Clockwork Bride

Page 286

He saw that Todd and a few other guerrillas had hastily cobbled together a large, incomprehensible field gun-like device using military supplies and biological materials found on site. Its structure and parts were clearly made of bones, flesh, and armor.

The cannon was already aimed at him.

Even the little war god was a little surprised for a moment: "What, live glue-on assembly..."

Before the words were even finished, the guerrillas had already opened fire! The cannons, resembling living creatures, didn't spit out shells; instead, they glowed faintly. Those points of light transformed into flames, the fiery red flames quickly turning orange, then golden—a [biothermal energy beam] reaching lethal temperatures shot towards the little war god!

The little war god neither dodged nor flinched. The intensely hot beam struck him squarely in the head, exploding with a blinding flash and a deafening roar!

Riding the aftershocks of the explosion, Amu turned and fled, casting a [speed boost] spell on himself as he ran, yelling at Todd and the others, "Run! Run ...

Why would she need to say that?

The hastily assembled bio-thermal cannon collapsed after just one shot. The guerrillas, already prepared, turned tail and ran as fast as Am!

"Miss, how are you feeling now?"

Todd, still able to speak as he ran at full speed without slowing down, asked, "Are you planning to change the terms of our cooperation?"

All Amm could say to him was, "Let's work together to survive until tomorrow!"

It's pointless for mortals to race against gods; a god could catch up in an instant—but! This should be a crucial secret base entrusted to Brukchabutan by the Smoke Mirror. Perhaps if they escape, escape the isolation wall, the little war god won't dare to pursue them? (After all, there's certainly the possibility of a diversionary tactic or a feint.)

If this idea doesn't work, well, it seems like there's no other way!

The explosion that had engulfed the Little God of War had faded. The Little God of War strode out of the smoke and dust, completely unharmed. He even seemed quite happy.

Guarding this secret base for Smoke Mirror was crucial, but it also incredibly boring, offering no extra rewards. Now that there was finally some fun to be had, how could he not be happy?

"Don't run away, play with me a little longer!"

So the little war god laughed heartily, and a white shadow emerged from behind him, swiftly rushing to the entrance of the isolation wall. The guerrillas, seeing the monster blocking their path, all gasped in horror.

It was a pale hand.

Larger and thicker than a tree, a gigantic hand over three meters tall, it was just a hand. Its joints were distinct, its pulse throbbing, and its pale, sickly muscles were covered with eerie blue veins, as if it had been chopped off from a giant.

In reality, it was indeed an undead god created by chopping off the hand of a giant's (god's) corpse and modifying it. It raised its wrist, resembling a snake eyeing its prey, having already blocked the guerrillas' only escape route.

Am could probably kick it away. But the little warrior had already caught up and stood between Am and the goal.

“A god has come to steal something; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

He joyfully set up his spear and then shook it in the wind.

The enormous spear instantly transformed, extending eight tentacles from its shaft. Each tentacle glowed with a black light and writhed incessantly as if it possessed a consciousness, like an octopus—except that instead of suckers, the tentacles bore sharp blades.

Eight long, black tentacles that moved on their own, with a meter-long silver spearhead in the middle. Not only Am, but even Micket's database had never seen such a strange weapon.

Having just taken a hit from the guerrillas, it was now the Little War God's turn to strike. He strode in front of Amu in a single step, sweeping his spear horizontally in a whirlwind. Amu, unskilled in close combat, quickly cast a spell on the Little War God: "[Time Lightning]!"

In theory, arcane time magic should have an advantage against warrior-type enemies because the prediction of the future makes the spell almost impossible to block or dodge.

But what actually happened? Am saw the tentacles on the spear extend at an incredible speed, absorbing the spell Am had thrown. The little war god's movements were completely unaffected, and the spear swept fiercely at Am! Whoosh! Am was sent flying like a baseball, crashing heavily into the rows of warehouses in the base!

A warehouse, built to military standards, collapsed with a deafening roar, sending up a cloud of dust. The spell hadn't worked; Amu and the Little War God were completely outmatched in close combat!

The others were probably in no better shape. A colossal, quasi-military-grade undead corpse hand blocked their path. While not as powerful as a true warrior god, this hand was clearly far stronger than any ordinary god. What made these mortal guerrillas think they could fight it?

