The Big Brother (after battle)
You regenerate... Like nothing happened.
Unlike my hairdo... Which should have received its rightful care that day... and will never recover...
Can my clock even make a difference against someone so overwhelmingly powerful?
My legs began to shake. Strategy, resurrections... it all seemed completely meaningless against this onslaught.
Dan... te.
Faust's voice calling my name has never sounded more hollow.
<... Speak, Faust.>
You must come up with a new plan...
My bodily functions will cease again in a matter of moments. This may be my last meaningful advice to you.
And sooner or later, that man from the Middle will come for you.
<What...>
The involvement of an individual affiliated with the Middle... should not have happened.
It will not matter how many times you turn the clock... That man will crush your clock as soon as he tires of inventing different ways of killing Heathcliff.
There is a button on the back of your head. Tap it ... times... Hold it ... times...
I'd grown accustomed to total annihilation.
We've had plenty on our journey here.
The Sinners always gave their lives to learn our enemies' weaknesses or patterns, while I worked out a strategy from the rear.
And the answer would always be somewhere within our reach.
Slowly but surely, we'd figure out the answer. And for that promise of an answer, the Sinners rose again.
But...
This time was...
Once you have completed the sequence, you have 30 seconds before the charge in your head explodes.
In other words, you can self-detonate.
<…….>
That is our last resort - an emergency preventative measure to stop our enemies from getting their hands on the Golden Boughs.
While the explosion radius may be small, the heat and the force it generates are powerful enough to melt even the Stars of the City. It should be effective enough to cremate the Golden Boughs as well...
<What about Vergilius? He said he'd come help before... my... head...>
... I see that you now have the full understanding of our predicament. We have no way of relaying our present situation to him. Even if he did learn of our troubles, he has no means to reach us within the next two hours.
<What about the Sinners? When I'm gone, you guys are...>
I am well aware of the consequences. My world will meet its end here. That is why this is your last resort.
<I-I could keep running away. I'll take the boat and try to stay alive until the laws of the Lake lets Vergilius cross the borders, and...>
... There is a chance, yes. But it is incredibly slim.
<……>
This was the second time after Siegfried.
The overwhelming sense of dread. So overwhelming that it breaks even our fighting spirits.
The incident with Siegfried was humiliating, but he wasn't there to obliterate us. He was just there to teach us a lesson...
But this man... He's not going to stop until he's completely broken every Sinner's will. Until he's satisfied. Until the 'humiliation' the Middle faced is recuperated... He will kill.
... Even though this may be the end of LCB, the world... no. Limbus Company must continue to exist... Dante, you must make a judgment call.
Look what we have here.
I've torn you to pieces, yet with burning eyes, you still attempt to rise.
Agh... We can't... not here... Not like this...
Haha! Tick-tock and bring back the dead, huh?!
What a world we live in. Is that kinda tech even allowed in the City, though? Guess I'll go ask the Great Sister once I get back.
<Ishmael, we...>
... Can't win.
I'm sure Ishmael knew that better than anyone. I couldn't bring myself to tell her the same thing.
Shut up.
Stop fucking around and do your job.
Give it another try, why don'tcha?
Kach...
Bring me... back... Again...
Ishmael and I were nothing more than entertainment to him.
With every turn of the clock, with every revival, he howled with laughter and clapped with joy.