"What… what in the world is this? Our home… how could Punklorde have become like this?!"
The "Cyber Psycho" stared at the unrecognizable city below, his eyes splitting with rage. His body, though simulated by the Fragmentum, was now expressing fury just like a real person's.
"This… this… what on earth happened! Could it be…!"
The "Mechanical Ascension" Legend looked at the "Sage Hacker" before him, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Although you, my grandson, have been a great disappointment to me, you've inherited the family brain. You haven't made me doubt my own genes, at least."
Nodding at the grandson who had once caused him endless headaches, the "Sage Hacker" felt a flicker of gratification.
"That's right. The Stellaron's purpose in controlling us is to destroy all of Punklorde. Besides us, other Legends have been summoned as well, like the [Electronic Succubus] and [Virtual Illusion]…"
"Even those old seniors were raised… Does that mean, that Legend was also…"
The "Cyber Psycho" looked at the "Sage Hacker" in shock.
If that Legend had also been simulated by the Stellaron like them, then the destruction of Punklorde… was truly just a matter of time…
"Rest assured, that one's cartridge is not stored on Punklorde. If he were here, we probably wouldn't have even made it to the day of our revival by the Fragmentum."
The "Sage Hacker" shook his head, his gaze fixed on the Neon Metropolis below. A hint of a daze flashed in his once-clouded eyes. The last time he saw this city, it hadn't changed so much. The buildings weren't so tall, the streets not so wide… The Punklorde of today was not his Punklorde. In this familiar yet strange city, he couldn't find a single shred of belonging…
But even so, if he had been given the choice, he would have surely chosen to protect this beautiful city…
It was just a pity that even without that Legend, Punklorde could not escape its fate of destruction…
Only those who had personally come into contact with the Stellaron could understand the sheer, otherworldly magnitude of that power!
If he hadn't seen with his own eyes those Legends who tried to resist be turned into puppets at its beck and call, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to be standing here now…
"Is Punklorde… really going to be destroyed?"
The "Mechanical Ascension" Legend's face was etched with grief. His true consciousness was likely still roaming the network. If Punklorde was truly destroyed, his consciousness would dissipate as well, wouldn't it?
"..."
The "Cyber Psycho" stood silently before the tower's railing for a moment, and then…
He took a step into the void, his entire being plummeting from the tower three kilometers above the ground…
He would rather die than become the sinner who personally destroyed Punklorde. Although he was called the Cyber Psycho, everything he did was for Punklorde. Even if he was misunderstood, he still loved this screwed-up planet. To have him destroy it with his own hands… he couldn't do it.
The "Sage Hacker" watched this scene, then turned his head numbly and walked back inside the tower.
"You… how could you…"
The "Mechanical Ascension" Legend's eyes were wide with disbelief. His friend was just like him, the stubborn type who would get to the bottom of things no matter what… but he never expected him to be so resolute…
"I'd advise you not to jump. Come on, let's go find him…" the "Sage Hacker's" voice was heavy with suppression.
"Find who? The Stellaron? Or something else?! Why don't you fight back? Like he did…"
Before "Mechanical Ascension" could finish, the "Sage Hacker" cut him off impatiently.
"I was just praising you for being smart, how did you become so muddle-headed now? Of course we're going to find him. But next time… he won't have the consciousness to speak with us anymore."
"?"
Looking at his grandson's confused expression, the "Sage Hacker" sighed helplessly.
"He will be revived by the Fragmentum, but he will have lost his own consciousness, completely controlled by the Fragmentum's instinct for destruction. That's why I haven't killed myself. If death could solve the problem, I would have died long ago."
"..."
"Let's go, stop spacing out here. While your head still has a mind of its own, think hard about how to break Punklorde's death sentence…"
---o---
New District Frontline.
Pshhh…
A sharp blade pierced flesh. Blood trickled down the edge, but its wielder clearly had no desire to admire his handiwork. With a casual flick, the mangled body was thrown to the ground like a broken rag. And "broken rags" like that… were piled up all over the ground…
BANG!
A heavy gunshot rang out. The figure holding the blade slowly collapsed. He had no expression, or perhaps he was incapable of making one. A Legend of a generation had fallen once more. Only this time, he had turned his butcher's knife on those he once protected, and died by their guns…
If he could have seen his own death, he would probably have been very gratified.
A headless body glowed with a golden light, and then…
Just like those other monsters, it dissipated into a golden shimmer on the battlefield, leaving behind only the field of "broken rags." The stench of blood hung over the entire front, and piercing wails and terror spread across the lines…
They had just been attacked. These "monsters"… they were the dead. They had familiar faces, yet they felt like strangers. They raised their blades and swung them at their former families and friends… and those being killed could only watch it all happen…
"What the hell… is going on! Why are they here! Wasn't that Legend dead for seven hundred years! Why did he appear again! Why!"
The commander of the frontline slammed his fists on the table in a rage. The ceramic cup on the table clattered before being swept to the floor, the priceless antique instantly shattering into a pile of fragments…
"What in the world is going on!"
The commander's eyes were bloodshot, his fury threatening to burst through the roof of the tent!
But… what was the use? In this one battle, the frontline's combat strength had suffered a staggering fifty percent loss! Nearly half the soldiers had lost their lives in this defensive fight!
When faced with their deceased loved ones, no one could bring themselves to deliver a killing blow. But… their "loved ones" didn't think the same way. Or perhaps, they had no capacity to think at all…
It was only at this moment that people remembered. The Legendary Tower was not just a place to store the Aether Cartridges of Legends. It was also a place for them to commemorate their deceased relatives, to remember the past…
A cemetery.