With a little war god behind them and a roadblock in front, they're all probably doomed.

Am used his hands to brace himself against the broken warehouse wall as he got up, completely dazed and confused.

As long as there's still a chance of winning and hope, she certainly won't be afraid or hesitate. The sense of accomplishment and the rewards after victory are incredibly appealing.

However—in this situation—did they really win...?

Am I really doomed?

She knew the Smoke Mirror Company's style, and what would happen next—she'd be captured by the Little God of War, and then dying would be nearly impossible. The others would likely be ignored. The company's priests would fry these mortals' brains into potato chips, garnish them with lettuce, and serve them to their gods on silver platters. The blood would be used for sacrifices, and the hides for equipment.

Almost in despair, Amu turned to look at the guerrillas, at Todd, their commander. With the mental fortitude of a mortal, wouldn't they have succumbed to incontinence by now?

But what she saw was a scene that was completely unexpected.

"Set up the formation and prepare for the seventh, eighth, and eleventh chants."

Facing the giant hand of death, Todd squinted and gave orders to the guerrillas. He didn't seem flustered.

Even more terrifying was that, upon hearing Todd's order, the guerrillas, who had initially been in a panic, immediately suppressed their fear, formed a crude battle formation, and then pulled out magical artifacts from their belts...

...A magical artifact?

It was only then that Am realized with astonishment that Todd and the guerrillas all wore gold artifacts on their tactical belts, and these were clearly gold jewelry. The formation they formed around the giant hand of death resembled a crescent moon, simple yet mysterious.

The giant hand paid no heed to what they were doing. Its massive, undead wrist, comparable to that of a Titan, rose and slammed down on the guerrillas! The force was more terrifying than cannon fire; any mortal would be grabbed, held, and crushed and torn apart as they twisted and struggled, their flesh and bones turned into mud, their internal organs squeezed out, leaving them as tattered rags that could not even die!

But then Todd raised a golden bracelet and chanted: “Undying monster, bandit who strangles the weary, I am not weary before you. Your poisons cannot penetrate my body, for they are all made from the limbs of Ra. You are powerless against me, and I will be unharmed.”

Before the words were even finished, an incredible phenomenon occurred! An invisible golden radiance burst forth from the golden magical artifacts of Todd and all the guerrillas, surrounding them and blocking the attack of the giant hand of death!

Other guerrillas were chanting: "Eyes of Horus, open the door for me; Eyes of Horus, who adorn and protect the father of the gods, close the door for me. Osiris is the god who rules the underworld, and since he does not linger there, I will not linger there either."

The wondrous incantations, devoid of particularly striking visual effects, emanated an invisible power from the golden artifacts adorning them. The attack of the giant hand of death was blocked, yet it was, after all, a god. The god's attack unleashed ripples, causing the distorted space to surge and undulate like waves. The shockwaves from these aftershocks were enough to claim the lives of mortals.

However, none of the guerrillas or Todd died. Although each time the giant hand struck the golden barrier, they felt as if they were being hit on the head, fortunately, there were dozens of guerrillas present, so the impact was distributed among the dozens of enhanced humans, including Todd, preventing them from dying.

Am crawled out of the warehouse ruins, momentarily stunned—Ra? Horus? Osiris? These were the names of ancient Egyptian gods, and they were long dead. More than four hundred years ago, they had been killed by Mithras in the war between the old and new gods.

...However, a name is power. It's not particularly rare for skilled wizards to borrow the remnants of dead gods. Hayden was already quite adept at it when he was a mercenary. Using the power of gods against gods is also a typical sorcery technique.

In other words, Todd and his group are using classical magic now? However, no matter how Am looked at it, some details seemed strange. Until she looked closely at the gold jewelry worn by the guerrillas and found that all the pieces looked exactly the same.

They are exactly the same, definitely not handmade, and were probably printed in a 3D printer using the same blueprint.

...Things that can be industrially produced no longer belong to classical magic by definition.

"I am Ra, my enemy has been captured, he cannot escape my grasp. I open my arms like Pharaoh, I will not let you escape my hand, I am as strong as Thoth, I open my mouth to speak, so as to subdue my enemy!"

Taking advantage of the fact that the giant hand of death was temporarily suppressed by the array, Todd stretched out his right hand towards it. The magic of the sun gathered in his eyes, then extended into his arm. He raised his hand forward, grasping and forming a ring:

"【Divine Flame Cannon】!"

