Durandal (Visual Novel)
Note: A lot of characters in this Visual Novel are based on real historic figures. The names used here are their official English names instead of the original ones (ex: "Thales" instead of "Thalễs ho Milếsios"), with the exception of "Rowland". "Rowland" is likely to be a mistake of the English version of HI3 since it's based on the french knight "Roland". Since this character is called "Rowland" in the game and even has a stigmata set, we've decided to keep the name written this way despite being historically inaccurate.
Characters
Worlds
Chapter List
Chapter 1
- Part 1: "Keeping that promise is very important for the girl called Bianka."
- Part 2: "Could it be you are... Miguel De Cervantes?"
- Part 3: "—It's coming!"
Bianka and Rita are traveling to the sea of Quanta for a mission given by the Overseer of Schicksal. They use a device called the Genius to arrive in a bubble universe where people from different times can end up. Their goal is to explore these universes to get more information on how the Sea of Quanta works. They arrive in a village where its inhabitants task them to kill a Leviathan. They meet Miguel De Cervantes, who uses his boat to help them locate the Leviathan.
Chapter 2
- Part 1: "Don't fret, old man! No matter who they are, we'll do something about it!"
- Part 2: "20th century... or perhaps 21st—Welcome aboard the 'Caledonia'!"
- Part 3: "What's the goal of your exploration?"
A mysterious submarine named the Caledonia kills the Leviathan before the eyes of Bianka, Rita and Miguel. They are then introduced to the pirate crew controlling the submarine: the young engineer Jimmy Watt, the boatswain Lalla, the mysterious Iron Mask, and the captain Shakespeare. The latter gives them basic exposition about the bubble universe. The two Schicksal Valkyries and Miguel decide to join the crew to explore this world with captain Shakespeare.
Chapter 3
- Part 1: "This is how Bianka and Rita were able to meet 'Captain Shakespeare' who came from another world."
- Part 2: "Happy 17th birthday, miss adjutant."
- Part 3: "'The Wall of Asgard'... Is what the people who fled to North Africa that monstrous wall."
The Caledonia travels to Europe, where Shakespeare shows the Valkyries the wall of Asgard, a mysterious highly dangerous wall that circles around Europe and expands, destroying everything in its way. Shakespeare then gives the sword Durandal to Bianka. The sword used to be the legendary weapon of the paladin Rowland, and should have the power to destroy the Wall of Asgard. However, the sword needs seven gems to be at its full power, gems that were scattered around the world and waiting to be found.
Chapter 4
- Part 1: "...Drifting in the sea, 'life' and 'death' have lost all meaning."
- Part 2: "Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen. Pilot. Fighter pilot of the German Air Force."
- Part 3: "In those 'not so bad but not so good' days... I met a certain person."
The Caledonia finds a man drifting in the sea after losing all his crew mates. The man reveals himself to be Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen, a fighter pilot of the German Air Force. He's depressed after everything he went through, but Bianka shares her past with him to try lighting him up. She tells him about her life at the orphanage and Ragna, a Valkyrie she admired, until she died in a mission. Ragna also was the captain of the squad of Murata Himeko, who Bianka met after the tragic event. She tells Manfred she wants to be strong to protect people around here and be positive, which gives him some food for thought.
Chapter 5
- Part 1: "I don’t know where or when this was. It could all be a weird hallucination."
- Part 2: "'The way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.'"
- Part 3: "—I will take over as your tour guide."
The Caledonia arrives in Alexandria, Egypt. The crew is separated into teams of two, Bianka ending up with Jimmy. They meet strange guide robots, but soon enough a philosopher named Thales barges in and offers her tour services. They visit the Great Library of Alexandria, but suddenly notice that Jimmy is nowhere to be found.
Chapter 6
- Part 1: "Before losing consciousness, I smelled something akin to a perfume."
- Part 2: "I'll go straight to the point. The person you're looking for is not in this library."
- Part 3: "Master Bianka, from a military point of view your current state of mind is not suited to perform this investigation."
