Lotto Twelve 

• The entirety of episode 2. Lotto has a traumatic past of being a lab experiment subject.

  • It's further detailed that he and his brethren were methodically tortured & it's described that he was sexually abused. Him and his brethren express suicidality.

  • Overall themes of lack of agency appear all over his episodes, but especially here.

• Lotto likes to torture people♪ and does it in multiple instances.

• A lot of death and destruction in general.

The glow of the morning’s sunrise faintly illuminated the bottom of the Caspian Rift Valley. A high-speed object cut through billowing smoke that rose against the light. It was a crimson red battleship operated by a Hardline special forces unit; one that belonged to Lotto, alongside his squadron, who had just finished a mission in New Nemea.

"~~♪"

A cheerful whistle echoed through the ship.

“...You’re in an awfully good mood, Lotto.”

“Aha, well it’s not like it’s weird or anything, right? I’m always like this.”

Reclined in his captain’s chair with his legs stretched over the computer’s console, the man named Lotto Twelve spoke to whomever was on the monitor.

“In that case, the fruits of your labor were bountiful, it seems?”

The man displayed on the other side of the monitor, Cainan, had his brows furrowed and eyed Lotto with suspicion.

“Of course. With all my extra effort I think I performed beyoooond expectations♪”

“Quit flaunting your ego and show me the results.”

“So impatient. Alrighty then. Take a good look at these results.”

Declaring that, Lotto got out of his chair and turned to look behind it.

"Ta-daaaah!"

There, the unconscious bodies of a man and a woman were laid haphazardly on the floor.

“Do these two match the ones you requested?”

“I’d like to say this is superb work, but what about the other person?”

“That one slipped right through my fingers. Buuuut, in its place, I think this is the kinda thing Cainan would want so badly that he wouldn’t be able to stand it♪”

Lotto held up something so that it would be visible on camera. It was about twice the size of Lotto’s own head—

“...!”

He could feel the atmosphere change through the monitor. Pleased with the obvious change in Cainan’s demeanor, Lotto whistled and grinned ostentatiously.

"Hmm hmm. If I’m not mistaken, my surprise was a total success?"

"...Alright then, let's meet up later."

“Haa, how cold~ Roger, Roger. Well, see ya lateeeeer.”

After confirming their rendezvous point on the monitor, Lotto cut off the call and whistled in satisfaction. Suddenly, he heard a weak groan from behind him.

"Oh, speak of the devil♪"

“...Where…am I…?”

Solo Monia woke up from a deep slumber on the cold iron floor.

“I think, I…”

“Good mornii~iing, wittle Sowo! Did you sleep well~?”

"You...! ...A—gh..."

"Hehe, does your head still feel like it’s spinning?”

Lotto poked Solo's head with his finger repeatedly as he groaned in frustration. With his hands and feet tied, there was nothing Solo could do to stop it.

“Stop joking around!”

“You keep flailing around and making so much noise. But if you keep making such a scene, then I’ll have to punish you, won’t I~?”

"Ah..."

Lotto gently placed his hand on the base of Solo's throat. He gradually tightened his grip, and Solo’s expression turned to that of anguish as he writhed in pain. Seeing this, Lotto’s lips turned into a faint smile. It was as if he held the power of life and death in his hand.

"Can you feel it? Your heart is pounding and it hurts so, so bad that it’s unbearable, isn’t it?”

Solo groaned and turned to meet eyes with Lotto, his gaze filled with pure animosity.

No matter how much I get tortured, I will never give in to you.

A resolve as strong as that was conveyed in the young boy's eyes. Seeing that, Lotto suddenly loosened his grip.

"Cough...cough..."

“—Juuuust kidding. Ah–ha, did you think I was gonna kill you just now? It's alright, don’t worry about it. I have zero intent to do something like killing you. Well, I don't know about those other guys, though♪"

Lotto appeared to lose interest and waved his hand away in boredom.

“Damnit…why won't you just leave me alone!”

“Mm~ Could it be that you haven’t noticed? The reason why you’re being targeted, and all.”

"...Huh?"

Lotto jingled the bracelet on his right wrist.

"Want me to tell you? Otherwise you’d never know, you poor thing.”

Without waiting for Solo's answer, Lotto started talking on his own.

"After Mom disappeared, the higher-ups were scared that the fate of our species would be jeopardized, so they started all sorts of experiments. We’re using the “legacy” of Ahav, our former leader. One of those experiments used Mom’s and your cells.”

“My own…cells…”

Memories of the "experiments" he underwent as a child resurfaced in Solo’s mind. The days when he lived at the mercy of the researchers.

“They tried crossbreeding with the superior Paragons, and then with you and Mom… Aah, but it was all a total failure though, y’know? So what they ultimately ended up with were…a bunch of people like me and Void.”

"Wha… So then Mom is...!"

"Congraaaats, wittle Sowo~! You've been blessed with a 'family’!"

Lotto suddenly crouched down and whispered in Solo's ear.

“I’ve always wanted to meet you…‘Dad’.”

His awful, cold voice violated his ear. Solo suddenly realized that his body had been drenched in sweat without noticing it, with his nerves seized.

