Kiara and the Mysterious Sea (Part 2)

BB Cosmo, present...

Though I am pretty thoroughly ashamed that I had to retreat, even though I'm supposed to be a health management AI...

Hang in there, BB! Please don't let her get you down! I feel the same way!

We'll just have to put together a plan to defeat her and go back for our revenge!

Huh? Really? (Genuinely astonished that anyone still means to defeat her)

Whaaa...? We finally managed to make it out of there, and you want to GO BACK!?

How in the world are we supposed to win? This sounds like all risk and no reward!

I'll just take a pass on this one, if that's okay. Especially now that I've finally escaped her grasp.

Be that as it may, we must defeat her. Not just for our own pride, but for the friend we left behind.

I knew you'd understand, Master. I tip my shades to you.

？！

Karna!? You're back on our side again!?

I am. My arrangement with Sessyoin was that I serve as a bodyguard for a fair, defenseless maiden.

But now...

Hohoho, just look at them scurry away. I think I'll splash them with some hot water for good measure. Yah.

Sessyoin. May I ask you something?

Hm? What is it, Karna?

You saved me from those sharks back when I was unconscious in that dry ocean wasteland. For that, I am grateful.

So when you told me you were defenseless, I swore an oath to be your bodyguard.

But you are, in fact, very strong. Stronger than me.

If you are so strong, what need do you have for a bodyguard at all?

And so my oath was fulfilled.

I know it may be too late, but I wish to fight by your side once again.

？！

Thank you for the warm welcome, Master. ...By the way.

I remember fighting someone who looked just like you. I don't think you're the same person, but

I know who you mean. We just look a lot alike, that's all. Rest assured that I'm very much on your side now.

Ah, yes. Now that I think of it, those memories didn't belong to this version of me, anyway.

So I'll just be grateful that you're fighting alongside us now.

Ahh, friendship. Isn't it grand?☆ But yes, it's great that we have another dependable ally on our side!

But we've still got our work cut out for us and then some. I never would've guessed that Area A's ocean was actually a giant bath.

My space suit kept me protected, so I was fine, but it looks like it made the rest of you dizzy.

Dizzy? Is the water that hot?

That's part of it, but it's mostly because that water is embedded with some crazy dangerous forbidden spell of hers.

She calls it "Multi-Colored Tranquility." It basically melts down souls and melds them with each other.

It's like a literal life streaman entire river composed purely of souls.

Even Servants like us can't be in there too long, or it'll go to work on our Spirit Origins and ultimately dissolve us.

Multi-Colored Tranquility... I see. So that's how she made her Spirit Origin so freakishly huge.

We've seen a lot of shit in Moon Dubai, but that pretty well takes the cake. For a second, I really thought I was dreaming.

？！

Well, yeah, I did beat her once before, but that was a fair fight, not this impossibly rigged game.

I mean, just look at her. Who in their right mind would even think defeating her was possible?

(I'd like to say, "You're looking at her right now," but under the circumstances, I think I'll keep that thought to myself.)

Kiara herself is formidable enough, but yes, the real problem is that bathwater.

Thinking back on it now, it did make me so lightheaded, I couldn't really do anything.

What if we turned up the heat on the bathwater even more? We could use my Noble Phantasm to cook her where she stands.

Boiled to death with sunlight. That'd probably work with anyone else. With her, though? Probably just have the opposite effect.

She's a masochist, to a truly terrifying extent. So punishing her like that would probably only make her stronger.

I see. Too bad.

？！

Yeah, that seems like it would work.

It still wouldn't do anything to Sessyoin, but with the heat gone, we could at least fight her on more even ground.

But we'd need a ton of water to make that happen. Any idea where to look, Master?

？！

？！

I know where to find Tenochtitlan. She's at the Dubai Frame.

When she formed an alliance with BB Dubai and became head of her security detail, she also became the guardian of the Frame.

...Which should give you some idea of just how important the Frame is.

It may look like just an oversized picture frame, but it's actually a fully-fledged museum with plenty of historical value in its own right.

And if Tenochtitlan Bunny is there, then that powerful mobile weapon of hers must be, too.

Oh man. Tenochtitlan went over to BB Dubai's side?

Um, I know it's probably not even worth asking, but you guys found everyone else besides Tenoch, right? Do we have anyone that can help us?

The others are all still recovering from the injuries they suffered in our last battle. They're in no shape to fight right now.

And even if they were, we don't have time to wait for them. Area A's approval rating just passed sixty-five percent.

At this pace, Kiara will win the election in about three hours.

Right. So for this operation, we're going to keep things fast and simple.

The area around the Dubai Frame is fairly open, so Tenochtitlan's team will spot us as soon as we get close.

We'll take advantage of that by first having Mash, Xu Fu, and Karna approach the Frame in one group.

You'll serve as our main force. Your job will be to keep the Moon Archers occupied for as long as you can.

While you do that, Fujimaru, Hakuno, and I will infiltrate the Frame...

...find Tenochtitlan Bunny, and beat some sense into her.

Karna, Mash, Xu Fu, this operation hinges on you.

If you three can manage to hold out for at least ten minutes, great. If you can defeat any of them, even better.

Now go out there and restore your honor!

So essentially, she's telling us to defeat them. She truly is far more cunning than her innocent face suggests.

But I would expect nothing less from the digital demon charged with monitoring all of humanity.

Just to be clear, that WAS praise, right?

Of course. She knows you and I were allied with Sessyoin, so now that we're back with Chaldea, she gave us the most obvious opportunity with which to show off our talents.

We MUST win this fight, no matter what. We'll be counting on your help, Mash.

Of course. With you and Xu Fu on our side, I'm not afraid of anyone.

That said, the mobile weapons that attacked Old Dubai were each individually as strong as most Servants.

So let's be on our guard and hit them with everything we've got!

Hehehe, you're always so earnest, Mash.

All right. It's kind of a pain, but I guess I'll get serious, too!

Here they come! I see what you mean. These are fearsome foes indeed!

We'll need to use my Noble Phantasm to finish them off! Follow my lead!

Yeah. It's amazing, too. It fixes the gravity in its corridors to a single direction...

...then switches the exhibits to the next in sequence once visitors complete a circuit.

The format would let you go through a thousand years of history without moving from this spot.

It reminds me of the Escher structures we had on SE.RA.PH, only these actually physically exist.

