Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

“What is that light?”

Her eyes widening and staring fixedly at the light flashing through the horizon, Elma’s brain worked as she watched the light appear and eventually vanish, the depths of her heart surging with curiosity that won over her dejection.

After a moment of silence, she quietly murmured, “…such a profound power. I am shuddering though it was just a flash and there is unfathomable distance between us…”

“The intensity of that power is new to me as well. It exudes a presence superior to the Imperator, even across such distance…”

Beside her, Creed appeared unsettled as well after seeing that light. Since his ability was lacking and yet to reach Supreme, his only perception of that light was ‘danger’ as compared to Elma, who felt it more intricately.

However, upon seeing Elma finally react and not close herself off due to the shock from Imperator Amos’s actions, Creed at once forgot his threatened instincts and quickly told her, “Let’s leave that aside. That light gives me the sense of a great threat—let’s hurry away to someplace safer!”

In Creed’s mind, even the Court Dome itself was not safe. He could not wait to urge Elma to resume her plan to leave the Court’s borders immediately and hide in a secluded place. In the period as the Ultimate Plague wreaked havoc, the more prosperous planetary systems were at greater risk due to the more substantial exchange of information. It would instead be more peaceful in the backwater worlds in remote corners of the cosmos, thanks to the sheer stillness.

When the time comes, whether he would wait for rescue teams from Mycroft or simply live in seclusion with Elma in the remote world, it would still be more secure than staying in the Court which was right within the heart of the storm…moreover, there was the remarkably vile Imperator Amos—heaven knows when what harrowing thing he would come up with out of ‘interest’, since the death of a trillion Amoses was simply entertainment to that Champion.

“Such power…”

Even so, Elma did not move. Inside her warship body, the translucent lady form stared straight ahead of the bridge as she quietly muttered, “If I have such power…can I change things?”

Don’t be too greedy, Elma.

The voice of Imperator Amos echoed in Elma’s mind once again. Though it was Elma’s recollection and not his actual words, she could not help but laugh bitterly. “Right, I am so greedy that even my imagination is of such things far removed from reality.”

“The light that moved across space is definitely no spark that has vanished in a flash, nor would be a stream without origin or a tree without roots…it is certainly something gained over a long time, when a champion has made their resolve to train hard without stopping.”

So…resolve?

The alien lady spoke softly, as if falling into ponderance. Creed was therefore left making a helpless face in a corner.

Quietly, the wheel of emotion whirled without rest.

Then, Creed’s delighted cry, as if having discovered something, broke the silence.

“Elma, look!”

Spiritually connected, the pair could relay information and share all that they were sensing simultaneously. It had been a link established due to the language barrier and to make communication convenient, which Creed was now using to relay volumes of information as he excitedly showed an extract of a message sent from the Redemption System. “Look, it’s a countermeasure for the Ultimate Virus! Our champion of Mycroft and Nature Magister, Aydril Galanoud, has developed a set of measures to temporarily stop the infection from spreading!

“See, the Ultimate Virus isn’t invincible. It’s preventable! The Nature Magister is still researching now and attempting to create a real vaccine against it, and while it may be difficult, it’s not impossible!”

The human captain was chattering away, not noticing the brightening light in the gaze of the lady beside him, with Creed’s tone carrying a sense of pride as if implying ‘Mycroftian technology is the best in the world!’

“I believe it would just be a little while more before the vaccine against the Ultimate Plague would be completed! Blessed Mycroftians, the other Multiverse races will also be saved!”

Meanwhile, as she listened to Creed bragging about his own race, Elma’s expression turned from initial surprise and delight to appearing troubled. Her humanoid form blinked, and curiously asked, “Creed…have you Mycroftians always been so generous? The prevention itself is simply a hole in a paper window—it’s simple after you’ve learned about it, but to really put it to use and create a vaccine would take a long time. And yet, your race has actually publicized such information…is the Redemption System itself such selfless sharing?”

“But of course!”

Unsurprised by the Amos’ doubt, Creed answered seriously despite his great sense of pride over his own race. “But this isn’t generosity, but the fight itself! The fight against the callous Multiverse, which is filled with sudden deaths and repetitive cycles! Since there is such a being spreading the Ultimate Virus to harm other intelligent life for its own ends, we have to forge a measure to stop it, and to spread it faster than the epidemic itself—it is the only way to stop the culprit from getting what it wants, and to truly defeat the Ultimate Virus!”

It was when he finished speaking that Creed felt that he seemed to have been too thrilled, and therefore scratched his head shyly before mumbling quietly, “Life is about fighting, that was what the Commander said…I really hope to be a person like him, which was why I had bought a few of his memoirs, even unwittingly imitating him just now…”

Elma certainly did not think that he had gone overboard. She simply leveled a gaze of mixed emotions to Creed’s own, which was brimming with resolve.

To the Amos who had lived for centuries, the human who was in his twenties was essentially a young child who was just born. And yet, such a youth actually embodied determination of such scale—the individual called Creed appeared ordinary, but like gold hidden in silent shadows, it reflected radiance when light arrived.

He undoubtedly had the depth and talent to become a champion.

“I understand.”

Suddenly, as if grasping something, Elma smiled and spoke softly, her expression and voice regaining vigor.

Creed watched happily as she regained spirit thanks to the good news, only to be left stunned as she continued.

“Using my own body to personally experience the Ultimate Virus, deducing and creating a medicine against the Ultimate Virus? I have to say that it really is a good idea…I can definitely do it.”

