Chapter 48: Overlord
Somewhere, in a place which was no more. Here he stood, in some site immaterial, holding on to all the things he knew to be true – memories and emotions. Though he possessed no evidence to support it, the man believed this could help him stay whole. And if he could do that, maybe he could make something else come together and stay whole as well. All he needed was a morsel of certainty, a minor stake into the grotesque world he helped create.
Time, if such a thing still existed in this world, was running out. He was so tired and weakened, but his role was not over just yet. Susumu Kamiyama vowed to atone for his innocent sin.
Suddenly, thought turned into soil, dirt and stone.
[ ]
It had been a long, disastrous night for popular streamer and internet personality Ilya-kun Begyshev. One misfortune piled on top of another. The next day, he was awake but barely aware of his surroundings, and his head was filled with troubled thoughts. It was truly nothing too serious, and he could bounce back with no issue; but at least for now, his channel remained silent. Ilya-kun expected this haze to last at least for a couple of days. However, come the afternoon, a strange email had him almost choke on his chocolate milk. His problems suddenly felt like as a feather.
The recipient was none other than the PhanSite, the original hub for the deviously fabled Phantom Thieves in Japan. A cryptic subject pulsated dormant on his inbox. It read:
Covetous Bellman, your inaction proves sinful…
Ilya-kun hesitated to click on the item. Any other day, he would have opened the email with uncontainable enthusiasm. But today, with all the baggage from the night before, this message felt ominously fateful. It was like a sword of Damocles, pending over his head. A curse he could not escape. But at the same time, he knew delaying the inevitable could only make things worse. If doom was coming his way, the least he could do was face it head on.
One second later, his screen and his eyes were drowned in black and red. A message in white, stylised Cyrillic lettering glared at his pupils. Ilya-kun had a notion of the email's contents from a quick glance, but it took him a full minute to truly digest the message. Usually, Phantom Thieves-related media was conveyed in a theatrical but light-hearted tone. It was all fun and games, for the most part. This, however, was cold, steely judgement.
Ilya Dmitryevich Begishev.
In your self-appointed role as crier for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, you have indulged in a haze of sloth. While the world is threatened to spin out of its axis into chaos, you have stayed blind to this ominous truth. Know that a sin, though intent or omission, is a sin all the same. However, your redemption and justice lie in your hands.
The Masquerade goes on. Partake.
Yours truly…
Pryzrachnye Pokhytytyely Serdetz
At the very bottom was a link to a live feed in Japan. Ilya-kun did not hesitate for a moment. He bounced back immediately.
[ ]
The Phantom Thieves continued to ascend towards the top of Nyarlathotep's tower, anchored to their navigator's Persona. At such insurmountable heights, their attention was drawn to a strange light, which shone bright and yellow through the clouds. It looked like a distant star, glowing with increasing vigour, but an air of menace surrounded its persistence. Whether it grew larger or closer, the Phantom Thieves knew this was no mere star.
"Guys, what is that?" Panther called out. By now, the light was resembling the glare of an eye.
"Can't get a read on it! Foe, foe, or part of the scenery, I can't tell!" Oracle said.
"Meaning, whatever it is, cannot possibly be good." Fox echoed his friends' suspicions.
"Nothing in this world is!" Mona exclaimed. "How much longer till we reach the top?"
"According to my estimates and the distance travelled so far… huh!?" The navigator went speechless.
"That's not a good sign." Skull said, eyes still fixed on the distant light.
"This doesn't make sense… Did Prometheus get turned around!? I can't even tell whether we're going up or down!"
"Are we still heading towards Nyarlathotep?" Queen asked, anxious.
"No… I mean, I don't know. It's like he vanished!"
"Not at all." Joker spoke. Though he had been liberated from Nyarlathotep's influence, his instincts alone pointed to a more frightful picture. It was a cold, biting truth they now had to contend with. Despite all their efforts, the Crawling Chaos was still the king of this castle.
"Joker!?" Queen called out, sensing a dangerous shift in their momentum.
"He's nearby."
