Soul of Burning Steel

[Death is a catastrophe that most intelligent life will face no matter how they avoid it.

An invincible general, an emperor with power over the world, a researcher who transcended the times... no matter who they are, no matter how good they are as individuals, they will feel powerless when facing death.

Because of death, they cannot live forever, so fragile mortals need to reproduce, bear offspring, and pass on knowledge and power to those who come after them.

Because of death, all selfish lives, either forced or voluntarily choose to sacrifice. Because they are destined to usher in the end, in order not to be forgotten, they choose to pass on everything they have and give it to their heirs, or the "successors" who have inherited their ideas, and this is the original "inheritance and education" prototype.

It can be said like this-death laid the foundation of civilization.

but if.

Just if.

A civilization has defeated death—then, will its members regain their instinctive selfishness, abandon the cooperation and inheritance that have been carried out for tens of thousands of years, and, as lonely but complete individuals, take care of themselves? live forever? 】

Who knows?

"—My parents have passed away for many years. Even after hundreds of years, my body is beginning to age, but I still miss them very much."

An old voice sounded in the extremely spacious hall, this voice was not intentionally amplified, it was just an old man's somewhat vague self-talk: "I always want to tell them every important decision I make, I want to I want them to know my life, and I want them to be proud of everything I am."

"But I made mistakes."

The voice sounded with a hint of regret, and then dissipated, as if it had never been there.

——Thakur Annihilation Religion, Twelve Sanctuaries·Sky World——

They are twelve extremely unique artificial worlds composed entirely of psionic energy.

Before the tens of thousands of years of racial war with the Amos, there was only one Sky Curtain World, which existed as the capital of the sect at that time, but now, the world collection of the Twelve Sanctuaries is already a world that spans tens of thousands of years. The behemoths of a star field, they serve as the political center, cultural center, commercial center of the religious order... In short, the center of all civilizations.

They are the pride of the Thakur people. Both the Amos and the Thakur people know very well that the Twelve Sanctuaries are the last and strongest fortress of the Thakur people—in the long past, there used to be After the Royal Court of Amos defeated the defense line of the Thakur Order and ignited the flames of destruction to the capital of the Order, but in the long world offensive and defensive battle, the menacing Royal Court army was under the complete defense of the Sky Screen World. He hit a wall and stopped, and finally had to return home under the threat of reinforcements.

According to the rumors of disgust and fear of the Amos, the central place guarded by the twelve sanctuaries has no core center known to outsiders, and the biggest secret of the Thakur people is hidden.

They guessed right.

Because in the center of the twelve sanctuaries, there is indeed a thirteenth sky screen world that is unknown to outsiders.

In the middle of the Bloody Galaxy, the Thakur Annihilation Order, and the Twelve Sanctuaries, in a void shrouded in waves of psionic energy and divine power like a sea tide, a small world can be seen rotating quietly in it.

And the Patriarch of the Thakur Order, Georg Thakur, is in this small world, in a super-giant celestial-level hall that occupies more than 95% of the entire world's volume, slowly advance.

This is a majestic hall made entirely of silver-blue psychic medium. Its shape is simple and upright, without any redundant decorations or runes. Except for the almost endless seats and platforms on both sides of the hall, there are two rows of seats that go straight into the sky. The huge pillars and the endlessly extending stairs constitute a descending path leading to the core of the world.

And in the sky above the head, under the dome of the palace, a blue-blue supernatural sun that combines psionic energy and divine power emits light like a chandelier, illuminating the world.

【Faith guides the direction, wisdom forges the way forward】

[No need to be confused, express your doubts]

【We will always be with you】

Can vaguely hear, in the psionic energy and divine power that filled the entire world hall, there is a faint sound of the holy words, and then it returns to silence.

Amidst the faint sound and light, the patriarch moved forward in silence, going down bit by bit, towards the core of the world. His face was painful and exhausted, and his heart seemed to be suffering huge torment.

"I was stupid and made a mistake..." He whispered to himself, "But it was my compatriots who suffered the disaster."

