Soul of Searing Steel

Chapter 1055: Meeting the Wise Ones

“Joshua, what is it that you actually want? To fight? To hope? Or could it be that you love the Multiverse…”

As the infinite being darted towards the edge of origins, countless prayers and longing for him reverberated.

“Joshua, are the Infinite and the Eternal your goals? If not, why were you born unto this world?”

Most of the prayers and thoughts were meaningless static. Compared to prayers for salvation, it was better to move out and take action: the endless Evil Gods were tools that the Wise One of the Future used to extracted all memories from the Multiverse and a part of himself, which was why after every Wise One had left for the Root of the Multiverse, the rest had to depend on themselves to repel the instincts of a part of the Wise One’s own body.

It was the advantage that the Wise One of Future possessed by occupying the primitive ages, a trial that all life in the Multiverse—including the Wise Ones who would later ascend—could not escape.

Still, the question from his good friend Karlis which echoed amidst the endless surges of information should not be avoided.

The reincarnated form of the Steel Python watched as the Radiance left and marked a path of light upon the Void of the Multiverse. She was one of the major contributors in awakening Joshua, the place that bore witness to Joshua’s initial awakening and the key that unlocked the final conclusion. Karlis’s world was where Joshua had first been made aware of the conflict between Order and Chaos, the first realm he had tried his best to rescue, and now, in the last very moments, she wanted to know what Joshua’s real thoughts were after fully resolving himself.

And the answer would have actually been the same one he had in mind one hundred and twenty thousand years ago, when he had ignited the Flame in the heart of dead and barren worlds.

Love?

Hope?

Probabilities, Infinity, Eternity?

My dear friend. Just as you have viewed fighting as a ‘means’ in the pursuit of love and hope, infinity, and eternity—what I would do is nothing else other than to use all those things as weapons to fight.

I am the divine between the sun and the shadows, the border between light and dark.

I am the contradiction between good and evil, the conflict between life and death.

I am the miracle who stands against the Future that rules destiny, the enemy of beings that have been manipulated.

What I want is to fight, both mundanely and exceptionally. What I want is an unforeseeable future, a fight destined in life, and that is why I need eternity and infinity, courage and hope… along with my own path.

I am Joshua van Radcliffe. To all beings, if there is no freeing yourself from the conflict of eternity, then I shall be all conflict.

The boundless Flame was streaking towards the root along the light of the Mana Tide, crossing a distance that the Demi Saints could hardly cover despite having endless time. The warrior had traversed the surging tide of energies and extend his own power to the areas that the light of the Initial Flame truly covered: the Final Battlefield.

He had arrived near the Initial Flame, which was moving further away from all beings in the Multiverse.

Then, Joshua noticed at once: there were three stars that were endlessly bright, shining and cascading at the edge of the battlefield.

Even so, all of them had been extinguished and would never return.

***

He hence met Arcane.

He could see the remains of the fallen.

It was a cluster of light, a myriad of colors more complex than the rainbow although its center was a sheet of pure incandescent whiteness—he had been the greatest injection source of the Multiverse, and the enchanting rainbow radiance was his event horizon. Still, all matter could only leave its embrace and not enter.

He would only ever give and never take, granting blessings without wanting any offerings in return. He held no selfish agenda as he granted infinite magical energy to the entire Multiverse.

That was the corpse of the Wise One of Arcane and an origin point of an infinite, the very source of the Great Mana Tide.

The infinite singularity point of a genuine Big Bang.

His power permeated the endless worlds, with the various stars hence blessed. His power penetrated the long distance between the Initial Flame and the many cosmoses, connecting two ends that were about to be separated and providing the first path, the first road sign for all successors.

The boundless Flame went past him; the warrior felt admiration within.

***

He hence met Life.

He could see the remains of the fallen.

It was a spiraling galaxy like the cosmos itself, formed after a world had destroyed itself. The endless worlds within were repetitively destroyed and reborn, a cycle that continued with neither beginning nor end—still, powerful ripples were spreading from him, sweeping through all of the Multiverse. Meanwhile, all the remaining free matter in the Multiverse was affected by it without being seen, gradually resonating and resembling him.

He was affecting worlds and maintaining all cycles. He allowed the many galaxies that should have perished to be reborn time and time again, and his power was what molded the forms of cosmoses and galaxies in the Multiverse, as well as the origins of eternal independent circulations.

That was the corpse of the Wise One of Life and the origin point of an infinite, the origins of Order in worlds. It was endlessly circulating, rebirthing, and the first Perpetual Motion.

His power gave form to the countless worlds, with all realms only molded through him. His power reversed entropy and granted new life to the destroyed. As infinite negentropy overflowed in the Void, it would have been enough to remold the entire broken Multiverse had the Chaos not been present—but even if he did not succeed, he was the maker of all that lived now.