Jimmy actually was deeply invested in a book written by Alan Turing, but then was drugged and fell asleep. Bianka meets the curator Michelangelo and an archeologist, Champollion, and wants to start the search as quickly as possible. Back in the Caledonia, she explains the situation to the crew, but Rita orders Bianka not to do the investigation because her state of mind is judged inadequate.
Chapter 7
- Part 1: "My name is Alice. Right now... I am in charge of this facility."
- Part 2: "Woah—This smell! W-What is this!?"
- Part 3: "'This time' I'll stay. I want to hear 'Alices story—To the very end!"
Jimmy wakes up in a strange facility, where he has been captured by the men of a mysterious professor in order to repair an AI. After an accident, the AI is the only survivor in the facility. She identifies as a girl named Alice and uses a girl's body as an interface. She nervously explains that she isn't a full machine but is primarily composed with real human brains after an highly unethical experiment by a mad professor. Jimmy decides to help her to do the daily maintenance she needs to survive. While Jimmy is at work, she tells him the story of Alice in Wonderland.
Chapter 8
- Part 1: "—I am Erwin Reanna Schrodinger, a dimensional traveler from beyond the abyss."
- Part 2: "...to destroy them with the robots they are so proud of."
Shakespeare and Iron Mask go see Shelly, the Head of the City Administration Group. Iron Mask reveals herself to be Schrodinger from the same world as Bianka and Rita, a traveler in the Sea of Quanta. She points out some flaws in the city administration, and that the robots in the city will soon destroy it if nothing is done to prevent it. Shakespeare accepts to help in exchange for the gem.
Chapter 9
- Part 1: "By learning about what kind of universe we live in, we can have a better understanding of the meaning behind the lies that exist within it."
- Part 2: "Some kind of incident must have happened at this facility."
A flashback shows Shelly and the mad professor, Faust, discussing ethics versus humanity's need to advance technologically, just before he was exiled. Back to the present, Schrodinger discovers that Alexandria is using the gem of reason as a power source, and aims to use its power to launch a rocket to explore space in the future. They identify the cause of the robot attack to be an AI (Alice) and locate her position. They send a squad to deal with it, Rita being one of the soldiers deployed. Jimmy and Alice try to stop the attack on the city on themselves. Alice reveals to Jimmy that she actually indirectly killed Faust's men and the two scholars they kidnapped, fearing for her life. They are then found by Schrodinger.
Chapter 10
- Part 1: "Captain Shakespeare, are you trying to pull off something sketchy 'again'."
- Part 2: "Heh, you call this growing up? Isn't he more childish than before?"
With all the new information, the crisis is averted and Schrodinger explains everything to the crew and Alexandrian government. Alice is now sent to a trial to be fairly judged for her crimes. Jimmy is defending Alice, which makes Bianka a little bit jealous of their relationship. Alice is ultimately declared guilty but the sentence was fairly lenient because she was not responsible for a lot of things. Back to the Caledonia, a mysterious winged sword starts talking to everybody. It's the sentient form of the blade Durandal, now evolved because of the gem of reason.
Chapter 11
- Part 1: "Cute girls are the best!! Especially the ones who are too serious but like to daydream and have few friends!!"
- Part 2: "Farewell, my friend, my enemy. Amen."
Jimmy and Alice stay in Alexandria, while Champollion joins the crew of the Caledonia. The blade Durandal then tells its story: it's actually more like a computer from the previous era created to perform tasks impossible to do for humans. It decided to go to sleep because it was bored, and ultimately woke up to the knight Rowland. The Caledonia heads to South America to find the next gem.
Chapter 12
- Part 1: "As you all know, I'm not the type to adhere to formalities."
- Part 2: "H-Hey! Don't just throw them at me! Besides, there is no way I can change right here!"
