Branch D-02, part 16 (after battle)
The war was over.
Yet my doppelgänger still held that silly pose, that confident expression.
Hmm, that's not the kind of face I'd make.
Though... gotta give it to 'em for making the hair on my arm look as grotesque as it really is. Who drew this?
I've grown fond of humor.
Long years of drifting in the nightmare must've made me yearn for any hint of liveliness.
G Corp. scum should sent to the gallows. The whole lot of 'em.
Someone murmurs, spitting on the floor.
I didn't have to look at them to know who or what they were talking about.
Knowing that...
Hrk...
I felt nauseous.
Sir, are you alright?
Hey, something wrong? You look pale.
I was... just on the subway?
The hell are you blathering about?
Greg, we're still on the battlefield.
Gregor rummaged around in his pockets for a cigarette out of habit, then froze in place.
It must've dawned on him as it did on me.
The rest of the Sinners seemed to have understood what was happening.
<Tomah is going to grab us and give a warning any second now...>
Are you -
Look, Tomah, I'm starting to get a little sick of your line reading, so I'll say it once: We're not out of our minds, and the aging bomb ain't gonna hit us.
... No.
Instead of elaborating, he points up.
I need help.
I don't want to die -
Tomah was crushed to a pulp right before our eyes.
There's only one thing to say in a situation like this.
<R-run!>
All troops! Retreat!
We muster up everything we can to run, but the airborne hand is ever persistent and shows no sign of letting up.
We're all going to get turned into pancakes! Got any bright ideas, smartarse?
... I'm listening. There are too many variables to consider in the fathoms of the ego, I can't be hasty with my judgement...
There is no cause for hesitation! A true hero succumbs not to tribulation!
Uhm... I don't think I wanna recover a flattened body.
Oh! Sorry, Dante~ Didn't mean it that way!
I was tempted to snap back at her...
But keeping my mouth shut so the group could focus on making a run for it seemed like the sensible thing to do.
Still thinking, are you? Eh?! Well, are you, Miss "Knows-it-all"?!
If it is an immediate solution you seek, then I have not obtained it yet.
The only thing that can be said for certain is that our objective is not nearby. Dante would have responded strongly otherwise.
<Me?>
Are you joking? That's all you've got?
Heathcliff furrowed his brows, ready to snap at the unhelpful savant...
But after a sudden close shave with the massive palm, he began speeding up without a word.
... Gregor?
Whoa, hey, what? Why the hold up?
... I think I see now.
If this world is a product of my mind...
Gregor took a breather, then looked up at the sky.
We shouldn't run away from that hand.
... Did you finally get the crackers or what?
Gregor, are you sure?
My life has never been mine to live.
It only makes sense that resisting is meaningless in this reflection of my mind.
In that case... letting the inevitable happen might be the answer.
... Are you all serious?
It's not like there's any other way. We're all exhausted.
Besides... Look at the... patterns on its nails.
You don't see that kind of polish just anywhere.
If that hand belongs to who I think it does, she will not stop chasing us.
Faust... You said this is a path in my heart, right?
Then I can tell you this for sure:
It's about to hit a dead end.
Be it the nightmare or the road... I never once strayed from that woman's control.
Who is Gregor talking about, and what does he mean by a nightmare?
As much as I wanted to ask him...
*sigh* Might as well.
Soon enough, the giant hand cast its shadow over us, descending.
Just before it reached us, it stopped to hold us in its grasp.
Everything went dark.
I felt a disorienting nausea of being lifted into the sky.
Mgrrh...
Only Faust and I managed to find our footing while everyone else stumbled around from the vertigo.
We found ourselves in another battlefield, albeit one that was more familiar to us.