Soul of Searing Steel

“A Glorious Era Legend has awakened?”

‘Such coincidence?’

That was Joshua’s first thought at the news.

Moments ago, he even had the idea that he would gain further understanding about the Evil God of Wither and the unknown Evil God which resides in the Abyssal Paradise—should any of those nine Legends revived. There would be more strategies and measures, but Joshua simply thought that ‘it would be nice if that happens’, and was not really hoping that they awakened.

Now, it appears that Lothram was rather formidable.

The technician for Soul Puppets from Simboa had truly combined the knowledge of spirit from two worlds! Even the Mind Lord himself could learn a thing or two from him in that respect.

Joshua, who had been reliant of himself all along, now experienced the surprise delight of a teammate’s aid. The Giant God laughed as he spoke to Nostradamus at the other side of the dimensional gap, “Just wait—I’ll be right there!”

***

Twenty-five minutes later.

A shift of will to the reserve form in Moldavia, Joshua directly transcended the Void between Mycroft and the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds, arriving in front of the laboratory doors of the Nature’s Magister.

Three Legends were waiting for Joshua there. They were Nostradamus, the Nature Magister and William the Mind Lord—the latter’s partner Barnil was busy expanding the Mana Net to Fort Pioneer and could not be there.

Lothram (the Unnamed Technician) was also there, whispering in hushed discussion with the Legends about the revived Glorious Era Legend.

“How are things?”

Everyone was not surprised as Joshua spared the chatter and went into the main issue at once, since it was the warrior’s personality—the Nature’s Magister had nodded when he arrived and took a step forward to him and said, “It’s neither good nor bad. After learning that she was revived, that the Evil God of Wither escaped its seal but was killed, the Glorious Era Legend—a female Avian, fainted again.”

“Her soul is still weak… and because the Avian people were extinct centuries ago, I have no chart of their soul constitution in my archives.”

William was stroking his chin and frowning; a thoughtful and puzzled expression Joshua rarely saw one the Mind Lord. “From what I can tell, she had not been fully revived from Chaos corruption, and is probably in another slumber… but it should take just a few months, the souls of Legendary champions have great self-healing ability.”

Lothram nodded in agreement—the Simboan Soul Puppet Technician who appeared in his teens seemed rather tired. He was keeping himself awake to salute the warrior, but Joshua conjured a chair out of thin air for him to sit on. “You’re tired, take a break.”

“…Thank you, my lord.”

Lothram breathed as he set, and spoke as calmly as he could while rubbing his temples. “Her soul appeared much stronger than the others and more complete. After putting the fragments together through spiritual surgery, the soul’s instinctive self-regeneration recombined into its original form… It’s the same as resurrection.”

“This Legend must have been powerful in her soul aspect while preparing for her own death. It’s just that something interfered with her regeneration measures, and I simply dispelled the interference so that she could restore herself… it’s nothing too dramatic.”

“You’re too humble, Mister Lothram—you’ve done well. You are certainly a grandmaster in the soul discipline, and you would definitely be the Soul Master if you ascend to Legend…”

At that, Nostradamus glanced sideways and shrugged at Joshua. “Of course, there are those who have no soul at all… anyway, my task was to inform everyone. Things had been busy in Mycroft, and everyone is being careful about the riots occurring all over the world because of your theory. It’s us few here who are free enough.”

Most of Mycroft’s Legends were in fact leaders of different Legends. It was not to say that leaders would become Legendary champions, but that they often would attract followers and hence form a faction. On the other hand, the Legends present here had deputies or were vice leaders to other Legends such as the Elven Queen, Barnil and Israel, granting them the time to care about other matters.

Naturally, even if Joshua did not have Legendary deputies, he had so much time that it sets him apart… and it was worth mentioning that it was thanks to Ling’s exhaustive efforts.

“Do you mean to say that the Legend simply woke up for a while before she could provide any information?”

Joshua understood the situation after a brief exchange, groaning, “if that’s the case, I could tell you about my theory.”

With those worlds, he told the others about what he experienced in Sartre, as well as his theory about the connection between the unknown Evil God and the Evil God of Wither.

