Soul of Burning Steel

Holding the fire tightly in his hand, Joshua's red eyes stared directly at the source of the light. He looked at the faint flame seriously, as if everything in the world was being reflected in it.

Joshua's body and will were led by the flames to the depths of the world.

He originally thought that this was the spontaneous action of the Azure Orb, just like the inheritance task he had experienced in his previous life, that the sage's relic would test or test him in a certain mysterious place, and then give him An advanced inheritance, just like the one in the family cemetery.

But he was wrong.

The endless flow of light, like a river, surrounds the warrior's body, leading Joshua across some inexplicable boundary, allowing him to see the 'world'.

Although it is said to be seeing, in fact, Joshua is "feeling" with his spirit. Countless information directly poured into the soldier's brain, which made him sigh with emotion how superficial and real the world he observed with his eyes in the past was. How complicated and wonderful the world is.

He felt it.

a will.

That is the mind that covers the entire world and carries all things. It has existed since the heaven and the earth appeared in the void, and will exist forever.

This great mind is leading him, spreading along the veins of all things.

The long river of time flows by Joshua's side, countless double images overlap each other, and countless pictures form a flowing image.

Joshua saw it.

He saw the chaotic veins under the earth.

He saw countless vein rocks that had dried up and decayed, turned into sand and dust.

He saw, deep underground, the ruins of cities thousands of years ago and the remains of all living things.

He saw the core of the earth, the black clouds covering the surface, and the cold wind surrounding the seas. He saw the structure of the world, the blueprint of creation, everything, everything that exists.

He also saw the evil existence that invaded from the void, rooted deeply in the flesh and blood of the earth, and used strange crystals as tentacles to continuously squirm and expand its territory.

He saw that the veins of chaos had deeply penetrated the flesh and blood of 'His', corroded His core, corrupted the world, and turned it into a barren world of famine.

Joshua was led here, he watched all this, and in his eyes, he seemed to be able to see the illusion of the future.

The world began to collapse under the erosion of evil.

Water, dried up and condensed, time and space fell into a standstill.

The wind stopped flowing, and the magic power and elements dissipated.

The earth twisted and collapsed, and the earth and everything turned into nothingness.

The fire is completely extinguished, and all existence returns to chaos.

Finally, the illusion ended, and Joshua came to his senses. Only then did he realize that the river of light that brought him here had reached its end, and the turbulent stream of light roared past Joshua's side. But it is not leading him forward.

Joshua stood in the dark void, he raised his head, and what he saw was a vault made of stars, behind him, the river of time (the past) ceased, and in front of him, the infinite nothingness was heading towards Extending into the distance (future).

What is this place?

What did I just see?

Joshua, who came back to his senses, couldn't help but startled. He frowned and looked around, only to find that the surrounding scenes were constantly changing, as if they were changing with his observation.

"Here is the inner side of the world."

And as if I could hear Joshua's inner voice, a voice appeared from the void. It was low, a little hoarse, but very gentle. The voice was a bit vague at first, but gradually became clear: "And what you saw before is The past of this world, and the future to come."

Joshua looked around, but he didn't find the person who made the sound, but after a while, he noticed that there were small dots appearing in the void in the distance.

This small dot was originally like a faint starlight in the sky, almost invisible, but it quickly became bigger and shimmering, and finally, under Joshua's shocked gaze, it turned into a huge silver python that was as big as a planet. Leaning his body, steel-like scales rubbed against each other, splashing red flames, while the silver pupils stared at Joshua with a trace of curiosity.

Seeing this shocking scene, Joshua couldn't help shaking his head to calm himself down.

No matter who the other party is, at this time it shows no malice and can communicate. The situation is not bad. The soldier took a light breath, and then said: "Excuse me, where is this place?"

And you, what are you?

Although he didn't open his mouth, the giant python, which was so huge that people couldn't even see the end, seemed to know what Joshua was thinking. It calmly replied, "This is the inner side of the world."

"And I am the will of the world you live in. You can call me 'Kallis the Steel Python'."

After a moment of silence, Joshua quickly accepted this setting.

In a fantasy world, there is nothing wrong with the incarnation of the will of the world. There is also a true god in the Mycroft Continent. What's more, it is said that the first god in the world is the world itself. This is not shocking news.

