Глава 7

It's been a long time, Buldrokkas'tee.

Dame, Kal'tsit?

Why don't... you age?

Shieldguards. Guerrillas. Stand by. Hold position.

Roger.

Lord.

The way you talk... is that because of an infected organ in your larynx?

No. Just, over time, became like this. I can't, speak smoothly, anymore.

Dame... I never thought, I'd see you, again.

I remember, faintly. When my people, left. You and, Her Majesty, didn't stop us.

That was a long, long time ago.

I was, in my prime. Now I know, too sudden. I was wrong, about the King.

...You'll still call her 'Majesty' and 'King.'

A king, is a king.

When I left, she wasn't. Now, she has passed.

You still distinguish the King of Kazdel and the Emperor of Ursus.

Decorum. War does not, muddle, my thoughts. Who I served? All gone.

Ursus now, is my homeland, too. My liege, buried in Ursus. Vast land.

...To long, Dame. When we left...

My people were, not yet withered. Still, it was not, long.

But you... no change. The years, did not change you.

Not true. The years have changed us all, Buldrokkas'tee. I'm not the same woman I was before.

Buldrokkas'tee... why did you leave Kazdel?

Why I left, I think, you will laugh.

I left, because, I hated killing.

...But for my life, I have killed.

All that you've been through has only tempered your will. Your blood still flows in your veins. I will not laugh at you. You've earned respect.

High praise, Dame. I failed to avoid, killing. I did, kill so many.

Dame, this name... Do you know, how I got it?

Your followers consider you a true warrior, fighting for Ursus. You fight injustice, slavery, bloodshed and oppression for the future of Ursus.

Do you agree?

(Shakes his head)

Even if war, is necessary, such a title, is trouble.

For many, we started war. But war, is murder.

The war ends. If it, truly, ends. We should, all die.

But war never ends.

But I will die.

But, for my death, I want, meaning. I want to see, for Ursus, for the Infected, another future.

I asked, many times, of my people, Kazdel. You and, Her Majesty, worked together, for many years. She trusted you.

So, I too, trust you.

You led, Rhodes Island, here. Not for blood.

...But them, those two. They stink, of my daughter. Her death.

Me? And... Amiya...

Mr. Patriot...

FrostNova died to test us—

No. No more.

Do you seek vengeance on Rhodes Island, Patriot?

No, Dame. Not vengeance.

Why take, vengeance, for her, actions?

That was, her path. She chose. No matter, where it ended.

Your daughter fought us with everything she had!;She was strong.;FrostNova had an iron will.

And she approved of us too.

Quiet.

...What?

...Mr. Patriot?

She's, so young. Only knows, blind trust.

The truth, we believed, in the end, is exposed. Only a few, wolves, in sheep's clothing.

You...!

Mr. Patriot! Miss FrostNova gave her life, her Arts... everything...

Miss FrostNova let go of everything just to prove herself, her anger, her ideals...

Her life had meaning!

Enough. Not your place, to say this.

Oh...

(Amiya, don't. Say no more.)

What, do you know?

If my daughter, was not, terminal... Killing you, would be easy, for her. Like slicing wheat, with a sickle.

What you, endured, I do not care.

It means, nothing. It proves, nothing.

Talulah has set the core city on a collision course for Lungmen!

And is she, declaring it, Ursus territory?

How did you know?!;......;Seems like we can skip that part.

Patriot... how... then why...?

The puppetmaster, has many tools. Puppetmasters, think alike.

But I cannot, let you through. Reunion, cannot destroy, itself.

I won't, betray again. Or they, the Infected, the struggle, are for nothing. They die.

Even if, Talulah, has gone mad...

How do I tell, the Infected, their leader, is mad? A traitor?

How do I say, she is wrong now, but once right? How do I say, she, who you follow, must now die?

I won't let, Reunion, become 'Infected, civil war, then nothing.' I will not.

But Reunion won't be able to carry its own weight. And besides, Talulah has been working secretly to destroy Reunion from within.

You are right, Dame Kal'tsit.

And so, you are here.

I prepared, to face, many types of foe.

But I did not, expect, in the end, to fight Infected.

...Is this really what you choose?

Buldrokkas'tee... You don't have to die.

Choose? I have only, one choice.

To kill you.

Patriot, we don't need to throw more lives away! This isn't like it was with Miss FrostNova! No matter who wins, this battle is playing right into the enemy's hands!

Wrong.

Cautus, this, is war.

You want me, to stop. Why, should I stop?

I fought far, too many wars.

As the, Wendigo, of Ursus... barbarians. Flayers, ripped flesh from bone, vicious herds, we cleansed.

Monsters. Twisted, stinking limbs, eyes in the, hundreds. Fingers in, the thousands. We slaughtered.

Warriors. Victoria, with steam armor. Kazimierz, with Silverlance Pegasi. Laterano, with Apostolic, Gun-Knights. All of them, we defeated, utterly.

But we cannot, defeat ourselves. Cannot defeat, the Empire's greed. Cannot defeat, our people's deaths.

We, the Wendigos, are the Sarkaz, closest, to death.

You are stained, with my daughter's death.

In this world, there are fates, worse than death.