Coppelia’s casket
The flowing tears have already dried up
Solitude starved for blood
Death dances, smelling of angel down
In a town where the black sun never sets
Everyone works silently with an air of deception
I cannot meet you
I cannot meet you here
God, our savior
Coppelia’s casket
People are dolls tired of dancing
The lamb on the altar
Where is the mechanical dream headed?
Coppelia’s casket
O light awakened from the darkness
The lamb on the altar
Where is the dream with the broken spring headed?
Noir…
It is the name of an ancient fate.
Two maidens who govern death.
The peace of the newly born,
their black hands protect.
The peace of the newly born,
their black hands protect.
It is the name of an ancient fate.
Two maidens who govern death.
The peace of the newly born,
their black hands protect.
– Kirika, you… – their black hands protect.
Kirika, you…
I… I am…
[The Sin Within the Sin]
Mireille…
The tea has gotten cold.
Oh?
Altena!
But you’ve read that book many times by now.
I want to hear it from you one last time before the ritual.
The way I used to hear it from you before bed.
It is an old, old tale.
A thousand years ago, the people saw the shape of this world.
It happened at the end of the tenth century.
An abominable plot to gain power.
Many people were killed.
Even old men and even young children.
The worst atrocities man could commit against fellow man.
The people saw such extremes with their very own eyes.
Several of them survived that hell.
And they understood…
The true nature of man.
The Earth is constantly overflowing with evil and hopelessness.
Those who survived swore to one another
to seek revenge against this world,
to help the weak and the persecuted,
and to realize justice on this Earth.
They swore absolute secrecy and loyalty
and that was when the Soldats took root for the very first time here.
The blood of the Soldats will seep throughout the wilderness
and flow into the great river.
Those who made the pledge scattered to all parts of the world
and took up secret lives in the shadowy side of society.
The blood of the Soldats will seep throughout the wilderness
and flow into the great river.
Many months and years have passed.
Now, the blood of the Soldats runs throughout the world.
The Soldats is already the world.
We must continue to be active in order to preserve this world.
But Altena…
The merciful mother, Altena… In a way, she is correct.
In that she is trying to realize the ideal of the Soldats.
Restoring Noir would be anachronistic.
Altena’s motivations are nothing more than delusions.
It’s just a farce.
The Grand Retour is in accordance with the Soldats’ collective will.
As long as Altena champions its cause, we cannot openly oppose her.
But if we allow the ritual to be performed,
Altena will become the next high priestess of the Soldats,
gaining the highest position of authority.
That woman doesn’t understand anything.
Power and wealth are what make the world go round.
If love can kill people,
surely, hatred can save people.
Though the ages may come and go, the world of man does not change.
The land overflows with grief
and man commits wicked deed upon wicked deed.
But Heaven… Heaven maintains its silence.
Someone must bear the sins.
Two maidens figured in the Soldats of old.
Two maidens who served God, but dared to take up their swords.
Their valor was greater than that
of tens of thousands of knights combined.
And they had both the Holy Mother’s mercifulness
and the Grim Reaper’s heart of stone.
The maidens with black hands that attended the Soldats’ high priest.
Their name is Noir.
I’m beginning to see how things are.
Noir was not the start of it all,
but the very reason they came after us.
The Soldats issued an order to have us sanctioned,
and yet, they hide our identities from the hit men
and they don’t even try to attack us here in this room.
Why?
Because those are the rules.
The trials…
The fate of those who are to become Noir.
Right, for us to dodge our way through the traps…
That was their true goal.
And one more thing…
You were in a special position from the beginning.
Do you remember what Chloe said? That you and Chloe were special.
Mireille…
That’s right, you and Chloe are definitely special.
When Chloe first appeared before us, she claimed…
– Mireille! – When Chloe first appeared before us, she claimed…
Mireille!
Please, stop.
When she claimed to be the true Noir,
I felt as though I had seen my own reflection.
But…
The reflection was me, wasn’t it?
Take care of yourself, Chloe.
The day of the ritual is already near.
Give her the final guidance.
I will.
But what about her friend?
You know as well as I that the daughter of Corsica is also fit.
But…
You have nothing to worry about.
As you believe, she and you are special.
You need only tell her friend.
Just the truth…
I will.
You and Chloe are the true Noir.
Then what am I?
Noir is a pair of chosen assassins.
Even if the Soldats’ aim is to question your qualifications…
What am I?
The two hands of Soldats are two maidens.
Thereafter, Noir’s station and title
were inherited generation after generation.
By maidens who did not fear being sullied.
By two, bound by a black thread and chosen by rigorous standards.
For it is a sublime duty.
Chloe has started to take action.
That is not good.
If they enter the Manor, they will be beyond our reach.
Tonight, we will set the knights of Paris in motion as well.
However…
However?
Will they be able to defeat those chosen two?
And defeat the merciful mother Altena,
once feared to have governed death?
Man commits sin.
No matter how man struggles, man cannot escape,
for that is man’s fate.
Then at the very least,
we shall soil our hands for the sake of man.
The sins that the Soldats of old dared to commit…
They were in atonement for man’s sins.
Noir will commit sin upon sin.
The history of sin will be repeated,
without end.
For eternity.
Noir will commit sin upon sin.
You two have overcome all of the trials.
And the depth of your sins is worthy of the name of Noir.
I have come.
As promised, to give you the final guidance to the Manor.
What’s this manor?!
The sole parcel of land on this Earth
that has been left behind by the flow of time, sacred ground.
The ritual of accession to Noir will take place there.
Thank you for being with her until now.
But now she must go home.
Your gun…
Accept…
…the final guidance.
No!
The soft touch
Finally made me realize how cold my cheek was
Like waking up in the morning
And noticing the birds chirping for the first time
Suddenly
I don’t know anything yet
What my heart is seeking
I don’t know
I was always looking up at the sky
Like this, since who knows when
I would send my thoughts to right below that cloud
[Preview] [Those who received the blessing]
[Kirika Yumura]
[Morning of farewell at the graveyard]
[Morning Without Dawn]