Chapter 11 Episode 24: Render of Reincarnation 3

Things tune in over at the Warmongers' fort where a bunch of no name mobs, Nezha, and Kirito have lined up on standby. Some of the people here are are part of the regular forces, some are hired mercenaries, and everyone has their own individual viewpoints. Minamoto steps up and tells everyone that as one of the top commanders of the Warmongers, he'll be issuing everybody their orders. But first he starts giving an overview as he tells them that it's been confirmed that the forces of the East and West factions have withdrawn about an hour ago. Observations will be continuing, but at this time Operation Mahakala has ended and things are now down to Alert Level 2.

 

Nezha complains in disappointment that they won't get to do anything, especially since they haven't done anything yet either. Minamoto laughs and compliments Nezha's bravery, then assures them that the battle between the big three guilds has only just begun before saying he wants them to put their mobility to use in the Eastern areas. He also mentions expecting great things from all the other competent soldiers. Kirito mentally snorts at this and figures this does not include him. Minamoto tells everyone to take their breaks as needed since he'll be expecting diligent service out of them, then declares the meeting over.

 

Everyone disperses, leaving Kirito to think to himself that he's about stayed as long as he could with the Warmongers, though he's glad about the payout he got off them. He figures that someone weak like him will be having a tough time of things going forward, so he considers going over the the Southern guild next. Kirito then silently disappears among the crowd with no one noticing and having made no connections with anyone, as if slipping away into the fog.

 

Tanetomo shows up and reports his return to Minamoto, so Minamoto compliments him for coming back safe and sound. Tanetomo acknowledges this, and Minamoto decides to make a point now for clarity's sake that he currently has no plans to toss Tanetomo aside. Tanetomo demurs and says it's more than he deserves as he thanks him, but inwardly he takes note of the 'now' bit and comments on how dreadful Minamoto is saying so while looking ahead at everything.

 

Minamoto starts saying that there was a need to move things along and aggravate the situation as much as possible. He tries to excuse himself by saying he was hard pressed on a personal front and that's what the operation's goal was about. Tanetomo doesn't say anything to this, and Minamoto asks if he has something he wants to ask him about. Tanetomo is quick to deny this, but Minamoto says he'll give him permission to do so and prompts him to ask away. Tanetomo decides he may as well as he takes a deep breath, then slowly starts picking his words.

 

Scene transitions over to your end as Shiva comments on how colorful the world was, which he never knew since he had always kept himself in darkness. The gloomy world he had always been in suddenly has light in it, and Shiva's voice has a faint tremble to it as he looks on. There was a repeating eternity that brought him here and a reincarnation cycle that he thought to be endless. These were the days he was supposed to have repeatedly spent in darkness, but now they shine in various brilliant colors within himself. Now that he's leaving, he knows how bright the place is.

 

Shiva speaks his thoughts aloud now to say he was wrong with the above, saying you had illuminated the world for him. You had reflected light into him, and he just became able to see the parts of his heart now. Shiva tells you that you are definitely shining in his opened eye, and he asks that you pass on to Balor that he'll fight him once more if you ever run into him again. Balor seems to still be in the deep dark shadows, and Shiva figures he might still have things to do in Tokyo. Shiva says he still has some regrets about this, but despite that, it's his own decision to leave Tokyo today. His wish he had in coming here has already been granted.

 

Shiva's body slowly starts turning into motes of light that floats up into the sky, and you can either say Shiva's name or watch him silently. Either way Shiva calls your name, and he says that while you may not remember, he remembers all the memories he made with you. If you ever happen to remember them, he hopes they'll be bright memories for you too. Shiva closes his eyes as remembers all that time back in his home world where he did nothing but train. Even when he was isolated and alone, there ought to have been another path before him, things he could only see after penetrating that isolation.

 

Shiva starts speaking again and says he feels it's because he chose this path that things look so bright to him. He also adds that the light that he sees is something that's only inside himself. Shiva thinks about how the light he sees might be the same light that you can see in the end. He may be wrong, but that's fine. This light he sees is something he discovered himself, something he found meaning in for himself.