But he was still a little strange, why the will of the world would appear in front of him——in front of an ordinary fighter who is now only a gold rank.

So Joshua directly asked, "Then...why did you bring me here? And why did you show up?"

"Because of tinder."

A deep and gentle voice echoed in the void, and the huge steel python slowly circled. He watched Joshua and the faint flame in his hand, and said, "I was sleeping and about to die, because of watching When the tinder appeared, that's why I woke up and came here.

"So, you came because of this kindling?"

Joshua raised the cyan crystal in his hand, and a faint flame burned in it. He looked calm and didn't mind the other party's peeping.

"No."

The steel python was very peaceful, but what he said was beyond the warrior's expectations: "Although I was awakened by the sudden light, I have no desire for your fire."

He stared at Joshua quietly, as if he was more interesting than the fire, and the steel python said with interest: "With your fire, so what?"

He didn't have any reason to deceive, but just stated his own thoughts: "My children have all died long ago, and their rotting corpses are now in my body. It’s impossible to give birth to a second civilization and ignite its own flame again.”

Speaking of this, Steel Python seemed to be laughing at himself.

But after hearing this sentence, Joshua felt a little uncomfortable for some reason, he frowned: "No, if all life is your children, then not all of your children died."

He raised his head, stared at the will of the world like a planet, and said in a deep voice: "Number 3, an artificial intelligence, she also exists, and she has been driving in the barren wilderness for thousands of years, keeping your only remaining fire."

"……maybe."

After a moment of silence, the Steel Python said softly: "If it was thousands of years ago, I would have directly asked for it. If it had been hundreds of years ago, I would probably have planned to trade this fire with you, but now, I won't let you have it." loss."

He stared at Joshua's gaze, becoming more and more interested: "Young man, you actually have such a quality of power of order... This is the best way to fight against chaos."

"I know that you come from another world, but it doesn't matter. You have many questions in your heart... Feel free to ask. As a reward for awakening me, I can answer your questions."

"Evil God."

After thinking for a while, Joshua asked firmly: "The cause of everything is the invasion of evil gods. What is their source and purpose?"

The inquiry was sent out, but there was no immediate answer. After a moment of silence, the body of the steel python squirmed in the void. Not long after, the answer came out.

"The god of desolation, the crystal insect Ulmades, the son of famine...their world began with the fire in the forest, and the flames of civilization burned among the swamps and forests. Civilized civilization, they swore, to spread their flame to other worlds."

"However, just as there are isolated islands in the world, it is sad that they have not found other worlds within ten thousand years."

"They are located in the embers of the Fireless Land. It is a miracle among miracles that they can develop civilization. But this time, there are no miracles."

When Steel Python said this, it seemed to be with a touch of sadness: "The civilization has developed to the limit, and all the resources have been exhausted, but they still can't find another world in the astral world, and the civilization began to retreat. Gradually, They can no longer enter or leave the astral world."

"Under the pressure of increasingly tight resources, they ate their own world - hollowed out the soil and rocks, and truly exhausted all substances. They hollowed out the earth, used energy carefully, and maintained circulation as much as possible. , until the millennium, ten thousand years, the eternal calamity of sinking."

The huge body surrounded the river of time, and the steel python stared straight at Joshua, who was in deep thought. His voice was hoarse and low: "In the beginning, there will be billions of people, then tens of millions, hundreds of thousands, A thousand people, a hundred people, ten people, one person."

"Until the last man also died in endless loneliness and hunger, the fire of their civilization finally lost its fuel, and went out in pain and despair."

"And the world, in this desperate pain, is also distorted."

The story of the steel python is coming to an end.

"The world will also move its position. After an unknown period of time, a world that has developed magic energy technology came into contact with the wreckage of this empty world in the endless exploration of the void."

"And thus was born the sad god of famine."

Karliss' world will bowed his head, and hovered his body covered by most of the void: "As for the purpose of the evil gods, no one knows, but they will only bring despair, pain, famine, war, plague and death , there is no doubt about it.”

He looked directly into Joshua's eyes, and said calmly, "I am Karlis, the steel python."

"Descendants of Steel, after learning all this, are you willing to become the guardian of the world, drive out chaos, and guard the frontier of order?"

And Joshua was thinking.

After a moment: "I refuse."