Глава 14

Through Originium, Qui'sartuštaj will be able to control the Sarkaz more than the King ever could.

Shining and Nightingale... are also victims of his.

They never stopped resisting their fate... especially at such a critical moment as now.

We have to stop Amnannam and its uncontrollable effects—;We have to stop the Confessarii from harming Rhodes Island's Operators—

It's time to move.

Mon3tr, hold off our enemies.

Amiya, destroy the altar.

Dr. Kal'tsit, I'm sensing something's up...

I can't quite control... the King's power...

That altar's influencing—

I've told you before. We've been researching the Crown for thousands of years. But you? How long has it been since you learned how to use it?

I welcome you all to bear witness to this grand ceremony.

...Qui'sartuštaj.

Everyone here is waiting for you.

The Confessarius Leader smiles as usual, spreading his arms wide open as if welcoming his own child back after a long time away from home.

Dozens of Confessarii stand on both sides of the mountain path in silence.

Their eyes behind their masks hold fervent deference, completely ignoring the blood drenched Shining as she walks up the steps with her sword in hand.

I'm here to kill you.

I know.

How could I... not know that?

Many years ago, mother showed up before father, before me, just like you have now.

She always knew her own duty, and never thought to disobey me.

But as you slowly grew, she developed a hatred to our family, the love I gave her... and the Confessarius's calling.

I don't blame her at all, nor do I blame you. You are the same. Merely made a tiny, forgivable mistake.

I will always accept you returning to my side.

You are a monster. Who are you to speak of love?

Love and hate, life and death. They are fundamentally part of the same whole.

Generations of Confessarii have passed their souls down through the same rites. This is my way of loving my family.

Souls in death are purified in rebirth. Through death after death... we close in on the original, the purest and perfect being.

There is not a shred of that worthy to be... perfect.

Qui'sartuštaj. Your true self died thousands of years ago.

The white horned King of Sarkaz who defeated countless enemies, the legendary hero who built an everlasting Kazdel under the day and night—is long dead.

What stands before me now is but a despicable man who lives in the shadows, a coward who sacrifices the lives of innumerable innocents to prolong his own.

Who is it that tarnishes the soul of that original hero?

It's you, King of Usurping Kings—You got so twisted seeking longevity. You are no longer worthy of that crown.

...Perhaps.

Qui'saršinnag... Sister.

I, who was born with all my memories intact... know better than you, the history Qui'sartuštaj bears with his life.

The Confessarius Leader takes a step down.

He calmly looks at Shining, and holds her hand trembling in rage.

I know all too well the blood that is on my hands, as I remember all the love I have received.

It was you who picked me up from the blood into your trembling arms when mother died.

We are a true family, sharing the closest of blood, and sharing the closest of relationships.

The nature of my soul may change, but the facts remain the same.

How could you... talk about that like so...

Who was it...that killed my brother?

Who was it, that turned him from a child who should have received his mother's love... into a non-existence from the very beginning?

It was me.

For millennia, Qui'sartuštaj has... died time and time again from betrayal, from his closest kin.

You may see this as a punishment if you wish it so.

However... what does that matter?

You call me unworthy of that crown, but who else but me could possibly lead the Sarkaz on a path to our survival?!

Qui'lon brought our people on a wandering path of no return, and Yliš's retreat into hiding would only make us weak.

Even that pair of siblings, all they did was push Sarkaz into futile conflict, and let the crown slip into outblood hands!

The Sarkaz... need a true King, an eternal King.

I will reach our starting point, and together with the sins of Qui'sartuštaj and his blood, purge all of the Sarkaz's sins!

Sin.

The word intensifies the ire in Shining.

Her father and brother were both possessed by this undying monster—while she and her mother lived under the madness of his shadow.

To let him live, to kill him—both are afflicted with the curse.

She has no path to go.

She has nowhere to retreat.

But there is no way she can stay here as is.

...Ugh!

You... made your move.

Very good... Qui'saršinnag...

...I'll kill you.

And then...

Kill yourself?

Is this what you call severing the bloodline's curse?

The same stupidity I see.

Qui'sartuštaj grips Shining's sword with hand.

Blood trickles down the pure white blade and stains her hand.

A shudder rises from the depths of her soul.

—Ugh!

An overwhelming force flings Shining onto a crystal tree.

The sharp black branches pierce through her abdomen.

Fresh blood gushes down, and converges with Qui'sartuštaj's blood.

The ancient tree long crystallized into Originium bursts a sudden pure white glow.

In just a moment, countless little moons rise to the top of the tree.

Every Confessarius begins to sing—

The myriad souls lie prostrate.

Howling knocks on the door from beneath, tangible usurps the intangible.

The Black Crown imprisoned, the offender perpetually innocent.

Because kings are born before immortality.

Look, even injuries as grievous as this will not infect you—this is the power of the blood you resist.

Qui'saršinnag... I have been patient enough with you.

But you stay stubborn, unwilling to accept all that belongs to you—your duty, power, glory.

It's alright, just be good and stay aside, while I... complete the ceremony myself.

A crown woven of thorns appears in his hand.

Moonlight shines onto the crown as it illuminates the crystal tree at the end of the steps.

In that spot lies a stone bed lined with dead branches, and a curled up figure Shining knows too well atop it.

Liz...

...Wake up.

Don't bother.

Her consciousness is not where you think it to be.

She's inside the crown.

Correct.

I promised you that I would mend her soul.

You need only wear the complete crown, and you can be together forever.