Story Reader / Main Story / 22 Renaissance du Fantastique / Story
The girl's gunlance flashes with sparks.
She continues forward in the dim light. She watches from the shadow.
...
It started with a sudden curiosity.
The wanderer was supposed to keep moving forward, but she halted her footsteps and turned back, wanting to witness a story.
She watched the strange girl walk past the path she once traveled, curious about what kind of reaction she would have to those scenes.
That was all.
The girl just gave her a familiar feeling.
She places her hand on her chest. Something is heating up in the place where her heart once was.
A shadow that has been lingering in her mind now stands behind her.
Soon, they... She will have her "ending."
That's true... I will watch her until the end.
Is that all?
That's it.
Don't you want to... become part of her story?
I...
I'm only a nameless wanderer. I shouldn't appear in anyone's story.
Everything that name once represented has been lost.
...But you have not given up searching.
Just like what she's been doing, isn't it?
...
Even if it's only a fantasy... Only an illusion from the past that can easily be destroyed.
There is still something left in your heart.
If that's the case, don't hesitate.
One day, you will find that place you should go back to.
Go.
The shadow in her heart gives her a gentle push.
To where you want to go.
Do what you want to do.
The blades pierce through the gloomy space, closing the curtains on the broken mechanoids.
After fighting for what feels like an eternity, Gray Raven and Iris Warbler have finally broken through their encirclement.
Commandant and I will clear a way for you. Keep going, Ayla!
Ugh...
Sica seems to have also reached her limit. After an entire day of intense battles, it is almost a miracle that she can hang on until now.
I'll stay here to help [player name]. Ayla... I can only rely on you in the end.
Sica knows that even if she continues forward, she will only become a burden. She forces herself to accept the bitter reality.
More mechanoids catch up from behind but are stopped by blades and bullets. The race is about to enter the final sprint, with the baton now passed to Ayla.
Okay!
Carrying everyone's trust, Ayla breaks through the obstacles and rushes toward the last hall that connects to the windmill tower.
Ayla, we meet again.
A gloomy figure strides out from the shadow, standing in her way.
He bows to Ayla gracefully. Beneath that elegant demeanor is the weight of an entire era's obscurities.
About what you mentioned earlier, I think we need to talk.
I don't have time for this. Let's talk about it later.
No, I won't let you go after her. She has made her choice. Besides, this is what I have always wanted.
Choice? What are you talking about?
She was your teammate, but you don't understand her at all.
You once told me that you would strive on even if you ended up in failure.
But how do you feel now?
You don't know her. Neither can you catch up with her. Are you still going to say those pretty words in the mission report when you have nothing in the end?
Will you still claim this is meaningful, even if you have done nothing?
Without your interference, we would have caught up with her long ago.
But there is no "would have" in this world.
Losers will forever be losers. Nobody will remember what they "could have" achieved.
Take this as my personal wish. Maybe I have been doing all of this just because... I don't want my master to end up a "failure."
Cervantes raises his head with a self-mocking smile.
Allow me to be your enemy in this encore, Ayla. The "story" has come to its final act.
Why are you doing this?
After hearing those words of yours, I want to see how you will prove them... or face your failure.
To this world, we are but dust and screws. It's only a matter of time before we rot in vain. Without victories, our memories are nothing but dirt and shameful fragments.
Even dirt can become part of the soil and nourish future generations. That itself has a meaning.
Then stop your pursuit. Leave behind a laughable regret and dirt.
Dirt will never turn into nutrition without struggling. I will never give up before trying.
I will be there, even if I need more time.
You are out of time.
I can run!
Cervantes smiles once again. He looks down and sees his shadow merging with the slow-spinning windmill.
He has long been aware of his twisted obsession but cannot find a better option. Perhaps machines never have a choice; they are just chosen.
After "awakening" to gain "freedom," all the dusted past began to question him, driving him to look for answers.
...Let me be "willful" just for once in the end.
To play a role that I want to be in this "story."
Mechanoid statues swarm out behind him. As the builder of the museum, he still has a certain level of access that allows him to manipulate them.
Then you should also know that nobody can stop the "protagonist" before the ending!
Even if I will spend more time here...
...There's no need.
A deep roll of thunder suddenly echoes in the hall.
With a euphonic melody, a brilliant lightning flash finally comes to a stop after penetrating several mechanoid statues, sending ionized dust into the air.
A Construct under a cape stands in front of Cervantes.
If you call it an "encore," the knight should have her assistant.
I'll play her "partner." What do you think?
...The audience should just stay quiet and watch.
There is no reason for you to be here.
Do all the actions need a "reason"?
...
Just like what you are doing now.
It was just a surge of passion driven by the deepest instinct inside me.
There is no need for excuses. No need to take sides or consider any other irrelevant matters.
I just simply want to "give her a hand."
Could it be...?
She watches that figure from behind. Hearing the somewhat familiar voice, a long-awaited possibility comes to her mind.
Now isn't the time for this talk. You still have something to do.
I'm saying this to both you and myself. Do not lose yourself in that tempest.
...But there are many things I want to verify.
And many things I am yet to know.
Go, to where you should be.
...I see.
But I'll be back for you!
That's why you must... You must wait for me!
Ayla utters her last sentence to her back before disappearing into the darkness.
