Wings of Despair

Wings of Despair

Next Quest

Ciella's Wrath

Dialogue

Hello? Anyone? ...Not a trace of life, as I feared. Fie, but this is the fourth sudden disappearance of a noble family. All of them were pious followers of Ilia who had donated large sums to the Church. There is no possible reason for them to flee or go into hiding. Whatever could be happening here? Hmm? Who goes there?! Eeeeek! Please, no! Don't kill me! Ah! Are you of this house, sir? If so, might you inform me as to what happened here, if anything? D-don't come near me! You're a Paladyn— you're friends with HER! Pray, sir, calm yourself and tell me what has transpired here. A sylvan woman...used a-arrows... The mirror! Everyone...in despair... Noooo, I don't want to die! She's still near! She must be!  ?! Hah! Euden?! Are you all right, Elly?! Hrk?! There! Is this...a mirror?! I was curious to see how the youngest Grand Paladyn in history had grown. Alas, I find you to be naught more than a hopeless disappointment. That voice... Those skills... Ciella! You know this woman? Yes. She was once a Paladyn who served the Goddess Ilia. Long before I was a Paladyn for true, she taught me of their comportments and martial arts. So she's your TEACHER?! We weren't so close as to have been teacher and pupil—but she was one of the Paladyns I aspired to be like. And how long it has been, Elisanne? Ah, I did not wish to see you again, yet as this presents an opportunity to end your life, I cannot complain of it. I heard you were excommunicated just as I was promoted to the rank of Paladyn. But does this mean the disappearances of the Ilian faithful are your doing? I despair for your faculties that you even feel the need to pose such a query. I won't let it stand if you killed the people here! Your proclivity for taking up the mantle of a knight in shining armor is repugnant, seventh scion. But I suppose it's no surprise from a puppet. Puppet? What is that supposed to— Do you truly think I will answer every fool query you think to toss my direction? How terrifically naive. You were once a splendid Paladyn with an ironclad sense of justice. You went too far at times, true, but we all still respected you—nay, even sought to BE you. How can you have turned to such violent actions in the meantime? Your memory is despairingly weak. And further, you misunderstand. How so? I have not changed at all—I still act to protect justice and order. I have simply come to a new realization. I now recognize the deception that the Ilian Church spreads across this world. ...Of what do you speak? Your lack of understanding is further proof that you Paladyns yet cling to false justice. Explain yourself! The righteousness and justice that you tout is nothing more than convenient dogma. The notion of universal equity is mere self-righteousness; the idea of a just world is but mistaken presumption. Sinners float above this world awash in material possessions and glory while the good and pure die languishing in gutters. THIS is the truth of the world. The doctrine of the Ilian Church averts its eyes from reality, preferring instead the false promise of salvation. Then they deign call obedience of that doctrine "order." But however splendid the words one uses to hide the truth, people will still kill one another without hesitation if it means their own survival. You brandish that lance at me and call it justice, but it is nothing more than a means to justify your own violent ends. I despair for you, Paladyn. Truly I do. ...... You poor, pitiful child. You have been cowed by putrid deception, unable to even question the false justice to which you cling so very fiercely. Thus will I release you from that false justice, for I cannot ignore the plaintive wails of such a pitiful child. And how many lives have you ended using that selfsame reasoning? I SAVED those people! They lacked tenacity, and so went without salvation. Pain will later lead to happiness. These are the lies that hide the despair of reality. The absence of salvation? Suffering? All of it is meaningless. This is the cruel yoke of our reality, and a lesson I made certain to teach them well. Enough of this rot! How can you stand there and call ANY of this salvation?! Poor, pitiful Elisanne. It seems you also wish to avert your gaze from the cruel nature of reality. I understand, for I was once very much the same. But you must accept despair, which means the time has come for me to liberate you from "justice." That is no liberation! You may have tossed your faith aside, but I refuse to do the same! If you choose to wallow in base despair, you must do it alone. For no matter how cruel the world might be, I will hold fast to the order and righteousness I believe in! As Grand Paladyn of the Ilian Church, I will end your atrocities this day! The depths of your naivety are staggering. But I will wrest you free of the deception you cling to! ...Feral Shroud, expand! This barrier... You're one of them! We are wings of judgment which unfurl in rejection of the deceit of this world! We are AGITO! I will thrust you into the depths of despair!