story_helage_1_1

个人剧情 赫拉格

How long have we been standing here...?

I can't even see the core city anymore...

Your wounds haven't healed yet. Get some rest. I will take care of things here.

No, that's not what I meant. Err, how should I say this? You know what I mean...

I'm hoping Amiya and the others will be back soon.

Yeah.

It's a marvelous thing to show concern for your leader. That is proof of Rhodes Island's unity. However, pushing yourself so hard is not going to accomplish anything.

You can barely stand still, young man. You can stop hiding your wounds from your friend. I see right through that.

Huh? You... Hellagur?

Hellagur is right. We will need you sooner or later, but not now.

We'll fight alongside one another once your wounds are healed.

Heh... Please, I'm a nobody. Who am I to fight alongside the Radiant Knight?

—That said, Hellagur. Owing to the situation we're in, perhaps you should stay inside the ship...

Of course, of course, but Neon and the children are still being checked upon. I will see them as soon as that is over.

In that case... Right, okay. If things take a wrong turn, I guess I'll just be in the way since I'm injured.

I'll head back, then. Be safe.

The view here is vast and wide. We can see the berserk city running amok from here.

Fine eyes as always.

As always.

You and your men covered several squads and helped them infiltrate Chernobog, though the plan I'd heard from that doctor was a most fearless one.

Fearlessness, bravery, and resolve may be priceless qualities, but they always lead to sacrifices on the battlefield.

Fearlessness doesn't mean not having a plan.

I never imagined you and your men to be such masterful warriors.

You use the sandstorm and the light as cover. Such a surprise attack is no easy feat even for seasoned veterans. You have my admiration.

I heard you were the one who returned Scout's remains to Rhodes Island.

Are the other Rhodes Islanders quite like him?

I cannot say for certain. I think each and every operator has a different kind of resolve than Scout, even me.

But all of us operators—all of us who are willing to fight for the Infected and for Rhodes Island—are unafraid of battle.

Everyone fights for a different reason.

That is why when they are permitted an ambitious, magnificent dream that matches all that they have ever wished for, they will find themselves lost in the current.

Are you talking about Reunion?

All one and the same...

The operators who infiltrated the city are the most unwavering lot I've met, and they all have the most steadfast convictions.

I choose to believe in those convictions. Their convictions.

This is my duty as a Rhodes Island Operator. Also, I must thank you for going through the trouble of bringing back Scout's comms. I am sure Chernobog must have been in a very bad situation at the time.

Sadly... I never had the chance to meet that fine warrior.

His sacrifice roused his fellow soldiers. I believe the effects of his will can still be seen around us.

Yet 'sacrifice' is not a thing of the past. In this war before us, Rhodes Island will see yet more sacrifice. Much more.

Rather than the sacrifices themselves, I think we should think more about what those sacrifices have brought us.

My job is merely to stand guard here from afar and to await the fruits of justice that they are fighting for with their own blood.

I've met many from Kazimierz like you, young knight, but most of them flawed.

I heard from the other operators that you are known as the Radiant Knight. Your performance in the past has indeed been truly memorable—

—From what I know, in present day Kazimierz, knights who receive a title of only a single word are, without exception, among the very best of their ranks. Why did you leave your homeland, if I may ask?

What the knighthood means now in Kazimierz is very different.

You, too, left Ursus behind, you said so yourself. Everyone fights for a different reason.

Young Radiant Knight, what is your name?

Margaret Nearl. You may also call me operator codename Nearl.

So that's why... they call you 'Nearl.'

Where the hell's W?! She goes missing now, of all times?!

You're still counting on her...? Don't you remember how Garcin died?

You—

Save it! Who knows what W and Talulah are thinking?

We mercenaries put our lives on the line for nothing but coin, no? Don't listen to these Infected. They want their future, and it's got nothing to do with us!

All we gotta do is kill the enemies in front of our faces and keep following the side that wins. That's been my policy all along.

But now we can't get in touch with W, and Talulah's abandoned us. Until we get orders from either of them, whose orders are we supposed to follow?! Tell me!

