24. Watch us Eredar blast the Burning Legion to kingdom come with our twilight cannons!

The world-soul of Argus had not yet birthed a self; naturally, it could not judge Dike’s words.

However, having no self did not mean it lacked understanding or intelligence. As one of the highest existences capable of being born in the sea of stars, even in its "infant" state, the Argus world-soul possessed wisdom beyond mortal imagination. It was merely that its will had yet to take shape to mold a more "egotistical" core.

Faced with Diakum’s persuasion, the Argus world-soul quickly responded with action.

Soft yet brilliant beams of light, like gentle, pressureless luminous tentacles, drifted from the本体 of the world-soul. They swirled around Dike’s spirit like soft rays of light. If he were to extend his hand, he could claim the authority to wield this world power. This would qualify him to call himself the "World Spokesperson," and it meant he would wield the wrath of the world-soul, becoming the second true "World Guardian" since the Archwizard Ogule.

This was not the self-proclaimed "Guardian" title used by the spellcasters of Azeroth; this was a guardian truly recognized by the world’s will. It meant that in extreme circumstances, Dike could even mobilize the power of the world-soul to reshape the world itself.

Transforming the landscape? Wiping out the world with a single thought?

Ha, those were merely the most basic and intuitive expressions of this supreme power!

If one viewed the world of Argus as an active database system, then by embracing this radiance, Dike would gain "root access" to the database permission tree. Never mind casually modifying all entries within the database; he could even perform operations as extreme as "deleting the database and running away."

Of course, the price of embracing this power was that he might have to abandon the path of the Light, and there was one small "problem."

That is, if the power of "Guardian Diakum" came from the gift of the world-soul, it meant that no matter how hard Dike tried, the limit of his strength could never exceed the Argus world-soul itself.

Wielding the supreme power to govern the world was enough for Dike to easily crush every demon that set foot on Argus, but that would be meaningless. If the Argus world-soul was no match for Sargeras, then when facing the Dark Titan, no matter what tricks Diakum played with the world-soul’s power, he would still be cut down by Sargeras’s sword.

Now that it was confirmed the Dark Titan would personally step in to clean up the aftermath on Argus, what was the point of holding such power?

It would be nothing more than evolving from a "pathetic ant" in the eyes of the Dark Titan to a "tenacious ant." Perhaps, due to the uniqueness of his posture in resistance, Lord Sargeras might even issue a comment like, "Diakum, not bad!" before crushing him.

But the price of this vanity would be that after his death, Argus would still return to the cruel trajectory of fate. Was this what Diakum, who had chosen the morality of the "Hand of Fate," should do?

Certainly not!

The Argus world-soul must have extended the same invitation to Xar’cil earlier.

It had sensed the threat and desperately needed to mold its own "warriors" to confront its terrifyingly bad-tempered "older brother."

Yet, world memories showed that Xar’cil had decisively rejected the blessing from the world-soul at that time, just as Dike was doing now—rejecting it cleanly and decisively!

"It’s useless."

Dike did not touch that strand of world power that could instantly propel him across two life-stages to reach the "demigod" tier. He said to the restless world-soul before him with great earnestness:

"You can mold ten demigods, and you can bestow your greatness upon the wisest, strongest, and most promising Eredar, but what you can do, Sargeras—who now fully wields the Fel primal force and commands the entire Twisting Nether—can do just the same.

He could even create an 'army of demigods' with a single glance.

You and I both know that simple blessings of power cannot change the outcome of this invasion. In such a situation, even power itself has become unimportant.

If this were only an invasion by the Burning Legion, the Eredar would fight to the end with the resolve to protect their homeland. If it were only demons, we might not lose under the leadership of our two leaders and with your help.

But the Dark Titan is coming personally, Argus...

Before Him, all mortal and extraordinary power, quantity, and quality have lost their meaning!

Even if you drained yourself completely, distributing all your greatness to Eredar warriors and molding thousands of demigods to slaughter every demon that stepped on Argus soil, it would not change the result.

Once Sargeras arrives in this sea of stars, the game is over."

Argus clearly did not understand.

It had not yet birthed a self and was naturally not as gifted as the supreme world-soul of Azeroth.

It was just an "ordinary" baby world-soul. Its talent and capability were clearly not on par with that "genius child" Azeroth—who could mold millions of champions as her representatives with a mere gesture and declare her existence through the act of slaughtering gods and demons.

Dike could not communicate with the world-soul through language alone.

That was too inefficient.

He pondered for a moment, recalling the "hint" given by his character card earlier. At this moment, he realized the correct usage of the "Beyond the Veil" unique "supplementary agreement," so he relaxed all mental resistance within the hallucination created by the world-soul.