- Part 3: "Next day, 12.19.19.17.17.8 2-Flint of the Mayan Calendar of Yucatan—"
Shakespeare gives a speech to the crew to explain their goal of gathering the gems and destroying the Wall of Asgard to save the world. Schrodinger reveals herself to the crew and tells her story of being a traveler between worlds. Bianka and Rita realize it's the Schrodinger of their world. In a North American village, in the Yucatán peninsula, native warriors from a "Federation" want to prevent a village from celebrating the new era of the Mayan calendar.
Chapter 13
- Part 1: "—Go back to the hole you crawled from!"
- Part 2: "You must be the avatar of 'Buluc Chabtan', who heard our prayers and came to our aid!"
- Part 3: "The Valkyrie moved the curtain aside - And saw the scene she wanted to see the least."
The crew of the Caledonia talks about how to explore the continent and who will translate their language to the natives, something that Rita can do. Durandal enters the village attacked by the federation, and defends the villagers by beating all the attackers. She meets Eikenal, a priestess who tells her their culture and beliefs. She and Bianka become really good friends. Eikenal must perform a ritual to free her people from the gods this very night, and Bianka is invited to help her. While arriving in the cave where the ritual is performed, Bianka reminisces about her traumatic first mission as a Valkyrie where everyone but Bianka died. She then faces the vision of horror of Eikenal being self-sacrificed on an altar.
Chapter 14
- Part 1: "In the new era, through hard work anyone will be able to create miracles on par with God."
- Part 2: "'Nakom' means 'Super Human'. They are heroes who stand far above the average person, and who are loyal to this land and not to God in Heaven."
- Part 3: "You may address me as Esther."
Bianka tries to save Eikenal but ultimately can't do anything because no one has blood compatible for a transfusion. Rita and her make funerals for their new friend, and Bianka feels ever more helpless than ever. They make the Federation swear they'll never attack the village again, and accept to meet their leader, a Serbian priestess named Esther Zarathustra, who lives in a refitted ancient meteor.
Chapter 15
- Part 1: "—That is the story of the 'Serpent King' my father taught me. Until the age of 15, I thought it was simply a baseless legend."
- Part 2: "Let me say it again. No matter what happens to me, to someone else or even the country, you must survive at all costs."
- Part 3: "That was the heart of a devil, an equation buried by the Gods of Light."
Esther tells the crew the story of the Serpent King, Zahhak, and how he became corrupted after being granted powers by a witch named "Grey Serpent". Zahhak grew two serpent heads that turned him crazy. Esther then tells how she wasn't from this world and came here with a Genius system, then was welcomed by the natives as a super human and rose at the head of the federation. While narrating these stories, the group slowly falls asleep due to a narcoleptic gas.
Chapter 16
- Part 1: "I won't let you... lay a finger... on Master Bianka..."
- Part 2: "Good morning, Master Bianka. Did you sleep well?"
Esther is actually the new serpent king, with two serpent heads growing from her shouldn't as in the tale. She is about to eat Bianka and her friends, but Rita resists the gas and kills Esther before she can attack. Some time later, the crisis being dealt with, Bianka wakes up. She and Rita go search for the gem that Esther had. They awaken an old dragon, Bertrand, who once was a soldier of Napoleon Bonaparte, the previously mentioned Emperor that came to this world with a Genius, and is responsible for the wall of Asgard. The Emperor became corrupted and Bertrand finally betrayed him, which caused him a loyalty crisis.
Chapter 17
- Part 1: "If you want a soldier's death, why don't you try battling the monster called 'living' over and over to find out how long it'll take you to die?"
- Part 2: "Hmm. A one shot one kill move? Interesting."
Bertrand tells the story of Napoleon's army and how everything went downhill after their arrival in this world. He senses that the emperor is near, but soon realizes that it's not the case. Feeling lost, having become a monster, and his comrades being dead, Bertrand wants Bianka to kill him to have a soldier's death. However, he's convinced by blade Durandal that the true act of courage would be to continue living. Bertrand gives the gem to the squad, and becomes the ruler of the Yucatan to replace Esther. The chapter finishes with the squad playing a mesoamerican ballgame and Bianka's team winning.
