Nio did not know how long he had walked. His body had no components for keeping time, and there was neither day nor night within the Empire Shadow—only perpetual gloom.
But it did not matter. He had arrived.
He saw that Divine Being. Like him, it had been created by humans. And at the same time, he witnessed a scene he could never forget.
"So after Machina are produced, they are transported here to become your nourishment," Nio murmured, suddenly recalling what Lu Xingshi had told him.
The name Nio meant savior.
As he wandered, he came to understand what a savior was. Yet he had never believed that he could truly become one. Saving the world was indeed beyond his abilities.
Until he saw this scene, he understood that perhaps it was not the world that needed saving, but his own kin.
Emotions called hatred and rage took root within his Cyber Consciousness, blazing fiercely.
He stared at the Chaos Executor and met the Divine Being's gaze. In that instant, Nio heard the souls of the Machina wailing within it.
Those crying out were not the Third Generation Machina restricted by the Pseudo Source of Fire, but the First Generation Machina born through Primordial Activation and the Second Generation Machina bred by the Pseudo Source of Fire.
Unlike the blank Third Generation Machina, the first and second generations possessed complete selves, no different from Nio.
"Why did you let me see this?" he quietly demanded of the Chaos Executor.
Though he stood an immense distance away from the Divine Being, he believed it could certainly hear him. Otherwise, why had it guided him here? Within the flames, a clearly unusual Machina seemed to notice Nio and let out a heaven-shaking roar. Even the fire burning it swayed in response.