act13side

卡西米尔2-9-1

Good news, Doctor.

The Adeptus Sprawiedliwi has approved Rhodes Island's applications. 'It's necessary for our valued partners to visit the city.'

If none of these things happened in the first place, you would've been able to enjoy the Grand Knight Territory more freely.

Doctor, were you looking for me?

Oh, Gravel! I still have some healthy food leftovers. Want to take them with you?

Good day, Gravel, Doctor.

We rarely get a chance to visit the other parts of Kazimierz.;Want to take a look around?;It's–– vacation–– time––!

Wh-What a battle! I can hardly believe my eyes!

Actually, I should be talking our unknown Nightzmora! Can you believe this is his first Major appearance, and he's holding his own against a champion?!

The clash of blood-red armor on the field tonight will eclipse the moon!

The audience is definitely feeling it too! Tola, 'Scourge of the Prairie,' Nightmare Knight! His crazed determination is addictive and intoxicating!

Nightmare Knight's been surging in the polls since his duel with the Radiant Knight! Will he add another page to this story?! A rise to grand knighthood?!

By the way, Ancients Entertainment is holding a 'Knightly Title Trivia Game!' Guess the knightly titles and win fabulous prizes!

Where'd your bravado go, Nightzmora?

Ngh...

Minoan, in the times when my ancestors flayed the land, your heroes had all become naught but words on the lips of poets.

You waste your breath.

Where's your Khagan now? What happened to those proud kinsmen of yours?

One who lives in a bygone nightmare is a pitiful man indeed.

Minoan, Infected. What are you fighting for?

Survival.

They made me the hero of the Infected... They enshrined me in the annals of history. But I just wanted to survive.

The hero of the Infected?

I see... Do you not also fight for your people?

My people...? No. We don't share the same bloodline, nor were we born in the same place. We are just unfortunate enough to suffer the same disease.

I pitied their plight, so I went to deliver them, to find a way out for them.

You say they're not your people... But you still want to save them...

Laughable.

You are mighty, without a doubt. But, have the prairies of Kazimierz been carved up by the Infected and foreigners?

The Kazimierzians, the Kuranta... Where are they?!

Did I cross thousands of miles to the country of knights, only to fight against the Infected, Minoans, and my own kinsmen?!

––A sick joke!

Woaaaahh... S-So, this is Kazimierz's commercial hub?

Strictly speaking, this is just one of hundreds of commercial centers across the Grand Knight Territory.

I recommended this particular one because it's close.

But there's way too much junk food everywhere! Just one look around and I count three popcorn stands, two pizzerias, and four burger shops!

This is unacceptable!

Haha... Is this because there's a competition venue nearby?

Of course. The arena lies at the heart of every center of commerce.

All businesses revolve around the knights' glorious blood sport. It's the way things are done here.

Is this... a Nearl doll?

Aww! It's so cute!

Wait a minute, this shop... Is it all dedicated to...

Yo! Are you folks fans of the Radiant Knight too?

Then, you've come to the right place! This is a specialty store for everything Radiant Knight! Clay figurines, plush dolls, Nearl family crests – you name it, we've got it!

By the way, if the Radiant Knight manages to defeat the Wind Knight and advance to the finals, our supplier is considering making exclusive commemorative medals from refined Originium! Want to put in a pre-order?

I mean, the Radiant Knight's pretty much sure to win! Hahaha!

(Buy the doll for Nightingale.);(Ask how much the pre-order is.);(Rhetorically ask if the store would consider a shield used by the Radiant Knight its greatest treasure.)

Thanks for your patronage!

Oh, uh... You only have foreign money? Lungmen Dollars? Err, you'll have to go to the bank first.

Let me do the conversion for you real quick... That should be about 1.3 million LMD?

A shield? Since when did the Radiant Knight use a shield?

But we have warhammers, double-bladed swords, and even the latest model of swordspears. Want to take a look?

It's hard to tell what's going on! Nightmare Knight's ferocious attack was again repelled by the Blood Knight, and the former champion is slicing through the artificial turf as if it was tofu!

It's already been ten minutes, but the tempestuous exchange of blows continues! Who will be the first to show signs of fatigue in this seemingly endless battle?

––As I speak, the champion is readying his Arts again! He evades a sweeping strike from his opponent!

After all that, are the two sides only feeling each other out?! Neither the champion nor the Nightzmora seems to want to take the initiative and cast the first Arts––

Minoan, how did you learn to fight like this?

Unfortunately, I had very little combat training before becoming a knight.

It was only after that I learned as I fought.

...A born warrior.

Young man.

I am not your mentor. But, if it is an opponent you seek, there is one thing I can teach you.

The fear you seek to instill through bluffing means nothing to someone who lives only in the present.

The Blood Knight takes a half-step back.

Fresh blood oozes from his armor, condensing into a stream around him.

A crimson light wraps around his weapon, forging it into a lethal edge of judgment.

Answer me, Nightzmora. In the history you dreamt, in the thousands of years between then and now––

Were the Infected ever given a new lease on life?

Why you...

You call yourself a Kheshig? Then don't back down now, Nightzmora!

Where is your Khagan now? Bring him to me!

Where is your Khagan?

Where is your Khagan?

Thousands of years have passed since the Khagan stepped into history.

You'll only find him in history books, boy.

Kheshigs? They were the Khagan's attendants, the greatest warriors known to this world.

The Khagan conquered many places, but in doing so, did a lot of things that hurt people.

It is in the nature of the Nightzmora to spread fear, and the desire to conquer was practically sustenance for the Khagan.

But, Tola.

You were born into this world, and you will surely find your own––

...Father, rival, master, ideals.

Was I actually... looking for these things in this city?

No! It is time to wake up from my dream.

This will just be a lingering memory. The path I drew for my Khaganquest was set in stone a long time ago.

The young hunter sets out on his Khaganquest ♪

From dreams he goes, towards the shores of gold ♪

Nightzmora.

A Nightzmora stands in the arena.

His limbs are at ease. His flaws are exposed. He knows not where to cast his gaze from beneath that helmet.

He hums an ancient ballad.

Until the black night paints over his vision ♪ Until a tower of bone stands erect in his heart ♪

Until hemlock chokes his hazy home ♪

Done saying your prayers?

My family is dead. My people are lost.

––The Khagan is wherever the tip of my blade points.

I—

––am my own Khagan!

Come!