Part 45: Can't Really Kill All of You

Last time, Ayuta and Vieg were about to get into a fight, but were interrupted by what should by now be a very familiar voice...





And, yes, indeed...





...it is our, uh, future friend the Agent. As you will notice, he sounds a little different in this game.



















So, nice introductions, as always.



You have been brought here to fight--with your lives at stake.
Fight for our lives? Wait just a minute. That would mean...
...
Of course, I do not ask thee to fight for nothing. Whichever pair is still standing at the end will be rewarded by immortality.
Immortality?
The person next to each of thee is thy partner in this journey. Together, thou might very well survive...

As you can see, the Agent has acquired a massively irritating "the olde English" accent!

...but alone, thou art a mere forlorn lamb, lost on a path that will lead thee to despair.

Aaaaa, make him stop, please!

Vieg and I are partners?
And Olgar and Rachel are partners.
You cannot refuse to take part in the Ark Arena tournament. And fighting each other when you are not commanded to do so by me is also prohibited.
Violation of these rules means death.
That's ridiculous! Why should we fight each other? We're not gonna do that.
I shall answer no questions. Thou must only obey my commands.
...For somebody with such a funny face, you sure do talk a big game.
Are you the boss of this place?
I am the one who speaks for the Master.
Whatever. It seems to me that all our problems would be solved if I took you out. Isn't that right?
Vieg, wait.
I do not comprehend thy question. Shall I take it to mean that thou dost not wish to participate in these battles?
You are as bird-brained as you look. Figure it out for yourself!













So, it's a boss fight. They sure do throw them at us in this one!









Well, let's see how this goes...



Wow, ok, so we did 0 damage to it!



That does NOT look good!



Nope, we're dead. Obviously, this is not a real fight, and you can't win. Your characters are level 1, and the Agent is, if I remember correctly, level 50. And you know what that means with this game's damage calculation formula!











Good to know our old (future) friend, the Executioner, is still (already) here to do his duty! (Sometimes when I write a sentence like this, I almost feel like Dr. Dan Streetmentioner.)



























So, it's going to be the whole family against the Agent, it seems.



I can almost see the wheels turning in his head...



Ah, yes, of course.





So that means... we actually have to...?
Never!
Each of thee is a chosen warrior, but thou art not qualified to fight in the Arena just yet.

Oh man, he's going to tell us to go get the rings, isn't he?

First thou must go through that door and bring back two rings. The rings will serve as proof of thy worthiness.
Rings?
And why should we do that?
Only one pair of you will be entitled to live. For the other three pairs, death is inevitable.
You must kill each other until one pair remains. Only the victorious couple will receive the Master's blessing.
If you wish to live, you must follow this bloodstained path together, two souls as one, to your destiny. Otherwise...

























It's a good thing she does not have a (future) history of lying about this kind of thing, isn't it? Oh, wait...

So next time we'll have a bit more chat with the other participants, and then it's off to the dungeon. Even though it starts more or less the same as the original game, the plot here will eventually diverge into something different, so don't worry about it too much.

Finally, before we are done, lets just have a quick look to the left...



Oh no, that's what I was afraid of. Piu-Piu is here again... Let's just hope that HE doesn't speak in þe olde Englishe too!