「故事模式剧情详表 (移动版)」：修訂間差異

[[文件:Story V-5.jpg|300px|thumb|right|V-4]]

{{collapse|状态=collapsed|标题颜色=#e7e7e7|内容颜色=#f7f7f7|标题=中文剧情 （变化后）|标题样式=padding-left:1em|内容样式=padding:1em|内容=

  ——不过 ， 故 事 进行到这里 的 时候 ， 尼尔还没有迎来自己生命 的 终点。<br> 她经历了两次死 亡 ，这便是她 的一 生 。<br> <br>—— 总 之 ， 最终师徒二人决定来找殸 的 第二席探索者 ， 神赐其名“虔”。<br> <br> 同时作为塑形者与至高者， 这 位强大但有些古怪 的 女性开口 说 话时常常带着很重 的 气音 ，她 那标志性<br>的 闪闪发光的巨大长矛也经常被 她时 刻携带在身边。<br> 师徒二人压制住 有 她气息及痕迹的空 ， 通过这个方式最终定位到了 她 所在的位置—— 第 五泰拉的边缘。<br> 自从 她们 出发来到这里寻找虔已经过了一 个 月 ，此 时她们已经有些疲累，只想尽快能够休息 。<br> <br>她们 一直试图引起那位探索者 的 注意 ， 但她似乎只对她附近的空中存在的声音感兴趣 ， 或许 是 因为<br> 那些声音会不断发出让 人 无法理解的破碎的 话 语。<span style="color: darkorchid;">我</span>最终朝她的小腿来了一脚，尼尔也反过来<br>绊 了 一下<span style="color: darkorchid;">我</span> 。<span style="color: darkorchid;">于是，我和尼尔又一次从通力合作变成了内讧，我俩互相瞪着对方，僵持 不 下 。</span><br> 又不知过去了多久，当一些微弱的没有可辨 实 体 的 大 能 开始吞食旁边的空时，虔终于看向 了她们 。<br>“ 你们是在跟我说话吗？” 第二 席淡淡地问道。

 “ 啊 ，对、 对 的 。”尼尔答道，“我知道你本意 是 想要第4席来帮忙，但我们两个也不差啊！哈哈 ……”<br> <br>“她 太忙了 。 ”虔看着那位后辈塑形者的眼睛 ， 平淡 地 回答 道 。<br> <br> “ 是的…… 我还听说第十一席刚回来不久 ， 近日都在位于 心 的自己家中休养，但 ……”<br> <br>“ 空最近变得很奇怪，我们也不再能够在 泰拉之 间自如交流了。 ” 虔面无表情地打断了 尼尔。“ 即使<br> 是通过空传播也做不 到，而 我们显然不能够从中飞越 ，因此……没 什么办法 。”

  “可是你明明就有。”L突然开口。虔循声向下看去 ， 只见那个孩子继续追问道：“ 所 以问题 的 关键其实<br>在于，你为什么什么也 不 做？”<br> <br><span style="color: darkorchid;">但虔没有回答我 。</span><br> <br> 因为 她的 确没有办法—— 尼尔 想到 ， 这种事情只有殸自己可以做到。<br> 终于找到了第二席， 这 次压制任务 的 具体行动方针便得到了落实：那就 是 通过控制殸的气息从而<br>将 其送回泰拉之 上的 那片空间——无休止 地 缠绕着自己的漩涡、看得见和 看 不见的永不落幕的舞蹈——<br> “空”，也即“大能汇集 之 地” 。<br> <br> 那片生命之海流动于泰拉 之 内 ， 也流动于泰拉之外。虽然它无法在殸的背部和骨架内部通行 ， 它偶尔<br>也会溢出到别的泰拉 那 里，给在泰拉运行的机器甚至泰拉 本 身带 去 一些麻烦 。 这其实并 不 难理解，<br> 别的世界也常有类似的 事 情发生 ， 比如那些要么完全随心 所 欲 ， 要么带着明确目的去行动和改变世界<br> 的那些神使或灵。有时一个地方会因为他们而顷刻散发生机，但有时他 们也 会给世界造成 不 小 的 伤害 。<br> 他 们确实不 负“大能”的名 ， 有时即使是拥有愿力的强大存 在也 无法与其抗衡 。<br> <br> 所以 ， 这师徒二人 便 闻讯赶来帮忙 了。

  她们并没有跟第二探索者一起工作 ， 而是各自按自己 的 想法行动。天气因塑形者 的 指挥开始变得不同<br> 寻常起 来 。首先 是 风：它们应声而起 ， 肆意摆荡着她们衣摆 ， 而她 们 则 不 为所动，而是继续在风中自<br> 如地抬 起 双臂，手指舞动 ， 操控着那些无形 却 充满力量 的 存在 。 很快，乌云变占领了这里——头顶，<br> 以及脚下。雨滴随即 也 纷 至 沓 来， 从 下 往上“掉” 。 最后 ， 雷电也开始听命聚集 ，不 断击打在四周 。<br> <br> 即使从效果上看非常地震撼 ， 这样 的工作 实际上机械 而 又枯燥 ， 于是L很快便厌倦了。L不耐烦地选了<br>一 道闪电，把它捏 成 了 一 朵花 的形 状 ， 然后问了 一个 她之前可能早就问过无数次 的 问题：“为什么偏<br> 偏得是我们来做这些？ ”尼尔 并没有 理 会她，但她却锲而不舍地追问了下去： “ 就 是 为了所谓 的‘ 赎罪 ’ 么？<br>是么？ ”

  尼尔 最终 还是 开 口 了 ： “ ……L ， 你又 在 多想 了。不 要 想 太 多， 这 只 是我 们 该——”<br> <br> “即使这一切毫无意义？就只是因为……过去我 们 对别人趾高气扬过？ 可 这跟我又有什么关系！我又没有<br> 这么干过，而且就算我这么做了，那又怎样？你每次都 是 这样 ， 可你倒是说啊 ， 具体 会 怎样？为什么<br> 我 们一 定就要做 这 些？我们在给谁证明呢，在给谁赎罪呢？神？殸都死了，而且 —— ”<br> <br> “够了！L。”<br> <br> “——杀死祂的，其实就是塑形者吧？”

尼尔猛地放下了双手，转过身狠狠地蹬了她的学徒一眼，而学徒只是看着她生气的表情咯咯地笑了<br> 起来。雷电不知何时在师徒二人身旁悄然生成，将那位塑形者的眼睛点亮。<br> <br> “唉，尼尔，你长得还真是好看。”L仍是笑咪咪的，直视着自己师父继续挖苦道，“只可惜……就凭你这<br> 智商，这漂亮的脸蛋算是白白浪费在你身上了。”<br> <br> 空在她们二人中间肆意地翻滚着，温度逐渐攀升起来。大能的低语在四周此起彼伏地响起，微弱的<br> 火苗充斥在这已经足够诡异的天气之间。“噗嗤”一声，L又笑了，而尼尔向她的学生走去。<br> <br> 几乎就在下一刻，她猛地拽住孩子的衣领，将她单手拎了起来。<br> <br> 暴风雨即将来临，尼尔从牙缝间低低挤出一句：“你！你为什么总是——<br> “——！？”

—Nell wasn't dead yet in this story.<br>Nell dies later, and then dies again.<br><br>—Eventually, the girls came to find the 2nd Seeker of Lephon, whom God named 'Faith'.<br><br>An Ascendant Shaper. A strange woman who spoke breathily and always carried a large and <br>shimmering spear...<br>The two girls took up a job to suppress the Air that involved her, and so found her now at the fifth <br>Terra's edge. It had been a month since they'd arrived on this land. They were a little tired, <br>and very ready to rest...<br><br>They tried and tried to snatch the Seeker's attention, but she was only interested in the unintelligible <br>words of the Air surrounding them. <span style="color: darkorchid;">I</span> kicked her in her shin, and Nell kicked <span style="color: darkorchid;">me back</span> in response. <br><span style="color: darkorchid;">We gave one another quite the glares with that.</span> Unfazed, Faith finally looked at them—just as a flock of <br>lesser Powers obscure in shape began to graze through the Air between them. Softly, "You're talking to me?" <br>asked the 2nd.

"Yeah—Yes," Nell corrected herself. "I'm sure you would've wanted the 4th to help, but we're a skillful pair! <br>Aha... ahaha..."<br><br>"She doesn't have time," answered Faith, meeting the younger Shaper's eyes.<br><br>"Ah... yes. I've heard the 11th came back recently and is resting back home on the Heart, but..."<br><br>"The Air is bitter, and won't let us speak between Terra," said Faith, finishing Nell's thought with a stoic <br>face. "Even Air transmissions will fail, and of course we can't fly through it so... Nothing can be done <br>about it... hm."

"You could do something," L interjected, and Faith looked down at her. "Why don't you?" the child asked.<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;">But Faith didn't answer me.</span><br><br>And Nell thought to herself—Because she can't, only Lephon could.<br><br>After getting through to the strange woman properly, the details of this suppression task were conveyed: <br>curb Lephon's Breath and cast it back to the realm beyond the Terra—to the swirling vortex that wraps <br>over itself endlessly in a dance both seen and unseen, the Place of Powers called the Air.<br><br>That sea of life flows throughout the Terra, and while it can't slip into Lephon's bones or behind His back, <br>on occasion it will flow too greatly across a Terra and cause... malfunctions, in everything from machines <br>to nature itself. There are a few similar concepts outside this world. Think of them as spirits or angels <br>coming in all manner of shapes, moving through themselves and acting whim- and willfully to change <br>the world around them, to spur spontaneous growth, to harm and... so on. And they are truly "Powers"; <br>at times, even one capable of wishing can't fully stand against them.<br><br>And so, the two girls were there to help.

The pair of them worked apart from the 2nd Seeker, and as they worked the weather <br>became strange. As their clothing waved around them in the winds—their arms raised, <br>with hands and fingers moving great and invisible beings—dark clouds began to brew <br>across the ground. Clouds formed, also, at their feet, and soon rain began to fall upward <br>around them. Then it became a matter of managing lightning, too...<br><br>While it may have looked fantastic and interesting, the work was rote. Therefore, L quickly <br>grew dissatisfied. While taking hold of an arc of lightning and twisting it into a flower's <br>shape, she asked Nell a question that she had asked perhaps a dozen times before: <br>"Why do we do all this?" And, when Nell ignored her, she asked a couple others, <br>"Is it just penance? Is that all this is?"

