Main Story|VS 7-8
VS-7 "
The illusion of an even match shatters, and with its destruction Hikari's hope finally begins to waver. "战斗势均力敌"——这样的美梦破灭了。与此一同瓦解的,还有光那终于开始动摇的希望。
Without warning, Hikari's storm flies to Tairitsu's side, cloaking the other girl in darkness and light. 原本由光指引的风暴,毫无任何先兆地朝着对立的侧面刮去。阴影与光芒交错,层叠掩埋起那女孩的身姿。 As they surround her, her eyes shut for a moment—and when they open again, those countless memories unfurl behind her as six gargantuan wings. 就此碎片缠绕身体之际,她的双眼忽地紧紧闭上——而就在片刻后,当双目再次睁开之际,那无数错杂的回忆,在她的背后形成了六只巨大的羽翼。 Now hanging in the sky in blatant defiance of nature, she lays her sharpened eyes on Hikari. 届时,她浑身散发着对整个自然界的公然蔑视,浮于上空,将尖锐的视线刺入光的瞳孔。 A simple look reveals to Hikari that the path to victory has been nearly closed. 单单一个眼神便足以让光心知肚明,她基本已经失去了所有胜算。 She had thought the girl a beast before, and now she sees her as what she is: above, and nigh impossible. 光曾经错以为面前那女孩是一头野兽;此刻,自己终于认清了那女孩的身份:高高在上,绝对无法触及的存在。 Glass rises up behind her like a gigantic sheet: a skylight, shimmering and clear. 玻璃碎片在对立的背后升起,这场面好似一张巨型的帘幕:一扇清晰的,宏光闪烁的天窗。 Below, Hikari has little to nothing to fight what will come. 位于下方的光,几乎没有任何东西可以用来抗衡即将到来的一切。 At least, that's how it feels, but... 至少,这就是她的第一感觉。但是…… No... The girl in black does not have everything. This can be survived. It can! 不……那纯黑的少女还未拥有一切。她可以在这里活下来。必定可以! Hikari takes up twenty memories as the window to the heavens breaks. 那扇通往天国的窗户碎裂之际,光从中取下了二十枚记忆。 At first, only a handful of shards hurtle down at her, but they do so rather... slowly. 最初,只有寥寥几枚碎片朝着她飞驰而去。可是,它们却显得极为……迂缓。 It disarms her. She starts to think, "this is possible." 这让她卸下了重担。她开始在心中默念:"可能性必然存在。" As though the elaborate display a moment ago was only that: a display. 就好像顷刻前目睹的那一幕仅仅是这种事情:一场表演。 As before, Hikari shields herself, quickly blocking the falling glass with unshakable focus, 如同彼时一样,光将自己稳固地防御起来,潜心贯注地抵挡着坠落而下的碎玻璃。 her eyes darting this way and that to keep measure of the flitting, brilliant crowd. 她的目光不断左右横扫,时不时地确认着那群光芒万丈的碎片正处于什么方位。 It makes her confident—she misses nothing. 这让她拾回了充足的信心——她没有遗失任何事物。 She allows herself a smile. 她默许一丝笑容出现在自己的脸上。 At the least, she'll be able to run from this. 就算迎来最坏的局势,至少她可以从这里顺利逃走。 At the least, this won't be the end. 至少这并不会是属于自己的终点。
A single piece then flies to the middle of her chest, 于是,一片玻璃飞向了自己的胸口正中央。 its delivery interpretable only as a message. 它的到来,只能被理解为试图向自己传递一则信息。 It had flown faster than any other piece of Arcaea she'd ever seen. 它的飞行速度,比她曾见到的任何Arcaea都要快上数倍。 The girl above speaks to her through this glass shard: "Enough games." 正位于上方的另一名女孩,通过这片玻璃碎片,向她说道:"玩够了。" "And enough wasting time. Give up—and die." "也不要浪费我的时间了。早点投降——然后死。"
