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Haah!

Don't even think of touching her!

Do you intend to protect her, Hui-chieh? This traitor to the Infected, this executioner of our kin?

I'm disappointed, Hui-chieh. How shameful that you would even turn your sword on me...

Amiya?! What are you doing here?!

Watch out, Amiya! Talulah has inherited all that is Kashchey. She's already...

She's no longer that innocent girl who was kidnapped from Lungmen.

Madam Ch'en. That's not right. She's not just the 'successor'......

...I will tear off its disguise.

What? What disguise?

You're that Cautus from Rhodes Island.

Where's Buldrokkas'tee? Did you test your mettle against his halberd, or did you just see his mangled corpse?

You... How could you talk about him like that?

Oh? I'm asking with the utmost respect. I'm merely asking for the truth.

He never took off his helmet, did he?

His helmet hides the exposed greyish-white skull of the Wendigo. If the people were to see his true appearance, they would surely be frightened out of their wits.

Yet, their hate and zeal would drive them onwards, and the force of the crowd would have broken through the guerillas' defensive line.

Buldrokkas'tee would not have allowed the Shieldguards to attack a single civilian... They are not spies, after all.

Buldrokkas'tee would have been torn to pieces by the raging mob. He would have allowed himself to fall to their rage and ignorance, just as he knew that this day would arrive, as he decided to give up and surrender to his humanity.

Since you've appeared here, that can mean only one thing. Buldrokkas'tee is dead.

Tell me, how did he choose to die? He was a noble warrior. I would like to know how he met his end.

I... I killed him.

...It was me.

You?

What sort of firepower did you have at your disposal? That was... Buldrokkas'tee.

Even so, you've appeared here all by yourself, just like my pitiful sister.

Alright. The last person in this city who could kill me is now dead. Now I have nothing left to worry about.

Should I congratulate you, slaughterer of my kin?

Amiya, don't fall for her tricks!

She's already played many such tricks on me... Don't believe a single word she says. Even if she's... telling the truth.

I know, Madam Ch'en. She wants to kill you.

The Talulah standing before us still holds some untainted strands of memory deep within her heart. You are the only remaining link to her past.

You... huh. What are you talking about?

What are you looking at?

——What do you wish to see?

You can't stop me.

Are you telling the truth?

Why else would she challenge you to a fight?

Talulah will only truly die when she kills you with her own two hands.

You've stopped making any sense.

Madam Ch'en, the Talulah in front of you has not completely died yet. This tyrant is still not yet in full control of her mind.

Tell me more, Cautus. Tell me about that outdated chicanery of yours, absurd as it may be.

You should have died when Talulah stabbed you. You should be gone.

Mind-reading rabbit... I've never considered this. Even if you can read minds, you should not know these things. Where did you hear of them?

Am I reading your mind?

You've always bragged about being able to protect yourself completely using your psychic Originium Arts, Duke of Kashchey. It was your pride, as your political opponents remained helpless against it.

All I see are memories. I have no idea what you are thinking about right now, but I can feel your emotions.

I glimpsed the secret within your memories. I saw the curse that haunts your body to this day.

You are not Talulah.

I suggest you look out for your own skin before jumping to conclusions.

Amiya! Don't just stand there, avoid that fire!

Ugh!

You... you withstood it?

Hfff... Not... not for long!

You're surprised too, are you not? Heh. She did it once before.

The exact same black lines back at Chernobog.

How much longer can you hold on? Your warriors have fallen. Were their sacrifices for nothing? Will you die meaninglessly to my flames today?

How is it? Can you still peep on others' thoughts while desperately casting your Arts? Such a dirty little trick. It reminds me of...

Of what?

Think about it carefully.

Which is your real Originium Arts?

...Buldrokkas'tee dying by your hand...

What kind of joke is that.

Amiya, I'll clear a path through the remaining flames! Fall back and jump to the right! Jump as far as you can!

Right!

*Pant* *pant*... Thank you, Madam Ch'en!

Strange. Amiya, Talulah seems to be... very surprised by you.

Madam Ch'en, that's not the least of it. Please don't let your guard down, no matter what happens next!

I'll try my best. I don't think there's anything more important than both our lives, nor anything more shocking than the fate of Lungmen!

You... you're called Amiya?

Cautus, if I were to ask you to build me an illusion that would entrance me forever... would you refuse?

Nnh...!

Would you hold back and avoid using this kind of power?

I won't answer you.

Your expression and hesitation betray your thoughts, self-proclaimed kind Cautus.

I've never said that!

Your actions speak louder than words, false Infected warrior.

Black Arts that absorb memories but do not differentiate between consciousness. Not a unilateral extraction, but rather proliferation and acquisition that goes both ways...

How can this be... How can this be? Cautus, what is this? Can you answer me? Have the Sarkaz of Kazdel all gone mad?

——Devil——Sarkaz——

A lord of a different race?

Was the previous Lord of Fiends an idiot or a lunatic? I can't even remember its name anymore. It seems that the extinction of the Sarkaz is indeed imminent.

Oh, the Sarkaz mercenary... W. The Sarkaz behind them...

So that's how it is. So that's how it is.

The Cautus Lord of Fiends. Haha...

(Amiya, to be honest, I'm not shocked...)

(I'm quite lost, actually. )

(Do you believe what she's saying, Madam Ch'en? )

(Does it matter?)

(I believe the choice is yours, Madam Ch'en. Besides, these facts wouldn't change your mind anyway.)

(Correct. In fact, I think she's trying to buy time until we suffocate.)

(But, we're trying to buy time too!)

(Huh? )

Where are your deputies? The nobles of your royal court? Your citizens?

Who else did you bring? That ghoul who's been rotting for several centuries, or that pink-eyed bastard who can't bear the slightest bit of light?

Did you personally take care of Buldrokkas'tee, or did someone do it for you?

You cannot do it, young, false Lord of Fiends. You cannot take control of them and their royal court. You are not a real Lord of Fiends. You're not even a Sarkaz. You're just a little Cautus.

You don't have the power to fight against your enemies. Should try, you would be swiftly eradicated.

Alternatively, you are just the newest toy of the Sarkaz rulers. Do you feel sadness at being a test subject, immature Cautus?

You are an outsider. You cannot do anything but wait for others to take your life and the symbol of the king. And with it, your entire being.