Fate/Grand Order story · Part 2: Cosmos in the Lostbelt, Lostbelt No.2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung
intro.2-2
Lostbelt No.2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung. 0
1 scenes, 100 lines
1. Before the battle
100 linesIt's been two days since Rasputin, the Pseudo-Servant, attacked.
The Chaldeans are currently on their way to the Lostbelt in Scandinavia.
...Everything is so white.
The words "blank slate" have never seemed so appropriate. It's like the entire surface has been...reset.
Nothing but pure white wherever you look. Everything is gone.
Nature...civilization...even the flora and fauna have completely disappeared. No, not disappeared... It's more like they've all been pruned away.
All there is to see in every direction is a pure, white plainthough there were a few topographical exceptions along the way.
It looked like the remains of some buildings, but they appeared to have been warped by extreme heat, or destroyed in some kind of shock wave.
Whatever the cause, upon closer inspection, one could see that these had once been man-made structures of some kind.
This led to Fujimaru and his allies stepping out of the Shadow Border to investigate further.
The atmospheric composition was normal. The air was breathable, and the gravity was the same as before. There was no need for a hazard suit or space suit or anything of the sort.
"Good thing you didn't have to get all dressed up like an astronaut, huh?" said Leonardo da Vinci with a cherubic smile.
...Look, Senpai, you can see them up ahead... Buildings.
It looks like even the buildings have been bleached. That explains why we couldn't see them at a distance.
... ...
...Those ARE buildings, right?
If there are any survivors here, we should bring them back to the Border as soon as
She trailed off all of a sudden. Probably because what she saw was beyond anything she could have imagined.
No one could blame her. Anyone else would have been agape at the bizarre sight before them.
The color had been drained out of everything. Some parts of the buildings even looked as though they had been rubbed away with an eraser.
The whole thing looked like some bizarre postmodern art exhibit, and was made all the more baffling by being in the middle of a bleached desert.
There were no signs of life anywhere, not even the remains of what had once been alive.
It all looked so sterile, especially for ruins. It was the sort of thing you'd only see in dreams.
Everyone back on the Border seeing it on their monitors must have thought they were looking at footage from an alien planet.
...Let's go in. There might still be something inside.
Earth had changed.
It had been completely bleacheda planet now totally devoid of life, with the exception of the Lostbelts.
But even when it had been reset to a blank slate, there were still some places, some buildings, some life-forms that had survived.
Chaldea decided to call these "remnants."
Today was the first contact they had with these sorts of remnantsthese buildings that had been left behind on this newly blank Earth.
Despite the new director's pessimistic outlook, the other staff couldn't ignore the possibility, however slight, that there might still be other survivors.
But even though they never did find any other people, their investigation wasn't for nothing.
Because they did find signs of life. Signs that someone had survived all this, and had been here before them.
Here, near the Scandinavian Lostbelt, in what used to be Helsinki, the capital of Finland...
...were signs in these buildings that someone, somewhere, was still alive.
Signs that someone had been living here for days...weeks...maybe even months.
Empty bottles...piles of canned food... The remains of a communication device that someone had clearly spent a great deal of effort trying to repair...
There was even something that looked like a doll lying on the floora sign that a young child had been among the survivors.
And above all, they found something that had clearly been left behind with intent...
...According to this journal, it looks like somebody was here as recently as two days ago.
The last entry is dated the day before yesterday.
It looks like there were six survivors at first, but over time, their numbers gradually dwindled, until...
... ...
In the end, whoever wrote this journal must have been the last one to disappear... Where could they all have gone?
Unfortunately, though whoever wrote the journal had excellent penmanship, it was in a language that Fujimaru could not read.
It could have been Finnish, or maybe Swedish... Either way, it may as well have been Greek to Fujimaru.
"Why did this happen to our planet? Why do these invaders from another world hate humanity so much?"
If nothing else, those final questions written on the last pages were clear. Why? Why? Why?
That is all these people could ask, even as they were wiped away... Almost as though they were being punished for seeking meaning in their crisis.
