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He's not saying anything. This Iberian's a damn imbecile.

That black monster must have some kind of weakness. It's extremely durable, and can burn the nethersea brand with ease. What the hell is that thing?!

If you don't tell us, then by the time the Penal Battalion breaks free, we'll have already—

—Lost?

Haha... You can't even handle Dr. Kal'tsit and the Inquisitor. Admit it, you've already lost.

Shut up!

I'm gonna make you— Wait, what are you doing?!

Why's your staff moving around?! What did you do?

Guess you spent so much time researching tentacle monsters that you forgot what Originium Arts are?

Seriously, get your head outta the clouds—

Guh—

You self-righteous bastard—! You think we haven't made ample preparations? Do you have any idea how long we've waited to flush out all of you scum colluding with the Inquisition?

Don't fall for his tricks. He's been hiding in this town for months now. Definitely a spy, and one well-versed in communications to boot.

There's a chance our position has already been compromised.

Spies, spies! Of course the Inquisition's spies have been lurking among us since long ago!

I knew about you people because you never tried to hide it, and Amaia and I are close. But the Inquisition is different. They already don't like us, and if they wanted to hide...

How would we ever know? After all, we've been nothing but laborers for generations.

Throw him out then, and feed him to our kin. The nethersea brand's growth is slowing down, and we need more nutrients to stop the Penal Battalion.

We should also find an escape route.

Alright. I'll lead the way. Nobody's more familiar with this town than me, and we've left behind plenty of secret passages and underground depots.

You shouldn't be doing this, Thiago.

How long have we known each other? And now you're gonna preach to me, you platitude-spewing zealot?

Stand up and walk. Time to become a part of the sea.

(I see.)

(A union of Originium and Ægir technology, a sturdier dome, the use of modules from nomadic cities on land, and the scalability of Originium Arts.)

(So this is how the genius of the Academy of Sciences viewed this land. And he managed to accomplish all this decades ago.)

(However...)

However, it's still not enough.

Ægir would be able to accomplish all this even without making contact with land. The integration of certain technologies cannot make the difference between victory and defeat.

I knew it... It's you.

I wish it weren't, though, Ulpianus.

Stay back. Take another step and I'll run you through, my old comrade-in-arms.

Skadi once thought herself the last of the Abyssal Hunters. Even she had thought you dead. Yet here you are.

How insightful of you, Consul Gladiia.

The circumstances don't seem to call for pomp and ceremony, Consul Ulpianus.

Feeling a bit nostalgic over titles long disused, are we?

We've known each other long enough. You should know very well what it means when a Hunter doesn't return.

I've executed no fewer than you. And I can assure you that if any survivors have sunken into the abyss, I'd still hang them up to bake on the reefs before they ever got a chance to hear that song.

What about now? You reek of their scent. You've become one of them.

Don't lie to yourself, Gladiia. You are strict with others, but even more so with yourself.

Has wandering the land sufficiently satisfied your desire to torment yourself?

Hunter, I WILL kill you if your answer doesn't satisfy me.

Gladiia, most of this situation is largely out of your hands. I'm forced to approach the problem from a different angle.

What situation?

I... Like you, I have spent some time on land.

But what I saw was different. Did you come to understand the civilizations on land? No, you don't need to answer that, Gladiia the ever-arrogant.

For their civilizations to survive, they tapped into Originium. It brought them opportunity and hope, but it also unprecedented calamity. To this day, they still have not fully analyzed its principles.

I've witnessed many tragedies... They've given them the name 'Catastrophes.' They are foolish, ignorant, and weak, but the way they struggle and die is still harrowing.

And the Ægir... are no different.

You were never this sentimental in the past.

No, sentiment has nothing to do with this.

What I'm saying is, Ægir provoked the ocean in order to survive, and the ocean devoured it in return. Then, ocean gave birth to us.

We are products of a grotesque struggle. If we are unable to resolve this problem at its root, then we are unable to resolve it at all.

...What did you see, Ulpianus? What did you see to make you abandon the bonds of blood and the camaraderie we shared in battle?

'Sanctuary.' No doubt that is what those filthy cultists would've called it.

Your familiarity with them only reduces my trust in you.

But the word is an apt description.

You know what Ægir once found in the depths of the ocean. Even if aren't a historian, a general education should've covered at least this.

Thousands of years ago, we reached the heart of the ocean. There, we found the point of origin. The cradle of civilization.

As far as I know, Gladiia...

He, and those Seaborn, in the deepest recesses of their nest...

I saw it. A 'construct.' No, not even the greatest science consuls of Ægir would have been able to make sense of what I saw.

I was unable to go deeper, as my injuries were too severe. My blood boiled, my ears rang, but still I felt—

...What?

—The plurality of Him.

Well... That doesn't even slightly explain why you abandoned the team. You should have brought this information back.

When millions of cries returned to a single point, the unhatched Seaborn all murmured the same name from within their differently-shaped sacs.

...Ishar-mla.

Or rather, Skadi.

Did it escape into the sea?

No matter. It will return. And we'll continue to wait.

Ugh. Whoever decided that we were its 'kin'? Pathetic.

Mm. I see it too. The waves breaking unnaturally, like a twister. Or a mirage of an ocean city. What a strange sight.

Pah. It sure was lively today. Haven't had this much commotion since young Jamie and the chef died.

...Nnh.

Pomegranate... flower.

...Knight.

I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon. Did you come rushing to my ship because you missed the scent of your hometown? Have you gone completely mad yet?

The knight simply stares at Alfonso in silence.

But almost immediately, his sight fixates once again upon the ocean. Alfonso follows his gaze, and through the years in which time itself has become nebulous, day and night have already lost all meaning.

Are you still hunting the terrible waves?

I sure hope the blood of these monsters hasn't made you immortal. You can look forward to drowning one day. What a joyous thing.

Not a whole lot of wind today.

...Waves, are the ocean's, breath.

It still has not, stopped breathing.

It has not, died.

Just like, the monsters, on land. They devour, destroy.

The monsters on land.

Civilization!

Skadi.

Hm?

I just remembered something else. How... did we manage to survive?

How did YOU survive?

I can't remember the details. We hacked and we slashed, again and again without pause, until finally He...

Uh, what I meant was, if they really wanted us dead back then, would we have been able to survive?

Let me put it another way. Ægir doesn't know we're alive either.

They have no way of knowing.

Was it Swordfish who said she wanted to come to this ship?

Yes. She said this ship could bring us home.

Mm, this does to be Ægir craftsmanship, though the shipwright, Breogan... The name doesn't ring a bell.