 

Shiva continues quietly thinking as he wonders if Varuna-Kamadeva also thought about these things back at that moment. Maybe they wished that Shiva would find his own happiness within the repeating world of reincarnation. Everyone has something forced onto them by the world as they live. Just as Shiva was forced to know about love, Varuna must have been forced into teaching him love too. There was probably no meaning in anyone consenting to it since that was how the world's System worked. Everyone lived there even as their minds, bodies, and abilities were toyed with by others. All anyone can do is find their own personal meaning in all those things. Shiva wishes you good luck and says he'll be hoping for your happiness as he looks you in the eyes and smiles. Whatever happens in this repeating world, he feels you'll continue to be bright and sweet as you fight for whatever you are looking for. You say that a lot of things have happened, but you thank Shiva for helping you at the end.

 

Shiva nods at this, then gets awkwardly silent for a moment as he changes the subject to the Exception. In order to get rid of Mahakala, you'll need to make a contract to set up the hierarchy. That means kissing between the two of you as the ones who caused the Exception in the first place. Shiva then blusters a bit and says you guys are forced into this, so you'll just have to deal with it. You either shrug it off, smile and say you're happy about this, or tease Shiva for being bad at communication. In A, Shiva says that's good after a moment and tells you to keep in mind that you have to submit to fate. In B and C, Shiva is shocked by your response and says this is supposed to be something regrettable. He denies smiling about anything or thinking this is a side benefit.

 

Anyways, Shiva collects himself with a cough and says he'll let you decide where to kiss as a mercy for having shot him in the past regardless of your will. Shiva then demands you get on with it as he brings up the hand, the chest, or somewhere else. You can either make Shiva kiss your summoner brand, kiss Shiva's body, or kiss Shiva on the lips. In A, you both put a hand up to Mahakala before facing each other, and Shiva tells you to close your eyes. He brings you in closer to him with an unrefined hand, then takes your branded hand with his other hand. He then gives the back of your hand a rough yet tender kiss. In B, you both put a hand up to Mahakala, then you pull Shiva in closer with your other hand. Shiva makes a quiet noise as you press your lips against the tempered bulk from his endless training. In C, you both put up a hand, then press lips through Shiva's iron mask. Your lips then slowly drift over to the back of Shiva's neck, and Shiva gives an impatient sigh into your ear. Affection, desire, and wild greed abounds, and soon your mind drifts far away.

 

Mahakala's body dematerializes into fragments that cover your consciousness. When you open your eyes, you find yourself in a soulspace of sorts and wonder where you are before Mononobe informs you that you're inside the Exception Mahakala, guardian of the memories of those who lost their bodies. You quickly take note of Mononobe, then react in surprise to him speaking and ask why. Mononobe tells you that Bertro had picked up a part of his relinquished memories as he hands out a hi tech box to you. He also tells you that Bertro is giving to you as his last thanks for granting his wish. You wonder what he means by last thanks, be surprised Bertro is giving you that, or ask what Mononobe means when he said Bertro picked his memories up.

 

Speaking of Bertro, scene shifts over to where he is, smiling as he looks up at the sky while his body is falling apart. He comments on how pretty space is with all the lights and colors he's never seen before. Narration talks about how lots of people believe that the moon will always be wandering across the night sky. But right now, Bertro is looking up at the shattered moon, something he's never seen before now. There is nothing that cannot be destroyed, and there is nothing in the world that cannot be broken. That was something Bertro wanted to prove in the end.

 

Duo walks up to Bertro, and Bertro laughs as he sees him before saying his machine body can't move anymore. At that point Duo notices some of the mechanical parts in Bertro's chest spilling out. Duo says that Bertro had his most important external memory storage unit there and asks what happened. Narration explains that the unit that was there was the most important unit that stores the memories gained by the Artificial World Pillar. It is also the storage equipment for a certain person's memories that the mechanical wolf he rides ate.

