With a roar that tore through the air, the heavy alloy greatsword slashed towards the earth like a star falling from the sky, the heavy sword had no edge, but it easily tore a giant demon like a heavy chariot in half like cutting butter, and then with a loud thunderous sound, Fanna slammed her fist into the earth, and in the terrible shock, several weak demons gathered around her were directly crushed into powder by the shock.

A strange and sharp howl sounded from behind her, and a missile containing filthy energy struck from a tricky angle, Vanna quickly got up, but before she could reach out to block the missile, a swift black shadow had already rushed from the side, and a silver glittering two-handed greatsword blocked the sinister sneak attack, and then several marines with enchanted steel swords swarmed up, cutting the demon that launched a sneak attack not far away.

Fanna looked up at the black shadow and nodded slightly: "The reaction speed is very fast." ”

Amber nodded happily with a happy look on her face, and then couldn't help but glance at Fanna with an expression of amazement and envy: "You really ...... It's stronger than I thought. ”

"It's okay, I'm in better shape today," Vana casually turned the alloy greatsword in her hand, stabbed it into the mist beside her with her backhand, piercing the head of a dark hound that had just formed out of the thick fog, and then flicked her other hand on the hilt of the sword - the demon was instantly crushed into fine dust, "And these demons are not very strong...... Much weaker than the enemies I've dealt with lately. ”

Amber had a stiff expression on her face, but quickly recovered and returned to her position, continuing to direct the warriors to clear the wandering demons that had appeared near the entrance to the cave, while organizing the fighters to take turns resting and reinforcing the defenses.

Vanna also raised the giant sword in her hand again, but at this moment, as if she suddenly felt something, her eyes condensed slightly, looking into the depths of the thick fog.

For a moment, she felt as if she had seen a figure—a figure in a shabby robe, hunched over the rocky beach in the canyon.

The figure didn't seem to notice the fierce battle around him, the demons and church warriors that were close at hand, and he hurried through the mist like an apparition from another dimension of time and space.

It only lasted a split second - by the time Vanna blinked again, he was gone.

Then, a terrifying demon made of countless bones stacked and intertwined, looking like a hideous "bone ball" with a diameter of three meters, emerged from the dense fog not far away, and the hollow roar from inside the bone ball forced Fanna to temporarily suppress the doubts in her heart and raise her sword to face the enemy......

In a series of dense musket fires, the strange demon crawling out of the black gate was torn to pieces by the bullets fired by the toy soldiers before they could stabilize their form, and then accompanied by the sound of passwords and whistles, the toy soldiers covered in colorful paint quickly regrouped and began to dig fortifications in the ground, pushing a gun cart carved out of wood into the ground.

Morris watched curiously, then reached out and grabbed a toy soldier from the ground and put it in front of his eyes to take a closer look, the metal plate on his forehead retreated, and between the countless rapidly spinning gears and trembling reeds in the cranial cavity, a set of delicate lenses were pushed out by the mechanical arm and focused on the toy soldier.

The toy soldier struggled a few times and began to smash Morris's fingers with the butt of the rifle in his hand, and there was a series of "clanging" sounds between the wood and the metal.

Morris let go of the toy soldiers, and while moving his fingers, he turned his head to look at the "sea witch" next to him, who was constantly controlling various toy soldiers, origami chariots, and origami soldiers with his baton: "...... It's quite grumpy. ”

“…… Can you stop holding my soldiers all the time to study? Lucrecia glanced at Morris helplessly, "Why don't you go and study the remains of those demons?" It's full of ......."

"What is there to study about the demon wreckage, there are only three or five times on the ship," Morris casually took out his pipe, but put it in his mouth and remembered that he was currently in a "casting state", so he had to put the pipe back in his pocket again, "I have a chance to ask you about the puppet technology, the driving method you use seems to have some connection with the academy technology, but the route is different......"

"When this is over, of course - I'm also interested in the casting body you use," Lucrecia said casually, "I've had a lot of dealings with the Truth Academy, and I know that you have this kind of 'magic' that temporarily transforms part of your body into a machine, but 'casts' your whole body...... It's the first time I've seen it. ”

Morris smiled, a reed-trembling buzz in his throat, but at that moment, a sudden glimpse out of the corner of his eye interrupted what he was about to say.

