Chapter 33: Manifestation of the Evil Gods
—What is darkness?
It is… everything without light.
Unable to see the path ahead, unable to feel hope, it is an incomprehensible and uncomprehended loneliness, a terrifying unknown, silence and stillness.
Thus, the current multiverse is dark. The divided multiverse star rivers, civilizations unable to understand each other, the incursions severed by the Great Cycle and the invasion of the Evil Gods, a tomorrow with almost no hope—if even this is not considered darkness, then nothing is darkness.
—How can darkness be made to recede?
The answer is simple: Whether it is real, imagined, in one's heart, or given to others, the first thing to do is only one thing.
That is to ignite a flame.
A flame of unwillingness to accept everything that exists, a flame that wants to resist.
In the dark multiverse, there are specks of starlight flickering. They are the radiance of worlds, the radiance of civilizations. Against a backdrop composed entirely of deep, shadowy darkness, this light is sometimes bright, sometimes dim, cycling through birth and extinction in waves—but one can see, scattered throughout the countless multiverse star rivers across the multiverse, there are shadows like root-like veins, eroding, spreading, infecting in all directions, causing the darkness to propagate.
Joshua van Radcliffe stood at the midpoint of the second spiral arm of the Dark Star River. He gazed at the center of this galaxy, the source of endless chaotic aura. The Giant God heard the sound of worlds shattering. He could hear the Steel Serpent 'Star' gradually awakening amidst the stinging pain of the world barrier breaking apart, yet being numbed by the overly deep darkness. The great existence prostrate in the void had already extended its tentacles, reaching between these worlds as its vanguard.
At the center of the Dark Galaxy, countless enormous monsters were gathering. Among them were ugly and ferocious reproductive mother beasts, spherical in shape, and also giant insects seemingly crafted from crystal, delicate yet dangerous. But regardless of their type, their sizes all exceeded thirty kilometers in diameter, and the largest one possessed a body nearly as massive as a gas giant.
Their immense size did not mean they were incapable of fine manipulation. One could see layers of substantial energy particles floating like dust on the surface of these monsters' bodies. These particles rotated like double helixes, forming large, distorted patches. If these particles were to descend upon a world with an atmosphere, they would produce sounds far louder than thunder and, within minutes, absorb energy and matter to grow, transforming into various strange combat sub-individuals.
Surrounding the largest star-forming cloud cluster at the galactic center, these monsters waited in silence. It wasn't long before, as if a sound of something breaking penetrated the realm of the mind, under the gaze of the numerous minions, the empty nebula space they encircled began to twist like flowing mercury. A nearly pure white light shone from outside the world. This light gradually formed a massive vortex with a diameter of 2.5 light-years. Its rate of expansion was astonishingly fast, as if something was pressing down from outside the world, its projection materializing into a tangible existence within the world.
Its name was the [Eternal Void Portal]—and it was far larger than before, many, many times larger.
The pure white radiance spread, touching many of the monstrous beasts waiting nearby. Among them were individuals as massive as planets, but the moment they were contacted by the light, they silently turned into nothingness, vanishing entirely. Yet even so, none of the waiting Chaos Minions retreated or showed fear. They 'bowed down,' continuing to wait in reverence.
Then, in an instant, darkness erupted at the center of the vortex.
A patch of black shadow—no, rather, a fragile portal leading to the outer void—a perfectly circular spacetime rift was torn open. It expanded like ripples falling on a calm water surface, instantly occupying a third of the vortex's area, swallowing the original pure white with the indescribable, almost iridescent pitch black of the void.
The contradictory spiral of black and white rotated in opposite directions, and four profound, nebula-like dark shadows shot out from within, plunging into the vast multi-star cloud cluster at the galactic center.
The first exuded an aura of 'Barrenness.' Where the dark shadow passed, the energy of stars was plundered, nebulae began to lose their light, and all radiation and rays vanished as if devoured the moment they appeared. As the outer layers of dozens of stars were completely extinguished and their cores collapsed into white dwarfs and neutron stars, triggering a series of supernova explosions, a crystalline, star-sized twenty-four-sided polyhedron, as if forged from crystal, appeared in the vacuum.
