The holy avatars settled atop the high mountain.
Divine radiance enveloped the peak, while the avatars released their power. Waves of transcendent divine energy emitted from them, divided into hundreds of strands, grandly soaring towards the Imaska Empire.
In the Imaska Empire, at the construction site of the Mechanism Tree, one of the architectural wonders.
A mechanical tree, seven hundred meters tall with a dense crown of steel branches stretching towards the sky, cast a shadow over a large number of striking slaves, who knelt, ignoring their overseers' orders, praying towards the Watchers of the Gods Mountains in the northeast.
At this moment, a towering overseer with a grim expression watched the prostrate slaves.
The Imaska Empire was far from benevolent.
Failing to meet construction deadlines meant severe punishment for all involved. Conversely, meeting targets brought substantial rewards. A rigorous reward and punishment system, coupled with cruel exploitation of slaves, kept the efficiency of the Empire's grand constructions high.
"Get up!" the overseer barked, kicking a slave.
The dark-skinned slave groaned as his rough skin grazed the ground, bleeding profusely, yet remained devout in prayer, hands clasped before his chest.
This enraged the overseer, who drew a sharp blade, laughing menacingly as he approached the slave.
"Continue praying, and I will chop off your hands! Can your god help you?"
In the Imaska Empire, from the Mechanists to ordinary overseers like this one, respect for gods had diminished. As the Deification Project progressed and the Empire prospered, people's loyalty shifted increasingly towards the Empire and away from the gods.
Swoosh! The blade shone.
The sharp blade, capable of piercing rock, targeted the helpless slave's wrist. However, a faint glow appeared on the slave, almost invisible under sunlight but undeniably real and impenetrable.
This was just the beginning.
White glows appeared on many slaves, varying in intensity from faint like fireflies to dazzling like fire.
Faith is power. Under the amplification of the holy avatars, this faith transformed into a weapon for the oppressed slaves, who realized their devout prayers had finally been answered by the gods, granting them the power to resist.
The kneeling slaves slowly rose.
Their eyes burned with frenzied hatred for their Imaskan overseers, who felt a chill.
Seeing the twisted faces of the slaves and the strange glow on their bodies, the overseers instinctively retreated, soon surrounded by the slaves.
"Do you dare rebel?" an overseer snarled.
Muscles bulging, he swung his blade at a nearby slave's neck.
But like before, the sharp edge was easily blocked by the solidified power of faith.
Soon, the oppressed slaves, fueled by anger, overwhelmed the overseers.
Before long, the slaves scattered, mouths stained with blood, some even cannibalizing the overseers. Their faces, smeared with blood but still devout, formed a bizarre scene.
This commotion attracted the Mechanists' attention.
Ordinary overseers managed the slave labor, but to prevent rebellion, each slave area was guarded by Mechanists. Past slave uprisings were swiftly quelled by transcendent powers.
Rumbling. The ground trembled.
The roar of Mechanism engines, a sound the slaves feared and loathed.
Minutes after the revolt, Mechanists controlled nearby Mechanism armies, forming a huge encirclement. Metallic Mechanism golems aimed their weapons and cannons at the gathered slaves.
"Everyone, lie down!"
"Or face brutal punishment!" a Mechanist ordered sternly.
The slaves, newly empowered and faithful to the gods, ignored the Mechanist's warnings. Their expressions twisted with extreme rage.
The slaves moved.
The surrounding Mechanism army charged energy, ready to strike.
The Imaska Empire no longer relied heavily on slave labor. For these boldly rebellious slaves, the Mechanism army could kill a portion to deter the rest.
With the arrival of the holy avatars, the faithful gained part of their power.
However, this power was enough against ordinary Imaskans but not against the official Mechanism army. The newly empowered slaves were no match.
"Fire!" the Mechanist ordered, seeing the undeterred slaves approaching.
Instantly, countless spells and pure energy attacks formed a destructive tidal wave, surging towards their target.
But then...
Boom! Flames burst forth.
A towering wall of fire rose, separating the faithful from the energy attacks.
The energy wave hit the wall of fire.
Amid deafening explosions, the wall rippled and indented, fading after blocking the first wave.
Hundreds of strands of divine energy from the holy avatars had descended.
Several landed here.
As the wall of fire dissipated and dust settled, figures glowing with divinity appeared.
