Act Two: The Audience, Part Two

... ...

...?

Huh!? Wh-what the!? What is this place!?

I-I could have sworn I was just alone in my room...

...enjoying my weekly ham and sausage feast away from the others, to say nothing of that little animal's prying nose. What's going on?

Am I sleepwalking? Is that what this is?

Maybe I should have taken Da Vinci's advice and gone in for a regular checkup after all...

A-at any rate, I'm the head of Chaldea! The mental support pillar holding up the entire organization by myself!

I can't let my staff relax their focus now. Not when we're in the middle of a war.

I need to head back to my (still under construction) director's office to make sure we all get out of this alive!

All that aside, where am I, anyway? Is this the way out...?

Whaaaaaa!?

Who are you lot!? S-stay back! I said stay back, dammit!

So that's how it's going to be, is it!? ...Very well, I have my scrolls and my Mystic Code. I can fight back handily!

Take this! Perplexing Gof Punch!

Bewildering Gof Punch! Intimidating Gof Punch!

Hehe... Hahahaha...!

Pitiful! They're all far too weak! Or perhaps I'm just too strong?

All that aside, even I can't quite believe I took care of this many enemies so quickly...

I suppose I must have grown more than I realized over the course of this journey.

Heh. It seems I have awakened the beast within me...

I may be a particularly late bloomer... So late that I almost didn't make it in time, but nonetheless...

Oho, so there's still more of you, are there!? Don't you realize you're hopelessly outmatched!?

I have no interest in kicking those who are down, especially when they're already a full lap behind, but if you mean to attack me, then you leave me no choice.

I need to get back to the people eagerly awaiting my return! Now move aside, for I am become death, destroyer of...you!

(Yes! I've always wanted to say something like that!)

Phew. Seeing all those puppets attack us without so much as blinking is kind of creepy, if not downright scary.

Yes, it was terrifying how many there were. Lucky for us, they weren't very strong...

I agree. I may have lost some of my power, but I can still handle these enemies just fine.

And since I have all of you helping too, I don't think we'll have any trouble making progress.

？！

...

Master, may I ask a favor of you?

？！

Weak though these attendants may be, I think it would be better if we didn't destroy any more of them than necessary.

I ask this simply because all thingsliving or otherwisehave value in the Buddha's eyes.

So you think we should treat everything with respect, even if it lacks a soul? I can get behind that!

Okay, let's not get carried away and go around destroying any more of them than we have to.

？！

You have a kind heart, Lord Fujimaru. I like that very much.

Everyone should be sympathetic to those who lack power, regardless of how high they may rank.

The fact that you can summon up that kind of sympathy even in circumstances as tense as these...

...speaks volumes for your inner strength of character. I see that you are not merely repeating what you've heard, but truly believe what you say.

Yes, I'm very impressed. There's a good boy. (Pat pat)

Is she treating Master like...a child...?

？！

Oh, I'm sorry. Force of habit!

Long ago, I decided that whenever I praised a child, I would do so with all my strength, and that I would pat their head whenever I did so!

And now, it's a habit that's very hard to break. I'm truly sorry if I made you uncomfortable.

？！

At any rate...thank you all for indulging such a selfish request.

You really believe in mercy, don't you? I guess you really are as gentle as you look, Kiara.

...No, it's not that. I simply seek salvation, in accordance with my faith.

(Yes... After all, I feel nothing at all when we destroy these dolls...)

(Not to mention that these attendants were clearly designed by someone for a specific purpose.)

(I cannot let Master down in the face of such an insidious trap. Whatever the one who planned all of this is plotting, we mustn't make it easy for them...)