What's going on? Why are these Sarkaz...

Mmph!

Looks like they're fighting amongst themselves. Let's take this chance and slip past. Quick... don't let them spot us. We need to follow the plan and secure the—

You, can't.

I still remember the expression on Barclay's face even now. I had never seen such a complicated look on him, not even when he fought Pegasus himself.

He told me we had a new enemy, besides Silverlance. A golden one.

Golden. The Golden Pegasus.

A military commander that had only just come to the fore, reorganized multiple knight orders that had been ambushed within only a few hours, and then defended that gorge for three months with nothing but infantry.

Thanks to him, Ursus saw losses far greater than it expected. Its armies had to allocate attack ships to break that formation, and its winter campaign had to be reduced in scale.

The Nearls should be revered as heroes in Kazimierz.

But now, a child that bears his blood... has been exiled from the country?

Just water under the bridge... It may be vile, but you needn't worry about that, Hellagur.

Wheresoever I stand in this world, I take pride in my family name, Nearl.

How is your grandfather?

He was already bedridden the last time I talked to my family...

Time... Time is full of surprises. War leaves behind heroes. Wounds as well.

Do you despise Ursus, with all your heart?

I've never experienced war myself.

But I know that Ursus has started many tragic wars. This truth will never cease to be, and there are many Kazimierz who despise the Ursus, even today.

To refute this hatred... To teach those who lost their families and their homes in war to reject hate... That is a cruel punishment in its own right.

You are a soldier... yet I am not a campaign knight.

You are still of Kazimierz.

Even now, I've never once denied that. I am willing to raise my sword for the ideal that Amiya speaks of, and for the Infected—

—But perhaps I will one day be back in Kazimierz.

You are young still... Radiant Knight.

Yes... You are young. You yet have the chance to correct everything, including yourself.

No... No way... Mephisto... He...

What is this? A transformation? Hey, do you still understand... Mmgh... Ah...

Urghh... Ah... T-Tell them to... go...!

Talulah turned her back on us!

That's not possible! Patriot's the real traitor! Kill him! He's a Sarkaz, he's a Wendigo, and he's an Ursus Army soldier! What part of him can we even trust?!

Tsk. Looks like it's our turn to pick sides.

What do you mean? W just straight up disappeared after she gave us the order to hold here. Do you think Talulah might already have killed her?

How are the other squads...?

Can't get to them. Maybe those Infected nutjobs started their attack on Patriot—

—It's practically still anarchy out here for most of these folks. I mean, they aren't soldiers. This all hit way more sudden than any coup I've heard of—

Should we regroup with Patriot's squad?

—Sarkaz follow Sarkaz. Isn't that the iron law?

Besides, he's Buldrokkas'tee.

Chernobog.

Its march onwards has not yet ceased.

Did you live there for long?

Not very long. Unfortunately, my lifespan is a little longer than your average Ursus man.

But yes... To answer your question, I lived there.

Can you imagine? It was a nomadic city that hosted a theme park, department stores, and a park with a man-made lake.

And now, the core city has abandoned the city blocks that were destroyed by the Catastrophe. With ease, it abandoned everything built by the hands of countless generations.

Even the city itself has become a frightening vessel of some wicked conspiracy.

Chernobog was far from beautiful. Its factories polluted the skies.

But scores of innocent Ursus once lived there. Did anyone consider that? Did the ones responsible for instigating this conspiracy?

None of them ever did.

Anger has blinded them.

It has blinded everyone, ourselves included.

What I see now as I gaze upon Chernobog now is not a city. It is a violent machine, powered by the destruction of the livelihoods of countless men, a machine driven by ambition.

They abused the people's will to live. First, they took the right to live from the Infected. In the end, they even had to pry their will to live away from them.

Your clinic there...

The things that I built have been destroyed far too many times, but as long as Neon and the others are fine, then the bricks in the ruins will be the only destruction there is.

Neon is fine, and Rhodes Island can provide the treatment they need. This is the only source of satisfaction I have.

