Unmei Force Shattered Heroes: Shadowed Tragedy
Chapter 2: The Stone Guardian
Inside Popola's room…
"Are you kidding me!? You can't be serious!" Nier growled, slamming his hands down on the table, looking fairly incensed, with Popola and her similar-looking and almost similarly dressed sister, Devola in front of him and the rest of the group behind him. "You can't be serious!"
"Please try to understand." Popola tried to pacify Nier's mood with calm words. "People are tired, and… I'm sorry, I'm sorry you have to bear the brunt of that."
"This is crap and you know it!" Nier continued, pointing an accusing finger at Popola.
"Calm down, Nier. They're simply worried that Emil's appearance will cause panic and strife among the villagers." Gus advised Nier.
"But that doesn't excuse something like this…" Corrin grimaced.
"It's okay. We can sleep outside." Emil told Nier.
"No one's sleeping outside!" Nier declared firmly, turning to the group. "You and Kaine saved this village, and now they want to run you out?"
"You can choose to keep the village's peace by keeping Emil from being seen among them, or you can forgo it and face the consequences down the road, Nier." Richard answered with a dry tone. "If you're expecting me to tell you that I agree with you, you're wrong. You're the one who makes the choice here, and I'm listing what lies ahead."
"Richard!" Elma exclaimed, appalled at Richard's tone.
"I can understand. If we must remain outside, then I can help to provide some means of comfort for you, Emil." Momiji stated. "We all know how to create shelter for you, even in this harsh landscape."
"You'll… do that for us?" Emil asked Momiji.
"It would be unfair to let you sleep in the harsh weather unprotected." Virion stated. "I would have done the same for any child ousted from their hometown, regardless if they are human or not."
"Thank you…" Emil answered back.
"And what about you, Kaine?" Sanae asked Kaine, who shrugged back.
"I'm used to sleeping outside." Kaine responded back.
"But…" Nier growled.
"It's fine. As long as I'm with you, Nier, and everyone else, I can deal with it." Emil assured Nier, and then facing Popola and Devola. "We'll see you later."
"Sorry about this." Devola apologised, as the group left the room.
Nier then closed the door, as he faced the group. "I… need some time alone, or with Grimoire Weiss." He told the group.
"That's fine, you deserve that much after what you went through with your feelings." Link answered back.
The group immediately left, as they exited the village, making sure to avoid any villagers who might end up spooked by Emil's appearance.
Eventually, they managed to find a small place nearby, a fitting place to create shelter for the group.
"There, that should be a good place to set up camp." Richard stated. "Emil, Kaine. We'll be leaving to gather materials for the shelter. Will you be fine with only Momiji and Virion to keep guard over you all?"
"Yeah…" Emil answered back, as Richard eyed Momiji and Virion, as they followed Emil and Kaine, as the four settled down on the spot.
The rest of the group disappeared into the horizon, as they split into pairs, collecting materials from afar. Stone, wood, fibre, they slowly piled them up at the spot, as Virion and Momiji picked off any stray Shades that were attracted to them by their feral instincts.
Eventually, by the time Nier finally met up with the group, he saw that most of the group were doing their finishing touches on a comfy cabin, with a reinforced stone-fence to protect the group from the Shade threat in their rest.
"It seems that you've gotten quite the grandmother." Momiji told Kaine, as the two of them, Emil, and Virion were sitting around a camp-fire. "I say that she must have been a truly good person to have given you a childhood to think back to."
"Yeah…" Kaine stated back.
"I never noticed that fact about you, Kaine." Virion hummed. "My sincerest apologies for that. Despite your appearance, you are still a proper person regardless. No possession or birth defect changes that. Your beauty is unblemished."
"Stop pulling things out of your ass." Kaine retorted back, with a thin smirk on her face.
"It's the only way to comfort you, my lady." Virion smiled back.
"Oh, hey! That gives me an idea!" Emil suggested. "Since we cured your petrification, we should start looking for a way to cure your possession and my body! I know we can do it if we all work together!"
"Lemme guess: more warm water?" Kaine started, earning some light laughter from Momiji as a result.
"Okay, can we just forget I told you that?" Emil responded back with a timid tone.
"Unfortunately, words linger in minds for a long time, young Emil." Virion smiled. "But it is because you're young, that your stories in doing such intriguing things amuses people."
Emil let out a half-choked gasp, as Kaine chuckled lightly.
Nier silently watched the group finish construction, before the builders joined the group on the camp-fire, as Nier turned away to return to his own residence, to prepare for a new day.
