Nitocris
Pharaoh Nitocris
Mash:
Hmm? What's that...?
Ozymandias:
Hmm...
Ozymandias:
This is some cheap wine. Its vulgar body, perhaps fearful at the honor of passing through my throat, pales and fades into nothingness.
Ozymandias:
I will at least acknowledge its grace, if nothing else.
Iskandar:
Hah hah hah, perhaps you're trying to say cold wine goes down well? You sure say things in a roundabout way!
Mash:
Is this a...party?
Mash:
Look, Nitocris over there seems to be sober.
She might be the most reasonable one here.
Mash:
Let's try to talk to her, Senpai.
Nitocris:
Oh, Master, Mash. What's going on?
Mash:
We just happened to be passing through.
Um...what are you doing here?
Nitocris:
We're drinking, as you can see. What of it?
Nitocris:
I was invited by the two pharaohs over there... Well, more like I volunteered myself to join them in their banquet.
Mash:
But why here in the Command Room?
Nitocris:
If you're asking about the location, Pharaoh Iskandar said this place is fitting for a king's banquet.
Nitocris:
If you are inquiring about the purpose of this banquet...
Iskandar:
Nitocris! What are you doing over there!?
Drink. Empty your cup and drink some more.
Iskandar:
This is a gathering of pharaohs. That includes you.
Iskandar:
I called Cleopatra too, but she was so overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude and unworthiness that she passed out.
Iskandar:
So basically, you're the only person that can act as a representative for female pharaohs in Chaldea!
Nitocris:
...With all due respect, that's how it is.
Mash:
Now that you mention it, everyone here really does have the title of pharaoh.
Fujimaru 1:
Really?
Fujimaru 2:
Was Iskandar one too?
Iskandar:
Oh? Master, Mash, I didn't realize you were there!
Did the fragrance of the wine draw you here?
Iskandar:
It doesn't matter! As our mutual friends, you have permission to join us! Drink up!
Ozymandias:
Are you trying to cheapen this gathering of pharaohs? Besides, I recall they're at an age where they should avoid alcohol.
Ozymandias:
...Oh, very well. You're hardly even a pharaoh to begin with, and I do not intend to lambaste them for their age.
I shall permit it. Drink up!
Iskandar:
Haha, you're quite strict. But I do have a proper regnal name: Setepenre Meryamun!
Ozymandias:
Is that so?
Ozymandias:
I too am known by the name Setepenre.
I'm sure it is a common name for pharaohs.
Ozymandias:
The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usermaatre Setepenre... Son of Ra... Ramesses the Great... Amun's beloved...
Ozymandias:
That is who I, the Sun Ozymandias, am! I shall allow it. Sear that name into your Spirit Core and Spirit Origin! Remember it!
Iskandar:
By the gods! Then I suppose we're like brothers!
Ozymandias:
No, we're not brothers. We're not, but...
Nitocris:
I do believe the great king here is a pharaoh!
...I think that is what Cleopatra would say.
Ozymandias:
Interesting. You dare go against my will?
Nitocris:
N-No, great pharaoh, I would not! I just thought of what Cleopatra would say and I could not help it...
Ozymandias:
Well, it is true she might say something like that.
When did you get that close with each other?
Nitocris:
Please...forgive my indiscretion. My only lord is the Sun King, and my only alliance is with Fujimaru!
Nitocris:
Cleopatra is like... a troublesome little sister.
Iskandar:
Hah hah hah. Don't tease her so much, Sun King. Cleopatra would indeed say something like that.
Iskandar:
She was the last pharaoh on Earth.
If so, she is like a granddaughter to us.
Ozymandias:
True enough. Even if she's not related to us by blood, she was the last to inherit the title of pharaoh and its divinity.
Iskandar:
Yes. But if that's the case—
Iskandar:
Nitocris. You. Yes, you.
Nitocris:
Y-Yes?
Iskandar:
You're the oldest pharaoh among us.
Wouldn't you be more of a mother figure, then?
Ozymandias:
Truly an incarnation of the ancient Horus.
Nitocris:
I-I-I am a mother!?
To Lord Ozymandias!?
Nitocris:
Does that mean I can do whatever I want?
A mother does all sorts of things for her son...
Nitocris:
She cooks for him, lets him sleep on her lap...
Even tells old folktales and scary stories!
