Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

“—The monsters from the Dark Void are landing!”

The reputation of the civilization known as Mycroft was rapidly spreading across the stars closer to the fringes of the Multiverse.

That reputation was certainly not good news. Perhaps it was the outrage of having their scouting fleets all destroyed or deliberate slander due to the fearsome might, the name Mycroft symbolized ‘unknown’ and ‘power’ in the news spreading to other worlds or civilizations. There were even some claiming to have seen a powerful Extraordinary champion fighting the Takur Ruin Cult and the Bloody Court at the edge of the galaxy, sending shockwaves that wiped out multiple worlds and claimed billions of lives, intent on painting the Mycroft civilization as one of the Calamities.

Strictly speaking, they had not been lying—if single-cell creatures were lifeforms as well, then it was not wrong to say that it was truly in the billions. They had almost succeeded as well, as having three people repeat one thing would have made the false true, not to mention that in the first six months, there were over hundreds of civilizations that unanimously agreed with that description, prompting exaggerated rumors about the Mycroft civilization in the stars around the Galaxy of Beginnings.

Soon, however, a certain mysterious reason changed the style of rumors after half a year.

“—The weird species from the Silent Void are closing in towards the Inner Rim!”

The civilizations of the Multiverse were mostly distributed from the interior to the exterior, but the Deep Core and its excessive energy levels basically prevented normal worlds and civilizations from being born, allowing only elemental lifeforms to flourish within. Several Rims divided the Multiverse from inside out, with density of Extraordinary forces and average strength of civilizations increasing further within.

Certainly, it was not as if the Outer Rim had no powerful civilizations or that the Inner Rim had no weak civilizations—it was simply a comparison of average standards, where civilizations of the Inner Rim were certainly greater with denser populations of intelligent species. It only made sense for the Mycroft civilization to venture into and explore the Inner Rim after arriving at the furthest fringes and establishing a foothold. In fact, their forefront reconnaissance party had made contact with several Inner Rim civilizations, with each one they met, whether strong or weak, staying silent about any information they had on Mycroft.

It hence verified their eccentricity—it was not only the Mycroft civilization that proved unusual, for every race and civilization that they came in contact with had all become weird. With that being said, they did stir waves over the galaxy on an equal scale in the war between Galactic Protectors and the Swarm, a great confrontation which involved thousands of civilizations and only ended shabbily after attracting multiple World Eaters. Nonetheless, the shockwaves sent through the Multiverse on both occasions were on an equal scale!

“—The ambassadors of the unknown civilization from another galaxy have established diplomatic relations with the Ceuta Techno Union!”

The Ceuta civilization was one of the rare few Class 4 civilizations in the Multiverse, although it merely meant that there were not many famous ones across the Multiverse. It was simply a gap in innate talent that should not be compared, just like how certain races could not count with both hands while others could with just one.

In fact, the Ceuta Techno Union were the hardest to approach amongst the eighteen well-known Class 4 civilizations. Having modified themselves into a semi-mechanical lifeform, they possessed formidable technological capacity along with an arrogance to match it, and held hegemony over their native Ceutan galaxy, where other civilizations and races were merely their vassals and slaves that worked as bottom-hierarchy laborers.

Still, things were rather unusual. It was alleged that the ambassador from the unknown civilization of another galaxy appeared plain and was nothing but an elderly white-haired individual with bubbles of light surrounding him. He simply performed a trick to have light change speed and color, and yet it left the Ceutans in awe and reverence.

“I can do that too!”

Many an intelligent individual were left unhappy by that news, just as there were some whom understood the principle behind and were left in shock. Still, it was due to their simultaneous links to many strong civilizations that Mycroft also gained positive vibes in the publications of many more worlds, their image hence transforming dramatically.

“—The Mycroft civilization are the new lords of the Galaxy of Beginnings!”