“It's funny, isn't it? Because I’m clearly the actual ma—ture a—dult here♪”

Lotto's blank expression suddenly changed to his usual cheerful smile.

“You’re being targeted because you probably have the same reproductive capabilities as Mom. So some people are really desperate, they’re jealous of how special you are, and wanna kill you. You can't run away anywhere. Yup, that’s fate♪"

"...Stop fucking around with me! What do you mean ‘fate’?! I have no idea who those people even are!”

“Hehe, I like that idea~! It’s getting me all excited♪ That’s my dad for ya!”

While whistling, Lotto took out what appeared to be some kind of medicine from his pocket.

"I'd love to talk to you about all sorts of stuff, but it's almost time for bed♪"

"Guh, sto—”

"See ya later, Dad."

Despite his futile resistance, Solo was injected with the drug—and while his mind was hazy, his eyes fell on the shining bracelet on Lotto's wrist. It was remarkably similar to one that he’d seen depicted in portraits of his mother Bathsheba before.

"Subject SS-012... No reproductive capabilities, and the developmental maturity functions…are low.”

“...Another failure, huh. Despite crossbreeding the embryos from our most superior soldiers, none of them have been useful.”

"What do you mean? There’s plenty of ways to get use out of them. Just consider them to be additional doll bodies."

"Hmm, I hope they can ‘endure’ for a little while.”

Those guys spat out things like that so calmly in front of us as we laid on the examination table. Of course, we didn’t have something like the right to refuse. We didn’t have the right to speak, so it only made sense.

"You're going to be a solid contribution to our future, right?"

Screams, sobs, voices that couldn’t even make a sound. As they looked at our faces stained with despair, they checked the "potential" of our bodies with detachment.

"Number 12 is very interesting. It shows a reaction to pain that isn’t like any of the others. Where does this smile, like it believes in God, come from? How much longer will it be until it starts to show a response?”

Those were words I’d hear vomited at me all the time by the guy who’d thoroughly play around with my body. According to them, they and I appeared to have “good chemistry.” My face, which continued to smile as I endured any pain, was the perfect research subject for them—and satisfied both their body’s and mind’s appetites.

My brothers, who were branded as failed creations, couldn’t bear living through that endless hell. Some of them even attempted to "retire.” But we weren’t even allowed such a small act of rebellion. Our bodies refused to die of suicide, and we were forced to continue living until the limits of our flesh were reached.

…Even so, I didn’t want to die while letting them do whatever they wanted to me.

There was a reason why I was able to withstand daily experimentation. That being—the memory of Mom that had remained in my head ever since I was born. In my memories, Mom was always crying. That’s why I wanted to make Mom feel better.

Mom, cheer up? If I try my best, will you stop crying?

Every time my body was struck with pain, I kept thinking like that.

My subject number, and my memories of Mom. That was all I had, and what was important to me.

One day, I just so happened to overhear those guys’ conversation after I had passed that day’s examination.

“Did you hear? Solo’s research lab was supposedly raided.”

“Wha— then what happened to him?!”

“It seems like…someone abducted him, and now his whereabouts are unknown.”

“This is a serious problem. If we don’t receive any more specimens, our supply to leadership will completely stagnate!”

“If we can’t get any new subjects, then we’ll have no choice but to finish this failed experiment and hand our results over to leadership…”

That’s when I understood. Me and my brothers were all based off of a person called “Solo.”

Immediately after that, our examination transitioned to its final stage. We thought we were going to be taken to the lab like usual, but we were given guns and gathered together in a vast ruin. A researcher’s voice echoed out from somewhere.

“We will now conduct the final examination. Those who pass will be able to leave here and contribute to the Paragons’ future with honor.”

We’d finally be liberated from our daily hell… Some of us couldn't help but cry tears of joy. But that hope was shattered in an instant by their words.

"Then, let's commence the examination."

"Um...wait! Where's the target...?"

“There, right before your eyes.”

The targets were my brethren who had survived up to that point. None of us could accept the reality of the completely merciless instructions we were given.

“Now kill. Prove your superiority.”

A sort of “bond” had begun to form between everyone that had survived up until then. They knew that, and provoked us. We were nothing more than toys to them until our final moments. Just when I was reminded of that, an abrupt gunshot suddenly rang out. The sound of something falling. Shrieks and scornful laughter. The pungent smell of iron assaulted my nose. The ruin turned into a gruesome battlefield in the blink of an eye.

I didn’t want to fight, so I tried to run away at first. But my brethren mercilessly shot at me. A burning pain ran through my stomach. Blood started to profusely gush out of me.

—It hurts.

Normally, that type of pain would have never been an issue. But that day was different. The hope for life that I clung to for even a moment dragged me down into the fear of death.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!

Someone climbed on top of me as I writhed in pain on the ground.

"I have to kill him... I have to kill him!"

A man with the same face as mine. His body trembled with fear, and his gun shook in tandem. Death was right in front of me. If that gaping black hole fired directly into me, would I…have been liberated from a life where I wasn’t even allowed to die? If that was true…then wasn’t that a good thing? I had already given up, too…

In that extreme situation, as I was about to let go of my will to live, I heard a voice in my head.

