Chapter 10 Episode 24: The Battlefield’s Lingering Smoke 3

Things begin with troopers firing at the prison school while a voice tells someone to set them down around there. Another voice obeys and calls the former Curren/Cullen/Karen. Mystery Girl from way back in Chapter 9 is gently dropped off by her giant robo alongside Duo in the school’s back area, and the game describes them as looking like reflections of each other in a mirror as they dispassionately talk to each other.

 

Duo comments that they made it in time, and Curren suggests they go access their respective terminals. Duo comments that since their bodies are frail they aren’t really meant for doing work on the battlefield. Curren agrees and says that was the point of them creating the necessary terminals to collect data for them. Curren and Duo’s motives are described as being the opposite of one another’s. A few explosions pass as Duo suggests they hurry up. Curren agrees and says the school will be destroyed soon.

 

Scene then shifts inside to Tezcatlipoca’s office. Shirou points everyone’s attention to one of the monitors, which is showing the people blasting at the school from the outside. You either react in shock to the school being bombed, ask who it is, or wonder what’s going on. Tezcatlipoca notes that the raid has started and that they aim to destroy the school. Narration reminds you that this is meant to terminate the network Tezcatlipoca is living in.

 

Tiger Man is shocked at who the people outside are, and Tezcatlipoca says that they’re the troopers that form a part of the Warmongers forces. He then explains that this means it’s a final majority decision coming from between seven of the World Representatives. That would be the guildmaster of the true big three guilds, who apparently created and manages the war terminals themselves if I understand this right. But anyways, Tezcatlipoca rephrases things and says that at least four of the seven Warmongers have voted to destroy the prison school.

 

Shirou makes the comparison to how similar the Roppongi Tycoons are set up. Tezcatlipoca talks about how all the World Representatives are people who stubbornly believe that their own world sits at the top. In which case, there’d need to be a guildmaster that can put everything into the game’s guild system of organization. You either ask why the others are attacking, ask why they’re doing so when Tezcatlipoca and the others are still around, or ask about his connection to the Warmongers.

 

In A if it matters, Tezcatlipoca explains it’s because he broke the rules that were decided between all the World Representatives. That’s why the others have decided to eliminate him and the others, which he laughs about. He starts thinking of his accomplice Balor, who is probably also under attack in the same way. From this point on, there are no places in Tokyo that will be guaranteed to be safe, and everywhere can become a battlefield. It might be safest near Balor however since he has That Eye, as opposed to Tezcatlipoca being unable to leave the prison school.

 

Shirou questions the pact made between all the World Representatives, so Tezcatlipoca explains how it’s the agreement that makes the Representatives the only people capable of winning the game. Until the majority of the Transients and App users are overcome, none of them are allowed to directly contact the trophy.

 

Shirou sees why the World Representatives never made a move on you until now. Tezcatlipoca says that the people who have memories of past loops hate people who don’t but somehow manage to fluke their way through things. So with each loop that occurs they try to make themselves a fair game where uncertain factors are eliminated. “Fair game” just means when the strong beat the weak though.

 

Tezcatlipoca yells that the totally awful kind of war he lovehates would never stand for one sided slaughtering and calls it dumb. War has to be something where everyone has a chance of losing something important to them. He also says that in war everyone has a chance at winning or losing, including you as he calls you by name. You take a moment to be confused and try to ask what he just said.

 

Tezcatlipoca chooses not to answer and instead laughs as he declares that he’s quitting while he’s ahead. He laughs about seeing the tears of the fools who looked down on war. If there’s a next time he figures that the Representatives will conspire to crush him first before Surtr and Azathoth since this incident marks him as a high risk amongst the Representatives.

 

However, Tezcatlipoca says there won’t be a next time, at least for him. He starts fading as Tiger Man points the fact out, and he tells Tiger Man it’s nothing to be sad about since all the wishes he had in coming to Tokyo have been fulfilled.

 

Tezcatlipoca then starts talking about how war is a cycle of retribution, then relates it back to what Quetzalcoatl did to him as the best and worst thing to happen to him. If he had to be frank about it, he says he never realized it until just earlier how much it hurt. The delay is what decided the outcome of your battle with him though.

 

Tezcatlipoca yells again about how great the war with his brother is, and he thinks about how he’d like to pay it back in the end in the same manner. It’ll also be his last counterattack, one that uses all that’s left of him. He turns to Yasuyori and says he wants to thank him for his obedience.

