The Birth of Maestro
"Hah... so that's it. You already knew I wouldn't be able to attack, didn't you?!"
"Of course. Someone as meticulous as you never would have fallen for it otherwise."
Half-wrecked by Jinwoo's fists, Maestro spat the words at Ryushia, seething with rage.
"Kh... in that case..."
Clack.
With joints half-snapped, he forced his conductor's baton to move. A wooden marionette burst from the ceiling, clutching something crimson in its hands.
"..?! Everyone, get back!"
"What?!"
Ryushia's face went deathly pale as she shouted at her companions.
"Ah?! The Corrupted Angel's Heart!!"
"Don't tell me that's— we're too late!"
Raby stamped her feet in agitation, and I couldn't hide my own alarm either. To think he'd find the hidden item this fast.
The main strategy for this boss fight was to spend three days hunting down and destroying his duplicate bodies, then claim the Corrupted Angel's Heart before Maestro could get to it. And yet...
"He's got the Heart on night one... that's way too fast!"
"Hahaha!!! After getting thrashed by that broken deck of yours, I was so furious I tore this entire ship apart looking for it! I ought to thank you for lighting a fire under me!"
I mean, I didn't think losing a single game would piss him off THIS much.
"I failed to overpower you in the game AND in the Pure Love trial! At this point, I have no choice but to Exit you all!!!"
WHOOSH!!
Covered in cracks from head to toe, Maestro raised his baton. Click. Then he slotted the Corrupted Angel's Heart — delivered by another puppet — straight into his own torso.
The Corrupted Angel's Heart has bonded with the marionette.
Crimson lightning erupts in a swirling storm.
"...Phase Two starts immediately. Stay sharp."
"We don't have any weapons right now."
Ryushia's party had nothing to fight him with — they were still in their white lab coats, putting them at a severe disadvantage.
"Don't worry! I brought them!"
CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER!!
Thankfully, Raby used her dimensional pocket to scatter their gear across the floor.
"Haaah..."
Naturally, Ryushia's loadout was the bunny-girl outfit and the carrot sword.
"Oh! And there's my sword, too!"
And so each of them armed themselves, finishing their preparations for the boss fight.
"First Movement—"
"Das Treffen der Musiker und Marionette!"
⟨ The Meeting of the Musician and the Marionette ⟩
WHOOSH!!!
Having completed the fusion at last, Maestro unleashed a tremendous aura and raised his baton.
Clack-clack-clack.
"...?!"
In that instant, countless wooden marionettes surged forth at the puppet's command — a tidal wave of timber. Some crawled on all fours. Others even scuttled across the ceiling.
"Kya... KYAAAAAAH?!"
"WAAAAAAAH?!"
Only then did the passengers snap back to their senses, screaming at the sight of the marionettes swarming toward them like monsters.
"Kh... ngh?! Everyone, hold the line!! We need to buy them time to evacuate!!"
""Got it!!""
Phase One had been little more than a prelude. The real fight was Phase Two. They had to protect the civilians from the marionettes conducted by a Maestro fused with the Corrupted Angel's Heart.
CRACK!!
Elia's fist shattered a puppet's skull, sending wood chips flying.
SLASH!
"Hah!!"
Arkis's rapier began slicing torsos into ribbons.
"Everyone! Evacuate this way!"
Jinwoo was calmly ushering the passengers to safety. The first objective of this boss fight: protect civilian lives while holding back as many marionettes as possible.
"Burn!! Fire Eclipse!!!"
Crimson flames sweep the hall, incinerating marionettes by the dozen.
"It's common sense that wood is weak to fire!"
She was cutting them down with a satisfied smile when the curtain rose on an empty stage.
"Pattern-break time starts now! Keep fighting, but focus on the play!"
"What?!"
Phase Two wasn't just wave defense and evacuation. At intervals, a puppet play would unfold — and you had to watch the performance and answer the questions it posed.
"There's a shitload of stuff to do!"
"Crescent Moon—*boing*...!! That's just how a cyber guerrilla raid goes!"
CRUNCH!!!
Jinwoo smashed puppets with his shield, cursing all the while, and Ryushia chimed in as she carved through everything in front of her with the carrot sword.
Clack-clack.
What appeared on stage next were two marionettes. One was tall, holding a violin. The other was small, clutching a doll of her own.
"Haha, you there — cute little miss! What are you up to?"
"Me? Hmm... a puppet show!"
— They carried on as if they were truly conversing. This was, in all likelihood, Maestro's own past. —
"Is that so! I'm a musician, you see! A nobody, for now... but someday I'll be the artist who defines an era!"
"Hehe, you definitely will! I like playing with puppets too, though..."
"Then you'll become a splendid puppeteer yourself."
"...Yes!! Mister, what's your name?"
"My name is... that's right! Maestro!"
A clumsy scrape of strings spilled from the violin-bearing marionette. The little girl-puppet swayed her shoulders, doing her best to look delighted.
The story was a meeting between an unknown musician and a girl who loved her dolls. Then the curtain fell once more.
A chilling voice rang through the theater the instant the play ended. Now they had no choice but to answer it.
"It was truly fantastical — a meeting of two souls, each beautiful in their own distinct way..."
"So that's how you play it, huh?"
Ryushia delivered the line in a perfectly natural actor's cadence. And then—
"Second Movement—"
"Marionette Erster Abschied"
⟨ The Marionette's First Farewell ⟩
WHOOSH!!
