...It's over.
Impossible... This level of power... How?
With hope of victory extinguished, John Doe is consumed by a furious fire. A primal terror grips him as he beholds Teddy's new frame; this was an impossibility, a flaw in his grand blueprint.
Unless... unless he missed a variable.
Like that [exception]. A singular anomaly. He has merely harnessed a sliver of its power, yet achieved so much already.
Could the miracle she represents be proof that she has earned the right to "become the exception"?
And why would it be impossible?
Because it rejected you?
Teddy studies the Ascendant with fresh eyes. It wasn't that he wouldn't absorb the power; he simply couldn't.
How did you uncover [its] secret...
Why would [it] acknowledge you?!
Because I have something you never had, and never will.
Falsehood can never triumph over truth.
Heh... Truth?
What is truth?
What could you possibly know about me?!
The fight has left him, but not his defiance.
Power is the only truth... No matter the cost!
Why are you people always the special ones?! Why do you get to have EVERYTHING?!
He lashes out at Teddy, but the gesture is feeble, the last spark of a dying fire.
You've actually become a potential solution... A statistical probability, if not a certainty.
Tell me, have you truly reached the throne, or are you just a convincing imitation?
No comment.
Sanctimonious hypocrite.
It doesn't matter... Until the very end, everyone is just guessing about destiny.
Perhaps when all is revealed, you will be exposed as a fragile counterfeit.
You will become the very falsehood you scorn.
There's plenty of time... I will be waiting for that day.
The wind does not falter... I shall return...
With his final threat hanging in the air, the Ascendant turns to flee. He shows no attachment, not even a final glance toward Moineau, as his form gradually unravels into nothingness.
...We can finally take a breath.
No. This is far from over.
Babylonia is still falling.
Even now, it's not stopping.
Though severely wounded, Moineau remains standing before Teddy, silent.
