Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

but……

Drip, the sound of liquid dripping.

Babbage's outermost armor had melted into molten iron, which dripped onto the ground, leaving a small crater.

As for Babbage, a Heroic Spirit who treats his mechanical body as his flesh, it would probably mean his body was roasted alive until it melted.

However, this injury and this pain alone could not possibly stop him.

In the blink of an eye, Babbage's mechanical arm returned to its original form, the large hammer in its hand whipping up the air before slamming it hard into the ground. The violent impact, carrying debris, hurtled straight towards Mash and Mordred, who were lying on the ground.

"Oh no—!" Ritsuka cried out in alarm from afar. The hammer had slammed into the ground with tremendous force, sending shards of stone flying everywhere. Mash and Mordred... hadn't even managed to get up yet!

"Run! Run! Run!" Ritsuka said in a hoarse voice, stretching out her hand, three bright red curse marks flashing.

Suddenly, rainbow-colored light burst forth from her eyes, blocking all the incoming debris and impact.

"It's... alright now!" One rainbow-colored sword aura after another appeared, gradually calming Ritsuka's anxious heart.

With a forceful stomp on the ground, Nian Zhuo stood in front of Mordred and Mash.

The blade in his hand was wreathed in rainbow-colored light, and the power he wielded with the Heisei sword was so magnificent and dazzling.

All the rubble and all the impact were blocked by Nian Zhuo.

"You two have done enough." Nian Zhuo gripped the blade tightly with both hands, his back to Mashu and Mordred, watching Babbage grow increasingly agitated.

"Leave the rest to me." With that, Nian Zhuo's figure disappeared from the spot.

"Drink!" Nian Zhuo stood before Babbage, gripped the Heisei Sword with both hands, and swung it at Babbage's steel-like body.

A mechanical buzzing sound entered Babbage's ears, and the steam-powered mechanisms inside his body spun rapidly in response.

The iron hammer that had been smashed on the ground was instantly lifted up and collided with the sword blade that Nian Zhuo was attacking.

Numerous plumes of steam continuously spewed out from beneath Babbage's scarlet 'eyes'.

With a deafening bang, the moment the two weapons collided, everything around them was blown away.

"It's not over yet!" Releasing the sword blade with one hand, Nian Zhuo swung his fist and smashed it towards the opponent's scarlet 'eyeball'.

Another frustrating roar echoed as the opponent's mechanical arm rose up and collided with Nian Zhuo's punch.

Almost simultaneously, the two retreated in opposite directions, colliding repeatedly and unleashing all their strength.

In the constant clashes, Nian Zhuo's sword, fists... and even his entire body gradually became tinged with a faint rainbow-colored fluorescence.

In contrast, Babbage's massive mechanical body had turned completely red with its metal shell, and was constantly spewing out steam.

In this extreme violence, both of them chose to meet the other's attack without prior agreement.

"Ugh...!" Nian Zhuo was hit in the face by Babbage unintentionally. He immediately felt a sharp pain on his face. The blow even made him stop his counterattack for a moment. His head was uncontrollably tilted to one side.

"Oh...oh!" Similarly, Nian Zhuo's control of the Heisei Sword also left a long crack on Babbage's body. Hot steam spewed out from the crack, and with all the steam mechanisms on his body burning completely, he was undoubtedly burning his own life.

With a hiss, Nian Zhuo's feet rubbed against the ground, leaving long, thin marks. His hands were crossed, and faint red light and scorching white vapor were dissipating between them.

When Babbage activates the steam engine within his body to its maximum power, not only will he himself be harmed, but his entire metal body will be heated so much that every attack he throws carries a terrifying temperature, and there are even faint signs that he will melt the ground beneath his feet.

Stabilizing himself, Nian Zhuo held the Heisei Sword in one hand and looked at Charles Babbage not far away.

He knew that he would inevitably win this battle.

The opponent has already begun burning their life force, while Nian Zhuo still has many trump cards yet to be revealed.

