Unmei Force Shattered Heroes: Shadowed Tragedy
Chapter 5: The Memory Tree and Sacrifice
In the Forest of Myth…
The group immediately went towards the Forest of Myth, as Nier told them that they were going to seek the key fragment there, as they entered through a narrow pathway inside a gorge, in between two cliffs, finding themselves in the gloomy atmosphere of the forest, which was decorated with trees and bright fire-flies. As Nier noticed, Elma and Corrin were missing from the group, although he was well aware of the reason, and Kaine and Emil waited outside the forest, on his request.
"It's a shame that Elma wouldn't come with us…" Sanae remarked, as she put a finger out, as a firefly tapped onto it. "The sight is soothing enough to help alleviate her own mental trauma from that earlier incident."
"...Maybe it would have, but not right now. You know that the path ahead won't be any easier." Richard sighed. "Nier… Tell us about this place, we need to know as much as we can, so that we can deal with what might come at us."
"It's… well, the place where we found one of the Sealed Verses for Grimoire Weiss, the source of his magic power." Nier explained. "We found out that the residents here were under an illness that seemed to be caused by some great big tree in this place. Called the Deathdream or something… Once you get it, you find yourself in a dream-like state, where you're likely never to be able to wake up from, unless you manage to find your own way out. There were many kinds of dreams… a forest, a castle, a city… All of them could be stated to be like nightmares. If I didn't help the people out, they would most likely be forever in sleep."
"A spell that traps people in dreams… Hm, I remember that there was a certain baku who was able to do such a thing." Momiji stated.
"Baku?" Grimoire Weiss remarked. "What are you saying, woman?"
"Never mind, it's not of concern at the moment." Momiji responded back hastily.
Eventually, they found the mayor of the area, who was sitting on a tree stump, a elderly man.
"Oh, hello! How are things? ...Hm? You want to know if anything unusual is happening?" The mayor asked, upon seeing Nier's expression.
"Kind of read my mind there." Nier admitted.
"Well, I have been feeling a rather strange presence whenever I visit the Divine Tree." The mayor answered back.
"The Divine Tree?" Nier asked back.
"It's a legendary tree that exists in the heart of our village." The mayor explained.
"Did you investigate the cause of this… presence?" Grimoire Weiss asked.
"Not really, no." The mayor shook his head firmly.
"And, why not?" Grimoire Weiss pressed the topic.
"Well, we're not really supposed to go near the tree, except for prayer." The mayor explained back.
"And why is that!?" Grimorie Weiss growled, his patience thinning.
"I don't know. It's just how things have always been." The mayor shrugged with his arms out.
"Weird…" Nier hummed, before the group passed by him. "Right, that Divine Tree, it's the tree that I was talking about earlier…"
"Perhaps the tree put an incantation on the residents to unconsciously stay far from it, for its own protection?" Corrin remarked. "I have heard of such spells before."
"It doesn't matter. We need to see what the disturbance is ourselves." Nier stated, as they headed for the Divine Tree, which was a tall gnarled tree that was almost as big as a multi-story building.
As they walked closer towards the tree, they heard a distorted voice ring from it.
"We are the grass… The trees… the woods…" The voice intoned, causing the group to pause.
"Why do we seem to encounter nothing but odd people lately?"
"You should talk, Weiss… and our new friends as well." Nier added.
"Fair." Gus nodded.
"Pah! As if Grimoire Weiss is capable of spouting such nonsense!" Grimoire Weiss haughtily declared.
"Hang on, I don't think it's done." Nier stated.
"...Is the dark entity that govern all memories." The voice continued. "May the words form themselves to your liking…"
"Does that mean it'll tell me what we want to know? That'd be nice." Nier remarked, before the entire group were consumed by a bout of extreme fatigue. "Ungh… Looks like we're going for another dream… Brace yourselves…"
Everyone collapsed down, one by one, with Grimoire Weiss as no exception, his book body hitting the ground with a resounding thud.
Black. Pure darkness. Painted over everything.
Words. Scattered here and there across the blackness.
Kind words. Difficult words. Amorous words. All sparkling
in the dark like jewels.
The words were few now. But time was shorter.
Grabbing the words in desperation, the tree turned to the
sky.