The shard cuts through her dress, and Hikari looks into Tairitsu's eyes. 那枚玻璃碎片从她的裙边穿透而过。而光,则望向了对立的双眼。 The girl in black is smiling now, all the sadness and anger gone from her face. 那身着黑衣的女孩,此刻正微微笑着。她的脸上,再也见不到一丝忧愤的阴云。 And it's the most frightful thing she's ever witnessed in her life and in her memories. 但那却是她毕生的记忆中,最恐怖的事物。 The shard falls out without having reached her skin. 那一枚碎片并未接触到光的身体,而是摔落在地面上。 The broken pane whirls into a side-winding tornado. 毁坏的天窗开始旋转起来,逐渐形成一柱倾斜的龙卷。 Its mouth barrels down onto her, slicing fabric and skin, but otherwise simply passes by. 它的血盆大口正准备将她的身体吞噬,割裂了布料与皮肤,但只做到这一步为止,便飞离她的肉体。 In this is one more message: before the end, the girl in black wants her enemy to know where this began. 这场面,显然阐释着另一则信息:在迎来结局之前,那纯黑的少女想要自己的敌人清楚一切从何而始。 Fear overwhelms her. In this riptide of glass, rushing and cutting past her in powerful amounts, turning up and swirling as if pulled by a great wind, she is made absolutely afraid. 恐惧席卷了她的每个细胞。玻璃组成的激流,以庞大的数量呼啸、切割着她的身体,就像被劲风牵扯般转动着身躯。她陷入了极度害怕的状态。 So petrified, she stands fast and watches. 好似一尊石像,她只是呆呆地站在原地,注视着一切。 She stands, watching memories of a filthy world. 她伫立在原地,注视着属于一个污秽世界的回忆。 Memories of pain, betrayal, envy. 刻画着痛苦、背叛、嫉妒的回忆。 Death, suffering, and decay. 殒命、暴虐、凋零。 Dark. They are only dark. Wherever it is these shards reflect... she sees little light there. 黑暗。只是纯粹的黑暗。不论这些碎片究竟反射了何处的风景……她从中都近乎见不到一丝光芒。 Whatever small sparks she sees fade away in an instant. 不论是多么渺小的火花,都会在转瞬间消逝。 This is what the other girl described to her. 那女孩,也曾将这一画面这样描述给自己。 The vile reflections of places gone that had been tormenting her since her awakening— 从苏醒以来,便一直蹂躏着她。那些污秽至极的倒影—— she would now use them to torment another. 此刻,她将用相同的事物去蹂躏另一个人。 Glass hooks under Hikari's sleeves and stabs into her skirt. 玻璃碎片将光的衣袖从里侧勾起,刺入她的长裙。 They drag her upward, up into a domain where she can no longer stand. 它们将她拉至上方——直到自己再也无法倚靠双足站立。 Tears fill her eyes as an emotion fills her heart: the emotion that comes when recognizing imminent death. 就像泪水已经盈眶般,那一股情感也满溢着自己的内心:在人们意识到自己即将死去时,便会来临的情感。 This is not fear. 这并不是畏惧。 "Terror" is too little to describe it. "恐怖"这种词,毫无用以形容的权利。 Desperation? Hope? 心灰意冷?满怀希望? An awful, arresting feeling. 那种令她感到恐惧的,将自己拘束的感觉。 Her own memories run through her head. 届时涌入她脑中的,是属于她本人的回忆。 It's as if she's searching for one that will stand out— 就好像她在试图寻找其中的某一段;一段显得出众的回忆—— one that will inform her that she's come across something like this in the past, 一段能够告知她,自己曾在过去遭遇过类似的噩运,并且成功将其克服——如此的回忆。 and this is how to escape. 从中,她能学到该怎样逃走。 But nothing comes. 并不存在。
