Located on the northwest side of the central continent of the Atrium Star, the sacred mountain is covered with snow, gray-white rocks and frost all day long, forming a sacred place that has been revered by people in the atrium for thousands of years. At an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, the largest mountain range on the planet is full of steep cliffs, except for a few tenacious conifers and tundra mosses that can take root here.

However, in the middle of this high-altitude mountain range, where even microbacteria cannot survive, around the world's highest peak, there is a huge and magnificent complex of buildings, countless solemn temples standing upright under the blowing of the bitter cold wind, these rock walls that have existed a thousand years ago are mottled on the surface, but they are still intact on the inside, and the stone paved roads can still be walked by people. Today, hundreds of priests and ascetics dressed in simple robes walk among the ancient reliefs and inscriptions on the outer layers of the temple, and worship at the temple at the foot of the sacred mountain.

Fifteen days have passed since the Void Mother Beast was burned to ashes by the flames of Neptune, and after a brief period of cheering and joy, the Atrium civilization has fallen into great grief: in addition to the three colonies of the home galaxy, the Garden of Flowers, the Garden of Roots, and the Court of the Second Leaf, only the Garden of Flowers Colony has survived, and on the other two colonies, a total of 67 million citizens have died under the attack of the Void Mother Beast - the elderly man has lost his child, the lover who loves him has lost his beloved, and only one of his best friends has survived, The pain of loss hit like a tsunami, causing the atmosphere of the entire planet to drop to freezing point.

The loss of two colonial stars and a quarter of the total population is a great blow to the people of the Atrium, who are slow to reproduce and have a small population, and the loss of the resources of the two galaxies is also a huge blow to the supply of resources for post-war reconstruction.

However, these alone can't defeat the Atrium people.

Late at night, in the northwest mountain range of the atrium, a nameless but more famous than all the peaks, a man in a black coat stood on top of a cliff covered in frost, he looked down on the entire mountain range, the entire temple area, and even half of the central continent of the atrium from a height close to the top of the mountain.

The man's gaze swept over many, and he could see that in the distant city, in the bitter cold of minus 30 degrees, there were pious priests running through the snow, distributing food and clothing, and encouraging the people to survive this difficult time. He could see that in a corner of the city, the brightly lit and warm interior of the government-built orphanage was comforting every child who had lost a parent to the war, so that they could sleep peacefully.

He could also see that in the black hall of government, many officials were solemnly discussing the plan for reconstruction, and they were speaking enthusiastically, without selfishness, trying their best to think about the future of civilization, a scene that had not been seen in countless years since the birth of the Atrium civilization.

Because of the war, the people of the Atrium have lost a lot, but because of this, the entire civilization is so united for the first time, and in the cold and lonely sea of stars, they finally understand that the only thing they can rely on is each other.

The man watched the scene, the pious people were praying to the gods, and the capable people were helping others. Far away, in a town of sanctuary for refugees from other galaxies, a priest of the former superior class took the lead in using his powerful psionic powers to carry out the work that was supposed to be given to the ordinary and the machine—the barriers between classes have been broken, and there has never been a time when people are so close to each other.

Joshua looked at this, he moved his gaze downward from the distance, and he saw that in the temple area at the foot of the Holy Mountain, Nostradamus was assisting the experts of the Atrium Government, explaining the principle of the Leaping Engine from another magical point of view, and personally demonstrating how to use magic to teleport short distances, and a dozen or so old experts with yellow leaves were shocked and delighted, but also put forward a lot of novel insights and psionic knowledge, which opened the eyes of the old mage.

And in the open space around the temple, Hotaru is leading the children of several worshippers of the Holy Land to play in the open snow, in addition, she also gestures to the sky, boasting proudly about her past achievements in killing monsters, so that those children in the atrium who don't know what monsters and chaos monsters are show admiration, and just behind the silver-haired girl, Rin and Xiaoguang are cooperating, and the ball of light spews out of thin air out of nowhere, and then solidifies into icicles, The black-haired boy carved it empty-handed into the appearance of the monsters that his sister boasted about, and the lifelike hideous appearance startled the children and their parents who were laughing at the scene.

