Xenoblade Chronicles: Rise of the Skywalker

Chapter 14

Sora finds herself floating in empty space, and hears Akise's voice telling her to find "the true Monado". She awakes to find that she and the others have survived. Vanea greets them and tells they they were protected by Lady Meyneth's power. She explains that Gazia has his memories erased and that the Faced Mechon are created to counter the Monado since it initially could not harm the races of Bionis. She also reveals that Zanza is the progenitor of the Homs and is the one who devastated Mechonis. She says she will take them to Agniratha. Meanwhile, the allied forces arrive at Sword Valley and the battle begins.

Upon reaching the Data Centre in Agniratha, Ikaruga is temporarily taken over by Meyneth, now known to be the goddess of the Mechonis. Sora and the others learn that Bionis and Mechonis were once at peace, before the former inexplicably attacked the latter, killing many of the Machina. Understanding Egil's desire for revenge, the group heads for the where Egil is located. Before they can reach it, they are attacked by Gazia once more, who opens fire on the group. However the group notice that he is missing Pauline on purpose, and realize that he can still be saved. Meyneth, in control of Ikaruga once more, assists in bringing Gazia back to his senses by breaking the control Egil has on him. He then tells Pauline that Egil had good in him before, but was consumed by fear, turning him into who he is now. The group heads off to the Meyneth Shrine, with Gazia asks for Kotaro to take care of Pauline as he is too weak to move.

The group reach the shrine, where Vanea tries to reason with Egil once more, but is unsuccessful. Egil then reveals to Sora the reason for his attacks: while holding no hostility towards the Bionis lifeforms, she holds hostility towards the Bionis itself, and the beings there serve as its sustenance so it may awaken once again, so by eliminating the lifeforms of Bionis, she weakens Bionis itself. Sora fights Egil, successfully impaling him through the shoulder with the Monado. She tries to reason with Egil once more, but Egil is unmoved, and removes the Monado easily. After subduing the group with his Face, Yaldabaoth, Egil retreats to the Mechonis Core to merge with the Mechonis. Realizing that Agniratha is about to be destroyed, Sora and the group attempt to escape. Pauline, seeing that Gaiza is missing, tries to return to find him, but Kotaro convinces her that Gazia will have left. They fail to outrun the explosion and are about to be obliterated, but Gazia in his Face appears and shields them, sacrificing himself.