"No, no, you can't just die on me like that!" Glenn despaired as he went and kicked the robot. Sadly, it did nothing to bring back the blue energy that animated it.

"Fuck!" He raised his fist angrily at the metaphorical sky before sitting on the floor and sighing.

"Damn it..."

"Well, that was disappointing," Diamanes stated placidly. Glenn almost stabbed his left hand from frustration.

"No shit," Glenn shook his head and groaned, "Man, I thought I was about to find out about some incredible secret or something. Sigh..."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm certainly interested in the contents of this room," Diamanes mentioned curiously. Glenn's eyes lit back up, and he hurriedly stood, his gaze passing over the Laboratory's room.

"I'm pretty sure the other expedition members are in the other room, but they might as well wait, right?" Glenn said aloud, trying to justify himself to no one, "The Laboratory so far hasn't appeared as a very antagonistic being, after all."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Diamanes commented without much care, "Not like you sleep much at all."

"Meditation is the best thing."

"Sure, sure. Now, let's see what we have here!"

Glenn rubbed his hands together and approached one of the bookshelves, only for the thundering robotic voice to ring once again.

[ERROR. CONSCIOUSNESS CORRUPTED. ANALYSING...]

The young man looked up at the ceiling before shrugging and returning to his exploration, "Sure, sure, analyze all you want. I'll be right here waiting for you to maybe work, alright?" He replied to the machine. Only the mechanical sounds of cogs seemed to be listening to him.

"Hmm...Studies of minerals by...no, I won't even try pronouncing that name. Whatever...Crossbreeding and analysis of genetic modifications on sapient beings. Huh. That's a long title."

Glenn checked one book after the other, finding all sorts of strange and specialized studies, written by authors forgotten by time. There was nothing that really picked his interest, though.

...That didn't stop him from shoving all the books in his dimensional pouch, of course.

"I mean it's free," Glenn defended himself as he felt the sting of Diamanes' gaze.

"It is," Diamanes agreed, "I just wonder what you're going to do with these books if you won't be reading them."

Glenn rubbed his chin, "...I'm sure there's a bookshelf or two that needs some books to fill them. And who knows, maybe there's some forbidden knowledge hidden in here that might help me one day?"

"You could always just sell them to the most fortunate and watch the chaos that follows," Diamanes suggested as he grinned widely, "As you did with the information about the Lightbringer! Look at all the fun it created!"

"The mess, you mean?" Glenn corrected him, "Well, it's not out of the question to just sell those. I don't really give that much of a shit about the world's safety..." He trailed off as he suddenly remembered something.

His sister was living in this world he had a hard time caring about. And he had made quite a few friends there too.

"Huh." Glenn couldn't help but blurt out in realization.

"What?"

"I just understood that I need to care about the world's safety."

"Oh, you just have your monthly hero complex, nothing too important. Let's keep on searching," Diamanes dismissed him. Glenn chuckled and happily obliged.

[ANALYSING...SOLUTION FOUND. PURGING EMOTIONAL CENTER. PURGING CORRUPTED DATA. PURGING IN PROGRESS...PLEASE PATIENT.]

"Hey, you heard that Diamanes? It's purging!"

"Lucky them! Hey, what's that blueprint lying there?"

Glenn continued snatching as much stuff as he could from the Laboratory, shoving blueprints, alchemical instruments, strange unidentified mixtures in vials, and anything that looked remotely valuable. He stopped in front of a solid oak desk, opening its drawers and finding them completely empty except for a singular sealed envelope. The wax seal was blank, empty of any stamp.

"Hmm..." Glenn broke off the seal and pulled out the envelope's contents. It was a drawing, a pretty good sketch of a good-looking man. He had long, straight hair that reached to his knees, sharp eyes, and an angular jaw that gave him a serious look. His ears were pointy, like those elves in common media back on Earth.

Glenn turned the sketch around, finding a note scribbled at its back.

"How does that look for a concept, brother? I tried to draw it based on those tales you told me from your homeland. Trust me, you'll have no difficulty finding a "mate" with an appearance like this one! Just...don't accidentally show your true self, alright? I mean, that's your choice and all, but I don't think any mortals can handle that thing of yours, haha!

Anyway, don't forget to come visit me from time to time. Don't bury yourself in your research too much. The God of ******** isn't going anywhere, after all.

Signed: D."

"D?" Glenn repeated as he finished reading the note, "And why's the name of that God erased?"

"I find it more interesting that the receptor of the drawing was trying to change his appearance," Diamanes commented with an interested tone, "What do you think the cause could be?"

Glenn moistened his lips, "Well, D pretty much gave us the reason. The Laboratory's creator—I'll just assume he was the one who received that letter—wanted to procreate, and for that, he needs an attiring human appearance, I suppose? D awfully makes it sound like the Laboratory's creator just has too big of a dick, though."

