Part 94: Impact

Impact



This is the full title screen you only see after you've completed the game. Artoria only appears on it if you've defeated her on all main storyline stages she can be found in.



Just to catch everyone up on what happened the last time we played the main storyline after all those Side Stories, what happened was Nero, allied with Tamamo's remaining armies, invaded the Zero Dark and fought Altera. Nero was victorious, but Altera came out of the battle alive and in her Heroic Spirit form. After jawing for a bit, Altera handed over her sword (a solution Elizabeth advocated before the two fought). In addition, Hakunon's Body handed over her Regalia part but warned against trying to save her, since she was supposed to disappear at this point and didn't want to cause a paradox. Heroic Spirit Altera and then the Body vanished, with Altera's consciousness returning to the Titan form slumbering elsewhere in the Zero Dark. Then, as you might guess, Archimedes showed up...


The Great Scholar

"A burden"...? Lifted from you, Archimedes? You saw the end of a Hero, and felt relieved?

I did indeed. After all, this is the first time that my plan has gone off without a hitch. And at the same time, this is a suitable conclusion. Thanks to that other Hakunon, the Regalia is complete at last, and the would-be Hero Altera is gone as well. Greetings, esteemed Emperor. And the Moon Cell's chosen Master.

"There's no way I could have forgotten your voice, let alone the sight of you. I knew we should have taken you out the moment we first met you. From the timing of your appearance and the way you're talking, I can only assume... You were watching us, weren't you, Archimedes? You were here all along, watching everything, weren't you?!" The fight between Saber and Altera. The words that Saber spoke. The woman who entrusted her hopes and dreams to the past... No, to herself in the future. The tears of the white maiden, Altera, as she disappeared. That man watched it all...while laughing in the shadows!

Just so. And yet I think you expect too much of me! Is it so reprehensible to find joy in comedy? Who wouldn't have laughed at that? It was truly an outstanding spectacle! This may surprise you, but mathematicians can enjoy the arts as well. Now, let us speak! Such a farce, you wanting to save that thing! Its wishes, its hopes. You expect grief from a killer and a slave? Oh, thank you, Your Excellencies. You have taught me the very essence of comedy. Laughter is born from incomprehensible foolishness!

...You.

Still, such a splendid performance for nothing. This is why I wish to ask you, Hakunon... Didn't you say you were SURE to save her this time? That you would finally stop me? *laugh* Ah, I laugh like mad, but my mind is clear. You boasted so loudly, and yet THIS is the result of your efforts? Did anything change? Anything at all? The same disastrous end still awaits you!



Ah, I suppose I'll have to give you that. You know, I'm actually impressed. Even a Greek tragedy would not have gone this far. Your deus ex machina came through for you...but only to bring your downfall. How ironic. You spoke with Altera, were entrusted with the Sword of Mars, and gained the sleeping Sephyr, the mainframe of the vassal, as an ally in the end? *laugh* You imbecile, I've already taken care of the mainframe! And it's all thanks to you!

You've "taken care" of her...? Did you do something to the Altera sleeping in the cavern?

Indeed. Truth be told, Sephyr is nothing more than an obstacle to my real plan. As long as she exists, I cannot control the Ark of the Stars. I have no way to dispose of Sephyr myself unless it goes into auto-isolation mode of its own volition, or if its conscious avatar happens to create a gap in its defenses. Do you understand? You were the ones who created that gap. *laugh* Rejoice! You two were, in fact, the final factor in defeating Sephyr!

Archimedes' laugh resounds all around us. The sight of him is more evil, more hideous, and more impassioned than any Heroic Spirit I've ever seen. ...I don't quite understand myself why that description comes to mind. But in his roaring laughter, there is something I can't simply dismiss as madness.

*draws sword* ...That is enough. Be silent. Know that you will receive neither a singe ounce of mercy nor a shred of sympathy from me, Archimedes. it is not for your blasphemy that you will be executed, Archimedes! I cannot and shall not forgive you! You laugh at my Praetor's determination... You deride the tears of Altera! That crime! That sin! Know that even my magnanimity will not allow it!

Ha... I've had enough comedy for one day, my dear, incompetent Emperor. You don't think you can defeat me here, do you?

Of course! I will defeat you, and ere long, the fragment of the Umbral Star as well!

"Ere long" you say. Despite your attitude, I sense a certain lack of confidence. Well, there's no reason to hold back... Here! And now! I will finish everything! Look... Here is what you have been waiting for! Didn't I tell you that destruction was unavoidable? Thanks to your hard work, the fragment of the Umbral Star...the Ark of the Stars is fully under my control! Behold the comet from the dark depths of the universe! The Harvest Star that consumes all civilization! The aggregation of the Void Cells...