But this time, the Legends were not surprised, but pondered instead.

They had long since become used to Joshua bringing them monumental news whenever he opened his mouth.

“I’ve actually talked about the Evil God of Wither’s special value before with Barnil…”

William was the first to speak. Though the Mind Lord was tired as well, he appeared thrilled. “Why did the Glorious Era not destroy that Evil God? Could it have an exclusive way that weakens Chaos? The Sage’s own Order Power—a refined version of the Holy Light which might have been learned there could obliterate Chaos as well, so it wasn’t unique for the Glorious Era back then.”

“At the time, Barnil and I thought that there must be a greater plan in place for the seal placed on the Evil God of Wither, and I’ve found bits and pieces about it from Hub Accrafa’s archives.”

“Project Rebirth.”

With those words, William formed a spiritual link with Joshua, and the warrior allowed him to connect into his mind unit.

[…If not for the Hub’s Order boundary delaying the pervading Chaos, we might have been corrupted entirely by the Chaotic force remaining in this soil, which would take a toll on the Hub’s power… That entity’s conversion would take thousands of years, and if the Hub’s suppression module stopped halfway through due to loss of power, that entity could resurrect itself instead…]

[…We’ll be finished if it does. The sacrifice of our nine leaders, and our persistence until now would be a joke, and the future of all Mycroft race would fall into the darkness… but if Project Rebirth succeeds, that entity would be converted into a flawless realm as if a paradise… When that time comes, the stored bloodlines in the Hub would be cloned without end and set free upon the world. They will be our descendants, and the Hub will protect them, instruct them and allow them to inherit all that we are, and become the new ‘Glorious Era’!”]

Two vague dialogues and a series of complicated sketches, along with random voice and video recordings. Joshua accepted all that information, studying it while waiting for William to explain.

Both the Nature Magister and Nostradamus had moved away. The former was here to visit her lab inside her own ecosphere here, while Nostradamus himself was summoned to informed other Legends—only William and Lothram were really here to research and restore the Legend’s soul.

And between the two, Lothram was clearly fatigued and in need of rest and recreation. William was naturally in charge of explaining their findings.

“We’ve thought that the ‘Entity’ mentioned refers to the Evil God of Wither—Hub Accrafa was certainly restraining Wither, and it would thus be revived should the Hub stops working.”

The Mind Lord said solemnly, “But if you think about it… would a sealed Evil God really need to be guarded by nine Legends, even sacrifice themselves?”

“Would its awakening really leave all races of Mycroft in darkness?”

At those words, Joshua could not help but nod.

While not all Legends are as powerful as himself, nine of them meant nine different and profound abilities. It also meant nine supernatural legacies that had progressed to the extreme, and even the warrior himself would not dare boast himself to be able to stand against such a number of champions.

The same principle applied for the Evil God of Wither: having been sealed, it was not a simple matter for it to even slowly corrupt nine Legends.

Not to mention throwing all of Mycroft into darkness.

Joshua alone had been able to slay the Evil God of Wither. Though his strength had been rather unreasonable, back then the Glorious Era was still a Multiverse-class faction boasting a dozen True Gods, dozens of Legends and one Sage even after they weathered through the Final Battle—any group of people among them could pulverize Wither even at its full form, and only those with mental issues would think that a recently revived Evil God could have darkness descend upon the Glorious Era.

The Sage did not even have to act—the Apostles would utterly crush the Evil God and leave no trace. One of them had fought the Evil God of Air alone before, and Joshua did not imagine that the others were any weaker.

Another question presents itself if that was true.

“What does ‘That Entity’ actually refer to?”

Joshua asked directly, “and what does the so-called flawless realm mentioned in Project Rebirth mean?”

“And why did the nine Legends appeared to have foretold the fall of the Glorious Era in that dialogue, not to mention that they did not mention resistance but rebirth from beyond destruction?”

The Nature’s Magister and Nostradamus had asked the same questions too, but William simply shrugged, unable to answer even after researching about it. “I have relayed all information about Project Rebirth from Hub Accrafa’s data vault to you—in fact, I’ve been discussing it with Lothram, but he could not think as fast as we can since he wasn’t Legend. That’s incidentally when you arrived, bringing even more information about the unknown Evil God.”

