Chapter 10 Episode 1: Inside Wall 1

We begin by being escorted to some prison cell, and a title card pops up briefly to state that Chapter 10 is the Warmongers Prelude. The title of it is The Frontline of Lingering Smoke. But back to our scheduled story, some rando giant notes that you’ve been thrown in as the new guy and ask you your name. You can either tell him or glare silently.

 

Some other doofy looking giants talk to you next and go for the next customary question people ask of prisoners: what are you in for? You then start to think about what has happened up to this point.

 

Flashback jumps back to some other day as Triton and Jinn start up a lesson and tell everyone to sit down so they can talk about the long break coming up. Some girl in class is confused Mononobe isn’t here to do that, some wolf asks why Jinn and Triton are doing it, and some guy mentions not seeing Mononobe lately and asking what happened to him.

 

Triton claims that Mononobe is taking a leave of absence, so he and Jinn will be taking care of things until he comes back. You react silently as the class starts talking about it, and sometime after class you go to talk with Jinn and Triton. They ask what’s wrong, so you ask if Mononobe really is on vacation and if anything happened to him.

 

Jinn lets slip that he doesn’t know and asks if you do, but Triton cuts him off from saying too much. Triton then starts diplomatically staying that there’s nothing he can tell you or the other students, but he tells you not to worry. He believes that Mononobe will come back to your classroom and teach again. Jinn seems worried, and Triton says you should go on as usual as the two of them leave.

 

After they go, you call out to Solomon as you hold up your ring. He pops up to answer, and the game makes a note that he’s doing so not through the App, but through your ring. You ask what he thinks of what Triton said, ask if he found anything on his side since you didn’t, or ask if Mononobe really isn’t at school.

 

Solomon tells you that by all appearances, Mononobe isn’t anywhere near the school, then cries about him running off and leaving him alone as he calls him Father. You question this term of address, ask if he was always connected to Mononobe, or ask how much he knew.

 

Solomon gets nervous as he tries to say it wasn’t like he kept quiet because he liked it. He does tell you it was Mononobe who introduced you two together since Mononobe told him to greet you when you appeared in Chuo Park that day. He insists Mononobe isn’t a bad person because he’s seen him help so many people while hanging around him, then cries and begs you to believe him.

 

You tell him you understand, and that you don’t know what would have happened to you if he didn’t show up. You then wonder why Jinn and Triton aren’t talking, say you’ll need to have a discussion, and get ready to go looking for Mononobe. Solomon answers that he’ll do his best. Having said that, you are at a loss for leads so you ask Solomon how he got in contact with him up until now.

 

Solomon tells you that thanks to the ring he points out you’re wearing, he knew where Mononobe was all the time until recently. You comment on finding it in the old schoolhouse when you reunited with Solomon, and he tells you it Mononobe originally came to be in possession of it. He doesn’t understand why you have it though.

 

You ask about Solomon wearing another ring like it on his horn, so he says it’s the same thing you have. You have the ring in the physical world while he says he has something like a shadow of it in his world. The two are part of a set, which is how he knows where the other one is at any time. You either nod and say you don’t really get it, say you do at least get that the two are connected, or ask about Shadows.

 

In any case Solomon says that since Mononobe doesn’t have it anymore, he doesn’t know where he is. He worries as he wonders why Mononobe left without saying anything. You shrug about the lack of clues and figure you’ll need to ask for eyewitnesses, but you also mention having problems aside from all this.

 

Solomon hears your phone ping and tells you there’s a message from the App for you. You say it’s from Shirou, so you say it’s time to go to the safe house and talk about the problems at hand.

 

Scene shifts over to the guild house as Shirou greets you. You greet him back and ask where everyone else is, so he tells you everyone went off to support the other guilds in Ikebukuro, Aoyama, and Roppongi. Kengo and Moritaka are specifically noted to be at Ikebukuro. All that’s left is you, him, and one other person.

