Chapter 506: 123. Mechanism
(The earlier story clues will be placed in the afterword)
(Additionally, there will be other side stories in the afterword)
——Text Below——
“Drip… drip… drip…”
“Clang!”
In the dark cave, it felt as if an eternity had passed, yet it seemed like only a few seconds had gone by. The ancient silence was shattered by a crisp sound of a cup clattering to the ground.
It was like thunder on a clear day, and upon closer inspection, the tipped cup was none other than the 【Holy Grail】 that Pandora had previously guarded.
At this moment, neither Pandora nor Remiel could be seen in the cave; only a solitary figure clad in white robes was slowly walking within the subterranean space.
From the fallen cup, an endless surge of power filled with wishes seemed to flow out, mixed with a rich aura of chaos, quickly spewing forth a formless black substance like a tsunami.
This black substance not only carried the corrosive power of chaos but also intermingled with the power of the Heavenly Lock, one of the demigods.
The favored demigods of the supreme god Ramastia were bestowed with partial authority over life, allowing them to create powerful mythical beings. The previous Pandora intended to follow in the footsteps of her creator and once again create a realm of earth filled solely with mythical beings.
The limitations on the number of mythical beings would no longer restrict the authority tainted by chaos; thus, starting today, the number of mythical beings would surpass 200.
“What a wise plan; you must have been planning this for a long time?”
“Boom!”
The solitary figure in white robes, walking in the indescribable black substance, chuckled lightly and spoke.
Upon a closer look, that figure in white had short golden curls and a pair of blue-gold swirling pupils. Who else could it be but the angel Hela?
At this moment, behind her floated the moments of betrayal, the Loom of Fate, and the tears of the World Tree.
The Loom of Fate once again ensnared the authority of death, causing the slumbering dominion of death to become excited once more. This made the ground of the Ideal Nation tremble even more, while an unending stream of black substance continued to pour down into the pit-like abyss at the cave’s end, as if intending to completely fill what lay beneath.
With the filling of that black substance, coupled with the tug of the Loom of Fate, the authority of death below became even more agitated, as if it were on the verge of awakening.
“Boom!”
The power of death from beneath the rock layers ignited angry pillars of fire, symbolizing destruction, which burst forth from below the ground, threatening to ignite the Ideal Nation and even Dragon Tail Island entirely.
However, before the gradually reviving authority of death could bring about devastating calamity, the figure in white smiled slightly, beckoned with her hand, and tossed the glowing tears of the World Tree below into the abyss.
“Didn’t you want to forge a holy artifact to replace your eyes? Don’t rush; now you have the opportunity.”
Hela smiled slightly, and the ghastly, neck-severed head of Pandora that she cradled tilted slightly forward, aiming at the abyss below.
Pandora’s expression before her demise gradually solidified, as if she had seen something that terrified the angel to the extreme.
Then, with Hela bidding farewell, she casually discarded Pandora’s head into the sea of fire below.
“Oh, right, I shouldn’t waste this; let’s throw this in too.”
She suddenly remembered something and tossed down the horn that Fisher had entrusted to her.
“Glub glub!”
As Pandora’s head, part of her soul, the tears of the World Tree, and the horn suffused with the aura of chaos were thrown down, a brilliantly dazzling light burst forth from the flames below.
Then, Hela extended her hand and began her operation.
In the next second, the entire Sea of Chaos started to respond to her call, coming into contact with the increasingly agitated and awakening authority of death.
However, unlike Margaret’s intent to activate it fully to lead them to The Ultimate, under Hela’s power, the chaotic oceans violently entangled and collided with the authority of death, suppressing it as if compressing a spring.
At the same time, the devastating pillars of fire above were wrapped in the powers of chaos and the Heavenly Lock.
Those beings whose lives were taken by the threads of death began to detach from the authority of death; however, upon contact with the powers of chaos and the Heavenly Lock, they instantly turned into grotesque forms.
