Chapter 275: The Moon is Waning

The world's third-largest corporation with subsidiaries on every continent suddenly faced the threat of bankruptcy. Rumors circulated that the eleventh apostle had appeared, demanding the repayment of an old debt.

The Imperial Palace, in an unprecedented move, announced relief measures but had to pull back after political attacks from the secularist coalition and the workers' union.

As subsidiaries were sold and merged, the overflowing capital, including the funds for other moon-facing projects, began to be aggressively invested.

Naturally, players who were implementing their own moon-facing plans at their respective locations sought out Redmars, bewildered about what was happening.

Redmars said, "It's all for the Pantheon."

Redmars, supported by Bion and Hwee-Kyung, believed they were in a politically safe position. Regardless of their judgment, other players simply grumbled in front of them and moved on, not wanting to waste time on trivial matters since they had their moon-facing plans to focus on.

Bion was worried about how these actions would be perceived after Night Sky's return. However, when Night Sky briefly appeared in the meeting room and looked at the map, his comment was simple.

"More interesting than I thought."

That comment dissolved the players' complaints. It also implied that if the chaos caused by Redmars' actions affected the moon-facing plans, they were to solve it themselves, and that was exactly what Redmars wanted.

'...Is this perhaps why I came here?'

Redmars observed the world of numbers and charts transform into a muddy mess.

'It doesn't matter. The flow begins again. The veins of the Empire pulse once more.'

***

Behind Yonda was the second moon, Loom. Loom appeared to be a sphere, but more precisely, it was a structure of several giant tubes crossing at its center, supported by partition walls stacked layer upon layer. Therefore, although Loom appeared immense from the outside, its interior comprised wide layers maintained by artificial gravity. These layers were supported solely by major conduits, making Loom's interior resemble vast plains, the floor of which was made of a black synthetic plastic, tougher and more durable than steel. Despite the vastness that stretched beyond sight, it gave the impression of being inside a large cave due to the relatively short distance between layers.

Loom consisted of these vast spaces because it wasn't initially intended solely as a war machine.

-Bit it is one now.

An entity, which resembled a skeleton covered only in skin, said. With eight pairs of arms covering their face and body, they floated in the air, their palm hidden under the skin, murmuring.

-The second moon, you too have never had things go your way, just like us.

This entity, initially as still as a statue, moved like a ghost toward a massive pipe supporting the layer, entering Loom's core. Within Loom, one could travel to the core through these pipes and access deeper layers.

Entering the pipe, the entity descended rapidly toward the core of Loom.

-The time has come.

Loom itself had no functions or existence of its own. It was a cradle. It contained wide layers capable of holding various things, but at its deepest part was a factory module. The factory could produce items based on its blueprints and, given enough materials, could even replicate itself or Loom.

This factory was where Loom’s potential lay.

The second moon was the achievement of ancient magical technology created by the old gods.

-That's why they turned it into the ultimate fortress.

The entity entered the deepest part of Loom and activated the factory that was among complex mechanical devices. Possessing the ability to read invisible causal laws like a clock, the entity knew it was time to initiate Loom.

Given its giant size, every detail had to be pre-programmed to move Loom to a desired time and place.

-Although my long-time allies have failed...

The entity controlled the entire factory effortlessly, without even a flick of the hand. Fortunately, there wasn't much to physically manipulate.

Loom, in its final state, was a fortress that had fallen into slumber. This entity’s task was simple—to awaken the sleeping Loom, inform it of its duties, and urge it to move swiftly.

-I will not fail.

Now, the entity restored the legacies piled up in each of Loom's layers. Ancient weapons and mechanical troops folded neatly, along with the movable corpses, were awakened. These corpses were the entity’s children despite the lack of resemblance. They had limbs, bald heads comically large, and eyes so deep that the whites were invisible, yet they were all wise and intelligent. The entity dearly loved and took pride in these children.

-...If they weren’t, I wouldn’t have been in so much pain.

But now, none of its children survived. Their entire species was captured by the old gods, and their brains were excised. The souls offered in special rituals were utterly destroyed. Only empty shells remained.

-...My tears would not have dried up either.

Unseen by the entity, modules began moving. These modules were ancient weapons as old as ancient ruins. Now, they were dispatched to the surface of Loom, destined to scorch the face of Avartin.

Even the entity’s children, reduced to mere shells, were weaponized. Merely operators controlled from afar, they were nonetheless sufficient as a force to face those new gods.

-Are they coming?