A single "foreign body" appears like a jewel in the starry sky. The aberration makes a strange noise, scraping away at the atmosphere with unnatural thunder. I see a vast shadow. My blood runs cold just from looking at it. For a moment, I'm deluded into thinking that the falling shape looks like a teardrop. It's falling. From the vacuum of space to the inner atmosphere, it's falling. ...It's unmistakable. This is the root of everything. The vile star from outer space, the fragment of the Umbral Star, Velber...!

Have you already set it into motion...?!

Indeed! I will re-enact its decent to this Moon...the birth of the Zero Dark! I needn't even rely on Sephyr to destroy all civilization. This overwhelming mass of spiritrons will do the job perfectly! The Ark of the Stars will tear through all seven layers of SE.RA.PH, corrupt the Moon Cell core, and become one with it. With that, it will all be over. In the end, the Regalia was nothing but a backup plan! I now possess a more efficient method to recreate the glory of 14,000 years past!

The merged Regalia is screaming. Without voice, with a rush of information, it's warning me about the imminent emergency. "IMPENDING DANGER". "DAMAGE EXPECTED". "CERTAIN DEATH". Even Archimedes screams with the certainty of his victory. If the Ark of the Stars crashes into the surface of the Moon at that speed, that angle... The Moon Cell will be completely corrupted within 2800 seconds. And that's the timeframe during which the Quantum Time Lock would happen. All of the functions of the Moon Cell would be overwritten, and that truth would be set as the basis for all other worlds to come. And what would happen then? The jamming signal would disappear, and the main body of the Umbral Star would find the Moon. After its interminable journey, the Umbral Star is ready to finish it all. The Moon, the Earth, and everything in between.

...Not yet! My Praetor, infuse my sword with your strength!

*nods, teleports into ring*

Archimedes is controlling the Ark of the Stars! If we defeat him, we can turn it aside! She said to continue on, to remain unbroken...! That is what Altera said to me! I may have gone back on my word once, but I, Nero Claudius, will never break a vow to her again! The flowers of our civilization will not wither here! The fire of our lives will not be extinguished here! Archimedes, Great Scholar though you may be, my Praetor and I will thwart your plot, here and now!

I'm not sure defeating him will stop Velber II's descent, but we're gonna have to go through him sooner or later.

Hah, I had hoped that you would try. I will put an end to your human machinations. What does a mere Heroic Spirit, a mere human made of fleeting memories, hope to accomplish by standing against Velber? Show me! *laugh* Prove your foolishness to the stars! Prove that this world's people have failed to evolve in all this time!

...So you would deny humanity so deeply. My soul is the source of fire itself! It is a smoldering flower, the very stem of splendor and prosperity! The unlimited talent and eternal passion possessed by the whole of humanity! Know me, for I am the Heroic Spirit who embodies it all! You are the one who shall be destroyed! Archimedes...!





And our final battle with Archimedes. Although I didn't want to at first, I decided to run with Very Hard for the final stages of this game. On Very Hard enemy health and damage is increased significantly, and there's no difference with Archimedes here. As with his playable form, his special attacks are largely pretty slow, but he'll take any chance he can to active more of his mirrors that float behind him for projectile attacks. All of them are pretty damaging on Very Hard, but it's the ping pong move (two mirrors floating behind him), that'll probably do the most damage. As with other bosses, he has special damage threshold lines. His second one...

...This is displeasing. Truly displeasing.



You're telling me.

There is nothing so irritating as an imbecile who's overstepped his bounds...!



I don't quite remember being able to deliver massive fuck off lasers like that...

Actually, looking back on the video, Archimedes had four mirrors deployed behind him, which I had never managed to reach while playing him, because I hadn't leveled him up enough (he gains the ability to activate more mirrors as he levels up). That's a cool detail, at least. Thanks for demonstrating that at the last moment, Mr. AIchimedes.



Few more thematically appropriate times to bring out the Regalia.









Finishing this stage on Very Hard with an EX rank unlocked the Obliteration Prism and the Conqueror's Great Sword. Unlocking those recipes, from this stage and others on Very Hard to unlock the EX-rank Mystic Codes, is only if you're interested in 100% completion. As for me, this thread is ending in a couple more updates.





