Prince Euden/Synopsis

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Backstory

Born as the seventh son of King Aurelius and descendant of the founder king Alberius, Euden was close to his siblings, playing with his eldest sister Chelle, training with his elder brother Valyx and spending time with his twin sister Zethia, who he was closest to. He was also trained in the art of swordfighting by the captain of the Royal Guard, Leif, and would write stories in his spare time which Zethia would critique.

Sometime in his youth, Euden's mother, the queen is killed in a tempest caused by a dragon when she attempts to offer aid to a town ravaged by heavy storms. This causes his elder brother, Leonidas to hate dragons and the power they held over the world and seek to make humanity independent of them. Aurelius also becomes the sole caretaker of the family and according to Euden, he would cook them dinner and tell them stories when they went to sleep. Sometime later Euden and Zethia also encounter the faerie Notte outside the capital one day, and decide to take her into their household, becoming her best friends and companions.

Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

One of the Sacred Shards, fragments of a powerful relic that repels fiends away from Alberia, begins to deteriorate, so King Aurelius sends Euden to obtain another one as his other siblings are busy governing their own regions. However, due to the holy nature of the Shards, Euden must forge a pact with a dragon, so he goes to the Mistholt to seek the pact of one of the Greatwyrms, the Windwyrm Midgardsomr, as well as find a Shard rumoured to be hidden there, while Aurelius heads to the Binding Ruins to search for another one.

On the way, he is attacked by fiends but is saved by Zethia and her faerie friend Notte, who despite his warnings, came to aid him. They carry on until they are suddenly stopped by a masked girl who tells them to turn back, and in an effort to stop Euden, attacks as well as summoning fiends. Euden is badly injured and cries out to Midgardsomr, who answers his call and grants him a pactstone, allowing him to turn into a dragon. He transforms and swiftly defeats all the fiends as well as breaking the girl's mask, whose face is revealed to be similar to Zethia's. The girl flees, and the party is overjoyed at Euden's new pact. Just then, Midgardsomr tells him that their pact is only temporary, and that to have a more permanent pact, he must journey to the Mistholt to challenge him. Feeling that he earned the pact too easily, he accepts the challenge and journeys onward.

On the way, they meet a Paladyn who is being attacked by a mysterious assassin, fortunately, the party steps in, causing the assassin to flee. The Paladyn reveals her name as Elisanne, and out of gratitude for saving her, she joins Euden's party. Elisanne tells Euden that she heard of a mercenary in the town of Rovetelle who saw a dragon in the Mistholt, so they go off to find him. The mercenary Ranzal initially declines as Euden's older brother, Emile, refused to help them find another Shard even though he possessed a pact with one of the Greatwyrms, Mercury and fears Euden would do the same. Euden insists he help them, so he tells them to come into the forest and battle him. They win, and Ranzal, impressed by Euden's bravery and strength, joins the party.

They finally arrive at the Mistholt and meet Midgardsomr, who, as promised, challenges them to a battle. Euden wins and Midgardsomr seals the pact with him, as well as pointing them in the direction of the Shard along with sending Cleo, a Sylvan who has watched over the Mistholt for centuries and former servant of Alberius, with them.

They arrive at the Shard but just as they are about to obtain it, a man that looks like King Aurelius arrives and attacks, demanding they hand over Zethia. The party are powerless to stop him due to him blocking their mana and hitting extremely hard until suddenly Euden transforms into a huge white dragon, injuring the man. However, he still manages to get up and Euden, sustaining several wounds, is unable to shapeshift so Zethia agrees to go with the man in exchange for him sparing the party's lives. The man takes her and the Shard and powerless to stop him, Cleo guides the party to an ancient castle, the Halidom, to rest before heading to the capital.

