The two monsters clashed in a perfect dance of strikes, claws, tails, bites and even headbutts. Clouds of lunar dust rose with their every movement and if an atmosphere had been present probably every time the two touched each other they would have generated shock waves so powerful as to destroy everything in the surroundings.

The robot was bigger, but it was slower. Sobek was smaller, but he was faster. This allowed the spinosaurus to overcome the mechanical monster's defense and strike it with its claws. In response, the blow left not a single scratch on the robot's body.

"Stupid! Did you think it would be that easy?" Wafner exclaimed as the robot kicked Sobek away. "This is the ultimate weapon, created to defeat you!"

Sobek looked at his paw. His claws were shaking slightly from the force of the blow. "What is that robot made of?" he growled.

"Of ordinary plastic. My scientists would have preferred to use titanium, but that would have been too expensive and ultimately useless. Besides, you could have used your magnetokinesis against me" Wafner replied. "After all, what's the point of looking for extremely hard materials, when you can force atoms to build an indestructible surface?"

Sobek grit his teeth. It was evident that this was a way to replicate [Reinforced skin]. However, he had one advantage: already knowing her abilities, he also knew her weaknesses. "If I can't break it, then I'll just liquefy it!" he exclaimed, remembering that [Reinforced skin] didn't protect against heat beyond a certain limit.

[Select Mutation: Fire Mutation]

Sobek opened his jaws to spit a jet of fire at the robot as if it were a dragon, but nothing came out of his jaws. He called himself stupid: of course, there was no air on the Moon! No air, no oxygen, no fire!

"What are you doing?" Wafner asked confused by his behavior.

Sobek was rather embarrassed. To avoid explaining, he tried using [Devastating roar], pretending that had been his intent all along. But even then it had no effect. No atmosphere, no sonic waves.

Evidently Wafner felt the same way too. "If you're trying to use your roar, know that it has no effect here. It's one of the reasons I chose the Moon as my battlefield. If there was from the air around us, your sonic waves could damage my delicate equipment. There is no such risk here"

"Oh, that's enough!" Sobek screamed in his mind. "I'm tired of making bad impressions! Take this, you asshole!"

[Select Mutation: Atomic Mutation]

The spinosaurus opened its jaws again, and this time something emerged from them. A blue beam of continental size was launched at the speed of light at the robot and hit his right shoulder. The metal began to liquefy, but the robot brought out a shield from one of its front legs and protected itself with it. The shield also began to melt, but the robot took the opportunity to advance until the distance between them disappeared, and then hit Sobek with a claw blow on the head. Three deep wounds opened on the face of the spinosaurus, which backed away and extinguished the atomic beam.

"This was… unexpected" Wafner commented.

"And you haven't seen anything yet" Sobek growled, shaking off the blood. Under the effect of [Regeneration], the wounds healed quickly.

Wafner looked surprised. "Uh? You shouldn't be able to cure yourself"

"Because of your microrobots? We discovered the trick weeks ago. Right now, my regenerative power is ten times faster. Your tools will never keep up" Sobek replied annoyed. Luckily, [Ultimate Mutation] increased all stats tenfold, including [Regeneration].

"Mh. You are really full of surprises. I was quite right in thinking you had to die" Wafner grumbled. Soon after, the spots Sobek hit started moving. Thousands and thousands of microrobots swarmed into the damaged parts, until they compacted and replaced them continuously. "So, do you want to try again?"

Sobek's eyes narrowed. That was supposed to be some kind of emulation of [Regeneration]. "My mistake was in choosing the target. Now I'll try again with your head!"

"Tsk! And your second mistake is believing that I will let you!" Wafner exclaimed, and the robot lunged at Sobek. The spinosaurus opened its mouth to fire the atomic beam again, but the robot opened several vents and fired several missiles. Sobek was forced to react and used his [Personal anti-aircraft] to stop them, but those few seconds were enough for the robot to be on him again.

The robot's left hand mutated and transformed into a gigantic blade that descended against the spinosaurus' neck; Sobek reacted quickly and his [Personal weapon] changed into a shield that came between them. Blade and shield collided and if there had been an atmosphere they probably would have made a sound not unlike that of a ship crashing into a cliff.

The robot increased its power, trying to make Sobek give way, but the spinosaurus in turn planted its paws on the ground, kicking up clouds of lunar dust. As blade and shield continued to press against each other, the flak of both fired several missiles which exploded between them creating deep cracks in the ground.

"Tell me, how many would you have betrayed?" Sobek growled as he watched his enemy behind the shield. "How long have you been preparing all this? Pascal, Bennett, did they know?"

"Obviously not. Nobody knew" Wafner replied.

"So you would have killed them? They trusted you, and you used them!"

"So what? This is how politics works, especially international politics. There are no friends, there are only momentary allies! They served me and I served them. Nothing more!"

"You bastard! If destroying the planet was your goal from the start, why did you want to drop a nuclear bomb on Beleriard?"

"To force you out, of course. In the stalemate we were in, my scientists would never have had the opportunity to study you. The plan was to wage all-out war and use other nations as a shield, while the Empire gathered data and grew stronger. But thanks to you and your Eden Union, everything was much easier"

"Bastard! I have to admit that you acted well. The madman pissed off about queen Mackenzie's betrayal was very realistic!"

"I had built a character on purpose. I had to continue like this and not arouse suspicions"

"And the financing of dictatorships? Was that also a way to study us?"

"Obvious. I knew you dinosaurs would be there. I could afford to spend a little money on war material to give to warring nations, in exchange for all the information my spies obtained"

"You are a son of a bitch. You deceived everyone, you betrayed everyone! Even your people! Even your kind! Even your world!"

