Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: 11. Mecha God Chronicle - Ending (2)
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Recently, interest in Mecha God Chronicle within the Empire had skyrocketed straight to the heavens.
Well, truth be told, that wasn't anything new.
These days, no matter where you went or who you talked to, everyone was busy chattering about Mecha God Chronicle.
But even accounting for that, people's obsession with Mecha God Chronicle had amplified far beyond before.
Because the series, after a massive journey spanning over 50 episodes, was now barreling toward its ending.
What would become of the "Human Ascension Plan" orchestrated by the Supreme Commander and the Council of Elders?
After vanquishing all the Outer Gods, what fate awaited the survivor group that decided humanity no longer needed Mecha Gods and moved to eliminate the Illuminati?
And Kai, at the center of the "Human Ascension Plan," what choice would he make in the final moments?
Everyone was brimming with anticipation for Mecha God Chronicle's ending.
"So today's the day episode 49 airs, huh?"
"Last episode, Ailin got taken out by those mass-produced Mecha Gods from the Council. Bet Kai wipes out every last one of those horrific monsters this time."
"But it's too late for Kai to step in now—Ailin's already dead at the hands of those mass-produced ones. They had Unit 2 and threw a full-on organ party with her guts."
"Nah, this episode Kai awakens as a god and revives the critically wounded Ailin. Piss off."
"Saya's been absorbed into Unit 0 for ages, so no worries about her dying, but the Ailin stans are kinda pitiful..."
"Dude, why are you crying while you say that? Yeah, makes sense. Can't really call a heroine who's been MIA for over 10 episodes since getting sucked into Unit 0 a heroine anymore, huh... tears are flowing."
Amid the usual bickering between the Saya fans and Ailin fans, episode 49 of Mecha God Chronicle began airing.
Episode 49 opened with Operations Commander Rinoa escorting Kai to the Mecha God's location.
"This is as far as I can take you, Kai. You're on your own from here."
"Rinoa..."
"Get in the Mecha God, Kai. And find your own answer. Please, make sure you have no regrets later."
With those words, Rinoa pressed her lips to Kai's.
"My first kiss. And... my last one too."
"We'll save the rest for when you return safely?"
Those were her final words. Rinoa leaned against the wall and slowly closed her eyes.
She had already sustained fatal wounds protecting Kai from the survivor group's attack.
"..."
Kai watched her, bit his own lip hard, and climbed into the Mecha God.
If he did nothing now, Rinoa's death would truly be a meaningless waste.
But.
"E-Eilin...?"
Kai had boarded the Mecha God, sacrificing Rinoa to save Eilin.
But what confronted him was only the mangled wreckage of Unit 2, brutally shattered by the mass-produced Mecha Gods.
Typically, a Mecha God pilot synchronized their bodily senses with the machine to control it.
So if Unit 2 was smashed that horrifically, then Eilin inside it must already be—
"Aaaahhh—!"
Learning that Eilin had met a gruesome end just like Luke, whom he had failed to protect in the past, Kai screamed in agony.
And the next moment.
"Wh-what's that?!"
"That's the thing from episode 25!"
The viewers watching the screen screamed.
Indeed.
A pristine white pillar connecting heaven and earth had appeared, just like before.
The pillar of light from episode 25, when Unit 0 had awakened as a god and nearly annihilated humanity.
Now, it had reappeared on Earth, centered on Unit 0 once more.
However, this pillar of light was somehow different from the one Kai had generated in the past.
Because surrounding it, the mass-produced Mecha Gods from the Council were circling Unit 0 like an honor guard.
"...The time of judgment has finally come."
A dark room.
There, elderly men so ancient their ages were indeterminable gazed at the sky and spoke.
"From the beginning, humans—the false creations—were parasites unworthy of existing in this world. For the sake of the true gods, the Outer Gods destined to be this planet's creators, humanity deserves extinction."
The elders declared in solemn tones.
"Thus, we enact the Human Ascension Plan here and now. Transcending humanity into Outer Gods, atoning for our original sin while freeing all from suffering."