Chapter 2: The Waterwyrm's Cradle

Upon their arrival to the capital, Euden's mentor and captain of the Royal Guard, Leif, appears and tells them to head back, as not only has the king changed, declaring war on all other nations, but Alberia has been renamed the Dyrenell Empire after an evil empire that existed centuries ago. Just then, Harle, captain of the Capital Guard appears and tries to arrest Euden on charges of kidnapping Zethia and unleashing fiends on the capital. Emile arrives as well and claims that it was his right to arrest Euden, giving an opportunity for the party to escape.

After several days on the run, Euden and the party stop to rest, but are spotted by a Sylvan archer called Luca, who mistakes them for members of the Dyrenell Empire and blames them for his sister's disappearance. However, he is badly wounded and passes out halfway through his monologue, so Cleo heals him. When he comes to, Euden explains that they are in fact fugitives running from the empire. Luca explains that Emile had arrived earlier and with his pact dragon, the Waterwyrm Mercury, threatened his village to submit to the empire. Luca tries to attack him but is knocked out by Mercury and gets washed up at the lakeside. Luca realises Euden is in fact the traitor that the empire is searching for, but decides not to report them but joins them instead due to them having a common enemy.

They arrive at Luca's village, which has been laid to waste. Fortunately, there are no bodies which means the villagers escaped, and they also see Luca's little sister Sarisse who is being interrogated for the location of the other villagers. They manage to rescue Sarisse who leads them to where the villagers are hiding. Euden devises a plan to repel the empire from the ares, starting with killing the fiends let loose by the empire. After that, the Sylvans launch a raid on the imperial soldiers, but just as Emile is about to launch a charge against the Sylvans, Euden appears and challenges Emile, distracting him from the Sylvans as they chase down the party. Emile sends Mercury to attack them, who, though reluctant, fights Euden as she is pactbound to Emile. She is defeated but Emile keeps kicking her and forces her to keep fighting until Luca threatens to shoot Emile, recognising that Mercury spared him when she attacked. Euden persuades Mercury to fight back for what is right, but she reveals Emile proimsed her he would protect her oceans with his wealth, thus she formed a pact with him. Emile reveals it was just a lie, so Mercury, disgusted, severs her pact with Emile and forms a new one with Euden. Harle arrives, ridiculing Emile's loss of his pact before announcing that as they spoke, King Aurelius or at least the man that looked like him, was trying to kill the Flamewyrm on Mount Adolla, which was causing the volcano to erupt. The party quickly sets off to rescue the Flamewyrm.

Chapter 3: The Flamewyrm's Adobe

Euden and the party venture into Mt Adolla, where they find King Aurelius battling the Flamewyrm and dealing heavy damage with Zethia and Harle at his side, with Zethia trying to convince him to stop his assault. Aurelius tries to attack Euden but is hit by the Flamewyrm, distracting him, so Notte tells Zethia to come with them. However, Zethia refuses, saying that she as an Auspex, she has a duty to fulfill which means following King Aurelius. She also tells King Aurelius to stop attacking the Flamewyrm as she is already mortally wounded. They leave, so Euden tries to comfort the Flamewyrm but she doesn't trust them and flies away sadly, leaving him and the party to chase after her. They find her surrounded by fiends unleashed by Aurelius to finish her off, so while Cleo tends to the Flamewyrm, Euden and the party finish off the fiends. They finish off the fiends just in time for Cleo to close the Flamewyrm's wounds. When she asks Euden why he and the party are helping her, he tells her it is protect her, which she doesn't believe.

The volcano starts to rumble due to a disruption in the mana, so the Flamewyrm heads to the epicenter of the volcano to attempt to right the problem. However, there are still fiends and she is so wounded, so Euden and the party follow her just in case. The Flamewyrm doesn't have enough mana to quell the eruption, so she begrudgingly allows Euden to form a pact with her as the pactsone's mana would be enough but not before engaging him in battle. He defeats the Flamewyrm who asks him again why he seeks her pact. He tells her that while he does indeed seek her pact for power to protect people, none of that was on his mind when he came to rescue her. The Flamewyrm is touched and forges the pact, and the pactstone absorbs all the imbalanced mana and stops the eruption. She introduces herself as Brunhilda decides to follow Euden along as well, transforming into a humanoid form that she asks him to call Mym as that was the name of the woman her form is based on, before hugging him and calling him "darling".

