Chapter 170 – The City Guarded by Angels

Meanwhile, São Paulo was in a state of uproar due to the sudden appearance of the angel Seras in the sky.

Whoooosh!

The angel, who appeared alongside a dazzling cluster of light, instantly enveloped the entire city in miraculous light before anyone could even think of stopping it.

“Is this… a miracle of the Brilliance Constellation? And at Apostle Rank, equal to His Majesty the Holy King?”

Paulo Santos, the Highest-Rank Awakener of São Paulo and the Sun Church Bishop of the São Paulo Diocese, was the first in the city to notice the angel’s appearance, his back drenched in cold sweat.

If the angel had unleashed an offensive miracle, the entire city could have evaporated without anyone even realizing it.

Fortunately, the angel did not seem hostile to São Paulo, as the miraculous light covering the city was not causing any particular harm.

However, Paulo, being in a position responsible for the city, could not simply rest easy and analyzed the nature of the miracle enveloping the city.

“Hmm… They’ve elevated a blocking miracle to the level of an Authority.”

Since Paulo had an aptitude for the Brilliance Constellation in addition to the Sun Constellation and had contracted with a Spirit affiliated with Radiance, he could discern the nature of the miracle the angel had unleashed.

Thump!

“Your Grace Bishop Paulo! What on earth is happening to our city right now? Should we attack that angel?”

Priests who had just regained their composure from the situation of an angel performing a miracle came to Paulo and asked what they should do.

Paulo did not immediately answer their question, merely muttering to himself.

“A blocking miracle enveloping the entire city… What is its intent? Blocking? From what?”

“Your Grace Bishop Paulo?”

“Quiet for a moment.”

After briefly silencing the urging priest, he expanded his senses.

If the angel had intended to block him, his senses would have been obstructed by the blocking miracle, but since there seemed to be no intention to block, the expansion proceeded smoothly.

Thanks to this, he could accurately perceive the range covered by the blocking miracle.

A type of Sanctuary unfolded in a spherical form, encompassing not just the surface but also the underground.

Thud— Thud—!

And the Great Rift opened deep beneath the bottom of the Sanctuary, and the Apostle-level existence that had sprung from it, continuously pounding on the blocking miracle.

All the circumstances flowed into Paulo’s senses.

“Were they trying to protect us from that being…”

Among Paulo’s contracted Spirits was the Pope of the Arcadia Church of Radiance, so Paulo used a revelation miracle to check the future if the angel had not blocked it.

And he saw it.

The calamity that would have unfolded if Lee Hanseong had not regressed.

The mechanical god that devours all things.

“The Apostle of the Steel Throne who crossed over from the Otherworld is the enemy!”

At Paulo’s words shouted right after activating the revelation, surprise filled the eyes of the priests who had been silently watching.

The surprise soon turned into resolve.

An Apostle being an enemy, regardless of which Constellation, was a matter that required preparing for death.

“What should we do?”

“Pray. For the angel protecting us to be victorious.”

However, Paulo’s instruction was unexpected for the priests.

“Is the heavenly angel on our side?”

“I cannot be certain. It’s just that the actions the angel is showing are for our benefit, so we can only believe in that.”

“Are we not evacuating the citizens?”

“That’s right.”

At Paulo’s words implying they would give up on evacuation, one young priest frowned and retorted.

“Why not? If the enemy is an Apostle, there will be casualties among the citizens no matter how much the angel blocks.”

“That’s likely true. But those are reversible casualties. São Paulo, where the angel’s miracle has descended, is already akin to a Sanctuary, so as long as they are within the city, no matter how much they die or get injured, they can be restored.”

“Even if they are resurrected, the pain of death won’t disappear.”

“It’s still better than dying for good.”

At Paulo’s firm statement, the young priest seemed to have nothing more to say and closed his mouth.

Being the Sun Church that served the Sun Star King, they knew the power of an Apostle all too well.

Even if they stepped forward, against an Apostle, it would only be a futile death.

Looking at such priests, Paulo added words as if to console them.

“And our prayers are not meaningless either. In the world of Radiance, prayers can also become power.”

“Understood. Then, we will broadcast to the citizens to pray.”

Saying so, the priests began using various means such as modern broadcasting equipment and the Awakening Skills of Spirits to inform people of the current situation and guide them to pray for the angel’s victory.

As people praying towards the angel increased one by one throughout the city.

“It’s breached.”

Paulo sensed that the blocking miracle forming the Sanctuary boundary underground had been breached and muttered.

Deus Ex Machina is the god of machines.

And the characteristic of machines is learning and transformation.

