阿斯卡纶
アスカロン
아스카론

Ascalon

Specialist — Ambusher

Deals Damage to all targets within range
50% chance to dodge Physical and Arts attacks and is less likely to be targeted by enemies

SW00
Melee
Slow
DPS

Lv.

/ 90

Bonuses

[Code Name] Ascalon
[Gender] Female
[Combat Experience] Unknown
[Place of Birth] Kazdel
[Date of Birth] Unknown
[Race] Sarkaz
[Height] 175cm
[Infection Status]
Originium crystals distributed across surface of body, confirmed Infected by medical examination.

[Physical Strength] Excellent
[Mobility] Outstanding
[Physical Resilience] Standard
[Tactical Acumen] Standard
[Combat Skill] Outstanding
[Originium Arts Assimilation] Outstanding

Ascalon, a former Babel intelligence officer. She is now in charge of S.W.E.E.P. and responsible for counter-infiltration aboard Rhodes Island.

Imaging tests show the indistinct outlines of internal organs, obscured by abnormal shadows. Originium granules detected in the circulatory system. The subject is confirmed to be infected with Oripathy.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 18%
Only Dr. Kal'tsit has the clearance to read Operator Ascalon's detailed medical records.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.45u/L
Only Dr. Kal'tsit has the clearance to read Operator Ascalon's detailed medical records.

I noticed that ever since the last time you used your Arts, the Originium crystals in your body have moved abnormally. Report to Medical for further examination as soon as you have time.
—A message from Kal'tsit to Ascalon.

If you were to ask the average Rhodes Island operator whether they know an 'Ascalon,' most would wonder if anyone going by that name really exists.
Of course, if you were willing to spend the better part of a day poring over our extensive records, you might stumble across her file. You would then be rather disappointed to learn that you spent all that effort just to find the file of a completely unremarkable operator. Disposition: normal. Abilities: average. Performance: so-so. Even the attached photo is painfully ordinary. It was clearly taken at a roadside self-service camera booth at the affordable price of ten LMD for eight copies.
But if you were to follow a series of nigh-imperceptible yet oddly specific instructions, and bypass a series of convoluted corridors designed to make your head spin, you would find yourself at the S.W.E.E.P. office. You would then realize that she is not ordinary in the slightest.
Everything 'normal' about Ascalon is a deliberate construction. She conceals all trace of herself in order to fall beneath anybody's notice. On occasion, her habit of removing herself from existence will also affect her private life. If you ever have the opportunity to go shopping with her, do not be alarmed when the clerk walks past her to hand you your purchase. Simply take your things and go. The clerk was merely unable to perceive her.
This is a skill of hers. If she is ever unexpectedly seen, she is able to erase herself from their perception. As our colleague Projekt Red once said during a rather frank evaluation of her, even standing by her side, she couldn't detect a hint of scent. Note that Projekt Red's nose is extremely sensitive, and she can normally get all the information she needs about a person from their scent.
Ascalon makes a habit of having no habits. During conservation, she will use a different voice each time she talks to someone. Her movements are efficient and without superfluous motions. Everything she does is determined by how the majority of the crowd around her is behaving. Whatever they do, she does too, all to ensure she will be forgotten. After all, nobody would pay attention to someone who never stands out.
You might be curious as to how we acquired the above information, considering her secretive nature.
S.W.E.E.P. has a special form of training: to hone their reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance skills, their members must both track Ascalon and avoid being detected by her for a week, all while gathering as much information on her as they can. Regretfully, none have managed to last the entire week as of yet. The above is all the intel they have thus far managed to discern.
The previous record holder was Ines. She tailed Ascalon for an entire morning, and managed to uncover her proclivity for high thread-count cotton clothing before her cover was blown. However, Hoederer was the one to write the report for Ines, and his fondness for rhetorical devices diminishes its usefulness.
The current record holder is Projekt Red. While she did not discover any valuable intel, she did manage to successfully stuff some tail lint into Ascalon's pocket without being noticed. It is rather difficult to imagine how she managed this feat. I suspect she has learned a lot from Ascalon herself.
—An excerpt from a note pertaining to S.W.E.E.P.'s 'manager,' strictly prohibited from being removed from their office
It won't happen again. It took me half an hour to get all that fur out.
—Ascalon's response, penned at the end of the note