Starfall





U-Urgh...! To think...that you could be so powerful...! Who... What is this Nero Claudius?! Hakunon! What are you two?! The combined power of the Royal Authority... How could that alone grant you so much strength? I hold the answer to all things! I know how much mana you have, the value of your Spirit Core... My knowledge is perfect, complete, an unbroken circle! Accurate, and precise to the last detail! I pulled exactly enough energy from the Umbral Star to destroy you, put it into my Noble Phantasm, and yet...!

For the record, he never tried to use his NP against me during the fight.

Scholar, I know exactly how to describe the type of man you are. You are nothing more than an armchair theorist.

...What...did you call me...?!

You heard me! My talents are unlimited! There is no end to my passion, and it shines with brilliance everlasting! This is the power of a "mere Heroic Spirit"! The power of the spiral of life, the unbroken chain of memories... You underestimated us, Archimedes!

Argh...! You say this "power" can stop me...? No! That only pertains to this universe, and the Umbral Star is even greater than the law of the stars...! You! You have not yet won! Do not rush to conclusions, Tyrant of Roses! Look to the sky, and know that you have accomplished nothing!



...It still continues to fall! My Praetor, could we use the Regalia to take control of the Ark?!

I've been trying, but I can't. Although I can access it from the outside, its internal schematics are too different from the Moon Cell, from the Earth's body of knowledge... I can't even alter its trajectory without analyzing its systems first. And the Regalia estimates that analysis would take ten years. We've barely slowed its descent at all. With or without Archimedes in the picture, it's still racing towards us. Its sole purpose: to devour the Moon and the Earth.

...We must stop it. We must, but...

To stop it now, we would have to destroy it entirely. But is that even possible? We're talking about a hyperlight spaceship, made of unknown alien tech. The mass, the size, the sheer dimension of it... To fight something on that scale... We're not on that level!

We would need a long-distance attack or a skill capable of conquering the sky itself. Even if we recruited someone with that kind of ability...that would be only the first step. We would then need enough firepower to smash through its outer armor without the Regalia...

*laugh* Do you finally understand? Choke on your impotence, and die in despair! Nothing can pierce Velber's shell! The simple technologies of this Earth cannot destroy a structure of alien design! That is beyond question!





I can't see anything. The atmosphere, ripped apart by the Ark of the Stars, shoots forth a magnetic storm. It covers the surface of SE.RA.PH like a tsunami. ...It also acts as a jamming signal. Not only does it prevent me from seeing anything, but it steals away my senses as well. And in the middle of it all, only his ringing laughter echoes in my ears.

*maniacal laugh* The hour of destruction is nigh! Prepare yourself for the Harvest! Fulfill your calling, Velber! Now is the time to settle this ancient score...!



Uhhhhh

Wha...

Wha...

What is this...?!





Haaahhh!





That was...unexpected.



...

...A giant goddess. A flash of white rushes through my heart. A brightness that feels like the light of the stars. My eyes take in her form, and nothing else. Despite the jamming, I can see her in all of her greatness. As my eyes absorb all the visual data they can, I immediately recognize a human shape. Then a fist, its mass undeniably huge. Its acceleration is overwhelming. If we were on Earth, the impact would have been like a meteor. And like a meteor, the force of the strike comes roaring. It terrifies me to imagine how mucht aht strike could have damaged SE.RA.PH. But I don't feel a single bit of fear. I feel, from the bottom of my heart, that this is something to applaud. A direct hit. The Ark of the Stars can't evade it, and never could ahve. The tremendous mass has no recourse as it plummets towards the center of the Moon Cell. The colossal white form shines with a heavenly light. Like the sun breaking through a dark horizon. Like the hopes and dreams of humanity given shape. That single strike of hope puts an end to 14,000 years of destruction, subjugation, and solitude.

This is...! No, no... You are...! ...Altera! Not Sephyr the White Titan!

Wha...! Whaaat?! I sealed you away! Completely! So how can you have move...? Why...can you move...?! Sephyr! You, you, YOUYOUYOUYOU! You would meddle not only as a Servant, but with your mainframe as well?! You would rebel against me, against the Umbral Star? You were made from the Ark! It gave birth to what you are! But how?! How did you escape my Anti-Fortress Binding Noble Phantasm?!

Good question... Also, all of these scenes from defeating Altera to the end of the game are pretty much a non-stop series of cutscenes, with no trips to My Room in the interim. But they are divided up into individual scenes when it comes to ths scene listing in the Extras menu, so for convenience sake I have them linked individually below, but they're all part of one video, as they would appear if you're normally playing the game.






