Herukerun... Unzerun... Korukerun... Peie... Sebue...
Chaika the Coffin Princess
Dull ache...
Scratches... Lucky.
Fredrica?
Fredrica!
Please answer! Fredrica!
Darn it! What's with this island?
I wonder where Chaika landed.
You okay, Princess?
Yes.
Looks like we made it to the island we were heading for.
It appears that fog was produced by magic to conceal the island.
What's wrong?
Hurt?
Yeah, a fragment from the ship hit me. Just my luck.
Let's get to land quick, before that monster comes back.
Worried about the saboteur boy?
N-No!
Well, no need. He's not the type to let something like that kill him.
Magic does come in handy at times like this.
I agree. If only you hadn't fought with Chaika,
we might be at the top by now.
Are you trying to smart off?
I would never smart off to my beloved Brother.
Though, if being insulted is a fetish of yours, I would gladly...
Shut up and climb!
The Writhing Island
Orthros...
Els, nyme, ainkt, mu...
Brilliant flash, appear!
The Flasher!
Intruders must be taken!
Come with us!
Island... natives?
Want to know more about island!
Intruders must be taken!
Come with us!
It's fine that we got to the island, but what do we do now?
Guy said we'd find out when we got here.
Who?
This is...
It's Chaika's.
So she's definitely here.
Brother.
Yeah.
Demi-human soldiers?
Are they this island's guards?
Looks that way.
If these guys are roaming around, there must be something here.
If Chaika is here, they may already have her.
I'm following them. You search the forest.
Understood.
Island underground...
Giant facility.
Father's fortune... here.
Izhmash-sama.
What are the Fayla doing?
They are operating with the demi-human soldiers
to smoke out the intruders.
We should receive a report soon.
Monitoring and numerical records...
What is the point in doing all this?
What His Majesty desired is already complete...
But only Emperor Gaz knows how to activate it.
We haven't the slightest clue...
I will die soon.
Now that the emperor is dead,
is there any meaning in this island's existence?
Enter.
The search party has returned.
They've captured the intruders and placed them in the dungeon.
We believe they were on board the cargo ship that passed by earlier.
Do you wish to interrogate them immediately?
It can wait.
There are also signs of infiltration on the southern cliff wall.
We searched the area, but found no one suspicious,
so we called off the search for now.
You called it off?
I ordered you to capture all intruders on the island!
I'm sorry...
But according to the reports, it was dark and footing was poor,
so pursuing them further would have endangered the men...
Don't you talk back to me!
When you demi-humans,
relics of the war, had nowhere left to go, I gave you work.
All you need to do is follow my orders!
Yes, sir. Forgive me.
Lowly demi-human...
We have enough of the mass-produced models now.
Maybe we should start using the demi-humans in experiments to get rid of them.
Here's your food.
Grateful.
Why imprison me?
Why keep island secret?
I can't tell you anything.
Someone higher up will come soon.
You should ask them.
Understood.
Ursula! Haven't you fed the Fayla yet? Get moving!
Y-Yes, sir!
Ursula!
Ursula, chaste flower.
Yes, in Raackean...
You speak Raackean?
Yes. Born in Gaz Empire.
You, too?
Yes.
I see...
This island, research... Emperor Gaz's order?
I'm sorry. I don't know the details, either.
They excavated the entire island to make this?
Pretty massive undertaking...
Fayla again?
What?
You're here, Akari?
Fredrica... Where's Chaika?
I'm looking for her, too.
I see...
Just what is going on with this island?
To—
You alone? Where's Fredrica?
Separated.
Okay.
For now, we're getting out of here.
Keep an eye out to make sure no one's coming.
Toru... apology.
Was selfish.
Trouble for everyone.
Oh...
Nah, I might have been jumping the gun myself.
But we've found the island now.
Anyway, we'll talk later.
There's definitely something strange about this island.
Where's your coffin and Gundo?
Coffin, with Fredrica.
Gundo confiscated.
The Gundo will have to wait.
We need to get somewhere safe first,
then we'll think about what comes next.
Yes.
Dragoons and Orthros?
Yes.
And it was a Kraken that attacked the ship...
Are the people on this island taming Fayla?
Can't go this way.
Let's look for another exit.
Yes.
What is this place?
If we dive in, it'll probably take us to the ocean outside,
but there's no way to guess how deep it is.
Fayla...
They are not true Fayla.
Who's there?!
They are all duplicates, outsider.
A Kraken...
Is this the one that just talked?
Krakens can talk?
Kraken, high intelligence. Dragoon, same.
What do you mean by duplicates?
This facility has been used to research the
mass production of Fayla through application of forging magic.
Those discarded here are the failures.
Are you one of them, too?
I was captured for experimentation.
By studying and reproducing my flesh,
they have mass-produced Krakens.
Cruel treatment...
Silver hair and purple eyes...
The Coffin Princess, Chaika.
You know Chaika?
I met a girl who called herself Chaika once, long ago.
After learning her own fate, she abandoned the name.
One day, I learned the truth...
