Part 81: Update LXXI - All evils of the world

Update LXXI - All evils of the world

Music: None


It's been a long, long road, but we've finally reached the end.



The Moon Cell Automaton is waiting for us.









...but it looks like someone beat us to it.

It's an incredibly vast room. Actually, a space so cavernous could hardly be called a room. It is also strangely barren, save for the alien object that dominates the center of the space. It resembles a giant floating eye. Though it doesn't seem threatening, it is still somewhat disconcerting. The artifact of an alien civilization, the reason for its creation is beyond human comprehension. The core of the Moon Cell and the base of the SE.RA.PH. The Holy Grail of the Seven Heavens, responsible for creating the seven seas. And in the space where the Holy Grail is enshrined, I can feel a sense of discord and dissonance. In front of the Holy Grail is a jumble of skewed stone pillars, which only adds to the tumultuous atmosphere.



On the top of that pile of stone sits the lone figure of a man. He looks to be in his late 20's at most. His expression is blank enough to be totally unmemorable, but as an NPC he doesn't need to make an—









The line is voiced, and this man is the same guy from all the pre-week speeches.

I'd love to have a celebration in your honor, but unfortunately this place doesn't allow for that sort of thing. While it might not be worth what you had to do to survive this far, you'll have to make do with my applause. But allow me to say this: I approve, praise, and am proud of you more than I have been of anyone else. Throughout the numerous repetitions of the Holy Grail War, you are, by far, the most extraordinary Master.

While he seems friendly, there is something more dangerous about him than any of my other opponents. It's a feeling of "nothingness." There is something very strange about the man in front of me—

Music: Infinite Chimeric Lunar Sea




Now I understand why I couldn't see anything about their Servant's data. You were jamming my signal.

Welp, it looks like we found Tamamo's previous Master.

This has, like, one or two bits of foreshadowing. Early on, one of the AI NPCs mentioned the SE.RA.PH can sustain up to 128 Servants, and one of the generic Masters mentioned another guy never getting a Servant from the system. The implication there is that this guy was hogging a slot all along, and the SE.RA.PH was at capacity and couldn't give one of the other Masters a Servant.



Tamamo stares at the man with a look of disgust on her face. Her melancholy is shocking in its intensity.

...Don't worry about me, Master. It's all in the past now. The person here now is—



Because now...I mean, I have a new Servant now. It seems fate has a sense of humor. As I prayed for salvation, I was given an oddly appropriate Servant.

At the same time he mentions his Servant, I can feel Rani tense up beside me.



...But what would a Master be doing here? Everything should have already been decided...




How can a Master who was defeated still be alive and present in this place? I must look into this later...



And unfortunately, you are the one who will disappear. I advise you to enjoy what little time you have left. Now that's settled— I'm pretty sure the question on your mind is, "What are you" right? A pertinent question worthy of an answer. Of course, I am both an NPC and a Master. To be more accurate, I should say...I was.




She briefly glances my way, her eyes wide with shock.



They may be dropping a final boss on us with zero warning on us at the very end, but by god he's going to make up for lost time. In my recording, this cutscene took around 30 minutes.



We've heard Twice's name a few times before, but only as one off references, never as someone important enough to end up as the final boss.



Hell, the only time we've seen him before this was for five seconds in Week 3! I guess you were supposed to somehow connect the dots of this guy being either a cyber ghost or an AI, Alice and Hakuno proving that cyber ghosts and AIs are real and can hurt you, and the MIA Servant? Twice is so out of nowhere that Fate/Extella Zero, the blog post Nasu made hashing out the timeline leading into Extella, explicitly mentions wanting Twice to show up more often.



Thought to be the first Spiritron Hacker, his hatred for war was such that he'd charge into battles to save lives.

The young girl beside me mutters under her breath, as if reciting an encyclopedia entry to herself.


And I guess this is why Rin randomly brought up Twice right after the route split when she started to catch on to Hakuno having no body?



I hate war and will not tolerate its existence in any form. Not even the Harways are exempt from this fact. However, that truth only scratches the surface of my beliefs. Much like the Moon Cell, it seems that a single well-known function has erroneously defined my true ideals.



I will never forget the many shocking realizations I received during the course of my studies. The betrayals that make up history, combined with severe shell-shock, gave him an abnormal hatred of war.