These were further avatars split from the holy avatars.
Holy avatars, part of gods, have similar powers and can create avatars. These avatars, mostly at legendary levels, could outfight average legendary creatures but lacked higher-end power.
Seeing these avatars, reactions varied.
The slaves recognized them as followers of a mid-level god of fire from the Enser pantheon, kneeling in awe. Followers of other gods also revered these avatars.
The Imaskan Mechanism army and its Mechanists looked solemn, sensing the divinity emanating from the holy avatars.
Faced with divine avatars, the Mechanism army halted.
The leading Mechanist immediately contacted higher-ups, reporting the situation, not daring to act alone.
Meanwhile, the Mechanist leader learned a shocking fact.
It wasn't just here. Holy avatars appeared across the Imaska Empire, empowering slaves, then confronting the Mechanism armies.
Soon, the Mechanism army received orders from the Empire's upper echelons.
"Assess the strength of the godly avatars and calculate the odds of the Mechanism army in a conflict."
The Mechanism army, highly efficient, began analyzing without considering whether this might anger the avatars.
Results came in seconds.
The Mechanism army had a 70-90% chance of victory against the avatars.
Naturally, the holy avatars, half-god in power, hadn't taken direct action. The Mechanism army was indeed powerful.
Also, the avatars, representing the gods, wouldn't suitably engage a mortal empire, so they split further, giving the Empire a chance.
The avatars then made their demands.
Release all slaves.
Apologize to the oppressed slaves.
Destroy the Empire's grand constructions and halt Mechanism development for 5,000 years.
Build temples for the gods to offer worship.
Reporting continuously, the Mechanism army awaited orders.
The Imaskans knew the Empire's leaders wouldn't comply. Ambitious for an immortal empire, they wouldn't submit to gods.
After confirming the avatars were no match for the Mechanism army, the Empire decided in an emergency meeting.
Shortly after, the Mechanism army received orders.
"The Imaska Empire will not compromise."
"Do gods bleed?"
This aligned with the Mechanists' beliefs in the Empire's glory.
The Mechanism Empire, viewing gods as hypothetical enemies, couldn't contain its excitement and arrogance upon encountering divine avatars. They intended to capture them, studying divine power further.
"Attack!" ordered a legendary Mechanist.
The surrounding Mechanism army bared its fangs.
Myriad Mechanism creations swarmed the avatars, thousands of legendary Mechanists struck simultaneously.
The battle between the Mechanism army and the holy avatars erupted.
Divine attacks swept through the Mechanism army, destroying Mechanism creations like cutting wheat. The Mechanism army's attacks landed on the avatars, perfectly defended by transcendent divine shields.
Fire raged, thunder fell, and storms howled.
Amid terrifying clashes, the Imaska Empire trembled.
The extensive use of divine power caused anomalies above the Empire. Thunderclouds rolled in, the earth split open, frequent earthquakes rocked the land, and magma surged from deep below.
The land shook, the sky cried.
Even the silver dragon deep in Starfall Sea sensed the grand war between the Mechanism army and the holy avatars.
Holy avatars empowered slaves, creating devoted priests and knights among them.
Leading numerous priests and knights, the holy avatars held their ground against the Mechanism army.
Every moment saw countless Mechanisms destroyed, depleting the avatars' divine power.
Unable to breach the divine shields, the Mechanism army awaited the avatars' power to drain. Facing relentless Mechanism attacks, the avatars' divine power indeed depleted quickly, unable to last long.
In the apocalyptic scene, the ordinary citizens of the Imaska Empire panicked.
The war was happening within the Empire's territory.
The Empire's strong confidence kept its citizens calm for now.
If the war against the avatars dragged on, restoring national belief in the Empire's Mechanisms would be difficult, delaying the Deification Project significantly.
So, after a month of war, with the avatars' divine power below half, the Empire recalled all its secret weapons.
Simultaneously, three half-god-level Mechanism lifeforms, codenamed Angels, intervened.
Guardian Angel—equipped with Imaska's first and fifth secret weapons.
Slaughter Angel—equipped with Imaska's second and third secret weapons.
Destruction Angel—equipped with Imaska's fourth, sixth, and seventh secret weapons.
Garon knew little about Slaughter and Destruction Angels.
However, the Guardian Angel still bore Garon's time mark.
