One of the changes I made is the relationship between Hersyrian and Quinella. Maybe I had a little sympathy while I played the game when she didn't remember him at all, so I think that's the only change I made. If anything, she's still cold as hell, but at least she remembers who the guy is.
Sunday will be a double upload. The change I made there is the timing of the true ending of Alicization Lycoris, where instead the fight against the Pontifex happens at the same time as the occurrence of that ending. Then eventually there's the epilogue, which will come later in the week to finish the story and lead into WoU.
Enjoy.
A complete and perfect resurrection. Congratulations… Mother." Hersyrian bows low as the Pontifex's feet touch the ground. Her perfect, pure, naked form, unfit for any man to touch or lay eyes upon...it is before him. He has succeeded. He has brought back Administrator.
"System Call… Update Connection." A purple light surrounds her temporarily, finalizing her connection between body and mind. After it disappears, she turns to Hersyrian, smiling lightly. "We meet again, Hersyrian. Good work reconstructing my consciousness. You've done well. Thanks to your efforts, I've returned in flawless condition."
"Your words honor me. Mother… I…"
"It seems we have some vermin down below."
Hersyrian nods and stands up. Chuldekin has played his part, now to dispose of the trash. "Shall I dispose of them?"
Administrator shakes her head. "No, I want you to stay here. I am a bit drowsy. Perhaps I want to enjoy our reunion, Hersyrian."
"Whatever you wish, my dearest Mother."
"And while we await them, tell me of the one named Jaymes…"
Moments later, Jaymes
As soon as we enter the hundredth floor, my eyes are not on the roots that encircle the room, nor on Hersyrian. They immediately hone in on Quinella, and this time, I can tell this is no mere minion. I can feel her Incarnation, I can see it in her eyes and face, and I try not to look elsewhere, hard as that is. But this is her, the complete return of the goddess who rules the Human Empire.
"Quinella. It's been 300 years."
"We meet again, Lord of Knights. Back then, I was a child studying the Sacred Arts, now I am the master. Then there's you, Alice Synthesis Thirty, and you bring along EYdis Synthesis Ten. And… Yes, I remember that face. You're from House Orthinanos."
Medina gasps. "Lady Pontifex, you recognize me?"
Hersyrian turns to Quinella. "Mother… Why would you recall this person's face?"
"Orthinanos appearance data is passed down largely unchanged. Even if impurities enter the bloodline every so often, it won't thin out easily. You should know that."
Hersyrian takes slight offense to that, but he says nothing out of turn to his mother. "I see… That's very like you to observe, Mother."
"Is it? My current self is made of others' memories. Perhaps it was one of yours."
"Yes, that may be so."
Quinella then faces me again. "Still, I'm disappointed to not see the irregular friend of yours. But what business could you have with me?"
I chuckle as I draw Falchion. "I'm just here to clean up his mess. Seems he left a few stains unchecked. So if you're thinking you can do the same things you did before, you can bet I'll do as Kirito did."
Alice nods as she and the others draw their swords. "If you intend to make innocents suffer any further, I too will raise my sword."
Quinella looks amused. "Precisely what I expected you to say, I see."
Hersyrian steps in front of her and walks our way, taking hold of his staff. "You shall not lay a finger on Mother. I won't allow it. And you, defective Orthinanos… I'll eliminate you once and for all. After I have the pleasure of making you suffer horrifically, of course."
"Try it, then! If you want to get in my way again, I won't hesitate to crush you!"
"Let's go, Medina."
"Right. I'll put my trust in you."
"As for you, Hersyrian… Haaa!" I clash my blade against his Incarnate Shield, a literal clash of Incarnation as I struggle to rip through it. But not even Hersyrian can fully concentrate on just me alone. Flanking him is Medina and Sortiliena, forcing him to expand his shield around him, making it lose some strength. As something catches my peripheral vision, the girls and I back off, but before Hersyrian's pride allows him to boast, fire explodes against his back, courtesy of my two apprentices.
