Chapter 341: Settled, Doorway

The dark blade swept across one of the tablets, and the pitch-black sword shortened by a fraction. The tablet simply vanished from Wang Yu’s sight, and simultaneously, the alchemical machines that had reached the perimeter of this space ceased their assault.

"What have you done to 'Mouth'!? Where are the alchemical machines? Attack him! Why aren't you attacking this intruder!"

The tablet representing "Eye" began to flicker incessantly, its voice echoing through the void, panicked and furious, demanding to know what Wang Yu had done and why he had not been flagged as an enemy of the Council.

"So noisy..."

Muttering softly, Wang Yu was guided by the "Machine God" to stand before the clamoring "Eye." The dark blade swept out, and the incessantly chattering tablet vanished into nothingness, leaving the air suddenly still.

"Cough, cough... Puh!"

Spitting out a mass of debris mixed with shattered bone and rotting flesh, Wang Yu paused to catch his breath. He had to expend immense mental effort to use his own blood to replace his missing organs and maintain his bodily functions.

The gaping hole torn into him by the "Machine God" had destroyed too many organs at once; this was not an injury that could be ignored through simple mending.

At this moment, within the horrific, gaping wound in Wang Yu’s torso, blood was hardening under his control, grafting onto his fractured spine. From this foundation, it extended outward, reconstructing ribs and a sternum composed of solidified blood.

The remaining blood, kept in a malleable liquid state, clung to this framework—which had been altered by the secret arts of the Blood-Stained Wrath Knight and the Material Molding Sword Technique—gradually filling and sealing the massive wound.

The heart’s original purpose was no longer vital; blood that could move of its own accord could complete the circulatory cycle independently.

As for his shattered lungs, Wang Yu lacked the capacity to repair them for respiration. He adopted a different approach, continuously replacing the blood in his body with oxygen-rich blood from his blood pool, allowing him to continue moving.

"Click, puh!"

"Whew, that’s a bit better."

Using the power of the Chariot to command the Machine God to pull its fist out of the blood-filled cavity in his chest, Wang Yu stood upright.

The wound was completely sealed by blood, presenting a dark crimson hue, as if he had covered parts of his body with some sort of red material.

"Twenty minutes or so, that should be enough. Let’s continue."

Wang Yu estimated that by cycling the blood in his pool with his own, he could sustain his respiration for about twenty minutes. This was more than enough to finish off the members of the Central Council—or rather, to erase them from existence.

"Just as I thought, the criteria for judgment are based on the perception of the machine spirit, Astartes. If I had told it before that I wouldn't die from a heart strike, it wouldn't have been able to make the Machine God target my heart."

"It is the same now. Once I told Astartes the nature of the dark blade, my act of using this power to render the Central Council members non-existent cannot be counted as 'harm'."

Wang Yu pondered this in his mind. Before entering this space and being shattered by the Machine God’s punch, he had explained the essence of the dark blade to Astartes.

It appeared as though he had sliced the tablets into oblivion, but in reality, they remained perfectly intact, missing nothing; it was simply that the outside world could no longer perceive their existence. How, then, could that be considered harm?

"Stop! We will give you anything you want! You want to know the secrets of the past, the Void, the Abyss, the special techniques of every intelligent race, the dwarven forging arts, the goblin's..."

"Ear" was on the verge of a mental collapse. Ignoring the fate of "Eye," it kept listing the things it could offer, hoping Wang Yu would stop.

Stepping forward, Wang Yu raised the dark blade and erased another tablet. His mind was swimming, and a persistent ringing filled his ears, making it difficult to hear what the tablets were saying. It was only because "Eye" had been so grating that he had silenced it first.

Astartes watched as the deathly pale Wang Yu raised his hand to erase "Ear" mid-sentence, its mind filled with complex thoughts. It truly had not expected this special being, whom it had only recently met, to reach such heights.

This was a story that belonged in the most unreliable of apocryphal biographies—a man with no reputation on the continent had simply steamrolled everything in his path, piercing through an organization that held the world’s peak power. It was like a sick joke.

Yet, it was happening. This man named Wang Yu was erasing the members of the Central Council—its creators, Merlin, and his disciples—one by one.

"How pathetic..."

Recalling the image of "Ear" begging for mercy before Wang Yu, Astartes whispered to itself.

What was "Ear's" name again? They had once been so full of spirit, yet they had fallen to such a state. Watching the terror and panic displayed by Merlin’s disciples before they were erased, Astartes finally began to understand why they had done what they did.

"Who are you? Regardless, you must have a reason for this. Killing us brings you no benefit."