When he saw any image depicting war, he was overcome with overwhelming panic attacks. It was almost as if he would get severe heart palpitations and his blood pressure would skyrocket. From that day he, meaning me, was consumed with an unease that became almost painful in its intensity. Even after becoming a scientist, he still risked death to save others because of that unbearable pain. That's the whole of it. What drove him during his time in the mortal coil was not a sense of righteousness. What drove me was one simple question: Why was I the only one who seemed to hate war?



Why did I involve myself in war? Was it to understand it better? Especially considering the effect war had on me? Even while struggling with those questions, my mortal self still irrationally kept going into battle. And in the year 1999, a horrible neurological disease broke out in a city located in the far East.



Twice was called to the city to treat the victims of the attack when he was caught in a major attack himself. According to records made available to the public, the death toll was set at 5,000 people. The Moon Cell puts the real count at 8,200. As you can see, the government under-reported the number a tad...

I can see the exhaustion in his eyes. He seems to think his story is no more than an amusing anecdote. Although, it's hard to tell if he's amused by the governments possible cunning or total incompetence.



—Something's strange. I remember seeing the place where he died, as if I too was one of those many victims.

And it a bizarre bit of contrivance, it turns out that the two NPCs-turned-Masters both died in the same incident!



It was then that the mortal Twice, the person I was, recaptured the repressed memories of his childhood. In the 1970's there was a clash of ethnic groups, arranged by major powers as a war by proxy. Twice was orphaned in the conflict. The place I remembered was hell. Everything around me was collapsing. Everything fell without any sense of morality and without any acknowledgment of the value of life.



All that remained of that epiphany I've already told you. Anyway, Twice was adopted and became a doctor. And though I tried to forget the past, that one fundamental truth was burned forever into my soul. Twice despised war more and it became his intent to kill war itself. I got involved in war in order to end it. However, at the core of my very being wasn't a denial of the meaning of war. It wasn't that at all.



A group of soldiers made to fight against an army many times their size, that was a far more experienced and supplied. Forced to flee from guerrillas, a girl of five travels on foot through a jungle that few could hope to survive. Innocent victims of violence who rebuilt their village and their lives without help from anyone. I find that odd. Even though I hated war, I saw a great deal of strength emerge from the conflicts I witnessed.



The many revelations. The uncounted number of rescues. None would have happened without the hell that is war. All the mortal me really did was bring back a number of things from the depths of hell. And in the end, I was a victim of a terrorist attack. But as I was dying, it all came back to me. I saw the burned fields of my home and recalled the tenacity that helped me go on, even as everyone else died. —Yes. Three seconds before my heart stopped I finally received an answer to my question. It was never denial. What drove that Twice repeatedly into hell was because I— I, who eventually fell victim to violence, could no longer consider war the ultimate folly of mankind. Nothing can be hidden from the Moon Cell and it records all it observes, including my final thoughts. As time went on I was reborn as an NPC based on the record of my mortal life, just like any other NPC here. They may appear human, but are nothing more than puppets playing assigned roles. I was the same. However—






More likely it was just an anomaly born from a single near-impossibility. How it happened, I cannot say.



The dream that I saw as I died, the ideal that existed only in my mind, I now exist only to make it a reality.

And what was in the dream that the Twice who died saw as his life slipped away from him?




He says this last statement in a matter-of-fact tone. There's no hint of insanity visible in his eyes. Naturally, and with obvious sincerity he can somehow utter such a statement of absolute madness.



Anyone with a brain can see that the world is doomed. Humankind has long since passed its adolescent stage. Man was still maturing in the 1900's. A balance was struck between penury and prosperity, but it didn't last— The period of immaturity ended, but the golden age that should have followed never occurred. You do realize this, right? What has happened to the planet and its people should never have come to be.



When that fruit should be at its best, it has fallen to the ground. That's not the way history should be.

—That is how Rin and Leo described the world: A place of peace, stupefying stagnation, and entropy. But...is war really the answer?



If the objective of modern man is merely survival, then there is no reason for them to exist. In my previous life, a great many lives and resources were consumed for the sake of convenience. Why? What was the need for such prosperity? Prosperity is just an illusion and exists only for its own sake.



The preliminaries illustrate this truth. In an artificial peace, ignorant aggressors revel in idleness. Humans can only mature after breaking free from their idleness. That seems to be the case for you. And now, ideologies are based on the detritus of an ignoble and forgotten past. —That loss can't be overcome.