This is wrong, whispered the tree in the voice of wind
through the leaves. This is not how it was supposed to be.
...The plan has failed.
Once, long ago, the tree had remembered everything about
the world. This was its task. Its purpose.
It shivered with something approaching joy as it collected
the memories of mankind. This was no accident; emotions
were as much a part of the tree as root and bark.
Memories collected like dew on the thick green leaves of the
tree.
And once they had formed a web that spanned the entire
world.
Words collapsed into sunlight before passing through the
leaves and into the pool of memory. From the pool, the
words joined together to form colonies, the colonies united
into whirlpools of light, and the light coalesced into stars.
Each star was like a child of the tree, and it loved them all.
Look at my memory.
A child is here, brought low by disease. He is far too young
to have suffered so.
Thin beyond words, the boy's skin is a shade paler than the
bleached hospital sheets upon which he lies. His parents no
longer visit him, for they cannot bear to watch him suffer.
The doctors have long since surrendered his fate to the
gods.
The boy, too, has abandoned hope. Strange emotions—
weariness, hatred—swell within the dark recesses of his
young heart. He tries to reject the black terror that
germinates in his body, but no amount of effort or tears can
drive the invader away.
He has long ceased to resent his parents and doctors. Once
he did, but now his pain is so great that there is little room
in his heart to think of others.
Only one person brings the boy comfort: a healthy young
girl with tan skin and deep blue eyes.
She is a beacon of brightness and light in the boy's world;
her very presence is a comfort to him.
But he is unable to look upon her face.
Whenever they meet, the boy is filled with loathing for his
own state. Soon, this loathing eats away at what joy he
receives from the girl's visits.
The girl will stop coming. He knows this. His every waking
moment is spent in fear of this day.
He thinks that if he could talk to her, if he could tell her of
his feelings, that this might not be so. But this conversation
never happens.
The girl disappears.
The boy dies alone.
The tree scoops up this memory and carefully stores it
within itself. Etched upon it is a single word: Envy.
"How terrible… A child suffering like this… I cannot imagine it happening to our offspring…"
"We must continue… We are not at our destination yet."
"...Once upon a time, there was a plague among the tengu… It was a dark age for all of us… Such things like this… were common."
"Momiji…"
"Envy… It is a tragic kind of envy. One that should never have been created to begin with…"
Look at my memory.
There is a female warrior.
Her greatest enemy is a beast with red eyes that she cannot
fully comprehend. When she strikes it with her sword, it
turns into a pillar of salt and dies.
But when the white smoke clears, a new enemy rises.
And another.
...And another.
The warrior knows that her struggle is folly, but fighting
the unending stream of enemies fills her with a sense of joy
and purpose.
Somewhere deep in the warrior's drug-addled mind lies a
vague memory of a daughter. Perhaps the child exists only
in her head; the dying remnants of a powerful dream. She
does not know.
Her friends and fellow warriors come and go. Some flee in
terror. Some are eaten. She began the fight with 63
companions, but most are gone now.
The warrior's body shudders. She does not understand why
at first.
By the time she hears the fierce, low sound, the arena is
already enclosed in darkness. Looking up, the warrior sees
a beast so large that it blots out the sky.
She is laughing. She has been doing so for as long as she
can remember.
Covered in blood and dirt, the warrior laughs. She laughs
and laughs until the town that contains her daughter
collapses into a pile of dust.
This memory has been stored for a long time. It is etched
with a single word: Loss.
"Such despair… To have fought in vain in your last moments…"
"...This is the fate of the unfortunate.. And then there are worse…"
"Richard, is this…"
"This is what WCS is… A disease made from magic in a world of science… Created by the cruel gods. Gods that I would gleefully denounce and purge."
"Such a woman, crushed with despair… Hopefully, she will be at peace wherever her spirit goes."
Look at my memory.
A red dragon falls from the heavens...
Ah, that memory has been lost. A shame. It was a favorite
of mine.
After many centuries of existence, the tree saw that its
carefully labeled memories were beginning to dwindle.
Once seemingly infinite, the memories now seemed ready to
disappear forever.
The tree did not feel sadness at this; grief was an emotion
beyond its comprehension.
It did, however, have the distinct feeling that something
was missing.
The mountain of memories it had so carefully assembled
had disappeared.