As the adopted son of the Pontifex growls and gets back to his feet, Eydis descends upon him. Hersyrian parries her attack as she's joined by Alice, but somehow he manages to hold them both off. Alice is shot away by an Umbral blast, while Eydis is saved by Sortiliena from the staff. Ronie and Tiese take their blades against Hersyrian's shield. With his weapon and shield used at once, I make my strike, finally slashing through the shield. Medina proceeds to switch out with me, but can't make contact with Hersyrian's body as he blasts us all away with a shockwave from his body.
Eydis and I are the only two standing (since I caught her) from the blast. Not giving up, we stand before Hersyrian as he laughs. "The Lord of Knights and the Knight of the Abyss… Fine, forget the Incarnate Shield. I'll eliminate you both with my own might!" Eydis charges Hersyrian first, leaping over him, yet the man blocks her and me from the front. He starts using his staff like it is a double-bladed weapon, fighting us both at once. He kicks me in the face and launches ice crystals at Eydis, who cuts them down with her sword. As I rejoin the fight, he elbows and blasts Eydis--or what turns out to be a clone of Eydis she formed at the last second--and clocks us both in the head with his weapon. He throws Eydis aside, disarms me, and holds me by my throat. "Yes, this is exactly what I dreamed. This is exactly how I'll squash the life out of that murderer!"
"No…" I reach for my belt and swipe at Hersyrian's face with my new dagger, missing but freeing myself from his grip. As I gasp for air, Medina returns and takes the fight to Hersyrian alone.
"Heh. Not a bad effort."
"For all those who've been sacrificed… I'll never forgive you, Hersyrian!"
"What will you do then? Bound by the Taboo Index, what is there you can possibly do?"
"I am the head of House Orthinanos! I will always be proud, strong, and righteous!" Medina pushes Hersyrian away and holds her sword between them. "In the name of my father, I will destroy you for betraying my honor!" Herysrian looks at Medina wildly and leans back laughing. "What are you laughing at?" Medina attacks Hersyrian, but the man dodges each strike until he kicks her in the chest.
"You love your ancestors so dearly, do you not? I think a celebration is in order for your impending reunion."
Medina slowly stands up. "What are you saying?"
Hersyrian places his staff on the floor and begins to muse. "Long ago, an unfortunate child was born in the heart of Wesdarath. He never knew his father's face, and his mother became mute and died. This child knew not even the existence of the taboo Index. To sate his hunger and protect himself, he killed any animal he encountered. He knew nothing of language, so humans were no different from any other beast. The Pontifex found this child, and saw he was born with high Sacred Arts potential. This child was eventually made an observer in the Senate, and an executioner. He disposed of the friars who failed in experiments and weren't worth resetting. He even used Sacred Arts to torture those who attempted escape. All noble tasks that the Integrity Knights and their justice could never carry out. Eventually, the Pontifex froze the child's Life, muh like the Integrity Knights. That child was grateful, and he felt the Pontifex's love. Indeed, he felt it was out of love that the Pontifex granted him eternal life."
"And that child was you...but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Now, now, the story isn't over yet. You're just as rude as the fifth-generation head."
"You knew the fifth-generation head...how? When did you even meet?"
"I believe it was during the tests," Administrator answers.
Hersyrian confirms it. "Yes, the tests on the defects, most of which failed. To be clear, I knew the heads of House Orthinanos through the fifth generation. From the progenitor, Matthew, to the dear Miriam."
"Wait, so those things you said before were true?"
"Allow me to first ask this: what made you think they were lies? All those defective leaders were ideal playmates for me, after they failed Mother."
"Playmates?"
"Indeed. There's no value in the life of a 'defective' failure. Mother ordered me to not kill them, so I would immolate and then heal them. True to thier motto, they were strong. No matter the torture, their pride remained."
Medina's anger become apparent in her breath. "You did that to my ancestors? But why?"