Don't you agree? If the future isn't worth the suffering of the past, that would make man mere murderers. For the humans who lived in the distant past, the future that man is now planning cannot be accepted. The future that will be is a mistake. Humanity has not spent countless lives for the society that is to come. But we cannot reverse time. Since going back is impossible, there is no choice but to move forward. With that in mind— We will recreate the wars of the past and revise the history of the last hundred years. By having everyone fight in a war of survival, mankind's consciousness will be forced onto the correct path.





Rani whips her head around and stares at me as if demanding an answer, but I'm just as in the dark as she is.












I watched their fights as an NPC and when I became conscious, I fought battles of my own, weak though I was. After several dozen fights, I finally reached this elevated seat.

Presumably Hakuno would also come back after being killed, but she has no way of knowing this in advance. It would also completely break the story, so the game just treats all those Dead Ends as Hakuno dying properly.



A battle of survival from which only a single person may emerge victorious. I remade this world into a place where the limits of human potential can be pushed beyond one's imagination.

And from the sounds of it, the Moon Cell originally used the free-for-all format like a standard Holy Grail War, Twice was the one who made the tournament setup.

...We're killing him just for that.



You were totally unsuited for this ordeal in the beginning, just as I was. As a nameless figure drawn from masses, you've become the one in whose hands rests the fate of the world. Your soul's been tempered by crisis and conflict. Your new strength is a testament to the potential of man.

A montage of images scrolls by in the background.





Shout out so that all can hear you say that war is necessary. That humanity can and must evolve quickly. Just input this one little phrase into the Moon Cell: don't stop. After that, you can do whatever you wish. Whether you become a king or a god is up to you. You have my blessing as your choice will bring endless war.



And if the only reward for such suffering is stagnation, then humanity deserves to be cast into a new void. Some sacrifices cannot go unheeded. Mankind must be inflicted with wounds that they will never forget.

On the Rani route, Hakuno gets to monologue.

Twice's words seem to freeze me in place, unable to think or act in any meaningful fashion. His words convey a self-righteousness that transcends any sort of petty bias or prejudice. However, for a reason I cannot explain, I can't dismiss his ideology as evil or insane. It might be because Twice himself doesn't see his idea as some kind of righteous cause. ...Twice Pieceman. A digital recreation of a once-living being. ...Just as I am. Putting aside the fact that this person is a cyber ghost like me, my thoughts are still a confused jumble. How exactly should I respond to this man? Before I can speak, a question occurs to me. As a winner in a previous Holy Grail War, why is he still here? He has a wish he wants granted, so why doesn't he just claim the Grail? Why have someone else go in his stead?

While Rin gets to chime in on her route.






I can fool the low-level processes, but if I access the core I'd be seen as an NPC and immediately deleted.





What emotion did her words express? Her mumbling sounded very much like a dejected sigh. Rani stares at me, her eyes wide open in shock and horror.


As another irregular AI, Hakuno is just as dead if she touches the core.



All those stone boxes he's sitting on are probably the coffins of every Master who got here and failed to meet Twice's expectations.





But it was a case of too little, too late. Also, my methods were unreliable and on too small of a scale.

Rani says nothing, but Rin gets to say something.




Of course I don't intend for everyone to die. I simply wish to instigate a war that anyone can survive.



The results of the simulations of Earth's future run by the Moon Cell are stored as light within the core. The one who reaches the core has the right to choose the course of the future from infinite possibilities.



This object, which envisioned an infinite number of possible futures, can reshape the fabric of reality.

If what he says is true, then the Holy Grail could accurately be considered the mind and will of god. Nothing is impossible. It is truly an object of unimaginable power with infinite possibilities.





Unleash the perfect storm upon the world. To undo the lie of stability, re-write history as I have said.

Twice looks in my direction, an expression of earnest confidence reflected on his face. Almost as if he is sure that I share his belief that war is the answer. This man, while despising war and violence, could not ignore the immediate results that war brings. This supposed comrade, who gained strength through fighting much like I did, clears a path for me. However-



This is the biggest, and final, dialogue choice in the game.

The dead belong only to the past.

I cannot accept Twice's view of the future, no matter how logical it seems on the surface. After speaking with Rin and Leo, after all of the fighting, I realized that even in a stagnant world, there are still those striving for change. The world belongs to the living. Mere shades of life like me and Twice have no right to the present or the future.

~

Only those I care about matter to me.

