10:45 PM WIB. The temperature inside the Cortex-7 sterile bunker plummeted to 2 degrees Celsius. Cold vapor hissed from a cooling system valve shattered by Ibu Sumiyati's ultrasonic scream. Enver Eraly stood amidst the shards of broken essence tubes. The blue liquid spilled across the floor began to freeze. Before him, The Eraser Model-X raised the Fate-Severing Scissors. The red blades of the weapon did not reflect the flickering neon lights; instead, they seemed to swallow the surrounding radiance.
Model-X performed a static observation for three seconds. Sensors on its liquid metal face scanned Enver's energy structure. Enver felt a vibration in the golden veins at his fingertips. It was a warning signal that the opponent's weapon was synchronizing with his soul's frequency.
"Analysis complete," Model-X stated. "Vassal bond detected at the atlas bone coordinates. Initiating forced disconnection procedure."
Model-X lunged forward. Its speed surpassed the capturing capability of the normal human eye. Enver saw only a blurring shift of white metallic mass. Instinctively, Enver swung his black hair, which now weighed 210 kilograms. The hair whipped horizontally. Its massive bulk created a powerful moment of inertia. The tips of Enver's hair slammed into the blades of Model-X's scissors. The impact produced a deafening metallic boom. The resulting shockwave shattered the remaining lights on the bunker ceiling.
Enver was thrown back two meters. His heels scraped the concrete floor, leaving grooves a centimeter deep. He turned his head to locate Ibu Sumiyati, but his vision suffered from data transmission interference due to his contract with Zloq. Enver saw Ibu Sumiyati standing to his left, but her face appeared like a flat porcelain surface. No nostrils. No eyelids. No lip lines. There was only a layer of pale dermis covering every facial feature.
"Mother, stay out of that scissor's reach," Enver said.
Ibu Sumiyati did not respond verbally as she no longer possessed a mouth. Instead, she moved her astral hair wildly. The astral strands lengthened and adhered to the bunker walls. Ibu Sumiyati pulled herself upward to avoid Model-X's strike aimed at her neck.
Model-X spun its body 180 degrees. It opened the blades of the Fate-Severing Scissors thirty centimeters wide. The air between the blades vibrated violently. This weapon functioned by cutting the electromagnetic waves that bound an astral entity to its contract holder. If the blades closed between Enver and Ibu Sumiyati, their soul connection would be permanently severed.
Zloq manifested on a cracked monitoring screen in the corner of the room. Zloq's image appeared distorted by electrical signal interference.
"Model-X is a unit without biological consciousness, Enver," Zloq spoke through the monitor's broken speakers. "It has no emotions for you to manipulate. It is an algorithm wrapped in liquid metal. If you want to stop it, you must destroy the Synchronization Core at the center of its chest. That core is the sole brain regulating the molecular density of its metallic body."
Enver took a deep breath. The Pure Essence he had just injected began to work at maximum capacity. His bloodstream pulsed harder. He extended ten golden veins from his fingertips. These veins no longer waved randomly; Enver controlled them with precision, like ten thin sword blades.
"I will create an opening," Enver whispered toward Ibu Sumiyati's position.
Enver sprinted forward while dragging his heavy hair. He used the 210-kilogram weight as a counterweight to perform a low maneuver across the floor. Model-X thrust its scissors toward Enver's head. Enver tilted his neck at an extreme angle. The red blades of the scissors clipped five centimeters off the ends of Enver's hair.
Instantly, a kinetic energy explosion occurred. The severed strands of Enver's hair released the locked mass density within them. The energy propelled Model-X's body until it slammed into the bunker wall. The liquid metal on Model-X's body rippled like water hit by a stone. Enver saw a glass sphere-shaped object in the center of Model-X's chest glowing blue. It was the Synchronization Core.
"Now!" Enver shouted.
Ibu Sumiyati dove from the bunker ceiling. She coiled her astral hair around Model-X's left hand so the unit could not raise its weapon. Model-X attempted to increase the molecular density of its hand to snap the astral hair, but Ibu Sumiyati channeled freezing energy that solidified the liquid metal.
Enver plunged his ten golden veins simultaneously. The sharp tips of the veins entered through the metal joints in Model-X's chest. Enver felt the hard texture of the Synchronization Core. He did not just stab it; he injected the remains of the Mutated MAU parasite infection he had stored in his veins since the terminal battle.
Model-X's internal systems suffered systemic failure. The blue light on its Core turned a deep red. Its liquid metal body began to melt and drip onto the floor. The unit suffered coordinate malfunction. The synthesizer voice from its mouth turned into harsh static.
"Warning. Unit integrity damaged 85 percent," Model-X spoke with a broken voice. "Broadcasting emergency location signal to all Eraser units in the Jakarta sector. Mass apprehension protocol activated."
Model-X's eyes went dark. Its body froze in a kneeling position, turning into a lifeless lump of static metal. The Fate-Severing Scissors fell to the floor, losing their red glow.
Enver collapsed to the floor from exhaustion. His lungs felt hot. He looked toward Ibu Sumiyati, who landed softly beside him. Enver tried to find an expression of pride or relief on his mother's face, but he still saw only a flat, empty skin surface. A surge of sadness rose in Enver's chest, but he immediately suppressed the feeling, knowing it was a variable that could weaken his function as a Hellseer.
"We have to leave now," Enver said.
Ibu Sumiyati approached Enver. She helped lift the weight of Enver's hair so he could stand. Although Enver could not see his mother's face, he felt the warmth of her astral touch on his shoulder.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound echoed from above the building. Enver activated his contract vision. Through the layers of concrete and earth, he looked at the sky. Dozens of white light points were descending from the atmosphere at high speed. It was a massive force of The Erasers responding to Model-X's SOS signal.
"They are surrounding this sector in a ten-kilometer radius," Enver said while checking his pulse. "Zloq, where is an exit path undetected by the council's radar?"
Zloq chuckled from the dying monitor. "All of Jakarta is already within their radar net, Enver. There is only one place the council cannot monitor: the Astral Disposal Sector on the outskirts of the city. However, there is no pure oxygen there—only energy waste that can destroy your human lungs within an hour."
Enver tightened the binding on his hair. He took the last intact tube of pure essence from the floor and put it in his pocket.
"I prefer waste over being erased by them," Enver answered.
Enver ran down the bunker's exit corridor. Ibu Sumiyati floated behind him, her hair forming a shield formation. Behind them, the Cortex-7 bunker began to collapse as the self-destruct system activated. Enver continued to move through the darkness of the tunnel, dragging the weight of his hair and the weight of memories that were beginning to fade.
Enver's footsteps left a trail of golden blood on the cold concrete. He knew that starting tonight, he was no longer a purifier working for the system. He was an anomaly that had to be destroyed by the universal laws he once obeyed. In the distance, the sound of The Eraser fighter jet engines began to tear through the Jakarta night air. The large-scale hunt had officially begun. Enver directed his gaze toward the deeper darkness, toward the only place where fate could not read him.