The entity raised their head toward the sky. Their eyes were fully connected to Loom's external sensing modules, effectively making Loom's eyes their own. Loom detected a rocket approaching from beyond the moon.

-Surprising, yet still an immature technology.

The entity had encountered such rockets numerous times before and easily destroyed it with Loom's will. There was no need to reveal Loom's activation yet.

Then a beam of light was fired at the rocket.

-...?

But the light missed the rocket. The entity quickly realized the anomaly. It was a magical distortion of light. The rocket was enchanted.

-Oh no.

Before the entity could strike again, the rocket emitted a stunning light. It seemed like an accidental explosion, but the entity knew better. Visible light was one of the most efficient means of detection. Spreading light meant capturing reflected light. They had taken a photograph.

The entity glanced at the text appearing on their status screen.

***

[Clash of Civilizations!]

[Two different civilizations have come into contact. Experience points (XP) are rising for both civilizations.]

[Warning: The opposing civilization has Faith.]

***

Sung-Woon raised his head to check the system window.

‘It almost feels like a joke, seeing a proper system message like this.’

Loom, existing outside the system's scope, made Sung-Woon consider the possibility that no system messages would appear. However, it seemed that wasn't the case. This was an important part of Sung-Woon's moon-facing plan to remember.

In the sky of Avartin, Sung-Woon looked toward Yonda. Loom was still hidden behind Yonda, but Sung-Woon’s gaze was fixed there.

He operated the system window.

[Player List]

...

?寃?]

Immediately after, a video chat window appeared on the side.

The image of a familiar star-shaped head, Wisdom, appeared. "How shall we address them?"

"Dide...maybe?"

"Let's settle for that then."

"After all, those beings must have proper names. For now, let's not put too much thought into the temporary names."

Sung-Woon thought for a moment.

‘Bwelb, Jeol Woo-Bi, Sha-Cha, Jeolyo, and now Dide. After adding the three vassal players to the rest of the Pantheon makes exactly 32.’

Wisdom agreed. "How's the moon-facing plan going?"

"It's finished."

"That was quick."

Sung-Woon slightly shook his head. "Not really. Loom is on the move. There was something rising at a previously undetected location."

"Preparation, perhaps? Seems it can operate independently of causality."

"I'm not sure, but Dide seems to move like clockwork, precisely timed."

"Why do you think so?"

"If not, they would have given Loom's control to another evil god. It must have gone to the most competent one."

"That sounds plausible."

Loom was a weapon. Sung-Woon believed that the evil gods' gameplay abilities weren't particularly outstanding, but they were strategic in their actions. Therefore, logically, they would have handed the weapon to someone who could handle it well.

Sung-Woon had no intention of underestimating Loom and its operator, Dide.

Wisdom stared intently at Sung-Woon's masked face. "You seem worried."

"Yes."

"Even though the plan is finished?"

Sung-Woon shrugged. "The important part is what happens after moon-facing."

Wisdom fell silent for a moment. "Nebula, I prefer things to be done sequentially."

"I plan to."

"I’m saying I hope our highest thinking resources aren't wasted where they're not immediately needed."

Sung-Woon nodded. "Alright. Have you checked the readiness of the other players?"

"Some are wasting time, while others are already making significant contributions."

During Sung-Woon’s busy time in the sanctuary, Wisdom had been conducting his own moon-facing tasks while also checking on the plans of other players. Some players were aware of this, while others were not. Impractical plans were cut early, and more plausible ones received concentrated attention. The plans added to each other, creating a larger plan, while the unselected ones were cut, making everything clearer. Wisdom, despite having somewhat organized this vast picture, still couldn't completely visualize its finished form.

'Is Nebula painting it in his head?'

It was unclear.

Likely, Sung-Woon could have been neglecting other tasks while focusing on his own work, remaining unaware of the unfolding events.

‘Then that's a relief.’

Wisdom thought logically. Even if all other moon-facing plans went wrong, Nebula had determined that his own plan would succeed.

Sung-Woon said, "Now that Loom is moving, we must act too."

"Is that your way of saying that there's no need to delay any longer?"

"Yes."

Nebula looked toward Yonda. Behind it lay Loom, already initiating its movement. If there had been more time, they might have waited longer. However, there seemed to be no leisure for idleness. Almost a year before Jerome's predicted timeline, Loom started moving. Of course, Loom could take a year to fully activate, but nothing was certain.

"It moving now means they’re not fully ready."

Therefore, Sung-Woon's best course of action seemed clear.

"So before Loom attacks us, we'll strike it first."