บท 567: Chapter 567: Attack on Titan
"Here will do."
At the edge of an artificial lake filled with clear water, Shinji stopped walking.
As usual, Avicebron nodded lightly, silently guiding the golem beside him to pierce the ground. He then squatted down, dipped his hands into the lake water, and began to chant.
Unlike his usual low-pitched speaking voice, his chanting voice was bright and full of a unique rhythm.
"Born from the earth, swallowed by the wind, filled with water."
These were the heavenly blessings to grant life to the clay.
"Swathed in fire, banishing disease. The unkind shatter their skulls; righteousness guides their blood to tranquility."
This land, these trees, this body—everything was an offering to the Lord. This mysterious realm could only be created by a man who sought neither fame nor power.
"As vast as the giant body of the sacred peak, its solidity rivals that of a rocky mountain. It bears the appearance of guarding, ruling, and dominating all people."
This was already beyond the realm of Noble Phantasms—a crystallization of miracles.
"Though you are clay, you are not clay. Though you are human, you are not human. You are the one who stands in Eden, the one who rules Eden. You are our dream, our hope, our love."
This was the embodiment of the suffering people's faith.
This was the miracle of the Lord's reappearance—a golem bearing the burden of rewriting the world.
"Thy name, embracing Ru'ach, is...Adam!."
Suddenly, a bubble surfaced on the previously calm, mirror-like lake. This was a secret creation by Avicebron and Roche, made in their spare time from crafting soldier golems—an entity most faithful to the original form.
The term "Golem" originally meant "fetus" or "unformed object." In other words, it was the secret art used by the Lord to create humans.
Shaping clay into a human form and breathing life into it. However, most magi would stop at this point. Understandably so, as the higher levels of this domain are the unfulfilled wishes of all Kabbalists, a realm that should not be entered without considerable resolve. Moreover, the deeper one delves into the domain of golems, the more the golems would deviate from the magi's expectations.
Ultimately, the supreme golem is essentially a reenactment of Adam.
He is the king who guides the people who endured the era of suffering to paradise, and also their guardian.
A massive arm emerged from the lake. Made of stone, clay, and wood—all materials with long histories, untouched by human construction or timber use. Darnic had spent around thirty percent of his assets to gather these materials.
Before long, the upper body, styled like an ancient city, emerged completely from the water. At this point, the movement paused. Yes, its range of activity was limited to this. Without its body soaking in this lake, the golem couldn't even move... until now.
"Next comes the crucial core."
The golem enveloping Celenike began to move again, slowly, step by step, walking into the muddy center of the lake, towards the chest of the Golem, Adam.
At the moment of fusion, the magecraft cast on Celenike was lifted, and the wicked woman realized what was about to happen, letting out a series of wails.
"No, no, I don't want this! I don't want it! Stop! Stop! Stop! Ah, oooh, ah... help me, someone, anyone, save me!"
Avicebron remained indifferent, continuing the fusion process.
Realizing that her cries for help were futile, Selenike began to shout.
"Someone, come quickly, come! Red Assassin, stop them now! If they succeed, you'll be in danger too."
Her shouting finally elicited a response, and numerous magical creatures rushed out from the surrounding forest. However, before they could get close, these creatures all turned into stone statues.
"Gaze of the Medusa!"
Above Celenike, Shinji stood in mid-air, holding the Harpe in one hand and Athena's Shield in the other.
"It's useless. No matter who comes, I won't let them interrupt the ritual."
Before long, Avicebron finished assembling the core. The clay enveloping Celenike began to gradually erode and assimilate her body. The sensation of melting at a cellular level instilled immense fear in the black magus.
"I curse you all, with my life, my soul, my everything, I curse you! Curse you to die horrible deaths, curse your wishes to never come true, curse you—"
Avicebron remained unmoved. He was the type of person who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Be it absurd or foolish, he didn't care.
Shinji was similar. Though he couldn't be as cold-hearted as Avicebron, he was even more resolute. He glanced indifferently at Celenike, who was gradually losing her human form.
"Go ahead, curse all you want, if you have a despair deeper than mine!"
But Celenike could no longer hear him.
Her mind had been wiped blank. All her magic circuits, magical engravings, and Command Spells had become the energy source driving the Primordial Human Adam, and her brain and body had become indispensable parts of Adam.
The golem, having obtained its core, had its eyes light up instantly. Its gigantic foot, raised from the lake, stepped firmly onto the ground.
"How marvelous."
For once, Shinji and Avicebron shared the same thought.
Though it was merely an artificial creation made of wood, stone, clay, and human flesh, its appearance, which seemed to embody the grandeur of nature itself, was truly awe-inspiring.
Then, the first "miracle" occurred. The ground beneath their feet seemed to sing praises to the giant, and the surrounding flora grew lushly. Trees that touched the giant instantly blossomed and bore fruit, which ripened and fell to the ground, giving rise to even more trees.
Not only that, various rare birds and beasts in the garden began to converge towards the giant, like moths drawn to a flame.
Upon contact, even the last drop of blood was completely decomposed—the birds and beasts were transformed into pure energy, absorbed by the giant. This was all voluntary. The birds and beasts, lacking intelligence, couldn't resist their primal urge to attach themselves to it.
Following this, the surrounding scenery, including the earth itself, began to revitalize. A sweet, honey-like fragrance permeated the air, filling anyone who inhaled it with immense happiness.
"Ah—so this is Eden."
Indeed, this was a self-sustaining Reality Marble. It was the true nature of the Golem Keter Malkuth: Royal Crown - the Light of Wisdom. It was the ultimate form of the supreme golem that countless Kabbalists sought—the powerful entity whose mere existence could rewrite the world into Eden.