“Kill him.”

A voice… I heard Mom’s voice.

“I’ll never forgive you for dying due to your own selfishness.”

Mom always hid her face and cried. But on that day, she shed tears as red as blood and smiled as she spoke to me.

Kill him, kill him, she said.

—Before I knew it, I had survived the final examination. I had killed both my brethren and the researchers.

“...Aha, I finally understand, Mom.”

What I needed to do.

The day I became one with Mom was the day my true life began.

After that, I was assigned to a Hardline combat squadron and spent every day doing nothing but fighting. Day after day, I continued to battle. Subsequently, after I continued to repeatedly return from the battlefield, I began to gain recognition—and was summoned by the leaders of Olympias.

"I doubted my own judgement when I saw your test subject data, but…your military records are contrary to expectations. You shall move as if you were my own hands and feet.”

Leader Void. One of the leaders who guided the Paragons. And he was raised in a different institution with the same memories of Mom planted in him just like me… He was my younger brother.

Several land vehicles were headed towards Perses from the direction of Anatolia. At the very back, a man with red hair and an eyepatch, Lotto, was gradually nodding off as drove due to the warm sunlight and gentle vibrations.

“—Hey! HEY! Are you even listening to me, Lotto?!”

However, his pleasant dozing was interrupted as a voice shouted his name and brought him back to reality. When he drowsily looked at his monitor, he saw a man loudly ranting and raving at him.

“Aah~...Void…whaddya want?”

“It’s about that shitty little brat!”

“How cruel, isn’t he our ‘father’~?”

“S-Stop that! Aaaaaahh, just thinking about it makes my hair stand on end…!”

“You can’t just saaaay that. He’s got the same blood as our beloved mama running through his veins, right? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“THAT! That’s what’s so UNCOMFORTABLE!”

Void grumbled “Mother” over and over to himself as if he were casting an incantation. His feelings of anger subsided, and a strange silence fell between the both of them. That was Void’s own way of venting his frustration. Lotto knew him for quite some time at that point. He’d immediately get irritated whenever Solo was brought up, so Lotto decided to urge him to continue the conversation when he regained his composure.

“So from what I remember, you want me to deal with them as soon as I find them. But seeeeriously, does this mission need to be made such a top priority?”

Lotto was tasked with eliminating the Machines’ military engineer squadron that had deployed in the eastern Anatolian peninsula. It was supposed to be a crucial mission to prepare for the coming war, but to his brother Void, eliminating Solo seemed to take priority above all else.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll eliminate him immediately before he jeopardizes the future of all of the Paragons.”

“...Uhuhu, this totally looks like a personal grudge, doesn’t it?”

“Did you just say something?”

“It’s nothiiiing♪”

Lotto cut off their transmission.

“...Well, I don’t plan on killing li’l Solo, though.”

He muttered that, then switched to a different communications channel and issued orders to his subordinate soldiers.

“Aah— AAH— New directive to all squad units! Cancel the current mission! We’ll now start pursuing the escaped prince! Now get ready, get readyyyy!”

Lotto’s special forces unit rushed to the nearest colony, Karaj, from their current location to secure a means of transportation. Afterwards, Lotto came into contact with Solo in the southern part of the Caspian Rift Valley, but was forced to retreat due to Mithra Tercera’s unforeseen intrusion. As Lotto was restocking supplies and equipment and was about to resume his pursuit, he received a call from a certain someone at a base he stopped at.

"Lotto, have you made any progress?"

“Oh, Cainan. I located the prince. He was traveling with a guy with a cool hairstyle, just like the information you gave me.”

“Is that so? You're pretty good at handling things. And?”

“Well, things were going according to plan, ‘till a Returnee girl interrupted us about halfway through.”

“Oh? Tell me all the details.”

Lotto briefly told him the main points of the situation.

“That Returnee is very interesting, indeed.”

“So, wanna make that kid our ‘target’?”

“Correct, having a Returnee is essential for our plans to be fully realized.”

“Roger. Anything else you want?”

“Yes, this is the main issue at hand…”

Lotto sensed a slight tone of impatience in Cainan's voice, which was unusual for him.

According to Cainan, there was a possibility that the war with the Machines could start sooner than expected. Since he dealt with intel regularly, it was certain to become a reality. He was forced to advance his plans quicker than expected for that reason.

“Weeeell, Void has probably gotten way ahead of himself. Cainan, do you happen to know where li’l Solo is now that he’s joined up with the Returnees?"

“Yes, that’s not an issue. I already have a rough idea of where they are.”

“Impressive! As expected~ But still, where’d you even get information like that?”

"Let's just say I have a trustworthy 'friend'."

"...Hmm, a friend, huh?"

Lotto was intrigued by who that “friend” was, given that even his sworn ally couldn’t reveal this person’s true identity—but trying to find out would only jeopardize his own position. For the time being, Lotto had to focus on fulfilling his duties. Anything related to uncovering the truth would have to be investigated later.

