It hurts.
I'm scared.
I'm sad.
This is...
Ren...
Have you awakened, Marguerite?
I have prepared a small party for you.
I hope that you like it.
Who are you?
Karl did not tell you?
I am his friend.
Oh, did he tell you a different name?
For example, yes...
Cagliostro?
He has spoken of you to me.
A woman like a goddess, he said.
He has strange tastes,
but I suppose I agree.
And so, I put the question to you.
What do you think of me?
What?
Your answer?
You let everyone die.
You destroy them.
You turn everything into this.
You are a frightening person.
I see.
You fear my path to consequence.
But that is strange.
The goddess of whom I heard
would not have felt that way toward others.
Emotionless, and thus, infallible...
In other words, I thought you had no heart.
This is pain.
Indeed.
My love is the karma of destruction.
With this Valhalla, I shall conquer all.
I told you I would teach you how to love.
I'm scared!
No...
Your world is wrong.
Then, we shall not receive Heaven together.
There is no need for two rulers.
Let us celebrate!
Here, the war has been declared!
Swastika
I did it! I did it!
It's a success!
Welcome, Zarathustra, bastard child of Karl Krafft!
No, that isn't right...
I know... Ren! I'll call you "Ren"!
A flower of hope, born from the mud.
From now on, you are my son!
You needn't worry.
I'm sure my wife and daughter will love you.
Ren... Ren...
That's... me.
What am I?
Maybe I knew it from the start,
that I would never have a normal life.
That everything was temporary.
Like a dream.
Someday, this everyday life would end,
and the real scenario would begin.
So I hoped that time would stop.
That this would go on forever.
That I wouldn't have to lose what was important to me.
I wished that
this future would never come.
I...
Marie!
Where am I?
Damn it...
It's no good.
Marie! Marie!
Answer me! Are you there?
Hello, Fujii-kun.
Senpai?
Wait. I'll unlock the manacles.
Are we at the church?
Yes.
The basement?
Yes.
A secret fort, huh?
Are you stupid?
Isn't there more you want to ask?
Ask.
Instead, you're only asking where you are.
I can't believe you.
I already know the thing I most wanted to know.
That you're on my side.
Or else you wouldn't do this, would you?
You're a nasty person, right?
And I am a wicked woman.
I thought this day might come.
That my entire life was a mere dream.
And that there was no way I would ever get
to lead a normal life.
So first, let's close our eyes.
Let's shut our ears and our mouths.
Stop breathing and never move.
Keep your heart as hard as stone,
so you feel nothing.
Don't notice anything.
When I did that, Fujii-kun...
I started thinking that maybe everything would simply end.
I was so frightened of doing anything.
I...
Me, too.
I was the same.
Maybe I knew this would happen someday, too.
So I looked away, pretended,
ignored anything I didn't want to see.
But it isn't too late!
Do something, Senpai!
I haven't given up, and I haven't lost anything yet.
Then, will you make love to me here?
If you want to do something, then rape me.
And if you can't do that,
then just kill me.
I've always thought I shouldn't be alive.
Sorry, that was a joke.
Do the rest yourself.
Bye-bye.
Hey, wait! Hey!
You give up quickly, Theresia.
That must not be fun for Fujii-san.
If you come up with an idea, you should see it through.
Of course...
Nothing can be done about some things.
Shut up!
I hate you, jerk!
Don't talk to me anymore, jerk!
Okay.
Rough day, huh, Fujii-san?
I apologize for Theresia's rudeness.
Where is she now?
Couldn't say. She seemed upset.
I stay away from women like that.
I'm willing to take a slap,
just not at the moment.
It would be infidelity.
Come with me.
Lord Heydrich awaits.
Then, you're saying she knows nothing?
Yes.
She was born in this era, and until now, has lived a normal life.
Though, perhaps having had creatures like us around her
since childhood, has tipped her off to something...
But you mustn't blame her for that.
Humans always see what they desire to see.
Especially when they have no proof.
You cannot act ahead of time with only a vague sense of unease.
That's because you led her to be that way.
I cannot deny that,
although Liza gets most of the credit.
But now, you should worry about yourself, not her.
If nothing else, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes.
I speak from the heart when I say this.
I wish you good luck.
Lord Heydrich is a man like no other.
You cannot judge him as a human being.
What is that?
Kill? Destroy?
No, that isn't it.