The black storm rages over torso, cutting with little mercy. 黑色的风暴狂吼着侵袭着自己的躯体——不带一丝怜悯地切割着她。 Pure torturous intent, coming closer and closer, 残虐,如此单纯的意图。不断地接近、接近…… as if the intent alone would inflict a fatal wound upon her flesh... 好似这意愿本身,就足以在她身上留下致命伤痕。 It is unbelievable. 不可置信。 The situation is so far beyond anything she's ever borne witness to, 这样的场面,早已超脱了她从诞生至今所亲眼见证的任何事物; whether in her own memories of those of others. 自己亲身经历的,抑或是属于其他人的。 This disgusting blend of facing the unknown, yet knowing precisely what awaits her on the other side... 混杂着这种令人厌恶的,面对未知事物时才会出现的感觉,但又对静候着自己的事物心知肚明…… Horror. 惊骇。 Not fear. 并不是畏惧。 Horrific understanding. 这般惊骇的领悟。 There is no control over glass for her here. 这里不存在任何受她指挥的玻璃碎片。 Something, anything—an anomaly—a miracle. 随便什么,不管什么都好——异象——奇迹。 If something like that appeared, she could make it out. 随便哪件事情发生了,都会是她的救命稻草。 She could step away. 她就能趁机逃逸。 She could live. 她就能活下去。 If there was ever a time, it is now, and here. 若这般展开必然发生;此刻、此处,便是最佳时机。
The ground below bursts, as if the world itself is rising up to join the hunt. 下方的大地开始崩裂,看着就像世界本身也想要加入这场猎杀。 It is now. 正是此刻。 Now! A shard will come to save her! 此刻!会有一枚碎片前来拯救她! She prays with all her being for the will of the world to fly to her side and spare her! 她真诚地祈祷着——全心全意地祷告,祈求世界的意愿,为帮助她而站到自己的身旁! For some mechanism of fate, for the wheel of fortune itself, to produce a "god" that will grant her victorious power! 命运女神也好,幸运之轮也罢,无论是谁——纵然是捏造出一位"神明",赐予她足以创造胜利的力量! Beg for it. Hope for it. 哀求着。期望着。 Hold that piece which once brought you salvation close to your bleeding chest once again. 紧紧握住那片曾经将你救赎的存在,再度贴在你那染血的胸前。 That symbol of rescue, of redemption... 拯救的象征。象征着灵魂的赎身…… It will surely—! 它将必然——! ---- Another shard pierces her body, a hateful stake driving at her heart. 又一片碎片穿透了她的身体,将那憎恶的火桩捅入了她的心脏。 It does not reach through, does not strike the heart itself. But its message—a final message—does. 尽管它并未直接伤及她的心脏。但它所怀揣的讯息——那终末的讯息——已经做到了。 One last message from the girl tormenting her: a simple, merciless message. 从那残虐着她的女孩那里传来的,临终的讯息:简略,冷血。 "No." "不。"
The almost lethal blade in Hikari's breast holds the memory of a vast and all-consuming fire. 那闯入光的心脏,几乎将她置于死地的利刃,届时只向她呈现出这般回忆——熊熊燃烧,吞噬一切的烈火。 So close to death, her heart thumps, reminding her she's alive. 触手可及的死亡。她的心脏猛地悸动了一下,让她意识到自己仍然活着。 Her pupils shrink to points. 她的瞳孔缩小,如同墨点。 Like that memory of flame, her body burns. 就像那映射烈火的记忆一般,她的身体仿佛被火焰灼烧。 It burns with a fluid, vicious heat. 伴随着流淌于空气中的邪恶高温,灼烧着。 Pain. Agony. Blood— 疼痛。痛苦。鲜血—— Her savior shard falls from her hand as she reaches that hand for the terrible wound. 尝试将手伸向那可怕的伤口时,手中的救赎碎片也摔落下去。 And then, a jagged piece of glass whirls out of the tempest and finds the back of that hand. 接着,一枚锯齿状的碎片,从暴风雨中席卷过来,刺中了她的手背。 Sound escapes her. 已经发不出任何声音了。 Run twice through, her breath has gone as well. 身体也被刺中了两次。如今,她就连呼吸也做不到了。 Her gaze is steady on the trio of unthinkable sights before her. 她的视线凝固于面前由不可思议的画面所组成的三重奏。 This reality, horrible and unimaginable as it is, nonetheless "is". 此般现实。如此地骇人而难以想象,但确实"如此"。 And so her thoughts, too, begin to vanish. 她的思维,也逐渐开始消逝。
VS-8 "
