Chapter 61: Aftermath and Transition
On the 14th of February, in the year 845 of the Era of Falling Stars, a momentous event shook the entire Multiverse Star River at the edge of the Origin Star River.
Accompanying a wave of subspace that swept across countless realms, an unknown civilization's fleet from the Lost Star River warped in from the other side of the Silent Void.
Upon arriving at the edge of the Multiverse Star River, they immediately defeated the most powerful native civilization in the area, forcing its submission. In a short time, this mysterious, unknown civilization began large-scale construction, building numerous void bases and fortresses, and erected an immensely colossal Star Gate at their initial landing site.
The process was not without resistance—many civilizations sought to expel this unknown yet powerful civilization from their star river. Some were neighboring star river civilizations, unwilling to face the threat of another powerful force, so they tried to drive them out before they could establish a foothold. Others were powerful civilizations from afar, driven more by curiosity than hostility—curious about what kind of civilization and what kind of experts could emerge from that ancient and mysterious star river, said to be the ancestral home of the lost.
Of course, whether driven by curiosity or hostility, they were more accustomed to letting force speak, allowing information to be exchanged through battle. So, in a single day, the vast majority of civilization fleets attempting to force their way into the two-star river border were completely annihilated. Even the Knowledge Seizers, who had come out in full force, could only build fortresses on the other side of the void. And the Takur Annihilation Order and the Amos Royal Court, who personally sent out avatars to intervene, both suffered the blow of having their avatars shattered and being forced to flee.
Even now, at the edge of the two-star river border, one can see battle scars stretching across hundreds of star domains. Over a dozen star domains were destroyed, countless small worlds were ground to dust, and the residual energy from the clash of experts continues to spread at the speed of light in all directions. Even the sturdiest warships, if they haven't activated full-power shields, will instantly disintegrate into void dust upon touching those fleeting, dazzling lights.
This continuously expanding energy aftershock has become a major natural disaster in the surrounding star domains. Many civilization ships are taking evasive action, marking it on their star charts as one of the great 'Forbidden Zones'.
Although the civilization from the Lost Star River only defeated some ordinary fleets and shattered avatars, that was an attack launched by a coalition of many ordinary civilizations and three powerful civilizations. The Lost Star River civilization, in essence, was just a single fleet. Neither side had committed their full strength, but both had demonstrated a certain level of power.
Yet the visitors from the Lost Star River not only blocked all the invaders but also showed signs of a potential counter-offensive. Their weapon technology was so advanced that even the Knowledge Seizers couldn't see through it. These pieces of information combined were enough to prove their strength—indeed, a strength that was almost unimaginably powerful.
This civilization, which had developed in isolation in a distant star river, seemed completely different from their own void civilizations.
And so, silently, while everyone was lamenting, "Has another powerful civilization been added to the Multiverse Star River?", the name 'Mycroft' and the awe-inspiring title of 'God of Steel' began to spread gradually throughout the entire Multiverse Star River.
These are the things that will happen.
For now, at the center of the battlefield, Joshua gazed at the golden deity before him, while the deity also appraised the steel giant before him.
At this moment, in the warrior's eyes, Israel's aura seemed somewhat unsteady. It was likely due to the backlash from having accumulated such a vast amount of divine power and then releasing it in a single strike. By using his slowed time as a targeting mechanism, Joshua had allowed Israel to gather power freely and deliver a devastating blow to the powerful enemy. But this came at a cost. Having only recently ascended to godhood, Israel didn't have the accumulated divine power in the Boundless Heaven like the other six gods. The power he had temporarily drawn from the Great Source was too violent, teetering on the edge of slipping beyond his control.
Of course, this 'control' wasn't about the limit of Divine Annihilation. Divine Annihilation refers to tearing and expanding the connection between oneself and the Great Source to a point beyond one's control. 'Beyond control' here means exactly that—losing command over the power, potentially hitting oneself with the technique.
Meanwhile, in Israel's eyes, Joshua presented a different image. The newly ascended deity, intrigued, observed his former friend with his unique divine vision. But what he saw made him let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
"Joshua, has your Chaos corruption been cured?"
The deity asked with a look of astonishment. "How long have I been asleep? For you to have..." Saying this, Israel raised his head and looked around. After seeing the starlight and void firmament, far brighter than that of the Lost Star River, he thought for a moment, then whispered in shock, "...You've already come to a foreign star river and fought against experts from other civilizations? Have I missed a lot?!"
