Xenoblade Chronicles: Rise of the Skywalker

Chapter 15

The Mechonis fires an energy beam at the Bionis. Judal realizes that the Mechonis is awakening and orders an immediate retreat from the sword. Sora's party find themselves falling, but are caught by Junks, the Machina having been warned by Akise that they were in danger. Back in the village they discuss the situation and decide to use Junks to reach the Mechonis Core.

Inside Central Factory they decide to first head for the Apocrypha Generator which is still restraining the Monado's power. Sora begins to wonder if she should use the Monado, given what she now knows about Zanza and the Bionis, and cannot figure out why her abilities to know what comes next have changed - she has no visions, just understands what is about to happen. She experiences an abrupt seizure and falls to the ground in pain, similar to what Murasame went through, and after some encouragement from Kotaro, he explains that it was not caused by the Apocrypha but a different kind of power. On the way to the generator, Sora begins thinking about the connection between the Bionis Monado and the one she holds, and remembers the dream she had about not being there anymore. They destroy the Apocrypha Generator as the Mechonis begins to move, attacking the Bionis.

Sora decapitates Yaldabaoth, leaving Egil defenseless. Sora raises the Monado to kill Egil, convinced that she wants this despite outcry from Ikaruga and Vanea and encouraged by Zanza's disembodied voice, which she doesn't recognise. She remembers all that has led up to this moment and realises that she doesn't have to kill Egil - at the last minute she deflects the Monado to avoid Egil, and sits down beside him. Egil asks why she held back, as doing so would've ended the war, to which Sora says she has forgotten that. She has realized that she and Egil are similar, and have no reason to fight. Egil says that he still has a reason to kill Sora, and asks if he will resist killing him even if Egil kills everything on Bionis. Sora replies that she can stop Egil, and will again and again until they see eye-to-eye. Egil considers this, and commends Sora for using the Monado well, but asks him if she believes herself its true master. He tells Sora of the past, when the Bionis and Mechonis lived in harmony; Arglas, the Giant possessed by Zanza, asked what lay beyond the titans, beyond even the sea. He expressed that one day the descendants of the Giants and the Machina should leave to explore and discover new worlds, and that the inhabitants of the two titans should continue living in peace for eternity. Egil tells Sora that the peace between Bionis and Mechonis was disturbed by the presence of the Monado, which permitted the existence of only itself. Arglas took up the Monado, and in the process, he was possessed and turned into Zanza. He then engaged the Mechonis in battle before finally being sealed by the High Entia on Prison Island.

Sora asks if one turns into Zanza if they wield the Monado, to which Egil says that the Monado is Zanza himself, and that he inhabits and possesses the bodies of his own creations to continue his existence. However, he notes that Sora is a different case, seeing how he maintained a sense of self, and deems that Sora can break the curse of Zanza, and asks Meyneth, who he accepts as his god once more, if that was not precisely their wish. Sora says that while she does not understand the curse, she can at least promise him that Bionis and Mechonis, as well as its people, can live in peace again, to which Egil agrees, and the two prepare to make a truce. As Sora reaches for Egil's hand she is shot in the back - Dickson has arrived, and taken the shot.