One could see, inside this twenty-four-sided polyhedron, a rotating dark nebula. Desperate chaotic malice spread in all directions, plunging all things into post-death barrenness.
'Famine' had manifested.
The second exuded an aura of 'Stagnation.' Where the dark shadow passed, whether stars or planets, they froze in place like a still photograph. Everything fell into a state of non-motion, non-communication, as if time itself did not exist, passing by these star systems. Then, these stagnant star systems, within the high-density cosmic space of the star-forming cloud cluster, collided head-on with other star systems that were still in motion. Motion and stillness intertwined. Amidst the brilliant explosions and rapidly cooling light, a black cloud cluster resembling a clock appeared.
Observing this 'clock' from different angles revealed countless different time indicators and scales, even scenes of countless worlds meeting their end. But if the observer did not move, it too remained still. Dead, silent chaotic malice spread, disrupting the boundary between motion and stillness.
'Stagnation' had manifested.
The third exuded an aura of 'Division.' Where the dark shadow passed, matter began to deconstruct, energy began to separate from each other. Light of different spectra, waves of different frequencies, energy and matter of different intensities—everything began to become minute. Celestial bodies once unified by gravity, the moment the shadow flashed past, completely collapsed, self-disintegrating into clouds of various distinct matter. One could even see space itself distorting, revealing a layered structure. And just as all things were meticulously classified, no longer interconnected, a dim, mosaic-like light fog appeared.
Every color block composing the mosaic was itself an aggregation of countless completely different color blocks. It continuously subdivided, subdivided, until the limit of observation, until the observer themselves were assimilated by it—eyes and brain no longer communicating, hands and heart no longer acting in unison. Confused chaotic malice spread, causing all things to tend towards their own isolated destruction.
'Division' had manifested.
The fourth, the last, was imperceptible, unobservable, nothing at all. Everything was as if it hadn't happened. There was neither aura nor danger. Darkness did not exist, shadows did not appear. It seemed merely an illusion.
But not seeing does not mean it isn't there; not imagining does not mean it doesn't exist. Unnoticed, something had disappeared. Perhaps a few stars, perhaps dozens of galaxies. But those who wish not to see will never see it—no chaotic aura, no anomalies. Apart from the fact that there was indeed this fourth one, nothing was clear, nothing was known. It was like a hairless naked ape pointing at the night sky, at a tiny star, laughing and saying this universe is very bright.
Witnessing this scene, the minions cheered, surged, and writhed. Endless monsters, a tide of beasts whose numbers alone could obscure the light of thousands of stars, rose and fell like waves. They had finally welcomed their long-absent master, the mother nest, or perhaps their own true form. They had finally received new orders, learning that beyond 'Spread and Destroy,' they had other purposes.
And Joshua watched all this, together with the Triple Veil, witnessing the descent of the 'Evil Gods.'
Compared to the source of darkness that stirred the countless Chaos Minions across the entire Dark Galaxy, the World Devourer God, the light of stars was far too insignificant. Even as a stone to test the path, as a coordinate to guide the way, even after being imprisoned for so long, serving as a tool for exploration and detection for so long, the moment these former remnants of civilizations, now Evil Gods, appeared, the numerous fleets and powerful beings of the Galactic Guardian Alliance all shuddered in unison. They then felt a great terror and darkness approaching.
Loneliness, deathly silence, fear, the unknown… The aura emanating from these former corpses of civilizations seemed to be the very essence of this multiverse.
"Civilizations… are like fireworks."
Like brilliant, beautiful sparks on the dark curtain of night, but in the blink of an eye, they turn into drifting smoke and dust—beautiful yet fleeting.
[Alert: Radcliffe, the Evil God entities are blocking the view of the galactic center. They seem to be jointly expanding that newly formed 'Eternal Void Portal.' Transitions in some areas will likely be disrupted. But if we do not stop them…]
"We will stop them."
Recovering from his contemplation, Joshua answered decisively. His four arms summoned weapons. The Giant God spoke in a deep voice: "These Evil Gods are essentially what I mentioned earlier—the 'anchors' used by the 'Void Super Lifeforms' to explore and invade the Starry Worlds… The previous Chaos Minions should have, through prolonged invasion, gathered enough power to summon their mother entity, but the 'Great Flanking Campaign' of the Galactic Guardian Alliance successfully thwarted their plan."