He said:

"Come, look at my memories, look at your future ending. I may not be able to help you and us reverse the inevitable outcome at this node. But at the very least, I can help you strengthen your resolve to resist!

Come!

Enter my mind.

Do not be shy; in this situation, our mutual trust and unity are the first steps in forming resistance. If we cannot trust each other, we might not even be able to deal with the first wave of demons that represent Sargeras’s will as they brutally step onto our world."

Perhaps sensing Dike’s "sincerity," the world power encircling him contacted Dike’s mind with a "cautious" posture. The instant they touched, Dike felt as if he were a bar of soap dropped into a "basin of warm water."

It was not scorching, but he had a distinct sensation of "melting."

[External power connection! Power path determined as: World-soul Argus (immature). Power camp: Unclassified Force/Element. Power connection mode: Resonance.

Prompt!

The object you are contacting is not bound by the flow of the River of Fate. The 'Beyond the Veil Supplementary Agreement' has taken effect! Enable 'Beyond the Veil' to conceal your self-memories? Yes/No?

This choice may trigger a series of uncontrollable results; please decide with caution!]

This was exactly what Dike wanted!

Facing the option, he decisively chose "No." He shed his disguise before this "True God of the Starry Sea," sharing his greatest secret with It, allowing the Argus world-soul baby, resonating with his memories, to be instantly submerged by the memories of Dike’s "past life."

Dike also saw, once again, clips of himself performing various tasks in various professions and identities throughout the history of the Dark Portal.

As a true veteran, he was not only skilled in the combat style of a champion; full-class mastery was merely an entry requirement for old players. It was precisely because of this that he could control the details of the Dark Portal's official history so precisely.

In Dike’s unreserved sharing, the still-infant Argus world-soul saw the "genius child Azeroth" in advance.

That was her "sister" in the sea of stars.

Like her, she was in a long slumber and encountered all sorts of endless troubles that every world-soul would face, seemingly unable to wait for the distant, uncertain maturity and birth.

She also saw the various world-ending events that occurred in the world of Azeroth, as well as the troubles that planet had encountered.

It is no exaggeration to say that Dike clearly sensed emotions named "shock" and "lingering fear" from the as-yet-unformed "thoughts" of the Argus world-soul baby, all because compared to her own "quiet years," the situation in Azeroth was far worse.

The six primal forces began to influence her secretly while Azeroth was still weak. The Void force, the first to find the supreme world-soul, threw out five Old Gods at once as Void harbingers, almost corrupting the defenseless world-soul into a "Void Titan."

Subsequently, the Pantheon of the Order force arrived in time, and the Titan Keepers launched a world-wide war to suppress the Void.

But this was not liberation or protection.

The Order force suppressed the Void’s corruption and turned around to implant a complete set of equipment called the "Unified Field of All Things" into the Azeroth celestial body, purifying the corrupted world-soul while guiding her toward the path of the Arcane primal force, without ever asking for Azeroth's own opinion.

Although the methods were better than the Void’s, they were not much better.

If the Void was deception, then the Titans were kidnappers. After Sargeras embraced Fel and became the Dark Titan, the Fel primal force also set its sights on Azeroth.

Beneath the facade of the three primal forces fighting over the future of Azeroth, the Life and Death primal forces had already begun to secretly lure Azeroth onto their paths by taking root through Order.

The Holy Light primal force appeared to be the only "righteous force" that did not participate, but in fact, this "old fox" was the first one to take action!

As early as the "Light-Dark Sequencing" at the beginning of the material universe, the first ray of brilliant light flashed across the sea of stars where Azeroth was located, and it was the first to exert a mysterious influence on the newly formed world-soul.

Ha, you think Dike is boasting?

No!

He has evidence!

The light-radiant crystals hidden deep within the celestial body that constantly jumped between light and dark forms, and the "Song of Radiance" that would appear in a future version, had already illustrated the severity of the problem!

The six primal forces all joined in, each sending people to serve an immature world-soul with a hundred different tricks. Was this blessing small?

What is called the "face" of a "Supreme World-Soul"?

In comparison, the Argus world-soul baby had lived a carefree, immortal life all these years! Compared to her sister, who had been struggling forward under a heavy burden since birth, Argus felt like a "giant world-soul baby" raised in a greenhouse and spoiled.

The path of the Arcane spread in her world through the prosperity of the Eredar, but that was just the gathering of Arcane power.

