So, are they able to dry up this giant wave?
No.
With a crashing sound like ocean waves, a dark, deathly tidal wave swept up tens of thousands of fire hounds, instantly annihilating them.
This was as easy and effortless as when Hayden orchestrated the Great Engineering ritual, crushing Hecate with a giant hand. This tidal wave of death was just like the Hand of the Stars that Hayden had sculpted and controlled back then.
Even Abigail was shocked: "Huh?!"
Meanwhile, the Dead Sea waves that extinguished her flames had already crashed down.
Fortunately, Hayden couldn't bear to watch Abigail be killed (even though she now possessed the immortality of a fallen angel). Hayden himself didn't have the power to withstand such divine might, but his grand engineering ritual wasn't completely finished; rather, the ritual's conclusion was precisely pinned down by this stillborn child god.
In that case, Hayden could continue to wield the power of these new gods, which even the old gods could crush. Controlling these powers, he once again extended the five fingers of his right hand, and a huge palm made of countless starlight appeared out of thin air, blocking the tidal wave of death.
At the very least, it should have been able to be stopped.
However, as soon as the two forces collided, Hayden immediately sensed something was wrong. The power of the Great Project clashed head-on with the divine might of the stillborn god, and this power, which could kill even gods, was instead rapidly worn down and lost.
What the heck is going on?!
Hayden had some understanding of death; he had even overcome it during the previous virtual idol incident. He now understood that this stillborn child was a death infant born from the Dead Sea environment.
But this wasn't the first time he'd encountered naturally born gods and demons; Pazuzu was one example. It was a natural god and demon born from Mesopotamia, yet it was still crushed by Karen with a single finger using her magnificent climate control system. Since the rise of the new capitalist gods four hundred years ago, these naturally born gods and demons had been nothing more than creatures slaughtered, suppressed, or co-opted by capitalists. Their power was limited, and they could no longer defeat the new forces of modern times.
The capitalists' grand project, the highest level of mystery in modern industrialization, is the power to slay the old gods.
But how could a stillborn child's god not follow this logic?!
Why is it that this stillborn child was able to gradually wear down, eliminate, and even steal away Hayden's great engineering talent bit by bit?
Abigail's face was also very pale. She could vaguely understand a little, because Hecate also had the attributes of a god of the underworld, but her knowledge was ultimately only fragmented.
So she immediately said, "Let's run while this can still barely hold us off!"
Hayden immediately shook his head: "If something of this caliber were allowed to climb into Fallen City, what kind of death do you think people would suffer!?"
What will happen after it has completely devoured (killed) the entire space of this underwater ruin?
It will surely chase the breath of life and climb into the Fallen City, then eat (kill) from the bottom up like sugarcane, and then surge to the whole world like a tsunami of death and a plague... until the capitalist gods intervene to suppress it.
This young god has now sealed off the entire material spacetime of the Dead Sea. Other capitalist gods may or may not have discovered it. But even if they have, since this is a no-man's-land, neutral zone, those capitalists won't easily decide who will provide the funds to solve the problem.
Even if they do decide who will solve the problem, it doesn't mean they'll use a good method. Maybe some big company will step in and blow up the entire Dead Sea with some kind of super satellite cannon... it's not impossible, right?
Abigail naturally understood this as well, and couldn't help but clutch her head and cry out in despair, "What does the life or death of Fallen City have to do with us?!"
Hayden was also anxious: "Even if you really don't care about the lives of ordinary people, the people in the lower district who are most affected right now are our own people. Professors, Red Leaf, workers, experts from the cult... This stillborn fetus has frozen the entire material spacetime of the Dead Sea, and all those people are piled up there like targets!"
If Hayden hadn't cared about their lives, he wouldn't have cared about Abigail's either, and he certainly wouldn't have used the Great Engineering Project to reverse time underwater; none of this would have happened. Perhaps this is fate, rather than Darkmoon's complaints.
How could the witch not understand this? She couldn't possibly abandon Hayden and run away, so she could only stomp her feet in anger.
