Sacred Gear

**Sacred Gears**, also known as **God's Artifacts**, are special artifacts that possess supernatural abilities bestowed upon humans and half-humans by the Biblical God.

## Summary

The Biblical God created the Sacred Gears as part of his system to enact miracles across the mortal world, especially on Earth. Originally, their existence was something only known among the devoted followers of his ancient cult, but as time went on and the Great War among the Three Factions began to grow in size and enveloped the entire Creation, knowledge of the Sacred Gears became known across the supernatural world, among all the mythological factions and pantheons of pagan gods.

They have been wielded by countless mythological and historical figures since the dawn of civilization, who used their Sacred Gears to influence and shape the history of the world to their own wills, with some even being worshipped and recorded as gods and divinities. According to Odin, many gods or legendary monsters in mythology were actually ancient humans who possessed Sacred Gears that allowed them to be on the same level as the gods.

They vary from common ones such as Twice Critical to the rare Twilight Healing, as there can be multiple Sacred Gears of the same type, with the only exception by the Longinus, which are all unique in their own way. And while most people are born with one Sacred Gear, some can own two or even more Sacred Gears at the same time through irregular circumstances rather than through birth. According to Azazel, since Sacred Gears can be considered "crystallization of one's soul and desires", by doing so means causing immense changes within one's own soul.

Humans and half-human hybrids are the only species able to be born with Sacred Gears, as it could possibly be due to humans' natural desires to grow and evolve, and those who are reincarnated into devils or angels still keep their Sacred Gears after their reincarnation. No one is sure why, but many speculated that this is because the existence of reincarnation systems such as the Evil Pieces and the Brave Saints weren't taken into account by the Biblical God when he created the Sacred Gears.

The fallen angels of the Grigori were able to use their technology to devise an Enochian ritual capable of extracting a Sacred Gear from the original owner and use it for themselves, which results in the death of the original owner. This, however, shows an even greater risk for supernatural beings, as all the thirteen fallen angels who merged the Sacred Gears into themselves turned into humans even after their death, as their souls didn't go to the Empty like most expected, but rather to the Third Heaven where they were accepted among the souls of deceased mortals.

## Abilities

Sacred Gears can have a variety of effects, such as Twilight Healing granting near-instantaneous healing and Sword Birth creating numerous demonic swords imbued with different attributes. They can also adapt and evolve based on their user's thoughts, needs, and feelings, gaining abilities or qualities as time passes. This is stated to be the source of Balance Breaker and suggested to be the source of the transformation into a Sub-Species.

### Balance Breaker

**Balance Breaker** (禁手バランス・ブレイカー, *Baransu Bureikā*) is the ultimate state of activation and is deemed the most powerful manifestation of the Sacred Gear. Once reached, the Balance Breaker can be entered again far more easily than the first time. An incomplete Balance Breaker can be reached by self-sacrifice on the part of the user, though this method does not count as a true activation of Balance Breaker, as reaching the full Balance Breaker can only be triggered by the feelings of its possessor.

### Juggernaut Drive

**Juggernaut Drive** (覇龍ジャガーノート・ドライヴ, *Jagānōto Doraivu*) is a special ability exclusive only to the Longinus Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing, and is considered to be a forbidden move. It temporarily removes the seal placed on the Heavenly Dragons, and for users that possess insufficient power the Juggernaut Drive will drain the user's life-force which is needed to fuel the power, and drive them insane in the process as they cannot handle it.

For other Sacred Gears that have creatures/supernatural beings sealed inside them, their Juggernaut Drive goes under a different name called "**Breakdown the Beast**" (覇獣ブレイクダウン・ザ・ビースト, *Bureikudaun za Bīsuto*).

## Types of Sacred Gears

### Longinus

**Longinus** (神滅具ロンギヌス, *Ronginusu*) are unique top-tier Sacred Gears, with each having multiple abilities compared to a normal Sacred Gear, which set them aside from normal Sacred Gears, in addition to their power to slay gods and immortal beings such as angels and fallen angels.