"Not completely cured—but ninety percent of it is gone. I have to thank the Continent of Strife; hundreds of millions of people across the world helped me clean it up, and it was indeed very fast. You haven't missed much. Actually, the battle we just fought was the most important part."
Joshua had now disengaged from his combat state. On the battle form of the Steel Giant God, the divine rune patterns slowly faded. The triple seals of light, electromagnetism, and gravity were reapplied. The Neutron Star Battle Body curled its four limbs, then reverted to its spherical stellar form. A small-scale humanoid avatar emerged from within, flying over to Israel's side. The warrior gestured for the deity to look at the slightly dimmed side of the neutron star, a faint smile on his face. "There's still a portion of Chaos memories left to analyze, but they can no longer affect my mind. This most stubborn part occasionally has its uses. Whenever someone tries to spy on me mentally, they get contaminated by these Evil God memories."
Although it was only a secondary infection of lesser Chaos contamination, breaking free from it was no simple task. Weaker beings would be fine; they couldn't touch any important memories. But powerful entities, like the avatars of the Amos Emperor and the High Patriarch, had already absorbed quite a bit of Chaos aura during the battle. When these avatars return to their main bodies, Joshua might be able to obtain the coordinates of their home worlds.
Normally, a reunion after such a long separation would warrant a lengthy conversation, especially after they had just executed a perfect combination to repel two super experts from a foreign civilization. But neither Joshua nor Israel were people of many words. If they were to spar, this wasn't the time. So, after briefly discussing the founding of the Combined Fleet and the events of the past few years since arriving in the foreign star river, the long-separated man and god flew together towards the front lines of the two-star river standoff.
During their return, Joshua curiously asked about the process and feeling of becoming a true god. He had had several opportunities to become a god in the past—the inheritances of the God of Luck and Despair, the Father of Nature, the Sky God, and the worship of the Midgardians... Of course, he had refused them all. He had his own path to walk. But even so, like any ordinary person, he was curious about the sensation of ascending to godhood.
To this, Israel didn't say much. He only softly murmured things like 'hold fast to your faith' and 'don't forget your original intention' before glossing over the topic. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it, so he just repeated these seemingly vague and hollow words. Rather, during the process of ascending to godhood, a deity must traverse their entire life. Unless one is the person themselves, no one can truly understand how their enlightenment came to be.
Many people repeat the same things a thousand or a hundred times in their lives. Some, even after realizing their true heart and faith, deliberately linger in their life, repeatedly experiencing certain events and memories. Therefore, ascending to godhood is not something that can be scheduled. Waking up early doesn't mean understanding quickly, and waking up late doesn't define who you are.
So sometimes, regarding the cultivation of transcendent power, there indeed appear requirements like 'strengthen your faith', 'elevate your emotions', 'maintain your resolve'—things that sound very strange and unscientific. But this doesn't mean it's a purely idealistic realm. It's proof that a thousand people have a thousand paths, each different.
Two streams of light crossed the void, returning from the battlefield. The two other vast auras had completely dissipated. Upon learning this, all the surrounding void civilizations were greatly shocked. Some of them knew who had been fighting there—experts from a distant star river, so powerful they transcended worlds. Their avatars alone were enough to wipe out an entire, not-so-weak void civilization.
But now, the avatars of these two experts had been held off by a single expert from the Lost Star River civilization for several months... Even considering their mutual hatred prevented them from joining forces, it was still a remarkable feat. And even more terrifying was the second event: within minutes of the second expert from the Lost Star River crossing the void, they were both defeated.
Although, for now, no one could understand the full details of the event, the thoroughly wrecked star domains and world wreckage clearly testified to the intensity of that battle. Understanding who had won and who had lost, the other void civilizations finally completely withdrew from this star river. They had come to understand that if they truly wanted to drive this civilization called 'Mycroft' away, it would require a coalition army of multiple powerful civilizations. But in this Multiverse Star River, which powerful civilization would join hands with another? In the past tens of thousands of years, they had been mortal enemies hundreds of times over. A coalition was an impossible option.
Thus, it was a foregone conclusion that the foreign civilization fleet from the Lost Star River had established a foothold in the Origin Star River.
What drew even more attention was their purpose for descending here from the distant beyond.
The remote and peripheral Origin Star River had thus become the center of attention for all realms.