Soul of Searing Steel

Chapter 943: Summary and General Assembly

The sixteenth of August, Starfall year 847, marked five and a half years since commencement of the Mycroft civilization’s galactic voyage, and two and a half years since the arrival of the Combined Fleet upon the Multiverse.

After a three-year long continuous high-speed journey through the Silent Void, the Combined Fleet arrived at the edge of the Multiverse of the star system now known as Zeta Ram—where, following two weeks of blitzkrieg warfare, the Expeditionary defeated the Eldars’ defensive fleet while barring the probing spying of other civilizations in the Multiverse, successfully building a Dimensional Hub on Zeta Ram and finally establishing a solid foothold. Hence, they began to build permanent massive Void Installations at the edge of the Zeta Ram system and explore the unfamiliar Multiverse, while suppressing the hostile civilizations around them.

With advanced combat ability, the Expedition Fleet swiftly subjugated all local factions, just as their many scout ships quickly discerned the present circumstances of the so-named Galaxy of Origins. However, upon discovering that the history of the galaxy extended far longer than they could imagine, the Knowers, a wandering fleet that originated from the same galaxy, had arrived from the other side of the stars. Alongside them were Imperator Amos and the Grand Patriarch, the greatest champions of the two radically xenophobic civilizations known as the Amos Court and the Takur Ruin Cult.

Perhaps to assess Mycroft’s ability, to direct them on their own enemies, or merely to satisfy their curiosity about the mysterious guests from the Lost Galaxy, battle erupted right as Mycroft’s Stargate was about to be completed and the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds linked to the Multiverse.

The Legendary Joshua van Radcliffe held down the clones of the enemy champions, while the Expedition Fleet stood off against the Knowers across galaxies with the Zonal Ether Subjugator. Barnil Gaskell, another Legendary champion, also single-handedly stopped the enemies’ reinforcement, allowing for the Dimensional Hub to adjust coordinates and open the Stargate to enable the Mycroftian headquarters, which had been preparing over three years, to send their own reinforcements. With the help of Israel Diamond, the new God of Might and Justice, Imperator Amos’s clone was destroyed, while the Grand Patriarch chose to flee. Their assault fleets were either destroyed or retreated.

But shockingly, when the supercivilization called the Knowers realized that the Mycroft civilization was not an entity affiliated to the Chaos, they had put aside all hostility, despite true military might to level the entire Combined Fleet and the Void installation in Zeta Ram. Then, when the Mycroft civilization unexpectedly learned of the Knowers’ unique means of communication—’ineffective arcane noise’ (later named arcane speak)—both sides initiated friendly interaction while exchanging substantial vital information.

Having learnt the message and legacy left by the Wise One of the Arcane and the Knowers’ true intentions, the Mycroft civilization and the Knowers participated in a discreet exchange and information exchange. This further affirmed even more critical information, such as the Creators of malevolent Chaos, who commanded great power, could be the source of the present broken state of the Multiverse. He, or them, had completed a key event a hundred and sixty million years ago that was still shrouded in mystery, which stirred anomalies in the Initial Flame and invoked the birth of Evil Gods. The Legendary champion known as Joshua van Radcliffe hence deduced that the First Assembly, which had built the World Ring around the Initial Flame, had fallen then, and that the Evil God of Fertility was borne of a remarkably powerful civilization amongst the First Assembly.

The First Assembly was possibly the first generation of civilizations in the entire Multiverse. Their collective demise had caused a massive fault for civilizations over millions of years, and the second generation of civilizations was founded later at an unknown time, a time which saw the birth of the Wise One of the Psi. Even so, the early Psi civilization and their heirs had all disappeared without a trace—the civilization of the Wise One of the Arcane that was founded thirty seven million years ago were thus the only ancient race to leave precise dates and legacies, but they had long since fallen as well, leaving their last legacies in the possession of the Knowers.

The anomaly of the Initial Flame meant the loss of the near eternal lifespans of many galaxies and great extinctions of civilizations, causing all truth to be lost to time. Newborn civilizations had to face unstable galaxies, Void Behemoths galaxies birthed to save themselves, the Abyss where the fallen all converged, the invasion of the Chaotic Evil Gods, and the spying of other civilizations of Order. A different flow of time with a temporal gap of up to a thousand-fold left part of galaxies as husks in the Void, while gathering some galaxies of the same timeline to form a massive Multiverse. Nevertheless, it was insignificant as compared to the earliest Multiverse which had been expanding infinitely and the true Initial Flame which dispelled all darkness.

It was the worst of times.

The Initial Flame was receding and light was diminishing. Even the stars faced death in the face of the assaulting darkness as the sounds of finality loomed over the dim Void. The horde of Evil Gods would be the cause of another epochal extinction, and should the assembly of civilizations fall again, there is no telling at all when the new generation of civilizations would see the birth of a new Wise One in the remaining stars. That chance even shrank and became more pressing as time passed.

Indeed, every civilization of the Multiverse would be counting down to the apocalypse if that failed. No longer would there be heirs to Order to continue the war against the Chaos that had lasted endless years.

It was also the best of times.