The future and evolution of man. Neither of these things seem to matter to me in any meaningful way. And even if I was someone great in my mortal life, I have no right to claim kingship in this era or any other. The well-being of the world and of mankind. There's no way I could bear such a tremendous burden. Even if I choose to accept the burden, it's not right to take it on because others refuse to do so. That's why my mind is occupied with thoughts of what is precious to me. A cherished, irreplaceable, existence. If I could protect that which I hold most dear, then that should dictate the path I choose to walk. I can see her in my mind's eye. A lonely doll, broken in body and spirit from the beginning. But I am sure that the day will come when she'll be able to smile again, that she'll be able to feel again. It is that one thing that I cherish dearly; the minor wish I discovered in the Holy Grail War. It needs to be within my reach. While that mindset might be the cause of the current stagnation, is it so wrong to want to embrace someone you hold dear? The war that Twice wants to bring about will hurt the one I care about most. I cannot allow that to happen.

Most of that is the same for Rin, but the lines that explicitly refers to Rani change to:


~

I didn't come here to wish for death.

The Masters who have fought and died in the Holy Grail; every one of them had a wish of their own. There were many types of Masters. The selfish and the altruistic. The sympathetic and the despised. But each and every one of them was sincere in their desire. I'm positive this is true of every Master. I cut many of them down in battle and destroyed their dreams, and now here I stand. At first, nothing I wanted had any value. I bear the responsibility for all of the wishes that have been lost. The worth of their wishes has no bearing. But to abandon one's dreams is an unforgivable sin.

~

I know that war isn't the answer.

Even if war is necessary element in the advancement of humanity, I still can't support its continuation. My reasoning is painfully simplistic. Lives would be lost in war. That's my only reason. I understand the concept of necessary evils, but I refuse to accept the reasoning for their existence. The line of opponents that parade through my mind are dead and gone and will never return. I've experienced the pain of loss throughout this ordeal. That alone will always make me oppose war. Twisting the Moon Cell's filtering process into the Holy Grail War is his way of starting a war on Earth. And as warped as his ideals are, my own aren't really any better. Even so, I can't accept his view of war.

~

...I can't honestly say he's wrong.

I know in my heart that war is wrong, but I can find no argument to counter his words. The truth is that after the gauntlet of foes I've had to fight through, I've gained an indomitable strength. The insights I've gained through battle and study are beyond counting. I know now that I must do something to save the world before its stagnation leads to its ruin. Although my own morals and common sense scream that something's wrong, I can't deny the truth of his words. I can only accept the fact that his way must be the correct one. At the very least, his words have a certainty to them I cannot deny and makes me think I should obey him. However-

So you refuse to claim the Holy Grail for your own. Is that your final decision?

I never had a choice in the first place. Like him, if I were to touch the Holy Grail I would be deleted.

All five converge here.

Rin also gets even more lines after this, while Rani gets nothing.


God, Rani really gets robbed here, doesn't she? Rin gets all these things to say, while Rani just sits there.



Servant. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you think I'm evil and should be eradicated?



Caster's reaction is totally expected. It's a relief to see that whatever the situation, she's always herself.



Even before I was a Servant, I killed untold numbers of people. I might hold the world record for murder.





And though I don't like even thinking about it, if you were to fall, I'd never forgive the one who killed you.

In this case, I must side with my Master. No, I have to admit that you've always been right, Master.



As for his Servant... It may be on a totally different magnitude, but I will win!

Her encouraging words erase any hesitation I had. All I can do now is trust in my feelings and move on.



That might seem to be the case, but even if we walk the same path, our feelings may be completely opposite. I must have died in the same incident that took Twice. However, I learned different lessons in my death.



Once the participants have been reduced to one, permission is granted to leave the SE.RA.PH. This is one thing I cannot change. The Moon Cell has made this rule a fundamental requirement for entry.



So there is no path open to you but the one that leads to the Holy Grail. And given your capricious nature, I can't relax yet. There's no guarantee your potential will shine through. The world has reached its limit as well. Soon it will be too late to overcome the stagnation of man.

—However, Twice Pieceman is wrong. If the Moon Cell automatically erased irregular data, I cannot go inside. Just like Twice, if I pass through that gate, I will be eliminated. And if Twice somehow wins, he will gain nothing. In the end, no one will win this fight. But even knowing that-

Video: The End of the Holy Grail War
Music: Savior - All Shall Become One


It doesn't matter to me if you resist. If you want your wish to come true, you'll have to defeat me anyway. And such is destiny. At the end of things, this is the conclusion we arrive at. Now then, it's time to bring this chapter in the Holy Grail War to a close. To the victor goes the spoils— That is the way of humanity: something that will never change...!



