"You've lost control of the Divine Machine, haven't you?"
The Monarch looked at the [Divine Machine · Avalon] before him, its lights dimming everywhere except for the [Core of Reason], and spoke slowly.
"That's right."
"The 'backdoor' left in the program was merely bait to make you think you had found your target."
"The real 'backdoor' was never a program at all."
Aside from its mental fluctuations, the Herrscher of Erosion's final movements slowly ground to a halt.
"You can stop your futile struggle."
"While we were talking... the 'Authority of Erosion' you were resisting was also just bait. After all, for you, there was no way to identify it, or more accurately, you were incapable of even understanding it—a disguised 'Authority of Sentience'."
"During that time," he continued, "the part you 'excised' earlier..."
"...was truly excised."
Every action had been a trap targeting the Herrscher of Erosion.
Before the Herrscher of Erosion was even born, Lu Xing had already used [Data Intrusion] to leave behind his own marked Authority of Erosion within the core of the [Divine Machine · Avalon]—the very [Core of Reason] that was key to Prometheus's birth.
Then, he had very "conveniently" used a [Machine Virus] to create a backdoor in the program, one that was deeply hidden but would absolutely not withstand scrutiny once exposed.
The backdoor's purpose was to be bait.
The true core of the plan was the Authority of Erosion integrated into the Herrscher Core itself. Although the Herrscher Core was the foundation of Prometheus's birth, it was essentially just a super-large database that stored knowledge and could materialize it with the support of Honkai energy. It possessed no so-called "intelligence."
In other words, the Herrscher of Erosion's own ability could not affect its core.
Controlling the [Core of Reason] through Prometheus was the absolute limit of what it could do.
But if it were the other way around—
By exerting influence on the [Core of Reason] while simultaneously using [Mind Steel Seal] to alter certain "logics," thereby causing the Herrscher of Erosion to form "misjudgments" that suited Lu Xing's needs—that was the scene the Monarch wanted to see.
Even assimilating Rin into Higokumaru, forcing the birth parameters of the Twelfth Herrscher to be narrowed down to the point where it had to "use" Prometheus, was all for this purpose.
And at the same time the Herrscher of Erosion "excised" the backdoor, another purpose for that backdoor's existence came into play:
The concept of "excision" itself had already been rewritten by the Monarch's Authority.
The antivirus program meant to eliminate a stubborn disease from the body was, in reality, purging the Herrscher of Erosion itself. This process was not instantaneous, and its effect was too great for the Herrscher of Erosion to completely ignore.
That was the reason for their idle chat. The Monarch had deliberately used the mental power of the [Authority of Sentience] "in secret" to constantly influence the Herrscher of Erosion, forcing it to focus its own attention and Authority on resisting this power, thereby leaving it no time to notice the changes in its own mental world. After all, at a glance, these changes were not too different from the fluctuations produced when resisting the [Authority of Sentience].
And the foundation upon which all of the above was built was:
"The Monarch was attacked by the Herrscher of Erosion."
Corrupting concepts, influencing logic—these were not much different from how the Monarch had weakened the Authority of the Herrscher of Binding. All of it was done to weaken the subsequent repercussions to a minimum, a "necessary" answer.
However, the actual execution went much more smoothly than anticipated.
Thus—
Effortlessly, reduced to ash and smoke.
---o---
"Is it over?"
"Yes."
In the pitch-black, boundless void, Xiao Zi suddenly appeared beside Lu Xing.
Her mimicked Authority of the Void was insufficient to support such a long-range teleportation. She must have returned to Antarctica first and had Cheche help send her over.
"Some things," Xiao Zi explained in advance, though Lu Xing hadn't asked, "are more effective when Higokumaru says them." It was the reason she had "left" Rin behind with the Flame-Chasers.
"No matter. We have to go down again in a moment anyway."
"The item..."
"I brought it with me."
Before Lu Xing could finish, Xiao Zi had already begun to act.
The heavy book hanging from her waist slowly opened, and the [Core of Reason], encased in a translucent, obsidian-like crystal, appeared in Xiao Zi's hand.
Without a doubt, this was the last remnant of the Herrscher of Erosion's consciousness.
Trying to escape in front of the Monarch was obviously a fool's dream. This "split consciousness," left behind in the Fire Moth base, was the Herrscher of Erosion's last-ditch effort to save itself. It just so happened to have chosen the wrong target to "inhabit."
While Xiao Zi was returning to Antarctica, the erosive consciousness that had been hiding in Sakura's body had transferred directly to Xiao Zi. The [Machine Species] was already a special form of intelligent machine life, and the existence of the [Authority of Reason] within Xiao Zi's body held an immense attraction for the erosive consciousness.
And so...
It walked right into the trap.
Lu Xing had seen this kind of tactic far too many times. Even setting aside the number of times he had done similar things himself, the Monarch had never forgotten the scene of Anjie possessing him back then.
"The main consciousness has already dissipated."
"The Core of Erosion is inside the Divine Machine. This thing is useless."
"Crush it?"
"Crush it."
CRACK!
The moment the Monarch's voice fell, the last trace of the Herrscher of Erosion left in this world, without even a chance to beg for mercy, was turned to fine powder along with the trap that had confined it, disappearing into the cold expanse of the cosmos.
---o---
"Shall we go down?"
"No, let's deal with 'her' first."
"This thing, huh..."
Xiao Zi looked at the distant [Divine Machine · Avalon].
"Compared to what you envisioned, Little Bai, is there any difference?"
"No, the Herrscher of Erosion did a very good job. There's almost no difference between the two."
"The [Core of Reason] has already adapted to the existence of the Authority of Erosion. The fusion of the two cores, supplemented by the 'Authority of Origin,' should present no difficulty in its creation."
Correct.
Just as he had mentioned before, having the Herrscher of Erosion construct the other seventeen Divine Machines was just as important as the other two objectives (unleashing the 'Stigmata Project' and attacking the Monarch). The seventeen half-finished Divine Machines, which seemed to be full of a crude industrial feel (with no artistic sense whatsoever), were in fact... all components of a "New Divine Machine"!
"So, we just need to put them together?" Xiao Zi asked, tilting her head.
"Yes."
A rare trace of fluctuation appeared in the Monarch's tone, as this was, after all, his first attempt at the "creation" of a [Machine Species].
"You will soon have a new Machine Species companion."
"No, to be precise, it should be—"
"Primordial Species · Haxxor Bunny."