Chapter 46: This Very Moment
Imagine yourself alone in a vast, dark sea, with surging undercurrents and man-eating beasts lurking within. If you remain where you are, you will surely be attacked, but if you press forward, the poisonous waters and crushing pressure will continuously oppress both body and mind.
Without knowing the direction or the goal, whether stopping or advancing, there is only confusion. It leaves one uncertain whether to muster courage and continue exploring this boundless black sea, or to halt and hesitate in fear.
This was what Joshua and Goliath felt at this moment.
As an abyssal native and Demon King, Goliath could vaguely sense the axis of the Abyss—the core of the Abyss's Nirvana site. In other words, any powerful 'demon' could sense that place.
Because that was their destination. The world was dead, civilization no longer existed. Demons were a race that had lost everything. Their birth was not blessed but cursed. All demon wills were condensed from countless shattered souls. They were born with a spirit, granting them powerful talents and strength, but that spirit originated from the countless dead who perished in the Abyss.
Countless souls of the dead that should have returned to the Genesis Maelstrom.
All demons had at least a trace of instinctive impulse—they wanted to follow the River Styx downward, toward its end. Goliath was no exception. He had thought it was his curiosity acting up, but now it seemed it was merely his soul instinctively seeking to return to the cycle of all things, to truly 'die.'
Moreover, as an Abyss Lord and the embodiment of the Abyss's will, this desire was amplified. It was precisely for this reason that almost all powerful demons and Abyss Lords in the past had once tried to explore the deepest parts of the Abyss.
However, after figuring this out, the remnant soul of the Demon King was not disheartened. Using his perception of the Abyss's axis, he guided Joshua's direction and path. Since he could help, this instinct had meaning.
But this guidance vanished after Joshua and Goliath passed through layers of terminal star-body traps.
Behind the black hole trap, space seemed to lose meaning. The twisted gravitational space they had just passed through was right behind them, but taking a single step forward made the trap disappear. Even moving back along the original path, they sensed no black hole.
One man and one demon wandered in the endless darkness, unsure where to go.
"Perhaps our current position has already entered the range of the former Genesis Maelstrom."
Even as the divine blessings around him began to shatter layer by layer, with the outermost power of the God of Order and Destruction completely dissipating, Joshua remained calm enough to think. He protected the Demon King's remnant soul in the palm of his left forearm, shielding it from the whispers of countless dead worlds in the chaos: "If the Genesis Maelstrom were still here, at this position, you would probably have turned to ash. A dead demon naturally wouldn't need any instinctive guidance."
He made a rare dark joke, but unfortunately, the Demon King was not a humorous fellow.
"No good. I really can't sense anything!"
Unlike Joshua's calmness, the Demon King's remnant soul grew restless, twisting and turning. Its shadowy body would sometimes swell into a mass of spikes, then shrink into a tiny point. But no matter how hard Goliath tried, he could not sense the 'longing' for the Abyss's axis in his soul.
The warrior was right. They were now indeed at the very core of the Abyss. This was evident from the surrounding darkness, where even divine power was rapidly eroded and not a single ray of light could be seen. The density of negative energy and chaos here had reached an unimaginable level. Even if a dozen stars exploded here right now, the light from the supernovae could not illuminate even a single light-second.
Crack!!
A sound sharper than breaking glass rang out. Pale green energy fragments were swallowed by the darkness. It was the sound of the divine blessing from the God of Law and Freedom shattering. Even though Joshua had activated the holy relic 'Freedom Feather' given by that god, it could not make the divine barrier last a few more seconds.
He could see pale green divine power imprinted on his armor, forming feather runes that slightly increased his speed.
But what the warrior needed now was not speed, but a direction pointing straight to the sealed core of the Rebirth Plan.
"Six layers of divine barriers remain... probably enough for about ten more minutes."
Estimating the rate at which the chaos was eroding the barriers, Joshua frowned as he watched the pale gold barrier of the God of Wisdom and Choice begin to show dense cracks. He knew that staying put was pointless: "Let's just pick a direction and go. If the chaos erosion speeds up, that's the right direction. If it slows down, it's the opposite."
Saying so, he immediately began moving at full speed. Although the giant warrior's volume was massive and his weight heavy, his speed was by no means slow. By manipulating gravity, warping space, and occasionally activating psionic leaps, he moved at a speed comparable to interstellar travel.
Soon, the pale gold divine barrier shattered, its light points swallowed by the surrounding darkness.
But Joshua, frowning deeply, slowly stopped. The giant god looked around but sensed no change in the chaos density around him.
"Not working... It seems this place is similar to the Void. Material speed is meaningless. What determines coordinate changes is something like energy level, or something else..."