The boundless Flame went past him; the warrior felt admiration within.

***

He hence met Psi.

He could see the remains of the fallen.

It was the massive corpse of an isopod. It appeared to have died, but its brain of psionic substance was still whirling—silver-blue radiance was glimmering in its infinitely complex mental structure, resonating and reflecting all souls in the Multiverse. It appeared to have done or left nothing, but that was only the most important thing.

It was affecting the Multiverse, affecting the spreading and coverage of Chaos. It allowed all individuals amongst civilizations to develop souls, nurturing Steel Pythons which consequently complicated ‘recordings’ of Chaos corruption that would in turn grow Perished Eternity.

It was the soul of the Wise One of Psi and the origin point of an infinite, a materialized form of anti-Chaos processing. It provided definitions for Order, soul, and wisdom while molding souls, although it would also cut off its connection to all his creations, blessing all life with aspects of imperishable and independence.

It nullified the memory ability of Chaos and built the first Firewall for all life across worlds. Even if civilizations would fall or the Evil Gods that were Chaos incarnations had not been beside them, it would never make it in time to record and convert, lowering the chance for Evil Gods to be born from 100% and put a seal upon the Wise One of the Future’s most adept move, granting the first chance to all successors.

The boundless Flame went past him; the warrior felt admiration within.

***

By then, Joshua could understand it very clearly.

That the passing of every Wise One had been a personal choice.

Even if it had been the Wise One of the Future who was the first to ascend, held advantage in the aspect of time, was aware of how the succeeding Wise Ones would ascend, as well as possessed all preemptive measures, before his recording reached 100% and hence became the Multiverse Mayfly, he could never have so swiftly defeated or utterly obliviated another Wise One.

All he did was to force the other to admit their defeat, and when they did, there was no longer a possibility to redo things even in the endless parallel universes…but in turn, perhaps to leave a hope of victory to those who would come later, a basis with which the Multiverse could be remolded and an eternity sign on the path for all living beings, the three Wise Ones chose to surrender.

And just like that, they became three stars hovering around the Initial Flame, infinitely dazzling and overflowing.

Three solid forms of eternity which could never be destroyed by the Wise One of the Future himself.

They were assuredly defeated, but because those preceding Wise Ones admitted that they could not triumph over a future, they chose to use all that they were to grow new successors, thereby fighting the future with the future.

The Wise One of the Future willed it to be so as well. Compared to staying tangled to an eternity where neither side could ever achieve their goals and interfere with his progress of recording the Multiverse’s information, it was better to grant mutual chances instead.

Still, the chance of his own success was far beyond everyone else’s combined—in other words, it was simply impossible to want to defeat him within such a Multiverse where he already occupied such a tremendous advantage.

Therefore, a miracle was needed.

Were miracles a probability that was unreasonable, running counter against logic and simply unable to fit within any rationale?

No, such a probability was no miracle. Instead, it would have been said to be a complete dominion if such a thing had been brought to past, and an oddity which would not have occured if the Multiverse had not been completely ruled.

Instead, could it be that miracles were a possibility that assuredly held the implicit meaning of countless accumulation of variants, which in turn brought about the impossible? If so, where would the countless accumulation of variants come from?

Was their birth in itself a miracle?

No, certainly not. Those probabilities were given form by the uncountable ‘cushioning’ and sacrifices, as well as combining endless legacies.

It was just like the three fallen Wise Ones. Though it was impossible for normal beings to resist the power of the Wise One of the Future, but the consecutive sacrifices of the three Wise Ones, their offering, and legacies granted the Multiverse a fundamental resistance against the Chaos, the most basic of foundations. In turn, the ‘impossible’ was reversed, and the fraction of a chance came to be.

And now, Joshua himself had come.

Miracles are things beyond the ordinary, things which cannot really be achieved, existing beyond all expectations.

It was like how the unordinary came to be amongst the ordinary.

It was like how a consciousness yearning to fight in a world without the extraordinary had arrived upon a world with it, overflowing with endless battles.

Karlis, I do not need a purpose to fight, or become a Wise One of War, Strife, or Conflict.

It is only those who yearn who would want something and hence create. Likewise, there are those who cannot be everything even now, lacking something, that they would hence want to be something.

I do not yearn for the power to resist.

Because I am war.

And now, I choose to become a miracle.

I, who have come from an unknown world from another Multiverse, have arrived here, a Multiverse filled with battles.

If this is not a miracle, what would be?

***

The boundless Flame continued darting away as the warrior thundered, stirred terrific tides upon the rippling radiance of the Initial Flame.

All things improve through strife, struggling for dominance through competition. I am an incarnation of such spirit and instincts, and at the same time, I am the miracle who surpasses self and the Multiverse, the only probability which could ever be replicated!