The tree stretched its branches as far as it could, but new
memories refused to flow.
The pool of memories was a black, empty pit; a hollow
place where life had once flourished.
The tree had lost its purpose.
There was nothing to be done but sift through the few
remaining memories littering the ground under its
branches.
This is why the tree was pleased when the man and his
companions entered the room.
"...Angelus…"
"After fighting the cruelty of the Watchers for so long, you too have been made their pawn to cause suffering in another world…"
"Watchers…?"
"...The way you speak of them… are they mad gods not too different to that of Anankos before?"
"We can see the path ahead… Nier and Grimoire Weiss are waiting for us."
"Well, this place is gloomy as hell." Nier declared, his eyes flickering around the area.
"...You're not wrong." Richard quickly agreed.
The room Nier and the others had entered was almost completely empty, a cage of branches and roots.
All they could see were a few crystals scattered haphazardly on the ground.
Picking up one of the crystals and peering into it, Nier suddenly saw a familiar sight.
It was the Forest of Myth—its villagers prisoners of their own dreams.
"What… What is this?" Link asked.
I apologize, the tree thought. That is all that remains.
As Nier stared at the jewel, bewildered, a voice suddenly called out from the depths of his mind, as it rang out to the others as well.
The voice implored them to listen.
It was an order. Following it was mandatory.
Abruptly, the group realized that they must listen.
They m us t li st en!
"Look." Grimoire Weiss stated.
A small, shadowy presence appeared from beneath the floor.
It looked to be a Shade.
The Shade grasped several jewels in its hand. More jewels tumbled out of its mouth like shards of broken teeth, sights and sounds tinkling from each one before vanishing forever.
The creature was abusing the memories, treating the precious objects like a collection of cheap playroom toys.
"Put those down, now!" Link harshly declared, his blade raised.
"This Shade appears to be consuming the memories." Grimoire Weiss stated.
"That little thing? It's barely worth my time to kill." Nier scoffed.
The tree extended a branch toward Nier.
Without a second thought, Nier brought his blade down on the Shade, tearing its stomach wide.
Jewels burst from the Shade and poured across the chamber floor.
Look, thought the tree. There is the Conviction memory I had lost. And Satisfaction. And many others as well. Yes, this is good.
The tree opened its mouth and attempted to speak, but no sound emerged.
A millennium of silence and solitude had caused the tree to forget certain things. But rather than be upset, it greeted the development with good cheer. Focusing all its power on the riddle of speech, the tree formed a kind of makeshift vocal cord and tried again.
"Ahem! I... I implore... *HACK*!"
It spat out a glimmering green jewel.
Hmmm... One more time.
"Wait, what are you…" Sanae stated, before she then saw the tree, and then looked at the shade, as her face paled.
"I implore you."
There we are.
"What was the color of the lost envy?"
"It spoke! ...This Shade has intelligence! And emotion!" Weiss exclaimed with surprise.
"Who cares?" Nier remarked, as he raised his blade.
"Hold on for a moment…!" Gus exclaimed. "We need to figure out what's going on here!"
"What is there to figure? That Shade is consuming those memories!" Nier growled back.
"...Blue. The colour of the lost envy is blue." Sanae answered back.
With a shove, Nier pushed Gus aside, and walked towards the Shade, as his sword sliced
through its right arm.
The Shade extended its remaining arm to Nier. I must touch him. I must make contact.
The moment its fingers brushed against Nier, the tree felt a warm sensation begin to burn. Something hot coursed through its fingers, up its arm, and out to its entire body.
It was emotion, more than the entity had felt in centuries.
The tree cried out in surprise and joy.
One thousand years alone. One thousand years in quiet contemplation.
The tree felt like it was going to break apart.
For long centuries, the tree had been alone, its heart sealed with heavy chains. But no more. New, powerful emotions began to take hold, causing its heart to lighten. This was more than the simple emotions it had been designed to feel:
It was the beginnings of a soul.
And the man was the key.
This was the promise made long ago. This was how it would be released.
The tree's stomach began to throb in pain—a new and unpleasant sensation.
But the time was not yet right.
"I implore you: How many were lost by the warrior who fought the red-eyed beasts?"
"Okay, riddle time is over. I'm gonna kill this stupid Shade once and for all." Nier scowled, as his blade went for the stomach of the Shade.