Since the first plan failed, he needed to think of the next. Joshua was not discouraged. He had long known that the hardest part of this journey would probably not be 'shattering the core seal' or 'purifying the chaos'—things that only required destruction. He was too good at that, and he had seven or eight rough plans in mind.
The truly difficult part was finding the target. Thinking this, the warrior couldn't help but clench his right fist.
Time was running out. The divine barriers gifted by the Seven Gods and the Dragon God would not last much longer. He could see the blessing of the Five-Colored Dragon God twisting and flickering under the erosion of the darkness, like a lake surface battered by heavy rain, with countless ripples spreading. Normally, the divine power of true gods was indestructible in both the material and spiritual worlds. In terms of energy properties, complexity, and rank, it belonged to the highest category. If ordinary magic power wanted to counteract divine power, it would need at least a thousand times the reserve.
But now, what surrounded Joshua was not just a thousand times the divine power in chaos.
It was millions, billions, even more.
The gap in energy levels was so absurd that even divine power was devoured by the chaos.
"This is the level of a World Star River-level evil god... Just the murmurs before birth, the instinctive chaos disturbances before awakening, can interfere with the existence of an entire star river..."
It was precisely because he knew he was essentially inside the body of an evil god that Joshua couldn't help but marvel at the power of the unnamed evil god. If it truly awakened, it would probably devour the entire World Star River. Even the Plenty Evil God, which had merely passed by in the past, creating a star river rift and the Void Great Maelstrom, might not be stronger than this.
He must catalyze it before it awakens!
Joshua suddenly became alert. He had just started marveling at the enemy's power, even feeling a sense of dejection in his heart... Without a doubt, this was the effect of chaos erosion! As he drew closer, the chaos disturbance of the unnamed evil god grew stronger. Although he had no soul to be disturbed, chaos could also erode matter, causing his thinking organs to malfunction and make wrong choices and judgments!
Thinking this, the warrior immediately pulled out the holy relic given by the God of Wisdom and Choice, the 'Future Pointer.'
The holy relic of the God of Order and Destruction, the 'Cycle Hourglass'; the holy relic of the God of Law and Freedom, the 'Freedom Feather'; the holy relic of the God of Wisdom and Choice, the 'Future Pointer'; the holy relic of the God of Love and Decay, the 'Beloved Frame'; the holy relic of the God of Life, the 'Life Cocoon'; and the holy relic of the God of Protection and Progress, the 'Guardian Codex.' These six holy relics each possessed extraordinary power. Besides slightly replenishing the divine power of the barriers, they could also enhance Joshua's abilities in certain aspects.
The Cycle Hourglass could give Joshua's armor a cyclic repair ability similar to time reversal. The Freedom Feather could free the user from almost all sealing arrays and increase speed.
The effect of the 'Future Pointer' was more subtle. It could use divine power for a super-calculation, providing the holder with a 'prophecy' of the future. As for the result of the prophecy... well, it was like the future itself—who knows?
"I wonder if the divine power of 'Choice of Light' can directly 'prophecy' the location of the sealed core... This completely unknown, luck-based thing is really unsettling."
Joshua did not like leaving the future to so-called 'luck.' He had always been a man who held his fate in his own hands. But now, with no other choice, the warrior would not stubbornly insist on this point.
Thinking so, he was about to crush the Future Pointer in his hand.
"Wait."
But at that moment, the remnant soul of the Demon King Goliath, which had been silent until now, suddenly spoke: "I think I've figured out how to find the Abyss's axis."
"Speak."
Joshua did not waste words like 'Really?' or 'I don't believe you.' He asked directly: "What method?"
"Simple. Give me the Future Pointer."
The Demon King's remnant soul lay calmly in the warrior's palm. For some reason, Goliath, who had been restless and fearful earlier, now seemed very confident. He said in a deep voice: "I need it to strengthen... a premonition."
The effects of the six holy relics had become known to Goliath when he was held in Joshua's palm, as the information flow from the warrior receiving the relics leaked out. The Seven Gods had not concealed the effects of these relics. Although they sounded precious, they were merely consumables that could be prepared with some effort.
Joshua did hesitate at the Demon King's request. He didn't trust 'luck,' and the Future Pointer seemed to be a product of luck. But even so, handing a god's holy relic to a demon... Although the other party had no reason to deceive and seemed very confident, it was still a bit hard to justify.
However, Joshua was not the kind of person who refrained from doing something just because it was 'hard to justify.' Now that they were both at the deepest part of the Abyss, he chose to trust the other.
Joshua handed the Future Pointer to Goliath in his left palm. The other party did not hesitate and immediately merged with it. He could see the shadow spreading, and under the tacit permission of the original holder, the divine power pointer was occupied by Goliath.
"...You trust me that much."
After doing all this, the Demon King's remnant soul, now transformed into shadow, said in a somewhat incredulous low voice: "More than once."
