Clockwork Bride

Page 159

Each white light was like a hazy, flickering firefly. But their sheer number was so vast that the sparks coalesced into a galaxy, swirling and converging in the darkness, eventually gathering and wrapping around the body of [Celestial Maiden Mara].

This magnificent scene captivated the audience, left other idols breathless, and drew applause from the gods.

"It's almost done."

Hayden addressed the Five-Colored Celestial Maidens from the judges' stand.

"【Celestial Maiden Mara】has become the focal point of the audience's joy and happiness. This energy will complete the myth of 【Ama-no-Iwa】, and the myth of resurrection that brings the sun back into darkness. Only in this way can she complete the nature reversal from 'corpse' to 'living god'."

Upon hearing Hayden's words, the white celestial maiden Mira glanced at the celestial maiden Mara and said thoughtfully, "Is life and death interdependent, fortune and misfortune? For example, in a competition, what is fortune for the victor and misfortune for the loser? Is it a matter of mutual transformation between life and death, fortune and misfortune, depending on one's subjective perspective?"

Hayden nodded immediately: "Exactly. The reversal of nature is equivalent to killing her once and then creating a new god to replace her."

Many people probably don't understand what this is all about. However, Mira can freely engage in this kind of academic exchange at the level of magical rituals with Hayden. This is only natural, since these celestial maidens are actually Hayden's ultimate forms.

They were all incredibly powerful magicians, the senior figures on Hayden's path! Hayden's experience as a "witch" was completely incomparable to theirs!

While Hayden and Mira were discussing magical matters, the performance of Mara reached its climax. Her movements, which had been slow and elegant until now, suddenly accelerated. The rhythm of the taiko drums and flutes also quickened in sync with her gestures. Mara, enveloped in countless white lights, waved her fan, twirled, and leaped repeatedly. At the same time, the audience erupted in cheers that were difficult to decipher as either applause or exclamations of wonder.

This is a beautiful dance worthy of the name "Mars".

And then—that moment finally arrived.

At the end of the Kagura dance, [the goddess Mara] chanted the final divine incantation.

"The gods opened the gates of heaven, parted the eight layers of clouds, and with sincere prayers, blew away the morning mist and evening haze. With sincere prayers, filth was cleansed, calamities were eliminated, and all sins were washed away."

This marks the end of the ritual.

That's how it should have been.

The next second, without anyone noticing, a figure appeared in the darkness behind [Celestial Maiden Mara].

Under the watchful eyes of all the spectators, including Hayden, the figure stretched out his hand straight out—and with an extremely natural yet incredibly swift movement, pierced the very center of the chest of [Celestial Maiden Mara].

175: Heavenly Demon Mara

175: Heavenly Demon Mara

It's too late, but it's soon.

The figure appeared behind [Celestial Maiden Mara], reaching out to pierce her chest; all of this happened in an instant.

All of this happened so smoothly and naturally that at that moment, not only the audience, but also the two Capital Gods and five Bodhisattva Messengers present—and even the other idol contestants on stage—couldn't help but have a misconception and subconsciously feel that this state might also be part of the ritual.

Because the person standing behind [Celestial Maiden Mara] looks very strange.

She was also dressed in the same red and white shrine maiden outfit. In fact, her attire, height, and figure were exactly the same as those of [Celestial Maiden Mara]—but she wore a simple mask with only a narrow slit for her eyes and mouth.

It only has slits for eyes and mouth, in other words, it has no facial features, and it looks exactly like a machine that resembles the appearance of the goddess Mara.

The faceless priestess withdrew her hand from the chest of [Celestial Maiden Mara], and in her hand she held a small, shimmering ball that looked like a piece of jade.

Strangely enough, as soon as the small ball was removed, [Celestial Maiden Mara] immediately lost all strength and collapsed to the ground. Not only that, the [Free and Unfettered Celestial Maiden Mara] virtual suit wrapped around her—it simply vanished!

She instantly transformed from a voluptuous white-furred fox girl back into the petite, black-haired female ninja, Momiji. This unexpected reveal, broadcast live and under the watchful eyes of everyone, stunned the audience, the other contestants, and even herself!

This was definitely not part of Hongye's original plan!

At the same time, the faceless witch who had stolen the red maple's skin reached out and stuffed the precious jade ball into her own chest, burying it inside her body. This simple action caused an astonishing aura to surge from the faceless witch, radiating an aura of majesty never before felt from her.