"Wait, stop! Something's happening to it! It might be… 63! 63 and her daughter!" Richard desperately answered, as the blade hurtled towards the Shade.
Something round and shiny fell from the open stomach and clattered to the floor.
"The key!" shouted the book. "Grab the key!"
"Get it! We need to get it before-" Link stated, as he sensed the danger incoming.
Nier's sword slowed.
Time began to dilate around them, stretching and slowing.
Time is essential. The next word must be heard.
The words exploded. It became diffi cult to discern their m eaning. The p ool of memo ies began to cr ack as infinite black ness burrowed its way into the wall.
"Thi s world is fa lling apart!" Grimoire Weiss declared, his voice being glitched by the broken time.
"How can a wo rld of le t er" Nier stated.
" Nee d Es ca pe N ow!" Momiji roared.
"I implore... most important thing wo rld"
"Ni er! Re mem ber! Pur pose!" Richard screamed.
There w as a pa use be fore o ne wo rd w as u tt ered.
Yo nah
... ...
... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
The light was complete.
The memories disappeared.
The tree's identity began to dissolve.
As the letters slowly faded, all was drawn back to the real world.
And the tree was satisfied.
Suddenly, Nier jolted awake, along with the rest of the group, as Grimoire Weiss rose into the air again.
"What in the…?" Grimoire Weiss remarked with shock. "I never realised Shades were capable of rational thought."
Nier couldn't say anything, as he was left wondering about what happened, considering that Nier had a feeling that the Shade was actually the tree, and that when he saw the memories from the tree, he began to question what was going on.
"Nier…" Gus remarked.
"With the tree defeated, we no longer have to worry about being buried in its world of letters." Grimoire Weiss stated.
"But at what cost? All those countless memories inside of it… lost." Sanae sighed deeply. "There were memories of the old world in there, and countless more… The tree was the holder of them, and when it was silenced… the memories faded away as well…"
"Look, it doesn't matter what the past was like. We need to deal with the present." Nier stated, trying to convince himself to move on. "We need to check the other place… We're just one fragment away from opening the way to the Shadowlord." Nier declared.
"Yeah… Just one step away…" Richard stated with a melancholic expression, as he looked at the key fragment in Nier's hands.
They soon exited the area, as they regrouped with Emil and Kaine, as they travelled across the land to their next destination.
"Say, Nier.. about that other place… What is it?" Link asked Nier.
"It's a town called the Aerie." Nier explained. "It's a place of isolation. We never saw that there were many villagers. Most of them were cooped up in their homes, a large part of the time. They're more or less in fear of outsiders, especially the Shades and the unknown. So don't expect a warm reception when we get there. When we received a letter from Popola, the village chief wrote a letter saying that they have knowledge about the 'Sacrifice' key fragment. It sounds suspicious, considering their isolation policies, but it's worth the risk in bringing us closer to the Shadowlord."
"...Hopefully, nothing terrible happens." Virion stated. "This world and its residents has seen enough misery and tragedy for their whole lives."
Richard grimaced at those words, before Grimoire Weiss spoke.
"I cannot fathom the village setting up a mercantile. They must have truly opened their minds!" The grimoire complained.
"Yeah, I have my doubts." Kaine agreed.
"Aren't you glad to be going back home, Kaine?" Emil asked, as Kaine sighed.
"Home? This place is a shithole." Kaine answered back dryly.
"Oooh, the village! It's home to sooo many tewwible whittle memowies, isn't it, Kaine?" The male voice from Kaine mocked her, before cackling.
Kaine ignored the voice, as they entered a long mining tunnel lit up by torches on the sides of the passage, before entering a village that was situated in a chasm, with ladders and wooden platforms everywhere to be seen, in multiple floors.
"Huh… a village in the sky, so to speak… Interesting." Virion commented on the landscape. "A shame for Corrin, she would be wowed by such a sight."
The group wasted no time in traversing the set of wooden bridges and platforms, before they reached the chief's house, as Nier knocked on the metal door.
"Uh, hello? We're here from Popola's village." Nier told the chief.
"It's all over…" The chief mumbled, his voice muffled inside the small house.
"We came to ask about the letter you sent." Nier asked.
