Yasuyori starts narrating about how he used to be at Yoyogi where everyone treated him kindly and trusted him. Yasuyori then states that it’s because of those things that he felt uncomfortable there. He felt that no one understood how hopeless he was. Through that belief, he became unable to understand the others. Eventually he couldn’t stand the pain of it.
Yasuyori says that there was no reconciling how others saw him and how he saw himself, so he didn’t belong there. He wanted to be at ease, to be with people who agreed with how he saw himself. Yasuyori then wakes up again, sighing to himself in the dark prison. Ever since he remembered his war memories, he started to hate the night.
Yasuyori reaches out for the mirror in his cell like he’s done countless times before. The mirrors are placed in every room, and during the day they show everything that happens in the prison school. Due to that, Yasuyori can feel constantly connected to his fellows in crime. But on nights where not even the moon shines, this connection is lost.
Fear and panic sets in as Yasuyori chokes up. The darkness is suffocatingly unbearable. He starts craving light and information, and he looks for someone to give him their opinion of him. Narration says that the fear of the dark and unknown is a basic thing common to all living things. And for Yasuyori, the sense of isolation is more than he can stand. Whenever he feels that way, he puts his hand on the mirror and slumps his shoulders.
Tonight though, something new happens. An alarm goes off, and narration says it can’t be an escape alarm because no one cares about someone trying to leave. Yasuyori then figures this means that the alarm is about an attack on the school.
Scene shifts to the outside as R-19 narrates aloud about breaking through the prison school’s entrance area and getting into the grounds, all set with the game having Ballad of Smoke and Gunfire blaring. Narration notes that it’s a moonless night and that R-19 broke out of confinement.
The wrestlers on guard run up to attack R-19 and friend while seeming to dissolve into the darkness. This is something no one should be able to see, but Jacob dodges them by a hair and counterpunches them into oblivion. He prays that the lord’s love reaches them all, then suggests to R-19 that they go after asking if he’s okay.
R-19 asks if Jacob really is blind. He confirms this and says he can’t run at all unless R-19 were to take him by hand. R-19 has another question and talks about how people fear the dark and the unknown. Then there’s Jacob, who can’t see. He asks if Jacob is afraid of the dark.
Jacob says darkness is his old friend something he’s used to. It’s also because he can’t see that he can feel things more strongly. If someone attacks him from the right, then he can counter them with his left. Jacob then suggests they go before more guards show up and asks if R-19 is heading to where you are.
R-19 confirms that and says he was made to investigate dangerous places like the prison school. Since that’s naturally a risky thing to do, he’s also programmed to make contact with someone who’s knowledgeable about the area, look for their protection, and cooperate with them as much as possible. Going back to you since you’re his current guardian just fits back with his settings.
Jacob asks if R-19 is afraid about having to jump into danger zones himself. R-19 stoically says he doesn’t because he was programmed to care less about his self-preservation than doing his job. Narration says that replicants were made for manual labor and that they’re meant to be disposed of before bugs (read: emotions) occur within them, so their service life isn’t set that high.
Jacob nods and says that the way he jumps into the dangerous and unknown resembles himself, which he laughs about. R-19 decides to ask why Jacob is chasing after you. According to his own judgments the safest thing to do is to get away from the prison. He knows that people would take risks if it’s for their friends, families, and loved ones, so he ask if you’re like any of that to Jacob.
Jacob says he only just met you and is pretty sure you know next to nothing about him. He thinks his acquaintance might know you better though. R-19 registers his confusion at how differently Jacob is acting compared to most people. Jacob doesn’t deny that and says most people are as he described. People fear what they don’t understand, so they end up wanting to know.
Jacob however believes that “in love, you don’t necessarily need mutual understanding” as he thinks of Maria. It’s something Someone He Knows would say. He then says that all fates probably connect him to places he doesn’t know, even now. As he smiles, R-19 cocks his head at him.