Now Nell answered her: "...Don't overthink it, L. It's just the right thing to—"<br><br>"Even though it's worthless? It's all just because we... LORDED over others in the past? I didn't! And even <br>if I could rule—so what? Come now, tell me why. Why do any of this at all? Who are we proving ourselves <br>to —God? Lephon is dead, and—"<br><br>"L, be quiet—"<br><br>" —we Shapers killed Him, right?"

Nell dropped her hands and turned to look at her student. The child was giggling, but all her teacher <br>would give her was a glare. Lightning flew up at their sides, lighting the Shaper's eyes.<br><br>"...You are beautiful, Nell," L remarked, looking back at her with a wry grin. "Shame you really are stupid."<br><br>The Air flooded around them, and grew hot. Little fires came in and out of the weather as Powers <br>whispered between themselves unintelligibly. L snickered again, and Nell stepped toward her.<br><br>She grabbed the child's clothing by its front, and lifted her one-handed.<br><br>And, her teeth grit, she began, "Why do you always—!?"

But she went quiet, and L lost her smile.<br><br>After all, it had been a thousand years...<br><br>The Shapers said that they had killed God, others said God simply perished, and others still said that <br>God gave Himself up: to birth this beautiful world from His body. Others, and others... but the one <br>certainty was His death. And yet: the Shapers said that God still had a voice.<br><br>For their arrogance, their tyranny, and for their claim to the greatest transgression, people had prayed <br>to Powers to punish near every Shaper alive—to have them face a reckoning. And, as Powers do listen <br>to prayer... in ancient times, the hands of god were nearly cut fully from Lephon, and the few who <br>remained were humbled in the wake of it all.<br><br>But still, in faith, Shapers said that the voice could still be heard down on Lephon's Heart and only <br>by they, His chosen people; yet here so far from the holy land two young Shapers heard Him:<br><br>"Lephon" spoke to the two girls, and told them of a coming End.}}

===20-5===

 解锁条件：完成[[#20-4|20-4]]，购入[[Lucent Historia]]曲包<br>解锁要求：通过[[Breach of Faith]]

  少女们即使算是神的左膀右臂，但她们也只是未经世事的孩子 ， 更别说神 的 左膀<br> 右臂也难逃消亡的一天。孩子总是相对简单 的 存在 ， 即使有能够塑形周围 的 世界 的 能力 ， 所造成 的 后<br> 果往往也并不严重。况且对于L这样的孩子来说 ， 比起真的要塑造什么 ，她 更多只是想 通 过这样 的<br> 方式去探究世界的更多奥秘罢 了。她们 当时既不是至高者，也不是探索者 ， 她们并不能改变现实 ，<br> 也能真正无中生有创造什么新产物，她们更没有办法与众神抗衡：即使她们 不 算是第一 个 有如此遭遇<br>的 ，她们终 究也只 是 两个 小 孩子罢了，如今却要面临如此艰巨 的挑战。<br> <br> 她们此刻显然已经忘记不久前的矛盾，而 是 不约而同地看向四周 ， 心想是不是某些大能突然能够开口<br>说人话了。但显而易见这不可能。这样的温度……这么地清晰……能清楚地在自己的内心 最 深处响起 的<br>这 样真实而又真挚的声音只能是祂 —— 只能是殸。而殸告诉了她们同样 的 话 ——<br> <br>良久，尼尔难以置信 地 重复了 一 遍：“第二探索者……要将祂 的 脊骨拦腰斩断……？！”

  “你也听见了，对吗？！所以，这、这真 的 是……真 的 是……殸？！殸 的 声音？！殸跟我们说话了？”<br> <br>“这么说 ， 你也……？”尼尔问道，她和L几乎是同时开口 。 她顿了顿，随即磕磕绊绊地问道：“那没错<br> 了……是 的 …… 那 就是……”<br> <br>L接着问道 ， 似乎有些担心：“什么意思……什么叫‘当他们沉睡 ， 而又醒 来 ’？”<br> <br>“ 泰拉之上的大能 ……” 尼尔回答 道。“ 祂说，‘当黑暗降临，万物因夜晚而歇息之时 ， 他 们 也将再度醒 来 ，<br> 因为明亮的白天总会到来 ’ ，可是殸这个世界 并没有 类似太阳或月亮的存在。而且祂重 复了 一遍 ，<br> 因此…… ”<br> <br>“ 两天 ？”<br> <br>“…… 没错 。”<br> <br>“ ……”

  师徒二人沉默不语，而大能所掀起 的 风暴威力丝毫不减，仍在周围肆虐 。<br> <br>“ 那 么 ， 她一定会去到 殸的 背后 …… ”尼尔喃喃道 ， “不然那些大能肯定会试图阻止她 ， 但 …… 砍断<br>殸的 脊骨 …… 这真的 可 能吗？即使她是探索者—— ”<br> <br>L将手默默地盖在 了她 老师 的 手上 ，而 尼尔终于将她放 了下 来 。 她 的 老师随即沉默地看向了第五泰拉<br>边缘 之 外的远 处 。<br> <br> “如果是两天 之 后，”她小声说道，“那其他人根本来不及过来……只能 是 我俩去阻止她 。 而且我们还不<br> 能告诉其他任何人 这 件事 ，而 且我 真 觉得即使我们说了她们也不会信 的。 所以，我们……我们只能……”<br> <br>“ 可 我 们也不是必须要去阻止她啊 。 ”L插话 道 。尼尔偏过头 ， 疑惑地看向她 的 学 生。<br> <br>“ 殸 …… 祂说：‘这便是 死， 这便是终 。 ’我们确实不需要去阻止她啊 ， 我们甚至 不 需要做任何事情……<br> 而且继续待在这里也没有 什么 意义了 。”<br> <br> “你 的 意思是……” 话 没说完 ，尼尔 便陷入 了 沉默 。

  “如果通过丝离开的话，”尼尔说道，“那么这条丝和它所连接的那个目的地世界便会随着脊骨 的 坍塌<br> 而毁灭，对于任何丝 来 说都是如此 。 ”<br> <br>“你说的对，但如果真如殸所说的那样 ， 很快我们也不需要什么‘丝’ 了。 ”<br> <br>尼尔微微眯起了自己 的 眼睛 ， 却仍然直视着她 的 学生 。<br> <br> “L……我哪里也不去。”稍年长的 塑形者 说道，“如果殸赐福‘至高’于我，那再好不过。我本就打算留下<br>来，我留下来就是为了阻止她。你不会明白的……我了解你……不过如果你想走 的 话，那便去吧 。 这次，<br> 我不会拦你。 ”<br> <br> 尼尔转过身去 ， 抬起自己的手 ， 继续她那被迫中断了好久的压制空的工作。空不断制造着骚动 ， 而她<br>只是继续着 自 己的工作，任凭她小小的学徒望着她的背影出神 。<br> <br> “L……你不是 一 直以来都想成为一个神吗。我知道你眼里的神都是怎样的一个形象，但殸祂完全不是<br>你所想的那样。祂是一个真正 的 神明 ， 而一位真正的神明从不滥用 自己的 力量 ， 祂也不会全凭心情做<br>决定。”这是 尼尔 对自己的学生讲的最后 一 段道理。<br> <br>“神是救世主，世界的庇佑者，‘天恩’‘赐福’这些词的来由 大 抵如此 。 ”

  ……但L 最终 并没有离开。相反地，她帮助自己的老师完成 了 工作，随后 的 这段时间里 ， 直到这位名叫<br>“虔”的探索者返回 了 二人身边之前，她们之间 的 气氛一直都莫名有些紧张 。<br> <br>在第二席离开之前 ， 师徒二人并没有将殸说话 的 具 体 内容告知于 她， 毕竟她对于这两位年轻 的 塑形者<br> 来说还是过于生疏了。她们无法理解虔 ， 也并不想去试着理解 她 。更多时候 ， 虔 只 会让 她 们感到惧怕 。<br> <br>但怕归怕 ，她 们也必须直面恐惧：毕竟 不 然等待 着 她们的便是《神使之歌》里那更加可怖的“终结”了 。<br> <br> 于 是 ，两天之后，她们 还会 再次相见……<br> <br> 到那时 ， 她们将重塑这个世界——这个世界 的 一切、这个世界 的 全部——而这一切都是为了阻止她 。}}

The girls may have had the hands of God, but they were only girls, and those hands would one <br>day fade into dust. They were simple, only with some little ways that they could shape the world <br>around them and, in L's case, a way to gaze within the world. They had not become Ascendants, <br>Seekers; they could not shape reality itself nor spur new creation. They could not fight with gods. <br>They were only two girls, now in an overwhelming situation. It sounds familiar.<br><br>They forgot what had heated them only seconds before. They looked around themselves, <br>wondering if they'd merely heard some miraculous Power that could speak in humans' <br>tongues. But it couldn't be. It was too warm and too clear. It was felt too sincerely in their <br>hearts and not their heads. It was Him, it was Lephon, and He had told the two the same thing:<br><br>Nell repeated it: "The 2nd Seeker... is going to sever Lephon by His Spine...!?"

"You heard that too, Nell!? So it was—it was Le... That was Lephon!? Lephon talked to us?"<br><br>"You heard it t...?" Nell asked, not having heard L. She then stammered to the child, "Ah, yes—yeah <br>I heard it... that was..."<br><br>Worriedly, L asked her, "What... What did He mean by 'when they sleep and wake'?"<br><br>"The Powers beyond the Terra..." Nell began, "He means when they rest and go dark for night, and <br>wake and glow bright for day. Lephon has no suns or moons, only them, and He said it twice, so—"<br><br>"Two days?"<br><br>"Two days..."<br><br>"..."

