The Calamity (before battle)

Ah... There it is.

Our destination, the Lobotomy Corp. Branch of U Corp.

You think they're still there...? The survivors Pilot mentioned?

... Unless aught has transpired since then, we still have time aplenty.

As Sinclair and Yi Sang shared their thoughts, the large structure loomed ever closer, out of the mist and into our line of sight.

Ho. Creepy.

Every Sinner, save for Ryōshū, froze.

That's... the Lobotomy Corp. Branch...?

We are as close as it is physically possible to be to the center of the area delineated by the coordinates. The structure's size and appearance match the intel we received as well.

Ah... Ahh...

The sight was enough to shut everyone up.

To hope that there may be any survivors in this structure was far too optimistic a notion for what appeared before us.

I observe the Lobotomy Corp. logo between the white materials.

So that's... really...

Only the smeared logo of the Lobotomy Corp. Branch glistened amidst mounds of pallid, blasphemous white. This was the undeniable reality we found ourselves in.

What the hell happened here...?

Pilot said that the last thing that the Twinhook Pirates said before leaving this place was...

'The Calamity is coming', wasn't it?

This sight summons to my mind memories from the earlier days of this company. The manner in which the organic tissues are... plastered over the walls is quite reminiscent of that experience.

Eugh... Back at the D Corp. Branch, right? I hope there's no poison gas trap or anything like that in here...

At D Corp., there was a traitor in our midst. Thus, it would be false equivalency to use that experience to gauge the intensity of this mission.

Yeah, I... don't think it'll be much better here... if not worse.

Then... Pilot's team is already...

We should consider them lucky if they haven't been turned into Mermaids...

<So the Calamity was...>

The Calamity that Pilot mentioned didn't destroy the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.

It transformed this place into something uncanny. Something so grotesque that total obliteration would've been preferable to whatever happened here.

Well, destruction isn't the only kind of calamity in this world.

The Great Lake is home to five Calamities. Well... four now, I suppose.

Whatever do you mean?

I meant that... Hm. You'll find out soon enough.

It won't matter how careful you are. At the Great Lake, the Calamities will always find you. The laws of the Great Lake don't apply to them... making it impossible to predict their patterns.

And now's the time to row your way into the ruins the Calamity left behind.

Take the skiff to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch. It's on the Lake adjacent to this one.

I'll be keeping my distance and watching from this Lake, just in case of an emergency.

<Isn't that exactly why you should be coming with us?>

Who knows what the guide bud's thinking, eh?

After a quick tinkering from Faust, the skiff tied to the side of Mephistopheles began its slow descent.

It's the same skiff we used to get to the cruise ship.

We're getting a lot of use out of this boat.

Mm, I still don't trust this dinghy... It's too small.

The small engine on the skiff revved gently, and our short, sputtering journey to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch began.

Are Lakes usually this foggy? The Lake earlier was pretty misty, too...

Mm, we must remain vigilant! Fogged up horizons are climate quite ripe for an ambush! Forsooth, 'tis the number one rule of adventuring tales!

There was a growing sense of trepidation among the Sinners...

... as we climbed the pale membrane-enveloped stairs leading up to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.

Hey, Dante? Can you... sense it? The Golden Bough?

<Not yet...>

Hmm... You sure about that?

Rodya was visibly disappointed. Maybe she was half-hoping that I'd tell her that the Golden Bough wasn't here, so we should turn around and head right back to Mephistopheles.

Ugh, I know I'm the worry wart of the team whenever we gotta check out places like this, but... I have a real bad feeling about this, guys...

The closer we got to the entrance, the more reluctant the Sinners's gaits became.

As though they were growing increasingly wary that some unseen enemy could ambush them at any second.

What's the holdup? Aren't you coming?

Don't you feel it? This dread... I thought it would affect you most. You're the one who spent years on the Lake, after all.

So? That's what's stopping you?

It's... Haah...

Wait by the entrance if you're not going.

What did you expect, mate? I've given up talking sense into her a while ago.

I thought she'd gotten a bit more cooperative as of late. ... Guess I was wrong.

Well... We do have to go.

Ishmael appeared to be the only Sinner uninterested in the Golden Bough.

The Golden Bough, the unfathomable, bone-chilling horrors of the Lake...

I was starting to believe that she considered all of that nothing but obstacles between her and her mission.

What may be this pale, mucous membrane covering the entirety of this structure?

Some kind of mold... Maybe?

I.F.

To identify it as fungi would require it to exhibit characteristics unlike the ones we can observe here...

Hm. I agree. They don't appear to be fungi. In fact...

They appear to be made of organic, living flesh tissue. See the blood vessels here. They've grown into random shapes without purpose or intent.

Ridiculous. I am surrounded by I.F.

What do you mean?

Art reliant on the chaos of existence cannot create patterns such as these.

Look at the big picture, fool.

Gazing upon the big picture, I only see a pointless disputation that does naught but wastes our vigor.

... Tsk.

You do not intend to stall, no? See thither. Ishmael already walks at a fair distance away from us.

…….