"Our days are numbered… our village is doomed…" The village chief stated.
"As cheerful as ever, it seems." Grimoire Weiss sighed.
"...What is he talking about?" Gus remarked.
"You're the one who wrote that letter, right!?" Nier exclaimed.
"I… I don't know about any letter…" The village chief admitted.
"The hell is going on here…?" Nier scowled.
"It may be faster for us to take our inquiries elsewhere." Grimoire Weiss suggested.
"We should split up and look for villagers to get information from." Momiji stated. "The village chief seems to be too deep in some sort of despair to answer."
So the group did so, as they searched the houses, and asked the residents, although it did little to explain the situation, as no-one knew about the letter. However, when Nier and Richard approached a village guard, they were met with some development on the situation.
"A letter, huh? Yeah, I think I heard something about that." The guard responded back.
"So you know about the letter?" Nier asked back.
"Hmm, maybe I don't… I'm not sure…" The guard stated, averting his eyes slightly.
"Bah! Which is it, man!?" Grimoire Weiss scowled.
"Oh, uh, and if I may ask, are you friends of Kaine?" The guard asked another question.
"You could say that." Richard nodded back.
"Ah, I've heard the rumours! Here to hunt Shades, are you?" The guard responded back.
"Indeed. Our aim is to defeat every last one." Grimoire Weiss confirmed.
"Every… every last one…?" The guard asked, as his expression froze, his tone suddenly turning panicked. "Every one? Everyone, everyone… EveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEVERYONEEVERYONE…"
Suddenly, the guard began to be enveloped in a black mist, that had both Richard and Nier on guard, as the guard turned into a Shade before their eyes.
"Weiss!" Nier called out.
"Beware! This man is a Shade!" Grimoire Weiss said.
"Way to state the obvious, while our eyes are off, more villagers are becoming Shades!" Richard exclaimed, as some of the villagers turned into various forms of Shades, with the others still human, and panicking greatly from the sudden disaster.
"We need to take them out!" Nier exclaimed.
The two of them immediately fought the Shades, as they were joined by Kaine and the rest of the group.
"You guys sure are taking your goddamn time." Kaine remarked.
"Don't say that, Kaine. We need to fix this situation quickly!" Gus exclaimed.
"Kaine, everyone, the villagers are possessed!" Emil exclaimed.
"There are still humans among them! We need to protect them from the Shades!" Link exclaimed. "...If this is what I think might have happened… may the Hylian deities forgive me for this act of evil…"
They immediately fought through the Shades, as well as protecting the villagers, although they didn't seem to be grateful for being saved.
"Why have you done this!? We just wanted to live our lives in peace!" A Shade roared back. "You monsters! You possessed monsters! It is YOU who have lost your humanity! You are the true monsters…!"
"What madness! These people are behaving as if we're the villains!" Grimoire Weiss exclaimed.
"Grimoire Weiss, stop talking, please." Gus firmly stated. "Even if they're Shades now, they were formerly residents of the villages. I feel like it's more that their desires combined with their desperation and fear of us, to attack us so fervently."
"Even so…" Grimoire Weiss tried to argue, only to cut himself short with a sigh.
"You are the cursed ones! You are the ones who should die!" Another Shade screamed, before Kaine cut it down with a cross-slash.
As the group fought through the Shades, they noticed that the disappearing corpses were forming a misty black mass in the centre of the village.
"What is that…?" Sanae stated. "I sense… so many terrible things from it…!"
"...Keep moving." Richard simply stated.
"I blame you all for all of this!" A male villager yelled at the group.
Suddenly, when they reached the centre platform, and taking out the Shades there, they found that the misty mass was coalescing into a black sphere with a reflective surface, as it then let out a shining burst of light that temporarily blinded the group.
When the light was gone, they found that the sphere was covered by ribbon-like tentacles, wrapped around its body, as there were glowing golden runes flowing outwards from them, as the ribbons parted away in a swirl, to reveal the spherical body of the combined Shade, as a glaring red magic eye rose to stare at them.
"...A Shade amalgamation…? How… surprising." Virion remarked.
"This thing sucked up the villagers…!" Nier deduced, seeing that the villagers they saved, were nowhere to be seen.
"N-no! If we keep this up! We're gonna kill them all!" Emil exclaimed.
