Grant Us Love

Some time later...

Phew, that's a relief... At least it wasn't indestructible.

A rubble of broken stones lay about the exhausted Sinners' feet.

But that didn't last long.

I see... It fades away to naught.

Yes. While the entity took the form of a stone stele, an object commonly composed of inorganic matter, it is likely that its existence itself is perceived as a religious artifact in certain indeterminate locales.

Mm~ True. That giant object did suddenly appear out of thin air before dropping right in front of us.

The stele, which had once threatened the Sinners with its tentacles, soon disappeared from our sight like it never existed.

If Faust hadn't pushed me into the hallway just in time, I'd have been...

Dante!

WHAM!

<We would've all died forever if that thing had crushed me, too...>

We were not crushed by the stele, to be exact. The real issue was the shockwave that came after the crash.

I thought I slipped away in time, but... I had no idea the shockwave would be so deadly.

<We're going to have to find a way to deal with that shockwave somehow, or it'll be too risky to continue with our Walpurgis Night expedition.>

I'm not saying that I'm scared of the pain I have to go through when reviving the Sinners. Which really, really hurts, of course, especially when it's twelvefold, but...

... I'm not sure if I want to ask them to repeatedly run a mission that's guaranteed to kill them in the end.

Moreover, we don't even know if whatever we'll find here will be worth all the trouble.

According to the information given, it is said that Ordeals cannot occur in immediate succession...

... They can't occur right after one another...? What, did the giant piece of rock have nothin' to do with an Ordeal, then?

Yes, it was indeed an Ordeal of Violet. However, this was... the Noon of Violet.

Ordeals of the Noon are a degree higher than Ordeals of the Dawn, which we already have experience with.

Faust's brows were frowning at a nigh-imperceptible angle; she was sighing even as she relayed that information to us, clearly perturbed by something.

... I suddenly recalled what Faust speculated back at the WARP train: that the Gesellschaft may have made a purposeful omission.

<You think this is the Gesellschaft withholding information from you again?>

There is no evidence to say for certain. They did not withhold the information regarding the Ordeal of Noon; thus, a more likely explanation is that this was merely a manifestation of a rare possibility.

... Yet your suggestion does concern me.

<…….>

If it was indeed a manifestation of a rare possibility, then we must seek for clues in this Walpurgis Night that may point us to an explanation.

<So... should we explore further?>

But -

Hello, everyone! Can you hear me...?

A loud buzz, crackle, and an unfamiliar voice broke through the awkward silence we were meandering in.

Blimey! Who said that?!

Ooh! I hearken unto thee!!!

Oh... I guess I can't hear your answers anyway.

Ahem, ahem. Ignore what I just said. Hello, this is Hod from the Training Team speaking!

Mm. It appears that the Sephirah 'Hod', whose name we first learned of in the earlier document, is the one speaking to us.

Aha... so this is her voice, huh?

Gotta say, this is kinda what we all expected her to sound, right?

We are all investigating how and why an Ordeal of Noon occurred immediately after the Dawn.

I understand that an unfamiliar situation like this may cause a sense of alarm and anxiety. But there's nothing to worry about as long as you remember the instructions under the Exception #40-AA Measure, which I made sure to mention in every training session!

Exception #40-AA...? Just how many exceptions did she come up with...?

She must be a leader with a very hands-on approach to team management. Commanders who are overprotective of their personnel often make such mistakes.

G-guys, I don't think it's time to share our first impressions...! We don't know what measure she's talking about! At this rate, we'll get -

Oh.

There was a dull 'thwick' just as Sinclair began to air his concerns.

Uh, d-d-did-did I just get... shot...?!

You there, at the lobby... You've been dozing off during our drills, haven't you?

I'm pretty sure I explained that in outlier cases like these, we'll be firing Physical Intervention Shield bullets we share with the middle layer...

So why are you acting all surprised like you've never been shot before...? Haah...

Shield... bullets...?

<Huh, that 'bullet' does look kinda familiar, actually...>

We carefully approached Sinclair to take a closer look at where the projectile hit him.

Oh hey, I recognize this. This looks just like the decay ampule...

... that almost melted me into a puddle back at K Corp. Eugh, I'm getting unpleasant goosebumps just from thinking about it.

You were totally badass though, Ishy~ Jumping right in front of Dante, taking the bullets for them and everything!

Hah, then she went ahead and hurled a bloody harpoon into Clockhead's shoulder herself only a few months later.

Heh. Like a good circular narrative structure.

Okay, you smartasses...

It is not a K Corp. ampule. While it is true that K Corp.'s technology was used to regenerate its employees, a barrier field like this fundamentally differs from the type of technology used by K Corp.

... It is said that Lobotomy Corporation maintained collaborative relationships with other Wings, including K Corp. Through the said collaborations, they obtained bullets and ampules of diverse functionalities useful for the workings of this company.

It appears that this Shield bullet is a result of one such partnership.

Wait, then this bullet will...

It is said that this bullet can partially negate physical damage... which is also known as 'RED damage' in Lobotomy Corporation terminology.

It will likely shield us from the shockwave created by the stele as well.

We'll have a counseling session later about your lack of focus during training... For now, please try to suppress this Ordeal of Noon as soon as possible.

I'll give everyone a Physical Intervention Shield, so let's try to take care of this Ordeal with as few casualties as possible!

Dante, let us...

<... Oh, right. Let's get a move on and deal with the other steles as well.>

Indeed. It would be preferable if we returned after confirming the destruction of steles in other areas as well.

We will have to visit Lobotomy Corporation Headquarters of different possibilities as well; we will make use of the Sephirah and the Shield as soon as we are able then.

<Mm... good idea.>

Thanks to the unexpected support from a Sephirah, we were able to explore further through the Walpurgis Night.

... All those trainings were for their own good. Is that so hard to understand...?

It was just that... I couldn't help but think back to Hod's last few utterances that managed to slip through the static.

It made me wonder what really went down here, at the Headquarters of Lobotomy Corporation.