The Himalayan mountain range had almost vanished. The ground was flattened and scorched, resembling a barren wasteland.
The once majestic peaks that stretched endlessly into the horizon were now reduced to scattered, fragmented remnants.
And all of this was caused by a group of 'robots.'
.....
On the ground stood a black 'robot.' Some parts of its body were genuinely black, while others were charred black from battle.Â
The towering figure, 12 meters tall, was surrounded by eight other 'robots.'
Although they were referred to as 'robots' due to their appearance, they were, in truth, human. These metallic forms were their true bodies.
This group consisted of the world's most brilliant scientistsâindividuals who had cast off their mortal shells in an attempt to become gods.
Though their bodies were made of metal, their nervous systems remained functional.Â
Any damage to their forms still caused them pain, as if they were flesh and blood.
This mechanism was designed to quickly alert them to the condition of their bodies.Â
However, at this point, the pain warning system was redundantâevery one of them was already battered to the brink of collapse, their forms nearly reduced to scrap metal.
From among those encircling the black 'robot,' an old man roared:
"Ender! Surrender now! If this goes on, you'll die!"
The black 'robot,' the most severely wounded of the group, showed no sign of yielding. Instead, he burst into laughter:
"Hahaha! What did you just say, Nova? What gives you old men the right to demand my surrender? Is it because you outnumber me? If I feared death, I wouldn't have made it this far!"
"Damn it, you have the nerve to call us old? As if you're any younger! We've all lived for centuries, yet you act like you're the youngest here." Axel spat angrily.
"I never claimed to be young. You're just overthinking things, old man." Ender replied nonchalantly.Â
"Damn it! Brothers, let's take him down!" Axel bellowed.
But none of the others moved.
At this moment, Vex spoke up:
"We were once equals, comrades even. Why are you doing this?"
"Why do there need to be so many reasons? I simply want to challenge God. God created this universe, I want to return it to its starting point." Ender replied bluntly.Â
"Do you not realize that doing so will kill you? And even if you try, do you really think you can win?" Vex asked.
Hearing that, Ender merely laughed and said:
"Hahaha, of course, I know I'll lose. But does it matter? The purpose of the universe's existence is purely for joy. Normally, one would need to stay alive to experience joy, but my case is a bit different. I don't care for those trivial pleasures. I want to challenge God."
"Damn it, everyone, take him down!" Vex cursed.
At that moment, Zion interrupted:
"Cough, cough. Calm down, will you? We've lived for hundreds of years, yet you lot still behave like children?"
"Who are you calling children? Want to get beaten up?" a group shouted back.
"Damn it, do you lot just love fighting? Can't even admit when you're wrong?" Zion retorted.
Seeing the chaos, Nova stepped in:
"Hey! We're here to deal with Enderâtry to keep some dignity. And you, Ender, if you want to fight, could you not pick somewhere else? Why start on Earth? Do you want to drag us all down with you?"
"Damn it, what nonsense are you spouting? I attack wherever I'm closest to, obviously. And if I take out the moon, won't humanity suffer immense losses anyway? If I destroy the sun, won't all of you die too? Since we're all going to die sooner or later, why not just die now?" Ender fired back.
"Damn it, looks like we have no choice but to kill you today. Sigh, we were once comrades, beings far above ordinary humans, and I don't want to kill you." Nova said, exasperated.
"Do you all want to shine?" Ender suddenly asked.
The other eight froze for a few seconds before Coda screamed:
"Damn it, are you planning to blow this place up?"
"How much are you using?" Ryker, clearly unsettled, couldn't help but ask.
Seeing their alarmed reactions, Ender burst into laughter:
"Hahaha, not much. Just about 500 megatons of TNT. Enough to make my suicide a grand spectacle! Isn't my self-destruction glorious?"
"Damn you! No one needs a gift like this!" Lyra shouted furiously.
Looking at the missile hurtling toward them at an unstoppable speed, Kael yelled:
"Quick, gather together for defense! In our current condition, if we don't combine forces, we'll all die for real!"
"Damn it, Ender! I can't wait for you to disappear from my sight!" Nova cursed.
The eight of them weren't too concerned. A blast of this magnitude wasn't enough to kill all of them at once. But Ender? He was done for.
"Haha, goodbye, comrades. I've lost even more miserably than I expected. I didn't even get the chance to make God uncomfortable before being defeated by humanity." Ender said nonchalantly.
Though there was a hint of regret, he didn't dwell on it. A loss was a lossâtalking more wouldn't suddenly turn it into a win.
Besides, he had planned to die from the very beginning. Resetting all matter and conventional energy to their initial state meant that he too would become part of the singularity. Surviving such a scenario would've been nothing short of miraculous.
The missile detonated, a blinding flash engulfing the battlefield. Of course, their advanced optical sensors weren't permanently damaged, so "blinding" might not be entirely accurate.
BOOM!!!
A massive, artistically perfect mushroom cloud rose into the sky. Ender, at that moment, was reduced to scrap metal, his consciousness obliterated the instant the explosion struck.
Of course, he wasn't completely disintegratedâdust was a near-impossible state for these bodies on Earth.
As the dust and smoke cleared, the eight remaining figures looked a bit like scrap themselves, but they still maintained their robotic forms.
"Damn it! That bastard left us with a mess even after his death." Nova cursed.
Axel shook his head and commented:
"Earth's roof has been blasted into a ground floor. Probably not much taller than sea level now."
"Forget about it. What we need to focus on now is enhancing our research and increasing our strength. We must become powerful enough to prevent reckless idiots like Ender in the future." Vex said firmly.
"This whole thing was a damn surprise. Who would've thought that the world's leaders for centuries would suddenly decide to play the villain to challenge God?" Zion spat.
"Damn it, he really thought he was a big shot, huh? Does he not understand his own limits? I could believe him smashing up the solar system, but having what it takes to challenge God? Not even close. Maybe if he gathered resources for a few billion years, he'd have a sliver of a chance. Right now, he might as well be dreaming." Coda added, joining the tirade.
"Forget him. The priority now is to recover and fix the mess that damned fool left behind. And we need to ensure that future idiots are dealt with swiftly." Nova said.
With that, the eight of them departed, returning to handle the aftermath of this absurd civil war.