"Though the 'I' that exists here will vanish."
"In exchange, if humanity becomes immortal Outer Gods, that's not a bad deal."
"It begins. The true genesis ritual by Unit 0. The Third Apocalypse!"
Fwaaaah—!
In that instant, just like the climax of episode 25, the pillar of light expanded endlessly, engulfing the entire Earth.
The viewers watched the scene with uneasy expressions.
"Is that... really okay?"
"Remember what Dr. Rachel said? If the Third Apocalypse really happens, humanity gets wiped out right then."
"Come on, you think the Mecha God Chronicle director's gonna actually end humanity? That's crossing a huge line."
"Yeah. Episode 25 faked blowing up the Earth, but 26 showed it was all a bluff."
"Right? It has to be? So the ending won't actually wipe out humanity...?"
"Uh... yeah... probably...?"
"..."
The viewers felt an inexplicable anxiety but also thought this:
Unless the Mecha God Chronicle director had lost his mind, he wouldn't actually destroy humanity, right?
Nah, no way.
There's no way he'd do that for real.
...Right? Probably?
But then.
From within the fully awakened Unit 0 as a complete god, Kai's little sister and Saya looked at him and posed this question.
"Oppa, you decide."
"Does humanity deserve to live? Or not?"
To his sister and Saya's question, Kai answered with hollow eyes.
"...Worth? There's none."
With Rinoa dead for his sake and even Eilin gone, Kai had lost all reason to live.
"I want to die. For real."
The moment Kai muttered those words.
"...Huh?"
"Wha...?"
The viewers witnessing it all gaped in shock without realizing.
And who could blame them?
Who could stay calm watching every human on Earth explode, transforming into blood that somehow resembled orange juice in real time?
- Aaaahhh!
Blood flowed across the entire Earth.
All remaining humans perished, turning the planet into a massive graveyard.
Thus, humanity went extinct.
Throughout the 49 episodes of Mecha God Chronicle, everything Kai and the Illuminati had fought to protect had ended so pathetically easily.
"..."
"..."
In the immediately following episode 50, no one noticed Kai canceling the Human Ascension Plan amid the twists and turns, or how he and Eilin returned alive to a dead world.
Or more precisely, it was utterly meaningless.
With all of humanity already dead, what were they supposed to do, just the two of them on that Earth?
Faced with that utterly absurd ending, people were speechless for a brief moment.
But only briefly.
"Y-you crazy bastard!"
"They're all dead! Not a single living soul left!"
"Even if it's fiction, who actually wipes out humanity?!"
"You son of a bitch! Are you even human?! Aaaargh!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ At that moment, in the imperial palace. The Emperor's bedchamber.
"Arrrgh!"
Startled by the sudden scream from the Emperor's bedchamber, Kaya rushed in.
"Wh-what's happened, Your Majesty?!"
Was it an assassin come to kill the Emperor?
Or had someone slipped deadly poison into his food?
Otherwise, what could make the Emperor scream like that in agony?
But.
"...Hm?"
The Emperor's bedchamber held no assassins or poisons.
Just the Emperor, lying on the bed clutching his head as if his blood pressure had spiked out of nowhere.
"Your Majesty, what in the world is going on? Did someone attempt to assassinate you? If not, then what was that horrific scream just now—"
"...Assassination, you say. Assassination."
At Kaya's words, the Emperor seemed to ponder deeply before nodding.
"Indeed, not wrong. Just now, someone tried to indirectly kill Us by spiking Our blood pressure."
"Pardon?"
"In that vein, Kaya, I ask you this: if someone attempted to kill Us, what punishment would they face?"
Kaya answered straightforwardly, though a bit puzzled.
"Why... execution, of course? Who would dare touch the Emperor's sacred body and expect to survive?"
"Yes, execution... So it is... Then, We have no choice... The imperial law is not something even We can easily defy..."
"...?"
Don't resent Us too much. We're merely upholding the imperial law.
The Emperor muttered inwardly to someone not present.
And so.
Raguna Tersion, creator of Mecha God Chronicle.
Death sentence.
Decided.