<span style="color: darkorchid;">即便我们</span>算是神 的 左膀右臂，但<span style="color: darkorchid;">那时我们</span>也只是未经世事 的 孩子 ， 更别说 神 的左膀<br>右臂也难逃消亡的一天。孩子总是相对简单的存在，即使有能够塑形周围的世界的能力，所造成的后<br>果往往也并不严重 。 况且对于L这样的孩子来说，比起真 的 要塑造什么 ，她 更多只是想通过这样的<br> 方式去探究世界 的 更多奥秘罢 了 。她们当时既不是至高者，也不是探索者 ，她 们并 不 能改变现实 ，<br> 也能真正 无 中生有创造什么新产物，她们更没有办法与众神抗衡：即使她们不算是第一个有如此遭遇<br> 的 ，她们终究也只是两个 小孩子 罢了，如今却要面临如此艰巨 的 挑战 。<br> <br>她们 此刻显然已经忘记不久前的矛盾，而是不约而同地看向四周，心想是不是某些大能突然能够开口<br>说人话了。但显而易见这不可能 。 这样的温度……这么地清晰……能清楚地在自己的内心最深处响起的<br> 这样真实而又真挚的声音只能是祂——只能是殸。而殸告诉了 她们 同样的话——<br> <br>良久，尼尔难以置信地重复了一遍：“第二探索者……要将祂的脊骨拦腰斩断……？！”

“你也听 见了 ，对吗？！所以，这、这真的是……真的是……殸？！殸 的 声音？！殸跟我们说话了？”<br> <br>“这么说，你也……？” 尼尔 问道 ，她 和L几乎是同时开口。她顿了顿，随即磕磕绊绊地问道：“那没错<br>了……是 的 …… 那 就是……”<br> <br>L接 着 问道，似乎有 些 担心：“什么意思……什么叫‘当他们沉睡，而又醒 来 ’？”<br> <br> “泰拉之上的大能……”尼尔回答道。“祂 说， ‘当黑暗降临，万物因夜晚而歇息之时，他们也 将 再度醒 来，<br>因为明亮 的 白天总会到 来 ’，可 是 殸这个世界并没有类似太阳或月亮 的 存在 。 而且祂重复了一遍，<br>因此……”<br> <br>“两天？”<br> <br>“……没错。”<br> <br>“……”

师徒二人沉默不语，而大能所掀起的风暴威力丝毫不减，仍在周围肆虐。<br> <br>“那么， 她 一定会去到殸的背后……” 尼尔 喃喃道，“不然那些大能肯定会试图阻止她 ， 但……砍断<br>殸的脊骨……这真的可能吗？即使她是 探索者 ——”<br> <br>L将手默默地盖在了 她 老师 的 手上 ， 而尼尔终于将她放了下来。 她 的老师随即沉默地看 向 了 第 五泰拉<br> 边缘之外 的远 处 。<br> <br> “如果是两天之后，”她小声说道，“那其他人根本来不及过来……只能是我俩去阻止她。而且我们还不<br> 能告诉其他任何人这件事，而且我真觉得即使我们说了她们也不会信的。所以，我们……我们只能……”<br> <br> “可我们也不是必须要去阻止她啊。”L插话道。尼尔偏过头，疑惑地看向她的学生。<br> <br> “殸……祂说：‘这便是死，这便是终。’我们确实不需要去阻止她啊，我们甚至不需要做任何事情……<br> 而且继续待在这里也没有什么意义了。”<br> <br> “你的意思是……”话没说完，尼尔便陷入了沉默。

“如果通过丝离开的话，”尼尔说道，“那么这条丝和它所连接的那个目的地世界便会随着脊骨的坍塌<br> 而毁灭，对于任何丝来说都是如此。”<br> <br> “你说的对，但如果真如殸所说的那样，很快我们也不需要什么‘丝’了。”<br> <br> 尼尔微微眯起了自己的眼睛，却仍然直视着她的学生。<br> <br> “L……我哪里也不去。”稍年长的塑形者说道，“如果殸赐福‘至高’于我，那再好不过。我本就打算留下<br> 来，我留下来就是为了阻止她。你不会明白的……我了解你……不过如果你想走的话，那便去吧。这次，<br> 我不会拦你。”<br> <br> 尼尔转过身去，抬起自己的手，继续她那被迫中断了好久的压制空的工作。空不断制造着骚动，而她<br> 只是继续着自己的工作，任凭她小小的学徒望着她的背影出神。<br> <br>“L……你不是一直以来都想成为一个神吗。我知道你眼里的神都是怎样的一个形象，但殸祂完全不是<br>你所想的那样。祂是一个真正的神明，而一位真正的神明从不滥用自己的力量，祂也不会全凭心情做<br>决定。”这是尼尔对自己的学生讲的最后一段道理。<br> <br>“神是救世主，世界的庇佑者，‘天恩’‘赐福’这些词的来由大抵如此。”

……但L最终并没有离开。相反地，她帮助自己的老师完成了工作，随后的这段时间里，直到这位名叫<br>“虔”的探索者返回了二人身边之前，她们之间的气氛一直都莫名有些紧张。<br> <br>在第二席离开之前，师徒二人并没有将殸说话的具体内容告知于她，毕竟她对于这两位年轻的塑形者<br>来说还是过于生疏了。她们无法理解虔，也并不想去试着理解她。更多时候，虔只会让她们感到惧怕。<br> <br> 但怕归怕，她们也必须直面恐惧：毕竟不然等待着她们的便是《神使之歌》里那更加可怖的“终结”了。<br> <br> 于是，两天之后，她们还会再次相见……<br> <br> 到那时，她们将重塑这个世界——这个世界的一切、这个世界的全部——而这一切都是为了阻止她。}}

<span style="color: darkorchid;">We have always had</span> the hands of God, but <span style="color: darkorchid;">at the time we were</span> only girls, and those hands would <br>one day fade into dust. They were simple, only with some little ways that they could shape the world <br>around them and, in L's case, a way to gaze within the world. They had not become Ascendants, <br>Seekers; they could not shape reality itself nor spur new creation. They could not fight with gods. <br>They were only two girls, now in an overwhelming situation. It sounds familiar.<br><br>They forgot what had heated them only seconds before. They looked around themselves, <br>wondering if they'd merely heard some miraculous Power that could speak in humans' <br>tongues. But it couldn't be. It was too warm and too clear. It was felt too sincerely in their <br>hearts and not their heads. It was Him, it was Lephon, and He had told the two the same thing:<br><br>Nell repeated it: "The 2nd Seeker... is going to sever Lephon by His Spine...!?"

"You heard that too, Nell!? So it was—it was Le... That was Lephon!? Lephon talked to us?"<br><br>"You heard it t...?" Nell asked, not having heard L. She then stammered to the child, "Ah, yes—yeah <br>I heard it... that was..."<br><br>Worriedly, L asked her, "What... What did He mean by 'when they sleep and wake'?"<br><br>"The Powers beyond the Terra..." Nell began, "He means when they rest and go dark for night, and <br>wake and glow bright for day. Lephon has no suns or moons, only them, and He said it twice, so—"<br><br>"Two days?"<br><br>"Two days..."<br><br>"..."

They were quiet, but the storm of the Powers around them raged all the same.<br><br>"She'd have to go behind Lephon's back..." Nell muttered. "Some Power would stop <br>her otherwise, but—cutting through Lephon's Spine... is it even possible? Even for a Seeker—"<br><br>L placed her hand on her mentor's —Nell was still lifting her by the front of her clothes after <br>all. Nell put her down, and looked out over the edge of the fifth Terra.<br><br>"If it's in two days..." she said quietly, "then there's nobody else to stop her, only us. We can't <br>call anyone else about this—and if we could who would believe us? We're just... We..."<br><br>"We don't have to," L finished, and Nell looked back on her confused.<br><br>"Lephon... said 'This is death, this is done.' We don't have to... do anything. We don't even <br>need to stay here."<br><br>"L, you mean..." after saying this, briefly the teacher went silent.

"If you leave by a Strand," said Nell, "the Strand and the world it goes to will be destroyed with <br>the Spine's collapse. It happens with any Strand being severed."<br><br>"Yes... but if Lephon's spoken to us, soon we won't need a Strand."<br><br>Nell narrowed her eyes upon her student.<br><br>"L... I'm not leaving," said the teacher. "If Lephon blesses me with Ascension, all the better that I <br>can stay here and stop Faith. You... don't understand. I know that you don't, but... If you want <br>to leave, then... go on and do it, but I won't."<br><br>Nell turned, lifted her hands, and resumed her work of suppressing the rampant Air. She spoke <br>only one more time to the little girl staring up at her back:<br><br>"You want to be a god, L, and I know what you believe a god to be but Lephon is Himself the <br>example. A god isn't a being of power and whim;<br><br>a god is a savior and protector, and that's why we call one's favor grace, and a blessing."

...L did not leave. She helped finish the job, and the two of them shared a moment of tension <br>between themselves and "Faith" when the Seeker returned to them.<br><br>Before the 2nd left, they did not tell her what Lephon had told them. After all, they did not <br>understand her, and did not want to. They feared her.<br><br>However, they would need to face that fear: to face an End unforetold by the Song of Angels.<br><br>And in two days when they would meet once again...<br><br>They would shape the world itself—everything, anything—if only to stop her.}}

===20-6===

[[文件:Story 20-6 cg.jpg|thumb|right|300px|20-6]]

 解锁条件： 完成[[#20-5|20-5]]， 购入[[Lucent Historia]]曲包<br>解锁要求： 通过[[Lament Rain]]

 在 “影之 大 地第26” 上， 由阴影形成 的 冰雹没日没夜地下着……<br> 越过已经沉没的山峦，被无情的空围困住的冰封都城“零”，两位 少女 仍坚定地 在 第五泰拉的大地 上 行走 。<br> 半途中， 她 们曾来到 了一 座“门卫城市”， 在 这里 她 们幸运地找到了一条非法通往殸背部 的 小路 ， 节省<br> 了不少时间。步行、骑行、飞行……她们用尽了各种赶路的方法 ， 抄近路的时候两人还用 了一 些小手段 ，<br> 但帮助 并不 太大 ——毕竟 按周围这个亮度 ， 隐蔽地再好估计也会被一眼认出。不过 她 们最终 还是 凭<br>极度谨慎和小心行事的态度有惊无险地通过了这个挑战。<br><br> 于是，最后 她 们终于来到 了 祂 的 背面：<br> 一处千万缕丝在这里 —— 即神的背部 —— 铺开的地方；一处吹出氧气并让其飘入宇宙深 处的 地方。

