Soul of Searing Steel

“Still, the most urgent task at the moment is becoming Demi Saint.”

Adjusting his thoughts, Joshua sighed softly…there were times that unraveling the Truth meant nothing. Without sufficient power, so what if he truly understood the essence of Evil God and Chaos?

The vital points of humans were their brains and hearts, and they would be concussed when struck under their chin, just as poking their eyes would ruin their vision and wrecking the male genitals would lead to loss of combat ability… anyone would know that, but if the assailant was a dust mite, it could at most cause a sneeze.

At the very least, it takes wasps or spiders to be a lethal threat.

That being said, Joshua had definitive ideas about becoming a Wise One—the supermassive singular realm which the Ancient Dragon of Thunder mentioned being one. He believed that it was perfect in both offense and defense, a path that both the Wise One of Psi and the Sage himself thought well of.

However, such an ascension was no ‘breakthrough’, but simply a following of precedent…and to put it unkindly, a failed precedent. With no offense to the Sage, Joshua believed that the path did not change things much, and was not having a world inside the body the same as being another Ultimate Sublimator Collective?

It had also been obliterated to the point that the little residual Initial Flame had eventually wafted off, becoming some random new world…that was why Joshua would not choose that path if he could.

Still, Joshua did not need to think about the issue in isolation, after having discussed it with the Legendary champions and each of the Seven Gods individually when he returned to Mycroft before his sermon. The divine beings, having mostly set the Ring World’s frame in place, only had to adjust the inner makings and conduct various finer calibrations using the data of Shelter realms.

“Though I really don’t recommend it, there is no question that becoming a True God pushes you closer to the level of Demi Saint.”

That was the suggestion that was not quite one from Ezerg, the God of Conservation. He shook his head then, pessimistically saying, “Divine power could combine with any Extraordinary power, just as becoming god connects one to the Root to obtain excess power beyond all tiers and transcending them…save for the Wise Ones. Still, that path makes evident a short sightedness.”

“When power of other systems is being unleashed to the very limit, one might ascend at once like the Sage in his battle against the Evil God of Fertility. However, isn’t using Divine Power to the limit equivalent to suicide, in which death is guaranteed? Such incomplete advanced systems oppresses inferiors and stands above all other powers, but in the aspect of fighting the ultimate…hmph. It’s not as if it’s not weak—in fact, it’s powerful, but it’s also using one’s future as a one-time use consumable.”

“Actually, simply consuming matter and expanding your mental array eventually promotes you as a Demi Saint.”

That was the God of Life’s suggestion. Though she was still acknowledged as the finest and most powerful amongst the Seven Gods, she did not possess her previous ‘still waters run deep’ demeanor, and simply said thinly, “If the path of the Ultimate Sublimator Collective was described as an ‘absolute’, why not consume the present Multiverse instead of creating a personal, absolute world? Dominion over all things must be a path of Absolutes, extending up to Demi Saint or even the Wise Ones.”

But like Ezerg, the God of Life did not really insist on that suggestion.

“Still, how should I put it… although I think having you rule the Multiverse would be better than the Masterminds, such a simple measure can be easily countered—being an ancient entity, the Masterminds influence all aspects and their crown could lurk in everything. The more you consume, the more you would be affected, just as you might even be subjugated at once when the effects kick in when you ascend as a Wise One.”

“Your Emotion power is actually a good start. With your present fame and influence in the cosmos, if you keep spreading and governing it—not as a god, but as a creator putting his own invention to work—becoming a Demi Saint would not be difficult, although it would complicate switching to other paths.”

Zerming, the God of Wisdom and Choice only ever thought of future effects, but choices being hardly every all-encompassing, he could only shake his head. “I can only say that you don’t have to hurry for your ascension since there is still time. Joshua, you are our…no, you are the hope of our cosmos and the future itself. We always hope that you would make the perfect choice, just as we could never force you to do anything.”

***

Joshua understood the worries of the gods, along with the possibilities and repercussions in the suggestions of the gods.

He considered all of them, but could not obtain an answer for the moment.

That was why he had come to the Vortex of Creation. Here, he would gather his strength, examine his foe, consider issues while refining his body…he would think about every possibility and make the least wrong choice for himself as he was now.

“I must choose the best tomorrow. Even if I fail, those who come later would be able to follow the right path.”

The warrior never once considered that a breakthrough was easy, after having setting the chances in place. With that thought, Joshua the God of Steel strode into the Vortex of Creation—a silver falling star that streaked against the tides of worlds and descended incessantly.