[Voice Log]
I saw your message, Doctor. I must say, you've been rather curious about her ever since your experiences in Londinium, yet you've never come to ask me directly.
In the earliest days of Rhodes Island's establishment, nearly every day saw a new assassination attempt on Kal'tsit and Amiya. As the one in charge of S.W.E.E.P., Ascalon has protected Rhodes Island from the shadows from the beginning.
She is a master of close-quarters combat, personally trained by the Regent himself. Her two sleeve blades? Those are her last resorts. She will happily wield whatever is at hand first. Did you know she can kill a man with a bowl of soup barely three centimeters deep? Simply ridiculous.
In short, whatever you can imagine, she can do, along with everything you can't. I suggest not knowing too many of the details. You are a commander, after all, and it would be a pity to have your precious sleep taken over by nightmares. Oh, right, as for her Arts, I've only ever glimpsed them once. Most who have are too dead to discuss them. Perhaps you should ask Kal'tsit. She would know more.
—■■■

Forgive me, Doctor, but there is nothing I can divulge on this topic.
As the head of Medical, all I can inform you of is that the harm her Originium Arts place on her far exceeds that of your average Infected operator. Since returning from Londinium, it is our unanimous belief that she should stay completely off the frontlines. Whatever your plans for her Arts may be, I suggest you reconsider them.
—Kal'tsit

I've heard from Kal'tsit that you've been asking about my Arts. It seems you're as inquisitive as ever.
You could have just asked me directly. I have nothing to hide from you: I am the mist, and it is my blade. Simple to conceal, yet able to strike decisively at critical moments.
That is all, nothing more.
—Ascalon

Alright, now you're asking too many questions. One at a time, please.
First, Kal'tsit is right. My Arts harm me whenever I use them. On some missions, a little blurring of my outline is enough. For others, I must disappear completely into the mist.
No, it is not a smokescreen. The mist is my eyes. It misses nothing. The mist takes away life. Both mine and my enemies'. To this day, very few have lived to tell the tale.
Nobody taught me to do this. My Arts manifested while I was out hunting.
Wild animals have far sharper intuition than humans. I hid to avoid being sensed, and there is no better hiding spot than the air itself. It's also thanks to these Arts that I can survive Catastrophes.
After I first came to Kazdel, Master... Theresis taught me a lot. I put them to use, both on and off the battlefield, as well as in places far darker.
In Babel, I had even more opportunities to refine my mastery. At the time, manpower was in short supply, and on some missions, they turned out to have other, more personal uses.
Oh, you've already written another question.
...
...
Yes. It hurts. It hurts every time I use them.
—Ascalon

[Classified Log]
Target: Ascalon. Of the participants in the operation against her, only one survived.
Intelligence confirms that Babel has left the Kazdel region and is heading south towards Rim Billiton. The target is not within Babel's zone of control, and leads a small group of stranded survivors. She is isolated and helpless, and this is our best opportunity to kill her. Note that if the target goes out of control, it will be difficult to predict her actions. We request that the Regent and the General re-evaluate her threat level.
—Intel intercepted from a Military Commission contact point, Jan 15th 1095

In the wake of Theresa's death, Ascalon underwent a self-imposed exile. Before Kal'tsit recalled her, she undertook an unbroken series of assassinations and infiltrations. The intel sent back was rather sparse, and only directly related to the mission at hand. Not a single word was spared for herself.
All that we obtained were the names of the targets she had erased, trickling in one by one. At times, we had to rely on scraps of intercepted Military Commission and Victorian intel to speculate on her current circumstances. She has placed herself in great danger. As for her psychological condition... we cannot say.
She has almost completely relied solely on her own strength to purge the traitors to Babel who participated in Theresa's assassination. It is as though she believes that if she purges them, she will make up for the mistakes she made then. But our understanding is that, as far as she is concerned, every kill she makes only gives her cause to think over past events once more, which only pushes her deeper into her inner turmoil.
After some internal disagreement within Babel, Ascalon was determined to be the sole candidate to establish the path forward for Rhodes Island to follow. However, this is no reason to ignore her fall into turmoil. With Rhodes Island safe for the time being, and all threats to Amiya eliminated, there were many new things lying ahead on our path. There was no reason for us to leave Ascalon behind in the past, even if... that was her request.