“Do you have to do that?! It’s too dangerous!”

Creed almost leapt up at Elma’s words, and hastily dissuaded her. “No, Elma—the Nature Magister is a Legendary-advanced champion, and more or less a General-class in Amos hierarchy. She would stay immune from the Ultimate Virus as she creates a vaccine, but you can’t! You are a Supreme-tier who can barely resist the Virus itself, and it wouldn’t be impossible for you to be corrupted—and isn’t it totally unnecessary?!”

Elma, however, smiled calmly despite Creed’s rather agitated reaction, which stopped the human captain to quiet down by instinct, even though he seemed to have more to say.

“Creed, I know that the Amoses who were infected were unimportant foreigners, even enemies attempting to repel and invade your kind.”

Rising from her bone seat, Elma walked to the bridge window of her warship window and looked at the Void beyond, softly saying, “If I did not wish to rebel and hence restored your body to gain a little acknowledgement from you, wouldn’t you rather have died than helped me?”

“That’s true…” Creed admitted with difficulty, “But mainly because you had certainly showed kindness, and…”

“Even so, I finally understand it now, Creed,” Elma interjected, and turned to the human with a serious expression. “The first emotions that prompted me to rebel was not hate towards Imperator Amos’s inaction, but my most earnest sentiment towards the Amos and the Court.”

“I hate fighting and the endless mutual slaughter between the Amoses and the other races. Although I am nurtured through education and personal experience to hate the Takurians, but compared to hating them, my greater wish is for the Amoses to live in happiness and peace. I hope the Imperator could love us sincerely like a father, or like a true ruler…if possible, I really hope that such a day would come. That way, us Amoses would be ever victorious, our civilization everlasting.”

It was a pity that it was impossible. As a creation of Imperator Amos, who would never treat his toys seriously, Elma could only manage a regrettable expression.

“I am really sorry to be born an Amos…but I am proud of it too, just as you are proud to be Mycroftian.”

“But…”

Creed appeared to have something to say. His expression was anxious, but Elma interrupted before he could speak.

“The Amoses are a completely different race from Mycroftians,” she said, “Even in the knowledge of the antidote, I would try it personally to alter its intricacies. It is only with my Amos body, and by doing the same thing, that a perfect vaccine can be made.”

“Furthermore, unlike Mycroftians, us Amoses are actually highly resistant to the invading Virus. With the vaccine as a buffer to let us discover that a virus is invading our bodies, I believe most Amoses would not die so senselessly.”

“But you don’t have to put yourself in danger!”

At that, Creed could not hold back and started to yell at Elma. “Why can’t you wait a few days? By then, the Nature Magister would develop a real vaccine—you’re not Legend yet, it’s too dangerous!”

“But,” Elma calmly asked in return, “What if the vaccine isn’t developed in a few days?”

“What if it cannot be used by Amoses even if it gets created?”

“Creed, you know well that the Ultimate Virus is so advanced that it is several eras beyond us. Even if it’s not difficult to avoid it, breaking it down is not easy.”

“Moreover…”

Elma slowly approached Creed and stood so close before the human captain that they were almost touching. She then said very seriously, “It is a ‘few days’ like you said, but to the citizens of the Court, millions or even billions would die to the Plague.”

With that, Elma lifted her eyes towards the Void beyond the bridge, her tender gaze seemingly seeing the countless worlds across the Court.

“I came to a realization just now, why I had achieved nothing after so long…because I lacked a great many things, because I lack great power.”

At that, she paused before adding, “As well as the resolve to sacrifice.”

“There is no savior in the Multiverse, but just as you Mycroftians are willingly creating the vaccine for other civilizations and gifting seeds of hope everywhere, every civilization would definitely progress hand in hand if they helped each other.”

“Nevertheless, we must not pray for salvation from someone else, or entrust hope upon them!”

“We must obtain our own tomorrow with our own hands!” she thus declared firmly. Her words were filled with strength.

At that very instant, purple-blue light shone over her body. As light flashed, a ring that exist between physical and intangible appeared in her hand, materializing over her finger!

Still, at that very moment, Elma understood completely.

[O, Death!]

[I had been fearful all along.]

[I feared the volatile Imperator, the callous enemy.]

[I feared the absence of a bright future for the Multiverse, the next day which had no hope.]

[I even feared myself, who held no resolve and could not change this world, and had actually been changed by it.]

But now, I understand.

Fear had only come into me from my lack of resolve and my sole wish to rebel and escape, using the cheapest fix in order to gain hope.

Everything happened because I had forgotten love.

“If I do not struggle by giving everything on this day—and everything that I am, not some boons granted by the Imperator, nor the pity of others or even your help.”

As she thus spoke, Elma reached out with her hand to gently touched Creed’s face, even as the human was left at a loss. She saw that the captain’s mouth was open, as if he was about to say something, but could not say a thing with their present situation.

Therefore, the foreign traitor smiled as if in epiphany. “If I don’t give it all today, how could I have a clear conscience to wait for tomorrow?”

Such is my decision.

In that very moment, the purple-blue ring in Elma’s human form hand shone with the splendor called divine power!

The splendor of Resolve was shining, and it was Elma, bearer of the Ring of Resolve!

***

In Stellaris on the other side of dimensions, one of the Four Divine Rings began to shine as it answered its call, having sensed its agent individual who could embody its emotion being born in the worlds beyond—it therefore answered the care, stirring tidal waves of emotion.

The divine power roared, surging towards the heart of the battle…

Even as a piece amongst the chips of fate was betted.