Noo...
THE VOICE CALLING FOR NOO FROM AFAR
Noo...
I'm scared...
I-I'm in pain...
- No! - Noo...
Our true name cannot be pronounced by this body.
Just call us Noo.
It felt like my heart was being grasped by something.
What happened?
That over there.
Earth has disintegrated.
First Observatory Planet Panopticon
Chief!
Chief llita!
Emergency call from the prime minister.
llita, come back here immediately!
What's wrong?
The Earth... The Earth has vanished!
The Earth vanished?
Earth has disappeared from every available warp footage!
But my duty is to capture Herlock...
Leave a filcher like him alone for now!
I'm trusting you.
Treat the deaths of those who passed away with respect...
...holding on to their beliefs.
That is what a real man does.
If you want to become a real man...
...board my ship.
Nana, please take care of my dad.
Daiba?
Panopticon Prison Satellite
I wonder if Missie Kei is doing well.
I'm sure the missie's doing all right.
Hey, new guys!
I hope you've got proper offerings for the master of the inmates.
You don't know about that?
It's a tradition here to make an offering to him.
It'll be scary if you get him angry.
Um, what would be a good offering then?
The best thing is what's called a "plastic model."
C'mon!
Nice in!
So?
I've arranged every line to show a dummy image of the Earth.
Will this really be all right?
If the opposing party finds out the Earth has disappeared...
...it'll be a huge mess.
The problem is civilian warp communications.
The government should monitor all lines...
...and strengthen the regulations over them.
I see. I'll get such a bill through right away.
There can be no order in society without regulation of information.
To think my assertions would become reality this way...
Game over.
The Earth...
For humanity...
...it is now a meek existence that an illusionary image can replace.
What does this all mean?
I don't understand.
Oh, Chief.
What's wrong?
The mysterious ship responsible for the Earth's end...
...has just been spotted.
According to the Pluto observation crew...
...this ship emitted some sort of energy beam at the Earth.
Ship name: Fata Morgana Type: RQ 701 Usage: Research ship - The ship's name is the Fata Morgana.
The team that used it encountered an accident...
...and perished researching the Hourglass Nebula 5 years ago.
Since the accident, we picked it up...
...as it floated through space and held on to it...
What is it?
A week ago, the corpses in the station warehouse...
...suddenly revived and escaped, seizing the ship...
Corpses came back to life?
Yes.
Relay the information to the Scaffold's captain.
I'll head out to the Sol system now.
Yes, sir!
Chief, then what about Herlock?
He's yours.
Don't worry, I'll leave you with a plan.
I won't allow anyone or anything to disrupt the universe's order.
Not that ship of dead men, nor an antiquated pirate.
That archeological team supposedly had one survivor.
I believe...
Professor Daiba.
I remember.
About the time Herlock rescued the professor 5 years ago.
Rescued?
When we were cruising through the Hourglass Nebula's center.
We caught very faint signs of life, and when we approached it...
...there was a man close to death.
That was Professor Daiba.
I-I have touched the gates of Hell...
After healing his wounds...
...he left the Arcadia after making a certain promise with me.
And ever since, we have never contacted one another.
Till yesterday.
The ruins are trying to tell us something.
The demon has revived...
Someone, please seal away the demon...
The Arcadia...
Herlock!
Where's Herlock?
I am Mimeh.
A woman who has sacrificed her life to Herlock.
And where is that Herlock?
He was called and has gone.
To the owner of these ruins.
Do you have something for Herlock?
S-Something?
H-He...
"If you want to become a real man..."
"... board my ship," he said.
That's why I'm here.
Is that so?
T-That's right.
Where do you want to go after boarding this ship?
Where?
Well...
The Earth.
The Earth no longer exists.
The Earth's been eradicated from this universe.
Why?
Sheriff Station research says...
...this funky spaceship was responsible for Earth's eradication.
Ship name: Fata Morgana Type: RQ 701 Usage: Research ship
Space-archeological Excavation Team
Dr. Hiltz, space physicist
Dr. Daiba, space physicist Dr. Leni, space physicist
Dr. Paek, space physicist Dr. Hassan, space physicist
Them...
Damn it!
It looks like we gained yet another hothead...
Herlock!
Noo...
O Noo...
Noo...
Herlock!
That is a being who has become kin to Noo.
I am the queen who protects this shrine.
And that being is the man that was my husband in the past.
Our civilization was destroyed several millennia ago...
...from the curse of Noo.
The curse of Noo?
Noo, though sealed away...
...secretly continues to affect various universal phenomena.
Civilizations that reach the height of glory all touch the curse of Noo...
...and are destined to fall to ruins.
What exactly is Noo?
Noo is fear itself.
Fear...
At the moment the universe came into existence...
...during the chaos when matter did not follow the laws of physics...
...Noo was the one who ruled over everything.
It was a scene much like Hell...
Shadows and pain spiraled around.
And the only emotion given to the conscious...
...was fear.
However, from the chaos of shadows...
...the Twisted Rope, the first sign of order, was born.
The Twisted Rope sealed the lord of shadows, Noo...
...at the edge of dimensions.
Ever since, space was able to move forward...
...flowing along the arrows of time.
All this occurred in one instant...
...in 1e-43 seconds since the creation of the universe.
But it was an incident dense enough in importance...
...to match 500 billion years' worth of time.
Why has Noo resurfaced if he had been sealed away?
Noo, to this day...
...continues to curse the universe deep at the edge of dimensions...
Waiting for the time...
...when he breaks the seal and retakes control of the universe.
My civilization is descended from the Twisted Rope.
We were given the wisdom of the Rope...
...and have been protecting the seal on Noo.
Yet those seals are being destroyed all over by Earthlings.
Be careful.
Those who surrender to fear will become kin to Noo.
And once they swear obedience, they will willingly work for Noo...
...will betray their comrades, and lead their race to extinction.
Just like that man who used to be my husband.
I'm going to board this ship.
Is that your own will?
That's right.
I'm going to board this ship of my own will.
Where will you go once you do?
I don't know.
But now I have a goal.
I'll fight them...
...and I'll avenge my father's death!
Who will you swear those words to?
To myself!
Hey, is it all right or not? Answer me!
There are open rooms.
Use one that you fancy.
The Arcadia is making its last communication with the ruins.
Arcadia...
...take off.
We couldn't get ourselves to board that ship...
...after all.
Next Time
But still, I believe the captain is right outside.
I think so, too.
If that wasn't so... If the captain didn't need our help...
...there'd be no meaning to getting out of here alive.
YATTARAN'S 30-SECOND BET