The Nexus Gate's energy finally bled off as the last shimmer of light died across its spiralling glyphs.
Luthar stepped down from the central platform, boots striking the polished metal floor with soft, precise clicks. The air of the sub-level lab carried the familiar scents of ionised metal and hot circuitry—the signature fragrance of his domain.
He drew a small timepiece from one of his mechadendrites—a modified chrono-interface, its surface etched with tiny sacred sigils.
21:04.
A faint hum passed through his chest as he confirmed the calculation.
"Twenty-four hours is enough for a buffer," he murmured, his voice almost drowned by the background thrum of generators.
Since time between worlds did not truly exist, every return carried a theoretical risk: he might arrive at the exact moment he had left. Two identical bodies, occupying the same time and space, would be inevitable.
Even if that unlikely catastrophe did not occur, the scenario was no less hazardous. Imagine preparing to depart for another world, only to have a future self arrive in the same instant. Temporal paradoxes were inefficient problems—the kind even he had no desire to calculate.
Some experiments, he decided long ago, were best left untested.
Satisfied with everything, he replaced the device and ascended the spiral stairway toward the upper floor of the church.
The hall greeted him with cold silence, golden circuitry etched into the walls like sacred veins. Lumen strips pulsed in a slow rhythm, casting the church in a holy machine-light.
Luthar moved through the halls methodically, checking the rooms one by one.
Hephaestus's small chamber—empty.
No soft flicker of divine flame.
Freya's quarters—also empty. Only the faint, lingering trace of her perfume confirmed she had been here at all.
His augmetic eye pinged quietly, confirming what his other senses already told him: no divine presence detected.
Luthar paused in the middle of the upper hall, his gaze sweeping across the silent rooms.
"An empty church," he muttered, his voice even, almost clinical. "Inefficient… and dangerous. A single thief could walk in and take what they please."
He turned his head slightly, scanning the reinforced doors and defensive traps he had installed. None of them had been triggered.
After finishing his checks, Luthar stepped out into the night air, the city's uneven streets glistening faintly under scattered lanterns. The transformation of the Crimson Church had already drawn attention; passersby whispered and quickened their steps, some crossing the street entirely to avoid walking too close.
Murmurs rippled through the quiet district:
"Is that… the rad priest?"
"He looks… weird. Why does he have those moving tentacles?"
"Who knows—but I heard he has very powerful magic weapons."
Luthar ignored them all. His mechadendrites swayed in subtle rhythm as he walked, the faint clinking of metal tips on cobblestone marking his presence. A child peeked around a corner, wide-eyed, before his mother yanked him back into the safety of their home.
Then he neither slowed nor sped up. The world outside his calculations was simply… background noise.
By the time he reached Hephaestus's workshop, his thoughts had already shifted toward the future. The wide door was half-closed, light from the forge spilling out in a warm, molten glow. Sparks leapt into the air, and the rhythmic clang of hammer on metal carried a steady pulse into the night.
He entered without knocking.
Hephaestus looked up from her anvil, her red hair tied back in a practical knot, eyes gleaming gold in the light of the forge. For a moment, her expression froze—not in fear, but in a sharp, measuring surprise.
She took in the sight of him: the layered crimson robes catching the forge light, his mechanical limbs swaying behind him like a halo of iron serpents. Three new mechadendrites had joined the older ones, their tips gleaming with specialised tools—a plasma cutter, a fine manipulator claw, and a newly forged rotary drill still bearing fresh polish.
"…I thought you weren't coming back," she said finally, her voice carrying a mixture of curiosity and mild wariness.
Luthar inclined his head slightly. "That's not possible. This place is still good—there is no pollution. It's a perfect place to relax."
One of his mechadendrites picked up a cooling ingot from her workbench without conscious effort. He rotated it slowly in the light, scanning it before setting it down with precise care.
Hephaestus folded her arms, tilting her head. "You didn't have that many last time. Most adventurers would call that… intimidating."
"Intimidation is a side effect," Luthar said evenly, his tone entirely neutral. "Utility is the purpose."
A faint metallic clatter echoed in the background as one of his older mechadendrites coiled and uncoiled idly, tasting the air like a mechanical serpent.
From the far corner, one of Hephaestus's assistants—an apprentice with soot-smudged cheeks—peeked at the doorway, then quickly ducked out of sight.
Hephaestus caught the motion and sighed. "I guess I should also get some. It would make my job easier."
Luthar turned his augmented eye toward the half-finished weapon on her anvil. "That would be difficult. It's hard to add implants to a divine body made of pure energy… but I believe we can figure out something else."
Luthar's gaze shifted from the unfinished weapon to Hephaestus herself. One mechadendrite lazily coiled around a support beam, its tip glinting in the forge-light.
"Anything of note while I was away?" he asked finally. "The city… the Familia… any disturbances in the last day?"
Hephaestus shook her head. "Quiet. Too quiet, maybe. No guild inspectors, no adventurers nosing around. Either people are avoiding this place… or they're watching from a distance."
"Observation without action is tolerable," Luthar said evenly. "Interference is not. But the empty church is inefficient. If I am gone for a day, a thief could walk in and steal something trivial—or stumble into something they should not see."
Her brow furrowed. "I was thinking the same. One day might not be long, but it's still an opportunity. If word gets out that the church is empty, someone will test their luck."
Luthar's mechadendrites clicked softly as he considered. "Solution?"
"I'll borrow a few of Loki's children," Hephaestus said after a pause. "Her Familia has eyes all over the city. They can keep watch for a day. And if Freya lends some of hers as well, no one will dare approach."
Luthar nodded once. "Acceptable. If a threat emerges, i well get alert through the device which I am leaving back in the church. this this way we could return before anything critical occurs."
The forge fire crackled between them. Hephaestus crossed her arms, studying his new mechadendrites again.
"Then tomorrow, we leave?"
"Yes," Luthar said, his voice like tempered steel. "One day is enough for all three of us to make our arrangements. After that… we move forward."
Authors note: basically having lots of difficulty writing new chapter 1st of the spend time in going to government office to correct my documents so I got tired and didn't got the time then I am trying to think about the story from 180 to 200 which is getting little difficult as all the ideas looks good but can't able to decide so this week I had only written 181 to 182 since every chapter is taking too much Plus the decrease of the money which in previous month was 140 and this month is around 107 it's too much depression so if you want to support go to my patreon to encourage me or just talk about new ideas
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