Observing from afar, Garon saw the Guardian Angel's Imaska crown shine, opening a space portal. Stepping through, the next second, the scene in Garon's vision shifted dramatically to a tumultuous sea.
Initially, Garon thought it had come to Starfall Sea for him, but the surrounding scenery dispelled that notion.
This was the Ice Sea, the far eastern ocean of the Imaska Empire.
Amidst the storm, an unfinished metal battleship, one of the Empire's grand Mechanism wonders, rocked violently with the turbulent waves. Explosions erupted in the ocean, their brilliant flashes lighting the dim sky.
The sea swarmed with Mechanism creatures and priests and knights controlling lightning and storms. Their unceasing war filled the area with chaotic energy, causing widespread fractures in the magic network.
A portion of Enlil's holy avatars, governing thunder, lightning, and storms, were naturally adept here.
But nearby, the Mechanism army was equally formidable. Within the Empire's influence, the avatars and their followers struggled against the endless Mechanism army, which held a significant advantage.
Countless Mechanism creations surged from the sky and sea.
Without the avatars' transcendent divine power, the rebellious slaves would've been overwhelmed.
Even so, with the arrival of the half-godly Mechanism Angels.
The outcome was clear.
Through the time mark, Garon watched like viewing a grand movie.
As the Guardian Angel arrived, its energy wings flared with blinding light, vanishing from the spot, heading straight for a holy avatar amidst the storm.
The storm was torn apart by the Guardian Angel.
In rapidly shifting scenery, Garon saw the Guardian Angel raise the Imaska scepter.
The Extermination Sphere that once cornered Garon reappeared.
This time, the Guardian Angel didn't launch it as a ranged attack.
Instead, the Extermination Sphere spun wildly at the scepter's tip, fracturing space around it.
The Guardian Angel, holding the scepter like a sword, streaked through the rain, cutting through the curtain of water. Amid thunderous roars, the avatars' lightning and hurricanes couldn't stop it.
In a breath, the Guardian Angel was beside a holy avatar.
Rip!
Silver and black light intertwined, flashing like a blade cutting through sky and sea.
The avatar, preparing a defense, froze as the Guardian Angel passed. The once impregnable divine shield was torn by the Extermination Sphere.
The Imaska Empire had made some progress in studying transcendent divine power.
The Guardian Angel possessed a hint of divinity.
Though minimal, it was enough to overpower the much stronger Guardian Angel against the avatar's divine protection. The avatar's divine power was weak, defending against ordinary legends, but inadequate against the Guardian Angel, a top-tier Mechanism masterpiece.
Immediately.
In the disbelieving gazes of the faithful and the jubilant cries of the Imaskan Mechanists, the avatar's divine glow dimmed and vanished completely.
Not the only avatar here, the Guardian Angel, fully committed, maneuvered through the battlefield.
Under its powerful half-godly strength, everything it encountered, whether storm-controlling priests and knights or avatars with some divine power, turned to ash under the Extermination Sphere's might.
Finally.
The Guardian Angel rose against the pouring rain, twelve energy wings unfurled, surveying the rebel army from above, gripping a holy avatar, its arm piercing the avatar's chest.
Featureless, its face rippled like mercury, finally forming narrow, sharp eyes.
The Guardian Angel's gaze swept the tumultuous ocean, its silver form reflecting awed Imaskan Mechanists.
Then.
The Angel remained impassive, lifting the last avatar, channeling destructive energy towards the severely wounded avatar.
Boom! Under watchful eyes, the avatar, flickering with divine light, exploded.
Scattered light particles resembled splattered blood.
Time seemed to stand still, only to be broken by the Guardian Angel's voice.
"With the blood of gods, I sacrifice to great Imaska!"
With narrow eyes and no lips, its voice spread across the Empire, overwhelming the storm, reaching all directions.
Simultaneously.
Imaskans looked up, their fervent eyes on the Guardian Angel tearing apart a holy avatar. After a moment of silence, a tidal wave of cheers erupted, more powerful than the sea's waves.
"With the blood of gods, I sacrifice to great Imaska!"
"With the blood of gods, I sacrifice to great Imaska!"
"With the blood of gods, I sacrifice to great Imaska!"
Amidst enthusiastic cheers, invisible faith converged on the Guardian Angel, rapidly increasing its divine power, lending a sacred aura to its metallic body.
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