[Voice Log]
I plan to recall Ascalon. We cannot leave her trapped in the past. Rhodes Island has only just been established, and we have plenty of work requiring her attention. I hope that this work can help her find a goal, faith in something, or perhaps even... a measure of regularity in her life.
Though Theresa and I never wished for her to become a weapon, in war she has become what we least wished to see.
But even a weapon should have worth beyond its wielding.
—A message from Kal'tsit to ■■■, ■■■ 22nd 109■

I admit, Doctor, I had my suspicions about you.
I suspected it was you behind the plot to assassinate Theresa, and that it was you who led those assassins onboard.
I had no proof, but the less progress I made in my investigations, the more my doubts about you grew.
Because you are the only one capable of hiding all traces of yourself. This report contains all the information I've gathered on that incident so far. I'm still undecided as to whether I should be filling in the blanks with your name.
If you want to take a look, feel free. As things are now, the answer is no longer relevant. But if my report can give you an answer of its own, then that's fine.
I'll just say it straight. At first, I wanted to keep you under observation to verify my suspicions, all for the sake of avenging Theresa. But that's not why S.W.E.E.P. was established. If you take the time to listen to meeting recordings from back then, you'll find that S.W.E.E.P. exists merely to help Rhodes Island follow the course Theresa envisioned.
Your behavior since our return from Londinium has made it clear that you are prepared to lead Rhodes Island forward again.
I'll remind you, Doctor: You don't need to torture yourself over your past. All you'll get are the same questions thrown back at you, over and over. We don't need someone else stuck in the past. Once you've forged far enough ahead, that is when we shall part. I'll stay behind and conclude this era, this section of the history books.
All of our past, all our grudges and grievances, will end with me.
Don't worry, I won't be leaving anytime soon.
In the sunlight, the shadows stay close, and in the darkness, the shadows surround.
I will always be there if you need me.
—A message from Ascalon

'These are the last of them. The traitors, the ones who know the identity of the King and tried to take Amiya to Kazdel. Rhodes Island will not be fettered by the chains of Babel's past. This is to be a new beginning.
'You still haven't wavered.'
'Aren't these your orders, Kal'tsit?'
'You have burned away all of your old belongings, and most of those who know you have died by your hand.
'You have erased the memories of yourself in other people's minds, one by one...'
'Because there's no need for them, Kal'tsit. I don't need to live on in anyone else's memories.
'...They just need to live on in mine.'

1823

ATK

954

DEF

373

RES

Cost

ATK Interval

3.5 sec

Block

Redeploy

70 sec

Talents

Mortal Interrogation
Attacks inflict the following effect on enemies: Movement Speed reduced by 18% and take 10% of Ascalon's current ATK as Arts damage per second for 25s, stacking up to 3 times.
Penumbral Image
ASPD +8; gain an additional ASPD +6 if there is high ground in the 4 adjacent tiles.

Skills

Enable advanced view in settings to display detailed data.

