Sargon Fernes 

The "Paragons", who had continued to heal the polluted earth on behalf of humanity, were not praised for their achievements. but were branded "useless" by the machines. Naturally, they rebelled against this unjust treatment.

At the time, Ahav was the leader who united the Paragons. He continued to explore the possibility of unraveling and evolving the Paragon body. His relentless inquiring mind… “For the future of the Paragons” sounded good on its own, but Ahav used it as an excuse to commit all manner of atrocities.

“We are not some expendable commodity!”

Was that his claim? What in the world was he talking about? The Paragons were, after all, nothing more than imitations given temporary life by Machines. And yet, they were all the same. They raged, hated, and devoured each other until their lives were used up!

Destruction begets destruction, distrust begets distrust. Did he think there was a difference between the actions of old humans and his? The body? The intellect? The spirit?

It made me laugh. They had no idea what it meant to be human. How could you be a “true” human when you couldn't even imitate them?

I, Sargon Fernes, will guide them in your place!

The war that Ahav waged began with an encounter with a mobile weapon at the Zeleucia Colony, and it ended in defeat. It seemed that Ahav was killed in battle there… But it was a long time after his death that the news finally reached me, branded as a failure—discarded and exiled to the backcountry.

Quite frankly, I didn’t care. Sympathy in itself was pointless. It wasn't like my life would change overnight. If anything, that was only the beginning.

Jealousy. Anger. Hatred. All negative emotions that continued to spread throughout the world. Before they perished, I’d be the one to guide them to the end. Then, as last, people would finally be unshackled from the chains of emotion.

“—Sir? Lord Sargon?”

A voice called out to me and snapped me back to reality. Standing across from my desk was my confidant, Nadine. He was the only one I could trust.

“Nadine, I’m glad you came.”

"You seemed quite tired."

“It’s the usual, don’t worry about it. More importantly, the reason I called you here today is because I had a request.”

“Hm? What can I do for you?”

“First, I want you to take a look at this.”

Data excavated from a particular ruins site was displayed on the terminal to Nadine. It showed an ancient underground city. Perhaps due to the aftermath of the former great war, most of the city had collapsed, hardly retaining any of its original form. There was something in the center appearing as if it was buried.

“Is that… a mobile weapon?”

“That’s right. Or to be more precise, it’s the remains of one.”

“It’s lying dormant in this city...”

Nadine, who had been staring intently at the data, suddenly seemed to realize what this meant and broke out into a smile.

“So, this is my next mission, right?”

“Right. This wreckage will be an indispensable asset in our plans.”

“Haha, this is quite the responsibility. Well then, I’ll get started right away.”

“I look forward to good results.”

I lightly tapped my chest with my right arm. Nadine followed suit, tapping his chest with his right arm as well.

“May this world be baptized in Old Blood.”

Nadine saluted and left the room.

“Now, then…”

I was still just a commanding officer of the harsh frontier region. But…Unlike them, I still had plenty of time left. I’d start by seizing power to make sure I rose to the top.

Paragons had short lifespans. There were exceptions like Ahav, but they only lasted a dozen or so years at most. No matter how much they resisted, they couldn’t escape their fate. Turning a blind eye to this fact, they continued to increase their numbers by operating their artificial wombs.

The reason they were attacking the Machine cities was to seize the Regeneration Kilns, the latest type of artificial womb. By doing so, they could maintain the appearance of the species survival.

However, many of the Paragons didn’t understand that this prosperity is nothing more than a castle in the sand. Even if it was disconnected from the network, there’s no guarantee the System would ever stop.

The Paragons didn’t have much time.

To make matters worse, Saint Bathsheba, the Paragon’s only hope, suddenly passed away. News of her death echoed throughout the war, causing the Paragons on the front lines to lose their will to fight.

Without a leader, the chain of command fell into disarray, and units that lost control were driven out by the Machines one after another.

For me, however, it was a golden opportunity. I sent in troops and rescued many Paragons from certain death. My achievements were highly praised, and I was able to establish my position within the Innovators.

I rose to become the commander of the Fusrat Colony, a city in the south of the continent. But still, this was just the beginning.

"The world is about to enter a new era."

After I established my position among the Innovators, the higher ups assigned me to the commanding position of Fusrat Colony, a harsh southern region dotted with abandoned cities.

