"Isn't it strange? Why is it suddenly not listening to you?"
Fischer didn't reply, as he was currently focused on fighting for control of his own mecha. The mecha that had once responded to his every command now showed no reaction. All his orders were like stones sinking into the sea, receiving not a single echo.
"Still struggling?"
The hand Tendo placed on his shoulder slowly applied more pressure. Soon, a crisp crack echoed from Fischer's shoulder. His incredibly sturdy golden mecha immediately showed numerous cracks under Tendo's gentle grip. These cracks spread from his shoulder plate, quickly extending to other parts of the golden mecha.
Through his neural sensors, Fischer soon felt the excruciating, tearing pain. But shortly after this pain reached his brain, he finally found the key to breaking the situation from the massive amount of data he was receiving.
Bang!
Dense steam vents suddenly popped out of his body. A large amount of white steam gushed out, instantly engulfing both Tendo and Fischer. Using the steam as cover, Fischer decisively shed his heavy golden armor and distanced himself from Tendo.
"Shedding the cicada's shell? Interesting."
As the vast white steam dissipated, Tendo brushed the lingering smoke off himself and looked with interest at the figure not far away. Fischer had completely abandoned his "golden mecha," revealing his true form in a silver-grey skin-tight combat suit. Without the mecha's restraints, Fischer had finally regained his precious freedom.
"Using vector control to manipulate metals and even some quantum components."
"Tendo Simei, you truly are a great threat to us, the Sentient Star-Emissaries."
Tendo walked slowly out of the steam. The Quantum Rubik's Cube in his left hand kept spinning, devouring the quantum information around him that was invisible to the naked eye.
"You are wrong."
Before Tendo could finish his sentence, Fischer moved. Two Gatling gun barrels abruptly popped out of his shoulders. The spinning barrels spat fire, and countless bullets specifically designed to combat Star-Emissaries rained down on Tendo.
However, once the bullets got within five meters of Tendo, it was as if a pause button had been pressed. They all froze in mid-air. Tendo stood amidst the suspended "bullet rain" and smiled.
Snap!
After a crisp snapping sound, the bullets hovering around Tendo instantly changed direction, accurately shooting toward Fischer himself. Faced with these specially made star-energy bullets, even Fischer, a Mid-Rank 3 Star-Emissary, had to dodge awkwardly.
During this, Tendo walked slowly toward him and said with a light chuckle, "I am no one's bane, because to me, whether you are sentient or flesh and blood, the outcome is the same."
As he spoke, Fischer managed to avoid the last bullet, but his right foot happened to hit a cold body: Pell's headless corpse. Just as he was about to turn around, he saw Tendo standing in front of him, his fingertip pointed at Fischer's chest.
"You…"
Fischer was about to raise the high-frequency vibrating blade hidden in his forearm, but when he noticed the faint blue light in Tendo's eyes, the movement of his left hand instantly stopped.
Even though Tendo was completely open to attack at that moment, Fischer's sentient brain told him that no matter what he did, the final result would be the same. Because those cyan-blue eyes had already seen all of his futures and had predicted his every move, giving him an inevitable, inescapable "death" as his final outcome.
Boom!
A black beam of light pierced through his chest. Fischer's ears seemed to hear the sound of something shattering. What broke? Fischer looked down and saw that a third of his power core was turning into specks of light, drifting into the air from the bloody hole in his chest.
Oh, it was my "heart"... that shattered.
There was no pain, no fear. Fischer was incredibly calm in the face of death. Because his mind had long been devoid of any so-called "emotions." There was only "rules," "obedience," and the concept of being a loyal "tool" of the Church of the Machine God.
Even though he knew it was futile, he still raised his mechanical greatsword to deliver a final blow to Tendo, to complete the so-called "purification." Even though he knew it was all just a unrealistic fantasy.
"How pathetic."
Watching Fischer, who was still following his "dogma" even in the last moments of his life, Tendo's voice was devoid of emotion, only a faint hint of pity. In his opinion, whether it was Fischer or the other "rationality-first" followers of the Church of the Machine God, their souls had died the moment they abandoned human emotion. All that was left was a cold, still-functioning shell, wandering through the world like a puppet.
Tendo had no intention of discussing whether this was right or wrong. He didn't represent anyone and didn't want to be represented by anyone. He only did what he wanted.
Clang!
Fischer's mechanical greatsword ultimately failed to hit Tendo. The heavy greatsword fell to the ground with a dull thud. His empty left hand held tightly to Tendo's clothes, and his tall body slowly slid down, finally kneeling before Tendo. With the final roar of the power engine in his chest, the color in his face faded at a visible speed, until the light in his eyes completely disappeared.
Tendo looked down at him. The Quantum Rubik's Cube in his left hand suddenly lit up with a faint blue light. Before long, a green crystal the size of a pigeon egg floated out of Fischer's chest and into Tendo's Quantum Rubik's Cube.
[Name: Quantum Key of Steam City (1/12)]
[Effect: Can be used to enter the central authority core of Steam City's quantum space and mobilize all sentient devices within Steam City that are within the range of this authority.]
Thud!
Without his power core and the "quantum key" inside him, Fischer's body collapsed to the ground. Ironically, this Golden Knight of the Church of Gears, who considered himself to be of absolute rationality, was bleeding not black oil or boiling steam, but the same red blood as the ordinary people he had killed.
Looking at this Golden Knight, whom most people considered to be powerful, cold, and rational, Tendo spoke calmly. "The moment you willingly became a tool, you gave up the right to control your own 'destiny.'"
"Perhaps death is a better destination for you."
As he spoke, Tendo heard the sound of footsteps outside. Without a doubt, it was the Church's patrol team, drawn in by the commotion. After all, Tendo's "Omnipresent Concealment" could only block the sound of the battle, not the shattered walls or the violent tremors the battle caused. It was only a matter of time before he was discovered.
But Tendo didn't care at all. He didn't even bother to wear his mask and walked straight toward the main entrance. At that moment, Tendo's figure seemed to be in a different space-time from the Church knights who were rushing into the cathedral. They didn't notice his presence and walked right past him.
In the courtyard outside the cathedral, Tendo looked up at the cloudless night sky and stretched lazily. Behind him were the chaotic shouts of the knights and the static of their communicators.
"I've been busy for so long, it's time to go home."
With that, Tendo walked out of the cathedral in a grand manner and disappeared into the shadows of the night. Shortly after he disappeared, the mechanical clock in the cathedral let out a long chime. Unlike the previous dull chimes, this one carried an unspoken sense of oppression. It was like a sigh, yet also a sense of release.
Under the moonlight, a newly-shed cicada climbed onto the branch of an old tree outside the cathedral. In the brightly lit Church of Gears, bustling with people, it let out the first cicada's song of the summer.
But the sign of summer was never just the song of a cicada. In the night sky under the full moon, a black cloud silently spread toward Steam City. A summer downpour was about to begin.