Welcome back!
Chtholly?
I'm h...
Jerk.
WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us?
A man who can tune dug weapons?
O-Oh, no...
I wasn't rebuking you.
I just have a naturally menacing look.
But talk about a tall tale.
There once was a monster who could tune them, but he's long gone.
Is he in this room?
Yes. What will you do, Great Sage?
If you've brought him here, then so be it.
Let me see this con man for myself.
Oh, is that you, Souwong?
Long time no see.
Man, you've really changed.
Black Agate Swordmaster?!
It's been ages since anyone's called me that,
Magus of the Pole Star.
Aren't you happy that we both seem well?!
You spent five hundred years petrified on the surface?
I assumed you were dead because my pulse tracing never got any response.
Well, I was petrified. My heart wasn't beating—
Give me back the tears I shed that day!
Oh, you cried for me?
U-Uh, no! I did not!
Why would I waste time crying for the likes of you?
Hmm? Anyway,
why are you still alive?
Five hundred years have passed, right?
You...
What is that?
Back then, I was also killed in the battle.
Along with Emissa.
But just before I died, I placed a curse on myself and altered my life force.
So I can't be called human anymore.
And I won't die of injury or old age.
I see.
Just so you know, I don't need your pity.
I quite like my current life.
Actually...
I'm more shocked by Emissa getting done in than by your story.
Hey...
Look at them go...
Is that Emissa?
Nah, it's probably Hillgram.
I saw some gaping ridge lines on the way here.
Jeez, this party is full of monsters.
You aren't much better yourself, Black Agate Swordmaster.
How many times must I tell you not to call me that, Souwong?
Also, you should quit wearing that dumb white cape already.
But hey...
He's so tiny, he'd be hard to spot without it.
It is lame as hell, though.
It does indeed suit the great Magus of the Pole Star very well.
You two really know how to get on a person's nerves!
Well, eat this and calm down.
One of Almaria's special ginger cookies.
Almaria baked them for me?
For me?
Huh? No...
Ow...
Man...
What am I gonna do with you guys?
Until I took this job,
I wasn't stable enough to even reminisce about the past.
That's it!
What do we do now?
You're the only one who can tune carillons,
so you're perfect for the fairy warehouse caretaker job.
That said, I don't know if I should really leave you there to rot.
Sorry to interrupt your brainstorming, but hurry and decide what you're doing.
I promised to head back right away.
Head back?
Where? To the fairy warehouse?
Yeah.
While I'd love to stay and chat, I'm glad to know we're both doing well.
No, wait.
Before you go, I want you to meet someone.
Huh?
You probably never wanted to see them ever again, though...
Don't tell me, another of our friends survived?
We're heading for Island 2!
Ready an airship immediately!
Hang on... I never said I'd go!
Hey, Souwong!
Room without an exit.
Black cat that doesn't stop meowing.
Dazzling gray sky.
Unfamiliar blue-eyed girl.
What a weird dream...
Come back already.
She's probably really mad at me right now.
Holy Grounds, Sky Island 2
This feels very much like the temple of an evil clan.
Despite knowing you forever, I will never understand your tastes.
Look who's talking.
Five hundred years have passed, but your love of white capes hasn't been cured yet.
Don't make it sound like a disease!
This is part of my very heart and soul!
I would never cast it aside, not in a thousand years!
Thanks, man.
Where did that come from? Why would you thank me?
Just felt like it.
Don't worry about it.
S-S-Stop that. Why are you grinning?
Gross.
Out on a walk, are we? Well, it is a pleasant day.
You wanted me to meet her?
No, the other one down there.
Hey, you oversized piece of trash, I'm here.
Oh, if it isn't the Great Sage.
Perfect timing. I was pretty bored.
I've brought someone I'd like you to meet,
Eboncandle!
It's you! That, uh... What was it?
You know, the guy from back then.
Hey, Souwong...
Please tell me this is all a bad dream.
Want me to slap you so you can make sure?
I think I'll pass.