And now, instincts begin to lurch, old and forgotten, in the wake of those thoughts. 而此刻,就在彻底失去思考能力后,光的求生本能终于开始运作——那种古老,曾被遗忘的本能反应。 They haven't yet taken hold, those discarded yet practical sensibilities. 只是那些客观实用的求生本能,却被光悉数抛弃。 They have only stirred. 它们最后也只是"开始运作"罢了。 She is still afraid. 她依然感到恐惧。 She clings to hope by a little finger. 几乎是只用一根小拇指,却仍牢牢扣住的希望。 ----
Somehow, she manages to pull on ten memories to aid her, 几乎是莫名其妙地,她居然成功将十枚回忆召唤至自己身旁, striking out the needle-glass that had been keeping her in the sky. 把那些将她身体固定于半空中的细针状玻璃皆数撞开。
Ingloriously she drops to the now-deformed ground, 以如此不光彩的方式,摔落到扭曲崩裂的地面上, her chosen pieces afterward hovering over her crumpled, aching body. 随后,她所选中的碎片们,围着她伤痕累累的身体绕起圈来。 Oddly enough, she finds herself smiling now, too. 足够奇怪的是,她发现今朝的自己也同样微笑着。 She pushes herself up with her left hand. 她借助左臂将身子撑了起来。 For all the enmity evident in Tairitsu's assault, she had taken too much pleasure in inflicting torture on her enemy's body, rather than inflicting any sort of mortal blow. 从对立的攻击中透露的敌意清晰可辨,可她过于享受摧残自己敌人的肉体,以至于迟迟未下任何杀手。 Even the shard now in Hikari's chest, so near to her beating heart and flickering with horrid, wrathful flame, did not do the deed. 哪怕是在此刻存留于光胸腔中的碎片,是那么靠近她那跳动的心脏,让她经受了那么耀眼,骇人,愤怒的烈焰——哪怕已经做到这一步,却仍未致命。 Maybe it wasn't intended to. 或许这并不是对立的初衷。 Regardless, Hikari is still alive. 但不管怎么回事,光清楚自己仍然活着。
She feebly sends forth an attack, which is quickly swatted down by the girl flying above her. 她虚弱地送出了一波攻势,却被上方正翱翔于空的那位女孩轻而易举地扑灭。 That girl now looks worse than any described devil Hikari has heard of in old memories. 光所听闻的古老回忆中,完全不存在像那女孩一般可怕的恶魔。
A veritable dark queen, ruling night in a world of day. 她是名副其实的女王,在这白昼的世界中统治着黑夜。 That ecstatic, yet obviously empty smile... 那丝展露着狂喜的微笑,却空虚得毋庸置疑…… Seeing this, Hikari can feel it: how her own feelings are beginning to slip away. 望见这幅景象后,光也终于能体会到相同的事物:自己心中的所有情感,是如何迈向毁灭的。 Stark reality is sobering her more and more, and rather than dread it, as she had been only minutes—no, seconds ago, 鲜明的现实只会让她变得愈发清醒,而不是使她更加畏缩,譬如她在几分钟前的心理状态——不,几秒前。 she begins instead to register each fact present to the situation. 她开始认知起当今形势中存在的每一件事实。 Slowly—or, as slowly as Tairitsu will allow. 缓慢地——或者说,是在条件允许的情况下,尽可能缓慢地认知着事态。 Her attack is unending. 对立的攻势,在此期间从未停歇。 Shifting her body left and right, guarding her weakest areas with what few memories remain to her, 将身体左右挪移,用仅剩的回忆去保护自己肉体最脆弱的部位。 Hikari examines their field of battle. 同时,光观察着二人如今的战场。