You've kept them from danger well. It would've been nigh impossible to evacuate them out of Chernobog after it was devastated by Reunion.

I merely wanted to keep them safe.

You cast aside your status as a military leader for that.

Yes... However, the land of Ursus chases me still.

Sometimes, when I lay my eyes upon Chernobog's ceaseless advance, I cannot tell whether Ursus is chasing me or leaving me behind.

You do not want to make an enemy of Ursus...

Even before its rotten body became engrossed in its endless onslaught, nothing in this world should have stood in Ursus's way.

I once dedicated my life to Ursus. War is a soldier's calling, and I fulfilled the duty that I once believed in.

Nonetheless... in the years since, I made it out of that swamp and gazed upon the lands I once lived in from a different perspective.

Just like you, Radiant Knight.

How will a Kazimierz, a Sami, a Lungmenite view the influences our past rulers have left on this world?

What do they think of Ursus's war?

You said you are yet to experience war. You are young, and you yet have the right to avoid these questions, but we all know the answers, deep in our hearts.

There is no answer to war, and war needs not an answer.

Violence cannot change anything...

Right... violence.

My fallen liege was the pride of Ursus. The aspiration that we once spent a lifetime chasing, in his words, all of Ursus was merely within arm's reach.

But did he ever truly see the citizens of Ursus as a part of Ursus itself?

Could he possibly...

Patriot is dead!

The Ursus spy is dead! He never believed in our cause, but Talulah will lead all Infected to victory!!

Let Talulah and her foolish guards know that she cannot bend the will of all that gather here!

Let them roar, and let them struggle. The traitors will be trampled and crushed by the shields of the enslaved. We will be as the mountains!

For the Captain! For... Patriot!

Patriot...? The Wendigo? Buldrokkas'tee?

He...

Patriot is dead!

Patriot is dead!

Wait...

The core city's command tower...

It's burning.

Hm...

Amiya... They...

This is just the beginning.

Reunion's leader is no mere Infected. Her strength and strategy are hardly her truest side. The colossal shadow hanging over Reunion is starting to bare its fangs.

We must be careful. Should their trickeries succeed, be it Rhodes Island, Lungmen, the Infected... No one will be able to escape this new torrent.

I can only imagine the enemy Amiya is now facing...

Rhodes Island's leader... She is far younger than you.

She is facing either the Infected rioters roused by Reunion, the person behind this all, or perhaps...

...It is possible that she and her friends will face Patriot.

Patriot.

Say his name. He is true to it—A pure-blooded Wendigo, an Ursus army man.

The leader of the Infected Guerrillas of the Northern Tundra, Buldrokkas'tee.

He will be the last obstacle between Rhodes Island and Reunion.

I heard about him during the emergency meeting. It's not often that Dr. Kal'tsit treats an enemy... a lone enemy with such caution...

He is worthy of her caution, for he is far more formidable an enemy than one can imagine.

Do you two know each other?

We are old army buddies, and he is a true soldier.

It has nothing to do with his blood, and it has even less to do with his accomplishments and rank.

—He is a Wendigo, yet he is called an Ursus. Do you find that surprising?

Not at all.

Our status and ideology should not be predetermined by our upbringing. This is something I've come to understand very well.

You seem to think Rhodes Island hardly stands a chance in this battle?

Not exactly...

Buldrokkas'tee could not escape the cage he drew for himself with his ideals... because of the ideals he believed in.

Rhodes Island chose to slay Talulah to fulfill its own objective. This is rash, but it is their only way to realize some kind of compromise.

But he is different. He became a symbol of the Infected and the rebels, and allowed it to expand.

Reunion is what it is because of him, and that is also why it will become his greatest weakness.

You mean...?

The Chernobog command tower rages into an inferno.

Hellagur gazes at the red-stained sky, not looking away for a moment.

There, he sees Ursus.

A true city.

A phantom that has ceased.

Fate has driven him into this dead end. He has long been aware, but he will never give in.

He will fight until the end.

And he will meet his fate.