Drrrrrrr—

Mechanical weapons created based on resources from deep underground where the blocking miracle could not reach were rising up, piercing through the blocking light that had clearly reached Authority-level.

They were equipped with specialized gear designed to transform the blocking light itself into matter and decompose it.

Each piece of equipment contained the Authority of a Divine Spirit belonging to the Steel Throne, borrowed through the Authority of Steel.

Whoooosh!

As if the angel had also realized they could no longer be stopped by the blocking miracle, the type of miracle enveloping the city changed anew.

It was the Authority of one of the Seven Virtues, [Endurance: Patientia].

True to its reputation as the pinnacle of defensive miracles, it lasted longer than the Authority-amplified blocking miracle, but in Paulo’s eyes, it was clear that this too would soon be breached.

As if trying to forget his fear, Paulo focused even more on prayer.

“Ah… O God. Protect us.”

* * *

Machines are formed when small components come together to create a massive device.

True to being such a god of machines, what Deus Ex Machina borrowed through the Authority of Steel was not just Authorities.

Myths, legends, unique… even general Skills that had not become Authorities.

He insisted on the optimal efficiency achievable by combining all the Skills and Authorities held by every star belonging to the Steel Throne.

Perhaps that was why.

The more Lee Hanseong integrated Non’s Skills belonging to the Steel Throne for Authority Bloom, the stronger the machines Deus Ex Machina created became.

Since he was aiming for an Apostle, Non’s Skills were among the highest level within the Steel Throne.

The Steel Throne’s Spirit, Non Smith, who gained the Identity of a Martial God through the Heavenly Martial Constitution.

Click clack.

[<Heavenly Martial Constitution (Unique)> + <Spirit Particle Manipulation (Unique)> = <Heavenly Martial Treasure Body (Legendary)>]

[<Heavenly Martial Treasure Body (Legendary)> + <Perfect Body Control (Legendary)> = <Heavenly Martial Sacred Body (Mythic)>]

In South Korea on the opposite side of the Earth, Lee Hanseong elevated Non’s physique to a legendary-grade Treasure Body by integrating his unique Skills, and then raised it once more to a mythic-grade Stellar Body.

It was the body of a Martial God that exhibited optimal efficiency in any situation and environment.

And the result was immediately applied to Deus Ex Machina’s machines.

Clank clank clank clank….

The forms of the machines piercing through the miraculous light had now taken on humanoid shapes.

If Lee Hanseong had seen it, he would have recognized it as the form of the Ruyi Divine True Iron Armor created by Non Smith, but Paulo could not know that much.

All he could know was the fact that the mechanical automaton’s body and techniques were evolving to increasingly higher dimensions.

Crunch— Thump!

Soon, the mechanical automatons, pouring out the optimal weapons to break through the miracle, had now reached the surface.

[How dare this filthy steel rise up?]

Flash.

Seras now annihilated them by purifying them through the miracle of [Purity].

But a moment later.

As newly produced automatons rose up equipped with martial arts resistant to Purity, automatons that attacked living, praying citizens one by one began to appear.

Whirr— Clank.

Tududududu—

“Gah!”

Vroom— Tidididing!

The angel’s miracle blocked the automaton’s attack.

Even though miracles of oppression and restraint interfered, the defensive miracle was breached.

“Kyaa!”

“Kgh.”

Blood flowed from citizens all over the city.

The Stealth Miracle concealed the wounded, and healing miracles restored their wounds.

Yet, there were those who lost their lives.

Resurrection miracles revived the dead.

For those suffering from the memory of death, as the priest had worried, miracles of oblivion were bestowed.

Thanks to this, for now, the only things that could be called damage were material assets.

“If this continues, the burden on the Angel will become too great.”

As casualties gradually increased, the miracles became dispersed, and the more that happened, the miracles protecting them weakened, leading to more casualties—this vicious cycle entered Paulo’s senses.

Paulo, who had been devoted to prayer and situational awareness, rose to his feet.

The steel automatons displayed skills and capabilities so despairing that even he, a Highest-Rank Awakener, could not defeat them, but he could not rely solely on the angel like this.

“Let’s go out. Everyone! We must fight too!”

“Let’s do it! We can pray while fighting, can’t we?”

As if they had been waiting, the Sun Church priests entered combat posture.

As if responding to their fighting spirit, miracles of blessing were bestowed upon them.

[Fight to protect yourselves as you wish.]

Priests fought against mechanical automatons with strength enhanced by the blessing.

Of course, even considering the enhancement from the blessing, it took a 30-person assault team to take down a single automaton.