It has been torn asunder, and now looks more a wasteland than ever before. 面前的景象是如此残败不堪。现在的这里,比从前的任何时间都更像一片"荒原"。 Ripped, ruined all through, like a town in the aftermath of military bombardment. 被撕裂的地面,处处都只留下残亘断瓦。这里简直是一座被严重轰炸过的城镇。 The glass around them is uncountable. The power Tairitsu has is immeasurable. 环绕着她们二人的玻璃根本无法计数。对立所拥有的力量更是不可估量。 Hikari herself is weak. 光的自身,太弱小了。 Not only in terms of strange abilities and control over glass—her body has been run ragged. 并不只是指代自己控制玻璃碎片的能力——衣衫褴褛的她,浑身本就受满了伤。 She doesn't have much left before she falls from weariness alone. 她早就没剩下多少耐力——光是疲劳便足以战胜她仅剩的神智。 Perhaps she could find an anomaly, but say she couldn't. 也许她仍可能找到一场异象,但此刻只可假设她做不到。 What then? 所以在这之后,她又得去寻找什么? She couldn't, so "then" is "now". 她做不到。既然她做不到,那就不存在任何假设的必要。 So? 于是? How do you go on when the way is completely obstructed? 前进的道路都彻底毁了,你还怎么向前走? Should you...? Go on? 再者,你甚至……该向前走吗? Glass strikes her shoulder, shining with light. 玻璃闪耀着光芒,冲击着她的双肩。 Hikari stares into its reflection. 光凝视着玻璃反射的画面。 So, the other girl can control light too, now. 所以,那个女孩现在和她一样,也能控制光芒了。 Well... 那好……
She decides to think over what she's observed once again. 她再度企图重新思考自己所观测到的一切。 She recognizes that she could die here, or she could not. 她明白自己可能会死在这里,但也可能不会。 These are the two possibilities, and knowing that, she finds herself in acceptance. 留给她的只有这两个可能性。知晓这一事实后,她发现自己逐渐认同了自己的命运。 This could be the end. 这里确实可以是她生命的终点。 In a moment, this could all be over. 只需刹那间的功夫,这一切就都能落幕。 And while she'd rather it not, she can't help but echo the idea: "So it goes." 而每当她祈求这不要变成事实的时候,她却做不了任何事。她只能重复这样的想法:"别无他路可走。" After thought, hope, and feeling... 在丢失了思维、希望与感官之后…… determination is the last to fade from her. 意志是最后离开她的事物。 ---- This. 还没有。 This... 还没有…… This is not... a laying down of arms. 还没有……到屈服的时候。 No... 不要…… When she pulls the shard from her hand, her eyes briefly dazzled from the white flames licking up and searing closed her wound, 当她将先前刺入手中的碎片狠狠拔出后,燃起的纯白火舌瞬间便吞噬了她的伤口,不禁使她一阵眼花目眩。 she does not press it to her neck. 她并未将手按压在自己的脖子上。 She would certainly prefer to live... but she would not mind. 她显然会宁可活下去……但她并不会介意。 She wouldn't mind, with the odds being so impossible. 她不会介意,毕竟奇迹发生的可能性是那么渺小。 Hikari stands in the wind of blades, barely a shard in her employ. 光直立于刀刃的狂风之中。听从她指挥的碎片,近乎不存在。 She can't discern Tairitsu's face anymore. 她已经无法再辨认出对立的脸。 Her domain has become pandemonium, and seeing through it is too difficult. 她所身处的区域已经骚动不堪。若想让视线穿透这些碎片,实在是过于艰难。
Eventually, while trudging through the flying glass, Hikari notices that some segments of the whirlwind are reversing in fits and starts. 最终,就在试图缓慢穿过飞舞的玻璃时,她留意到风暴的某些部分正在整齐地逆旋。 The bizarre movement is so unnatural she genuinely wonders if the girl above her is doing it on purpose. 这样不自然的怪异现象,让她自心底怀疑这是不是上面那女孩的有意之举。 It's reminiscent, she thinks, of a skipping video. 就像是正在跳帧的视频,她如此联想。 It isn't any better or worse than the bullet curtains she's been facing so far, but it is quite peculiar. 尽管与自己曾遭遇的弹幕相比,这种现象并没有好坏上的区别。但它的确显得过于古怪了。 The earth quakes. 地面猛烈震荡起来。 She utters a "Wha...?" as she feels it. 感觉到这一迹象知识,她脱口而出一句"什……" The earth, quaking? 地面在……震动? Here? 就在这儿?
