Clockwork Bride

Page 245

In this situation, it's easy to imagine what kind of answer Miktikahiva would give her.

Soon, the special divine power of Miktikashivan began to surge from Pania's body. The negative emotional power that permeated New Jersey and had been abandoned by the fallen angels was now mobilized by the authority of the great god, transforming into a dark but strong cloak that covered the bodies of all the citizens of New Jersey!

With the protection of this vampire goddess's divine power, the citizens no longer fear the cosmic rays and void pollution falling from space; only direct physical hazards remain for Pania to worry about!

But for the sake of the people of New Asia, she didn't hesitate to sell Hayden's personal privacy. This is truly... a bizarre act that is no less than Hayden's own!

However, Pania, having tasted the sweetness of success, seemed unsatisfied. She had another connection, this time with Karen: [Kalen! Quickly help me repair the hole in the atmosphere above New Seattle! I promise I'll never flirt with Hayden again!]

Wow, this girl just sold Hayden's personal information to that female vampire who's always eyeing him, and then she's saying this to Hayden's wife! What kind of brain does someone have to think of something like this?!

Karen had no idea what Pania had just said to the goddess Mikt, but Pania's words were enough to leave Karen speechless: "...Even if you hadn't said that, I would still have helped you."

However, we're a bit tied up here too, and we can only spare a few resources for you. Give it your all and hold on for a little longer; we'll be there to help you soon!

In Karen's view, she doesn't have much power to give Pania right now, so Pania has to find her own way to support herself and temporarily solve the problem.

However, Pania had already sent her multi-threaded divine thoughts to almost every god in the world she knew and could get close to for help! Just by exchanging a little bit with each god, Pania had already gathered power far exceeding that of a minor god in a short period of time!

The Five-Colored Divine Light was remotely transmitted by Kallen and radiated from Panya's hand. Panya herself couldn't repair the atmosphere because she completely lacked the knowledge and skills in that area. She didn't understand any of the intricate magical principles. But as a terminal that could operate on behalf of others, as a container for gathering and releasing power, this super all-purpose remedy could do almost anything!

Even if people say she's not doing a good job, even if they say she's shirking her responsibilities, Pania doesn't really care. She doesn't care what others say—saving lives doesn't give her time to worry about who should do it! All she cares about is successfully saving lives!

This is what magical girls are all about!

"Ya-ha-ah—!"

So the goddess of magical girls cried out. With that cry, she made the images in her mind clearer, focusing on a single, action-oriented image, and causing the miracles borrowed from different gods to operate according to her wishes.

The divine radiance thus burst forth in the night sky of New Jersey.

Pania spread her lion-like hands and pushed both palms forward, slamming them against the sky above her head with all her might. Simply pushing her two fleshy hands towards a cosmic storm—essentially light waves, pollution, and space debris—would have been meaningless. However, at this moment, centered on Pania's hands, a ripple of divine power disregarded the storm's original trajectory and began to gradually spread outwards.

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by an explosive sound, these cosmic storms rushed back in the direction from which they had originally swept in!

To the citizens of New Jersey who witnessed this scene firsthand, those unfamiliar with complex magical techniques, it was as if Pania, with astonishing divine power, had slapped a cosmic storm crashing down from the sky. Not only that, but the radiation, pollution, and airborne debris that had been slapped back were decomposed and transformed in mid-air by the [Five-Colored Divine Light], actually mending the damaged atmosphere!

Even for the citizens of New Jersey living in the magical world, this was an absolutely astonishing sight!

Little did they know that this miracle was the result of Panya's desperate pleas and entreaties over private communications. To the people of New Jersey, Panya was a true god who had appeared in person at this critical moment, effortlessly rescuing them from mortal peril! Nearly ten million people in New Jersey had witnessed firsthand how Panya used her divine power in the night sky to protect them!

Although not everyone who was saved would offer Pania pure gratitude, the millions who would be grateful to her, and the spiritual power transmitted through them out of reverence and thanks, were enough to make Pania feel that her divine power was growing rapidly.

(Wow, saving lives really does make you an easy target for admiration.)

Although Pania didn't save people for that reason, she can't help but think so now.

(If everything goes smoothly today, with all these new fans I have now, I should be able to become a top-tier influencer, right? That's great!)

Meanwhile, Alastor's aid finally arrived just in time. Alastor gradually took control of New Yatu's city defense system, restarting it bit by bit, and the barrier once again protected the entire city. Now everyone should be safe for the time being, right?

That's not necessarily true.