――

――――

Lotto returned to the Caspian Rift Valley again with a wheeled vehicle equipped with a long-range cannon. It was one of the weapons of mass destruction manufactured for the incoming war. The sun had completely set, and the landscape stretched before him looked as if it had been thickly painted in a single color.

"Apparently if we hang around here long enough, the Machines will show up… But come oooon, how loooong are we gonna have to wait?!”

Lotto’s squadron took up position surrounding the Caspian Rift Valley, overlooking from a distance. They were waiting in ambush for an extended amount of time, until suddenly—the moment they had been waiting for finally arrived. Suddenly, a muzzle flash that appeared to be from gunfire was visible in the desert they were monitoring. And a short while after, what had appeared in the sky was…a gigantic mobile weapon resembling a fortress, led by Machine forces.

“Now, isn’t that great? Things are getting pretty interesting!”

Lotto immediately connected to Cainan’s communications.

“—It’s me.”

“They’re here. What you wanted was~...a Returnee, right?”

“Correct. I anticipate good results.”

“Roger Roger. Alright, then let’s work for Mom’s sake too, yeah?”

Lotto leaned out of his vehicle and jingled his bracelet. With that as a signal, the soldiers waiting behind him silently began to move.

In the forbidden land that was then abandoned by mankind, the ulterior motives of the Paragons and Machines were about to intersect.

Lotto's surprise attack had deprived the Machine forces of air superiority, and the lowest-level ships were either shot down or forced to withdraw from the front lines.

“Hmph, isn’t the good feeling of completely crushing the enemy the absolute best♪ As long as they’re completely blocked off like this, then… What was that?! Isn't it a sneaky tactic to deflect our attacks?!"

What stood in front of Lotto and his crew was a large battleship called the "Viamaris." The force field surrounding the ship repelled all of Lotto and his allies’ attacks.

“I seeeee, so that’s what we needed to take them down. Artillery! Are we ready?!”

“Yes, we can shoot whenever!”

“Well then, drop it on them lickety-split!”

Immediately after, a beam of light burst out from the Caspian Rift Valley. It collided head-on with the forcefield of the Viamaris and created the momentary illusion of daybreak at the bottom of the valley. The very moment the shield broke, Lotto set fire to it at once. The forcefield generating device was destroyed as if it was nothing, and the ship crashed into the azure blue city that was laid out at the valley’s floor.

With that action, the tides of battle began to turn. The remaining Machine army units, having lost their flagship, left the city's sky and scattered. The battlefield had completely fallen into Lotto’s hands.

Next, Lotto embarked on taking control of cities that could have been obstacles to his mission. He burned down the tower that stood in the center of the city with his cannons and paralyzed the city's functions—and the waves of attacks coming from them ceased.

“Hmm hmm, now there’s no one that can get in my way♪”

All that remained was to fulfill his primary mission. He only had to retrieve the two Returnee bodies and Solo. Lotto began by heading to the crashed Viamaris, but he saw something fly out of the ship—a small fighter aircraft. Strangely enough, the ship did not withdraw from the city, but for some reason instead headed straight to the center of the city—

Lotto’s eye narrowed into a crescent shape, and he chuckled to himself.

“Aah, aren’t I so lucky today♪”

Lotto connected to his artillery crew and ordered them to fire at the designated point. Although the beam that was fired was slightly off from the designated target, the aftershocks from the impact engulfed the Machines’ ships regardless.

“Mm-hmm, you can’t be too careful, can ya♪”

As the city was ravaged by burning flames, Lotto's ship reached the center of the city. Landing on a place with a poor foundation was too difficult, so Lotto instead dangled a rope and started his descent downwards. The underground part of the city, burned down by his cannons, was in a pitiful state.

"Ah–ha, I blew them away pretty spectacularly~ Are any Returnees still alive?"

As the soldiers that descended after Lotto began their search, his squad suddenly heard a noise near him. As they looked closer, they saw a Machine lying under the rubble. It was Isaac, the Machine commander they had spotted during their monitoring in the desert. The steel giant was heavily damaged, with two of his four arms torn off midway. His joints were shrieking like screams with every movement, sparks flying in every direction. He was crouching, as if to protect something.

"Ggh... Gah..."

“Huuuuh, you can still survive even after getting all beaten up like that? Now isn’t that amazing!”

“You…ba…stard… You…did this…”

“Eeeexactlyyyy♪ You never considered even a little that you'd lose, did you? It's your fault for showing an opening, y’know?”

“This sacred battle…this war…you’ve defiled it, you scoundrel!!”

Isaac stood up and slashed away at the debris around him with a shout of fury. At his feet was the unconscious and motionless figure of a Returnee girl—Nia.

“Risking your life to protect her, just like a knight in shining armor? I thought you were a boomer before, but now I totally think you are♪"

“...Your mouth spouts nothing but nonsense. Your actions have strayed from the path of righteousness! You deserve nothing but death a thousand times over!”

Isaac’s body trembled in a display of power, emphasizing his enormous stature in an attempt to intimidate Lotto.

"You serious? You wanna fight?”