- Wisdom and stupidity are relative.

[Life with wisdom will naturally make stupid actions: because of emotion, because of stupidity, because of impulse, because of instinct...and finally, because of faith.

Faith is fanatical worship, and it is the farthest distance from the truth. It is difficult to admit that there are still primitive religions in a super void force that spans the galaxy of the world—except for the world and civilization with the existence of true gods, because No matter how bad the true god among those forces is, it is nothing more than a dictatorial empire that is fanatically worshipped.

When God is just the highest class, a realm that can be reached by mortals, the boundary between God and man will be blurred, and the so-called belief will become a kind of following the correct and truthful teachings.

But the Order of Thakur Oblivion is different.

Their belief is true belief, not an idol, a real god, offering 'awe' and 'worship' to the true power of the true god.

Even, what they believe in is not 'annihilation', not 'prophecy', not a 'concept', what they even believe in is not 'faith'.

but themselves. 】

"Ah, hello."

"you're good too."

Walking on the increasingly dark palace steps that have sunk into the depths of the ground, the silent Patriarch suddenly spoke. He turned his head to the seemingly empty area on one side and raised his hand to say hello—— Surprisingly, there was really a gentle voice responding to him, and he could even vaguely see a colorless and translucent phantom flashing away with a smile on his face.

[Intelligent beings always reject death. Apart from the desire to 'live', their greatest desire may be to defeat 'death'.

The vast majority of people failed, they died and disappeared from this world, a small number of people succeeded, and although their bodies decayed, their spirits survived.

The former are all living beings, and the latter are the top elites in the history of civilization, maybe because of this, maybe not, but I have to admit that the motivation of intelligent life to pursue the desire of "immortality" must also be partly incorporated into " In the desire to become an elite and leave one's name in history'.

Therefore, under the impetus of this driving force, civilization continues to progress and change.

In order to defeat death, in order not to be forgotten, in order to... prove his existence.

——I exist, whether it is now or in the future. 】

The Patriarch's speed of progress looks slow, but in fact it is very fast. He walks in a world completely shaped by spiritual energy, and the only thing that determines his speed is the progress of his 'thought', which is manifested in the external world. Movement, however, is a symbol, a ritual to activate something.

And this ceremony gradually reached the end, and one could see more and more translucent figures suddenly appearing and disappearing in the surrounding world halls, and the nearly infinite seats were filled with dense crowds, who seemed to be meditating and praying , meditating silhouette.

Until the end, even the sky, the earth, and every inch of the palace were filled with translucent fluctuations, as if the whole world was beginning to wake up, the Patriarch just arrived at this mysterious palace world, located in the center of the deep underground .

He raised his head and looked towards the center of this magnificent palace forged with the world as raw material.

It was an incomparably huge, translucent texture, shining with colorless brilliance, and burning light ball.

——On the surface of the ball of light, endless faces are emerging, and endless translucent figures are flying out of it and sinking in, just like entering and leaving a door. The Patriarch looked at the ball of light, he was exhausted The expression of responsibility changed slightly, with a hint of pride, a little pride.

Because, that is the supreme creation of the Thakur people, the object of belief, that is the miracle forged by their civilization, and it is also the proof that Thakurn has overcome death and made it to this point.

——Infinite sources of divine energy——

Psychic energy requires wisdom and thinking before it can be condensed into a concrete form and turned into a real power.

And divine power requires the most extreme emotions, concepts and thinking before it can be released from the great source and flow out into the real world.

The two are in the same line, and they are the extraordinary power of a natural unity. The so-called nearly unlimited spiritual power and divine power actually represent nearly unlimited thinking and wisdom... In a sense, for a spiritual or divine civilization, if If a place can provide infinite spiritual energy and divine power, then that place must be the kingdom of heaven, a real heaven that exists on earth.

And the source of infinite divine energy change is the paradise that the Thakur people created for themselves.

The patriarch stood in front of the source of infinite divine energy change. He could see endless translucent phantoms appearing in this burning light ball. They were behind him, in front of him, and on both sides of him. Sideways, up, down, left, and right—this sounds very frightening, very scary, but these phantoms are watching the Patriarch gently, without the slightest bit of malice in their eyes.

