Canto VI: The Heartbreaking

Overview

Story Episodes

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Canto VI: The Heartbreaking
← Intervallo III - 2
Intervallo IV - 1 →
Season	Season 4: Clear All Cathy
Focus Sinner	Heathcliff
Story
Location	T Corp. (District 20)
Date	984-11
Involved Factions	Limbus Company Wuthering Heights The Wild Hunt Edgar Family Dead Rabbits N Corp. The Ring
Involved Factions	Limbus Company Wuthering Heights The Wild Hunt Edgar Family Dead Rabbits N Corp. The Ring
Character Debuts	Catherine Nelly Erlking Heathcliff Aseah Linton Hindley Josephine
Character Debuts	Catherine Nelly Erlking Heathcliff Aseah Linton Hindley Josephine

The Heartbreaking is the sixth Story Chapter in Limbus Company, taking place between Intervallo III: Yield My Flesh to Claim Their Bones and Intervallo IV: Timekilling Time.

This Canto released in three parts, with Part 1 releasing on March 28th, 2024 and Parts 2 and 3 releasing in the following two weeks.

Summary

The LCB arrives in T Corp's Nest without incident. Heathcliff reveals he was taken into Wuthering Heights to act as a servant, and was abused by mostly everyone but Catherine due to being born in the Backstreets. On the way there, they spot a man with colored clothes being mugged by gangsters low on "time". They learn from the victim that a lot of people have been going missing, being seen as a "mass kidnapping" by a Syndicate.

The Sinners finally reach Wuthering Heights, but before heading off the bus, Ishmael questions why Vergilius doesn't do anything for them. The Color reveals the reason he does not partake in any battles is because of a contract he signed with Limbus Company, preventing him from doing anything. Rodion and Hong Lu then dress up Heathcliff in fancy clothes to look presentable to Catherine.

Passing the gates to reach the inside of the manor, they meet the mansion's chief butler Nelly, who guides them to the room where the other guests are; Linton, backed by the Wuthering Heights staff, and Hindley, backed by the Dead Rabbits, Heathcliff's old syndicate. As some barbs are passed, Heathcliff learns from Nelly and Linton that Catherine married Linton shortly after Heathcliff left the manor. Heathcliff then learns something worse: that Catherine had passed, and he was part of the will-reading by the Öufi Association. This causes Heathcliff to become bereaved over Cathy's supposed passing.

Catherine's will leaves Linton the estate, Hindley to be committed to a rehab center at M Corp. for his addictions, and Heathcliff, "her" Golden Bough when "the seventh lightning strikes". This causes Dante to realize there are two Golden Bough located in the manor. As Heathcliff cries for Cathy to hear him, another lightning strike causes the manor to suddenly reshuffle. This also causes the Dead Rabbits to go berserk and start attacking the manor, with the Wuthering Height butlers fighting them. After saving an ungrateful Hindley from the butlers due to blamed for the Syndicate's actions, the Sinners investigate Cathy's old room to find any clues and find her diary. Along the way, they begin to notice things off about said Syndicate, mainly how they lacked watches and how they act.

The diary eventually leads them to the fireplace, where Linton awaits and cruelly tell Heathcliff off for being "Catherine's murderer" after he left, before having his butlers attack the group. However, when Cathy's diary begins to react, causing Linton to stop fighting and instead, open the way into the basement, stating it as "Catherine's will". Traversing down the steps and fighting off against evolved Peccatum, the Sinners discover a laboratory based on Yi Sang's mirror tech attached to a coffin that houses both Catherine and one of the Golden Boughs, operated by the "Öufi", who are revealed as ex-Ring scientists, alongside another of Yi Sang's friends from the League of Nine, Aseah. After the "Öufi" are killed by the Sinners, they are attacked by a still-bitter Hindley and the Dead Rabbits as back up. The Dead Rabbit Boss, however, does nothing but aggravate Hindley's fragile mental state until he hints that he was the one who made Hindley loose everything in a gambling match, causing Hindley to distort into a werewolf-like form before dying.

