Chapter 48: I Am the Flame
Joshua's body completely collapsed, scattering into fragments of flying ash.
But a dazzling soul-light still stubbornly remained within the silver mist of Steel Force, protecting the Φ-shaped formation that had begun to glow behind him, not retreating half a step.
Death was merely the beginning.
The destruction of the flesh was nothing more than the start of the true battle. What was called death was merely a transformation of material form. Even if matter annihilated and order shattered, it was nothing more than a conversion into energy, into chaos. And when the First Flame burned it, everything that had ever died could be reborn in a new form within the world.
One who understood this and turned it into their own power became an undying, immortal, eternal super-lifeform. Transforming the last of their material body into a soul-form, Joshua used the soul combat techniques learned from the Great Khan, employing every possible means to continue fighting against the chaos!
The tenth second.
The Φ-shaped formation blazed to its peak.
And Joshua's soul-form was on the verge of annihilation.
At this moment, the entire formation, along with Joshua's shattered soul fragments, had been continuously dragged to the forefront of the core seal. One could see the warrior's fragmented soul-particles being drawn into the core seal, becoming part of that infinite chaos.
And at that moment, the warrior let out his final roar.
"Now!"
"Now!"
Within the Sevenfold Abyss Seal, the six deities who had been watching the situation in the Extreme Dark Abyss shouted in unison. Their true bodies simultaneously catalyzed their power to the limit. One could see dazzling holy symbols burning fiercely in the dark abyss, transforming the originally dim abyss into a seven-colored, five-hued divine domain.
At the same time, within the 'Boundless Heaven' at the center of the Mycroft World, assimilated with the world's inner side.
Seven beams of infinite divine light, having been sealed for a thousand years, awakened from their slumber.
The azure-violet radiance, fierce yet dim, belonging to the God of Love and Decay.
The deep-black radiance, stable and profound, belonging to the God of Justice and Might.
The sky-blue radiance, symmetrical and complex, belonging to the God of Order and Destruction.
The pale-green radiance, regular yet scattered, belonging to the God of Law and Freedom.
The light-golden radiance, intricate yet distinct, belonging to the God of Wisdom and Choice.
The iron-gray radiance, stubborn yet changeable, belonging to the God of Protection and Progress.
The pure-white radiance, flickering with endless vitality, belonging to the God of Life.
Power, vast and far exceeding the true bodies of the Seven Gods themselves, began to overflow from the Boundless Heaven.
Divine Power.
A deity's divine power originated from the Great Source of the Multiverse. It seemed to directly communicate with the First Flame, possessing the purest and most supreme power in this world. However, there was a price to using divine power. If a deity's method of drawing divine power was like a person opening a small hole in a dam to draw water, providing a nearly infinite source of power, they still had to be mindful of whether the size of the hole was within their control. If it was too small, the divine power would be insufficient, making godhood meaningless. If it was too large, exceeding their control limit, the ruptured opening would turn into a torrent, washing away their very existence.
Divinity was the extreme of spirit and belief, capable of materializing into a core that maintained the deity's own will and existence. While divinity would change a god's personality and thoughts, if it did not become extreme, the god would dissolve into the endless Great Source of the Multiverse.
Deities and divine power were like a faucet and the water in a reservoir. Unless it was before divine annihilation, it was impossible to unleash power beyond one's upper limit. Divine power was also nearly impossible to store; it would return to the Great Source of the Multiverse, usable only temporarily when drawn. Only extremely special substances and regions could preserve divine power for extended periods.
Coincidentally.
The Boundless Heaven was precisely such an existence.
Since the Era of Radiance, it had not belonged to any deity or any person. No matter how urgent the need or how great the demand for land, no person or god could occupy this place alone. The Boundless Heaven contained nothing—only a calm, controlled void.
Because it was the divine power storage device of the gods, the man-made 'Boundless Heaven'.
The divine power that the Seven Gods had stored piecemeal for nearly a thousand years began to overflow from the Boundless Heaven. One could see countless commoners on the Mycroft Continent looking up in astonishment, gazing at the sky above the sunlight and the twin moons, above countless floating clouds, where a massive rainbow bridge was erected. Beyond light and dark, black and white, the seven-colored, five-hued divine power formed a rainbow that crossed the world and the void, plunging straight into the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground!
At the same time, all the Legendary, Ultimate, and Gold-rank beings who relied on the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground for teleportation, suppressing the increasingly intense conflicts in the World Star River, suddenly discovered that the entire Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground had stopped functioning. The Dominant Will no longer responded to their requests but fell into silence.
