplation was soon interrupted by a noisy sound from afar. Joshua looked up, his gaze piercing through layers of forest and hills, looking into the distance.
It was the sound of Black and Chu Hao, in their Ancient Dragon forms, crossing the terrain and trampling through the Black Forest. The surrounding magical beasts, under the pressure of the nearby Legendary magical beast, dared not complain about their rude actions.
"Forget it. I can't be bothered to think about such questions."
Joshua decisively gave up thinking.
Who cares who created the Evil Gods and why they did it? Does thinking about it have any meaning? Can thinking stop the invasion of Evil Gods? Can thinking about this make him, Joshua, stronger? Since it can't do any of that, it's a meaningless act.
Moreover... just as the Eastern Sea Sage Faina had said.
"Nothing—more—than—this."
Repeating this phrase that Faina had used to imitate his daily speech, Joshua swept away the slight gloom in his heart caused by the Plenty Evil God's memories. He shook his head with a smile and walked slowly toward the direction where Black and Chu Hao were.
"Speaking of which, why do other Legendaries have such cool entrances and exits? Why am I the only one who has to walk?"