"Hello, our Patriarch."

They said this with kindness and kindness in their tone, as if they were greeting an old man next door: "What's the matter, you look a little tired."

"...I hope you are doing well, too."

Hearing such a harmless voice, the old patriarch couldn't help but choked up. He suppressed the sadness and guilt, and said tremblingly, "I really... hope you are all well."

"Of course we're fine."

All the phantoms said in unison, the sound was layered and sounded at the same time, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami, but in the next moment, because everyone stopped talking, the entire world hall was silent-the power contained in this sound is so Huge and so pure, they are uniform, as if they are the collective will of the Thakur people.

—In fact, this is the collective will of the Thakur people.

Under the gaze of all the phantoms, the patriarch did not stop his movements. He let out a breath, and then stepped forward step by step, ready to touch the surface of the ball of light, the source of infinite divine energy, like a An ant wants to touch the ocean of the soul.

"Be careful, there are too many compatriots who died some time ago, and their resentment has not completely dissipated, you will be very painful-their dead memories are all there."

And just when the patriarch was about to touch the source of infinite divine energy change, some gentle voices sounded, prompting: "Do you need our help to bear it?"

"No, it's my responsibility."

Without any pause, the Patriarch stretched out his hand without hesitation to touch the light ball: "Because their death is all my fault."

"I have to take it all on my own."

The fingers of flesh and blood touched the light of spiritual energy and divine power, just like raindrops dripping from the sky and ripples in the lake—the moment the Patriarch touched the source of infinite divine energy, the infinite spiritual It can be mixed with endless memory explosions. At this moment, the old man felt that hundreds of billions of memories whose souls were burned and consumed by the extraordinary virus were rushing towards him, and all the pain was coming towards him. gather.

But he didn't escape in any way, the old man opened his arms and accepted all this calmly.

——The so-called infinite source of divine energy change is the man-made spiritual energy world created by condensing the power of all Thakur people, which belongs exclusively to their heaven on earth.

Unlike the sky world, because the sky world requires firmness and stability, it was forged by the Patriarch of the Thakur people with his own strength, without mixing the spiritual power and soul of any other people, and the infinite divine power can change The source, in essence, is the thinking backup of all Thakur people, and it is the condensation of soul, psychic energy, thinking, and memory of all Thakur people.

Strictly speaking, this thinking backup does not require the existence of a real soul. In the long period of time, there will always be people who will cause the annihilation of the soul due to battles and other reasons. However, the source of infinite divine energy changes can be tracked and recorded in real time. As long as the thinking of any Thakur with a "correct belief" exists, no matter whether its soul has been annihilated or not, it can transform the thinking of the individual. Backup and save it perfectly.

This is enough—there is no doubt that the existence of the source of infinite divine energy has defeated death, and its existence can prove that all Thakur people, whether they are success or failure, mortals or elites, they all exist They have passed, or are still existing, and there will always be people who will remember them. As long as civilization continues, they will live forever.

Even death will not be a resistance to the Thakur people, but will become their help.

Moreover, this miracle of breaking life and death not only did not separate the Thakur people, but connected them firmly.

It can be felt that almost infinite power is erupting, because the infinite thinking and wisdom can create infinite spiritual energy and divine power, which is also the origin of the name of the source of infinite divine energy change. The civilization linked to the Great Source can be said to be collectively composed of gods named 'Thakur', the pinnacle creation in the field of psionic energy and divine power, and an eternal spectacle.

Of course, this is not without cost - just because all the thoughts and memories of all individuals are recorded, emotions will also accumulate and turn into a vortex that swallows everything, precisely because the number of people who died in foreign wars is too large in a long time , so the endless accumulation of hatred has affected all the existing Thakur people. The obsession called "hatred" has turned this originally mild civilization into the annihilation order that kills all foreigners.

Of course, all Thakur people don't care about this, because of eternal existence, they will never forget, and never plan to forget hatred.

