By the time we reached Sylveira's research base, I was honestly grateful for the distraction. Veneri still didn't speak directly to us unless it was something strictly professional. Adela and I had long since run out of casual small talk that didn't sound forced.
The moment we stepped inside, we found ourselves looking at hundreds of floating, decapitated robot bodies. Their torsos, limbs and exposed wiring were suspended by Float Runes, rotating slowly while mages began taking data.
It looked horrifying and fascinating at the same time.
"Okay, this is officially the creepiest room I've been in this week."
Adela snorted quietly beside me.
Sylveira noticed us almost immediately. She stepped away from one of the floating bodies and did something that always felt weird to watch. She bowed.
"Esteemed Highness. Grand Duchess. Lady Phaenora, we have made significant progress regarding the metallic entities."
Darling nodded once. "Report."
We followed her deeper into the facility. We passed several workstations where mages were carefully disassembling robotic limbs, extracting glowing cores and feeding the parts into arrays. Some of the robots were missing entire sections of their chassis, revealing metal plates and strange black circuitry that pulsed faintly like veins.
Eventually, she led us into a sealed chamber where a single robot—this one still intact except for its head—was restrained inside a cube of Suppression Runes.
"This unit, is the one responsible for trapping us during the initial assault. We prioritized accessing its memory banks."
I crossed my arms, leaning against the wall.
"Please tell me it didn't start screaming in binary or something."
"Binary?"
"Never mind. Go on."
"We successfully decrypted and translated portions of its stored data. According to the records, they identify themselves as the Robot Race."
"That's… a bit on the nose."
Sylveira gave a small, polite shrug at Adela.
"It appears they are very literal in their naming conventions."
She flicked her fingers and a projection rune lit up, casting a three-dimensional map and several lines of translated text into the air. Strange symbols rearranged themselves into readable script as she walked us through the findings.
"Long ago, the Creator of the Hidden Citadel granted extraordinary power to a mortal scientist. Over the course of several millennia, this scientist continued her research, improving upon her creations until she eventually ascended and became a Deity."
"Wait. She started as a scientist and just… kept going until she became a Deity?"
Darling's voice was calm as he answered.
"Ascension through accumulation of knowledge and influence is not unheard of. It's just rare."
Sylveira nodded, "The robots currently invading us are all her designs. Each unit is handcrafted or manufactured under her direct oversight. The data does not specify the exact fabrication process, only that she alone is responsible for their architecture."
She zoomed in on one of the robot schematics.
"In terms of raw power, a standard unit rivals a Fourth Enlightenment Divine in strength and energy output. However, they lack Divinities, they do not operate under the Law of Divinity, and they emit no Divine Presence."
Adela stepped closer to the projection.
"What are they made of? Their durability is unnatural."
Sylveira tapped another rune, and a new diagram appeared, highlighting the composition of the robots' outer shell and internal frame.
"Our analysis indicates that their primary structural material is a rare alloy catalogued in the Universal Periodic Table as Adletian."
"The… what table?"
That was when Darling finally turned slightly toward her, and I felt his attention shift fully into explanation mode.
"The Universal Periodic Table is a classification system for all known elements in the universe. It categorizes them by atomic structure, properties and potential interactions."
Adela stared at him. "You're talking like this is basic knowledge."
"For the Aeterium, it is. My father inherited universal knowledge from his own predecessor. That information was passed down through our bloodline and the Dynasty. It's the reason Rise Borough and Dynasty Richinaria possess technological advancements far beyond the rest of Spheraphase."
I watched Adela's expression shift from confusion to acceptance. She'd always known Richinaria was different and vague reasons for it but hearing it laid out like that still hit differently.
I sent her a telepathic message.
[In Veneri's past life on Earth, they had their own Periodic Table too. However, Earth didn't have access to most of the universe's elements so theirs was incomplete.]
She shot me a quick sideways glance and nodded. Sylveira continued, pulling our focus back to the projection.
"Adletian is not a naturally occurring element. It is an artificial alloy composed of two primary substances: Divine Metal and Letian Diamond."
For a moment, none of us spoke. Adela's eyes widened first.
"Letian Diamond? That's impossible."
Sylveira's expression turned serious.
"As you are all aware, Letian Diamond is one of the most lethal materials in existence for organic life. Direct contact initiates a gradual erasure of the organism's existence. If it penetrates the body, the victim's flesh begins to crystallize, turning to glass. Both body and soul are permanently erased and over time, even memories of their physical appearance begin to fade from those who knew them."
"Yeah, I remember reading about that in my system. Basically the universe's way of saying 'you're deleted.'"
Adela folded her arms tightly. "But Letian Diamond is absurdly rare. Even entire Dynasties would struggle to acquire a fragment. How can an alloy using it exist in such quantities?"
Sylveira's lips curved into a thin smile.
"Because Letian Diamond itself is artificial."
We all stared at her.
"According to the information from the Robot Race, Letian Diamond was originally created by Letian, a being whose mastery over material science and metaphysical crystallization allowed them to synthesize a substance capable of interacting directly with the fabric of existence. The scientist-deity responsible for the Robot Race is somehow related to Letian. She engineered the alloy Adletian."
"So she is not merely a Deity of machines."
"Yes, Esteemed Highness. However, there is one factor. In Adletian, the composition of Letian Diamond is approximately fifteen percent. The remaining eighty-five percent is Divine Metal, which stabilizes the alloy and significantly reduces the existential erasure properties."
"So touching one of these robots won't immediately erase us from reality."
