Chapter 197

"Wait, wait! Your Excellency the Sun God!"

Seeing Novia heading straight for the Heresy door, Jeanne d'Arc of Arc, quick-witted, shouted. In her mind, she couldn't let this Sun God meet Fran, otherwise it might cause some bad beginnings.

"We're allies, how about we discuss the situation first before we go check it out?"

Delaying time was precisely the tactic Jeanne d'Arc devised—to buy time so she could find the weakness of this the Americas Sun God and unite with the others to destroy him...

However, Novia simply gave her a deep look and didn't respond to her question at all.

But for Jeanne d'Arc of Arc, who could hear Novia's innermost thoughts, she had already heard the man's words—

"... Ugh, Jeanne d'Arc talks so much these days, it's driving me crazy."

"... Huh?"

These words made Jeanne d'Arc of Arc's hand tremble involuntarily. For some reason, even though she could interpret Novia's words as "the more he opposes, the more it proves that I am right," the young girl suddenly felt very upset.

And so, after Novia had completely disappeared behind the door, the Saintess, her face a mixture of emotions, murmured softly:

"... Damn it, how could they have used such a high level of charm on me without my knowledge?"

Jeanne d'Arc couldn't believe she would feel such a strong liking for a Deity she had just met, especially one whom the Lord defined as Heterodox Faith. But the fact that he made her feel so uncomfortable with just one of his heartfelt words could only mean one thing: she had been subjected to some kind of 'bewitching' suggestion by him without her even knowing how.

Unfortunately, my will was as firm as iron and unbreakable; I had already resolved to dedicate my life to the Lord.

The Saintess thought to herself.

However, despite this, she couldn't help but think about Novia's innermost thoughts, and the more she thought about it, the worse she felt.

Damn it, this allure is too strong! I will never... abandon my mission like this! I must destroy that Heterodox Faith Sun God for my lord! Resist the allure, Jeanne d'Arc! You are Saintess, your will will not be so easily broken...

The Saintess continued to chant in her heart.

The eastern Forest of Trifas.

"Caster, you..."

Fran had turned around quickly after hearing Sparta's last words, looked at Avicebron, who had been very kind to him since he appeared, with some disbelief.

"Miss Fran, though I do not know how you survived the Church's pursuit and were even recorded in history," Avicebron slowly as he approached Fran, "Now, for the birth of Adam, for the arrival of Paradise, please sacrifice yourself here."

In that instant, Avicebron's face in Fran's eyes somewhat overlapped with that of Alessandro Cagliostro, who had once looked at him with a mocking expression.

This made Fran involuntarily close his eyes.

However, the Caster wanted Fran to become a cog in his Adam, while Earl of Card wanted to see Fran tainted by the Church's concept of 'Eve' and thus be mercilessly killed by the Church. But Fran's former protectors were the Count of Monte Cristo, Napoleon of Crime, and the Steam King, and none of them were present at the moment.

Ah, Fran, am I going to die again? I am so sorry, Your Excellency Sparta, I have failed your kindness. One day Fran will apologize.

For Fran, she had no particular desire to participate in the Holy Grail War; it was only because her Master obtained the blueprints about her that she was able to call out to her through touch. The Homunculus thought, since he had asked her for help, she should go and assist him.

At this moment, she didn't feel much hatred towards Caulfield, who forced her to use his Noble Phantasm, because she had long seen that he didn't actually have much desire for the Holy Grail, and that he was probably doing it out of necessity.

The only regret, she supposes, was not seeing the Americas Sun God in person. Although he bore the name of Sun God, she subtly felt he resembled her Grandpa somewhat...

However, a moment later, Fran felt an immense yet not scorching heat in front of her. She slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw that figure, she felt a mixture of joy and uncertainty, tilting her head and calling out, "... Grandpa?"

"Yes, I'm here, Fran. Didn't you tell me to take good care of myself? I did, but it seems you didn't."

Novia turned around and smiled at Fran.

"... I'm so sorry Fran, for saying those things back then."

Fran responded somewhat embarrassedly, after all, in her memory, her Grandpa was an ordinary person trapped in Dungeon, unable to escape. She was stronger than her Grandpa, so she had to take good care of him...

"... Grandpa?"

The conversation between the two left Avicebron somewhat bewildered. Was this the kind of relationship between the Americas Sun God and the Homunculus?

Why didn't Marie Antoinette Shelley mention this in * Frankenstein *? Was it perhaps censored by the Church due to its concept of 'Eve'?

In fact, Shelley only learned about Fran's background after becoming friends with Fran, and wrote "Frankenstein" with Fran's consent. Fran didn't even know that his Grandpa was the Sun God, let alone Shelley.

Regardless, Avicebron knew his plan had likely failed, because Fran now had the protection of the Sun God.

Therefore, the only option left was to find the furnace core...

However, in the silent darkness, Novia began chanting the incantation of Avicebron's Noble Phantasm the very next second.

Born of Earth Mother, it absorbs the wisdom of the wind and fills itself with the life of water.

That was a prayer offered to heaven, a prayer to whom one would pour life into a clod of earth.

