Chapter 16: The Pain of Phantom Limbs Page 123 sfx: oooo sfx: step b1: -?! Page 124 b1: What are you doing? Shoot the god with your Angelic Rifle! b3: Have you forgotten your mission?! b1: ...I've come. b2: to God's domain. Page 125 b1: I have recovered my "self". b2: With Eliza and Alice's help... b3: I've been able to help you. b1: With the "Pain" restored to you, despite any twisting, you became able to control your powers. b2: Thus in the moment when you "reset" things, you allowed me to awake the "me" within myself. b1: That's right, isn't it? b1: ...? b2: What's wrong...? Page 126 b1: ...Why do you remain silent? b1: Please, respond. b2: Hey! b1: Open your eyes! b1: ...tch! b2: ...WHY?! b1: I was certain this time b2: we could become one, but...?! b1: ...So that's how it is? b1: ...?! Page 127 b1: You plan to defile God once again?! b2: The Great Blaze wasn't enough for you?! b3: It's just as Lord Archangel feared... [No. 47...?!] sfx: stagger sfx: thump b1: ...?! Page 128 b1: -...? b2: W... what? b3: My body isn't... sfx: ugh b1: -... b1:... b2: From being so close to god, huh... sfx: creak b1: [The effect of the twisting is too powerful]. b2: [I wonder if this body is of no use after all?] [Red eyes...?!] b1: ? b2: What? b3: Just now... sfx: shhf b1: ?! Page 129 sfx: click b1: -What's going on here?! b2: Where'd the god... and Lord Archangel go?! b1: What the hell is happening?! [No. 47!] b1: ! Page 130 b1: Lord Archangel! b1: No. 47. b2: Will you assist me? b1: Yes, sir! b2: Even if the cost is my life! b1: [Had it not been for the Malkuth taking me in, I would have died in the streets. [Until then, I hadn't thought much] [about matters of the world, though...] Page 131 b1: I will transfer a large amount of data to the Consciousness Orb fused to your body. b2: It will replace the existing data. b3: ...Huh? b1: At this distance, with God's consciousness orbs nearby, it might be feasible. b1: It's a blessing that I'm able to control this. b2: [That voice... where is it coming from...?] {note: bottom right} b3: [Lord Archangel?!] b4: It could be because you have opened your heart to me. b1: No. 47 b1: I'll be taking this body. Page 132 sfx {left} : zzzlrp sfx: {mid} Auuuuuuuugh! sfx: twitch sfx: snap Page 133 sfx: ooo b1: It has been some time since I stood on "my own" two legs. b1: Had it been an artificial consciousness orb, it may have been possible to share ownership to some degree, but... b1: You purified the clones, didn't you? b2: The researcher angels confessed it. Page 134 b1: That's why I guided you to the illusion I created of God's domain. b2: To understand your objective. b1: -...! b1: ...Do you plan to fuse with God? b1: Why? b2: Have you regained your memories from before? b3: There's no way, but... b4: ... b1: ... Very well. sfx: ggshing! b1: I'll just have to do it over again... Page 135 sfx: thud sfx: slam! sfx: crunch sfx: ooo [ugh] b1: -ghh... Page 136 sfx: twitch b1: [P...] b2: [Purify...] b1: Lord... b2: Archangel... b1: -...! b1: -Much as I would like to kill you right now... b2: I can't let your purification abilities pass from this world... b1: I'll erase your memories again. Page 137 b1: Though you may feel the pain of death many times b2: and the pang of your sins when you live again b3: it is appropriate for your crimes, b1: and commensurate to my hate of you. sfx: clench b1: ...ch... [Purify!] sfx: shffft b1: ?! b1: An illusion of the Littles?! b2: Tch... Page 138 sfx: flap b1: [Purify me!] [Take my idea sephirah!] b2: [The "true form of God's pain"!] b1: [Use his "consciousness orb" to return it to Mother's side!] [It can kill grotesques...] [And even purify God if shot...] [The Littles' essence. He's linked to other consciousness orbs, so if it's transmitted...] [And his real form won't be hurt...] Page 139 sfx: grip b1: -wh...?! sfx: