Chapter 41: Heaven Left, Warrior Right
Beneath a deep crimson sky, the purple-blue sea lay as smooth as a mirror.
This sea, mixed with heavy metal minerals surging from the depths of the earth, exuded a lethal poison that would dizzy anyone who merely approached it. Yet, when viewed from the highest heavens above, it appeared so warm, so calm, as beautiful as a painting.
The Eighty-Second Abyss, the Dead Sea Abyss. A world destroyed by crustal shifts caused by a war among mortals. Two beings, presumed to be Legendary-rank mortals, had annihilated each other atop the highest mountain. The aftermath of their battle triggered celestial changes, the foundations of the mountain ranges collapsed, and ultimately, the entire continent, in an unprecedented great earthquake, irreversibly and slowly sank into the sea.
During this process, all life was killed by the high-temperature, toxic steam from the boiling sea. In just over a decade, the entire world was left empty of anything.
Even now, one could still see the black shadow formed by the sunken continent. Its shape was regular, like a vertical, diamond-shaped pupil, embedded in the very center of the purple-blue sea.
This was a world where even bacteria did not exist. The sea was as still as death. Apart from a black River Styx flowing slowly in the ocean's depths, there was no 'movement' in the entire world. And because there was no food or souls, even demons were unwilling to approach this calm abyss.
But today, the calm Dead Sea Abyss welcomed an unprecedented visitor.
Year 840 of the Era of Falling Stars, May 17th. As the sky was 'gently' torn open with a crack, a silver light passed through it. One could see that before crossing the rift, the silver light was incredibly vast, shining like a star. But soon, it continuously shrank, until it was finally only the size of an ordinary mountain peak.
A giant floated above the Dead Sea Abyss. Its mere existence caused the completely unperturbed purple-blue sea to spontaneously bulge upwards, forming a tide. Countless concentric ripples appeared on the perfectly calm ocean, making it seem as if a giant 'eye' was staring at it.
"This is it, the Dead Sea Abyss."
A somewhat muffled voice came from the giant's palm: "The River Styx of the Sixth Abyss can at most transport Ultimate-rank beings. Only the River Styx of the Dead Sea Abyss allows passage for the most powerful demons and experts."
The existence in the giant's palm was a black sphere enveloped in a silver halo. More accurately, it was a mass of black shadow like ink. It had eight eyeballs, constantly writhing and shifting, as if wanting to stretch out, but an overwhelmingly powerful force sealed its movements, forcing it to only reveal a spherical form.
"Once we enter the River Styx, we can pass through all the abysses at the fastest speed, avoiding detours through the void, and sink directly to the lowest layer of the abyss."
After several futile struggles, the black shadow finally gave up resisting and was calmly compressed into a ball: "But I still don't understand why you want to go to the lowest layer of the abyss. Do you think the Evil God is there? But when I went, there wasn't a trace of chaotic aura around the lowest layer."
"That's because when you went, the seal should still have been intact."
It was only then that the giant slowly spoke. Joshua scanned the entire world, and after confirming the location of the River Styx at the bottom of the sea, he nodded noncommittally: "Indeed, the River Styx in this world is much larger than in other worlds."
The shadow ball, which was a small fragment of Goliath's soul torn from itself, fell silent. It could naturally see the determination of the person before him to reach the lowest layer of the abyss. But even it, a Demon King, wasn't sure if the River Styx of the Dead Sea World could bear the tonnage of this Steel Giant God.
Although theoretically, they were both Legendary, this one's tonnage was simply too inconceivable. At least the River Styx of the Sixth Abyss could absolutely not bear it, which was why it had led him here.
"It seems you haven't lied."
And just as Goliath was worrying about how it would lead him to the lowest layer if Joshua couldn't enter the River Styx, the warrior, having confirmed he wasn't being misled, deliberately detoured, or walking into a trap or ambush, slightly nodded and said: "So now, Goliath, at this critical juncture, you can barely be considered a trustworthy member."
The shadow ball didn't really understand what Joshua meant by this sentence. At most, it knew that its consistently sincere and frank attitude since leaving the Sixth Abyss had paid off. But soon, Goliath knew it was wrong. The Demon King's soul fragment couldn't help but widen its eight eyes.
Because it saw streams of colorful light continuously emerging from Joshua's arms and back, swirling around him. Circles of supremely holy radiance surrounded his side, forming seven majestic afterimages.
"The abyss and demons of this era are different from those recorded in the information." A sky-blue afterimage floated, and a voice that sounded very young, like a youth's, yet extremely steady, came through. A beautiful young man in simple priestly robes with deep blue long hair walked out from the divine power halo. The God of Order and Destruction stared at the shadow ball in the giant's hand, frowning somewhat disgustedly: "At least, in that era, demons were just pests like cockroaches, far from being as close to civilization as they are now."