And as he journeyed downward in the circulation of the living and the dead, Joshua closed his eyes, preparing to carry out his first plan.

At that very moment, every being using the Mana Net and Spirit Terminals across the cosmos felt a lag and stasis like no other in the servers, although everything returned to normal soon enough and even the unusual lag disappeared.

“What happened?”

The people who knew nothing about the cause thought blankly.

Meanwhile, Joshua had already packaged all data in the game called Continental War and assembled into his mental array while connecting himself to every Spirit Terminal of every player across the cosmos, with his processing ability supporting all of the Mana Net.

In that moment, he was one with the Mana Net.

Thus, the silhouette of worlds, increasing from dozens to dozen thousands appeared around the God of Steel. Using the rich resources of the Vortex of Creation that overflows out to the cosmos, he instantly brought about the birth of a million worlds and kept them under his control with his own power.

As Joshua had demonstrated during his sermon, new worlds were born from within, with races that could be incorporeal or physical nurtured within.

***

What Joshua would do was simple.

He had merely used the worlds that were generated in Continental War, restoring them to reality—from spores until the civilization evolved and progressed, everything was accelerated rapidly, as God of Steel projected lives and souls he had himself created, with the real world as his backdrop.

In other words, with Continental War, Joshua now made the simulated data of civilizations compiled from the billions of Mycroftian players and countless other cosmos races his own, allowing him to replicate actual civilizations through simulated possibilities in the Vortex of Creation!

And then it was destruction.

Without any expression, the silver world shone as an imperceptible darkness was drawn out of his own body…it was dark and without comparison, a nebulous gloom that was the presence from Evil Gods of Chaos.

It was a presence Joshua deliberately kept with him in the battle against their kind. There was every variant possible, collected by Joshua from the Evil Gods that the Ultimate Sublimator Collective had captured.

And now, nourished and animated by that faint presence, the seeds of destruction were sown upon each real but simulated world. Cultivated artificially, the Evil Gods’ power harvested the accelerated civilizations, destroying them like fire burning upon dried straw, triggering all possibilities leading to ruin.

However, Joshua had so much civilization data that it exceeded his own estimation. Coupled with near inexhaustive lab materials, the warrior had all the patience to experiment with Chaos (by fighting).

“Artificially created and triggered Evil Gods…a taboo that a good man like the Sage probably wouldn’t do. Such evil that only grows from destruction, which could only be born from slaughter and despair, simply doesn’t fit him.”

“But I would.”

Because I am such a person in the first place—a fellow yearning for slaughter, destruction, and death.

By creating virtual worlds and virtual Evil Gods to dissect the enemy, Joshua had chosen to put himself on the side of the Masterminds and the Evil Gods to experience the Perished Eternity. Either way, to seek a way ahead and triumph over his foes, what the warrior was doing now would be such sin.

Nonetheless, while the virtual worlds were visibly simulating the fall of civilizations and races, Evil Gods were not born as he had imagined. Joshua was not concerned, however, since the start of experiments were the hardest part and a moment of failure proved nothing. Indeed, it would have been unusual to succeed at once.

Hence, the next experiment began: it was a battle that was destined to last, an elongated process. In its course, how much resources, worlds, civilizations, and intelligent lives would have been consumed?

“How is what I’m doing different from playing the game of civilizations, just like Imperator Amos who had toyed with Amos lives, all their blood and tears, all their love and hate? How am I different from Fattrovi, tossing around worlds and fooling with possibilities, using other lives as raw materials to pick the past I desire?”

In truth, no distinction was needed. The pride of champions was akin to flower or gems of similar colors—different, but each imitated one another.

They would do things regardless if it was evil or if none could understand. Even if the price was sealing himself in the Vortex of Creation away from every person and everything that he knew, repetitively destroying and creating life as if they were toys, Joshua would still do it.

To destroy…and to save.

Ah. So is that how the contrasting divinity of the gods have come to be?

Amidst vast and infinite trails of thoughts, a tiny ripple of idea had arisen in wonder.

A conflicting paradox, a battle against self…such pride was perhaps only the Root which corruption they resisted.

To keep fighting in pursuit of the future, the solitary Steel held on in the vortex…restlessly saving ignorant lives with restless destruction.

If that was the case, the warrior would not stop. His foe existed eternally just ahead, in the reachable future.

That was why he had to stride of forward without hesitation.

Otherwise, even unnecessary regret would no longer exist.