Sundered Land

What is it?

In that room...

Your pupils are red again. Control yourself. Don't be afraid. Ayerscarpe, stay outside with her. Warn the mob.

Roger.

In here?

(It's a mess. Someone's last desperate stand... Ugh... are these... frozen limbs?)

(Wait, who is this?)

Gah! She's a doctor?!

If you don't leave, we'll kill you too!

The solution I just sprayed on you is both volatile and toxic.

Wha?! Wh-what did you do to us?

Out with it! Or I'll... I'll... Ugh...

How do you feel?

Tell me where Biederman is and I'll give you the antidote. Or you can enjoy spending the next few hours vomiting between hallucination episodes.

You're sick... I... I don't know... any Biederman. I just... have to kill all... the nobles... nng...

Then I'm afraid you're all going to stay in jail.

Huh? A mushroom? That's a big mushroom... Why is it... moving? Why is it biting?!

Schultz! We have more wounded! A lot of them! The insurgents took over the market and Maibaumplatz. But many more people are still trapped in Zwölftontechnik Strasse.

They're unstoppable!

Once the fighting started, we lost all hope of stopping anything.

Now we face two possible outcomes: Surrender, or fight.

What should we do?

Surrender, hand over the city to Reunion and the insurgents, and go starve to death in the snow.

If we fight, both sides end up wounded or dead, and the survivors will starve to death in the snow.

Or...

......

If casualties are unavoidable, we want the fewest possible—*cough* *cough*, *hack*—

Ack... *cough* *cough* *cough*, *cough* *hack* *cough*—

Schultz— Uncle? Uncle??

Hey! Uncle, that's blood. You're coughing up blood!

Sorry! Just a second! Miss Tatjana!

My uncle, he can't speak and—

Are you okay? Abnormal breathing, lung lesions resulting in a loss of voice, this calls for... it calls for...

What happened?

Mr. Severin, he's actually—

You should listen to the doctor and quit smoking. We don't need a test to see you have some serious persistent lung damage.

Let me see here... I need to take this off——

Hey! Don't move!

......

You... you're Infected?

Huh?!

These are Oripathy symptoms. The Originium is pushing out from his lungs into his throat. This dark powdery substance below your throat... that's Originium crystals surfacing through your skin.

Your cells have begun fusing with the Originium. Is this why you don't care about your health?!

Did he get it from the battle just now?

This isn't an early symptom or an acute lesion. He's been Infected for some time.

Probably from the Catastrophe... No, that's too recent. It must have been even before that.

*Cough* *cough*——*cough* *cough* *cough*!

Black blood clots. Suzuran, take a sample.

Okay! Sorry, sir. I'll be quick.

No way the hospital is functioning right now. Okay, take him into the town hall!

Wolumonde... can't be without... her Schultz!

If you keep pushing yourself, she's definitely going to lose him.

You... really look like a doctor right now.

*Cough* cough*, *cough* *cough*—

Phew, looks like I can talk for a minute after coughing up blood. Handy, that.

Tough guy.

I have a favor to ask.

Say your piece, but I'm taking you in. Lisa, hold him. Tatjana, help me lift.

Right!

Please, everyone, *cough* *cough*, don't tell anyone I'm Infected...

Then, I'll admit that I was the murderer who set the fire. I was the cause of all Wolumonde's problems...

And what of the real killer?

I don't care. I can't.

But at least... they'll have their scapegoat, and no excuse to keep fighting.

But it's not enough... Without an external force strong enough to clamp down on them, they'll continue their cycle of revenge.

So I request... Rhodes Island's assistance... Even though we can't afford to pay for it now.

But if Wolumonde survives this disaster... we will repay you.

We aren't a charity.

I'm begging you!

I don't have the authority to make promises on behalf of Rhodes Island. Saving a town of ten thousand people is beyond the scope of our mission, and way beyond the authority Amiya invested in me.

But, for Atro, 'we' won't abandon Wolumonde.

Thank you.

Stand aside, we have a wounded—

......

GreyThroat? Why are you alone?

Suzuran, take the Schultz to the upstairs parlor. And don't let anyone see you.

Brutal as it may be, once he settles down, Schultz Severin is going to have to stand up and lead again.

Roger that! I'll take care of it!

Tatjana.

There are riots all over town. People are getting hurt or killed. I... I can't just sit here.

I'll go organize the militia that didn't get caught up in the riot. At least... at least I can do something.

Sure. Go ahead.

Thank you!

Can we talk?

We found Biederman.

What?!

We need to capture him immediately and end the riots, we have to avenge Atro—

No.

He's dead.

...What?!

We found him on the 'Gramophone' at coordinate B2.

There were visible wounds on the back of his head, and ice crystals remained on the surface of his skin. All signs indicated an Arts attack.

The operator on scene could not make an accurate determination, but wounds on the surrounding cadavers indicated that Biederman had died in the riot at least a few hours prior.

Biederman is dead. But the riots continue. We all know what that means.

Click and Ayerscarpe are searching his residence. Unless they run into trouble—

Wait...! You said, you said he's already dead?

If you really need me to repeat myself, yes, he is already dead.

......

......

So it is.

What?

A Contingency Contract operation agreement. Signed by one Catastrophe Messenger Biederman.

So then, was it all part of the plan? Including your own death, Biederman?

Hm... but why? Could that Contingency thingamajig be the real mastermind?

Letting people die in a Catastrophe is not really their modus operandi. They wouldn't act in such a... brutal manner.

But if he was helping the insurgents to try to save more lives...? Why?

Is this really going to save lives, at the end of the day? GreyThroat says Wolumonde is in a real bad spot right now.

No. The Contingency Contract is just a platform.

It is true that a small percentage of the Messengers using the Contingency Contract have a utilitarian obsession, leading them to 'save' as many people as possible.

Wolumonde had already suffered a Catastrophe. Could he have... set the fire to draw in outside forces to intervene...?

I'm so glad Leonhardt and Rhodes Island's other Catastrophe Messengers don't get so mixed up with them.

But... that can't be right... What if..

Ayerscarpe!

What is it?

Look over there! By the music store! What's that weird thing?!

It's a... mountain?

No. It's a big moving boulder?

Could it be that one guy's Arts?

That isn't the kind of thing one man's Arts can do. Let's hurry back to the others!

There's no way an ordinary town militia is going to stand against a battle-hardened combat squad, and a Sarkaz one at that!

What's that? An earthquake?

Ah! It's that rock monster again! Quick! Start the 'Gramophone!'

They came! Reunion is here to liberate us!

Long live Reunion! Forward! Drive out the rotten nobles!

Long live Reunion!

Cover their retreat. Get back to the town center and activate the Gramophone. And stay safe!

Got it!

Tatjana, that one at the end of the street... do you know him?

Halt. At ease.

Yes. We are now just one step away.

One step away from destroying this town.

But there is no hope behind us. They cheer for liberation. But all we have freed is their anger and hatred. This is a typical, bloody invasion.

Is it? I don't really care. At this point, a happy ending is out of the question.

This is the last chance... a chance to give them, before we take the last step.

A chance to surrender?

No... a chance to fight back. A chance to show conviction and let us stand in for the people... let us decide the winners and losers for ourselves.

It's tough, thankless work, being a mercenary. Always the toughest. Never appreciated.

Whatever. It's your call.

Then—

—Arise, great boulder.