Soul of Searing Steel

Chapter 713: Slumbering Cocoon

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Starfall Year 837, the first of October.

The outer reaches of the world of Mycroft, the Holy Mountain Warship—Fort Glory, observation control hub ‘Eye of the Saint’.

As always, dozens of elite clergies had been solemnly at work in the three-hundred and sixty-degrees, all-transparent observation deck. The colossal Void warship which original form had been the Holy Mountain of the Distant Sea, there were more than twenty-five hundred various observation formation and lens controlled by the observation hub of the Holy Mountain Fortress. Most of them operated through autonomous circuits, while several hundreds of the high-quality lenses that could carry out Void observation were operated manually by specialists between three different shifts day and night.

In the main control room, streams of information feedback and reports were sent and received. The clergies worked primly, even without anomaly occurring in the Void around Mycroft.

Until that very moment.

“Widespread dimensional shift in Sector 171!’

Shrill, red alarms were suddenly ringing on a certain monitor in the observation deck. The clergy who observed the observation point panickily stared at shade that was rapidly enlarging in the virtual monitor—without hesitating, he activated the early-warning signal for large-scale ‘Void Calamity’, while forwarding the shade before his eyes to the central observation deck.

At once, every observer saw a colossal dimensional vortex rapidly forming in the Void nearby Mycroft. It crumpled dimensional turbulences like a funnel, its frightening gravity dragging everything around it, forcing otherworld matter wafting in the Void to gather towards it.

In a brief dozens of seconds, the gravitational force of its core reached nine hundred billion times that of standard gravity values. However, when the unimaginable number kept rising wildly, every clergy present suspected that their vision developed issues and led them to see a few more zeroes, but that number never changed no matter how many times they stared at it.

“Void constitution had been distorted… It isn’t clear.”

The leader of Observation Control—a Supreme-tier High Priest frowned. He was the former High Priest of the God of Wisdom and Choice and stationed at the Eastern Plains, but gave up his peaceful and steady life there following the rise of the Holy Mountain Fortress, taking up a post in the Void. Now, he was controlling dozens of Void observation points to study the distant gravitational vortex, but could not really see the sights at that location in real-time.

Excessive and terrible gravity that could violently twist light itself certainly left them with no options as they were equipped with observation formations that relied on mana and various radioactive oscillation. In response, the High Priest could only give a helpless order.

“It might be some ancient Void Behemoth. Send the message to notify other observation centers and Aida—we need further instructions.”

“Do we have to change our course?”

“That’s not our business.”

***

The Void was no safe place. In the seven hundred and more years since the people of Mycroft had entered the Void, they observed countless dimensional turbulences and storms of various scales that might either be natural Void phenomenon or shockwaves from the movements of certain Void behemoths. In the brief operational history of the ‘Eye of the Saint’, the Seven Gods Church could even observe two distant worlds colliding after a Void storm, subsequently fusing into one.

Compared to that chaotic storm that was so boundless there were tidal waves cascading through that dimensional region, the dimensional vortex that abruptly appeared was not too unusual. However, the vortex was too close to Mycroft compared to some distant Void storm—therefore, for the safety of the world, the Holy Mountain Fortress that had been tasked with patrolling the Void around Mycroft must make an immediate decision.

Should they observe safely but vaguely from a distance, or take the risk and observe the dimensional vortex from a shorter range?

The choice was made soon enough. With the flicker of a vein of sacred but faint light, a white-haired elderly man hence appeared at the center of the observation deck. He frowned slightly before nodding at the vortex that was no longer expanding, although it was still stirring the surrounding Void dangerously.

“Well done,” he said. “Maintain observation—let’s take a closer look.”

With the arrival of the true leader, the entire Holy Mountain Fortress changed course and made for the dimensional vortex. The many clergies present were no longer uneasy as well, for Pope Igor had arrived in the flesh.

Soon, the Fortress that drove forward at full speed arrived at the edge of the dimensional region just beyond the vortex’s gravitational boundary.

