Soul of Searing Steel

Chapter 1054: The Brief but Eternal Future

Chapter 1054: The Brief but Eternal Future

It was a story that happened a very long ago, unfolding in an age far older than any prehistoric civilization.

This was the tale of what had happened to a group of mayflies, born after the Initial Flame had set a radiance alight upon the Multiverse and hovered over its splendor perpetually.

Born in the Void and the foam floating following the incineration of the Flame, a simple construct—or as it should be known, a simple lifeform—was born unto the world upon the bits and pieces left, which would eventually become realms, and within that silent, boundless light.

It had no name, an aspect about itself that had remained until now, but if one had to pick a name for it, there would be no other than a mayfly. Their lifespan was so utterly brief that within certain realms, they would not actually last from dawn to dusk.

The species was neither sentient nor intelligent. All that its simple form was able to do was to record everything that was around itself, then transmit it to other individuals—those mayflies, which were simply unaware of their own births or deaths, hence formed a tiny cycle within that eternal radiance.

The death of each mayfly individual would end with the birthing of more infant mayflies, and before that would happen, the individual would entrust all the information it had recorded to another adult mayfly: the gathering of information was the process through which their self would grow stronger. Soon afterwards, the other adult mayfly would do the same as well, delivering its own memories and the memories of the previous mayfly on to the next. In that prolonged process of transmission and as new generations of mayflies would mature, new cycles would begin and enlarge the life cycle of mayflies.

Naturally, the information that they could carry also hence grew exponentially.

As the matured mayflies shared memories with one another without stopping, while the infants which may have only lasted from dawn to dusk rapidly matured to become a new generation of bodies which recorded and transmitted—amongst those innumerable individuals, the perpetual transmission and exchange of information hence developed from the earliest insignificant instinct which could be completed with a single exchange, up to an ever enlarging record which required more mayflies to complete. Eventually, even entire mayfly groups were needed to gather as one, with the incessant delivery and exchanges becoming an eternal duty that occupied every moment of their time and lifespan, save for the self-splitting process just before their deaths.

Birth, gaining memories, receiving, transmitting, splitting, birth, gaining memories, receiving, transmitting, splitting...it was an eternal, endless cycle, and such was their instinct and duty.

The entire mayfly swarm had hence become an immeasurably massive information vault with ever-growing internal storage capacity.

Moreover, for them, they could absolutely not pause or have respite—even if just for the briefest of moments. Throughout the course of those mayflies’ lives, they could not afford to hesitate, to think, or even be caught in indecision.

They had to keep moving eternally, transmitting eternally, dying eternally, and then splitting themselves to grow into something new—they were not allowed to hibernate or rest in peace, nor would they slow down. That was as sleeping would mean death, pausing would mean loss, and should a single mayfly have caused a fault and thrown away the memories it should be keeping, their duty of transmitting information would have had a partial lack of information, with things that would hence be permanently ‘forgotten’.

Then, a long period passed by.

Endless time had passed for the mayfly which was born today and gone tomorrow and their growingly profound circulation, until that one fateful day came when another civilization had stumbled upon them.

It was another race born unto a realm deriving from the Initial Flame. Following their own lengthy evolution and development, those complex lifeforms which basked in the radiance of the Initial Flame had finally step out into the Void and began to wander the various skies...and it was when they had reached the vicinity of the Initial Flame that they found those simple but unintelligent mayfly swarm nearby that did nothing other than hover around its light.

They were not the most ancient of beings. There were many more primitive lifeforms that were more superior or inferior as compared to the mayflies, and though their kind had existed within the radiant reaches of the Multiverse which had been stable for a long time, their history was far too short as compared to those most ancient of beasts born in Chaos.

Moreover, their power was not actually considerable—each mayfly individual was basically a simple bundle of nodes where energy and information were kept, not to mention that both aspects of storage were extremely limited in a single specimen. In fact, obtaining the energy from a hundred thousand of those mayflies would not have been enough to ignite a candle.

They were not intelligent either, because the pure exchange of information only represented what had already been there in the very beginning. Aside from the basic recorded memories from the first mayfly, most of the other elements obtained by other mayflies were excess or insignificant information. Their kind would simply never compare to multicellular lifeforms, much less spark the flare of information.

What was worse, they were not large in size but were very much miniscule instead—each mayfly was no larger than bacteria, and they could very well be the smallest living thing that all civilizations in the Void could discover.