Nitocris:
W-Would you be okay with that?
I've never had a child...
Mash:
N-Nitocris?
Nitocris:
N-N-No, I am not worthy!
Nitocris:
Yes, that is too much. And Iskandar–you are a pharaoh who has accomplished more than I have.
Nitocris:
You are the King of Conquerors. You traveled far and wide, seizing many lands. I pale in comparison.
Ozymandias:
What's so great about a king who focused so much on expansion and left nothing but destruction in his wake?
I am a god. I am the sun. I am the true pharaoh.
Nitocris:
Pharaoh Ozymandias!
That is so obvious I need not say it!
Nitocris:
You are the king of kings: the god-king.
Nitocris:
You are so revered that I dare not even try to compare you with others. It would be far too presumptuous of me.
Nitocris:
...The same goes for Pharaoh Cleopatra. I didn't try as earnestly to protect the country as she did.
Fujimaru 1:
Didn't Cleopatra...
Fujimaru 2:
She destroyed the country, right?
Ozymandias:
If you speak of destruction, the decline of Upper and Lower Egypt became inevitable as soon as I, the true pharaoh, was gone.
Ozymandias:
Any reign other than my own would thereafter be imperfect, no matter who the pharaoh was.
Ozymandias:
Just as the Nile flows, the final destination was inevitable. I never had my hopes up.
Iskandar:
Hah hah hah. I feel I've said this before, but no country escapes downfall. Not even my Macedonia.
Nitocris:
Yes. If countries are destined to fall, then all things considered, I believe she played her part of pharaoh well.
Nitocris:
But I...
Nitocris:
...
Fujimaru 1:
She seems kind of sad.
Fujimaru 2:
Nitocris...
Mash:
Yes, Senpai. I agree.
She seems depressed.
Mash:
For some reason she doesn't look like she's touched her wine.
Nitocris:
...I guess you can tell.
Nitocris:
I'm... an inexperienced pharaoh.
Nitocris:
When I see all these great pharaohs here...
When I subject myself to their gaze...
Nitocris:
I feel depressed...
N-No, more like ashamed.
Mash:
But Iskandar said that you're the oldest pharaoh in Chaldea, right?
Mash:
In other words, you were alive in the Age of Gods.
You're a pharaoh from the ancient times...
Nitocris:
You think in terms of your magecraft.
The older and greater Mystics possess more power.
Nitocris:
But to me, time means nothing.
Nitocris:
It's about how a pharaoh–the child of a god, a godlike king, a god incarnate–should be.
Nitocris:
...I don't know why I'm a Heroic Spirit.
Nitocris:
Do you know why I was not taken to the eternal afterlife?
Nitocris:
Ozymandias never chose it to begin with, but me...
Nitocris:
Me... I'm sure I just never made it there.
Nitocris:
Fujimaru, my ally... maybe I should talk to you about this.
Nitocris:
I...
Nitocris:
I am a foolish pharaoh. I closed off my own path to the afterlife.
Nitocris:
I took my own life without preparing for what lay beyond. But I have no regrets.
Nitocris:
I turned into a weapon for the sake of my brothers...
Nitocris:
...Those treacherous retainers who used pharaohs like puppets... Those fools who mocked the position of pharaoh...
Nitocris:
I sent them all to the bottom of the Nile... Without mercy, without hesitation, and without regret.
Fujimaru 1:
So you got your revenge.
Fujimaru 2:
So that means... you killed them.
Nitocris:
Yes, I slaughtered them with my own hands.
Nitocris:
Perish, you foul creatures!
Nitocris:
No one will hear your screams, your groans, or your cries for help!
Nitocris:
I will kill you all! You should be happy to be embraced by the waters of the Nile as you die!
Nitocris:
You used my brothers as puppets...
You murdered them all...
Nitocris:
I will never forgive you. You shall never be forgiven! Never! Never! I've been waiting for this day...!
Retainers:
Why, Nitocris? We were the ones who helped you become pharaoh!
Nitocris:
It was for this day. Everything. Everything I've done was to kill you all.
Nitocris:
That has been my only reason for living.
Just so that you would choose me as your next puppet...
Nitocris:
I made you think you could control my dignity, my being, my body, my will.
Nitocris:
And you fell right into my trap. When you heard I had a gift for you, what did you think it was?
