Ten meters separate Skadi from the person before her, as they stare face to face.
Skadi
You. You're very strong.
High Inquisitor
You should not have set foot in this city.
Skadi
I'm already here.
High Inquisitor
Violate the rules, and you must pay the price.
Skadi
I can't care about that much.
High Inquisitor
You will remain here.
Skadi
I don't want to fight with you.
Inquisitor
Hmph. Wicked Ægir, you're surely frightened! Now that the High Inquisitor is here, you absolutely cannot run.
Skadi
But, if this is necessary—
Skadi
(Ægirian) I will take you down.
Begin. Quicken. Clash.
Inquisitor
Such speed! So much faster than her prior hand-to-hand bout with me!
Inquisitor
With speed like that, I could hardly even hope to touch her hemline... Just how much more was she still hiding?!
Before she collides with the High Inquisitor, Skadi steps back.
As if a fish tossed in the air by the ocean waves, she leaps high, and lands on a dilapidated roof.
The High Inquisitor follows in mirror fashion. Their figures crash together, pull apart, then crash again. The city can barely endure such a clash, torn apart as it is, and fragments of buildings are building up rapidly on the street.
Inquisitor
Her attack and evasion are becoming more and more rapid, as are my instructor's. I almost can't keep up now.
Inquisitor
Was I really... still this lacking?!
Inquisitor
No, this won't do. That's an Ægir. Of course I cannot lose to an Ægir.
Inquisitor
Yet this Ægir seems, somehow, to be using that case of hers as a weapon... Just what is that made of?! Why is it so tough?!
Inquisitor
But my instructor isn't using the handcannon. If he was... wouldn't we have her seized in a blink? It'd blow this entire street into slag.
Inquisitor
Is that... simply an Ægir, however? Her appearance is nothing at all like those monsters...
Inquisitor
She's using... some form of Arts, is it? I can't quite tell. And our lamp... cannot inhibit her power whatsoever.
Inquisitor
—This Ægir has too many secrets kept with her.
The shaking throughout the whole street gradually ceases. Amidst the shards and smoke, the senior Inquisitor appears again.
High Inquisitor
......
Inquisitor
High Inquisitor! You're victorious. I knew no one could ever sway you by even a hair.
Inquisitor
Er, where's that Ægir?
High Inquisitor
Fled.
Inquisitor
What? That... how?
High Inquisitor
She is injured, and cannot run far.
Inquisitor
I'll search for her—
High Inquisitor
You cannot overcome her.
Inquisitor
Ahem... But we absolutely cannot allow her sort to run free along the coast!
Inquisitor
Direction suggests she may have made for the citizens' assembly area. She's likely mixed in with the crowd, and has accomplices among the citizens aiding her. I'll search the houses for her one by one.
High Inquisitor
If you believe this is right, then go.
Inquisitor
Understood—
Inquisitor
......
Inquisitor
High Inquisitor, was she the one who brought anomaly upon this city?
High Inquisitor
I had you go and see. What was it you saw?
Inquisitor
The behavior of the locals is highly abnormal. It's as if they live every day in an unwoken state. They act, yet not to complete anything. When they eat, it's not even to fill their stomachs.
Inquisitor
They're entering the sea, and they don't even consider it suicide.
High Inquisitor
Did you put a stop to them?
Inquisitor
Yes. This is evidently wrong, after all.
High Inquisitor
What we are concerned with is the results. If you believe your corrections can have right results, then go do so.
Inquisitor
Right results...
High Inquisitor
If they cannot, then you must make some choices.
High Inquisitor
Inquisitor—with your own two eyes, your blade, you must stare down the greatest menaces to Iberia.
Inquisitor
Yes, sir!
Inquisitor
The greatest menace to Iberia... is those monsters presently climbing ashore.
Inquisitor
Could it be? These people who head into the ocean have some relation to these monsters?
Inquisitor
Yes... they are surely related.
Inquisitor
I remember you once taught that abnormality often takes more than a single form. Between all these terrible visions, there must be connections.
High Inquisitor
To address an issue—you must first see clearly where that issue lies.
Inquisitor
I—I know!
Inquisitor
—It's those Ægirs hidden in the darkness, conspiring everything!
Inquisitor
They're hidden ashore, concealed in the minor loopholes of our laws, rotting our cities' skin and flesh, destabilizing our fellows' wills, attempting to corrode our country's muscle and bone.
Inquisitor
Before their plot prevails, before it drags this city into the abyss of despair—
I've been searching for you forever. The Inquisitors won't know about this place. There are too many empty houses here, and come night, searching will be awfully hard.
Anita
I know... I'm sure you want to avoid us. That the farther you stay from where we live, the better.
Anita
Finding you here definitely wasn't easy... phew... it's so close to the coast.
Anita
Is this the sound of the waves? I never knew it was so loud. And... I can hear breathing now.
Anita
Singer, what are you doing in here? Your breathing's become quite different.
Skadi
You're all in danger.
Anita
What are you talking a... um, what's—are you hurt?
Skadi
I'm bleeding. Get away!
Inquisitor
Thinking of leaving? It won't be that easy.