Chapter 18
- Part 1: "Are you hurt, little girl?"
Bianka decides to ask why Rita became a maid in the first place. Rita tells her that she met someone, a Valkyrie, that was also a maid and saved her life long ago. Rita who was aiming to become a florist finally decided to follow the steps of her savior. While Bianka fell asleep and never heard that, it is revealed at the end of Rita's story that the Valkyrie in question was Ragna, the same Valkyrie that sparkled the flame for Bianka herself.
Chapter 19
- Part 1: "Let's go! The footprints are still fresh, they must not be too far away!"
- Part 2: "What's your name, talking sword?"
The Caledonia goes on Curaçao of the ABC island, to continue the search for the gems. The place is empty but has traces of important human presence. Following footsteps, the crew find a mysterious Asian statue, that is implied to be a statue of Jingwei, created long ago by Nuwa. Later on, they are arrested by soldiers in heavy armor. Durandal recognizes one of the soldiers to be Rowland the knight, but she doesn't recognize her blade Durandal. She explains that they are at war with Europe, and defends the Huaca Tunnel, a tunnel that links the two sides of the planet.
Chapter 20
- Part 1: "Please allow me to accompany you!"
- Part 2: "...Basically, you're a spy?"
- Part 3: "A never-ending war has taken place in this world since the day the Republic was founded."
After discussing a bit with Rowland, they grasp that she's not the same Rowland that Durandal knew. This Rowland is a soldier of the Republic, and decides to meet with the ones in charge of the Republic. They discover that Michelangelo from Alexandria was a "spy" from the Republic. She explains that the Huaca tunnel is an Ether Anchor created by the previous civilization, and created this world due to an artificial expansion.
Chapter 21
- Part 1: "Let's go! Across the valley - To tunnels and fortresses!"
- Part 2: "Let me introduce myself: I am the Minister of the Defense of the Republic and the commander of this fortress - Anna Charles Darwin."
- Part 3: "My voice♬ Can you hear it♪ Your smile♬ Is like the sunshine after the rain♪"
The squad goes to the Huaca tunnel and traverses it by train. They arrive at the government of the Republic, and meet Anne Charles Darwin, the Minister of Defense. She tells them she's a Star Whisperer, like Rowland is: a copy born in this world when the real Darwin died, a result of the Ether Anchor of this world. Star Whisperers are stronger than average, but disappear when they die. They are joined by Llona Draculesti, Commander of the First Guardian, another Star Whisperer. After discussing various topics for a while, Schrodinger asks if there is an idol in the Republic, because it's one of their clues to find the gems. The blade Durandal feels that the Gem of Love is close to that idol, and that the gem is near them. They go to the concert of Shigure Kira and see her singing.
Chapter 22
- Part 1: "Don't underestimate live concerts, you ignorant sword."
- Part 2: "But before you do that - I hope you make good use of the Ether Anchor to take a look at this vast land."
After the concert, they ask Shigure Kira to give them the gem, but she refuses because she thinks what she's doing is really important so she'll give the gem when they'll have all of them. Rita and Bianka recognize Shigure Kira to be one of the Valkyries that fought during the Second Eruption, and she tells them that she is a Star Whisperer as well, which surprises Darwin a bit, but she reveals that they actually don't know who are the Star Whisperers in the Republic, so a lot of them go unnoticed. Darwin explains the difference between Star Whisperers created by the Ether Anchor, and Wanderers, people that got into this world by inadvertence.
Chapter 23
- Part 1: "Even lions get hurt, but they don't let themselves be seen licking their wounds. Because a lion is a lion."
- Part 2: "However, there is a secret that 'Shigure Kira' can't tell you yet."
Shakespeare’s crew is going to search for another gem, and Kira joins them in her incognito outfit for some vacations. She and Bianka talk a bit about Valkyries and Otto's way of doing things back in Schiksal. They also talk a bit about Shub Niggurath, a close friend of Kira who died during the Second Eruption despite being known for being invincible. Kira mentions that she has a secret to reveal, but that is not the time, which frustrates Bianka. Kira then organizes a touristic tour of the capital of the Republic for the crew, before finally meeting with the Chairwoman, Sophia Henry Thoreau.
