act34side

At that very moment, you were the closest to the ocean out of all of Milliarium. You, standing at the mezzanine of the dome, all alone.

The IDP assessment was that there was too great a psychological burden, which is why they agreed to transfer you from the dome system to ground level. Your so-called 'fear of heights' was just a little joke of yours.

I'm afraid that you yourself don't even realize what lies deep within your heart.

The remaining Seaborn will soon discover that this route is still open. You wouldn't want to meet them again.

Go, quickly, before it's too late.

Cassia grips the safety valve and continues to push it. She no longer looks at the joke-loving colleague by her side.

The valve stops abruptly, releasing an ear-piercing shriek. She can push it no further.

A pair of slender hands are pushing back from the other side.

Lucilla?

Hah, in any other situation, I'd definitely give you a piece of my mind, or stuff this whatever-grass into my ink bottle and tell you this sort of practical joke is beneath you.

But it's so bright... the light from where the tower sank in, from the dome above us... Every Seaborn on the whole continental shelf is rushing towards Milliarium, right?

Just what is behind those strangely colored lights?

You're not wrong, Cassia. The Seaborn have eroded away at our lives. I've experienced the truth of that myself, and I'll never forget.

I envied Tullia. Our experiences were so similar, but she was able to protect what she treasured all along. An amazing woman, really!

And look at me, I escaped the dome and got back to the ground. Before you arrived, I was even thinking of escaping from here, too.

But where would I go?

I can't let you break the framework, Cassia. I can't let the Seaborn get into any other Milliarium's unit, even if this grass thing kills me in the process!

Because... Because there's no going back for me.

*cough*...

You really are strong, child.

Laurentina's parents once told me that while the dome may be beautiful, this transparent structure is actually the true eye of the city.

In fact, I've been asking myself recently... Since we're at war right now, shouldn't the eye be on the lookout for danger?

She forces herself to look ahead, the strange colors reflecting in her pupils. The roar of the tides and the whispering of the ocean's progeny resound in her ears.

The young Ægir presses hard against the safety valve. She does not let go. She dares not let go.

Only once a firm hand presses down on her shoulder, forcing her stiff muscles to relax, does she come back to her senses.

You can let go now, Lucilla.

Cassia, she...

Temporarily paralyzed. I only managed to graze her with my shot, which is why the paralytic took so long to take effect.

Sorry for putting you at risk.

This is Consul Clementia. Citizens of Milliarium, heed me!

Once the city unit containing the beacon tower has been fully ejected, the rest of the city shall break through the Seaborn encirclement and move towards dry land!

Reactivate the linkage mechanism in the city's framework and perform a structural reorganization. Force fields at full power! We'll stop the Seaborn tide from setting a single tentacle onto land!

Legions VIII and X, along with the Sea Patrol: send all operational warships out in turn to escort the city!

It might be more appropriate if you were the one to handle the report regarding Cassia, Lucilla.

I see. You should be heading straight to the port now. The mission just declared by the consul is more urgent.

Cassia's already subdued. I'll take her to a doctor first, and then... she should be punished.

And if the city is going to undergo structural reorganization, the dome system will be the focal point of the force field to hold off the Seaborn. So they could probably use some extra hands up there...

Maybe I should submit an urgent application to return to my old post.

You're very brave, Lucilla.

Oh, so you heard all that earlier...

I did. Before you submit that application though, you ought to see a doctor yourself. Longbeard combtooth grass does in fact contain a potent neurotoxin.

Ah. Right, I will.

Ramming armor, check. Ship cannon mounts, check. Monitors, check. Camouflage coating, check. Propulsion system, check. All system diagnostics complete, ready to launch.

We'll be heading to the designated waters at full speed to block the Seaborn tide from the north.

All weapon system permissions granted. No need to hold back. Don't let them get near Milliarium.

We'll do everything we can.

You're just part of the first sortie. We'll be sending the rest of our ships into battle after you.

You're to escort Milliarium in shifts while it's reorganizing, serving as an extension of its 'Great Wall' and preventing the Seaborn from making landfall.

So remember, the moment you get the order to change shifts, you must return to resupply immediately.

Understood.

Seaborn spotted!

The remaining Seaborn in the city are attacking the port! Do not let them approach the warship docks!

(Pained convulsions)

Not content with ambushing us in their nest, they made a sneak attack on our city, too?

...How annoying.

(Rapidly flaps fins)

Wrapping around a statue? What, have the Seaborn developed a taste for art since entering the city?

That said, the Sorrowdrinker is hardly a masterpiece, so I won't feel too bad when I've reduced it to rubble.

Honestly, I think it's got more charm with an arm broken off.

Thanks for the glowing review, Skadi. Are you feeling better now?

Yeah, ever since we left the nest.

Good to hear.

It's the Hunters!

The Abyssal Hunters have safely returned to the city!

Swordfish.

Captain Gladiia, you've met...

Yes.

I saw him.

We've arrived at the right time. You must have heard Secunda's report over the emergency frequency.

Infiltrating Milliarium, breaking into the beacon tower's control room, murdering the weapons technology advisor of the Waterway Program, and finally, choosing to return to the ocean with the Seaborn.

Ulpianus has not made it easy to clear him of suspicion.

To capture him, or even execute him is a duty we Abyssal Hunters must perform in the future.

Captain Gladiia...

But for the moment, our mission is to search for the remaining Seaborn scattered around the city units, and put every last one of them to the sword.

...What must be said, I have said.

You've avoided answering the question at the heart of all this, Mártus.

The question... at the heart...?

From your description, everything that transpired beneath the ruins, the crimes you committed and the consequences incurred... They all seemed to stem from some mysterious 'inevitability.'

But the Mártus I know was an eccentric yet gifted man. He was doubtful by nature, and not one for making arbitrary decisions.

He would not have rashly discarded all reason and played at being the mystic. And he would have been even less inclined to reject his own existence, or ignore the worth of others.

The choices I have made, the outcomes I have borne.

Why do you care what the past Mártus thought, before he made his decision?

His past choices have made you who you are now. Without understanding his reasoning, we cannot understand your existence.

You would care about such trifles as well, Kal'tsit?

(The nuclei within its skull spin)

I understand now.

Of course you would care. How could you not?

The human that once ate the strange flesh experienced such struggle, too. Was it a day, or perhaps several? In the depths of the ruins, time holds no measure.

He feared. He doubted. He was compelled to think over every possibility.

Where will the next crisis come from? When will it descend upon Terra? He used a lifetime of knowledge to attempt to decipher the undecipherable, to comprehend the incomprehensible.

If there exists a lifeform that could survive the cosmos of quietus, even if only as a singular being, how would it be born?

Given infinite time, even the tiniest fin will be able to type out the ultimate truth of all things on a terminal using its tail. But time was our most precious resource.

Admittedly, the Feranmut before him had foreseen our ruinous prospects, but could He and His progeny continue bearing the torch of life through it all?

Supposing they could, before they instinctually iterate a way of overcoming that destruction in a limited time, how large a population and how efficient a fecundity would they require?

Would they have to consume a patch of sea? A whole planet? An entire star system? How many must die to support their lives?

Supposing they could not, then where did the true answer lie? On the other side of the ocean? On the other side of the sky? Or perhaps it is somewhere out in the sea of stars, untouchable by Terran hands?

Even if you spent your entire life simulating, you would not have been able to obtain a definite conclusion.

The information you possessed was simply insufficient to calculate every possibility.

Indeed, Kal'tsit. But the past Mártus had no choice but to try.

Danger and possibility both hung above his head, while below his feet he found only an unseen tightrope.