There were seven Annihilation Machine Gods in total.
At their initial creation, their names were Justice, Prosperity, Order, Destruction, Pride, Peace, and finally, Star Dome.
These Machine Gods, embodying the pinnacle of civilization, possessed incredibly powerful internal structures.
Although they're mechanical creations, the Machine Gods fused with magical energy had touched the threshold of 'Rules'.
Moreover, a large number of spare parts and various modular combinations gave them endless possibilities.
To give a simple example, these things were like the armor suits built by Tony Stark, with various models and versions like the Hulkbuster, Anti-Scarlet Witch, etc., all combined into a complex whole.
Their physical strength was formidable enough, and the energy cannons from their modules were comparable to planetary weapons.
Saying the Annihilation Machine Gods were comparable to Ultimate Ones, i.e., beings like Crimson Moon, was absolutely not an exaggeration.
Unfortunately, focusing on the Machine Gods' performance while neglecting their 'hearts', the humans of the Lunar Civilization made a grave mistake: they lost control of the Machine Gods.
The two deepest laws, 'Protect Humanity' and 'Maintain Peace', appeared simultaneously, like the Three Laws of Robotics, then contradicted each other, leading to catastrophic consequences.
That was the fall of the Lunar Civilization!
In this battle, Order and Destruction were the first to suffer program collapse and self-destructed. Subsequently, the three Machine Gods Justice, Prosperity, and Star Dome decided to exterminate humanity.
As for Pride and Peace, they broke their own restrictions and resolved to protect humanity.
Crimson Moon at that time became one of humanity's protectors. A planetary consciousness protecting the humans who had destroyed the planet… what an irony…
In the battle between six planetary supreme gods, the human Lunar Civilization was instantly destroyed, its glorious era completely shattered.
And the Moon, originally larger than Earth, was reduced to fragments.
At the war's end, the Machine Gods Peace and Pride were completely destroyed along with Star Dome.
Meanwhile, Crimson Moon, after barely forcing Prosperity and Justice into the stellar core, burned everything she had to destroy these two Machine Gods.
After that, Crimson Moon looked at the devastated Moon and felt her entire life was meaningless. What a mockery.
Arriving on Earth with deep despair, she told Gaia: Absolutely... must not trust humans!
Under this premise, Crimson Moon and Gaia created lifeforms to prevent excessive human development: the birth of the True Ancestors.
Unfortunately, the True Ancestors were failures.
Crimson Moon abandoned this plan, believing time would give her the answer. What she waited for was the man named Bloodriver Brunestud.
Clearly, this man's existence made Crimson Moon experience a different life.
Being with Ryuya, Crimson Moon didn't know when it started, but the only figure she could see in her eyes was his, the only existence she could see was his.
Whenever Crimson Moon lost her sense of purpose, whenever she was lost in darkness, that sole light always illuminated her path forward.
Finding her transparent heart in Ryuya, seeing her path forward in Ryuya, Crimson Moon understood: the meaning of her birth was to watch Ryuya grow up, to watch this man become the brightest star in the night sky.
The time spent with Ryuya was always too short. Recently, she felt inexplicably panicked.
When Crimson Moon realized why she felt this way, she understood: the Machine Gods she thought had died were resurrected.
Justice and Prosperity, who had perished in the lunar core, had survived, revived to eliminate humanity and eliminate Crimson Moon… the strongest Machine Gods had returned!
"Blood, if you want to marry me, you'll have to wait a while longer!"
Smiling at Ryuya, Crimson Moon didn't want him involved in her battle with the Annihilation Machine Gods.
Rejecting Ryuya's confession, on a summer night, she bid him farewell and faced the Machine Gods alone.
"Target identified: Crimson Moon Brunestud, Moon King. Destruction protocol confirmed."
Beyond Earth's exosphere, the two awakened Annihilation Machine Gods looked at the golden-haired, red-eyed Moon King. They lacked the massive modules, as those were destroyed in the great war that ended the Lunar Civilization.
But it didn't matter. By the same token, Crimson Moon, with the Moon reduced to fragments, was not the powerful Moon King who could once fight two alone.
Staring at Crimson Moon, brilliant light manifested behind the two Machine Gods… the energy weapons belonging to them, the glory of the Lunar Civilization.