“Give up, Babbage… if you can still hear me.” Nian Zhuo tried to speak to Babbage, hoping that if he could bring him back to his senses, there might still be some chance. “I don’t know what your goal is, but I know that if you continue like this, you will only burn yourself out in the end.”

"Ugh... Oh... Oh oh oh oh!" The scarlet 'eyes' dimmed for a moment, then shone even brighter. Babbage was radiating heat from his entire body. He gripped the iron hammer in his hand and charged at Nianzhuo once again.

Crack—the sound of cracking was so loud. The sword that Nian Zhuo had swung earlier had struck the metal armor on the opponent's chest, and now, the armor was being scorched by the extremely high temperature, causing even larger cracks to appear.

Nian Zhuo simply turned his body slightly to the side and easily dodged the opponent's attack.

"I...I am just a fantasy...!" Muttering incoherently, the steam engine in Babbage's mechanical body was constantly operating beyond its capacity, bringing enormous energy while also placing an even greater burden on his body.

"My ideal! My dream! Absolutely not, absolutely not—!!!!" he roared, and suddenly bursts of white steam spewed out from every crevice in his body.

His body was hotter than ever before, the flames in his heart burned fiercely, and the power given to him by the steam was stronger than ever before.

Facing the enemy... no, at this moment, Charles Babbage had no enemies in front of him.

What he saw was a gray, hazy world, a dreamlike world made up of endless smoke and steam.

And in this way, he squeezed out all the potential from his steel body.

"The 'Dimension of Steam'—!!"

This is the final blow he has been preparing for, and the one he can achieve now.

The robotic arm rotated, its mechanical components twisting and joining with its hammer, while a column of white steam billowed from its back, gradually lifting its body off the ground.

"What! This guy... can actually fly?!" Nian Zhuo stood on the ground, staring blankly at Babbage, who was poised to take off in mid-air, and his blazing mechanical body.

"I've never heard of... a device that could fly in the steam age..." Nian Zhuo said, but still pressed the button on the dial at his waist.

"Finish Time—!" Before it was over, Nian Zhuo turned the clock hand on the Heisei Sword in his hand again.

On the other side, Babbage, suspended in mid-air, gripped a hammer with both hands. Golden light had already condensed at the tip of the hammer, and his body was emitting white mist. Amidst the deafening mechanical roar, he thrust the tip of the hammer into Nianzhuo on the ground.

"Hey Drive—!"

Wild black energy clung to the blade, gradually forming a long, slender sword aura that extended the serrated edge.

“Drive Speed ​​Scramble Time Break——!!”

Faced with the opponent's attack, Nian Zhuo also unleashed his own jet-black sword energy at the opponent in one go.

In mid-air, the tip of the hammer collided with the pitch-black shockwave unleashed by Nian Zhuo, radiating extremely high heat in all directions, along with a violent impact.

"Ugh...! The final blow of a cornered beast was heavier than Nian Zhuo had expected, but he pressed his hands firmly against the blade, and the dark sword energy kept devouring the golden light at the top of Babbage's hammer."

"Ughhhhhhh!" In stark contrast, Babbage desperately extended the sledgehammer forward with both hands. Amidst a series of cracking sounds like shattering glass, the outer metal armor on his two mechanical arms was completely melted by the high temperature, and the metal shattered into fragments on the ground like glass.

Despite enduring such excruciating pain, Babbage remained silent, only roaring as he thrust the hammer forward once more.

He was already immersed in his dream, a scene completely different from the present.

With their own successful experiments, steam engines could brilliantly illuminate the civilized world—

He was willing to risk everything to get to that world.

A mechanical buzzing sound rang out again, and Babbage's somewhat dim red 'eyes' once again emitted an incomparable red light.

His entire body of metal armor was screaming, telling of his pain... yet Babbage was surprisingly calm.

"Although I lost... at least I will leave you with scars too...!" With this thought in mind, Babbage once again ignited the last and greatest steam engine in his heart.

