"I do not fear the day when I must say my farewells... But I do fear the day when the last memory of mine would be gone forever."
- Catherine Chronia
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I remember the days when we were in our youth... when I was nothing but a young woman trying her best to become an educator that can somehow make a difference in this terrible war-torn world.
"Oh-ho! She's all good and drunk up!"
"C'mon boys! It's time to really enjoy party!"
There was I, a naive girl from the countryside who thought that she can "make it" in the big city, about to fall to the whims of the cruel people that I thought I could trust with my life and safety...
"HOLD ON! YOU CAN'T JUST—"
*BYAK! BYAK! BYAK!*
"W-W-Were those gunshots—"
And just in time, like how you promised me even when I never took it seriously, you saved me and showed me the difference between someone who truly values the people they love and those who only do it with ulterior motives.
"That is the truth about who and what I am... Even knowing this and what we both have to sacrifice in order to fulfill it, will you still remain beside me?"
"...Of course I do... I love you far too much to leave you for just that, Jonah. I will be with you no matter what it takes."
You loved me enough to entrust me with the truth behind your past before you promised to change yourself in order to help change the world... and because of that, I loved you enough to embrace all the toil, hardship and pain that came with the future that your family foresaw to change this world once and for all.
"I'm sorry, Catherine... I'm so sorry for making you and Ephraim go through this... And yet, I have to do my part...!"
"...My heart says that I should make you stay here... But I know how important this is to you and the future of this world... and because of that... I will endure until we become reunited again, Jonah. I will wait no matter how long it takes and how painful it would be."
Against the selfish desire of my heart to keep you beside me and stop you from fulfilling your part in that plan, I let you leave... even if I knew that you are walking to your death.
"...That is all that happened, madame. They are currently held in custody... but given the influence and power of their families, I believe it would be proper to just drop the case and settle for an out-of-court—"
"We will fight them in court. We have the money to hire a legal team and all the proof needed to fight them with enough chance to make them pay dearly for what they have done. The case will proceed, that is my decision."
"B-B-But madame Chronia! This is basically suicide! If you don't accept to settle this, they'll definitely try to get back at you and in your state it would be easy to—"
"MY SON HAS BEEN VIOLATED BY THOSE SCUM! THEY HAVE STOLEN MY CHILD'S INNOCENCE AND WHAT REMAINS OF HIS PEACEFUL LIFE! AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT I SHOULD GIVE UP IN DEMANDING JUSTICE FOR HIM?!"
Against the pain that came with my lack of presence and strength to lead and protect my child, I endured and prayed fervently that somehow and someway, this would be the worst that would come for Ephraim according to the plan... yet it was only the beginning.
"...Mother... Why...?"
"Oh Ephraim... my child...!"
"...Why do they have to die...? Why like that...? Why does it have to happen to them who are so happy and hopeful for their own lives...?!"
"Let it be... Just cry it out, Ephraim...!"
"Kh! Risa... Arthur...! Why... why does it have to be you guys...?!! WHY?!!!"
Against the pain that came from losing the people who he loved so dearly as both friends and family, I cried and mourned beside him as his descent into all of the pain and losses that he would face began to devour his innocent heart... That is all that I could give him no matter how much it pains me.
"Mother... Father is—"
"I know... they told me already before they told you... Ephraim, Hannah... Come near me, I need your strength..."
And when the time came when you fulfilled your fate according to the plan, I can only hold my breath and endure the pain of never being able to tell our son what would come next for him now that you are no longer here to take all of that pain for him.
Our entire life was filled with pain and loss... and yet, I can only smile and laugh whenever I remember what you told me when I chose to marry and walk this path alongside you no matter that it takes.
"One day, this will end... One day, all of it would be fulfilled and we will be at peace. So Catherine, I want you to believe and give it your all just like how I do."
"Of course... I'm with you always!"
