There was a resounding crash as a giant, metallic head fell to the ground, causing tremors to ring out in the surrounding area. The impact had directly shattered three buildings that were unlucky enough to be in the path of its descent, and hundreds of clockwork golems had been crushed. Columns of flame rose into the sky, signifying the destruction of these precious forges.

This head naturally belonged to the sovereign of the golems, who had previously attacked the world of Deckan. In order to avoid destruction, he had made the decision to escape back to his original homeworld, the world of the Gears. So as to not arouse suspicion from Lord Geer, he had even discarded his entire body, returning with his head.

Granted, even if he was only a head now as he had been when he left, that head was hundreds of times larger than it had been. The buildings that would once house him had been directly crushed under his weight.

“Who dares?” A solemn voice spoke, echoing through the air as golden light fell across the district. The surviving golems, who had previously been fleeing from the crash site, all prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to look up.

The person that appeared was a sleek, golden golem. His jagged moving parts had been reshaped, entirely hidden within what appeared to be a smooth casing. Furthermore, he gave off a presence that was entirely different compared to the last time that the head had seen him.

“Lord… Lord Geer.” The dual-toned voice of the former Head of Research spoke, seeming to tremble. “I have failed you…”

It was only natural that he had no intention of revealing his plan to rebel. To do so at this point would simply be suicide. Not only had he seen the true combat prowess of those who had stepped into divinity, but he no longer even had the army he had been planning to rely upon.

It took a moment for the golden golem to recognize the head, at which point its peerless might seemed to fade away. “Head, what are you doing here?” He asked in a grave tone. “Did your expedition encounter unexpected difficulties?”

Lord Geer knew that the Head had never sent back any resources that he may have found on the other side of the dimensional fissure in the years that he had been gone. Thus, he had long since suspected that the head had either perished or betrayed his ruler. Now, seeing him arrive in such a pitiful state, he was not entirely sure what to make of it.

“Destroyed… everything was destroyed.” The head spoke, its voice shaking with static. “A group of gods descended on our outpost, Lord Geer. They rained darkness, arrows, and blades until we were reduced to scrap. I had no choice but to flee…”

Lord Geer shook his head, a low rumbling echoing within his frame. “No need to explain, I’ll take a look for myself and gauge the strength of our enemies.” As he said that, he extended his hand towards the head, whose eyes flickered with disbelief.

“What? You’ll see? But how?”

“As the God of Storage, it is only natural for me to be able to read the memories of another by looking into where they are stored.” As he said that, his divine power soundlessly invaded the head. Of course… the Storage domain was far removed from the Conquest domain he originally wanted. Yet, at the moment of his ascension, it had been Storage that was imprinted on his divine will, forcing him to make the most of his new power.

“No, no, that is unnecessary.” The head began to panic, realizing that its memory was being read at that very moment. As soon as Lord Geer realized the truth of what happened, there would no longer be any hope for him to escape.

Forced into a corner, the head mobilized his mana to prepare casting fourth-tier magic. He hoped to destroy the god before him in a single moment, without giving him time to fight back. The head’s eyes flashed silver, a beam of energy shooting out which caused the air to tremble. It directly struck Lord Geer’s body, making the head shake with excitement.

Yet, as the light sank into his body, the spell it contained did not activate. This was a god-slaying spell that it had devised, one that would activate on contact with a divine body, at which point it should have erupted and scattered their divinity. Instead, several seconds passed by in which nothing happened.

“Hmm?” Lord Geer was brought out of his intense focus, looking towards the head, as if he had truly not noticed the attack. In fact, he really didn’t notice it, as the spell had triggered an automatic ability that Geer had set up long in advance. Defensive Storage was a power which automatically absorbed any energy being directed towards Geer, setting it aside in an independent space and suspended in time for him to analyze and determine what to do with it.

“You lied to me, head.” His voice was cold, having read through the last few days of the head’s memories. “And you planned to eliminate me when you returned?”

“But… how did you… you should have been slain…” Geer was confused when he heard the head’s answer, and only then noticed a small dip in his divine energy. After investigating his storage spaces, he found a malicious beam in suspended animation. Geer could feel a sense of danger coming from this beam, and immediately lifted his hand to release it into the air above him.

“I see… your ambitions truly are beyond my imagining.” Lord Geer spoke in a disappointed tone. The head had been a rather valued aide in the past. However, he seemed to have let his ambitions and his ego get the best of him. “As punishment, I shall take half of your being.”