Just as Pania was about to breathe a sigh of relief, her feline instincts sent a chill down her spine.

Something is coming from the sky.

Suddenly, the sky over New Yatu, which had just been repaired by the Five-Colored Divine Light, turned gloomy, as if dark clouds were surging and obscuring the sky. However, when Pania looked up, she couldn't see any dark clouds at all.

Because the source of that oppressive feeling was not the atmosphere, but the moon!

Adam threw a punch at the moon, intending to kill Mithra. This act naturally incurred Mithra's wrath and punishment. The mere aura of this punishment was enough to crush the spirits of the gods. Its divine might was so overwhelming that even Pania couldn't help but tremble.

The punishments bestowed by Mithra were never merely acts of attack. The people of New Yatu had just been thankful that Panya had saved their lives, but now everyone felt as if they were standing on a high judgment platform, receiving a death sentence, and no one could escape it.

Divine punishment is coming.

287: A swift and decisive approach reveals a compassionate heart.

While Pania was orchestrating her operations in the city, Adam was standing atop the company building, witnessing everything. Now a truly powerful deity, seeing the entire situation in New Seattle was effortless for him.

However, Adam didn't interfere with or hinder Panya and the others, because there was no need to. In fact, Panya's actions—combining the pure and impure energies to increase New Yatu's defenses, restarting the city's barrier, and even helping to patch the hole in the sky—were all actually beneficial to Adam.

He was busy preparing for Mithra Bodhisattva's divine retribution, so he didn't have time to control and strengthen Neoyatu. But wouldn't it be perfect if someone else helped harden Neoyatu? Why was Adam interfering?

Even though these enhancements are nothing more than adding a thin sheet of paper under Mithra's divine punishment power.

“My dear, I can feel it. It’s that familiar Mithraic Thunder again.”

Also atop the branch office building, the fallen angel, gazing at the night sky, suddenly spoke, calling to her husband beside her.

"It's been four hundred years, and he's still using the same opening move."

The attack by Mithra Bodhisattva was not an attack, but a punishment.

The mere pressure before the sanction descended was enough to crush the minds of ordinary gods. Fortunately, Mithra Bodhisattva had focused this aura on Adam and the fake Alicia; fortunately, Pania had just inadvertently asked the great god Mikt to use dark power to bless the citizens of New Yatu with protection. Otherwise, the aftershocks of such divine power alone could have annihilated all ten million people of New Yatu.

Therefore, all the gods in the world have diverted their attention to observe the current situation in New Jersey. Streams of divine thoughts are secretly watching, each plotting something, but none of them will directly intervene for now.

Because the target of Mithra Bodhisattva's current divine punishment is this chief god (Adam) who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

They all wanted to see just how capable Mithra Bodhisattva truly was. There hadn't been a major battle in four hundred years, and everyone was curious whether Mithra Bodhisattva was still capable of fighting, and how powerful he was. After all, no matter how high his apparent strength was, in the end, it all came down to actual performance.

"The recruitment methods are the same as before, but the people involved are not necessarily the same as they were back then."

So Adam answered calmly,

“It’s been four hundred years, Mithra obviously won’t stand still. Besides, this move may not actually be the same move as back then.”

Four hundred years have passed, and the same move has probably been improved hundreds of times. If the Mithraic lightning that the fallen angels suffered back then was version 1.0, it would probably be version 300.1 by now.

Interestingly, no matter how the times and versions change, one thing seems to never change.

The attack by Mithra Bodhisattva was not an attack, but a punishment.

Mitra's sanctions always begin with the descent of thunder.

Because thunder is synonymous with divine punishment.

The king of the gods, who reigns over the heavens, unleashed a thunderbolt from the sky. This thunderbolt was the ultimate weapon forged by the Bodhisattva Mithra using supreme wisdom (Prajna). Regardless of how the versions are updated, since ancient times, this ultimate weapon has only one name:

【Vajra Pestle (phurba)】

Vajra is lightning and thunder, because it is invincible and indestructible; because it can destroy all things in the world and annihilate all evil and heretics; because its three sides represent the three kinds of control over the world by the eight great bodhisattvas, while the single vajra signifies the unique and supreme authority of Mithra Bodhisattva.

When Mithra Bodhisattva hurled it from the moon and it fell towards New Asia, this three-sided vajra, no bigger than an arm's length, released boundless light, heat, and electric current, piercing the night sky. The power it contained was so immense that it even affected the gravity of the Earth and the Moon. Wherever the vajra swept, the surrounding space was torn apart, and even time itself seemed to stand still!