Wisdom unquenchable, order eternal. The accumulation of wisdom over millions of years would see the founding of many supernatural powers in the present Multiverse, and compared to the age where there was only Psi and not even magic, the present Multiverse was developed and prospering, their many Extraordinary abilities nurturing and complementing each other, cultivating more and more civilizations in shorter periods.

Dense supernatural forces shortened the time period that it took for primitive or even inorganic lifeforms to develop intelligence and grow into a civilization from millions of years down to dozens of, or even just several millennia. The arcane nurtured souls, elements congregated cores, Psi gifted intelligence, Ether shaped worlds, while lifeforce accelerated evolution—magical beasts, elementals, psionic lifeforms, ether lifeforms, and the ordinary creatures that evolved ever so quickly… it was a wondrous sight never before seen.

Most importantly, it was within less than several thousand years that two Wise Ones were born after one another—over the scale of millions of years, the Wise Ones of Holy Light and Shadow were essentially born simultaneously, an unprecedented case in the records held by the Knowers and their predecessors.

Despair and hope existed alongside each other, death and life coming alongside each other.

Such was the present age.

***

On the sixteenth of August, Starfall year 847, in the Zeta Ram system—on the external harbor of the Void installation, all makes of Void ships were slowly making port by the anchor points that appeared rather densely packed, while surging energies welled away from the vessels’ propulsion openings, stirring dim dimensional turbulences.

One of the ships that had just stopped affixed its coordinates under the instruction of a traffic controller. As its slipstream of energy darkened, the elegantly-decorated droplet-shaped warship shot out a beam, with intelligent squid-shaped lifeforms that commanded water with magic to allow themselves to be soaked within pure water wafting to the reception area. Alongside them was another rather conspicuous black spherical vessel of the Rund, with the leaders of the Rund—metallic magnetic spheres—who had cursed a certain warrior after he had taken custody of their home planet by force detaching from it.

Kvass, envoy of Rund (a Mycroft name made in national customs, original name: Pitter-Patter) carefully surveyed the other ports around him, sighing in relief upon realizing that he was neither late nor alone.

“…The Chimonde Council, the Reine Empire, and even the Dermas who are soaked in water. It seems that no one would dare disobey the will of the Mycroftians.”

With that thought, Kvass arrived at the harbor, his procession that was not actually strong in numbers rolling forward. A guide who appeared small but unusually strong quickly hurried to them, ready to guide the curious otherworldly beings inside the Void installation.

Dwarves—one of the main branches of Mycroft’s beings who dwelled in hot dry areas with heightened pressure, were adept at designing and creating various magical machinery, being a bloodline that leaned towards craftsmanship. The other branch, elves, had highly adaptable genes and evolved quickly to their environment, a bloodline thus suitable for colonizing other planets. There had also been marine races such as the murlocs… as expected of the great civilization whose power once spanned the Multiverse. One could tell how vast their territories were with such distinct races!

Having crammed all knowledge about Mycroft but clearly having misunderstood something as well, Envoy Kvass whirled his body—a greeting in the Rund language, but was simply twirling himself in layman terms. However, it was clear that the guide had studied correlated knowledge, which was why he smiled and whirled once, tugging at the metal ring on his beard.

After the greeting, Kvass was led to a specially expanded Void passageway and a great metal hall build especially for Rund.

“Envoy of Rund, your party may rest here or freely move about. Apologies, however, for there are some locations that cannot not be accessed due to your race’s size.”

Amongst the dwarven guide’s many beard rings, one emanated faint light, along with the Rund’ electromagnetic language and a gruff dwarven voice. It was the artificial plugin unique to Mycroft which carries translating function for the Spirit Terminal, a common thing for Rund since they often modified themselves in such manners. According to what they know, the Mycroftians would install the plugin known as the Spirit Terminal on each of their infants, an unusual action for physical beings but a rare point of acknowledgement and admiration for the Runds, even something they hoped to learn.

Naturally, that was all in the Rund’s perspective.

“…And that is almost everything. Please be careful not to develop conflict with the envoys of other civilizations, but should there be some deeply-rooted grudge, we have a dueling stage especially prepared. Be at ease as well since none would come to mortal harm—with two Legendary champions presiding over it at all times, they would stop any fight before any harm could be done.”

***

After providing Kvass and the rest of the envoys a run-through about the rules in the Zeta Ram Void installation, the dwarven guide bade his leave since there were many Void ships coming in, and not just the twelve civilizations subservient to Mycroft. With not many specially-trained receptionist as well, they were burdened with heavy workload.

Kvass did not actually mind that, as he wanted to visit the Void installation freely in the first place—a military base of their suzerain that was at once formidable yet infinitely mysterious. Being an elite Rund, he understood well that the essence of a civilization lay within the details of their details, and all that appeared insignificant always reflected their fundamental attributes.

The Rund’s private hall was not actually too far from the central hall of the installation, chiefly for arcane convenience. After two teleportation, Kvass rolled out alone into the central hall, his appearance attracting many a stare there instantly.