Without the direct participation of the Titans, the resonance of the Arcane primal force could not reach the level of inducing the world-soul, and the Naru, representatives of the Holy Light primal force, only came to Argus a thousand years ago through the call of the Ata'mal crystals; on their own, they also lacked the ability to disturb the sleeping world-soul.

Argus still maintained the purest state of a world-soul at this time.

Unfortunately, the upcoming ordeal of the Dark Titan and the Fel could not be avoided.

The Pantheon, the only force capable of confronting the Dark Titan in the physical universe, had already been wiped out. Now, Argus was truly in a desperate situation where calling to heaven brought no response and calling to earth brought no help.

Azeroth was able to survive a near-death emergency and eventually turn danger into safety after being pierced by the Dark Titan’s great sword while still unawakened, because she was a "Supreme World-Soul" with extraordinary talent.

But Argus was not Azeroth; she did not have that kind of exaggerated power.

The most fatal thing was that in the memories of Dike, an old veteran carrying the "Official History of the Dark Portal," the Argus world-soul baby clearly saw how she would be corrupted by Fel infusion ten thousand years later, how she would be born in the terrifying form of the "Argus the Unmaker," and finally, how she would be attempted to be saved by the millions of champions sent by her "genius sister Azeroth," but ultimately fail to complete the miracle of "ICU sit-ups," only to be desolately slaughtered in the ruins of the Pantheon.

The most miserable part was that, under the deliberate arrangement of the "Fate," she was not even left in peace after death.

The corrupted soul molded by her remaining world-soul will was caught by the black hand of the Death primal force and taken to the Shadowlands, where she "encountered" the champions who had gone for a stroll—the same batch of people who had defeated her in the physical universe, the same "murderers" who had killed her. After a chaotic battle, she, this ten-thousand-year-old unlucky soul, was crushed to dust for the second time, completely losing any possibility of "resurrection."

This series of encounters qualified her as the "most miserable world-soul." This could no longer be summarized by the word "tragedy"; it was entirely a concentrated manifestation of the malice of fate. It seemed the only value of the Argus world-soul’s soul-stirringly miserable fate was to remind the living in the galaxy of exactly how bad things could get in the worst-case scenario!

She was frightened...

Truly, without exaggeration.

Dike even heard the world’s wailing, which didn't seem any different from the scene of a child crying in terror. He didn't know that because of this "intimidation," the entire surface of the Argus celestial body was experiencing a torrential downpour at this moment.

That was no downpour!

That was clearly the tears of mourning shed by the Argus world-soul baby for her own future miserable encounter.

"Don't cry, don't cry!"

Dike hurriedly comforted the world-soul before him that had begun to stir. He shouted:

"I am not showing you these things to scare you, noble Argus. I only want to tell you in this way that conventional rescue plans are no longer useful! You, who are already half-lying in the ICU, do not need to waste your precious world power to mold a 'Guardian' like the Archwizard Ogule.

It’s useless!

Your existence and the celestial body that nurtures you cannot escape the corruption of Fel. But I have shared my most precious secrets with you, unreservedly confessing all of this just to let you know that we do indeed have one other way at the moment.

From the series of encounters of your powerful sister Azeroth, we can find a way that can barely be called 'preserving hope.'

You have seen with your own eyes the series of brilliant operations your noble sister performed when facing the malice of fate, especially when her world-soul body was pierced by the Dark Titan’s sword—the series of reactions she made for self-rescue could be called a perfect 'first-aid protocol.' She is worthy of being the genius child of the world-soul race.

I am not referring to her molding millions of warriors blessed by world power through her Azerite blood essence to heal the world’s wounds.

Forgive my bluntness, you do not have her terrifying talent!

If you were to do that, you would likely suffer a miscarriage due to excessive blood loss in a short time. But we can learn from this method."

Dike paused.

He looked at the light-based body of the world-soul before him, and only after the other party recovered from its restless state did he continue:

"World-souls are quite special lives. Being born great means your growth cannot be smooth sailing; you must experience wind and rain and the malice of fate to break out of the cocoon and become a butterfly. The path to godhood is never easy, but you have an advantage over mortals that cannot be ignored!

From Azeroth’s series of brilliant operations and your ability to survive even after your physical form is defeated in the future, and the corrupted soul still being able to enter the Shadowlands completely, it can be seen that the endless potential you are born with allows you to transcend 'life and death.'

Your state depends only on whether your will persists.

This is even more clearly evidenced by the fact that other Titan souls, tortured for ten thousand years, could reshape their bodies in an instant and command the ruins of the Pantheon to seal Sargeras after being rescued.