Combining ancient and modern magic, it transformed into a mighty golden sun flame, and into a giant eagle, swooping down on the Undead Gods!

The undying giant hand forcefully raised its wrist, resembling a giant serpent crawling on the ground. The powers of the long-dead Eagle of Light and the serpent neither alive nor dead clashed as if an ancient myth had come to life, and for a moment they were evenly matched!

This really stunned even Amu—these mortals, these guerrillas, actually have the ability to fight against the gods!

While it might seem a bit awkward that it would take dozens of guerrillas working together to form a formation to be evenly matched with an undead god, and even the entire underground base might not be able to defeat Am, this is already arcane magic, a technology that can be mass-produced and modularized.

Am was not stupid; she knew exactly what this technology meant—it was a huge treasure with unlimited potential!

Similarly, the little war god is not stupid.

“Interesting. I originally thought that catching a minor deity would be the biggest gain, but I didn’t expect the real treasure trove to be here.”

He watched from a distance as the guerrillas and the undead giant were evenly matched, not rushing to help. Instead, he praised them greatly, his eyes gleaming with ambition. He knew very well that capturing a minor god to work for him was nothing special, but if these mortals' skills were used well… it might even elevate him from his current, stagnant position as a minor god to a great god overnight!

So at this moment, the little war god's attention was already drawn to Todd and the dozens of guerrillas. He kept a slight eye on Amu, lest he be careless and get killed by this little goddess.

So he didn't notice at all that, in a corner in the distance, a mercenary removed a fully loaded magazine from his gun, took a bullet from his pocket, chambered it, and aimed at him. The whole process took less than a second.

Even if he noticed, the Little God of War wouldn't think a mortal mercenary could pose any threat to him. A mortal's pistol certainly couldn't penetrate a true god's face, no matter how much it was modified or strengthened.

But Gustav fired a fourth shot at the little war god.

346: Using one's own spear

Ever since Gustav's team was tragically killed and their souls stolen by the War Gods, he has been thinking about how to avenge them and how to reclaim their souls.

However, mortals cannot kill gods, or at least it is extremely difficult, so difficult that it's unimaginable how to even begin. Even if a true god were to sleep, it would be very difficult for mortals to kill them. Mortals wielding knives, guns, bullets, cannons, and missiles cannot harm them, because their divine power protects them.

Their assets, their wealth, their power, their social standing, and their image in the eyes of others—all these constitute the divine power of the gods. This divine power naturally protects them. Therefore, it is virtually impossible for mortals to assassinate true gods—just as mortals cannot stab mountains or oceans with swords, guns, or bullets.

However, Gustav's decision to kill the Little God of War is unrelated to whether he can or cannot. Therefore, there's no need to calculate the odds of success in this decision. He simply has to kill him no matter what; he will never give up.

For revenge. To save lives.

No matter how powerful the opponent is, even if it is a god, we must try every means and use every method!

So when Todd learned about this, he became very interested and took the initiative to come and study it with Gustav. But they soon came to the same conclusion: this was a difficult matter, especially the biggest problem was how to break through the defenses.

Gods have weapons that can kill gods, but mortals can hardly use them. This isn't a problem that system authentication and hacking can solve—for example, if you have to use one mountain to smash another, how can a mortal move the mountain by himself? Perhaps it's possible if a large number of people move it together, but Gustave and Todd didn't have that many people and resources.

Neither Gustav nor Todd would give up on their goals, but they were not foolish enough to believe that a few hundred guerrillas could defeat the God of Capital, no matter how powerful their secret technology was.

Therefore, they had to find another way.

At this moment, Gustav fired his fourth bullet of the day at the little war god.

It was a particularly strange bullet. Its warhead was made of obsidian, somewhat resembling a finely polished obsidian sacrificial knife, only extremely small. The uneven blade gleamed with a dim, geometric sheen in the afternoon sunlight. No muscle tissue or bone could withstand its sharpness. It could slice open a chest cavity, sever the arteries connecting to the heart, and rip out a beating heart.

The little war god was completely unaware of the attack, not even glancing at it. But even so, his divine power would still protect him. A god's mere existence can alter the physical state of the surroundings.