The next day…
Nier knocked on the wooden door of the cabin, as it was opened by Richard, who looked at Nier calmly.
"...I suppose that you have something for us?" Richard asked, before noticing the slight redness in Nier's eyes. "...It seems that you lost much sleep over Emil and Kaine. Worry not, their rest was uninterrupted and relieving."
"Oh… Thank you for taking care of them when I couldn't." Nier answered back, with a grateful expression.
"It's nothing. They were in bad circumstances, so we offered our aid, like we did with Emil back then. But I think that we shouldn't waste much time. You look like you're on the cusp of a new trail to end your problems." Richard responded back.
"We need to go to the Lost Shrine. It's where I first found Grimoire Weiss, and Popola told me that there was something connected to the Shadowlord there." Nier answered back. "I think that we'll need everyone's help for this one."
"The Shadowlord, your nemesis? Quite right…" Richard muttered, before turning inside. "Alright, get up and gear up, Nier needs our help!"
After a few short moments, the entire group were before Nier, as they followed him to the village, making sure that Emil was cloaked properly to avoid being seen as in-human, until they reached the docks, where they found a fairly sizable boat, large enough to fit the entire 11-man group on it, as the boatsman rowed to their destination.
They reached a small dock that was inside a large rock island, as there was a waterfall before them, as the passengers disembarked from the boat.
"The Lost Shrine is up ahead, just past this cave." The boatsman stated, gesturing towards the cave in the distance.
"As well as the Shadowlord's castle…" Nier growled with a scowl on his face.
"Let us make haste." Grimoire Weiss agreed.
Some of the group wished to ask what would elicit such a hostile reaction from Nier, although they didn't dare to ask, worried that it might offend Nier greatly. Instead, they followed Nier, as the warrior traversed the island, ascending it through ladders, and walking around on wooden walk-ways and bridges. Eventually, they found a large cave entrance, as they entered through it, finding themselves inside a large tower structure, where there was a spiralling set of stairs in the centre, around a withered tree.
"This is…" Link remarked. "I suppose that this place has been some sort of tourist attraction, before the years passed on it…"
"Aren't ya excited, Sunshine? We finally get to bathe in blood!" An unfamiliar male voice, gruff and cruel was heard, as Richard's group reacted, with Virion, Momiji, Gus, Link reacting the most, as they drew their weapons.
"...What… was that?" Momiji stated.
"What was what?" Emil asked with a confused tilt of his head, as Nier was also confused, although Kaine was shocked to notice their reactions.
"...I heard a voice." Richard answered back. "Did… any of you hear it?"
"We certainly didn't hear anything." Grimoire Weiss stated. "Surely you must have heard the rasping of a Shade… It seems that we are closer to danger than we think."
"Hm…" Corrin mumbled, as the group lowered their weapons, as they travelled up the staircase.
"Don't even talk to me." Kaine muttered to herself, as if the voice came from her.
"Kaaah hah hah hah! I wanna kill so bad I can barely stand it!" The disembodied voice returned, as there was another set of reactions, although it was more controlled.
"...Richard, was that…?" Sanae asked Richard in a near-inaudible whisper between each other, muted from Nier and his group by minute wind magic.
"...It seems that we are blessed with the ability to comprehend the words of the Shades… no, Gestalts…" Richard responded back. "...Guess this makes things easier… but also harder in a sense. I suppose this is a 'Route B' timeline here. Which means…"
"Kaine…" Sanae spoke with a solemn whisper. "Richard… tell me that you have a way to save the people here."
"...I have my way. Just trust in me, and try to save as many of the sane Gestalts as we can, away from Nier's prying eyes. We both know he's too blinded by his hatred for the Shadowlord and grief from Yonah's kidnapping to see any reason, and the cruel nature of this world does little to go otherwise." Richard assured Sanae. "Until we reach the Shadowlord's Castle, make sure that you pay attention to what I'm going to ask for, because it can stop lives from being lost."
Suddenly, they were ambushed by Shades, as the group prepared themselves for battle. They hacked and slashed their way up the stairs. Eventually, they reached the end of the stairs, as there was debris blocking the way ahead, as Nier detoured to a set of rooms with large blocks blocking their way. They carefully moved the blocks to make a straight path out of the rooms, leading them to another set of stairs to ascend on, repeating the process several times. Eventually, they reached another set of stairs, ambushed by more Shades, although they seemed to be incomplete, with limbs and parts missing from their bodies.