"Even if you kill us, our authority will not transfer to you. The wealth we hold will be sealed, the knowledge we possess will be buried, and you will gain nothing."

"If you can be rational, we can cooperate. I will transfer my authority to you directly. As long as Julius is under your control, you need not fear betrayal or..."

"Nose," which had remained silent during the other tablets' pleas, finally spoke as Wang Yu approached.

Calmer than "Ear" or "Mouth," "Nose" spoke clearly and rapidly, analyzing Wang Yu’s motives in hopes that he would calm down and choose the "optimal" path.

However, its fate remained unchanged. Wang Yu did not listen to a word; he simply walked up and delivered a strike, forcing it to be silent.

"Move! Why aren't you moving? Follow my commands! Where is my authority? Julius, did you revoke it?! Give it back to me! If this continues, we will all be killed by this guy, do you understand?!"

"Astartes, I know you are there! Stop this guy! We watched as you were created by the Master; we witnessed your birth. Are we not friends? Help..."

"Hand," the last of the five tablets, had become completely hysterical. While screaming, it attempted to use its remaining power to command the alchemical machines to attack Wang Yu, but alas, all those machines had already been turned into fireworks near the Truth Supervisory Council.

As it called out Astartes' name, hoping for help from the machine spirit they deemed an obstacle and an enemy, Wang Yu erased it with a single stroke.

Finally, Wang Yu walked toward the most unique tablet: Julius. This central tablet was clearly connected to the entire space and even the Sky Mechanical City itself; dense cables were plugged into it, and various energies swirled around it in perpetual motion.

Approaching it just as he had the others, Wang Yu raised the dark blade. During this, the power of the Chariot sensed a fluctuation attempting to influence the Machine God behind him, trying to force the ultimate machine—now fully under Wang Yu’s control—to move.

It almost succeeded. Wang Yu felt a component of the Machine God begin to twitch, but he immediately found the node and used the power of the Chariot to sever the connection.

Truthfully, Wang Yu’s ease in seizing control of the Machine God was thanks to the Central Council’s stifling of technological progress. The complexity of the Machine God’s internal structure was beyond imagination; it was truly the pinnacle of that era.

But Wang Yu had studied alchemical mechanical knowledge from a hundred years later—not just from the Sky Mechanical City, but from beyond it. Technology had progressed. Looking at the past through the lens of developed knowledge made everything much simpler.

Even if the creator was Merlin, Merlin’s theories were the foundation for the vast amount of alchemy that followed. Later techniques were rooted in Merlin’s theories, evolving, progressing, and eventually surpassing them.

The incredibly complex alchemical structure within the Machine God became easy to handle with the help of knowledge derived from Merlin’s own theories.

It was not that the Machine God was not powerful—on the contrary, it was absurdly powerful, a masterpiece of an entire era. But if it were optimized and upgraded with current technology, it would become even stronger. Wang Yu would never have had the chance to seize control of this powerful machine in an instant otherwise.

The pitch-black blade fell, and the final tablet vanished under Wang Yu’s sword. The moment Julius—the entity connected to the entire Sky Mechanical City—disappeared, Wang Yu felt the entire city shudder. It plummeted sharply for a moment before stopping, as if it had undergone a rapid reboot.

"I have taken control of the Sky Mechanical City. The spatial lockdown and restrictions in this vicinity have been lifted. Have your companions come to treat you; the state you are in is too much for even a machine to watch."

Astartes’ voice reached Wang Yu’s ears, informing him of the current situation.

Nodding slightly, Wang Yu tapped the silver dragon-wing mark on the back of his hand, causing it to flicker.

Spatial fluctuations emerged, and a portal opened beside him. It was a Phase Gate spell. Avia stepped out quickly, accompanied by the materialized Lady of Night.

Wang Yu did not remain standing; he sat down against a nearby panel of unknown purpose. He was reaching his limit. He had been hanging on by a thread, not truly healed, merely forcing himself to act. In reality, he was utterly exhausted.

The Lady of Night placed her hand over Wang Yu’s wound, and Void energy poured out, filling the internal cavity—preparing the space for the girl to use her secret arts.

Curving his lips, Wang Yu gave Avia, who had knelt to release her arts, a reassuring smile. His eyelids drooped, and he allowed his weary consciousness to slip into slumber.

This was the first time since leaving the Mine Estate that Wang Yu had lost consciousness due to a battle. The consumption had been too great; the hyper-precise manipulation of his blood had drained his mental reserves.

His dimming consciousness cleared for a brief moment, and Wang Yu’s mind sank into his own mental space. The door, unseen for so long, appeared before him once more.