The lower-ranked subhumans and humans, whose souls had long been compelled by the authority of death and separated from their bodies, were now resurrected and had transformed into grotesque monsters filled with chaotic aura and devoid of sanity.
Looking at those ugly, short beings, Hela yawned and said, “From now on, you shall be called the 【Little Demons】.”
But there was more. The beings of the Tree Continent, around the Fourteenth Rank, who had originally been stationed outside the Ideal Nation, were consumed by the Sea of Chaos before they could retreat as the Duke of Peach fled.
Unlike those weaker beings, their souls had not detached from their bodies after being washed by the authority of death. Although likewise corrupted by chaos, they at least retained their sanity, now roaring and crying like newly born infants in the Sea of Chaos.
“They appear to be smarter. Very well; they can live on as true 【Demonic Attendants】.”
Hela smiled gently, her gaze shifting gradually towards the 【Fire Pillars】 that had come into closest proximity with the authority of death, absorbing the most life and power of the Heavenly Lock.
Those were the 【New Species】 that Pandora had originally intended to create.
It’s a pity that, due to their contact with the powers of death and chaos, the appearance of these species would likely deviate greatly from what Pandora and Remiel had envisioned, right?
But that was no problem. Hela threw Remiel’s entire body, Pandora’s headless body, and all the petrified elves into the mix; it should provide some templates for these new beings…
Hmm, but surely, these newly created mythical beings would crave desires just as Pandora did.
Counting the roaring pillars of fire, there were probably as many as seventy-one.
As the glowing artifacts burning within the sea of fire below became increasingly bright, the spewing pillars and the authority of death calmed down a bit, as if a spring had been compressed halfway…
Hmm, why only halfway compressed?
Because Hela did not plan to finish everything; she wanted to leave the other half for the World Tree or the Dragon God to handle, which would be of great use.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
“Ah, did it succeed?”
After a moment of waiting, a pair of magical artifacts gradually rose from between the sea of fire and the seventy-one soaring pillars, constantly moving around and “looking” around.
They were a pair of eyes shimmering with golden light, far surpassing any artifacts in the history of the Holy Realm in terms of quality, appearance, and purpose, although those artifacts also possessed an extremely dense aura of chaos.
Following the emergence of those eyes, the subsequent seventy-one pillars seemed to be drawn towards them. The previously solidly pressed pillars and the authority of death became increasingly restless, as if a door unlocked by a key was about to swing open…
Fortunately, at the critical moment, the smiling Hela stretched her hand and pulled the uneasy eyes into her grasp, softly speaking as if comforting a newborn baby,
“It’s okay… it’s okay… ah, I almost forgot, you have intelligence, so I must give you a name… how about 【Pandora’s Eye】?”
Hela’s somewhat playful expression could not be recognized by the newly born conscious artifact; the pair of eyes curiously wiggled their bodies, staring directly at the pristine angel before them, displaying one hundred percent friendliness.
As the emotions of this artifact settled down, the fire pillars that had been drawn also returned to their previous forms.
“What a good boy…”
Seeing its obedient appearance, Hela smiled as she gently patted its smooth, ceramic-like surface. Then she seemed to remember something and looked around.
“Ah, I almost forgot; in this case, I must prepare a new name as well…”
After thinking for a moment, she continued,
“How about 【Baemon】?”
In her hand, the newly birthed eyes blinked innocently, as if savoring the special meaning of this name.
The next second, the surrounding surging chaotic black substance and flames would almost swallow them.
……
……
Time rewound a bit, back to the moment when Fisher and Tang Zeming Asuka had just dealt with Margaret.
At this time, within the Ideal Nation outside the stone tower, countless fissures erupted with hot magma, and the increasingly active authority of death symbolized the imminent awakening of a True God. Seventy-one pillars of fire burst forth from below the ground, roaring towards the heavens with an utterly peculiar mix of chaos and life force.
“What’s going on? Why is the authority of death still so active after Margaret’s death?”