 

Bertro tells Duo that he gave the thing to a certain somebody because he's pretty sure that was the thing they wanted most. He talks about how it's human to give unto others what others give to you. He got the thing he wanted most, so he's giving the thing that they wanted most. Duo asks Bertro if he was thinking this outcome was okay from the beginning, and Bertro smiles as if convulsing at that. Duo talks about how Bertro wanted to see the end that came from staking his life on a goal with his own eyes. He guesses that Bertro wanted to know if the sky's destruction could be rewinded in a way that destruction on the earth wouldn't be. Maybe he set out to prove it one way or another, and maybe at the same time he honestly thought it'd be fine if things ended that way.

 

Bertro forces his actuator that controls his facial expressions to move so that he can smile. He starts talking about how if repetitions is the basis for humor and humanity before trailing off for a bit. He still strongly remembers those words he saw the academy library from that one time, whenever it was. But anyways, he tells Duo he's right and that he himself couldn't become human. He couldn't take the repetitions, and he says he wasn't even a computer. With almost all of his body replaced with machinery, there was still something left that wasn't replaced. At the end of the continuous repeating war, the parts that couldn't be taken out had been worn down. How could that be? He was supposed to be equipped with a long lasting unit that released and absorbed intracerebral chemicals.

 

Bertro says that the emotions he had as a human stopped functioning a long time ago. He laughs and says that they were probably gone even before that experiment (re: graduation exam). Duo is quiet for a moment before telling Bertro that he is human. He thinks that Bertro had gotten caught up by his imposed upon area limits. He was involved with people who do nothing but war, and he was no exception. He had a certain sweetness that he wouldn't have needed as someone meant to do war.

 

Duo starts calling Bertro by that name before he decides to call him Robert instead as he looks into what remains of the boy born in the same lab as him. Bertro insists on being called Bertro though, and his thoughts go into how he had changed beyond recognition after all those repeated days. The boy genius Robert born in a test tube at that academy (re: research lab) is nowhere to be seen anymore. Bertro then babbles his name for a bit before laughing again like a speaker. Bertro bids Duo goodbye, still referring to the two of them as interchangeable as he says this is the end for him. He also asks Duo to take over for him.

 

Duo refuses this offer and says he is himself, then calls out to someone he figures is there. They probably came to pick up Shiva's artifact, but Duo doesn't care much at the moment as he asks them to come out. Breke reveals himself as requested and asks in surprise how Duo could tell he was there while he was concealing his presence. Duo says he didn't, but he explains that he knew Breke would turn up wherever there are bodies since he knows what his class is. Breke rejects the explanation and says he came based on his own will and not because of his class since he wanted to know what they were up to when they created him.

 

Duo tells Breke that whatever he thinks, he can't escape his role. He is to eat the bodies of the dead and eat their memories, and Breke was meant to be the counterpart to Bertro's wolf partner for Duo as their replacement. Breke insists his destiny is his own, refusing to accept that anyone else can decide it. Duo tells him that's fine and suggests that Breke come with him. Breke is surprised at this suggestion, and Duo offers to tell him whatever he wants to know as limited by what Duo knows himself. He is going to make Breke do some tough work for him in exchange though, and his first task if he takes this deal would be to carry Bertro back to his medbay.

 

Breke questions this task since he thinks Bertro is just about ready to bite the dust. Duo says he's got some life preservation equipment prepared from some theory he had completed during the loops just for an occasion like this. He's a genius after all, and he prompts Breke to hurry up. Narration dives into Duo's thoughts about him being a genius, and even if no one else said so, the fourth seat, and that strange phenomenon refused him, his brother saw him that way. And since Shuuichi does think of him that way, Duo thinks he should act the part of the genius who understands everything in the world.

