Watching as the high-concentration divine tears and dozens of Unclean Ones were effortlessly crushed,
"He" appeared somewhat furious.
"Damn it!"
Gods shouldn't curse, or perhaps, it was a mistaken assumption.
Maybe it was just that gods had never been pushed to such a state before. After all, when facing those helpless humans before, "He" merely needed to wave a hand to destroy the entirety of human civilization, even justifying it as granting them eternal life.
Against the weak, gods naturally wouldn't be enraged.
Only when facing powerful beings would they become angry, because aside from fury, they could do nothing else.
At some point, Haruto had appeared behind "Him."
"He" hadn't noticed Haruto's presence and continued glaring furiously at Mechanical Entity 001, cursing under his breath.
"So, why are you angry?"
Haruto suddenly spoke.
"He" turned around in shock, instinctively taking a few steps back upon seeing Haruto.
Trying to disperse the clouds beneath Haruto's feet to make him fall.
But Haruto simply stood still in midair, completely unaffected, as if the presence or absence of clouds was irrelevant to him.
"He" was clearly confused but seemed to regain confidence upon seeing Haruto's human-like appearance.
"There are still humans in this world? How is it? The eternal life I granted to humanity, isn't it wonderful? You seem a bit special, but no matter, I will personally grant you the power of eternal life, so you may exist forever."
A mass of high-concentration divine tears was flung toward Haruto.
However, Haruto simply pointed into the air.
That pure divine tear instantly froze mid-flight, coming to a complete standstill.
"He" widened his eyes in shock.
Immediately after, "He" tried to use more divine tears to annihilate Haruto.
But "His" body was no longer under control. "He" couldn't move a single inch, completely frozen in place.
This was one of the applications of world power.
Haruto had halted time around them while stripping "His" perception away from the stillness.
Yes, "He" didn't even retain the ability to perceive time while being frozen.
Calling Himself a god, what a pathetic counterfeit.
Haruto casually waved his hand, dispersing the divine tear, causing it to completely vanish from the world.
This scene filled "Him" with boundless terror.
Haruto stepped forward and placed his hand at "His" chest.
"Well then, let me take a look at your heart. I'm quite curious."
The next moment, his fingertips, entwined with crimson radiance, merely brushed against the surface—
And a still-beating heart appeared in Haruto's palm.
This was pure plundering.
Seeing this, "His" eyes were filled with horror and despair.
Clearly, had time not been frozen, He would have already perished. It was only due to time being halted that He still remained alive.
"There's nothing special about it. So why do you call yourself a god? And with that self-righteous tone—'destroying you has nothing to do with me'—you brought ruin upon humanity."
Haruto spoke with a hint of confusion before crushing the heart in his hand.
Blood and flesh splattered, but as they drifted through the air, they were once again frozen in place.
"At the very least, you should be like me to have the right to make such claims."
Watching "His" eyes, filled with despair and questions, Haruto smiled and said,
"Are you confused? Just as you did to humanity, destroying you has nothing to do with me. This is my gift to you."
Then, Haruto systematically plundered "His" limbs, blood, muscles, and bones. Finally, when he grew bored, he took "His" brain and crushed it into pieces.
Now, even in frozen time, "He" was dead.
Undoubtedly, "He" had been a containment entity.
But Haruto couldn't be bothered to contain something like this.
Execution was the better option.
After executing the false god of the Unclean Land, Haruto flew toward Mechanical Entity 001.
Strangely enough, even with time frozen, flames still flickered within its core.
Haruto glanced at it but didn't dwell on it, proceeding with his laborious task. With steady hands, he began digging into the chest of Mechanical Entity 001.
It was arduous work.
Fortunately, since time was frozen, there was no real urgency.
After an indeterminate amount of time—
Haruto had carved out a tunnel through the chest of Mechanical Entity 001.
Countless gears and pipes surrounded him.