The Dead Rabbit Boss then attempts to activate something on Catherine's coffin, but is stopped by Heathcliff, who demands to know who he actually is. The Dead Rabbit Boss is then revealed to be another Heathcliff Identity, one that seeks to kill every Heathcliff in existence due to seeing all of them as Cathy's murders. Heathcliff, unable to handle these events and after seemingly beating the alternate Heathcliff to death with a corroded Bodysack, distorts into a wolf monster that rampages across the lab. The Sinners manage to restore him back to normal, with help from the diary.

Linton comes in and reveals the lab was built by Catherine, and the "kidnappings" were a result of him approaching various individuals through T Corp. to help in the research for Cathy's sake. It is also revealed that the previous vessel for the Heathcliff Identity was Linton's sister Isabella. After the last of his butlers are killed and his illness begins to take him, when the next lightning strikes, he willing attaches mirror tech machinery to himself and pulls the switch the Identity attempted to beforehand, melting away into a puddle of flesh. Aseah explains that Linton's fate was a process called "dough", part of N Corp's plans of "true humanity". Before leaving, Asesah uses Linton's "dough" to allow the Heathcliff Identity return in his strongest form: Erlking Heathcliff, leader of the Wild Hunt. After killing Josephine with ease, the Erlking then summons various Hindleys, Lintons, and Josephines that he killed, as well as reviving the Peccatum as well. The horde overwhelms the Sinners, but Vergillus arrives and saves them due to how familiar the laboratory is to the one he lost everything in, and holds them back while the Sinners go up ahead to stop Erlking Heathcliff from reaching the second bough.

Dante awakens a new power that slows down time for everyone outside of the Sinners, and catch up to the Erlking, with Meursault using his E.G.O to slow him down. The Sinners then realize that the mysteries surrounding Wuthering Heights can be traced back to whoever sparked Catherine's desire to experiment with mirror tech, with the culprit being Nelly. Nelly then frees Erlking before explaining how after being shown the Mirror World herself and seeing her fate of being dragged down thanks to Heathcliff and Cathy's strife until she was nothing but an "old hag", gave Cathy the mirror, causing Cathy to meet an Identity of herself that represents every single version of Catherine, calling herself "Heathcliff's murderer" due to always making him miserable. Cathy then sank further into depression, yet wishing for Heathcliff's happiness, takes command of Wuthering Heights by having Nelly use her connections to bankrupt Hindley. Nelly would then introduce Cathy to Hermann, who would help her in Mirror World research in her quest to erase every version of herself to save Heathcliff. Cathy was eventually trick her into entering the coffin that would scatter her consciousness across the manor while all she could do was watch as Erlking Heathcliff was summoned using Linton's sister, and the other tragedies that follow.

While initially erased from existence when Erlking Heathcliff reaches the second Golden Bough alongside Nelly's cutting words, Dante's powers save Heathcliff. During the process, Heathcliff hears the entire conversation that motivated him to leave Wuthering Heights, learning that Catherine always loved him. After coming back determined to meet Cathy again, and being the only person left in Catherine's will, Heathcliff gains ownership of Wuthering Heights and frees Nelly from servitude before confronting the Erlking again. Heathcliff then stabs himself with Golden Bough attached to the rooftop that was gathering power for the Erlking's plans, letting him reach out to his Cathy from across the manor before it's set back into place and summons Every Catherine, an identity that covers every Catherine in existence.

However, Heathcliff's efforts allows his Cathy to resist the summoning and eventually, makes contact with Dante using their Notes. Using the opportunity, Heathcliff finally confesses how he feels to Catherine, much to her happiness. She then directs Dante to use the power of the Golden Boughs to erases all version of herself from existence, finally freeing all Heathcliffs from their tragedies and ending the Erlking as well. In the aftermath, only Dante and Heathcliff have any recollection of Cathy existing. With everyone too tired from the battle, Nelly appears and takes the Bough attached to the rooftop, planning on joining the one who showed her the mirror, Hermann. The sinners reclaim the one that was used to summon Every Catherine, now white and burned. Heathcliff vows to reclaim the one Nelly took and believes he can save his Catherine from non-existence.

