Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

On the nineteenth of February in the Starfall year 844, the Combined Fleet was finally connected to Mycroft after five days of continuously calibrating the Stargate and stabilizing dimensional frequencies to link Hub Zeta Ram to the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds.

It was a day to be remembered in history as first, it made evident the viability of galactic expeditions—the Starfall Era Mycroft civilization had certainly produced advanced Void warships and had trans-galactic fighting ability. Secondly, it also proved the greatness of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds which transcended the Silent Void, binding itself to any desired Dimensional Hub in the observable Multiverse.

Though chagrining, most of the warship blueprints had been from the Glorious Era, with the core concept of their superweapon not of Starfall design. In terms of technology, the only thing that the Combined Fleet could personally be proud of was the design of their life support vessels, with its entire construction process presided over by Galanoud the Nature Magister. Those ships had performed perfectly by providing logistics supplies and recycling. With that being said, although referencing the Glorious-era blueprints on every single matter may be have been detrimental to technological advancement, they should surely not have simply been left unused? After all, guilt and self-reprimand could not change the fact that steering battleships over thousands of meters long to intimidate hundred meters-long alien corvettes felt great—in fact, it felt awesome.

According to Vahina’s calculation, the Combined Fleet had lost a total of 122 warships of different classes as they suppressed the Eldars, stopped foreign civilizations from entering the Galaxy of Beginnings, and stood off against the Knowers. Most of the capital ships in Mycroftian’s main fleet were in perfect condition, apart from La Motte the Sword Saint’s flagship, which developed a malfunction in its arcane engine. The scoutship and two corvettes belonging to the Elite Party, which were all struck by projectiles and caused eighty-four temporary deaths, were the only victims in that expedition. Eighty-three soul spheres had been retrieved, with only a particular unlucky one gone missing that being searched for with prophecies. Joshua’s response to that had been ‘so, it is them again’.

The Sartreans’ core fleet was not affected much, having mainly dispatched unmanned drone fighters to support the semi-sentient combat plants in the Void Behemoth fortress to encircle and suppress the alien fleets. Not a single of their warships had actually been damaged, although most of their drones could not be recovered.

Still, amongst the Combined Fleet, it was the demons’ Internal Fleet that had been most affected. Primitive and only held together by the Demon Generals’ and the Demon Kind’s power, more than twenty of their asteroid ships had disintegrated due to them moving too quickly, just as they did not have the chance to move forward when repelling the alien fleets. Indeed, more than a hundred warships were damaged when the demons landed troops to suppress native populations after the standoff. After all, demonic invasions essentially involved crashing down with their asteroid vessels—that had been the only way to appear menacing.

Following the retreat of the Imperator Amos and the Takurian Grand Patriarch, the Knowers had similarly backed off, ending their confrontation against the Combined Fleet and their many champions. As the vanguard, the Demon Fleet headed for the fringes of the Galaxy of Beginnings to conquer many local worlds, having also selected another living realm as the Mycroft civilization’s second base in the Multiverse.

Every Legend was also perplexed when it came to the Knowers. The civilization, which the Great Khan had described as being akin to natural disaster, had definitely shown considerable hostility. Yet instead of ‘collecting knowledge and destroying destruction’, their enmity had been more focused on defending against a presence that had appeared from some threatening place. Soon after both sides became communicative, the Knowers appeared to have acquired some information, and all hint of hostility vanished after as they began to move away on their own. It should be noted that the Knowers had never showed signs of retreating even against Imperator Amos and the Takurian Grand Patriarch, two of the greatest Extraordinary champions. In turn, the duo simply ignored the Knowers’ existence, which by itself made evident the power of the Knowers.

And after all of that happened, the Stargate in Zeta Ram slowly opened over the massive Dimensional Hub, with the uniquely distinct tin hue of the Silver Sky Radiance within the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds visible from within.

The Stargate opened, and the familiar presence of home was pouring from the other side. Every expeditionary troop around Zeta Ram who had been waiting were exhilarated—six streaks of divine light directly passed through the pale blue Stargate and arrived upon the foreign stars, followed by reinforcement fleets that came by droves.

When the expedition moved through the Silent Void and battled against other civilizations, the Mycroft world had not been idling. The entire Barnett Highlands and the Eastern Plains had become an industrial base, while spacecraft after spacecraft moved through the Void Tower to transport resources within and enriched Mycroft’s material supply. The numbers of Extraordinary individuals also increased exponentially, with children born during the Great Mana Tide.