 

That last person is R-19, and his first words to you are to say you are 99.8% likely to be really you. You greet him and ask how he is and if he’s gotten used to the guild. He affirms it and says he’s being treated politely. His self-repair functions are working right at the moment, so he’s good. Shirou notes that he was a mess when he first came over, but now that he is here he’s been a huge help.

 

You ask about R-19 being introduced to you guys by the Outlaws or by Tsukuyomi and Suzuka. He starts talking about being summoned from Utopia to scout out the danger zones and disputed areas in this time axis. He was however restricted by a certain influence, which led to his confinement and inability to fulfill his job.

 

You express some shock at his mention of confinement, and R-19 adds that thanks to someone’s guidance, he was able to escape so he could look for refuge in Kabukicho. Shirou finishes by saying it was Tsukuyomi and the others who then sent him to us.

 

You remark on the Outlaws just letting R-19 go and how it doesn’t sit well with you. Shirou talks about how the Outlaws have a policy of taking in anyone with nowhere else to go despite their isolationism. Normally they would take him in, but Shirou trails off on that. He then says that if you look at just the results, the timing for R-19 to go with you guys was a last minute thing.

 

You ask Shirou to explain and wonder if something happened in Kabukicho. Shirou says the Berserkers have a suggestion they can give over remote comms, then he asks R-19 to act as a projector like he usually does. He affirms, then sets up the link.

 

A projection of Claude and Snow appears from some gadget R-19 has in his arms, which you note is working and convenient of him. The Analyst kicks in for exposition time as Shirou says R-19 also has a generator and the ability to communicate through the App in his body. He can be helpful with a lot of things, and Shirou says he’s happy R-19 is around and on your side. R-19 thanks him and is glad to help.

 

Claude says it’s time to begin the meeting and asks you to not mind that he won’t tell you where he currently is. You’re glad that he’s okay and agree to start the meeting, then ask if Shirou is ready. Shirou greets the Berserkers, and Claude begins by reporting on the Berserkers’ current status. Since the past few days, some guild has been attacking them, so they’ve been hiding somewhere in the Ikebukuro underground labyrinth. They’ve been unable to contact the rankers.

 

Shirou says the Missionaries, Tycoons, and other guilds are being put under increasing pressure. Snow adds that their chain of command is breaking, and every defeat is a crushing blow. Shirou says there’s a bit of information that should be shared about that, then reports that the police have raided all the stores and safe houses the Outlaws had in their Portals. Many of their guild members have been captured, though some have gone into hiding.

 

Claude nods as he processes that, then asks if it’s the same for the others. You express shock at the police raids, and Shirou confirms it’s happened to other guilds too. The Missionaries parent organization volunteer NPO and all the Tycoons businesses have also been seized at the same time by the police and prosecutors. People have been arrested and detained under false pretenses.

 

Snow figures that any search requests for missing guild members won’t be taken as he asks Shirou to confirm. Shirou does so and takes the question to mean the Berserkers are in a similar state. The way things look, they’ll be unable to deal with guild battles or move their organizations.

 

Claude decides to be direct and tells you that no guild aside from the Summoners is functional anymore. You ask why that is or wonder if they’re deliberately leaving you guys be. Shirou mentions that it’s unsettling how no one has attacked your guild Portals. But it’s because of that that Kengo and the others can go lend help. Shirou thinks that around now though, the police and prosecutors will quickly lead by hand the places Kengo and the others are headed to.

 

Shirou then talks about how you guys have talked about it before, but now you guys know they aren’t coming to attack. He thought at first it was to lull you guys with a false sense of security, but now he just has to say it. Claude then brings up that they’ve mentioned that you are the trophy for the battle in Tokyo. In which case there’s some reason they won’t interfere with you, but Claude also says there must be a gap to break through. If they won’t hit you somewhere, why not take advantage of that fact?

 

You then bring up not knowing where these people even are. Claude concedes that the enemies have hidden themselves while driving out the other guilds. Michael and Amaterasu have hidden their Portals, so you are unable to attack them. Claude however says that all only applies up until a while ago. You ask what he means before realizing he’s talking about what happened in Ota Ward.

