Sacred Stone Memories Chapter 11/Quest 18 - Storyline

Cause for Extermination

Orion	!
Kanon	Grk!
Orion	What's the matter? Did you not come here to stop me?
Kanon	Urk! His defense is stronger than any I've ever encountered!
Orion	Each one of the Sacred Stones has the power to topple an empire. You should be aware of this, Lord Commander of the Holy Guard. I carry the Sacred Stones within me. I am the Vessel of Reincarnation. You ordinary folk cannot even dream of reaching my level.
Kanon	Nngh! A-another earthquake?!
Orion	Ha-haaa! Look! The Tower of Babel glows ever brighter!
Kudanstein	You shouldn't have turned your back to us! Kanon, now!
Kanon	On it!
Kudanstein	Drop dead! Dead the End!!!
Kanon	This is a chance we cannot afford to miss! Eternal Glow!!!
Kanon Kudanstein	Huzzzaaaaahh!!!
Kudanstein	D-did we get him?
Kanon	Haaa... Haaa... He was completely unguarded. If this doesn't work, then—!
Orion	The light! Can you not see? It is near! The time of Nimul's manifestation approaches!
Kanon	What?! Not even a scratch?!
Kudanstein	B-but how?!
Orion	There is nothing you can do to change what is to come. I congratulate you for being fortunate enough to witness this moment! A new challenge for humans will begin from this moment on!
Kanon	A...new challenge?
Kudanstein	Right... You mentioned something about overthrowing the gods and their rule, didn't you?
Orion	Indeed. The resurrection of Nimul is a declaration of war against the gods. It is the first step humankind must take to ascend to a new state of existence.
Kanon	A declaration of war against the gods...?! You can't be serious!
Orion	How can I not be? Even if I were to rule over mankind, none can oppose their ultimate fate. No matter how far civilization advances, mankind can do nothing against natural disasters. Who do you think decides when and where fate takes us?
Kanon	The...gods?
Orion	Exactly. Without the power to match the gods, mankind will never achieve true peace themselves.
Kudanstein	How can you say that?! The gods are the creators of this world!
Orion	This may all sound like the ramblings of a madman to you, but I am not the first to try this.
Kanon	You don't mean..?!
Orion	We remember them almost as though they themselves were gods; the founders of Alchemy, Nimul and Emmel.
Kanon	Wha—?!
Orion	In their time, people regularly suffered from the devastation caused by natural disasters. Death was a constant occurrence. No matter how often they prayed, no matter what they sacrificed, the gods did not heed them. Ultimately they chose to resist the merciless fate forced upon them by the gods.
Kanon	They created Alchemy to become gods themselves.
Orion	Their actions enraged the gods and everything came to an end with the destruction of the Tower of Babel. I see this as proof that the gods felt threatened by mankind.
Kanon	Then your ideal world is...
Orion	With Alchemy perfected, mankind will no longer have to submit to the gods and can achieve true freedom! The world I strive for is one where people can protect themselves with the wisdom of Alchemy created by human hands! I wish to rid the world of the gods, using the power of Alchemy!
Kanon	That's crazy!
Orion	How can you not understand? I have no time to waste on petty squabbles among humans. I aim to confront the gods directly! A time will come when mankind can stand as equals among the gods!
Kanon	You're all the same.
Orion	What?
Kanon	If the weak must suffer for your ambitions, then you're no different from the gods with their natural disasters! You'll just be replacing the gods with yourself! That won't bring peace to anybody!
Orion	There will always be casualties if one wishes to accomplish great things. This is a necessary culling of mankind via natural selection for the sake of the next stage of evolution. Only the chosen survivors of the coming catastrophe will be worthy of the peace I envision. Surely Nimul pictured the same future as I do.
Kanon	History has already given its answer to the idea of such a world, since it was never realized!
Orion	And yet, the future Nimul imagined was righteous. Had Emmel not interfered, his ideals would have become reality.
Kanon	Can't you see that if you follow in the footsteps of Nimul's ideology, then you are doomed to repeat his mistakes?!
Orion	What?
Kanon	If you are the Vessel of Reincarnation for Nimul, then there is bound to be a Vessel of Reincarnation for Emmel! You are destined to be defeated by someone who inherited the power of Emmel!
Orion	The Vessel of Reincarnation for Emmel? Ha...haha... Hahahahahaha!
Kanon	Wh-what's so funny?!
Orion	Why do you think I destroyed Wadatsumi? You do not think it was simply for expansion of territory or for the Mikaboshi, do you?
Kanon	What do you mean? What other reason could there be?
Orion	Hmph. The only reason I attacked Wadatsumi was to eliminate Emmel's Vessel of Reincarnation.
Kanon	Wh-what?!
Orion	You weren't informed, were you? Captain Kagura's mother, the queen of Wadatsumi, carried the Mikaboshi within her.