 

Yasuyori is surprised by this and asks if this is really okay. Tezcatlipoca says that what Xolotl was to Quetzalcoatl, Yasuyori is that to him. He saw him move on from being in the world of continual self-sacrifice, which is what allowed Tezcatlipoca to finally understand his own wish. Xolotl is off to the side being silent.

 

Tezcatlipoca says that he wanted to always keep winning and losing against his brother Quetzalcoatl. He declares that while he’s lost today, he’s also won at the same time. It’s a sort of endless ending that he might never have thought of before. You call out to Tezcatlipoca, and you start thinking about the time when the mirror showed you Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca together.

 

Tezcatlipoca tells you all to move on. He also informs you that the man you call Sensei is further inside in the underground isolation ward, then warns you not to waste the time you have left together. Xolotl cries for Tezcatlipoca before he and everyone else moves to do the things they can’t put off. None of them have the time to feel sad about anything.

 

Tiger Man and wrestler flunkies are still around in the office as bombs drop on the school. After a moment, Tiger Man starts cheering for Tezcatlipoca, kneeling for him and giving his best smile. He asks for permission to educate their attackers on their way of war.

 

Tezcatlipoca agrees and directs them all to make things spectacular as he calls them the heroes of his beloved El Dorado. He laughs, telling them to show those buffoons who think they’re shooting fish in a barrel what the best and worst war is really like. The mobs all cheer as they acknowledge the order, then head out.

 

Tezcatlipoca’s phantom sees his underlings off before his form collapses back into the void. He drops his mirror that gives off a lingering trail of smoke, which Breke (who happens to still be hanging around there) picks up out of instinct. Narration compares it to how a wolf feeds on the prey it hunts down.

 

The mirror reacts, and Breke yells in surprise about something flowing into him. Memories go into him and his body transforms, and the next thing he knows he’s transformed into Tezcatlipoca. Curren walks in and comments this makes it the third Pillar’s memories being recovered after Surtr and Azathoth. Breke asks who Curren is, and she in turn sighs over how awful he’s treating his creator/parent and ought to respect her more. He reacts with shock at that statement.

 

Curren decides to be specific and says that of the three personalities that make Breke up, Curren was in charge of one of them. She also tells Breke that he’s a joint project made by the three guild masters for the true big three guilds. Breke seems depressed as he notes that he really is a machine. Curren is surprised for once as she says she doesn’t think it’s something to be shocked about. Curren says that Breke’s body isn’t any different from a naturally born organism. And if they’re going there, then she says her siblings were all born in a test tube.

 

Breke says he has a lot of questions but decides the most important ones would be why he was made and why was he left alone until now. Curren decides to answer the latter question first and tells him that Breke wasn’t abandoned; he escaped on his own. He probably doesn’t remember, but he wiped all traces of himself and ran off, just like he did when he ran out on you.

 

Breke is shocked by the answer, and Curren starts looking at Tezcatlipoca’s mirror. She then talks about how Breke is the inheritor of the World Representatives in the way you are the inheritor of the Exiles. She compares you and him to be mirror images of each other. Curren then says he’s going to keep going since the endless game (re: experiment) is still on. Balor is the next who’s likely to be erased from Tokyo, so she needs Breke to gather his World Representative artifact and its memories.

 

Things shift to the outside as the Outlaws are fighting against the troopers, and Suzuka asks how the mobs can bomb the place when there’s still people inside. She then says she’ll go check to make sure no one’s been left behind.

 

Inside the prison, the Berserkers trio are releasing prisoners and Pollux tells everyone to run back to Ikebukuro. Andvari tells them to hurry since the place will collapse from the bombing soon. Bathym notes that Macan and the others don’t seem to be around and wonders if they were taken to the Warmongers main forces.

 

Back outside, Shirou calls to you. You ask him to take care of the others, ask Moritaka to wait, and say you’re going inside. Things then shift to the Rule Makers area where Bael comments on Tezcatlipoca being defeated and his accomplice Balor is wanted. He asks if all the ringleaders of the rule breakers have been punished yet. He cackles about how nice that is.

 

Amaterasu says Bael is forgetting one more person, which would be the auctioneer World Representative who sent you off to the prison school, Mahakala from Deva Loka. She closes her eyes and thinks about Tsukuyomi, who should still be here in Tokyo. She reacts in surprise over being unable to feel her connection to him despite having a World Pillar. If he’s not dead then she has only one idea why this could be: Tsukuyomi must be swallowed up by Mahakala’s darkness that can swallow up all light.

 

Camera follows you again as you run down to the underground isolation ward where you see a familiar silhouette, a shadow that looks like a person. You call out to Mononobe, and he asks if you ended up coming there. Narration confirms that it’s his voice speaking, and you either express relief or start to ask why he’s there when a shockwave interrupts causing the area to shake. Time is running short.