While there are originally thirteen Longinus in total, due to mankind's natural desire to grow and evolve, the Sacred Gear System reflected this and "bugs and glitches" were born, causing several normal Sacred Gears to combine all of their variations together and become the **Neo-Longinus** (新神滅具ネオ・ロンギヌス, *Neo Ronginusu*).

### Sub-Species

**Sub-Species Sacred Gears** are Sacred Gears that have taken on unique characteristics because of the thoughts and feelings of its user. They are more powerful than the normal form of the same Sacred Gear and will sometimes gain a new ability as well. They can be manifested both intentionally and unintentionally, as there are many Sacred Gears who manifest Sub-Species base forms such as Siegfried's Twice Critical, though for some, only Balance Breaker will be a Sub-Species.

### Artificial Sacred Gears

**Artificial Sacred Gears** are Sacred Gears created artificially by the Grigori. Azazel, the Grigori's Governor-General, has conducted countless research studies on Sacred Gears and has eventually managed to create his own Sacred Gear, Down Fall Dragon Spear. These Artificial Sacred Gears, however, are inferior to the real ones and have several limits and side effects, such as inducing fatigue after using it for long periods of time.

## Categories of Sacred Gears

### State Change

**State Change Sacred Gears** is a type of Sacred Gears that change the state of a user or another person/object. It can vary from doubling one's own power to halving the power of others. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Boosted Gear, Divine Dividing, Telos Karma, Alphecca Tyrant, Aegis Mineralization, Twice Critical...

#### Recovery

**Recovery Sacred Gears** is a subcategory of State Change Sacred Gears. It allows the user to heal wounds or restore another person's health. Due to their usefulness and rarity, users of these Sacred Gears are highly sought after by all factions. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Sephiroth Graal, Twilight Healing, Holy Resuscitation...

### Creation

**Creation Sacred Gears** is a type of Sacred Gears that allows the user to create matter/objects out of nothing. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Annihilation Maker, Sword Birth, Blade Blacksmith, Strategy Trap...

### Defensive/Counter-Based

**Defensive/Counter-Based Sacred Gears** is a type of Sacred Gear that focuses mainly on defense and countering the attacks of the opponent. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Mirror Alice, Night Reflection, Sturdy Saint...

### Attribute/Elemental

**Attribute/Elemental Sacred Gears** is a type of Sacred Gear that incorporates different elemental attributes in its ability. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Zenith Tempest, Incinerate Anthem, Absolute Demise, Nereid Kyrie, Unknown Dictator, Variant Detonation, Flame Shake, Sterling Mirages, Freezing Archaeopteryx...

### Time/Space-Based

**Time/Space-Based Sacred Gears** is a type of Sacred Gears that have the ability to manipulate time and/or space. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Forbidden Balor View, Gravity Jail, Dreamlike Curse...

### Barrier/Sealing

**Barrier/Sealing Sacred Gears** is a type of Sacred Gears that have the ability to create barriers or seal an opponent or ability. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Dimension Lost, Innovate Clear, Trick Vanish...

### Independent Avatar

**Independent Avatar Sacred Gears** is a type of Sacred Gears that takes the form of a living-like creature that moves and acts of its own free will and instincts. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Canis Lykaon, Regulus Nemea, Absolute Demise, Incinerate Anthem, Four Fiends, Freezing Archaeopteryx...

Among the Embodiment-type Sacred Gears, these Sacred Gears themselves have its own individual consciousness and instinct, as the user can command the Sacred Gear from a distance. Because of its nature, it often mimics a living thing, and the embodied Beast-type Sacred Gears can also eat like a living creature. Independent Avatar Sacred Gears that manipulate energy can make a huge amount of energy take a humanoid form, using it as a puppet. The embodied Sacred Gear can be made to not be visible to ordinary humans, and it can disappear or assume a smaller form that makes it easier to lead daily life than the true appearance.