"Turn back… Turn back…" One of the Shades rasped, before Nier cut him down, as Elma yelped in horror.
"What's with these guys?" Kaine remarked, cutting down a few with her blade.
"Certainly not your garden variety Shades." Grimoire Weiss answered back.
"Their bodies aren't fully functional." Kaine noted.
"Say, I've heard of this! A cursed area where incomplete Shades gather!" The male voice returned.
Eventually, the group made it outside the building, into a wooden walkway circling around the building, as they slowly walked along it.
"Kaine, Emil… Everyone. Look, from now on, I'm going to sleep outside with you." Nier declared.
"Why?" Emil asked back.
"I can't accept that you aren't allowed in the village. It's stupid." Nier growled.
"That's… touching to hear." Corrin answered back with a grateful smile."To forsake comfort for your friends. It's a noble thing to do."
"You've been like that before?" Kaine asked Corrin, who eyed Richard for a moment.
"Sort of. Let's just say that I ended up doing something that my people would not forgive me for." Corrin admitted. "Richard did his best to put me in whatever comfort he could afford at his own expense. However, I ended up fed up from his own self-sacrifice, that I told him that either he accounted for himself as equally as I did, or I would sooner dive out and join him in the wilds."
"Huh, that's extreme from you." Kaine admitted.
"Did… Did you catch a cold like that?" Emil asked Corrin.
"Not exactly. We had the proper comfort to stay warm and clean." Corrin assured Emil. "We made sure that we took well care of ourselves and the items that provide us with that comfort, and our actions earned us a good stay most of the time, free of charge. He stopped being so selfish for me after a while, and we all had our fair share of comfort. Speaking of which, Emil, you shouldn't worry about Nier. He seems too fit to be affected by adverse weather."
"Well, I'm flattered that you would speak out on my behalf…" Nier remarked with a sheepish look on his face. "But.."
"Well, you'll be comfy with us all here. We can share stories about our past together." Sanae stated. "I remember the one time Kaine roasted-"
"That's enough, I've got a fucking image to maintain!" Kaine objected with a flustered look on her face, as Sanae shook her head side to side with a smug look on her face.
Eventually, they reached a large set of doors, as Nier turned to the group. "Just past here is the Lost Shrine. Whatever Popola was talking about… it has to be here somewhere." He told them. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I have a hunch that we've got a real fight in our hands."
"Don't worry, we're prepared for it." Gus assured Nier.
Nier then pushed the doors open, as they found themselves in a small hallway, with brazier torches on the top of the walls, as there was a small podium at the far end of the hallway. However, the entire room began to rumble, as the group looked around for the source, before it then dropped down from a crumbling ceiling, as it was a diminutive one-armed metal golem with a large head-like body with fanged jaws, red glowing eyes, gauntlets on its arm, a large sickle-ended spear.
"What the…!?" Virion remarked, before the golem immediately locked eyes with the group.
"DON'T YOU TOUCH THEM!" The golem roared in Shade language, sounding like a aggrieved male warrior.
Suddenly, the golem then leaned back, and spewed a deluge of fire-balls at the group, causing them to split.
"Damn you! Even when you killed my brother! It's not enough for you!" The golem cursed at the group, especially at Nier with how its eyes were locked with him, before dozens of misshaped Shades descended into the room.
"What's going on? There's dozens of them!" Emil exclaimed.
"Don't worry, we'll handle the lesser Shades!" Link exclaimed, as he drew his shield and blade for battle.
"Elma… close your eyes and stay back… this will not end pretty." Richard warned Elma.
"But… But I have a responsibility to ensure that I can help… I can't turn away from such suffering." Elma argued. "What… What has caused this being to hate us so much?"
"...A cycle of revenge." Richard answered back grimly. "Unfortunately… it will die for that cycle to end."
"Stop, little ones! They're too strong for you!" The golem screamed, as the Shades were getting slaughtered by the group, its voice carrying horror and dismay.
"These are creatures of the darkness! Lure them into the light!" Grimoire Weiss declared.
"Aim for that statue! It's the leader!" Nier informed everyone.
"I am not their leader! It is I who rely on them!" The golem roared back, as it tried to block Link's and Momiji's combined attack with his spear blocking both blades. "It is they who saved me! Stop hurting my friends! STOP!"
Corrin's resolve wavered, hearing the genuine anguish from the golem, as it caused her to be raked by one of the lesser Shades.
