endbook_rogue_4_3_3

A group of guerrillas slide across the ice at high speed.

The ice was conjured by Arts, and is far harder than actual ice. The holy knights firing from below cannot even scratch it.

This is Yelena's masterpiece. It grows according to her will, extending faster than they can slide along it.

Kal'tsit leads the group ahead of Yelena, directing where her ice should spread. Behind them, a revitalized Nymph shuts her eyes tight as she murmurs. As she does, every approaching automaton quickly rusts away, tuning into nothing more than sand in the breeze. Lemuen nimbly jumps around atop the ice, brandishing her slender guardian gun like a conductor's baton. No-one hears the sound of guns firing, whether it's from her gun, or from the sniper automatons.

'Yelena, we're approaching our destination.'

Ever since parting with Buldrokkas'tee, they have been making their way through Kazdel's crowded nomadic plates all day. At times, they would slink around underground; at others, they would use Arts to speed between the rooftops.

'I know.'

At first, Yelena was the one who led the way, but as they gradually went deeper into the city, Kal'tsit became the one most familiar with their route.

'There should be a piece of actual ground up ahead, surrounded by plates. No elevators, but that shouldn't affect us. Our objective is buried beneath, but we don't need to dig. I know of a passage, one the Teekaz tried a long time ago.'

Kal'tsit turns her head to look at Yelena.

'Your father wouldn't want you coming with us, Yelena.'

'He's not here.'

'...Very well. I have another task for you, then. Keep an eye on Nymph. Whatever you do, do not let her out of your sight.'

'Alright,' Yelena answers.

'Eh?' Nymph asks.

'We are soon to arrive at the most important point in the entirety of this land.'

Kal'tsit speaks without a hint of emotion.

'Part of the reason I have been trying to enter Kazdel all this time is this place. I do not wish to act rashly, not in the slightest, but the results of the meeting between Nymph and the pontiff of Kazdel went far beyond my expectations. The moment he started bringing large quantities of those crudely-cut clusters into the city, I was out of time.'

'What are we looking for?'

'Someone I wish to place all my trust in, but also someone I do not wish to disturb.

Nymph, you must tell them where you come from and what you have experienced. Until then, you must not disappear, though I believe you will not.

'You are the only point not requiring self-reference. You will not lose yourself in the plains of decision. Even if your appearance means the lives we live are meaningless...

They are different. I know they are here. If we are to continue our struggle, then perhaps... we must beseech them for aid.'

'Grrovae'zeeal, you... haven't changed.'

'That 'change' would require me to wholeheartedly harm a fellow Teekaz. So yes, Father, I haven't 'changed'. But I have long since transformed.'

Buldrokkas'tee thinks back to the second time he visited the Astray camp, and the brief conversation he had with the slim youth. His own son, of his blood.

Now, that young man's father was preparing to wholeheartedly harm a fellow Teekaz—

The one before him wears a black robe, his back towards him, your average middle-aged Teekaz.

'Your Holiness.'

'I did not summon you, Reverend Buldrokkas'tee.'

'I beseech you, return to the palace of reason, rescind your allocution.'

'Then I shall beseech you to return to your post. No doubt the situation at the Pilgrim Gate is rather chaotic.'

'Unfortunately, your allocution is the cause of that chaos.'

'I ask you, where are the other Pontifical Defenders?'

'They are resting, which is good. They will never see this insane side of you. By the time they are awake, it will all be over.'

Buldrokkas'tee grips his halberd. For the sake of this moment, he has chosen to lay down his guardian gun.

'Buldrokkas'tee.'

'Yes?'

'Do you know the term 'Sarkaz'?'

''Those who deny their kin'? Or perhaps, 'those without... a home'? ...No, I do not know this word.'

'What is Kazdel's calling?'

'Conversion, acceptance, accommodation.'

'What elevates the Teekaz above all other peoples of this land?'

'...There is nothing special about the Teekaz, which is why we accept and accommodate.'

'Then why do you stand against me? The Law has told me of our kin, suffering within arm's reach. You would have Kazdel stand by and do nothing?'

'Your words are the ramblings of a madman. I do not know of this place 'within arm's reach,' but your decision has brought harm upon the people outside!'

He waves his halberd, pointing out the immense window spanning from floor to ceiling.

'Originium is the danger we must face! These were your words!'

'But the Law has corrected me.'

'Do you remember the visitor I asked you to bring? The one you quietly spirited away?

'It was she who conveyed the will of the Law.

'In the initial design, decision access can only flow in one direction.'

Strange words begin to appear in the Pope's voice.

'But Originium, and only Originium, has the potential to break this restriction.'

At first, the voice speaks quietly, but mania gradually creeps in.

'Kazdel will accommodate the 'Sarkaz'. This is our true destiny.'

The voice's master turns away, his face rapt with ecstasy.

Buldrokkas'tee decides to stop listening.

'—Father, enlightenment should be a choice. It should not be forced upon someone.'

With the words of his kin cleansing his thoughts, the holy gun-knight points his halberd at the Holy City's enemy.