Soul of Searing Steel

It was the moment that soul was born—modified blank divine power was used to rewrite the principles of the world, creating matter and energy that could not have originally existed in the world, and then using it as the base to transform the world.

It was an irreversible process, for the moment that soul appeared would have meant that all of Stellaris had changed. Unlike the other realms of the Multiverse, the process of thought and imagination of all intelligent life in Stellaris would have built actual energy known as Psi, firmly supported by soul.

Such was the relationship between soul and Psi. They were modified primeval divine powers, yet not derived from those powers themselves—it was akin to standing on the shoulders of giants while building them a firmer foundation.

This information regarding Initial Psi Construct was transferred to Joshua.

It must be mentioned that the Clusters—later known as the Creators—had certainly labored to create soul and Psi. In order to allow the self to be independent from flesh and through forcefully gifting the power of imagination and thought, the basis of self in beings in possession of souls was no longer their body, but thought and imagination instead. Anything from flesh, machine, to soul could have embodied that consciousness.

They had completely altered and resolved a philosophical issue.

Joshua took in all that information, from the earliest Cluster experimentation to the point when the genius scientist completed a soul, hence truly accomplishing the existence of soul as a substance. He sharply noticed that the genius’s name was ( ) as well, a complete blankness that made evident he was to eventually become the Wise One of Psi.

He was neither the first to study Psi, nor was he the first to make a breakthrough in the hurdle. Countless scholars and researchers before him had sacrificed everything, just as Clusters had applied and probed divine power and yearned infinitely for soul—he was indeed a genius like no other, yet without similar geniuses who had paid the price of incorporating self into mechanical forms in order to study the essence of divine power, without generations of pioneers who had sacrificed their blood, hope would not have came to him either.

Joshua could thus hear those faint words as the Initial Psi Construct was about to conclude:

[ No accomplishment belongs to one person, nor a single race alone. Soul and Psi have been destined to be shared over the Multiverse, and as compared to self-admiration in some desolate corner, I would rather prefer to have blooming flowers as far as the eye can see. ]

“A kind and generous Wise One,” Joshua said, having clearly memorized every tiny detail of the Initial Psi Construct. Psi was certainly different then and now, with psionic battles of the past involving a person’s soul to use and control a special shadow clone, unlike the present general psychokinesis and ability to materialize thoughts.

[ Seconded: The Creators were indeed kind and generous. But as things progressed, they withheld vital information from us, although we can now deduce that they were avoiding the possibility of our world being prematurely noticed by Evil Gods, which was why they kept it from us, eventually migrating away. But we were still left behind. ]

[ Quietly: But we are fine with that. ]

Joshua nodded in response to the Beacon of Perpetuity. Clearly, the Creators had ran into the Evil Gods as well as they began exploring the Void, and the Wise One of Psi was likely to have developed in the battles against them.

If that was the case, something appeared more interesting now: Joshua had previously believed that development of a brand-new Extraordinary ability would have made an entity a Wise One, but it now appeared not to be the case. The Creators’ civilization had collectively created soul and Psi, and though the first Cluster to grow a soul and Psi had indeed ascended as a Wise One, he had not abruptly become powerful at the time, but was instead curious like a mortal who had just obtained superpowers.

It proved another thing as well: that he had the causality backwards.

It was not that a new Extraordinary ability that would spread over the Multiverse would have made a person a powerful Wise One, but it was that the powerful Wise One could have spread that power over the Multiverse with their own ability. That had been the case for the Sage too, if one thought about it carefully—he had founded the Holy Light prior to being a Wise One, but had only become one after his battle against the Evil God of Fertility.

Though there ultimately might not have been a good ending, they had definitely bought time for civilization.

As things became clear as to how one became a Wise One and developed brand-new Extraordinary powers, a thought crossed Joshua’s mind—he was grateful for the selfless exchange with the Beacon of Perpetuity, for without it, he may not have surpassed that hurdle by himself, unless he was able to spend millennia laboring away.

“You have completely answered my question, Beacon of Perpetuity. I shall now carry out my duty and aid you in clearing Chaos from this world.”

In dark vacuum, the light over Joshua’s skin throbbed, with visible golden-red patterns spreading over the silver world. It was the warrior warming-up, the prelude before he would fight at full power. “But before that, I still have a little query… do you know how the Creators were destroyed?”

[ Answer: It happened in an instant. I had sensed a great ripple quaking the Multiverse that emanated from faraway Void, and at the time, there were still Creators in Stellaris unaware of the Chaos. ]

[Puzzled: But in that instant, all Creators broke apart—completely. ]

Joshua was aware that the Clusters were the Creators, and even if they should create souls to be imbued within machine bodies, their physical constitution down to their soul were still Clusters… in other words, individuals assembled from isopods.

