Jenkins was having a reasonably good day. Most of the Scribes were out fighting the undead army, and the few who remained were guarding the Gate of All Things, not patrolling the surface buildings. The corridors were littered with the remnants of tal rods and ritual items. It seed the Church had deployed more than one numbered item in the great battle outside, and what lay scattered about were common containnt devices.
Jenkins finally found what he was looking for in the building nearest the garden, pushing open the door to the innermost room on the third floor. Though the door was fitted with a special lock, he could simply get so of the Grace Water inside to morize its shape, then use Psychography to create a matching key. Jenkins could solve the problem without even damaging the lock or the door.
Stepping inside, he found the curtains tightly drawn. The room was eerily empty, save for a few faint red lights glowing on the far wall.
He raised his miner's lamp, illuminating the room, and a strange machine embedded in the wall ca into view. tal tubes like blood vessels connected the machine to the wall. Its bizarre design, a fusion of order and chaos, gave it a strange chanical beauty that seed to transcend the aesthetics of the era.
"B-08-2-8214..."
B-08-2-8214, the Equal Exchange Vending Machine. Place anything into the drawer on the left, pull the machine's lever, and the drawer on the right will dispense another item of equal value.
This was an item the Sage's Church had confiscated during the vampire incident. The All-knowing Treasure Mirror had used it to exchange its own soul, draining most of the machine's energy in the process and temporarily robbing it of its ability to teleport randomly through space.
After containing it, the Church believed that by continuously draining its energy, they could achieve permanent containnt of the item.
This wasn't just wishful thinking; over the next three months, the theory proved to be perfectly sound in practice.
However, this thod of containnt had one fatal flaw: B-08-2-8214 could never be activated behind the Gate of All Things. If it were, the machine would absorb the Gate's power, turning energy consumption into energy absorption.
The Church must have been experinting with it again today, which was why they moved it to this room outside the Gate of All Things. And this machine was the very thing the Gate of All Things had guided Jenkins to find.
"It can't be..."
Jenkins suddenly felt like he understood everything. He had been so fixated on being a Savior that he had overlooked the simplest solution.
Defeating the Skull Sword wouldn't be a miracle; it would require true power. He had been wrong from the start. Pomphey had been right: "In the material world of this era, no weapon exists that can defeat this sword." Therefore, Jenkins had to find a way to create a new one.
"The Savior's Emblem was a complete misdirection!"
He had been too obsessed with the Savior's Emblem to notice the power he already possessed, which was why fate had offered no guidance for so long. But it wasn't too late to realize his mistake. The situation was dire, but not yet irreversible.
He hurried over to the machine and set his lamp on the floor. The cat leaped down from his shoulder, watching his actions with curiosity.
He pulled open the left drawer of B-08-2-8214 and placed the three hands from C-08-2-2218, the Stopped Clock, inside.
"This is for the best," he muttered. "Keeping these three things on hand has always been a liability. The Enchanters from the Church of Creation and Machinery are still searching for the culprit who damaged the clock."
He put in the leg from the self-destructing puppet he found beneath the snowstorm manor.
"I feel like that puppet tried to evade its destiny, but in the end, fate had its way with it... This is the second ti this wooden leg has helped ."
He put in the bearing from the Unrecordable Gun.
"I can't believe I've collected so many strange things over the years."
He put in the two wood hearts he had painstakingly collected.
"Well, it looks like I'll have to start over with the elf's potion."
He put in the Stone of Life he had acquired through a trade.
"I knew this last stone was ant for strengthening a weapon after all."
He picked up the Fantasy Flower he had nurtured for nearly six months. The mont his hand touched the blossom, a pure white light illuminated the dim room. Though its appearance hadn't changed, Jenkins could feel that its essence had been transford.
"The mont it's held, it grants the power its holder needs... I should have realized it sooner. Isn't this just a universal synthesis material?"
But the purple thread didn't disappear. It pointed toward Jenkins, indicating that more materials were needed.
"You can't be serious..."
He put the new Grace Water in as well.
"I've barely used it..."
He put in the wooden dagger, broken into three pieces.
"Alright, it seems the God of Music foresaw all of this."
But it still wasn't over. Jenkins felt imnse pressure. His collection was substantial, but he couldn't afford to be drained like this. Yet, to save the city and his friends, he had to press on. Nolan was a ho for a stranger from another land, the only sanctuary for a lonely soul.
The last item was, as expected, sothing Jenkins had already guessed.
With a trembling hand, he placed the Life Pearl into the machine's left drawer. The purple thread finally vanished.
Jenkins gasped for breath, the last few minutes having been incredibly intense. If he had been required to add any more of his Bestowals, he really wouldn't have been able to take it.
"That sword ca from an ancient epoch and has absorbed countless numbered items. To defeat it, of course I need a powerful weapon. But..."
Even after putting in so many materials and items, Jenkins still doubted that whatever the machine exchanged could possibly defeat the Skull Sword. That sword was one of the most powerful weapons in the material world. Jenkins had once believed it to be practically invincible, short of divine power.
But this was his only option now. He had to trust the guidance of fate. Gritting his teeth, he stood up and kicked the drawer shut. The loud slam startled the cat, who had been watching the spectacle.
He reached out and yanked down the lever on the side of the machine. A deep rumbling sound began to echo as it activated.
It was a sight Jenkins had never witnessed before. A brilliant azure light spilled from the tal seams of the machine before him, and the tubes connecting its various parts began to throb. An oppressive energy burst forth, and a sudden, sourceless wind blew so strongly that Jenkins could barely keep his eyes open.
In a daze, he thought he heard a sigh, but when he looked around, he couldn't see anyone.
As a writer who had brushed with destiny, he sensed that sothing of great importance was happening in the unseen world, though he couldn't comprehend the source of this feeling.
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