The source of infinite divine energy changes violently. In a short moment, the colorless ball of light changes the colors of all the existences in this multiverse, magnificent like a dream, and with the touch and communication of the Patriarch , a door leading to the deepest source of infinite changes in divine energy was opened.

Accompanied by a buzzing sound, within the blazing white ball of light, there were eleven most powerful souls flying out of it with other powerful souls or thoughts. In front of the Patriarch.

Compared with the endless translucent phantoms on the side, the bodies of these powerful souls have colors, and they are even enough to use spiritual energy to create entities for themselves—in other words, this is not actually death at all, as long as They are willing to return to the material world anytime and anywhere, just to prevent the future of civilization from being affected by their aging thinking patterns, they actively choose to integrate into it.

In the face of eternal life, these souls chose to continue to inherit, leaving a better hope and future to the next generation.

The Patriarch knew that this was also his future.

He raised his head and watched the souls of the previous patriarchs and other prophets of the past appear in front of him, standing in front of him.

"This is the successor I chose, how is it? Is it stronger than us?"

"Hahaha, the choice is not bad." "As expected of my successor, even the chosen successor is better than the one I chose!" "It's not bad, just a little better than me."

The bustling voices echoed in the center of the palace world. The old man looked at these souls. He could feel encouragement, comfort, appreciation, comfort and pride. All kinds of good emotions gathered, which made him a little at a loss.

The Patriarch himself could not accept it.

"sorry."

Faced with these souls who were looking at him curiously, he lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and said word by word: "Because of my mistake, when I was exploring the source of spiritual energy, I connected to a strange world...Suddenly The supernatural virus that appeared spread and caused the death of countless compatriots."

Clenching his fists, even his straight waist was about to be overwhelmed by the breathless self-blame. The old man recalled that not long ago, he swept through the sect, spread around the Twelve Sanctuaries, and killed countless Taku The extraordinary plague of ordinary people, and even a huge number of elite talents... The voice of the Patriarch was extremely bitter, and he could only mutter to himself bit by bit: "It's all my fault... It's my mistake, it's my fault... I have ruined the future of our civilization's ascension..."

The ultimate plague spreads at the speed of thinking. Even with the fastest means of blockade and suppression, it has caused the death of a quarter of the total population of the Thakur Annihilation Order, especially since they are probably the first in this multi-dimensional galaxy. A civilization that was exposed to the extreme plague did not have any warnings and no defense skills. Before the strong men headed by the Patriarch found a way to stop the spread of the plague, a quarter of the most elite Thakur people died.

Even with the most advanced soul preservation technology, only a small part of them preserved their souls in the face of the extreme plague. Others, either their souls were not annihilated, leaving only recorded thoughts and memories, or their souls were missing Part of it also needs a long period of warming before it can recover from the infinite source of divine energy.

This is the biggest disaster in the history of the Thakur people. As the leader who presides over all this, the Patriarch of this session, he cannot shirk his responsibility.

However, no one blamed him.

"It doesn't matter, our Patriarch, all this is our collective decision, not your fault alone."

A wave-like voice sounded—not just the eleven most powerful souls, but the souls of the prophets of all ages, all the translucent phantoms, and the souls filling the entire world hall all said in unison: "Even if you are wrong , but we also forgive you."

"Don't blame yourself, don't regret, the future is so changeable, even if faith guides the direction and wisdom forges the way forward, we can't predict what we will encounter on the road."

"Everything is the fault of the alien race, and it is the fault of those hateful alien races."

"Our compatriots, don't blame yourself. This is an inevitable sacrifice in the face of the unknown. Although it is regrettable, you have been very cautious. There is nothing 'wrong' in all this, but the enemy is too strong, beyond our imagination."

Amid this wave of voices, the great patriarchs of the previous generation all nodded slightly, that was exactly what they really thought.

For their successors, they all know that the Patriarch of this generation has done a very good job. Even they cannot avoid this disaster. It can only be said that as long as they want to explore the origin of psionic energy, then Encountering the ultimate plague is inevitable.

