The sky is an arena where gods wrestle.
Blue lightning bolts of logic and crimson flesh of desire tear at each other frantically.
The conflict between two extreme concepts has reached a fever pitch.
The Mother of Rebirth's Divine Body, its underlying data streams thoroughly disrupted, flickers wildly on the brink of collapse.
The once perfectly seductive body is now covered in hideous wounds.
Beneath the wounds, no flesh or blood is visible, only patches of mosaic-like pixelated glitches.
On the ground, Priestess Elena has completely entered the zone.
She is no longer a lost prayerer, but a sharp-tongued debater, the final judge guiding the public opinion of the entire city to pass a "Conceptual Verdict" on the Evil God.
"...The meshing of gears is the most fundamental trust in the universe!"
"The leverage of a lever is the truth that cannot be overturned!"
"The roar of steam is the only hymn for the advancement of civilization!"
She recited the ancient, tedious, yet absolutely rational dogmas of the Church of Machinery in a loud voice.
Each word became a logic bomb, precisely thrown into the Mother of Rebirth's chaotic Divine Body.
The entire Winred City had become her cheering squad.
Soldiers, craftsmen, citizens... Everyone shouted in unison, using the simplest truths to counter the most seductive lies.
The scene was absurd, yet infinitely holy.
Inside the Commander Mecha, Lin Qingyue rested her chin on one hand, watching this novel "theological debate" with keen interest, even nodding from time to time like a senior judge.
"Hmm, not bad. Full of emotion, solid evidence."
"The speaking rate's just a bit fast. Remember to breathe, don't suffocate yourself."
She actually whispered this "guidance" through the amplifier.
Elena, who was lost in the fervor of revenge and faith, stumbled and almost missed her next line of dogma.
And while the gaze of everyone in the city was fixed on the divine battle in the sky.
Three agile figures had already slipped away from the mecha's feet and silently infiltrated the other side of the city.
-
"Blargh... Blargh!!"
In the dark, damp underground command center, Prophet Cain knelt before the monitor screen made of Magic-Infused Crystals, retching violently.
His stomach churned, but he only vomited acid.
On the screen, the "Mother Goddess" he worshipped, the ultimate trump card he had personally nurtured to devour other Gods, the great existence that carried all his ambitions and desires, was being publicly "lingchi-ed" by a bunch of mere mortals.
And their weapon was none other than the Church of Machinery's dogmas, the very ones he had most despised and dismissed as "decayed" and "backward"!
It felt as if a world-leading mathematician had been publicly proven wrong by an elementary student wielding an abacus!
This wasn't a technical failure.
This was his cognition and dignity being pressed into the ground and rubbed over and over again!
"Liars! All of you are liars!"
Cain's face was twisted from excessive congestion, and the veins on his temples and neck pulsed angrily.
"What rationality! What order! It's nothing but the self-consolation of a bunch of losers! Desire is the ladder of evolution! The Mother Goddess is the ultimate destination!"
He cursed madly, cursing Lin Qingyue, cursing the soldiers who had "betrayed" him, and cursing this world that refused to follow his script.
His voice, hysterical, echoed through the empty command center, shrill and miserable.
He did not understand.
Just half an hour ago, the situation had been so favorable, that vibrant state where all things flourished before his very eyes!
Why?
Why did it suddenly become like this?
Why did his perfect plan collapse in such a farcical manner?
Why did those ignorant mortals refuse the "Mother Goddess's" eternal gift, which was so close at hand?
Just as he fell into a spiral of self-doubt and impotent rage.
BOOM!!!
A deafening crash interrupted his madness.
The heavy alloy door of the command center bulged inward with an exaggerated, explosive force.
A clear, massive shield imprint, inscribed with divine runes, was branded deeply into the center of the door.
The piercing shriek of twisting metal made Cain's heart stop for a moment.
He turned back in terror, only to see countless cracks spreading wildly outward from the shield's imprint.
Then, a cheerful, even somewhat joyful voice pierced through the heavy alloy door.
"Mr. Cain, your delivery is here!"
"Please open the door, and don't forget to leave a 5-star review, honey!"
It was that Paladin!
Cain's pupils constricted to pinpoints.
A cold dread exploded from the base of his spine, shooting straight up to the crown of his head.
How did they find this place?!
This hiding spot was his deepest secret!
"Defend! Activate all defenses!"
He scrambled on all fours toward the nearby control console, his hands frantically slamming the runic buttons.
But he was ultimately a step too slow.
No, it should be said that Lin Xiyue's movements were simply too fast.
"Too slow! I'll open it for you!"
Outside the door, the young girl's crisp shout rang out.
BOOM—!!!
The entire alloy door, along with the surrounding walls, was blasted away by an unrivaled force, like a cracker shattered by a battering ram!
Dust filled the air at the broken doorway.
Three figures emerged.
At the front was the black-haired girl holding the giant shield.
Lin Xiyue maintained her charging posture, Holy Light flowing over [Blackstone's Protection], spotless and pure.
Behind her, Su Wan's figure flickered in and out of sight, instantly sealing all escape routes and possible mechanism nodes within the command center with visibly freezing frost magic.
Further away, in the shadows, Xia Lian's figure flashed past.
Several silent arrows flew out with pinpoint accuracy.
The few remaining fanatical cultist guards by Cain's side didn't even have time to draw their weapons before they all let out a short, sharp cry of agony.
An arrow had buried itself with pinpoint accuracy into each person's wrist or knee, instantly stripping them of all combat capability.
Cain stared blankly at the scene.
His mind went completely blank.
The layers of defenses he took such pride in were as fragile as a sheet of window paper before this three-person squad.
"You... you all..."
Cain backed away in terror until his back pressed against the cold control console, leaving him nowhere to retreat.
He watched Lin Xiyue approach step by step. The smile on her youthful, lively face now seemed more chilling to him than any demon's grin.
A direct fight?
Don't be ridiculous.
He was just a "Prophet," a Professional who made a living off information gaps and smooth talking.
His army had defected.
His Mecha had been turned against him.
His God was currently being lectured on morality and ethics in the sky.
He had already lost everything.
Despair, like icy seawater, completely submerged Cain.
Yet, at the end of despair lay even more utter madness.
"You forced my hand!"
A savage, desperate resolve flashed across Cain's face as he tore something from his robes.
It was a crystal the size of a fist.
Composed of a mass of twisted flesh and desire, it was still faintly throbbing.
Like a living heart covered in tumors.
"Desire Bomb."
The last, and most vicious, trump card bestowed upon him by the Mother of Rebirth.
"Let this filthy body, soaked in desire, be the final sacrifice I offer to the Mother Goddess!"
He laughed madly, channeling every remaining shred of his Mental Energy into the crystal!
"Go to hell with me!!!"