NARRATIVE TEXT:

The normally still and stagnant air that permeated the Kingdom of Hatred stirred, intermixed with the cacophonous sounds of battle; weapons clashing, strained war cries, moans and groans of pain, all growing far louder and ever closer with each passing second. Kain, however, remained unmoved; he simply reclined in his throne, sipping calmly from an ornate goblet, eyes firmly shut.

The wave of noise finally reached it's crescendo: a mighty crash of wood and metal, the wooshing of air undercut by thin screeches, and two meaty thumps on the far wall behind his throne. His final line of defence broken, Kain opened his eyes, staring forwards, lips curling into a snarl. “And so gently, they came tapping; tapping at my chamber door.”

'They'. The ones who had chased his shadow so closely; those who braved the ravages of his wake and refused to yield. The so-called Kingslayers; Gabe, Howard, Rya, Renzo, Hermes, Jason, Sean, and Yuna.

“It's over, Kain!” cried Jason, jabbing his cricket bat in the king's direction. “No more running!”

“Running?” Kain replied, sniffing the air before taking another sip from his goblet. “No. Reaping, on the other hand...”

“Eloquent choice of wording for mass murder, King.” Renzo stated flatly, his disgust apparent.

“Your attempt to appease my guilt will do you no good, young prince; I have none.” Kain replied, rolling his neck.

“What's it all for, King? What did you hope to gain here?” Howard asked, point blank.

Kain paused, glancing out the window, expression softening into one of forlorn sadness. “To bring her back.”

“Her...” Hermes mumbled, biting his lip. “You mean-”

“Yes.” Kain interjected, expression turning cold once more. “My partner, my universe, my everything, The Queen of Joy.”

“Thousands of lives in exchange for one.” Yuna said. “Seems an unfair trade to me.”

“No price is too much for the woman I love.” Kain's words carried the vague hint of vulnerability; of honesty.

“The bloody hell d'you even get the idea?” Sean spat in disbelief.

“That creep in the mask...!” Rya mumbled, realisation dawning. “It had to be him!”

“I knew that guy was bad news...” Jason replied, grimacing.

“Not normally a creature I would pay much mind to,” Kain said, “one who's silken words seem drenched in bile. However, he proved himself trustworthy; it was him that granted me the power I needed.”

“He's playing you for a sap, fella.” Gabe said, shrugging nonchalantly. “You're just the convenient idiot he needs to set his own plans in motion.”

Kain's eyes flared with fury. “Your baseless accusations mean nothing to me, fool.”

“Pot, kettle, black.” Gabe smirked.

“Don't poke the bear, Gabe.” Howard dryly responded.

Finally, Kain stands up from his throne. “Enough of this prattle-” he paused, holding his arms akimbo; two very large swords began to materialise in each hand. “With your blood, my beloved will return to me. Your journey ends here.”

“Alright, guys; this is it.” Jason said, dramatically. “The final battle.”

“Figured that one out already, lad.” Sean replied, readying himself.

“For those who have already fallen...” Renzo boldly declared, blade at the ready. “We will stop you here!”

---

IN-CHARACTER TRACK COMMENTARY FROM GONKAKA:

Shinji Namiki: So; those text-to-speech vocals. I still get asked about those by fans at conventions; “what was up with those spooky voices!”, “they don't rhyme, and they aren't in time!”, things like that. The answer is honestly very boring, I'm afraid; I had been listening to a lot of music by the composer Ryouta Meguro at the time, and had become enamoured with some pieces of his where he experimented in very similar ways- freeform, synthesized vocals that had a theme, but weren't structured like traditional lyrics, often over what would otherwise have been very standard rock or metal songs with no other synthesized elements. I found the result very striking, and wanted to experiment with it myself- albeit with less instrumental restrictions.

Denji Koshiro: Ironic, considering Suda-san insisted that an option for the instrumental version to play instead be included in the options for all versions of the game.

Shinji Namiki: (Laughs) I was quite bristled by that at the time, feeling it was unusually disruptive of him- he rarely inserts himself into the creative processes of others that way. It became clear following release that it was the right call- some fans like the vocals, others really don't, and I can understand why.

---

DECON'S TRACK COMMENTARY:

Quite a step up from the original version of the track I wrote back in 2007, no?

This one fought me a little bit; I had trouble figuring out what to actually lay down for bass and melody at a few points, forgetting that I could mine the original track for content until prompting to do so from project co-director Dio made me go "oh yeah, I can do that can't I". I am not a smart man.

I properly got into the music from SMT3: Nocturne in the back end of last year, after somehow missing it for ages despite much of it being exactly my thing- I mean, electronica infused rock with pipe organs AND crazy text to speech vocals? Sign me the fuck up. I'd been itching to try my hand at something in a similar sort of style for quite a while, and this seemed a good opportunity to do just that- complete with TTS synths. My current go-to, the excellent Online Microsoft Sam TTS Generator- doesn't have any presets that quite match the shouty vibe of the MACinTalk one used by Shoji Meguro in SMT3, but I tried to get as close as I could. To give specifics, I pulled vibes from Normal Battle (Town), Fierce Battle, and Kotowari Battle.

The TTS verses are as follows;

Verse 1: Cold; so very, very cold. Empty, and lifeless, and lacking in spirit. The heart aches, the eyes bleed, the bile builds up. Love never dies, huh? Well, I know better.

Verse 2: Let the hate in. Let the rage burn. Let the fury loose. Let the anger seethe. God has abandoned me, and he will abandon you. Hope is for the foolish and the dead.
The song includes a sample from Anasthasia [House Jam Mix] by T99.