 

Anyways you urge Mononobe to escape with you. Mononobe says he can’t and tells you to leave him behind. He can’t go with you and he can’t leave. You try to ask him to explain or try to tell him to move as you grab him with your ringed hand and damaged arm. When you touch him, your star brand glows in a way it never did before.

 

You ask why it’s happening since it never happened before. Mononobe notes that you’ve reunited with Salomonis, your other half, then. He expresses relief and says it was worth it giving you the ring. You’ll be okay now even when he’ll be gone. Mononobe then tells you two to run again, and you now see him nearly consumed by a circuit board sort of pattern.

 

You react in shock to the sight, which narration compares to decay that sets in after an eternity. The lost parts of Mononobe’s body are replaced with a great squirming darkness. Tezcatlipoca flashes through your head, which you question, ask if this is a repeated self-sacrifice, or go into denial. You remember Tezcatlipoca’s words and his body that he couldn’t take back.

 

Scene shifts over to the Ikebukuro underground as Claude, Snow, Kengo, and Shuuichi stand at what looks like the entrance of an infinite labyrinth. Shuuichi has succeeded in opening the door that Duo has left behind. Kengo says his artifact is pulling him in and that he knows Thor is inside. Shuuichi comments on finally reaching the memory storehouse of the Ikebukuro Gate.

 

Shuuichi talks about how the place stores memories washed away by the flood of time, so it should have a hint to a past loop’s battle you guys don’t know about. Kengo comments on how damaged the place is and wonders how old it all is. Shuuichi warns him against touching anything carelessly since the marks may look normal but aren’t.

 

Shuuichi says that the marks are a kind of accumulated information, memories carved into the walls from past loops. It’s probably a bundle or embodiment of memories that can be seen like how Shirou’s book could show memories in Shinjuku’s old schoolhouse. Shuuichi suggests that Shadows might attack at the end like at the library too.

 

Claude notes how the walls are falling apart and ponders about them being traces of past loops. Shuuichi asks if he noticed something, but Claude says he was just thinking about all the reversals of time in Tokyo. How many centuries could it have been? Or maybe, how many millennia? Every time a loop occurs their bodies are restored while their memories are lost, and Claude points out that in all that time everyone lived through this period without any wear and tear on their minds and bodies.

 

Claude points out that the same should apply to the World Pillars. The Pillars are inscribed with cast off memories, and the holders of the Pillars are fine in mind and body too. And yet, the things meant to record the memories can’t be physically affected by the time loops. He points out that the walls and ceiling of the underground maze should have collapsed by now.

 

Claude then brings up the one who causes this loop to occur, or otherwise the one who observes this loop. If such a person was there and was a human, would they still be okay after all this time? Can they still be here after centuries and millennia and not have rotted away?

 

Scene shifts back to the prison school as R-19 and Duo are talking. R-19 identifies that Duo has the ID of the one in charge of carrying out the Backup Plan D, then refers to him as Master. Duo thanks him for his work and asks for all the data he’s collected. R-19 hands him a cable to begin transferring it over.

 

Narration restates that R-19 is a data-gathering platform on the danger zones in Tokyo and is disposable. His insides are damaged, which is a sign he’s gone through several loops already. He doesn’t worry about it because even if he survives as long as he can, he can be replaced by a new copy.

 

Duo has something of a sliver of pity for R-19 since his position isn’t all that different from him. Duo’s name (re: mk.2) is proof that he is also a disposable body and a backup clone for the True Genius, and he thinks about how everyone is replaceable including himself. This is a game of war, invasion, and sovereignty by the 23 World Representatives and the top of the Game Masters. The Game Masters top members are the decision makers for the true big three guild, and they are the three True Geniuses. They are the guildmasters for the true big three guilds.

 

When it comes to the World Representatives who can’t fulfill their roles anymore, Curren came up with a simple alternative. They created Breke to stand in for the defective Representatives. If anything happens, things can just keep going without issue. In other words the game is endless, and it will always continue...

 

Now back to what was happening, Duo comments on how admirable it is that people don’t know about the game being endless, though he phrases this indirectly. R-19 asks if something is wrong, so Duo makes a suggestion to him. If he’s so inclined, Duo offers to shut him down now and he emphasizes his compassion as he looks him in the eye. Duo explains that R-19 won’t suffer and that he can shut him down peacefully. Duo was given that much power at least. R-19 doesn’t immediately answer the question.