Hm? Museum?

Fujimaru!

？！

Would you shut up already? I can barely hear myself think.

Then again, I suppose that's a lost cause. You're always losing your minds in places like this.

Oh. Hi, Mr. Hans.

So this is what you meant when you said you were going to bounce. Didn't take you long to find this museum, did it?

Do you have to be so damn cheerful when you're being snide? I can't make any cutting comebacks in response to that.

Anyway, what did you just say, Fujimaru?

Something about looking for records to do with 2400?

？！

So, that idiot woman is Area A's new Moon Cancer, the AIs are moronically tripping over each other to please her and spiking her ratings...

...and on top of all that, you're telling me that ocean is actually just a ludicrously outsized bath?

Can you ease off on the stupid throttle for ONE second, you pack of idiots!? No way am I going along with anything that idiot Melon Pass comes up with!

I know how you feel. This whole incident has had us doubting our eyes as well as our sanity.

Still, you're Kiara's overseer, right? Can't you go over there and stop her?

Me, her overseer? Don't be ridiculous. Besides, if she's that far gone already, my going there won't change a thing.

If anything, she'd just dig her heels in and make the situation even worse.

Anyway, as ridiculous as she looks and sounds, she's not completely crazy.

Whenever she does something like this, it's because she genuinely believes it's the best way forward.

...Ugh. What a damn headache.

So she's why I showed up in Moon Dubai. I wish I'd never known.

？！

Yup. I've heard Moon Cancers here can summon up to one Heroic Spirit they have close ties with.

She probably had a lot of very specific things in mind for an assistant and subconsciously chose me.

But because it was all subconscious, she never realized I'm here...

...and I didn't know anything about her, either.

I plan on keeping it that way, too. So this discussion is over.

I'd much rather talk about this Anthony person instead. He sounds far more interesting.

So, the human he was based on was involved in the creation of Moon Dubai...

...and that's the whole reason Kingprotea came and attacked Old Dubai, huh?

What a joke! It's not as though this Anthony person has special admin privileges or anything of the kind!

It's not like Kingprotea to be so willfully stupid. This has become a complete farce.

You'd think the Sakura Five would be the first to insist that the sins of the parent aren't visited on the child.

Why, whatever are you talking about? Please, enlighten me☆

There, you see? Don't the Sakura Five seem downright pleasant compared to Little Miss Root of All Evil here?

？！

If she was acting so strangely, then whoever that was, it wasn't Kingprotea at all.

As I recall, one of the Sakura Five is an Alter Ego who's only strong against her own kind, yeah?

In this case, that kind would be the Sakura Five. And if this imposter Kingprotea was a Moon Cancer, that would mean Moon Cancers are that kind, too.

And I'd bet dollars to donuts Little Miss Root of All Evil over there knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway, you said you don't have any time to spare, right? Neither do I.

I did find some records about the past, but I was struggling to figure out the password when all of you showed up.

In that sense, your timing couldn't be better. I'm sure you can crack it, BB. Here it is. Go on, have at it.

Leave it to me. And thanks. You just saved us the trouble of looking for this folder ourselves.

...Huh? This is the same file format we used on SE.RA.PH. What's it doing in an archive from this world?

...

Okay, we're in. There's no time to go over it in detail, so I'll just sum it up.

A.D. 2300. With humanity on the brink of extinction, the world's government decides to convert the remaining humans into AIs.

This leads to the successful development of third-gen AIsthe new humanity of this world.

That's also when development on first-gen AIs shut down, right? They covered all this in the mall exhibit.

Never mind that part. Hurry up and get to the next bit.

Fine, fine. Okay, so, everything was peaceful for a while...

Then we finally get to A.D. 2400, and...development on second-gen AIs ceases?

Second-gens... So ones like Chakerim then. They stopped developing them so quickly?

Hmm... It looks like they didn't have enough semiconductors after they shifted most of their resources to the third-gens.

Still, even after development stopped, they were still manufacturing them. In fact, it looks like the second-gen made this year was special.

It was a single, unique unit rather than a model meant for mass-production, too.

This second-gen was the first and last to be made with cutting-edge technology and a generous helping of Earth's remaining resources.

Her name was...

...Well? Spit it out already. Unless it's something so terrible you can't even say it?

No, nothing like that. It's just that the human who made this AI never gave her a name. All she has is a model number.

So, this special second-gen AI came to be known as "Last Slot."

？！

That's right. But it looks like his information wasn't accurate.

Last Slot's owner shut off her power the year after he made her, after which the government confiscated her.

So they threw this special AI into cold storage? Why?

Probably because this was around the time AI distrust was becoming rampant. One of these articles from 2400 says that "AI reaches the limits of its growth."

If that's true, it would mean humanity as a whole had stopped growing as well.

This was also when space development began in earnest.

Space development? Why did they start that at the same time they stopped trusting AI?

Probably because the existing format for a humanity based on Earth had no way to continue evolving.

Sure, specs continued to improve, but that's not the same thing as real change.

Put another way, AI reaching the limits of its growth means humanity as a whole had, too. Pretty big deal, isn't it?

So they thought by branching out into space, they could find new and undiscovered possibilities that could never happen on Ear

？！

...A.D. 2400. An Archetype is successfully developed in a lunar laboratory.

...!

They developed an Archetype!? And it actually worked!?

But Archetypes are their planet's ultimate prime species, by definition!

If humans really made one...that would mean they made a new generation of prime species to replace them!

I can't believe it, either. They never even attempted anything like this in our world.

If they actually did create a next-gen Archetype, it would immediately render all the old prime species worthless.

They may as well have been researching how to bring about the end of the world.

...So where's this Archetype now? If they really did create it, does that mean it's currently operating somewhere?

...No. It says that, although the Archetype was completed, it never actually woke up.

Apparently, it just refused to activate even after they executed a near-infinite self-creation protocol.

It also says here that, "The Archetype will awaken one day."

"When it does, it will instantly learn the entire history of humanity and AI, and transcend both."

？！

Hmm. With only this to go on, it's hard to say for sure.

It might be that it won't wake up as long as the current prime species, humanity, continues to maintain its civilization...

Oh well, let's forget about that for now and move on to the next part!

A.D. 2500. "Space development is brought to a halt."

"Now that we're all AIs, nothing should be beyond our reach. And yet, our efforts all prove fruitless."