"It's better than letting this thing run amok on the rest of this land..!" Momiji stated. "Prepare yourselves, it's going to attack us soon!"
"Our village… Our world… Where am I? Who… am I?" The Shade hive-mind declared in a cacophony of voices, that grated on the ears of Richard's group, and Kaine.
"I feel something from within the creature." Grimoire Weiss stated.
"Use your magic, and aim for the eye!" Richard instructed the group, as he immediately fired a series of magic bolts at the eye, as it seemed to do some damage, although it was not too evident.
As the group fired at the creature, they noticed that the tentacles orbiting around the Shade creature were nullifying any magic that hit them, as well as blocking Virion's arrows from hitting the Shade's eye.
"The surrounding tentacles appear to deflect magic…" Grimoire Weiss noted.
"We know, that's why we need to time our strikes…!" Gus stated, as he fired a series of fire-balls delaying enough for them to pass by the tentacles, and hit the Shade on the weak-point.
Suddenly, the Shade fired a massive barrage of magic projectiles at them, as it rained down on the platform.
"Is this the combined power of the Shades?" Nier remarked.
"It will take more than a barrage of magic to stop us!" Grimoire Weiss declared. "The first to waver is the first to die!"
"Truly stated like a warrior." Momiji stated, as she fired a blade wave from her weapon, impacting the Shade and knocking its eye back slightly.
"Wait, I think those are actual people!" Emil pleaded to the group.
"They won't be people for long…" Sanae spoke with a sour tone, before the giant Shade withdrew its tentacles, before stabbing them on the platform, causing the group to dodge, as Shades appeared from where the tentacles struck.
"Focus on dealing with the normal Shades!" Link warned the group, as they quickly cut them down, before the giant Shade could launch another attack.
"Now! Focus your magic on the beast's center!" Grimoire Weiss declared, seeing the vulnerability from the Shade hive-mind.
Nier immediately created a large pair of dark energy hands, as he throttled them forward, catching the Shade's guarding tentacles, before prying them apart, followed by Emil creating a massive magic circle, and roaring, as he fired a massive purple beam into the eye of the giant Shade, causing it to bleed profusely from it, before it then wrapped its tentacles around itself, as they began to spin, with a pinprick of light appearing at their tips, that was rapidly growing in size.
"Look out! Something's coming!" Emil warned the group, as the Shade immediately fired a massive beam of light at them, as it moved the beam around, forcing the group to rapidly evade the honing attack.
"Nrgh… We can't attack it in this state from the front…!" Virion growled.
"Its weak point is located around the back. Try attacking it from above!" Grimoire Weiss suggested.
"I'll try to pin it down!" Emil stated, as he prepared to fire another beam off.
"Emil!" Nier exclaimed, before Richard rushed to aid Emil. "Richard!"
"Just get to the back of that Shade, Nier! I'll deal with it!" Richard stated, as he created a magic shield that blocked the beam from hitting either of them.
"...This magician has this handled with Emil. We cannot waste time, we must circle behind the creature at once!" Grimoire Weiss stated.
With reluctance, Nier traversed the village, with the group following him, as Emil and Richard did their job of distracting the giant Shade, as they reached a bridge, where they saw the glaring eye of the Shade, as it began to attack them with waves of magical bullets.
However, it did little to deter the group, as Link used his shield to break through the formation of magic projectiles, giving the group the positioning to fire a focused barrage of magic and arrows that damaged the Shade even further, as it retreated down below, and halting its attack on Emil and Richard.
"Did we get it?" Nier remarked.
"No, we're not done yet." Link stated, gesturing at the moving Shade.
"Emil! Richard! Are you okay!?" Sanae shouted.
"Don't worry! We're alright!" Richard answered back.
As the group began to move down to follow the Shade, Nier cursed out loud.
"We beat the hell out of that thing! How can it still move!?" Nier shouted.
"I doubt that a Shade of this size, and being the conglomeration of countless lesser Shades, would be easily defeated like this… But we can still defeat it!" Momiji stated.
They soon managed to reach the lower levels, as Emil and Richard joined up with them.
"Come on! Help me take it out!" Emil exclaimed.
"I'm on it." Nier stated, as the group continued to fight the giant Shade, damaging it even further, as cracks developed on its spherical body, especially around the glowing eye.