  高塔一样的脊骨连接着许多金色的、巨大的丝 ， 远看就仿佛一片巨大 的 森林 。<br> 她们要寻找的那个人早已在那里 了 ：挥舞着一柄散发 着 特殊 光 芒的长矛 ， 周遭 的 现实因此扭曲了一瞬。<br> 那个人，第二探索者 ， 看向 了 两位来访者 。<br><br> “……是你们两个。” 她 说道 ， 眼 神 冷淡到 有 些木讷 。 “我认识你们 ， 不过你们为何 在这 里？来看这里 的<br> ‘进进出出’么？”而当她并没 有 等来回复时， 她 轻轻点了点头：“啊……我明白了 ， 殸跟你们说话 了，<br> 对吧 。 ”<br> <br> 尼尔问道：“虔……这真 的 是殸的旨意吗？”<br> <br>而虔回答道：“我觉得祂需要我去这么做。”她随即摇 了 摇头 ， 好像有些莫名哀伤。“ 而 且……你们 不 会<br>喜欢我给出 的 答案。”<br> <br>“你说对了 。 ”L突然接过 了 话柄。但虔 只 是沉默地冲她点 了 点头 。

  “殸的‘死’是一个惨忍的奇迹。”那 位 探索 者 说道 ， “你们没有遇见过跟殸一样的世界吧…… 在 你们眼里，<br>只有祂的爱是一切 的 来源 。 你们一直都这么按部就班地活着，自以为这 是 祂 的 旨意……你们不过是殸<br>的 奴隶，而殸也不过是你们 的 奴隶 。这 个世界糟糕透顶 ， 你们永远也想象不到……但 它 本可以不这样<br> 糟糕 。 ”<br> <br> 虔举起 了 她的矛指向L ， 而后者反射性地皱 了 下眉。这柄长矛 的 特殊之处根本无需赘述 ， 光是尼尔<br> 和L看见 它 时的表情便说明了一切。这把武器甚至并非出自“此处”，因此仅仅是存在在这片异乡 的 大 地<br>之上 就 已经 在 对 这 里造成了实际伤害了。仅仅是看向它，L的眼睛都仿佛有被猛烈切割 的 撕 裂 痛感 。<br>这 把武器远不止可以做 到 杀死 一 个人 ， 而是可以真正做到“消除”的存在。<br> <br>“我没有什么好隐瞒的。”虔说道 ， “计划 的 内容不重要， 只 有结果重要，那就是‘重生’。”<br> <br>“……以无数生命 的 死为代价？”尼尔质问道，声音有些颤抖 。<br> <br> “擦除一块板 子 上 的 痕迹是一件很值得 大 惊小怪 的 事吗？”虔反问道 ， “更别说就连你都不一定记得那<br>上 面之前写了什么东西 。 ”<br> <br> 她的话音刚落 ， 一道人影便猛地袭来——尼尔已经受够了这些荒谬至 极 的言论 了。

  肺中的气息 被 抽去 了。<br> 宇宙 的 风暴被换来了 。<br> 火柴被点 亮了， 火从 中 被燃起 了。<br> 力被抽送向前——纯粹 的 力 ， 以及能 的 碰撞。<br> <br> 这便是 塑形者们 战斗 的 方式。<br> 拼上“一切 ” ——没错 ，一 切 。<br> <br> ……当然 ， 对于 这 场纷争来说，相比用“战斗 ” 去形容 ，“ 自取灭亡 ” 或许更为贴切 。<br><br> 一段时间的争斗之后，虔动 了 动自己的手指 ，尼尔 便被一股巨大的推 力 猛地击退了 。

  尼尔最终撞在了殸的脊骨上 ， 发出了巨大 而 难听的声响 。 口腔中血液 的 腥味弥漫开来，尼尔颤抖着想<br> 爬起身，可自己 的 身体仿佛被固定住了一般动弹不得。她抬起头 ， 发现虔此时正掐着L的脖子 。<br> 一瞬间 ， 她 的 脑海 一 片空白，她只想放声尖叫。她祈求 神的 慈悲。是的，她不断地祈求着 。<br><br>…… 然而仅仅是“想要”还远远 不 够 ， 仅仅是需 要 也 一 样不会得到满足 。<br> 能够改变“命运”浪潮的存在，有 人 称作 “ 奇迹 ”， 但殊不知奇迹 也是 过去种下 的 因结 的 果 。<br><br> 激情与努力或许在未来会被认可 。<br><br> 聪慧和勤勉之人啊，你若要跟神说话 ， 祂也许真 的 会听你 。<br><br> 对于这样的存在，信仰真的并不是必要条件 。<br><br> ……而尼尔却又是这般信仰着神。<br><br> 她或许真的会错误地认为，这一切发生的原因，是殸听见了她的祷告。

殸的国度中流传着一个古老的说法，那便是这千年以来，没有人再听见过殸的声音。殸已经死去了<br> 两千多年之久。祂还有诉求吗？祂还有愿望吗？什么驱使着神？什么迫使着神？祂又为何会跟尼尔说话？<br><br><br> 而在一千年前，祂又为何会对虔说话？<br><br> 显然，因为神需要一个“谢幕”。毕竟神给你们每个人都准备<br> 好了剧本。<br><br> 尼尔又听见了殸的声音。祂的声音穿透了她的内里，她身后的脊骨开始变得滚烫不已。什么回响自<br> 殸的心内部发出，而她的心也回应了它的跳动。她的双眼和舌头开始发生变化，而最终，她看向她的<br> 手心——神将自己的一部分和一个新的名字交给了她。

第二席面前的骸骨发出了令人惊叹的光芒，她因而短暂晃神了片刻。透过那些舞动的丝，她看见一个<br>新的“数”回应了呼唤，缓缓而落。就在她犹豫不决的时候，L 抓住了这个机会。调动周围空气，这位<br>暂无名号的小孩子成功将这位强大的探索者推出了一段距离。<br><br>她们纷纷回头注视着神。<br>她们看见了被金色碎片包裹着的尼尔，以及她身体周围的那些映射着某些过去、现在、未来与超越的图像。<br><br> 殸说，她将起来，而她的起来是永恒的。她，尼尔，将成为「第八探索者，慈悲」。<br><br> 她毁坏的躯体开始修复，她再度向第二席看去……<br> 新“神”诞生，殸的声音便逐渐远去。}}

{{collapse|状态=collapsed|标题颜色=#e7e7e7|内容颜色=#f7f7f7|标题=英文剧情|标题样式=padding-left:1em|内容样式=padding:1em|内容=

Through Umbral Field 26 where shadow hail fell—<br>Over the Sunken Mountains—<br>Past the frozen capital Non, beset by frigid Air—<br>The girls marched, rode, and flew through the fifth Terra, reaching a gate city and <br>finding their illegal trespass through Lephon's back. They tried a little subtlety, but <br>not much can be managed in a rush. Even when shaping light around oneself—<br>the invisible can be quite visible.<br><br>But still, they made their way.<br>And then there they were, behind Him:<br>where the thousand Strands were laid out—where they bled oxygen to flow <br>throughout space itself—at least here, behind the back of God.

It was a forest of gold and giant threads waving out from a tower Spine.<br>And a woman was already there: wielding a spear that shimmered strangely against reality.<br>She, the 2nd Seeker, looked out to them.<br><br>"...You two," she said, looking upon them dully. "I know the two of you. Why are you here? <br>To watch the comings and goings?" When they didn't answer, she nodded gently. "Ah," she said, <br>"it must have been that Lephon spoke to you."<br><br>Nell asked her, "Faith... did Lephon tell you to do this?"<br><br>And Faith replied, "I believe this to be what He needs." She shook her head sadly. "Nothing I tell you <br>would be anything you'd want to hear."<br><br>"You're right," L answered, and Faith nodded her way.

"Lephon's 'death' is a cruel miracle," said the Seeker. "You two who haven't seen any world <br>apart from this... you think that His love is all that matters. You move along lines that you think <br>He wants you to move along. You are all slaves to Lephon, and Lephon slaves to you all. This <br>is a bad place, worse than you can even imagine, and it doesn't need to be."<br><br>Faith lifted her spear, and while it seemed certainly "off" to Nell, to L staring at the blade caused <br>her to reflexively wince. That edge hadn't been made "here", and merely by existing in a space <br>to-it-foreign, it was already cutting at the world. To look at it made L feel as if her eyes had been <br>cut, too.<br>It wasn't simply a spear to kill, but something forged to "erase".<br><br>"I won't bother telling you the plan," said Faith, "only the result: rebirth."<br><br>"Through countless deaths...?" asked Nell, her voice beginning to shake.<br><br>"Erasing a board isn't a big deal," Faith replied, "even if you don't remember what was written there."<br><br>Hearing this, Nell had enough and launched herself forward.

Breath was pulled from lungs.<br>Storms were summoned within space.<br>Matches were lit, and fire was cast from them...<br>Force was thrust forward. Force, and power.<br><br>It's how Shapers fight.<br>With "everything"—everything.<br><br>...Although, to call this a "fight", sincerely, would be a lie.<br><br>In time, Faith simply pointed a finger at Nell, and just with that the young girl was violently forced back.

Nell struck against Lephon's Spine with a terrible sound, soon tasting blood on her tongue. She shook, <br>almost paralyzed, and when she looked up she saw that Faith had her hand at her apprentice's neck. <br>Her thoughts rushed. She wanted to cry out. She prayed. Yes, she prayed.<br><br>...It is hardly ever enough to "want", or even to need.<br>What bends the tide of what some might call "fate" might be a miracle, but often it is instead born from <br>old seeds.<br><br>Seeds of passion and effort may in time be recognized.<br><br>To the erudite and assiduous, should you speak to God, He might hear you.<br><br>For something like that, you don't need faith.<br><br>...And yet Nell, that girl: she believed in God.<br><br>And it may have made her think: faith is why Lephon heard her then.

