Chapter 2224: The Proclamation Bell |
It wasn't just the twenty-six people and one cat in the Mysterious Realm. In that very moment, every intelligent being in the entire material world—and even in the adjacent Astral and Shadow Realms—heard the tolling of a bell, and with it, a grand, echoing proclamation:
"I am the Great Wisdom, shouldering all the sins of this world to save this frail, weak flesh."
A black wind, emanating from Nolan in the material world, swept across the globe. It was like an extension of what had just transpired in the Mysterious Realm. As the earth quaked and the oceans roared, countless metallic tentacles burst through the planet's crust, writhing wildly beneath the skies of the world.
The black wind, the burning ash, and the gray mist heralded the arrival of doomsday for the material world.
The writhing tentacles spewed an even more terrifying, lethal fog. From within the burning ash and gray mist, monsters of machine and miasma emerged one by one. A dark aura, carried on the black whirlwind, spread from Nolan to contaminate the entire world.
If Jenkins could have returned to the material world at that moment, his Eye of Reality would have perceived an aura of sin covering everything, just like in the doomsday-themed Mysterious Realm he had once experienced with Professor Burns.
All across the world, every metal machine related to "steam" and "gears" began to tremble at the sound of the proclamation. The Sin Beast of the King of All Machines had finally manifested. This was the eighteenth incarnation of sin, the eighteenth manifestation of disaster to befall the civilization of the material world.
The people of the material world gazed up at the black sky, where ash rained down. A colossal shadow loomed, half-hidden within the dark clouds.
Alexia stood by the window, watching the sky.
The petite woman clenched her fists. She wasn't as strong as she had imagined.
Hathaway and Briny huddled together on the sofa, the redhead and the blonde comforting each other, not daring to imagine what Jenkins was facing.
Dolores and Julia sat on the other end of the sofa. The young princess's face was grim, while her maid maintained her usual composure.
"Julia, are you worried?"
The princess's trembling voice betrayed the emotions she was trying to suppress.
"If you are referring to Jenkins, then yes, I am very worried about him."
The maid showed great fortitude. She placed a hand on Dolores's shoulder.
"You must have faith in your fiancé."
"Is that another required trait for a lady?"
The young princess, the future heir to the northern kingdom, turned and grasped Julia's hand with her own, which had gone cold. Her face was etched with worry. A smile touched the lips of the maid who had been with the princess since childhood, and she squeezed Dolores's hand in return.
"No, it's a trait you should possess as Jenkins's future wife. Your Highness, please, believe in him."
Miss Windsor, Jessica, J-Miss, and Sigrid stood at another window. The four of them gazed out at the 'scenery,' feeling an involuntary fear rising within their hearts.
"Is this... doomsday?"
Sigrid couldn't help but murmur.
"It's even more terrifying than the ancient prophecies of the Church described."
The power of the Beast of Calamity was spreading across the world. The writhing tentacles that burst from the earth and the monsters born from the black clouds and gray mist were merely the harbingers of the end.
"I've seen the Difference Engine's projected scenarios for the apocalypse."
It was impossible to tell which 'Jessica Windsor' had spoken.
"But this is even more terrifying than the models predicted."
"Is Jenkins going to be okay?"
Sigrid was worried too. She had been praying softly ever since it began—not for anyone else, but for Jenkins alone.
"I can't say he'll be completely fine, but he's more special than anyone else."
J-Miss remarked, a gentle smile gracing her lips as she thought of Jenkins.
"That guy... he's too stubborn to die."
The three Jessicas all thought of that... unexpected night. Though there had been only two people present, four souls had been involved. None of them had ever imagined doing something so... wanton. But they all acknowledged the man from that night as Jessica Windsor's lover.
"Yes... he wouldn't just let himself die."
Jessica murmured, her cheeks flushing slightly. The two former queens, a bit bolder, exchanged a glance and chuckled.
Back in the Mysterious Realm, Jenkins looked up at the large hole above. To his surprise, even with the complete form of the Beast of Calamity appearing within this realm, the space itself hadn't been torn asunder.
Aside from the rising wind, this version of Nolan within the Mysterious Realm showed no other signs of abnormality. It was as if a Beast of Calamity wasn't being born in the sky at all.
"Even after becoming an immortal Beast of Calamity, it doesn't dare enter the material world to fight me, where I'd have no restrictions. This thing is remarkably cautious,"
Jenkins muttered, then turned to the determined people around him.
"Brace yourselves."
The words had barely left his lips when a pillar of black light shot down from the dark hole in the sky. Within that pillar, a brass-colored metal sphere etched with incredibly complex black patterns materialized just above the ground.
Immediately, a corrupting black aura spread out, visible to the naked eye. Jenkins instantly stepped in front of the others. A chaotic, multicolored light enveloped their group, struggling to carve out a small island of survival in the 'ocean' of the dark aura.
But it wasn't enough. The crushing weight of sin was not something mortals could withstand. Even with the sphere merely existing there, the human demigods lowered their heads and sealed their five senses, yet they could still feel their souls gradually becoming 'tainted'.
The few people standing closer to the front already had numb expressions, and a metallic sheen was beginning to appear on their flesh. Before them stood the incarnation of an entire Epoch's sin, the very antithesis of civilization. The more prosperous the civilization of the Eighteenth Epoch had been in its final moments, the more powerful this sphere was.
Not to mention, this was a metallic information storage device that had witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations since ancient Epochs. A Beast of Calamity would not normally possess such immense power at its birth, but the Difference Engine was an exception.
Jenkins stood silently before the floating metal sphere within the pillar of black light. A faint golden radiance, representing divine power, emanated from his body, signifying the dual perfection of his soul and physique. He was temporarily shielding those behind him, but as he gazed at the sphere, the long-forgotten sensation of staring into the abyss welled up inside him.
To the naked eye, the metal sphere was no larger than a human head. But what the eye could capture was merely the tip of the iceberg. Even though Jenkins could clearly make out the evil, twisted, and chaotic nature of the black patterns on its brass surface, compared to the terror he perceived beyond sight, it was like seeing a single feather floating on a raging ocean.