Therefore, the corresponding image appeared in the warrior’s mind at the words ‘broke apart’—perfectly verified by what the Beacon of Perpetuity soon revealed.

[ Mourning: The brain individuals of the Creators were completely destroyed .]

While the Beacon of Perpetuity’s outer shell transmitted the message, a silver-blue shade resembling the milky way manifested into tiny, cockroach-like shadows.

[ Sigh: Every thinking construct of the Creators was destroyed with rebirth impossible, leaving only mobility constructs… The Creators were assuredly destroyed. ]

“The Psybugs…”

The light around Joshua’s dimmed for a second. He could definitely verify that the silhouette of those insects were certainly the curious lifeforms called the Psybugs scattered around the Multiverse. Those special lifeforms possessing meme aspects had been an important observation subject to Joshua, and the Beacon of Perpetuity had then told him it was the husk of the Creators who had founded Psi.

Another question answered.

After calming down for a moment, Joshua laughed softly, “As I’ve thought… The remains of war we live upon was formed in the battle aftermath between our forerunners and the Chaos. The stars we lived in are debris, and the life and natural phenomena seen everywhere are all corpses and fallout.”

“What a crazy Multiverse…”

Truly interesting.

Joshua did not continue, but looked up instead. The spherical silver world began to ripple, twisting the dimensions while incomparable mass decompressed—with the silver world as a starting point, silver veins appeared within vacuum, forming the image of a four-armed giant.

Then, Joshua raised his right hand, and a pure-white bundle that emanated seven colors appeared in his palm.

Without a word, he simply pushed the bundle to the Beacon of Perpetuity which accepted it.

[ Shock: Is that… a compound of Psi and a new Extraordinary power? ]

[ Verification: Yes, a wondrous application… using emotion to mobilize Psi, and thus using Psi to change matter and energy. It appears several times more complex, but its efficiency is unexpectedly high… ]

[Analysis: Psi combined with lifeforce, triggered by the emotion of intelligent life. Though different, it results in same outcome as activating Psi through imagination and though… so that’s it.]

[Puzzled: Still, isn’t that unstable? I may be an artificial but I have emotions too. It’s a type of power that slows down the mind, but allowing instead bursts of resolve and determination—I have no lack of calm since it may be natural, but would ordinary intelligent creatures truly not be corrupted when they burst out in emotion? That does not fit the Order we require… we may be allies against the Chaos now, but in the future…]

“Stop thinking about the future.” Joshua interrupted the Beacon of Perpetuity for the first time, having generally expected its reaction when he relayed his understanding about the power of emotion. It had indeed been thrilled and surprised, while also doubtful and unsettled as radical emotion was not of Order. It certainly was not aligned to Chaos, but to the unpredictable disorder from a thousand different faces instead.

A resolved heart could bring firm Order, just as an unsettled heart would stir Chaos.

But was it the time to consider such matters?

“I noticed it once I reached Stellaris—do you not see it, Beacon of Perpetuity?”

Facing the silently whirling Psionic crystal, the four-armed giant raised his hand and pointed at the sky of stars around them, at the massive vortices which were accumulating psionic energies in the Psyweb that permeated the world. “This entire galaxy is raging against the forces of Chaos, lamenting, screaming, and hating them down to the bone,” he said with a low voice. “Billions of intelligent life and countless perished souls have wanted to destroy the Chaos, with their Psi and lives converging here.”

“You are the Life Preservation Sequence left by the Creators. You and your companions are the most powerful psionics behind the Wise One of Psi, or at least one of them. Even without the knowledge of the emotional power I have given you, you would be able to tell how unstable those psionic vortices are, and that forcefully repression only leads to self-destruction.”

“The galaxy prays for a quick end to pain, hate, and misery. Al life is yearning for destruction, death, and an end to their enemies.”

And I’ve answered the prayers, and have hence come.

With that, Joshua asked, “Beacon of Perpetuity—Third Curtain, incarnation of Psyweb. Why do you not use that power? Why have your friends, the First and Second Curtains, not appeared until now?”

The Beacon of Perpetuity did not remain silent.

[ Answer: The First and Second Curtain cannot leave. They are responsible for the Psyweb circulation. ]

[ Answer: Psionic vortices are unstable. If use wrongly, we could destroy ourselves before the Chaos destroys us. ]

[ Answer: The core principle of the Life Preservation Sequence is to ensure continuity of life. We would not risk self-destruction to use a power that may not destroy our foes. ]

[ Affirmation: We cannot do that now. ]

Joshua nodded slightly.