 

Scene shifts back to your end of things where you try to ask Mononobe what’s happening to him. Narration points out that Mononobe is becoming something not human, and Solomon pops up and expresses shock at what’s going on. Someone else starts speaking through Mononobe, saying this man abandoned you both and disappeared before asking why you chase after him.

 

The speaker uses Mononobe’s body and voice to speak, and you demand to know who it is. The speaker is quiet before deciding to humor your question and figures he should greet you for the first time. He decides to call himself the World Representative of Deva Loka, Mahakala for now. The voice is described as rational, dripping with mercy and kindness and just like Mononobe’s own words.

 

Mahakala tells you that he’s an ally of Tezcatlipoca, meaning that he also wishes for a war that destroys everything. You either ask what he did to Mononobe and demand he get out of him. Mahakala asks if you’re sure about that because Mononobe will vanish for real if he does so.

 

You react with shock, and Mahakala describes Mononobe as a fool who gave up his own artifact and gave away his power. Because of that, Mononobe has been reduced to a hollow existence, memories without a cornerstone to support them. He’ll soon be like a ghost who can’t leave an enclosed area.

 

Solomon asks about that being the same as the way he was before and asks if Mononobe took his place in alarm. Mahakala continues by saying Mononobe acted even more foolishly by removing all traces that he existed by his own will. Camera cuts over briefly to Shinjuku as Jinn asks what’s going on. Triton doesn’t know either. No evidence remains that Mononobe was there, like office logs, past event footage, and graduation albums. It’s as if he was never there to begin with.

 

Back to what Mahakala was saying, he talks about how he just loves the simple honesty in destroying everything. When the next loop comes, all traces of Mononobe will be gone. Mahakala talks about how his wish is for everything to be destroyed. It is in destruction that the world will find its final salvation. He derides Tezcatlipoca’s wish as being half-hearted. War should destroy everything, even the memories beyond the loops.

 

Mahakala says he won’t permit anything to go past the four cycling yugas, then swears upon his name to recreate everything from the beginning. Then he’ll repeat everything again, from creation to peace to destruction, over and over. No one can escape. You however declare that you won’t let him do so.

 

Scene jumps back to Duo and R-19, who has decided to decline Duo’s offer. Duo asks him why and asks if he wants to die a violent gory death. R-19 answers that he wants to decide when he’ll meet his end. He’s learned that it’s okay to decide things about himself. Duo doesn’t respond to that.

 

Back to you again, you talk about how when it comes to people having to disappear sometime, people being unforgiven, or people having to disappear at all, all of those things are things that can’t be decided by others. You declare that you’ll never let another loop happen and that you’ll end it all.

 

Mononobe’s remaining eye seems to shine as it looks at you. Mahakala sighs and calls it unfortunate. He says that in that case, it will come down to a war. He’s always known from the beginning it would turn out that way. Mononobe warps away as if taken by the darkness and disappears. You try to call out to Mahakala and ask where he’s taking him.

 

Mahakala doesn’t answer, and Moritaka and Shirou run in having looked for you and say it’s time to go. Everyone else has already escaped. You grit your teeth and call Mononobe’s name before leaving.

 

Back outside, Curren and Duo have met up again. Curren is silent, and Duo eventually suggests leaving before asking her what’s wrong. She tells him she felt like her pet just bit her, then says Breke the terminal ran off. When she tried to take him to where Balor is, he proclaimed he’d decide where he goes before escaping. Duo extends his sympathies, and the two fly off on Curren’s robot.

 

Elsewhere, you, Moritaka, and Shirou are making your escape when troopers close in on you. The wrestlers and Tiger Man however knock them away to let you guys escape. Time skips to presumably the next day with Ashigara dragging Yasuyori back to school in a headlock. Durga, Kyuuma, and Gunzou are there to greet him, and Ashigara has to push Yasuyori forward to talk. He says he’s back home.

 

Over at Shinjuku, a crowd is gathering as Shennong shows up and says he’ll be starting as Shinjuku’s school doctor in training and introduces himself. His previous school is kinda gone now so he’s now working here. Some people might recognize him, but he hopes he can get along with everyone.

 

Over at Aoyama, Jacob has returned to the Missionaries, and Maria is surprised to see him back. Jacob says he wanted to hear her voice again and came by. Narration then picks up to talk about how the end of Tezcatlipoca’s war has been witnessed. With the pact between the World Representatives broken, no one knows what will be happening from this point forward. The footsteps of the next war are fast approaching...and so ends Chapter 10: The Warmongers Prelude, Frontline of Lingering Smoke.