“Certainly! As long as my body can move…I’ll swing the iron hammer of judgement down upon you, you bastard—”

"Yeah yeah, that’s enough! Everyoooone, prepare for battleeee!"

Lotto struck his bracelet, and his scattered soldiers then gathered around the both of them. With a single cue from Lotto, Isaac could instantly turn into a lump of iron.

“After a surprise attack, you then gang up on us to torment us? You can’t do anything unless you’re grouped together like a swarm, you scum! All of you are a disgrace to the art of battle…!”

Isaac came closer, step by step. However, despite Isaac being nearly twice as large as him in physical size, Lotto’s nonchalant demeanor did not change whatsoever. He did not waver. Not only that, his smile widened even further, as if he were enjoying himself in this situation.

"Hehe, I'm getting all hot and bothered all on my own..."

With both arms outstretched, Lotto strode leisurely towards Isaac, walking up right in front of him.

“Alright, let the game begin♪”

The roar from the iron knight shook the battlefield. The hammer of judgement had swung down to strike the fools that defiled the art of war.

Isaac was the first one to make a move. He raised his steel arm, flexed it like a whip, and swung it down towards Lotto's head. However, avoiding attacks with a clear trajectory was easy for him.

“Hah, you’re so obvious!”

Without ever drawing his gun, Lotto tucked both of his hands in his coat pockets and nimbly dodged Isaac’s attacks—as if he were dancing around him.

“How arrogant!”

Isaac's arms brushed past Lotto's head. If he were hit, not even the enhanced body of a Paragon would be able to withstand a single blow. But even if Lotto could sense the potential of imminent death, he didn't feel the slightest bit of fear. Innocently, joyfully, Lotto simply continued to laugh and dance. The battle was one-sided from the very beginning, and all that transpired was Isaac's body continuing to creak as time passed by in vain.

"Oh, is it over already?"

"You scoundrel... You possess enough strength, so why do you refuse to fight me properly!"

“Because bullying the weak is so much fun. Y’know? Seeing you struggle to hit me makes my heart race♪”

“There’s no point in arguing anymore…!”

Isaac charged forward with a roar.

"I could’ve played for even longer, but…soooorry, I’m getting bored.”

Lotto raised his right hand up to neck-height and waved it in a sharp swing to simulate a beheading. Immediately afterwards, Isaac was hit by a barrage by gunfire from multiple directions...and never moved again.

“If you’d been in perfect condition, I think you could’ve easily killed me…but hey, this is war, after all♪"

Lotto nodded in satisfaction and ordered his soldiers to retrieve the girl Isaac was protecting. Just as the soldiers were preparing to transfer Nia’s body to the ship, a fighter ship cut through the thick black smoke and flew off overhead. Lotto immediately determined that the ship was carrying Solo and contacted the ships that were waiting in the air, instructing them to attack. But the very next moment, two shadowy silhouettes plummeted towards the ground.

“Oh? Ooooh? Now isn’t it my lucky day♪"

Was it a blessing in disguise?

It turned out to be one of the targets Lotto was searching for: Solo Monia.

The glow of the morning’s sunrise faintly illuminated the bottom of the Caspian Rift Valley. A high-speed object cut through billowing smoke that rose against the light. It was a crimson red battleship operated by a Hardline special forces unit; one that belonged to Lotto, alongside his squadron, who had just finished a mission in New Nemea.

"~~♪"

A cheerful whistle echoed through the ship.

“...You’re in an awfully good mood, Lotto.”

“Aha, well it’s not like it’s weird or anything, right? I’m always like this.”

Reclined in his captain’s chair with his legs stretched over the computer’s console, the man named Lotto Twelve spoke to whomever was on the monitor.

“In that case, the fruits of your labor were bountiful, it seems?”

The man displayed on the other side of the monitor, Cainan, had his brows furrowed and eyed Lotto with suspicion.

“Of course. With all my extra effort I think I performed beyoooond expectations♪”

“Quit flaunting your ego and show me the results.”

“So impatient. Alrighty then. Take a good look at these results.”

Declaring that, Lotto got out of his chair and turned to look behind it.

"Ta-daaaah!"

There, the unconscious bodies of a man and a woman were laid haphazardly on the floor.

“Do these two match the ones you requested?”

“I’d like to say this is superb work, but what about the other person?”

“That one slipped right through my fingers. Buuuut, in its place, I think this is the kinda thing Cainan would want so badly that he wouldn’t be able to stand it♪”

Lotto held up something so that it would be visible on camera. It was about twice the size of Lotto’s own head—

“...!”

He could feel the atmosphere change through the monitor. Pleased with the obvious change in Cainan’s demeanor, Lotto whistled and grinned ostentatiously.

"Hmm hmm. If I’m not mistaken, my surprise was a total success?"

"...Alright then, let's meet up later."

“Haa, how cold~ Roger, Roger. Well, see ya lateeeeer.”

After confirming their rendezvous point on the monitor, Lotto cut off the call and whistled in satisfaction. Suddenly, he heard a weak groan from behind him.

"Oh, speak of the devil♪"

“...Where…am I…?”