Sleeping giant



Good mooorning... Time to rise and shine... My dear Altera, are you up? ...Ha, there's no way you'd be awake now. *laugh* I fooound you! ★ Sephyr the Anti-Cell, all poor and pathetic now. You're doomed in this world too. ...Well, it seems like you got pretty far this time, but to think Archimedes would seize the chance to seal you away... Whatever happened to the high and mighty, all-powerful, supposedly undefeatable Anti-Cell? Was your head filled with visions of the squirrel?



Last time, you disappeared first, and then this time, you lost your squirrel. Hey, tell me: How do you feel, with that whole bleak future ahead of you? ...A romance between monster and human. I was expecting a little bit more from you, but whatever. If you're gonna stay asleep like this... *lands* I'll take the power of Sephyr, just as planned! You know what they say about life: Out with the old and in with the new! Me, I feel like I"m ALWAYS brand new! I'm a little scared to drink alien blood, but I'm totally on the Umbral Star's side now, so I should be fine! Even if it tastes nasty, your power'll be totally worth it! I mean, as shortcuts go, that's the best one, yeah? Once I get a little stronger, I'll serve both Archimedes and that Umbral Star a full course of slaughter and skewering. Oh, but when that happens, what if I get all huge and stuff...? Does that mean I'll have to rebuild my stage...? Oh well, it's not like any one stage could hold all my charm anyway! I'll worry about that later. This is just another chapter in the Legend of the Corroded Dark Idol!



Aaanyway, these chains are, totally cramping my style. Whatever, I'm just gonna cut them!





Good, now I have full access to her body. All I have to do is suck her blood and make her my slave... But where should I bite her? I mean, she's so huge, and her neck looks super tough... And her chest may be totally flat, but it looks rock-solid... Hmm, maybe I should try the upper arm. Or maybe I'll just slit her wrist and have a little taste from there...





Ah.... Umm, am I, like...getting punked? Oh, uh, no, I was totally joking! I mean, come on, weren't we always fighting each other? So, I figured we could like, kiss and make up! *laugh*

...That is true. You and I are the same. We are both monsters. And so... I'll let you off with THIS...

Welp, sucks to be Elizabeth...






The final act

That... That vulgar, low-class Servant! I must understand, I must calculate the... No, it's impossible...! I CANNOT comprehend this! How in the world did this happen?! They invalidated my calculations... All should be within the realm of my understanding, the margin of error! That thing.. Under what principle does it operate?! No equation could rpedict the actions of that thing! Can this...be?! No, it can't... It caaaAARRRGGGHHH! As crude as that creature is, she is a Servant chosen by the Umbral Star! We share the same level of power, and yet...! She does this! That fool would lay waste to my plans?! *huff* *huff* Fine. I have no choice but to unleash the last resort.



Are you running, Scholar of the Umbral Star? We have yet to settle matters between us!



I will finish this! Pardon me, correction: I will finish everything!

*rumble*

The earth is...shaking...?!



I have confirmed the system reboot of Velber II. Engines at full throttle. Engines at full throttle! Maintain the ship's current position... Increase propulsion power to its theoretical maximum. Full speed ahead.



Obviously can't communicate it in screenshots, but the entire platform started moving downwards. That's probably a bad thing.

What...?! How far will he go to achieve his ambitions? Does he intend to drop this entire territory into the core?!

As we begin to fall, the shocks shake this entire area, and my body with it. The feeling of falling grows so strong that I can feel it even though I'm stored in the ring. The Regalia sounds even more emergency alarms in my head. The Moon Cell itself is screaming. Every second grows more and more desperate. Upon engulfing Archimedes, the Ark starts carrying out the absolute worst-case scenario for the Moon Cell Automaton. Archimedes didn't plan to drop just the fragment of the Umbral Star onto the Moon... He intends to drop the entire Zero Dark! And so, the sky shoots past us. The sea of stars grows more distant with every passing second. The entirety of the field we're standing on has started crashing downwards. This is more than an attack... This is a suicide mission. It looks like Archimedes was backed so far into a corner that he finally decided to break himself along with the Moon, taking out the lives and civilizations on the Earth's surface while he was at it. And he'll probably succeed, unless someone stops this supermass moving well beyond terminal velocity.