The Runds were basically electromagnetic waves prancing around in magnetic metal, developing sentience as magical energy gathered enough to create complex information. The older they were and the stronger they became, the greater control over magnetic metals they would have, and being one of the most remarkably intelligent individuals, Kvass’ diameter reached a shocking twenty-one meters. For such a behemoth to have rolled out of nowhere, he naturally drew attention. Still, everyone from Mycroftian to other alien species withdrew their stares as if having gotten used to it. After all, the Runds had considerable fame while some present were old friends whom they often communicated with, and certainly would not blank out with his presence.

For his own part, Kvass was used to the curious stares of other races as an envoy of Rund, with all organic creatures in turn appearing unusual to him as well. Either way, he quieted his thoughts and looked around to search for the little things that would interest him—that included buildings, furniture design, machinery, communicative methods from magic, elements to Psi, along with adepts who trained in lifeforce. There was also magical contraption activated with different Extraordinary ability, and one could see that the main people of Mycroft were learned, that there was no Extraordinary power they were not familiar with.

There was no question that they were a true supernatural civilization. Unlike others which only used them as an auxiliary tool, the various Extraordinary powers were in fact the chief instrument which the Mycroft civilization utilised to seek out Truth!

However, their species’ average height was no more than two meters, which meant that most doors and corridors were very small to the Rund. Nevertheless, size was no representation of ability—the guides who were moving to receive the diverse foreigners were all very powerful, with some of their ability approaching the threshold of superior lifeforms, just one step away from becoming an Elder amongst the Rund!

“Wait… what is that?!”

Able to observe his surroundings through a three-hundred and sixty-degree perspective with his spherical form without arousing suspicion, Kvass simply remained where he was and collected every piece of information around him. However, he promptly paused when he turned to a virtual map hanging in the air. It was a map of the Void that kept changing incessantly like a golden nebula cluster. Each golden dot was a planetary quadrant, while red ones represented regions controlled by Mycroft. That being said, it kept shifting from the Galaxy of Beginnings, focusing on galaxies where Mycroft’s Dimensional Hubs were built. There was even the occasional Void charts of the Lost Galaxy—another dazzling golden nebula which was mostly occupied with red dots and prompted reverence.

Still, that was not really wat caught Kvass’s attention, but the familiar, intimate, nostalgic yet fearsome presence emanating from the golden nebulae.

“Well, that.”

Seemingly hearing Kvass’s question, a young Mycroftian guide who was passing by scratched his head and smiled. “It’s probably His Lordship’s spoils, I believe—he heard it was physical elements extracted out of the body of a stellar class Void Behemoth and was used as the raw materials for the Void map… wait, we don’t torture Void Behemoths here! Please don’t misunderstand—Mycroftians are friendly and we would not harm innocents if the Void Behemoth wasn’t causing death and destruction!”

Seemingly noticing that Kvass’s form was shaking incessantly along with the electromagnetic waves emanating out, the young guide revealed the truth. Ultimately, no enemy were innocent in the traditional values of Mycroft, or to put it in the words of a certain warrior: ‘Do enemies even count as human?’ Such was the differing ethical perspective between races.

However, while Kvass felt a pang of depression after sensing the familiar and intimate presence of their home ‘star’, a beautiful series of signals wafted into his electromagnetic vision. Redirecting his focus instinctively (since spheres do not need to turn their heads), Kvass saw two horned humanoids with tails that must have been the Mycroft’s ‘drakonids’. A male and a female, they were moving along a corridor alongside a rolling metal sphere that was emitting sparks of pleasure, the trio were chattering away happily with a mix of Mycroft’s common tongue and electromagnetic signals towards a portal.

Whoosh.

One magical surge, and the trio disappeared.

“Ah…”

It was only then that Kvass came to and muttered, “Such elegant… electromagnetism.”

***

The present day was the sixteenth of August, Starfall year 847, five and a half years since the launch of the Mycroft civilization’s galactic expedition, two and a half years after the arrival of the Combined Fleet upon the Multiverse.

After two years’ worth of clean up and voyages, the Combined Fleet finally paused the expansion of their influence and stopped building Dimensional Hubs in various galaxies or making vassal of inferior Void civilizations through sheer military might. Instead, they began to consolidate their power in the regions they controlled for grand scale construction of basic amenities, as well as doing all they could to disseminate their technologies.

Subjugating and assimilating vassal states with a near-insane speed, the Mycroft civilization now had eight major Dimensional Hubs as core points, while their domain stretched across eight galaxies, with twelve major Void civilizations assembling under their banner. Although their definitive territories were merely eight fringe star systems in eight galaxies, their controlled areas proved astonishing with the supreme mobility of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds, with multiple Void civilizations even existing in some of the controlled territories of the galaxies.

Perhaps willingly, perhaps coerced, or even instinctive reliant upon the strong and using Mycroft’s power to improve themselves—each civilization had their own opinion, and the envoys were simply delegated to inform the people of other civilizations about that. Therefore, all of them had come to the very edge of the Multiverse, crossing innumerable star systems and galaxies.

Now was the time that the envoys of each vassal civilization, along with the civilizations who revered the might of the Mycroft civilization, arrived in the Zeta Ram system—the closest place in the Multiverse to Mycroft’s own lands to begin the first General Assembly.