Chapter 1

Accompanied by a whistling sound that tore through the air, the heavy alloy greatsword crashed towards the earth like a star falling from the sky. The heavy sword was without a sharp edge, yet it easily tore a giant demon, resembling a heavy tank, in half as if cutting through butter. Then, with a thunderous roar, Vanna punched the ground. In the terrifying shockwave, several weak demons gathered around her were directly crushed into dust.
A strange, sharp screech came from behind. A missile containing foul energy came from a tricky angle. Vanna quickly stood up, but before she could block the missile, a swift black shadow rushed from the side, a silver, shimmering two-handed greatsword blocking the sinister sneak attack. Several Space Marine soldiers wielding enchanted steel swords then swarmed forward, cutting the demon that launched the attack into mincemeat.
Vanna looked up at the black shadow and nodded slightly, "Fast reaction speed."
Amber looked happy. She nodded happily, then couldn't help but glance at Vanna with an expression of amazement and envy, "You're really... stronger than I imagined."
"I'm doing alright. I'm in a pretty good condition today," Vanna casually twirled the alloy greatsword in her hand, then thrust it backhand into the mist beside her, piercing a Gloomhound that had just formed from the thick fog. Then, she lightly tapped the hilt with her other hand – the demon was instantly crushed into fine dust. "And these demons aren't very strong… weaker than the enemies I've been dealing with recently."
The expression on Amber's face seemed to stiffen for a moment, but she quickly recovered and returned to her position – continuing to direct the soldiers in clearing the wandering demons appearing near the cave entrance, while organizing combat personnel to rest in shifts and reinforce defenses.
Vanna also raised her greatsword again, but just then, she seemed to sense something. Her gaze narrowed slightly as she looked into the depths of the fog.
For a moment, she thought she saw a figure – a figure wearing a tattered robe, walking through the rocky beach in the canyon with a stooped posture.
The figure didn't seem to notice the fierce battle around him, didn't notice the demons and Church soldiers nearby. He was like a phantom emerging from another dimension, hurrying through the mist.
This lasted only a moment – when Vanna blinked again, he had disappeared.
Then, a terrifying demon formed from countless stacked and intertwined bones, appearing as a hideous "bone ball" three meters in diameter, emerged from the thick fog not far away. The hollow roar from inside the bone ball forced Vanna to temporarily suppress her doubts, raising her sword to meet the enemy...
In a series of dense volleys of gunfire, the bizarre demons crawling out of the black gate were torn to pieces by the bullets fired by the Toy Soldiers before they could stabilize their form. Then, accompanied by commands and whistles, the Toy Soldiers, covered in colorful paint, quickly reorganized their ranks and began to dig fortifications on the ground, pushing wooden carved gun carriages onto the front lines.
Morris looked at this scene curiously, then reached down and grabbed a Toy Soldier from the ground, examining it carefully. The metal plate on his forehead receded, and amidst the countless rapidly rotating gears and vibrating reeds in his cranial cavity, a set of precision lenses was pushed out by a mechanical arm, focusing on the Toy Soldier.