It's been eons, human brave.
I never thought the day would come when our paths would cross again.
But sadly, we are fated to always cross swords.
We cannot avoid walking down this bloody path.
Look, you can give that a rest.
Really? How boring...
Why do you look like that, anyway?
The Eboncandle I fought in the past had skin, flesh,
and an actual body from the neck down.
You're the one who burned my body to a crisp!
Can you imagine how shocked I was to wake in this state?!
And I've had to keep using my powers ever since, too.
I haven't had the chance to heal myself.
I see now.
So the paradise in the sky
was built by you two.
That is correct.
In order to escape the seventeen beasts,
I used brute force to elevate some land into the sky.
And somehow, it has lasted for five hundred years.
Eight-tenths of it is thanks to my powers.
What are the seventeen beasts, anyway?
What the hell happened to cause their appearance? And where?
They are humanity's sin.
To begin with, ancient—
Remember True World?
Oh, yeah. I remember them.
Some old, armed cult that we took out, right?
Yeah.
The beasts are biological weapons born as a result of their failed research.
I see.
So that's why the people here say that emnetwihts destroyed the surface.
That's right.
Humans did destroy the surface.
Don't you want to take it back?
You're an annoying guy with a rotten character, personality, heart, and soul.
But you have top-notch, reliable skills.
You are worthy to be a part of our plan...
No, you're indispensable for it.
Oh?
Isn't the surface done for, though?
Isn't it a danger zone with beasts everywhere?
What are you planning?
We'll attack them ourselves.
With you, we can again use the carillons that couldn't be tuned or wielded.
This is significant progress.
The battle will probably require all the resources from every Règles Aile city.
It will be a long road, fraught with danger.
However, we stand a good chance of coming out on top.
We can procure as many fairies as we need.
Our only problem was the shortage of usable carillons.
Oh?
Uh, forget what I just said...
You messed up.
We are the special weapons that you mentioned.
So you guys are the ones producing them.
Attention, all operatives.
Hurry up!
Unknown beast detected.
Island 15 will hereby be abandoned.
Strategic HQ is to fall back to Island 16.
Hardcover picture book.
Warm melody.
Black and white zigzag.
Swaying boat.
Damaged cocoon.
Red water.
Ashen wind.
Seven-eyed frog.
Endless orange road.
Fabric with a silver glint.
What? What the hell is this?!
Quiet! Shut up!
Get out of my head!
Chtholly...
...sed.
I will go back.
I promised...
I promised.
I promised!
They're swords that use the enemy's force against them when it hits the blade.
Lion eating a snake.
Round rainbow.
Pile of gold coins.
Tiny bowl filled with sweets.
Burning signpost.
Fish flying between the stars.
Shut up!
No matter what,
I will go back!
I have to go back...
Go back to...
Go back to him.
Those fairies are borderline unstable ghosts.
Souls of children who, not realizing they're dead, wander into our world.
They aren't even life forms.
One of my necromancy skills allows me to produce fairies from wandering spirits.
Since they don't fear death,
they're ideal, mass-produced weapons that can cause venenum explosions.
They have very short lifespans.
And if they generate too much venenum in combat,
memories of their past lives can eat into them, causing mental disintegration.
But we're trying to protect the world here. They're sacrifices that can be overlooked.
You three really overslept today.
Well, yeah. The battle was totally awful...
Dead.
We'd like to take it easy for a while.
Right, Chtholly?
Chtholly?
Yes, it seems you are still worn out.
On that note, excuse us from chores for the time being.
No can do!
Sorry.
I think I'll get some more sleep.
Flat spider.
Used-up candles and burned envelopes.
Be quiet.
Half-eaten cookie.
Metal bird and rainbow-colored arrowhead.
Vivid mine.
Stomach with a thorn.
Giraffe bending toward the water.
Shut up.
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut your damned mouth!
We made a promise.
Will I... not make it?
Man, I really wanted to eat that butter cake.
Threads made of morning dew.