"Life begins in the darkness, death ends in the darkness."

Then, the faceless witch began to chant aloud,

"Looking at the affairs of the world, they are like dreams and flowing water. Life is but a fleeting moment, and death is imminent. Looking across the world, within the seas and skies, is there anything that can live forever?"

Every gesture of her dance was graceful, and her fan-waving movements exuded a warrior-like spirit. Her voice was also exceptional; the word "pleasant" was far from sufficient to describe its brilliance, with artistic intonation and emotion conveyed in every word.

Such a performance was enough to stir up the atmosphere of the live broadcast space, leaving the audience at a loss. Upon hearing the song and seeing the dance, their minds were immediately filled with mixed thoughts, joy rising and falling, desires stirring, and they didn't know whether this was a normal performance segment or not.

But people outside the audience now know that something is wrong!

Other idol contestants might hesitate, but Kureha herself knew best that this wasn't part of the planned performance. The faceless priestess had stolen the core of her costume, and the power of [Celestial Maiden Mara] within her was rapidly fading—but at least a little remained! Despite being under the watchful eyes of everyone, Kureha acted decisively, seizing that remaining power and transforming it into a great katana for worshipping the gods in the void!

Momiji is the messenger of Dakini, and this is a ritual stage protected by the power of the gods. The power of the celestial maiden's costume has not completely disappeared—so she must fight back! She will use these powers to fight back and seize this opportunity to settle the score!

"Namo (Homage), Supreme, Tathagata (Dakini), Destroy the evil spirits!"

She chanted a secret incantation, and power coursed through Hongye's body. Unleashing this final, unparalleled force, she swung her sword and slashed!

This was a genuine, steel-splitting sword technique capable of cleaving tanks or diamonds in two without hesitation—yet this sharp and menacing strike was easily blocked by the faceless witch waving her fan.

Boundless demonic energy surged forth, forming a vortex in a single swirling motion, engulfing the sharp blade energy unleashed by the red leaves, while the demonic energy itself grew increasingly intense.

Countless sweet and joyful sounds drifted out from the demonic energy, each sound representing a kind of happiness. The myriad sounds of joy in the world converged into a sea of ​​joy.

Just as Hongye was about to unleash her second strike, she saw this demonic energy and her body trembled instantly. Her eyes widened in astonishment.

A mix of shock and confusion flashed across Kureha's face. But just two seconds later, her expression suddenly became serene. Then, instead of trying to retaliate, she sheathed her katana, closed her eyes, and resigned herself to death, seemingly completely relaxed!

What's happening here! ?

Some of the idol contestants, seeing something was wrong, came to help, only to discover that the void surrounding the live stream stage had been sealed off by the faceless witch's aura. They couldn't move out, and couldn't even log off from their suits!

As for someone like [Magical Girl Pazuzu], everyone knows her personality. Seeing the situation turning against her, she doesn't retreat but advances instead:

"So many audience members are waiting, don't disturb our singing!"

A blazing divine power erupted from her body, illuminating the surrounding darkness in a fiery red glow! The scorching heat transformed into eight fiery wind dragons that blasted towards the faceless witch!

The costume of 【Magical Girl Pazuzu】 already possessed the combat power equivalent to a tactical squad of the War God race, and in the past two months, Hayden had further enhanced it using various methods. And now, this arena stage has attracted the attention of millions, tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of online viewers!

In such a ceremony, on such a stage, [Magical Girl Pazuzu] is probably the strongest character!

...Apart from this faceless witch.

Even the attacks from [Magical Girl Pazuzu], which were powerful enough to blow up an entire city, were all easily deflected by the faceless witch, as if she were catching an eel with her bare hands!

Other idol contestants rushed to help. These idols, all of whom were there to praise divinity, to conquer death, and to be brave enough to be test subjects, were all courageous. But their attacks were weaker than [Magical Girl Pazuzu]'s, so neither claws nor fangs nor lightning strikes could penetrate that strange magical energy!

What exactly is going on? Who is this enemy?

These idols wouldn't understand. After all, they're just ordinary working people.

The celestial beings outside the stage space know far more than these working-class people.

Especially the five celestial maidens on the judges' platform, all of them paled at this moment. The white celestial maiden, Mira, seated on the judges' platform, stood up and unleashed a dazzling golden light towards the stage. The sound wave, accompanied by immense divine power, surged forth, clearing the way with sacred chants, shattering clouds and splitting the earth—yet even this all-encompassing shockwave failed to break the void seal surrounding the stage space. The audience couldn't even see what Mira had done.