Kanon	Wh-what?
Orion	Eliminating her from the equation was the sole purpose of my invasion into Wadatsumi. I needed to keep the world in the dark, so my other superficial motives served as a convenient diversion.
Kudanstein	Y-you mean...K-Kagura's mother was the Vessel of Reincarnation for Emmel?!
Orion	Yes. Unfortunately, I had not expected her to seal the Mikaboshi away somewhere, moments before her death. Not that it matters in the end. With her death, I obtained my objective.
Kanon	So...there is no longer a Vessel of Reincarnation for Emmel?
Orion	Oh, good. Finally, you are coming to grasp the gravity of the situation. This attack has been planned for longer than you think. The gears leading to this moment have been turning for over ten years, ever since Wadatsumi fell.
Kudanstein	Th-then if Nimul's soul returns now...
Orion	There is no one capable of standing in the way.
Kanon	N-no!
Orion	The power of the Mikaboshi and the Matter have been neutralized; powers said to be comparable to that of the Sacred Stones. Wratharis, Gluttony Foss, and Slothstein have yet to manifest the powers of their Sacred Stones. The Sacred Stone of Lustburg is positioned high above in the sky, making it impossible to reach... Leviathan of Envylia has been neutralized... And the Sacred Stone Lucifer is now in my hand. I am now the only one in this world who wields any of the Sacred Stones. The Sacred Stone Mammon, within me, is the only place Nimul can return to.
Kanon	Wha—?!
Orion	Can you feel it? It's Nimul's heartbeat. The soul of Nimul, the founder of Alchemy, has begun to take root! I've already won, and there is nothing you can do to change that fact! Hahahahahaha!
Kanon	No! How can this be?!
Orion	There is no one left who can stop me! It is time... I will allow you to see this glorious moment! The world is ascending to a new plane of existence! Under my guidance, this world will leverage its new position to give us all a fighting chance against the gods!
Kanon	This is...wrong!
Orion	Excuse me?
Kanon	That is why you have cut down those who did not have the strength to defend themselves? All for this future that you have imagined for us? What kind of future is that for anyone? None of us asked for this! This is wrong!
Orion	Pathetic. The fact that you cannot accept reality even after it has been presented to you with a little bow is the embodiment of the weakness of humankind.
Kanon	You're wrong! Kindness, generosity, empathy, and support... You may call those things weak, but they're our greatest strength! There is no acceptable, sustainable future which can be built by sacrificing other people! That is not the path that we should take! As the Lord Commander, whose task it is to protect this world, I can never accept your way of thinking! I will stop you, Lion Monarch Orion! Your ambitions can never be fulfilled! I will protect humankind from your cruelty. Humans deserve to have the dignity of being treated as human!
Orion	How many times must I repeat myself? Why can't you get it into your thick skulls that this world is doomed? That your attempts to stop me are pointless? For those who lay claim to the seats of power in this world to be so dense is practically a sin in itself.
???	...
Orion	Fine, then! Let us test whether fate stands with you or I! We shall settle this dispute with our swords!
???	!
Kanon	...
Orion	The victor of this clash is the person who fate truly favors—the person who will lead us all into the future!
Kanon	!
???	...
Kanon	This Excalibur that I hold in my hand is the sword that will bring light to this world! Its swing will clear the path forward for the people of this world! Excalibur, please lend me your strength!
Orion	I was destined to guide humankind to greatness! Every step forward I take is a step for humankind! No sword wielded by such short-sighted fools could ever stand up to me!
Kanon	I will answer all of our prayers with one swing! Eternal Glow!!!
Orion	The flow of history is on my side! Chaotic Genesis!!!
Kanon	Urk...!
Orion	This can't be... This strength...!
Kanon	I-if I were to fight alone...I might lose...but... I am not alone! I have been entrusted with something I carry with me always! I cannot lose with it on my side!
Orion	Entrusted? Ha! With what?
Kanon	The hopes of the comrades and friends that have fallen before me! All of them strongly believed that you must be stopped! All of them are counting on me to do that in their stead! My sword carries their wish for the fighting to stop! My heart carries the lamentations of those who have lost or been lost!
Kudanstein	Kanon is getting stronger?!
Kanon	The true source of power is in the heart and soul. So long as I have the strength to believe in what I am doing, I can never lose to you! Huuuzzzzzzzzzaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!
Orion	Unexpectedly, we are not entirely dissimilar. Your strength simply comes from a different source: the empathy you have for others.
Kanon	Huh?! Wh-what is this strength?!
Orion	Think of it this way... If your strength comes from the pain of this era, my strength draws on the unfulfilled needs of this era...and the last...and the one before that...all the way to the dawn of time. It is the strength built on the buried lamentations of the nameless masses who were crushed beneath the cruelty of fate since the beginning of time! The force of their voices, suppressed for too long, is what makes me so powerful!