It was around a year after the Mycroft civilization made landfall into the Galaxy of Beginnings that their natives all fell under the banner of Mycroft and truly yielded as their vassals. Truth be told, it was not as if they had any other option or that they never thought about it. The ruling system of the Eldars were simply too complex that it took most of the year for a declaration of fealty from top to bottom—it was no easy task, and heaven knows that the oversized flying insectoids had diverged from the simple ruling system of most insectoids to form a constitutional monarchy that not even the hairless primates could dream of.

Still, it was perhaps because of the Eldars’ triumph over their matriarchal nature that they managed to reach the heights of Void civilization—most insectoids civilizations tended to end up running in circles at Class 2, since their survivability and adaptability were so astounding that it was unnecessary to challenge themselves or evolve. Indeed, the most widespread lifeforms in the Multiverse were not sentient races but psionic bugs that spread on a universal scale by latching onto Void spacecrafts. They resembled cockroaches in appearance and could not be struck thanks to their psionic premonition, just as they were hard to kill. Moreover, they had existed for such a long time they transcended the text of the Knowers, having lived for more than thirty million years. They were perhaps the most successful species.

“—The Hegemons of the Galaxy of Beginnings have made an announcement!”

Having succeeded in building their own massive Dimensional Hubs in several galaxies, the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds consolidated its power upon the Multiverse. If it could be said that the former Glorious civilization had built the core of that Multiverse-class spell and foundation, then the present Starfall era had built several floors over it. Whether or not it appeared good looking, massive, or sturdier, it was at least functional and hospitable, and the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds could transfer stores of resources between the Lost Galaxy and the Multiverse at a smaller cost.

With the successful expansion of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds, the number of people and champions travelling back and forth the two galaxies had also increased. Until now, with Metal Dragons included, every Legendary champion of the Mycroft civilization had visited the Multiverse, with the Commanding Will of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds moving the silver sun that was its processing hub to Zeta Ram. To quote the sentient consciousness, the Lost Galaxy was too small, far from the vastness of the Multiverse on this end. Likewise, each of the Seven Gods had selected several large and unoccupied worlds to establish their own Multiverse shrines.

However, it was not only the Mycroft people who were expanding along with the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds, but also the conscious state that used to belong exclusively to the Mycroft civilization and their unique civilization’s products—including a certain God of Steel’s redemption system and Restoration Beams.

“—The venerated Forerunners have returned to their homeworld at long last!”

The civilizations that had never reached out to Mycroft now finally spoke; most of them were within a zero-delay warp range of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds. In short, they were within zero-delay strike distance from Mycroft, and their publications were now circulating propaganda.

Through long-term exchanges, those civilization slowly learned about Mycroft’s history and their connection to the Glorious Era. Most civilizations certainly did not know what the Glorious Era was, but that did not stop them from flattery—the last hostile civilization that kept sabotaging and marginalizing Mycroft were essentially slain. Only idiots would choose suicide… and indeed they would not.

After all, they still remembered that day half a year ago—with mighty divine light, the Seven Gods whose presence were not often felt had punched through every inch of the perimeter of that civilization, and decimated half the ground of their world without mercy. That had actually also been due to their reluctance to inflict excessive harm upon innocent citizens, but even so, the Class 3 civilization was dismantled and destroyed in less than half a day, their subjects displaced and their very name wiped out as dust in the universe.

Such a heavy-handed move had made every civilization of the Multiverse aware of the true meaning of the Starfall name and had them repress most of their machinations. Everything else notwithstanding, if they could truly have stars fall literally, with the God of Steel whom actually ate suns and snacked on white dwarves as proof, they truly were terrifying.

One way or the other, time flew, and it was now the twenty-ninth of November on Starfall year 836. After more than a thousand years, Mycroft had once again settled down in the Multiverse, while unraveling unexpected information and truths amidst the vastness of the stars. The most important of them was the return of the Million Steel Dragon, the God of Metal Dragons from the Dark Domain, whom brought along a very important message.

“There is no doubt that the Multiverse itself is not the stars where the Mycroft civilization had once been.”