Quesada's Swan | Tales of Berseria - Part 133: Rokurou vs. Shigure

Switching Eleanor for Velvet on the menu, she brings out her most fearsome line.

Velvet: "Now, face the Lord of Calamity!!!"

I'm thinking of fighting Shigure in Rokurou's swimwear, but I decide against it.

The crystallized lava here shows the heat of the cavern...

There's Shigure and Morgrim sitting there, waiting for us...

Drinking his drink...

Magilou's surprised too.

Magilou: "Wow, really? He's really just waiting for us here?"

Rokurou steps ahead of the party.

Eleanor's worried. Velvet bars her from going forward, reassuring her everything's fine.

Rokurou goes to him...

...unlatches his big sword...

...and sits down with him!

He holds it out in front of him! Shigure takes it...

...and unsheathes the blade...he's impressed by the complete Stormquell!

Shigure: "Incredible! [Kurogane] forged himself into a sword."
Rokurou: "Indeed. That blade's the embodiment of Kurogane's centuries of study."

Rokurou drinks from Shigure's flask.

Shigure: "The Kurogane Stormquell. I like it."

He now has the blade near Rokurou!

Rokurou just casually drinks.

Rokurou: "Just 'Kurogane' for now. He will be the blade that surpasses both Stormquell and Stormhowl." Holy heck!

Rokurou: "And when it does, then he will have earned the name 'Kurogane Stormquell'."

Shigure's frickin' excited!

He sheathes the sword and hands it back to Rokurou.

Rokurou puts his sword back on his back, and walks to the party...

Rokurou: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Velvet warns him that he might fuse with Morgrim...

Shigure throws his cup, feeling a bit disrespected at the fusion assumption.

Shigure: "An armatus? It's not my style to rely on anyone's help."

Magilou points out about Morgrim and him asking for the cat's help.

Shigure: "Shut up! I'm totally not!"

Magilou has her fists in the air, jaw dropped.

Technically, Morgrim is limiting Shigure's power...oh god...so without her...oh dear...

Morgrim: "Shigure asked me to restrain his power."

Even Laphicet's realizing it too...

Shigure: "It's for my training. At first, I could barely even move my little finger. Morgrim, release my bindings."

Oh no... Morgrim's pupils dilate! Shigure unleashes his full power!

Eizen: "Can a human even be this strong?" He can.

Shigure: "With enough will, humans can do anything. This was to be my secret weapon against [the Shepherd.]"

Rokurou's smiling now!

And the rest of the party jumps in! Sorry, Rokurou.

Shigure: "Good! I'll take you all at once! Forget about fighting fair! You won't beat me unless you use everything you've got!"
Rokurou: "I know. All too well!"

Here we go!!!

Shigure: "All right, let's have some fun!"

Shigure unleashes his Mystic Arte, but Rokurou blocks it!

Shigure: "Hahah! So you can handle my attacks now?"
Rokurou: "This is where the fight truly begins, Shigure!"
Shigure: "What do you know! I totally agree!"

I'm disappointed I couldn't unleash the Rangetsu Heron on Shigure to finish him with, but at least Rokurou dealt the final blow!

Shigure falls, impressed at the power he's seen!

Shigure: "You people are really something, aren't you..."
Rokurou: "Don't act like you're impressed. I haven't even shown you my true blade."

Shigure grimaces.

It's now Morgrim's turn to worry...

Shigure tells her, like Rokurou did with Laphicet and Eleanor back in Cadnix, to stay out.

Laphicet points out Shigure's still pretty powerful.

Rokurou: "Of course he does. He's Shigure Rangetsu after all."

Rokurou's fighting with two shortswords this time...

It's a duel between brothers...eee...it’s so tense...

He vanished!

The duel gets heated!

After a few blows, they smirk at each other.

Their swords fly off!

Rokurou unleashes Kurogane!

Shigure knows he's finished!

Shigure: "Three of them...? So this is your 'true blade'..."
Rokurou: "That's right. I developed this technique to defeat you."
Shigure: "Not bad at all."

He smiles his infamous, arrogant smile before falling...

The swords fall to the ground...all of them landing bladefirst...

Shigure: "This is my parting gift to Kurogane... Take... Stormhowl. One last thing...Please let this...cat go..."

Rokurou takes Stormhowl.

Rokurou: "Shigure... you were ordered to be executed because I..."
Shigure: "I was already planning on leaving." He wanted to be free of his masters, huh?