Fisher, holding Tang Zeming Asuka, rushed downward, soaring from the top of the stone tower, with Neceria flying behind them.
In the distant sky, the entity of the World Tree had spread widely, casting a terrifying shadow over the earth.
However, upon descending, the scene below was beyond Fisher’s imagination.
Several bodies of elves had already been completely petrified by some force scattered below, only seeing those elves caused an extremely ominous feeling to rise in Fisher’s heart.
Where is Hela?
“Fisher, this way!!”
Just as Fisher was lost in thought, Mikhail and Gouwen, who were unscathed but anxious, ran out from a distance. They sighed in relief upon seeing Fisher flying down with Tang Zeming Asuka unscathed, but when they noticed Neceria flying behind them, their faces showed surprise, as if to say,
“Oh, so we have another phoenix in our team!”
After seeing Fisher land, Gouwen hurried over to him and began scrutinizing Fisher from head to toe, asking,
“Where are the Loom of Fate and the tears of the World Tree?”
“They fell to the ground, probably beneath that stone tower… Where is Hela? What happened here? Where is she?”
Upon mentioning this, Gouwen became agitated, vividly recounting to Fisher the events of the Duke of Peach and Pandora teaming up against chaos, Pandora and Remiel betraying the Duke of Peach, the Duke of Peach escaping with other elves, and Pandora taking Hela to the bottom of the stone tower.
The more he listened, the tighter Fisher’s brows knitted.
He had an extremely ominous premonition.
Meanwhile, Gouwen added,
“And Fisher, there are still some subhumans and humans nearby who haven’t been taken by those threads. We can’t save those who have already been taken by death; we must take the rest with us.”
“…I’ll think of a way.”
Fisher rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache. Even though he had reached the Mythical Rank, he had no way to check who hadn’t been taken out of the impending destruction of the Ideal Nation before the World Tree.
He was desperately searching his mind for usable magic; he certainly couldn’t go one by one using the Loom of Fate to fish them out, right?
At that moment, Mikhail glanced solemnly around, then spoke,
“It’s okay; I already have a way.”
“You…”
Just as Fisher and Gouwen looked up at him, suddenly, a dense sound, resembling a swarm of bees buzzing, erupted above the Ideal Nation.
Fisher raised an eyebrow and looked up at the sky, only to see mechanical entities bursting forth from the clouds, rushing like a tide next to the shadow of the enormous World Tree.
Those machines were somewhat primitive, but the blue light flashing on them felt strangely familiar to Fisher.
“Mechanism…”
He murmured to himself, finding those things remarkably similar to the machines from his living era.
Mikhail, beside him, broke into a light sweat. In his eyes, dense interfaces and codes flickered. The dwindling energy he had left made him hear Fisher’s voice, and he paused for a moment, saying,
“By the way, I discussed it with Archangel Michael; the artificial intelligence he created is called 【David】, and I haven’t named these machines yet. He doesn’t name them, so let’s just have Fisher name them, calling them Mechanisms… Archangel Michael, what do you think?”
Everyone looked at him, and no one knew that at this moment, far in the universe, within the fifth day encircled by the solar ring, many skilled forgers of angels were emerging from their workshops, astonished at the endless stream of machines pouring out from Michael’s forge.
Inside Michael’s workshop, he sat expressionless, propping his cheek as he watched machines continuously produced under 【David】’s control and the assistance of artifacts. Indifferently replying to Mikhail, he said,
“Whatever you like, but don’t forget that these will need to be repaid after they help you.”
Mikhail forced a wry smile but could only respond, “No problem, Archangel.”
“Humph.”
Aside from that cold hum, there was no further sound.
“Boom!”
But simultaneously, the bottom of the stone tower suddenly exploded, the shockwave completely collapsing the already precarious stone tower.
From the collapsing ruins, a relatively spacious opening emerged, and waves of black substance filled with unprecedented chaotic aura surged forth like a tsunami, continually erupting from the breach, seemingly intent on swallowing everything above.