In the depths of the dimly lit cavern, in a clearing on the side of the black door, a figure seemed to appear suddenly.

The figure was dressed in shabby white robes, as if it had been standing there for a long, long time, and neither the surrounding demons nor the "soldiers" summoned by Lucrecia seemed to be aware of this uninvited guest—they stood silently on the battlefield, out of step with their surroundings, as if they had been cast from another dimension of time and space.

He seemed to be observing the black door, and remained motionless as he stared at the door.

However, in an instant, when Maurice blinked again, the strange figure disappeared.

Lucrecia suddenly noticed Maurice's abnormality, and after directing the soldiers to eliminate another demon that came out of the black door, she immediately turned her head: "What's wrong?" ”

“…… A figure appeared near the Black Gate," Morris said in a solemn tone, "but it disappeared in the blink of an eye, don't you see?" ”

"No," Lucretia shook her head, her brow furrowed slightly, "Damn, I didn't pay attention in that direction just now......"

“…… It's okay," Morris glanced at the "witch" and waved his hand, "I took a picture." ”

Lucrecia's expression was stunned: "...... shoot?" ”

Morris nodded, and at the same time a series of clicks of gears and mechanisms were already beginning to be heard in his body, and then his entire jaw joint fell straight down in a very terrifying way—a dark opening was exposed, and he slowly spat out a palm-sized piece of paper.

Morris pulled out the paper, shook it in the air, and with his other hand he put the chin joint back on, and then handed the paper to Lucrecia: "I don't know, it seems to be disturbed, but I can still see a white shadow." ”

Lucretia took the photo paper with a strange expression and saw the blurred figure near the Black Gate, but her eyes couldn't help but fall on Morris: "...... Why is it even ...... this feature?"

Morris smiled slightly: "I said that I had many adventures when I was young......"

Lucrecia: "......"

……

Duncan seemed to vaguely feel that when he withdrew his hand, something was 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 that the decision he had made at the moment was critical, for better or for worse.

He looked up and saw that the dark red core was still floating peacefully within easy reach, the light in the core flickering on and off, while the majestic "mountains" behind the core were quiet, and the array of lights on its surface seemed a little dim.

His own refusal did not "anger" the old god, who seemed to be only a little ...... Confused.

After a while, a voice came from the core: "Why? ”

Then, the light inside the core was a little brighter than before, and it continued: "Theoretically, it should be your wish to restore the shelter - you have saved three city-states, and 'taking over' this world will allow all city-states to be saved more completely, and will not be threatened by loss of control and pollution for a long time...... I've calculated all the possibilities, and you should be happy to see such an outcome, but why would you refuse? ”

Duncan was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "And then?" ”

The glow in the dark red core seemed a little confused: "And then?" ”

Duncan's tone was calm: "What about after what you said 'quite a long time'?" ”

The crimson core fell silent, the slowly flickering light that seemed to show its hesitation.

"I don't know if there's another way – maybe your proposal is really the best option at this stage, maybe everything will really go the way you say, but at least for now...... I can't promise you. ”

Duncan said calmly as he took a small step back.

"Think of it as intuition...... I have a feeling that there is a big problem with your 'plan', and I think there is another way - not just to reset this shelter and continue to survive. ”

He paused, looking at the glimmers of light in his core.

"And like you just reacted – obviously, you're not sure what will happen after 'quite a long time'. Maybe my takeover can really restore the entire shelter to its best condition and make up for all of its current flaws, but even you're not sure how long a restored shelter like this will be able to function if it fits the 'blueprint' like this-

"The sun that was once thought to be 'eternal' has been extinguished twice, the fog of the frontier known as the 'Curtain of Eternity' has been collapsing since decades ago, the gods are dying, and you know your state - everything is perishable, and I don't think I can change all of this by sitting in the position of the ancient kings and gods...... After all, as a 'world' for sentient beings to thrive, this 'boundless sea' is too ...... in terms of resources and space cramped.

"And selfishly, I don't want to sit in your place again after taking it all over, another 10,000 years from now, and watch this sanctuary fall to the brink of extinction like you do again — and at that point, who am I going to 'take over' of it all?"

(End of chapter)