Anyways, Jacob picks up on your location and points your general direction out to R-19. He asks him to take him along. R-19 questions how he knows and wonders if he can see something. Jacob says he doesn’t see anything, but his fists are guiding him. He talks about a strong will cutting through the darkness, a proud yell that reaches his fists.
Shennong starts up a flashback narrative about how an aurora is waving in the sky in Hourai like a flag on yet another day. Beneath it, war must be breaking out as if to cull excess life. And that day, despite having to go to that war zone, Shennong is already worn out in both mind and body. Every time he tries, every time he remembers the wars that repeat, he shaves a bit of himself off.
Shennong believed that if he kept distributing medicines, knowledge of poisons, and agriculture techniques, the day when everyone would be wealthy would one day come. The day that happens would be the day war would end. Now however, he’s learned that war is intrinsic to life. So long as life continues, war would inevitably arise. The more people around, then the more irreconcilable things, which then leads to fear and war.
When Shennong learned of this, he decided to try to save at least one person in all that chaos. He wanted to be understood on at least that much. He wanted somebody to know he was doing his best for somebody out there. But at the end of this road, he fell alone and grieved. He wanted understanding, yet he never understood anyone else. The rainbow light of summoning came to him, and so he was summoned to Tokyo.
Back to the present, the battle between you and Shennong is ongoing as he grazes you with his giant syringe. You make note of how strong he is, and Shennong says there’s still time for you to turn back and go to his office. As the army medic he feels he can’t let you go into pointless bloodshed. You refuse.
Shennong asks if it’s because there’s people important to you here. You say that’s not all, then think about that Shadow giant. You say someone asked you for help, so Shennong asks you what your plan is because he thinks you can’t do anything. He also thinks you know nothing about their pain and about war. His voice is mixed with more and more of his inner turmoil as he asks if you have any memories of attacking others and if you know how much that hurts.
You don’t have an answer, and Shennong says that war is inevitable. Because of that he’s decided to do the best he can under the circumstances. He wants to save even one person who got dragged into the war from pain. He’ll do anything for that goal, even pull the move he did just now.
Poison starts affecting and immobilizing you, and you are surprised the grazes were enough. Shennong talks about how his innards are special, always filled with toxins during the day. This is a special paralytic he’s distilled from his blood, and its effects are greater than others of its kind.
You fall over, and Shennong says you held up pretty well. He also says you can just take the excuse to give up since he feels you are powerless to do anything. He suggests you just leave, and he thinks you should be able to escape unscathed if you leave alone. As such he suggests you stop playing hero, grow up, and face reality.
You still refuse to take his suggestion. Shennong calls you unreasonable, but you say you don’t think it’s wrong to not understand something as you think of Maria and Managarm. You refuse to accept any truth you have to know and promote.
Shennong is upset as he asks why you don’t understand and asks who you’re sacrificing yourself for. You yell back that you’re doing this for yourself, which shocks him. Also at this time, your sword starts glowing with a new light you’ve never seen before. Shennong recognizes it as the brilliance of the auroras, the cracks of heaven, in his home world. And here, it shines with the proud way of living of declaring war all on your own.
Shennong is about to say something to you when he’s surprised by wrestlers surrounding you guys. You notice this in shock and say they’re like the guys you saw back in Ota Ward until you pick up on something different. The wrestlers all burst into darkness, and Shennong calls them the black spider security guards. He then realizes that Tezcatlipoca’s direct supervisor troops are moving before he gets cut off.
The darkness itself seems to bind Shennong all over his body and silence him. You either ask about the spider bit, call out to Shennong, or yell. Smoke rolls over you completely, swallowing your legs, torso, hands, then your face. Around the time they have you completely, a yell cries out.
Jacob runs in to save you, firing off light from his fists to pierce the sky. You react to his presence and ask if he came to save you or ask why he’s here. Jacob says your pride in challenging the lamentations of heaven guided them there, something that reached even him. He then suggests you guys move together, calling out his NP as he starts the episode battle.
I bet Shenong will become and allie of the protag before Yasuyori.
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