...It's time, Master. Let's head back to the Border.
We're almost to Sweden now. You should rest up for the coming battles.
As they left the remnants behind, one thought haunted each and every one of them:
Nowhere was there so much as a trace of blood, a hint of violence.
...Soon, the Shadow Border will enter the second Lostbelt.
Will it be a hellish wasteland inhospitable to life? Or perhaps...
So that's what those storm walls look like from the outside...
？！
Yup. Finally about to take the plunge into the Scandinavian Lostbelt. And not because we have no other choice, like with Russia. This time we choose to do it ourselves.
As you all saw, there's a Tree of Emptiness here as well. Though at this distance, it looks more like a faint pillar of light than a tree.
Y-yes, quite so. We may not know what it's like on the inside, but we do know exactly what we need to do.
This is a Lostbelt, a place carved out of a history different from our own. There is no telling what horrors may await us there...
...but once we cut down that Tree of Emptiness thingamabob, the Lostbelt will return to its original state, and the storm wall will disappear.
Yup! But I think we should put this particular Tree of Emptiness investigation off until later.
Our priority is to slip through Scandinavia and get to the Wandering Sea. Depending on what it's like in there, we might be able to just ignore the Lostbelt.
If we're going to invade this place, we should do so after we've improved our offensive options at the Wandering Sea.
It won't do for Fujimaru and Mash to be the only two ever risking their necks on the front lines.
Hmph. I just hope that transmission really was from the Wandering Sea.
So, what now? I thought those storm walls were impenetrable.
That, we can penetrate using the Shadow Border's primary function.
That storm is approximately two kilometers wide, so we will cross it via a Zero Sail.
Huh? You mean we're going to dive back into Void Space? C-come now, surely I'm not the only one who was wildly uncomfortable seeing his soul leave his body, was I?
I mean, is it just me, or is looking down at your own body in third person a TRULY unsettling experience?
One thousand percent seconded.
Right? If I'd known this was on the agenda, I would've had a much lighter breakfast!
You're just going to have to deal, Goredolf.
You're kidding me. You mean you're completely fine with it? Doesn't it bother you, having a bird's-eye view of your own life?
？！
Oh for... Of course it makes us all feel sick. But you're the commander now, yeah? So freakin' suck it up, would you?
Honestly, I've gotten used to it. I mean, a short hop through Void Space is nothing compared to a Rayshift.
(Not that I've ever Rayshifted myself, of course!)
Grrr. Now don't you start talking back to me, Meunière...! R-Rayshift shmayshift!
Clearly, the Zero Sail program that began under my new administration is a far more impressive achievement!
Holmes! Da Vinci! Prepare the Shadow Border for takeoff!
Indeed, Goredolf. I, for one, am truly inspired after your little speech.
(And well done on your part, Mr. Meunière. That will be one less thing to worry about during our dive!)
Okay, places, everyone! Time to strap in for today's out-of-body experience!
The good news is, we're not going to dive as deeply as we did last time.
We're just going to skim under the surface, so to speak, so that we stick to Reality Space time and distance as closely as possible.
We have to do it like that, since we don't have anything tying us to Scandinavia. It'll be like a split-second dive into a two-dimensional plane.
Think of it like going scuba diving without an oxygen tank. We just need to hold our breath for a little bit while we make our way through the wall.
All set, Fujimaru? You do know we'll be setting foot in another brand new world soon, right?
...I'm well aware!
Let's go where no man has gone before...again!
？！
...Got it. Okay then, let's go see what's on the other side of this wall!
Expanding Void-Reality Observation Device: Paper Moon! Destination: southern Sweden, near Norrköping!
Expanding Logic Formula on Shadow Border's external armor. Removing existence verification for Reality Space.
Future prediction: hypothetically prove mirror world plane in twenty seconds. Relaxing space-time friction decompression for 0.4 seconds.
All systems are green. Void Space may be a calm sea, but as always, don't forget to watch out for big waves!
Shadow Border, untether from reality. Void Space Dive, Zero Sail: unfurl!