After a while, the Shade began to sag slightly, its tentacles lowered for a moment, as Nier took the chance to summon a ring of dark energy lances, before they merged into a massive one, while Emil moved beside him.
"Sanae!" Richard cried, as he created a magic circle.
"I know!" Sanae stated, as she raised her staff, as the tip of it charged with energy.
Almost in unison, Nier fired the large energy lance, while Emil let out another beam blast, far stronger than his previous, Richard fired a beam of white light that grew in size, and Sanae fired off a massive barrage of blue beams.
Even though the Shade covered itself in its tentacles to try and shield itself from the combined assault, the magic was far too powerful to be blocked, as the beams pierced through the Shade, before the lance immediately exploded in a burst of dark lances, with blood spewing out of each one of them.
Emil huffed a while, before he then collapsed on the ground, glowing eerily purple.
"Emil? Emil, wait!" Grimoire Weiss exclaimed with horror.
Emil then let out a massive cry of pain, as he suddenly jolted up, letting out a massive burst of energy that turned into a glowing sphere of destructive light.
"Emil!?" Nier exclaimed.
"Oh, no… NO!" Sanae screamed with horror.
"He's gone! His instincts have taken hold!" Grimoire Weiss shouted. "The ultimate weapon is being deployed!"
"We need to get out of the range!" Gus stated, as the group immediately did so, although they were barely keeping themselves out of range of the growing sphere of destruction, as it swallowed up the village and the nearby rock formation.
Suddenly, there was a loud blast that sent everyone tumbling across the rocky ground. When they got themselves up, and turned around, there was nothing left of the village, but a floating Emil, whose glow was slowly fading, as he turned towards the group. He then slowly floated down, and landed on the ground, before lowering himself, and weeping at the lost village.
"Emil…" Sanae remarked, as she hugged the crying child. "...It's alright… It wasn't truly your fault… You tried your best to protect everyone…"
"...What have I done…?" Emil stated. "I killed innocent people… I killed them all…"
"But you saved us… If it wasn't for you… we'd be all dead." Nier answered back, placing a hand on Emil's shoulder in comfort.
"But… But I…" Emil stated.
"...You did the right thing…" Richard spoke, although his voice sounded bitter. "...It's better that this village disappeared. At least no one has to suffer now. They're all gone… moved to a better place."
Nier looked back at Richard, as he noticed that Richard's expression had melancholy on it, while the others were in silent mourning. He didn't say anything, as the group slowly got up, as Emil slowly calmed down, as Nier picked up the key fragment that clattered onto the ground beside him, when the blast happened.
"We had best be off." Grimoire Weiss stated.
"...Yeah." Nier and Richard said at the same time, earning them a look towards each other.
"...I guess this is it then. All of the key fragments are yours." Richard told Nier. "Now's the time to find the Shadowlord and your sister, Yonah, isn't it?"
"We certainly can." Grimoire Weiss agreed.
"Hold on, Yonah… I'm almost there." Nier declared, as he left the village through the passage.
Richard watched Nier go, as he silently thought to himself. 'I'm almost there as well… Almost there to the deciding point… Just a little longer… and your happy ending will come.'
The group soon left the destroyed Aerie, as they headed towards the village.
"I need to deal with something." Nier stated. "May I ask if… I can be alone?"
"...Sure." Gus admitted.
Kaine and Emil were silent, as the rest of the group headed for their cabin, except for Richard, which surprised Nier.
"...You're not going with them?" Nier asked.
"...Nier, we need to talk." Richard stated. "Let's discuss on the way to the village. That's where you're going to go… to Popola for how we're going to use that complete key to get to the Shadowlord."
Nier saw the look in Richard's eyes, as they seemed to be uncompromising and serious, as it made him relent somehow, considering that he wanted to know what Richard wanted to talk about.
Eventually, they reached the village gates, as Nier and Richard walked alongside each other.
"Nier… Do you think that you're ready to face the Shadowlord, right now?" Richard asked Nier firmly. "From the look on your face, I have doubts that you are."
"It's not a choice to me. As long as Yonah is in his hold, I can't afford to waste any time doubting myself." Nier explained back.