"At first, it was out of sheer curiosity. Eventually, however, I came to hate them. In the time I spent with Mother, she was plagued by an unusual phenonmenon. Her memory capacity would reach its limit, and she would forget even my name. But she never forgot the Orthinanos, no matter the generation. Each would fail the test, each generation brought to the White Prison just the same! Orthinanos, Orthinanos, Orthinanos! That unforgivable bloodline continued unbroken!"
"Oh, the experiments with House Orthinanos, how I remember those days."
I stand up, glaring at Quinella. "What did you do to them?"
"I tried putting stress on their fluctlight in order to activate the module. But although I could get a faint reaction, the tests would always end in failure. I sought to make them more durable by having the marry relatives. But that didn't go especially well."
Medina drops her head. "These tests, they were all to use the powers I have?"
"Indeed. But generation after generation produced nothing but defects." Quinella reaches her hand out, and from the ceiling of the top floor, five crystals float down surrounded by purple light. "They were useless individually, so I decided to concentrate their power."
"You… You made gems from generations of House Orthinanos?"
"Hehe, correct. In gem form, you'd be able to remember them even if you forgot, hmm?"
"No… You're saying those things are my ancestors?"
"But only up through the head of the fifth generation… Right, Mother?"
"Yes, since someone had to go and pollute their bloodline."
"What do you mean?"
Herysrian chuckles a bit too proudly for the revelation I just figured out. "So you still haven't caught on? The boy has even caught on. I do so despise how slow you all are. You Orthinanos are all the same. Yet still you were present in Mother's memories. I hated you so, so very much. All because you had that pure blood I could never have."
"Hersyrian," I warn, figuring out what had been done to her house.
"No, no, let her hear. Let her come to the realization that Mother was so interested in that blood of yours, so I decided to ruin its purity."
Medina is either not understanding it or...hate to say it, pretty slow. "What...do you mean?"
"The fifth head vanished because she became pregnant in an illegitimate union. Defiled before lawful marriage, she bore a child with impure blood. You really are so similar. No matter wah I did to her, she never lost her pride. But after that, she was unable to bear children to her wedded husband. And so the pure Orthinanos line was cut off, and only the tainted lived on."
Medina drops her sword in shock. "You don't mean… No, it's not possible!"
Hersyrian smirks. "I told you, I grew up knowing nothing of the Taboo Index, so just like the two invaders, I exist outside of it… It IS possible. Mother told me once that quite rarely, a unit, or 'human' is born irregularly. They shouldn't be able to exist. But my desire to defile the bloodline prevailed! Like Mother, I conducted an experiment. And oh, the bliss when it succeeded!"
Medina drops to her knees, still in denial. "No… It can't be… It's not true!"
"Shall I force you to face the truth? Let me put it into words for you: My blood runs through your veins! I ended the pure bloodline of House Orthinanos! The fifth-generation head did comparatively well in the experiments, at first. If she were wed to her own sire, perhaps that would produce a fitting vessel for thier power… So Mother told me. So I had to eliminate that possibility. I couldn't let them steal any more of Mother's attention. And just as I planned, once the Orthinanos blood was defiled, Mother had no more interest in them!"
"Lies! How could I ever believe this garbage? Why you you even…"
"I thought I made it obvious. I wanted to completely erase House Orthinanos from Mother's memory. For one thing, isn't it ridiculous that Mother called defects like you by name? Deny it all you like, the truth won't change. I am your distant grandsire. How does it feel to be face to face with one of your beloved ancestors, now? Can you still raise your blade against me?"
"No… No! All you did was contaminate House Orthinanos' bloodline! You're no ancestor of mine!"
"Oh no, don't you see how much you take after me? How you'll fight for what you love by any means necessary? How many have you sacrificed in the name of family honor? The people used as live bait when you noticed and said nothing? A friend you were willing to kill if it meant getting what you wanted?"
"No… You're wrong, you're wrong!"
Hersyrian laughs. "Oh, defiling your horrid bloodline really was worth it after all! Even if I was punished and Mother kept me frozen for so long, it's paid off. But we'v spent too long talking. We should finish this. Using you and tainting your blood still isn't enough. This time I will destroy you and purge you from Mother's memory! Mother's resurrection is now complete! There's no need for the defective Orthinanos any longer! Isn't that right, Mother?"
