Chereads / Simple man with his overpowered army / Chapter 36 - Ode to Pride: It all began with a tournament.

Chapter 36 - Ode to Pride: It all began with a tournament.

News of a series of riots across Lutah has circled around Elysium. People at Elysium and Nous at least have concluded that it most likely was due to the sin carrier of wrath. However, when Ill was vanquished, the riots didn't stop right then and there. Sure, most of the anger that wasn't there before was gone, but there was a certain mass hysteria going around the places that had most people involved in the riots.

On the other news, around two weeks later, a letter appeared in Lud's office. At first there was no issue, but when Lud noticed the sender, it said…

.

.

.

Weiss Ilumnos.

Lud handed the letter to the eighth battalion to see if there were any signs of magic in the letter, but the results proved that it was just a piece of paper.

So Lud readed, and it said:

"To His Majesty, King Faust Ilumnos of Elysium,

I write to you under the name Siew, though you may remember me as Weiss Ilumnos. There is a story behind my name, but that is not the purpose of this letter.

Soon, I shall arrive in Elysium with three intentions:

To negotiate the terms of a possible surrender.To engage in a duel with Song Bai.

I trust the Faust I once knew to be a wise man. You might assume that my challenge to Song Bai is born of a simple desire to best her, but I assure you, my motives run deeper.

On my name—both as Weiss Ilumnos and as Siew, the Sin Bearer of Pride—I pledge that I will not invoke the Mark of Sin during my stay in Elysium. I shall not raise my hand against anyone unless my life is directly threatened, with the sole exception being the duel between myself and Song Bai.

As one who has borne the Ilumnos name, I vow that I will not break my word, regardless of what may transpire during my visit. I expect that you, as a bearer of the same name, would not wish to tarnish its honor. The Faust I once knew would never have allowed such disgrace.

I will know when you have read this letter, and the day after, I shall present myself at your castle. I trust that you will observe the proper etiquette when we meet, along with those you choose to accompany you.

If Song Bai is unwilling to face me, inform her that this will be her only chance to encounter me without the Mark of Sin. On that day, I will be at my weakest. Should she fail to defeat me then, your timeline will become one of many I have erased with my power—if our negotiations do not reach a favorable conclusion.

You may refer to me as either Weiss or Siew, though I would prefer Siew, considering recent events. You may also inform your closest aides and subjects that I am the reason your Weiss had to die; I will bear that responsibility. Nevertheless, I expect all due decorum to be observed, despite personal feelings. I extend my condolences, though my expectations remain unchanged.

This outlines what I intend to do and what I expect from you all. Remember, 24 hours after you open this letter, I shall be at your doorstep, and then it will all begin.

I trust that all will proceed without incident, though the duel may add a touch of excitement.

Until our meeting in approximately 23 hours and 58 minutes.

Signed,

Weiss Ilumnos

P.S. Ensure that the arena receives additional protection from the Archon, if you have the means to contact them. I suspect they will act regardless of your efforts.

P.P.S. Should you encounter me before the appointed time, feel free to engage in conversation. I would welcome a more… informal discussion with any of you. However, I trust you will maintain the peace in such an event."

The letter ends with a stamp of Elysium's logo with some alterations.

Lud then realizes that Siew might already be in Elysium and he rushes to inform everyone with the legion's telepathy system.

Meanwhile, Siew, who obviously looks similar to Weiss but she has longer hair and she has clothes that have some purple in them but are mostly white, walks around the city while looking around. There is an ornament that shines purple and is hanging around one of the hoops on her jacket. She has a belt on her waist that holds a sword. The sword is inside a sheath that has engravings that only rich people would be able to afford, but still looking modest enough to pass by most eyes as little above ordinary.

She says "It is indeed as I expected. Though it has been through hardship in recent days, it still stands tall against all the adversity."

Then Siew pauses for a moment and says "Hmm… I wonder if the Caffé Bruléy exists in this timeline?" Her tail starts to shake as she says "I still remember that sweet taste of coffee in my tongue like it was yesterday. Oh how I long for that same kind of coffee. Let's search around a bit since we have the time."