Post-credits, the Sinners are tracking down a small-scale distortion with Heathcliff back to his old self again. Demian appears before Dante and speaks cryptically about a vast garden of roses, all different versions of a rose once cared for by them. Dante figures out that Demian's riddle represents how the rose they truly loved was the one they had left behind and Demian further explains that each Heathcliff and Catherine cared for each other instead of the infinite Heathcliffs and Catherines of the Mirror Worlds. When asking what happens to "the other flowers", Demain states he'll answer when they can "draw him a sheep" before leaving.

Enemies

• T Corp. Gangsters
• Dead Rabbits
• Wuthering Heights Butlers
• Edgar Family Butlers
• Researchers of the Ring?
• The Reaved Lamenter
• The Heartbroken
• The Wild Hunt
• The Erlking
• The Reflections

Trivia

• Heathcliff starts all encounters from Stage 6-14 to Stage 6-34 with the Bereavement Bereavement
  Turn End: At -15 or higher SP, lose 10 SP.
  When hit, lose 2 SP and gain 1 Offense Level Up next turn. (3 times per turn)
  Turn Start: at less than 0 SP, gain 3 Attack Power Up. status, making him lose 10 SP every turn when above -15 SP, lose 2 SP when hit and gain 1 Offense Level Up Offense Level Up
  Offense Level +X for this turn. next turn (up to 3 times per turn), and gain 3 Attack Power Up Attack Power Up
  Attack Skill Final Power +X for this turn. when under 0 SP.
  • Starting in Stage 6-37, Heathcliff starts all encounters with the Determination Determination
    When hit, gain 1 Offense Level Up next turn. (3 times per turn)
    Turn Start: at less than 0 SP, gain 3 Attack Power Up. status, making him gain 1 Offense Level Up Offense Level Up
    Offense Level +X for this turn. the turn after being hit (up to 3 times per turn) as well as gaining 3 Attack Power Up Attack Power Up
    Attack Skill Final Power +X for this turn. when under 0 SP.
  • During the final phase of Stage 6-48, Heathcliff gains the Courage to Approach Courage to Approach
    - Turn End: Heal 10 SP
    - Gain 3 Attack Power Up and 5 Protection every turn
    - When attacked, heal 5 SP. Gain 1 Offense Level Up next turn. (3 times per turn)
    - Turn Start: If at less than 0 SP, gain 3 Attack Power Up.
    - As long as there are 1 or more other surviving ally in this Encounter, Heathcliff's HP does not drop below 1. status.
  • As Wild Hunt Heathcliff, these gets replaced by Unending Bereavement Unending Bereavement
    Every Turn Start: heal 5 SP
    When hit, lose 3 SP and gain 2 Offense Level Up next turn (3 times per turn)
    Turn Start: at less than 0 SP, gain 3 Attack Power Up, Pouring Wrath Pouring Wrath
    Turn End: heal 10 SP
    When hit, gain 1 Offense Level Up next turn (3 times per turn)
    Turn Start: at less than 0 SP, gain 3 Attack Power Up
    Turn Start: if this unit has Dullahan, gain 1 Damage Up and 3 Defense Level Down and Faded Promise Faded Promise
    Turn End: heal 15 SP
    On Hit, gain 1 Offense Level Up next turn (3 times per turn)
    Turn Start: at less than 20 SP, gain 3 Attack Power Up
    Turn Start: if this unit has Dullahan, gain 3 Damage Up and 3 Offense Level Up
    At 1 HP, heal 40% HP and 25 SP (once per Encounter) respectively.
• This Canto has a unique interaction between a specific Sinner Identity during a story encounter.
  • If Edgar Family Chief Butler Ryōshū is brought into Stage 6-45, she will have a unique line of dialogue.
  • Wild Hunt Heathcliff has unique lines of dialogue for several Stages within this Canto.
• After the Canto is completed all preexisting mentions of Catherine's name made by Mirror World Heathcliffs change to square censor boxes, such as in his The Pequod Harpooner and N Corp. Klienhammer Identities. Similarly, his Wild Hunt Identity unlocks a different Identity Story and set of Voicelines, without any knowledge of Catherine. If deployed in Stages that precede the end of the Canto, such as previous Cantos and Intervallos, the Identity will use the Pre Canto VI dialogue.
• This is the first Canto to not have a Story Dungeon.