"The most frightening part is, we can't figure out what's wrong. Our engineering and theories should be flawless."

"And yet, no matter what we try, we have not been able to go beyond the moon."

Can't figure out what's wrong, huh. Heard that one before.

The year 2500 is also when humanity's last war began.

"A dispute between the old humans who remained on Earth and the new humans led to the destruction of the orbital elevator connecting Earth and the moon."

So the new humans trapped on the moon were forced to make a life for themselves there permanently, and the old humans on Earth died out over the next hundred years.

So it was infighting that ultimately did them in. That's about what I expected from a species that updated their bodies before their minds.

"A.D. 2600. We can no longer prevent our technological knowledge from regressing." "Planning and development of the lunar city, Moon Dubai, has begun."

"Sophia, the enormous quantum computer manufactured in A.D. 2070, has begun exhibiting numerous malfunctions."

"Since we no longer have the resources to make a new quantum computer of Sophia's complexity, we have agreed to implement a plan to upgrade her instead."

"After ordering Sophia to execute a parallel world synchronization operation, she obtained an overview of an AI model first observed in the parallel world of A.D. 2030."

"We have decided to name this model 'BB.'"

"We have also retrieved Last Slot, the last second-gen AI manufactured during the period in which Earth's resources were still abundant, from the national treasury..."

"...and installed the BB model on her."

"BB will now serve as our city management AI and ensure the people of Moon Dubai will continue to exist for generations."

？！

That explains why she doesn't qualify as one of the new humans herself.

Second-gens were only made to be partners to humanity. So she's a cyberdemon, just like me.

BB Dubai may have been made on Moon Dubai, but her origins are tied to the humans from Earth. She's an Earth-made BB.

What happened after that, BB?

A.D. 2999. Technology continues to regress even on Moon Dubai and the new humans go extinct.

"However, we don't know why this is happening. Without knowing why, we have no way of stopping it."

And that's it for this world. There are no further records.

So BB Dubai was originally a result of humanity's hubris, then their baseless fears drove them to throw her away.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the new humans then dragged her out of retirement and begged her to save them from themselves just as they were on the brink of extinction.

No wonder she wants to destroy them all and be free of them for good.

？！

Hmph. It's none of my business either way. I'm just saying what most would after learning about something like this.

Anyway, are you sure you have time for this? I thought you came here for Tenochtitlan.

Last I heard, she's waitingvery impatiently, I would addon the special floor up ahead.

Is this really the time to be thinking about BB Dubai or this mysterious Archetype?

？！

Hey! Why're you grabbing my collar!?

Let go of me, dammit! I'm not getting mixed up in any damn fistfight!

...

... ...

... ...

？！

Oh, for...! Why are you just standing around!? You're only wasting your time!

We can tell you're about to practically explode with rage, so if you have something to say, spit it out already!

And just so you know, if you're expecting this blockhead to read between the lines, you're going to be sorely disappointed!

？！

It seems you're right. Which would mean I've been let down yet again.

Welcome to my precious Dubai Frame, Master of Chaldea and affiliated Servants.

Normally, a treasure such as the Frame would only be open to a select few.

But I chose to open its doors to you on my own authority. Did you enjoy your time here?

So you WERE aware of our infiltration.

Then I'm guessing you chose not to attack us as a way of luring us in?

Of course. I've been monitoring you ever since you set foot inside our doors.

I could have sent my security forces after you at any time, but instead, I gave you free rein.

This is a museum. We would never turn away visitors. Especially not one with your wisdom and intellect, Master.

Any priest worth their cloth should know all about the city in which they live, and this was a perfect opportunity to learn more about this one.

So you pulled your security because Fujimaru was here? Is that it?

I bet it is. From the looks of things, you were probably giddy at the thought that Fujimaru had finally come to pay you a visit.

But then, something seemed off about him. He brought not a single present and he showed up with BB Cosmo.

On top of that, he then spent his time going around happily discussing the exhibits here with another boy around the same age as him.

"What is this, some kind of field trip? I'm sure this is all very fun, but can't they knock it off already?"

That's probably what was going through your mind as you started to get pissed off.

Right around then, Fujimaru learned about BB Dubai's true identity and finally resumed his search for you.

At this point, you finally realized:

"Hang on. Could it be that Master didn't come here to visit me...but to defeat me?"

This place is BB Dubai's Achilles heel. It's filled with her dark pasta past she doesn't want anyone else to see.

But, as the city's overseer, she's also not capable of destroying anything humanity left behind.

So instead, she entrusted her most faithful teammate to guard it in her place.

How ironic, then, that the very teammate in question should have security holes big enough to drive a truck through!

Tell me, how does it feel to know you betrayed BB Dubai's trust only for Master to forget all about you?

Go on now, Fujimaru. Say something to this poor, pathetic guardian!

Doesn't matter what you say. Whatever it is, it'll resolve this situation!

I'm standing right now, in case you hadn't noticed!

...

...I'm sorry. I can't. Not when it means turning my back on my friendship with BB Dubai.

？！

I just confirmed that my three security guards have all shut down. I'm guessing I have your vanguard to thank for that.

Now, I'm the only one left to defend BB Dubai. Rejoining your side now would probably be the smart thing to do.

But I still have my pride. I can't just come back home with my tail between my legs.

I thought a lot about it and made my choice to ally with BB Dubai.

As a city Elemental, I'm the only one who can understand her commitment to keeping Moon Dubai safe.

...I refuse to let another city suffer like I did.

Fight me, Tlamacazqui. Whoever loses this battle will have to obey the winner. No more need be said.

So you're refusing to join us without a fight, huh. You must take your responsibilities pretty seriously.

Honestly, I'm surprised you care about the pact you made with BB Dubai so much.

Huh!? What are you, stupid? This has nothing to do with my alliance with her!

My problem is that I've been waiting forever for a certain someone to deliver the gift he promised. And, after all this time, it's STILL nowhere to be seen!

So if I have to establish our relationship by force now, then I'm going to take a page out of my brother's Latin American playbook and do exactly that!

Aah!

？！

？！

...Well, you did win. So I guess I have no choice but to listen to you now.

Fine. I officially declare my alliance with BB Dubai defunct. At least, for the time being.

I'm willing to sweep that other matter under the rug, too. Though I do plan on addressing it again later.

And I do know how hard you all worked to keep Moon Dubai safe. So...