"Bwah hah hah! Oh, you're funny! I'm going to start crying here!" The male voice cackled with cruel laughter. "
Richard immediately closed the distance, as he parried the golem's spear and landed a series of rushing blows, leaving marks on the metal armour of the golem.
"You cannot continue like this…" Richard told the golem. "I know that you have suffered greatly, but if you sacrifice yourself… then there would be less of your friends dead."
"You… YOU DARE TO SPEAK TERMS WITH ME!" The golem roared with rage, knocking Richard with a cleaving blow that he barely blocked. "You know nothing! You stand with the very murderer of my brother, Hansel! Just like he killed him, you all killed my friends! You are the monsters here! You're the ones who deserve to die!"
Those words withered the morale of Richard's group, as well as Kaine, who seemed to understand those words. However, Nier, blissfully unaware of the condemnation, creating a dark energy fist, and launched it towards the golem, who parried it, only to be left open by a rising strike from Kaine, followed by Nier smashing it into the ground with a powerful down-wards swing, as the golem laid still for a moment.
"Have you felled the beast?" Grimoire Weiss remarked, before the golem slowly rose up, as its armored face was broken slightly.
"Those… are… my… FRIENDS!" The golem screamed in anger, seeing the dead bodies of the Shades piled in the room
"Bwah hah hah! This is one stubborn son of a bitch!" The male voice mocked.
"Damnit, damnit, damnit!" Kaine cursed.
"Hey there, sunshine! You ain't feeling bad for this freak, are ya?" The male voice addressed Kaine, as the golem was being battered from all sides by magic and weapons, getting more and more damaged with each hit. "Ain't no turning back now! Ya gotta lust for blood! Embrace the slaughter! All we know is the thrill of battle! Ain't that right, Kaine?
The golem immediately noticed a dark-energy lance from Nier coming his way, as it tried to parry it, only for the lance to break the lance in two, as the snapped half spun out of control, causing the group to evade, although it plunged right through Kaine's chest, eliciting a pained cry from her, as she staggered back, and dropped her blades.
"Kaine!" Nier exclaimed.
"No!" Elma exclaimed, as she rushed over to try and heal Kaine, as blood spurted from the other end of the broken spear, although her attempts were not working. "...It's not working… No… Please no… don't die… Please…!"
Kaine then finally collapsed on the ground, in a pool of her own blood, as Elma collapsed with tears of despair in her eyes. Everyone in the group grimaced at Kaine's apparent death, while the golem was staggered, as if the parry broke a part of it.
"Oh, you're KIDDING me!" The male voice exclaimed with actual disbelief.
"You….!" Nier growled with rage, as he rushed towards the golem with murderous intent.
"Move… MOVE! Come on, you stupid arm, move!" The golem growled in desperation, trying to move itself.
However, it was then pierced through the chest by Nier's broadsword, causing it to let out a string of pained cries from it. Nier then withdrew his blade, as blood spewed from the gaping wound, some of it spilling onto Nier.
"I… I am…" The golem remarked, as it tried to grab Nier with its arm. "I won't… I will…"
However, before it could move anymore, it suddenly collapsed, finally dead, as the group rushed to Kaine, who was bleeding out.
"Kaine, are you alright!? Kaine!?" Nier frantically called out to his downed comrade.
"You still have life within you! Struggle and stay awake!" Momiji exclaimed. "I'll help grab the spear from you-"
"I fear there is little we can do for her." Grimoire Weiss grimly stated.
"Then we are just going to let her die!?" Corrin fumed with anger at the grimoire. "I refuse to accept this! Momiji, let me lend you a hand! As long as we can remove the obstacle, Elma should be able to heal it!"
"Get… back…" Kaine mouthed weakly, as black mist appeared from her body, causing Corrin, Link, Virion and Momiji to back away.
"Huh?" Nier remarked, before he was shoved back by Richard, who was dragging the distraught Elma away.
"Back away from her…! Something is going wrong here!" Richard warned Nier, who looked at him, then back at Kaine's fallen body.
"What is happening?" Grimoire Weiss questioned.
"Kah hah hah hah! It's all over for you, sunshine!" The male voice returned, before Kaine's body was engulfed in a black blast, that caused everyone to shield their eyes and turn away.
When they got their eyes back on Kaine, her body was turned into that of a Shade, black with yellow marks and eyes, as she drew her blades with a feral posture.
"It's Kaine's Shade…" Emil exclaimed.
"...Tch, so this is what she meant by possession…" Momiji growled.
"We have to stop her! Even if we can't save her, she wouldn't want us to die, let alone everyone else in the village because of this!" Sanae exclaimed.