The Toy Soldier struggled a few times, then began to smash Morris's fingers with the butt of his rifle, producing a series of "clang clang clang" sounds as wood and metal collided.
Morris released the Toy Soldier, wiggling his fingers as he turned to look at the "Sea Witch" next to him, who was constantly controlling various Toy Soldiers, origami tanks, and origami soldiers to deploy the battle line with her baton: "...Quite irritable."
"...Could you please stop grabbing my soldiers to study them?" Lucretia looked at Morris helplessly. "Why don't you go study the remains of those demons? They're everywhere here..."
"What's so interesting about studying demon remains? We get them on the ship every now and then," Morris casually took out his pipe, but when he put it to his mouth, he remembered that he was currently in "Forged State," so he had to reluctantly put the pipe back in his pocket. "I'd like to ask you about doll technology when I get the chance. The driving methods you use seem to be related to the Academy's technology, but the routes are different..."
"Of course, after things are settled here – I'm also very interested in the Forged Body you're using," Lucretia said casually. "I've dealt with the Academy of Truth a lot, and I know you have this 'divine art' that allows you to briefly transform part of your body into machinery, but to 'Forge' your whole body... this is the first time I've seen it."
Morris smiled, a buzzing sound of reeds vibrating in his throat, but just then, a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye interrupted what he was about to say.
In the depths of the dim cave, in an open space on the side of that black gate, a figure seemed to suddenly appear.
The figure was wearing a tattered white robe, as if he had been standing there for a long, long time. Neither the surrounding demons nor the "soldiers" summoned by Lucretia seemed to notice this uninvited guest – ta just stood there quietly on the battlefield, looking out of place with the surroundings, like a phantom cast from another dimension.
He seemed to be observing that black gate, maintaining a motionless posture of gazing at the door.
However, it was only for a moment. When Morris blinked again, that strange figure disappeared.
Lucretia suddenly noticed Morris's strange behavior. After directing the soldiers to eliminate another demon that had crawled out of the black gate, she immediately turned her head, "What's wrong?"
"...There was a figure near the black gate," Morris said solemnly, "But it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Didn't you see it?"
"No," Lucretia shook her head, her brow furrowing slightly. "Damn it, I wasn't paying attention to that direction just now..."
"...It's okay," Morris glanced at the "witch" and waved his hand. "I took a picture of it."
Lucretia's expression froze, "Took a...?"
Morris nodded. At the same time, a series of clicks and clacks of gears turning and mechanisms switching began to sound in his body. Then, his entire jaw joint fell off in a very horrifying way – a dark opening was exposed, and slowly spat out a palm-sized photo paper.
Morris pulled out the photo paper, shook it in the air, casually installed his jaw joint back with his other hand, and then handed the photo paper to Lucretia, "It's not very clear. It seems to have been interfered with, but you can still see a white shadow."

Lucretia took the photo paper with a strange expression, saw the blurry figure near the black gate, but couldn't help but look at Morris, "...Why do you even have this function..."
Morris smiled slightly, "I told you, I had many adventurous experiences when I was young..."
Lucretia: "..."
…
Duncan seemed to vaguely feel that when he retracted his hand, something had been quietly changed – whether it was his own destiny or the future of this world, he couldn't tell what it was.
He just had a feeling in the dark that the decision he was making at this moment was very crucial, whether it was good or bad.
He looked up and saw that the dark red core was still floating calmly within close reach. The light in the core flickered, and the towering "mountain range" behind the core had quieted down, its surface array of lights appearing somewhat dim.
His refusal did not "anger" this ancient god. He seemed just a little... confused.
After a while, the core finally emitted a sound, "Why?"
Then, the light inside the core was a little brighter than before. It continued, "Theoretically, allowing the sanctuary to be repaired should be in line with your wishes – you have already saved three city-states, and 'taking over' this world would allow all the city-states to be more thoroughly saved and would not be threatened by loss of control and pollution for a considerable amount of time... I have calculated all the possibilities, and you should be happy to see such a result, so why would you refuse?"
Duncan was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "And then what?"
The light in the dark red core seemed a little confused, "And then?"
Duncan said calmly, "After the 'considerable amount of time' you mentioned?"
The dark red core fell silent, the slowly flickering light seeming to indicate its hesitation.
"I don't know if there are any other solutions – perhaps, your proposal is indeed the best choice at this stage, and perhaps everything will really develop as you said, but at least for now... I can't agree to you."
Duncan said calmly, while taking a small step back.
"Just consider it intuition... I feel that there are big problems with your 'solution', and I think there are other ways – not just resetting this sanctuary and continuing to linger on."
He paused and looked very seriously at the few glimmers of light in the core.
"And like your reaction just now – it's obvious that you can't be sure what will happen after a 'considerable amount of time.' Perhaps my takeover can really restore the entire sanctuary to its best state and make up for all its current defects, but even you can't be sure how long this repaired sanctuary, which fully conforms to the 'blueprint,' can run –
"The sun, once thought to be 'eternal,' has already been extinguished twice. The border mists, called the 'Eternal Veil,' have been collapsing continuously for decades. The gods are gradually dying, and you are also aware of your own state – all things are perishable, and I don't think that just by sitting in the positions of the ancient kings and gods I can change all this... After all, as a 'world' for all living beings to live and multiply, this 'Boundless Sea' is too... cramped, both in terms of resources and space.
"And from a selfish point of view, I don't want to be sitting in your position again in another ten thousand years after taking over all this, and watching this sanctuary fall into ruin again like you – who should I find to 'take over' all this at that time?"
(End of this chapter)