"I am the Chaos God Asa! I am the master of the Eyes of the World!" the Prophet declared as he flung the unconscious boy back toward the others. He looked casually at their wary faces and then smiled. "Take him. He's nothing but an empty shell to me. Witness your deaths!"
Solomon caught the boy and immediately cast a Seraphim Shield that shimmered with orange-red sparks, blocking explosions, shrapnel, and sonic shockwaves. The situation was almost unbearable even for elite mortal soldiers—Andrew, ever thick-skinned, stood stunned—but Solomon had no time to worry about their mental state, because something even more shocking was about to arrive.
"Support is inbound. Let's leave the rest to the wisdom of mortals."
Solomon had bet on the Prophet's arrogance to buy time. Calmly, he pointed to a few inconspicuous meteors in the sky. This was the prototype born from a special project co-led by the Sorcerer Supreme, Marbas, and himself—one that only yielded a single prototype so far. Anticipating future threats like the Chaos God Asa, Solomon had asked the Mars Foundry to be ready. That's why, when Constantine contacted Mars following Solomon's orders, Marbas responded immediately—because the foundry had already completed all logistics preparations.
The Prophet slowly stepped down from the altar, approaching the cornered group.
Solomon dismounted, hung his holy spear on Pegasus, and began stacking more protective spells. To the Prophet, this was no more than a mortal's futile struggle—such meager magic barriers posed no real obstacle. Standing before the shield, he mocked Solomon, saying that such pitiful spells couldn't delay his grasp of the Eyes of the World even by a second. He wasn't lying. The protective magic from the Book of Vishanti couldn't stop him for long. A mere touch of his finger caused the Seraphim Shield—strong enough to withstand a meteor strike—to burst like a soap bubble.
It seemed that nothing could stop the Prophet from unleashing the power of the Chaos God Asa.
Bayonetta and Balder, merely holders of the Eyes of the World, clearly lacked the higher authority Asa now possessed. No one could stop him from taking the Eyes. Though the full picture was unclear, the overwhelming pressure still left many mortal soldiers frozen with fear—only the Sisterhood stood tall through sheer willpower. Balder gripped his spear tightly, preparing to strike when the Prophet broke through the magic. Only Bayonetta appeared relaxed—she had great faith in the planned countermeasures. So did Constantine. Having long had fear chemically and mystically removed from his brain, he stood firmly by Solomon's side, ready to fight shoulder to shoulder.
Just as the Prophet prepared to taunt Solomon further, two twenty-meter-tall drop pods slammed into the mountain summit like colossal cannon shells, accompanied by thunderous roars. The impact ignited the retro-thrusters beneath them, spewing white smoke like chemical rocket launches, shaking the entire mountain as if a volcano had erupted. At some point, the siege guns had switched targets. Simultaneously, a swarm of assault transports encircled the summit, and the Sisterhood unleashed every armed operative they had, launching a full-scale purge on the remaining extra-dimensional creatures.
Constantine, taking Solomon's place, issued the command. Solomon instructed the Sisterhood to cover the retreat—no matter how reluctant Tita was, this battle had escalated beyond what ordinary people could handle. Expecting mortal soldiers to stay here was tantamount to sentencing them to death.
Even the Prophet was momentarily confused by this sudden turn. With a wave, he summoned gale winds to disperse the smoke. What he saw were drop pods painted deep crimson, their alloy plates scarred by atmospheric re-entry. Hundreds of bolts, each as thick as a man, exploded outward like bullets, and two bipedal mechs—heavily armored and bristling with weapons—strode from the sloped wreckage, trampling nearly all remaining extra-dimensional beings underfoot. The mysterious cannons mounted on their rune-etched shoulders glowed with a dim, arcane light. Raw astral energy, unfiltered and unstable, surged into their cores—so much that even the Prophet sensed a threat.
Solomon dropped the shield at the perfect moment.
In that instant, he activated his stigmata, drew the sacred sword from his waist, and with unmatched strength, landed a ferocious blow on the stunned Prophet. The dual cannons on the war machine's shoulders lifted in perfect synchrony under the control of an advanced targeting system, and the arcane pulse cannons unleashed mysterious black beams that struck the airborne Prophet dead-on.
"What... what is that thing?" Balder gasped, inhaling the acrid stench of ionization, dust, and combusted chemicals.
Even after hitting the Prophet, the war machines kept firing—this time at the massive extra-dimensional creatures trying to block the retreat. Balder watched in disbelief as a single shot from the mysterious energy weapon disintegrated a Tetradic Seraph. The energy behaved like a magical black hole, tearing souls apart through a vortex formed in the soul-sea. Even the machine's secondary weapons could easily slay extra-dimensional creatures.
But what shocked him more than these terrifying machines was the figure who jumped off the last assault transport.
"Rosa!"
——————————————
"Post-Battle Logistics and Impact Report: Fimbulwinter Mountain Conflict," Page 5,362
Appendix B, Section 15: Personal Recollections
Authored by: Victoria Hand, Intelligence Division Chief
[Source] Immortal City Database Alpha-00
[Requester] █████
[Database Level] Crimson - Top Secret
[Clearance Level] Crimson - Top Secret
[Access Code] *************
[Genetic Sequence Authenticated — PASSED]
[Voice Print Authenticated — PASSED]
[Iris Scan Authenticated — PASSED]
[Arcane Authentication — PASSED]
[WARNING: Unauthorized access is strictly prohibited.]
The Battle of Fimbulwinter Mountain marked the first operational deployment of the terrifying war machine.
Before this, I never knew such things—like mythical Titan Giants—could exist. Even now, the Mars Foundry has not granted me access to those specific files. But I have gathered fragments directly from the Sovereign himself—that even now, despite the existence of entire legions of war machines, what I saw at Fimbulwinter Mountain was still unique.
It was the fusion of sorcery and machinery at its peak.
I firmly believe the Sovereign personally helped construct these war machines. He is the most skilled alchemist and arcane master I know. Yet he showed clear concern over them, warning that deploying such machines always comes at a terrible price.
Afterward, Kamar-Taj diverted significant manpower to an undisclosed location. I suspect this was either for maintenance or… for destruction. What led me to this conclusion was that every soldier who had set foot on the summit was later brainwashed—except me, due to my clearance level.
Those soldiers remember only the first half of the battle. Their memories of the war machines are vague at best. The only things they recall clearly are a red dragon-shaped insignia and a sword emblem.
This part of the mystery has vanished into history forever, because Fimbulwinter Mountain and the town of Noahdune no longer exist. There is only a crater-ridden plain where they once stood—nothing else remains.
(End of Chapter)
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