After looking around, Siew sees that her favorite caffe exists in this timeline, so she goes there and orders her favorites. The cashier asks if she is related to Weiss in any way, and she answers with "Sort of, but if you have to say my name, it's Siew."

Siew sits calmly in the chair while the sun is shining. After taking a bite of her favorite snack, she gives the most innocent smile, puts her left hand on her cheek and says "Delicious." Her tail wags the whole time she is enjoying herself.

Meanwhile Tear herself is looking at Siew from the rooftop as well as other 9th battalion members.

Somewhere along her snacking, Siew raises up and says proudly "I am Siew! If you want to gaze at me, do so with pride, since you won't be seeing anything like me for the rest of your lives!"

Some people glanced at her before continuing whatever they were doing. Some even said out loud "What a weirdo."

Siew sits back down and continues to enjoy her time at the caffe. Tear of course knows that Siew just announced to all that are observing her that she knows about them. However, if this is something that Siew just expects and not actually notice is up to debate with some who spy on her at the moment.

Some time later, when Siew is about to finish with her stay at the caffe, Yi shows up. Yi and Siew share a glance before Siew waves at Yi. Yi doesn't know what to do, so she just walks past Siew. Siew mutters "If you were so curious as to come and look for me, then you might as well have joined me. Oh well. Not everyone's cup of tea, I suppose."

After Siew is done with the caffe, she goes back to her walk. She visits the zoo and explains some things about the animals they are looking for the children. 

After Siew is done going around the zoo, she leaves to the aquarium. There she does the same thing again as if she was a professional guide for the aquarium.

After Siew is done with the aquarium, she goes to several art exhibits and asks around about some of the paintings she hadn't seen before.

After Siew is done with the art exhibits, she goes looking for jewelry at several stores. She doesn't buy really anything as nothing seems to pick her fancy, but she does ask the people there if the items have any stories behind them.

After Siew is done with the jewelry stores, she goes on a boat ride to the Mythril Tower. The boat ride doesn't take long, but she manages to talk with several other people about the history of things in Elysium. There was a bridge to the island, but it was destroyed recently by Ill.

When Siew is on the island, she goes around looking at the automatons that take care of the village near the tower.

Eventually Li shows up and has a conversation with Siew.

Li starts with "Sin of Pride, Siew." 

Siew responds with "The Witness, Li Last. Or should I say, The End Seeker, Argus?"

Li says "I see that you know of my inner struggles." To which Siew says "I witnessed your inner turmoil first hand. So much so that you… Never mind. It doesn't matter now."

Li asks "What did you come to this island for? Aiming to destroy it?" 

Siew gives an answer "Not today, and hopefully there won't be need for it after tomorrow."

Li says "A negotiation for peace. You make it sound like there is a choice for us to make."

Siew says "The details will be discussed tomorrow, so I won't spoil them now."

Li says "After what Ill caused, you think that we are just going to let you all have your way?"

Siew says with confidence "I don't expect it to come easily, but I hope you understand that there won't be stopping Nemesis. He is as infinite as the abyss. No matter how many times you kill him, another one will emerge."

Li says "According to Eishi, the abyss isn't infinite."

Siew retorts "To Maumar maybe, but for us, it may as well be an endless sea that takes and takes."

Li asks "Then why did you join hands with Nemesis?"

Siew says "I have my reasons. One of which is that I wanted someone to remember the people that once were."

Li asks "Your timeline… what exactly happened to it?"

Siew answers "It was invaded by the swarm."

Li further inquired "Then why did you ally yourself with him if he took everything from you?"

Siew closed her eyes to contemplate for a moment and then said "I've made up my mind long ago to follow Nemesis. Why this is, is a secret that I'll take to a grave."

Li says "I see. So you might as well be as insane as he is."