"Spread flames to cure disease. Inhumanity will shatter its own skull, while righteousness will purify its own blood."

This soil, these trees, this body—all of this is an offering to the Lord.

This is clearly the ultimate mystery that only Caster who has no interest in fame or power could create.

But now it is sung by the Supreme Being Sun God from a foreign land.

"A colossal body, as solid as rock, possesses the countenance to Protection, rule, and dominate hundreds of millions of people."

That was a miracle crystallization that should no longer be categorized as Noble Phantasm; it was a product that personified the Faith of a suffering people, recreating the miracle of God—

A puppet playing the role of destroying the world.

"How could this be...?"

Seeing the giant Golem he had created slowly appear due to the summoning circle created by the chanting of the Sun God from South America, Avicebron was somewhat puzzled. But soon, as if to show his will, Avicebron also began to chant.

"You are a clod of earth and yet not a clod of earth. You are man and yet not man. You are the one who stands in Paradise, the one who rules Paradise, the one who leads to Paradise. You are our dream, our hope, our love."

What exactly is this so-called Golem?

From a common understanding, they are artificial life forms created through some kind of Magecraft, but this explanation is half right and half wrong.

In the Magecraft World, Golem refers to a 'fetus' or 'formless thing,' a secret technique used by the Church's God in creating humankind at Adam.

Shape the clay to create its appearance, and breathe on it to bring it to life.

However, many Magecraft stop at this stage, which makes sense, because the realm beyond that belongs to the lifelong aspirations of Kabbalah believers, and is not something that can be explored with Half-Baked determination. In addition, the deeper one delves into the field of Golem, the more one develops into something different from the Golem that Magecraft pursue.

The best Golem is 'Recreating Adam'.

Because he is the king who guides the people who have endured hardship and suffering in this age to paradise, and he is also their Protection.

In the past, the Caster hated humans and found the chaotic Human World repulsive. Therefore, he hated making eye contact with others and wore this mask, which tightly covered his entire body because his skin was fragile. But even so, he suffered for the suffering of his own people.

So when he learned he was a genius in Golem, he ignored his hatred of humans, his illness, his views on Golem, and his long-cherished wish as a believer—he didn't care about any of them.

By creating Adam, the world can be transformed into the world given to us by the gods in the past, the world where the first humans, Adam and Eve, lived, eliminating all suffering and misfortune. For this, a man named Avicebron is willing to do anything.

To this day, the best way to recreate Adam— "putting Frankenstein's parts inside Adam"—has failed, and even the furnace core has not been found... But for some reason, Adam has manifested as if it had come to life, Avicebron doesn't understand why.

Was it because of the cry of the Americas Sun God?

Absolutely not! How could Pagan God defile the glory of the Lord!

Could it be that the Lord saw my efforts and thus bestowed the gospel upon me?

It doesn't matter anymore. As long as Adam appears, that's right, as long as Adam successfully appears and the world returns to its former state of Garden of Eden, all suffering and misfortune will be eliminated. Yes, that's it.

Therefore, upon seeing the fully formed Golem standing on the earth, the Caster, a man named Avicebron, uttered his last words, his dying words, which now sounded like a fervent cry—

"Embrace the Holy Spirit, Primordial Human, your name— Adam."

As if in response to the Caster, the Golem 'Adam' glowed and stood up with tremendous force.

Then, the first 'miracle' happened. The earth seemed to sing praises to 'Adam,' and grass and trees sprouted. The surrounding trees immediately bore fruit, which ripened, fell to the earth, and instantly grew into trees.

In addition, the surrounding environment, including the earth, comes alive, and a faint, sweet Honey scent begins to waft through the air. Just by breathing it into your lungs, you are filled with an overwhelming sense of happiness.

It is the Supreme Being Golem sought by many Kabbalah believers—its ultimate form, possessing the power to rewrite the world into paradise simply by its existence.

This is the true nature of the Caster's Noble Phantasm, "Crown? Light of Wisdom," which is also known as the "Autonomous Reality Marble."

As long as this Giants exists, he will continue to rewrite the world, and the rewritten world will be called 'Paradise'.

Avicebron couldn't help but exclaim at the completion of everything: How beautiful!

But at the same time, there was something that bothered him: the South America Sun God standing beneath the giant Adam.

It is clear that the countless birds and beasts that came from nowhere should have been attracted to the Giants as lightly as phototactic insects, and without hesitation clung to it. These birds and beasts decomposed without leaving a drop of blood—becoming pure energy that was absorbed by the Giants.

Indeed, mindless beasts yearn to be attached to 'Adam'.

However, that guy got in the way, though that's Avicebron's opinion.

Aside from him, the Servant and Master seem more like birds and beasts who would rather attach themselves to this Sun God than to 'Adam'.

"Ahhh, do you see it? Pagan God, South America Sun God, worship! This is the paradise our Lord created in the past—"

Garden of Eden!"

Avicebron shouted at the indifferent Novia.

And as he said, aside from Amakusa and Jeanne d'Arc from the Church Holy Grail War, almost all Servant' first reaction upon seeing this towering Golem was—

What is this Divinity feeling?