Anita
The Inquisitor?! Did you follow me the whole way...? I—I didn't realize.
Inquisitor
I could hardly let a commoner notice me. *cough* Of course, even if I don't tail you, I'd still have methods of finding this place!
Skadi
You again.
Inquisitor
What's wrong? Scared now?
Inquisitor
Earlier—Ahem—I concede, I was negligent for a moment, and narrowly let you escape.
Inquisitor
But now, Ægir, I'll definitely have you caught!
Anita
B—But, she's already hurt—
Inquisitor
Hmm? Are you certain about getting in my way, so as to protect a dangerous Ægir, citizen? If so, you'll become a criminal, the same as her!
Anita
I—I...
Inquisitor
You and all the others are unalike. At the very least, your eyes show fear.
Inquisitor
Until now, you have not yet done wrong. Out of the way! I don't want to have to sort you out with my blade.
Skadi
It's not the time—
Inquisitor
It's not what time? Are... Are you scorning me? You think I have absolutely no way to seize you?
Inquisitor
Hmph. Certainly, I may not be the High Inquisitor. But I've already made my preparations.
Inquisitor
I will deal with you, no matter the cost to me!
Sword still unsheathed, Skadi proceeds to grasp the Inquisitor's arm—pulling her behind Skadi's own self.
Inquisitor
What—What is the meaning of this?
Skadi
Don't make noise.
Inquisitor
Unhand me, you Ægir reprobate! You'd better not think I can't employ my sword with a hand pinned, and I still have the handcannon—
Skadi
Keep it down. They'll hear you.
Inquisitor
Ngh-ghhh... I can't move... my other hand either...
Anita
Um, can either of you hear something?
Anita
I heard... sticky things, rubbing along the floor... so, so many... and the sound was right outside.
Anita
What... is that? It's not the work of any of us. I've never heard it before...
Are you sure you should be petting these things so?
Bishop
Pay mind to the words you use. They are not 'things' of any sort. They are already a part of this expanse of ocean. They have become the heirs born of the sea, and are much purer than you are.
Gladiia
......
Bishop
Ah... the news on the tide has already arrived. Tonight will be yet another special one.
Bishop
They have surely smelt the scent. When bloodkin join them, they become so spirited, so agitated, that they even wish to emerge from the sea, and give their welcome on land.
Bishop
It is very normal. We all love our own brothers and sisters.
Gladiia
Do you truly treat them as your own brothers?
Bishop
Why not, I ask? At times of necessity, I am willing to address those of land, those who cannot help but still walk on two legs, as my brothers too.
Bishop
If you did not hold the most dirtied, mixed blood within you, then one day, you may also possess this chance.
Gladiia
Oh? What a crying shame.
Bishop
(He touches the seawater.)
Bishop
Fascinating. This evening... they seem to be especially vigorous. Perhaps because so many old friends have come as guests to their home.
Bishop
Are you not curious? Wondering just what is happening upon the surface.
What—What are these horrendous things?! Black... flowers? Or fish? Why do they move? How disgusting, eugh...
Inquisitor
It couldn't be... That's not right, this doesn't make sense!
Anita
They're knocking on the windows! Are they... do they want to enter?!
Inquisitor
W—We cannot let them!
Inquisitor
Close the windows shut—
Anita
It's pointless. The windows here are all broken. Look at the top, it's full of cracks...
Inquisitor
—They're reaching in!
Inquisitor
Uwargh, it's still moving! Is this tiny chunk writhing on the floor trying to force its way to us?!
Inquisitor
Even supposing it's one of those things... nothing gives it the right to be so difficult!
Anita
So very many... there's still so many outside.
Inquisitor
Why can I not cut them down?!
Inquisitor
My lamp... no, the lamp would be of no use against them.
Inquisitor
I only have enough ammunition for one more round.
Anita
I—Inquisitor?!
Inquisitor
Freeze! In a moment, I'll fire, and you two run for the interior. The ruins ought to be a little sturdier than these worn-out windows.
Anita
Your hand is trembling...
Inquisitor
Holy scriptures... lend me strength.
Inquisitor
I—I do not fear them!
Inquisitor
I'll head out right away, kill as many as I can, and I should be able to hold a wave back. You must run with haste...
Skadi
......
Skadi
You, take her and hide inside.
Inquisitor
What? What are you spouting?! Have you not seen? I can't cope with—this many! They're nigh coming in already. There's no difference between the inside and outside!
Skadi
Remember, as far from doors and windows as possible.
Inquisitor
You utterly don't listen to people when they tell you—
Skadi
I'll go out. Draw them away.
Inquisitor
What?!
Anita
Singer, you can't go outside either...
Anita
You're very strong, stronger than anyone I've seen before, but you're hurt! And these odd things—there's—there's so many of them!
Anita
Inquisitor, don't—don't leave either...
Anita
What if we all hide together? I—I know there's a cupboard in here, and the door still closes. It's in the back. If all three of us squeeze, we should hopefully...
Skadi
I have to go out. Only this way, will you survive.
Inquisitor
Hey! Ægir, even if you want to play the hero, this isn't your place to!
Skadi
Listen well. This is genuinely nothing to do with you.