Siew opens her eyes and looks at the sky "Man who wants to destroy the whole world can't be nothing else but insane. But for us sin carriers, we have our own agenda. Ilil had her wish to attain a perfect body. Raet had her wish for having children with the man she admired. Oren, well, had his dream of giving his people peace. Roth has and always will only wish to eat the gods and their essence. Ill only wanted to see everything burn or abolish religion in general. Riatla has her wish to sleep forever."

Li says "And what about you?"

Siew then looks back in front of her at the bustling town and says "To remember my people."

Li says "You mentioned it before. I should have known."

Siew starts to walk away as she says "But that is just in your nature, Li. To know everything about the world and maybe even experience everything there is. That is what my timeline's Li said anyways."

Li let's Siew walk away as he ponders "To experience everything, huh. Isn't that right…" Then he looks up to the sky himself and says "Right, our parent?"

While Siew is walking around, she sees Serene and Sisu writing on paper about stuff. Siew goes to ask what they are up to and then Siew realizes that they were planning on going to one of the rell temples that are on the island.

Siew says to them "Why don't you ask Sarah to come with you?"

Sisu is silent for a moment and Siew realizes that things are complicated right now, so she says "I see. I understand. Hope you have a great time. Seeya." Siew then leaves

The time finally arrived. Siew had her formal wear on, which didn't look too different from the one that she wore before. When Siew was at the gate of the castle, the soldiers saluted her as per Lud's wish.

When Siew entered the throne room, she saw many familiar yet odd faces looking at her. It didn't matter to her if the gazes gave her the sense that she was not welcomed there because her pride of being who she was overshadowed all the negative feelings.

When Siew was in front of the throne, she did not bow, which caused Liz to say "You told us to follow proper etiquette, yet you don't bow when greeting our king."

Siew responded "I bow to no one. Not even the terrible Nemesis himself. I think it is only proper for a queen not to bow for a king of the same status. Don't you agree, my dear Faust?"

Lud says "I think it is fine for you to not bow, though there are some discrepancies with this being a kingdom and you being a queen. Personally, I think it is proper to greet a host, but as I said, I think it is fine for you to not bow."

Siew says "I see that you have learned well from someone. Though I still think my Faust was much more kingly than you, but I think that is a matter of taste."

Lud says "Why don't we get to the main topic, shall we?"

Siew replies "Yes. It is good to see you again, my love."

This makes everyone in the throne room pause for a moment, until Lud gathers himself and says "I think you should refrain from calling me that, since it is not that version of me that you were engaged to. Or that what I assume your position was in your original timeline."

Siew says "You may be correct, but let me indulge a little to soothe my soul at least a bit."

Lud says "If you say so, but do bear in mind the animosity that grows towards you if you call me that again."

Siew says "Thank you for your worries. Let's get to the actual main topic."

Lud says "Negotiation for a peaceful solution."

Siew says "Yes. Let me go straight to the point. Hand the daughter of Maumar to Nemesis and I promise on my honor that I'll convince Nemesis to let this timeline stay as is until the finale arrives."

Lud says "I don't think that is my call to make." After which he turns his head towards Tifa.

Tifa then says "Yeah, I'm not going."

Without looking, Siew speaks to Tifa "You do realize that the swarm has the capacity to destroy all that you hold dear in this timeline."

Tifa says "I know, but I just don't care."

Siew continues "This timeline has been destroyed once before and Zolotifa has tried to stop us afterwards in the abyss without much success."

Tifa says "I still refuse."

Siew still continues "The only reason we are negotiating this now is because of the actions of the archon."

Tifa says "Do I need to repeat myself thrice?"

Siew then sighs, closes her eyes and says "I understand. It is unfortunate that we will have to be enemies."

Tifa just says "We were enemies from the beginning, so there is nothing lost here."

Siew says "No. There was. But since you want to play house for a while longer, I'll have to take the responsibility for missing a potential timeline that even Nemesis wouldn't touch."

Tifa says "If it were up to me, we would kill you now to save future trouble."

Siew keeps her eyes closed and says "You'd be wise not to do that, since if you force my hand, I will end you all like I've done many times before. Your presence here in Zolotifa doesn't change a thing. I can't say much about the archon, but I have confidence I can cut through her defenses if I take a hold of my sin. Granted, this would have to wait, since I promised that I wouldn't use it in today's visit."