The so-called dimensional region was a concept suggested by a court mage of the West Mountains two hundred and seventy years ago. He believed that to better observe the many stars and many worlds in the Void, there should be a standard boundary and measurement. Therefore, he measured the frontiers where certain observable dimensional ripples emanating from Mycroft could reach, confirming the concept of ‘dimensional region’.

Each dimensional region would hence be partitioned with certain distinct planetary worlds at its center, and from that measurement, that dimensional vortex was right at the edge of Mycroft’s dimensional region. The Holy Mountain Fortress decelerated when they arrived at that location so that they would not enter the area of the vortex’s gravitational influence, instead releasing multiple prismatic magical observation apparatus to study the vortex in real time.

They hence quickly noticed the ‘Giant Silver Cocoon’ at the heart of the vortex.

“Is that an egg?” Someone asked, even though the contrast in terms did not matter. One way or the other, everyone could not help feeling stirred when they saw that perfect sphere which had been almost fifty meters tall, but was gradually crumbling and shrinking. It embodied the beauty of order and sheer power, its existence alone shifting the dimensions around it.

Pope Igor could not help nodding too—he could not find any vulnerabilities or flaws from the silver sphere despite his ability. Soon, however, he sensed a familiarity from the silver luminous shroud revolving around the giant cocoon… he had definitely seen that tremendous gravitational ripple from a certain acquaintance.

“Could it be…”

A possibility appearing in mind, along with the lack of recent news from that person who was definitely traveling in the Void recently, Igor understood at once. He no longer looked upon the giant cocoon with vigilance, but with a sense of helplessness.

‘Always making headlines’, the elderly pontiff thought, shaking his head before turning toward the High Priest beside him, who in turn had all but confirmed that the giant cocoon was the egg of some Void Behemoth. “We can pretty much cancel the high-alert. Whatever it is, that thing is no threat… prepare for recovery.”

“Yes, your Holiness. But… How would we recover that thing?”

The High Priest bowed in reverence and accepted the orders, although remaining puzzled about how to recover the cocoon. After all, everyone had seen the terrific mass of the thing itself, stirring gravity enough that it would crush the sturdiest asteroids that was the remnant of a destroyed world—it could well be the raw material for forging a Holy Sword. Approaching that thing a little would probably deal severe damage upon the Holy Mountain, not to mention recovering it.

“What is there to do?” Igor sighed in response, flexing his limbs and shaking his head. “Of course I’ll do it myself.”

At once, a rather inconspicuous brilliance darted away from the majestic Holy Mountain Fortress, making a beeline straight towards

Meanwhile, in the heart of the dimensional vortex, the Steel Python Karlis had also sense that radiant human figure that was swiftly approaching, as well as the Bright Scepter he held in hand.

“The Sage’s presence.”

It appeared rather excited. “Should be a communicative being.”

The existing form of Steel Pythons far eclipsed most living things, being the most profound beings formed of pure Steel and Flame. Regardless of how powerful most creatures were, as long as they did not embody Steel Strength or refined their souls to the pinnacle, they basically would not see a Steel Python, much less interact with them.

Karlis was certainly aware of that. However, Joshua did once mention to it that Mycroft had others who also inherited the Sage’s Legacy and could communicate with Steel Pythons. That was why it waited there, or it would have long returned to its own world a long time ago.

As for Joshua’s safety… Karlis thought that it was rather clear who was the one who actually requires attention. Typical intelligent beings, having their brains, would not easily attack the unknown silver object that could distort the Void around it. Instead of minding the warrior’s safety, it was much better to warn the ignorant civilizations around them to avoid that dangerous zone, so that they would not throw away their lives wastefully.

And when Pope Igor broke through heavy gravitational seals and arrived nearby the giant silver cocoon, he realized in shock that a profound consciousness was wandering around the cocoon that should be Joshua.

A World Will!

A while ago, he had worked together with many Legends and gods to utterly seal Mycroft’s World Will. He was hence not unfamiliar with the profound will, but before he could determine why a World Will would be accompanying Joshua, that vague presence that appeared to be a mere will spoke first.