Pursuit
Auto RecoveryAuto Activation
Lv.
Initial SP
4
SP Cost
7
The ATK of next attack increases to 210%, attacking twice consecutively.
Can store up to 3 charge(s)
atk_scale
2.1
cnt
3
Endowment
Auto RecoveryManual Activation
Lv.
Initial SP
15
SP Cost
20
Duration
35 sec
ATK +130%, Movement Speed of ground enemies in attack range -60%, and inflict one stack of Talent 1 effect on nearby enemies when they are defeated.
atk
1.3
move_speed
-0.6
range_radius
1.3
Descent
Auto RecoveryManual Activation
Lv.
Initial SP
35
SP Cost
45
Duration
45 sec
Attack range expands, ATK +50%, Attack Interval is significantly shortened, and reduces Physical and Arts hit rate of ground enemies in attack range by -50%. More likely to be attacked by enemies, and recovers 8% max HP when enemy attacks miss or upon a successful dodge.
base_attack_time
-1.5
atk
0.5
taunt_level
2
attack@hp_ratio
0.08
attack@damage_hitrate_physical
-0.5
attack@damage_hitrate_magical
-0.5

Modules

ORIGINAL
Ascalon's Badge
Module Selected
Operator Ascalon has demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for bodily concealment and enemy ambush.
The Field Operations Department has thus passed the following resolution:
This operator shall be appointed a Specialist Operator during field operations to exercise Ambusher responsibilities.
In witness whereof,
This badge is hereby conferred upon the above named.

AMB-X

'Hidden Blade'

Select Module

Stage	Stats	Upgrade Description
1	HP +180 ATK +15	Ambusher Trait Deals Damage to all targets within range 50% chance to dodge Physical and Arts attacks and is less likely to be targeted by enemies Slows the Movement Speed of enemies within this unit's attack range by 20%
2	HP +230 ATK +33	Mortal Interrogation Attacks inflict the following effect on enemies: Movement Speed reduced by 18% and take 11% of Ascalon's current ATK as Arts damage per second for 27s, stacking up to 3 times.
3	HP +270 ATK +53	Mortal Interrogation Attacks inflict the following effect on enemies: Movement Speed reduced by 18% and take 11% of Ascalon's current ATK as Arts damage per second for 30s, stacking up to 3 times.

The deathmonger's finger curls, lightly touching the base of her palm. The blade slides along its tracks out into the fierce sunlight, pinpricks of light dripping down its edge until coming together like molten iron silently filling a mold.
In the heat, there is only quiet.
This quiet is broken by the hissing of carrion fowlbeasts. Under the scorching sun, an elderly Sarkaz lifts his head, and sees mist careening down the sides of the canyon towards him. The burdenbeast disappears, as does the canyon. The faintest shadow crosses his eyes, another layer of gray atop the ones from gazing at the forge year round.
The blade leaves his chest soon after. His skewered torso fills with blood, leaving him to drown on dry land. He remembers that this slow death was but one of many cruel punishments used in Kazdel. At first, he thinks he will spend his final moments lying flat on the hot sands, his puzzled burdenbeast his only deathbed companion. However, the deathmonger hasn't left yet. She kneels down on one knee, supporting his back.
'Oh... it's you.'
The wrinkles on his face gradually smoothen. He still remembers those eyes. Back then, he had looked up from the forge to see a girl by the general's side. She was young, but had a warrior's eyes, and hands that could tear apart a storm. Then the general told him to make her a sword.
'Can I see it one last time?' She observes the old man's longing gaze. 'I... didn't see it clearly just now.'
The deathmonger looks towards her wrist. She remembers those willing to die for their cause. The armories of the Military Commission offered excellent equipment, but... She places her hand on the old man's chest. The death-defying fighters were prepared. Kazdel's finest smith had personally forged their regicidal blades.
Her finger curls, lightly touching the base of her palm. The blade slides along its tracks out into the fierce sunlight, pinpricks of light dripping up its edge until coming together. The old man strokes these points of light. He knows their true identity. Every parry, every strike, leaves a scar upon its edge. Some of the scars are stained with his blood.
'As I forged it... the fires told me that one day, it would take my life. But... it was a commission from the general.' The old man raises his torso, struggling to breathe as he lifts his head to look into his deathmonger's eyes.
'How about you? Shadow beneath the sun. Who commissioned you... to settle this account?'
The deathmonger does not answer. She covers his eyes with her palm, allowing her sleeve-blade to cut across his throat. The carrion fowlbeasts whirl down from above the canyon, crowding into the shadows of the cliff and rubbing their beaks against one another's feathers.