Solo Monia woke up from a deep slumber on the cold iron floor.

“I think, I…”

“Good mornii~iing, wittle Sowo! Did you sleep well~?”

――

――――

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Immediately after they escaped the dock, Mithra, Zephyr, and Joachim ended up engaging in combat with Lotto's squadron. The three managed to shoot down the enemy ship, but in turn, were forced to flee the scene. They returned to retrieve Solo, but it was already too late. All that remained was the wreckage of two Machines.

“I never woulda thought the Machines’ commander could be defeated like this…”

Joachim paid his respects to the commander of the Machines—someone who was fighting over Solo. Strangely enough, the only missing part of Isaac’s remains was his head. The exposed cross-section of his neck looked as if it had been sliced off with a blade.

"Nia..."

“You doing alright, little lady? The commander here must’ve fought to protect your friend. Seems like she was kidnapped by those guys from earlier.”

“...Yeah. I’m— I’m going after them!”

“Oh–ho, you're as quick to bounce back as ever, young lady. That's an example that we should all follow…Zephyr and I included."

Zephyr quietly cried in front of Joachim. The two of them stood in front of the remains of Mika, the ruler of New Nemea. Although they ended up fighting, Mika’s desire to protect the people living in her city was something that resonated with Zephyr.

“I'm so sorry…I've completely ruined your precious city…”

Although they were dragged into the battle by accident, when they looked at the results, it was an utter, crushing defeat. How could they rescue Solo and Nia when they didn't even know which direction the enemy had flown in? They had to decide on their next course of action, but finding them in the vast landscape would be impossible. 

“Well then… What do we do next…”

As Joachim grumbled to himself, he noticed Mithra walking unsteadily in his peripheral vision, who seemingly followed something. She appeared to be listening carefully to any sounds coming from the sky.

“Hm? Hey girlie, what are you—”

"Wait. I just heard something!"

Mithra responded with a curt “over there” without waiting for a reply, and ran out of the dock. Joachim followed her in a panic, and where he followed, he saw a heavily damaged combat ship that had just landed. It looked just like the ship Mithra was on—

“No way…are those survivors from the commander’s squad?!”

The rear hatch opened. Two men emerged from inside.

“Um…who are you?”

“Hmm~ Did I maybe make a mistake…?”

Lotto had started to regret his decision.

In order to prioritize Cainan's mission, they sent the heavily damaged combat ships back to their base, leaving them thinly defended and vulnerable to attacks. The pursuers were two other combat ships that followed far behind—both Machine ships that had avoided being shot down at New Nemea. That alone was not a problem that required special attention, their current forces were more than capable of handling that situation. However, there was a specific person aboard one of the ships that was causing Lotto a lot of trouble.

“How can that kid shoot in those kinda circumstances?!”

His monitor showed a combat ship—with a girl that stood on top of it.

"Zephyr! A little to the right!"

"Got it!"

That girl, Mithra, was anchored to the hull of the ship. She stooped low and drew the string of her bow. Behind her eyepatch, which was linked to the latest type of phonetic weapon, Mitron, her shining blue eye aimed perfectly at Lotto's red ship. Then, arrows of light fired, flew close to the ship’s hull, and “precisely” grazed her target.

"You’re doing great! We’re getting closer!"

“Aaaalright, one last shot!”

"Geez! I thought I was getting used to it, but you’re still surprising me with some crazy stuff, girlie…!"

“Ahaha, really? But even you can do anything if you put your mind to it, right, Joachim?”

“I can’t do acrobatics like THAT!”

Joachim turned and spoke in the direction of the fighter ship flying right behind them.

"Hey, what do you guys over there think?"

“...No, her behavior is definitely far beyond comprehension.”

The ship was piloted by two Returnees they had encountered in New Nemea—Anshar and Marduk. The two of them were the sole survivors of Isaac’s squadron. Both groups had temporarily formed an alliance to rescue the kidnapped girl, Nia.

“Yo bro, you think I could do that too?”

“For your own good, don’t even think about it.”

Anshar and Marduk were also taken aback by Mithra’s eccentric behavior back when they first met. While listening to their conversation through their communication devices, Mithra promptly detected movement from the ship ahead of them.

"Zephyr! That ship over there is moving!”

Just as Mithra had pointed out, two of the four ships that flew far ahead of them turned around in an arc and were headed in their direction. The ships launched attacks that targeted the gaps between them in an attempt to disrupt Zephyr’s progress. Zephyr immediately steered the ship upwards to protect Mithra from harm.

"Thanks, Zephyr!"

"Be careful! Don’t get thrown off!”

And then, as the enemy ship passed straight below and tried to take a vertical turn to get behind them, she aimed and fired an arrow. The arrow shot straight through the ship's thruster—and it proceeded to plummet to the ground.

“Good job, girlie!”

"Let’s get the next one!”

“No, we’ll take care of that one. The two of them are definitely on the last ship. You guys go rescue Nia.”

“Roger that, please be careful.”

"Mithra! I’m trusting you with Nia!"

"Yeah!"

Lotto’s squadron was reduced to just two ships. The distance between them was rapidly closing.

