Soul of Searing Steel
chapter-826

Booom—

The long rumble reverberated in the head of every Satrean, descending upon every creature that survive, declaring the advent of a profound being.

Zessel stared blankly in the skies. The powerful Sartrean champion did not at once react, but soon understood.

It was the sound of the World Barrier being shattered by a certain powerful being.

The homeworld of the Sartreans was a geocentric world. The giant planet itself was circled by a sun and moon, with a thick layer of ether enshrouding the system. The ether belt allowed the Sartreans to build wooden airships with sails in their feudal era, the near-thousand-year accumulation of technology hence allowing the race to create a fleet out of nowhere right when they entered the Void.

World Barriers were stalwart. Even Void Behemoths had a hard time breaking, and could at most make a small hole wherein they absorbed substances or sent out their spawns or bacterium to infect the world.

But now, the Sartrean World Barrier, its ether and atmospheric belts were a broken.

In the ruins of all cities and beneath the dark layers of clouds, almost every Sartrean could see the World Barrier collapsing like glass. Formless ether was parted along with the dark, turbid clouds that covered the world, and from that, bright sunlight and another light far greater than it appeared behind the broken World Barrier.

Before the second source of light, even the sun appeared dim.

"What… what on earth is that?!"

"Could it be… Evil God invasion!"

"Where's our Void Fleet? What are they doing?!"

"Is this world finished…?"

The Sartreans were ultimately a Void civilization that once embodied the power to destroy a world. While it had been millennia since their citizens left their homeworld, their ancestral memories remained deeply ingrained within their bloodline. And now, as the terror lurking within their bloodline flowed once more into their mind, the despair at the sight of their shattered World Barrier saw the world face the hopelessness of devastation once again—even the craziest of rioters and the most iron-blooded military man subconsciously dropped their weapons in anticipation of death.

Meanwhile, Zelma, captain of the Voyager stared blankly at its own world after having returned alongside Joshua. Across the shattered World Barrier and the distant ether built, it was the first time it saw the Sartreans' cities that were usually shrouded beneath dark clouds, but it clearly was not something it wanted to see over the course of its life.

"Great Lord…"

Zelma, whose feet had already turned soft was basically kneeling on the ground as it muttered away. "You… what are you doing?"

"Bringing you peace and hope, of course." The Giant God answered.

At present, Joshua mostly understood the Sartreans' present state.

There was no question that the intelligent otherworld beings were on the edge of self-destruction.

Their Void Fleet had been trading fire in the Void itself, each fleet staying vigilant of the other in fear of them falling to madness and thus opening fire at themselves. They would even hide in the dark out of that fear, attacking preemptively before other fleets noticed them as the outer Void turned into a dark forest.

The world itself was filled with militia, rioters and criminals taking advantage of the chaos to steal, rob, rape and whimsically vent their dark desires and hysterical civilians who attacked any who dared approach. Fires raged in the thousands of city ruins, but the Sartreans who were panicking and left at a loss never realized that the complex and tight layout of their city allow the fires to spread several times worse—in a dozen, or dozens of minutes, the unstoppable infernos would reduce millions into ashes.

There was no stop to echoes of gunfire and cannon fire even as Sartrean Extraordinary individuals fought in every corner of the world. The thick toxic clouds caused by pollution gathering over the metropolises would turn into acid rain at any moment, swiftly killing entire populations, while any survivor would have to survive in toxic swamps formed after the rain.

Villages, towns, cities, and metropolises were completely ignorant of where the chaos started. The society of a Void civilization hence utterly collapsed, and Joshua could see the ugliness unfolding even in secluded places. Those who wished to restore Order stood alone, only able to keep the people around them safe.

It could even be said that the 12.1 billion Sartreans are in the midst of a social collapse that was beyond saving. Every individual could hardly trust another even if they were their kin, while various governing bodies, along with the police and army had fallen, losing any form of function. Be it Extraordinary individuals or normal persons, none could escape the collapse.

Reasonably speaking, the situation was unsalvageable.

But there were always beings that never obeyed reason.

"Restoring temporary order to these 12.1 billion? Simple."

High above the skies, behind the spiderweb-like gap over the World Barrier, the Giant God was calming Zelma. "As long as I subjugate everyone, none of them would slaughter each other."

Joshua did not lower his voice as he spoke, and yet the Giant God's words carried a reverberation that struck the soul, resounding in the heart of the Sartrean.

Almost all that lives on Sartre could hear him.

The world fell silent.

Then, the Giant God turned and gazed upon the world.

In the very next second, a mighty colossal silver hand with fingers larger than entire mountains streaked through the world gap as ether rumbled, descending upon the world. At the same time, it threw a terrible shadow that covered the sun and half the continent, exerting terrible gravity that quaked the seas and made world wail.

Thus, Joshua simply grasped the small moon that circled the Sartrean planet.

"W—wait!"

In that second, a trembling Steel Python appeared before Joshua. It appeared tired: scales were peeling off it and it appeared to have just awakened from a slumber.

Nevertheless, it appeared intent on explaining things for the warrior. "God of Steel from Mycroft, Sartre has not done anything to your…"

"Do not be afraid."