...I, Tenochtitlan, Elemental of the water-top city, agree to lend you my aid once again, Tlamacazqui.

This is all very touching, but time is a factor. We need to get moving; we're seriously low on time here.

We need to rendezvous with Mash's team outside and hurry back to Area A!

Without any plan? I can't imagine Tenochtitlan joining you alone will be enough to make a difference.

？！

Fine. I don't want you coming back and bothering me again, so I guess I can send you off with some advice.

But in exchange, I'm not moving from this spot. You can handle punishing her by yourselves.

That's fine. Go ahead, Mr. Hans.

According to what you told me, your biggest problems are the bath's temperature impeding your ability to think...

...and the mysterious way she recovered from wounds that would normally be fatal. Tenochtitlan should be able to do something about the bath...

...so let's focus on the part where injuries aren't fatal when they should be.

There was one summer a few years ago when she was blabbing on about how she was immortal after eating mermaid flesh.

In combat, it even seemed like she was actually immortal. However, it turned out to be an illusion.

I bet the same kind of thing is happening here. That she's bothering to claim she's immortal at all means it has limits.

Well, sure. In practice, being immortal really just means coming back to life if you happen to die.

But the fact that you CAN die means you're not protected from death, by definition.

To truly be immortal, you'd have to be completely impervious to injury, too.

Anyway, getting back to Kiara...

I remember hearing she struck massive areas all at once with brutal force during that summer horror incident, but she hasn't tried anything like that here.

I also scanned the entire bath back when we were fighting her, and the only Spirit Origin signal I detected was hers.

So it's definitely not like she's hiding anywhere.

She really is just instantly healing her Spirit Origin, making this all reward and no risk for her.

Even my time-reversing cheat skill, Domina Cornam, uses up a ton of magical energy whenever I activate it.

Mhmm. From everything you've told me, it sounds like this phenomenon is in effect constantly, not in response to her taking damage.

Which means Kiara's effectively invincible as long as she's in that bath.

Put another way, it's all a dream. That's why everything is so hazy, and why things always end up back the way they started.

So, you're saying we're trapped in a dream just by being in that bath area?

No, you're not the ones dreaming. Kiara is. Think of it as an extreme meditative state.

She's been able to make herself indestructible by essentially hypnotizing herself.

So then, um... You're saying as long as she thinks she's part of a dream, whether that dream is good or bad, nothing that happens to her will register as real?

So she is basically, uh...playing pretend by herself so intensely that she can ignore the outside world entirely?

Don't look at me like that. I feel silly saying all this, too. But the fact is, that's what she's doing.

So wake her up. Snap her out of it. You'll never get anywhere until you do that.

？！

Fair. The way she is now, everything you do probably just seems like the annoying but harmless skittering of insects.

You're dead tired. You went to sleep. A few lice crawling on you wouldn't wake you, right? It's a lot like that.

So, her biggest weakness is the fact that she's still human.

And what's the number one reason humans wake up even when they don't want to? You guessed it. Work.

For her, her work is her training. So to wake her up, you'll have to make her think her training regimen is about to begin.

How do we do that? Shine a bright light on her so she thinks the sun has risen?

No, that won't work. Monks start their days way before the sun rises. Their training begins with the ringing of a bell.

They call it "shinrei." It's basically a fancy bell attached to the end of a wooden handle.

Luckily, I know exactly what it looks like. Because I thought something like this might happen one day.

Here, take it. Ring that when she lets her guard down, and you'll see the results soon enough.

Don't be afraid to go nuts with it, either. The more irritating she finds it, the better.

？！

Isn't that how it usually goes? Nothing interrupts a good dream like some boring real-world nonsense.

Trying some big, dramatic way of waking someone up only leads to tragedy. Habits are the best way to rouse a dreamer.

Oh, one last thing. This isn't advice so much as a warning.

Kiara might be wasteful in a lot of ways, but she never wastes anything she gets her hands on.

She uses whatever she can get for maximum effect, then throws it away, all to make sure anyone she takes something from loses that much more.

If she demanded you leave someone behind, it's because she had a plan for them. I'd give up on rescuing Bartholomew if I were you.

Hey. If I'm completely off the mark here, I apologize, but there's something I just have to ask.

Why are you always so depressed?

You look like you're enjoying your life, but you don't care about being happy.

You rob people of their money, but you place no value on wealth. You've made a name for yourself as a pirate, but you don't use it to get what you want.

I don't understand. Why did you do all this? What were you trying to accomplish?

Accomplish? I wasn't thinking nearly that far ahead.

All I can do is set a goal for the next few months, use the haul to talk these scoundrels into helping me...

...lead harbor raids in the most cruel and brutal ways you can possibly imagine, and make off with rewards worth risking our lives over.

Then one day, after I'd repeated that cycle a number of times, I got shot in the throat and was dead before I knew it.

I'm no hero. I'm nothing of the sort. I was never anything more than a second-rate navigator at best, milady.

I'm not the kind of pirate you thought I was.

But everyone says you're one of the greatest pirates to ever live.

They say your death in the eighteenth century marked the end of the Golden Age of Piracy.

I always thought that whole age lost its sparkle when it lost you, one of its greatest stars.

Nah. That whole Golden Age thing was always a load of bunk. It fell apart way before my time.

When I first raised my flag, the time when you could go around freely pillaging and plundering was already coming to an end.

That's why I never gave any thought to the future.

"I'm here for a good time, not a long time. I've got a few years ahead of me at best."

That thinking was the only thing holding my fleet together. And it's not the kind of thing that lasts for decades.

If you can maintain relationships with dozens of pirate ships, keep track of their crews, and guarantee their food and provisions for a year, you've got the makings of a village.

If you can keep that arrangement going for ten years, you can call yourselves a legit country.

But I always felt like I was going to die before getting to that point. So I never felt any responsibility to make sure my crew's futures were seen to.

If I seem depressed, well, that's why.

I don't have any goals, or even much in the way of desires. As long as today is a good day, that's enough for me.

If I seem passionate, it's only because life is more fun that way. It's a technique, a means to an end. Everything I do is calculated, even my good looks.

I don't actually have any passions or regrets. I don't have any ambitions or yearnings, either.

I don't move myself; I'm just like this sail. We only move when we catch a tailwind that pushes us ahead.

Then, what about when you tried to get me back?

