The gas lamps on the streets have long gone out. Only the massive full moon casts an eerie, cold glow over the city streets.
Strange laughter occasionally echoes through the streets in the dead of night.
Ahhh—they will arrive among us to devour everything in this mortal world...
Time is up! We must open the door to welcome their arrival... I've seen it! I've seen where they dwell—
Ahahahahaha...! It's the chariot to their temple! Take me with you! Take me with you—!
The madman dances at the roadside, his face contorted, his shrill laughter piercing the air as he prances past the officer with wild, flailing limbs.
Dammit, another one's lost his mind.
The officer curses under his breath, silently praying that the Mist won't spread to this area so soon. The last thing he wants is to end up a raving lunatic like that man.
He's just one unlucky bastard among many officers deployed in full force tonight, all to capture those Aberrations who escaped from the gallows.
How are we supposed to find them in a city this big...
The officer scours the streets, scrutinizing everything out of place while muttering words of encouragement to himself.
Up ahead, a shadowy gray figure flickers dimly into view at the street corner.
Under the blinking gaslight, a severely wounded figure seemingly lies collapsed on the ground.
Over there...
The officer inches cautiously toward the gray figure, raising his gun and taking aim.
Don't move!
The figure at gunpoint offers no response, but the officer feels something ice-cold pressed against his neck as a voice speaks up from behind him.
Only then does the officer realize that the gray figure is nothing more than a gray cloak used as bait.
Drop your weapon.
You emerge from behind your katana-wielding companion and approach the disarmed officer.
The officer understands what you're getting at, but his sense of duty compels him to stay quiet.
I don't know...
But the officer's defiance doesn't last long, as a demonic figure steps out from the darkness.
The siren, wings sprouting from her back, approaches him, her eyes filled with cold indifference.
W-what are you trying to do... AAAH!!!
M-my leg—!!! I-it's... going to break...
If you don't talk, I'll break your hands next.
And then your neck.
The officer can feel the tremendous force of the talons of "Bloodthirsty Siren" closing in. Even you can hear his bones beginning to crack under the pressure.
I-I... Please stop... I really don't know—!
I only saw... some strange folks taking her to the city hall...
I saw a carriage leaving there later, probably taking away that Aberrat—no, no, no, I mean your friend... but I really don't know where they took her...
These are above my pay grade. Only the bigwigs at city hall would know the details. I-I've told you everything I know...!
While you and your companions interrogate the officer, research on the so-called Aberration proceeds rapidly in another part of the city.
Gas lamps provide the only light source in this basement-turned-secret-laboratory. Without the light outside, the scholars engaged in their tests almost forget what time it is.
The harsh, bright lights illuminate the impatient gazes of the scholars, all fixed upon the young woman at the center of the laboratory.
To prevent her from using her Aberration powers, she is firmly bound to the chair with the enchanted chains.
Since you were the assistant of that [player name], you should make a fine assistant for us as well. Now talk. Tell us everything you know about the Mist.
How exactly did you summon the strange fog? Dark magic, gadgets, or something we don't know about?
Don't think playing dumb will save you. We have plenty of ways to handle people like you.
Yet the young woman shows no concern even when facing such intense interrogation. On the contrary, the intimidating scholars seem to have ignited her will to fight back, and she smiles mischievously.
I don't know... I can't remember anything at all!
Oh my, you can't blame me for that... Your mind goes blank when you're under too much pressure, you know?
Look at me, sitting here so uncomfortably with all of you staring at me. How could I not be under enormous pressure?
The young woman pouts her lips and fidgets slightly in her seat, seemingly "pondering" intently, while actually trying to ease the discomfort caused by the enchanted chains.
Stop playing games!
Tsk, playing amnesiac again? This isn't a psychiatric ward! We don't treat memory loss here!
Enough! Is this how you conduct "research" here? If this kind of "interrogation" actually worked, what's the point of all those instruments and drugs in the laboratory?
Their argument is suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening. The scholars' leader stands outside, watching the scene with evident displeasure.
Is the Academy only capable of producing "senior scholars" who are all talk?
Put her in that iron cage over there and take her outside. It's time to verify her relationship with the Mist.
After the verification is complete, I want pure, definitive results about that power of hers, whether it comes from her blood, heart, or somewhere else entirely.
