Listen While Reading: Kidou Sentai Iron Saga ED - N01R (feat. Tielle) The battle outside the Mechanical Tree suddenly stopped, as a wave of golden light emerged from the tree, spreading into the other machines that were fighting. Their red lights were quickly turned gold, and then blue; they were forcefully pacified by the Mechanical Tree, without letting the machines get overtaken by the wrath and destructive tendencies injected into their data cores by the mysterious Void Ruler. The battle instantly ended, as everyone noticed the robots stopped fighting, dropping their weapons and standing there, in silence, glancing at their surroundings. Their mechanical eyes widened as they suddenly realized something very important, something they had been unable to comprehend or even think about before. The warmth of the sun. The sound of the seabirds in the distance. The robots spoke for the first time, the machines that the cultivators had always believed to be slaughtering weapons of destruction. The immortals that had come along remained in silence, glancing at one another. “What’s beautiful?” Asked one of them. A machine resembling a humanoid ant glanced back at them, its blue eyes squinting around, pointing at the ground. “Yeah, the sky is beautiful.” “Your world is beautiful.” The immortal, a large, muscular brown bear, laughed. “Hahaha, indeed, it is.” Wai Tian sighed as her transformation was deactivated and she went back to normal, sighing in relief as she dropped into the ground. “Ugh, oof… Hahh… Finally over,” she sighed. “I had spent all my energy on that, ugh…” “Well done,” Yin Sheng smiled, patting her shoulders. “You fought well, Wai Tian.” “You too, fox,” smiled the tigress, slowly standing up again. “I’m alright, I’m alright… Where’s Anna, though?” “Most likely inside the tree,” said Sara, floating around in her ghostly form and quickly going back to normal. “Looks like they did it, finally. With this, only the big tree at the center of the sunken continent is left, right?” “That’s right,” Wai Tian nodded. “And it might be the greatest challenge so far. We will have to go against the Venerables’ son, true body and soul, who has been forcefully turned into what Anna called a Demon King. And that’s without counting how big their army will be.” “With the Venerables healed at our side,” said Yin Sheng. “I believe we stand a good chance now. We must prepare, however. And train very hard to get stronger.” “I agree…” nodded Sara. “I’ve grown to world and its people. So count me in. You’ve given me so much, so the only thing I can do is repay you for your kindness and help.” Sara had been helped greatly since she was summoned here by accident. Thanks to the teachings of the Venerables, she had managed to grow very strong, learn to control her abilities and her undead body, and become even better at fighting and also keeping her emotions at bay. “It’s nothing; we’ve done barely anything ourselves,” said Wai Tian. “If anything, your growth is all on you, Sara. You’re a very hard worker. I can tell you’re also from Anna’s tribe of bald apes. You’re hard-working and very strong.” “B-Bald Apes…” muttered Sara, sighing. “We’re called humans, Wai Tian!” “A-Ah, right! Hu… humans! It is a strange name to remember; my apologies,” the tigress giggled a bit. “Anyways, I think we should go congratulate young master Anna,” said Yin Sheng. “Let’s go; there’s no time to waste.” “Ah, wait for me!” A little crane girl flew behind them, catching up with the trio. “Hey, don’t exclude me from the group!” “Ah, Yu! Sorry, we were in a hurry. Are you alright?” Wai Tian wondered. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩 “I’m fine, I’m fine~” Yu sighed, cleaning her clothes with her feathered arms. “I never thought I could fight at all, but I handled things pretty alright!” “How did you even fight? I wasn’t able to see you,” Yin Sheng said nonchalantly. “W-What?! You didn’t see me? But I was just right there and… Ugh, come on…” Yu sighed, crossing her arms. “Whatever, let’s get going… My mood’s already all sour. Only Anna can cheer me up.” “Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you mad…” Yin Sheng apologized awkwardly. As the four of them walked towards the mechanical tree, the Venerables and their son slowly flew towards the tree, overseeing the battlefield. No immortals died, and it seemed that the only losses were on the machine side, as many of the ones that had joined them midway through the battle perished against their own brethren. “I don’t know why I feel sad about the death of these machines…” sighed the Heavenly Empress. “But even though they don’t spill blood or perhaps don’t even have