Soul of Searing Steel

Chapter 925: Boundless Legend and the Threshold of the Wise Ones

On the twentieth of February, Starfall year 835, the true form of Legendary champion Joshua van Radcliffe energized at the center of the Vortex of Creation in the Lost Galaxy. The tremendous dimensional tremor caused a chain effect that spread throughout the entire Abyss, with the many Abyssal realms shifting and reducing previous Abyssal maps to scrap paper.

On the twenty-first, the Knowers, in the Multiverse, had followed up to the Mycroft civilization’s response, with both ends agreeing to rendezvous and confer on Anassen, a single star world with neither system nor orbiting planets. It was also the second day since scout ships were dispatched to recover Captain Creed’s Soul Sphere—the search ended in failure, with Captain Creed declared missing in action.

On the twenty-third, many alien civilizations had transmitted diplomatic communications, acknowledging the Mycroft civilization’s establishment of a foothold in the Galaxy of Beginnings and of a superior civilization that then existed alongside them.

On the twenty-fourth, trades and exchanges with said civilization provided the Mycroft civilization with information about and planetary charts around the Multiverse. On the same day, they had also received details on most of the advanced civilizations in the Multiverse.

On the twenty-ninth, a forward base at the edge of the Multiverse was finished. On the same day, Joshua van Radcliffe’s true form left the Abyss and is heading for the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds.

On the third of March, the diplomatic envoys who were fully prepared then left for Anassen.

Given that information about the exchange was kept secret, none apart from a select few was privy to facts in regards to the diplomatic trip. When a seemingly unimportant cruiser had disembarked from the Void harbor and vanished within dimensional turbulences, eight Legendary champions hence left the fringes of the Galaxy of Beginnings.

They were Joshua van Radcliffe, Pope Igor, Barbarossa the Element Maven, Hernvallo the Ninth and Queen of the elves, Flo Ironfinger the divine dwarven craftsman, Murloc High Priest Godard, Ternant the Sword Saint, along with Yana Milo the Glorious Era Legend and Travelling Soul Priest. Each Legendary champion represented every faction and region on Mycroft and were the civilization’s highest authorities, their presence making the importance they placed on the summit evident.

Interaction with other random civilizations made it known to the Mycroft civilization that the Multiverse civilizations were generally categorized into five levels. The lowest level were the Primitives, civilizations without a single individual or group who had stepped out into the Void due to lack of either Extraordinary ability, technology, or both. Such civilizations could not defend themselves nor owned any rights, which explained the lack of considerable repercussions should they become assimilated or extinct.

The next were the Semi-Voids, civilizations like Early Starfall where an outstanding champion had reached the Void through individual might. The civilization’s position in the Multiverse depends on that champion’s strength—if they were inferior like most Demon Generals, they would have barely protected their own race and world. On the other hand, one at the Great Khan’s level could propel their own species forward through their power alone. Civilizations of that class would have possessed corresponding diplomatic powers to conduct normal commerce or even exchange technology with other Void civilizations. These civilizations were the most numerous in the Multiverse, even outnumbering the Primitives.

In the middle were the proper Voids, their civilization reaching the level where supernatural ability or pure technology could transport citizens into the Void, with some bulk forces setting installations or harbors. The Eldars were a classical level three civilization, as they could easily colonize other worlds without developing problems such as colonial unrest. Should they have had enough time and space, they were able to spread throughout most of their galaxies.

The Voids were a staple for the Multiverse; some superior ones would have considered conquering the Void around them. Semi-Voids were reined in as their vassals in the road to creating a great Void or Federation as they prepared to rise up to level four—the Hegemons. The Starherders were a classic powerful Void civilization, and would have easily conquered many other Void civilizations if they had been willing to settle down and establish a great ‘Khannate’. However, they had never chosen that path due to various reason.

As the name suggests, the Hegemons that were of the fourth level in Void civilization categories were those with influence to occupy every galaxy. Strictly speaking, no such civilizations had really existed, since aside from the Knowers, the most ancient Multiverse civilizations were merely hundreds of thousand years old and had yet to spread that quickly. Still, there were eighteen—a considerable number of such civilizations that possessed such depth and had been acknowledged to have such power. Even so, being scattered throughout the Multiverse, their formidable ability did not translate into reputation as compared to other powerful Void civilizations, just as they certainly lacked a decisive advantage. The Great Khan of the Starherders himself had mentioned that he once led his Void Behemoth herd in a confrontation against a Hegemon which concluded with both sides backing off, reluctant to waste too much resources on the other.