With a wave of his hand, the red vanished from the head’s eyes. Within the golem’s mental space, the red wisp had similarly vanished. All that was left at this point was the serene, blue wisp, which was reflected in its voice. “What… what did you do to me, Lord?”

“I have stored away your arrogance and violent thoughts.” Lord Geer spoke as he turned around, no longer paying much attention to the head of research. Now that half of his mind was gone, it remained to be seen whether this golem would fall in line or continue his rebellious actions. If he did continue to rebel, it would not be difficult for Geer to kill him. “Work hard to improve the race, and do not disappoint me again.”

After saying that, Geer’s figure faded away, returning to the clockwork palace erected at the heart of this world’s civilization. Once he returned, he began reviewing what he had learned from the head’s memories. While the nature of his defeat had been a total fabrication, there was some truth within the details.

“So, there are other gods within that dimension… and they are capable of such power.” When Lord Geer recalled the scene in the head’s memory of the black sphere of desolation, he could not help but tremble. The head had understood what the sphere did, and naturally that understanding was transferred to Lord Geer. It was not a power that added a dangerous element to something, but rather one that removed a necessary element to survive.

If he still had a physical body, he was certain that he would be unable to survive under that black sphere’s power. However, now that his body no longer had to abide by physical constraints, he was confident that he could withstand it. The problem was that he knew he would be the only thing left standing after it passed, no matter how many of his people went with him.

It was truly not worth it to attack such a world, not unless they had several more gods on their side. Sadly, there had been few golems that had the potential to reach godhood within the Gears. And those who had… Lord Geer would not allow his rule to be challenged. Should a god be born with a more powerful domain than himself, it would not be difficult for them to depose him.

“It looks like I’ll need to set up a new plan to deal with them, should they arrive here.” He muttered to himself, shaking his head as he sat upon his throne.

Within a distant, uncharted world adrift in the void, a young kitsune gasped as he opened his eyes. Light began to flow from his body, which he forcefully contained within himself, unwilling to let it spread too far for fear that it might not return.

This man was Sinclair Song, the lost traveler. In the many years since he had left the world, he had undergone a vast change. He had spent considerable time and resources in order to boost his divinity to the next stage, in which his entire body had become a container for his power. At that point, he had believed that he would be able to return home with ease, only to find that his transfers between worlds was still uncontrolled.

He was not yet the true God of the Lost, so he had been unable to take that final journey home. However, at the very least, he could prevent himself from traveling elsewhere for as long as he pleased.

Once he found a safe world, he spent months there, measuring the growth of his divinity. At that point, he had no believers, nobody even knew who he was anymore. It was only natural that the growth of his power was far slower than any other mortal god he knew of. Furthermore, he had yet to truly ascend, which he suspected had been a factor in his power’s growth.

As such, he had two options in front of him. One way or the other, he needed to finish his ascension. After that, he could either continue hopping between worlds to find his own little corner of civilization to rule, or return home where he would simply be one of the gods walking the planet.

And given how long it had been, at least from his perspective, there could be millions of gods on Deckan that he had never met. Really, he wanted to choose to find his own world to rule. Doing so would give him a stable growth of power without needing to worry about other threats trying to eliminate him.

Ultimately, what swayed his decision was his desire to simply see home again. It had been so long since he landed in a familiar world, he longed for the comfort that being around people similar to himself could provide.

Thus, he chose to ascend, becoming the true God of the Lost. When he awoke, he probed at his power, feeling that it now seemed far more complete than it had been before. Nervous, he decided to tap into that power. “I wish to return…”

A flash of light surrounded him, one that could not have been any more familiar at this point. And when it faded, Sinclair found himself in a dense forest, one that seemed far removed from any signs of civilization. Just as he was preparing to look for a safe place to stay and set up camp, he heard the distant sound of a bow being fired, and the cry of an animal that had been slain.

At least there are people in the area. He thought to himself, before turning to walk in that direction. It took him about three minutes to find the source of the noise, a young kitsune woman with brunette hair. She had a bow strapped to her back, and was collecting the cards of a fallen boar.

When Sinclair saw this, he was shocked. It had been years… decades maybe since he had last seen another kitsune. As for someone being able to retrieve cards from a corpse? He had yet to find another world which shared that train in all of his travels.

He ran up to the girl, startling her as he grabbed her by the shoulders. “Miss, can you tell me what the name of this world is?”