Since there is no concept of 'life and death' in the conventional sense, then in my opinion, in this desperate situation, throwing away this majestic Argus divine body with your own hands is no big deal! As long as your will persists, you still have the possibility of reviving in the future!

Although I don’t yet know how to purify your future corrupted star-body, which is destined to be riddled with holes, I believe that as long as we don’t give up, we will definitely find a way!

If that doesn't work, we can even get ahead of the Dark Titan and find the soul-body of Eonar the Life-Binder, who is hidden somewhere in the galaxy.

She must have a way!

But the prerequisite for this 'desperate survival' is that you must find a way to preserve your sanity, even if at this moment, your sanity and will have not yet truly been born.

You don't even know how to speak...

Sigh, the gap between an ordinary child and a genius child is really too big."

The Argus world-soul baby let out a wail again.

This time it carried a bit of grievance.

Was it her fault that she wasn't as genius as Azeroth?

That was a Supreme World-Soul, a freak capable of resisting the erosion of the six primal forces while still sleeping in an immature state; she was the only one in the entire physical universe.

Why did the powerful and invincible Dark Titan have to kill her while Azeroth was still unawakened?

Besides the primary factor of preventing her from being corrupted by the Void and becoming the culprit who destroyed the physical universe, another very important reason was that Sargeras knew very well that once Azeroth truly awakened, He would not be able to defeat her.

"Just as I said earlier, we can imitate Azeroth’s self-rescue method! She dispersed her power and will into every artifact of the Heart of Azeroth bestowed upon the warriors, using their actions to heal herself.

Every mortal warrior chosen can be seen as an incarnation of the world-soul’s will when wearing a world artifact!

You can do the same!"

Dike finally said aloud the method he had been racking his brains over during this time. He said to the world-soul will before him:

"Entrust your will in the same way to a large number of world artifacts, or directly entrust it to the spirits of our people! Then, we Eredar will carry it and flee from this planet destined to fall.

As long as we are still wandering among the stars, your precious, pure will will not fall into the hands of Fel. When the Eredar return to their homeland one day, your will fragments can be gathered together again.

I guess it must be very painful to split your own mind, but this is the only way for us to save you.

The Eredar cannot fight the Dark Titan; we can only flee, but there will always be a place for you on our ship of exile. I have tentatively named this the 'Wandering Argus' plan; don't mind the name, just understand its meaning.

We indeed cannot take away this planet that He is determined to have under Sargeras’s nose; we cannot even take away your will completely. This would anger the Dark Titan and He would personally execute the destruction of us mortals.

But we can at least entrust your pure hope!

If a World Guardian can be seen as an extension of the world’s will and the hand of the world, then countless Eredar carrying the world-soul’s will can naturally become your guardians of hope!

The Eredar are immortal! This immortality comes from your gift.

This means we have enough time and perfect compatibility to carry your hope so that it never deteriorates—ten thousand years, twenty thousand years, one hundred thousand years, or even longer, it doesn't matter!

We will eventually return to our homeland.

By then...

You will also join us in a 'Return of the Dragon King'!"

Dike knew this persuasion was not enough.

So he put himself on the line as well. He said in a low voice:

"You have witnessed my uniqueness. I come from a memory molded by darkness and despair. Although in those stories I have experienced, we all achieved final victory, but rather than performing anthems of courage and salvation after the disaster occurs, I prefer to reverse them before those painful things happen.

I hope to reverse those fates, Argus.

I hope to let those lives that should not die enjoy the peace they deserve.

I hope those lands that should not be trampled upon are filled with courageous struggle.

I hope those forced into exile do not become cowards who only know how to hide.

I hope to see a future more full of light and hope, and I also hope you can participate in this light.

The Holy Light chose me for this reason.

He appointed me as His 'Hand of Fate,' and He expects me to perform miracles for Him one after another.

You can trust me too.

I swear to you, I swear on my morality and my life, I will definitely find a way to purify your Fel star-body, and I will definitely let you be reborn with your will in the future!

There is no time left...

We have no time to slowly compromise and talk!

I have already put myself on the scales of fate; you should perhaps make up your mind as well."

Dike said so.

He knew it was difficult to persuade the Argus world-soul to take such a risk.

The other party was not an existence capable of rational thinking, and whether the world-soul possessed self-consciousness was a difficult question to answer, but he hoped to do a little something for this world, just like his attitude toward cold fate.

You better trample me to your heart's content while I am weak! But as long as you can't kill me, then once I have the strength to fight back, you’ll have a hard time!

The facts proved that the Argus world-soul baby might not be as genius as Azeroth, but she truly had her own determination.