We are all merely tools to gather his remains...
The Chaikas, as well as those who help us.
Layla...
She was on this island?
Want to know truth!
Know truth about Chaika?
My life is nearing its end.
If you have questions, I shall answer, Coffin Princess.
Who am I? Who is Chaika?
The one who will set destiny in motion.
You carry a coffin and gather the remains,
and your body has become a tool for that purpose.
You hold the key to unlock destiny.
Destiny?
I came to bring her food, and the door was open...
She had a friend?
It's probably the one that the search party lost track of.
I'm sorry, Cyril. I made a mistake...
It's not your fault.
But I know we'll be punished.
Izhmash-sama hates us demi-humans.
We might be killed...
I won't let him do that!
I'll capture them right away.
What's up? Sure is noisy out there.
Looks like something happened.
This might just be our chance...
Hey, are you all right?
That which humans call "magic" is the power to materialize thoughts.
Long ago, we Fayla
lived alongside this power before mankind even came to exist.
Soon enough, humans appeared, and they desired magic.
They imitated us, studied us,
and finally began to use man-made implements of magic,
allowing them to control many types of magic.
Magic implements... Gundo?
Eventually, with the arrival of one particular wizard,
mankind's magic techniques experienced rapid development.
He was the man called the Taboo Emperor:
Arthur Gaz.
Father...
The Chaikas are tools to fulfill Emperor Gaz's grand ambitions.
Their life and death, their joy and sorrow,
are part of the gears that comprise them
and cannot be denied.
How do you know this?
By sharing thoughts among many bodies since ancient times,
we have seen all.
When destiny is set in motion,
not only humans, but we Fayla and all other living things
will be hurled into a maelstrom of destruction and slaughter.
The Chaikas hold the key to that future.
You must never forget this.
Damn it!
Chaika! Stay close to me!
Right!
You won't escape!
Toru!
Damn it.
Chaika, are you okay?
Yes.
Wait.
You just called her Chaika.
Are you Chaika?
Did you say Chaika?
Yes. I looked into it,
and the girl in the group of intruders we captured looks just like her.
She calls herself Chaika, as well.
Two Chaikas here at the same time...
A coincidence?
No... This is interesting.
Bring them here. Both of them!
Castles?
That's right! Huge castles floating in the sky!
From the top of the hill close to here, you can see the national border.
So you saw castles in the sky over the border
between this nation and the Gaz Empire?
Yep!
There were five or six castles, huge ones like this,
floating there in the moonlight.
My back gave out then and there!
Five or six?
But then, in the morning, they had vanished like smoke!
When did this happen?
I was still just a boy.
Eighty... No, ninety years ago?
What?
Can you draw what they looked like on this?
They do look like floating fortresses.
The Gaz Empire had floating fortresses?
We detoured here hoping to find rumors of the emperor's fortune near the border,
but we weren't expecting a story like this.
But floating fortresses hadn't been invented yet at that time.
It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fortune.
There's not much we can say, but we might as well report this.
A fortune, floating fortresses, and Chaika...
Just what was Emperor Gaz trying to leave behind in this world?
Izhmash-sama.
I've brought them.
No touch!
Rude!
We meet again.
I see!
Seeing you side by side, you do look alike.
I welcome you, Chaika Gaz.
I am the assistant director of the Gaz Empire Institute of Magic, Viktor Izhmash.
Institute of Magic?
Chaika...
She reacted?!
Could it be... No, that's right.
Last time a Chaika came here, she was still being developed.
So Chaika really is...
Last time?
Layla?
This is magnificent! A result beyond my expectations!
Perhaps your coming here was all part of Emperor Gaz's plan!
You, Father's servant!
I am emperor's daughter!
Capture, imprison, rude!
His daughter? No, not quite.
Listen to me.
Emperor Gaz did not have a daughter.
L-Lie!
After the war, orphaned children were left all over the streets.
According to the plans,
girls of the same age were gathered from among them,
and magic was used to alter their memories.
All of the girls received identical memories of being Emperor Gaz's daughter.
That's who the Chaikas are.
When the Chaikas awoke, they took up coffins
and set out to collect the emperor's remains.
Though, it seems each was equipped with a different reason for collecting them.
That's it! The proof is right there!
No! No, no!
The Chaikas are tools to fulfill Emperor Gaz's grand ambitions.
Their life and death, their joy and sorrow,
are part of the gears that comprise them
and cannot be denied.
You still don't know why you are alive,
why you were born.
When you find out,
you'll be able to feel despair from the depths of your heart.
Chaika!
Created memories... all fake...
I am truly glad you came here!
Now my research can make vast progress!
I'm going to remove part of each of your brains and analyze them.
Bastard! Don't even—
What? There's no need to worry.
You will die here, but the remains will come together.
The other Chaikas will collect them.
Found Father's lab!
Boss Izhmash, freak! Lunatic!
Red Chaika and me, human experiments?!
And other girl captured!
Must rescue!
The Emperor's Fortune
Next time: "The Emperor's Fortune."