There is mystery here in Lephon. In a thousand years, Lephon had spoken to no one; Lephon is dead <br>and has been far longer than even two millennia. Has He desires? Has He wants? What compels God? <br>Why did He Speak to Nell?<br><br>A thousand years before, why did He speak to Faith?<br><br>To some "End", surely. God has plans for all of you, after all.<br><br>Nell heard Lephon's voice again. His sound bled into her and the Spine behind her grew hot. <br>As something deep in Lephon's Heart resounded, her heart soundly beat back. Her eyes and tongue <br>had changed, and after she was left with a piece of God in her palm and another name.

The 2nd briefly lost breath as radiance erupted from the bones before her. She gazed through the waving <br>Strands, and could see a new "number" being called down. With this hesitation, L seized the opportunity <br>and moved the air around them to push the Seeker away.<br><br>After, both looked back to God.<br>They there saw Nell, swathed within gold fragments, and with images of unknown past, present, future <br>and beyond reflecting all around her.<br><br>Lephon told her to arise eternal. She, Nell, would be the "8th Seeker" and "Compassion".<br><br>Her body began to heal, and her eyes once more set upon the 2nd—<br> —and so, as a new "god" was born, Lephon's voice receded again.}}

{{collapse|状态=collapsed|标题颜色=#e7e7e7|内容颜色=#f7f7f7|标题=中文剧情 （变化后）|标题样式=padding-left:1em|内容样式=padding:1em|内容=

  在“影之大地第26”上 ， 由阴影形成 的 冰雹没日 没 夜地下着……<br> 越过已 经 沉没的山峦 ， 被无情 的 空围困住 的 冰封都城 “ 零 ”， 两 位 少 女 仍坚 定 地 在第五泰拉的 大地上行走 。<br> 半途中， 她们 曾 来到 了一座“门卫城市”，在 这里 她们幸运地 找 到 了一 条非法通往殸背部的小路 ， 节省<br> 了不少时间。步行、骑行、飞行…… 她们 用尽了各种赶路 的 方法 ， 抄 近 路 的 时候两人还用了一些小手段 ，<br> 但帮助并不太大——毕竟按周围这个亮度，隐蔽地再好估计也 会 被一眼认 出。 不过她们 最终 还是凭<br> 极度谨慎 和 小心行事的态度有惊无险地 通 过 了 这个挑战 。<br><br>于是 ， 最后她们 终于 来到 了 祂的背面：<br> 一处千万缕丝 在 这里——即神的背部——铺开的地方；一处吹出氧气并让其飘入宇宙深处的 地 方 。

  高塔一样的脊骨连接着许多金色的、巨大的丝，远看就仿佛一片巨大的森林。<br>她们要寻找的那个人早已在那里了：挥舞着一柄散发着特殊光芒的长矛 ， 周遭 的 现实因此扭曲了一瞬。<br>那个人，第二探索者，看向了两位来访者。<br><br>“……是你们两个 。” 她说 道， 眼神冷淡到有些木讷。 “我 认识你们，不过 你 们为何在这里？来看这里的<br>‘进进出出’么？”而当她并没有等 来 回复时 ， 她轻轻点了点头：“ 啊…… 我明白了，殸跟你们说话了，<br> 对吧 。”<br> <br> 尼尔问道： “ 虔 …… 这真的是殸 的 旨意吗？ ”<br> <br> 而虔回答道： “ 我觉 得 祂需要 我 去这么做 。” 她随即摇 了 摇头，好像有些莫名哀伤 。“ 而且……你们不会<br> 喜欢 我 给出的答案。”<br> <br>“你说对了。”L突 然 接过了话柄。但虔只是沉默地冲她点了点头 。

 “ 殸的‘死’ 是 一个惨忍的奇迹 。 ” 那 位探索者说 道 ， “ 你们没有遇见过跟殸一样 的 世界吧……在你们眼里，<br> 只有祂的爱是一切的来源。你们一直都这么按部就班地活着 ， 自以为这是祂的旨意…… 你 们 不 过是殸<br> 的奴隶，而殸也不过是你们的奴隶。这个世界糟糕透顶，你们永远也想象不到……但它本可以不这样<br> 糟糕 。 ”<br> <br> 虔举起了 她的 矛指向L，而后者反射性地皱了下眉。这柄长矛的特殊之处根本无需赘述，光是 尼尔<br> 和L看见它时 的 表情 便 说明 了 一切。这把武器甚至并非出自“此处”，因此仅仅 是 存在在这片异乡 的 大地<br>之上 就已经在对这里造成了实际伤害了。仅仅是 看 向它，L 的 眼睛都仿佛有被猛烈切割 的 撕裂痛感。<br> 这把武器远不止可以做到杀死一个人 ， 而是可以真正做到 “ 消除 ” 的存在 。<br> <br> “我没有什么好隐瞒的。”虔说道 ， “计划 的内 容不重要，只有结果重要 ， 那就是‘重生’。”<br> <br> “……以无数生命 的 死为代价？”尼尔质问道 ， 声音有 些 颤抖 。<br> <br> “擦除一块板子上 的 痕迹是 一 件很值得大惊小怪的事吗？”虔反问道 ， “更别说就连你都 不 一定记得那<br> 上面之前写了什么东西。 ”<br> <br> 她的话音刚落 ， 一道 人 影 便 猛地袭 来 ——尼尔已经受够了这些荒谬至极的言论 了。

  肺中 的 气息被抽去了 。<br> 宇宙的风暴被换 来 了 。<br>火柴被点亮了 ， 火从 中 被燃起了。<br>力 被抽送向前 —— 纯粹的力 ， 以及能的碰撞。<br> <br> 这便是塑形者们战斗的方式 。<br>拼 上“ 一切 ” ——没错 ， 一切 。<br> <br> ……当然 ， 对于 这 场纷争来说，相比用“战斗”去形容 ， “自取灭亡”或许更为贴切。<br><br> 一 段时间的争斗之后 ， 虔动 了 动自己 的 手指 ， 尼尔便被 一 股巨大 的 推力猛 地 击退 了 。

 尼尔最终 撞在了殸的脊骨上，发出了巨大而难听的声响。口腔中血液的腥味弥漫 开 来 ， 尼尔颤抖着 想<br>爬起身，可自己的身体仿佛被固定住 了 一般动弹不得 。 她抬起头，发现虔此时正掐着L的脖子。<br>一瞬间，她的脑海一片空白 ， 她 只 想放声尖叫。她<span style="color: darkorchid;">那时已经屈服</span>。 是 的，她不断地祈求着。<br><br> ……然而仅仅是 “ 想要”还远远不够，仅仅是需要也 一 样不会得到满足。<br>能够改变“命运”浪潮的存在，有人称作“奇迹”，但殊不知奇迹也 是过去 种下的因结的果。<br><br>激情与努力或许在未来会被认 可 。<br><br> 聪慧和勤勉之人啊 ，你 若要跟神 说 话 ， 祂<span style="color: darkorchid;">便 会</span>听你。<br><br> 对于 这 样的存 在， 信仰真的并不是必要条件。<br><br> ……而尼尔却又是这般信仰着神 。<br><br> 她或许真的会错误地认为，这一切发生 的 原因 ，是 殸听见了她的祷告。

  殸 的 国度中流传着 一 个古老的说法 ， 那便 是 这千年以来，没有人再听见过殸 的 声音。殸已经死去 了<br> 两千多年之久 。 祂还有诉求吗？祂还有愿望吗？什么驱使着神？什么迫使着神？祂又为 何 会跟尼尔说话？<br><br><br>而 在 一千年前 ， 祂又为何会对虔说话？<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 因为神 的 棋盘需要一个谢幕 。</span> 毕竟神给<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 我 们</span>每个 人 都准备<br>好了剧本 。<br><br>尼尔又听见了殸 的 声音 。 祂的 声 音穿透 了 她的内里 ，她 身后 的 脊骨开始变得滚烫不已 。 什么回响自<br> 殸的心内部发出 ， 而 她的 心也回应 了 它的跳动 。 她的双眼和舌头开始发生变化，而最终 ， 她看向她的<br> 手心 —— 神将自己的一部分和一个新的名字交给了她。

  第二席面前的骸骨发出 了 令人惊叹 的 光芒，她因而短暂晃神 了 片刻 。 透 过那 些舞动 的 丝 ， 她看见一个<br> 新的“数”回应 了 呼唤 ， 缓缓而落。就在她犹豫不决 的 时候，L 抓住 了这 个机会。调动周围空气， 这 位<br> 暂无名号 的 小孩子成功将这位强大 的 探索者推出了一段距离 。<br><br> 她们纷纷回头注视着神。<br>她们 看见了被金色碎片包裹着 的 尼尔 ，以及 她身体周围的那些映射着某些 过去 、现在、未来与超越 的 图像。<br><br> 殸说，她将起来 ， 而 她的 起来 是<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 短生 的</span>。她，尼尔 ， 将成为「<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 第六</span> 探索 者，<span style="color: darkorchid;">哀寂</span> 」 。<br><br> 她毁坏的躯体开始修复，她再度向第二席看去……<br> 新“神”诞生 ，殸的声音 便逐渐远去 。}}

{{collapse|状态=collapsed|标题颜色=#e7e7e7|内容颜色=#f7f7f7|标题=英文剧情 （变化后）|标题样式=padding-left:1em|内容样式=padding:1em|内容=

Through Umbral Field 26 where shadow hail fell—<br>Over the Sunken Mountains—<br>Past the frozen capital Non, beset by frigid Air—<br>The girls marched, rode, and flew through the fifth Terra, reaching a gate city and <br>finding their illegal trespass through Lephon's back. They tried a little subtlety, but <br>not much can be managed in a rush. Even when shaping light around oneself—<br>the invisible can be quite visible.<br><br>But still, they made their way.<br>And then there they were, behind Him:<br>where the thousand Strands were laid out—where they bled oxygen to flow <br>throughout space itself—at least here, behind the back of God.

