Facing the crowd in the cathedral, their souls consumed by 'Sentimentality,' Fischer slowly drew the mechanical greatsword from his waist as he walked towards them.
"The Knights are indeed forbidden from drawing their swords on believers, but the fallen, who have been corrupted by 'Sentimentality,' are not believers."
"Now, let me use the sword in my hand to send you to atone before the Soul of a Thousand Machines."
Not long after, screams echoed through the Great Pendulum Cathedral in the dead of night.
Fischer's 'Neutrality' was never indifference, but absolute obedience to the 'Rules' and the 'Central Command.' Therefore, any existence that violated the 'Rules' or could threaten the 'Central Hub' would become his enemy. Because, as he said, tools do not need to have their own thoughts.
After the screams and the sound of metal cutting through flesh had completely disappeared, the silent Great Pendulum Cathedral was left with only the rhythmic thud of the mechanical clock.
Suddenly, a mysterious masked man with silver hair and blue eyes walked into this living hell filled with blood and corpses. He looked at the wreckage on the floor and lightly clicked his tongue.
"This is why I don't like you metal blocks. All you have in your head are programs, no warmth at all."
"Cleaning up heretics is like formatting a hard drive, without a shred of guilt."
Fischer pointed his mechanical greatsword at the mysterious masked man, who exuded a decadent aura, and asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"
To this question, Tendo smiled and said, "Someone who has come to take the 'Hub Authority' from your chest."
"Is that so?"
In the next second, amidst the roar of an overloaded steam engine, Fischer left a golden afterimage in place and instantly lunged to within three steps of Tendo. The mechanical greatsword whistled as it tore through the air, chopping down fiercely towards his head!
Tendo did not strike back, nor did he dodge. He didn't even lose the smile in his eyes as he slightly tilted his head.
In Fischer's narrowed pupils, his mechanical greatsword, which had been swung with precise calculations, was suddenly altered in its trajectory by something. It failed to hit its target, merely grazing Tendo's mask and landing on the floor beside him.
Boom!
Shattered bricks and steam flew into the air. A deep, half-meter long, ten-meter-long sword mark extended from Tendo's feet to the wall behind him, causing it to crack with countless fissures.
Amidst the swirling dust and falling ceiling debris, Fischer was about to pull his sword out for another attack when he suddenly felt a heavy weight on the hilt. He looked down and saw Tendo's foot planted firmly on the blade of the mechanical greatsword, stopping his movement.
Fischer's high-grade bionic eye, which was half-flesh and half-machine, flashed with a torrent of data as he tried to activate the blade's vibration device to break free from Tendo's hold on the mechanical greatsword.
However, it was all for nothing.
At the same time, Tendo, as if he could see the future, calmly reported on Fischer's information.
"The reaction speed of your steam-powered joints is 0.3 seconds. The hidden gun barrel in your left shoulder armor needs 0.7 seconds to charge. The pressure resistance of your spare steam tank at the back of your waist is 300 standard atmospheres."
"If I'm not mistaken, you'll next use your right foot to kick my side, then the left shoulder gun barrel will fire immediately as a diversion, and finally, you'll activate the spare steam tank to maximize your armor's power and launch a full-force strike at me, right?"
Fischer's pupils contracted sharply. Because that was the exact optimal plan he had just calculated in 0.1 seconds.
'A precognitive Star Source, or did he investigate me beforehand and know all about me?'
A massive amount of data flashed through his mind.
During this process, Fischer let go of the mechanical greatsword, and the steam nozzle on his wrist erupted. Using the recoil, he lunged with a punch towards Tendo's chest.
However, the punch only hit an afterimage.
"You metal blocks are surprisingly fast."
Fischer looked up abruptly and saw Tendo suspended upside down from the thirty-meter-high cathedral dome. The pale blue eyes behind his mask looked down at him with a half-smile.
"Always so calm, always with a backup plan. Don't you guys get tired of living like this?"
Fischer didn't answer Tendo's question. Instead, he asked again, "Who are you? There is no one like you in the Star Source records of Steam City, or even the entire New Federation."
Tendo said meaningfully, "Didn't you already guess? Otherwise, why did you secretly send an encrypted message to the Central Hub just now?"
"After all, you clearly saw my Star Eclipse Gaze and Vector Control. It's a shame, though."
Tendo spread his hand, and an illusory quantum cube made of blue light appeared in his palm. Each face of the cube spun rapidly, constantly devouring the surrounding stray quantum signals.
"...With this here, none of your quantum information can be transmitted."
With that, Tendo directly took off his mask, revealing the face that had appeared countless times on the association's wanted posters.
Although Tendo was undoubtedly much older now compared to his photo from six years ago, his signature silver hair and pale blue eyes clearly stated his identity to Fischer.
"Tendo Simei..."
Fischer spoke the name one word at a time, as if these words contained some immense danger to him.
Paying no mind to Fischer's thoughts, Tendo's body descended like a feather, not even kicking up a speck of dust when he landed, showing his ease. He looked at Fischer and his tone was filled with contempt.
"It's been so many years, and you metal blocks are still so obsessed with me."
"Honestly, if it were a certain cold-hearted cat with beautiful skin and eyes who was obsessed with me, that would be one thing."
"But the ones who are chasing me the hardest are you emotionless metal blocks. Isn't that just so disgusting?"
With that, Tendo suddenly snapped his fingers.
In the next second, Fischer suddenly felt a strange tremor throughout his entire mech. The hydraulic piston in his right arm contracted without warning, the gears in his left leg began to spin in reverse, and even the steam engine in his chest emitted a disjointed roar! It was as if an invisible hand was forcefully tampering with every single part of his mech!
Vector Control!
In an instant, Fischer understood what the problem was. Without any hesitation, he immediately activated the Star Energy interference device built into his combat mech, trying to eliminate the effects of the vector control on himself.
But at that moment, a hand was placed on his shoulder unexpectedly.
"Don't bother. From the moment I stepped into this cathedral, the outcome of this battle was already decided."
Fischer instinctively tried to elbow his way out, but he found that his body was completely out of his control!