 

Breke decides to accept Duo's offer, and he gets a sense of deja vu from that wolf that's with Bertro. Bertro suggests that Duo not do this since the other guildmasters are going to complain about this. He starts to warn Duo about what else might happen if he keeps this up, but Duo informs Bertro that he never told Plan C or Karen Curren anything about this and has no intentions of telling her Bertro needs to be replaced. Bertro asks about the other genius then since the boy who was once called Isaac and is the poster boy of Plan A would never let this go. Duo doesn't answer, and Bertro describes Isaac as a revolutionary genius who chooses evolution through assimilation and the Invaders guildmaster. There's no way he wouldn't notice Duo rebelling against the System.

 

Scene jumps back to your end as Mononobe talks about how there are three genius children who observe the 23 VIPs aside from him observing you. Each of these children has taken a part of Mononobe's worn out memories. All that's left of him when he was supposed to disappear was safeguarded by Mahakala. You comment that you feel like you've heard something like this before as you think of Shino, and Mononobe tells you that the part of him talking to you now is only 1/3 of him. It still feels like a miracle to him that he can talk to you again like this.

 

You decide not to take issue with the geniuses keeping a part of Mononobe's memories, but you ask why they did it to begin with. Mononobe explains that his memories is the most important to Tokyo. He clarifies that it's not that he himself is anyone important, but rather his Original Personality is important. This Original Personality is someone he describes as someone to obey, and he was transferred only a small part of their memory. He says he's pretty much a projected phantom of this person meant to take action for them.

 

You ask about this original body or the memory transfer, and Mononobe is quiet for a moment before he tells you that they are the Omnipotent and Omniscient one of the world, the Exception that represents All Things. They are the one who lords over Tokyo from outside the farthest heights above, the Exception of All, King Solomon. (TN: it's just Solomon and me adding King is just for differentiation since I've stuck with calling Salomon Solomon).

 

Scene shifts over to Christine as she sighs about how it was a great scene and a beautiful showy display that happened earlier. She thanks everyone in the Entertainers for their work, and she hopes that Omniscient One enjoyed things as well. Christine is described as dancing and singing with the masks that collected the past, and she starts talking about how Everything in Tokyo will get involved as the game moves onto a new stage. She prays that His Excellency will enjoy what comes next and that the stage will become even more enjoyable. Christine then stops what she's doing as she turns to Leanan Sidhe and asks if she thinks so too and if she delights in the activity of the gifted children. Leanan shows up but says nothing.

 

Scene then jumps to Claude in his office, who is thinking now that his Zoom call with Minamoto is over with. Snow walks in and announces his return to make a report. For now, the big three guilds have temporarily retreated. Also, the Summoners and Wisemen are continuing with their intel gathering, but things look to be calm for the time being. Claude is a bit surprised as he thanks Snow for the update then says he came at a good time. Snow asks if something is wrong, so Claude brings up that one time way back when Snow reported about seeing the All attribute on the app. Snow asks if he's talking about that time you first showed up in Shinjuku.

 

Flashback kicks in back to the beginning of the game to Claude and Snow's first appearance and conversation. Once that's done, Claude mentions that Minamoto gave him some interesting information. He calls Minamoto an even bigger sly dog than he had thought as he intends to use them for everything he can get. Claude then talks about how you guys still haven't seen the true identity of the top level management for the app game, but according to Minamoto the All Powerful One will show himself once All Eight Exceptions have been encountered. He is the Omniscient One, the Exception of All. Claude orders Snow to start investigating into them, and Snow acknowledges this before telling him he's already gotten something relevant. He's also gotten a call in from Touji earlier about finding someone with the All element in Minato, which Claude finds interesting.

 

Scene shifts over to Ellie flying around somewhere as she talks to herself about things settling down for now, so she should get moving herself. She then picks up her phone as someone calls her and smiles. Tanetomo turns out to be on the other end, though his part of the conversation isn't shown. Ellie thanks him for his information and says he can consider his debt repaid. Tanetomo complains about how irritatingly she phrased that, so Ellie just laughs at how surprisingly difficult he is. She also comments on how he resembles that one person who was in Kabukicho. Ellie suggests that she and Tanetomo could become friends, which evidently prompts him to complain and nag at her while she gets amused at this. She ends the conversation there and says she'll call again, and she starts making her way to her new destination.