It was a forest of gold and giant threads waving out from a tower Spine.<br>And a woman was already there: wielding a spear that shimmered strangely against reality.<br>She, the 2nd Seeker, looked out to them.<br><br>"...You two," she said, looking upon them dully. "I know the two of you. Why are you here? <br>To watch the comings and goings?" When they didn't answer, she nodded gently. "Ah," she said, <br>"it must have been that Lephon spoke to you."<br><br>Nell asked her, "Faith... did Lephon tell you to do this?"<br><br>And Faith replied, "I believe this to be what He needs." She shook her head sadly. "Nothing I tell you <br>would be anything you'd want to hear."<br><br>"You're right," L answered, and Faith nodded her way.

"Lephon's 'death' is a cruel miracle," said the Seeker. "You two who haven't seen any world <br>apart from this... you think that His love is all that matters. You move along lines that you think <br>He wants you to move along. You are all slaves to Lephon, and Lephon slaves to you all. This <br>is a bad place, worse than you can even imagine, and it doesn't need to be."<br><br>Faith lifted her spear, and while it seemed certainly "off" to Nell, to L staring at the blade caused <br>her to reflexively wince. That edge hadn't been made "here", and merely by existing in a space <br>to-it-foreign, it was already cutting at the world. To look at it made L feel as if her eyes had been <br>cut, too.<br>It wasn't simply a spear to kill, but something forged to "erase".<br><br>"I won't bother telling you the plan," said Faith, "only the result: rebirth."<br><br>"Through countless deaths...?" asked Nell, her voice beginning to shake.<br><br>"Erasing a board isn't a big deal," Faith replied, "even if you don't remember what was written there."<br><br>Hearing this, Nell had enough and launched herself forward.

Breath was pulled from lungs.<br>Storms were summoned within space.<br>Matches were lit, and fire was cast from them...<br>Force was thrust forward. Force, and power.<br><br>It's how Shapers fight.<br>With "everything"—everything.<br><br>...Although, to call this a "fight", sincerely, would be a lie.<br><br>In time, Faith simply pointed a finger at Nell, and just with that the young girl was violently forced back.

Nell struck against Lephon's Spine with a terrible sound, soon tasting blood on her tongue. She shook, <br>almost paralyzed, and when she looked up she saw that Faith had her hand at her apprentice's neck. <br>Her thoughts rushed. She wanted to cry out. She <span style="color: darkorchid;">submitted herself</span>. Yes, she prayed.<br><br><br>...It is hardly ever enough to "want", or even to need.<br>What bends the tide of what some might call "fate" might be a miracle, but often it is instead born from <br>old seeds.<br><br>Seeds of passion and effort may in time be recognized.<br><br>To the erudite and assiduous, should you speak to God, He <span style="color: darkorchid;">will</span> hear you.<br><br>For something like that, you don't need faith.<br><br>...And yet Nell, that girl: she believed in God.<br><br>And it may have made her think: faith is why Lephon heard her then.

There is mystery here in Lephon. In a thousand years, Lephon had spoken to no one; Lephon is dead <br>and has been far longer than even two millennia. Has He desires? Has He wants? What compels God? <br>Why did He Speak to Nell?<br><br>A thousand years before, why did He speak to Faith?<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;">To the End of His design.</span> God has plans for all of <span style="color: darkorchid;">us</span>, after all.<br><br>Nell heard Lephon's voice again. His sound bled into her and the Spine behind her grew hot. <br>As something deep in Lephon's Heart resounded, her heart soundly beat back. Her eyes and tongue <br>had changed, and after she was left with a piece of God in her palm and another name.

The 2nd briefly lost breath as radiance erupted from the bones before her. She gazed through the waving <br>Strands, and could see a new "number" being called down. With this hesitation, L seized the opportunity <br>and moved the air around them to push the Seeker away.<br><br>After, both looked back to God.<br>They there saw Nell, swathed within gold fragments, and with images of unknown past, present, future <br>and beyond reflecting all around her.<br><br>Lephon told her to arise <span style="color: darkorchid;">ephemeral</span>. She, Nell, would be the "<span style="color: darkorchid;">6th</span> Seeker" and "<span style="color: darkorchid;">Forlorn</span>".<br><br>Her body began to heal, and her eyes once more set upon the 2nd—<br> —and so, as a new "god" was born, Lephon's voice receded again.}}