Breaking world.
Father.
Yellow plushie.
Shining skylark nest.
Pebble in a paper packet.
Carnival in the water.
Black cat that doesn't stop meowing.
black cat that doesn't stop meowing
Dazzling gray sky.
dazzling gray sky
kiss of a golden butterfly
Kiss of a golden butterfly.
and then
And then?
And then...
I... I...
Who am I?
It's a fact that the fairies are the only way to use the carillons.
Sure, defense is one thing.
But don't discard their lives for some imperialistic urge!
The world heads steadily toward ruin.
Who knows how long Règles Aile will last?
And we must return to the surface someday, as well.
But no one knows, or cares, about it.
For everyone living out there now,
Règles Aile is their home!
Not anywhere else!
Am I wrong?!
But don't you hate this?
Don't you want to go back?
Souwong,
even if we do retake the surface, who will we find?
Do we have any family who will welcome us back there?
Great Sage, give it up for now.
He is a resolute man.
Once he decides to protect something,
he'll protect it, even if it means sacrificing everything else.
You care more about fairies who will soon die than this world's future?
Yeah.
Right now, I just want to hurry up and get back to them.
Is that the choice you've made, Willem Kmetsch?
That's right.
I always thought you were a bit more of a heroic brave.
Same here.
I'm here to make an urgent report.
It's about the wielder of dug weapon Seniorious.
Memories of her past life
have started to disintegrate her mind.
There he goes...
Why didn't you tell him the truth about the beasts?
I used to look up to him as an older brother.
I don't want him to hate me any more.
No, it's mine!
No, I took it first!
Hey, do you know where Nygglatho is?
She's up in the mountains!
Hey, give it back!
Whenever someone doesn't return, she goes to the mountains to fight bears.
Oh...
Then I guess we'll have stewed bear for dinner tonight.
What's wrong, Tiat?
You seem kinda gloomy.
I don't know.
It feels like there's a big hole in my head.
Why? Because Chtholly broke?
Maybe.
She kept her promise, you know.
She wasn't supposed to return from that battle.
But because she wanted to see you and have you baby her again,
she did everything to return with a little bit of time left.
Yeah, she kept her promise.
But I didn't say what she wanted to hear.
Or do what she wanted.
I did nothing for her.
Chtholly!
Are you looking for something?
Jade... Ebo.
Jadeebo?
I see.
Hey, what's your name?
Elq!
Elq, huh?
I hope you find Jadeebo.
I'll help you look.
I mean, this place seems huge.
Me?
My name is...
Huh?
Who am I, again?
I don't know.
But I think there was something important...
That's right. I have to go back.
No matter what?
No matter what.
Even though it'll only bring you lots of pain?
Well, yeah.
But I have a promise to keep.
Oh...
see you, chtholly.
It's rare that I see you drinking anything other than tea.
I'm glad you're here.
I'm sick and tired of crying alone.
In the past, I wanted to fix things that couldn't be fixed,
like the tragedies or unhappiness people went through.
But I was always too powerless.
In the end, I couldn't do anything at all.
I thought I'd learned my lesson over and over by now.
But I wanted to make Chtholly happy.
Seriously,
what did she ever see in me?
How do you not know the answer to that?
I mean, you gave me so many firsts.
At that market, you became the first to help me.
You were the first to take me somewhere with a great view.
You were the first to inspire many different emotions in me.
You were the first person to let me lean on them.
And you were the first opponent I lost to.
Man, I can't keep count.
So it's obvious that you'd be the first person I ever fell in love with.
Take a hint, dummy.
What happened to me, anyway?
I remember getting to the warehouse and having a weird dream.
And you just wouldn't come back...
What's with that look?
Welcome home, Chtholly...
Welcome home.
A miracle of love?
I don't know about love,
but this is definitely a miracle.
Knowing her, though,
she probably ignored the consequences and paid a huge price to make it happen.
Next Episode
home, sweet home
Next Episode:
home, sweet home.