Tifa says "Bold words for a kinsman to someone who I once controlled before."

Siew turns around to look at Tifa properly and says "I dare you to try and control me."

Tifa says "With pleasure" and tries.

When Siew doesn't get moved by Tifa's power, Tifa says "You under some sort of protection like the rest of these fuckers?"

Siew closes her eyes, smiles, shakes her head and says "No."

Then Siew opens her eyes and looks Tifa dead in the eyes and says "That is just how strong my will is."

Tifa says "I've heard many claim the same, but they have fallen all the same. As someone who carries the sin mark of Pride, I'd thought you'd never resort to lying. But here you are, spouting nonsense."

Siew makes a "Hmph" sound and then says "I'll let you know that ever since I took the title of queen of Elysium, I have never outed a single lie."

Tifa says "So says the liar."

Siew then gives a sigh and turns to face Lud again as she says "Convincing you doesn't seem to fulfill any purpose, so I'll stop here. Faust on the other hand, do you trust me?"

Siew looks deep into Lud's eyes and both stay like that for a moment. Then Lud says "I believe that it is possible that you speak the truth."

Siew then closes her eyes once again and says "So it seems I fall a little short this time. No matter, if my life doesn't end today, there will be many other such opportunities in the future."

Toki puts in awkwardly and says "So… does this mean you are done with the negotiations?"

Siew smiles and says "Yes, my little archon ambassador friend. Yes it is." 

Then Siew looks at Bai who is around the corner of her eye and says "So why don't we start the second part of why I'm here? I hope you all prepared a proper venue."

Lud then announces "We will now go to the grand arena built by Eishi herself."

Once there, Siew whistles to show she is impressed. Then she says "A proper venue for a proper duel. I hope that the duel itself will be satisfactory for the arena's majesty."

People have gathered in their seats to watch the match, the captains have been seated in their special seats as well as Lud and Tifa. The maids are at standby to serve the viewers this time and the match is broadcasted on all around the middle and lower realms.

Then the announcer, who is Xu, introduces the two people.

Xu announces "On the east corner, there is our lovely 100th finger. The best of her kind and always ready to have a session with her sisters. Please welcome… Song Bai!"

The crowd cheers as Bai walks in, though her face doesn't show any excitement.

Then Xu announces "Then on the west corner, there is a lovely woman that shares appearances with our lovely yet departed Weiss. The sin carrier of Pride herself… Please welcome… Siew."

Siew steps in and there are barely any cheers for her. Siew just says to Bai "Well if it isn't the hometown spirit. Cheering for one of their own but not doing the same for the outsiders. Though it is a little bit unsportsmanlike, I don't mind it this time as I heard what you all have been through in recent times."

Bai says to Siew "I will make sure to exterminate you."

Siew says "You may try, mentor from another timeline. You may try."

Then Siew opens her arms and shouts to the audience "Greeting! It is I! Siew! And here, on the honor of the people I hold dear, I swear to only defend for two minutes!"

The audience begins to chatter and Xu picks up from Siew and announces "You hear that folk?! The pretty lady says that she'll only defend for two minutes! But our dear guest, if I might ask, does this mean that you will only attack when the two minutes are up?!"

Siew shouts "That is correct, mentor from another timeline! That is correct! I will keep my blade in its sheath for two minutes to let our dear Bai here show the magnificence of the Elysium tech! During which time I hope we'll manage to see her go beyond her limit and show the absolute peak of Elysium technology! And if she and I are still standing after two minutes… I'll unsheath my blade and show the reach of what all Weiss' can achieve!"

Xu says "And so it shall be! Let's put a timer now, shall we!" And a moment later, a timer with two minutes on it appears on the screens.

Xu then says "Now then, we shall begin in 3…

2…

1…

Now!"

And that was when Bai made her first strikes with her swords, but Siew managed to block each attack with a sword that was in its sheath.

