level_act17side_05_beg

Can't wait any longer?

If what Kal'tsit said was true, then none of us can really afford to wait around.

Even while we walk this land, we are still a part of the sea. Those corrupted descendants are... in the process of changing the 'environment.'

In time, none of us will be spared. All we're doing now is sitting around waiting for the end to come.

We're not the only ones sitting around though, and everyone's reasons are different.

Think about it more broadly. Who knows, maybe these lands aren't suited for our survival?

(Riffs in agreement)

Not harmonious enough.

There's something I wanna try.

Time to mix it up, all for the tunes!

(Riffs in agreement)

So what exactly do you have in mind?

Uh... Well, we're not exactly accomplishing much over here.

Just treat it as a little pre-concert workout. Don't swim too far out, Frost.

A workout. Huh. What about the rest of you?

I think I'll pass.

Too lazy.

I can feel the inspiration on its way. It's so close. Just a liiittle bit more.

...Alright. (Riffs enthusiastically)

I'll be off then.

*pant*... *pant*...

No, what did that woman and the Inquisitor do? How could they so easily erase the gift of the sea?!

Ægir... It must've been the Ægir. What the Ægir left behind, those strange machines! They must be destroyed!

(Makes a slithering sound as it clings to the cultist's calves)

That's right, my brother, the Penal Battalion has this place surrounded, and we've failed to break through... We've nowhere to run.

But... our exalted prophet has returned to the sea.

All that's left... is to pave the way for Her.

(Impatient slithering sounds)

If they seek to hold back the tide, then let them dash against the rocks. My life is but one brick in a lengthy road.

Eek!

Don't panic, it's just me. Why haven't you taken refuge yet?

M-Mayor Thiago... I was drunk and out as cold as a gloompincer, so I didn't hear anything.

By the time I woke up, everything had gone to shit, and these disgusting things were all over the place.

What happened here? Has the Inquisition sent anyone yet? What's going to happen to us?

...The great ocean is not guilty of any crime, but the Inquisition does not agree. They control the so-called law, and have condemned us as sinners.

Soon enough, the Sea Terrors will return to the ocean. But I cannot allow the Inquisitors to condemn Gran Faro to death just like that.

What are you talking about? Have you gone mad?

Mad? I'm not the one who's mad! I simply need to know! What can we do before the Inquisition destroys this town and rounds us all up to stand trial?!

An Inquisitor has already arrived. I saw that clearly when hiding in a little alley. I've never seen one that old before, and they gave me the chills...

What are you gonna do then, Thiago? Go up to them and try to reason with them?

We'll have to choose sides again, right?

When the Ægir were taken away, most people looked on, just like that. They had a chance to stand up for them, but nobody stepped forward.

Thiago, you—

Now, we have another chance. Either watch the Inquisition put everyone in Gran Faro on trial, or—

Have you lost your marbles?! Inquisitor! Hey, Inquisitor! He can handle us all without raising a hand!

Take me to them.

...What are you talking about?

Drop the act. How long do you think I've lived in this town?

Alright, follow me. If your goal really is to take revenge on the Inquisitors...

Just what are you up to, Mayor Thiago?

Almost there.

This is already taking too long.

S-Sorry.

It's not your fault. It's mine, for not having enough patience.

Um... Doña Inquisitor, if you're worried about the others, you can go help them. I think I can handle things up here.

The High Inquisitor gave me a order to protect you. As you've seen, those monsters are everywhere. I can't just leave you alone.

But I don't want to be what's holding you back from joining the battle... I just—

As long as you can light up this tower, then the High Inquisitor will have made the correct decision. I simply defer to his judgment.

...I understand.

Did your knowledge of the Eye of Iberia come from your parents?

Yes. Or more precisely, it's the sum of all of Gran Faro's past. They gathered all the best lighthouse engineers in all of Iberia, or at least that's what my uncle told me.

The territory used to be demarcated by the Inquisition, until it was abandoned after a string of incidents involving the Ægir and the Church of the Deep.

I'm not trying to reopen old wounds, but I've been thinking. Before I left, I read the dossier about the sentence handed down at the time. ...No, never mind.

Do you hate the Inquisition?

Um... To be honest...

If there's anything that always hangs over the heads of the people back home, other than the ubiquitous dark clouds, it would be the word 'Inquisition.'