That's why... when I made the same decision that you did when you were faced with that leap of fate, I did it knowing full well that I would unite us again on the other side... and fulfill the fate I decided to walk towards now that I am made to face it.
"Mom... No...! MOOOOOOMMM!!!"
This is the end that I foresaw... and this is the end that would bring about the best ending possible for this ruined world and its misled people.
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After hearing a commotion outside the room, Professor Takeshi took a rifle from beside him and despite shaking both due to inexperience with the weapon and having little to no "guts" to actually use it to take a human life, as a man, he wanted to at least do everything he can to protect the children and women behind him.
"H-H-Hide behind me, everyone! I won't let them hurt you!"
"Y-Yes!"
Behind the shaking engineer, the four children huddled together while being embraced tightly by Hannah. The only outlier was the frail, old lady who stood up and took another rifle leaning on the nearby wall.
"You're holding it the wrong way, youngster... But I guess no one has to teach you how to use it in a time and country like this."
"M-Madame...?!"
With impeccable dexterity and posture opposite to her seemingly frail look, Catherine placed an ammunition magazine into the gun and loaded it in such a calm and collected manner as if this isn't her first experience with a real gun.
"Don't be so surprised. Military training and service is part of our country's college curriculum. Tis' been drilled to me in my better days and I can do it despite looking like this."
"Y-Yes... Wait! Here he is!"
Right when Takeshi shouted that, the doors of the room burst open and both he and Catherine fired their guns right at the staggering figure in front of them. In a span of a few seconds, tens of bullets struck him and made him take a step back.
"Reloading!"
"Gotcha!"
Without any care if their attacks are doing any damage, both Takeshi and Catherine continued to rain bullets towards Keiji, trying to stop him from taking any step closer.
"I've had enough... I'VE HAD ENOUGH OUT OF YOU, PESTS!!!"
"—! LOOK OUT!!!"
Takeshi shouted and pushed Catherine away as a wooden beam flew right where they are standing and went through the wall behind. After securing his posture, he fired towards Keiji again and managed to make him fall... or so he thought.
"I hit him! He's down!"
"...No! He's about to—!"
With the breaking of his standing posture, Takeshi thought that he managed to kill Keiji, but it was done intentionally to let him dash towards his target with full force and momentum.
"I won't let you!!!"
"NO! HANNAH, WAIT—!!!"
Hannah dashed to intercept Keiji with what strength and speed her mortal body can muster, all to protect his brother and the children behind her.
"GET AWAY FROM MY WAY, PEST!"
"MAKE ME, YOU TWISTED PIECE OF SH*T!"
"RAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
With no hesitation, Hannah braced herself as Keiji's punch struck her and made her fly back alongside a pool of blood that she puked out.
"HANNAH!!!"
"Hannah-nee!!!"
Catherine and Mio ran towards Hannah who continued to throw up blood while clutching her chest that had several broken ribs beneath its battered flesh.
"Kih! You pest... How dare you stop... our righteous dream—!"
Keiji snickered, clutching the arm he used to punch Hannah that has not fell off from his deteriorating body. Moments later, Takeshi subjected him to another barrage of bullets that made him fall on his back.
"I got him!"
"GYAAAAAHHH! LET GO OF ME, BASTARD—"
"Shut up!!!"
Takeshi sat on Keiji's back to secure him from moving about again. Meanwhile, Catherine and Mio tended to the fatally wounded Hannah, trying to stop her bleeding with all that they can.
At that moment, the sound of breaking glass echoed around them... signifying the end of a battle fought in a Subspace nearby.
And with it came an ultimatum set by someone to a piece of their flesh and consciousness before they disappear from existence.
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"Get up, you puppet! Do your damn job!"
"—!"
"This is our last chance to fulfill the requirements of father's ascension! Fail here and we will—"
Before what his own voice speaks can reach his very consciousness, another voice forcibly took over his attention and within his own mind where he's supposed to have absolute control, Keiji became a slave to that voice.