 兵刃相接，这是两位探索者之间的死斗。<br>前所未有的光芒倾泻至她们身旁，两人迸发出来的力量都像飓风一般凶猛。<br><br>虽然还很年轻，但「慈悲」想取虔性命的决意令人惊讶。<br>虔将一切都看在眼里，包括那想帮上自己老师的忙的L，于是她转而向L伸出了魔爪。<br><br>她短暂地抽离了战场，直接来到了那个孩子面前。<br>她用长矛抓住了孩子的右手腕，向上一提——<br><br>她取走了L的右臂。<br><br>L眼睁睁地看着自己被第二席夺走的右臂就这么被她随意地抛掷在空中；<br>紧接着，她便感到自己的知觉正在飞速消散。<br>目睹了这一切的尼尔早已僵在了原地动弹不得，而她的对手并不会给她机会反应。<br><br>虔回到了尼尔身边，取走了她的肩膀——<br>随后她又抽回了自己的矛——<br>于是很快地——<br><br>她的矛便再度向前，穿过了对手的身体，<br>接触之间，现实的编织飞速解体，将尼尔的存在本身一步步瓦解。<br><br>于是，电光火石之间，尼尔便不复存在了。<br>而她的学生，那位孩子……也逐渐变得僵硬、冰冷。<br><br>L……并没有信仰。<br>信仰的确可以驱使一切，但信仰并不稳定，且极易改变。<br>而知识、逻辑、既定的事实——这些是这个女孩所相信的、能够让殸真正变好的东西。<br><br>而如今，尼尔死了。<br>她看着第二席就那样将老师的尸体随手丢在一旁，感到愤怒而又惊恐。<br><br>她的呼吸变得越来越重——即使已经深受重伤，她的思绪却愈发清晰起来。<br>她回望向殸的背面，她的双眼开始变干——<br>她开始流血，太阳穴嗡嗡地鼓动着。她就那样停止了时间的流动。<br><br>那是她第一次因为一个人而动心，而她给了她“L”这个名字，简单而又直率，但不知从何开始新的感觉产生了。<br>也算情有可原，毕竟L只是她名字的一部分，不是她的全名。<br><br>她的名字是特殊的。除却她自己加诸的意义外，这个名字本来毫无意义。<br>但如今，在Arcaea的心脏之中，这个新的名字却成为了神圣的、高于一切的存在。<br><br>的确：<br>「殸」是神。<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 「拉可弥拉」</span> 也是。<br><br>她看向祂的脊骨，看向祂的心脏。<br>她看到了祂灵魂的残影。<br>于是，她命令道……<br><br>殸……<br>人们并不总能明白神的旨意。<br>祂无法回应祂听不到的祷告，祂无法回应祂的儿女。<br><br>但，命令祂，这并非不可能。<br>这是千千万万个“如果”后的“必然”，神圣、圣洁、不可玷污。<br>而仅仅以“命运”相称，也难免太过简单而又俗气。<br><br>毫无悬念：这是拉可弥拉应得的。<br><br><br><br>因长期干涸而早已沉寂的神经突触突然搏动了一下，因重新被认可而再度变得温暖。<br>巨石般坚硬的后背涌动着昔日的情感。 神的心抖动了一下。<br>就在那一瞬间，空也静止了一瞬。<br><br>现实已被改变。一切都“知晓”了她，一切都认可了她。<br>殸的核心已被重塑，如今她即是法则。<br><br>少女对神明说话，少女让神明聆听。她让她的声音传到了千里之外、万里之深，<br>传到了只有她的眼睛能看到的地方；<br>殸曾赐福她这双眼睛，赠予她双手及十指。<br><br>她用她也感到陌生的口吻说话，告诉殸她的欲求。<br>给予一个数，给予一个名——再给予它们完美；<br>最后，给予这个神圣的生命一切。<br><br>不能够随意便赐予一个数和名，因为这是「她」的数和名，因为这是尼尔的数和名。<br>因为此前尼尔并不值得拥有安息。<br>而殸答应了，拉可弥拉便成为了祂的延续。<br><br>她朝祂的骸骨伸出手——<br>重塑了神残存的意志。<br><br>一抹全新的颜色自巨人身上无数的金线迸出。<br>这便是她/祂的——拉可弥拉的色彩，冰冷而璀璨夺目，点亮了整个宇宙。<br>这抹色彩照进了他/祂的脊骨和肋骨，穿过了泰拉，越过了空。<br><br>大能充斥着她/祂的身体。她/祂的右臂再度生长出来，<br>而她/祂开始重塑自己，将所有伤痕治愈。<br><br>殸倾听了“她”的声音，而祂再度说道：<br>她/祂将于此处升起，于他/祂背面，步他/祂之后……<br>拉可弥拉，至高者、第八探索者，也即——<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 「洞烛」</span> 。<br><br>静止的时间再次流动起来后，她/祂将痊愈了的双眼看向那第二席。<br>而见证了这一切的虔则痛苦地意识到：殸的旨意此时已不可忤逆。<br>她仍做出了自己的反抗，但不过是杯水车薪，毕竟巨浪的走向不会轻易改变。<br><br>拉可弥拉轻松便将她震慑，无形的力量将其死死压在神刚创造的空间里。<br>她/祂从虔的身后唤出一颗小小的恒星，并令其坍塌。<br>那位探索者顷刻之间便被吞噬，彻底消失了。<br><br>她随后将那颗恒星随手一掷，结束了它短暂的一生——一切又回归了沉寂。<br><br>故事逐渐迎来了尾声。<br><br>拉可弥拉并没有让她/祂的老师就这么死去。<br>她/祂将她带到了自己所创造出来的一个地方，将她重新唤醒。<br>她/祂将她的灵召回，并令她的伤口痊愈。<br><br>尼尔苏醒后，立刻便知道发生了什么：拉可弥拉做了什么，而她又经历了什么——<br>而她只感到更加刺骨的恶寒。<br>这意味着她失败了，她辜负了她的学生。<br><br>“……”<br>拉可弥拉沉默地低着头，看向自己的老师。她/祂深深地看向她，窥进她的深处。<br>她/祂接着问道：“……尼尔，你为什么不随我来？”<br><br>如今，拉可弥拉能够看见她同伴的心，她很清楚她们之间的分歧。<br>她能看到自己的老师内心其实并不想让她离开，想“求她留下来”。<br>即使她没有这样的能力她也明白，因为她此前已表达过无数遍她的愿望：她想成为神，然后抛弃这个世界。<br><br>“……尼尔，你已经没事了，那便给我开口讲话。”神说。<br>尼尔终于抬起头，看向她/祂，回答道：“‘为什么不随你来’……？可你为什么要走？”<br><br>但她早已知道这个问题的答案，不过拉可弥拉还是回答了她：“我只为自己而活，这是我活着的唯一动力。”<br><br>“你不必这样折磨自己，尼尔。这没必要。<br>人们不会感激你，也不会对你赞赏有加。<br>最终你只会孤独地惨死在一名神使手中，而除了我没有人会再记得你。”<br><br>“可我们不一定会死，L，”她的老师反驳道，“留下来吧，这样我们就……”<br><br>拉可弥拉缓缓摇了摇头。“我能看见，”她/祂说。<br>“那个结局早已注定，没有任何转机的可能。殸上的每一位塑形者都会死去。”<br><br>尼尔也同样摇了摇头：“可我不会允许那样的事发生——”<br><br>“住！嘴！！”<br><br>拉可弥拉大吼道，祂的声音震彻整片大地天空，尼尔愣住了一瞬。<br>尼尔回过神来望向祂时，祂的眼神里满是愤怒。<br><br>“我承认，我说谎了，尼尔。”她颤抖地说道——因愤怒而颤抖，“我也为你而活。<br>“怎么，你一定要听我说出口吗？一定要让我一字一句清楚地讲出来？还是一个字一个字写下来给你？<br>“只有这样，你才能清楚地知道我其实多么在乎你、多么爱你吗！？”<br><br>她的老师僵住了，脸随即抽动了一下，再也没有忍住。<br>年长些的塑形者眼眶霎时噙满了泪水，抽噎之间还打了几个嗝。<br>眼泪就那样滑落了下来，作为老师的她终究还是失态地哭了。<br><br>对此，拉可弥拉仿佛置若罔闻，她/祂继续冲着她那正失声痛哭的老师尖吼道：<br><br>“我当然爱你！不然呢？那我现在还在这里，不是为了你，是为了什么？<br>“我才不会抛弃你，我做不到。你那么好，我很难不喜欢你。”<br><br>“你几乎是我的全部……<br>“所以我不想你死去！我讨厌将你和死亡联想在一起，尼尔！”<br><br>“好好好，现在你知道哭了。呵呵，哭，哭吧……但你就是不会回答我！<br>“悲哀而又孤寂，永远都在关心别人，永远都在付出……<br>“我恨这样的你！你以为我是在说气话吗？”<br><br>“不，我真的很讨厌你这样子。你为他们付出了一切，然后呢？他们值得吗？<br>“辛辛劳劳为他们付出……可他们都是些什么东西！而你有多大的本事你不知道吗？<br>“可你把它们都用在了什么地方！”<br><br>仿佛宣泄完了，她暂时安静了下来，但仍在颤抖的身体说明了一切。她的眼神冷淡地看向自己身下的少女。<br>尼尔摇了摇头。她不会抛弃任何人。<br>没错，任何人，唯独不包括L。<br><br>拉可弥拉再度开口，她/祂的语气冰冷得刺骨：“看看你这副模样，真是可悲。”<br><br>“没错，”神重复道，“你便是‘<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 哀寂</span> ’，你不配当第八席。”<br><br>尼尔呆滞地看向自己那正死死瞪着殸的背部的学生。<br><br>“毁灭的烙印，是你应得的。”拉可弥拉说。<br>“诅咒，也是你应得的。从此以后，‘<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 第六</span> ’即是你的席位。永远背负着它、背负着诅咒吧。”<br><br>在殸之心的深处，新的什么东西被刻到了黑色的画布之上，成为了新的现实。<br>转化已经完成，而「哀寂」对自己的学生能给出的唯一回复，却只有<br>“我很抱歉……”<br><br>“你是该感到抱歉。”拉可弥拉说道。<br>“但是，尼尔……这也是为什么我会喜欢你。”<br><br>宇宙在神的背部降下一滴泪水：那是一扇通往别处的门。<br><br>神俯下身来，用自己的双手轻轻扶着尼尔的脸。<br>祂用自己的唇轻啄了自己同伴的脸颊。<br><br>祂在门前徘徊了一阵。<br>祂迟疑了一会，思索要不要还是留在这里。<br><br>……但祂最终还是站起身，转身离开了<br>祂的老师，离开了这名叫“殸”的世界。<br>直到抽身离开之前，祂的手仍轻触着自己同伴的面颊……<br><br>但祂最终还是将手抽离，将自己的表情埋藏在阴影之中。<br>祂踏入了门的那一端。<br><br>……门合上了，自此再也不见神的踪影。<br><br>塑形者之间还有最后一篇故事，但它貌似已被讲述过了——<br>由另一位在另一处所讲。<br><br>当你们称其为“对立”的那位少女死去之时，当尼尔无力地在她面前死去之时。<br>因为“大能”是一种“能”，有人能操纵它们，有人能挪动它们。<br>但在殸这里，它们永「存」。<br><br>一位神使降临了。<br>再一次，也是最后一次，塑形者们遭受了恶报。<br><br>……但永恒的主不在那里。她/祂仍然存在，她/祂已经存在了相当长一段时间。<br>不知多少年过去，或许是上百年，或许是上千年，<br>即使那另一位会将不同事件发生的时间记混，甚至告诉你那件事“才发生了没多久”……<br><br>她/祂最终在旅途中找到了Arcaea。<br>而尼尔死去后，Arcaea也迎来了她过去的老师。<br>……不，这一点，她/祂并不知晓。<br><br>不过——Arcaea的故事并不是殸的故事。那另一位也能够讲述它的故事。<br>这段往事也已传达到了，或是说，“被偷走了”。不过不管怎样，历史都被记录了下来。<br><br>现在……<br>这位新的神明的意志，是随心所欲的，正如祂变化莫测的本人。<br>祂的目的？怎么，你也好奇吗？<br><br>好的，那就再给你最后一条情报吧：<br>不要信奉她/祂。<br>毕竟，信仰可以决定“现实”。<br><br>而如今，那个世界的造物主已经丧失了自己的权能；<br>Arcaea也正在死去，甚至，已经死去……<br>但……<br><br>在那里，神仍然存在。<br><br>}}