Still, their swarm was incomparable in terms of size.

And their numbers were without end.

More than that, the collective which had an affinity for the light had actually become a dark, obscure shroud that covered a small portion of the endless light shining from the Initial Flame.

Despite not being ancient, not powerful, not huge, and being unintelligent, they were all still alive, from the ancient primeval ages until that day...until then, when a group of lifeforms born after them had evolved into intelligent beings, even developing an entire civilization before reaching them.

The curious intelligent species had brought with them more information, hence becoming the Second Light that was receptive for the mayflies. It had been a variable, a catalyst—an infinite possibility beyond the mayflies’ own eternal cycle.

Such was the first moment when intelligence and Self was born, and also the time when possibilities and future came to be.

At that very instant, it—they—had truly opened their eyes, lifting their gaze from their self-enclosed and self-circulating shells to gaze upon the vast Multiverse.

The ancient, primitive civilization had taught the mayflies, which were born one day and gone the next, a great many things including thinking, judging, and reacting to external stimuli. They had led a lonely race towards the grand stage that was the Multiverse, and then instructed them in friendship, beauty, hope, and love.

Naturally, they had also taught them what forgetting actually was.

***

After a long period had passed, the civilization which had enlightened the mayflies were gone.

Where had they actually gone to?

That memory had actually blurred, since the Steel Strength of the Multiverse had decayed due to the sheer age that had passed, with not even the faintest trace despite combing through the memories of countless Evil Gods. That was not surprising, however, since the Evil Gods were entities that had only come to be after the ascension of the Wise One of Future, and the Wise One himself would probably have forgotten the truth of that matter as well... how would the Giant God of Steel be able to browse through a memory of that age then?

Be that as it may, there may not have been some convoluted cause, because that civilization may well have fallen across the long course of time, and was thus forgotten.

It had been a remarkably novel experience: a form of data loss , a form of ending for a cycle, the diminishing of a past, and a form of impending death.

And that was precisely the first moment when Future was given form.

[No... that can never be allowed]

[We... we simply would not allow anything to be forgotten]

The sparks of intelligence were hence ignited.

In turn, the mayflies obtained an epiphany: the antonym of so called ‘memory’...was the forgotten.

And in response, to the mayflies which remembered everything and kept everything at heart eternally, it was absolutely unacceptable.

For the mayflies that were born in the day and perished by night, the memories of their whole lives would be entrusted upon other mayflies, an evidence that they had once existed. If their own brethren would forget, they would have been completely wiped out from existence, and it was equivalent to having a part of the mayfly collective being lost, their profound and prolonged records hence no longer complete.

To be forgotten was no different from perishing for all eternity—it was more frightening as compared to being caught inside the event horizon of a black hole, something that was even more feared by all.

That was simply unacceptable.

Joshua’s voice and will quaked the Multiverse. For the briefest of moments, everyone was able to hear, see, and be aware of the eternal cycles those little mayflies existed within, as well as the epiphany sparked and derived in them—the Giant God was silent for a brief moment in return, as everyone made their own guesses, quietly confirmed the theory of every living being.

Such was the beginning of the Wise One of the Future.

***

The essence of the Wise One of the Future was something very similar to that of the Evil Gods: an eternal existence which gathered every single memory possessed amongst a race, a civilization, or a collective existence.

In fact, that would be a wrong way of phrasing it. It was not that he resembled the Evil Gods—it was the Evil Gods who resembled them instead.

The Perished Eternities that were a perpetual constant only ever yearned for the everlasting, the light. Like mayflies that were only ever able to see the light or moths lunging for the flames, they were calling out, screaming, exclaiming, and bellowing in rage at the multitude of lights from afar, towards those existences that were still perpetuating memories and oblivion, their endless warmth still extending.

That was what those so-called Evil Gods would go for and attack, advancing only for devastation and to turn newly risen civilizations into new Evil Gods: they were neither good nor evil, neither kind nor hostile. They had neither purpose or desire, and what they wanted was not to destroy, but destruction would come inevitably because they were close.

In fact, from a certain perspective, their assault and conversion were nothing other than a ‘remembrance’ of everything.

And that was the truth of the so-called Invasion of the Evil Gods, and the conclusion of eras.

In the end, it was nothing other than a story of some mayflies that desired to remember everything, to extinguish the Flame and engrave it upon themselves.