***

It was the ninteenth of February in the Starfall year 845, at ten to seven in the evening in Mycroft standard time, at the Stargate over Zeta Ram. A spectral girl led a young gray-haired girl who held doll tailored from dandelion wool as they alighted from a transport ship, curiously looking out over the Zeta Ram continent which had then been transformed into an entirely different place.

“Aha! We’re here, beautiful new world!” the spectral girl yelled loudly and energetically—a demeanor out of place for her race—upon arrival at the landing platform. She and the gray-haired girl then turned their heads as if on the same frequency to look around the docks, which was maintained by arcane repulsors fifty-six hundred meters above air and could carry over ten thousand people. Still, it was the initial period after completion of the Stargate, and with not many having the opportunity to travel towards the new galaxy, the docks were not too burdened.

“Sol, where’s brother? Didn’t he agree to meet us?” Britney, the gray-haired girl, asked softly. She was now in her teens, her hair having grown from shoulder-length to waist-length after several years had passed. She looked down curiously at the skies and clouds of Zeta Ram, and the continent visible through the seams between clouds.

“Could he be down below?” Sol was not entirely sure, but she soon gave up on thinking. “Well, who cares? The only one worried would be Priest, not us, should he not meet us. It’ll be fine.”

“You’re right.” Britney nodded in agreement as she clutched her doll.

As they spoke, the landing platform they were on was began to slowly descend. Its cylindrical, transparisteel-covered frame could carry fifty people at any given time, and with seventy-five of them by the Stargate docks, they were able to accommodate 11,200 people at once.

The elevator started up, crossing dark clouds and descending steadily to reveal a bright and bustling surface soon after. The stargate’s drawing of mana had caused constant rain clouds to precipitate beneath it. In that gloomy weather, it had been white bright lights that had illuminated most of the continent, even as flashing magical runes gave the foreign realm an entirely new face with a massive steel installation built around the Dimensional Hub and within countless spell formations.

Looking down from above, one could see towering mana-powered spires and huge steel buildings everywhere. It was a city built to the standards of Extraordinary champions, its design disregarding most mortal issues in the first place. Floating streetlights and thirty second citywide scanners with multi-precision were then the dazzling nightscape of the Zeta Ram base, with formless defensive shields keeping the rainwater outside the city. Small corvettes could also be seen patrolling around the installation, their silver-blue exhaust fumes eye-catching and dazzling.

“This is so cool!” Though Sol and Britney had been living in modern Moldavia, they could not help but marvel at a sight completely different from a world of sword and magic.

“I really hope that we can see Priest soon.”

***

Nonetheless, the leader of the Elite Party who had promised to meet Sol and Britney after having applied for leave, had been forced to stay in another Void installation beyond Zeta Ram with his team due to an emergency situation. They were waiting to be summoned by a dozen Legends and six gods.

Inside the conference hall, the five members sat in silence by the center seats without fidgeting, not daring to even breathe loudly. In fact, Alchemist, who was capable of internal respiration, had simply stopped breathing. Within the vicinity, more than a dozen Legends were discussing about a message arriving from afar.

“Joshua, you’re the Sage’s Heir. Tell us—did the Sage mention any similar theories? Did he leave any messages?”

“Master Nostradamus, that’s the eighth time you’ve asked this question. I may be the Sage’s Heir but it remains that I’m not his apprentice, and is there even a sacred relic that provides omniscience? Still, personally speaking, there were theories of concepts similar to Peaceful Paradise, something which I agree with.”

“Your Holiness, as the greatest master of the Holy Light… what is your opinion?”

“…I have the faintest sense similar to Joshua and hold similar ideas as well as deductions, along with certain clues I’ve found from ancient tomes. But, to be truthful, Barbarossa, I believe that you and Barnil hold the strongest authority on that subject. You don’t have to ask the others, for you already have the answers in your minds.”

“Ezerg, you’re the oldest and have been with the Sage the longest. Did he say anything back then?”

“Haven’t I already mentioned that us True Gods have missing memories? Why would you have me remember when you can’t? Why don’t you remember the titles you had back then as well? A message left by the sage… Heh. Our very existence is probably his living diary.”

It was a small conference hall, but divine power was welling everywhere just as Steel Strength and Holy Light were shining in tandem. Great magical energy and psionic forces were subconsciously sweeping over realms physical and spiritual—being within the fold of such champions, the Elite Party felt like fishes that had suffocated, frozen within blocks of ice. Still, if not for the new God of Might and Justice needing rest to consolidate his abilities and hence his return back to Mycroft to recuperate, as well as the absence of the Demon Generals, the Elite Party would probably have felt as if they were inside metal blocks instead.

