Let this soul rest

Kalyptos continued trying to reduce the main army with his attacks, but then he suddenly stopped.

"Evaluating threat... quantity reduced to 1,000... Threat Level 1. Resuming journey."

He had returned to his normal mode, his chest hatch completely closed. Sensing no further threats, he decided to leave the area, but suddenly...

Klang!

Boom!

"High-speed projectile detected. Searching for source."

Not understanding what had just hit him, he registered damage to his face. Searching for the source, he spotted a blonde girl with long ears holding a bow. Then, he saw the glint of metal again and immediately dodged to the side...

"It's not going to be that easy! Oh spirits, strike my enemy!"

When he tried to dodge to the side, the projectile tracked his movement and violently struck his face again.

Klang!

"Facial damage at 22%."

"Tch, this giant is incredibly tough."

Calculating this unexpected variable, Kalyptos attempted to transform again, until...

Boom!

"Haha, his body is seriously hard!"

Looking down, he confirmed that a bare-chested man had just punched his metallic chassis with enough brute force to stagger him backward.

"Anomaly detected... Threat Level 5. Maximum overdrive."

A bright blue light erupted from Kalyptos's body, and wild lightning violently crackled all around him, making the surrounding area completely unapproachable.

"Fufu, it's not that simple. Here, iron pole!"

A tall iron pole suddenly shot up from the ground, and all of his lightning was immediately drawn to it.

"Fufu, the lightning got grounded. I really am a genius mage, hehe."

"Anomaly detected. Engaging."

From both of Kalyptos's hands, energy beams fired again, targeting the pink-haired girl in the forest, who promptly dodged by taking flight.

"Phew~ that was close! Mr. Hero~ I already gave you an opening, you know!"

Kalyptos searched for an anomaly on his sensors as they detected a high-speed object rapidly closing in.

"Human running at high velocity."

"Gotcha."

Kalyptos rapidly prepared to fire a concentrated beam from his eyes, but in that exact moment, everything seemed to freeze as he realized something.

"They are still young. They should not be fighting."

'I will never let my child, or anyone's child, participate in a war.'

In that split millisecond, Kalyptos remembered what Commander Adalhard had said. He completely halted his attack, and time returned to normal.

"Rargh! Hero Slash!"

.

..

…

"That is beautiful."

Kalyptos did not understand what had just happened, but the young man emitted a blinding light from his sword. The next thing he knew, all of his sensors turned red, flashing 'DANGER!' everywhere across his vision.

"Unit down."

Feeling himself lying flat on the ground, Kalyptos tried to force himself up, but his systems failed. There was a massive, fatal gash across his chest. Shortly after, four people approached his head—the ones who had done this to him.

"Hmm, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It felt like it hesitated. By the way, where is the Count?"

"Looks like he ran away. How dare he drag us all the way out here and then just run? Hmph~"

"Probably because you're just too strong, Hero! Hahaha."

Looking at all of them, a strange, profound feeling welled up inside Kalyptos as he observed these youths who were still so young, yet already fighting on battlefields.

"It looks like this golem is from an ancient era. But look, it's made of incredibly rare materials! We might have just found a massive treasure trove here. I'm definitely most interested in its core."

"Whatever you want, Mage. You can do whatever you like with this scrap. I only came here for the experience points."

Staring up at the quiet, gray sky, Kalyptos felt something...

"Is this regret, Commander? What a strange feeling."

"The Commander will definitely scold me if we ever meet again... hahaha."

.

..

...

“Princess... you once told me that 'beautiful' is when you see something that makes you go 'Woah', and you know you will never see it again.”

As his vision began to darken forever, he realized that his memories of them the days, the peaceful moments outside the castle walls, the warmth of the friends he had lost were his ultimate treasure. 

None of these humans could ever take that away from him.

“I think I finally understand. I finally found my 'Woah' moment... and it is these memory logs of you all.”

As his vision faded almost completely to black, he tried to remember one last thing.

'Kalyptos, I am certain you will outlive all of us. If you ever find yourself completely alone... and if you truly have a soul... I hope you can finally rest in peace.'

"Understood, Commander."

[SYSTEM DOWN]