But dragging it out like this wasn't a solution. The stillborn infant god sat atop the giant wave, continuing to wield its black sword and drive the Dead Sea's monstrous waves. Hayden could now only rely on the remaining power of the Great Engineering to passively defend himself. This defense would ultimately be devoured by the stillborn infant god... Damn it, how could it possibly devour and steal the power of the Great Engineering?!
Such a thing is something that even heaven and earth and all the gods fear.
Therefore, Hayden was completely baffled.
Only Angela seemed relatively calm and unhurried at this moment, though she didn't appear relaxed either. Her body was exerting too little effort, and there was nothing she could do at this time. However, she frowned as she gazed at the stillborn infant god for a long while before speaking, "Master, I'm not entirely sure either. But with your wisdom, you should be able to figure out the answer yourself from the cause and effect."
Can we please stop with the riddles?
Even so, Hayden still tried to think for himself. While manipulating the remaining power of the Great Works to block and defend, he gazed at the stillborn god and pondered deeply.
What are the causes and consequences here?
It was born from the union of dead wind and fallen light, yet remained an unborn spirit. It was only through Hayden's magic, which reversed time, that it was given a sliver of a chance to be born. This must be the cause of its birth.
Is it because Hayden's great project was the catalyst for its birth that it can devour and utilize the power of that project? Even if it's magic, this is just too unreasonable!
Hayden felt the answer was wrong, at least not entirely right, so he continued to ponder, gazing at the stillborn infant god in the distance. He could see how its Dead Sea waves swept up death in this natural space, how death dismantled and stripped away the power of the Great Works, merging it into its own power. This was strange.
Because the power of a great project should not be a power that an individual can control. Hayden also relied on external ritual arrangements to support this power. The highest level of ritual magic, in principle, is not something that "returns great power to itself." If it appears to return to itself, then it must actually be relying on something else.
Is it the sword in its hand? But that divine sword should be an ancient artifact from a bygone era, so it has no connection.
What did it rely on? What established such a powerful causal relationship with this great project that it was able to gradually take away the power of the project from Hayden, the operator?
Hayden quickly came up with many answers, but none of them seemed quite right. It wasn't until he looked again at the giant waves of the Dead Sea that the stillborn god rode that a hypothesis flashed into his mind like a revelation.
"No, the composition of this Dead Sea giant wave...could it be..."
He finally understood the meaning of the wisdom that Angela had spoken of.
"...Is it industrial pollution caused by a grand engineering project?"
That's not entirely true, but they are indeed very similar.
Just as the gods of capitalism, after taking control of the world, turned Earth's nature into a place where life could barely survive, powerful magic like the Great Engineering could potentially bring about similarly enormous consequences. Hayden, in order to save Abigail, decided to use the magic of the Great Engineering to reverse time at the bottom of the Dead Sea; perhaps at that moment, the forces of the universe were already destined to turn against him.
What is wisdom? For a magician, wisdom is the ability to know that magic is dangerous and how to use it correctly.
The birth of this stillborn god and its current power are the contradictions arising from Hayden's great industrial magic, the karma he created!
Hmm? You're asking why other capitalists who mess around don't face this kind of karmic retribution? Well, who says they don't? It's just that they know very well how to shift the blame onto others.
Hayden could certainly do that. He could grab Angela and Abigail and run away right now, leaving other capitalists to take the fall. The question is, could he really do that? If he could, he wouldn't have created this situation in the first place.
Perhaps this is fate. Perhaps there is no supreme will that determines everyone's destiny.
Only each person's character determines their destiny.
221: The Magician (Upright)
The stillborn infant god sat atop the giant waves of the Dead Sea, as if seated on his own throne.
It is a stillborn fetus formed from the blood of fallen angels of wind and light, a strange object in the world synthesized by the overflowing power of fallen gods.
Although it is considered an anomaly in the world, it was originally just a born god or demon that had not yet been born. It had no physical body and only gained life by changing with time and space and following the tide of fate.
Such a thing certainly wouldn't have any thoughts, much less technology. It only possesses power, albeit extremely high power.
