Chapter XXI

Summary

• The protagonist is in a flooded sewer tunnel, heading toward a building known as the Arena.
• Said Arena is filled with carnage, with dead bodies and an air of despair over fewer remaining people.
• The protagonist happens upon a man named Estevan, who, despite the surrounding turmoil, appears calm as ever.
• Estevan, a former adviser to the protagonist's father, seems to be causing air distortion with his concentrated power.
• The protagonist attempts to confront Estevan, who appears emotionally tired and indifferent to his surroundings. The confrontation results in the protagonist experiencing a realistic vision of an entirely different place filled with colossal structures under a bruised sky.
• After coming back to reality in the midst of the havoc, the protagonist presses a sharp object known as a stylus against Estevan's neck, pleading for him to stop whatever he's doing.
• Estevan responds dismissively, stating that the monstrosity they have all become is due to the overwhelming force of the Hierarchy.
• Despite the protagonist's plea for Estevan to find a better way to resist the tyranny of the Hierarchy, Estevan remains stoic and believes there's no escaping their lot in this reality.
• As the protagonist attempts to show sympathy, Estevan, in a surprising turn of events, guides the stylus into his own neck and thrusts it upwards into his brain, effectively killing himself.