Vroooom—!
A shockwave visible to the naked eye, catalyzed by the composite energy field, transformed into a blinding jet of black light, descending from the heavens like an energy pillar.
The thin cloud cover above was instantly torn apart.
An invisible force erupted, violently sweeping away the surrounding angelic power. The rules of magic were dispersed!
The next moment—BOOOOOM! The entire island's mountain ranges trembled.
With a shrill howl, the semi-materialized sound wave struck like the shockwave from a nuclear blast, centered on the cluster of engineering containers where the Magic Gods stood, clearing everything nearby.
Under power rivaling the birth cry of Little Boy, the solid ground cracked open in countless fissures in an instant.
They spread outward like bottomless black chasms, racing past the horizon.
Construction robots diligently building military fortifications, unfinished high-strength concrete bunkers, and stacks of building materials all burst apart like crushed sesame seeds.
Tens of millions of tons of soil and other construction debris surged outward like a tsunami.
The shockwave hit the coast—or what used to be the coast. The battered Banda Aceh teetered on the brink. The shoreline receded inland by several kilometers in seconds, collapsing landslides raising waves over ten meters high on the exposed seabed.
These waves were made of dry earth and rock.
"Hmph. So this is your only achievement? The derivative result of that failure you call Aiwass?"
The golden sword used as a cane split the air. The withered corpse that wielded it glared at the blast's center. The human-skin mask it wore twisted with its master's emotions, becoming all the more hideous.
Emerald irises reflected chunks of falling steel.
It was clear this thing was the attacker.
Clank, clank, clank…
From within the dust cloud came the grind of heavy metal gears. A violet-red light began to glow.
Dark tungsten-steel armor traced with violet-red patterns—dense Honkai energy fused into its very structure. Compared to its compact torso, the incoming steel mass bore enormous gun barrels utterly disproportionate to its size, the surrounding space warped by AIM field turbulence.
Even someone as ignorant of science as the 'High Priest' could not help but think: a single-entity weapon built to the standards of constructing a strategic-class fortress.
"'Zombie' girl, are you alright?"
Balancing unsteadily on one foot, the childish-looking Magic God known as 'Niang-Niang' called out like a concerned child.
The 'Zombie' girl had taken the brunt of that last attack. As the self-proclaimed friendliest of the Magic Gods, 'Niang-Niang' asked what others would consider pointless drivel.
After all, Magic Gods were supremely arrogant. They did not believe anything in this world could harm them. Even in incomplete form, they were invincible.
Clang! Clang!
With a shift of the steel behemoth, the 'parts' floating around it came fully into view.
Guns, cannons, swords, spears, molecular vibration electromagnetic emitters, launchers, lasers and laser rods, missile pods, precision-guided missiles, plasma cannons, bunker-busting drills, plasma blades, acid sprayers, flamethrowers, liquid nitrogen projectors, liquid-weapon turrets, tank guns, Gatling guns, rapid-fire autocannons, and massive-caliber railguns—it bristled with them all.
Some components bore the inscription: "Anti-Art Attachment."
"An Anti-Magic-Type Powered Suit Armor, is it?"
Casting a sidelong glance at the noisy 'Niang-Niang,' the withered Magic God known as 'High Priest' murmured, immediately understanding—this steel amalgamation was a weapon Aleister had built specifically to exterminate them.
As if hearing a joke, 'High Priest' slammed the golden sword's tip into the ground. "Hmph. Such arrogance."
"However…"
The 'High Priest' restrained his emotions, speaking almost conversationally as if humoring Aleister: "It is only natural that the comprehension speed between a Magic God and a human would differ. At this level, I will neither be angered nor lose patience."
"Still as arrogant as ever, Magic God," Aleister replied with a trace of mockery.
With the engineering robots that provided external speakers destroyed in the first strike, Aleister's voice now came directly from the A-A-A Powered Suit Armor before them.
"Under what circumstances do you think I would pick a fight with a skyful of gods and buddhas like you Magic Gods, right when the magical and scientific sides are on the brink of all-out war, and Othinus herself has appeared?"