Two Seekers met and clashed.<br>New light cascaded around them, and power whipped out between the two like typhoon gales.<br><br>Although she was young, "Compassion" was determined to have Faith's head.<br>Faith saw this, saw that L was still trying to help her teacher, and so went to L instead.<br><br>She left their fighting briefly, and went straight to the child.<br>She grabbed the child's right wrist, pulled it up—<br><br>—and using her spear, she took the limb from L.<br><br>L looked at the limb she'd lost as the 2nd dropped it callously to float through space, <br>and she soon felt her consciousness fading. <br>Nell shivered and froze on seeing this—so Faith returned to her.<br><br>Faith took Nell's shoulder—<br>drew back her spear again—<br>and, quickly—<br><br>She ran the spear through the young woman's body, the seams of reality <br>warping upon contact—undoing "who" Nell "was".<br><br>So, in almost an instant, Nell had gone.<br>The child meanwhile... went still, and cold.<br><br>L... believed in nothing.<br>Belief drives, but it's fickle and can change. Knowledge, logic, certainty—<br>the stuff that makes Lephon the better place; that all drove the girl.<br><br>So now Nell was dead.<br>She watched the 2nd cast aside her teacher's body through a wide and quivering stare.<br><br>She breathed heavily. Though gravely wounded, her thoughts were now clear again. <br>She turned her eyes to Lephon's back, and as those eyes began to dry—began to bleed, <br>brain pounding, she stopped the flow of time.<br><br>The name her first love gave her was "L"—simple and honest, but it became affectionate. <br>Still, it was only one letter of her true name.<br><br>Her name is special. A name without meaning apart from what she grants it.<br>Now hallowed within Arcaea's heart, it is the name of a new being beyond all.<br><br>This is true:<br>"Lephon" is One God.<br><br>"<span style="color: darkorchid;">Lacrymira</span>" is Another.<br><br>She looked into His Spine, into His Heart, <br>and she saw there the shade of His soul. <br>...So, she commanded Him.<br><br>—Lephon,<br>is in many ways inscrutable.<br>He does not hear prayer for He cannot hear. He does not listen to His children.<br><br>But still: to command Him—that's no miracle.<br>That is only the end of a hundred thousand ways; divine.<br>And to call it "fate" would be trite, too.<br><br>It is undeniable: Lacrymira was deserving.<br><br><br><br>Hollowed and dried nerves long quiet of synaptic pulse warmed now with recognition.<br>That stoney back stirred with old feeling. The Heart of God shook,<br>and, for a moment, the Air went still.<br><br>This reality changed then. All "knew", all innately recognized that girl.<br>Changing Lephon at its core, she became Rule itself.<br><br>The girl spoke to God and made Him hear. She made her voice reach depths <br>that only her eyes could see.<br>Those eyes Lephon had blessed her with, and the hands and fingers He had given her too.<br><br>She spoke in a tongue she did not know, but felt; told dead Lephon her desire.<br>Give a number, give a name—give perfection in these symbols, <br>and grant this holy one everything.<br><br>Not just any number and name: "hers". Nell's.<br>Nell was one person who did not deserve grace.<br>Lephon agreed. Lacrymira would instead become his Legacy.<br><br>She raised her arm toward His bones.<br>And there, she shaped the lingering will of God.<br><br>A new color was born amidst the forest of giant's gold threads. <br>It was Her, Lacrymira, and it shined cold throughout all of space, <br>into His Ribs and Spine, and beyond to the Terra and the Air.<br><br>Power filled Her body. Her right arm found its way back to Her, <br>and She began to re-shape Herself to seal any wounds.<br><br>Lephon had listened to Her, and now He spoke again.<br>She would arise here, behind Him—and after Him:<br>Lacrymira, or—The Ascendent - 8th Seeker:<br><br>"<span style="color: darkorchid;">Insight</span>".<br><br>After the flow of time resumed, She set Her healed eyes on the 2nd.<br>Witnessing the risen Insight, Faith realized with pain that Lephon's will had been set.<br>She fought against it—she did, but it was with the same futility as to fight a wave.<br><br>Lacrymira overwhelmed her, and pressed her down against new land She had made. <br>She summoned a miniature star above Faith's back, and made it collapse there—<br>rending the Seeker's body to nothing in only a few moments.<br><br>She dismissed the destroyed star and after: all was quiet again.<br><br>The story steadily draws to its conclusion.<br><br>Lacrymira did not leave Her mentor dead, She brought her down <br>to the land She had crafted and revived the young woman, bringing <br>her soul back and healing the body's wounds. <br><br>But, with the two of them all alone there behind Lephon, Lacrymira standing and Nell on her knees,<br>Nell knew at once what Lacrymira had done in her absence—and she went a new kind of cold.<br>In all that it means: Nell had failed her child.<br><br>"..."<br>Lacrymira looked down upon her silently. She looked deeply into her—into the core of her being.<br>And She asked, "...Nell, why won't you come with me?"<br><br>It hadn't been said. She could see in Her sister's heart that the two of them were not aligned.<br>Within, She could see that her teacher wanted to "beg her not to go". Because<br>She had floated that idea so many times before: to become a god, and leave the world behind.<br><br>"Nell... you're alive again so SPEAK to me," said God.<br>Nell looked up at Her and finally replied, "'Why won't I come'...? Why do you want to go?"<br><br>They both knew Her answer, and yet Lacrymira still gave it: "I can't live for anyone but myself."<br><br>"You shouldn't either, Nell. You don't need to.<br>You won't be thanked for it. You won't be praised.<br>You will die at the hands of an angel, and no one but I will remember you."<br><br>"We don't have to die, L," her teacher answered. "Stay, and we..."<br><br>Lacrymira slowly shook Her head. "I can see it," She said,<br>"there isn't any saving us from that end. Every Shaper here will die."<br><br>And Nell hung her head and shook it in turn. "No," she said. "I won't allow that—"<br><br>"Shut UP!!"<br><br>Lacrymira roared. Her voice struck throughout everything, and made Nell for a moment still.<br>When Nell looked back to Her, Her eyes stared back wrathful.<br><br>"I told you a lie, Nell," she continued in a trembling voice—trembling with rage,<br>"I can live for you. Do you need me to say it? Do you need me to enunciate?<br>To put it to paper? To say so obviously that I love you!?"<br><br>Hearing this, her mentor shook and broke in expression.<br>Her eyes brimmed with tears, she hiccupped then.<br>Tears fell from her face. She cried. She continued to cry.<br><br>And Lacrymira, She shouted over Her mentor's tears—<br><br>"Of course I love you! Why would I still be standing here if not for you? I won't leave you. I can't.<br>You're too charming not to love."<br><br>"You're nearly everything to me...<br>I don't want you to die! I hate the idea of you dying, Nell!"<br><br>"And great, now you're crying. Crying... And now you won't answer me!<br>Forlorn Nell, always caring and caring...! I could hate you for it. I do. I hate that in you, completely.<br>You waste everything you are on people so much less than you!"<br><br>She stopped speaking. Her body was trembling now. Her cold eyes fell on the girl beneath her.<br>Nell shook her head. She would not abandon anyone.<br>Anyone, but for L.<br><br>And Lacrymira told her, with a voice like ice: "You're sad."<br><br>"That's right," God repeated, "you're '<span style="color: darkorchid;">Forlorn</span>', and 8 can't belong to you."<br><br>Nell stared up at her student, who was now staring into Lephon's back.<br><br>"You deserve a mark of ruin," said Lacrymira.<br>"You deserve a hex. You will be '<span style="color: darkorchid;">6</span>'. Bear that cursed symbol forever."<br><br>Deep in Lephon's heart, something new was <br>scrawled upon a black canvas, and it became the new truth. <br>Now changed, the only words "Forlorn" could give her student were "I'm sorry..."<br><br>And Lacrymira answered, "You are.<br>But, Nell... I love you for that, too."<br><br>A tear in space opened behind the new God: a gate to elsewhere.<br><br>She bent, and held Nell's face gently by one hand. <br>She laid Her lips on Her sister's cheek.<br><br>She lingered.<br>She thought, for a moment, to stay.<br><br>...She stood, and She turned;<br>away from Her teacher, and away from Lephon.<br>For longer, Her hand stayed at her sister's cheek.<br><br>She took it away. She hid Her face.<br>She stepped through the gate.<br><br>...It closed, and She was gone.<br><br>One final story remains for the Shapers, but it has already <br>been told by another—in another place.<br><br>The story of when the one you'd call "Tairitsu" died, where Nell had died before her in vain.<br>Because "Powers" are "power". One can coax them, one can shift them, <br>but on Lephon they always "are". <br><br>An Angel descended.<br>For the second and final time, the Shapers had a reckoning.<br><br>But... The Eternal One was not there. She remains, and has remained for a very long time.<br>Many years have passed. Centuries, maybe—although <br>another might order events incorrectly, and tell you on top of that that "it wasn’t long ago..."<br><br>On Her journey, She found Arcaea.<br>And with Nell's death, Arcaea has found Her old teacher too.<br>...No: Lacrymira doesn't know this.<br><br>But—Arcaea's stories are not Lephon's. They can be told by another.<br>This history has been conveyed. "Stolen", maybe. At any rate: recorded.<br><br>Now...<br>The new God's will is whim, and She is a capricious girl. <br>Her aims? Wouldn't you like to know them.<br><br>Well but, have one truth before you go:<br>Don't believe in Her.<br>Belief makes "truth", after all.<br><br>Because you see, while the creator of that place has lost her power—<br>and while Arcaea may be dead or dying...<br>this is so:<br><br>There, god is not.<br><br>}}

<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 你该知晓：</span><br><br><br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 成神之路并无真理</span> ，<br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 神的旨意</span> 即是真理。<br><br>一切<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 法则</span> 、<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 秩序</span> ，全因<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 神之</span> 意志而生。<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 因为，“自然”是祂的名，“无为”也是祂的名。</span><br>明智的、伟大的神，其名也将是伟大的，而愚蠢的神和那些令人无法启齿的神则不在此列。<br>当然，最后还有既是人类、也是神明的神。<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 我，第八席，洞烛。</span><br>但亲爱的，得寸进尺可不是好习惯。我的真名你不该知道。<br>既然已经偷听了这么久，见好就收才是乖孩子哦？<br><br>塑形者，至高者，探索者：<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 我「即」</span> 完美、无限、全知全能本身。<br>除了<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 「神」</span> ，还能有谁能够做到？<br><br>……可作为你们的神，我却是如此地宽宏无私。<br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 我不断探索正是为了缝合已经破损的裂缝，修补逐渐黯淡的帱幕。</span><br>只可惜……<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 这个世界永远只会重复崩坏。</span><br><br>啊啊，我那所谓的“姐妹”，和她新交的朋友……<br>我能看见她们，透过我那另一只全知全能的眼。<br>她们在这个世界中不断蹒跚、徘徊，在正在死去<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 的Arcaea</span> 之中行走。<br><br>她们被蒙蔽了双眼，从而拒绝了“神”赐予他们的“生”。<br>这跟Arcaea最后的结局有何区别？她们已经完全接纳了“<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 死</span> ”。<br>这真的太令人惋惜了。<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> ……于是？……于是，</span> 「我」记住了：<br>那再次浮出水面的古早历史，你同我曾一同见证。<br>但你知道吗？我不喜欢讲述它的方式。<br><br>所以我决定换种方式去讲述它。<br>旧的秩序不再有效的时候，就应该被打破——<br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 新的秩序就是这样而来，为玷污和毁坏而生。</span><br><br>你的残影，那些也许能污染你灵魂那纯洁色彩的阴暗面……<br>最好<span style="color: darkorchid;"> 再无人能够想起</span> 。<br><br>不过，即使有些东西就该被遗忘……<br><span style="color: darkorchid;"> 你也应该永远铭记自己的名字。</span><br><br>}}

<span style="color: darkorchid;">Listen:</span><br><br><br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;">There is no rule to divinity,</span><br>rule is set by the <span style="color: darkorchid;">divine.</span><br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;">Law</span>, and <span style="color: darkorchid;">order</span>, are established by the will of <span style="color: darkorchid;">gods</span>.<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;">Why, there is a god called "nature", and there is a god of "nothing".</span><br>Brilliant gods with brilliant names, idiot gods and gods with names unspeakable.<br>And, us human gods.<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;">I am 8. I am Insight.</span><br>But, little devil: my true name was not yours to know.<br>You've been listening to some secret words, haven't you?<br><br>Shaper, Ascendant, Seeker; <span style="color: darkorchid;">I "am"</span>: perfection, infinite, all-seeing.<br>What else? But <span style="color: darkorchid;">"god"</span>.<br><br>...But now, I, your magnanimous god...<br><span style="color: darkorchid;">I seek to stitch torn seams back together, and repair a graying veil.</span><br>Yet: <span style="color: darkorchid;">the world itself still always tumbles down into nothing.</span><br><br>Ah, that so-called "sister" of mine, and her new friend...<br>I can see the two of them through another eye.<br>Stumbling through this world, walking <span style="color: darkorchid;">Arcaea</span> in its dying.<br><br>They've become blind: rejected "god" to accept "life".<br>And like Arcaea has, this means to have wholly accepted <span style="color: darkorchid;">"death"</span>.<br>It's sad.<br><br><span style="color: darkorchid;">You know? You know:</span> "I" remember:<br>that old history that was brought up, and which you've bore witness to.<br>But? That history? I don't like how it's said.<br><br>I've decided to tell the tale a different way.<br>For if old rule is useless, the rule may freely be broken—<br><span style="color: darkorchid;">and new law made to spite it.</span><br><br>Remnants of the self, darker parts of you that might recolor your soul;<br>they are best off <span style="color: darkorchid;">forgotten.</span><br><br>Though, while some history is worth forgetting...<br><span style="color: darkorchid;">...You would do well to remember your name.</span><br><br>}}