Story Reader / Main Story / 13 Fake Ascension / Story
Deep underground.
Oh... How things have changed.
Roland sits at the bottom of a crater, watching the Red Tide pouring down from the broken pipes. Beside him lies the other ashen Hetero-Creature, now completely lifeless.
He picks up his broken left arm, trying to match it up with where it fractures from his shoulder, before putting it down disappointingly.
Sigh. The arm won't fit, and I can't climb up this shallow hole. The last time I was this messed up was when that Babylonian kid chased me.
I suppose... I'm familiar with people lying at rock bottom, desperate and hopeless.
But usually, I'd be the one standing up there looking down.
Can't say this hotheaded bravado suits me very well.
Rarely do I trust someone else, so please don't let me down.
Bringing Luna to Gray Raven is just the first step... I really ought to figure out what to do next.
I hope she's realized what it is that she truly wants this time.
Now, before my next trick...
I'm just gonna... take a... nap...
Beneath the thunderous crashes of the Red Tide, Roland slowly closes his eye.
A crumpled piece of the Polyphage has formed a triangular-shaped cavity. All of a sudden, something moves the heavy, fragmented part away, revealing what is buried underneath.
A human and a Construct, both heavily injured, lie on the ground, both trying to shield the other from harm.
...Hehe, you look miserable.
The space before the unconscious Lucia warps and twists as if a pair of invisible hands are running over her body, making a rustling sound.
Lucia frowns, her hand instinctively reaches for the hilt of her blade. Yet, her frame has long run out of power at this point, and she can no longer move.
Something is being taken from her—a glistening white cube glows in the dark, before it vanishes into thin air.
Well, well, never say Lamia doesn't finish her job.
... Hey, the whole place's going to fall on top of you guys if you don't wake up soon.
Just so you know, I think it's way too much trouble to help you guys. I won't be doing this if someone isn't threatening me.
...
The comms terminal you carry suddenly emits the sound of a connection, and you slowly open your eyes amidst the falling rocks.
A lightless night...
Lucia recalls that she has also dragged her bruised body forward in the abyss in the past.
To survive.
To escape.
To the home that awaits her.
Why does she keep going on when everything is lost? Why will she not die?
Perhaps because of a belief...
The belief that, if she just takes one more step, she will reach the light that has once been described to her.
Lucia's last memory is the blinding white light she saw when Luna destroyed the Polyphage's Core.
...What happened afterward?
This is...
The mind of the woken Lucia is still in a state of confusion.
But she quickly realizes that she is being carried.
Commandant?! What are you doing? Let me down!
With the exoskeleton from the Support Force, you can just barely carry her and walk.
But... you're also badly injured...
Lucia looks back and finds the Polyphage buried by the collapsed cavern.
Luna—Commandant, where is Luna?
Did she escape? Or did she...
Lucia turns around, but she cannot find the answer she is hoping for in the ruin of the colossal monster.
But she seems to have noticed something and quiets down.
Another violent quake occurs, and the stone cliff beneath your feet collapses, sending you into a fall.
Commandant!
Lucia just catches your hand as she drops. Underneath the two of you lies the deadly Red Tide...
Hey! This way!
A rope appears out of nowhere and lands right next to Lucia. She immediately holds onto it, saving both of you from a fatal fall.
On a platform in the distance stands Bridget and the Support Force.
Bridget?!
Surprise! It's a rope gun. You can always count on these antiques in a life-or-death situation.
Let me help—let's get them out quickly. This whole place is going to collapse any second...
Lucia... Are you and Commandant alright?
Lucia nods, before turning back and staring at the crumbling chasm.
Luna...
But Luna's figure is nowhere to be seen, almost as if she has never been there.
Lucia does not look away, until the rocks in the underground cavern fully entomb the entire space, and conceal it from your visions...