Being able to pull out the entire Thakur Order from the abyss brought about by this huge extraordinary plague with only a quarter of the population, this can only show the outstanding talents of the Patriarch, but it cannot be said that he has done a good job. It's not good.

"You have done well enough, my boy."

In the colorless light of the return of the infinite source of divine energy, a female Thakur stepped out of the sea of ​​souls. She watched the Patriarch tenderly and came to him.

Regarding this, the old man opened his mouth, and with his strength, he didn't know what to say for a while... because that old woman was his mother, one of the prophets of the previous generation, and the last one under the former chief patriarch. A powerful psyker, in a large-scale border conflict with the Amos, retreated to protect the rear, and died in the post-war battle.

And his father who died early did not have such a strong strength to manifest a complete psionic body, but he could also see that he was watching his wife and children with a smile in the phantom not far away.

"We've been watching you, kid."

Even though he has become old and his body is beginning to decay, in the eyes of his mother, the Patriarch is still his own child. The woman with the same old appearance is staring at her son's eyes seriously. Without saying a word, she already knows that he came here , is trying to do something.

"Georg Thakur, the strong man who inherited the surname of the Patriarch, my proud son... Do you have anything else to say?"

She asked gently: "At the end of the end, the end of life, do you have anything else to say?"

We will remember for you, remember everything about you.

"...Thank you, mother."

The old man named Georg, whose surname was Civilization, raised his head, his one eye stared at his mother, and then at the other patriarchs who were looking at him seriously: "Thank you, compatriots."

He looked around at the translucent phantoms around him, and stared at the huge world hall where all the Thakurs were, as well as the souls and memories of all the Thakurs filling this hall.

"I can get your forgiveness... I am very happy."

He muttered to himself: "It is my life's mission to fight for our civilization and for you."

The extremely huge core of the world, the source of infinite divine energy, began to rotate, and the colorless ball of light began to burn. As the patriarch strengthened his determination, infinite power began to pour on him.

It can be seen that the illusory soul phantoms on the outermost side of the world hall began to dissipate one by one, because they took the initiative to put all their own strength on Georg - they It still exists in the source of infinite divine energy change and will not dissipate, but they will safely hand over the right and power to determine the future to their chief patriarch.

— Come on.

--do not give up.

——You are our strongest.

- So please keep going.

Silent information diffuses, echoes in this realm of souls, located in the center of this world, wrapped in the souls of all Thakurs, Georg Thakur's power is rising, it grows by leaps and bounds, like The water of the seven seas is poured into a lake, and hundreds of thousands of mountains are superimposed on top of each other, making it expand and rise without limit.

"I know...I know...I know that behind this infinite world is so dark and unreasonable."

"I know that this multiverse is full of malicious enemies and dangerous beasts."

"But I know—I know! I have loved ones by my side, friends who support me, and compatriots who walk with me!"

On the head of the Patriarch, the twelve crowns lit up, and the infinite spiritual energy and divine power converged, causing a colorless fireball one size smaller and a variable source of infinite divine energy one size smaller to appear in the center of the crown, becoming a The brightest gemstone, it can be seen that Georg's old body has begun to become transparent, and his body is melting under the influence of infinite divine energy, because he is carrying the power of the entire Thakur civilization as an individual .

No doubt it caused a lot of pain and suffering, enough to drive any mind insane - but none of that mattered.

Because he knows, knows the result of all this.

"I know, that is the other side of time and space, there are enemies that are too powerful to be added, and there are powerful enemies that can annihilate the future I foresee."

Most of the translucent phantoms have dissipated, and even the prophets of the ages, those colored human figures have gradually dissipated, and in front of Georg, the old woman stretched out her hand calmly, stroking her child's full body. Wrinkled, but extremely firm cheeks.

"I know that when I go this time, it is very likely that even my soul is destined to be annihilated, and even my mind cannot be preserved, and it will be included here."

And her child smiled without a trace of regret.

"But I know that I must go, and I will do everything in my power to destroy the enemy who has killed a quarter of my fellow-men, who may threaten the entire order far worse than the Amos. enemy."

