Chapter 23: The One Who Changes the World
Standing within the mantle, the warrior shook his head slightly. He naturally knew what Loranda was thinking at this moment, and what he was pondering. They were old friends who had faced evil gods together, so Joshua naturally understood the paladin's doubts and his desire to resolve them.
Thus, he raised both hands. A silver sphere could be seen appearing at the center of Joshua's palms, and as this sphere emerged, all surrounding matter—including metal, rock, semi-molten magma, and high-pressure core materials—everything began to be frantically drawn into the sphere like cascading waterfalls and rivers. In merely three seconds, the silver sphere, originally only the size of a thumb, expanded to the size of a human head, yet the matter it had absorbed was equivalent to several mountains.
"My friend, Loranda—"
The warrior's voice turned solemn at this moment, and the silver sphere he held was rapidly contracting. But because Joshua only used power at the Ultimate Peak level, this sphere of matter could not truly begin to undergo hyper-compression collapse. Even so, its density had become extremely terrifying. "I know you want to ask me why the world is the way it is."
And in the next instant, the warrior decisively and with full force hurled the sphere of matter toward the paladin. It could be seen that the high-density material sphere, accelerated to dozens of times the speed of sound, triggered a vast wave of matter deep within the mantle.
It could be seen that behind Loranda, who stood upon the core matter, an extremely distinct phantom halo now manifested. Facing the incoming high-density sphere, he roared and erupted with a colossal surge of Holy Light Power. The Holy Light, so dense it was nearly materialized, even forced the core matter to concave. It transformed into the phantom of a giant hammer, like striking a baseball, and slammed solidly into the sphere of matter.
And in the next instant, accompanied by a booming resonance, the phantom of the Holy Light giant hammer dissipated, and the silver sphere was sent flying. Like a reverse meteor, it pierced through layer after layer of solidified mantle, hurtling toward the planet's crust above.
Above the core, the phantom halo behind Loranda shattered. He staggered back several large steps, and the paladin couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. But what he spat out now was not blood or fragments of internal organs, but countless soaring Holy Light fragments. The internal structure of an Ultimate-rank Transcendent Being's body is already different from that of mortals. Apart from some special schools, most Ultimate-rank experts do not have internal organs composed of flesh and blood within their bodies.
"But I can't give you the answer. I'm not a philosopher."
"And you aren't either."
It could be heard that Joshua's voice only arrived belatedly at this moment. The warrior hovered above the core and spoke calmly: "Why is the world the way it is? I don't know, and I don't care. Pondering such questions is not what a warrior like me, or a paladin like you, should be doing."
"We should have more important things to do."
And Loranda, who had exhausted all his strength just to block Joshua's previous attack, did not reply immediately. He took a few heavy breaths, then slowly raised his head, looking from the deepest part of the core toward the sky above his head.
That was a deep, straight tunnel, piercing directly from above the crust down into the core. At the bottom of the tunnel was the bright, scorching core, while the middle section was filled with shadowy darkness. With the current technology of Mycroft Civilization, no existing drilling machine could accomplish such a feat. But a Transcendent expert could do it with their own hands. And even this was merely a trivial byproduct of their battle.
This was the miracle brought by Transcendent power—a miracle capable of changing everything.
"Shouldn't... I think about it?"
The paladin's heart began to waver, but soon, he firmly shook his head, rejecting this notion.
No, that's not what he meant. A person must never give up thinking. If one stops thinking, then both fighting and living lose their meaning.
What Joshua said must have a deeper meaning.
After a moment, Loranda smiled.
"I understand... So that's it, that's how it is!"
Murmuring to himself, the paladin seemed to grasp something, like a student who had finally figured out a difficult problem. He first chuckled softly, then laughed heartily with joy. But soon, the laughter ceased. Loranda's expression became calm again. He nodded slightly, raised his head, and said quietly to Joshua: "Joshua, not long ago, I absolutely hated the starry sky."
It was too vast and boundless, too dark and hopeless, too mysterious and unknown, filled with incalculable dangers.
"And now?"
Hearing this, the warrior, who had originally intended to continue his assault to push his friend to his last ounce of potential, raised an eyebrow with slight interest. He asked with some curiosity: "Are you starting to like it?"
"No."
Loranda tore off the remnants of his armor, which still had some metal fragments clinging to his upper body, revealing the somewhat pale skin beneath. He took a deep breath, and then Holy Light converged, forming a set of dark gray light-armor covering his body. A fully enclosed helmet obscured the paladin's face, making his voice sound somewhat muffled: "I still don't like it."
"The truth behind this multiverse is far darker and more hopeless than I imagined in my youth. Compared to it, the sins that occur in the mortal world are utterly insignificant. Whether it's crime or punishment, it all seems meaningless. So, I absolutely hate it. I hate this truth."
But.
Falling silent, Loranda once again gathered his conviction. At the very center of the planet, he called upon the power of Holy Light, and Holy Light responded to him. Unlike the three common types of Holy Light, the dim, dark gray Holy Light possessed properties completely different from those of other paladins' power. Though it was energy, it took on a nearly material form, once again transforming into a shield and a cross-shaped warhammer, which Loranda held in his hands.
But precisely because of this.
Precisely because he hated this hopeless and dark multiverse, detested this starry sky filled with shadows and chaos.
That was why a 'hero' was needed to eradicate it!
"I don't like the starry sky."
"I don't like the darkness."
"I don't like despair."
Here and now, above the core of this dead planet, even though Loranda did not speak aloud, his voice resonated through the matter out of thin air. The paladin's clear, low tones could be heard vibrating through the molten rock and metal, causing a violent tremor deep within the mantle: "So. I am going to 'transform' this starry sky."
"I will make it bright and warm, radiant and safe. I will make it filled with laughter and hope, and not as it is now—nothing but the silence of the void!"
No further explanation was needed.
All the philosophers in the world were trying to explain the world, but that was utterly unimportant. The real question was: how to change the world!