Then, when it came to the fifth level, such civilizations shared only one common aspect—the ability to project power from across the stars. The natural barriers between galaxies were hard to bypass, despite the super dense form of the Multiverse where one galaxy was essentially positioned next to one another. It hence granted the special point to those at level five surpassing the might of a single galaxy as they projected power from different galaxies to another, fixing anchor points in other regions which they would use to conquer other civilizations. Feared by all galaxies, they were known as the Calamities, who all had definitive level five power. The Knowers were certainly a classic example, being essentially moving stars of massive warships. On the other hand, though the two superior civilizations known as the Takur Ruin Cult and the Amos Court had been at each other’s neck for over thousands of years, their powers could be moved across any star, albeit unnecessary at the moment.

Meanwhile, despite being remnants of the Glorious Era and just when leaving the shelters to rebuild civilizations in the Dark Forests, the Starfall Era had already possessed level two ability. Then, as arcane technology became widespread, the Starfall Era reached the edge of level three even without the rapid technological advancement, thanks to the Unified Archives. Afterwards, following recovery of the Archives and a Glorious Era Dimensional Hub, they quickly transcended through level three, stepping into level four with numerous Extraordinary individuals and gods as their cornerstone.

Mycroft’s Combined Fleet and the help of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds unquestionably made them appear as a level five civilization in the eyes of other civilizations currently. In fact, they were the greatest of level fives—because they transcended the unfathomable barrier between the stars known as the the Silent Void.

***

At present, Joshua was staring blankly at the bridge of his flagship—though it may not have even been considered that, since the warrior was not really thinking about anything. He could feel the position of every Legend on the envoy cruiser as well as what they were doing, sensing the Void shift around the vessel, the slight stirring of dimensional turbulences. He sensed that Yana Milo was explaining the social position of elves and murlocs to the Elven Queen and the Murloc High Priest by the cabins, with the divine dwarven craftsman standing by the door and listening in as the Avian Legend who could pass as their ancestors spoke forthrightly.

Barbarossa was still meditating, seemingly feeling the source of magic. The mage was naturally at a loss upon realization that the Truth which he usually acknowledged was the creation of a superior being. Even so, he quickly freed himself from the spiral—Joshua could feel his mood calming since it was a world with supernatural forces after all, and nothing was unacceptable.

La Motte the Sword Saint was having a chat with the Pope over drinks, the pontiff’s beverage being juice—it was not due to prohibition of alcohol, but the Pope simply enjoyed sweet drinks, a fact the warrior then learnt.

Then, everything vanished.

All perception was gradually wiped away.

Joshua emptied his mind and did his best to purify his thoughts.

“A power beyond Legend is finally here. The Wise Ones, huh…”

As the envoy vessel approached Arnassen, Joshua’s mind was irrepressibly agitated. Psi, magic, elements, ether—one Sage could exist behind the establishment of each Extraordinary power, something that corresponded to the conclusion he made when he proposed his theory of a ‘Peaceful Paradise’. Moreover, the Mastermind’s existence was verified in his recent battle against the Evil God of Death.

If that was so, could his deductions back then all prove true? That there had been one, or perhaps a group of unknown existences, bent on ruling the Multiverse, only for their plans to be thwarted again and again with the upheavals brought on by the Wise Ones when they introduced each new supernatural power. That had been why they had wanted to destroy civilizations—or at the very least, wipe out sufficiently advanced civilizations and snuff out any chance of new Wise Ones being born unto the world.

Nevertheless, that raised further questions.

Why would the Masterminds have wanted to claim the Multiverse?

***

This was not some teen knight novel with an antagonistic faction who wanted the world for no reason at all. ‘Reasons’ existed in the ‘intentions’ of those with intelligence, and it would be ever more profound with the grander it was.

The goal of being a Multiverse meant that it was certainly a reason of that scale, and most certainly not something conceived at ‘the heat of the moment’, an ‘impulse’, or for ‘entertainment’. If it were for the latter, their grand project would have ended halfway with development of all sorts of problem such as infighting. It was only with a grand ideal and reason that connected to a grand objective that a powerful group or a great champion would have maintained their will over billions of years.

As for the Wise Ones, Joshua could almost understand their objectives. They were great existences that wished to spread miracles and their own path across the Multiverse, reaching out with their beliefs and mutual understanding. If one were to say that mortals left DNA and bloodlines as their legacies, the legacy of the Wise Ones was to guide as much intelligent life as possible unto the path of extraordinary which they had taken. They would extend along with their doctrine, coexist with all sentience in the Multiverse to gain strength without limit and exist eternally.