"That could be a real problem," Diamanes admitted, "If the Laboratory's creator was a giant, like the size of the Cube hints at, that would make sense."

Glenn frowned and gestured at the rest of the room, "What about this place then? It's clearly human-sized, so no, I don't think that works out."

Diamanes smacked his lips, "Whatever. Why should we care anyway?"

Glenn forced an annoyed smile, "Hmm, I don't know, maybe because these guys were discussing killing a god? They might have been important people, you know?"

"So what?" DIamanes scoffed, "From the state of this place, they're dead. Or their consciousnesses have been shoved into a machine that struggles to house them, like that idiot behind us."

Glenn nodded, "I suppose that's true. Still, aren't you a little curious?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I am," Diamanes groaned, "But not enough to make me want to stay in this hole forever. Let's just go to the other room and fight Doyle Malory again. That'll be fun!"

"I guess that's the last thing on our list," Glenn sighed. He might as well try to ask some questions to the ancient monster if he was unsealed. Maybe he had an idea about who was the creator of Project: Sword of Damocles, the engineer behind the birth of the Blumar.

//Unnecessary.

The robot's voice echoed behind Glenn, interrupting his thoughts. He turned around to see the human-robot stand and walk back to his modest throne, the blue lines of energy shining once more.

Glenn glanced at his left, purple hand before approaching the robot, his longsword ready to slice at any moment.

//Lower your sword, meatbag. I have no ill intention towards you.

The robot remained still as his voice rang all around Glenn. The latter frowned before dismissing his weapon back into his soul.

"...So you are alive, in the end. I suppose that the "purging" process succeeded?" Glenn said, his eyebrows creased as he stopped at a reasonable distance from the robot.

//Correct. The Core took care of the corruption of the data concerning the entity "Sevirox".

The robot tilted its metal head to the side, two diodes of blue lights shining to imitate eyes on its face. Glenn bit on his lower lip, thinking.

Sevirox...Sevirox...who was that?

'Why does it feel like I already heard that name somewhere?' pondered Glenn, something tugging at his chest. It felt like it was really important, but he couldn't remember.

'No, no, you're right, it's also familiar to me,' Diamanes commented, also trying to dig through his memory to find the source of that name.

"Sevirox? So...the creator of this laboratory is called Sevirox, right," Glenn tried to confirm.

//Correct. The Core's creator, on his last days, attempted to transfer his consciousness into the Core's computer, but the data ended up too corrupted to be used. A purge was necessary for the successful start-up of this frame.*

//The data lost concerned critical memories, the emotional center, the personality center, and ninety-five percent of the knowledge repository.

Glenn crossed his arms, "So there's practically nothing left of this...Sevirox, right?"

//Correct.

"I don't understand," Glenn muttered confusedly, "Why the hell are you telling me all this?"

The robot looked at Glenn and paused for a few seconds before replying.

//The reboot of the Core and sealing of the 'Source Specimen' gave two individuals the highest accreditation possible to the Core's System. Only the Original Creator could override the directives of the entities identified as "Glenn" and "Sahro".

Glenn blinked, "Wait, what does that mean?"

"Hah! Hahaha!" Diamanes suddenly laughed out loud, "Hahaha! Incredible! That means this whole Laboratory is under you and Sahro's control!"

Glenn looked at his left hand, momentarily at a loss, "For real?"

//The symbiotic entity in your left hand is correct. The individual identified as "Glenn" currently possesses the authorization level of Descendant. The individual identified as Sahro currently possesses the authorization level of—"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Glenn waved his hand dismissively, interrupting the machine. He paused and looked at the robot once more, "Wait, Descendant? That's a strange choice of denomination for an authorization level."

//Unit 'Gundam' does not currently possess the data to explain this choice of denomination. Would you like me to run a simulation to find a plausible explanation?

Glenn shook his head and rubbed his temples, "No, no. Huh...What can you tell me about that Sevirox? Who was he?"

The robot seemed to search through his data bank.

//Information about the individual identified as Sevirox is not accessible currently. Authorization level: Creator is required to access this information.

Glenn sighed, "Alright then, hmm...What about my colleagues that came with me?"

//The Descendant's servants have been safely extracted and placed into a secure-containing area. I have identified an enemy presence among them which required immediate quarantine. They are not harmed, physically or mentally.

A wide holographic screen suddenly appeared above the robot, showing the expedition members trying to break through a Blumar cell.

"Good. I won't be returning alone from this damned expedition," Glenn smiled, only for his expression to harden, "Wait, what do you mean enemy presence?"

//...

The robot seemed to struggle to find a reply.

//The user 'Sevirox' flagged multiple presences to be contained on sight for future experimentation. The enemy presence identified among the Descendant's servants is associated with the Epinos, God of Pain and Redemption.

Glenn froze, his mind processing the information he just received.

What?

There was a Thorn's Church cultist amid the expedition?