The town once glimmered, giving us the confidence to rebuild our homes. The workers and engineers gave everything they had to fight the disaster, but the Inquisition took everything before it even struck.

And do you still believe that today?

It's the place I grew up in. Everything I've ever seen or heard has only reinforced that lesson.

And, um, I'm sorry, ma'am.

You are simply stating your lived experiences, citizen. It is your actions that will prove your loyalty to Iberia.

...Still, I'm astonished you had the guts to say all that in front of an Inquisitor.

I never would've dared, not until I came here... But, then I saw the Eye. For the longest time, it's only appeared in my dreams, nothing more than a sculpture sitting in the plaza.

Everyone in Gran Faro who came before me has passed this all down. Our duty, what we must do...

It's all surging through me right now—

—Um, ma'am, do you see something glimmering at the base of the lighthouse? Something blue, and sparkling like stars...

That's—

—The nethersea brand!

Do you really think you can fight me, Mister Knight?

You only care about the lighthouse. Why? Why do you cling to it so?

Monstrous waves... Swallowing the sky...

...Even the stalk of wheat... consumed by silence. All things great and small... returned to nothing.

(Agitated slithering sounds)

He can speak, but not command his kin. The Sea Terrors are in disarray.

Let us put an end to this.

(Rasping roar) —!

—What a surprise, Mister Knight. You're not moving like you were before.

Those are human movements. A charging wind-up, unique to Kuranta knights. What exactly are you?

The knight continues to ignore his two opponents. His attention is solely on the third.

Even with his attack, the towering lighthouse does not even shake. If even the Profound Silence failed to destroy the Eye, what chance does a lone knight have?

It bewilders him. It pushes him to try even harder.

(Rasping murmur) Clouds, rolling hills, pillars of ash... arrayed across a hotbed of decay.

The tides... unending...

(Violent slithering)

You're injured, and the Sea Terrors are drawn to you.

So it appears. Got a little scratched up on accident—

Ngh...

Step aside. You're no longer fit to fight.

Dario's eyes quickly dart across the Abyssal Hunter in front of him. Her movements had paused unnaturally a few times during the previous clash.

He's heard reports about her. She was involved in the Sal Viento experiments, but the woman who stands before him is completely different from the one who emerged from that fierce battle.

Who was she? And who is she now?

They've hardly touched you, yet you seem barely able to stand.

Maybe an illness you contracted in Sal Viento?

...The scent of the sea is rather intoxicating, that's all.

...Knight ...Comrade. Why, why must you gag on the air, and endure the heat? You'll never taste... the fruits of civilization.

Urgh...!

The ground is shaking.

Energy long-lost floods through the pipelines and into the broken body of the Eye of Iberia, prying open its eyelids.

It has awakened. The entire island whispers the groans of its first light. Slowly it shakes off its winter, as if waking from centuries of hibernation.

...The cycle of all existence...

Does not belong to the sea...

The knight lifts his head, gazing up from the shadow beneath the great lighthouse.

He is perplexed.

That... is not the monstrous waves.

Where... are they?

Without drawing a single breath, as naturally as a shadow slants in the direction of the light, Specter brings down her weapon.

But the humanoid Seaborn in front of her avoids it, with logic-defying explosive force.

In midair, the knight looks far out into the distance.

He is listening, listening for the coming of new waves. And he will break them.

...Ishar... mla...

(Rasping growl) —Roci—nante—!

(Braying) —!!

(Unintelligible sounds) Chase!

Turns out, Mister Knight is afraid of the light.

Don't pursue him. He's not the only Seaborn like that out there. Our only duty is to defend this lighthouse.

He's only lost interest in the lighthouse.

I don't care about the motivations of monsters.

Are you saying... I'm also a monster?

You?

You are undergoing a transformation. I don't know whether this is something that happens with every Abyssal Hunter.

But if necessary, this reef will be the last bit of land you'll ever step on.

You would still call this land, when we're clearly surrounded by ocean?

Disasters change coastlines, not national boundaries.

Every last centimeter of land swallowed by the Profound Silence is still subject to the laws of Iberia.

Laws, a virtuous word. Yet not all creatures recognize this virtue.

...Ready your blade.

J-Just a little bit more!

(Slithering sounds)

Hurry up then! If this drags out any longer, the lighthouse will be swallowed up by the nethersea brand!

...Ran into a little bit of a hitch!