Originally, after the previous Eternal Void Portal was destroyed, the Chaos Minions and Evil Gods should not have had the strength and opportunity to continue their internal and external assault, breaking the world barrier of the Starry World, for a short time. But now, it seemed the situation had changed.
"I understand… What initially invaded the Starry World should have been only the Chaos Minions summoned by civilizations *within* the Starry World. The Evil Gods behind them might not be near the Starry World at all, but scattered across numerous corners of the multiverse."
Powerful gravitational waves distorted the spacetime around Joshua, even causing space to deform. It was no longer the Giant God himself moving forward, but the 'warped' space carrying him along.
And at this moment, Joshua figured out a problem.
—It wasn't the Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate controlling these Evil Gods to invade the Starry World. Rather, it had spent a long time and immense effort to find, across the entire multiverse, these Evil Gods whose minions had been summoned into the Starry World. Then, using them as coordinates and catalysts, it opened that 'portal' large enough to accommodate its own entry.
To put it metaphorically, the Evil Gods and their numerous minions were merely a doorknob.
"So… the Galactic Guardian Alliance, thousands upon thousands of civilizations, spending millennia resisting and defending against, is merely the splash of water stirred up by some large fish turning over in the vast ocean of the multiverse."
With the avatar of the Triple Veil, he advanced through warped space. His speed was very, very fast. In the rapid motion of alternating transitions and warps, the two were rapidly approaching the center of the Dark Galaxy.
They felt the increasingly dense chaotic aura, the manifestation of ever-greater malice. The intelligence of the Triple Veil was on unprecedented alert. Although they possessed extremely powerful strength, if it came to a direct confrontation, today would probably be the first time—but Joshua was different. He breathed in this chaotic aura, far thinner than that of the original 'Extreme Dark Abyss,' and his heart held no ripples.
[Civilizations are like raindrops.
Like rain falling on the sea in the dead of night.
Rain falling silently, unknown to anyone, on the vast, boundless sea. The rain quietly taps the sea surface, causing complex ripples to spread, even creating slight waves. But neither the sea nor the fish within are aware of it, paying it no mind.
Therefore—
I will not be the silent, soundless rain.]
The speed of the warp movement was almost like teleportation, instantly shifting the Giant God's coordinates within this cosmic space. Because it was indestructible, any sonic booms that would affect the warp speed were ignored. Within this distorted spacetime, Joshua's movement speed, from an external perspective, easily surpassed the speed of light by hundreds of times. A ring of blue-white light appeared before his eyes. Moving at this speed, any planets or stars unfortunate enough to encounter the Giant God were torn apart, forced into distorted spacetime, turning into dust and expanding nebulae. In a short time, it was hard to tell whether the Evil Gods' descent or the warrior's passage had destroyed more star systems.
Once they crossed the region where transitions were blocked, the Triple Veil unhesitatingly transitioned with Joshua. Inter-galactic distances were thus crossed in just a few minutes.
[—I will become a storm.
A storm that can destroy land, overturn the sea, sweep the fish from the ocean depths into the sky, and expose the bottom of the sea abyss, untouched by anyone for ten thousand years, to the sunlight.
A storm that makes heaven and earth change color, where everything old is burned and smashed—a storm that is blazing, surging, like flames.]
They could already see the interstellar fleets of the Chaos Minions, could see tens of millions of sky-obscuring Chaos Beasts swimming through the vacuum. But under the immense gravitational waves and the breath of the spacetime storm stirred up by the Giant God, even stars were extinguished, let alone these fleets, which were hardly better than dust. Everything was annihilated in an instant, turned into the finest particles.
Closer.
[Warning: Approaching the core region of the Dark Galaxy. Radcliffe, that is the central hub of the Chaos Minions and the Chaos Evil Gods.]
Within the warped spacetime, the Triple Veil spoke with an unprecedented tone.
[Gravity: The battle is about to begin.]
Joshua did not reply. A blazing red light flowed in his eyes.
The warrior gripped his weapons tightly.
Gripped his future tightly.
Because the battle was about to begin.