This Vajra Pestle, struck by divine thunder, was simply thrown from the moon. Before it even hit the ground, it caused both planets to tremble!

Pania had just accomplished quite a bit and was feeling rather smug, but when she looked up, she saw this treasure falling from the sky. Her smile vanished instantly. Let alone a minor deity, even if she were to unleash the power of a great god, she would still be pulverized by this demon-subduing pestle, let alone the mortal citizens of New Asia.

Destruction descended from the sky. The city's barrier, which Alastor had just repaired, was punctured like a soap bubble by a vajra, vanishing into nothingness. Fortunately, its target was neither Pania nor the citizens of Neo-Yatu. In fact, it didn't care about them at all.

Fortunately, its only targets were Adam and his fallen angel wife at the top of the company building. And they were well aware of this.

Everyone and everything in Neo-Yatu, from humans to gods, could potentially be killed with a single blow, but at least theoretically, they could escape. Only Adam and the false Alicia were completely trapped, with no chance of escape whatsoever!

That's why this moment is so important!

Facing the impending destruction from the heavens, Adam's fallen angel wife was the first to take action.

Facing her husband and accomplice, she suddenly burst into song at this moment:

"Heavens, earth, the infinite source of life!"

"Come quickly, weave a crimson thread for my beloved, stitch together his destiny! Let his life never perish!"

"Because my lover is handsome, strong, and outstanding among thousands!"

"North wind, wake up! South wind, blow into my garden!"

May my beloved enter his garden and eat the best fruit of it. May his heart be open only to me, and his arms embrace only me!

"For love is as strong as death, and passion as secure as Hades. It burns like a raging fire, and no waters can drown it! If anyone tries to buy love with the power of wealth, he will be met with contempt!"

A passionate song flowed from her lips, transforming into power that surged into Adam's body. This ancient song within a song made Adam roar, spread his arms, and straighten his chest!

Power surged within him, transforming into golden light that erupted from his eyes. Adam's body, already tall and strong after becoming a perfect being, was now even more muscular, like a new star about to explode, or an endlessly growing tree that seemed capable of stretching to the ends of the universe!

After everything was ready, he took the fallen angel's hand, and the two of them soared into the sky together, heading straight for the Vajra Pestle!

Boom!

All the people and gods in New Jersey heard a deafening roar of thunder. Half of the mortals were knocked unconscious by the thunder. The remaining half were also almost all knocked to the ground.

As for Adam himself, even before touching the Vajra Pestle, he instantly sensed the imminent danger. The power of the Vajra Pestle was so immense that even without contact, the shockwaves from the lightning tribulation nearly ripped Adam's internal organs apart. Even with his body reforged from immortal radiance, he suffered immense damage as a result.

The Bodhisattva Mithra's attack power was so formidable simply from tossing down a vajra. The strongest deity in the world is truly extraordinary!

But just as Adam was reeling, the fallen angel beside him blew another breath towards him. Countless life energies from the heavens and earth immediately surged forth, healing Adam's injuries. In the blink of an eye, the pseudo-Alicia had completely healed him, even restoring his energy to its peak!

Therefore, his chances of winning still remain.

it's time!

Adam raised his powerful right fist once more.

His current perfect life form is the result of him stealing a large amount of company assets, using nearly a million brains and chip technology to power the "Kowtowing Bugs," along with stolen resources from the Astral Network and the Pure Land of Blessings, and the "Artificial Angels" and other dark technologies he secretly developed... It is through the fusion of these various resources belonging to the Mitra Corporation that he created this ultimate divine body. Simply put, Adam's entire body is now like a high-density Philosopher's Stone, containing at least the equivalent of the soul fire energy of hundreds of millions of people.

Therefore, Adam doesn't need weapons now. The strongest weapon of a perfect being is, of course, his own right fist. This fist is his ultimate striking weapon!

When he raised his right fist, gathered all his strength, and used the souls of a hundred million people as fuel, Adam possessed the ultimate power and perfect state equivalent to that of a supreme god!

Moreover, he had fallen angels singing for him! This singing and love further boosted Adam's power, increasing his attack power to an unbelievable level of at least 1.5 times that of a supreme god!

Adam unleashed a powerful punch at the Vajra pestle that descended from the sky!

In an instant, his right fist shattered without any suspense. The Vajra pestle hurled by Mithra Bodhisattva pierced Adam's protective energy in a flash, slamming heavily into his body. Immediately, his body began to disintegrate, countless bolts of lightning piercing into his flawless flesh!