One of the auxiliary structures might've been damaged, b-but that would take too much time to investigate!

Just booting up the core facility will suffice. We still have to retrieve the flagship's coordinates, ideally reestablishing a connection with the line running along the coast—

I, I know, but— Those things might be even higher up!

Then keep going! Hurry!

...No.

I have to stay here... Turning on the lighthouse is as simple as pulling the most conspicuous lever, but I need to stay here and oversee the power system rebooting.

You should go, ma'am.

What? But if you're attacked by a Sea Terror that slipped through the net, we'll all—

I know! But I, I don't want to come up one step short, not now!

Those monsters— They only lashed out against humans because we invaded their nest, right?

If that's the case, they won't keep destroying the facilities. If anything, getting into a fight will only make things more dangerous, so you should keep climbing instead!

...A conspicuous lever, right?

Yeah, it should be obvious. Flip that, and at least the main facilities, including the lighting equipment, will start up again. ...Assuming what the log said is correct.

Alright.

I'll be right back, Jordi.

The console... Well, this is it.

Nothing on the outside is visible from within the tower.

Could the Stultifera really not have sunk? How are they supposed to find that great dreadnought?

Is it too late for the Penal Battalion to come to their aid? Are the cultists of Gran Faro hiding even more secrets?

Just by pulling down on lever in her hand, all of these questions would be answered.

Irene should have been conflicted. She had accepted too much, learned much of the sea, and seen it all with her own eyes.

—Now's the time.

I hope you're ready, Irene.

Dazzling light penetrates the ocean, piercing through everything.

The light will lead the way. The light can dispel the darkness.

It worked!

Hey, Jordi! Did you see that? We did it—

(Slithering sounds, rubbing against the wall)

Merda...

I didn't think you still had it in you to appreciate this sculpture.

The Eye of Iberia... The offspring of the marriage between Ægir and Iberian technology. On land, each nomadic city can only seamlessly communicate within its own walls. Between cities, however, is like crossing a moat.

No system of communication can resolve the interference caused by Originium-rich zones. The only solution is to set up base stations that are at constant risk of being destroyed by Catastrophes.

I hear some countries have already adopted the technology of mobile base stations that navigate on a fixed route between cities. Their engineers are no different from those who guard our lighthouses.

Even today, humans still stumble about across this great land, blindly grasping for clues. We must still grope our way across Terra in near total darkness.

But, what of the ocean?

There is no Originium in the ocean. The Ægir's communication technology vastly surpasses anything we have on land. The Eye of Iberia is not just a set of lighthouses.

It is, of course, Iberia's vision. Very few people know that it was left to us by Breogan, as a microphone to connect all of Iberia.

It's been a while, sir.

Your work was invaluable in allowing the Inquisition to respond so quickly to Dame Kal'tsit's proposal.

How about you? Have you enjoyed your time in Gran Faro?

Compared to the other cities where our colleagues lay dormant, this place can hardly be considered dangerous.

So, what have you found here?

My sincere apologies, sir. I doubt I know much more than you and the Dame.

The order given to me by the High Inquisitor was to monitor Gran Faro for more potential enemies, those who would violate our laws and desecrate our country.

My conclusion being, no. Not for the time being.

When the Church's cultists appeared, you didn't notify your team in time.

Correct, I determined those cultists to be impotent, and took advantage of the Penal Battalion's withdrawal as a prime opportunity to go after their true mastermind.

And did you find them? Are there more... false bishops, presiding over the sea's invasion of the land?

Without concrete evidence, I can only speculate as to who their leader is.

But Mayor Thiago, a worker from the Iberian hinterlands, is nominally the mayor of this town.

Since the Eye of Iberia project was scrapped and the Inquisition made quick work of the traitors in Gran Faro, it's been no secret that he has been a pointed critic of the Inquisition.

Thiago... One of Gran Faro's laborers, sheltering the cultists. It would seem we have our next target, Dame Kal'tsit.

There's one other thing. Umm, Lord Carmen, the Penal Battalion seems to have come under attack.

What...?

They've invested a Tercio just to quash the evil writhing in Gran Faro, to the point that it's a rare luxury to see even a single badge. What could they up against?

The nethersea brand has seeped through the ground to the surface, drawing a circle roughly fifty kilometers around Gran Faro.

And, it's a perfect circle, almost as if it was drawn with a compass...

It's not the town that's been surrounded, though. It's us.