You find yourself in a small narrow room with undecorated concrete walls on all sides. The floor is spotless, and the room itself feels chilly. It's a place you have a recollection of, though perhaps it's better to say your memory of the place is returning. This place is the Shinjuku safe house in Tokyo, but no one is here. No one to say "I'm back" to, and no one to greet you with a "welcome back." It's an empty place now, devoid of life and warmth.
Someone's voice starts commenting on how crazy things are, and this person's voice seems out of place for the safe house. You then start picking up on the sounds of some lively music and electronic sound effects and the button pressing and control stick pushing of a console controller. You look over to see Azathoth, who tells you to stop standing there as he invites you to play with him. You ask him where you are, where everyone else is, and why he's here, but Azathoth laughs the questions off saying he wouldn't know. All he cares about are playing games and having fun dreams. Azathoth initially starts to claim that this place is his throne, THE center of the universe where neither past nor future exist, but then he says that just sounds cool and this place is the dregs of his fleeting dream. But whatever. He tells you not to Look Outside the Window, not unless you don't want to be able to come back here.
You ask Azathoth who he is, comment that he seems similar but different to someone you know, and/or ask if you've ever met him before. Azathoth seems mildly interested that you caught on and suggests it could be the opposite, but he waves off the tangent. He starts talking about how the avatar in Tokyo brought back some of the Original color to make things a bit more vivid, but if it kept going then a bunch of things would start breaking, so 20% is good enough. But that said, he's confused as to how you actually got there as he compares the current location to a debug room. You know, the hidden part of a game filled with spoilers that you normally wouldn't come across.
Azathoth stops for a bit and seems curious, so you ask him if he knows Nodens, ask what that world you were in actually is, and ask if Nodens is really who he says he is. Azathoth starts cackling to himself for a while, amused you'd ask that of all things. He jokes about you getting to the truth of things, calling you a good boy before pretending to be an announcer telling you you've unlocked an achievement for completing Chapter 5. He asks if you want to take the trophy, but then he notes that you yourself are a trophy as he laughs, hovering over you to look down at you.
Azathoth finally deigns to offer to tell you what's going on up to a certain point since it looks like the game you came from is starting to look interesting. The Tokyo App game is in truth an endless game, and Old Ones being one of the losers is a fixed part of it. Nodens in particular is someone who's set up to be an even bigger loser, which is why he came up with a plan to win for once by hacking the game. So yeah, the space war game you're going through is something Nodens came up with. He wrote it up so that it could fit into the Tokyo game's framework, then stacked the deck as best he could into his favor. He still couldn't write around the restriction that said that he couldn't leave the Dream Land though.
You start to ask about how he could stack the game in his favor before you stop silent and catch on. Azathoth talks about how Nodens originally wasn't qualified to join the Tokyo game as a player, so he had to cheat to get in. Since others had prior knowledge going into this game, none of them knew about Nodens. Obviously they couldn't since he was never a part of the game before, so he hacked the game from outside their ability to observe things. You could say he modded in the space stage into the beginning, and there aren't many worlds out there that have faith that can adapt to fighting in space. By stealing away the trophy he prevents them from being able to interfere.
You ask Azathoth about Nodens not qualifying to be a player at first but putting himself into the game afterwards anyway. Azathoth explains that the Tokyo game and the world have a bunch of big rules set in place. For example, to be in the game you need both a role and a power. Nodens's class is King, but it's something he partially lost a long time ago. That's why he took in the memories of a Transient of another world who had the same role and power as him, Nuada. Nuada had also lost half of his role, but putting two halves together adds up to a whole so that Nodens could reclaim his class and power.
You nod along to this explanation for a moment before something confuses you. Azathoth doesn't volunteer anything else, so you go ahead and ask how they can use their power despite fusing together. Azathoth laughs in response and says you're sharp for noticing. It's clear from by all accounts that everything Nodens has done has been at random, which is strange for someone who's supposed to be intelligent. In which case, who is he? Azathoth says he won't be giving you any more hints, so anything else you'll have to figure out for yourself. He does challenge you to work it out, and he'll just sit back and enjoy the game. If you do he offers to reward you with something, then laughs some more.