It could be that the ground will break again. 很有可能是地表将要再一次开裂。 Thinking that, Hikari shields her face and chest with her arms. 这个念头浮现的瞬间,光便用手掌挡住脸庞,顺势用手臂护住了胸前。 When nothing comes, she remains curious about the phenomenon. 但之后并没有任何事情发生,而她仍旧对这突发现象保持着十足的好奇心。 If it wasn't the girl above her, Tairitsu wouldn't have noticed it—after all, she was flying now. 如果这不是上面那女孩的所作所为,那她也自然不会察觉到这件事——毕竟,现在的她仍在天上飞。 More of the blade storm is shifting and roiling in rough, rigid movements now. 现在的这片刀刃风暴之中,只存在更多的碎片正以那粗糙死板的路径呼啸翻腾。 She decides to throw a crew of glass the other girl's way again. 她决定再将一队碎片掷入另外那名女孩的路径上。 It passes easily through the waves again, but then it suddenly turns very bright and breaks away. 那些碎片——它们轻而易举地穿透了风暴的波浪,但却忽然发出诡异的强光,接着便崩坏消逝。
The shards don't break themselves... They vanish, and the space where they were looks as if it is cracked. 碎片本身并没有损毁……它们只是凭空消失,在原处留下了好似裂痕的空间。 Once she sees this—once she recognizes what she's seeing—everything around her enters stasis. 而就在她目睹这一迹象后——就在她意识到自己看到了什么东西的那一瞬间——所有的事物都陷入了静止状态。
In this instant, the obsidian-glass which had been flying all around her is stuck fast within reality. 在这顷刻间,那些本围绕着她盘旋的黑曜石玻璃也被牢牢牵制于原地。 To her, it looks absolutely beautiful. 对她而言,这幅画面是那么美不胜收。
A smile crosses her lips without her wanting. 一抹截然不受自己意愿所控的微笑,令她的嘴角微微上扬。 "How pleasant," she whispers, chuckling to herself. "多么令人愉快啊。"她这样低语道,咯咯地笑着。 Something so beautiful here: where she could soon find her grave. 这里存在着某种极为美丽的事物:哪怕这里很快便会立起自己的坟墓。 It's so bizarre that it is... to laugh. So she does. 这真是奇异到令人……发笑。她的确笑出了声。 She makes earnest yet sad, dry laughter... 她发出了如此真心诚意,却这般悲伤,这般干枯的笑声…… But as motion gradually returns to the objects around her, and to the one above... 只是,就在周遭的场景逐渐回归正常,流动的时间也终于回到位于上方的那名女…… Above... 位于……上方…… The sky...? ……天空? A fracture splits across it. 一道裂痕瞬间出现于天空之上。 It widens, carving a shape out of heaven, and that immense segment begins to plummet. 那裂缝急剧扩宽,逐渐刻画出宛若天堂般的轮廓。紧接着,那巨大的断层开始下坠。 Even more bizarrely, hundreds of images flash across it, blinking rapidly from one to the next. 更令人感到离奇的是,数百张画面正在它的表面上流窜,接连扑闪着光辉。 The world begins to fall into strange ruin. 整个世界都渐渐开始堕落为一片古怪的残骸。 As Hikari bears witness to this, more satisfaction rises to her smile. 光在将这一幕尽收眼底之际,脸上的微笑也变得更加满足。 The storm is still slow, the image—too fantastic. 暴风雨仍转动得极为缓慢。这幅画面——真的太梦幻了。 The sky—the genuine sky, not an artificial one—is falling, 那片天空——那片货真价实的天空,绝非人造物体——正在坠落。 stopping, and falling again, as if grand pieces of a celestial puzzle are being moved and switched by some befuddled god. 忽然完全停止,接着再度坠落,好似一幅天文拼图的碎片正被某位醉酒的神明肆意移动着。 And... 并且…… watching it... 注视着这幅景象…… her smile begins to gradually recede. 她的微笑开始逐渐逝去。 The look in her eyes grows colder, her breath slows, and the faint glimmer of excitement provided by this cataclysmic view is snuffed out, replaced with objectivity. 她的眼神变得冰冷,呼吸也逐渐变慢,因这种灾难性的画面而点亮的微弱激情,也终于熄灭——被客观思绪所完全替代。 Her opinion on the disaster destroying all is delivered in a single word. 对于这场即将毁灭万物的灾难,她只传达出了单单一个词语。 With a little appreciation, in a mostly hollow tone, she says, "Delightful." 语气中带着一丝微弱的赞扬,更多的却是空洞。她说道:"太美妙了。" As if the word has any meaning. 就好像这个词语存在任何意义。 As if the fall has any meaning. 就好像那场崩塌存在任何意义。 As if the world has any meaning. 就好像这世界存在任何意义。