act29side

Casters pouring in through Catastrophes! Originium piercing entire cities!

Help, I don't want to die... But... I might as well. Please, burn me to ashes! I don't want to be crumpled into a living ball of flesh!

Urk... Nngh!

How could you set yourself ablaze, you idiot!

Nein, everyone here has gone mad!

This sound... Th-The pipe organ! Are the Witch King's remnants performing? All of us are under the influence of their... illusions...

Who's there on the podium?

All this blood, all these... corpses? But who is it lying in the blood...?

Grimmacht... Ewigegnade!

Hahaha, it's you! The wicked Twins!

The rumors were true, weren't they? Your souls were cooked up by Sarkaz Arts, and your blood molded from the ambitions of traitors!

You killed Leithanien's true king, and took over her throne—

You two were born to destroy this country!

You're wrong!

Grimmacht may be cruel, but she's not evil!

And who are you? Another Empresses' Voice? A puppet carrying out the Twins' will?

Nein, she wouldn't let me become one.

But I'm alive because of Grimmacht. I want to help her. I want to—

Anyone who accepts a monster's reward becomes a monster themselves. Look at all this! Look at how far Leithanien has fallen because of you people!

This spire... This school...

Did you keep Ludwigs-Universität around only to impersonate us true Leithanians? To pretend you still had the decency to respect tradition?

I've had enough. I'm sick of the Empresses' Voice showing up at our lectures. I'm sick of the salons incapable of anything other but empty praise!

Our history, our knowledge, and our arts are all long dead. Murdered!

So we may as well die together.

I... I'll kill all of you...!

Ugh—!

What are these Arts? Why can't I block them?

No... Is that a fist? I...

Michael's eyes suddenly widen.

More and more people rush toward Sonata Spire by the minute, joining the fray as the music continues. Many of them set down their wands, choosing instead of use their fists, legs, and teeth.

Is this still the Leithanien he knows?

All the rhetorical tricks and combat tactics he learned... even Originium Arts have lost their effectiveness.

Aside from cowering under his shield, there is nothing he can do. Right now, he is no different from the young boy he was when he had just left his hometown and arrived in Zwillingstürme.

Please, I beg you... Ewigegnade, I'll do anything... Please spare me...

No... Don't hurt me...

Grimmacht... Grimmacht...

Please stand.

Who...?

Raise your shield, and face it to your left.

...Okay.

Help me hold this person up.

A Gendarme? Who is he?

I do not know his name, but he is one of Loris Bordin's subordinates.

He was attempting to blow my head up with Arts.

And you still saved him?

Ugh—!

The third sculpture, shattered.

He was merely carrying out his duties. I see no reason to harm him.

These men may be under the influence of Arts, losing their reason to their most intense emotions buried deep within their hearts.

Fighting them would be inefficient. I suggest instead quickly rendering them unconscious, as I have been doing.

...So this entire time, you've been knocking people out while making your way through the crowd?

I have also attempted to place them in a corner to ensure that they won't be stepped on or struck in the melee.

Danke, then, for not clubbing me the moment you saw me then.

I do not require thanks.

Micha Wolf, you may be young, but mentally you are much stronger than most adults.

I believe that as long as someone is available to provide you a hint, you will never lose yourself to these illusions.

That is not necessarily the case for everyone else.

Although I have yet to receive confirmation, if it was Arturia's music that caused this chaos, then the abnormal behavior will continue until we end her performance.

I'll leave this place to you, Micha Wolf.

Call me Michael.

I must continue ascending, Michael.

This sound is very familiar.

The staircase outside must be as chaotic as it was twenty-three years ago?

Panic, anxiety, fear, rage... All these emotions, caused by that non-existent spire.

The Genesis Spire standing at the heart of Leithanien.

When its sound can once again be heard far and wide, what sort of music will it finally have in store for us?

Herkunftshorn, our one and only king!

Your magnificence props up the Spire, and your radiance shrouds the land!

Your soul shines eternal, and your Arts will never fade!

All of Leithanien's wisdom and elegance gather before you!

Your luminance and greatness are the pillars of her success!

Lift your heads, all ye who prostrate on the land before him—

Gaze upon our king's accomplishments! His glory!

At last... The day has finally arrived.

For two decades, I've dreamt of walking up those long stairs and standing before this very throne.

Fortunately, fate provided me the enchantments you left on the Güldenesgesatz.

Today, very soon, your final melody will be performed.

Herkunftshorn, Leithanien's most supreme ruler.

Allow me to once again seek an audience.

Allow me to... seek your forgiveness.

Good boy, Franz.

I apologize. I had no choice but to knock you out. Does your head still hurt?

I would have thought you'd have plenty of questions for me.

...Hah.

Ja, that's the look. You're in pain, but unwilling to give in. Even lying in sludge, you'd still look upon your betters with scorn.

My betters? All I see is a flock of madmen putting on a show.

Your ramblings are even less worth listening to than the noise in my head.

You believe us insane, and that we've mistaken you for the Witch King. And so we repent and kneel before you.

What a shame. Even I had hoped that you could truly become him.

If only... If only our original experiment had succeeded. If only we'd found the way to perform the Voice of Mundane right from the start.

Then, neither you nor the other children would have suffered so.

...It was you?

And to think I was going to... protect you...

Ha... hahahaha!

You're coughing up blood.

*spit*

I almost wish my blood really were imbued with evil power. Then I could've at least burnt away that deceitful mask you're wearing.

But I haven't told you a single lie.

When we first met, you'd yet to learn to walk. All you could do was sit on your mother's lap.

Was she also...?