The Truth of This World
Captain!
Bell!
A malignant force began to seep up from beneath the shattered Heart of the Star.
The shockwave was so powerful that Bell and I could only cling to each other to stay upright.
What a pity, Bell.
But if you can't kill me...
I'll simply have to ask another blood relative.
Another blood relative...?
There's no one like that here! Who could you possibly be calling?!
You're wrong.
That wretched gem called the Heart of the Star.
Beneath it, our bloodline has been preserved for countless ages.
Liar!
No. It's the truth.
The curse of immortality that spread through these walls spilled out from that very bloodline.
Where... did you even hear something like that?
From truth itself.
The down payment I received for that [quest] was the [truth of this world].
And part of that truth was the [truth of our family].
The Rhys family teaches that the [Immortal King Mogulus] was our family's disciple.
And that we defeated him together with Lady Alicia.
Yeah, exactly! And that's why the [Firstborn's Duty] exists!
To atone for the sin of taking in the Immortal King as a disciple...
No. All of it was a lie.
The Immortal King was never a disciple of House Rhys.
He was the ancestor of it.
He was... our ancestor?
Yes. And he never died.
He submitted to the Grand Witch, and was sealed within the Heart of the Star...
And he is still alive.
Right here.
The Grand Witch...? Does she mean Alicia?
But why would she do something like that?
You still don't seem to understand, Captain.
Very well. Allow me to share a fragment of this world's truth with you.
You have the right to know.
This world... is a single, massive [Cycle].
A voice I once heard in Dirac's Well suddenly echoed in my mind.
Did you not wish to escape the [Cycle]?
If you can't even control your emotions and wish to run amok like a lunatic, go ahead.
But you will be trapped in this endless Cycle forever. Like a rat.
And the Grand Witch needed powerful spokes to bear that Cycle.
Spokes strong enough to withstand its crushing weight forever.
The [curse of immortality] was the perfect material for such spokes.
Because someone who can't die can serve as an eternal coordinate that fixes reality in place.
So Alicia defeated Mogulus and made him a spoke of the Cycle.
But... nothing truly lasts forever, even in this universe.
Eventually, even the spoke of immortality reached its limit and began to give in.
And thus, a successor was born—one to inherit the curse of immortality.
And that successor... Is it you?
Then the [Firstborn's Duty]...
Yes. It was never about atonement.
It was a shackle. A means to keep the necessary [replacement] within reach.
That can't be right...
Bell, my sweet little sister.
Perhaps Lady Alicia had her reasons.
Maybe making this world into a Cycle was the correct choice.
But... I refuse to be a spoke.
I refuse to spend eternity upholding the Cycle—unable to live or die.
So if you won't kill me...
Then I'll have to awaken another blood relative to do it.