Liberi Reader

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Amiya

So this is the airship...

'Trilby Asher'

All our attempts to infiltrate it ended in failure. Anyone who approached simply vanished into thin air.

'Trilby Asher'

Is that some kind of Sarkaz witchcraft? Surely the Lord of Fiends would know how to neutralize it.

Amiya

I...

Amiya

Is Theresa here?

Amiya

But I can't feel—

Amiya

Urgh!

A heavy pressure comes over her.

It is far too thick, far too cruel, to be described or spoken of.

Amiya can hardly stand.

Amiya

What... is this...?

'Trilby Asher'

What are you doing, Lord of Fiends? Don't try anything funny!

'Trilby Asher'

Neutralize it with your witchcraft! Or else...

'Trilby Asher'

Ugh—

Ascalon.

Ascalon

Sorry I'm late.

'Trilby Asher'

Calm down, Ascalon.

'Trilby Asher'

This was all my colleague's plan! I tried to talk him out of it!

'Trilby Asher'

I don't intend to harm your Doctor. We're just getting a deal done. You'll be the witness.

Ascalon

Then get out of my way.

Ascalon

—

What is it?

......

You're really pale.

Ascalon

You can't feel it because you're not Sarkaz.

Ascalon

We're coming face to face with our history. The sum of the Sarkaz's millennia of suffering.

Ascalon

It's angry. It's screaming, and it's making all of us listen to it.

Ascalon

No wonder.

Ascalon

Ha, the dukes are going to be disappointed. This is no engineering or technology that can be copied.

Ascalon

The ship itself is a revenant.

How did the Sarkaz live?

How did the Sarkaz live in the beginning?

The Elders and the Ancients had not come upon the land yet. All things were how they should be.

Then they came.

They killed and slaughtered. They brought barbarism and rage upon the land. Their fangs and claws were not pointed at just each other, but at us as well.

The proud Sarkaz never surrendered. We fought back.

We fought rage with rage. They will taste the fruit of vengeance!

But Kazdel was destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Despicable!

They stopped at nothing. They were cunning, shameless, cruel.

How dare they trample upon pure Kazdel?!

How dare they?!

Amiya

Argh—

Amiya

I... the voices...

Ascalon

Don't let it affect you, Amiya!

Ascalon

Resist the illusion!

Amiya

I know, I'm trying...

Amiya

Argh—Aah—

Kazdel was destroyed.

The King of Sarkaz and the Royal Court led us in the fight against the scum. The Sarkaz will not permit such shameful failure.

But those cowardly Sarkaz, who call themselves the Sankta, deserted their duty. They betrayed their people, betrayed themselves!

The walls fell again, and with it our dream.

No matter. The traitors will be purged. Kazdel will stand again.

As long as the King of Sarkaz still stands, we will never fall.

'Trilby Asher'

The shadows...

'Trilby Asher'

No, it's not like the shadows from Ines's Arts. What is it?

Ascalon

Get out of the airship's shadow, Doctor!

The airship's shadow wriggles, stretches. The other 'Trilby Asher' whom Ascalon knocked to the ground disappears in the dark ocean.

'Trilby Asher'

What the hell is this...?

Suffocating black, suffocating despair, suffocating fury.

The King of Sarkaz will lead us. The King of Sarkaz.

Thirty-four times did Kazdel fall.

Six hundred and seventy-five times did Kazdel fall.

Three thousand four hundred and twenty-one times did Kazdel fall.

The shortest it took was three days, between the rebuilding of Kazdel's walls, and the hoofs of pegasi trampling it to dust.

Time and again Kazdel was destroyed. Time and again, it was rebuilt.

Time has changed our faces and theirs. But the way has never ended. Our resistance never wavered.

But each rebuilding of Kazdel took longer than the previous one.

Our civilization was devastated. Our arts were forgotten.

But we still have our hatred. The King of Sarkaz will slay our foes with it!

I am proud of this, of our unwavering resolve.

But what do I see?

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A twisted chimera...

An Outblood King?!

The King of Sarkaz who stands before me is an Outblood?!

This crown is not yours to wear! This pain is not yours to stand with!

This fury is not yours to stand for!

Answer me, impostor! Answer me, fraud!

Answer the revenant's question!

Amiya

The revenant...

Open your eyes and see, False King!

What do you see?

Amiya

I see...

Ascalon

Don't look, Amiya! It's the revenant's witchcraft!

Amiya

......

Amiya

I saw tears.

Amiya

I saw deep, heavy sorrow.

Amiya

Has this sorrow always been with you?

Sorrow? This is no sorrow.

I feel no sorrow anymore.

Amiya

You have scorched your wound with the flames of rage.

Amiya

It's... painful.