The Wise One of the Future simply could not live with forgetting. It was simply because every single past memory had been eternally recorded that everything from the infinite information following birth of the Multiverse had been kept as an equivalent of the Akashic Records. The Wise One of Future was hence able to remember all past of eternity, and stand aloft upon the profound presence to develop the infinite future.

He had rejected death—which had hence given birth to all Evil Gods, and was how the Perished Eternities had come to be.

He had rejected the notion that not all things could be remembered—and thus absolute Chaos was given form out of nothing, latching onto everything else that lived and existed.

He had rejected the fact that things forgotten would never be reclaimed—and therefore infinite parallel universes, infinite parallel worlds, and infinite futures thus existed.

The Multiverse was splitting apart, just like how those mayflies would split apart after their deaths.

At first, the Wise One of the Future simply would not be able to comprehend why the other Wise Ones born from other civilizations and the other races would resist his dominion—could it be that not everything had been remembered? Could it be that not everyone had been able to obtain Eternity and the Infinite futures?

No longer was there a need to worry about being forgotten, of being destroyed, or even death! After all, the infinite parallel worlds would carry every single possibility, not to mention that the infinite branches of futures would eventually become the definition and undoubtable truth under the power of the Wise One. Even if the stars should go out and the worlds should die, there would always be a possibility for them to exist.

It was the Death of Eternity, Eternal Memories, Infinite Futures, Infinite Possibilities.

***

At present, Joshua had raised his upper left hand which was empty. Within it was a vague radiance of Chaos: it was the power that the Wise One of the Future had established, a special ability that was correlated to the Initial Flame. It was bound to everything there was, recording and transmitting everything, and using that as an origin point would nurture the unending parallel universes.

It was called the Chaos—that is, the Chaos as it had been before Future had developed it.

The Giant God clenched his fist, and the obscure Chaos abruptly burst out in great light. Hence, every being could all see it: countless Evil Gods, forgotten civilizations, forgotten races, and forgotten names that were all remembered once more in the infinite parallel universes. They had never been forgotten or abandoned, because the Future would remember them, allowing them to exist eternally and never really be reduced to oblivion, even until the Multiverse reached the end of its life.

The intention of the Wise One of the Future is to remember every trace of information in the Multiverse. After having done that, he—or they—would then simply die, passing on all those memories to the next Multiverse. The legions of Evil Gods would be the seeds, and using the form of all fallen civilizations, they would develop an entirely new future.

The Multiverse which is splitting apart without limit is just like the mayflies splitting themselves without limit. The delivered information and legacies would develop just as they once did, for what they are trying to do is nothing other than what the mayflies had once done—it was just that the mayflies which would not size up against bacteria previously had become the entire Multiverse itself.

The eternal memories and the eternal transmission would continue on eternally. Even if the Multiverse were to be destroyed in some calamity, that process would never be interrupted.

In other words, it was basically no different from the endlessly splitting and legacies of the mayflies: it was a civilization with legacies, as well as the most powerful form of Order there was!

An Order which extended with the units of Multiverse, and of such unimaginable profoundness that all living beings in the Multiverse were no more than spare parts and basic aspects.

The Ultimate Order which existed as a memory and a structure that simply was not concerned with individual will!

It had nothing to do with all living beings, because it was a tale that belonged only to the mayflies that were spread throughout the Multiverse.

“But is there anything bad about that?”

Such a voice spoke from afar, from the other side of the Multiverse.

It was the voice of a civilization, and a curios inquiry.

“We are already gone, but still we exist in the infinite futures and the infinite parallel worlds. Even if we are forgotten, the Wise One would still remember us—we had struggled to bring all this to be so that there would be no longer any need to worry over purpose, not to mention that there would always be a fated outcome. The only fault that we have is that we are able to accept failure, but if we could be remembered...we would still be remembered, even in the next age of the Multiverse.”

“Could that not be what happiness is all about?”

After that question was asked, more civilizations and individuals were left perplexed.

All of them had always thought of the darkness which shrouded everything as such a horror, that the boundless Chaos was only ever destined to represent ruin and eternal calamity. And yet, here Joshua was, telling them that the same darkness only wished to remember everything, that the inexhaustive Chaos was fundamentally a memory tool, that there would still be a place for them in that eternal future.

Innumerable hearts that were not firm enough, uncountable beliefs that were not stubborn enough, endless wills that were not mad enough, and the countless intelligences that were not foolish enough had hence began to feel bewildered and doubt the necessity of resistance.