Because this power itself is the result of a magnificent engineering feat. The incomparably powerful force of the highest-level arcane magic can naturally produce equally powerful consequences.
Hey, this "cause and effect" sounds a bit too mystical, doesn't it? Actually, it's not. It's like how modern arcane heavy industry inevitably produces environmental pollution; although it's magic, it's actually quite physical.
This stillborn infant god is actually a contamination caused by Hayden's time-reversal magic. It is the reaction force of Hayden's great engineering ritual. The only difference is that this contamination wields a greatsword of death and kills indiscriminately; it actually possesses no intelligence.
Anyway, killing doesn't require intelligence.
Hayden grasped this principle in an instant, thanks to Angela's guidance and his own intuition.
So in the next instant, he grabbed Abigail in front of him and pushed her over his head—towards the relatively safe surface of the sea—using his magic to send her up.
Abigail was naturally taken aback: "What are you doing?!"
"Go find Astaroth! The entire material spacetime of the Dead Sea is frozen, but she, like you, is an ancient god from beyond the heavens and will not be affected by a purely physical blockade. She definitely doesn't know what's going on!"
Hayden, however, had already thought of many things in an instant.
"You're better at talking than I am; getting her to come down and help will be much faster than me doing it!"
Is it really?
At least Abigail couldn't come up with a counter-argument right away, so she could only yell angrily as she was being sent away: "Do you want to die?! I'm immortal now! Let me take the hit!"
Perhaps she truly is immortal now, but Hayden dared not allow Abigail, who had just gone through so much death and resurrection, to conduct human experiments. Besides, he always felt that the great black sword in the hands of the stillborn goddess was terrifying. Perhaps that [Divine Punishment Sword] really was a weapon capable of killing even fallen angels.
"Nonsense, of course I don't want to die!"
Therefore, Hayden scoffed at it.
Only those who don't want to die can win!
At the same time, the stillborn child turned its glassy, lifeless gaze to Hayden and Abigail. It pointed its black sword at Abigail, and with a single point, a Dead Sea sword beam instantly shot forth, aiming for the witch's neck!
With a single point of the Heavenly Punishment Sword, the heads of gods and demons would fall to the ground. The Dead Sea Sword Light unleashed by wielding the Heavenly Punishment Divine Sword was a hundred times more ferocious than that of the Vajra God, and even possessed some of the style of the Peacock King in his youthful arrogance.
Because the sea is a gateway to the underworld. Water is an element closely associated with both death and life.
"go with!"
Fortunately, Hayden was prepared. He shouted loudly, and his words transformed into thousands of characters, forming a [Sword of Words] that shot out and clashed head-on with the [Divine Punishment Sword]'s blade!
boom!
The words clashed with the killing intent, and all the spoken words were shattered by a single sword strike. In this direct confrontation of power, the stillborn child god was clearly stronger.
But this stillborn fetus only possessed power, lacking any skill. Hayden's words had already begun to work nimbly before dissipating, using the impact to blow Abigail hundreds of meters away, long since reaching the sea.
The Dead Sea nymph had no complex thoughts. Seeing a life flee, it turned its gaze back to Hayden, who was closest. Hayden sensed its immense power and ethereal killing intent, and couldn't help but let out a dry laugh, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
The "Sword of Words" that Angela forged for Hayden is actually no less powerful than the "Heavenly Punishment Sword" in terms of quality, and may even be superior. It possesses an unchanging, eternal authority. If Hayden could wield it to its full potential, he might even be able to cleave the "Heavenly Punishment Sword" in two.
But he couldn't now. Because Hayden's own strength was no match for this stillborn child god. Hayden remained calmly aware that even if he fought with all his might, even if he possessed skill and this stillborn being an idiot, its power was still at least one hundred percent greater than his. Skill alone wasn't enough to win; at best, he could only barely hold on.
Therefore, Hayden must find a force and method that can rival it.
Here, at this moment, Hayden will use his wisdom to find the answer to victory.
"Angela, fly me up and dodge!"