Chapter 24
- Part 1: "...It's not that I don’t know what to do, I should say I just need to sort out my feelings before I can take the plan seriously."
- Part 2: "Welcome to Rapa Nui Island. Call me 'Caravaggio'."
The Chairwoman tells the crew that she has a plan to save the world that involves Bianka and Durandal. She gives them directions to find the next gem of Durandal, on the Rapa Nui Island, where they meet with Caravaggio, a Star Whisperer guarding the gem of prosperity. On the Island is a statue of a member of the Republic, Yukimura, holding the gem. She was changed to a Honkai statue because of its power a long time ago, but is still alive.
Chapter 25
- Part 1: "Valkyries, be it by birth or by modifications, are all fighters chosen to adapt to and manipulate Honkai Energy."
- Part 2: "Congratulations, from now on, you have your own name."
The chapter starts on a flashback showing Yukimura, Dracula and Thoreau seven years ago starting the plan to save the world and Yukimura sacrificing herself to keep the gem of prosperity. Now is the time to retrieve it, so Caravaggio readies herself to smash the Honkai statue to get the gem, but is stopped by Bianka. Having especially good Honkai resistance, Bianka drains the Honkai energy to save Yukimura, and falls into a coma. We see then a flashback of Otto warning Bianka about people that seem good but are discovered after to be awful, implicitly telling her his own story through metaphors.
Chapter 26
- Part 1: "It's up to you, Rita Rossweisse."
- Part 2: "(Let her sleep for a little longer.)"
- Part 3: "—Everyone, let’s make a bet without any precedents!"
In another flashback, Otto tells Rita to take care of Bianka to make her the best Valkyrie, both in strength but more importantly in personality, so that when she discovers what he has been doing all these years she'll be able to handle it. It's the most important mission for Rita, and the goal of her life as a maid. Bianka finally wakes up and talks with Kira and Shakespeare about philosophical topics on how to handle the situation Bianka is in. Back in Alexandria, Michelangelo is making a plan with the other Alexandria characters to make her a villain while achieving the goal of the Republic and saving the world.
Chapter 27
- Part 1: "...'Destroy the world itself'? Do you mean it literally?"
- Part 2: "It is immovable, solid and eternal."
- Part 3: "I am timespace itself. The source of the power that destroys all. My role is to obliterate all universes."
The crew being back at the Chairwoman's office, Thoreau explains the details of the plan to save the world. She needs Bianka to use the blade Durandal to slice the corrupted Europe continent off the planet. Schrodinger goes see Bianka to talk a bit with her. Bianka is nervous about the plan and feels like she didn't achieve anything in the past. Schrodinger reassures her, and tells her that she is too focused on the results and blinded by them, but should look more at the present and the journey, because it can shape people as well. Kira gives the last gems, and the plan is ready to start.
Chapter 28
- Part 1: "It's precisely because you are such a troublesome person that I have to accompany you with this farce to the end."
- Part 2: "I always believed that the 'old people' don't have any important advice that needs to be given to the young people."
- Part 3: "The Valkyrie jumped down from directly above the entrance of the Anchor Point."
The Alexandria crew ready themselves to use Alexandria's satellite to monitor the structure of the bubble universe and command the Holy Sword for the Republic's plan. Back to Bianka, Shakespeare explains to Bianka how she found Durandal's sword, wanting very strongly to use it, but not being strong enough to do so, resulting in the breaking of the sword. She then spent twenty years trying to recover the gems, but was in the dark until she met Schrodinger, Bianka and Rita. Thoreau reveals she is the one that sent a message to Shakespeare to tell her that the two Valkyries will appear, when and where. Thoreau explains how this whole plan took decades of preparation, and is her ultimate goal in life. The plan then starts. Durandal goes to space, the sword in hand. She sees the horizon of the universe, and cuts the Europe continent. All that is left is blowing up the corrupted continent and destroying it. The plan seems to work, but then the monster awakens.