Bai began using all kinds of techniques to defeat Siew, but Siew managed to block and dodge in such an elegance that it left everyone speechless.

This continued for a while until Bai decided to make her killer move. She said "Qian Jian 69th form. Rapid. X10. Qian Jian 91st form. Lighting javelin. X61. Qian Jian 67th form. Lull. X25. And lastly Qian Jian 100th form. Deus Ex Machina."

The sound of a huge singular explosion echoed throughout the city, but thanks to magic from the 6th battalion, the sound was much more tolerable to everyone outside the arena.

Nevertheless, with one swing of her sword that was still in its sheath, the smoke that filled the arena disappeared in an instant.

Siew says "Only one minute left remaining Bai. Are you sure you are giving it your all?"

Bai shouted "Silence!" And repeated the killer move again, again and again.

This continued for 30 seconds with 15 killer moves unleashed in total.

Siew says "If you want to beat me, you'd have to do better than that. You are the absolute, right? So then… show me this "absolute". Show me the might of the 100th. Show me the might of the best finger. Show it to me and defeat me."

Bai unleashed 10 killer moves in ten seconds, which made her exhausted. The rapid explosions would make even Li reconsider his own possibility of surviving this barrage if he was going to face it head on. 

Nevertheless, Siew stood tall without a scratch on her body. The time remaining was now 10 seconds.

Siew shouted "Do you still remember that scene?! Do you remember the face that Weiss made when you held her throat tightly?! I remember! I watched it several times in the abyss and I can say that what she did in that moment was admirable!"

The timer hit 0, but Siew continued shouting.

"She didn't want you to be burdened with the memory of her death, yet you let it misguide you to not try your all! Do you…"

Bai shouts "I am trying my best! I am but still I fail! Again! Again! And AGAIN!" With the last again, Bai hit the ground hard with her fist.

Bai says "No matter how hard I try, I cannot defeat you! Is that what you want to say?! I cannot defeat you! I admit de…"

But before Bai can say defeat, Siew shouts "Don't you dare say it! Watch as all your sisters are rooting for you! Watch as they want to share their flame with you! The passion in their hearts! Do you think The Worst managed to face me with a half hearted flame?! She pushed herself to the absolute limit! No. Even beyond that! Are you saying that the worst of your sisters can beat you?! Look at them and give me the answer!"

Bai looked at the audience where her sisters were watching. Some of them were even having signs that were encouraging her to try her best.

Then she saw Yi's face. Still full of determination, Yi shouted "Go! Sister, Go!" Repeatedly. Soon the rest of the fingers start to shout the same thing at her. And even Jiushijiu shouted through the monitor that was watching the match from where she was.

Soon, the rest of the audience started shouting "Go! Sister, Go!" from the top of their lungs. Even the captains, Xu included, started to shout the same thing.

No, it wasn't only them… the whole city was shouting the same thing. "Go! Sister, Go!" Those who weren't able to get in the arena were shouting "Go! Sister, Go!" 

Those in the prison shouted "Go! Sister, Go!" 

Those star elves in their stations shouted "Go! Sister, Go!" 

People all over the Nous empire who were watching started shouting "Go! Sister, Go!" 

And even Li and Lud started shouting "Go! Sister, Go!".

The passion that the people of Elysium was putting into cheering Bai reached her. Reached her deeply.

But then Bai shouted "ENOUGH!!!" And the stadium, and the rest who were shouting, went quiet.

Bai shouted "I get it! One last attack! Is that good enough?!" The stadium and all who watched shouted "Yeah!"

Then Bai said to Siew "Sorry to have kept you waiting. If you don't mind, I have one last attack I still want to try."

Siew responded proudly "Of course I don't mind. Give me your best shot, mentor of another timeline."

Then Bai took a deep breath and focused. Then she said "Qian Jian 101st form. Deathrow Gambit."