No sooner their leader spoke, a loud screech echoed suddenly beneath them. All turned their gaze down to see the coming menace. A winged creature not dissimilar from the beast they felled earlier. In fact, it would seem almost identical if not for the green and black growths all over its body. The thing looked wounded and ailing, yet still alive enough to pose a threat. On its tail, countless winged Shadows followed, blackening the lower reaches of the tower with their swarming numbers.
"Don't tell me… was that a multi-tiered Boss fight!?" Oracle exclaimed.
"Don't jinx us, you little gremlin!" Skull commanded his Persona to fry the nearest Shadows with a thunderbolt. His fellow rogues joined in to repel their approach.
"It… it couldn't have survived." Noir spoke with a disbelief and frustration in her voice. "We had defeated it…"
"Look at those lumps all over its body." Morgana remarked. "It looks like patchwork where we hit it the hardest. Meaning it must be hurt."
"Then we'll hurt it some more… Catrina!" Queen summoned the graceful Lady of the Cadavers. Every movement of this Persona cast sharp gale of wind at the Shadows, shredding several at a time. But this deadly dance did not suffice to keep their pursuers at bay. Oracle saw herself forced to apply evasive manoeuvres, as Shadows began to appear at their sides.
Thus broke out an unexpected, aerial battle. The Phantom Thieves took each a direction and fired away at all incoming foes. The Shadows did not relent, and neither did the halfway-restored beast. However, in terms of sheer might, each of the Phantom Thieves were a force to be reckoned with. Whether by elements, weaponised will, or even the forces and light and darkness, the eight continued to rise untouched. As if in response, even more Shadows came into being.
The navigator stayed quiet while Prometheus weaved around their foes. It was a great effort to maintain velocity like this, but that was not the only reason behind her silence. The seemingly fathomless reach of her Persona's capabilities had been thwarted. Their surroundings stopped making sense by any and all quantifiable metrics. It was as if this world itself was turning into raw chaos – a thing impossible to measure, understand, or inhabit.
And now, time seemed to work against them. In this current situation, the Phantom Thieves could hardly benefit from the Masquerade's spirits. All they could truly do was stave off the enemy. Furthermore, none could tell what could happen within the next minute, as the world mutated further. She knew, but dared not say, that they needed to find and defeat Nyarlathotep as soon as possible.
Otherwise…
It has been most entertaining, but this play cannot go on forever, at least not how you understand 'forever'. What say you, my dear, dear Phantom Thieves of Hearts? Shall we move on to the main event?
The unseen Dark Lord chuckled. And just like that, the beast swiped forward, penetrating past Fox's blizzard. The young man's grip held after the impact, but there was no need for a second one. Only a weak groan escaped his lips as Kamu Susano-O vanished. And then he let go off Prometheus, falling and disappearing amidst the Shadows.
"YUSUKE!" Joker screamed.
"NO!" Skull felt a spike of anger and despair shoot up in his pulse, deafening him to his friends' cries. He could barely see through blurry eyes, but he unleased raging thunder upon the monstrosities that claimed Fox. "I'LL KILL YOU…. I'LL WIPE YOU ALL OUT!"
You didn't truly think you could win, did you?
Alas, he soon followed Fox's fate, falling after repeated impacts from the beast's claws.
Joker reached out for Ryuji's hand, but he slipped too narrowly through his fingers. He would have fallen as well, if not for Queen and Mona pulling him back. Noir was snatched away by a Shadow, almost immediately after.
"Oracle! Oracle!" Queen yelled out for the Navigator, but obtained no response. Inside of Prometheus, the girl broke down, completely powerless.
You should know this by now: Chaos is mine to revel in. Faith, devotion…
Panther followed, disappearing almost instantly. Her scream was muffled before it even came out.
Ecstasy, mania…
By now, Mona was convinced the Shadows would surely overwhelm them. Then, might would become a moot point. The feline had already made up his mind. And in the one second he took before enacting his decision, he felt shame and regret. Perhaps, he thought, if he had been a better companion to Akira, none of this would have happened. Nyarlathotep would have never have found a fertile ground in the young man's subdued nightmares.
"Akira…" Morgana spoke. "Thank you, for all, really... I love you."