Azathoth's laughs fade off after some time, leaving the room silent once again. In the corner though, a TV and game console have been left behind, and Solomon's face is displayed on the screen. You ask Solomon if he knew what was going on from the beginning and point out he's been pretending to be an AI. Solomon explains he was bound by a protocol (re: contract) that had him (which he initially refers to the ship before changing to himself) guiding you to where Nodens is. He says his role is to be a guide for the game and a tool for those above him, so he can't defy the creator of the world. Even if the game contents change, his own role has not. If Nodens manages to obtain the trophy, then that means Old Ones wins. So he ended up betraying everyone, even you the one person he shouldn't.
You point out that Solomon must have had his reasons. He's your friend, so you ask him to explain himself. Solomon is touched, and he is silent for a moment before he starts admitting that Nodens pressured him into helping him. Solomon was restricted from doing anything he wasn't specifically ordered to do, but in exchange Solomon was able to finagle two benefits for himself. The first was that he was allowed to be with you the entire time in this world. The second is that Nodens would leave the bit of your memory that would have you calling Solomon by his name, and Solomon was betting that you would remember everything else about him through that.
You comment that it feels weird, like you're remembering something and that time has stopped. Solomon makes a comment that sounds a bit like Mephistopheles as he goes "Time be still. Thou...art beautiful." He then says just by being with you, he has power he can use as well. The words you gave him stayed as a shining memory within him, and he asks if you remember what they are. You tell Solomon that you guys should go together to learn about the people who made him, just like you promised before.
Solomon declares that the final lock has been disengaged and that his activity as the ship AI has restarted. He comes forward with what he calls an important suggestion, that being using your ability to break the deadlock on the situation. Your ability has the power to undo the system lock that's on the ship. Solomon continues playing along with being an AI to conform with the setting of this world while keeping with his given role, and he quietly looks at you as he asks you to choose to go for the truth. A quick flashback to Azathoth challenging you to figure it out comes back up.
You have a lightbulb moment about the central part of the actions happening now, then address Solomon. He waits for you to continue, so you say you're undoing the lock and asking him to help you again. Solomon confirms your choice as he reports that all the system locks on the ship are released and restarts the ship's systems. Then, the two of you declare a take off together as you fly back out.
Nodens is completely shocked to see you back, and he starts ranting that his shutdown command should have been accepted at light speed. He demands to know how you can be flying again. Solomon pipes up to tell you he's done analyzing what's going on with Nuada and Nodens' classes and power. Their class is King and concept is Grasping, but it isn't controlled by one mind. Under normal circumstances they shouldn't be able to use it even if both of them were trying to do the same thing. Due to that, Nuada and Nodens haven't really surfaced much. There's a third party at play parasitizing both of them, and Solomon concludes that the one you're fighting now is this third party instead of either Nuada or Nodens.
You either suspected this to be the case or comment with some understanding and point out that the Nodens in front of you hasn't shown any sort of wisdom. Solomon says that when he first met him he assumed the mad cackler was Nodens and the calm personality was Nuada. However he heard what Cthugha said through you about how Nodens is supposed to be a calm and wise king, so he hypothesizes that the Nodens here is actually something put together by the night gaunts with their near liquid bodies with properties similar to dark matter. Since they live in symbiosis, Nodens and Nuada in all likelihood are equivalent to the night gaunts. But after another bit of though, Solomon suggests the night gaunts are actually protecting and helping the two instead.
You ask Solomon if he noticed partway through, say you agree with him, or say they're like Solomon. He agrees with the point, and he tells you that the night gaunts are covering Nodens. Based on his structural analysis cutting the dark coating off of him should work, so your power should be the most effective means of attack here. You figure that there still needs to be something else to be done in order to win, and you ask Solomon to do this with you. He agrees enthusiastically.
After the battle, narration starts. Half of your self was split apart to continually witness infinite and innumerable partings. There was someone that you saved. Someone you crossed fists with. There was someone you lived an earnest life with. And there was someone you lived a just life with. These meetings and partings happened over and over again. Everything began with that day that meeting at the park, and you spent your days sharing the same joys and pain together.