And not far from this empty snowfield, at the foot of the holy mountain, two huge statues are carving, taken from the mountainside of the holy mountain, two huge rocks more than 100 meters high, by powerful psionic people with spiritual energy to cut and split from the mountain, and then placed here, and the most famous sculptors of the Atrium Star have joined forces to carve them, several days of continuous polishing have made the two originally square huge rocks have a rough appearance, one of which can be vaguely seen to be a four-armed giant, he is standing on the head of the hideous monster, with his hands crossed in front of his chest, one left hand standing with an axe, while the other right hand holds a giant sword, pointing into the distance.

There was a sound of footsteps behind him, but Joshua didn't turn around, but said casually, "It doesn't have to be like this, Mirhabs, Taquin. ”

Standing on the cliff, the warrior with his back to the Supreme Archon of the Atrium and the commander of the Central Fleet who walked strolling, the hem of his coat stirred with the cold wind of the plateau, Joshua closed his eyes, no longer looked at the statues and monuments being carved at the foot of the Holy Mountain, and said calmly: "Your resources should be used in the most critical places, not for me and Nostradamus to build any statues and worship gods. ”

"My lord, all it takes is a Omega psyker's rest time after lunch."

Standing behind Joshua, the middle-aged supreme consul respectfully bent down to salute the warrior, but for Joshua's words, he shook his head gently but resolutely: "But the spiritual power it can provide is immeasurable for today's atrium people, we are a civilization that uses psionic energy, and sometimes, spiritual inspiration is more powerful than material." ”

"It doesn't matter."

Still not looking back, Joshua opened his eyes and looked at the mountains in the distance, he said: "I remember, on the Precursor, I said that I would not be your new god, I don't need those superfluous honors, but in the recent past, you are still continuing to promote this...... Look, the temple of me and Nostradamus has been erected, right next to the temple of the sages, and you are moving really fast, but what's the benefit? It's a waste of time for you to spend a week in a seminar just to revise doctrine and scripture. ”

"Because we need an example, my lord."

Before Mill Habs could explain Joshua's obvious reproachful words, Taquinn beside him took a slight step forward and spoke, the old soldier of the atrium speaking slowly, but quite calmly and forcefully: "In order to fight against the evil that comes from the void, we must have an example. ”

The warrior did not respond to this answer immediately, and after a short thought, Mill Habs followed Taquin's words and said with a serious expression: "Maybe you can't understand it, but the people of the Atrium are in a dangerous situation today...... They began to fear the starry sky, began to fear the darkness behind the stars, and many would rather stay in their hometown for the rest of their lives as ordinary people than go to the other side of the sea of stars and explore new planets...... The catastrophe brought about by the Void Life planted the seeds of fear in their hearts, and if this was not changed, the Atrium people would have no future. ”

Joshua nodded silently, what Mill Habs said was true, now, there are indeed many people in the Atrium who are beginning to fear the universe, beginning to fear the unknown, they refuse to accept all actions related to exploration, distance and the unknown, they just want to stay on the island called their homeland, and refuse to sail in this endless sea of stars. These Atrium people, who have personally experienced the disasters brought about by the Void Mother Beast, or whose loved ones have died as a result, believe that both the exploration of the mysterious Void and the voyage in the sea of stars will lead to a catastrophic end, and they even advocate the closure of all the atrium people's psionic energy, and from now on the voice on the other side of the curtain will never say no.

And that's certainly not going to work. A race that has lost its desire to explore, its curiosity about mystery and the unknown, will only gradually die out in the course of time, becoming a nameless skeleton, and neither Millhabs nor Taquin, nor any other Atrium people have a negative opinion of this negative view.

"So, we need your name, your deeds."

The Supreme Archon of the Atrium, along with his old friends, knelt on one knee before the warrior with his back to him, and he said in a sincere but firm tone: "Your temple is being built, your legend is circulating, your statue will appear in the squares of every city, alongside the Sage—the transformation of the Neptune Fortress is on the agenda, it will become a huge monument hanging in a gravitational orbit, publicizing your victory over the mother beast with Lord Nostradamus, and the Great Red Spot of Neptune will become a memorial area, It is written down in the textbook. ”

“…… It doesn't have to be that way. ”

"It has to be, sir."