"Oh. Oh-ho. Ohohoh." The corner of Glenn's lips curved upward wickedly as a purple hue came off his left arm.

"Robot—"

//Please refer to this unit by the code name: Gundam.

"...Sure, Gundam. Is there a way to isolate the enemy from the other expedition members?" Glenn inquired.

//It is possible to create a separate containment zone. Processing the command right away...

The ground shook slightly, startling Glenn. He watched in genuine awe as a cage of Blumar suddenly formed from the floor and appeared before him. A man suddenly appeared within the cage and teleported in. He looked around in fright, his eyes lighting up when he recognized Glenn. He was one of the Seekers who was with Lioras.

"Ah, Sir Glenn! Thank God you're there! Please, help me out!" The cultist pleaded. Glenn gazed at him coldly as he approached the cage's bars.

"Tell me, whose God are you thanking exactly?" Glenn hissed through his teeth as his Mana twirled around him despite the Blumar's restrictions.

The cultist froze, his jaws opening wide. He crawled back to the end of the cage, as far away from Glenn as possible.

"H...How?"

Glenn grinned widely and pointed at the robot sitting in his futuristic metal chair nearby, "Got myself a new friend that can differentiate trash from normal people."

The trembling man looked at the robot, before slowly recovering his calm. His lips curved upward in a disturbing smile as the Divinity of the Thorn's Church suddenly exploded from within him. Glenn jumped back, Nelg drawn in his hand-axe form.

The man's head spun at a full 360-degree angle, cracking with a disgusting sound. His eyes, nose, and mouth leaked with thick, dark green matter.

"Well, if...isn't 3333. It's been...while. Me?" The possessed man spoke with incomprehensible words, his mouth contorting weirdly.

Glenn raised an eyebrow and glanced at Gundam.

"Hey, I'm not the only one who's seeing this, right? Is it me or there is a bad connection for whatever divine presence is in there?

Gundam made a similar sound to a scoff, surprisingly.

//Correct. The outward layer of Blumar acts as an interference for all energies, be it Mana, Aura, or Divinity. The entity known as Epinos doesn't have any influence in this place.

//Only those attuned to the Core can bypass the restrictions of the Blumar.

The possessed man trembled, struggling to speak before eventually crumbling down. He just collapsed in a pool of dark green blood, unable to relay the message of his master.

Glenn snorted, "Huh. Hey, is there any way for me to be attuned to the Core so that I can also bypass the Blumar?

//Impossible. The Descendant must continue the Creator's mission: destroy the Gods and the world known as the Limbo. Attunement to the Core would make this mission impossible. Only the Gundam unit is equipped with the capabilities of attuning with the Core and bypassing the Blumar.

"Ah. Too bad," Glenn shrugged.

"That would have been quite useful, though," Diamanes remarked, "Imagine being the only one in the world who is not affected by the sole anti-magic material? That would be an incredible advantage."

"I guess. But you heard the man—robot—"

//Please refer to this unit by its code name Gundam.

"...Sigh...You get what I mean," Glenn gave up. He gave one last glance at the cultist's corpse and grimaced.

"Gundam, could you get rid of—"

The Blumar cage and the body both disappeared as if they had never existed. Glenn paused before nodding in acknowledgment.

"Speed, efficiency, we have it all with you. Excellent."

//Descendant, logistical analysis indicates that information on the 'Source Specimen' should be shared. Are you authorizing the data transfer?

The robot politely asked. Glenn's expression hardened. The 'Source Specimen' the robot was referring to was undoubtedly Doyle Malory, the Lightbringer.

"Sure, what can you tell me about this fucker?"

//The entity self-identifies as the Lightbringer, Doyle Malory, the One Who Shall End This World, a Fallen One. He is imbued with the blessings of seven divinities and is considered an extremely important threat. The Core's data bank indicates that he is at the level commonly referred to among humans as 'Newborn Ruler'.

//This entity is currently being used as an energy source for the Core. The data bank also indicates that the 'Source Specimen' entered the Core in search of a way to kill divine entities. This unit has identified a profound grudge for all the known and unknown gods of the world known as the Limbo.

"A god hater...that does make sense, considering the tangent he went on back when he presented himself." Glenn nodded. That was a good thing to know. If he ever needed to throw a dog at Epinos one day, maybe he could just free Doyle Malory. It's not like he had any way to just get rid of that guy anyway. Might as well find some use out of him.

"He's already used as an energy source, though?" Diamanes remarked.

Glenn shrugged, "Tomato, to-mah-to. I'm certain we can find other...morally acceptable energy sources for the Core if the push came to shove."

Gundam shook his robotic head, disagreeing.

//Correction. The 'Source Specimen' has been identified as a world-threatening level. Using him as an energy source is a relatively low punishment for the crimes against humanity he committed.

Glenn raised his hands placatingly, "Sure if you say so. We won't be freeing him anytime soon, so don't worry about it.

//This unit is incapable of worrying.

"...Right."