“—That kid’s completely insane! I seriously can not deal with an opponent that genuinely stupid! Absolutely not!”

As he witnessed Mithra's extraordinary resilience before him, Lotto arched his body backwards and contorted his face in agony.

"...Ca— Captain Lotto is really upset..."

"I've never seen him like this before..."

“To see my amazing squad get totally destroyed ‘cause of one guy without a brain… Aaah~ whatever! I’ve made up my mind!”

Lotto sent out instructions to his entire crew to execute his only plan.

"We'll use this ship...as a decoy!"

As Mithra continued to fire warning shots, she suddenly sensed abnormal movements from the enemy ship.

"Huh? The ship's speed is…slowing down?"

The leading ship slowed its velocity. Immediately after the ship flew above them, the rear hatch unexpectedly flew open. From within appeared a man with red hair and an eyepatch, Lotto, with his subordinates—and Nia, who was asleep in Lotto’s arms.

"Nia!"

Lotto cheerfully waved at Mithra as if he were greeting a friend, and abruptly jumped onto an airship that was flying directly below them. Immediately after, Zephyr’s voice rang into Mithra’s ears.

“Mithra! Solo, he…he’s on that ship!”

The video sent over their closed-circuit communications showed Solo bound to a chair, completely helpless and unable to move.

“Tch, that eyepatch guy… Is he planning on using him as bait so he can escape?!”

“So, that ship is going to fall…?”

Mithra's prediction became a reality as Lotto's voice echoed around them.

“Aah— AAH— You guys are incredible! I’m so deeply moved♪ So as a token of my appreciation, I'll give li’l Solo back to you. But if you don't hurry up and rescue him, you might meet wittle Sowo face to face only after he turns into mincemeat from crashing into the ground♪"

As he said that, the then pilotless ship steadily descended in altitude.

"Well then, have a nice flight. Bye~byeeee!"

The deep crimson ship that carried Lotto and his crew left the airspace.

Abandon Solo, or defeat Lotto and rescue Nia? There was no time to hesitate. The choice that Mithra and the group made was—

"Captain Lotto, it seems like we’ve shaken off our pursuers."

"Phew… Those guys were totally crazy, weren’t they… Even my confident self got the shivers.”

Lotto's desperate plan to use Solo as a decoy worked, and he was able to completely shake off those chasing him. Just to be sure, he checked the radar, and saw nothing on its display. Lotto then turned to the cargo behind him to ask a question.

"Hey princess, do all Returnees have weapons as insane as the one that eyepatch kid used?"

“...”

The Returnee girl, Nia, simply glared back at him without answering.

“Oooh, sca~ry! Come on, shouldn’t you react a little more like, ‘EEK, PLEASE HELP MEEEE!’, or something like that?”

"You captured me... What do you intend to do with me?"

“You finally speak, and that’s it? Well, whatever. Don't be so stuck-up, let's get along better. I’m not gonna do anything particularly bad to you. Oh right, want something warm to drink?"

"I refuse to accept charity from my enemy!"

Lotto persistently beamed a cheerful smile, but Nia's expression stubbornly refused to change. Her indomitable spirit was as impregnable as a fortress. Lotto’s eye widened in bewilderment at her behavior, and started to stifle a chuckle.

"...What's so funny?"

“Ah~ How should I put it… It just makes sense that the princess is soooo stubborn, since she is that old boomer’s lackey♪"

“...! What does someone like you know about Lord Isaac?! You and your atrocities will absolutely be avenged by Lord Isaa—”

"Aha, ahahahaha! You guys are so hilarious! It’s the absolute best! You’re totally brainwashed, aren't you!!”

Nia’s shouting was drowned out by the echoing of Lotto’s roars of laughter.

“You Paragons repeatedly defile corpses for your own atrocities, don’t act like you have room to speak!”

“Ooooh, you’re weally hurting my feewings~”

"Laugh while you still can! If Lord Isaac was here, he wouldn't give any of you mercy!”

“‘Isaac’ this, ‘Isaac’ that. If you wanna see him so badly, how about I bring him in right now?”

Saying that, Lotto then began to rummage around in his captain’s seat, fishing for something in particular.

“Huh? What are you…”

—Thud.

Before she could finish speaking, something massive fell before her eyes. The thing that made such a heavy, high pitched sound was—

“Ah…aaah…!”

—The head of Nia’s commander, Isaac.

“Look, we met♪"

“...You— You BASTAAAAAAAAAARD!!!!”

Ignoring the fact that her hands and feet were restrained, Nia struggled to bite the man’s legs as he attempted to suppress his laughter. The woman, who had been pretending to be apathetic to everything happening, finally showed her true emotions for the first time—as if she were declaring that she wanted to kill him right then and there.

“Hmm hmm, that angry feeling is very good! The Returnees are not so different from us, are they?"

“I WON’T be lumped together with fucking SCUM like YOUUUU!!”

In contrast to Nia’s wrathful screaming, Lotto’s expression remained calm as he seemingly enjoyed all of her raw emotions being exposed in front of him.