"Morgana?" As soon as the word escaped Akira's lips, the feline threw himself at the swarm.
Mercurius was still visible, siphoning his power into one emerald vortex of destruction. And then, with the deafening roar of a hurricane, the air beneath them was cleared of all threats. Neither a Shadow within sight, nor the Beast.
Nothing at all.
… even in the forces that draw one heart to another. In all that, I am. It's unfortunate that I had to take your friends from you. I only had plans for two Wild Cards, you see. For what it's worth… your heartbreak will make me stronger.
No further enemies arrived. Joker and Queen held to a lightless Prometheus. And whether they were rising or falling, it made no difference anymore. Despite all their precautions, planning and power, their friends had been taken from them. Sudden and cruel, like they had never lived at all, like their names had been erased from existence.
The remaining, conscious Phantom Thieves held on, if only for the awareness that they still had an objective to accomplish. Nobody said a single thing. However, Akira and Makoto were of one mind. Even if they overcame Nyarlathotep on their own, and put a definitive stop to his plan, they lost that day.
Nothing would ever be well again.
Far away, in the distance, the light blinked for a moment and appeared even brighter when resurfacing. Once again, and another, in odd intervals. It took a moment for Joker and Queen to realise it, but the light was not blinking at all. Rather, something hid it from view. The light drew nearer, and the scene became clearer. One more 'blink' – the careless movement of a gargantuan tentacle, one of the many that surrounded the light, like the grotesque caricature of a crown. Even the very tower they were climbing revealed itself as one more appendage of this monstrous frame. The giant presence continued to approach soundlessly.
Suddenly, the air beneath Joker's feet felt inexplicably solid. The ground itself was no more, and everything around them was clouds, stray pieces of rock, and alien constellations above. He let go off Prometheus, and without a word, began to walk on the sky, towards the light...
Towards Nyarlathotep himself.
Queen was not far behind. Like her other half, she could not fully comprehend how this form came to be. But this was undoubtedly their enemy in the flesh. She stared ahead, focused entirely on the black anthropomorphic silhouette encased in light, as an attempt to evade the burden of loss within. This proved futile, as every step took more out of her than the last. Every second that passed equated reliving her friends' demise.
As for Joker, his head was vacant of all thought. His body and power were now only an extension of a mindless intent. He was one step away from becoming hell-bent on destruction, no different than his defeated double. But the presence of his other half still anchored him in sanity somewhat.
The two closed in, evading all contact with the giant tendrils. And as the pair advanced, so did Nyarlathotep, hovering above the clouds with ill-fitting serenity. Beneath the massive crown of tentacles lay a core of blinding light, and at its centre stood a black silhouette, anthropomorphic and completely devoid of features. Here he was, the Crawling Chaos as he was first seen by man: a creature newly birthed from the womb of incomprehension.
"Arsene!" Joker growled, summoning his original Persona. No sooner the blue flames died down, the Hellbound gentleman thief attacked the shining core. Talons enveloped in darkness that would ordinarily maim the strongest Shadow proved ineffective, as Nyarlathotep evaded each lunge. The enemy continued to dodge with implausible agility while Arsene and Joker grew more aggressive and reckless.
"Anat!" Queen called out, joining in. The sword bearer added pressure on Nyarlathotep while diverting the enemy's attention. She knew that eventually, either of them would be able to make contact. But at the moment, that was the most she could think of, strategically. The loss of their friends was maiming her, and she could no longer apply the power of a Wild Card as she originally planned. Now her sole, instinctive drive was to punish the Crawling Chaos.
Regardless of their efforts, none could touch the Dark Lord. Nyarlathotep then parried with a tentacle sprung out of the spherical light, and launched an attack of his own.
But to Joker's horror, it was not he Nyarlathotep aimed for.
[ ]
Ilya-kun felt like he was racing against time. He cursed each second that became a minute, the brief delays in his state-of-the-art equipment, and his own stuttering fingers as he fidgeted with his tablet. And yet, things were going smoothly for a day he meant to leave wasted. After a few emails to choice recipients, the remaining length of the Masquerade was being live streamed as 'a special, unofficial event in celebration of the Phantom Thieves.'