Perhaps as the Holy Lance Guardian just said, the path of the world-soul is never easy, and the end of the path to godhood cannot be reached so casually. Mortals need to go through hardships to achieve great things, and world-souls like Argus and Azeroth must also undergo the most extreme and malicious tests of fate to break out of the cocoon.

They do not lack power; what they lack is something more precious than power.

As Diakum said, in the war against fate, individual power is the least noteworthy factor.

Dike did not wait too long before he saw the brilliant world light shatter in a way of "self-tearing" before his eyes.

It shone like meteor fragments in the wailing of the world-soul and flew over. The moment those fragments hit Dike’s spirit, he was blown out of this hallucination of communication.

He fell狼狈 outside the Holy Stone onto the ground amidst the shattering fragments of the Holy Light, but when he looked back, he clearly saw those "World Will Fragments" hitting the others in the cave who were worshiping the world-soul like gorgeous meteors.

They were unaware...

The process of those fragments merging into their bodies and spirits was one only Dike could see.

This meant the Argus world-soul baby had made a decision; she was indeed attempting to disperse her incomplete mind and hide it within the spirits of the Eredar.

These Eredar were all lives born of her, and they were "Children of Argus" with the trait of immortality, so they could naturally carry those "World Fragments."

As for whether these fragments would change the Eredar's life form...

Dike did not know.

Now was not the time to discuss this issue.

[External power connection! Power path determined as: World-soul Argus (immature). Power camp: Unclassified Force/Element. Power connection mode: Will Fusion.

World contract signed!

New title 'Hand of Argus' acquired!

Effect: As an individual carrying fragments of the Argus world-soul, you will possess a portion of the world-soul’s will. When on the Argus world, you can gain 'World Power' infusion under specific circumstances; when leaving the Argus world, this enhancement will be invalidated.

Prompt!

As the first individual to sign a contract with the World Will, the 'World Power' infusion you receive will be maximized. When enabling World Power enhancement, you will be able to temporarily break through the shackles of life-stages and acquire extraordinary combat power.

Prompt!

The symbiosis of World Will fragments with individual life will cause unknown effects on the individual. Please pay attention to changes in your mental and will levels at all times and make adjustments in time.]

"The rest is up to you, Diakum Zastins. I have signed a contract with you, I have boarded the battlefield with you. Fate will not compromise; it will treat you even more viciously because of me. Good luck, good luck to you all."

Dike seemed to hear the world talking to him at this moment.

But that was more of a perception than a genuine linguistic expression. He knew Argus had made a choice, which meant there was one more contract on his shoulders.

A promise...

It was a shackle, and even more so, a driving force!

"Get up! Everyone get up!"

Dike climbed up from the ground and strode to the bewildered others. He said loudly:

"The world-soul has finished talking with me. She has given us a new mission and responsibility. You have also been given the blessing of the world. Feel the changes in your spirits with your hearts! There is no time for worship now! We have so many, many things to do next."

"I... I feel it!"

Governor Hadon twitched on the spot like he was having an epileptic seizure. He clutched his head and screamed:

"I saw the world-soul! Ah, she is whispering to me! She blessed me with good luck! She is watching me, she is looking at me... Ah, great Argus! I will fight for you until the last moment..."

"Calm down!"

Dike really wanted to slap him.

But considering that Governor Hadon had raised him since he was a child, he could only press both hands on the excited Governor’s shoulders and say to him:

"The final salvation of the world-soul must be completed by us Eredar, and the first thing we must do is right before our eyes. Quickly summon all the jewelers in all of Krokuun..."

"What are you going to do?"

Governor Hadon looked at Dike in confusion.

The latter looked back at the Holy Stone behind him and pointed at it, saying:

"Take it apart! Inlay each small fragment into jewelry that can be worn. That is the supreme weapon Argus has bestowed upon us! We must create enough 'Hearts of Argus' and give them to the most valiant warriors to better carry the infusion of world power.

When Sargeras’s shameless demons step on our land, the chosen Hands of Argus will personally teach them what it means to be terrified and what it means to be bloodied..."

"Hand of Argus?"

Nari tasted the name in confusion. Dike looked at her and nodded:

"Yes! Hand of Argus! You and I, and even all the Eredar who are willing to give everything for their homeland, can have this name and share this glory. Evil will panic before us, and demons will collapse into defeat behind us!

It will eventually resound throughout the universe!

It will eventually become an invincible symbol and eternal legend of hope, courage, and victory in the dark sea of stars! Just like us in the future.

Listen to the sound of that horn!

The final decisive battle of this sea of stars before the arrival of the dark age... has begun!"