Nitocris:
A lavish banquet? A treasure of gold? Or maybe—Oh, you thought you could even have me?
Nitocris:
But this is the end. I will end it all for you.
The hubris of trying to control a pharaoh... It stops here!
Retainers:
Stop it! No! We don't want to die!
Save us...!
Nitocris:
Make your pleas to my dear brothers!
To the ones you killed without any mercy!
Nitocris:
You will not travel to the eternal afterlife. Ha, ha, but rest assured. I am the same. I will follow you soon.
Nitocris:
I will find you in death and torment you for eternity!
Nitocris:
I killed them... and then myself.
Nitocris:
...After putting up with so much, I'd finally taken my revenge.
Nitocris:
Come to think of it, maybe I'm so short-tempered as a Heroic Spirit because of my deeds in life.
Nitocris:
I am a puppet of a pharaoh.
At best, all I ever accomplished was revenge.
Nitocris:
That's why I've tried to be as proper as possible.
Nitocris:
I punished them for their impiety in attempting to control the position of pharaoh. I tried to restore honor to the pharaoh name.
Nitocris:
The pride I have as pharaoh does exist within my heart, but even still...
Nitocris:
If I compare myself to the other pharaohs, I shiver just thinking how small I am...
Nitocris:
I'm so pathetic... I can't even bring myself to face them...!
Ozymandias:
...
Iskandar:
Hey, small one.
Iskandar:
Let's see. How's this? (Beep, beep.) There.
Iskandar:
Difficulty setting? Oooh... “Sparta Mode.” That's got a nice ring to it. Must mean it's as strong as them.
That settles it, then...
Mash:
Iskandar? What are you doing in front of that console...?
Dr. Roman:
Huh? Hey! Helloooo?
Dr. Roman:
The training program just activated.
Are you guys doing something?
Iskandar:
Of course we are! The wine has warmed our bodies. How about we swing our swords for a little entertainment!
Iskandar:
By the way, I'll be assisting the enemy.
Nitocris:
...!?
Ozymandias:
I am tired of all the cheap wine.
It might be fun to play along with you!
Ozymandias:
Rejoice, pretenders! Rather than eradicating you, I will shine from on high.
Ozymandias:
Even those who are not truly alive weep tears of joy. Sear the light of the pharaoh into you!
Iskandar:
I see. That puts Master with Mash and Nitocris.
A good team.
Mash:
When did we say we were all joining in!?
Dr. Roman:
I don't really get what's going on there, but am I right in assuming there's going to be a fight in the simulator?
Dr. Roman:
Well, just don't get hurt, okay?
Nitocris:
I... I have to fight a proper pharaoh?
That would just be too disrespectful...
Iskandar:
I won't forgive desertion.
If you run, you will face the consequences.
Iskandar:
What do you think, Sun King?
Ozymandias:
Escape and defeat are not fit for the divinity of the pharaohs! Thus...
Iskandar:
That's right. If you run, you must renounce the title of pharaoh.
Nitocris:
...!?
Iskandar:
Never address yourself that way. Never use the name. And...let's see... Say you're sorry for being a pharaoh up until now.
Nitocris:
I-I can't...do that...
Nitocris:
I am a pharaoh, no matter how short my reign was!
I just can't renounce that fact!
Iskandar:
Then you must fight. I don't have to say this, but you'll face the same consequences if you lose. It'd also be boring if you threw the game.
Iskandar:
On the contrary, if you win... we'll give you some sort of reward.
Ozymandias:
You speak too much, King of Conquerors.
Ozymandias:
Nitocris, even after receiving my endless splendor, will your mirror still reflect darkness, or won't it?
Ozymandias:
If you're a pharaoh, then withstand it! If you can't, you will fade away. That's all there is to it!
Mash:
Looks like...we have no choice but to fight!
Nitocris:
Fujimaru! My ally!
Nitocris:
I'm an inexperienced pharaoh.
But the fact that I am still a pharaoh is my pride.
Nitocris:
If I'm going to lose that, then I can't afford to run or lose!
Nitocris:
I must win this fight no matter what! Lend me your power! No, PLEASE lend me your power!
--BATTLE--:
Nitocris:
(Panting)
Mash:
That was intense!
Dr. Roman:
Y-You guys won. You won against three pharaohs that symbolize an era!
Iskandar:
Heh, heh... Ha, ha, ha! We lost! We lost!