 

Shirou brings up Tiger Man and his military wrestler flunkies, and Claude mentions the Warmongers. Claude also names Tiger Man as the attackers’ leader and says they talked about the World Representative Tezcatlipoca, then asks if that’s right. You nod, say it was an impressive introduction, or say it feels like a trap.

 

Claude says the Warmongers definitely exist, though they are hiding where their central figures are. Still, knowing their names and faces is enough to find weak points since no one can hide all traces of themselves in a city this big. Shirou mentions having lots of information being compared from anti-crime camera footage and the regular and dark net. Through all that, they’ve now found a lead on them. You ask how that all happened with so much information out there, then wonder if Shirou did something.

 

Shirou says R-19 did it all and says he’s so reliable. R-19 confirms it and says he can handle all your investigations since his systems on it are his specialty. You call him amazing or cool. Anyways, Snow says that because of all that, you guys now know where Tezcatlipoca is. Claude shouts that they’re in Nerima Ward.

 

You think on Nerima and ask about it being the westernmost Ward of Tokyo, then ask if anything is there. Snow asks if you know there used to be a Transient detention facility over there. It’s been remodeled mercilessly, and all promising fighters from other guilds are imprisoned there. Claude adds that those people are forcibly transferred schools and re-educated as soldiers since it’s a education facility now. It’s also called Academy Army Jail or something.

 

You question how this can be happening with the prisoners. R-19 is quiet, and Shirou agrees but says it’s true after he looked into it. He then asks if you know what kind of job field gives the power to arrest people. Those would be prosecutors, the police, and special judiciary agents. Which means that those are the people who are raiding Ikebukuro, Aoyama, and Roppongi.

 

Shirou says he was surprised when he heard about this from Claude since he’s savvy with the political and business sector, but he was able to corroborate it when he looked himself. And of course, most of Tokyo’s populace is unaware of all this. A lot of old police and prosecution departments have been closed down and replaced with new ones. The members of those new groups have a special connection, and you react with disbelief at what he’s getting at.

 

Claude spells out that the legislation, judiciary, and administration branches of Tokyo have all been taken over the Warmongers and the other big guilds. Snow adds that this includes the military, police, and terrorist organizations. As such, the three guilds each control a third of all of Tokyo. They are taking the Berserkers’ rankers and taking them to the Academy prison and converting them to their own soldiers.

 

You express shock that the police are in on it, say you’ll never stand for it, or say it’s not just them. Snow says there were parts of the army and police that resisted, but they were moved to powerless positions and made to disappear. Claude says it’s a predictable outcome since they have memories of past loops to figure out what people will do and how to stop them.

 

Shirou says R-19 was caught in similar circumstances but managed to escape. He confirms it and says someone helped him with it. You wonder if it’s the same for the Berserkers and Outlaws, or you can ask about him mentioning that certain someone who helped.

 

Snow says he’s sending some visual information he got about people witnessed near police stations in areas thought to have less enemy influence. In all likelihood, these people are probably already captured and held somewhere.

 

R-19 shows Bathym, Pollux, Andvari, Gyoubu, Ibaraki, and Tetsugyuu. You wonder if Suzuka and Tetsuya are okay as you see the Outlaws, and the game skips over showing you the other students and teachers you’ve seen at Ikebukuro’s underground, Kabukicho, and Shinjuku Academy. Snow then informs you of one last picture, and this one is a silhouette of Mononobe.

 

Shirou reacts with shock at the image, and you say the lighting makes the face hard to see, but you think it’s him and are shocked he’s been caught up in this. R-19 is quiet, and Claude says the situation is the worst, and that you guys are in a corner.

 

He does however say you guys have a joker to turn things around. No matter how crazy it gets, it’s something you know the enemies can’t react to. Claude suggests that you guys might as well go up to them and sock them in their smug face then. You are shocked by what Claude is getting at, and the episode ends as Claude says he’s saying you should attack the police station.