 

Flashback kicks in to Tanetomo bugging Ellie to tell him why she saved him earlier. He demands an answer since he can't figure out why she would after the stabbing thing, so Ellie says it wasn't some deep reason. When she was fighting him earlier, she says she saw his Wisdom orb and it reminded her of someone in Kabukicho who had something similar. Ellie thinks about how she's bad at dealing with naggers since they pay so much attention to what she says. She also seems annoyed that those kinds of people keep bugging her to tell them where she plans on going, but for all their ramblings, they disappear when she's not there. While she may have said she didn't like them to their face, she's irritated that she never got to say she didn't hate them.

 

Tanetomo says nothing to Ellie's explanation, and Ellie comes up with the idea to have Tanetomo help her if he wants to repay her. Tanetomo prompts her for details, so Ellie asks if there are any other Hakkenshi around him. He smells the same as a certain someone, and she's searching for him. And if Tanetomo doesn't know, Ellie suggests he can ask someone who does.

 

Back to the present, Ellie talks to herself about going to the South based on Tanetomo's information. The first name she has is for Inumura Daikaku Masanori, the necromancer (re: demon arts user) of the Invaders. She quietly flies along in the night sky like a queen as she remembers an old conversation. Shino may have only been with the Outlaws for a short time, but he did have a conversation with Ellie.

 

Flashback kicks in of said conversation which is presented in summary form. Shino explains about how his old body had split apart into eight memories. Each became an orb, which was then scattered to the four winds. When Shino came to Tokyo, he met the Hakkenshi who possessed those orbs, and he was happy they carried on his regrets. Shino was shy as he compared them to the children of his soul, and he expressed a desire to meet all eight of them if he could. Ellie teased him for sounding old, and then before she knew it, Shino had disappeared. She remembers how Suzuka, Gyoubu, and the others hid away to cry.

 

After the flashback ends, Ellie talks to herself about how much it felt like a joke that she couldn't do anything despite being called queen. She also questions why she cares so much about the memories Shino left behind. He achieved his long held wish and disappeared, so he probably might not return even if the orbs were all collected. But still those left behind memories weighed on Ellie's mind. Ellie's intuition told her that the central part of this matter is likely not on the straight and narrow path. Luckily, that fact means it involves the Outlaws way of life, and that's what her intuition as Queen of Kabukicho is telling her. Ellie then says it's time for her to go to the Portal in the South.

 

Back to your end, you tell Mononobe that if his memories are out there, you'll bring All of them here and ask him to wait. Mononobe is quiet for a moment before he says you probably won't stop if he told you to. He's surprised to see that he's happy about this, and he notes he doesn't have the time to stop you anyway. He starts flickering to your shock, and Mononobe notes that this is about all the time he has to talk to you as only a third of his self. Mononobe then tells you to listen as he tells you a revolution is coming to the game. This revolution looks like it will pull in All the people into it and change everything.

 

You ask about this revolution and change, and Mononobe talks about how people change. If something looks like it's not changing, it just means that something you can't see is being sacrificed. Because of that, he makes a point of telling you that you cannot make a sacrifice of yourself. Don't be entrapped by the idea of saving him. He cares more about the safety of you and the other students than his own self. You tell him it'll be fine as you smile, grab his hand, and/or hug him. Mononobe is surprised at this at first, but he smiles too.

 

Mononobe says that if he still has anything he wishes for, then he wants to see you and everyone else graduate. He wants to see you break out of this endless repetition. Mononobe then says that once you leave, you have to go back home and rest your weary mind and body. He then thanks you for coming to see him. You now have a new goal and a new vow once you return to your room, and your battle is now advancing to a new stage. Despite the lack of the customary tag, End of Chapter 11.