Dragon Head froze. "Leader-"
The general raised his head and turned, his face expressionless.
"After ascension-I can give her a place within our consciousness-but if she tries to interfere with my decisions-I will still tear her apart-my position remains unchanged-when we cannot even resolve the crisis threatening our survival-all fantasies of the Pastoral Era-should be discarded in the forgotten corners of history-"
At that moment.
For the first time, a trace of heartfelt joy and relief appeared in Dragon Head's enormous mechanical dragon eyes. Perhaps in all the tens of thousands of years since he had first gained self-awareness, he had never experienced emotions as intense as these.
He seemed to finally understand why those ancient forebears had shed tears.
It was not some meaningless mechanism of flesh lifeforms.
It was heartache.
And joy.
It was the overwhelming urge to weep with happiness when something had finally come to fruition.
At last.
He lowered his enormous Mechanical Dragon body to the ground once more, and for the first time, offered the general his genuine respect and submission.
"Yes! Leader!"
The general opened his mouth, about to speak.
Bzz-
But at that very moment, a strand of pitch-black pollution surged like a raging wave from the depths of his eyes, flooding his reason in an instant. It seized his pupils, making his eyes resonate and shriek wildly amid violent tremors.
And within that pitch-black pollution, strands of mercury-like fluid slowly emerged, spilling little by little from his eye sockets.
A voice rumbled through his mind like a whisper.
"General, this isn't what we agreed on. I helped you initiate the Atomic Revolution and become the supreme will of this ascension. You promised me you would wipe out these brothers of yours so they wouldn't get in the way. How could you