ES New Dimension

Season: Autumn

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Location: Judgment Stage (Gold)



Tsukasa: (Ah...)

(I always feel nervous whenever I step onstage, as if my body is frozen right down to the fingertips.)

(What if I fail? What if I disgrace myself in front of everyone...? It leaves me so anxious that I want to run away.)

(But there within me, stronger than the anxiety, is also a joy. The joy of thrusting one's blade into suffering, into fear, into those indescribable monsters—the joy of conquering them and growing stronger.)

(This very feeling will always keep me standing upon this stage.)

(And of course all our guests are here today, waiting with a smile for our songs, our dances, and our performances.)

(I must not run, even if there is little hope for victory.)

(I must stand firm for the slight chance I may find it—no, even if I must disgrace myself and crawl along the ground...)

(For the sake of delivering the smallest instant of a splendid show to those who came to see us...)

(I, Tsukasa Suou, inexperienced as I am... must stand here upon the battlefield.)

(Now then, I'll be off. Please watch over me, Onee-sama.)



Leo: Nice to see ya, Newbie. Got a good look on your face, huh? ♪

Way different from back when I first saw you... You seemed like a spoiled little rich boy who grew up being waited on hand and foot.

Like a breeze could blow on ya and you'd just shrivel up and die! Way more like a princess than a knight!

I meeean, I was seriously worried, y'know!

Wahahaha! ☆ You now have my acknowledgement: you're a part of Knights too—a fellow noble warrior, though still a baby. ♪

Color me impressed you stood up on this stage, even though all your allies are gone.

Rittsu, Sena, Naru... They've all fallen. They fought with all their strength, but it's curtains for them.

They took down everyone else on my side, too, though. But, well, the guys in Knight Killers just joined me out of the kindness of their hearts.

Can't really go asking them to risk their lives for me, now can I?

Or maybe they were making way for our turns. Yumenosaki's full of bleeding hearts, after all.

The entertainment world's a ruthless and cutthroat place! Are they gonna last like that?

Not that I mind! I like people like that a lot!

In fact, I love 'em! Wahahahaha... ☆

Humans are so great! They sure love to get all caught up in numbers and obligations and crap like that, though!

I've seen enough of those sorta guys to get sick of 'em. I just hate 'em—they're so boring, y'know?

But these days, all you idiots frolicking around Yumenosaki are celebrating your youth in total freedom! I'm so glad I came back—really, truly, I am!

Ahhh, I could write a mountain of masterpieces! ☆

Tsukasa: Leader... Just how far did you foresee this?

I mean, from the very beginning...

This "Judgment" was an altercation between you and me. I threw down the gauntlet, expressing my displeasure with your methods, and you picked it up.

And the result? The two of us now stand one-to-one upon the stage. This is what our Judgment is about, distilled to its essence.

Did you know that this would happen? Did you handpick your allies, lay the groundwork, and prepare each and every little thing...

...Just to bring it all down to this very moment—to this final chapter in our fight?

In this Judgment...

It truly seemed as though you dispatched the most effective troops for Knight Killers.

Did you have a complete grasp of the battlefield, carving out the course of the fight as you provided your allies with the appropriate "weapons"?

From the beginning to the end, were we all just dancing in the palm of your hand? If so...

Then I am deeply impressed. I truly cannot compare to my seniors just yet.

Leo: ...You overestimate me, Newbie. Look, I'm not God. I don't know everything.

Of course, I am an incredible genius beloved by God, but not God himself.

That was something I misunderstood, once upon a time.

I'd thought I could do everything, and that I comprehended everything.

I did whatever I pleased, but, see... I hurt so many people by getting them caught up in it.

I only noticed my mistakes after I made one I could never take back. I was late—much too late.

So after losing everything, I turned tail and ran from all the responsibility. To be honest, I don't even have any right to be here.

That's just how pathetic and shameful I am.

I'm the ruler who sauntered around naked, who didn't see what even a baby would notice.

Being served by my knights, or hearing their oaths of loyalty? I don't have the right to any of that.

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