Joshua explained calmly, cutting it short and soothing it. "It'll be for a moment; it won't hurt."

Then, his fingers closed.

***

The moon that the Sartreans had looked up upon since the Stone Age and was a dozen thousands, even millions of years old thus shattered.

Being a Geocentric World, the Sartrean moon could not even affect gravitational tides, and was nothing but a huge rock that reflected sunlight. It was not even 250 kilometers in circumference, and was nothing but a small mocha cake before Joshua, one who consumed planet cores like cakes.

The powerful light that erupted from the moon after it was crushed was blocked by the giant silver hand, but all could see golden red magma light flashing between those fingers. It was light that came from mass of substances being melted by supreme heat and pressure and disintegrated, and for that single second, the piece of rock that only reflected light birthed light surpassing the sun.

At that moment, Zessel closed its eyes.

It was the end.

Be it Void Behemoth, Evil God or some other champion of Chaos, it was not an entity that the Sartrean civilization could presently resist.

The sun of Sartre was merely a body of energy crystal several times larger than the moon—if that entity could crush the moon, it was a matter of time before it crushed the sun too. But before that, the shards of the moon would crash down upon the Sartrean world, the trillion tons of blaze and magma instantly killing billions, while the survivors would die in the boundless heat.

The armies that were exchanging fire, the rioters on a rampage, civilians fighting each other to secure food and fresh water stopped fighting, their faces pallid. Before the unparalleled violent forced that crushed all planets and worlds, any conflict, sadness, and hate were mere whispers in the wind, tears in the rain—nonsensical jokes, meaningless white.

Father or husbands held their wives and children tightly, enjoying the final moment of intimacy. Military men threw away their weapons and lay on the ground, watching the clouds cascade in the skies. The elderly who were hiding in their rooms sighed and went out to the balconies, gazing up upon the sight of the skies that the children did not understand.

Within a single breath, the moment had come.

Between the Giant God's fingers, infinite thin golden rays descended upon the land, moon fragments piercing the darkness as they dropped to the ground. Everything appeared to be the worst of jokes, and yet just sixty seconds ago, every person was drowning in anguish, hatred, and despair, holding the darkest of thoughts and killing their own kind. The fleets were even considering aiming their main cannons to bombard the city ruins occupied by the rioters—even if there were thousands of innocent residents.

But now, as the true apocalypse descended upon them, everyone gained their pre-death lucidity and became aware of what foolishness they had all been up to.

Nonetheless, it was all too late.

Crimson flames streaked through the skies and ignited the black acid clouds, before crashing heavily upon the land.

***

"?"

Zessel, its eyes closed, never felt the world-ending rumble from the moon's fragments crashing down on land. The greatest champion of Sartre hence opened its eyes tentatively despite being prepared for death, to see what happened.

Then, it stared blankly. In that very moment, silver mist had filled every part of the world.

The Sartrean moon was not large, and was perhaps smaller than the mountain range of certain colossal worlds, although its mass remained in the trillion-ton class.

And now, that trillion tons mass falling from Joshua's fingers all turned into Steel Strength when they crashed down as meteors.

The gloomy clouds of heavy pollution that had piled for millennia and became long since irremovable vanished between breaths. As Steel Strength mist engulfed the world, the heavy metal and smog particles in the air, as well as the sand and dust filling the world all disappeared.

Raindrops of Steel permeated the ground, gathering chemical and metal pollutants into solid black substances piling over the ground. In the sea, silver dots of light weaved through the waters, disintegrating all permanently polluting substances, sedimented upon the seabed.

The infernos in the city ruins were extinguished, every rioter and criminal caught and restrained in chains that appeared out of thin air. Some of the vilest of criminals had simply been covered by the thin mist, becoming nothing in the very next second as the mist wafted away.

Meanwhile, beneath the collapsed houses, the victims who had enough of the dark promptly saw a light. Silver radiance of Order punched a sturdy passage directed to the outside distinctly, healing any heavily injured as if time was reversed.

The armaments of the military were promptly destroyed, everything from energy crystals, gunpowder or superweapon circuitry briefly set on lockdown. Layers of thin metallic reflection covered the vital components of the weapons, keeping them from functioning—the Sartreans could not even kill themselves, with any method of assault from teeth to nail sealed, dulled to the brim.

Everything was now grasped within the Giant God's palm. Resist? The billions of Sartreans were not even aware that they were attacked and controlled.

If necessary, Joshua could even directly use Steel Strength to control the electromagnetic forces all over the world and knock out every Sartrean—but what he was doing now is enough.

Zelma and Sartre the Steel Python looked on, staring blankly at their homeland (body). The entire planet was being shrouded in a dense layer of silver mist, spreading without stopping towards other parts of the planet and painting it in even silver.

It was done. 

Now, with the entire engulfed in the [Incomplete Peaceful Paradise], the Sartreans could no longer destroy themselves.

As to who started the conflict, who was in the right, who should assume responsibility, whether it began on deliberate will or if it should continue—everything is in the past, and had nothing to do with the developments to come and the will of the civilization itself.

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Whether they wanted it, peace had come upon the world of Sartre.

Such was the method Extraordinary individuals that stood above civilization itself pacified conflict.