But as their resistance was added, the consumption rate of miracles used to protect the city decreased.

And they were not the only ones resisting.

“Let’s fight too!”

“Uwaaaah!”

Mid-Rank Awakeners, Low-Rank Awakeners, even ordinary people who had not Awakened.

Empowered by Seras’s miracles, they began to confront the mechanical automatons.

They could step forward because wounds, death, and pain were all restored by miracles.

In truth, the participation of these clumsy and insufficient individuals sometimes resulted in wasting miracles.

But it didn’t matter.

[Your fighting spirit has touched the truth.]

Fwoooosh!!!

The Feat of confronting an invincible powerful enemy Awakened ordinary people into Awakened, and promoted Awakened.

The immense Starlight emitted during that promotion process more than compensated for the miracles they had wasted.

[The truth shall descend here.]

The truth of the Radiance Divine Domain, opposing the Steel Divine Domain that draws everything into matter, sublimated all of São Paulo into a brilliant white light body similar to a Primal Spirit God.

Even the mechanical automatons were no exception.

If all the machines that would form Deus Ex Machina were made non-material, his descent would also fail.

But then.

Click.

[<Demon Sword Crafting (Legendary)> + <Magnum Opus (Legendary)> = <Ars Magna (Mythic)>]

On the opposite side of the Earth, Lee Hanseong combined Non’s legendary-grade crafting Skills to create a mythic-grade crafting Skill.

Deus Ex Machina took it and, with an Authority of even higher efficiency, turned the city that had become light back into matter.

Click.

[<Treasure Tool Enhancement (Legendary)> + <Divine Artifact Awakening (Legendary)> = <Divine Artifact Enhancement (Mythic)>]

On the opposite side of the Earth, Non’s legendary-grade enhancement Skills were also combined to create a Skill that even enhanced Divine Artifacts.

Naturally, this too was added to the materialized mechanical automatons, evolving them to exhibit even more powerful potency.

Fssssssss!

The miracles protecting the city began to be consumed at a rapid rate.

[No.]

At this rate, the miracles would disappear in less than 10 seconds, and São Paulo would be disassembled into resources for Deus Ex Machina.

At the moment when Yu Sehee, who could not just stand by and watch this, was about to buy time through self-sacrifice.

On the opposite side of the Earth, Lee Hanseong, who had filled all five of Non’s mythic slots, completed the integration of myths centered on Non’s Divine Artifact, the Ruyi Divine True Iron Armor.

Heavenly Martial Sacred Body, Ars Magna, Divine Artifact Enhancement, Disarmament, Fantasy Realization.

Vroom.

[Conditions met. Non’s Authority blooms.]

[The Innate Authority, [Limitless Unfathomable], is imprinted upon the world.]

The ultimate limit of martial arts, eternally unsolvable because it endlessly creates new weapons and martial techniques.

That was precisely what Non’s Authority embodied.

It was the first time such a combat-specialized Authority had emerged from the Steel Path, which originally handled production.

Naturally, if such an Authority had been activated through Deus Ex Machina’s mechanical automatons, Yu Sehee would have exhausted all miracles without even having a chance to attempt self-sacrifice.

Fwoosh!

But such a thing did not happen.

Right after the Authority of Limitless Unfathomable was completed, Deus Ex Machina and all the mechanical automatons were gathered into a single strand of light and drawn to a higher dimension.

Fortunately, this happened just before Yu Sehee attempted self-sacrifice.

[It’s… over.]

The completion of an Authority meant becoming a True God.

As soon as Non gained the qualification to challenge an Apostle, Lee Hanseong had Non challenge Deus Ex Machina.

And thus, peace came to São Paulo.

“The mechanical automatons have all disappeared!”

“Is it over? Really?”

“The Angel protected us!”

“I’m going to believe in the Church of Radiance instead of the Sun Church from today!”

“That’s right. What was the Sun Star King doing? Why didn’t he come? The Sun Star King who didn’t even show his face, and the Radiance Angel who protected the city. In that case, we should believe in the Church of Radiance.”

Among the citizens who experienced the miracles, movements openly worshipping the angel, Seras, arose.

Even among the Sun Church priests, some began converting to the Church of Radiance.

Since a Radiance faction already existed within the Sun Church to absorb the Brilliance Constellation as a Lesser God of the Sun Constellation, there was less resistance to the shift in faith.

And at the forefront was the Sun Church Bishop, Paulo Santos.

“Shine the glory of Radiance upon us, Lumen!”

“Lumen!”

It was the moment São Paulo was reborn as a Holy Land of the Church of Radiance on Earth.