Quinella gazes at the assembly of gems circling her palm. "The jewels I made from Orthinanos, it really brings everyting back. I remember it all so well, all the hope and disappointment I had for that House… And yet, this one, tainted so, is a success."
Herysrian gasps. "Mo...ther?"
"I think she may have some use to me, Hersyrian. After all, while it is true you brought me back, wasn't it her that did most of the work? To some degree, you can say she actually is the reason I was resurrected."
"What… What?"
Quinella turns to her "son". "Favored as you were, you make it seem as if I only called out to you, when in truth I called out to a number of people I had frozen. You just happened to be the one who listened. I do appreciate that, certainly. But what I never appreciated was the contamination of the Orthinanos bloodline, whihc prevented further tests. But now, your work and usefulness to me is done. I'll be taking the girl now."
Hersyrian begins to freak out. "Mother… Mother! Why? I was the one who awakened you!"
"Hush, be a good boy, and don't get in the way... System Call: Form Object. IDs N_2550 to N_2554. Sword Shape."
Alice gasps. "Is that a spell to turn those jewels into a sword?"
"Finally, I found a way to use you. Come and be my sword."
I frown. "Why is she making a sword?"
Sortiliena shakes her head. "I don't know, but we're in trouble, Jaymes!"
"Yeah, if we don't stop that Incarnation…"
"The blood of my ancestors… The Pontifex can simply melt it away just like that?"
"Mother… Why, Mother? I've done everything, anything, all for you!"
"Could you quiet down? I can't concentrate on the ritual."
Enraged, Hersyrian teleports, swipes the blob of Orthinanos blood from Quinella, and jumps away from here. "Do you really want their blood so much? What can the blood of Orthinanos possibly give you?"
"Now, now, Hersyrian, give that back."
He holds up the glowing, unshapened object up. "If, even after all this, you still desire those worthless Orthinanos' blood, then what if I desire to be Orthinanos! I'll take this loathsome blood inside myself this time! I want to live in your memories, Mother! To make it so you won't forget me!" He drops the blood in his mouth and immediate begins to gag and drop on the ground.
"What the hell is going on," I ask Alice.
"I think it might be… But there's no way that's possible!"
Eydis shakes her head. "It's a similar ritual to create our Divine Objects. But he's taking the transformation she meant for the jewels.."
"Matter-Transformation Arts?" Medina and the rest of us watch as dark energy erupts from Hersyrian's body, but comes from it is not a sword, but a giant, monstrous being. The only thing that reminds us its Hersyrian is its hair, but besides that...its just a mass of dark magic, teeth, and faces.
And, of course, it can talk. "I've finally done it. I didn't just taint the Orthinanos blood, I joined it! Ahh! But I feel filthy...as Orthinanos seeps into my body and soul… Gwahh! Orthinanos! Loved by Mother, and etched into her memory!"
"Is this what you wanted," Medina asks.
"I defiled House Orthinanos's blood, and I shall break it… Mother! Look at me!"
Quinella floats up besides the beast, seemingly intrigued by the new development. "If you insist, I'll watch, to see just how far you go."
"Now then, Medina Orthinanos! I am now one with your beloved ancestor! Kill them now, if you can!"
"I'm not letting that happen!" I leap in front of Medina and parry Hersyrian's foot from stomping her. He tries swiping me away but I flip back and regroup with the others. "Medina!"
"That's… That's my… Those faces...generations of Orthinanos…" She picks up her blade and stands. "Those are my ancestors, whom he tortured and defiled. I must set them free… It has to be me. Tainted or not, this is my bloodline, and I will end this!"
"We will assist you, Medina," Alice says.
"Thank you, Alice, everyone."
"Then let's go, everyone! To set House Ortinanos free!"
Quinella chuckles from above. "Struggle as much as you like."
Hersyrian roars as we charge him. "I will destroy House Orthinanos for all time!"