Plainly, that is precisely what it was. But he intuitively knew, from having received a Calling Card, that there was far more to the Masquerade than anyone knew. The PhanSite admin was vague in his messages, but the meaning was clear. This event had to be seen, witnessed.
Partaken of, by all around the world.
Soon, he would receive the Treasure itself. The compound of all video recordings of the event from the very beginning. Ilya-kun meant to stream this as well, after the event ended. Make it freely available for download, even. Whatever it took for everyone to see. Before the recordings were in his grasp, he resolved to create a fitting presentation of his own. This way, he would become the crier for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts – their Bellman.
One minute later, his computer began to lag. Ilya-kun bit back a curse, completely unaware that time was still on his side. At his current pace, the Masquerade would be watched uninterrupted for at least a day. The view numbers were already growing by the hundreds. Soon it would be thousands.
[ ]
Even under the shroud of dusk, one little figure shone blue amidst crimson rivers, travelling and dancing through the multitude. Lavenza had become swayed into mindless joy through the Masquerade. Every sight and sound only pulled her further in the collective spirit of celebration and rebellion. She was seeing the collective strength successfully manifesting. But this magic wore off all of a sudden, with a violent burst of awareness. It was like waking up from a dream, and realising that things have just gone severely wrong.
The girl stopped in her tracks and looked up at the sky. The last remnants of the day's sunlight were dying out. And now all she could sense was a deep, dull silence that overwhelmed her ears. Nobody else noticed it – the event simply continued and the attendees were still deep in the spell. But Lavenza was able to tell that a brutal change has occurred. She immediately called out to Futaba, the communication link between the Phantom Thieves and Lavenza.
She called out to Morgana. She called out to Akira and Makoto.
Nothing.
Lavenza was cut off from the Phantom Thieves, and from whatever was happening in Nyarlathotep's world.
And soon, the panic set in. Her head was filling with the most terrible thoughts, of doom and inescapable tragedy. Her body followed suit, as she fell to her knees, weeping in horror. And all around her, the people continued to make merry. Nobody in the surroundings noticed her, or the foreshadowing to the fate that would surely befall them all.
Naught but once soul, a lanky young man who wandered by.
Yasunori Kujo recognised Lavenza from the uncertain, hasty moments - right after Akira and his friends' return from the other side. There was still much he could not grasp about the situation, but he understood enough: the Phantom Thieves were fighting to save the world once again. Whichever the true face of this unseen threat, Lavenza was their ally. And now, to see her like this, shaking and sobbing – Yasunori knew that things were going south.
"Hey." The former gangster crouched next to Lavenza. "What's uh… what's going on? Something the matter?"
Lavenza looked in his direction, and nodded somewhat. But that was all she did to acknowledge his question. The dread was killing her ability to speak coherently.
"You're worried about them, right?" Yasunori said, with an uneasy smile. "Me too, a lot."
Though his assessment was a woeful understatement, Lavenza at least knew he had a role in the true nature of the Masquerade. What none else could fully know, he would at least somewhat understand. She tried to calm down, to urge the words out. But every second kept funnelling terrible thoughts into her psyche.
"Take your time." He said. "I got some soda. You want some soda? Here, have some soda." A parched Yasunori handed her the tall cup of ice cold soda he has just bought.
Lavenza seemed too distraught to even think of holding the soft drink. But to her own surprise, she began to drink through the straw. It felt quite tasteless to her, but she still drank it all in one single breath, leaving only a few drops in the cup. If the gesture did nothing to assuage her fears, the cold beverage at least cleared her throat enough to be able to speak.
"I can't sense them anymore. Something has happened."
"You mean… to Akira and the others?" He did not need a confirmation to link it all together. "Okay, okay. Just try to stay calm." Yasunori himself began to feel haunted by the implications of Lavenza's words. Old moments of intense fear about his friends were coming back in one terrible burst, including Akira's days in juvie and the mysterious disappearance in Arancia. Before he even realised it, he spoke both to Lavenza and himself.
