<h4>Chapter 275: The Moon is Waning</h4>


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


    The Imperial Pce, in an unprecedented move, announced relief measures but had to pull back after political attacks from the secrist 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, yers who were implementing their own moon-facing ns 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 yers simply grumbled in front of them and moved on, not wanting to waste time on trivial matters since they had their moon-facing ns 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, hisment was simple.


    "More interesting than I thought."


    Thatment dissolved the yers''ints. It also implied that if the chaos caused by Redmars'' actions affected the moon-facing ns, they were to solve it themselves, and that was exactly what Redmars wanted.


    <i>''...Is this perhaps why I came here?''</i>


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


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


    ***


    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 stackedyer uponyer. Therefore, although Loom appeared immense from the outside, its interiorprised wideyers maintained by artificial gravity. Theseyers were supported solely by major conduits, making Loom''s interior resemble vast ins, the floor of which was made of a ck synthetic stic, tougher and more durable than steel. Despite the vastness that stretched beyond sight, it gave the impression of being inside arge cave due to the rtively short distance betweenyers.


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


    <i>-Bit it is one now.</i>


    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.


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


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


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


    <i>-The time hase.</i>


    Loom itself had no functions or existence of its own. It was a cradle. It contained wideyers 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 potentialy.


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


    <i>-That''s why they turned it into the ultimate fortress.</i>


    The entity entered the deepest part of Loom and activated the factory that was amongplex mechanical devices. Possessing the ability to read invisible causalws 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 ce.


    <i>-Although my long-time allies have failed...</i>


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


    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>-I will not fail.</i>


    Now, the entity restored the legacies piled up in each of Loom''syers. Ancient weapons and mechanical troops folded neatly, along with the movable corpses, were awakened. These corpses were the entity’s children despite theck of resemnce. They had limbs, bald headsicallyrge, 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.


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


    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.


    <i>-...My tears would not have dried up either.</i>


    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 nheless sufficient as a force to face those new gods.


    <i>-Are theying?</i>


    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.


    <i>-Surprising, yet still an immature technology.</i>


    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.


    <i>-...?</i>


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


    <i>-Oh no.</i>


    Before the entity could strike again, the rocket emitted a stunning light. It seemed like an idental 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 nced at the text appearing on their status screen.


    ***


    [sh of Civilizations!]


    [Two different civilizations havee 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.


    <i>‘It almost feels like a joke, seeing a proper system message like this.’</i>


    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 n 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.


    [yer 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.


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


    Wisdom agreed. "How''s the moon-facing n 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 mostpetent one."


    "That sounds usible."


    Loom was a weapon. Sung-Woon believed that the evil gods'' gamey abilities weren''t particrly 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 n is finished?"


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


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


    "I n 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 yers?"


    "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 ns of other yers. Some yers were aware of this, while others were not. Impractical ns were cut early, and more usible ones received concentrated attention. The ns added to each other, creating arger n, while the unselected ones were cut, making everything clearer. Wisdom, despite having somewhat organized this vast picture, still couldn''tpletely visualize its finished form.


    <i>''Is Neb painting it in his head?''</i>


    It was unclear.


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


    <i>‘Then that''s a relief.’</i>


    Wisdom thought logically. Even if all other moon-facing ns went wrong, Neb had determined that his own n would seed.


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


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


    "Yes."


    Neb looked toward Yonda. Behind ity 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."