Story Reader / Main Story / 12 Kowloong Metropolis / Story
You run upstairs like Lee told you to, carrying the signal transmitter Ayla gave you. Finally, you reach the top of the Observatory.
What greets you is a heavenly dome dotted with stars. At your feet is a grass field, and around you are purplish-red flowers. The current war seems to have left this place untouched.
And then, you find yourself flying. Caught completely unaware, you were sent crashing into a railing.
Hah... Your escape ends here, commandant of Gray Raven.
Still resisting, but not for long.
No. I didn't catch up—You, finally arrived. This will be your parting gift.
Qu falls silent and marches toward you. The light glimmering off her blade almost blinds you, and the pain from the previous blow renders your temporarily incapacitated.
Qu lifts her blade.
This is it. Become history, commandant of Babylonia!
No, you won't!!!
Someone descends from the air and interrupts Qu.
She drives Qu backward with one cut—followed by others, relentlessly. Each swing sends forth cold particles, coating the nearby plants with rime.
How...
Black. Red. Your rescuer is a most familiar, yet also a most strange figure. She perks up upon noticing your unease.
Are you okay, Commandant?
Nothing makes me happier hearing that, Commandant.
Yes. Lucia, your Lucia, Commandant.
Can you stand, Commandant? I'm a bit tied up right now...
Qu slightly regains her posture, and goes on the offense. Lucia, too, braces for it with her dual blades. Despite their apparent resemblance, Lucia's combat style makes it clear that it is a frame different from Lotus.
Lucia punctuates her attacks with airborne moves. Qu is overpowered, until she finally manages to gain distance by pushing Lucia out of range with a sweep of her blade.
Oh, I haven't introduced you to my new frame yet. I came up with a name for it on my way over: Plume. Do you like it?
Lucia speaks about her new frame as she adjusts her posture. The introduction, however, is tinged with a strange hint of sadness on her face.
She sheathes her ice-borne blade behind, then draws her two-handed blade for an upward slash at Qu.
Huaxu, what on earth is this Construct?
Construct ID is BPL-01. Consciousness name, Lucia.
That's not what I need from you!
To adapt to her frame, she is still currently initializing her M.I.N.D.
What?!
Their weapons meet, equal in strength. But with the help of the boosters on her back, Lucia gains an upper hand in this contest of strength, breaking Qu's glaive.
Qu is forced to go on the defensive to dodge Lucia's attacks.
She conjures a new weapon out of the virus with her other hand and throws it at you. Almost instantaneously, Lucia tosses her blade to deflect the projectile, protecting you once more.
Don't even think about it.
A factory reset, essentially. Do you still remember the first time we met, Commandant?
I was like a puppet back then...
Most of it is gone. Only combat-related ones are left.
I know what you're trying to ask, Commandant. It's the only way for me to use this frame.
You maniac... You're killing yourself, just to use this frame?
I'm not killing myself. I'm becoming a new me.
That is merely a game of words. Does this world hold something of such value, that you would even give your soul for it?
Of course it does... You wouldn't understand!
Hark! I give you death not out of caprice!
Ever since the outbreak, we, Kowloong, foresaw the fate of Earth! We toiled for the Tabula Akasha—our only true purpose!
If you have something you wish to protect, then you would know that beauty only lives in the past!
You're just afraid of facing the future!
The two resume fighting. Their blades clash—slide off—lacerate each other. No longer is there a need for dodging attacks, only receiving the opponent in full.
Earth's fate is decided. I will destroy you both, and I will put history to rest!
And how would you do that...?
Gestalt, the thing that spawned this era and has kept it alive to this day. With an AI system of similar make, I can take over the entire Babylonia.
And it shall fall. With the planetary mass of Babylonia, Earth will enter into an ice age when it plummets to the surface.
Then, no longer will there be a place for us in the entire universe. Huaxu will destroy what is left of humanity. Kowloong will be all that is left.
And Earth will become a tablet of all that was human—the Tabula Akasha.
You think you, a mere human, can stop me?
The wielder makes the tool! Not the tool the wielder!
Let's stop her together, Commandant!
Lucia raises her blade. The motion reminds you of the first time you met her; fearless, as always, yet now embellished with a hint of warmth.
And yet...