"You've never lied. Why wouldn't I trust you?"
Joshua said calmly, looking at his palm: "Speak. What method is it? You said before that you couldn't sense the Abyss's axis anymore."
"...Yes, I really can't sense it anymore. But I've found the reason why I can't."
After a few seconds of silence, a demon's eye appeared in the shadow that was Goliath. It met the giant god's gaze: "As a living being, my very thoughts disturb certain overly tiny things. Just as a god's gaze can affect a person's fate, merely living as a demon affects many things."
"...You mean." Joshua paused, then said in a low voice.
"Yes. As long as I die—this remnant soul self-destructs—then the soul fragments of the Abyss that make up my soul will naturally fly toward the 'true' Abyss's axis."
Saying this, the shadow that made up the Demon King's remnant soul began to slowly burn. In the deep red hellfire, Goliath's somewhat cheerful laughter could be heard: "I'm nothing but a soul fragment of the main body now. Dying doesn't matter. I should thank the chaos erosion. It made me realize that now, when I can't guide the way, I'm just a burden to you. It made me think of death, and it made me understand the reason."
Death was not frightening. What was frightening was dying without value.
Self-immolation pushed the power of the Demon King's remnant soul to its maximum. At the same time, Goliath thought in his heart.
Many times, living beings can only focus on what's in front of them, like beasts only caring about hunger and the desire to reproduce. Demons were the same, only demons had greater power than beasts. But in the end, they were just short-sighted beasts. Whether alive or dead, it was meaningless.
But could humans, elves, dwarves, intelligent beings from other worlds, or even gods, do much better than demons? Were their lives and deaths heavier than a demon's?
Of course not.
The Demon King Goliath had seen too many petty gods from barbaric worlds. They claimed to be supreme but could only see one world. They suppressed civilization, hindered technological development, and kept civilizations from growing, always under their control. Their lives and deaths were meaningless, existing only for the sake of existing.
Goliath had killed several such gods. Too weak, both in vision and power, so weak and boring.
But.
The Mycroft World was different.
At least, the gods of the Mycroft World, and the person before him, were different from those boring petty gods.
Their eyes could see the entire World Star River, even the Multiverse. They looked up at the stars, and what they thought was not 'sighing' but 'longing.'
Among them, there were even gods willing to offer their infinite, immortal lives for countless worlds and civilizations that didn't even know their names.
Perhaps only such a death could be considered valuable.
"Many demons have said, including Haier Mu and Saruka, that I am greedy and selfish. For the Sixth Abyss, I would without hesitation destroy other worlds."
The Demon King's remnant soul gazed at the expressionless giant god before him and laughed softly: "They're right. I am a greedy and selfish demon. But if there were no World Star River, where would I put my Sixth Abyss?"
Holy relic of the God of Wisdom and Choice, 'Future Pointer.'
If you can prophesy the future.
Then let the fragments of my dead self drift toward the place this person before me wants to go, toward the destination my soul rightfully deserves!
With the Demon King's laughter, his soul ignited. The powerful shadow energy activated the Future Pointer.
The pale gold divine power pointer began to spin violently.
Possibilities of the future, the user's will... The pointer, which would normally need to calculate countless complex pieces of information, drawing on the possibilities of others and events around the holder, now only needed to calculate one possibility, one future.
The empty chaos of nothingness, and the future called 'death,' were so clear and simple that it didn't take long to find the answer.
He could see the golden pointer, wrapped in shadow, gradually stop spinning after its violent rotation. It had been spinning randomly in both directions, but now it stopped at the twelve o'clock position.
Crack.
At that moment, the Future Pointer shattered.
The prophecy descended.
And Goliath's remnant soul also shattered.
Pale gold light points, mixed with the black-red soul fragments of the Demon King's remnant soul, lightly passed through the chaos. They burned fiercely, forming a huge arrow pointer in the dark chaos. It broke through the strange spatial structure of the Extreme Dark Abyss, 'prophesying' the path to the future for the warrior.
Goliath dissipated.
And the path to the sealed core of the Rebirth Plan was clearly pointed out.
No sighing, no lamenting, no pausing, no other actions. Joshua, already prepared, immediately accelerated at full speed, following this soul-path that was constantly breaking and dissolving, racing toward his goal.
With the giant god's full-speed charge, the chaotic dark sea suddenly thundered and erupted in whirlpools. The chaos sea, which had been as silent as death, transformed into a raging storm. But the warrior fearlessly embraced the deep chaos and immense pressure rushing toward him, unleashing his full power to shatter all resistance before him.
Yes. The Seven Gods had departed. The Demon King's remnant soul had dissipated.
He had no more resistance, no more burdens.
Destroy the seal. Seize the future.
This very moment.