"You really are useless beyond expectation, failure."
"Spirit... Babel...!"
"Haaah... By yourself, you really can't do anything useful. To think that I let you live for this long just because your sisters and father are pulling your weight for you."
"No...! Please don't do—"
"I've waited and pardoned you long enough. It's time for you to be what you and your family were to me all this time."
"!!!"
With these words, Babel showed its true colors and ended the farce that it has kept up in order to lure the Miyazonos into acting according to its desires.
"This is an order. Whether you die or live through it is no concern of mine."
"No... Don't—"
"Kill the Divine Challenger. Bring me the godhood that I desire."
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In the tower where the ritual of his ascension is about to be held, Miyazono Ryuuichi stood and looked above with his sight reinforced by his Astra energy. There among the clouds, he can see the floating island where the Celestial Spirits reside, which after his ascension, he will usurp as his own in order to spread godhood to all of humanity and make the world the he envisioned all this time.
"It's coming... the time is coming closer and closer."
All of the struggles that he faced...
All of the failures that blocked his path...
All of the sacrifices that he made throughout his entire life...
It all culminates in this one moment where once and for all, he can reach towards the goal that he has kept in his heart.
"This is all that I wanted... A world where every human, regardless of name, kin, sex or any defining factor can be united."
To him, the limiting ethics and emotions of mankind was nothing but an inconvenience...
"A world where everyone can fulfill the desires of their heart with no limitations."
The disorder and squabbles between peoples and beliefs were wasteful distractions...
"A world where everyone can live as they desire and fear nothing."
Even death cannot keep him away from achieving this one goal that he strived for all this time.
"A world where everyone can wish everything and have it fulfilled... A world with no singular, defined deity."
For this desire, he blasphemed everything and held nothing holy... and that desire is nothing else that...
"A world where mankind is the keeper of their soul and master of their fate... A world where mankind is their own gods."
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In the beginning, there was nothing.
By the words of Creation, there is everything.
In the weathered stone tablets and faded reed parchments, it was all recorded.
Of all Creation and Sustenance, in the beginning was where it was all said.
And in the end, just as proclaimed in the prophecies of its kind.
Death and destruction is all that mankind will ever find.
"Such were the words etched in the prophecy of the Divine Challenger... and as for our part as the harbingers of Death, I shall gladly partake!"
In the depths of the earth, in the fiery hellscape where there is nothing but blazing fire and the endless tortured groans of all the sinners that he personally took in the name of rightfully punishing them, the Maestro was about to conduct the climax of his final performance for this world.
As he raised his conductor's baton, the hellish sight around him disappeared and was replaced by an all-encompassing emptiness of darkness. In this darkness, he stood alone and with a word, began the performance that would signal the end of the world.
"Entu Primirae, dar Umbrenus wai estermina entu dar Lumirae..."
("In the Beginning, the Darkness was driven back by the Light...")
In a blinding flash, the darkness around him was exterminated and showed the expanse of the shapeless void that now formed a firmament between all that is beneath him.
"Entu Primirae, dar Ysmar wai renscinda entu Daraven eu Teraena..."
("In the Beginning, the Seas was split between Heaven and Earth...")
All around him, the crystalline waters below rose and formed billowing clouds that surrounded him in an almost Heaven-like sight.
"Entu Primirae, Teraena wai fraca dar Ysmar, eu wai fertura dar fruct eu su doria..."
("In the Beginning, the Earth broke the Seas and bore the fruits of its bounty...")
From below, the seas yielded its form and from it emerged land that grew bountiful greenery.
"Entu Primirae, dar Daraven wai ornura eu dar Astria eu dar Munde."
("In the Beginning, the Heavens was furnished by the Stars and Worlds.")
Above him, millions of flashes of light appeared against the backdrop of the dark, empty space, adding to the heavenly sight that surrounds him.