As long as this giant existed, the world would be continuously rewritten. It would transform into the land bestowed by the gods of old, the world where the primordial humans lived, known as "Eden"—unless someone intervened.
"How dare you commit such blasphemy!!!"
Just as the primordial giant was expanding its Reality Marble, Semiramis's voice suddenly echoed through the air, filled with an emotion beyond anger, as if it could freeze one's soul.
This was the Hanging Gardens, Semiramis's domain, her temple. The act of the primordial giant altering the environment was tantamount to an invasion—no, it was a direct usurpation of her territory. This had violated the empress's greatest taboo.
From the moment the giant appeared, Semiramis had no time to care about the other servants scattered throughout the garden; she focused all her attention on the giant.
The magical energy of the entire garden continuously gathered at this point, launching the fiercest counterattack under the command of its true master. The immeasurable magic even formed terrifying tides, wave after wave, crashing against the giant.
The tides of magic indeed harmed the giant's body, but within seconds, the wounds healed as if they had never existed. It was truly a super Noble Phantasm that Shinji had placed high hopes on.
However, the fact that magic couldn't harm the giant didn't mean it couldn't harm Avicebron. This master, renowned in the history of magecraft, specialized only in the field of Kabbalah golems and had little expertise in other types of magecraft. His protective barriers were easily shattered by Semiramis's magical bullets, and he was on the verge of turning into ashes.
At the critical moment, a milky white light descended from the sky, forming a spherical shield that protected Avicebron.
"Black Assassin? Why are you saving me?"
Adam is an autonomous Noble Phantasm, meaning that once activated, it can exist independently without its master. Shinji's goal was to use it to destroy the garden. Now that the goal had been achieved, there was no need to concern himself with Avicebron's life or death, especially given their hostile relationship.
Under Avicebron's puzzled gaze, Shinji also descended from the sky, using Athena's Shield and the goddess's staff for double protection.
"Nothing much, I just felt that seeing this giant and the world under his feet made you seem less annoying. Besides, with you alive, I can better achieve my goals."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Launch a mass attack in that direction, then run away quickly. The upcoming battle is not something you can intervene in—after all, your goal has been achieved, and there's no need to stay here and die."
"I won't say thank you."
"I didn't intend for you to."
As they spoke, Avicebron moved his fingers, commanding his greatest masterpiece, which he had not completed in life, to hurl a massive stone.
Instantly, with a sound like mountains collapsing and the earth cracking, a large area of the magnificent palace collapsed.
"I have fulfilled your request."
"Thank you. Now I need to find the person I must defeat."
As he spoke, Shinji walked on air, heading towards the gap the giant had created.
"Do not get too complacent, you invaders who deserve to die!!! Since you are so eager to die, I will grant your wish—Fill, Manifest."
Accompanying Semiramis's chant, a huge summoning circle appeared on the ruins of the collapsed palace.
From the center of the circle, a gigantic monster that surpassed divine fish was born. This beast appeared in various mythologies to varying degrees, most frequently in Greek mythology.
It was said to have nine heads and was the child of the most formidable monster father, the hundred-headed dragon Typhon, and the snake-bodied monster Echidna.
It lived in the swamp of Lerna in the Argolic Gulf and was known as the Lernaean Hydra.
It devoured fields, ravaged livestock, and humans, and committed all sorts of evils. The poison gas it emitted turned the area into a so-called plague swamp.
It possessed terrifying regenerative abilities, and even if a head was cut off, it would quickly grow back.
This was the Hydra, whose venom directly or indirectly killed many powerful warriors and heroes.
Even Semiramis would not use such a dangerous existence unless necessary.
As the oldest poisoner, Semiramis could recreate any poison-related legend in her garden, even those involving fantastical creatures.
Its appearance signified that Semiramis was using her full strength. She would kill her enemies without reservation.
"Hydra, tear that giant to pieces!"
The giant serpent let out a deafening roar, its enormous body, no less imposing than Adam, twisted and writhed as it charged toward Adam.
From its constantly opening and closing mouths, waves of poisonous gas were released, causing all plants along the way to wither and die in the blink of an eye. Even the areas around the giant, which had been transformed by the Reality Marble, were no exception.
Occasionally, venom dripped from its fearsome fangs, and the ground itself could not withstand the intense toxicity, dissolving upon contact.
If the Primordial Golem Adam was a god of creation, then the nine-headed Hydra was undoubtedly a demon king of destruction.
Sensing the world's crisis, Adam also became agitated.
Avicebron, witnessing this scene, sighed:
"I see, so that's why you wanted me to run? But, Black Assassin, you got one thing wrong. Indeed, my wish is to fulfill the sorrowful wish of the Kabbalist, to replicate the Primordial Human Adam, and for that, I would spare no effort. Yet, what I truly seek is not Adam itself, but the salvation of the entire world brought by Adam. Although I am disgusted with the noisy human world and don a mask to avoid interaction, I have always hoped for its betterment. The world's destruction— even I would feel angered by that. So, I agreed to your request, gave up the optimal 'fcore, and came here with you all, because I alone cannot save the world."
The Hydra drew closer, its central head nearly biting the giant's arm, while the omnipresent poisonous mist began to gradually corrode Avicebron's body. Yet, he showed no intention of retreating, instead taking out a portable syringe and aiming it at his neck.
"I will not hide, nor will I flee. Right here, right now, let's start saving the world, my golem. Through battle, slaughter, and destruction, establish a paradise. Then, these boring battles will end, and this dreary society will meet its end."
The giant, carrying all his hopes, swung its fist, smashing one of Hydra's heads.
An earth-shattering battle commenced.
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