"Wars are won by those who are willing to sacrifice everything for victory. You should know, you're a leader too!"

"Don't you dare compare me to you!"

"Why? What makes us different? How many times have you deceived, betrayed, killed? How many victims do you have on your conscience? You and I are two monsters. We never stop to achieve our goals and others are just our pawns. Or do you want me to believe that you really care about that girl you made president of a nation? Or to your faithful generals, or to all the creatures that follow you?"

"What makes you think it isn't so?"

"Please! If it was true, then you would have exacted revenge. Every time my kind has killed, enslaved or abused yours… if you really cared about your subjects, you would have leveled every city to the ground until every human being was eradicated from the world! You would have given all those souls the revenge they deserved! Instead you always pulled back. You've always looked for the safest way, not the right one. Because you don't care about your subjects, you only care about yourself! I'm willing to bet you would abandon anyone if your life was at stake!"

Sobek's eyes flamed. "Don't insult me. I would not abandon anyone! And the fact that you don't understand it shows how stupid you are!" he roared. "Should I have asked for revenge? Yes. Would it have been right to ask? Yes. Was it the right thing to do? No! I make my decisions for the living, not the dead! And if the dead could speak, I'm sure they would ask me nothing more than to give them peace, not vengeance! They would ask me to protect their children, not let them die in a senseless crusade against humans! The right choice for the living is and always will be peace! This is why I have always sought only peace! Not for me! I sought peace because it was the only way to ensure that as many of my subjects survived! Because I, my dear emperor, don't fuck people like you do! I don't use people as pawns! And of course, I'm not willing to destroy an entire world just out of a desire for self-glory! So, I repeat: DON'T DARE COMPARE ME TO YOU!"

[Select Mutation: Gamma Mutation]

Sobek's muscles exploded and glowed with green energy, and the spinosaurus' strength was increased fiftyfold. The robot was taken aback and was thrown away. Free at last, Sobek activated his [Personal Flak] and fired a swarm of thermobaric missiles at his opponent. On Eden or any other planet with an atmosphere, those missiles would explode into flames with a radius of at least three hundred meters; on the Moon, however, they left nothing but small explosions. Even so, the robot was visibly damaged.

Sobek wasted no time: he transformed his [Personal weapon] into a katana and lunged at the robot. The sword planted itself in the robot's shoulder and descended at least a dozen meters despite the very hard armor of the machine. Sobek would normally never be able to do that much damage, but with the combo of [Ultimate Mutation] and [Gamma Mutation] he managed to pull it off.

Still, Wafner laughed. "Stupid! Do you think you can kill a robot like that? You really are an idiot!" he said punching him in the face.

Sobek felt his jaw crack, but found the strength to smile. "I know it. I just wanted to distract you!" he exclaimed, turning [Gamma Mutation] off and [Atomic Mutation] back on. A gush of atomic flames emerged from his throat and struck full on the robot's head. Within ten seconds, it was all but molten metal.

Sobek withdrew again to put his mind in order. Barely twelve minutes had passed, but he was already beginning to feel the effects of prolonged use of [Supreme Mutation]: disorientation, tiredness, anger, inability to control emotions. Despite this, he remained calm. He couldn't afford to lose his sanity.

Wafner's laugh brought him back to reality. As he watched, the robot's damaged parts reformed again, including the head. "Don't believe it's that easy!" the emperor shouted. "There are multiple areas from which I control this machine, not just in the head. You can't stop me without destroying this robot completely!"

The robot lunged at Sobek, and this time he couldn't parry the blow in time: the dinosaur was hit in the left side and the mechanical claws penetrated deep into his flesh. Sobek let out a choked cry, but the robot didn't give him time to counterattack: in a few moments, he kicked him in the stomach, until he spat blood.

Sobek turned his [Personal weapon] several times, trying to be able to repel the ferocious assault of the robot, but the machine did not give him even a moment's respite. Finally, the robot grabbed him by the arm with which he held his [Personal weapon] and tore it off.

Sobek didn't scream just because of the lack of atmosphere.

"You hear it?" Wafner hissed. "This is fear! I won. I won! You are afraid! You are afraid of a human, and that human is me! Bow down to the power of humanity!"

The robot grabbed Sobek by the shoulders and pushed him to the ground; the dinosaur's knees buckled and the spinosaurus tumbled onto the cold lunar ground. The dorsal sail broke in several places. While he was trying to get up something hit him on the head and forced him to stay on the ground; it didn't take long for him to realize it was one of the robot's feet.

"Unlike me, you will die! As soon as I tear your brain apart, you'll die! You are not invincible! You've never been a god, and you've never been a man!" Wafner exclaimed. "You know, I had in mind to disintegrate every inch of your body, but now I think I'll reserve you a different fate. I'll leave you here, on the moon, as an everlasting reminder of what happens to those who challenge humanity! You should rejoice: your body will never decompose and never fade away, but will always remain here, as proof of humanity's overwhelming power!"

Sobek barely let out a gasp in response. His body seemed barely able to move. That made Wafner smile even more.

"Now die!"

The robot tried to press even harder on the spinosaurus' head to explode it into a clot of blood, flesh and brain pieces, but suddenly stopped. He never moved a single joint again, and no matter how Wafner tried, he couldn't do anything. "What the…?"

Then he heard laughter. Softly at first, then louder and louder, until it turned into an almost insane laugh. It didn't take Wafner long to realize that the source of the laughter was Sobek. "What are you laughing at?"

The spinosaurus' eyes rolled towards the robot's head, showing a mocking grin. "It seems… that you lost"