It was the same thing there, too. Without you, I had no ship. Without a ship, I had no way of getting food.

But, if I'm being honest, all that is secondary. The fact is, my staying behind was the best choice.

I'm of almost no help in battle, and I don't have the kind of passion or goals other pirates do.

I'm just an extra piece on the board. Nobody pays me any mind. If I disappear here, the others won't even notice.

Are you sure?

I'm sure. My Heroic Spirit rank is as low as they come. I am useless in battle. Now that Karna's back, there's no more need for me to

Not that. I mean, are you really sure you had no regrets? Nothing you yearned for?

Or was it that you did, but the things you wanted were already gone?

There, you see? That's why you never desired anything. Honor, dreams, adventure... It was all much too dangerous.

But in exchange, you achieved something no other pirate did.

In all of history, you were the only pirate with a crew of almost three hundred.

You were the only one who carefully planned out your raids, seized merchant ships, and escaped from the navy.

So please, don't say you're a useless Heroic Spirit.

You had everything going for you. Talent, ambition, charisma... You lacked but one thing.

Had you but had that one thing, you could have been the king of all the oceans.

Had you but had that one thing, you could have been free until the end of your days.

Had you but had that one thing...you would have stood firm against any of your rival pirates.

Do you know what that one thing is, Lord Bartholomew Roberts?

...Of course I do. It's...

Then what?

Then I wouldn't have lost to anyone. No one would have looked down on me. I could have lived my life freely, doing whatever I wanted.

And I never would've had to live down this humiliating reputation as the man who ended the Age of Piracy!

Ahhh... My tongue won't stop quivering... Such an incredibly fierce, yet incredibly empty wail of fury...

Who could possibly ignore such a heartfelt cry of lament?

Please, partake of my flesh. That is the only way to quell your grief.

Join me in immortality, and let us walk the path of salvation together...

...

...It's good. Better than I thought it'd be.

Huh!? What in the world is this luxuriousI mean, unbelievable sight I'm seeing!?

Who dared dump so many suds into this lunar city's sacred sea!?

I don't know how they got hold of all that detergent, but they deserve a thousand deaths for this transgression!

It doesn't seem like something a mermaid would do. This kind of ocean pollution is far beyonoh, wait. This isn't the ocean at all, is it?

If you just want to wash your body, it might actually be nice and clean?

As far as I can tell, this is just a very fancy bubble bath.

It's just as biodegradable as soap, so it won't harm the water. Won't make it any cleaner, either.

Yeah! It'll just leave a bunch of bubbles washed up on the shore! And who do you think'll be stuck cleaning THAT up!?

I've got a lot of pent-up resentment over being forced to scrub that damn poolside in the name of the greater good.

Now's my chance to finally get revenge on that stupid bodhisattva! Let's freaking go!

Area A's approval rating has reached sixty-nine percent! We're running out of time, Master!

？！

Why, I'm right here, of course. You didn't have to come running just to see me.

A true bodhisattva is devoted to saving all life equally. Beasts wriggling on the ground like yourselves may as well be dancing in the palm of my hand.

I could have crushed you the instant you set foot on my little beach, but never mind that.

I've planned something much more entertaining, which is why I had you all come here to my innermost reaches.

Don't listen to anything she says, Master. We don't have any time to spare. Just use the thing.

？！

Not another step, Fujimaru. At this distance, I'd have no trouble putting a bullet right between your eyes.

You seem to have a plan of some kind, but don't expect to just walk in here and pull it off.

None of your attacks are going to reach her.

I'll shoot them all down before they get a chance. Mistress Kiara has given me more than enough power to do that.

？！

Hm? You seem less surprised than I was expecting. Well, that's no fun. Now I won't get to enjoy demolishing you nearly as much as I thought.

I can't get a proper reading on Bartholomew's Spirit Origin, but...it appears to be exhibiting the same kind of anomaly as Sessyoin Kiara!

I can't believe someone as upstanding as you would let yourself be taken in by her, Bartholomew...

Upstanding? Ridiculous. Giving people more credit than they deserve is just another way of being sardonic, Mash.

What did you think pirates were, anyway? We betrayed each other, even attacked and killed each other all the time.

The truth is, I chose to join Mistress Kiara. Freely.

Indeed. Lord Bartholomew was all too happy to cosign my proposal for humanity's annihilation.

Accomplished Heroic Spirits like yourselves could never hope to understand.

He sought my salvation to free himself from his misfortune of his weak heart and the suffering he endured thanks to the poor hand he was dealt in life.

？！

A wicked life devoted only to killing and plundering. A life of a born loser filled with regret and compromise.

So he cast aside his cheap third-rate Spirit Origin and was reborn as my disciple to overcome that contradiction.

All who oppose me are vermin. And so he swore he would cut them down mercilessly, be they parent, friend, or lover.

Isn't that right, Lord Bartholomew? You WILL lend me your aid, won't you?

I swear to Godno, you're all about the Buddha, aren't you? I swear to the Buddha, I would die for you.

In exchange, I ask only that you keep your promise to change your hairstyle once I've dealt with them.

I'm not asking for much. Just covering up one eye will be more than enough. That way, our compatibility will be off the charts.

...He's completely entranced. He might be sane, but he's also very much not.

Totes. I can't believe one little promise of hidden eyes was all it took for him to be like, "Yeah, I'm all about that," with Sessyoin.

Honestly, I kinda have to admire the guy's consistency. Here he is, brainwashed by the enemy, and he still manages to be the same pathetic pervert as always.

Guess I'll have to get serious enough to finally put him outta our misery. A chainsaw to the neck oughta be quick at least.

Teehee. I knew you Heroic Spirits wouldn't let me down!

So valiant! You'll fight anyone to save the world! Friend, parent, lover, anyone!

Ahhh... What a horrifying turn of events.

On one side, a champion of those freed from their former lives of suffering. On the other, champions of justice, focused on the suffering this life has in store.

Neither side is in the wrong, but each must kill the other.

Ahhh, my climax is close at hand... This is exactly why I can never give up playing at salvation...

Now then, there's no time to waste.

Once my ratings hit seventy percent, I'll be free to do whatever I like.

I wonder. Are you cold-blooded enough to slaughter your former comrade in arms and punish me at my peak to save the world?

By all means, you're welcome to try. I look forward to watching you from the best seat in the bathhouse.

Huh!?

