act18d3

Among the debris and crumbled walls, the monster's bloated corpse fills much of the karst cave. Its bizarre body, which had until now emanated a strange sense of beauty, begins to stiffen as it dreads its impending doom.

It is leaking water everywhere. Let's finish it off. We need to go.

Why do you blind philistines get to live, while I must fail when I have dedicated my entire life to this noble goal...?

You are mere pets of Ægir! Blind and stagnant... You are nothing but a nuisance to science and to the future!

I am... so close to the truth! Why must I die here while you... you get to escape the punishment you deserve?!

I've come so far! My will and my flesh were on the verge of exceeding the limitations of man! Why?!

Why? Why?! Why!!

Shut up.

Ægir... will fall. Nothing will be left of you... Nothing...

You fool. I'm Ægir. As long as I'm alive, Ægir is alive.

You... But...

Ironic... How ironic.

You are different. Huff... You are destined to be different...

You know it. Your destiny is all but set in stone.

Enough of your nonsense. Just die already. That's the only thing I ask of you, and I'm being plenty sincere about this.

Curse you... Curse you all... until the lands fall... You will flee the sea... only to find yourself dissolved in its waters like salt.

On the barren wastelands lined with your corpses, our ceaseless waves will engulf all of the world's land!

Gladiia seems to be trying to control herself. The last bit of her courtesy is merely a byproduct of the contempt she cannot contain.

The bishop whimpers as he reaches his limb out to Gladiia.

But before it could reach the hunter, the limb has stiffened, twitched, and curled into a ball.

The bishop is dead, and he will be forgotten completely.

Gladiia looks at Specter and Skadi.

He is gone, at long last. This has finally come to an end... I ended it by my own hands... yet this is nowhere nearly as satisfying as I imagined.

Compared to all they have done to me, this is far from enough, but that's one down, two to go for us.

Ugh, I'm getting a little dizzy. How did I come to this place? It feels almost like a dream.

Shark?

I can't... stay awake for long after all...

We finally have their tentacles caught. If we grab it now and pluck its roots out there, we will definitely find a way to heal you.

That isn't a big problem. As it stands, they cannot control me, and I feel exceptionally well. The feeling of freedom... Who could have known I would get to experience it now? This has me so elated, it feels as though I'm flying high with excitement.

Though, Captain, I am afraid I heard everything you said.

Was the bishop saying we will become Seaborns too? Captain, will you become one of those more formidable kinds? They are quite strong.

That won't happen.

You are way too different from them.

I hope my actions didn't put you two in harm's way.

Answer a few questions for me.

Ask away.

Is there Seaborn blood flowing in our veins?

Yes.

You are here to figure out the cause of the problems in Specter's body, and you took that blow to figure out why the Seaborn was looking for me.

Yes, that's right.

And you knew from the start the bishop wasn't the only Seaborn here?

Yes.

Do you know what I did after that final battle that was borderline suicide?

I don't.

Did we win?

I don't know. I lost contact with Ægir.

Are we abandoned by Ægir...?

Yes? The Abyssal Hunters are like bait.

Yes? The Abyssal Hunters are like a glow at the bottom of the sea.

Yes? The Abyssal Hunters are strong, yet their strength is but a tiny fraction of Ægir's power.

Yes? The only thing special about the Abyssal Hunters is that they are indeed related to the sea monsters somehow.

Anger rages in Skadi's crimson pupils, but there is that tiny bit of hope...

How much of it is real, and how much of it is fake...?

We're not.

Okay, let's go.

How snappy.

No reason to dawdle around. I'm an Abyssal Hunter.

Is it somehow different for you girls in your squad?

All Abyssal Hunters are like that.

This place is about to collapse. Besides...

As though lured here by the bishop's lifeless body, the Sea Terrors are boring into the cave through the fissures.

In huge numbers, no less.

Three hunters are walking on seacoast way♪

There's too many of them.

Skadi, I need you to apply yourself here! You are the only one whose arms and legs aren't all scrapped up!

What do you want me to do...? My hands are numb already. When was the last time you had to stick your hands into their mouths to tear them into two?

About three seconds ago.

Gladiia turns around and sticks her hand into the mouth of one of the monsters, piercing its entire body through its head. She quickly swings her arm, and, unable to withstand the force the hunter is exerting on its body, the monster is torn into two from the inside before being flung away.

Just now.

No, as long as its body is still there... there will be no end to the Sea Terrors. It's summoning them. It's an anchor!

We'll need to destroy the body, then... Burying it won't quite be enough...

I'll do it.

When you have a huge hole in you?

You two—

A figure appears before the Hunters, surprising Skadi when she sees her face.

Get moving, Hunters!

What are you doing there?!

We'll talk later! Mon3tr, do it!

Mon3tr crashes into the ceiling of the chapel. It tears the Sea Terrors apart with its sharp blades. A black sphere forms in its mouth before blasting away downwards.

It shakes the entire city and hill, sending what is left of the chapel crumbling down.

The bishop and its secrets have been destroyed forever, and no one will know any of it.