To them, my existence and aging body must have been unsettling and alien. Nadine still occasionally complained about the guys from Olympias treating us poorly, but from my perspective, a remote region where their surveillance didn’t reach was the perfect place for us. While accumulating military power, we could quietly recover the remains of the mobile weapon.

—One day, several years after I began operating out of the Fusrat Colony, I went to the ruins site to retrieve the mobile weapon’s remains based on Nadine’s findings. A report that something had been discovered had come in.

As I descended into the depths of the underground city, I felt a strange sense of elation. What awaited me were remains of the mobile weapon much larger than anything uncovered so far, and an old-fashioned book with plain binding.

There was no title, and the author was unknown. Despite its poor condition, there was a chance it would provide important insight to the bygone era. I flipped through the sand covered book. The contents were faded and difficult to decipher.

“Is this…a notebook left behind by a scientist from back then?”

On another page, letters were scrawled all over, but I was able to make out some of it.

The way I understood it, it was a supposed record of the past—a sudden culling of humanity… Or something along those lines. The information was fragmented and wasn’t conclusive, but there was something that compelled me to believe it.

“If I examine this, we might be able to find some clues.”

But the notes contained no further information. I glanced over the last page. The words written there made my body tremble with joy before I even realized it.

“Wonderful… What else can I call this but fate? I’ve been chosen! I alone have the capability to punish the world!”

This was the result of ancient blood ties. The world would be guided in the right direction. The sanctification was about to begin!

Several years had passed since Sargon had taken control of the southern region. One day, he received an order from a man named Thero Dawid, leader of the Hardline faction. As he headed to the northern mechanical city of Olympias, he was led into a hall where a Paragon man and woman stood behind Thero.

The woman looked at Sargon with a gentle smile, while the man bit his fingernails and glared at him in irritation. White hair and violet eyes. Red hair and golden eyes… They looked strangely familiar.

As Sargon gave them a suspicious look, Thero replied, “These two are Rhea and Void. They’ll be leading the Hardliners from now on.”

Thero continued. The current Hardliners still lacked a unifier following the loss of Saint Bathsheba. It seemed that these two were created as an answer to that problem. According to Thero’s declaration that the two of them were qualified to serve as said unifier.

That meant— 

“So they’re “replicas” of Lady Bathsheba?”

“...Hm?”

The fact that he hadn’t denied it meant he had hit the nail right on the head.

So you can't afford to be picky about how things are? How stupid and naive. They’re hopeless.

Sargon kept a calm expression, trying not to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

“Surely you didn’t call me here just to introduce these two?”

“Correct. I called you here to make it clear where you stand.”

In short, he brought him to Olympias to clarify the balance of power.

It was obvious that they were trying to win over the other forces as quickly as possible by having Sargon, now an influential leader, submit.

“Surely you haven’t forgotten that it was we who spared you from your miserable fate of being discarded, correct?”

Hmph. What a sham.

Sargon knelt on one knee and respectfully lowered his head without a hint of irreverence.

“I haven’t forgotten. I, Sargon Fernes, swear before you two that I am without ulterior motives."

Thero and the other two each reacted differently to Sargon’s words. Thero nods with satisfaction, taking both of them with him as he leaves. Sensing their departure, Sargon slowly rose to his feet and laughed to himself, mocking those who had disappeared behind the door.

Rhea and Void appeared in public under the guise of being “children of Saint Bathsheba.”

Having received a thorough elite education and implanted memories, the two immediately demonstrated their talents and quickly united the two factions within the Innovators. After a few years, order shifted from one centered around Thero to one centered on Rhea and Void.

Then, an incident occurred that threatened to shake up the established new order. Solo Monia, the child born from Bathsheba, had come to Olympias with Cainan’s assistance. Sargon mulled over the information, having received it from Nadine after he’d been sent to Olympias.

“Momentum for my sanctification is building, and then an unexpected factor pops up…”

Bathsheba's orphan, whose existence was only known to a few high ranking leadership members. If this information were to be revealed to the public, the impact would be immeasurable. There would likely be some who would try to make Solo, a legitimate heir, take up the banner. If that were to happen, it was possible it would create another division of power.

“What would you like, Lord Sargon? If it interferes with our plan, I’ll handle it discreetly..."

“No, no need to go that far…  For an existence kept under wraps to appear now under these circumstances… Hehe, how interesting.

“Lord Sargon?”