If Mira had acted just a second earlier, she could have prevented the stage seal from forming. However, she hesitated for a moment when the anomaly occurred, wondering if it was part of the ritual, and thus was only half a beat late.

The other celestial maidens were no exception. They originally had enough power to stop the faceless priestess from sealing the stage, but they all missed their chance because of a moment's hesitation or surprise.

Fortunately, they were, after all, the Five-Colored Celestial Maidens, messengers of the five Bodhisattvas of the Mithra Group's board of directors. They joined forces, and five-colored Brahma light—red, blue, yellow, green, and white—enveloped the dark void, sealing off the further expansion of this dark magic. However, while the seal was effective, it was insufficient to interfere with the power within.

As for the two senior executives from large companies sitting further back, their situation was quite different. They were financial gurus; even if the sky were to fall, they wouldn't panic, so why would they be nervous now?

Besides, this matter didn't really have much to do with the goddess Mikk, so she simply raised an eyebrow and said, "This strange shadow looks incredibly powerful, but it actually uses traditional techniques."

As the goddess Mikkuri said, the Faceless Witch may seem invincible, but she isn't truly that powerful. Her strength lies in the presence of tens or hundreds of millions of live viewers, because this is the stage for a festival ritual. Their joy and desires are at the Faceless Witch's beck and call, just as their worship is at the beck and call of all idol contestants.

Why is the faceless witch on stage so powerful that even the Mithra Group's Five-Colored Goddesses couldn't break through her? Keep in mind that the combined power of the five of them is definitely no weaker than that of an ordinary Capital God.

The answer is precisely because this is the stage for the festival ceremony.

A faceless witch stands on a stage.

She is an actress on this stage, in this performance, in this ritual, and even, in some ways, the protagonist.

In ancient times, actors on stage were never allowed to leave even if they heard that their parents were dying; this was the rule. When she was on stage, the stage was not merely a stage, but rather a world that operated independently according to its own rules.

A relatively weak new god of capitalism probably wouldn't be able to forcibly break through such a world from the outside. Creating a sacred space, essentially an independent little world, through rituals, rules, and order is a traditional technique of the ancient gods—Hayden actually used classical magic based on this principle.

However, only the top experts of ancient times could use ancient techniques to this extent.

Therefore, Goddess Mikkuri wasn't worried. She was a top-twenty power deity, and a first-rate ancient god at that. Being at the pinnacle from ancient times to the present, she was naturally far superior to those merely at the top in ancient times. So, she simply observed the situation on the stage and calmly said, "This method of using power is old-fashioned, but the level of mastery is very high. Who exactly is it?"

Tujini frowned, his expression even more solemn than that of the goddess Mikt, and uttered a name: "Bo Xun".

This is certainly not referring to [the goddess Mara], but rather to the name of an ancient god prince who died four hundred years ago.

The witch who suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the stage now has no face.

A person without facial features, without a face, in other words, is "nobody," but can also be "everyone."

She is free to be anyone, free to enjoy anyone's happiness and wisdom, and to borrow the joy and power of these audiences.

Therefore, it is called "Other-Transformation Freedom".

He is the demon king who manifests as the Deity of Freedom, and his name is Mara!

Why would Mara, who was killed four hundred years ago, appear here in the form of a faceless witch?

The five-colored celestial maidens were unaware, as were the two Capital Gods present, and even Red Leaf was unaware! Their first instinct was to speculate—could something have gone wrong with the magical ritual to defeat death and resurrect the dead?

Could it be that Mara, who died four hundred years ago, has really been resurrected?

...That being said, neither of the two capitalist deities present rushed to act. Whatever happened, these new gods had no need to panic. They were the ruling class of the modern world.

They were all looking at Hayden with suspicion, waiting for him to give an explanation.

After all, it was Hayden who suggested this competition, and Hayden who designed and arranged the ceremony. Now, a faceless thing that walks like Mara and sings like Mara has appeared. There must be something wrong with this Hayden guy, right?

"This is truly an unusual situation."

On the judges' platform, Hayden noticed the suspicious looks from the celestial maidens and gods, and quickly began to explain.

"My pre-designed plan was to guide [Saviour of the Goddess Pārāja] to victory, modify and recreate to solidify the concept of this new [Pārāja], rather than replicating an ancient Pārāja that is too similar—what benefit would we gain from truly replicating an ancient Pārāja?"

really?

