Reunion (before battle)
<Looks like we're almost there.>
<I can sense the Golden Bough resonating nearby.>
...It appears we're nearing the target location.
That's good. The photos and awards I left should be still there.
Classified research documents as well, Mr. Dongrang.
……
Yi Sang picks up an ampule Shrenne dropped from the floor and carefully examines it.
How kind of you. You didn't have to pick it up.
...It's the same.
This regeneration ampule...
Its number abides by the same rule as the 'decay ampules' that was forcibly administered to Miss Ishmael in the earlier scuffle between K Corp's brawlers and invading machines.
That's what's called a serial code. It's a unique string of numbers to categorize ampules. Ones that start with an "O" are original- Wait, why am I explaining this, again?
Original... Identical to the 'decay ampule' injected to Miss Ishmael... So it suggests that its essence was no different from that of the regeneration ampule.
This series of regeneration ampule is, well, how do I say it... It's an undiluted solution. It's not exactly like the commercially available ones.
……
What are you thinking right now?
Nothing.
When did you first recognize me?
Since you showed us the chickens in captivity.
It would have sufficed to give your visitors a cursory tour, yet you insisted on showing your personal laboratory...
You're right. I don't know about the others, but I wanted you to see the demonstrable proof of my success.
I'm still sad, though. You probably had plenty of time to express your joy of reuniting with this old friend of yours.
It is my thought that I no longer have companions by my side.
You haven't changed.
You've always enjoyed keeping precious things in bottles and watching them.
And you were intent on releasing and showing them.
Didst thou say "companions"? I must say, Yi Sang, many reunions with thy companions do await thee in this journey!
In an expedition past, the, err...one wearing a tinted eyewear did confront thee!
……
Aha. So you already had a reunion to celebrate. No wonder you're being so detached with me.
How troubling for you, though.
Looks like there'll be another you have to face.
<What do you mean?>
I thought everyone had made their escape thanks to Shrenne's snitching...
But I suppose that wasn't the case.
Someone walks in, exuding a suffocatingly thick scent of flowers.
Holding a bright golden branch in her hand, an object now familiar to me.
She had a worn monochrome photograph in her other hand.
It's a fine photograph. Only one of this shot remains in this world now.
So many old friends, and not one to greet me with delight.
Won't you give that picture back to me? It may not look like it, but it's a cherished treasure of mine.
Mr. Dongrang, you shouldn't get close to her! It's dangerous!
All troops, do not carelessly approach her! The Golden Bough may be destroyed...
I agree with it.
Faust will come up with a way to retrieve it in no time.
Tch, why do we keep running into problems that a good pummeling can't solve! This is right infuriating...
Everyone yells and shouts with their own goal in mind.
Regardless of the noise, the person with the Golden Bough steadily walks this way.
However, instead of going for Dongrang...
That piquant and fragrant smell made me feel as though the ground was sinking.
…!
She plunged the Golden Bough in her hand into Yi Sang's chest...
And Yi Sang collapses on the ground.
I...didn't think you would end up choosing him before my eyes.
<Yi Sang!>
You can have this back.
A photograph is nothing more than a taxidermied moment.
Even while drenched in blood, the Golden Bough still glows.
Contrasting the golden dazzle...
The faded monochrome photograph slowly falls to the floor.