The End of The World (Legend of the Twilight)


 * For information on the GU terminal Disk see End of The World.

"I wish to know, the nature of what true death is"

- Morti

The End of The World (世界の終わり) is the eleventh episode of .hack//Legend of the Twilight.

Story
The episode starts off where the previous episode ended with Morti revealing herself to Shugo's Party after arriving in Naval Monte. She then claims that it is her domain & starts transforming the town. Sanjuro then realizes that all of the mysterious events that have been happening in The World lately were her doing. Shugo then charges at Morti shouting "Give me back Rena!" however she then teleports Komiyan III in front of him, who Shugo then punches away.

From an administration area Reki notices that Naval Monte was taken away from CC Corp's control. Kamui then appears there saying she couldn't leave with so many loose ends. Morti then summons several Shopkeeper NPC's to attack the players in Naval Monte. When Shugo decides to use Data Drain, Sanjuro stops him & Balmung reveals that they will lose the missing characters if he uses it then.

From the administration room Kamui asks Reki if it's alright for her to be there with him & he replys by saying they left him in charge, then Kamui comments that she won't feel guilty if he gets fired too. Reki then asks what Kamui found in the computers of the kids who were hacking them & she answers by saying "it seems they have quite an interest in death" before impaling him while his back is turned.

When Shugo's Party defeats all the NPC's, Morti respawns them saying "That's right they defeated death" & then explains how it is difficult for player characters to experience full death in The World. Kamui explains that dying isn't that serious in The World & the worse that can happen is losing some items or experience points. Morti then transforms the NPC's into gravestones then deletes them while saying she wishes to know the true nature of death.

While in front of a computer screen Michi repeats what Morti says. Kamui then explains that the Wondering AI used the children to make full death a reality & that it's using The World to understand death. A modified monster then appears in the administration room & Reki reveals that it's frozen. He then explains that there is a mechanism in it that opens a special gate when players get killed by it, which teleports them to an area in a special server. Kamui then realizes that it must have been the private server they found. Reki continues explaining how the players are then placed under the control of a powerful mental suggestion "that they are actually dead" & then says that he questioned why they would make the program.

Back at Naval Monte Balmung explains that the notion of full death is impossible & that it contradicts the basic idea of The World. Morti then says "A death to all player characters & a true death will come to this world", only for Balmung to reply by saying that if The World was threatened by destruction it's omnipresent spirit would protect all of them. When Shugo questions this, Sanjuro reveals that the guardian spirit is Aura. Balmung then reveals that not long after Morti set her plan into motion, Aura began to make her counter moves like the revival of the Legendary Player Characters.

Kamui reveals she searched through all the Hackers computers & was able to extract data that identified Shugo as the primary target. She then explains that it was actually Rena who was the intended target & that killing Shugo would have teleported him to the secret area. Reki understands that if the suggestion wasn't complete & shugo happened to awaken there would have been nothing capable of opposing the bracelets energy from inside the server. From there it was revealed that Shugo would have been able to easily see through the plan & bring it down & Kamui revealed that the suggestion was removed from Rena.

After the eyecatch Balmung explains Aura & how it would normally be impossible to destroy her. While this is happening Rena is eaten by a monster which then teleports to Naval Monte. Back in the Admin Room Kamui suggests they create a highly contagious virus strong enough to infect all of the corrupted data, which she calls a digital black plague. Reki responds by saying it will be tough within The World's Servers because of how many backup systems there are & Kamui replys by saying they must develop it quickly then deliver the new virus to Rena.

Rena then awakens inside the monster & sees Shugo's party before Morti claims she will now realize The World of The Dead. Rena is then infected & her member address list is traced to further infect players she has been in contact with. Balmung realizes that the virus must be designed to delete them & Aura. Shugo charges at the monster to try to free Rena although is unsuccessful. Aura tells them they must defeat the monster. When Shugo rushes at the monster again he is grabbed by it & he then reaches for Rena, only for the monster to throw him.

At the Administration Room Reki states there is no way to make a virus be delivered in time. Kamui responds by saying the only choice they have left is to destroy the source. Reki asks if it can be done & Kamui tells him that if it can't Aura will cease to exist forever. Reki says that a terror of true death will then overtake The World & questions what will happen to them after that, only for Kamui to reply that they will either fall into comas or as Reki continues they will truly die because of the incident. When he comes to the conclusion that Kamui truly loves Balmung, Reki says that he makes The World a better place with his adventuring in it.

Kamui then arrives in Naval Monte while the virus destroys the weapons of the players who are fighting Morti, however the bracelet wasn't effected because it is a special item. Before Shugo can use it though Aura tells him to stop because Rena would be Data Drained too & if that happens she will not be able to stop the spread of the virus before it's too late. Kamui then starts fighting & reveals that items still work on the monster even if weapons are useless. The episode then ends with Shugo noticing a character hiding in the shadows.