Because I am the Patriarch of the Thakur, this is the life I have chosen.

——Because memories live forever, Thakur never forget any hatred——

——Because memory lives forever, so, never forget any love——

[The multiverse wrapped in cruel malice, is in this cycle full of sorrow.

Even so, I still have hope and look forward to tomorrow.

Whether facing the end of inevitable death,

Or a future doomed to annihilation.

In the hearts of all Thakurs, they are never alone, never alone.

Because in the sky screen world where faith and soul are connected——

Everything is connected with the deepest love. 】

——So please don’t show a sad expression, this is the most sincere and sincere choice of ‘I’.

Fully psychicized, the old man who turned himself into a physical psychic singularity raised his hand and wiped away the fading mother, the virtual psychic tears that were flowing.

The light dissipated and turned into indistinct points of light.

"I want to protect you."

Full of awakening, an extremely firm voice sounded. In front of Georg at this time, the souls of the previous Patriarchs of the past also began to dissipate. , I am already very satisfied.”

For life, for me, just being born in the world, as a Thakur, is already very satisfying.

So, thank you, mother.

Goodbye, my countrymen.

——I am going to fight——

In the bloody battle galaxy, in the void, in the center surrounded by the Twelve Saints, it can be seen that the light of the world hall is extinguished.

The light that was once extremely bright and represented the source of infinite changes in divine energy is rapidly dimming.

But in the next moment, a light that surpassed all previous brilliance lit up, illuminating the void!

At that moment, even the radiance of the world gathered in the Twelve Sanctuaries was completely suppressed—this radiance even surpassed time and space, and awakened another huge will in the bloody galaxy.

At the bottom of the bloody battle abyss, the incomparably huge Will raised his head in surprise and stared in shock.

"Set off------"

Around the World Hall in the center of the Twelve Sanctuaries, there are still clusters of phantoms that have not dissipated. These translucent phantom phantoms surround the world, waiting patiently.

— Lost by the plague, the memories of the warriors await vengeance.

And now, they waited for the voice that led them forward.

[In the extreme crisis, the Annihilation Cult that killed a quarter of its citizens in just seven days, its internal production structure was completely disrupted, and a huge fault appeared in the entire civilization system. Even if the inheritance has not been lost, they are no longer There is no capital to fight against the Amos, let alone the unknown powerful existence that caused all this.

Therefore, from now on, the Twelve Sanctuaries, Sky Screen World will lead most of the people to abandon their homeland, give up the long war with the Amos for tens of thousands of years, and go to the void beyond the galaxy to hide. And the Patriarch Georg Thakur, with all the available power of the source of infinite divine energy, and the warriors who are determined to exhaust all their vengeance, will go to the source to destroy the enemy and ensure the safety of the evacuated people. Safety is really invincible, and they also want to completely destroy the traces of teleportation they inadvertently left in order to explore the source of spiritual energy. 】

"……goodbye."

On the outside of the Twelve Sanctuaries, the former First Prophet and now the current Patriarch is standing in the void. He silently watched the Patriarch and the Soul Legion turn into light, opening the time and space leading to the far end of time and space. The door, until the moment before they were about to leave, he said goodbye softly: "I hope, see you again."

Not only Thakur saw the light.

The bloody battle galaxy, the surroundings of Amos royal court, human captains, and alien rebels also saw this brilliance. They stared blankly at the meteor-like light shining in the world galaxy until it disappeared.

And many more saw it.

—where cause and effect end, where cause and effect begin—

——At the other end of life and death, at the other end of love and hatred——

Because of the selfishness called solipsism, because of the dedication called love, the individual called beast, and the collective called civilization, two completely different wills have handed over and collided.

so.

Take the place where the black hole of the galaxy is located as the center, and take the battle formation of the desperate struggle as the source point.

All possibilities are coming to an end.

The first change, asking for a monthly pass.

This is actually the same chapter w-word update as yesterday's chapter, but I didn't have time to finish writing yesterday, let's see if the second update can be released today...