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The Ursus assholes are hiding amongst the Infected and the mercenaries! They are disguised as Reunion! Keep an eye out!

Unless you see paint somewhere on their body, don't let a single one of them get away! If they even dare to take a step inside, kill them on the spot!

The Reunion folks are only here because they were talked into this mess! Do we really have to kill them?

Save that question for yourself. We'll see what you think in a few minutes when you find yourself getting stabbed in the back!

Guard, the enemy's putting up way too much of a fight! Reunion isn't supposed to have this kind of firepower!

Then what kind of firepower are they supposed to have?!!

If we were able to give all of our mortar gunners the newest weapons, we probably could've taken the city down directly without the Catastrophe.

They don't care about covering their tracks anymore! They're trying to rush inside at all costs!

If that's the case, why didn't Talulah keep them close to her?

Because she's afraid! She's afraid we'd see through their identities and their plans!

Not even she would be able to cover everything up if there were too many people. Besides, those aren't the kind of weapons you can just pick up and take around.

They probably had all those weapons stashed across the core city long ago just for times like these when everything falls apart!

They were designed to deal with us from the start! They want to kill all of us. But they're wrong! We will be the ones doing the killing today, not them!

Hold the line! Forward!

What are you doing?! You want to... leave the battlefront?

Rhodes Island, take a better look!

We are the battlefront! Wherever we are, that's where the battlefront is! Forward!

That isn't going to work! Our teams can't keep up!

We'll hold the line and find an opportunity to take them out. Then you'll keep up!

Phantom Crossbowmen, can you do this?

We don't really have much of an advantage without the captain.

But you can do it!

Right.

Captain Faust was willing to throw his life away for the rest of us.

...If Rhodes Island's rabbit can really help us get revenge for him, we're more than willing to put our lives on the line!

No.

You don't need to.

You're... from Rhodes Island...

I just need to bomb their position directly, right?

Raidian, if you are reading this, help me jam their signals.

I just need their headphones to blow up for a moment. Yep, just the sound, not an actual explosion.

You can blow their ears up too if you want.

Okay, in five seconds?

Four seconds, Phantom Crossbowmen. Get ready.

What?!

Three. Guard, have your team break up.

...I'll trust you this once.

Shieldguards, take your shields down.

You'll be out in the open!

It's okay.

But, the guerrillas...

One.

If someone's willing to put their life on the line for us, then we'll put our lives on the line for her too!

Look, all the bastards pretending to be Reunion passed out all of a sudden!

Three.

There is a question that Guard has asked himself many, many times. He finds himself wondering this once again.

There are many operators in Rhodes Island with astounding powers, and, with those powers, they can easily influence the outcome of the battle. How should he look upon these formidable allies?

Once, he got an answer from Ace. He got another answer from Scout. And now he found yet another answer in Rosmontis.

As her massive swords begin to bear down on the enemy's artillery, and as the Sarkaz mercenaries begin to raise the crossbows in their hands, Guard can't help but yell out of his lungs:

Shieldguards! Shields up! Protect Rosmontis!

Together, they are a squad. They need to be protected, they need cooperation, and they need understanding.

They are people. People who are fighting gallantly, just like him.

Got them! You've got pretty sharp eyes, kid.

Thanks, Guard.

Don't thank me. Just keep doing what you're doing.

All Shieldguards, squad members, and Infected...

And my friend... my family...

We will make it home. We will defeat them, and Amiya will defeat Talulah. Then, we'll all go home, together.

Where am I?

I should go back.

It's a little cold...

What's up with those black shadows?

Oh, I remember now. They were freezing to death, so I gave them something.

Ugh... It's cold here.

What did I give them?

I don't remember. I think it was something important. I think someone might've told me to never give it to anyone else.

But then... why did I give it away to them?

Was it not important to me? Probably not. If it gets too cold, I would probably disappear too.

I know why.

It's because that's what my friends would do.

My friends...

There was a guy who was really strict. I wonder if he saw me as a friend.

There was someone who sang to me. It's been a long time since I heard her sing.

There was someone who looked really scary. But she makes really good food.

There was a girl. She was the dearest to me. She was the one who told me where I could go. But... I don't understand. I really don't understand.

There was also someone who rarely talked at all.

Something is coming.

There are lots of black shadows.

What are they doing?

Do they want my life too?

Right. Life.

Life... is precious.

Is that so?

Is life useful at all?

The black shadows are getting really close.

...Are they here to take my life away?

Just what... is that?

Take a step back, Doctor. Don't get any closer.