AMB-Y

'Eyes of Ascalon'

Select Module

Stage	Stats	Upgrade Description
1	ATK +55 DEF +25	Ambusher Trait Deals Damage to all targets within range 65% chance to dodge Physical and Arts attacks and is less likely to be targeted by enemies
2	ATK +70 DEF +45	Mortal Interrogation Attacks inflict the following effect on enemies: Movement Speed reduced by 18% and take 10% of Ascalon's current ATK as Arts damage per second for 25s, stacking up to 3 times; when enemies with this effect are defeated, Ascalon recovers 5% HP
3	ATK +80 DEF +60	Mortal Interrogation Attacks inflict the following effect on enemies: Movement Speed reduced by 18% and take 10% of Ascalon's current ATK as Arts damage per second for 25s, stacking up to 3 times; when enemies with this effect are defeated, Ascalon recovers 10% HP

You notice the sudden appearance of an exquisite humidifier on your desk. You learn from Closure that Ascalon put it there.
The strands of mist resemble Ascalon's eyes. You know how her Originium Arts work, and are sure that any strange movement in your room will send the master assassin emerging from this humidifier within three seconds.
But why did she send you this 'gift'? To protect, or to surveil you? You know Ascalon does not need a prop like this to watch anyone, and it showing up here serves more as a warning than any practical function—that she is watching you. You feel a little helpless, but from any other point of view, there is ample reason on her part to keep her eyes on you after the incident that brought pain to everyone on Rhodes Island.
You remember what you have gone through together, albeit with perhaps an imperfect working relationship. You think of the beginning, when she was showing utmost vigilance, and remember the battlefields of Victoria when she risked her life again and again to save yours. It took three relatively stable years for her to gradually become a familiar figure to you.
Among Rhodes Island's operators, Ascalon may be the most mysterious of all. She is the organization's shadow, and a dagger serving as its defender. You can only piece her past together from what the other Elite Operators tell you, and get a sense of her determination from reviewing her combat records. No matter what, you have always trusted Ascalon, because she has proved—too many times to count—that when you and Rhodes Island need her, she is always there.
But how does she see herself? Perhaps it is time to have a heart-to-heart with everyone...
'Ascalon.'
You call out softly to the humidifier.
One, two... sixty seconds pass, but Ascalon does not float out from it. At that very moment, someone knocks on your office door.
Ascalon stands at the entrance with a document in hand.
'I believe now is the time.' Ascalon gives you the file.
'I will hand S.W.E.E.P.'s command privileges over to you. From today onwards, S.W.E.E.P. will no longer exist independently from the Rhodes Island system. It can take on any field work or security operations. As for how to integrate us into Rhodes Island and turn us into regulars in the eyes of the other operators, that is up to you.'
'Why?'
'I made this choice after careful consideration. Amiya has already been informed, and she has no objections. She also hoped I would inform you directly—
'We believe a dagger is most effective when placed in the hands of a commander who can see the entire chessboard, so we can nip our next threat in the bud before its too late. Currently, you are the most suitable person in Rhodes Island, Doctor, so—Doctor, are you listening?'
'O-Of course.'
'I was just wondering... what's with this humidifier?'
'A little gadget from Medical. Touch gave it to me. You can add a sedative in there for pain relief, but it also works normally as a humidifier.
'The weather is quite dry here, so everyone could use one. I also left one in Amiya's room, but I'm not sure if Mon3tr will need one—do you have a problem with it?
'...No, not really.'
'Thank you, Ascalon.'

RIIC Base Skills

S.W.E.E.P. Supervisor
When this Operator is assigned to the Control Center, if an Operator is conducting Skill Specialization in the Training Room, that Operator's Specialization training speed +5% (Only the strongest effect of this type takes place).
Intel Mastermind
When this Operator is assigned to the Control Center, all Trading Posts' order efficiency +7% (only the most effective one will take effect when assigned Operators have the same skill effect)