Liberi Reader

It's been a long time, Buldrokkas'tee.

......

Dame, Kal'tsit?

Why don't... you age?

Shieldguards. Guerrillas. Stand by. Hold position.

Roger.

Lord.

The way you talk... is that because of an infected organ in your larynx?

No. Just, over time, became like this. I can't, speak smoothly, anymore.

Dame... I never thought, I'd see you, again.

I remember, faintly. When my people, left. You and, Her Majesty, didn't stop us.

That was a long, long time ago.

I was, in my prime. Now I know, too sudden. I was wrong, about the King.

...You'll still call her 'Majesty' and 'King.'

A king, is a king.

When I left, she wasn't. Now, she has passed.

......

You still distinguish the King of Kazdel and the Emperor of Ursus.

Decorum. War does not, muddle, my thoughts. Who I served? All gone.

Ursus now, is my homeland, too. My liege, buried in Ursus. Vast land.

...To long, Dame. When we left...

My people were, not yet withered. Still, it was not, long.

But you... no change. The years, did not change you.

Not true. The years have changed us all, Buldrokkas'tee. I'm not the same woman I was before.

Buldrokkas'tee... why did you leave Kazdel?

Why I left, I think, you will laugh.

I left, because, I hated killing.

...But for my life, I have killed.

All that you've been through has only tempered your will. Your blood still flows in your veins. I will not laugh at you. You've earned respect.

High praise, Dame. I failed to avoid, killing. I did, kill so many.

Dame, this name... Do you know, how I got it?

Your followers consider you a true warrior, fighting for Ursus. You fight injustice, slavery, bloodshed and oppression for the future of Ursus.

Do you agree?

(Shakes his head)

Even if war, is necessary, such a title, is trouble.

For many, we started war. But war, is murder.

The war ends. If it, truly, ends. We should, all die.

But war never ends.

But I will die.

But, for my death, I want, meaning. I want to see, for Ursus, for the Infected, another future.

I asked, many times, of my people, Kazdel. You and, Her Majesty, worked together, for many years. She trusted you.

So, I too, trust you.

You led, Rhodes Island, here. Not for blood.

...But them, those two. They stink, of my daughter. Her death.

——!

Mr. Patriot...

No. No more.

Do you seek vengeance on Rhodes Island, Patriot?

No, Dame. Not vengeance.

Why take, vengeance, for her, actions?

That was, her path. She chose. No matter, where it ended.

Quiet.

...Mr. Patriot?

She's, so young. Only knows, blind trust.

The truth, we believed, in the end, is exposed. Only a few, wolves, in sheep's clothing.

Mr. Patriot! Miss FrostNova gave her life, her Arts... everything...

Miss FrostNova let go of everything just to prove herself, her anger, her ideals...

Her life had meaning!

Enough. Not your place, to say this.

Oh...

(Amiya, don't. Say no more.)

What, do you know?

If my daughter, was not, terminal... Killing you, would be easy, for her. Like slicing wheat, with a sickle.

What you, endured, I do not care.

It means, nothing. It proves, nothing.

And is she, declaring it, Ursus territory?

Patriot... how... then why...?

The puppetmaster, has many tools. Puppetmasters, think alike.

But I cannot, let you through. Reunion, cannot destroy, itself.

I won't, betray again. Or they, the Infected, the struggle, are for nothing. They die.

Even if, Talulah, has gone mad...

How do I tell, the Infected, their leader, is mad? A traitor?

How do I say, she is wrong now, but once right? How do I say, she, who you follow, must now die?

I won't let, Reunion, become 'Infected, civil war, then nothing.' I will not.

But Reunion won't be able to carry its own weight. And besides, Talulah has been working secretly to destroy Reunion from within.

You are right, Dame Kal'tsit.

And so, you are here.

I prepared, to face, many types of foe.

But I did not, expect, in the end, to fight Infected.

...Is this really what you choose?

Buldrokkas'tee... You don't have to die.

Choose? I have only, one choice.

To kill you.

Patriot, we don't need to throw more lives away! This isn't like it was with Miss FrostNova! No matter who wins, this battle is playing right into the enemy's hands!

Wrong.

Cautus, this, is war.

You want me, to stop. Why, should I stop?

I fought far, too many wars.

As the, Wendigo, of Ursus... barbarians. Flayers, ripped flesh from bone, vicious herds, we cleansed.

Monsters. Twisted, stinking limbs, eyes in the, hundreds. Fingers in, the thousands. We slaughtered.

Warriors. Victoria, with steam armor. Kazimierz, with Silverlance Pegasi. Laterano, with Apostolic, Gun-Knights. All of them, we defeated, utterly.

But we cannot, defeat ourselves. Cannot defeat, the Empire's greed. Cannot defeat, our people's deaths.

We, the Wendigos, are the Sarkaz, closest, to death.

You are stained, with my daughter's death.

In this world, there are fates, worse than death.

Why should I stop? Who dares, test me? My virtue?

They called me, righteous. Should I, accept?

Fate thinks me weak. Do I suffer it? They called me strong. Should I bear it?

Traitor, rebel, butcher, guardian...

All of them, like 'Patriot.' On the battlefield, they are nothing, but scraps.

Rhodes Island...

You killed her. I'll kill you.

It is not, revenge. I have no heart, for vengeance.

My daughter just, gave up the fight.

If not, then how? She gave her life, and you still live?!

I, will not, give up.

I only know, what I see. I only know, what I hold.

I don't fight you, for my daughter.

...But I loathe fate.

I will fell it, crush it, grind it to dust.