Rokurou looks away.

Shigure: "...Stop worrying about the little things. Rejoice when your blade finds its mark. Seethe when it doesn't. Die when one finds you. That's all there is to it. The way of the sword is a simple one...that's what makes it so much fun."
Rokurou: "Yeah. It really is."

Rokurou smiles warmly.

Shigure: "That's the vicious face I'm lookin' for. If only [the Shepherd]'s stony face...could smile like that...he'd be a lot happier..." He used to be.
Rokurou: "Yeah."

He tells Velvet that "his blade found its mark."

She goes to Shigure...and consumes him with her arm...

Rokurou lodges Stormhowl on the floor...

Skit: Eleanor and Rokurou talk.

Eleanor's crying...

She denies it.

Rokurou: "Oookay."
Eleanor: "...Is that all you have to say?"
Rokurou: "What's wrong? You really are crying."
Eleanor: "You and Shigure...you were brothers, but..."

Rokurou just waves it off.

Eleanor's not happy with his answer.

Eleanor: "So you will say it's because you're a daemon."
Rokurou: "No, that's not the answer, actually. It's not because I'm a daemon. It's because we're swordsmen that I'm not sad. When we fought, when we both really fought, I got this sharp, vivid feeling that pierced straight to my core."

Rokurou explains he and Shigure "wanted to keep fighting forever, like an unquenchable thirst."

Eleanor admits Shigure enjoyed the fight too. She doesn't get it fully.

Rokurou: "I wonder when I'll be able to have a match like that again." Go fight Yuri.

Eleanor knows that someone else might finish Rokurou off eventually. Rokurou knows it!

He smiles, telling Eleanor she sounds a lot like his late brother.

Rokurou mentions wanting a "cup of yozakura anmitsu."

Rokurou: "Cherry blossom flavored sweet bean paste, black sesame ice cream, and fruit. It was Shigure's favorite." Mmmmm...

Eleanor's wanting to have a taste of that treat.

Rokurou: "It's settled then! When this is all over, I'll take you out for some."
Eleanor: "I look forward to that."
Rokurou: "Then make sure you come back alive, all right?"
Eleanor: "You too, Rokurou! Yozakura anmitsu. I won't forget!"

Velvet: "If you want to leave now, Rokurou. I won't stop you."
Rokurou: "...My purpose here is to repay my debt to you."

I check Stormhowl.

Skit: Laphicet mentions to Rokurou about his last words to Shigure about Shigure wanting to get away.

Rokurou: "The story about Shigure plotting to overthrow our lord...that was a lie." What!?
Rokurou: "A lie that I spread."
Rokurou: "I wanted a just cause to strike him down. Stormhowl, Shigure's name, the leadership of the clan— I used to want all of that for myself."

Laphicet asks if he has any regrets about that. Nope.

Rokurou: "Shigure figured it out a long time ago. But really, I don't know what made me think I had the strength to defeat him back then."
Laphicet: "He was... truly strong."
Rokurou: "Of course...He was the head of the Rangetsu family, the strongest warriors in all the land."

Laphicet asks if Rokurou's now "head of the clan." What clan? It's gone.

Rokurou: "No, I'm a daemon. And more importantly...all I ever wanted was to beat my brother. That's enough for me."

So (and this is my guess) in a way, Rokurou was the one that was trying to overthrow the Capaluses, and pinned it on Shigure. Seeing as how he got found out about the lie, he got jailed in Titania for 500 years for insurrection.

Now for Morgrim. Velvet tells her to leave asap.

Morgrim decides to wait it out for a while.

Morgrim: "I owe Shigure for giving me back my free will...and he always did hate to be alone." Oh...
Rokurou: "I never knew that."

Rokurou was focused on training and trying to beat his older brother to notice.

Morgrim apologizes.

Morgrim: "He lived and he died according to his beliefs. That has to be good enough. Humans like that are not so bad."
Rokurou: "I suppose we aren't."

Velvet calls her a "funny sort of malak." Morgrim takes it as a flattering compliment.

Morgrim mentions cats being "fickle."

Morgrim: "Anyway, I accept myself for what I am now. That's made me a lot happier."

Reading the synopsis, Rokurou calls his duel with Shigure "the greatest sort of brotherly quarrel" and now vows "to become the world's greatest swordsman." Good luck, Rokurou.