693 Holy Name of the God of Steam (1/2)
Augustus put down his right hand and covered his eyes and said solemnly, ”The Lord has heard our prayer and granted us divine powers, so that we can disseminate his glory and preach his doctrines.”
”This is the best compliment for our devotion!”
As he spoke aloud, the ivory brilliance around him surged into gold sunlight and surged towards all directions, drowning Harold, Myrna and the other dwarfs.
Harold immediately sensed another improvement of his strength. He became excited and filled with desire for battle, fearless of desperation or pain!
That was the feeling of the real warriors!
That was 'Warrior Tide', a level-five divine power, and the best that Augustus could achieve so far!
At this moment, the concerns and sense of crisis in Augustus' heart were gone. It was not true that the great God of Steam could not grant divine powers, He simply preferred steam and machinery. Therefore, the senior elder smiled solemnly. ”I listened to the lecture of the Lord and understood that the greatest secrets of the world lie in steam and machinery. If we grasp them, we will boast the strength that is beyond divine power, such as weapons which can produce Eternal Blaze.”
”The Lord told us that divine power is just a temporary weapon that we can protect ourselves in a certain phase of our journey but not the thing that we should depend on and preach His doctrines with. After we live through the phase, we will naturally drop the divine power and devote ourselves to steam and machinery, so that we can dig out their mysteries and possess the real power of ourselves with our own work. Only in such a way will we be able to establish Atlantis on earth.
Harold, Myrna and the other dwarfs all prayed, ”Great God of Steam, you look after us and master the supreme power. May we reestablish a glorious steam civilization under your protection!”
Augustus hesitated for a moment, but when he thought of the hallowed air and the marvelous divine power, he still said solemnly, ”You will pray before the divine item in turns. The Lord will grant divine power to those who are pious.”
What?
Really?
Harold, Myrna and the other dwarfs were hit by wild joy again. After witnessing what happened just now, they thought that it was a special favor from the Lord to their senior elder, and that the believers who more or less wavered in their heart like themselves had to wait longer before they received divine power with their actions.
It never occurred to them that the great God of Steam would grant them divine power without holding any grudge!
”You are the embodiment of virtues, and you teach us the truth of benevolence.”
Harold and the other dwarfs covered their eyes with their right hand again and prayed sincerely. They felt that their mind was empty and their faith was even purer. Tears of joy were even flowing out of their eyes.
Then, Harold reached before the silver 'nuclear bomb' and recited the content of 'Mechanical Apocalypse'.
The noise was suddenly gone. Myrna and the other dwarfs looked at Harold attentively and hopefully. Would the Lord show favor?
Suddenly, another pure and brilliant light shot out of the silver sacred item. It illuminated Harold as if it covered him with a holy overcoat, making him look like an 'angel' in the Saint Truth.
A divine power had truly been granted!
Myrna and the other dwarfs were thrilled. They had witnessed a miracle and the Lord's favor over the dwarfs in person!
Harold's vibe grew exponentially and did not stop until he reached the level of bishop.
Augustus was more or less relieved after that. According to the standard of divine power, he was a level-five bishop, and Harold was a level-three one. He was still the leader of the night dwarfs and the archbishop of the Steam Church!
After that, the dwarfs prayed before the divine item in order, but not all of them got the seed of faith and grew the heart of faith. Only ten or so dwarfs, including Myrna, were given divine power. Correspondingly, only Myrna and Aquinas became level-three bishops like Harold.
However, the other dwarfs did not complain, because those who were given divine powers were the most pious believers and who became leaders for their 'devotion'. After they became leaders, they had to pretend to be pious even if they were not so, or they wouldn't be able to command their subordinates at all.
After the ritual was over, Archbishop Augustus stood before the divine item and said solemnly, ”The divine power contradicts our purpose to construct Atlantis on earth. Therefore, the Lord asks us not to brag about it, or we may be lost in power. He reminds us to keep it a secret and only show it in front of the believers. Whoever tells it to outsiders or performs divine power before outsiders without necessity will be deprived of the power and punished!”
As a matter of fact, he didn't quite understand why the great God of Steam gave such an oracle, but after experiencing the miracle, he dared not suspect it at all.
Even less courageous to question it were Harold, Myrna, Aquinas and the other dwarfs, who covered their eyes with their right hand:
”Your instruction will be obeyed. You are the Lord of Life and Death, the King of the kings, the God above the gods.”
The ivory brilliance inside the silver 'divine item' became dim. If an archmage or a legend were here, they would see a vast universe inside the brilliance, in which the stars were releasing light of different colors.
Inside the Atomic Universe…
Lucien was floating above a relatively stable planet of silicon. Before him was an altar of complicated magic patterns, and on the altar was the effigy of a bad dwarf.
The effigy was made of manually-polished metal parts and emitted a cold, mysterious vibe. The dark green tattoo engraved on the head seemed to be releasing metal electromagnetic waves nonstop.