When his first strike failed, Hayden didn't just stand there taking the beating. Angela nodded, immediately grabbed Hayden from behind, and pulled him into the air, dodging the blows like the wind.
"A barrage of swords, endless and boundless, go forth!"
At the same time, Hayden unleashed another barrage of words, forming a "sword of words," which ripped through the air and bombarded the Dead Sea Child God.
The stillborn god remained indifferent and calm, wielding the [Heavenly Punishment Sword]. Huge, gray waves appeared from the underworld, crashing down and completely silencing Hayden's myriad words. The waves, wave after wave of death, once again surrounded Hayden and Angela.
This wasn't just the power of the [Heavenly Punishment Divine Sword], or rather, most of it wasn't. Angela dodged with Hayden at lightning speed, but now they were surrounded by surging waves and incredibly heavy, deathly water, from which various terrifying illusions of death flowed, completely trapping Hayden within.
Although Hayden wielded his Moonlight Staff in the left hand and his Words Sword in the right, seemingly managing to hold on with clever tactics and occasionally striking the Dead Sea's giant waves with his Words Sword to create small holes, he still could not break through the growing oppression of the Sea of Death and the impending death.
Even an ordinary person could see that Hayden was already at a disadvantage.
If he cannot find a way to win, the young god of death will conquer him, and the sea of death will slowly strangle Hayden.
"Alas, the world is truly unpredictable. I used to often criticize those capitalist gods for abusing the great magic of industry, causing environmental pollution and then dumping the blame without any remediation. Now that I have experienced it firsthand, I finally understand."
Hayden watched as the Dead Sea surrounded them, and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"If every time I use industrial magic, this kind of reaction force causes trouble, I'll also want to shift the blame!"
Although such a situation—where a great project results in a naturally born god or demon attacking people—is extremely rare, if industrial pollution were something that could be easily and cheaply cleaned up, the capitalist gods wouldn't just abandon it.
It is precisely because it is troublesome, precisely because it requires paying a price, that this is called cause and effect, and is called karmic hindrance.
"Even though you say that, if you really wanted to get rid of the blame, you could have run away at any time just now."
Angela, holding Hayden, dodged and maneuvered in the Dead Sea, her tone remaining calm.
“You have always had the wisdom to find a way out of desperate situations, and the spirit to not give up even when death is near. I believe you will find the answer this time as well.”
These words made Hayden chuckle: "You have a very high opinion of me."
Even so, Angela's words triggered a memory that flashed through Hayden's mind like an apocalypse.
He remembered that before coming to Fallen City, he had drawn a tarot card on a whim. The card he randomly drew happened to be the so-called number one, the very first card.
The Magician card in its upright position.
A magician's job, of course, is to conjure spells. Since the magician on the card points to the sky with his right hand and to the earth with his left, with the four elements laid out before him and a symbol representing "infinity" above his head, he should be able to conjure anything.
Whatever he decides to accomplish, he can always find a way to do it, even under dire circumstances and pressure, turning the impossible into the possible with passion and wisdom—that is the true essence of the "Magician"!
"This stillborn infant god is nothing more than a born god-demon without any intelligence. I also have the Sword of Words to fight against the [Divine Punishment Sword]. But its power is now several times stronger than mine—that is because its power comes from me, from the great engineering ritual magic that I performed before."
So Hayden spoke.
"—But that's just a conclusion. I still don't know 'why'."
The conclusion was easy to see, especially given Hayden's strong intuition. But why this result? How could this bastard, born a god or a demon, a fallen angel, have the ability to seize the power of the Great Project?
To put it more bluntly, it is the result, the price, but on what basis?
Why would there be such a price to pay? There must be a reason, right?
Pollution is merely a metaphor, and the cost is only a manifestation. Everything should have an essential answer.
Wisdom lies in being able to find and resolve this cause.
"In short, it now possesses power on par with mine, and an energy scale equivalent to mine plus the Great Project. Moreover, the more I use the Great Project, the more and stronger its power will become."
Angela nodded: "That's true."