On the other hand, the Masterminds purged advanced races but left inferior ones untouched and hence had not massacred all intelligent life. It was truly ‘Chaotic’ that they at once appeared intent on taking the Multiverse by any vicious means necessary and yet acted so inexplicably, leaving even Joshua himself perplexed.

If he were one of them and his goal was to gain complete control over the Multiverse without allowing anyone to interfere halfway through, he would have violently ended all life in the Multiverse, not just advanced civilization. He would cull even unintelligent life that had never treaded into the Void, crushing all macromolecular structures across every corner of the Multiverse. He could simply create the world anew after the apocalypse, permitting rebirth after all was destroyed before. Although the warrior would never have done such a thing, he would have had such resolve if he were to be evil. He had dared to make any choice, be it good or evil. Joshua had the courage to shoulder the outcome of his choices.

With that aside, the most important question for Joshua then had been how to ascend from the boundlessness of Legend to reach the level of the Wise Ones.

“Legend is without limit—I have already felt that as long as I am given the time, my power could spread indefinitely to the point of arriving at a threshold that I myself would find ridiculous.”

***

They were approaching the Arnassen star, with Joshua seeing the Knowers’ ships dead ahead. Like them, they had dispatched a small warship for the information exchange, although the warrior who would be playing the role of leader was still pondering.

Joshua’s power was growing by the second. If he had enough time and a place similar to Vortex of Creation, he could even use his own world to reproduce the Sage’s Project Rebirth to embrace his realm of supermassive individual realm. However, could that realm assimilate other galaxies? And what if it assimilated the entire Multiverse? If Joshua’s own Project Rebirth was perhaps not limited to the Lost Galaxy at the remoteness of the Silent Void but was in the Multiverse itself, could he have directly assimilated it?

Everything was possible though its application had not been tested. Joshua’s power increased by the second because his grasp over his own power affected the physical world. The strength of his true world form and profound understanding towards various Extraordinary power through Steel Strength meant that the warrior was no longer the warrior who only used combat aura. He could now virtually apply every Extraordinary ability from Psi, magic, elements, ether, lifeforce, to Holy Light, with considerable effect. Apart from the Malevolent Chaos of Evil gods, divine power of the gods and the recently appearing Shadow, Joshua had additionally already set up a circulatory system of the six major Extraordinary powers. Should he rein in some of the Shadow demons that served Goliath the Demon King as well, he could build a seventh cycle for Shadow.

However, even if he was then strong enough to subjugate an entire galaxy with his individual power to achieve a civilization of Hegemon, Joshua was still a Legend. Moreover, Joshua foresaw that even if he would one day have become so strong that he could fight against a fully-awakened Evil God of Death or the ancient Evil God of Fertility with unknown upper limit to its power, he would have remained a Legend.

[Endless ascension was in itself a limit]

Joshua utterly experienced that aspect. His sheer power was growing exponentially, and yet did not break through the fundamental gap between Legend and Wise Ones. He knew that he lacked something and so could not become a grand champion like the Sage. It was due to the same inadequacy of that most important facet that the Wise Ones were so rare over the Multiverse.

“Perhaps the next step in being Legend itself is not to become a Wise One, and there exists another critical step between both boundaries… it’s that hidden step and boundary that sets Legends and Wise One apart, a decisive difference between the two!

And that was not all. As Joshua’s vision kept developing, problems he thought he had previously solved had then appeared again. For example, what were the origins of the Mana Tide which had engulfed the Multiverse, the Lost Galaxy and all of the Silent Void? And to where did it extend?

Joshua did not keep thinking, because the envoy vessel had reached the Arnassen world. The World Barrier was pierced. The white-hot Class A star could be seen ablaze, illuminating the world as a domain of light. On the other hand, the Knowers’ black vessel was hovering silently nine and a half light seconds away from the stellar body.

Joshua collected all his thoughts and doubts. He had already surpassed many and the questions he considered were incomprehensible and unnecessary for most people on Mycroft. If a genius was half a step ahead of the times and a lunatic was one step ahead, then as the elite even amongst Extraordinary individuals, there was no telling how far ahead he was.

Joshua did not expect successors to understand the doubts of predecessors, just as he did not understand the hardship that the Sage and the divine beings faced. However, as he had arrived upon that threshold, he would not have looked back.

“The Knowers wandered the stars for 770,000 years in search of a civilization like us who holds legacy from a Wise One. They must have similar questions to the ones I have myself.”

The envoy’s ship slowly made its approach to the Knowers’ craft, running identification programs on both sides to verify data on both ends.

Through it all, Joshua simply stood on the bridge and silently watched over everything.

In reality, the warrior had a premonition—the truth that the Knowers possessed would prove far more shocking than he imagined.