"Correct, Lady Phaenora. The effects are dampened, though not entirely absent. Prolonged exposure or severe injury from an Adletian weapon could still trigger partial crystallization and memory degradation."
Adela muttered a curse under her breath.
"Great. So we're fighting armies made of diluted existential poison."
Sylveira didn't disagree. She then flicked another rune.and the projection shifted again, this time displaying a massive map filled with floating landmasses, metallic cities and complex energy pathways.
"This is a detailed map of Technographia. It was stored within the robot's navigation and command modules. We have verified its authenticity through cross-referencing multiple units."
I stepped closer to it. The scale of it was insane.
"So that's where they're coming from. It's a whole civilization of machines and their Goddess scientist at the center of it all."
Darling studied the map in silence. For a moment. He pointed at the central cluster of structures.
"Sylveira, zoom in on the center."
She nodded immediately. The projection responded, the massive landscape kept shrinking and shifting until the central region expanded in front of us, filling almost the entire chamber with its holographic detail.
Up close, Technographia looked even more alien. The map wasn't just one continuous landmass. It was divided into five distinct environments. Four of them were metallic cities but the fifth was a junkyard.
It was an entire wasteland of discarded parts stretching as far as the map's horizon allowed. It looked like the graveyard of countless failed prototypes or destroyed units. It was also the largest of them all.
"That's… a lot of dead robots."
Adela folded her arms. "Or spare parts."
Sylveira zoomed in further on the city Darling had indicated. The structures sharpened into perfect clarity and that was when I noticed the building at the center.
Its shape was unmistakable, even in a world of alien architecture.
It looked exactly like a violex.
In Spheraphase, violexes (On Earth, they are called violins) are elegant string instruments associated with nobility and refined art. Seeing a building shaped like one, scaled up to the size of a mountain and made entirely out of glowing black and silver metal, felt surreal.
"Why would a machine civilization build something like that?"
Darling didn't answer Adela immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the structure. That was never a good sign. It meant he'd already connected dots the rest of us hadn't even seen yet. After a moment, he spoke.
"I will be leading an expedition to Technographia."
I turned to him so fast I nearly twisted my neck.
"You're what?"
He didn't look at me. "There are too many unknown variables. Relying solely on second-hand information will put us at a strategic disadvantage."
"Okay, sure, but why personally? You could send scouts or constructs. You don't have to risk your life."
"I can't explain the full reason here."
The coldness in his tone hit harder than the words themselves. It wasn't just that he was keeping secrets. He was doing it in that distant, professional way that reminded me he was still mad at us. The casual warmth he usually had when talking to me was completely gone.
I forced a grin anyway, trying to keep things light.
"Wow, still in the silent treatment phase, huh? Didn't realize that extended to classified mission briefings."
He ignored the joke. Instead, he finally turned his head slightly, addressing both Adela and me without meeting our eyes directly.
"You'll be joining me."
That made both of us pause.
"All three of us?"
"Yes. The rest of the forces will be assigned to explore the remaining cities. The robots possess considerable physical strength but they lack Divinities and don't use the Law of Divinity. That places us at an advantage in direct confrontation."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "So we're basically the divine strike team while everyone else does the sightseeing."
He didn't give me a reaction. Not even a sigh. He just turned back to the map as if I hadn't spoken. Sylveira cleared her throat gently, drawing his attention.
"Esteemed Highness, regarding the captured units, would it be permissible for me to utilize them for further research? Specifically, I would like to investigate whether their internal structures could be used to develop more advanced Nanorunes."
That caught my interest immediately. Nanorunes were already one of Richinaria's biggest technological advantages. If she could integrate Adletian or robotic architecture into them, it could change everything. But—
"That is not a good idea. If the scientist deity who created them has any form of remote control or influence over their systems, attempting to repurpose their components is extremely risky."
Sylveira inclined her head, completely unfazed by the warning.
"I have no intention of reactivating them. They will remain fully restrained and isolated. My objective is purely material and structural analysis, particularly regarding the alloy Adletian."
He studied her for a few seconds, clearly weighing the risk. Sylveira wasn't exactly reckless but she was the kind of person who'd happily dismantle anything just to see how it ticked. Also, Veneri trusted her the most compared to the other House leaders.
Finally, he gave a short nod.
"I agree, but implement containment and ensure all research chambers are shielded against external interference. In not taking a risk ever again."
Her eyes lit up just a bit. "Understood. I will begin immediately."
He turned away from the projection as he faced the exit.
"Adelasta, Phaenora, follow me. We need to prepare for the Unification."
"The Unification? Already?"
"Sylveira, inform the other House leaders to summon all Divine beings under Richinaria's jurisdiction. I want every available Divine present before we depart for Technographia."
Sylveira placed a hand over her chest in a formal gesture. "It will be done right away."
And just like that, he was already moving toward the exit, leaving us standing there with a glowing map of a machine civilization and about a thousand unanswered questions.
I watched his back as he walked away. I've been curious earlier about wanting him to stay mad just for the novelty of it, but now that I was actually living through it, I was starting to hate every second.
I exhaled sharply and glanced at Adela.
"You think he's going to keep this up the entire expedition?"
"Knowing him? Yes. Knowing us? We'll probably break first."
"Great. So not only are we going to a robot goddess's metal city, we're doing it while our beloved is emotionally ghosting us."
Sylveira, already walking toward the preparation chambers, looked over her shoulder.
"If it is any consolation, Lady Phaenora, most Divine relationships I have studied are far less… stable than yours."
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"Statistically speaking, yes."