Although he said that, the celestial maidens and gods clearly did not quite believe him.

"So, why did things turn out this way?"

The goddess Mikite glanced at the faceless witch still singing and dancing on the stage, the numerous virtual idols who were trying to deal with her but were clearly at a disadvantage, and the audience who were all captivated by the performance, and calmly asked, "Mr. Hayden, I believe many people would like to hear your explanation."

Hayden then glanced at Dakini, who was sitting next to the goddess Mikkhu, and replied, "I think this is a problem with the synchronization rate between the person in the body and the costume of [Mahaprajnaparamita].

His words were vague, but they clearly implied a responsibility to shift the blame to Dakini.

Adding to this, Dakini already harbored a grudge against Peacock King, and had even sent Tengu ninjas to attack Karen's camp last time, making him even more displeased with Hayden. He immediately said in a deep voice, "Are you implying that I deliberately had my employees replicate an ancient great demon?"

Every syllable of hers was laced with icy anger. It seems that Dakini dislikes Mara and also the Peacock King very much—which is rather amusing, considering that Dakini is actually an old god who has been reincarnated.

“I wouldn’t dare. Although Miss Kureha seems to have surrendered now, I absolutely did not mean that.” Hayden shook his head and said, “I think this should just be a technical error, because the synchronization rate between the person in the [Free Goddess of the Sea - Mara] and a certain ancient demon who died was too high - after all, a high synchronization rate is not necessarily a good thing.”

Too high a synchronization rate? Of course it will be high. Hongye was originally a former subordinate of the great demon Mara, a member of the ancient gods, and then Dajini Tian used a personality chip on her. But then again, Dajini Tian himself is also an ancient god, and a former subordinate of Mara, so… um…

Now it was the turn of the two gods and five goddesses to look at each other. A very oppressive silence fell over the scene.

That's not the point right now.

Finally, it was the white celestial maiden [Mira] who spoke first.

"Our two companies' virtual idols are currently locked on stage, which is fine, they are not people who can't afford to lose anything."

In the eyes of this short, pink-haired beauty, glints of bourgeois coldness and a tendency to assess value.

"The key issue is that tens of millions of viewers who are directly connected to the internet are also being trapped in the live stream space. They are currently addicted to the magical effects and haven't realized it yet, but this state is bound to be unsustainable."

Viewers watching the live stream on their phone screens aren't trapped in the live stream room, but those who connect directly to the internet using VR mode are in a terrible situation. They're now like the virtual idols on stage, unable to log off or leave.

If this is discovered and becomes known to the public, Mitra Group's reputation and stock will be in serious trouble! This involves tens of millions of people trapped in a live stream; this is no joke!

“I’ve already reported to the chairman, and he’s given instructions,” Mira continued. “Let’s address this issue first; we can deal with other things later!”

Do not forget that this white celestial maiden, who looks like an adorable idol, is actually the imperial envoy and apostle of Mithra, the greatest and most powerful supreme deity in the world.

Mithra, the supreme god of capital, cannot give instructions to the goddess Mikkuri, the director of other companies, but even Mikkuri dares not disregard Mithra's words. At least not openly. Because the cost is simply too high.

“That makes sense. But it would be very troublesome to do.” So the goddess Miktra glanced at Hayden again and said calmly, “This stage is now a world of its own. It wouldn’t be difficult for me to forcibly destroy it, but the cost would be high. Would the Bodhisattva Mithra be willing to help me bear this expense?”

"Besides, forcibly shattering this stage space might cause backlash that could harm the tens of millions of viewers connected by their consciousness, since the energy of this stage space is extracted from their fervor. Although the backlash might only cause temporary nosebleeds, tinnitus, and vomiting, is it really okay?"

Of course there are problems. Even if the backlash isn't that severe, this kind of thing is still very troublesome. The Mitra Group has always valued its reputation and doesn't want to damage it.

On the contrary, Goddess Mickett wasn't too worried. After all, Smoke Mirror Company was just a partner this time, and besides, Smoke Mirror Company wasn't afraid of a bad reputation—they were already the worst-reputed among the giant corporations.

Oh dear, now that you mention it, even the goddess Mikt is starting to suspect that Hayden is secretly setting a trap for the Mithra Group during this tournament.

...But at this very moment, Hayden took over the conversation.

"There's no need to resort to such brutal methods. I've already thought of a solution."

Hayden said in a very serious tone,