“Ye who holds the Scepter of the Sage.”

It spoke thus, “You are perhaps the champion, the friend Joshua once mentioned. As you could see, Joshua had transformed to that silver cocoon. A while ago, he and I had journeyed to the depths of the Void and completed a mission assigned by another World Will, but perhaps because his power had arrived at a certain threshold, he suddenly transformed to this state.”

Karlis could actually guess Joshua’s thoughts then, too.

While the warrior was greatly exhausted after the battle against Fattrovi the Authority Usurper, he clearly reaped huge rewards. Joshua’s presence had been rather unstable then, although he suppressed it and hence left Simboa without delay. However, in the instant when they left, they incidentally encountered the astonishing shift of the Void Vortex, and countless primitive Steel Strength of creation cascaded, forcefully injecting a massive amount of energy, filling the last bit of emptiness for him.

At that moment, Joshua knew that his metamorphosis was about to come, which was why he returned at once to Mycroft. It was hence a pity—he was greatly delayed by the anomalies of the Void Vortex to the point that the metamorphosis began irrepressibly, before he could reach a safe place.

As a result, he could only mutter ‘timing isn’t right’.

But it actually was not the worst scenario. If Joshua had really metamorphizing at the edge of Mycroft and unleashed his frightening gravity domain, he would very likely affect the entire world, the excessive gravity ripple perhaps bypassing the World Barrier and presenting various anomalies inside the world.

Meanwhile, Karlis did not care if the radiant human form understood before simply elaborating about all its thoughts and opinions. However, it did not bother to venture into detail about their encounters in Simboa, and so simply gave a general description, leaving the rest for Joshua after he awakens.

Karlis hence left briskly for its own world after leaving Pope Igor with a general idea of the present circumstances, leaving the pontiff alone with a head full of questions as he stared blankly at the giant silver cocoon.

“…What is going on?’

He could tell that the World Will appeared to recognize the Bright Scepter in his hand, and was probably a Steel Python that once communicated with the Sage, and hence probably why it treated him rather well. But before he could ask it about it, Karlis had left with neither care nor sentiment, appearing to be very confident in Joshua’s safety.

And it was certainly confident.

Igor withdrew its gaze and turned to the giant silver cocoon before him, finding it unusually troublesome, although a raging Void Behemoth would only circle it a few times before leaving as well. However, being Legendary-pinnacle and a god amongst the humans of Mycroft, Igor was not helpless against the Steel Strength core that would leave most champions at a bind.

Veins of halo-shaped runes swarmed away from the luminous human figure with a vague visage. In seconds, millions of golden ‘isolation runes’ formed a huge runic sphere outside the giant silver cocoon. With the support of the elderly pope’s power, the seemingly weightless runic sphere did not crumble beneath the gravity tear from the silver cocoon, instead overlapping and resonating to form a ‘parallel space’. At once, the dimensional vortex that swirled in the surrounding Void began to shrink, finally vanishing, just as the concave funnel space gradually returned to its previous shape, no longer twisted.

When all of that was done, Igor panted, feeling a little glad that Joshua should still be focused in the metamorphizing instead of deliberately resisting. Otherwise, the pontiff would have to pay several times the effort, even calling for support from the Holy Mountain Fortress to complete the seal.

His series of actions was actually a sealing art inherited by the Seven Gods Church, used to seal various remaining body parts of Evil Gods. It would build a parallel space that was completely isolated, holding the endless remaining toxic of Chaos within—even the grand scale sealing spell used on Mycroft’s World Will was a form of its variant.

But due to the rekindling of the Flame, Mycroft had to seal their own Steel Python, even before the sealing spells were casted upon various remaining body parts of Evil Gods and origins of Chaos in the Sealed Lands… and now, there was Joshua.

When everything was done, Igor drew the golden sealed sphere and flew towards the Holy Mountain Fortress, but could not help hesitating when he was prepared to put the sphere in a hold.