We got here too late.

That is an Infected no longer.

It's something else.

...Poor fellow.

Even I have only seen a case like this just once.

The caster and the victims were fused together. Their bodies and Originium formed a mountain, and from it bloomed a kind of really fragile flower.

The dust spread in the wind, and whoever that traveled through that cursed place found themselves infected—

—Not only that, but anyone who was unfortunate enough became new hosts and ended up spreading the suffering and death.

It doesn't sound like you're just talking about the past.

Rhetorics would merely be insults to this tragedy. Everything that I say is the truth.

The source of the infection was as lively as poison. Its effect on life doesn't stop naturally.

At the time, I swore to myself that I would keep something like that from ever happening again.

Yet things rarely turn out the way you want them. I've come to notice that these things will just keep happening over and over right before my eyes.

(Low moans)

...It seems like it's fallen into a deep sleep. It's just venting unconsciously.

That Sarkaz herd was probably not under its control only because it wasn't trying to control them in the first place.

Freedom.

It's ironic. To think that a herd could be free.

(Humming)

I knew it. This is the culprit of the Originium dust superspreader event.

This isn't good. If this is how all the Sarkaz herd are going to turn out, the losses will be beyond measure.

Its dust isn't just some simple Originium Arts anymore. It might even infect normal people.

It wasn't pretty, the Originium clusters blooming across the cities. If I can help it, I don't want to see anything like that ever again.

Dr. {@nickname}. We need to subdue that thing first. Stop the herd from growing, and prevent the infection from spreading.

Is that...?

You know what that is?

Yeah.;Can't say for sure.;No.

Doctor, I don't know what's going on in your mind.

Dr. {@nickname}, I'm a doctor, not a judge.

This world is suffering from a disease. If no one treats it, what do you think will happen?

Of course, living things usually have immune systems, and suppose the world does as well, it might be able to recover from the disease on its own...

But we can't live in an even more barren world. That will only cause it to weaken, and we will die because of that.

As for the Infected before us...

(Hissing sounds)

Let me get this out of the way. Even if a disease is seen as untreatable, to us doctors, death is far from a foregone conclusion.

'Until an effective cure is found, the patient's life is under serious threat.' That's how we see it.

There is one thing that a doctor will never believe—even if it's what the whole world believes—

'The disease is untreatable.'

That's an excuse. And one that should never be used by us doctors.

It doesn't matter what kind of predicaments we find ourselves in. I will never use my medical knowledge in any manner that can be concerned inhumane. From the moment all life is born, they all possess dignity.

No matter how society at large sees them, treating patients with Oripathy will always be my calling.

That is why I will never give up on life, especially those that can be cured.

Yet we as doctors will never deny that there are precautions that must be undertaken to prevent diseases from reaching even more people.

The Infected cannot become the tools of others. No one may control other lives.

...If I don't do anything at all, that will become a goal, a weapon, an excuse. If we leave it be, then we won't be able to take our revenge against Ursus.

On the contrary, Ursus's wounds will become the wounds of others.

We cannot leave a struggle of pain simply be.

There are some diseases that normal medical personnel cannot cure.

All the things that the world imposed on them will only rain down on others several times over every now and then.

—That's about everything a doctor can do.

If we are to save even more lives...

(Whining sounds)

Then we need to make a decision.

Silence.

The operators' breathing can be heard clearly through the filtration systems they are wearing.

Which is why, our goal is without a doubt undeniable.

Dr. {@nickname}, we need to halt the Core City's power supply, but before that, to prevent another Catastrophe from happening, we need to take care of the herd that's growing in numbers by the minute.

Mon3tr, arise!

...We don't have much time left. With how it turned out... we can't even say we are delivering anyone from harm. The Sarkaz herd's fate is sealed.

All Kal'tsit can do is stand there in silence and stare at the white crystalline being that can no longer be called an Infected.

How many scars are there on your body? She asks.

There is no way to tell whether she is asking the trembling creature or herself.

The white creature spread its arms.

What do you want?

It tries to walk forward, but its fragile wings are unable to support its own body.

There are sounds trickling out of its throat, like a river of terror formed of whimpers.

Something really doesn't feel right about this.;What a... beautiful creature.

Your premonition turned out to be correct. That's not a normal Infected creature. It's... the source of this large-scale superspreader.

Creatures of artificial nature can usually be traced back to aesthetics.

Yet don't be fooled by its appearance. No matter how beautiful it may seem, you are looking at the culprit behind the surrounding devastation.

It's singing.