souls. That they died fighting for us… It is enough to earn my respect.” “Hm…” The Heavenly Demon remained in silence, glancing at the machines; he had a hard time talking about what was in his mind. “Papa, Mama, we should ask Zero One and Anna and see if they can repair them!” said Song. “I’ve heard that machines can be repaired even if they look seemingly dead! As long as their core is intact, they can be rebuilt! So maybe not all of them are dead.” “I hope so,” nodded his mother, petting his head. “I sure do. Let’s go meet them; we have to congratulate them. The final battle is all there is left now, so we must celebrate a bit and then prepare.” “Yeah,” nodded his father. “Let’s go now; we have to congratulate your sister after all.” Song nodded cutely, singing like a little canary as they flew down. And as he looked down and slowly flew towards the floor. He glanced into the distance; the boy could swear he had heard something. Song heard the voice again, the voice of a crying child. It came from somewhere, very far away. His parents didn’t seem disturbed; only he could hear it. “Someone… anybody… before… I… lose… it all…” Song gasped, realizing who this voice came from. “Don’t worry…” he touched his chest. “We’re coming for you! Hang in there… for a little longer, okay? Just a bit more… Please.” He couldn’t hear the voice anymore. I glanced at the ceiling of the Mechanical Tree, noticing hundreds of golden circuits spreading everywhere, until the very top. Then, the golden circuits slowly lost their color, becoming blue, and then the entire mechanical tree changed completely. Even though not physically, I could feel it. Perhaps because I’ve assimilated nanomachines, so now it feels like I’ve become more connected to the machines themselves. I could somehow “feel” their changes and emotions to a little extent. And yeah, right now the Mechanical Tree seemed to be… It seemed to be sighing in relief. Well, I never expected that it was so tired! So when it regained its freedom—no, more like it finally gained its freedom, it felt relieved. So this entire time it had been forced to act this way… And all because of that damned Void Ruler. The Universal Computer. What a strange name for a Void Ruler. I could have never expected a computer to reach the level of a void ruler; it seems utterly… impossible. Yet here we are; it happened; it's real. And that thing most likely has led the other Machine Constellations that had been sponsoring the machines or choosing avatars from them. There’s a whole faction of machine gods. I had no idea they existed until now… They literally never ever appeared in the original novel. So much content that was skipped over because we were seeing only my brother’s perspective… It’s terrifying to realize just how much more expansive the universe can be, and everything else. And apparently, they got some sort of alliance with the Bleeding Scream, or something. If it weren’t for all the restrictions, the Void Rulers would’ve already deleted me from existence, dang it. But whatever the case, we won, and that’s worth celebrating a lot. I’ll be happy, I’ll smile, and relax, even if for a single night. Because this is a huge step forward. And the last one before we step into the last trial, the last challenge. The last Mechanical Tree, and the biggest of the tree, the original one, the first that was built, and the one that sank an entire continent into the ocean. Zero One’s “Mother” is there, the machine lifeform behind the entire invasion, the one that commands them, the one that creates them, the one that controls them. And perhaps, the direct Apostle of the Universal Computer. Void Rulers can’t take Avatars, they’re too powerful. However, they can choose Apostles for that, powerful chosen ones that are blessed with their powers to spread chaos or whatever is connected to their Concept. They usually only appear in the Third Awakening, being a real pain in the ass to deal with. But to think there’s one here right now… It’s really concerning. Well, it’s all based on my speculation, so alright, let’s just focus on the present! I walked towards Zero One, patting her shoulders. She was taking care of Zero Three, who seemed very exhausted and still processing everything. Some of her limbs had been seriously damaged, so Zero One and Zero Two were healing her using nanomachines and repairing tools. “She’s alright,” Zero One smiled. “Sister, are you alright?” “…” Zero Three remained in silence; it wasn’t some error or something; she seemed embarrassed maybe, or perhaps frustrated even now. “Why was I even fighting… What was the point… of all of this…? Hahh… It feels all so pointless now.”