Глава 11

You built it with Clovisia. You protected it with your honor.

I have no honor.

Then you protected it with your life.

What do I tell the Corps fighters, if you're really going to leave?

Clovisia will handle it.

I no longer have the strength to care about what they think of me.

You claim you only care about what you can influence.

Aren't you underestimating what you already have?

What does one dare to have, when you know it's only a matter of time before you lose it?

What does one dare to reveal, when what everyone trusts and respects is just an illusion?

What can one hold on to, when you realize this is the one and only end of your path?

This isn't even the outcome of a choice.

I simply ended up here. Fate has pushed me to this place, before I even realized it.

We could never have walked together.

We met when we were little, didn't we?

At Cumberland Manor.

I thought you had forgotten.

I almost had... I was with Gawain that day.

The creature that was like the sun told us we would meet again, someday.

But he could not have guessed that it would end this way.

You won't give me the sword, Vina.

Then swing it. We must bear witness...

Allerdale.

Remember my promise?

Enough! Say no more.

I carry nothing on my shoulders. I'll just be your brain trust.

Sorry... I forgot you had Morgan.

I'll just be a thug then.

We'll bomb the Sarkaz camp together. You light a fire, and I'll kick their commander's arse once there's smoke.

I'm joking.

I know.

My path is long determined, Vina.

Why do you say that? You're still with us. The Glasgow Gang has more stories to write.

So...

The answer is yes.

I'll make sure you come back unharmed after kicking that commander's arse.

That's my promise.

It's not a joke. Never has been, never will be.

We'll all make it out of this in one piece.

A sound breaks the stalemate.

Was it an illusion?

Siege looks around. The massive statues remain still in the shadows. None of the dead Sarkaz come back to life.

Again.

Nearby, right in front of her.

The sound of steam gushing, increasingly rapid.

Increasingly loud, increasingly clear, until it fills the entire space.

W-What's that?

Allerdale's heart skips a beat.

She can feel it.

The premonition of fate echoes again cruelly.

In front of you, Siege!

Is that...?

A suit of steam armor.

The spurts of white steam stand out in front of the dark hue of the armor.

Spurt after spurt.

Like breathing.

The fog parts before him. He awakens from history.

Nothing can stop him. Nothing can defeat him.

Not abandonment, not betrayal.

Not even death.

It's moving! Look, it's moving!

Man alive, what is happening here?!

Agh! Bolts do nothing!

Get the grenades!

The massive suit of armor rises from the rubble.

Heavy footsteps.

Heavy gushing.

It walks toward the panicked crowd, one step at a time.

(Heavy gushing)

There's no point.

You're from Sargon, Totter. You wouldn't understand.

They were the stuff of our bedtime stories.

It's still stories of the Steam Knights I tell when I put my kids to bed.

How are we supposed to defeat him?

How do we defeat our pride, our glory, our hero, who's already been betrayed once?

We can't defeat him.

This is a... a Victorian Steam Knight.

Fall back! Fall back!

What's that sound?

Sounds like steam.

How?

Definitely steam. They're back!

I know I backed the right one! This is where Vina hid her joker!

Morgan, we've got the Steam Knights on our side!

There are Steam Knights left in Londinium? Here?

Are they guarding the Mausoleum of Kings? The Sighs of Kings?

Ha, who cares what they're doing?

Vina is their king!

When we come out up top with the Steam Knights, those Sarkaz will... hey, Morgan, what's that look on your face for?

Vina's gonna get the Sighs of Kings.

Four years. The Steam Knights have stayed by the sword for four years, in this sunless dungeon.

They didn't show up when the Sarkaz occupied the city. They didn't show up when the Sarkaz took over the factories. They didn't show up when the Sarkaz burned the noble houses.

What do they think?

Are they gonna side with intruders into the Mausoleum of Kings?

Who's there?!

Take your weapon, Morgan.

They're strong... they're all around us.

Hah, this is getting interesting.

Why are the hoodlums of Norport here?

The Glasgow Gang? Under Alexandrina?