Liberi Reader

You have determined that the momentous migration has come to a conclusion in reality.

That conclusion has been mapped onto the space you are in. The rift that looks as if it has been plowed open by a Catastrophe bisects the plaza in front of the Basilica. By the rift, there is an even more eye-grabbing pit.

Ugly scars in what should have been a city trapped in stasis.

The ring-shaped machine sits silently within.

You look at Priestess. She remains calm, as if she does not care about what has happened in the slightest.

You feel uneasy.

You walk past Mon3tr toward Priestess. Mon3tr immediately tenses up, and she pulls on your arm.

After a brief moment of hesitation, she lets go, but decides to stick close to you as you walk ahead.

You stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Priestess.

As she looks out at the city devoid of life, she sighs.

She begins to fade away.

Priestess vanishes without a trace—your target is gone.

There is only silence, absolute silence. You and Mon3tr are the only ones left trapped inside this colorless ghost town.

You finally notice what's odd about Mon3tr. Your enemy has retreated, the crisis has passed, but the young woman, normally so lively and energetic, does not smile like she usually does.

She even looks somewhat solemn.

Mon3tr hasn't been reconstructed for very long. You still haven't gotten completely used to her new appearance, nor has she had the time to adapt to the changes in her body, or the loss that cut her to the bone.

But she has been thrown into mission after mission far too quickly. Rebuilding Rhodes Island, saving Laterano... Perhaps it has taken up until now for her to finally have the chance to speak her mind.

Mon3tr looks up at you all of a sudden, interrupting your train of thought.

Color seeps out from the ruins of this colorless ghost town.

It starts from the street to the right of the Tower of Revelations, and then through the Notarial Hall and firearms workshops in Pagus Michaelion, to the Sunset Chapel in Pagus Saint Marcel, and then all the way to the chapel square...

Noise returns to the Holy City.

It is the sound of Laterans offering a prayer to life.

The 'angel' hovers in front of the hole in the barrier. It attempts to reestablish a connection with the individuals scattered amongst the stars, but to no avail.

All it manages to capture are the ripples left behind by energy entities as they die in the depths of space.

And so, it continues to orbit across the land, like a shooting star destined to never fall...

She calms the child down, and then takes the newspaper from their hand.

Over a few short days, countless rumors have spread across the city, but the most alarming one is—

'Our Originium vein has disappeared. If we can't get any energy out of Mother Earth, how are we supposed to make it through the winter?'

Hierda shakes her head.

Hierda looks out into the distance, despite knowing the vast wilderness will show her nothing in return.

She sees something streaking across the sky.

A shooting star?

The Iberian coast, a cliff by the sea

A Seaborn clings tight to the sharp rocks.

The sound of distant naval barrages is carried over by the sea breeze, but the Seaborn does not care, focusing its efforts on climbing.

The Seaborn finally arrives at the peak of the cliff.

What greets it is a boundless expanse of dry land, and a flash of light up amidst the heavens.

A shooting star?

The Seaborn shifts its body in confusion in response to the momentary distraction, and its appendages brush against something.

A shining black rock rolls off the cliff, dropping straight down into the ocean.

The Seaborn tries to see what it was, but it has already been engulfed by the billowing waves.