His tone was utterly flat. "Or did you really think someone like me—a 'mere human'—would be provoked by nothing more than tear stains in a diary? That I would act so impulsively, so carelessly?"
"To obtain the necessary parameters, I can only resort to force and take them. That's all there is to it. So losing doesn't matter—so long as I survive and bring back the data I've stolen from directly fighting Magic Gods."
Now was the moment for the killing blow.
"The gift I've been preparing for a hundred years has already been planted in your body," Aleister's voice dropped lower. "I've just been stalling for time until the corrosion formula takes hold. And you? What have you been waiting for—small talk?"
"You—ugh…"
Not only the 'High Priest,' but also the three other Magic Gods who had kept their distance to spectate—'Nephthys,' 'Niang-Niang,' and 'Zombie'—suddenly furrowed their brows and clutched their chests.
"This feeling…"
An even stronger, unfamiliar sensation assaulted them, especially the stitched-up girl with the weakest presence. Her body shuddered, arms wrapped around herself as she let out a pained groan, the stitches crisscrossing her frame flickering with violet-red light.
It seemed she had been the one most maliciously targeted in that earlier strike.
"Wait—don't tell me you…"
The 'High Priest' froze, realization dawning.
Before his words had even faded, the massive steel behemoth—easily thirty to forty tons of metal—vanished.
"Hahahahaha! This is my attack vector!"
Vrrrrooom—!
Countless tungsten-steel spikes, each dozens of meters long and capable of piercing the Powered Suit Armor from end to end, were fired using electromagnetic acceleration identical to a railgun or mass driver. Spinning, they generated enormous kinetic force as they launched.
Squelch—!
…
Balkan Peninsula, Greece, Aegean Sea.
BOOM!
A spear of light shattered, meteor-like debris scattering. Dazzling crimson radiance engulfed mountain ranges for kilometers, scorching winds rushing through forests with a whshh.
Somewhere, a heavy mass tore through the atmosphere.
Crack—!
Colossal waves like rolling mountains rose, the raw might of nature shocking to behold.
Looking down into a massive chasm, one could see a gargantuan beast's body, engulfed in flames, tumbling within.
ROAR—!
It had the massive, powerful torso of a lion, its muscles knotted and covered in a dense mane like steel needles. Its four legs ended in goat-like hooves, the thick keratin reflecting a metallic sheen. Behind it whipped a light-brown serpent tail patterned with bands, ending in a rattlesnake-like rattle.
The most bizarre, sanity-eroding feature was its head—a human head. Though adorned with the wild mane of a golden lion, the curling horns of a goat, and a serpent's scaly neck, the face beneath was unmistakably human. And by human standards, she was no ugly beast—in fact, she could be considered beautiful.
Of course, such a physically maddening beauty could only be appreciated by the bravest of warriors.
Clearly, this monster's origins were extraordinary.
"Impossible! What is this?!"
The beast seemed to be in a frenzy.
A mysterious weakening formula had been driven into her through the split manifestation formula, further diminishing her strength.
ROOOAAR!
With a deafening roar, the hellfire-red glow flared in her massive jaws. The next moment, a semi-materialized storm of flames erupted, its shockwave rivaling that of a nuclear explosion. Centered on the man-made chimera, it cleared everything nearby and raised waves nearly a kilometer high.
"Nothing is impossible. This is the day the throne falls—the end of the Magic Gods' era!"
Like the voice of creation itself, the thunderous proclamation shook the heavens and earth. In a flash of light, Selene drove the fully fused Voidstar Anchor straight into the beast's face.
The atmosphere shattered. The earth leveled.
On the eastern Mediterranean coast, residents stood dumbstruck, watching the divine battle unfold before their eyes.
Seriously? Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Indian Ocean, Australia, Madagascar, East Africa—that whole vast region wasn't enough for you? You had to bring the fight to the Aegean Sea? In this bathtub-sized space?