I know what is real and what is false!

Answer my question!

How—dare you—

Twisted—Outblood—

How—dare—you—

Carry the burden of the Sarkaz!!!

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Ascalon stumbles.

Are you ok, Ascalon?

Ascalon

I... I'm fine...

Ascalon

Amiya—

Amiya looks up towards the great shadow of the revenant.

You cannot see her face. You only know she is looking up.

Amiya

You're right, Revenant. I should see. I have seen.

Amiya

I have seen it all.

Amiya

All three thousand four hundred and twenty-one destructions, every brick that turned to ash.

Amiya

I saw the resistance of every King of Sarkaz. I saw their hearts, each and every one of them.

Amiya

I saw the tears and blood swallowed. I saw the dust and broken pieces.

Amiya

Familiar silhouettes fall, overlapping with one another. Familiar scenes replay themselves.

Amiya

I have seen. I see. I will see.

Amiya

I never averted my eyes, Revenant.

Amiya

I will remember.

Amiya

Every hard decision, every death and sacrifice, every destruction, every hope.

—I made you see, Chimera.

I made you see!!

Impostor! There is not a single moment that I do not experience it, feel the burning flames!

But you?

Yes, you could see it, like a map, like a play, a mere passerby watching from above the cliffs.

I denounce you, False King, I despise you, not because of your foolishness, not because of your arrogance, not because of your conceit.

It's because you can never truly stand with us.

Amiya

But I've tried—

Tried?

You could try to not avert your eyes—

But you can still turn away any time you choose.

Amiya

I...

You're not Sarkaz. You will never be.

The souls of the Sarkaz reject you.

You call our fate 'pain?' You say you try to endure it—

But we are fated to be buried by it for eternity.

You say you have the courage. But if the day comes that you can take it no more...

You can abandon us.

Amiya

I won't—

How many seasons have you seen? How dare you promise that you won't?

No, you will. You will, because you can.

How could Sarkaz pick such a king? How could Sarkaz accept such a king?

Amiya

Theresa wanted me to be... she said we can share in the same feelings, even if we're not of the same blood!

Then she was a fool!

If you truly share the same feelings... now that you have seen it all...

Why do you come before me?

Why do you try to stop this war?

Amiya

I...

Amiya finds herself at a loss for words.

Why does she want to stop this war?

She has seen the anger, the pain, the longing.

Why does she want to stop this war?

There is no other way for the Sarkaz.

No Sarkaz could come to any other answer, after coming face to face with it all.

Amiya

But...

Amiya realizes that, for an instant, she understood Theresa's choice.

Drown tears with tears, and bury suffering with suffering.

Only scorched earth will bring new life to the Sarkaz.

Amiya

But...

Amiya

Still... I renounce this path.

The revenant was right.

She renounced it. She can never truly stand with them.

She can leave.

Get out!

Get out of us!

The shadow wriggles furiously, splitting apart, growing so thick it seems to take physical form.

The chaotic shadow of the revenant emerges from the empty shipyard.

Eblana

Hello there, big one.

The purple flame impacts the black shadow.

Eblana

You interest me, Revenant.

Eblana

What ember will you leave behind when you burn?

'Trilby Asher'

—

'Trilby Asher'

That Draco... Eblana.

'Trilby Asher'

Nothing in the mission brief said she would show up!

'Trilby Asher'

Go! Hurry!

Amiya!

Amiya

I... I'm fine...

Here, hold onto me.

Amiya

Doctor, I...

Amiya

They're right... I can't stand with them...

Maybe that's why it has to be you.

Amiya

...Huh?

Ascalon

The Draco's fire is getting closer!

Ascalon

She's strong! We shouldn't try to fight her here!

Eblana

......

Eblana

Hmph... interesting.

Eblana

Rhodes Island...

Eblana

I seem to hear that name often lately.

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Royal Court Soldier

G-General... the Draco...

Manfred

Pay no heed.

Manfred

Her flames burn nothing but her own short-sighted ambition.

Manfred

Lead us away from here, Great Revenant. This shipyard is too small for your fury. The noises of those Outblood are not worth your time.

Manfred

I have heard from the Regent. He is ready.

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Eblana

......

'The Brigadier'

Your Royal Highness.

'The Brigadier'

The Sarkaz airship has taken off and is slowly turning towards Londinium.

'The Brigadier'

Battleship squadrons are ready to intercept on the perimeter.

'The Brigadier'

Other regiments are also assembling.

Eblana

Oh?

'The Brigadier'

The Duke of Windermere's fleet is already deployed near the plate. The Duke of Caster's ships are also in movement and will likely approach in short order.

Eblana

Looks like everyone cares a lot about this place.

???

Do they?