A crimson glow flared in the eyes of Maestro's half-shattered face. At once, every marionette that had been attacking the party froze in place.
"Now! While those puppets are stopped—!"
"Hah... hah! What the hell is going on...!!"
The remaining passengers who hadn't made it out yet seized the opening and fled.
"Hey, Ryushia. What happens next, exactly..."
"They combine."
"...Come again?"
Jinwoo had asked without thinking, and the answer left him blank.
CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!!!
Intact or broken, it made no difference — every wooden marionette in the hall surged toward Maestro. On top of that, a blood-curdling soprano and an eerie melody began to seize the stage.
KKRRRRRK!!!
Countless marionettes swarmed over Maestro's body, fusing into one. And then—
"The next performance!!! There is no intermission! Continue the play!!!"
"Holy shit..."
He had become a colossal marionette, a monster tall enough to reach the concert hall's ceiling. Then he brought the baton crashing down on Ryushia's party.
"...Dodge!!"
"Whoa?!"
KRA-KOOOOOM!!!
A gigantic pillar pulverized the spot where they'd been standing, sending debris flying in every direction. The baton came whipping toward Elia as well.
"Hmph!"
BOOM!!
She leapt a full five meters and slipped the blow.
"Sharp Shooting!!"
THWIP-THWIP!!
Maestro was as slow as he was enormous, and Arkis seized the opening, driving her rapier home.
SLASH!!
"Heheh! It cuts so well!"
Wounds began to accumulate even across that gigantic body.
"Lady Arkis! The play is starting! DPS window's over — you have to watch the performance!"
"U-uhhn?!"
Ryushia shouted a warning at the girl who'd overcommitted, and for a split second Lady Arkis flinched at the words—
WHAM!!!
"Ghk... hhk?!"
"Arkis!!!"
Maestro's baton caught her square and sent her flying. She slammed into the wall and went limp, tumbling across the floor, unconscious.
"Kh... I'd love nothing more than to go help her. But if we don't watch the play, an instant-kill is coming."
"Damn it."
First rule of Maestro's boss fight: everyone still conscious — everyone who isn't stunned or dead — must watch the performance.
Fwoosh.
Mercilessly, the two marionettes appeared on stage once more, just as before.
"Forgive me, little one. I am leaving for the battlefield."
"W... why?"
"Because of human greed. This country has been drowned in screams and cannon fire instead of joyful music. I go to set that right."
"Don't go... then who'll play the music when I put on my puppet shows?"
"Haha! Don't you worry! I swear I will return! And when I do, let's put on the most magnificent performance of all!!"
"..."
— The musician-puppet leaves the girl-puppet behind, and vanishes. —
"That's the end of the second performance..."
Ryushia and the others swallowed hard, forcing themselves to concentrate on the play.
"It's so terribly sad... but the thought of their reunion brings a lump to my throat all on its own."
"..."
Did we... pass?
A crimson aura and a wave of heat swirled around the enlarged Maestro — but then a mournful melody began to play, only to cut off abruptly.
"Third Movement—"
"Einsamkeit der Marionette"
⟨ The Solitude of the Marionette ⟩
"...It's starting again!! Watch yourselves!"
WHOOSH!!
The Maestro who had frozen roared back to life, swinging his baton in a berserk frenzy.
"From here on we have to dodge the patterns AND watch the play!!"
"Hyaah?!"
Ryushia used Moon Step to slip the attacks in a blur of moonlight, but the others were hanging on by a thread.
"I'M ROLLIING!!!"
Whirl.
Jinwoo, at least, was using his rolls to stay ahead of the blows. Iflata, who had no innate evasion whatsoever, was the one in real danger.
"Sister!!!!"
GRAB!
A split second before the baton connected, the Saintess lunged in and wrapped Iflata in her arms.
WHAMMMM!!!
"Ghhk?!"
Blood burst from Elia's mouth as she took the hit in her place.
"Elia!! Iflata!!"
KRA-KOOOOM!!!
"..."
Jinwoo shouted their names in desperation, but both women were already down, unconscious.
FWOOSH!!!
To make matters worse, a single puppet rose onto the stage. There was no time to worry — Maestro's performance was already crashing down on them.
"Kh..."
Jinwoo clenched his teeth and forced his eyes forward...
"When will he come..."
"Mister Maestro will be all right. He will."
— The girl-puppet crouches on the floor. Spring passes. —
"I'm lonely..."
"It's no fun playing by myself."
— Another season slips away. —
"Liar!!!"
"You said you'd come back!! Why... why..."
— The girl-puppet screams, her little body shaking with rage. —
"I'll wait... I'll keep waiting, so please..."
"Just come back alive..."
— Tears fall from the girl-puppet as the curtain comes down. —
"Just hold on a little longer...!! We're almost there!"
"Hah..."
Body and spirit alike worn thin, they stood there as a voice like scraping metal rang out before them.
"Seeing the girl's loneliness, my heart aches of its own accord. I can only hope she found salvation."
Maestro heard my answer and stopped. And then—
"Final Movement—"
"Das Leid einer Marionette"
⟨ The Sorrow of a Marionette ⟩
KUUUNG!!!!
The stage began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
"Ghhk?!"
"Just a little... a little more..."
Even standing upright had become an ordeal for Ryushia and Jinwoo. And then the final play began.