I may well be a malevolent force in regards to man, but life is an endless cycle that will never end. I have been bestowed this power not only to protect one person, but to preserve the whole.



Come, Heroic Spirit of salvation! The answer to all, the sole entity to escape the agony of existence!





That's...

That's the fucking Buddha.

Is this why Cu's Matrix randomly mentioned him???



then I will come forth to grant salvation to all things and guide them with the might of my vajra.

Oh, and despite being, you know, the actual final boss, he's 100% unvoiced. He doesn't even get combat lines.

So that's all he has to say. That his arrival will save the world, spouting gibberish the whole time...





So when the time comes, please help me! Having always protected others, I never thought I'd need it myself.

Now I know better. And though we are Master and Servant, here we stand hand-in hand, together.

So let us show these two the awesome power of our true love!



The words of my Servant serve to encourage me. And in the end, Twice was right about one thing: there are some things that conflict can help to grow. And the most important to me is the bond that now exists between me and my Servant. Regardless of the strength of the enemy or the consequences failure will have on the future, I won't back down. I will face this one last battle with the one who has been with me from the beginning by my side—!





A giant spinny thing has appeared behind Savior.





The fact that it gets several zoom-in shots probably means it'll be important.











Come, weakest Servant. Like your Master, your valiant efforts are magnificent to me.

As the final boss, Savior comes in with 34K HP.

If you'll recall, Gawain had 37K HP, so Savior is an inexplicable step down in health!

I mean, they can't really make him that much stronger than Gawain, considering that there's no non-grinding ways to gain levels at this point, but still!



He opens up with a buff that adds HP leech to his Attacks.

I guess it helps balance out his lower HP, but, and I'll say it as many times as I have to, normal attacks shouldn't be landing this late in the game.



Two moves in, and I've already taken out close to 15% of his HP!







Sunyata is his main offensive skill, and deals less damage than Gawain's Blade of the Devoted.



I hit harder.



Two turns in, and he's already down to half HP.

But at the end of the turn, something different happens:





Much like Nursery Rhyme, Savior's NP is on a timer. Every two turns one of those mirrors light up, and he'll use it once all seven are lit, putting us on a 14 turn time limit.

Unlike Queen's Glass Game, however, there is no reset gimmick here. Savior's NP just kills you.



Savior adds in an extremely rude move here.



But first, he sets up a buff that adds MP leech on Break.



See, this other Skill is a counter move. Any form of offensive action, Attack, Break, or Skill, instantly sets it off. Here, I never got hit by it, but on my death recording...





It instantly kills Tamamo if you attack into it. Early on, he'll only use it as his third move to make it easier to predict, but as the fight goes on it'll start drifting further and further to the right.



I can't take them with me, so I finally pop an Elixir.

In hindsight, I probably could have killed Savior much faster if I just started freely flinging these and using a neverending stream of Sky-buffed Curses.



And another Curse brings him down to 9K.



Twice steps in next turn.

Music: Caster - Extra Life With Anyone She Wants


Is it useful? No, I have so much MP recovery at this point that I'd be better off going for more damage. But I've only used Blessings of Amaterasu one other time, and what better place to use it than the final battle?



I then accidentally fatfinger Aphotic Cave, wasting valuable free damage.





Twice's main Code Cast is a Skill seal, which is very, very bad.

Hilariously enough, this also means that Twice knows exactly how to hard counter his former Servant. Enemy information is finally coming into play!

Music: Savior - All Shall Become One


The second mirror lights up.

Now, Skill Seal would normally be devastating for Tamamo...



Buuuuuuuuut Sakura's lunches all cure Seals, and recover(); on the Base Red Mystic Code also clears it, so it doesn't matter.



Of course, if you don't know that they do this and think they just double as Remedies (which can't cure a Seal), you'll be in for a very bad time.



Savior's final buff adds Stuns to his Breaks.



But that won't stop him from dying that same turn.

I really wish I could say something like, 'this is where the game really peaks!', but this is Fate/Extra. This was the final boss of the game, and I killed him in 5 turns while playing suboptimally, and, aside from his counter move, I was never in any real danger of losing.





Next time: The end.