If fate, lets you, make me turn.

I would rather, never turn, back.

...Captain! Are you really going to...?

Anyone who, thinks me, dishonorable. Stand now, challenge me.

But if you, value your life... We part, here.

I don't want, for you, a foolish death. I won many times. I know this, too well.

You can't...

Buldrokkas'tee, don't be stupid, you can live on.

Dame, you too, have tasted loss.

And so, could you, stand by, and watch?

—You—

My blood, no longer, serves her. Yes. My country... is Ursus.

But when she, died. We heard it... that long, long gasp.

......

So you could feel it...

That was the moment with the pulse containing her Arts spread through the body of every Sarkaz in the world.

It was only an instant. But you felt it. That means your blood... is ancient enough.

So ancient that, I am alone.

I never thought, born in Kazdel, never Infected... Then, an old man, I tasted it, Oripathy.

Is that right?

We all know, Dame. We all know. Things in this world, do not happen, because they are, right.

In fact, most things, are mistakes, again.

My men said, I can fix them. In fact, they are too many. There is no, looking back.

Do you fight, to this day, for what, you lost, Dame?

I think, no.

I think, you lost, and you refuse, to lose more.

......

My daughter, has passed.

—I fight not, for her death. I fight, for the living, for all Infected, to the end.

Reunion, cannot fail.

Reunion must, liberate. All Infected.

Are you sending messages for him and his men?

What will you say to him?

...You're trying to set up the guerrillas. You're... you're going to turn the Ursus Infected against them, to kill them.

You know they won't raise a hand against the civilians.

Hate is the strongest weapon. It's a killer.

But he won't die.

He's Patriot... he's all the greatest legends summed up in one man. I've seen his armor. I've seen him swing a weapon.

He can't die! He and his people are the strongest fighters in all Reunion!

You want to kill the Infected. You devils never cared about life, but he does!

He's Ursus... he's Sarkaz, and he's Infected! But none of those qualities push him to do wrong!

He's not just Ursus, he's not just Sarkaz, he's not just an Infected. He's the Patriot, just the Patriot.

He'll beat you, he'll block your attacks, spit on your insults, regroup the Infected, and cleanse their hate...

He's Patriot, and he won't die.

And you're a bunch of maggots, dancing on the strings of the disgusting schemers running this show.

......

You're talking like that because you know you're gonna die.

And you're definitely right about that.

Patriot's pretty tough. But you're not. You're gonna die.

So you, will not pass. I will not, allow it.

To go through, central district, you have to, kill me.

Otherwise, my guerrillas, will hunt. And I, will be here, strangling you, to death.

You will die, at my hands.

Only if, you kill me, will your value, be known. Otherwise, you are only, intruders.

Of course, I don't believe, you have any, value.

I don't know, how you could, resist, my people's, witchcraft. But you will not, survive, Ursus tactics.

I don't hate, anyone.

I just don't, trust you. I cannot, trust.

Even you, Lord. You brought...

You won't approve of us.

I don't believe, in coincidences.

War.

War, does not care. Not about right, or wrong.

It does not, care about, the suffering, or the oppressed, or the enslaved. Off the battlefield, there are. On the battlefield, there are not.

You must prepare, for the battlefield.

Whoever dies, is wrong.

I can't... I can't understand him...!

What is he saying... why do we have to fight?

Fight, or be crushed.

Resist, and be crushed.

Unless, you defeat, me.

If fate, stands with me, I kill you. Then I, shall kill it. So it cannot, mock anyone, ever again.

If fate, stands with you.

I can only, go forward. Advance.

......

All operators, fall back, immediately!

I step forward.

Our target is an Infected commander of the Reunion movement, code name: 'Patriot.'

His armor, his strength, his stature, far surpass anything you would expect of a warrior.

Originium may have taken over many of his physiological functions. The Originium in what was once his larynx... is a product of the high rate of crystallization happening inside his body.

That's the most we've been able to gather from our intel.

I have reason to believe that a typically fatal wound will not do any significant damage to him, as the Originium will grow and replace tissue damage!

Wendigos naturally exhibit an extremely high metabolic and repair capacity. And from where we stand, we don't know whether his infection is causing him pain, or is a benign mutation.

But no matter how resilient he may be, we have to kill him.

Only by killing him can we get through the central district, reach the bridge, and stop the enemy's exploitation of Reunion!

His guards have been confused by his actions. This is our last chance.

Dr. Kal'tsit...

...We're just a fork in his road. All that we've built means nothing to him.

We're a choice just like 'go kill Talulah right now.' But I think that one carries more weight to him, might be worth further investigation.

To put it frankly, he's looking down on us.

Even with Dr. Kal'tsit here...

Even the Emperor of Ursus himself couldn't get him to bow his head, let alone me.

We'll have to use his death... to open his eyes, and make him see all that we've done, and make him realize that we're stronger than him.

But there's no way he himself could ever... change. Everything else, all that you value, is too fragile for him. It can't bear his weight.

Hellagur from Azazel misjudged this Sarkaz's character.

...No matter how noble Buldrokkas'tee may be, no matter how much he carries on his shoulders, he is an indomitable warrior, first and foremost.

FrostNova trusted you, so she gave the last bit of her life to you... But Patriot does not.

He doesn't trust. He only trusts himself.

(...Even outwardly.)

Prepare for battle. It all comes down to battle now.

—Only war can kill him.

Wise choice, Lord.

Guerrillas, regroup.

You have only, a few minutes left.

I say, no more.

I seek no, understanding. I only, win wars.

Rhodes Island, I advance.