With those words, Bai bursts into a blue flame and says "Killer move, type DG. Qian Jian 69th form. Rapid. X1000. Qian Jian 91st form. Lighting javelin. X1000. Qian Jian 67th form. Lull. X1000. Qian Jian 100th form. Deus Ex Machina. X9999…" 

Bai breathed heavily and shouted "IT'S… HOT!"

And while Bai was saying the details about the attack in rapid succession, Siew spoke to herself "You hear that Elysium? This… is the flame that burns deep within all the fingers. This is what it means to be alive. To overcome any obstacle, no matter how impossible it is. Now come to me, Elysium. Protect me one more time in this magnificent show of power. Show me, the might of the seventh battalion."

Then as Bai said "It's hot!" Siew says as she unsheaths her blade "Qian Jian 100th form. Deus…"

As the first word was spoken, the Killer move, type DG was already in motion. Siew said "Ex…" as she charged to face the attack, she finished the technique with "Machina" right when she made an upward strike against Killer move, type DG. The force that was meant to hit Siew head on was forced to go upwards towards space right before hitting her. The resulting attack eventually would hit the moon of Gloctus and leave a permanent mark on its surface.

And when the smoke cleared, two things were apparent. That Siew was standing, and Bai was slowly turning into a pile of ash burned by a blue flame.

A cinder flew from the pile of ash with wind and as it was approaching Siew, she let the tiny cinder rest on her sword until it no longer was visible.

For a moment, the stadium was silent as Siew waited for the cinder to dwindle. After the cinder was gone, Siew sheathed her sword once more and said to the audience "The Qian Jian is a sword art meant to protect! In a single swing of my sword, I used the Qian Jian's 100th form to defend me, and defend me it did!

This is not to say that Bai was doomed to fail! If I failed to use that technique in just the right moment, I'm not confident that I would have survived! So people across the world of Lutah, hear me and hear me well! The battle today was to show that everyone, no matter how big or small, has the capacity to grow strong if just honed to perfection! Me…"

Siew noticed earlier that she had a scratch and only now wipes it with her hand to show that "Even I have a long way to go before I reach absolute perfection! A pride so strong that no one can topple it down no matter how hard they try! So live your best lives, people of Lutah! Live well until the day comes when you can no longer do so!"

Siew starts to walk away, until she hears a loud "NO!" shouting from the direction where Lud was. She turned her head to see that Nemesis had pierced Lud's chest with one of his claws and he was hanging like a worm on a hook.

Siew shouted "What are you doing my lord! This isn't what we discussed!" And Nemesis says "Isn't it?" As the captains began to attack Nemesis with all their might to save their king. Alas, Nemesis quickly ran to the center of the stadium while still dangling Lud on one of his claws.

Lud was bleeding heavily and Nemesis says "This is the fate that soon will fall to all of you! Remember this day as I, the swarm king Nemesis, have taken your king's life!"

With the second hand, Nemesis is about to decapitate Lud, but then people hear the words "What did the old man say again? House extension. My house, My rules." And then Nemesis' claw that was dangling Lud snapped as Lud was replaced with the statue of Weiss.

Nemesis didn't seem too bothered by it as he says "Greetings Archon. I do hope to see your real face one day, but care to say, how much do you trust the sturdiness of your statue here?"

Eishi says "Eonite cannot be changed without the correct ability. Me and Maumar are currently the only people who can do so, so I have high confidence that you can't destroy this statue."

Nemesis says "Is that so." Then he positioned himself behind Siew and said "Siew. Use the sin of Pride and cut through my enemies."

Siew says to Nemesis "But my lord. I swore to not use it while…"

Nemesis stares daggers at Siew and with a threatening aura as he says "Your pride, or my orders. Which of them are the most important?"

Siew grits her teeth so hard that she begins to bleed. Same happens on her hand as she grabs the sin mark that has been hanging besides her and absorbs the power within it.

With that, a purple aura envelops Siew as her hair has lines of purple in them and her eyes turn purple.

Siew unsheaths her sword and says to Eishi "Please don't dodge this archon, or I'll have to make more strikes."

And with that said, Siew holds the blade upward, says "Sin of Pride: Absolute Cut." And strikes and downward attack that generates a slash that destroys everything on its path with no exceptions.