"I concur with the girl. We need to strike it down!" Grimoire Weiss agreed.
"Kaine, come back!" Emil pleaded emotionally.
"Don't let her moves get the best of you! Take caution in attacking her close-range!" Richard warned the group, as the feral Shade rushed towards the group, a flurry of magic bullets and blade slashes.
Link used his shield to block her slashes, while Sanae used her own danmaku to shoot down the magic bullets and cancel them out, while Nier and Richard slashed at the shade, causing her to retreat, and spew a square formation of magic bullets at them, only for them to be cut down safely by a wide swing from Momiji's blade.
"Hopefully, this will keep her down." Virion stated, as he focused his energy into his bow, firing a arrow of light right through the shade, engulfing her in a burst of light, as her body was turned back to normal, collapsing on the floor. "...What luck. It seems that my own magic studies have proven use here."
Richard walked over to Kaine, as Emil rushed over, shouting her name over and over.
"Kaine… Are you still here?" Richard asked Kaine softly.
"Ngh… I couldn't hold it back…" Kaine answered back with a grim look on her face. "I can't be with-"
"No, don't go!" Elma declared. "We can still save you! No matter how many times you turn on us, we'll be there to bring you back to being Kaine! It doesn't matter how much stronger you'll get with each time you lose yourself! We can stop you every time! So please, believe in us!"
"Elma…" Emil declared, touched by Elma's own words, which would have been his own, had Elma not spoke her mind before he did. "Elma's right! I like sleeping outside because I'm with you, Kaine! I'm able to ignore my appearance and keep going because of you. I'm weak, and I'm sad, and I'm lonely, but you and everyone else make me strong! You're my friend, and I need you! So don't you dare leave me!"
"You two…" Kaine stated, before looking at the rest of the group, as they were worried about her. "Alright… Thanks… for saving me."
Suddenly, they heard a rumbling sound, as the podium before them shifted, as a part of the back wall was lifted, showing a intricately shaped stone-fragment, with a multi-layered rune circle emanating from its position.
"Over there…" Grimoire Weiss noted, as Gus lifted Kaine to her feet. Nier picked it up, as he and Grimoire Weiss examined it. "And what is this, mmm?"
"Beats me, it's got some kind of writing on it, but I dunno what it says." Nier shook his head, before turning to the group. "You got any ideas? You know a fair bit more than me."
"Not in this topic, I'm afraid." Sanae shook her head. "It's better that we show Popola this."
"Right…" Nier stated, as they exited from the room. Before Elma did so, she looked at the fallen body of the golem, as she gave it a look of sympathy, and then following the rest of the group.
In Popola's room…
"It's a cipher of some kind." Popola declared, holding the stone fragment in her hands, as Nier, Grimoire Weiss and Richard were there to hear her explanation.
"Can you determine its meaning?" Grimoire Weiss asked.
"I think this is the key to unlocking the Shadowlord's castle." Popola answered back, before she then showed them a chart, depicting a five-piece puzzle for a pentagonal stone, as the stone fragment was one of the pieces. "Here, take a look at this. I wrote down all the words I understand. This fragment is called 'The Stone Guardian'."
"A fitting name…" Richard remarked, recalling how the golem tried to protect the incomplete Shades in the fight.
"I agree." Popola stated. "There are spaces here for four other fragments as well. 'Sacrifice', ,'The Law of Robotics', 'Memory Tree', 'Loyal Cerberus'... The 'Law of Robotics probably refers to the Junk Heap. And 'The Memory Tree' might be the Forest of Myth. But as for 'Sacrifice' and 'Loyal Cerberus'... I don't have a clue."
"Not a problem. I suppose that we'll likely find them in the places we travel by." Nier nodded casually. "If we want to fill in the words, we just run around the world, killing every big monster we find, right?"
"Oh, splendid. By all means, let us undertake a murderous rampage." Grimoire Weiss sarcastically said.
"They're just Shades. Besides, it's the only way to reach the Shadowlord." Nier crossede his arms.
"It's a dangerous task, even for you." Popola warned Nier.
"Yeah, well. Yonah's in even more danger." Nier retorted back strongly.
"But how can you even be sure that she's-" Popola asked, before NIer banged on her table with his fists, startling her.
"Because she is! Alright!?" Nier snapped back.
"Nier, don't let that rage get to you hard. It might cause to do things you might regret. If you go with blind rage, you'll be putting us all in danger." Richard scolded Nier.