“Nadine, I have a favor to ask of you. I want you to help Solo Monia escape from Heraia—no, from Olympias.”

“Wh…? He shouldn’t even be alive in the first place. You want to assist in his escape?”

“All you have to do is get him to run away voluntarily. I thought my right-hand would be able to handle that easily. Was I overestimating you?”

He could hear Nadine’s breath catch over the communicator. Soon, he sighed and spoke.

"...You really are rough with people. If it weren't for me, you would have given up on your professional duties a long time ago."

Nadine's voice was somehow calm, as if he had been waiting for Sargon to say that.

“Ha, that’s why you’re my right-hand.

They exchanged a few more words and then hung up.

Alone in his office, Sargon’s thoughts wandered to the fate of the unfolding world conflicts.

“Solo Monia, how will you dance up on stage?”

Suddenly, he turned his gaze to the night sky through the window, endless stars twinkling in the cloudless scene above. Sargon made a fist as if to crush the star that shone the brightest among them, then turned up the corners of his mouth into a smile.

It was a provocative expression—as if he was asking something beyond human understanding.

Nadine’s plan went well, and Solo managed to escape without any difficulty. The escape itself was the subject of gossip among the leadership, but there was no overreaction. Void and Cainan merely sent out pursuers. With the war on the horizon steadily building momentum, they couldn’t afford to waste manpower.

With the successive shutdown of artificial wombs and Void’s skillful speeches on the topic, the Paragons targeted their feelings towards the Machines and Returnees. 

“—The above is the distribution of Innovator forces, and the movements of the leadership in the Eastern Invasion Operation."

Upon hearing Nadine’s report after his return to Fusrat, Sargon marveled at the size of their forces.

“Good work. Looks like you’ve spent a long time preparing this.”

“That’s right. With the addition of units developed based on seized mobile weapons, it should be a formidable force, don’t you think?"

“Ha, I hope Void doesn’t make the same mistake as Ahav.”

Nadine nodded in agreement.

“By the way, how is ‘he’ doing?”

“Good. It’ll take some time before deployment to the front lines, but I intend to set the stage for the best possible performance.”

“Come on, you know how much I had to run around collecting the remains…”

“Don’t say that. ‘He’s’ worth the effort.”

“Haha… It’s finally here.”

Sargon nodded and gripped the notebook tightly in his hands.

"We’ve been looked down on time and time again, but we have come to this moment because of the Old Blood flowing through our veins. We must repay that Old Blood.”

Sargon’s voice was calm, yet somehow powerful. Nadine felt his body tense up, and Sargon suddenly thrust out his right fist.

“Lord Sargon?”

It was unlike Sargon to act that way. His excitement for the upcoming consecration was shining through.

“Surprised?”

“No, I was just feeling the same way.”

Saying that, Nadine also thrust his fist forward.

“May this world be baptized in Old Blood.”

The two of them swore a vow with all of their hearts. The Returnees, the Paragons, and the abominable system that brought hatred to this world… Everything that denied the Old Blood would be cleansed from this world.

The battle had begun.

A large army of Innovators poured in in the western part of the continent, surging into the defensive zone established by the Machines. War broke out in the center of the continent. As the two sides violently clashed, Sargon’s forces flanked the enemy from the southwest.

Although the Machine forces outnumbered Sargon’s troops, they lacked adaptability. Having fought numerous smaller scale battles for several years, Sargon could read every trick the Machine’s had up their sleeves.

The troops that faithfully followed Sargon moved as one unit,as if they were a single beast sharing one consciousness. A half-hearted unit couldn’t possibly compete. With the advantage overwhelmingly in his favor, Sargon held back the enemy as he planned his next move.

“Nadine, take Cherub and Acht’s forces and provide support to Void.”

“Understood.”

Hearing Nadine’s final signal, Sargon ended the call.

“Hehe, it’s finally here. How long have we waited for this moment? Rhea, Void, and the Machines. Let your bodies be baptized in Old Blood.”

In the sky far behind Sargon was a large mobile weapon, towed by several transport ships. With the sun to the back of its majestic presence, most of the body was distorted in shadow like an omen.

“Arise, Dvergr! The stage is set! Thrust your sword to your heart’s content! Against your mortal enemy!”

The mobile weapon called Dvergr swayed gently, as if responding to Sargon’s call. The magic sword that had once slayed a god had been born into this world once again.