"They're… they're…" Lavenza wept.
"No! No!" Yasunori shook his head wildly, as if to physically shake his fear off. "Listen to me. It ain't over till it's over. Don't stop believing!" His thoughts became an endless stream of every American song title he knew. Yet every word out of his mouth came straight from his heart. "You-you're like a liaison between here and there, right?"
Lavenza nodded.
"Then you have a job to do. All of us here do, even if few know it. And you know what happens when we start to fail in our job?" Yasunori held on those dark, uncertain memories, and especially to how they unfolded in the end; not in misery and despair, but in hope and relief. "When you fail in your job, you gotta recognise that you need help. Whatever's going on there, whatever happened, you need to be at your best. Because, do you know if something truly bad happened? You sense it, but do you know it?"
The girl in blue was unwilling to think of an answer. Anything might shape her fears into a mental image she did not want to see.
"You don't need to answer." Yasunori looked down. "Whatever. I don't get the ins and outs of what has to be done, but I'll help you with it."
The young man looked at the sky, wishing he could see Akira and his friends in the clouds somehow. A tragic notion began to weigh on his heart. He swallowed, fighting these thoughts of disaster as best he could.
"Come what may."
Akira, Makoto. Please be okay.
[ ]
It was all happening in front of Akira's eyes. Even if the means varied, the outcome was ultimately the same as pictured in those false memories. One by one, his friends met their demise; one by one, he failed them all. And now, Makoto was about to suffer the same fate as the rest of the Phantom Thieves. His lieutenant, his equal, his love – he had failed her as well.
Despite Joker and Queen's desperate fury, Nyarlathotep extinguished their offensive in a matter of seconds. The Lord of Chaos did not so much fell two formidable opponents as he swatted them down like flies. She was the first to fall. Only a mix of luck and skill kept her head still on her shoulders. One of Nyarlathotep's tentacles tightened around her neck, like a noose, with only her hand in between to cut the constriction. But this show of strength could only save her for so long.
"Akira…" She looked at him with horror-stricken eyes, not for her own predicament, but Joker's. The Leader of the Phantom Thieves was brought to his knees by another tentacle which ran him through the shoulder, and coiled around his abdomen like a python around its prey.
He in turn, found no words to answer to her plight. All he had was one of his own.
"Let her go…. Please. You can have me. I'll fight you no longer. Just let her go." He spoke, with whatever spirit remained in him.
"Hmm…" The Crawling Chaos uttered. This hint of a voice was no such singular thing. Rather it sounded like the forced compound of countless voices filled with despair. And in that terrible cacophony, Joker and Queen could recognise the presence of all the people they have loved and lost. Even in its featureless face, they could make out a fleeting spectre of their fallen friends and their own faces. "It is too late for such a thing. All was decided since before you were born. Your fall, and my ascension. This mercy you request could accomplish nothing. You, and your world will become part on my own, of me."
Queen continued to struggle. Beneath her grunts, she tried to channel her thoughts towards Joker. She beseeched him to resist, and to free himself, even if she should die. Regardless of all that has befallen them, there still was a peculiar shine in his eyes – a sight she knew well. He was weakened and wounded, but not defeated – not yet. And neither was she.
"I must applaud you two, remaining members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts." Nyarlathotep praised. "Your spirit was fitting to your accolade, felling a God of Order and Control. Fine champions of Chaos, I must say. I am most fortunate and blessed to take you into myself, as my very own kin."
His triumphant glee sounded much unlike the sadism of days past. To them, it was the foulest sound nonetheless. Though calamity continued to press down, the objective remained the same: silence that voice forever. They just needed a way to break out from his cruel grasp.
"Indeed. You belong within. For your spirit was formidable and your reasoning sound. That Masquerade of yours… what an unspeakable wonder it is! Make no mistake, dear remnants: I perceived the change since the moment you set foot in this embryonic world for the last time. Each one of you commanded chaos like my very own servants. But that boon was not yours only to taste…"
"What are you talking about!?" Queen grunted through Nyarlathotep's yoke.
