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Very well, my lady... If all goes well, you will be departing on your journey within the next three days.

—Leithanian Arts Units' parts are nice and all, but they're such a hassle to use, and they are usually pretty rough. The Columbians make much better stuff.

I got some new wares here... Originium weapons straight from Minos. They...

—Once you place the order, you gotta buy it. What about it don't you understand—

How lively... Old Isin doesn't hate this place at all.

If you have wealth and status here, why roam the streets elsewhere in Ibut?

Old Isin wants to help Sargonians. This ideal helped Old Isin move forward and helped support his many lifetimes.

Compared to the average lifespan of a Savra, you have lived quite a long time. Is this an effect of your Originium Arts?

Old Isin... has forgotten even what his Originium Arts could do... Old Isin can fiddle with this Originium crystal ball, but Old Isin does not remember what kind of tricks it conjured up back in those grand, radiant days.

This isn't a normal physiological disease. Your brain and body are under the influence of some kind of Arts.

Lady Kal'tsit... Old Isin thinks that, with the Reefsteep lost to the storm, perhaps there are no more clues to be found anywhere but in the centermost areas of Sargon...

Have you been to that fabled golden city?

You mean the capital of Sargon?

Though its industrial prowess has been advancing day by day, Sargon's capital has never once opted to relocate its nomadic city.

In the winds, the sands ceaselessly beat against Sargon's walls as time goes on and on...

Even Catastrophes cannot rock Sargon's core.

Old Isin thinks what he has forgotten is there. Old Isin can remember everything there... but that is a place that Old Isin can never reach...

Only the padishahs and a few lords ameer who were granted the royal privilege may see that city hidden deep within the sandstorms.

You said you wanted an answer.

Old Isin remembers nothing but a dream... In the dream, amid those boundless hotlands, the armies simply charged toward the horizon devoid of people...

All Old Isin remembers of it is that the Iron Heels hoisted a scarlet web and charged toward the southernmost horizons of Sargon.

But this has nothing to do with the Reefsteep. Is this perhaps a key that could lead to Old Isin's past?

Hang on a second. Could you—

Wait...

You could not have known that... The conquest of the Kheshigs of Nightzmora took place over a thousand years ago... How does this have anything to do with Reefsteep?

Kheshigs... The Nightzmora's royal debt... Old Isin knows. Old Isin knows... but why?

Did you serve a Nightzmoran offspring?

The king of Sargon created a Kuranta of Nightzmoran blood padishah?

Old Isin... seems to...

Padishah... Reefsteep Padishah... Old Isin's master a Kuranta? A descendant of Nightzmora?

The two of you made for the Watchman's walls together, and he must have recounted to you the exploits of his bloodline... something that he must've taken pride in.

Walls, yes, but no mere city walls. It was to the south. Yes, the south! Atop the hotlands that not even Sargonians would set foot on, there stood the entrance to lands yet undiscovered by man—

Nightzmora... A Nightzmoran was created padishah, and the Ibut region was once the center of his political exploits.

He didn't choose to merely wallow in the luxuries promised to him by the lords ameer. Instead, his thirst for conquest drove him to...

...to conquer these deserts, yes... The padishah wanted to conquer these golden sands. He led the people, and built an entirely new city... A nomadic city...

According to the history books, he almost succeeded.

As for you, even though he treated you with nothing but benevolence, even though he passed away long ago... you remain lost in his life.

Old Isin...

Old Isin remembers now...

Old Isin is not a gatekeeper... and certainly not the padishah's close friend... Old Isin was... just a jester before them...

No... Old Isin remembers now... No, no, no... Was it those summer nights?

*Cough*—

Please, calm down a little.

Right... Age has left Old Isin's memories in a muddle... You are right... Once upon a time, the padishah would hold a banquet at his palace every starry night and address all those in attendance.

No... No... *Whimpers*... Old Isin... was undeserving to bask in his glory and radiance... *Whimpers*...

You've been under his Originium Arts' influence, and the long nightmare has twisted your thinking... Though this is not something he had done to you deliberately.

His subjects went voluntarily. There was none who could resist those extraordinary fantasies, curiosity, longing, and thirst for knowledge. All of it worked to keep us enthralled by the padishah's charm.

You were lost in your own dreams.

No... It shouldn't be... Old Isin shouldn't...

Please... Allow Old Isin a brief moment of peace... Please... leave Old Isin alone...

We're leaving tomorrow.

What about Old Isin...?

He needs some time to clear up his thoughts.

The Nightzmora had been tormenting him for way too long. He's been trying to embrace the past in his dreams.

I don't get it...

We have no use for the box anymore.

It was our final trump card, but now that we are leaving Sargon behind us, it makes no difference to us anymore.

This is mine...

The last thing I still have.

That's why I'm leaving the decision to you...

What will you do?

You're forcing me to make a decision...

I'm not forcing you to do anything. Even if you are actually able to replicate technology behind it and break away from its original... form, with where the Originium industries are currently, that will do you no good at all.

Tsk...

The young researcher sets the box down after hesitating briefly.

He has almost completely forgotten what is inside the box despite the fact he has kept it on his person for the entire journey.

This...

The blue Originium crystals are discharging tiny, stable sparks.

It's beautiful...

Is this... really as dangerous as you've been making it out to be?

A simple sample such as this won't help explain why. Once you master the core principles behind it, you will be able to craft from it a grenade capable of wiping out an entire city with ease.

What do you think will happen if the Ibuti Lord Ameer or Padishah Murad got their hands on this technology?

The technology is still being developed. The bad guys will get their hands on it sooner or later.

The truth is... this Originium crystal sample is the only one of its kind.

As an Originium crystal, it actually isn't particularly special on its own. It is how it came to take its current form that makes it special. It was found in an excavation.

You can always count on the archaeologists to discover new secrets...

The Columbians only ever found three Originium samples like this one. Without exception... they all came from the surroundings of a certain Sarkaz ruin.

What's going to happen if you destroy them?

The sample's explosive range is hardly comparable to the electrical devices we use in experiments. However, because of its nature, it will nonetheless put us in danger—the danger of being infected with Oripathy.

Well, alright.

You said it's one of a kind? Well, then. I know how to take care of it now.

—Wait!

You can't—Mon3tr, protect him!

(Dissatisfied shrieks)

The boy smashed the beautiful crystal to pieces.

In an instant, the bright light of the electric sparks has engulfed everything in the immediate area.

Agh—Why... are you stopping me...?!

Didn't you hear me...? This is a piece of Originium!

You will get infected!

Gah... hah...

So what?!

Do you hate the Infected? Do you despise them? Hah.

Well, perfect! I don't owe you anything anymore now—!

I'm Infected myself...

Uh—Wha—

Ugh... Argh...! It hurts...! My head...!

Those are the symptoms of an acute infection. We need to get you treated right away.

I don't—Argh—need it—!

I'm just keeping you from turning to Originium dust within the next few hours.

You chose the wrong path, Elliot.