The cut completely disintegrates Weiss statue that was housing Eishi as well as that part of the stadium behind her and all that was behind her. The cut was so huge and far reaching that it made a permanent mark on Gloctus that can be seen from space. Luckily, the cut's reach is 500km and it goes in a straight line, so there is only a graze on the planet's surface.

Nemesis begins to laugh hysterically as the Weiss statue was completely destroyed. He shouted "SEE?! The abyss will destroy anything it touches! We of the swarm will always get you, and we will…"

Then Toki said from the audience "Oh? Did you forget that I was here? Well then. House extension. My house…"

Nemesis shouted with furiosity rarely seen "SO IT WAS YOUUU!!!" And Toki finishes "My rules."

And with that, the Weiss statue's and Nemesis' places were switched and this meant that Nemesis was the one that got caught in the Absolute Cut.

Siew says "Thanks. I was hoping that you would just come with another statue, but it turned out that my lord's first guess was right about you. It was you all along."

Toki says "Glad to have exceeded your expectations. But now…"

Siew says "Yes. He'll…" 

And with that, Nemesis appears more furious than ever, shouting "SSSIIIIIIEEEEEEEEWWW!!!"

The Weiss statue got in between Siew and Nemesis, but Siew said "It is fine. I accept my punishment."

Toki asks "But then you will…"

And Nemesis says with more calm this time "Die."

Siew says "Yes. A sin carrier that defies Nemesis will be eaten by him. I'll accept my punishment. But please, let me pass on this sword."

Through grunts of anger, Nemesis says "I'll allow it."

Then Siew hands the sword that she was carrying to Weiss statue and says "Please hand this to the Weiss of this timeline if you can resurrect her."

Toki says "I will" through the statue.

Then Nemesis says "Since you have achieved two great things, I'll let you have two wishes. One for making the archon reveal themselves and one for being the first sin carrier who has managed to force me to resurrect. The passing of the sword was the first one, what is your second?"

Siew says "My wish huh… Is this timeline's Weiss still under the Fated Death Curse?"

To which Nemesis answers "She is, and she will stay like that as it is too bothersome to lift once it is applied."

Siew says proudly "Then remove that curse from her and swear to not put it back after."

Nemesis then raises her claws and a shadow that is in the form of Weiss appears between the claws. He then holds his other claw open atop of the Weiss shadow and the shadow starts to look transparent with no darkness in it.

Then Nemesis releases the soul and says "It is done."

Siew says "Great. I'll just say my last…" But it is cut short by Nemesis grabbing her before she could finish.

Nemesis says "No. You don't get to have a satisfactory goodbye."

Then Siew shouts "The sword's name is…!" But Nemesis crushes her with his hand and blood begins to drip from his hand.

Then Nemesis puts his hand that holds Siew's crushed body on top of his head, moves his head and gulps Siew with his mouth. The crushing of bones as Nemesis chews echoes through the stadium.

Then Nemesis says "Though it is unfortunate that I lost one of my best, it is not like I can't grab another of her from a slightly different timeline and recruit her. He did the same when making a bloodchild of his, why couldn't I do that. Or am I wrong, Ms. Archon?"

Nemesis looks at Toki in the audience and Toki says "You are free to do as you like, but don't think that I'll let you do as you please with this timeline."

Nemesis then says "I let you be this time, but remember, you won't see the last of me." And with that, Nemesis disappears.

Then after all things settle down for the day, Toki comes to talk with Lud and the rest. She says "I'm sorry that I had to hide for so long, but it was the best I could do for you all. Granted, I could have hid back there, but I felt like you all had waited long enough."

Tifa asks "So… who are you exactly then?"

Toki says "It is finally time for us to meet. Greetings to you all. My full name is Zolon Tokiko Eishi Ilumnos. And I'm the child of Faust Ilumnos, Zolotifa and Peretasha Xitolrta. And yes, I do have two mothers. Pleasure to meet you. Mom. Dad."