Aiming the pillars of energy at Crimson Moon, they wanted not only her disappearance but also the destruction of the planet beneath her, the Roman Empire, and other human civilizations.
Because only then could they achieve that twisted peace.
With this goal, Crimson Moon's final battle began.
[Crimson Moon disappeared.]
[You didn't know what happened. In your eyes, that powerful, proud Moon King had clearly been acting strangely lately. She was definitely hiding something from you.]
[Having grown over so many years, in this simulation, although you lacked Noble Phantasms, gaining the True Ancestor Bloodline made Gaia clearly regard you as its most important, most perfect 'representative'… the Earth King of Gaia!]
[Under this Buff, your growth even surpassed that in Uruk. Even Tiamat at her peak probably wasn't your match.]
[But even so, there was still a gap compared to the planet's sole strongest. You, this Earth King, were still just a young child.]
"Crimson Moon, where did you go?"
Throughout the fifth simulation, Ryuya never quite knew what he should do. But the prolonged peace also made him notice something was wrong, because the Eternal Night Empire was an SSS-level scenario.
In other words, this world had enemies comparable to the gods of Uruk.
And this was with the help of Crimson Moon, the Moon King.
Using his perception to search the entire Roman Empire, Ryuya didn't know what was happening.
For the first time, he realized his own weakness.
"Damn it, I shouldn't have been so careless. I should have ruled this land."
Treading the earth, a significant part of the combat power of the King named Ryuya came from the faith of the people.
It couldn't be helped. After all, behind a King are the people. And a King is only at his strongest with the support of his subjects.
Whoever praises the King's name becomes the King's subject. Yet no one in the Roman Empire knew Ryuya, no one believed in him. The faith from less than a hundred True Ancestors was clearly insufficient.
Standing amidst all living beings, Ryuya suddenly felt it… the battle high above.
It was the Moon King named Crimson Moon.
And...
Boom!
A light cannon capable of parting the entire planet's hair down the middle silenced the world for an instant.
Under the stunned gazes of countless people, the attack from the heavens descended!
"What in the world... is this?"
Streaks of light pillars destroyed the world at a speed akin to strikes from a distant civilization, the countless dense light pillars annihilating everything human.
Soon, rushing forward through a world of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Ryuya saw the severely wounded being.
"Crimson Moon!"
"Blood."
Smiling faintly at Ryuya, Crimson Moon wasn't dead. The concept of death didn't apply to her, and at most, this body would collapse.
But even so, severely injured, she still stroked Ryuya's head, just like when she held him as a child.
"Escape from here, Blood. Run. Those are... the Annihilation Machine Gods."
Ultimately unable to defeat the two Machine Gods, Prosperity and Justice, after Crimson Moon's defeat, human civilization would be destroyed.
Looking at the severely wounded Crimson Moon, listening to the Moon King's explanation, Ryuya understood: the enemy of this world was never on this land.
Whatever Alaya, Gaia, they weren't his enemies. Nero's Roman Empire was the same.
What he needed was to establish his own kingdom, defeat the Annihilation Machine Gods, and grant Earth the qualification to continue.
This had nothing to do with Alaya or Gaia, only because he needed humanity to survive, needed Crimson Moon to survive.
"You... always like this. It's not okay, you know? I won't let you do this next time."
Gently kissing Crimson Moon, this was Ryuya and Crimson Moon's first kiss, but definitely not the last.
Gazing at the two planetary Ultimate Ones in the sky, Ryuya knew if he did nothing, he would die here and restart a new simulation.
Or he could simply hide. With his strength, avoiding the Machine Gods wouldn't be a problem. Moreover, he himself wasn't human but the Earth King created by Gaia, so the Annihilation Machine Gods held no grudge against him.
But!
What is a King!
Sun God, the Kingdom of the End!
"The charge's momentum… advance only, no retreat!"
"The will to break formations… death or glory!"
Whoever praises the King's name becomes the King's subject!
As the Heroic Spirits of Camelot emerged, the land of Britain descended once more.
What is a King!
King of Myriad Races!
"Unforgotten resolve, the Sun is eternal!"
"Since contending with gods, the Master of Myriad Races!"