Kanon	Nnrk!
Kudanstein	Kanon!
Orion	The scale of the burdens we are carrying is completely different! Until the lot of you get that through your heads, you'll never be able to win against me!
Kanon	U-urk...
Kudanstein	Gnh... Don't think you can just push me down!
Orion	...
Kanon	C-Captain Kudan?!
Kudanstein	Fool! We have no choice but to destroy this man now, before he can destroy those who are vulnerable! If we must die, we should do it here! We must fight with everything we have, until we have nothing more to give!
Kanon	You're right!
Orion	Finally... Nimul's soul has come to settle within my body! There is nothing that you can do to stop me! This is the end for you!
Kudanstein	Hold nothing back!
Kanon	I know! We have to put everything on the line here or there will be nothing to save, right?
Orion	Lord Commander! Embodiment of the world's so-called absolute justice! You, who represent the weaklings of the world... Destroying you is the first step to creating my new world!
Later...
Kudanstein	The one who is be to destroyed is you! Dead the End!!!
Kanon	I will protect the future of this world! Eternal Glow!!!
Orion	Give up already! Die!!!
???	...
Orion	No matter how hard you resist, this is how it ends for you!
Kanon	Urk...! Grnk... You think...this is the end?
Kudanstein	D-don't make us laugh... As if we would die here!
Orion	What? The light and the darkness are coming together?!
Kanon Kudanstein	Huzzzaaaah!!!
Orion	Argh!
Kanon	W-we did it!
Kudanstein	What...was that?
Orion	I must admit...the depths of your doggedness continue to surprise me.
Kanon	No...!
Orion	Watching the two of you struggle so mightily and stubbornly almost gives me hope for humankind as a whole. Almost.
Kanon	It didn't work?! He even seems stronger than before! How can this be?
Kudanstein	No... It's not over yet. Look at that.
???	...
Kanon	Oh! Orion's Phantom is...
Kudanstein	Yes. We were able to at least destroy the top half of it. That's significant.
Kanon	It didn't affect Orion at all.
Kudanstein	We don't know that yet. We just have to play it smart to win the battle. We just have to take advantage of this technique which combines our opposing elemental natures of light and dark.
Kanon	Play it smart? What do you mean?
Kudanstein	The opposing energy of light and dark cancel each other out when they come into contact. If that phenomenon is used against Orion, perhaps we can cancel out his strength.
Kanon	Cancel Orion's strength...?
Kudanstein	This is just a theory, but...look at the wounds we left on the Phantom.
Kanon	They look...like flesh had been gouged out by the waves of our energy colliding, but... I'm almost sure that we hit Orion, but it doesn't seem to have done anything to him.
Kudanstein	It's possible that Nimul's manifestation has bulwarked his defenses. If only we had a way to lower his defenses for just a moment...
Kanon	What can we do? With every passing second, Nimul's soul grows stronger within Orion.
Kudanstein	And his defenses along with it. In order to gain the strength to oppose that...
Orion	I feel it... It's here! It's almost fully manifested! Hahahahaha!
Kudanstein	Tch... There's no time to think!
Kanon	Please, wait! We still don't have a proper plan of attack!
Kudanstein	If we don't take this chance now, it may never come again! We cannot let it go to waste!
Kanon	Captain Kudan!
Orion	Heh... Have you resigned yourself to death already?
Kudanstein	Heed me! Even if there's only a tiny chance this will work, I'll take it! I am the true successor of the title of supreme judge! Any incarnation of Nimul who dares to face me will die by my hand without achieving their goals!
Orion	...
Kudanstein	You...?! With only one hand?!
Orion	Indeed. You have no chance of winning. All your hopes will die here and now.
Kudanstein	No... No! It can't be!
Kanon	Captain Kudan!
Kudanstein	Get away from here! You'll just get sucked into this as well!
Kanon	I know that, but I can't just let this stand!
Orion	You should pride yourselves on being the ones who have made possible the resurrection of a legendary power!
Kudanstein	Tch... Is this...all we can do?
Kanon	No! This can't be the fate of humankind! This cannot be our end! No destiny is impervious to the possibilities carved out by free will! Please, Excalibur! Please, give me strength one last time! Just enough to save this world from catastrophe! Please!
Orion	What...is this light? It...repelled me?
???	Now, then. This battle is just beginning.
Kanon	Huh...?
Orion	You...
Zain	Don't give up, Kanon. It isn't over yet.
Kudanstein	Zain?!
Kanon	Lord Zain?!
Orion	Ha! I was wondering who else might show up...and now you, one of the lauded Lord Commanders himself, have fallen so far as to become a Phantom.
Zain	Long time no see, Orion. You, who see other humans as less than yourself, have come this far in achieving your ambitions...but it all ends here.