Ozymandias:
I had no intention of holding back. Perhaps that cheap wine and my arrogance came back to bite me.
Cleopatra:
...
Nitocris:
Why are you all...
Mash:
(Cleopatra's here too. When did she join the battle!?)
Iskandar:
That's not the face a winner should make.
Iskandar:
I did not hold back. Your determination was just greater than ours.
Iskandar:
Listen up. You fought and defeated multiple pharaohs—myself included.
Iskandar:
O Queen of the Mirror who lived in the ancient world... You're a perfect pharaoh in your own right.
Iskandar:
I tell you this on my honor.
You should be thankful for this reward.
Nitocris:
...!?
Cleopatra:
That's right, Queen Nitocris.
I witnessed it myself. It's just as you said.
Cleopatra:
I saw your pride as a pharaoh...
Nitocris:
Cleopatra...
Nitocris:
(Huh...? How long have you been here?)
Iskandar:
That's something I lack, to say the least.
Iskandar:
In that respect, I think you're a better pharaoh than I am. There's nothing to be ashamed of.
Ozymandias:
A better pharaoh!? Such a useless distinction!
Just being a pharaoh is enough!
Ozymandias:
It's pure arrogance to wish for any more than that.
Ozymandias:
After all, it's established fact that I am the best and most venerable pharaoh. Anything more is fighting for scraps!
Ozymandias:
You could be known only for your dark, vengeful acts... or for your numerous conquests... You could be the last of your kind...
Ozymandias:
You could even be a young pharaoh who only reigned for a few days...
Ozymandias:
No matter what kind of pharaoh you are, to me, there is very little difference!
Ozymandias:
But that is why I understand your admiration towards me. It may be arrogant, but I do understand.
Ozymandias:
Humans still extend their arms to the sun, even knowing they can't reach it. They attempt to touch the gods.
Ozymandias:
There is nothing as meaningless as hanging your head in despair because you cannot reach me. That would be true arrogance.
Iskandar:
Hey, you. You just counted me as a pharaoh, didn't you? It feels like I finally got my certificate of authenticity or something.
Ozymandias:
...Hah hah! This is some cheap wine! I'm not thinking properly, but my mouth keeps going!
Ozymandias:
Let's go somewhere else and keep drinking, Rider.
This time get me some wine that will at least let me talk properly!
Iskandar:
You're a Rider too, you know? We can keep drinking, but there's not much in the way of wine around here...
Iskandar:
Oh, but I do know a king with a big attitude whose wine happens to be very good.
Iskandar:
All he'd need to do is fetch some more from the storeroom... I wonder where he is?
Mash:
He left...
Nitocris:
...Were the pharaohs... trying to...
Nitocris:
...tell me that...all along?
Nitocris:
...Fujimaru.
Nitocris:
I was a fool who, unable to make it to the eternal afterlife, eventually became a Heroic Spirit.
Nitocris:
I thought it was a punishment by the gods, but...
Nitocris:
But then I met Ozymandias and the other pharaohs. And not just them– I met you too. The best ally I could ever have.
Nitocris:
This isn't a punishment. It's...
Nitocris:
...No, never mind.
Nitocris:
I was just blurting out nonsense. It was just my imagination. Let's just forget it. Forget it!
Dr. Roman:
I know I'm not really good at taking hints, but let me say this.
Dr. Roman:
Since you guys fought at full force, the simulator's all messed up! It's...pretty tough to clean it up, you know...?
Fujimaru 1:
Just let us do it.
Fujimaru 2:
Us two will do it.
Mash:
Yes, Senpai. That's true.
Mash:
We'll take care of it, Nitocris, so go on ahead.
Wherever you'd like.
Nitocris:
...Are you sure?
Mash:
Of course.
Nitocris:
...(Bowing)
Mash:
...Pharaohs... Rulers of Egypt... I'm sure there is some kind of special bond between them...
Mash:
Especially since it was such a long-lasting tradition.
Mash:
...Now then, Master. Let's do our best to clean up.
Mash:
However, no matter how you look at it, this isn't a two-person job. I recommend calling for some help.
Mash:
Doctor, you are listening, right?
Dr. Roman:
...I see. So when you said you two would do it, you were talking about me as well...
Dr. Roman:
Hah... The pharaohs sure do everything on a grand scale... including affecting the simulator system... (Sigh)