Artificial Apotheosis

## Profile

### Other Names

Holy Shroud, Shroud of Turin, Shroud of the Messiah, True Acheiropoieton, Sindonological Miracle, Advent of the False Imitation of the Son of God, False Messiah's Ascension

## Details

### Type

Holy Relic
Sacred Gear (Longinus)

### Abilities

Allows the user to recreate all the miracles performed by the Son of God.

## Known Possessors

### Formerly

Hamza ibn Ali, Simon bar Kokhba, Jesus Christ

**Artificial Apotheosis**, also called **False Messiah's Ascension**, is one of the Neo-Longinus. It possesses the power to replicate all the miracles performed by Jesus Christ mentioned in the Bible and other Christian texts.

## Overview

The **Shroud of Turin**, also known as the **Holy Shroud**, is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesus of Nazareth and believe the fabric is the burial shroud in which he was wrapped after crucifixion.

First mentioned in 1354, the shroud was denounced in 1389 by the local bishop of Troyes as a fake. Currently the Catholic Church neither formally endorses nor rejects the shroud, and in 2013, it is referred to by Pope Francis as an "icon of a man scourged and crucified".

The shroud has been kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Turin, in northern Italy, since 1578.

## Summary

Artificial Apotheosis is one of the Longinus - Exceptionally powerful Sacred Gears with powers capable of killing gods and immortals, as well as having the potential to destroy the entire world. It's categorized as a Neo-Longinus, ordinary Sacred Gears that evolved to Longinus-level of power after the death of the Biblical God in the Great War.

It is considered to be one of the **Holy Relics**, alongside the Holy Chalice, the Holy Lance, the True Cross, the Holy Nails, and the Crown of Thorns. It is known as the **Shroud of Turin**, the burial shroud in which Joseph of Arimathea had wrapped Jesus Christ after the crucifixion, and a negative image of him was imprinted upon the linen cloth afterward.

According to Raphael, the original Shroud of Turin had disappeared in the 14th-century in mundanes' views - though in reality, it was absorbed by the Sacred Gear system to be transformed into a new Sacred Gear - and the current shroud was a replica created by the Vatican to hide its disappearance. In addition, due to the "upgrades" Michael had implemented into the Sacred Gear system, the newly-transformed Longinus became adrift in time, resulting in past figures becoming wielders of the holy shroud.

Because of its miraculous powers, the Longinus transformed its wielders into messianic figures who inspired their fellow men. Two known wielders of the Artificial Apotheosis are Simon bar Kokhba, a Jewish military leader who led the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire, and Hamza ibn Ali, an 11th-century Ismaili missionary and founding leader of the Druze. According to Gabriel, while they aren't *true* messiahs, due to the messianic actions they had performed while using the Longinus, Heaven still considered them pseudo-messiahs all the same.

## Appearance

Artificial Apotheosis manifests a white-and-gold cloth whose form changes in accordance to the wielders' preference. In its original form, it is a rectangular piece of linen cloth, with the faint, brownish image of Jesus' naked body - his hands folded across his groin - imprinted upon it.

## Abilities

Artificial Apotheosis grants its wielders the power to "replicate the miracles performed by the Son of God". This is done by gradually modifying its wielder's body to mimic that of the body of Jesus, or rather - according to Azazel - based on the body of Adam, whose body was "made in God's image". However, as most of these modifications are unnoticeable things, such as similar skeletal frames or organ placements identical to the Son of God, for the most part, the wielder's physical appearance isn't changed.

The most noticeable changes the Longinus made on the wielder's body are the five "birthmarks", the *stigmata*, in the shape of blood-red stars and on the same locations where the five crucifixion wounds located on Jesus' body: His hands, his feet, and on the side of his chest. In addition, they also gain a divine charisma "befitting that of the Apostle, the High Priest, the Morning Star, Light of the World."

Its most well-known power, however, is its power to recreate all the miracles performed by Jesus, as mentioned in the New Testament, the Four Gospels, and in other tales regarding Jesus in Christian scriptures. However, this doesn't mean the miracles performed by Jesus are all that the wielder can create, in contrast to popular beliefs, but they are simply easy to perform.

Like other holy relics, it can be used to influence and manipulate the mind of followers of the Abrahamic religions, especially devout Christians, and if any controlled victim tries to resist or actively rebel against the wielder's command, their mind will be immediately destroyed beyond saving and they will fall into a persistent vegetative state.

## Weaknesses

Despite its immense powers, Artificial Apotheosis still possesses several weaknesses. As a relic associated with the death of Christ, its wielders in general are weak against attacks that resemble how Jesus was killed, though these weaknesses are normally inconsequential as most don't have the power to exploit them, not to mention most wielders would take much needed measures to prevent them from being affected.

In addition, despite the Longinus transforming the wielder's body to mimic that of the Son of God's, due to their imperfect human body, no wielder has ever been able to perfectly replicate him. As such, overusing their powers without proper protection can lead to the limits of their physical body being surpassed, thus absolutely destroying them beyond saving.

## Forms

### Lylith Gomorrah

**Lylith Gomorrah**, also called **Grand Temple of the Sinning False Prophet**, is Artificial Apotheosis' original Balance Breaker. Due to its power, which is to materialize the events of the Book of Revelation, and thus, forcefully bring forth the Apocalypse before its intended time, Michael had sealed it away into "a scroll with seven seals".

## Trivia

* Like other Longinus, it's categorized into multiple classifications:
	+ It's categorized as a State Change-Type, Recovery-Type, Creation-Type, Defensive/Counter-Based, and Attribute/Elemental-Type.
* Ironically, as Raphael pointed out, none of its wielders have ever been Christians.
* "Lylith Gomorrah" referred to two figures in Abrahamic mythology:
	+ "Lilyth" refers to Lilith, a nocturnal monster from Jewish myths who was Adam's first wife but rejected him and was transformed into a demon.
	+ "Gomorrah" refers to Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities in the Bible that were destroyed by God for their wickedness. Since then, their names become associated with "leachery, depravity, and male homosexuality" or simpy "crimes against nature".