"But answer me truthfully, Nier…" Richard continued. "...Why are you trying to throw us away? Why are you casting Kaine and Emil, who have stuck with you spick and span for so long, away?"
"This upcoming fight with the Shadowlord is gonna be tough." Nier admitted. "And while I'd do anything for Yonah. I'm not sure it's fair to drag you all into this."
"...Then it's a good thing that we're alone then." Richard responded back. "Because I have something to admit to myself… I have business with the Shadowlord."
"What? What do you mean? You don't even come from here, so why would you want to seek him?" Nier asked, confused about Richard's words.
"I'm extremely serious." Richard answered back. "Look, I cannot tell you right now what it is, because I don't want to let the facts spill too early… But I promise you this, our ultimate goal is the same, but we have different ways to achieve it. And no matter who finishes the job… Your sister will remain with you."
"...You don't leave me much to trust you with." Nier remarked. "...But then again, I hurt your friend, Elma, and you have helped us so much. So I can afford to trust you for your help against the Shadowlord."
"Thank you… I'm glad that you believe in me." Richard smiled back.
"Hey… the fuck's this hot garbage you both are spewing?" Kaine growled, as both Richard and Nier turned around to see that the entire group was here.
"Someone's been eavesdropping, eh?" Grimoire Weiss quipped.
"Kaine, Emil, look, I just-" Nier stated.
"How much did you hear?" Richard asked firmly.
"Does fucking all of that count?" Kaine scoffed. "Wanted to leave us behind? Why, so we'd be safe? Fuck that."
"We had suspicions that you were going to do this alone." Link stated, as he shook his head. "...As someone who knows that being alone is a terrible burden, I cannot allow that."
"They're right. You accepted me. You told me we'd be together no matter what happens, Nier." Emil told Nier. "Now's it's time for us to return the favour!"
"...Heh. Guess they're not as easily fooled as they seem, Nier." Richard scoffed. "You're going to be taking them, whether you like it or not."
"That's the brunt of it." Kaine crossed her arms. "Don't make me have to say mushy shit like debts and loyalty."
"When this is all over, we can help you achieve your wishes." Elma stated. "We'll help Emil get his human body back, help Kaine be free of the possession, and even help the people of the village be happy."
"Elma…" Nier stated.
"...I forgive you, Nier. I'm sorry for acting like an utter child before.. But these terrible things… you promise that you'll never have to do such a thing again, please?" Emil answered back.
"...Alright, I promise. Thanks, all of you." Nier answered back. "Just let me speak with Popola, and we'll go to save Yonah, together."
"We hope for that." Corrin nodded back.
As Nier and Richard headed for the library where Popola was, Grimoire Weiss voiced a thought.
"I marvel at how relatively simple a task this retrieval process proved to be." Grimoire Weiss remarked. "It is almost as if someone deliberately set us on this path…"
Richard's expression darkened on hearing those words, although he didn't make his disdain evident for either Nier or Grimoire Weiss to pick up.
"You're overthinking it, Weiss." Nier stated casually. "I don't care if it's a trap. Yonah's waiting for me, and I'm going."
Eventually, they entered Popola's room, as Devola was also there, sitting on a nearby couch.
"You're really going to do it?" Devola stated.
"The whole village is buzzing, you know. They say you're gonna go rescue Yonah." Popola said as well. "I guess it's really happening, huh?"
"I'll bring her back, I promise." Nier declared.
"Um, about that…'' Popola stated with a worried expression.
"Yeah?" Nier asked with a raised eyebrow.
"N-nothing. Never mind." Popola remarked, as Richard silently scoffed, and crossed his arms.
"Popola just loves to worry…" Devola said with rolling eyes. "Anyway, you be careful."
"Yes. Do be careful." Popola agreed.
"Thanks." Nier answered back.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of him." Richard answered back, as the two of them filed out of the room, as he left them a burning glare, before he closed the door.
"...Sister, what do we do?" Devola asked Popola.
"...We do not know what he will do." Popola admitted. "This person known as Richard… he is a threat to Project Gestalt… If we do not get rid of him… he will-"
Before Popola could finish her words, she was suddenly surprised by a paper note falling on her table, dropped from one of Richard's sukimas. When she turned it over, she saw that there was a message written on the other side, in deep black letters.
This is your last chance, make your choice, androids of Project Gestalt.