In the end, it was a Wise One.

The most ancient and most powerful Wise One since the beginning of history, the first to defeat and destroy other Wise Ones and one that symbolized infinite futures.

So—

Do all of you desire so much to embrace the future that is not forged by your own hands?

This kind of happiness is nothing more than the most inferior kind—to entrust everything upon the happiness of self upon the identical of oneself existing in another parallel universe? It is even hollower than a dream.

Apart from the Wise Ones, apart from the swarm of mayflies that would keep dying since their birth and pass down their memories to other individuals—who would try to understand or desire such happiness?

The meaning in true happiness and true freedom is the right to reject happiness with great resolve, the right to completely refuse an undesired future!

Yearn for more, ask for more! What we want—what we deserve—is not grace from anyone else, but the best future that we could grasp with our own hands!

Joshua spread his fingers and put down Black and the others, before looking around at the Multiverse, his boundless power overflowing from his body.

I would not care for frivolous matters such as whether they are right.

Even so, I know that I am right.

The essence of the Wise One of the Future is memories: of all the civilizations kept at heart and also the endless Evil Gods. With it, it would control more than 99.8% of all possibilities unfolding in the Multiverse. At the same time, the total number of Evil Gods is five hundred times the number of presently existing cosmoses and civilizations of Order, or perhaps more. Their very existence would allow the Wise One of the Future to hold a strong advantage in the war for this Multiverse, and in the infinite parallel universe, he would be able to develop any form of future he desires.

But simply by delaying them and fighting that enemy five hundred times the size of our own, the Wise One of the Future would in turn lose his greatest Trump Card—culling the Evil Gods is no different from killing apart of its body, and the path towards our victory.

Joshua sonorously declared that single aspect to all intelligent life in the Multiverse. He would shed the light upon the Wise One of the Future’s edge that was hidden in the gloom of history, allowing all to know his essences: the source of his power, the form of his existence, and his weakness.

It certainly was not Joshua’s individual accomplishment, but a feat brought about by Wise Ones in the past, and every other forerunner.

Because the first three Wise Ones: of Psi, Arcane and Lifeforce were born under the influence Future, the process of their power’s development was hence exposed to him and those essences remembered. In addition, without their own caution and pinpointing the threat that is the Wise One of the Future or the synchronized assistance from other Wise One, they would only ever have been defeated and fall no matter how hard they fought.

However, The Wise Ones of Elements and Ether were two most exceptional geniuses diverging beyond the class of Arcane. At first, they had developed a brand-new possibility upon the path of Arcane to become the second and third Wise Ones of Arcane, but that was when both of them realized at once that something was not right. They had hence taken an alternate path, establishing elements and ether—on the scale of the Multiverse, their ascension could almost be counted as being simultaneous, after of which they would join forces in resistance against Future.

And hence, those two had fought against Future for such a long time that they had held on until the ascension of the Wise One of Holy Light, the Wise One of Shadow, and myself.

***

In the beginning, the Extraordinary power which the Wise Ones had founded was not at all tailored against Future. Even Elements and Ether had done no more than to realize that something unusual was afoot and were actually unable to fight against it. Each process and detail of their ascension would unfold within the sight of Future that they would never be able to win even if they shared the same level of ability, not to mention that their ability was actually a notch lower in the first place.

But later on, both Holy Light and Shadow had managed to pick up on that fact. They thus began to plan and arm themselves to suppress and resist Future so that their ascensions would be unknown to all, preventing Future from catching on about their information as much as possible.

Be that as it may, all of them were still caught in a disadvantage. In the end, they were not aware of Future’s existence and essence, and therefore could only leave various clues for their successors.

And I am that successor.

I am the fall of Chaos, the one who would bring an end to Future.

Joshua’s voice was cold and calm.

Because he was that successor.

He had risen as the Wise One of the Gods within the Initial Flame. Not only would Future be unable to sense him, but he would also definitely be able to know about the process of his ascension. On the other hand, when Joshua himself had analyzed the multitudes of Evil Gods and the memories of ancient civilizations, he realized what the essence of the Wise One of Future was.

From the very start of his battles against the Evil Gods and the Chaos, Joshua had been ever vigilant. Apart from the path of ‘leveling up’ where fighting was immediately rewarded for all beings along with the path of the Wise One of the Gods, his true essential path was unfathomable, its name not known even now.