glare b1: Ghhgh! Page 140 sfx: Gyaaaaah sfx: aaaa sfx: sprlll sfx: zrrrrrrrl {melting} Page 141 sfx: woosh sfx: haaah Page 142 sfx: flutter flutter sfx: ssshhh sfx: rustle Page 143 b1: ...gh Page 144 b1: ... Page 145 b1: ...Are you surprised? b2: That's right. b3: This is my actual body. b1: Back then... b1: When the Great Blaze happened, b2: And I took action to stop b3: your sinful attempt to merge with God... sfx: slice! b1: Stop! [Don't cut us in two!] Page 146 sfx: thwack Page 147 [g...gh] sfx: twitch sfx: Gyaah Page 148 sfx: rustle b1: I wished to save humanity from the effects of *your* fusion with god...! b2: To think that after that, b3: I would be run through with the needle of a consciousness orb... b1: That's how insane God became... b2: ...or rather, b1: At that point it was something apart from God. b2: A human-like being bearing the powers of a god. b3: A god with a humanlike will is not capable of ruling correctly! b1: That is why we must purify God and become a new God, create a new world! b2: We must save this twisted world from itself... b1: You understand? [-But...] Page 149 [But] [Is that truly "saving" it?] b1: We must create a world without the slightest taint of chaos! [Is such a thing even possible?] [Is that not] [a delusion that you yourself hold?] [If you haven't noticed it yourself] [that, in turn, is a twisting of your own consciousness/] [That is...] b1: ...Don't you understand?! b2: Listen to the words I am saying! b1: ... b1: You understand, right? b2: Now, come closer... Page 150 b1: Enter the consciousness orb beneath me. b2: It leads to God's chamber. Worry not. b3: You recall the simulator, right? It's the same thing. b4: The "door of light"... that is this consciousness orb. b1: ... b2: I'm counting on you. b1: Go and purify God. I beg you. b2: With its idea sephirah, we can create a new world. b1: Join me, and create the perfect world! [...This man...] [Why?] [Why is he...] Page 151 [Don't you understand?!] b1: ?! [This world is so horribly twisted.] [Why can't anyone else see it...?] [Arch...] [Angel?] Page 152 [I've always wondered that.] [The world is always becoming twisted, then recovering.] [It sits poised at a dangerous balance, and the outcome isn't always clear.] [Why doesn't anyone else notice?] [They put on a peaceful face, as if nothing is wrong.] [My parents, who tried to hide my pale hair and the color of my eyes,] [Don't even know their own selves...] Page 153 [I see those from time to time.] [What in the world are they?] [Do they absorb the twisting?] [Or, on the other hand...] b1: [...It's all right.] Page 154 b1: [I'm not twisting.] [Eliza...?!] [-No...] b1: You can't be in your big sister's room, child... b2: Your father will be furious! [-Big sister...?] [Archangel's...?] Page 155 [I've always been able to "see" the twisting around me.] [My older sister was becoming more warped by the day, I believe.] [There's no way to tell, now.] [As the days went on, she became unable to speak to others.] [Then finally, it was the cause of her death.] [The day she last drew breath,] [My father had become something not at all human.] Page 156 sfx: haah haah sfx: step step b1: haah b2: haah b1: Becoming more and more twisted day by day like this... b2: You understand? [But she was...] [Twisting in a way entirely unlike the rest of you!] b1: She will be happier this way. [No way!] [You just couldn't handle the embarrassment any longer!] [Have you truly not noticed at all...?!] Page 157 sfx: Uwaaaaan {alternate: whirling} b1: ... b1: ...! [Why is] [this world...] Page 158 sfx: oo b1: ...! [That's it!] [If I follow *those*] [I might find out.] b1: [Why the world is this way] [-What is making this world this way...] sfx: step b1: [If no one else in this world can see it,] b2: [I will...] sfx: ooo b1: [I will do it!] Chapter 17: Festival