And finally, he reached the furnace where the flickering flames burned. Shaking his arms, Haruto felt a slight soreness creeping in. He dismantled all the surrounding pipes and gears.
From within the depths of Mechanical Entity 001, Haruto seized the so-called Heart of God—SCP-882.
A brass furnace.
The moment it fell into Haruto's hands, the flames inside it extinguished. Opening the furnace's lid, Haruto retrieved a black pen from within.
He ran his fingers along its surface.
At the end of the pen, he noticed engraved letters, resembling a label.
It read: "Property of the Factory".
Haruto curled his lips in amusement.
Clearly, this wasn't some so-called divine heart.
The brass furnace and the black pen within merely contained some mechanical anomalies.
They weren't like the Clockwork Virus (SCP-217) or the Broken Tongue (SCP-1139)—not relics of the Broken God. Tucking the black pen into his pocket and carrying the brass furnace, Haruto flew out of Mechanical Entity 001.
With a snap of his fingers—
The power of the world was released.
Time resumed its flow.
Immediately, the colossal mechanical entity that is larger than a mountain, began collapsing and breaking apart, losing all functionality.
With swift reflexes, Haruto retrieved the Broken Tongue (SCP-1139) and parts of Mr. Brass (SCP-629) from the falling wreckage.
Thus, the apotheosis event was fully halted, ending with all containment objects successfully recovered.
The members of the Church of the Broken God could no longer be interrogated.
Except for one whom Haruto had devoured, the rest had all become part of their god's entity.
The disintegrating remains of Mechanical Entity 001 largely fell into the California Trench, sinking into the ocean depths.
Haruto carefully observed and found that these remains no longer carried the properties of the Clockwork Virus (SCP-217).
It seemed that the moment the Heart of God was extracted, the virus within the mechanical entity had died.
Only remnants of the virus outside the Red Sea Object remained.
After waiting for the last of the wreckage to fall, Haruto's form twisted—
And he vanished from the Unclean Land.
Returning to the main world.
----------------
Africa
Haruto reappeared in Black State.
The Black Ball and Wings of Freedom mobile task forces stood at the ready.
Seeing Haruto arrive, they all relaxed.
"Retrieve the Red Sea Object (SCP-093) and return it to the Foundation. This containment mission is now complete."
Haruto announced before flying away.
Neither task force had any complaints.
Suu approached the mirror where the Red Sea Object was attached. She carefully lifted the crimson disk with both hands and removed it from the mirror.
The dull, gray mirror instantly shattered.
Now, Suu had to keep holding the crimson disk with both hands all the way back to the Foundation site for proper containment.
During this process, as long as she didn't let go, the containment would be completed smoothly. Just then, the faint sound of high heels clicking echoed nearby.
Both mobile task forces immediately went on high alert.
Levi and Oka thoroughly scanned the surroundings but found nothing. Even reviewing their mission recordings revealed no trace of the sound. As if, what they had all just heard was nothing but an illusion.
Without hesitation, Levi activated his crimson exoskeletal armor.
His arm extended, forming a serrated crimson spike.
Then, he launched a wide-area attack against the empty surroundings.
The attack covered a vast range, ensuring that even an invisible entity would struggle to evade.
Yet, nothing was found.
With no other options, both task forces continued their mission while remaining highly vigilant.
Then—suddenly, the air distorted.
The task forces immediately aimed their weapons at the anomaly.
But in the next moment—Haruto emerged from the distortion.
The teams hesitated, but after confirming it was indeed their leader, they lowered their weapons.
Then, to their surprise, Haruto suddenly rushed forward—
And from the empty space ahead, a series of high-heeled footsteps echoed once more.
Under the confused gazes of both task forces, it seemed as if Haruto had embraced something invisible.
And the sound of heels disappeared completely.
"No problem. Just finish securing the Red Sea Object and return to base. I've prepared a banquet for you all at the Garden of Life."
With that, Haruto vanished once again.
The two squads exchanged puzzled glances—
Before shrugging and continuing their containment mission.