In fact, his power was created to shatter that Eternity and the Infinite Future.

“But, master—the time.”

The black dragon whose body blocked out the stars mumbled rather uncomfortably then. “All in all, you have just ascended recently...are you really able to step inside the ring and join the battle of the Wise Ones?”

“All that you have mention is simply insignificant in the face of absolute power.”

It is time.

Still, Joshua was simply not at all concerned about that.

The Wise One of the Future has fought against the other Wise Ones for such prolonged eras across countless universes and countless parallel worlds. Even so, that does not actually mean anything because in the conflict between the Wise Ones, it is impossible for either sides to want to grow in power while they fought. Ultimately, it has been a war where everything was put on the line, a fight waged upon all aspects, all angles and all possibilities...there would not have been space for consideration, much less development.

Back when the Wise One of Psi was born, the progress of Future had been probably above 99%. But after so many years have passed and so many Wise Ones have ascended, his progress is still stuck at 99.8%.

However, given how the Wise One of the Future could still speak to me while the other Wise Ones were unable to, it is evident that he has the effort to spare even after being surrounded and assaulted by four other Wise Ones to maintain an advantage. That being said, as long as his progress never reaches 100%, it would mean that there is a fundamental gap that could not widen between himself and the other Wise Ones.

Because the Wise Ones are unlimited power.

Because of the sacrifices and sharing of the former Wise Ones, we are afforded enough time to tell you everything.

Before this, Joshua had ascended through divine power—and the essence of the gods were wishes, the essence of their power being the ability to make wishes come true.

With the gods being incarnations of hopes and dreams, the change which divine power brought about was Joshua’s dreams blessed upon the world. From then onwards, fighting would no longer be merely a method, because it could be used as a purpose which would bring forth many more possibilities for every existence.

War is my wish and my hope, but pure warring would only ever throw the Multiverse into an endless hell.

Then, as Joshua’s spread his hands, boundless mirages began to spread and engulf all that there was. He was presenting the future that the Wise One of War would bring about: it was the strong origin of conflict where civilizations, races, or individuals would rely upon, a future where they would head for different worlds and civilizations to do battle and provoke conflict, altering war and variables in the Multiverse through the endless slaughter. The corpses of the defeated would be drained dry by the victors, and all of the Multiverse would hence become a great farm of insects.

Meanwhile, the new Wise One would be the victor of that War of Eternity.

Every Wise One who have come before would cause great influence upon all Wise Ones who would come later.

Joshua clenched his fist before relaxing it—this time, a new mirage appeared, but it was the future of the Wise One of Emotion. It was a Multiverse where everyone slowly developed a set of procedures for complete emotional emulation in the name of power. Their Emotion Power would not stop combining and compressing, finally becoming beasts, aberrations, or rulers of various major emotional forces. At the same time, the once complete emotion in civilizations, races, and the individuals would ultimately be honed into a radicalism due to prolonged cultivation.

While different emotions may not have necessarily needed to be adversaries, but there would definitely be contrasting feelings that were natural enemies. In the evermore erratic seas of the Multiverse, wanting to become a new Wise One would necessitate the ability to break through those many obstacles and rise above all radicalism.

The Wise One of the Future has forged our futures. He cannot act against you directly because all of you are a part of his memory as well—it is only the existent Eternity nodes that he sees as foreign elements which he would attack personally, which denies him the chance of using a pinpointed Evil God

Within Joshua’s palm was countless possibilities of New Wise Ones were flying around, such as the Wise One of Chain Breakers, the Wise One of Pure Will, the Wise One of World Ascension, or even The Second Wise One of Steel. Every Demi Saint present had hence forgotten everything else, whereas all Ultimate Legends also felt a faint thrill—they knew that those were possibilities that Joshua was enlightening them about, with which they could ascend as Demi Saints or Wise Ones! Joshua really was not holding nothing back, and would release all fruits from this consideration for all to see.

All at once, there was monumental distortion arising upon the body of most. With their accumulations long since becoming sufficient, all that was left for them was a puzzling confusion—and now that the riddle had been deciphered, they began to ascend in a manner most natural.

But then came a resounding yell.

These are not the paths you should be taking!

Try to learn and think about an idea, instead of imitating and copying provided answers in verbatim—all these are my possibilities, but are any of you me?

It promptly stopped all the champions who were left enchanted, and imitating or even replicating what they see by reflex. All of them were hence stunned and come to a realization, abruptly feeling a chill cutting into the bone, or a regretting and begrudging sigh.

