Under everyone's gaze, Svarog looked as if he had been hit by a speeding dump truck. His tall, heavy body kept retreating, and only after stumbling back seven or eight steps did his powerful mechanical frame finally stabilize.
Only then did they see clearly that it was Nero who had made the move.
The child was still flying in midair, his hand frozen in the motion of having slapped out.
Seele and Bronya were completely stunned by the sudden turn of events.
And the Wildfire members outside, who had rushed in to provide support after sensing that something was wrong, were also dumbfounded.
Of course, mixed in among them was one Sampo who was clearly just acting.
Most of the Wildfire members were shocked that Svarog had actually been slapped back by a single hit, while Seele and Bronya, who had already seen Nero's strength, were shocked that this kid had attacked without any warning at all.
That said, the Trailblazing squad was already very familiar with this process.
Another day of Nero jumping in for a cleaving strike.
Even though he hadn't used a weapon this time and had used his palm instead, it was still a jump strike, still the same flashy, attention-grabbing move.
The attack itself was clean and decisive, yet the move was extremely eye-catching.
"An alien…"
Even though he had been hit, Svarog did indeed receive the information Nero conveyed.
Aliens were indeed different from the people of Belobog, but that still did not prove that aliens would not, like the people of Belobog, be intoxicated by the temptation of the Stellaron.
This fight still had to happen.
After that, Svarog launched his attack. Light cannons and missiles poured out endlessly.
Although a considerable portion of them were blocked by Nero using the Gale Sword Formation, Wildfire still suffered many casualties, and the vast majority of ordinary members were forced to withdraw from the battlefield.
As for the main combat forces, the Trailblazing squad and Seele's group, Nero took the lead and went straight in, giving Svarog a big slap right off the bat.
At first, Svarog was still able to hold his own against everyone for a while. But later, as their coordination grew more and more seamless, and with a fighting style that never got greedy for extra hits, Svarog gradually found himself hard-pressed to cope.
At this point, everyone thought of what had happened in Rivet Town, the knocking method, an ancient and simple machine spirit pacification technique.
After all, they had promised Clara to try to resolve things as peacefully as possible, and they only hoped that this approach could make Svarog reconsider.
Otherwise, they would have no choice but to scrap this handsome big machine.
Under everyone's enthusiastic "machine spirit pacification techniques," Svarog gradually lost his ability to resist, yet he still fought on stubbornly.
As thoughts raced, Stelle suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of the "kidnap Clara" plan Nero had mentioned…
So, during one of the moments when she smashed Svarog from behind with a sneak attack, the sinister and crafty Galactic Baseball Bat Hero said darkly to Svarog,
"Svarog, if you get scrapped, or if you kill everyone here, what will Clara do in the future? And how will she look at you then?"
"You don't want Clara to be sad, or to become hostile toward you, right?"
This move was despicable, shameless, and underhanded, but it was undeniably effective.
The moment those words were spoken, Svarog's attitude changed extremely quickly, and he easily gave up his last-ditch resistance.
Humans, who had experienced emotions far earlier, were truly sinister and cunning, effortlessly forcing a robot who had just tasted the forbidden fruit of emotion to lay down his arms.
Two words, perfectly controlled.
Although the method was somewhat disgraceful, at least the outcome was good. Not only was Svarog not scrapped, he did not even suffer any particularly severe damage.
As for this group-beating-style machine spirit pacification technique, Svarog didn't even have pain receptors anyway…
No matter what, this was absolutely the best ending Clara could possibly see.
After Svarog gave up resisting, Nero and the others also stopped.
Nero even gave Stelle a thumbs-up.
Although she always blurted out shocking things that somewhat ruined her image, saying shocking things had its own advantages.
However, the other Wildfire members did not have any agreement with Clara, and in a state where they understood nothing about the situation, it was even harder for them to consider Clara's feelings.
After Svarog stopped resisting, this group howled as they rushed forward, preparing to deliver the final blow to Svarog.
Fortunately, Clara had already rushed up and stood in front of everyone. The girl's crying and pleading also made those Wildfire members calm down.
Another factor was that the Silvermane Guard commander, Wildfire leaders, and the outsiders were all still blocking the way… Even if they ignored Clara and wanted to rush forward, it didn't seem like they could.
They had all seen what had just happened.
That white-haired outsider kid had slapped Svarog so hard he flew back several steps.
If that slap landed on them, wouldn't their heads explode on the spot?
Can't mess with that. Definitely can't mess with that.
Nero raised his hand and patted the top of Svarog's head twice as he knelt half on the ground, saying, "See? Clara treats you so well!"
This was somewhat lacking in respect, but he was the kind of guy who dared to hug the conductor on his very first day boarding the train, and still dared to hug the conductor afterward, so this was perfectly normal for him.
If Pom-Pom were ever asked to choose the passenger he disliked the most in history… that would definitely... not be Nero.
What are you thinking? The conductor loves all passengers, including Aha.
After hearing Nero's words, Svarog remained silent and said nothing.
Clara, on the other hand, pleaded with Svarog, "Mr. Svarog, please don't push yourself anymore. Can you tell everyone everything you know?"
The girl knew very clearly in her heart that it was already great fortune that everyone had stopped at this point.
If… if Svarog continued to persist, then the worst possible outcome was obvious…
Clara would not place too much importance on her own pride. The fact that Nero and his companions were willing to stop for her sake already filled her with gratitude.
Perhaps she should regret bringing everyone here, but Nero could fly. Even if she hadn't opened the door for them, would they really not have been able to get in? Would they really not have ended up fighting Mr. Svarog anyway?
What's more, sealing off the Underworld, cutting off communication between upper and lower levels, as well as the ongoing conflicts between Wildfire, the settlements, and the people of the Underworld caused by environmental and other factors, none of that was what the girl truly wanted either.
"Cla… ra… Regarding the Stellaron, it is classified at the highest level..."
Clara interrupted Svarog, "Mr. Svarog once said that you would be willing to fulfill every wish of mine, right?"
"Clara's greatest wish right now is for everyone to unite, like… like a family."
"During this time, Clara learned one thing, results obtained through calculation do not necessarily bring happiness to everyone."
"Even if people know that the world outside the cage isn't all that wonderful… they still want to stick their heads out and take a look."
After Clara finished speaking, Svarog fell silent once more.
Then… he actually began recalculating.
"Evaluation system rebooting… reboot successful. Converting variables…
"Variable one, Clara's request… Variable two, the outsiders' motives.
"Evaluation result updated, transferring decision-making authority to the outsiders, and permitting access to information related to the Stellaron."
Upon hearing Svarog's words, March's face lit up with joy. "So… so does that mean we succeeded?"
Nero shrugged and said, "Probably." Then the young man changed the subject and began complaining, "This just proves that it's not that what we said was wrong, it's that what we said didn't work. Only what Clara said actually carried weight.
"Among the evaluation variables, Clara's request is even ranked first. We're only second."
Stelle looked at Nero and smiled lightly, rare for her to be serious for once, and said, "Clara must be very important to Svarog."