“Alrighty princess, I want you to show me aaaall sorts of expressions like that~♪"

"Um...Captain Lotto, we're going to be at our target destination any minute now…”

"Huh, already? I guess it’s unavoidable. Can you be quiet for a little bit, princess?”

“Damnit! If you want to kill me, just kill me now!”

His soldiers attempted to restrain Nia, but she continued to violently struggle with all of her might, refusing to give in.

“Hey princess, don’t you have the wrong idea? We weren’t intending on taking your life or anything like that—”

“How am I supposed to believe anything you say?! No matter how much pain or humiliation I may endure, I’ll never bend my will to that of the Paragons!"

“Hmm…if you insist…”

Lotto suddenly squatted in front of Nia, and spoke with a smile.

“Then, I won’t hold back♪”

“Huh—”

He placed his hand around Nia’s neck as she was dazed. The force of his grip was enough to stop her from being able to breathe, and her mind suddenly went blank.

“Nn…ghh…”

Due to Lotto’s unexpected action, Nia started to go in and out of consciousness, and her vision flickered. Since she was restrained, the more she struggled, the more his weight shifted to relentlessly press down on her neck.

“—Gu—h, aa—”

Her unfocused gaze somehow managed to focus on the man who literally held the fate of her life in his hand. Although it was hard to see his expression clearly due to him being backlit, she could tell that his eye was arched upwards as he watched her suffer. Even as he inflicted pain upon her, Lotto never once averted his gaze. His appearance resembled that of a predator carefully observing its prey.

“—Khhf…khaaah— Ghh—?!”

Just before Nia was about to faint, Lotto loosened his grip—and the moment she felt relief, he tightened his grip once more to continue inflicting pain. Even if the seemingly endless torture only lasted a few seconds in reality, her perception of time was warped to make it feel like several minutes, or even hours, had passed.

"~~♪"

Lotto's whistle combined in-sync with Nia's moans of pain etched fear into her mind. The moment a faint trace of fear appeared on Nia’s face, she was freed from his grip. Lotto spoke to Nia with his smile that refused to ever cease.

"Good job, good job♪ You really did great. I guess that’s to be expected of a soldier, huh?”

“...I, I can handle this much at my rank…!”

"Alrighty, next up! Have you ever heard of this kinda torture, princess? The one where they pull out your teeth one-by-one♪"

“Huh…?”

In stark contrast to how he talked earlier, Lotto began to speak deliberately slowly so that Nia could digest the meaning of his words and fully understand their implications. He turned Nia over to lay on her back and straddled her with his entire weight.

“The first time they did this to me too, it seriously hurt.”

He took out a small knife from a pocket inside his coat.

“Those guys never gave me permission to cry or scream no matter what, y’know~”

He slowly and skillfully sharpened his blade.

“And even then? After they were done with me, they’d never even bother to look at me!”

He gently traced the teeth peeking out from Nia's half-parted lips.

“But don’t worry about all that. I’ll give you my full attention until the very end. Well, should we start with your front teeth?♪"

She felt the knife's tip start to graze between her incisor and gums. At that moment, Nia saw it: a profoundly dark emotion in his eye that swirled around like a murky lump of sludge. That was the final blow.

“Sto…o… A— Aaah…”

"Mm~? You say something?"

The fear Nia had been desperately holding back had instantly spread through her entire body, and her own thoughts were overtaken by a terror that she could no longer control.

“P-Please…st, stop… No mo— please, I can’t…take it, anymore—”

After he noticed that Nia’s body went limp, Lotto quickly withdrew his knife. And then, he tenderly patted the top of her head.

“Hehe, I see. You’re ‘normal,’ aren’t you?”

“Aah…ghh… Khh—”

She succumbed to the first time she’d ever felt true terror. Nia continued to weep as all of her emotions blended together. She was completely powerless, not even able to avenge Isaac’s death.

“Ah— …I’m sorry? I didn’t mean to hurt the princess or anything like that, it was just…subconscious♪"

Lotto’s innocent smile showed not even the slightest bit of cruelty he displayed a short while ago. In addition, as if to say he’d lost interest in Nia, he muttered, “well, you can behave like a good girl now, right,” and returned to his seat.

“Well, now that it’s quiet, let’s get going! To the city where Mom sleeps♪"

His ship would soon approach the defense network spread out by the Machines. The destination was a far-off ruined capital, completely detached from the war. Towards Samarakanda—the resting place of a dead saint.

• Episode 6: the beginning passage before the break is a carbon copy of parts of episode 1. This is intentional, and is the same as the Japanese version. 

• Lotto uses the word “boomer” in a few places to refer to Isaac. This is a localization choice from “ロートル,” which is an outdated “dead word” basically meaning “useless and obsolete old person.” Other places had him say things that meant something akin to “old person that can’t keep up with the times.”

When originally contemplating slang usage, the consideration of it being time-gated and the potential for it to not make sense in-universe was a factor…but Lotto also says “YOLO” later, which absolutely no English speakers have said since 2013. Having him use slang that encapsulates a short time period to later be horrendously outdated makes sense here. It’s also funny as fuck