He hence met Shadow.

He could see the churning shade.

In the Primeval Light, shadow was lurking and cascading. The light which originated from infinite parallel worlds pierced it, but was also eroded in turn. As the demon with a profound silhouette noticed the Flame that was streaking towards him, he laughed heartily.

You have finally come, successor of mine. My friend, you have been very late, although you had surpassed self and battle…

It is truly a miracle.

The Shadow, which was bound to the unlimited, appeared to be resisting something. At the present origin point of the Multiverse, the beings of Infinity were fighting, their battle stretching across boundless domains, a resistance mounted across every angle of dimensions, mutually nullifying and killing.

The burning Flame passed him by and showed a smile.

***

He hence met Elements.

He could see a condensed crystalline body.

In the Primeval Light, monumental crystalline bodies materialized from innumerable elements was lingering within dark shroud. He appeared to be pulled into the single worst probability in the infinite parallel worlds, but he was also entrenched upon those same realms, piercing all connections that existed. Noticing the Flame darting towards himself, the crystal being sighed emotionally.

Simply outstanding. Two Wise Ones proven to exist and have arrived so naturally. Seeing you, I feel as if this resistance which has lasted countless years has not been without meaning.

Go forth in haste. We shall work together to postpone Future, but we are still a class below.

Even so, we absolutely cannot allow him to succeed!

In the distant vicinity of the Initial Flame, large sheets of shadows could vaguely be seen: the limitlessly profound and spreading source of radiance where the Multiverse had been born appeared to have been engulfed in great shroud. It appears that the Infinite Ring project of the first civilizations which did not succeed was going to now, and countless times more successful than they would imagine!

The burning Flame passed him by, and made his will evident.

***

He hence met Ether.

He could see a formless swirl.

In the Primeval Light, countless bounded field ‘beings’ were being billowed by a raging gale that swept through the unlimited parallel worlds. It appeared bent on blowing away the lifeform’s very structure, crumbling and shattering it, scattering its remains upon the deadest and most impossible scorched earth in the parallel worlds. Even so, he would flow along with the same tempest, never changing for a fraction even after crossing millions of worlds. As the bounded field lifeform noticed the Flame darting towards himself, he felt glad.

Although I do not really understand the purpose in fighting or why the Multiverse has been reduced to such a horrible state, I still know that fighting and triumphing over Future is the only way for all peace to be restored.

Do not worry about us. If we could last for countless years already, we certainly would be able to keep resisting him countless years more—o miracle of eternal war, let us combine our might to put an end to the Ring of Tragedy which pierces beginning and end!

Those massive shrouds were the uncountable mayflies: they were encircling the Initial Flame, remembering all information and probabilities dispersing away from it, spreading the Chaos and forcing all creation to be infected by their very own existence.

They created the Perished Eternity and used the Eternity for remembrance, as well as unlimited power to rule over the infinite futures.

The burning Flame passed him by and made his resolve evident.

***

Then, at the very end.

He finally met Holy Light.

He could see the gentle and soft Light which resembled the Initial Flame, seemingly nurturing and accommodating all that existed.

The Light, a radiant human figure, was laden with holes. He appeared to have been grievously hurt again and again, but he never once took a single step back, and instead prevented the swarm of mayflies bent on completely enshrouding the Initial Flame—at the same time, that Light would do all he could to advance as if to break through the massive layers of seals and the innumerable obstacles, and to fuse himself entirely into the Initial Flame.

And then, the sacred and radiant human figure noticed the Flame darting towards him, and he gazed upon the warrior before showing a smile.

Hurry…my brethren, my heir and friend who can finally stand alongside myself. Joshua van Radcliffe, Wise One of Miracles, lend me a hand and break through the locks of Future, and send me into the Initial Flame!

Sacrifice me, a Wise One who is remarkably similar to the Initial Flame to slightly change its essence, reshape the essence of the Multiverse, so that everything Future has done would go to waste, and reduce all his plans to nothing!

That would also have Future realize that mere ‘memories’ is simply meaningless. It is only remembrance and love which hold true meaning for existence!

***

The radiant human figure was filled with great resolve and determination. Never had there been a being like him who so earnestly loved all beings in the Multiverse and wished to aid all life—he was hopeful, even as he stood against the Wise One of the Future who wanted to remember and rule over all things in the Multiverse.

The Flame was burning in silence. When he had met the Sage whom he had been chasing after all along and saw that pure-white back which had been kept at heart by all humans, the warrior wanted to say and declare many things.

But in the end, the burning Flame simply swayed in response to the Sage’s request, as if shaking his head.

He simply used that one response which he liked and used most frequently.

“No.”

Joshua slowly smiled, his expression peerlessly staunch.

“I refuse.”