This wasn't fear, nor was it a feeling that the Golem powerful; it was more like a feeling that the Golem beautiful, and not just ordinary beauty.

Like a beautiful thing created by God, a unique being that has been established with glory since birth.

Therefore, there is no harm because 'Adam' has the blessing of the earth. No one bleeds in Paradise. In other words, as long as one stands on the ground, the harm 'does not exist from the beginning'. As time goes by, the earth will return to the so-called 'Garden of Eden' and become more and more comparable to immortality.

"Garden of Eden?" Novia looked up, as if gazing at someone in another world through Adam, and gently shook her head. "That day will not come, Avicebron. If you use your thoughts as a reason to destroy everything, that is wrong. Isn't it because you can't tolerate injustice and feel resentment over endless tragedies that you yearn for a happy world from the bottom of your heart?"

The silence lasted only a moment. Avicebron knew he was right, because his words left him with a lingering, unpleasant feeling.

But--

"... You understand absolutely nothing. The suffering I've been waiting for, the misfortune I've been waiting for, you could never understand..."

Hearing that the Caster remained so stubborn, Novia raised her right hand, and a weapon appeared—a sword radiating a dazzling black light, the Obsidian Sword.

"Is that so? Then I'll knock you out in one blow, you understand?"

In theory, three forces are required to completely destroy 'Adam'.

First, a strike capable of destroying the head's Spirit Core; second, a strike capable of completely destroying the 'furnace core' in the heart area; third, a strike capable of pulling its feet off the ground.

In other words, it requires the assistance of many people. It's easy to lift the Spirit Core and the feet off the ground, but where is Adam's 'hearth' at this moment?

Even Avicebron himself probably didn't know this, but for some reason, Adam at this moment was indeed somewhat equivalent to that Primordial concept compared to the Golem. In other words, Adam himself, who could be considered unconscious on this alienated land, could be regarded as having the strength of the strongest god below the chief god. After all, his fame in the West is known to everyone, and with the addition of fame, it is not impossible for him to have the strength of a chief god.

In the next instant, a colossal Bronze Shemesh, the size of Adam, appeared behind Novia, and the Obsidian sword in his hand also materialized above Shemesh. The Fifth Sun God of South America proclaimed—

"Leopard, wind, water, rain, returning to the source of life, thus proclaiming, 'Have compassion!'"

Ancient hymns rang out beside him, softly, yet abundantly.

People know that the Sun God doesn't really care about becoming the Sun; he's just very happy with their lives and their budding laughter. They love the Sun, so they transform into the Sun to love them.

"To the Rain God, reject the crimson blood; rain brings prosperity, not death."

"To the War God, reject the Heart of Fire; war will bring the flower of peace."

At this moment, on the distant continent of the Americas, countless dreamlike lights, invisible to ordinary people, slowly rise and converge on Lake Texcoco, and on Tenochtitlan, which has been renamed Mexico City over time.

"The First Sun - The Sun Jaguar."

"The Second Sun —the wind—descends from the sky."

"The Third Sun - Restarting the Heart City"

As Novia's words fell, the radiance from the distant the Americas, carried by plants from all over the world, converged once more in countless threads.

At this moment, the giant Robot stood before Adam, the earth beneath its feet transforming into the First Sun's Noble Phantasm, which could turn it into the Aztec Underworld to counter Adam's encroachment. Although it was the Underworld, it, like Adam, transformed everything into a variety of incredibly vibrant flowers.

A miracle comparable to a catastrophe unfolded along with the outline of a sea of flowers, a colorful torrent sweeping across the landscape.

The two pointed horns on the machine's shoulders, originally intended to honor the Rain God and the War God, have now turned Cyan like the Second Sun, causing its two arms to turn golden, allowing it to unleash attacks comparable to the Second Sun 'Noble Phantasm with a casual flick of its wrist.

This seemingly robotic entity is the floating city of Tenochtitlan. It was created with the soul of the war god Vizilopochtli as its skeleton, the soul of the god Tralok (who brings rain and drought) as its outer skin, massive piled-up stones as its muscles, and the sun's heat as its energy source—a colossal weapon for operation.

The First Sun, the Second Sun, and the Third Sun are all Sun God in the Sun Era; in other words, they could be considered chief gods. As for the War God, although he doesn't have the title of chief god, he possesses the power of one. Thus, it seems that the enormous humanoid weapon embodies the power of four chief gods, further enhanced by Novia, the Fifth Sun God, residing in the Cockpit...

Why didn't you come to find me immediately?

However, inside the Cockpit at this moment, Tlaloc, who had just arrived, asked Novia indifferently, touching his face with one hand and his chest with the other. This was natural, since if Novia weren't there, Tlaloc would be the one piloting the aircraft.

This stumped Novia. He had intended to go to the Fairy Domain to find Bavan Shi and to the Americas to find Tlaloc, but he had been delayed by the matter of the Holy Scripture. However, he quickly replied, "Now that we've met, haven't we?"

"Oh."