“That man… If he suddenly struggled away from the seal, wouldn’t the Holy Mountain Fortress be completely destroyed?”

After some thought, Igor found a perfect solution.

Thus, the mountainous and dazzling vessel navigated over the Void, darting toward Mycroft and causing a surge of dimensional turbulence.

And behind the vessel was a long runic belt of light, hanging by the tail ends of the Holy Mountain Fortress and connected to the inconspicuous golden sphere of light. However, despite running on full capacity, the Fortress remained almost a third slower than before. Most hands were puzzled as to why the return journey was considerably longer than before, but only a few knew the reason.

***

Starfall Year 837, fifteenth of October. The Void Warship production base in the East Barnett Highlands, the Northern Empire, the world of Mycroft.

Nostradamus stared at the giant silver cocoon placed inside a translucent quarantine storeroom with considerable aching in his head, just as Israel’s full-body projection also watched that giant cocoon which diameter was almost forty meters.

The two then looked at each other, their expression helpless.

They were in a large storeroom temporarily built by the westernmost front of the East Barnett Highlands, at the very edge of the Northern Empire’s magical factories. There was no other production installation around, but the two leaders of the Empire were frowning at the center of the storeroom, wherein a cocoon filled with ‘isolation runes’ floated in the air.

“What should we do? I can’t sense a thing inside the cocoon.”

Nostradamus, holding a grimoire in one hand, was scratching his head with another—which he did for an entire week. After the Seven Gods Church had handed over the cocoon ‘suspected’ to be Joshua, the old mage had spent almost every day inside the storeroom, considering how to talk to Joshua.

Even if they could not interact, they should at least determine Joshua’s present condition.

“According to the Seven Gods Church, all known divine spells or even magic could not determine what is happening inside the cocoon—we can’t even bypass the Steel Strength shielding over the surface of the cocoon.”

“That’s very much what Barnil and William said.” Israel’s projection nodded. The Emperor had remained on his Throne of Surveillance and did not visit with his real form, mainly because there was no purpose even if he arrived in person. As a Dragon Rider who was not on the same field, Israel could only repeat others’ conclusion. “That sage from the Eastern Plains and Barbarossa also came by a while ago. Did you meet them? What did they say?”

“They can’t do a thing either.”

Nostradamus rubbed his temples rather exhaustedly and scowled. “Direct contract would not do. Everything that passed through the gravity seal barrier would be caught, then fully disintegrated into base Steel Strength shroud and absorbed by him. That’s how Barbarossa lost that scepter of his, and Barnil almost lost a hand.”

“Does that mean we can’t do anything here?”

Israel shook his head, and turned toward that slowly whirling silver sphere that kept shrinking to sigh. “Noble Radcliffe, you’ve given us a great conundrum.”

At that, His Imperial Majesty’s projection turned anxiously towards Nostradamus again. “Then? If we can’t awaken him, we can only put that egg here?”

“Cocoon,” the elderly mage corrected. “Although that’s the gist of it. Joshua is, after all, a Legendary champion of our Empire and can’t be kept in the Seven Gods Church… But to be frank, those clergies appeared in great panic. I suspect there would be mass hysteria eventually if they kept the cocoon.”

“Ah… Can’t blame them. Even the workers in the installation are getting restless.”

Israel did not show any expression of disdain; he was in fact a little sympathetic. Soon, even that bit of sympathy quickly diminished as His Imperial Majesty glanced at the egg. “After all,” he said worriedly, “this thing is a bomb that could instantly destroy the East Barnett Highlands in its entirety. To be honest, I am fearful since this is our industrial base, and if he does lose control suddenly… Keeping the egg Noble Radcliffe turned into is definitely not a solution.

‘Cocoon’, Nostradamus thought. Still, he was of the same mind with Israel’s worries. Even if the silver cocoon appeared stable now, who knows what kind of anomaly would happen after Joshua awakened? If it was another phenomenon at the scale of a dimensional vortex, the entire western highlands of the Empire might be devastated, leaving a pile of wastelands.

