Radiation Holy Mother

Birthmark SacramentOn a full-moon night, the Ice Rose birthmark on Alice's abdomen began to exude silver blood. Seline's mechanical tweezers plucked a droplet, and under microscopic examination, the microstructure of the Church's cross was revealed—divine genetic strands once suppressed by frost were now re-coding her cells along the blood vessels.

"The radiation level is 700 times normal," Seline reported as her mechanical arm projected a holographic anatomical diagram. The interior of Alice's uterus was lined with metallic crystals. "The fetus… or rather, the divine embryo, is absorbing everything you ingest—even the Ice Rose."

Kane's bronze prosthesis suddenly convulsed, uncontrollably crushing the lab bench. Amid bloodstained vessels, Lia's ceramic effigy floated, and silver sand coalesced into a warning:"Go to Ash's burial ground… only his fire can incinerate the seed of divinity."

Scorched Tomb MarkerDeep within the Northern Rift, Ash's copper reliquary lay buried—a place transformed by the roots of the Flesh Giant Tree into a living cemetery. The tombstones, fashioned from upright chainsaw spines, bore inscriptions scrawled in radioactive pus. Switching his ocular implant to thermal imaging, Kane observed a river of fluorescent green magma flowing beneath the ground.

"He really picked a lively spot for himself," Alice remarked as her scepter froze incoming radiation bats—their eyes set with miniature crosses. "Even the tombstones are Church weapons."

Just then, Seline's hacking program breached the encryption on the copper reliquary. The entire rift trembled. Ash's bone ash erupted from the reliquary, coalescing midair into a phantom of his former self, his chest impaled with the Church's Inquisitorial Sword. "Two choices for your surprise—incinerate the divine embryo, or let Alice become the Radiation Holy Mother."

Alice's ice blade pressed against the phantom's throat. "You knew all this from the start?" she demanded.

The phantom replied, "I left a backdoor." Its fingertip pierced her birthmark, drawing out a wisp of golden hair—the very Alice genetic sample concealed within Kane's bronze prosthesis. "With this, the divine embryo can be contained temporarily."

The Branding FurnaceUsing Ash's bone ash, the trio inscribed an alchemical formation at the bottom of the rift. As Kane's bronze prosthesis was inserted into the formation's focal point, a surge of fluorescent green magma rushed upward from below, enshrouding Alice in a cocoon. The radiation levels skyrocketed, setting off explosions in Seline's mechanical components; she tore away her burning skin to reveal a Church brand composed of interlocking gears beneath.

"I am the original test subject," she declared, pressing her aflame mechanical arm against the edge of the formation. "Ash stole my genetic data to create you."

Alice's scream echoed from within the cocoon as the Ice Rose and magma entwined into a spiral. Kane's prosthesis melted under the intense heat, revealing Ash's finger bones—they clutched Elena's silver blood crystals and slowly pressed them against Alice's birthmark.

Godslayer's DeliveryThe moment the cocoon shattered, the entire radiation cloud of the Northern Rift was sucked into the fissure. Alice floated at the center of a magma vortex; within a luminous bulge in her abdomen, a human figure was curled up—the creature bore Ash's eyes and Elena's silver hair, its spine extending tendrils that merged ice crystals with chainsaw blades.

"Mother…" the divine embryo whispered as its fingertip brushed Alice's face, sending a cascade of frost up her cheekbones. "Why do you reject this blessing?"

Kane's finger bone pierced the luminous bulge. The embryo's tendrils crushed his right arm, but when they reached Lia's ceramic effigy, they suddenly trembled. Silver sand enveloped the embryo as Ash's phantom emerged from the effigy, seizing the light with a burning hand. "The Church's little trick is coming to an end."

Alice's scepter then pierced her own abdomen; from the wound, the Ice Rose burst forth uncontrollably, sealing the divine embryo within an ultra-cold core. In that instant, the magma froze, and from the depths of the rift, an ice-crystal cross arose, with the embryo slumbering at its center like a larva trapped in amber.

Afterglow of the Remnant FlameSeline used her final mechanical arm to collect an ice-crystal sample; the Church brand on a severed limb flickered, "Radiation readings have returned to zero… for now."

The birthmark on Alice's abdomen had become a void, within which the Ice Rose had taken root. Around Kane's severed arm, Lia's silver sand coiled, slowly reforming the outline of a human limb. Before Ash's phantom dissipated, it tossed a fragment of his bronze prosthesis; a new inscription appeared on its inner surface:"Act II, Scene I – Go to the library I burned down to find the answers."

On the return journey, the modified battle tank rolled over the carcasses of radiation bats, and Lia's ceramic effigy suddenly emitted the cry of an infant. In the rearview mirror, the ice-crystal cross oozed black blood, while the divine embryo's eyelashes trembled deep within its core.