Upon seeing that black substance, everyone above instantly felt their rationality plummeting.
Mikhail’s eyes turned red, and snowflakes from New Moscow began to swirl around him again; Tang Zeming Asuka screamed in agony, clutching her head as crimson began to flow from her seven orifices; Gouwen and Neceria also became delirious, their veins bulging as they appeared to suffer immensely in the face of the impending black substance.
Fisher was similarly affected, but he didn’t know if it was thanks to the completion manual’s baptism; the impact on him was far less than that on the others.
“Mikhail, hurry!”
Seeing the black tide rushing toward them in an instant, he quickly turned and shouted to all behind him.
His voice roused Mikhail, who was partly lost in consciousness. Gritting his teeth, he converted decades of resilience against cyber-psychosis into one sentence, yelling,
“David!! Take all the living away!!”
“Beep beep! Admin command detected; arranging units one to three hundred to execute this task. Also, David really likes this name; if I can evolve later, please ensure this name is preserved… Um, if we have to differentiate, please add numbers for us. Admin, what do you think?”
However, Mikhail was already on the verge of being driven mad by the chaotic waves behind him, paying no attention to David’s chatter.
Fortunately, the artificial intelligence and machines seemed unaffected by the chaotic tide. David accurately began executing the command given by Mikhail.
Just as they were about to topple, the Mechanism above descended, lifting Mikhail into the air according to the standard of one Mechanism per person.
Fisher gritted his teeth, swiftly throwing all of his companions onto the lined-up Mechanisms.
Just as he tossed Neceria onto a Mechanism, the last Mechanism appeared before him. As he was about to board it, Fisher suddenly froze.
He turned to look at the crumbling stone tower below, watching the chaotic tide coming nearer. The whispers in his ear began to howl again, as if reminding him of the consequences of not leaving…
But Hela was still inside.
“Beep beep beep! Hello, sir, please follow Admin’s command and board me immediately to leave here.”
“Wait for me! You can carry two people, right?!”
“Beep beep beep! First, sir, you are not my admin; I have no obligation to follow your commands. Secondly, unit 272 has only undergone a simple assembly for half an hour. From the design perspective, it prioritizes lightweight characteristics. Carrying two people, including you, an adult male, in this case, is…”
But Fisher ignored the incessant chatter of the artificial intelligence David, gritting his teeth as he ran toward the gap spewing black waves.
Behind him, Mechanisms rapidly lifted living beings with life signs from the ruins of the Ideal Nation. The further they got from the chaos, the less impact they experienced, which allowed Tang Zeming Asuka to regain some clarity.
Shaking her head, she looked down and saw Fisher recklessly running towards the black substance.
“Teacher Fisher!!”
Tang Zeming Asuka’s pupils contracted slightly, and she immediately struggled on the Mechanism, but the next second, a pair of mechanical arms tightly grasped her, preventing her from moving.
“Friendly reminder from David: passengers, please hold on tight and pay attention to your safety…”
“You jerk!”
“Reiterating, I am David, not ‘you jerk’… Let’s try to think from my perspective; if I overlook your warm concern and still call you ‘you jerk’, how would you feel? Wouldn’t you be very sad?”
“Ah ah ah ah!”
Angered, Tang Zeming Asuka kicked at the gabbing Mechanism beneath her, but that still couldn’t prevent it from carrying her higher and farther away.
Meanwhile, the World Tree finally realized the black substance and the increasingly active authority of death.
As a demigod tasked with great responsibility, she knew better than anyone the severity of the problem at this moment.
Chaos had erupted!
In the next second, she decisively set aside the matters of Margaret and the Loom she was originally to handle; her terrifying demi-god aura first locked onto the Ideal Nation, targeting the chaos that was about to spread.
求求投票、打赏和支持，这对我来说十分重要！
万分感谢支持！
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(End of Chapter)