You broke my meditation!? My state of samadhi that even I can't bring myself out of!?

No... That's not possible! How could you possibly uncover my secret!?

You know as well as I do there was no secret. I was in the same dream you were, that's all.

So I took advantage of that to talk to you from behind. The sheer surprise must have woken you up.

？！

You, on the other hand, don't seem surprised at all, Master. How did you know I wasn't actually taken in?

？！

？！

I see. That explains it. It's true, I do have more confidence than most.

That's why I was able to resist that suspicious flesh, and why I was able to empty my mind.

I figured she'd take hold of me for real if I worried too much. That was my big mistake in life; I wasn't about to repeat it here.

So you didn't actually eat the mermaid flesh... Then you must have spat it out before you swallowed.

But even if that's true, it still doesn't make sense.

You're a scummy pirate who went around raiding harbors, attacking ships, and robbing countless people of their wealth and lives.

It shouldn't be possible for you to resist the temptation of immortality when it's right before your eyes.

If you had that potential, you wouldn't have such a paltry Spirit Origin, barely deserving of the name, to begin with!

...

Aha, now I see. So that's where you went wrong.

It's true that Bartholomew Roberts was a miserly pirate. It was just pure luck that heI, managed to remain a captain for three years.

I swore I would only kill people on the sea, yet as you said, I still robbed countless people of their lives during my raids on their harbors.

Not to mention that by taking all the food and money they had, I condemned many I didn't kill directly to starvation.

I could say that's just what those times were like, but I won't. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now.

Heroes great and small may be killers, but pirates are inhumane scum on top of that.

Which is exactly why...

...I never expected to live a long life. That's why I made up my mind when I went from being a sailor on a slave ship to a pirate.

I decided I was going to take the joy, pain, love, and sin that usually goes into decades of life, and pack it all into a scant few years.

I knew the only path open to me was to take everything about Bartholomew Roberts and condense it.

If someone had happened to interview me, I would have told them, "I have no intention of making it to old age. I plan to live life on my own terms until my time is up."

That's the kind of person I am. Even as a scummy low-life pirate, that's the one thing I can be proud of! If Blackbeard were here, I'm sure he'd say the same thing.

Immortality? Never crossed my mind. My only wish then and now was to die at sea!

...Well done. It seems I truly did have you all wrong.

A pirate ship is still a ship. I was quite happy at the thought that I would get to decorate my ocean with an ornament befitting a mermaid princess...but alas.

Now that things have come to this, I see no way to resolve matters between us but with violence. So I will run your ship aground before the storm, just like in the history books.

You're gonna transform again!? That's playing dirty, dammit! Why don't you fight us fair for once!?

Teehee. Why should I, a human, lower myself to the level of insects like yourselves?

You may have gotten lucky and stopped my meditation, but thanks to my Multi-Colored Tranquility, I am still the same bodhisattva I was before.

My body is now a grand spectacle drifting upon the lunar sea. Struggle all you like, insects. I will hardly notice you.

This will be our grand finaleour last and greatest battle.

You may be the hope of humanity, Lord Fujimaru, but I am the last hope for Moon Dubai.

If you cannot defeat me, you haven't a hope of banishing the great evil that awaits you.

So stand tall, hold your head high, and let us settle this face-to-face. I look forward to seeing how long you can last in the path of this torrent of water.

That's right♡ Congratulations on beating Kiara without even using Melt's Deathwhip♡

You really have grown a lot, Master. I don't think you even need my help anymore.

？！

Would you mind not rubbing your victory in my face, please? You only won because things worked out perfectly for you.

Between Lord Bartholomew's pride, Lady Tenochtitlan's sublime temperature adjustment, and your valiant efforts moving me in spite of myself, you frankly had everything going for you.

You owe your victory entirely to coincidence, nothing more.

Besides, have you forgotten? I'm still Area A's Moon Cancer.

I can still draw on all the resources I want from the countless citizens who...

...support me? Excuse me for one second.

？！

And yet, she doesn't seem all that different? Certainly nothing like the Super Bodhisattva I was dreading.

...What a shame. I knew this might be a possibility, but still.

If even I'm not enough, then this world truly is done for.

BB Dubai pinned all her hopes on me. She must be so terribly disappointed.

Now, there is no one left who can save Moon Dubai. No... Who can save this world's people.

？！

...

You know what I mean, don't you?

BB Dubai decided to hold this competition because nobody knew what caused the people of this world to die out.

It's rather like trying to fill in an answer sheet after a test has already ended. In this case, the answers in question are about humanity's extinction.

BB Dubai was desperately hoping someone could come up with an answer, even after the fact.

That way, even if humanity is dead and gone now, there would at least be some record to say:

"The people of this world may have been powerless to stop their fate, but their history is still worth remembering."

...That's true. BB Dubai did say something like that when she proposed we form an alliance.

"Whatever method of extinction is chosen, it's still better than a complete unknown."

But, who's that answer sheet going to be submitted to? Is there someone above even BB Dubai?

No. BB Dubai stands at the top of Moon Dubaithis entire world.

There is no one above her.

But, powerful as she may be, she is still ultimately no more than another character in this world's cast.

Even she cannot hope to hold a candle to that which oversees the very world.

In other words...what she fears is nothing less than humanity itself.

That is why she came up with this contest; she wanted to overcome humanity's own evaluation of this world.

Overcome humanity's evaluation... Establish how this world's people died out... How the world itself came to an end...

Wait. I know this future is a parallel world, but are you also telling us

I am. This fleeting universe will soon be subjected to the Pruning Theoretical Phenomenon.

We have tried everything we can think of, including any and all possible methods of extinction, but to no avail.

The history of this world's people will be cut off in 2999, just as planned.

Then, it will be removed from the universe's oversight...

...and pruned away from all of human history.

But why? Moon Dubai created a new humanity and a peaceful, self-sustaining world to house them.

It's not as though it's being ruled at the whim of a single remaining god. There should be no reason to prune it.

Exactly. The new humanity may not have much desire to grow and change, but they're just as artistic and creative as humans have ever been.

I don't understand why this world would be considered a dead end. But I'm guessing you do, Kiara.

You've taken in tons of these new humans' souls, including the former mayor of Moon Dubai, right?

...I have. And I do.

The answer, of course, is that they committed an unforgivable sin.

The new humans made something that should never have existed.

Something that exterminated the humans of this world and will ultimately be responsible for it being pruned away.

