NovelPantheon

Deus Ex Machina

Three Divine Artifacts Part; GigantesShattered, then partially repaired by Jaehwan

History

Deus creates Deus Ex Machina after studying innumerable Clothes and pursuing a form that could protect the self from other worlds. The result is remembered as the Colossus, the strongest Clothes, one of the Three Divine Artifacts, and the origin point for the lesser Gigantes used throughout the Abyss. The Factory Masters mourn its disappearance and ask Mulack to find it. (Chapters 89, 179, 188, 204)

Maiad van Declan places an elaborate counterfeit Deus Ex Machina in the Grand Auction to draw out the machine-like being X. Once the trap succeeds, the counterfeit and X join under the displayed name Deus X Machina, restoring a functioning Deus Ex Machina under Maiad's control. The completed giant produces power comparable to Catastrophe and devastates the auction battlefield. (Chapters 185–192)

Maiad uses the artifact to sever divine Links across the Abyss and then challenges Jaehwan through its phased systems. In the Hidden Phase, copied versions of the other Three Divine Artifacts help transform Maiad's Unique World into Only One World. Jaehwan's Destruction eventually collapses that System and shatters the artifacts. During the long passage to Panopticon, he manages to repair the broken Deus Ex Machina only partially; even then, it cannot break the enclosing time-dense darkness. (Chapters 223–240)

Properties and use

Deus Ex Machina is both immense armored Clothes and a pilotable Gigantes. Its physical body releases catastrophic World Power, withstands attacks from other high gods, destroys lesser Gigantes in single blows, and moves with surprising agility. Its first Innate Setting, Deus, multiplies the wielder's World Power rather than merely adding to the base amount. (Chapters 192, 231–232)

Its signature Plausibility Destruction severs the Links between gods and Vicegerents, temporarily or permanently stripping both sides of the relationship that supports divine power. This operates on a far wider scale than a physical attack and can spread across multiple Sites. Cognitive Dissonance can repair some cut Links, but not every Follower chooses to restore the former bond. (Chapters 192, 223–225)

The Hidden Phase combines Deus's Link severance with copied Time Infection and Cognitive Dissonance. Vicegerents are disconnected, infected with the new System, and made to perceive Maiad's world as their own, feeding World Power back into the artifact. This creates overwhelming scale but depends on replicated artifacts, accumulated belief, and the stability of the resulting System; Jaehwan's Destruction breaks that agreement and the machine with it. (Chapters 233–235)

Associated characters

  • Deus: Deus develops the artifact from the idea of Clothes as absolute protection.
  • Maiad van Declan: Maiad reconstructs, pilots, and expands the artifact into the engine of Only One World.
  • Jaehwan: Jaehwan fights, shatters, and later partially repairs it.
  • Gestalt: A copy of Gestalt's Part supplies Cognitive Dissonance to the Hidden Phase.
  • Catastrophe: A copy of Catastrophe's Part supplies Time Infection to the Hidden Phase.