"Even among demons, there can be kings and leaders worthy of respect." A pale green light flickered. A middle-aged man who looked somewhat tired, holding a thick codex in his hand, slowly condensed from the light. He appeared bald, wearing a pair of glasses. One could see his uneven, messy dark gray short hair. Looking at Goliath's soul fragment, the God of Restraint and Freedom sighed and shook his head: "But a demon is a demon. Without sufficient strength, they wouldn't even be willing to reason with you."
"This is also a choice. Demons choose to become a civilization of order, not beasts of chaos." An old man in a pale gold mage robe slowly walked out from his own divine power halo. This kindly-faced old man had only one good eye, or rather, He would only ever open one of his two eyes. Now, the right eye He opened flickered with countless geometric shapes, appearing and disappearing, seeming to instantly form thousands of runic structures. The God of Wisdom and Choice glanced at the black sphere and chuckled softly: "We have power, so we don't need to worry about their disrespect. At least, as long as we are strong enough, they will always be reasonable. This is enlightenment."
Incredibly powerful divine power fluctuations surged continuously from around Joshua. Seven completely different radiances filled the entire Dead Sea Abyss in an instant. The purple-blue sea, originally extremely murky with only the surface layer relatively clear due to sedimentation, now, under the illumination of the divine power light, all unsettled metal particles dissipated, revealing the quietly flowing black River Styx deep at the bottom of the sea.
"This is it." The God of Might, appearing as a gray knight, squinted His eyes and said in a deep voice: "The River Styx is very active... It seems this world once had a very glorious past."
The God of Guardian and Change, appearing as a dwarf blacksmith, just grunted. He didn't speak, silently touching the iron hammer at his waist and an unknown holy text that, with its iron cover and chains, looked more like a meteor hammer than a book.
The God of Love and Decay and the God of Life were also very silent. The two deities stood opposite each other quietly, violet and pure white divine power radiance shining. But even so, the powerful pressure from the two deities continuously stimulated the surrounding mana and elements, releasing various strange lights and sparks.
The Seven Gods?!
The shadow ball instantly expanded countless spikes like a hedgehog, but soon, these spikes were pressed back. Even so, it showed the shock and fear of the Demon King's remnant soul!
Even if it was just a fragment of Goliath's soul, the shadow ball clearly knew the forms of the Seven Gods of Humanity on the Mycroft Continent. Without a doubt, the seven beings that suddenly popped out from Joshua were the true forms of the seven True Gods!
The majesty and sense of power that seemed capable of suppressing the entire world—just one look was enough to confirm this was true divine power. If Goliath's main body in its prime wasn't afraid of any single deity, then now, these seven beings could destroy its tiny soul fragment just by breathing.
Wait. Just as it was shrinking its body as much as possible, trying to become invisible, Goliath suddenly thought of something. It couldn't help but turn its head to look at the unflinching Joshua. The giant god also happened to look down at the shadow in his hand at that moment. Their eyes met, and Goliath saw a barely perceptible hint of amusement in the other's eyes.
Just now, the divine power of the Seven Gods of Humanity had overflowed from Joshua's body, condensing into the true forms of the seven deities... Whether it was using holy artifacts to summon them, or they were actually residing within Joshua, it meant that as long as Joshua was willing, he could call upon the divine power of the Seven Gods at any time, ignoring all spatial and magical barriers!
"That was facing an Evil God capable of stirring the World Star River, even if it hasn't truly awakened yet, and its awakening process was interrupted by us, causing severe developmental deficiency... it was still a World Star River-level Evil God."
Just as Goliath was shocked, the giant god slowly spoke, whether as an explanation or a monologue: "Long before we set out, I contacted the Seven Gods. Faced with such a terrifying chaotic threat, the gods naturally had no excuse to shirk their duty... If not for the Fishman God and the Metal Dragon God having already set out to suppress other worlds eroded by chaos, there might have been nine deities residing within me this time."
Joshua had indeed not lied.
He had indeed gone to the Sixth Abyss 'alone', without bringing eight Legendary experts, making a show of flattening the Valley of Tears Fortress and even the entire abyss world... but he had the divine power of the Seven Gods residing within him. The Seven Gods were gods, not people. The warrior hadn't been wrong.
In fact, early on, right after suppressing the Shalt World, Joshua had communicated with the Seven Gods: If Goliath wasn't willing to cooperate and planned to escape, wasting the little time the Mycroft Civilization had left, then the Seven Gods would act together to flatten the Sixth Abyss, this biggest unstable factor.
If a real fight broke out, with the Seven Gods going all out, it wouldn't just be the Sixth Abyss; the entire abyss would be completely leveled! The combined power of the Seven Gods was not something any demon or abyss monster could resist.
"Thankfully, I surrendered relatively quickly... otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"
Feeling the core of his remnant soul trembling, what else could Goliath say? Not to mention that it was just a soul fragment now; even if its main body were here, it would have to fold its wings and play dead to reduce its presence.
