"All praise him, all praise him, all praise the saviour to all machines!"
Standing on top of a huge balcony, the semi-mechanical life-form gazed down upon the gigantic crowd gathered before him, all praising him, as if he were the second coming of the messiah. They waited for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for a signal, anything, even a tiny wave of his hand, just to show them that he hadn't abandoned them...
And disappoint them he did not
Smiling through the hood, the man raised his right arm, before gently waving his mechanical hand at the gathered crowd...
Witnessing their messiah blessing them, the crowd immediately began causing a ruckus, wanting to catch the blessing unto themselves, unwilling to share with the others...
But it did not matter to him
Turning around, he returned inside the tall glass spire, his mission complete. His attendants, standing silent on both sides, emerged from the darkness, grabbing ahold of his red robe, gently peeling it off from his unsullied body. Hesitant to taint his hallowed flesh, the female servitoids gingerly held the gold tiraz, they softly peeled it off his body, making sure that it did not chafe his sanctified flesh. Suddenly, one of them stopped- she had accidentally touched his body. A soft gasp escaped her mouth, her actuators freezing cold- she had committed the gravest sin of them all. Peering through her ruby-red lens, she tepidly peeked up, convinced that the son of the great Omnitron had felt it. Seeing that he showed no reaction, she let out the bated breath, relieved that the messiah had felt nothing. But she was wrong, for he had felt the cold touch upon his warm shoulder-
But he took no heed of it, for he was just like them, a prisoner bound in a cage
A larger, more gilded cage- but a cage nevertheless.
When will I ever be free...
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Damn it, why on Aeronia did I have that memory flashing before my eyes- I thought I purged it from my systems!
Confused at what had transpired before him, Scaramond turned his gaze upon the Adventurers, worried that they were still frozen at the sudden mental attack just now. To his surprise, he was met with the concerned gazes of Thurfyn and Wilfred, nervous at the thought that the companion of the great hero was struck by an attack from the minions of the Demon King. "My lord, are you okay...?"
"Bah! I'm fine! Get your ugly face away from mine!"
Swatting his hand, he dispersed the crowd gathered around him with a flimsy joke, forcing his attention towards the barely contained reactor core:
Large chunks of metal could be seen jutting from the structural pillars, shaking every second as the unstable proto-star tried its hardest to break free from its entrapment, unwilling to stay confined
Phew! Looks like I've managed to contain the explosion just in time! But damn it, I can only contain it for so long before the rebound strikes back! And when it does, I don't know how big the explosion would be...
Tack, tack, tack...
From the dark hallway, an old man is seen emerging. Dusting his shoulders, Knoxis' gaze met with Scaramond's.
"Core stable for how long?"
"Don't know, but it ain't long, that's for sure..."
"Seems like after our mission here is done, we'll need to contact the Relocationaters for help. The unstable core indicates that a QK scenario is about to happen..."
Standing in the crowd, Thurin couldn't help but scratch his head. "Uh, my lord, is our mission a success?"
Whipping their heads, the duo realised that they had slipped more than they needed to. "Uh, yeah, our quest has met with resounding success, and so we shall return to the capital to feast in celebration! Hooray!"
At this, every burly man began cheering, knowing that a life of free booze and women awaited them. As they began tending to the wounded, unwilling to stay even one second in this hellhole, a different, more clandestine meeting was happening just beside them...
"So, what happened to that chick?"
"Dead."
"And..."
Hearing the pause in Scaramond's sentence, Knoxis couldn't help but fall into his memories, recalling the last thing she said before disintegrating...
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"*Cough*, *cough*, *cough*, You know, he was right, he was right all along. That monkey bastard was right all along. We should have listened to his warnings and killed him right then and there, ending us from that disaster long ago. But me and my love-struck heart, I had to go and protect his 'fragile' body and heart, and look where it has brought me- a lost love and a broken body. I know for a fact that the monkey bastard traded something with that punk-ass cunt riding that weird van, something which is stalling the completion of that bitch's grand plan. But I can feel it; he is growing weaker and weaker. I know that you have no obligation to help us, but I'm pleading, no, begging, you to please, PLEASE, PLEASE help him; help him end that traitorous asshole, once and for all! I wish- oh no, looks like my time has finally come. Forgive me, my beloved Eiren..."
And with that, Bethilda disappeared, disintegrating into ashes, just like the miserable being she had become...