All that could be heard was a deafening roar of thunder, which shattered skin, burned flesh and blood, and broke bones—the destructive power of this Vajra Pestle instantly smashed Adam's perfect body into a pile of mangled flesh, a pile of mangled flesh!

Even if his perfect biological body is equivalent to a whole piece of the Philosopher's Stone, an incomparably powerful ultimate substance, it is of no use under the bombardment of the Vajra that destroys everything!

"My love, your destiny will never decay and perish!"

But Adam and his fallen angels sang loudly, repairing his body. With a breath of divine energy, Adam's shattered flesh instantly healed at an incredible speed, becoming like tempered steel. After being forged and tempered by thunder and fire, his body began to undergo incredible changes, becoming even stronger and more indestructible—ultimately, it could even withstand the attack of the vajra!

How did this happen? It's actually quite simple. Adam Cardom's current perfect life body is equivalent to a whole Philosopher's Stone, something he alchemized with his soul and thoughts. Essentially, it's the same kind of vajra forged from "wisdom".

Since they were of the same kind, there was no distinction between high and low, noble and base, so Adam would never sit idly by and wait for death!

Never will!

If Heaven intends for his demise, then he will defy Heaven!

He was going to use his fists to smash through the will of this damned God!

Blast it apart!

"The brighter the sun shines, the denser and darker the shadows it casts. Mitra, your wisdom and brilliance are not invincible! Today, take my 'Starbreaker' punch!!"

With a roar, Adam unleashed his full power. Just as the Vajra was about to shatter him once more, he stepped out of the time-space frozen by the Demon-Subduing Thunder, stood before the Vajra, and slammed his right fist down with a speed even faster than the lightning.

Mithra Bodhisattva's indestructible and unbreakable Vajra Pestle was actually shattered into countless fragments by Adam's overwhelmingly powerful Starbreaker punch and vanished abruptly!

This incredible sight horrified hundreds of true gods, both great and small, who were secretly watching from all over the world!

The Vajra of Mithra Bodhisattva, his symbol of divine punishment, was actually blasted apart by a newly emerged young master god with a single punch!

Moreover, although this new chief god was seriously injured, he quickly regenerated and was fully recovered, so much so that the gods who wanted to jump out and take advantage of his weakness had to think twice before acting!

At this moment, Adam was indeed regarded by the gods as a new chief god. Some of the more astute gods had already begun to consider how this would affect the delicate power balance of modern theocratic society—given that such a large and new chief god-like pawn had suddenly appeared on the chessboard at this time.

But almost no god, including Adam himself and Mithras himself, takes into account another minor issue:

Adam and Mithra just collided head-on at an altitude of a few kilometers above New Seattle, with a force equivalent to the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. They were both strong enough that they didn't suffer much damage themselves. But the aftershocks of that collision alone were devastating.

Even after the two forces collide and cancel each other out, the remaining aftershocks can destroy the surrounding 100,000 square kilometers of land!

One hundred thousand square kilometers—that's far more than just New Seattle. And clearly, neither Adam nor Mithra intended to consider the aftershocks. After all, in a clash between absolute powerhouses, a slight miscalculation could decide the outcome. Wasting resources to neutralize the power and prevent the aftershocks from damaging the surrounding area—what if it resulted in their own defeat?

So at this moment, the only god standing between the aftershocks and the earth was pitiful Pania. With only her hastily summoned, half-baked [pseudo-god level] power, Pania certainly couldn't withstand such an aftershock. If she didn't escape quickly, she might even be blasted to death by the aftershocks herself.

...But will Pania run away?

In this situation, of course, this girl wouldn't run away. If she really wanted to, she would have already done it. But if she ran away, countless ordinary people behind her would die. Even though Pania didn't know most of them, she didn't want to watch so many people die.

With things having come to this point, there was no time to think. She could only raise her hands towards the destructive aftershocks falling from the sky, and without a second thought, gather all her strength and push them out—

—Pania was bombed down.

All the help she had borrowed, the countless powers that had barely elevated her to the [God-level], were like thin paper before the destructive force of this clash between God-level beings. The thunderous aftershock of the Vajra Pestle tore apart all her defenses and resistance in a single strike, instantly blasting half of Pania's body away. Except for her head, every part of her body—arms, legs, even her internal organs—exploded into a bloody mist in an instant, utterly pulverized!

Only a head is left!

At this point, no matter how much Pania struggled, it was useless. With only her head remaining, she no longer had the strength to protect others. Even her own life was about to end.