And I want more than just your long-winded, worthless research reports. Understood?
...Understood.
I'll return in three days. If you're still having a little heart-to-heart with her instead of delivering actual results then, I'll find a more competent team of scholars to take over your work.
And don't think of this as me "pressuring" you. The mayor is even more eager than I am to see this experiment succeed.
The lead scholar drops these clear, cold instructions before he leaves, proclaiming a fate far crueler than the gallows awaits the girl.
The scholars' collective malice descends upon the girl like a predator.
Alright, alright, stop standing around! Time to get to work!
Keep playing amnesiac all you want. It doesn't matter if you won't come clean. We'll just throw you into the Mist and see what happens.
W-wait, wait! Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Even though I have amnesia... I might... probably... still remember something!
Seeing how the situation has turned, the girl protests like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, but the scholars waiting for her "confession" aren't buying it anymore.
Save it. No one's interested in your worthless "confession" anymore.
Why are you still talking to her? Come give us a hand already!
The other two scholars, busy preparing the test equipment, grumble irritably.
...I'm coming. Make sure you don't release the enchanted chains when you throw her outside.
Suddenly, the girl looks around in terror, as if she is hearing something strange.
Wait! Did you... hear that...?
Over there... right there! Something's... Oh no, the monsters... Stay away!
She curls in fear, as if genuinely seeing something horrifying in the darkness behind the scholars.
The scholar standing before her instinctively turns to look behind him, but before he can make out anything, a heavy blow strikes the back of his head.
Aargh...
The completely defenseless scholar takes a heavy blow to the back of his head and collapses.
Before the other two scholars can react to this unexpected turn of events, a nimble figure swiftly closes in on them.
Eileena, who was bound until just now, surprisingly stands up from her chair, having regained her freedom.
...!
Before they can even process how she managed to free herself from the enchanted chains, she uses her power to knock them unconscious.
A little restraint like this isn't going to keep me down!
The girl smiles playfully as she slips a small object she has been concealing in her palm back into her pocket.
During the chaos in the courtroom, she used the opportunity of hugging you to tear off a small object from the trim of your coat.
The gray, wing-shaped metal ornament has become the perfect tool for her escape.
Heh, I was lying. There's nothing over there.
How ridiculously easy to take care of them. Not a shred of caution in their heads, and they call themselves "scholars."
Well then, I'll just take the key out of here as a little souvenir. Ta-ta!
The girl bends down and rummages through the unconscious scholars' pockets until she finds the laboratory key.
With her freedom reclaimed, the girl's nimble figure vanishes beyond the doorway.
It is approaching midnight. Wisps of fog still linger through the streets.
Clang—clang—clang—
The midnight bells toll, sounding the death knell for you and your companions.
The evidence is irrefutable. My verdict is final. Take these Aberrations to the clock tower and hang them tonight at the stroke of midnight!
You freaks! It's time for your final journey!
[player name]...
The girl's expression shifts to an indescribable sadness as she stares blankly into the swirling mist.
But this brief moment of sorrow doesn't last long. She breaks into a sprint, rushing toward the clock tower.
Meanwhile, a strange occurrence begins to spread in the laboratory she just left behind.
An unknown, eerie presence seems to have detected traces of her recent existence, silently approaching the space.
The scholars knocked down by Eileena gradually regain consciousness from their stunned state.
Dammit... My head's killing me...
That little brat... How dare she...
The gas lamps above the scholars begin to flicker ominously before extinguishing one by one, and darkness approaches from afar.
In the dark, a faint, unearthly sound draws ever closer.
An invisible, frigid pressure announces the presence of something not of this world.
▆▁▂▄▁... Where... ▁▃▄... you... Where are you...
▁▃▄... You... should not... ▃▅▆▁▂▄▁... exist...
Erase... ▃▅▆▁... destroy... ▆▁▂▄▁...
The eerie voice wanders through the darkness, searching in vain for the girl they consider their rightful prey.
Dissatisfied, they continue to spread their invisible, chilling terror throughout the darkness.
The newly awakened scholar feels a strange, shapeless force closing around his throat.
Gah... Urk... Agh...
Away from the light, the scholars' sanity and health silently deplete.
Eventually, all sounds and horrors vanish from this place, completely swallowed by the impenetrable darkness.
