Will of the Prescript (after battle)
Vespa moved with absolute efficiency. One moment his harpoon would deflect his opponent's blow; the next, it was carving out an opening for the Sinners to land their attack.
After a brief but fierce joint battle... the Index Apprentice fell to the ground, then could not bring herself back up.
Darling.
You just put them together. Like this...
Fpoon? How many times are you gonna use that lame simile?
Spork. Just like spork.
Fpoon.
Correct. Spork. The world isn't just divided into forks and spoons...
Putting the two together can be an answer, too.
Remember that whatever situation you're in. Even two techniques that look like total opposites...
... can coexist just fine.
.......
The quickest, deadliest form of attack may come in the form of a straight line...
But it can be redirected by a curve.
Whoa... Did Mister Rien... tell you that...?
That's so cool...
Um... C-could you... tell me some more? Anything that he used... to say...
.......
You'd rather waste the last moments of your life... on his ramblings?
Hey, the fight's not over yet. We can't waste time chatting with an enemy we already put down.
Just look at the other one... she seems way stronger.
That's right. The fight's not over yet.
... The Pinky Nursefather merely watches on from the sidelines with a quiet composure that tells us she could step into the fight at any moment if she wanted.
Off to the side, I can see Vespa stealing glances at the watch on his wrist, looking anxious.
... And I know that the people he wants to protect - the people he has to protect - aren't us.
<Meursault, tell Vespa...>
<We'll be handling things from here on out.>
Understood, Manager.
Your colleagues are located to the southeast of this corridor.
Considering the time of their departure, they should be approximately 2 kilometers away.
... You. Have we met somewhere before?
We have.
... I see.
Thank you for letting me know. I will take my leave.
Vespa seemed to grasp something from that brief exchange and gave a curt nod.
I hope we'll meet again soon for proper introductions.
<... Well, there he goes.>
Once Vespa left us, the Pinky Nursefather's oppressive presence again seems to suffocate the air out of the hallway.
It appeared for some reason that her purpose here wasn't to kill us by any means; I'd sent Vespa away for that precise reason, and by some fortune, I seemed to have been correct in doing so. However...
<In hindsight, maybe letting Vespa go was a bad idea considering what we're up against...>
He would not have cooperated further, Manager.
That man has an uncompromising sense of punctuality.
<Eh? You know that guy, Meursault?>
It is true that I am acquainted with him, but not in the scope of familiarity that society typically attributes to the word.
<Where'd you even meet someone that strong... w-wait, you weren't enemies, were you?>
No. He used to be a Taboo Hunter at N Corp.
N Corp.... Indeed, you once mentioned being an employee there.
I did.
So... were you a Taboo Hunter too?
I was not.
I had merely come upon an opportunity to examine his file,
and frequented the places the examination suggested a high chance of encountering him until our paths crossed.
<So you ran into him on purpose? Why?>
... Mm. There was no reason not to, Manager.
What does that even...
.......
Ryōshū never once turned an ear toward us throughout the entire conversation.
Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that she couldn't.
.......
She was, after all, glowering at the Pinky Nursefather with an unblinking gaze that seemed ready to bore a hole into her.
... How nauseatingly self-assured.
Just as Ryōshū said, the woman showed no signs of hostility, either - she was simply watching us, waiting for our next move.
... But that wasn't much consolation. I still couldn't think of any way that'd allow us to come out on top in this situation.
If only the Sinners were all here with me... we might've had a chance, but...
<Here with me, huh...>
Come to think of it, this wasn't the first time the Sinners were separated from me.
We'd previously been separated when we were ambushed back in Hongyuan, at that fake kezhan... and also when Don Quixote had briefly departed us in La Manchaland...
But despite the distance, these invisible chains that bound me and the Sinners had never once been severed.
Even when they were killed, departing to a place I couldn't follow, I always managed to reach past the searing gates of hellfire and bring them back through the impossible.
So... as long as these chains bind us together... maybe I can pull them to me, wherever they are?
<Return to me, stand with me here...>
<Return to me, stand with me here... stand tall... >
%*)(!&*■■(#%■■■#@(#■■.
<Agh?!>
Intense pain ravages through me, and my vision darkens as if my nonexistent eyelids were closing.
As if... I'd just perceived something I wasn't ready to face.
... Manager Bud?
<Earth be my head, the sky be at my feet.>
<The ladder is laid skyward, and the final Kingdom's heart lies penetrated.>
C.H. is on fire again.
This is much akin to the incident at the Yong-jin building...! The flame atop their head burns hot like true fire, as though a detonation is nigh!
<32 paths are revealed. The rises and falls of breaths are exiled and returned at the hour of inequivalence.>
They did eventually snap out of it last time...
<I am the key and the lock of the steadfast gate. The bell that once rang at the end rings the beginning.>
<In the new Millennial Kingdom shall the thirteen stand by my side.>
... Oho.
Not 12?
Miss Rodya? Sinclair...?
... Huh? W-what the heck? When'd you fellas get here? What happened to the LCE and the LCD?
No response. This is...
The heat dissipates, and my head cools once again...