Fortunately, at this moment, Joshua and the Seven Gods weren't focusing their attention on it. They had more important matters to attend to.
"The essence of the River Styx is actually a 'Fire and Steel Force' vein that penetrates all abysses, recycling the power after a world's destruction."
The God of Wisdom and Choice, appearing as an old mage, spoke softly. He looked down at the massive black river in the deep sea and said with some emotion: "The River Styx is the corpse of a dead Steel Serpent. The precipitation of the world's soul cycle forms a river leading to the Nirvana Land. The more glorious a civilization was during its existence, the wider the River Styx after its destruction. Looking at the scale of this River Styx, this civilization must have produced over a dozen Legendary experts in its time, and even had True God-level deities."
"The Genesis Maelstrom uses the River Styx to gently recycle the gradually collapsing wreckage of these worlds. When the River Styx completely disappears, that is the true day of destruction for an abyss world."
Hearing this, the God of Order and Destruction, appearing as a beautiful young priest, turned his head to look at Joshua, who seemed to be pondering. He said softly: "Radcliffe, according to the limited information we have, the sealing array of the Genesis Maelstrom had over ten thousand core anchors. Now that the seal has failed, these anchors may have turned into condensed forms of chaotic power."
"We will clear out most of the chaotic power on the outer side for you, ensuring you can enter the core area of the 'Nirvana Seal' in your most complete state. At that time, whether using brute force, Steel Force, or the power of the Soulflame King, you must open a breach in the 'core sealing anchor'."
"Yes, you must destabilize the core anchor."
At this point, the God of Might took over the conversation. Gray-black light particles were continuously drifting from around Him. The deity chuckled self-deprecatingly, then said in a low voice: "Even if the sealing unit made from the Decay Evil God fails, the Nirvana Array of the entire rebirth plan is extremely sturdy. It is a sealing array almost on par with the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. The fact that the Evil God gestating in the Genesis Maelstrom hasn't fully awakened yet is proof of that. For an array of that level, only when errors occur in both the outer anchors and the core anchors simultaneously will the chaotic power suppressed by the seal lose control and spill out into the outside world."
"An overly sturdy seal can even become a protective shell for the sealed entity. Only when the entire sealing array is on the verge of collapse can we truly act, unleash our power, and purify the chaos that has accumulated for thousands of years."
"Radcliffe, you are the most important part of this plan."
Hearing this, the silent God of Love and Decay sighed. He spoke: "Deities cannot bestow blessings upon each other, and ordinary experts cannot bear the power of multiple deities. Only you, possessing the sturdiest and most powerful body since the Era of Radiance, capable of bearing the blessings of seven deities simultaneously. You are perhaps, aside from the Sage, the existence with the strongest resistance to chaos in history."
"Only you, bearing all our blessings, have the possibility to avoid chaos erosion even in the deepest part of the Nirvana Land, and even survive the final chaotic impact."
"I know. You don't need to explain it again."
Standing above the Dead Sea Abyss, Joshua clenched his hand, putting away Goliath's remnant soul. He curled his lips, smiling fearlessly: "This was the plan we agreed upon before, wasn't it?"
"But this mission is extremely dangerous. You might die."
The God of Life suddenly spoke: "Everything is only meaningful when you are alive, Soulflame King. Aren't you afraid, aren't you scared? We seven deities will only operate on the outer side, yet we ask you, a mere mortal, to assault the most dangerous core anchor."
"Don't you feel unbalanced, or even resent us?"
Joshua just quietly looked at the other.
In the eyes of the Steel Giant God, there was nothing but pure silver light. Nothing else existed. No killing intent, no resentment, and certainly no fear. In the warrior's eyes, there was only the calm and peace that came from experiencing countless battles and crossing countless battlefields.
Of course he knew it was dangerous. But so what?
It had nothing to do with balance. Some things just needed to be done by someone. Since only he could do it, he would do it. It was that simple.
Heaven left, warrior right. If he feared the danger of battle and dreaded the arrival of death, Joshua would not be the Joshua he was today.
"Time is running out."
Even surrounded by the Seven Gods, standing in the center of the divine power patterns, Joshua said this. Without any hesitation, he plunged straight down towards the River Styx at the bottom of the deep sea. The moment his incredibly heavy and hot body touched the seawater, infinite steam and a worldwide tsunami were born.
But even so, the warrior's voice could be heard piercing through the infinite steam and mist, echoing between heaven and earth.
"Let's go."
Hearing this voice, the Seven Gods looked at each other. A massive flow of information intersected, finally converging into unity.
Then, they nodded in unison, transforming into seven different streams of light, following closely behind the warrior.
Some people are born to be a banner.
Not a hero, nor a deity.
Simply following their own pace, moving forward unceasingly, like light, traveling in a straight line.
Just that alone.
Is enough to lead the gods of heaven and earth, and the myriad worlds.
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