There was silence, as Nier stared back at Richard, as he calmed down quickly.
"The Junk Heap and the Forest of Myth, yeah? I'm on my way. Maybe even find the other two before then." Nier stated, as he turned to leave.
"Please be careful. Oh, and listen, about Kaine and Emil… The villagers know how much they've sacrificed, and they're thankful. It's just…" Popola responded back. "They're scared, you know? People can't change overnight. I'll hurry them along the best I can, but can you please give them a little more time?"
"...I'll try." Nier answered back, before he then left.
As soon as Nier was gone, Richard and Popola stared at each other for a moment, before Richard broke the silence.
"You know… I'll appreciate the fact that you didn't allude to the fact that I'm not supposed to be here." Richard admitted. "However, don't think for a moment that I'm blind to the simple fact that you have been trying to get an edge on us by studying us. Now that Nier's out of the way, let's talk seriously."
"What do you want?" Popola asked back. "I don't know what reasons you're assisting the Original's Replicant, but whatever you're planning. It won't come to success."
"Acting as if I'm the evil one here. How original." Richard spoke dryly. "That's hypocrisy coming for the one who literally set Nier down this road, so that the Original Gestalt, or the Shadowlord as you paint himself as to Nier, would have his body back, disregarding the fact that you're exacerbating the situation by making him mad enough to drag your plans right to oblivion if he's given the chance."
"How did you…!" Popola exclaimed.
"I'm going to save you a lot of time, and explain it right now." Richard continued. "I know all of it. WCS, how the world as we know it went to hell in a hand-basket because of it, Maso, Red-Eye, Project Gestalt, The Black Scrawl. Everything you know, and even some that you don't know, I know all of it, because I'm someone who thoroughly read up all of this information."
"But that's impossible, some of that information died with the knowledge to access it!" Popola declared with outrage.
"That's right, the Replicants are literally Renaissance peasants. But have you considered the possibility that a Old World resident would still live and exist?" Richard responded back, before thumbing himself. "I'm one such person, with fire-walls down and every cyber-security system on the fritz after thousands of years of neglect, collecting what I need is a simple task."
"I ask again, what do you want?" Popola declared, more strongly this time.
"I'm saving this damn world that you twiddle your thumbs with. And to do that, I'm saving Nier and Yonah first." Richard answered back firmly with a serious expression.
"That's impossible. If you know the purpose of Project Gestalt, trying to fulfil Nier's wish runs counter to that purpose." Popola denied.
"And yet I am confident, and not without basis." Richard answered back. "So far, the first part of the plan went off through ad-libbing. Grimoire Noir is still with the Original Gestalt, Grimoire Weiss has the Sealed Verses to trigger the plan. But here's your flaw lies: You believe that Nier would lose to the Shadowlord and finish that plan."
"And what's wrong with that?" Popola asked back.
"...Are you fucking with me?" Richard growled with a snarl. "You realise how much powerful he got, feeding off his hatred of the Shades, thanks to his one family being taken from him to be used for this god-damn plan. You underestimate human hatred, Popola. Because Replicants can feel hatred, it motivates them to become far stronger at the cost of their logic and morality. This is the process that Nier is going under. You can see that he's nearing the point where he will commit mass-genocide on the Gestalts, even the sentient and sane ones. He'll kill the Shadowlord, with what power he has by the time he gets the keys. Your plan was doomed because the one person you needed, wanted nothing to do with your plan, and wanted to see it burn, and you gave him the power to defy it. A ironic fate. You will doom humanity, despite trying to save it."
Popola was left silent, as she didn't know whether to believe Richard's words. Despite how outlandish his statement sounds, Richard spoke with a gravitas that implies otherwise.
"Then if you know what to do, then tell me." Popola declared.
"And have your protocols ruin it, because of the fact that you're hard-coded for that?" Richard retorted back. "Fat chance. I'm not going to let this go by the rails as you intend. This world can only be saved by someone who knows where the right path lies. And all of you are fucking lost, because every person here are so flawed that they wrote their own demise out of jealousy and spite. I'll give you a good word of advice: Take the time to think, which is more important: following your protocol, or letting me do the work you certainly will fail to achieve. You have a lot of time to think, so you better consider why it's good to stay out of my way… because if you try anything to ruin it… I'll pass your death off as a Shade ambush, and trust me, I'm more capable than you think from the first impressions Nier gave of me."
Ricahrd then left through a sukima, leaving Popola shocked for a moment, before she fell silent, as she pondered about Richard's words.