Altera...! You have my thanks for delivering the decisive blow. I see that while we were fighting Archimedes, you were fighting as well... For you to deliver such a brilliant strike to the being that once bound you... I have witnessed firsthand your determination, your will. ...You are, at this moment, undoubtedly the most Heroic of all. *walks over to Altera* You should rest here. My Praetor and I will close the curtain on the final act. ...I already possess the means to this end. ...The power I wield is not my own. ...It is newly born, yet older than antiquity. ...Sea of stars, open your eyes and behold. *unsheathes Sword of Mars*

Saber will not give up. Even if she stops for the briefest moment, she carries on, burning like fire, blossoming like a flower, and smiling with all the force of the Sun itself. For her, I will always lend my hand as Master, even at the end of the world. ...No, that's not right. I have to correct myself. This... This is not the end. No more so than when we fought in the Moon Cell core, or when we battled through the labyrinth of cherry blossoms... No matter where we are, we always pull through. No matter what, we'll never give up! We'll use anything we can! Whether it's a Code Cast, the Moon Cell, or a Noble Phantasm! If we can reach it, even the power of the gods is no exception!

Yes, exactly so, my Praetor!



O, you who existed in the far-off age of the gods, lend me your ears! The Empyrean, the gods of Olympus! Now is the time to bestow your strength! Using the Sword of Mars as a catalyst, turn my talents and passion into fire and give me heavenly form! Hm. Correction: I do NOT wish for the power of war, like Altera. After all, I want nothing to do with Mars! The power of war ill befits me. The power that I believe in, that I hold most dear in the deepest depths of my heart, is...the power of love. Truthfully, I prefer the Muses, but I cannot defeat this enemy with glorious music alone. And so... Yes! Indeed, then I shall manifest the power of Venus!

Ah, I see... Makes sense. Venus would be a perfect match for Saber, since she earnestly expresses love as much as she seeks it. I don't know how important it is for the god to be compatible, but then again, I've never even heard of a Heroic spirit being able to summon a God Spirit in the first place. But it's not use worrying about whether there's precedent for this sort of thing when the world is on the line. Right now, we have to do everything we can. We're using the entirety of the Regalia's resources, and the Sword of Mars, to access a higher plane. We're building our own rainbow bridge...not to mix pantheons. If we were summoning a Heroic Spirit, we'd access the Throne of Heroes in a similar way, gain a Cyber Frame for the Servant, and bring them into SE.RA.PH. But that's only possible because of the incredibly stable connection between the Moon Cell, the supercomputer that records everything on Earth, and the Heroic Spirits, whose existences are deeply rooted in human history. I have no idea how things will go in terms of connecting to the gods... But Saber has more to say about compatibility...

Compatibility is important to everything, my Praetor! Now... Come to me! Goddess of the Golden Star! I will allow you to lend me your power here! Now is the time to unleash the vengeance you have desired for 14 millennia!











I bring the magnum opus of my passion! I bring the helm of Venus to dance upon the stage of the stars! In this form I take, I shall transcend my class! And so...!





Yeah...

...Saber Venus. Putting the speeding stars at her back, my Saber appears before me as never before. I don't know what kind of goddess Venus is. Even if there is a basis for her existence, I have no idea what her actual exploits were, or what shape she took. But Saber, clad in that platinum armor, truly shines like a goddess. ...I'm actually at a loss for words.

Why do you look so troubled, my Praetor? This form proves the strength of our unity to the Moon, the gods, and the Umbral Star alike. What could possibly trouble you? Come, give me your honest appraisal!



The sight of her...really is too much... This is a better time than ever to be inside the ring. I'm at a level beyond enthralled or even entranced.

H-Hm? What do you mean?

Her armor, her wings... To see her with any part of this outfit would have been stunning, but I never imagined I would be at such a loss to see Saber adorned with all of it at once. I understand now, for the first time, how deadly a weapon beauty can be. I'm using the full extent of m power through the Regalia to do something as ridiculous as manifest a God Spirit in this world, but I have no regrets. If it's to keep this form in this world, I can run my magic circuits at full power forever!

Uh... U-Um, yes... You... You said all of that aloud... R-Really. All of it... I cannot handle the heat that burns within my cheeks when you praise me in such a manner... H-Hold yourself back for now! Although...wait, am I truly asking you to refrain from praising me?! Oh, what should I do, my Praetor?! Later... Yes, it would be no problem to continue this later! After this battle, I urge you to sing my praises to your heart's content! Now that I take a moment to observe you in full, Ark of the Stars, your presence is indeed imposing! A malevolent force who would crush moons and consume stars, who devours life and civilization alike! Perhaps we should cower before you. But I know...that at times like this, the Heroes of myth and legend... They fill themselves with courage, bravely striding into the den of monstrous beasts who would harm all that they love! ...Now! Let us push ever forward, my Preator!