"Entu Primirae, Teraeana wai fertura dar Vivaren, eu wai dercura iye entu su vis."
("In the Beginning, the Earth bore the Living and spread them throughout its face.")
At the moment that he spoke that, the heavenly sight that surrounded him above the surface became contrasted to the world beneath where the fires of destruction and both joyous and terrified wails of hedonism raged as faceless, doll-like figures spread and like a theatrical play, simulated various acts of extreme evil, cruelty and sin.
"...Eu entu dar Noxar dar Primirae, wai venire dar Primirae dar Noxar."
("...And at the End of the Beginning, came the Beginning of the End.")
Right when he spoke those words, he dropped his baton as if to begin the long-awaited final musical performance.
"Today, all will be judged according to their life..."
With the opening mighty throng of a pipe organ, trumpets that carried their sound through every corner of the space and the angelic voice of a choir, the light that surrounded him and the expanse of the sky around him shone brightly to contrast the dark and dreary surface beneath.
"Today, marks the end of all tomorrows."
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Out in the real world, all of the chaos, death and disorder ceased for a moment as an order of silence came.
May it be human, superhuman, inhuman or not human at all, they were all silenced by a presence that their very souls recognized to be an absolute authority.
"What is this...?"
"What is this feeling... why am I—"
As if being snapped out of the influence of the evils that surrounded them, they realized every immoral thing that they have done and began to feel regret...
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!!!"
"HELP!!! SOMEBODY HEEEELLLP—!!!"
...but for them, everything was already far too late.
At New Tokyo, William Tetian was shocked after seeing the men around him suddenly combust with white flames and not even moments later, disappear completely into fine ash.
"W-What is happening? What is—!?"
"The day of Judgement has come. All shall stand to be judged and answer to their wrongs."
Before he can even react to what is happening around him, a familiar person approached him and made him feel fear.
"YOU—!!!"
"Vessel of Luxuria, rotten and wicked spirit of ruin... I will be your opponent and you will fall to your destined death."
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"Kill the Divine Challenger. Bring me the godhood that I desire."
These words echoed in Keiji's mind as his control over his actions and decisions was removed. Slowly, even as his body continued to deteriorate, he resisted Takeshi's hold and began to stand up.
"What are you—Whoa!"
"Kill the Divine Challenger... Kill the Divine Challenger... Kill the Divine Challenger..."
This voice continued to repeat in his mind and no matter how much he actually wanted to resist, his mind was fully in the control of Babel and his actions focused only on that one order.
"Catherine-san! He is—!!!"
Takeshi shotued as Keiji formed a sharp stake of wood on his remaining arm, intending to kill the unconscious Ephraim with it.
"fInAlLy! yOu sHaLl dIe hErE, cHrOnIa!!!"
Keiji, possesed by Babel, shouted as his transformed arm approached the heart of his target.
*KYAGH!!!*
"W-W-What...?"
However, the one he hit was not the Chronian that he meant to kill.
"I won't let you... HURT MY CHILD!!!"
Taking the attack in place of her son, Catherine was stabbed right through her abdomen.
"M-MOTHER!!!"
"GRANNY!!!"
With pain, her daughter and grandchildren shouted in shock of what just happened.
"Ephraim... Wake up...!"
Even as blood profusely poured out of her mouth, Catherine shouted to her son, urging him to wake up already.
"Son! Please wake up already...!"
As she slowly lost her strength and consciousness, Catherine shouted for one last time, pleading for her child to finally awake.
"EPHRAIM!!!"
At that exact moment, everything in the entire world was silenced. For a moment, there was not a single pip to be heard nor an active thought within everyone's mind.
"T-That..."
All of them was silenced by the three signs that the final battle for the world's fate is about to commence.
Spirit Courage's fight against Mankind's strongest champion...
The Hymn of the Day of Judgement...
"—!!!"
"This is where it ends... Babel."
...And the return of the Divine Challenger.