Since they could not talk to Joshua inside the cocoon, they should not be keeping him here. They need to find a safe and vast space to put him and await his awakening… But was there such a place? There was no such place that was vast and unowned, not even the far seas since the gravitational shift could lead to tidal waves, causing great damage.

The Void would not do too since it was too far for them to observe. On the other hand, if they placed it too close to ensure Joshua’s safety, it would affect the Void-Star Observatory that all factions shared, making it an extraordinary dilemma.

“Wait. There is a place wide enough!”

Nostradamus suddenly thought of a great spot after some long consideration, quickly telling Israel quietly amidst a stir in his spirit.

***

Starfall Year 837. Third of November, the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds beyond Mycroft.

A bunch of unusual visitors had entered the ancient artificial plane that had yet been cleansed of Abyssal toxic.

“They’re saying that Master’s here?”

It was a rather unique procession. In the lead was a metallic construct several dozen meters tall, and holding aloft a flag that read ‘Winter Fort Academy’. A black dragon of almost the same size following behind it, and up on their shoulders sat many youths who were students. One of them, the silver-haired girl standing on the metal construct’s shoulder was looking through a pair of binoculars excitedly at their surroundings, seemingly searching for the alleged presence of her master.

Soon, she sensed a familiar presence emanating from the center of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds.

The Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds was now open to various factions of Mycroft. Although there were some who protested, believing that such a vital outlet should not be open to public, their opinions did not hold a candle to the Legends, or to the Will that was the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds itself. Most champions believed that since the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds was a miracle built by the races existing in the Glorious Era of Mycroft’s history, they should not simply refuse any existing right to use it.

Ultimately, everyone should be made aware of the Glorious Era’s advancement and power. And they, as successors, would unquestionably be able to achieve the same feats.

What was more, as a completely independent and vast demiplane, its cleanup alone would take decades if the various factions did not work together. Most leaders were aware as well that the Evil Gods would be coming then, and that the Mycroft was on the cusp of great peril. If that was the case, why should they tangle over the rights to use a public facility?

The Winter Fort Academy’s organized trip to the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds this time was an official movement, having received instructions from the Imperial Family of the Northern Empire, and a trail planned by the Imperial Royal Mage Academy. They would head for the center of the plane where the Empire’s base was largely established, before visiting the colossal enchanted Glorious Era buildings under the guidance of a certain elite mage.

Apart from broadening their horizons, such a visit would also hone the aspirations of extraordinary individuals so that their gaze would not be limited to lands and countries, and would instead come to learn the vastness of the Void and the Multiverse.

Naturally, for those amongst the procession but not academy members, and who came only to find their master who had gone missing for a considerable part of the year, it was nothing too important… After all, they had already been there many times.

The many academy students who were still left in awe after transcending the Void at the frontier entrance of the demiplane notwithstanding, a silver cocoon was floating over the land, at the center of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds and directly beneath the ‘Silver Sky Radiance’—the original form of the Commanding Will.

Countless translucent runes were churning around the cocoon, formless, gathering and dispersing while occasionally forming an orbit form, or an incorporeal nebula. Still, whatever form they take, they would utterly isolate the giant cocoon’s gravity, so that the ultimate mass that exerted a gravitational force fifteen hundred billion times above standard gravity was the same as a harmless metal ball, silently wafting in the air.

The Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds watched the giant cocoon silently, at the most orthodox Sage’s Heir at its heard, watching his metamorphosis.

It was only here, beneath its control at the edge of Mycroft that the giant cocoon would not cause any unseen harm of devastation. Even if Joshua would suddenly finish morphing and once again stir a gravity vortex that was more powerful than before, the Commanding Will was certain it could keep the repercussions at a minimum.

What was more, it believed that Joshua van Radcliffe can keep his own power in check.

And inside the cocoon, the warrior whom everyone thought to be slumbering never once stopped thinking.

He was conscious—infinitely conscious, because Joshua had been resisting a power that could break his flesh and bones. all along

And the source of that power was himself.