As a matter of fact, you've heard that certain something's name a number of times already.

Wait, really? Even someone like me, who's barely gotten to see any of Moon Dubai because I've been stuck slaving away here?

Oh yes. I'm quite certain you were among the first to hear this name, Lady Xu Fu.

That said, while this name should be familiar, it is also pronounced a bit differently than you may be accustomed to.

In the magecraft world, the moon has long served as a bulwark for Earth.

For tens of thousands of years, it has been an enormous umbrella shielding our world from evil things that lie beyond it.

But, sometimes the shadow is cast by the sheltering hand, especially when you want to look up at the sky, no?

In this case, this particular umbrella's illusion verged into the extreme, becoming a canopy that envelops everything underneath it.

It permeated the collective consciousness, insisting "humanity is fine just the way it is" and "civilization needn't grow any further."

It appears whenever humanity sets its sights upon outer space, exerting an invisible peer pressure that hinders any and all attempts to expand or develop beyond our world.

In time, this phenomenon came to be known as "Moon Cancer."

It is an insidious lunar force which would grab hold of any prime species attempting to escape Earth's pull, taking humanity by the head and dragging it back to the ground.

？！

Um... Does the fact that we're Moon Cancers mean we're ultimately going to become Tlamacazqui's enemies then?

Hehe. No cause for concern there. The name for the Moon Cancer class comes from BB.

She is an obstacle to humanity, not a threat. If anything, she's more like a trial to help it become its best self♡

You can be as cute as you want about it, but you aren't fooling me. You're going to pay us back, WITH INTEREST, for all the wicked things you've done!

Oh my. I only had you working twenty-four hour shifts for a paltry seventeen days. Your endurance really leaves something to be desired, Lady Xu Fu.

Frankly, I'm surprised to hear you don't care for training, considering what a renowned Taoist you are.

Don't be stupid! There's a time and place for everything! If I were with Lady Yu, I could handle centuries' worth of training, no sweat!

Oh. It seems this is it for me. Ah, and still so far from satisfied...

In my own way, I did the best I could to prevent this world from being pruned...

...but it seems that too amounted to no more than another virtuous act of self-gratification.

Very well then. I will continue to meditate on your success once I make my way back to Chaldea.

W-wait! Andersen is here, too! Don't you want to see him before you go!?

Why would I want to do that? He has nothing to do with me. If he's here right now, he can do whatever he likes for all I care.

Him being little more than a useless old man with an obstinate streak, I expect he'll be making his way back to Chaldea, tail firmly between his legs, soon enough.

You're wrong, Sessyoin. Earlier, you said we owed our victory to coincidence.

But we had a plan in place to deal with your meditative state all along. Take a look at this bell.

Andersen assured us it would be quite effective on you. We just never used it because Bartholomew saved us the trouble.

？！

...

(Uh-oh. Did we just step on a land mine in a lava field?)

Teehee. May I say something? My village never used bells to rouse us in the morning.

You could have rung that bell all you wanted, and it wouldn't have made a bit of difference. Hohohoho.

？！

It would seem Lord Bartholomew's stock has risen yet again, while a certain stubborn author's continues to crash.

At least I can go back home taking solace in that knowledge. In fact, as thanks for that little tidbit...

...I can tell you that I kept the sandship in good condition while you were away. You can use it to get back to Old Dubai if you like.

Hehehe. It seems your uncharacteristic gambit continues to pay significant dividends, doesn't it, Mr. Roberts?

I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it's good to hear the guide is all right.

Then, I bid you all a final farewell. I'll be praying that this whole city doesn't disappear like so much sea foam.

Yup. They finally let me out of bed. I got plenty of rest, so I'm ready to get back into the fight anytime.

Same here. After an intense treatment regimen of Chakerim's desserts, I am combat ready once again.

Hm? Have you stopped being a bad girl, Tenochtitlan? I'm so glad you came back to your senses!

Excuse me, I was always in full control of my senses. I was just honoring a pact I made as a city Elemental, that's all.

So when you decided to wear that bunny suit, you say you were completely sane? You really are a natural-born villain.

I've had this sense for a while, but now I'm positive you could do great things in the Servantverse, Tenoch.

You've even got a giant robot for your Noble Phantasm all ready to go. Plus, you formed an alliance with BB Dubai, even if it was only temporary.

You can activate your robot when you're not on Aztec land, even all the way up on the moon. That's a big deal.

Hell, you're practically a Servantverse Servant already.

Don't be so hard on her. We all joined an enemy at one point. Let's just be glad we're all back together now.

I can't tell you how grateful I am to all of you for fighting so hard while the rest of us were making mistake after mistake.

Oh, I was just lucky this time. If you and I had been sent to different places, I'm sure our roles would have been different as well.

That's true! And then we would never have gotten to see Emperor Percima in action!

A-at any rate, it looks like you took care of matters in Area A. Congratulations on a job well done, Master.

On that triumphant note, let's head down to Main Street. We have more good news for you.

Fujimaru! You're back! Check this street out! We managed to get it back to how it was before, more or less!

We could never have done this if you hadn't helped us escape!

It's true. We were basically in hibernation mode while we took shelter at the mall.

It was your encouragement that helped us return to our regular processing speeds. Thank you for that.

There are still some people left at the mall, but I'm sure they'll repair their minds in good time.

Uh, you're welcome, but we really didn't do anything speOh, wait. Now I see.

Us just...doing something of our own volition was enough to encourage all of you, wasn't it?

That's right. We saw how we were supposed to be acting and adjusted our behavior accordingly. It's the most fundamental of learning techniques.

？！

Oh, right. Now that Main Street has been repaired, does that mean Jinako's hideout has been as well?

Yes, that was one of the first buildings we restored. There's no one there now, of course, but we all felt it was important.

Would you mind if I used it, then?

Some of the equipment Jinako used to regulate Old Dubai's infrastructure might still be functional.

Yes, of course. It would be wasted on our frames, anyway.

？！

I am. Sorry to worry you, Master. I'm very embarrassed at being out of commission for so long.

But as you can see, I managed to heal myself completely, so please let me keep helping you!

Oh, and just for the record, Edison's treatment capsule did absolutely nothing to help me recover!

It might look like a really impressive invention, but it's really just a fancy sleeping mask!

Nooo! She finally speaks, only to deliver a full-throated rejection!