"Is it not obvious? All your ilk, all your humanity is borne from chaos, from a natural order shaken beyond repair. Within the capacity for intent in humans lies chaos itself. Therefore, in rebellion, in euphoria and in love… in all of that and more, I exist. You might say I partake of the very nature of humanity." Nyarlathotep's manifold voice continued to shift into a form that was painful to even comprehend. "The energy manifest in the Masquerade, and the collective emotions that bolster you. All of it strengthens me also. It was a grandiose gambit, but you could never tilt the scales in your favour. You certainly had one advantage against my current state… you had numbers. Naturally, I could not allow that to continue."
The realisation to Nyarlathotep's logic made Joker squirm inside. The knowledge was greater torture than his black finger piercing him. Furthermore, he started to piece the ramifications together.
"As I expected, reducing your numbers dulled your edge. Now and forever, a particular bane of human experience is the pain of loss. The love that once drove you has caused you to fail. And the rest, I must say, is simple, unquantifiable science."
"No…" Joker seethed as the tears burned hot in his eyelids.
"You ventured bravely into this world, and you fought admirably, Wild Cards. And now… the honour is mine."
Without understanding how or why, everything in Joker and Queen's sight grew dark. It was as if Nyarlathotep's effortless command rendered them blind. Their demise was surely upon them. Still, they did not go quiet into that restless night, or whatever lay in its unseen clutches. Even in fear and fury, Joker and Queen would die in defiance.
That starless night was rent by the light of thunder. The burst brought light once more into the accursed world of Nyarlathotep, and the pair was freed from the Dark Lord's hold. They looked behind and stared in absolute disbelief.
"This shithead talks too much, man." A young man with dyed hair and pugnacious disposition stood tall and very much alive. "People like that can really piss me off sometimes."
Panther stood at Skull's right, and Morgana at his left. The trio looked on with the same fire in the eyes, standing atop a large rock hovering in the air.
"It's more about what it's said than how much." The lady in red was glaring at the Crawling Chaos. "But yeah, I'm angry, all right."
"I guess it's a good thing that bad guys love to go and on about their silly masterplan." The feline's cartoonish body was ill-fitting for his wrath. Regardless, he was all the more daunting for surviving after his sacrifice earlier.
Another rock rose from the unseen below, reuniting Fox and Noir with their friends. And with that, the spherical Prometheus burned bright once more, signalling Oracle's return.
"Your self-indulgent diatribe was offensive enough." Fox spoke. "But your true crime was the suffering you inflicted upon the people we love."
"And for that, you will be punished." Noir punctuated, with joyless murder in her tongue.
"Most of all…" Oracle hissed. "Because you made me cry, asshole!"
Both of the team's leaders felt their spirit reinvigorated. The beating of their hearts sent a painful, but joyous burst into their pulse. This was the sheer force of life hammering its way back in. Joker and Queen stood back up to see another figure rising from below the clouds.
"Kurusu-san, Niijima-san… you have seen better days." An exhausted Susumu Kamiyama smiled with warm but timid demeanour. "I did not know the extent of my doing, but I have come here to atone for it." Behind him, Ozymandias shone with renewed light. Through sheer will, he had taken ownership of the power given by his former benefactor. And now, the figure of the Vanquished Overlord was no longer an extension of Nyarlathotep, but Kamiyama's own Persona.
By using the remainders of that bestowed power, the old man succeeded in saving the fallen Phantom Thieves from their doom. But this deed came at a cost to himself. The bond between Ozymandias and Nyarlathotep was unstable at best. And creating soil out of thin air was no small feat in itself. This may be the last thing he would ever do, something he quickly came to terms with.
Giving the Phantom Thieves - whom he admired and respected - one more fighting chance in their hour of need. He could not think of a more graceful curtain call.
"Glad we made it in the nick of time, though." Skull grinned. "Couldn't let mum and dad face this guy themselves."
Joker cast a smile at his oldest friend.
"If this is our role to play, Joker." Queen looked straight into his eyes, silently reminding him of her promise. "Then let's see it through… to the very end."
"Yes." A blue flame burned hot in his palm as he turned towards Nyarlathotep. "It ain't over 'til it's over."