That means...
"Hagall."
Destruction. The end.
The old order's death, and the power to bring it about.
Unstoppable nature.
A great disaster.
The twilight of the gods.
The last war.
It is Dies Irae.
That is what I await.
Sit.
You need not be so afraid.
I am sure the Grail Priest frightened you,
but I value politeness.
As the master of this place, I know how to treat guests.
Sit.
I see.
An interesting choice.
Symbolic, one could say.
Do you know whose seat that is?
No.
I don't care.
What are you going to do to me?
Do to you?
I simply wanted to talk to you.
Every fraction of every moment,
I am always testing how I might feel the unknown.
In other words, I am a prisoner of déjà vu.
That would be the easiest way to explain it to you.
I remember this moment.
I have repeated it an infinite number of times,
without even the slightest deviation.
At this point, I can no longer dismiss it as a hallucination.
Not since I meet Karl.
Karl Krafft...
Yes.
A man far stranger than most.
But it is said he possesses thousands of names.
For example, Faust.
Saint Germain. Paracelsus.
Cagliostro.
And Mercurius.
That is, perhaps, the most well-known?
That's stupid...
How many years has he been alive, then?
Do you believe that?
Neither... Or either.
That is not important.
But he had power.
He was very interesting.
His objectives matched my own.
So there was no problem at all.
Objectives?
I told you.
Déjà vu.
I formed a friendship with him.
And thanks to that, the whole world now seems blurry.
My life was always passionless, but this was worse.
I have never felt a sense of achievement,
liberation, or satisfaction.
No matter what my position,
no matter what glory or honor surrounded me, I was never fulfilled.
Why?
Karl said...
You aren't being serious.
Clichéd, yes?
Like a boy's fantasies of being drunk on omnipotence.
But he also said this.
The closer to the extreme, the more clichéd you are.
In other words, I appear to have been born into the wrong world.
But he said controlling myself would be untrue to my life.
If I truly face the world, and the world is consequently destroyed,
then my love is destruction.
I wish to embrace and destroy it.
In other words,
you just want satisfaction?
What else is there?
Two things, specifically.
A situation in which I have no choice but to use my full power.
And that that which ensues is unknown to me.
This is not my world.
And thus,
I must create the world that should be, and cause it to flow.
I must create a mountain worthy of climbing, and then climb it.
That will be the end of my déjà vu.
Because I love everything,
I will destroy everything and paint it over.
I once sacrificed Berlin, but it was not enough.
It isn't unknown.
The result of making a world to rival the law of déjà vu,
simply shifted it into another dimension.
Like two great powers, staring at one another across the sea.
Therefore, to invade,
I require a sacrifice now.
And that is...
This town?
Indeed.
Then, you're calling everything here your tool?
Your anger is directed at the wrong person.
Without us, this town would never have been born.
Shambhala, the eastern paradise.
Since the time of World War II, Karl has been making a second Berlin here.
A place with eight ley lines.
Manifest eight battlefields there, and sacrifice many souls.
The result will be a city-sized relic,
a swastika.
A golden alchemical circle that will grant my wish.
And two have already opened.
Thus, six battlefields remain.
Much blood and a soul's penitence are required.
Understand?
That is where you come in.
Conquer the eight battlefields here, in Shambhala,
to allow me to manifest.
Refusal will only result in meaningless deaths.
You cannot refuse.
Well? What will you do?
You understand, so it is time to decide.
Withdraw or advance?
Show me the unknown.
Return Marie!
Try and see what happens to you then!
The unknown?
Yeah, I'll show it to you.
But that will be your end, Reinhard!
Splendid.
Splendid, indeed.
Well done.
Your education is paying off too well, Karl.
But while the process is on track,
this is upsetting.
His risking his life is known. It is pointless.
No, I suppose I shall accept it as a path to the gospel.
The ending is near.
Take her.
Farewell, for now.
You will not run.
You vowed you would defeat me.
The final battle will be then.
I promise my legion and I shall battle you.
He's gone?
Man, I sure talked a big game.
What do I do now?
But...
Welcome back, Marie.
Huh?
What was I doing?
He struck me here...
No! Don't look!
I'm so embarrassed, dummy.
Dummy... No, wait.
You've never worried about that before, right?
No! I don't understand!
You're too close, Ren. Go away.
What?
Promise
Illustration: zinno