Unavoidably, countless Christian faithful began to pray to Selene, chanting hymns. Many others joined them.
The rigid divide between the magic side and science side was mostly a rule set by the magical elite. Ordinary believers and civilians were far less particular. Facing death, they naturally prayed to whoever they trusted most.
Though Selene had retracted her angelic wings and halo, foregoing her more ostentatious displays, the earlier global broadcast left no doubt—this was Selene, wielder of the Sun God's power, clad in platinum battle armor.
Some bishops had even prepared the perfect explanation: it was proof that an angel had labored to protect humanity!
They were practically shouting, Pray harder!
After all, Selene at least looked human, even holy. The other side? Well… you'd have to be suicidal to pray to that thing—it was practically screaming "Satan."
Indeed, many bishops wouldn't hesitate to stage a heresy trial right then and there, using such heretics to shore up the Roman Catholic Church's shaken authority in the wake of the "Unclean Incident."
"Typhon's child, Chimera."
A Greek resident whispered, recognizing the monster battling Selene.
Though there were slight differences, this beast matched the legendary man-eating terror of Greek myth—its body formed from lion, goat, and serpent, and capable of breathing fire from its mouth.
"Want to return to your full power? Hmph, no chance now."
Selene was brazen now.
Hahaha—fully-formed Magic Gods were gone. She could do whatever she wanted.
At present, all the Magic Gods could only manifest in the world thanks to the Magic God 'Zombie's' Infinite Division Technique.
Its principle: by infinitely dividing the infinite capacity of a Magic God, much like placing two mirrors facing each other, they deliberately weakened themselves. This allowed the universe to barely hold their presence by overlapping these diminished existences repeatedly, thus deceiving the universe into thinking they could remain without destroying it with a careless gesture.
Of course, infinite divided is still infinite—but Magic Gods could turn even nonsense into reality. And when the others chose to accept 'Zombie's' technique without resistance, the effect was indeed achieved.
The technique was irreversible. Once self-division was performed, a Magic God could not restore their complete form by mere will. Only through a complex ritual could they return to their full state.
Unfortunately for them, the one who commanded the technique—Magic God 'Zombie'—could no longer undo it.
"Chimera. This is Othinus' soul inviting you to join her!"
The shocking news made Chimera freeze. "Othinus… is dead?"
Even if she was the weakest among them, she was still a Magic God.
"Oh my, so concerned? Such a good sister. Then go keep her company."
Selene smiled faintly, her blood-red diamond pupils fixed on the struggling Magic God of Greek myth. Her wrist twisted slightly.
"What to name it… hmm… let's call it the Black Hole of the Abyss." Ever generous, Selene would not deny them a reunion.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Chimera tried to reach shore, but before the massive whirlpool consuming the Aegean Sea, even as she shattered every foothold beneath her hooves, carving one trench after another, it was like vanishing into mud. Her great goat hooves lifted and sank again and again.
"Seal." Selene pressed down with an invisible grip.
Vmmm—!
Stars converged, starlight glittered, and a colossal imaginary claw descended from above. The world fell silent.
"Second one."
With her task done, Selene closed the teleportation rift torn into the ocean.
"I feel like…" She chuckled, gazing into the boundless sky, "a human trafficker."
She was hunting in the Toaru world, striking unseen, and sending her captured prey into the universe created by her true self. She could almost see her true body feasting.
"With the parameters of a Magic God, plus the traits gained from devouring Othinus, transferring more Magic Gods over will be much easier."
After all, she wasn't killing them—just relocating them. Much simpler.
Resting her chin in her hand, as the residents along the eastern Mediterranean erupted into joyous praise, Selene casually calmed the seismic and oceanic turmoil around the Aegean Sea before heading for the next names on her list.
Southern Europe, Rome—Roman mythology—Magic God: Proserpina.
Northern Europe, Ireland—Celtic mythology—Magic God: Nuada.
Central America, Mexico—Aztec mythology—Magic God: Tezcatlipoca.
…
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