Soon, however, something worse than being frozen fish happened.

“Priest.”

A black-haired warrior amongst the Legends and gods turned towards the Elite Party, who were pretending that they did not exist. Joshua had called out the name of his student loudly before asking, “You’re the one who discovered the Knowers’ ship that was lost in the Fleshists’ homeworld. Are you sure that the Devastator Crater had existed for more than 700,000 years?”

The question from his mentor was abrupt, but despite having a dry throat from the atmosphere around, Priest replied loudly and reflexively, “Yes! We can confirm that World 39958 was the homeworld of the Fleshists. According to the elemental decay and analysis of energy movement trends, the crater is more than 70,300 years old—at minimum!”

Joshua nodded in praise at his student’s firm answer, and turned to the Legends and gods. “I trust my student,” he said, “and World 39958 isn’t too far from here. You could visit the place yourself if you do not trust the data, but my opinion is that the Knowers have no reason to lie to us. They are a species far older than us or even the Astral Dragons, and therefore possess ancient legacies dating millions of years ago or more.”

“Moreover, if they were truly hostile, they would have directly punched into the Zeta Ram system and sabotage the stabilizing of the Stargate, not to mention that their response clearly proves willingness to share this information. At the very least, they would remain friendly as long we are powerful enough!”

The entire conference hall quieted briefly at the warrior’s voice—Joshua’s stature had certainly reached the threshold where even the True Gods took his opinions seriously. Even so, a sigh soon followed.

“It’s not as if Nostradamus, myself, or the others do not buy it… How do I put it—Joshua, the aliens’ information is simply staggering,” Barbarossa, the peerless elemental mage and present leader of the Skypiercing White Tower, spoke with a hint of weariness and a troubled face. He was seemingly deeply shocked by certain information as much as he doubted it. “Yes, I know—the Sage created the Holy Light and filled the Multiverse with it, but it’s… the Holy Light is a special Extraordinary ability, and natural phenomenon would not change in its absence. It is not a constant, but a special ability independent of the major elements.”

“Magic, however, is different. The Multiverse itself could well cease to exist if all magical energy is lost!”

“Really, Barbarossa?” Joshua snorted and shook his head in response. “Is that really how you see it—that the Holy Light isn’t one of the fundamental powers?” he asked quietly. “Why then, would corrupted sunlight that could not be dispelled tens of thousands of years ago suddenly have the capacity to cleanse malevolence? And why would normal electromagnetic frequencies suddenly affect spectrals significantly? Why would the sun gods of native myths and folklores that were once cruel and burning suddenly all change in the last few millenia, becoming deities of brightness and sanctity? Barbarossa, you’re one of the most powerful and knowledgeable mages of our times, and I would never believe that you have never deliberated upon those anomalies and questions.”

“So I’ll ask again, do you really think that the world would remain the same if it loses the Holy Light?”

Barbarossa’s expression changed at Joshua’s pressing as if intending to retort, but the Element Maven eventually merely sighed and stayed silent. Nostradamus, Barnil, and William stood beside him—the four of them were all Legends whom differed in appearances and personality, but shared a common ground of being spellcasters who were well-versed in magic.

“Admit it, Barbarossa. In the First Multiverse, magic may have existed as another dormant and unidentified form to us. It was only after another profound existence that the magic we are now familiar with came to be, and they changed the world as much as the Sage himself did.”

With that, Joshua spread the scroll he was holding and placed it on the table. The warrior knew well that everyone else had read its contents, but he simply wanted to reiterate it. It was written in bizarre syntax and morphology, the text seemingly translated from a very different language.

[Yours sincerely, in the name of the First Magic, the Last Inheritors, Knowers to the descendants of the Glorious People, deliver to the Fabulist and pass on our final message.]

[Precursors of Order, Nameless Creator, the Fabulists and us, the Caretakers of Knowledge had preserved the founders of magic over generations. The Wise One of the Arcane Arts had left their message thirty million years ago to all life in the Multiverse and every intelligent creature.]

[Now, we would share that message and truth, for knowledge and information need to be exchanged. We would like to know the message left by the Wise One of the Sacred Light as well.]

[77,000 years of waiting. Finally, we have found you… You, who possessed that knowledge and survived extinction—Citizens of the Glorious who had triumphed over the World Eater hordes, we await the day you agree to communicate with us.]

[After all, the wildest of Orders is 10,000 times more wondrous than the most complete of Chaos.]