Even without Uruk Heroic Spirit Monument, would the warriors of Uruk, the chieftains of other races, not follow the King who once led them in battle?
What is a King!
Countless figures, Heroic Spirits born from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, followed without hesitation.
Unyielding obsession, souls answer the call!
Looking at the two Annihilation Machine Gods emitting absolute light, Ryuya never considered himself an excellent King.
He was just a King who worked hard.
A King who was neither radiantly brilliant, nor great and powerful, not even a qualified lover.
But!
The King does not retreat! The King is not weak! The King does not rely on others! The King is not resigned!
Yes, as a King, Ryuya could accept failure, but would never acknowledge failure.
Just like the desperate battle at Rashomon, just like exhausting all efforts, even at the cost of his life, to connect to the Root and extend the Age of Gods in Camelot, just like the Five Questions of Ryuya in Uruk, "What crime have the common people committed?"
"Prosperity, Justice! Humanity's future is absolutely not for you to decide!"
What weapon was in his hand? Nothing. But the blade named the Blade of Vowed Obsession came nonetheless.
Lifting his head, with Heroic Spirits following behind him, a faint smile on his lips, the Sun-Crowned King whispered, "The old heaven is dead..."
Calling forth his own army, tens of thousands of Heroic Spirits refused to retreat on this battlefield.
Even if destroyed by the Machine Gods' light pillars, they still protected the humans on the ground, following their King.
The color of blood is the King's color.
The majestic red is the people's majesty.
Those black eyes are the firmness of faith.
The silence of the heroic spirits is deafening.
The shouts of humanity shake heaven and earth.
The world's resolve manifests at this moment.
"The Sun... is eternal!"
The Sun's... Eternal Nation.
Activating his unique (SSS+) skill, no matter what, Ryuya would die in this state.
But...
"What crime have the common people committed? I, Ryuya, will go to my death. I've said it many times... I will never fail, nor will I ever acknowledge your actions."
"Humanity's future will be decided by humanity itself. Humanity's future will be created by humanity itself."
Facing this apocalyptic catastrophe, yet without the appearance of the Throne of Heroes, Ryuya understood at this moment: in Alaya's eyes, the humans of this era were, ultimately, just a transition of the Silver Age.
Perhaps in a few hundred years, the end of the Age of Gods would come, and the civilization of the Iron Age would shine.
But before that, whether human civilization continued or not, what did it matter to Alaya?
The Counter Force of Humanity, ultimately, concerns the continuation of the era, all of humanity in the corridor of time, not the world at this moment.
Ryuya smiled. He wouldn't blame anyone, because the path he walked was never the same as Alaya's.
And precisely because of this, he understood even more how heavy the words 'humanity' were, how terrifying.
Finally, looking down at Crimson Moon one last time, Ryuya could feel the immense power of the two Machine Gods.
He let out a bitter laugh, his final voice resonating across the planet.
"Crimson Moon, I'm sorry. I clearly prayed not to make you cry, but I still failed."
"But don't be sad. Even if I disappear, I will still become the brightest star in the night sky, watching over you."
"Beast of the Apocalypse, Devour... Heaven and Earth."
Boom!
As the light scattered, returning to the world, the light pillars destroying the earth also completely vanished.
Not understanding what happened, all surviving humans felt as if they had lost something… the existence named the King.
"Ah... Blood."
The stunning figure simply gazed quietly at the sky, Crimson Moon's face already covered in tears.
Before the cruel reality, the beautiful dream named the Moon King ultimately shattered.
With the disappearance of her most beloved, the world Crimson Moon had almost forgotten appeared again.
Silently returning to the Millennium Castle, sealing herself away, Crimson Moon knew that the person who accompanied her, spoke with her, and made her no longer lonely would never return.
Not knowing how to describe her feelings, Crimson Moon, closing her eyes, ultimately chose endless darkness.
Yet, still holding onto the hope of seeing Ryuya again in the depths of her dreams, the world's end still echoed with the Moon King's final expectation.
"Blood, thank you. No matter what, I will always be your Crimson Moon."
"I am no longer... an unwanted child."
As the already dead stellar core of the Moon flashed, the existence named the Moon shattered like a flower.
Fifth Simulation Scenario - Eternal Night Empire First Simulation... Concluded.