To the Nightless City

I can still hardly believe Assassin did something so...horrible.

I'm glad that the pirates are gone, of course, but did she have to sink the entire city of Ys to do it?

Who knows what we could have done with the place were it still around... What a waste.

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Haha, I like that. Here I am focused on the present, and you're dreaming up plans for the distant future.

That's a precious talent in its own right.

Yes, that's one of Senpai's best qualities. No matter how dire things may be, he never fails to examine things at new and unusual angles!

Hah, and you never fail to deliver a truly earnest analysis, young lady. There is certainly never a dull moment with you two.

To give my own earnest answer... If Ys was still around, then yes, perhaps we could have made use of it as a marine headquarters of sorts.

I believe you said before that that lake is connected to nearly every river that flows across Agartha?

Given the incredible potential in what could have been transported over water as opposed to land, I cannot help but feel that destruction was a waste...

Still, there's no use crying over spilt milk. Or a sunken city, as the case may be.

I've already told my Resistance allies to explore the ruins of Ys. They should find several seaworthy vessels.

What's more, now that the pirates no longer control the waterways, we're on equal ground with our enemies.

Rider's optimism is well-founded. The situation has certainly taken a turn for the better.

After all, we've narrowed our pool of Demon God Pillar candidates from three to two.

And we've reduced the number of powers in Agartha. It seems like things should be a good deal easier from now on, don't you think?

...I'm not so sure. Those women aren't our only enemy.

Plenty of other threats remain, like those monsters that attacked our hideout.

And while I didn't mention this before, there's even a natural disaster of a sort to worry about. We can't go resting easy just because the pirates are gone.

Natural disaster? You mean like earthquakes? That IS a scary thought, especially down underground. I'd hate to be buried alive!

Depending on the situation, I'm afraid it could be even more dangerous than that. You'll just have to see what I mean for yourselves.

Words alone won't really suffice to describe it.

There's no telling when it might show up, and should you attempt to spot it yourself, it disappears without a trace almost immediately.

It is extremely dangerous, and to make matters worse, you cannot guard yourself against it.

It's impossible to see it coming, so the only thing you can do is run away before you're caught up in it. It is far worse than any mere natural disaster.

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Well, anyway, I'm just saying that there's still plenty of danger lurking around out here, so we can't go getting careless.

Just forget about this natural disaster thing for now. It's unlikely we'll be running into it anyway.

...I'm afraid I'm still not quite following, but it sounds like the gist of it is "stay alert."

...! Speaking of which, I'm picking up hostiles right in front of you. They look like wild animals!

I see what Rider means about there being threats everywhere.

Heeey, at least they didn't surprise us! That proves Mash is sure staying alert! Way to go, Mash!!!

Master! I think Mash deserves a double-super-extra helping of praise while we're preparing to fight!

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Um, I really much appreciate the sentiment, Senpai...

...but I feel terrible about getting praised like this while you're busy giving orders for battle!

And done. You know, that might have been a nice warmup for what's to come.

Rider, since we're approaching our destination, why don't you tell us about the sort of enemies we'll be facing in the Nightless City.

The women of the Nightless City are very reserved, unlike the Amazons and pirates.

They don't go around hastily attacking the other regions too much. They tend to focus on defending their own land.

Really? But their leader got pretty extreme at Ys. WAY extreme!

Indeed. Which is almost certainly why Dahut never saw it coming. I certainly wouldn't have.

For the Nightless City's ruler to infiltrate enemy territory all on her own, and take out the entire city with a single strike to its one weakness...

She is the very model of an Assassin in that respect.

It's also possible that she intentionally refrained from drawing attention to herself up till now in order for that plan to work.

True. But now that Ys is gone, there might be changes taking place across the entire Nightless City.

We should start with some careful reconnaissance.

Since we found Drake at Ys, albeit in a somewhat different form than usual, like Fergus...

...at first I thought we might find one of our other missing Servants in the Nightless City.

But now, I'm fairly certain that whoever its ruler is, she didn't come from Chaldea.

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That's true. She did mention that when speaking to the Assassin.

So it would seem safe to assume that the Nightless City is home to a Caster Servant as well.

In which case, there's still a chance that it could be Helena...

Regardless, our task remains the same. We'll never find out unless we go there ourselves.

Come to think of it, Rider...

Do you have any idea as to how many soldiers there are in this city? It would be nice to know what sort of enemy we're up against ahead of time.

I'm afraid not. As I said, they've mostly kept to themselves so far.

I see. I ask because I still cannot make myself draw my sword against a woman.

So I was hoping there might be some other sort of opposition there that would let even someone like myself be useful.

I'm afraid that even after seeing firsthand in Ys what terrible enemies women can be, I still can't bring myself to do battle with them.

Well, y'know, maybe it's kinda like trying to get over your distaste for brussels sprouts. Can't just do it at the drop of a hat!

Hang on, I just remembered something. The Resistance once took in a man who escaped from there.

He was in such a terrible state we weren't able to get much from him, but the one thing we did learn...

...is that the Nightless City is home to those...

Uh...how come you're pointing at the bodies of those beasts we just defeated?

...Dogs.

He told us that the city is full of dogs. Though of course, I don't know if he meant real dogs, or something else altogether...