The advantage is that the user can issue instructions from a safe place away from the battlefield, but at the same time, the risk that the user is vulnerable is greater than other Sacred Gears, so the user is often physically weak. In the case of the Beast-type, if the Sacred Gear is attacked, damage may accumulate and it will be impossible for it to continue to fight, or for the beast to be sealed with a unique technique.

It is said that it is necessary to go into the depths of the Sacred Gear and the soul of the sealed creature in order to enhance the ability, but there is a danger that there is a chance that the user could be replaced by the consciousness within the Sacred Gear.

### Sealing/Contract

**Sealing/Contract Sacred Gears** is a general term for Sacred Gears that have sealed a powerful creature inside them. Some Sacred Gears of this type are: Boosted Gear, Divine Dividing, Regulus Nemea, Canis Lykaon, Four Fiends...

These Sacred Gears are powerful, but if the creature inside the Sacred Gears isn't awake or if it's inactive, the user will only be able to use the minimal abilities of the Sacred Gear. As the user increases their ability, they will come closer to the sealed creature as they will be able to benefit from the sharpening of their senses and bringing them closer to resembling the creature sealed inside, but on the other hand, they will required to pay something important to the sealed creature as a price for sudden increase in power.

While originally the Biblical God forcibly sealed the various powerful creatures in the Sacred Gears, the new Artificial Sacred Gears are created by Azazel have powerful creatures voluntarily sealing themselves into Sacred Gears under the condition of being paid price for their service, often through beneficial trades and favors between the Grigori and their respective factions.

### Vritra's Sacred Gears

**Vritra's Sacred Gears** is the term used by Azazel to refer to the four Sacred Gears which house the soul and consciousness of the Evil Dragon King Vritra from Vedic mythology. They are considered Trap-type Sacred Gears, and are consisted of Absorption Line, Blaze Black Flare, Delete Field, and Shadow Prison.

## Enhancement

### Chaos Break

**Chaos Break** (魔人化カオス・ブレイク, *Kaosu Bureiku*), or **Artificial Demonization**, is a special doping for Sacred Gears made from the blood of the original demons, created by the Khaos Brigade with the help of the True Satan Faction, the remnants of the Old Satan Faction.

## Trivia

* Although they are half-humans, cambions and warlocks can't possess Sacred Gears.
	+ Despite also being demonic hybrids, half-devils can still be born with Sacred Gears.
* Due to their numerous powers, Longinus Sacred Gears can be categorized into multiple categories.
* Sacred Gears often passively enhance their user both physically and magically, making them inherently stronger than regular humans.
* While it is a popular and common fact that ancient devotees of Yahwism were gifted with Sacred Gears by the Biblical God, their origins might have dated since the Antediluvian era, as many First Men were worshipped by ancient humans as gods because of their powerful Sacred Gears.
* Recovery-type Sacred Gears are said to be the rarest type of standard Sacred Gears due to their power to heal individuals without paying a price, as Healing Magic is considered the most difficult to learn and master, as well as higher tier healing requiring a price for its use.
* Users of Sealed/Contract-type Sacred Gears often gain attributes and characteristics of the being sealed inside their Sacred Gears through time, though those who shared the same heritage as these beings tend to manifest these traits faster.
* When a Sacred Gear user dies, their soul and the Sacred Gear are often reborn together.
	+ First Men, however, don't seem to follow this rule, as their souls and Sacred Gears separated from each other after death, though when they are reborn into sages, they still retain all the abilities their Sacred Gears granted to them.
	+ Reincarnated users don't reincarnate alongside their Sacred Gears, but rather their souls are permanently erased out of existence due to being "irregular anomalies" deemed by Metempsychosis while the Sacred Gear is re-connected to another soul.
* Balance Breaker and the Longinus are believed to be "bugs and glitches" within the incomplete system by the angels and fallen angels.
	+ Gods such as Loki or Sun Wukong, however, believe them to be a deliberate choice by the Biblical God, to prepare humans against incursions of other mythological factions.