I mean, you're right. My capsules may not be adequately equipped to analyze and repair High Servants, but still!

So you ultimately ended up healing yourself? You Sakura Five are pretty impressive.

Well, of course they are. I made them primarily with essences from multiple goddesses and threw in the essences of some legends to top them all off.

They're the best Alter Egos I could have asked for!

And you still threw us away like trash. No wonder we have issues, considering how flawed our source AI is.

Mwahahaha, that's what you get for neglecting your creations, BB! Lip, if you ever want to sue her for damages, just let me know! Believe me, I'm no stranger to the courtroom!

？！

Right. We should go over everything that's happened so far so we're all on the same page.

Now that we have defeated Kingprotea, Anki Ereshkigal, Archetype: EARTH, and Sessyoin Kiara...

...the Final Boss of Humanity's Annihilation Showdown should be nearing its end.

The only Moon Cancer left now is Kazuradrop.

And the good news is, Kazuradrop is on our side. She wants to stop BB Dubai just as much as we do.

Really? Hmm. Then, I was able to remain in Moon Dubai because

Yup. It's all down to her little stamp.

You, Percival, and I were already under her protection when BB Dubai tried to banish us.

Hm?

Is something wrong, Ms. Ciel?

No, not...wrong. I think we just may have a little misunderstanding.

As far as I can tell, Nikitich, Xu Fu, and XX Alter are in the same boat as you three.

They all have a hole in the magecraft protection on their right hand that's ready to be filled with Kazuradrop's support at any time.

And neither Lip, nor Sir Hakuno, nor BB Cosmo, nor yourself have this, correct?

Correct. Let's see... No, it's impossible to disable, too. Looks like Kazuradrop is the only one with the necessary privileges.

Ohh, now I see. Kazura didn't actually want to work with us to defeat BB Dubai.

She meant to form an allianceor rather, a contract with you, so that you'd accept her Noble Phantasm unconditionally.

Um... Would this also have anything to do with the way Percival, Nikitich, and Bartholomew vanished during Kingprotea's first attack?

Almost certainly. What happened to you three when you disappeared back then?

Nothing, really. We were just fighting in an empty plain filled with Demonic Beasts the whole time.

Right. I'd never seen anything like those weapons and Demonic Beasts.

If you hadn't been there with us, Nikitich, I think I might have ended up succumbing to their onslaught.

？！

BB, isn't

Yup. That's Kazuradrop's Noble Phantasm, all right.

I couldn't detect it while I was stuck in the mall's roof, but I can see now that you three didn't actually disappear when Kingprotea attacked.

In fact, at that moment, Kazuradrop's Noble Phantasm had the three of you in a kind of special state.

Special state?

But, wait. The only other Spirit Origin signal there at the time belonged to Kingprotea.

Kazuradrop's signal was nowhere to be

She WAS Kingprotea.

Kazuradrop has the ability to absorb Spirit Origins of the same kind as hers, allowing her to gain their power.

In this case, the same kind meant a fellow member of the Sakura Five...

...and a fellow Servant BB Dubai had turned into a Moon Cancer.

The Kingprotea who attacked you was an imposter.

It was actually Kazuradrop, who had absorbed Kingprotea's Spirit Origin and transformed into her.

Then, as Protea, she went on to consume Astolfo and Jinako and take their resources as well.

The reason Kazuradrop formed that alliance with you was so she could use her Noble Phantasm to instantly neutralize each of you as soon as you found out it was her.

？！

Hang on. Does that mean...I would have been a target for her depredations as well?

Of course it does. The only reason you're still alive is because your Master, Ben, was quick to see what was happening.

If he hadn't convinced you to escape, you'd be in Kazura's stomach right now.

Wait, hang on again. Does this mean, much as I'd like to believe otherwise, that the Beast came to me not because she recognized my talents, but because

Yup. I'm sure it was Kazura who sent her your way.

We never did figure out how a Beast from a whole other universe ended up here in the first place.

But, since BB Dubai clearly wasn't involved...

...that leaves Kazuradrop alone on Moon Dubai in the year 3000 with the motive and opportunity.

There's a very strong chance that she used Moon Dubai's quantum computer...

...to broadcast a signal to parallel universes that lured in the Beast.

So she intended to use the Beast's power to chip away at BB Dubai's.

I see. So that's why Kazuradrop didn't contact us when Protea started acting up.

That would obviously have been impossible while she was rampaging as Protea, plus she would have been seriously wounded after Protea Alter defeated her.

I'd guess she's been laying low since then, waiting until the other Moon Cancers were weakened before she makes her move.

So, her telling us not to bother investigating Area F was probably just to keep us away from Protea.

And she asked us to investigate Area H specifically because she was targeting its Moon Cancer.

Damn, so she's actually as dangerous as Sessyoin!? And we're just gonna leave her out there!?

Where is Kazuradrop now, anyway!? Oh crap. Don't tell me she's actually standing right behin

She's with BB Dubai.

？！

There are no other Moon Cancers left for her to absorb.

She can't come after Kishinami or myself now that we're here with Fujimaru.

And the other Moon Cancers she was planning to attack once weakenedArchetype: EARTH, the Beast, and Kiarahave already disappeared.

So there's only one option remaining for Kazuradrop to go after:

BB Dubai, who still thinks Kazuradrop is on her side.

？！

What's going on? It's still the middle of the day; why did the sun go out?

No, never mind that now. More importantly, the network's down! Is it working for you!?

No, it's no good here, either! In fact, we don't have power for anything anymore!

What in the world

Hello, wise and intelligent new humans. Good day, foolish and ignorant new humans.

I have an announcement for all intelligent beings currently residing on Moon Dubai.

The Final Boss of Humanity's Annihilation Showdown has concluded with a new, final proposal.

Wonderful news, to be sure, though I am afraid you will all be disappointed in the results.

This new proposal is, "Humanity is wiped out in an AI-triggered apocalypse."

This proposal has been finalized, and will be carried out immediately.

Effective immediately, Moon Dubai will permanently cease all city-related functions.

Effective immediately, Moon Dubai will no longer be tasked with preserving civilization.

It is currently 4:27 p.m., Human Standard Time. At midnight tonight, the last remnants of Earth's humanity will meet their end.

Please savor the foolish, wasteful acts of consumption in which you have engaged thus far as you welcome your final moments in this world.