At that, the Mind Lord actually smiled. The Wandering Poet, once famous for his looks over the continent, would definitely have made many a girl and noble lady screaming with that face—although the others present were incidentally immune to it.

“So, you’re assuming that the Entity mentioned in the archives refers to the unknown Evil God.”

Joshua narrowed his eyes, pacing around the laboratory as he thought about it. “Things will be complicated if that’s the case.”

“The nine Glorious Era Legends are definitely aware of the Evil God in the Abyssal Paradise. However, they simply considered it as an ‘Entity’ at the time, while assuming that its awakening would end the Glorious Era civilization.”

“That said, it was definitely destroyed, and the way it fell certainly resembled the inner conflict stirred by the unknown Evil God over the galaxy—from another perspective, it verifies the information in Hub Accrafa.”

“But unlike what they imagined, Project Rebirth never came to be and that Entity never turned into a paradise realm. The Glorious Era was not reborn in the new world either—instead, it was the Starfall Era had stepped out of the old world, or in other words, the remains of the world of Mycroft.”

Joshua thought about many things.

For example, the failure of Project Rebirth may have thrown the entire galaxy into Time Dilation, the mismatch effect in terms of time causing disinformation in details and ineffectiveness.

For example, he remembered the ultimate secret which the Great Khan of the Starherders spoke of, one which lingers in the Abyssal Paradise. Perhaps it was just a secret and not a measure to defeat Evil Gods, which could be another Glorious Era data vault—the Project Rebirth Hub that would restore it.

Joshua was no fool. With sharp wit, detailed insight and open mindedness, he was a genuinely intelligent person, and would not be ever victorious otherwise, or grasping Extraordinary power whether in realistic battle or game.

He was simply reluctant to think about worthless matters—such as the Sartreans’ thoughts, what was good and evil for the demons or the standpoint of his enemy. He enjoyed using power to crush such worthless moaning, but it did not mean that he did not think.

Now, he was starting to think, and hence rapidly discovered many things that could be connected, little incidents that could be connected to a larger clue.

“If the Evil God of Wither could become a fertile world, then a stronger Evil God would definitely become a more perfect and larger world—even like a paradise.”

Joshua muttered to himself, “If the Glorious Era’s fall was a needed sacrifice before rebirth, the path they prepared for themselves could absolutely be called a whole new ‘Paradise’.”

“The Abyssal Paradise, the place where the Sage and the Evil God of Fertility battled decisively, the place the Seven Gods know… the possible birthplace of an unknown Evil God and the place that the ultimate mystery where the Great Khan mentioned to be… Project Rebirth.”

Why would the Sage neglect the Glorious Era then and leave at once? It was definitely because he believed that he had prepared for everything and arranged for all outcomes—why else would he, the one loved all abandon his home, friends, and apprentices? He definitely thought that he had made the best arrangements for the future, and thus strode out alone toward the center of the Multiverse, so that he could directly confront the darkness lurking behind everything.

And why would nine Legends all be corrupted by a beaten foe? It was because what ate away at them was not the Evil God of Wither, which only lowered their resistance towards corruption.

And… and…

Particulars upon particulars surfaced now, and Joshua unwittingly sighed.

Every clue has been gathered.

A bold guess vaguely formed in Joshua’s mind, but that guess would not actually help for his next journey towards the Abyssal Paradise. He had assuredly learned much, even piecing a general picture about Project Rebirth, while verifying each clue fragment.

Still, merely that was not enough.

Joshua strode towards the closed laboratory doors.

“Wait, Joshua. The Legend is still in slumber—the Chaos corruption is yet to be fully dispelled.”

William dissuaded the warrior. “The forerunner needs rest…”

“It’s fine, William.”

Joshua waved him off, gesturing for calm as he turned to smile mildly. “Don’t forget what I’m best at.”

“Chaos corruption? Getting rid of it is right up my field.”

Just wait.

With that, Joshua pushed the tightly sealed laboratory doors and entered.

He had the vague sense that he would learn something critical about defeating the unknown Evil God from the Glorious Era Legend.