The shortest path had always been the greatest temptation to exist... but it was certainly true that they were individuals and existences completely different from Joshua, even if they would assume the Path of Emotion or the Path of War, and it applied to both thinking and logic. A path that may have been a flat path for him could be the worst poison for them.

Needless to say, while everyone imagined that Joshua would probably be perfectly happy on the Path of War, that might not be true for them.

In fact, there would not be more than a handful of individuals in the Multiverse expectant of such a future.

***

Evil Gods are the basis with which the Wise One of the Future controls what lies ahead for the Multiverse, and also the memories he must bring with himself to the next Multiverse.

Anchor Points of Eternity are therefore that which could never be remembered, the existence of destiny. It is a node which is fated to happen and would happen, be it the infinite parallel worlds or the countless parallel universes.

What the Wise One of the Future wants is a future completely under his control and everything to be derived from his memories. His thoughts and dreams are the eternal Multiverse, the starting point of the boundless—in turn, the Anchor Points of Eternity are blemishes which obstruct him, and not the Eternity which he remembers.

“But, Joshua...”

Zero Three could not help but to ask then, “You have already severed your path to the Anchor Point of Eternity...”

That is fine.

Perhaps others would believe that the destined is very important, but I have never once been concerned with what was destined or absolute. Not even the Wise One of the Future will stop me.

I have cut off the Anchor Point of Eternity, which also severs my connection to the infinite parallel worlds—I would no longer exist in his worlds, and he would be able to kill me if he does so in this very first Multiverse, unlike the other Wise Ones who would have to be subjugated or worn away over a very long time even if they are defeated.

Even so, by that same logic, he would not be able to fight me with various futures derived from his infinite parallel multiverses. He must use his own power, and could only fight me in this Multiverse.

After leaving an information that left all Ultimate Legends and Demi Saints pondering, Joshua’s body began to turn illusory and slowly scattered, in turn ‘filling’ the Multiverse.

As long as there are enough Wise Ones, the Wise One of the Future’s corruption of the Multiverse can be stopped, his progress perpetually stuck where it is now.

With that, the measures he set in place would never be triggered—the upstream which he occupies entirely would therefore be unable to affect everything downstream. As long as his progress is stagnated, the Infinite Future would not continue growing.

That is the way with which the individuals yet to ascend as Wise Ones could use to resist the future.

All of you have your own fight, just as I have mine—let us part ways for the time being, friends.

Indescribable and profoundly abundant ripples were stirring wild tides, whereas the source the ripples had already set out. He was tracing the origins, heading towards the root and beginning of everything, towards the very first light!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The entire Multiverse was shuddering because of those steps. The stars, the worlds, and the races—even beings devoid of souls, eyes, ears or touch—could all clearly feel it, see it, hear it, and sense it: something infinite was roaring and embarking on a journey against the flow to head for the battlefield he wanted, and the final conclusion!

That formless ripple also changed all of the Multiverse for the second time within a short time, overflowing towards all existences!

...Triumphing over the Wise One of the Future is definitely impossible.

The most ancient Wise One has defeated Psi, Arcane, and Steel Strength. He is also equally matched against four more Wise Ones, even holding an advantage...there probably would not be much change even if I joined the fray.

At that very moment, everyone could feel that something had changed completely. In the Multiverse, all logic had been substituted as a certain aspect ate away at preexisting concepts.

It was not actually any Extraordinary power or phenomenon that engulfed the Multiverse. It was ever so silent and unwittingly pervaded everything there was.

But the meaning of existence for life and civilization is to triumph over the impossible in the first place.

While I have actually triumphed over all that was impossible myself.

The light of the flame dazzled, the endless radiance and endless will shining over endless distance while infinite ripples traversed boundless distances. He had passed by a familiar champion, several unacquainted champions, even sensing the many beings roaming that trail. They had been advancing since an unknown, ancient era, and yet were now all surpassed by him.

What could it be? Was it inevitable? Was it destiny? Or could it be just a coincidence, something which had simply happened unexpectedly?

All of those were true, just as they were not.

Regardless of whether those beings that were showing expressions of shock were exceptionally powerful or was simply an infant specimen from a particular species bumping around in confusion—in fact, every single living being with vigor would hence know about it.

That the being called miracle was now determinedly streaking past them like a sun in the unending and silent darkness.