Chapter 83: Ark of the Gods! Ghosts of Paradise

Huh? Eden?!

Eden!

You've done well to get here, Feinne, Aldo. Or perhaps I should call you Cecile and Kyros.

I know he's a fake but seeing Eden in front of me like this...

In my head, I know this isn't my brother. And yet my heart...

Feinne, listen to me. You originally created Aldo as a stand-in for me, didn't you? So which one of us do you need, me or Aldo? Which of us will you choose, Feinne?

Aldo...has always been by my side. But Eden... Eden's my brother.

I vowed to get Eden back. To resurrect him... We all did. Which is why... I'm not giving up, not ever! Just wait a little longer, Eden. We're going to save you!

Feinne...

Is that so? I guess this method isn't going to work. Then I'll just have to kick you off the stage.

What was that?

Phantom?!

What is it that you know about Eden? What is it that you understand about him? What makes you so sure that those screams you heard inside your head weren't really his?

Um... Well... As you said, no one can ever really understand someone else's heart...

But Eden said he believed in us, and I do, too!

You're all fools. You really dare challenge me, now I have Eden's Alpha Geo power? Bear witness to my newly evolved form!

Hmm? Is this Phantom Eden's true form?!

Pfft... Size isn't the only thing that matters. You've been showing off long enough. Time we settled this once and for all!

I cannot see or feel his heart. But in our hearts lies an oath to bring Eden back! For Aldo and Feinne, our treasured allies and friends!

And for Professor Chronos and Professor Madoka... We will not abandon Eden. I will show you the true power of a Synth Human.

I'm gonna send you flying and then I'm sealing the Mark of God's coffin! I'm not gonna hold back!

I swear on the honor of my titan ancestors who sealed away the dark god. I will not allow you to do as you please!

Come on then, Aldo! If you want Eden back, you're going to have to show me your strength! Here in the third Dark Lord's Tomb, the final key... It's up to you whether the dark god's sleep will be disturbed or not! You'd better be prepared, humans! Fight me with all the life you have, before death catches up to you!

Eden?! All right! Looks like Phantom released him.

Huh...? Where... Where am I?

Eden! I'm so glad. It's gonna be okay now.

You fools! I may have been defeated, but the darkness will never end.

Phantom! What are you saying? You lost! Give us Eden back!

Yeah, what Aldo said! Once I seal the final Mark of God's coffin, that's all the tombs done! The dark god will continue his eternal slumber under the Cat Deity's blessing, bound by the prayers of man, beast, and god!

Then there will be peace throughout the land! And it serves you right! Mreheheh!

Mwahaha! I wonder...is that really how it's going to go?

Mrow?

Whatever do you mean by that, Phantom?

It required an immense amount of negative power to release the seal on the Dark Lord's Tomb, on our lord's coffin. Your anger, your hatred, your desperate fight, the damage we dealt each other... That was the key to the dark god's revival!

What? Our anger and hatred... The negative power of that fight was the key? That's ridiculous!

Ah... So the third key to the Dark Lord's Tomb was actually you, Phantom. I did think that could be a possibility.

Wait! So when you said after each fight that's the first key, that's the second key... These weren't keys that locked each of the tombs?

The opposite, in fact. The keys were for the dark god's revival.

Were all the coffins empty?

What?! That's absurd! Then the seals we've been guarding at the Cat Shrine...

I knew the coffins were empty from the very beginning. I couldn't feel the tiniest atom of the power of darkness coming from the dormant dark god. The key to revive the dark god had to be something else, unrelated to the coffins... Which meant that perhaps the tomb keepers themselves, Genshin and Garneli, were the keys.

Ogre Rancorem! If you knew that, why didn't you say something earlier?

If I made a big fuss out of it, none of this would have started. I was curious to see what you would do. And I wanted to meet this dark god... The one my ancestors, the titans, sealed away.

Ogre Rancorem! How could you!

After waiting an eternity, the dark god's life force, once sealed away, left his coffins and spread throughout the tomb. He may not have been able to break through the three marks and escape this place... But you must have worked this out already. The final coffin of our god is actually the Dark Lord's Tomb itself!

What? The coffin is the tomb? What does that even mean?

The time is nigh! The dark god will break free of his bonds and awaken! This is the beginning of the end of the world! Your real fight starts now. Come with us, Eden! Come to the dark god!

Ngh...? Cecile... Kyros?!

Eden?! Phantom, wait!

Agh! What's going on!

The Dark Lord's Tomb...!

Look! Something's coming out!

Is that...the dark god?!

I am getting a huge energy signature for an unknown lifeform, and it's increasing rapidly! Assumption: the dark god is aiming to revive back into his full form!

This is bad! If he revives completely and gets back his former powers, we're in real trouble!

What are we gonna do?

Synth Hydra?!

Jump on board! We can get him. Let's settle this once and for all!

Are you not damaged, moving to such a space so suddenly?

We don't have the luxury for such concerns right now! I don't know how long I can hold out in this realm of darkness. So hurry up!

Okay, let's go, everyone. We have to take him on! We must end this fight and bring Eden back!