In response to Joshua's repeated response, Mill Habs shook his head and said, "This is not a project to curry favor with you, this is to prove that our enemies, those beings from the Void, have appeared, destroyed, and wreaked havoc...... It has also been defeated. The value of these monuments, statues, is not to show off victory, but to tell our people and future generations that we have defeated despair, defeated monsters from the void. ”

— so there's no need to be afraid of the dark and the future.

The last paragraph, Mill Habs didn't say, but both the warrior and Taquinn knew what he meant. Joshua was silent for a moment, then nodded, agreeing with this answer, and asked with some curiosity: "Listening to the meaning of your words, it seems that you are still preparing to be the enemy of Chaos, that is, the Void creatures?" He accentuated his tone, "But as long as you don't use the Void Gate Rituals at will, they won't come into this world. ”

"If it weren't for the desperate situation, we wouldn't have activated the Void Gate Ritual again."

Millhabs shook his head, tilted his head, and glanced at the silent Tarquin, and then the commander of the Central Fleet said in a peculiar tone: "But you may not believe it, my lord, many in the fleet and in the upper echelons of the government have received revelations in their dreams. ”

The old atrium man's face was tired, but his momentum was inexplicably excited, he looked up at the gray sky, which seemed to be within reach, and was falling with heavy snow, and said in a low voice: "In the dream, there is a huge, warm existence that has sent a revelation to us atrium people, and even to the civilization in the entire sea of stars...... It says that evil has invaded, and in every corner of the galaxy there are enemies from the Void peeking into this sea of stars. We must defeat them and be the first to destroy all enemies before they grow, or we will never be at peace! ”

It is the 'star' of the steel python. Joshua immediately understood, the self-immune system of the world of the stars was activated, so the consciousness of this world appeared and announced the beginning of war to all its people. Through a kind of dark foresight, the warrior can even foresee a fragment of the future: countless warships from different civilizations and races converge in the cantilever of the galaxy to become a river of steel shining among the stars, and then they will sail towards the almost endless dark clusters that devour the stars, and the war between the two will span countless galaxies and light years, and thousands of suns will be extinguished, and hundreds of millions of lives will be doomed to be wiped out in this battle, becoming imperceptible dust in the universe.

The scene is so grand that it can't end even after thousands of years, with the dark cosmic starry sky as the stage, countless stories and legends will be played, and Joshua does not know who the final winner will be, but he is willing to believe in the power of life.

Millhabs ...... I know that the people of the Atrium have a brilliant civilization for thousands of years, but you have to deal with evils that have existed since before the eternals, and their birth predates the awakening of the wisdom of your ancestors. ”

Because of this, Joshua gave advice: "Your technology is not weak, and even far superior to my civilization, but the top force is too lacking...... This is due to the characteristics of civilization, but in any case, you can't deal with them quickly, at least heal your own wounds. ”

"Your teachings are the guide to our actions."

Bowing their heads slightly as a sign of respect, Mirhabs and Taquinn then looked up in unison, and then said slowly in a slightly hesitant tone, "But, my lordship...... When do you plan to leave? After saying this, Millhabs paused, then bowed his head and continued: "It's not that we don't welcome you to stay in the atrium, but your companion, Lord Nostradamus, has mentioned several times that you and he still have an unfinished mission on the other side of the void, and we dare not interfere with your mission, so we want to know when you will leave, so we can prepare for the return ceremony." ”

But what Joshua said next made the two of them raise their heads in shock and look at his back.

"Right now."

Having not looked back so far, Joshua, who had not looked back at the two people who represented the supreme power of the world in the atrium, raised his head and looked at the thick clouds rolling in the wind, his gaze seemed to be able to penetrate the haze and reach a corner of the inner world, and the warrior said calmly: "I should have left seven days ago, and the reason why I stayed in this world was just to wait for a late response and reward. ”

"But now, it's here."

In the next moment, before Mill Habs and Taquin could figure out what Joshua was talking about, a hazy silver light flickered at the foot of the holy mountain, and the small light that was originally cooperating with Rin's carved ice sculpture suddenly flashed with misty starlight, and all the people and things illuminated by this light seemed to stop time, the snowflakes froze in the wind, the frost stopped spreading, and then, it disappeared into the real world with Joshua.

Inside the world, under the dome of the Star Sea, the warrior looked up at the steel python 'Star' wrapped around the Milky Way, and he shook his head helplessly and said, "You're late. ”