Solomon calls out to Night Gaunt Nodens and asks if it's the same for them. NG Nodens answers that of course it is since there's no way they could abandon either Nodens. The world had outwitted them, so they were no longer able to live normally. If they were to separate from the night gaunts, they'd know what would happen to them. It's what living in symbiosis means, and NG Nodens angrily points out that Solomon should know since he's the same.
There is only one opportunity for this false game to go through, and that is something even the night gaunts are aware of. So they fight desperately in order to protect both Nodens. NG Nodens says it's time to use the Grasping power like he did before, but Solomon manages to preempt him. Enraged, Nodens starts firing off laser blasts at you instead with many of the night gaunts throwing themselves as well, but none of them manage to hit you. Solomon directs you to fly to the right and fire back at your port side, and you do as instructed, blowing night gaunts away and slipping away from their attacks. Your minds unite in purpose, your wills combine, and you fly straight for Nodens.
NG Nodens flips out at things turning badly against them, and they order Tsathoggua and Nyarlathotep to come back to defend them. Two voices call out to tell Nodens he's not going to get his back up and apologize for keeping you waiting. Breke and Cthugha turn up alright to your shock, and you ask about them surviving apparently blowing up earlier. Breke admits he did think he was done for earlier, but he's fine because of Bertro's construction of his body. Cthugha says there's no gravity in the vicinity, so his ship just stalled out and stopped moving.
Despite Breke and Cthugha coming to back you up, there are still a ton of night gaunts pulling up past data to regenerate and rush down the two. Cthugha scoffs at this and says there won't be a second time as he says they should get going to Breke, who agrees. Cthugha had never given any thought to how humans and humanity would die, just as he had never given any thought as to how he would never die. Cthugha asks you to call him by name one more time, and you either oblige or yell that you love him. In A, Cthugha is happy as he shifts into using a special move. In B, Cthugha is a bit bashful as he says he loves you too, then yells as he gets his special move ready.
Cthugha yells out Twin Fomalhaut Flare, willingly separating himself from his friends and using himself as a missile to bomb the mass of night gaunts. There is no past battle record data of him doing this, and every night gaunt in sight is blown away by the blast. Breke follows up by booting up his NP as a system protocol, shifting his ship into an Anti-Nuclear Blast Mode. His action also confounds the night gaunts, and Breke explains the current mode he's in allows him to survive any environment and prevent him from returning to his standard form for a while. This mode is a mode that will only save himself, meaning he's leaving you guys behind and closing himself out from everything. He'll also be flown away to who knows where, potentially leaving him to wander the edge of the universe by himself. But you radio Breke and promise to come get him and maybe say you love him. In A, Breke says he trusts you and will be waiting. In B, Breke says he loves you too, so instead of telling you goodbye he'll say he'll see you again.
Bertro starts commenting how that one power is such a hassle and thanks Duo for getting around it. Duo says his power was linking the two ships and substituting for the locked down systems. He admits that having to work three different ships is killing his head, so he asks Bertro to take over for the next ten minutes. Nomad cuts in to demand it be only five minutes because the load he's dealing with kill him if Duo isn't back by then. R-19 reports that he's sending out the pods and asks you to go meet with them, and he tells you that they're carrying every last resource they have left for you to use.
You grasp your ship's control stick harder, and NG Nodens laughs as he decides to turn around to leave in response to everything happening, abandoning the throne and concentrating all his power. You are shocked that Nodens is making a break for it, but Solomon stays on the ball as he flips on the ship's thrusters so you guys can chase after him.
The acceleration of your ship causes all that you can see to go dark, yet Nodens still manages to be faster than you. Once you all are outside in space, Nodens turns back around to attack you reasoning that you are unable to win in this situation. The claws on his silver arm rush at your ship like spears, and after a huge impact, Nodens pulls you out of your ship. Time seems to dilate as your ship starts to drifts away. Nodens says he figured Solomon would try this, then taunts you about how your escape gear would be nice right about now. He continues by trashing your cockpit, leaving it to be scrap to float in space.