They were handling things right. Without better application, it was unwise to recklessly trigger a bomb, not to mention the fact that most of their enemies that had appeared so far were merely spawns that were not worth the effort. If an Evil God had come instead, the Triple Curtain would certainly not have hesitated to use that power.

But now, things were different—because he was here.

There was a new option for everything.

“Don’t worry, Beacon of Perpetuity. Tell your friends that they do not have to repress that power.”

The purpose of champions was to forcefully add a correct answer ‘D’, to the original incorrect choices of ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’.

The purpose of champions was to drive the road roller and straighten a path while others were left ruminating how they should cross a complex maze.

Either way, why think along the rules set by others? There were as many solutions as there were stars, and there was no reason for things to be done a certain way.

Four bundle of flames appeared in the center of Joshua’s four hands.

Scarlet light, representing courage, rage, hate, and ruin.

Golden light, representing calm, volatility, greed, and wit.

Emerald Light, representing patience, endurance, tolerance, and passion.

Purple-blue, representing burning love, resolve, possessiveness, and indulgence.

Four raging fires that burnt on the duality of emotion: one Order and one Chaos, one shelter and one destruction.

“Emotion is never singular, just like how it takes two to argue.”

Standing profoundly amidst the stars, Joshua folded his four arms across his chest while four distinct flames circled the Giant God, stirring layers of swirls that dimensions bent to.

“And I can control them—a wise mind should control one’s emotion and not the opposite. I believe that everyone can do so through training.”

“However, I need you help, most powerful psionic of the present world and the entity which controls the Psyweb.”

The warrior presented the Beacon of Perpetuity with another possibility.

Why hold back?

Set it ablaze!

Allow the vortex of emotion to burn in the galaxy of hate, igniting an inferno that could incinerate Chaos!

How can you burn the enemy if you cannot burn yourself? To be stingy with a little madness, could you establish an era like no other?

[ Shock: Joshua van Radcliffe, you are truly a madman… you certainly hold an emotional mind, but it does not imply that your safety is ensured, much less for others… ]

[ Turning: But you have convinced us. You have presented a possibility. ]

[ Genuine creatures of wisdom never needed to act in absolute. Such were the Creators’ words. ]

“Alright!”

Without saying more, Joshua laughed heartily, extended and clenching all four fists. The four swirling flames thus instantly condensed into four bright fiery radiances, and at the center of the fire were four twinkling rings.

The scarlet Ring of Courage, the golden Ring of Wisdom, the green Ring of Perseverance, and the purple Ring of Resolve.

Four rings in the center of the blaze were calling forth the boundless emotions in the galaxy, glimmering with brightness like no other.

“It’s time to change the world,” he said.

***

Beyond the Void, it was a quadrant of emptiness, with no world shining in the silent and dark blankness, nor the radiance of other galaxies able to be seen… it was all enshrouded amidst dark world fragments, spheres covered in black dusts.

All was, or was progressing towards ruin.

However, a single realm whirled in the dark silence. It was huge beyond comparison and imagination, with a multitude of world fragments being drawn to it and forming a sturdy outer barrier.

It should have been rotating alone in the dead ruins of a Multiverse, until the end of time and the end of all things. And yet, in that dark Void, a blazing, radiant cluster of light approached it.

There was blazing brilliance, shining and dispelling all world fragments and ashes, its power disturbing the Void and causing rolling dimensional turbulences.

It eventually reached the colossal, ancient realm, and stopped slowly at the edge of its World Barrier. Then, it reached out, intent on hammering the Barrier. It was a massive tentacle that could have—or was entirely capable of—wrapping around a world, even enslaving a planetary system!

The radiant tentacle itself carried a translucent World Barrier, in turn containing a murky, swirling nebula of blackness. It welled with the power of Rot and Infection, while boundless Chaos reminiscent of Pestilence was bent on breaking into the other World Barrier.

And yet, those forces simply could not disperse the light of those tentacles, and Chaos was bound within the world… in turn, those tentacles could not puncture an opening into the massive World Barrier either, for when it made contact, the luminous tentacle rebounded from a power like no other, causing it to retract as if in pain.

But it soon drew out more tentacles, and within each of them were a single world, or indeed a dark galaxy bound.

Famine, Limbo, and Change… all distinct but Chaotic presence emanated, struggling, twirling, attacking, corrupting. Even so, it was all futile.

As the tentacles appeared, light parted ways, with the dazzling light of the bound Chaos gradually revealing its true form.

The presence resembling tentacles and engulfed by blinding radiance was thus revealed not to be actual tentacles, but instead tangled threads that resembled a net of silk. And the source of those threads and the great net that covered the world, which was pure white and far larger than a world?

It was a cocoon.