The white steam behind them was already tinged with black, a warning that the machine had even started to spontaneously combust after being overloaded.

Babbage completely ignored all of this, and with even greater force, his weapon continuously shattered the dark impact of Nianzhuo.

Crackling sound—it was like glass shattering again. I guess some part of my body must have been damaged again... But this isn't the time to worry about that.

The mechanical hum in his heart replaced his heartbeat; this was the first time Babbage had heard his own inner voice so clearly.

So intense, so resounding, so awe-inspiring.

"Ah...it's...a very beautiful...world." In a hazy, gray smoke, his heart was swept away, heading towards the place he longed to go.

In reality, the scarlet eye-like device on Babbage's tall, mechanical body is gradually dimming.

The golden ball of light was ultimately swallowed up by the pitch-black impact... Perhaps, this is how it appears to others.

But in Nianzhuo's eyes, he saw... the pitch-black impact was blocked by golden light.

That light was incredibly subtle, not even a fraction as powerful as the impact of Nian Zhuo's attack.

But Nianzhuo could guess what it was... the final attack created by Babbage and the fantasy world within his heart, after burning out his last bit of life.

The situation was instantly reversed.

A tiny golden light shone from the darkness.

Instantly dissipating the surrounding impact, the golden light flew towards Nianzhuo.

"Although... this attack did indeed take me by surprise, it also proves how firm your fantasy, no, your dream is." Nian Zhuo raised his head, looking directly at the golden light flying towards him, and spoke with unusual seriousness.

"But I'm sorry, I still won this time."

When it was only a few centimeters away from Nianzhuo's head, the golden light suddenly twisted and then turned into countless points of light.

Thump—A heavy thud came from afar.

Babbage's mechanical body smashed into the ground, creating a large crater.

His body emitted scorching white steam, and the crimson color faded from the surface of his armor. The area around the sword that Nian Zhuo had slashed at his chest shattered completely, revealing the steam engine below that had stopped working and was emitting black smoke.

Charles Babbage is dying.

In the world of the neighbors, Ryotaro rejoins the party.

The scattered parts, the strange roar, and the black smoke constantly billowing from Babbage's chest.

Without a doubt, he was on the verge of death.

However... the broken mechanical arm still emitted a twisting, roaring sound.

With his scarlet 'eyes' flashing, Babbage still tried to prop his broken body up from the crater.

"...So, you haven't even left yet?" A familiar voice came from above. Babbage's eyes gleamed as he looked at Nianzhuo, who was standing at the edge of the pit.

“You are really strong, as a scientist.” Nian Zhuo, who had removed the watch from his waist and was only wearing basic armor, looked at the heavily injured Babbage in the crater.

"Is that so..." His voice sounded somewhat distorted, and the armor on Babbage's body began to peel away layer by layer. "My fantasies...it seems...not entirely...useless..."

Following closely behind Nencho were Ritsuka, who was helping the injured Mash, as well as Mordred and Frankenstein.

“Ah…ah…my friend’s daughter, Frankenstein…” Looking at the brown-haired girl, Babbage’s already broken body regained some strength. “Fellow travelers, let’s go…to the city’s underground.”

“…at the bottom of that subway, deeper and deeper, deeper and deeper…” Each word was followed by a long pause, and Babbage’s massive mechanical body began to dissipate into specks of magical particles. “There…is…the location of the core of the [Magic Mist Project].”

It was as if a sudden gale had swept through the entire street, stirring up thick fog that filled the street once more.

"The source of the...magic mist... of Congchizhe City..." Babbage said with great difficulty, looking at the mist floating in the air, "That is, the location of the giant steam engine Angorboda that I invented..."

"The Holy Grail..." Babbage uttered the words that Ritsuka and the others cared about most, his voice gradually fading as the steam-powered mechanisms in his arm ceased functioning. "Set up... as the power source for Angorboda..."