As the obsidian bullet flew towards them, an invisible divine force immediately and naturally formed a protective shield around the Little God of War. Any attack not launched by the Little God of War himself would be blocked. Therefore, the obsidian bullet struck the shield—

Then it passes through.

The obsidian bullet pierced through the Little War God's divine power protection as if the protection didn't exist, and continued flying straight toward the Little War God!

"what?"

Only then did the little war god finally realize that someone was shooting at him, and that the bullet was clearly strange. But he still didn't take it too seriously. Before he could react, the long spear in his hand extended eight tentacles, lunging forward like a hungry octopus to tear the bullet to shreds.

Unexpectedly, this situation only elicited a cold smile from Gustav. At that moment, he and Todd, who was not far away, simultaneously chanted a mysterious incantation: "[Obsidian Burial Butterfly]".

In the blink of an eye! The obsidian bullet fragments, torn apart by the tentacles, transformed in mid-air into thousands upon thousands of black glass butterflies! All of them had wings as sharp as knives, and they surged towards the little war god like a torrent of black glass. Even the eight tentacles, no matter how fast, couldn't intercept them all!

Only then did the little war god fully understand: "Hackers! You dare to use my own money to attack me!"

This is how they broke through the Little War God's protective shield.

The obsidian bullet that shot at the Little God of War was actually made on the spot by Gustav and Todd using military supplies from the warehouse. Gustav had already made it while the Little God of War was still out and Amu was still blasting the security guards, just in case.

Todd and his ilk started out as hackers, the best mortal hackers personally trained by Alastor.

Later, after arriving in South America, he recruited the poor and former employees who had fallen from mid-level positions at Smoke Mirror Company. Most of them were people seeking revenge against the company, rebels.

So their magic has always been about exploiting bugs and loopholes in the company and God's system, using stolen divine power and fragments to counter God's magic.

The best way to conquer a fortified city is always to exploit the negligence and carelessness of its defenders! Gustav's obsidian bullets were Trojan's Trojan Horse!

The divine power shield had been breached, and even the tentacles couldn't stop tens of thousands of tiny obsidian butterflies. A torrent of crystal rushed towards the little war god's face, and countless sharp blade wings enveloped him.

"Hahahaha!"

When the Obsidian Burial Butterfly devoured the Little War God, everyone saw Gustav laughing wildly to the sky.

"Show me what you're doing! Block this view and let me see it! You damn capitalist god!"

But the little war god did not respond to him.

A roar erupted from within the black torrent, unleashing a powerful burst of divine energy. The Little War God shone with a dazzling light, shooting straight into the sky and shattering the Obsidian Burial Butterfly, melting stone like flames. This divine power simultaneously caused the entire military base to tremble violently, as if a meteorite had crashed to the ground. The shock and impact were so intense that they even interrupted the fighting of others. The aura of a true god spread out, forcing dozens of guerrilla fighters to their knees.

The immortal giant hand stopped, like a startled snake.

The guerrillas had no choice but to stop; their formation had been broken.

So everyone saw that after the Obsidian Burial Butterfly was shattered, the Little God of War emerged from the glass shards, wielding his tentacle spear. He was no longer smiling, and his exposed face was covered in blood. His beautiful obsidian armor was also torn by the shards, and now there was a fine net of light everywhere, with divine power beginning to flow from the cracks.

The sacred obsidian armor will not bend or dent like ordinary metal. However, it will shatter if subjected to saturation attacks—not because the armor is too weak, but rather because it is "using one's own spear against one's own shield."

All that hurt him was his own money (divine power).

"It is interesting."

Meanwhile, the wounds on the little war god's skin were rapidly healing. It was less that he was injured and more that he had been thoroughly humiliated.

Even if a mortal calculates to the extreme, the blow of revenge is nothing more than this.

"I originally thought only that little god was usable, but I didn't expect that each of you has your own unique skills."

The little war god said coldly,

"You can come and work for me and serve me."

"That's a bit unexpected," Todd frowned. "So what kind of working conditions will you offer us?"

"Work benefits?" the little war god replied, "Every year, you get 365 days to survive, and an extra day in a leap year. Do you think my offer is fair?"

Oh dear, it seems he's getting anxious.

Blukhchabtan, the god of violence and murder, has been enraged.

What followed was no longer God's casual play, but a real fight.