Chapter 29
- Part 1: "Everyone abandons their past in the process of their lives."
- Part 2: "—Because now, I will be responsible for destroying this enemy."
We see the past of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, how after all his victories, he started losing battles. After Waterloo, he was sent to another world because of the "Snake" experience. He slowly became corrupted and started controlling the mind of his army to become a Honkai hive mind that he can control. He now sees humans as ants that refuse the new form of life he is, believing he is the ultimate life form, and so he sends his army to fight. A violent battle starts, the soldiers of Napoleon preventing the soldiers of the Republic to escape. The battle turns to bloodshed for the Republic. Then, Champollion steps up, saying she will destroy the enemy herself. She reveals that she is the real Napoleon Bonaparte, which was foreshadowed when Betrand said he was sensing the Emperor among the crew. She is the side of Napoleon the corrupted Emperor abandoned years ago. She now needs to sacrifice herself to kill the Emperor.
Chapter 30
- Part 1: "What it means to be a Valkyrie who fights for all that’s beautiful in this world."
Bianka wakes up on earth. She listens to Rita that helps her catch up with everything that happened during the time she was in a coma. The corrupted Napoleon was destroyed, but now there are Honkai crystals and the world is still unstable. Bianka and Rita go to the Honkai site and meet Rowland. She tells them that Shigure Kira was corrupted by the Honkai, and asks Bianka and Rita to go see the situation while she tells the chairwoman. When arriving at the Honkai site, they see that Kira's body seems corrupted, but Kira explains that it is actually the doing of Niggurath. Niggurath is an Alien, a Sugar, that lived in Shub-Niggurath, making her almost invincible. During the second eruption, when Shub-Niggurath died, the alien jumped to Kira for her to be her new host. She then reveals that she is the real Kira and not a Star Whisperer, and doesn't want to go back to her previous world because it only had despair for her. Schrodinger arrives and tells them that it was Rowland who got corrupted by the crystals, and not Kira, and that they were deceived. On Rowland's side, we discover that she is now the crystallization of all the corrupted hive mind, even stronger than Napoleon. She kills Thoreau and Darwin, and we learn afterwards that she also killed Dracula. Bertrand the dragon arrives on the battlefield with Jimmy and Manfred with his aircraft. They help the Valkyries fly back to the Republic's fortress. Bianka faces the corrupted Rowland that now goes by the name "La Niña". They try to synchronize themselves to the Ether Anchor to get more power and control the world. Bianka, Rita, Kira and Schrodinger hesitate to fight because Rowland's consciousness is still alive in "La Niña". While fighting, the corrupted Honkai hive mind destroys Durandal's sword. To beat "La Niña", Bianka replaces the blade with her body, to use its power and "become" the blade for a final attack, killing the monster. However the Ether Anchor is now unsynchronized, this means that the Bubble Universe will now slowly start to erode itself and will disappear. Schrodinger has a plan to prevent that: making Bianka the new Ether Anchor, as their opponent wanted to do, to become a "god" of this world. She now needs to bear the burden of having an entire world within herself, and if she dies the bubble universe will disintegrate. Executing that plan, Bianka fuses even more with Durandal, which manifests in the battlesuit Dea Anchora.
Chapter 31
- Part 1: "The everyday life has returned, just like how the eternal stars rise from east to west day after day."
This chapter is the crew of the Caledonia and the suriving secondary characters performing the play "the Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare, ten years later (four for Bianka).
Trivia
- This is where Bianka Ataegina takes her moniker "Durandal".
- The whole dialog between Schrodinger and Bianka in Chapter 27 makes a reappearance in Chapter 28 of the game's main story during the time when Bianka is in the Kaslana Stigma Space. Schrodinger mentions Krishna, the name of Bianka's horse after donning the Palatinus Equinox battlesuit.
Notes
References
- ↑ Weixin: 视觉小说「幽兰黛尔」第1话