All redundant ports were closed, all extra processes were terminated. The Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground activated at full power, consolidating unprecedented strength. Although this supreme creation of the Era of Radiance was merely a foundation, its power even surpassed the Star River, reaching the 'Multiverse-level'! When this pinnacle creation of civilization operated at full power, whether it was destruction or creation, stars or divine power, all were within the Dominant Will's single thought.
"Coordinate searching... Φ-coordinate confirmed. Identifier: 'Deepest Abyss'. Identifier: 'Abyss Nirvana Ground'. Identifier: 'Extreme Dark Abyss'."
In the center of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, within the Silver Sky Radiance, a voice devoid of any emotional tone sounded. The Dominant Will methodically carried out all tasks, beginning the greatest teleportation since its creation.
"Teleporter codename: 'Boundless Divine Power'. Teleporter codename: 'Steel Star'. Beginning allocation of teleportation power. Beginning calculation of Multiverse coordinate system. Beginning convergence of teleportation path."
The entire Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground was now filled with the divine power of the Seven Gods. Countless people working there or waiting for teleportation stood frozen in shock, only able to hear the Dominant Will's emotionless yet incredibly steady voice.
"Multiverse quadrant teleportation commencing."
In that instant.
The boundaries of time and space were completely twisted by unparalleled power.
At the deepest point of the Extreme Dark Abyss, 'Joshua's' flesh and soul had both turned to ash, leaving only a small, almost negligible mist of steel stubbornly guarding the Φ-shaped formation. But under the erosion of infinite chaos, it would be reduced to nothingness within a thousandth of a second. Under absolute suppression of power, even the Steel Force, which could normally erode chaos in turn, could only shatter without any ability to fight back.
But in that instant, a moment far shorter than a thousandth of a second, at the lowest limit of divided time.
Time and space twisted.
A silver world wrapped in seven-colored divine power—a colossal 'Steel Star'—appeared without any warning, abruptly at the very core of the Extreme Dark Abyss!
In that moment, chaos let out its most agonized wail and groan.
Buzz!!!
One could see that within the originally black ocean of chaos, monstrous waves suddenly surged. Endless chaotic matter, carrying world wreckage and steel embers, began to pour toward the silver world. In mere seconds, as the steel giant rotated, a black accretion disk began to form on the world's outer side. Seven-colored divine power enveloped it like a neon glow, forming a colossal 'Φ'.
The circle was the star itself; the vertical line was the accretion disk. The rotating Steel Star stirred the movement of matter. The warrior's strongest, most perfect and flawless combat form—'World'—appeared before the first opponent that required his full effort since his sublimation!
Fragments of chaos, wreckage of worlds, particles of steel, and the radiance of the Seven Gods' divine power—all swirled around the silver world like scattered snowflakes or surging deep-sea currents, orbiting the warrior's side. All power—the Seven Gods' millennium of accumulation, everything of Joshua's true body, everything that could be sacrificed and invested—had converged into a single star shining in the Extreme Dark Abyss.
Joshua absorbed the steel mist left by his avatar—that was his own memory. He had thought he would think of many things: the dedication of the Seven Gods, the secret mentioned by the God of Protection and Progress, the sacrifice of the God of Justice and Might, the self-annihilation of the Demon King's remnant soul... He had thought he would feel moved, sigh, admire, and contemplate.
But in reality, the warrior thought of nothing.
"It's time to fight."
Joshua van Radcliffe said to himself. One could see that at the core of the Abyss Nirvana Ground, the originally dim Sage's rune suddenly brightened for an instant. The calm chaos aggregate was stirred into disorder. As the massive chaos congealed masses within the seal core pulled the silver world toward itself, they were also constantly pulled toward the other by the silver world's gravity, then shattered in the accretion disk, turning into even brighter silver light mist.
Then, the star no longer anchored itself in place.
It began to charge toward the core of the seal.
Deep within the silent seal core, divine light shone. The world's flying trajectory tore through the void. The roaring star's howl breathed upon all things. Under the blessing of infinite divine power, within the chaotic Extreme Dark Abyss, infinite chaos was ignited. Deep red flames burned like searing, boiling blood. Silver mist rose with a sweeping conflagration, just like the storm within the warrior's heart, howling, sweeping, and crushing everything.
The silver star, gathering everything, collided with the core of the seal.
In that moment when all meaning in the world was lost, only one sound could be heard.
"Crack."
Just like the countless sounds of divine power barriers shattering heard before, the sound of countless cracks spreading echoed, then expanded to infinite distances in an instant.
And then—
The core seal rune, amidst endless roaring, shattered!