Nodens is about to kill you himself when the pod carrying Kurogane comes by, and he comes to your rescue. He plays it cool briefly before he segues into complaining about how frightening midspace docking is and how the pod is a one-seater. Kurogane has flown out using a jet pack to grab you, and once he does have you he flies back. You thank him for his help, and Kurogane says Duo told him what the best course of action is. He's still worried though, but when he sees that you're sure about this he resolves to help you. Solomon is still fine on the ship and he quickly sets the ship to rush towards Nodens.
Your ship is falling apart as it shoots off, the damage Nodens did to it unstoppable. But still the ship pushes forward full speed ahead with blade at the ready. NG Nodens attempts to plead for you guys to stop since they are unable to evade this attack. Solomon declares himself the Nightglow's exclusive Anti-Night Gaunt support wizard, an AI meant to lead you down the best path regarding your survival and duty completion. That's what his role is.
Nodens screams in intense anger and indignation at the prospect of being run through. The sheer force of emotion causes your ship to fall apart, and just as it's about to explode Solomon calmly has a few things left to say. He's glad he got to see you again and that you called his name. He thanks you, then tells you he loves you. You call out to Solomon and reach out for him, as vain a hope as it is since he's too far away. NG Nodens still pulls away from the blast, damaged but gleeful that Nodens will survive.
NG Nodens's joy is short lived as something slips through right by him like a shooting star. It flies towards your hand, and you know what it is. It is the one thing your amnesiac self is allowed to hold, the thing Nodens sealed Solomon for in an effort to prevent you from having it here. Once you grasp it, you yell out the words to the invocation chant over Nodens' desperate attempts to tell you to stop. You sword shines brilliantly, your sword of the future that calls forth daybreak and glows at dawn. This sword was pursued by the people of Utopia, and it was eventually exiled in resignation. It is the one thing that can resist against the overwhelming demise that is the past and cross through time, and here it dances as it cuts Nodens' shadow into two.
Nodens laughs in disbelief for a moment, commenting that he doesn't actually feel anything from being cut in half like this. Silence holds for a moment before NG Nodens starts flipping out about how they're collapsing. The sword you cut them with didn't really affect their physical body, but it instead cut nothingness, an empty dream. A calm, wise voice responds to the night gaunts' bitter screams, telling them that they've done enough. Things can end now, and Nodens says Nuada also understands this. He sympathizes with all the effort they went through, and he thanks them for staying with him for so long.
NG Nodens says they refuse to let things end like this, but a sudden quake in space interrupts them as the Agate Castle and stars all begin to shake. The sound of great waves pick up, and the reversing flow of time that swallows everything begins. Nodens comments that reason is returning to the world and expresses his distaste for the curse of being walled up. Still, he says that all anger and sadness eventually comes to a stop. NG Nodens throws a tantrum cutting him off saying they wanted to live with both Nodens, so how can he just accept things like this? Nodens gently refutes the point, saying that the point of a battle is not victory in itself. It's in trying to win and in standing to fight. That way everyone wins, even if he's been removed from the game again.
Nodens holds his silver arm up as if to show he tried to fight to regain his stolen country and honor back. He says he fought heroically without any regards for his appearance. He was sent to the other side of the world, but he says it was a good battle. His only regret was his inability to have a victory drink together. It's the one thing he doesn't know as a king, and he tells the night gaunts to begrudge him if they want to resent anyone.
Nodens is shocked as he says the light from Kurogane's arm is the same as his own, but he realizes it's something else as he unconsciously reaches back to Kurogane. The arm that grabs the past and the arm that grabs the future intersect, which triggers another great shake in the world. You get the feeling that everyone on the ship is calling to you, and the space war comes to an end as you thank everyone and tell them you love them.
On the final episode! There was someone who saw stars, and there was someone who saw mud. That someone also reached out for hope once. With everything in Tokyo having come to an end, it closes up once again as time turns back. This heroic tale nobody knows about glimmers brightly at the far end of the universe, and the miraculous meeting creates a new future that no one knows. Find out what happens next time on Nightglows of the Starlit Sky Episode 6: It's Just Like the Stars
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