Chapter 4: The Lightwyrm's Roost

Under Mym's advice, Euden and the party go off to the Dornith Mountains in search of the Lightwyrm Jupiter. Along the way, they spot Emile who seeks to form a pact with him after he lost his with Mercury. Euden ignores him though as he doesn't want any unnecessary confrontation. However, sometime later they see Emile and his soldiers resting nearby with a cage of fiends. A bolt of lightning suddenly strikes down from the heavens and opens the cage, setting the fiends free who attack Emile and his men. Euden and the party rush off to save them and although Emile's men are thankful, Emile is not and is angered that Euden is attempting to seek a pact with Jupiter as well. Euden advises Emile not to seek another pact as he would likely be rejected but he refuses, so the party sets off again. Exhausted, they take a break near the summit where Euden spots Emile who managed to outlast all his men, leaving him impressed. Suddenly, a strom cloud forms and with a burst of lightning, Jupiter descends from the heavens and greets both scions.

Emile demands that Jupiter form a pact with him while Mym tells Jupiter to form a pac with Euden, so Jupiter decides to ask both of the brothers what their intentions for seeking a pact are, which Emile expresses is to gain more power and Euden expresses is to protect his kingdom. Jupiter admires the earnestness of both brothers, and tells them to seek him at the peak where he will test them. They arrive but Emile is scared off by one of Jupiter's lightning bolts and instead commands Euden from behind a rock. Euden defeats Jupiter but as he considers Emile's commanding as a victory against him as well, he doesn't give Euden the pact and instead orders them to fight to the death over his pact. Emile immediately jumps at the opportunity and attacks, ranting about how Euden manages to steal the spotlight from him, while Euden tries to tell Emile that killing him won't satisfy him. Euden disarms Emile so Jupiter orders him to strike the finishing blow, which Euden refuses as not only is Emile unarmed, no matter what horrible things he did, he's still family. He is disgusted by Jupiter's sadism and tells him that he will make sure that his behaviour is corrected, one way or another.

Jupiter bursts out laughing, revealing it to have all been an act and a test of character. He chooses Euden as his pactbearer, causing Emile to walk away, angrily swearing vengeance against him. Euden decides to make a pact with the final living Greatwyrm: Zodiark the Shadowwyrm. Jupiter suddenly feels a change in the atmosphere and the mysterious girl from earlier appears. She is horrified that Euden has claimed a fourth pact but tells him to head to the Binding Ruins where he can save Zethia. While the party is skeptical, Euden accepts the offer as it is their only hope of saving Zethia and follows her to the ruins.

Chapter 5: Bound

On the way to the ruins, Euden sees a number of villagers who lost their homes to the Dyrenell empire, so he directs them to the Halidom where they can find food and shelter. As they approach the ruins, the mysterious girl starts to flicker away but tells them to keep going. On the way, Cleo notices that the mana in the ruins is foul and unnatural. They overhear two soldiers talking about Zethia and Aurelius, proving that the girl was honest.

As they venture into the ruins, Mym notices that Aurelius gave off a similar, familiar aura as the air in the ruins so Elisanne theorises that whatever changed Aurelius is also causing the emission of dark mana, but he must have come back for a reason, so Luca theorises he's here to kill Zodiark. The mysterious girl reappears, and continues guiding the party along.

After killing an exceptionally powerful fiend, Mym notices its dead flesh is still moving, and deduces the culprit of the unnatural mana: the Other, a powerful demon from another world that she, Alberius and the other Greatwyrms worked together to defeat and seal away, realising that the being is the reason behind Aurelius's personality change. They catch up to the Other in Aurelius's body and Zethia and see him remarking that even though he dislikes the ruins as they bring back memories of Alberius, he must be there to accomplish two things: awaken a part of himself sealed away within the ruins where he can perform a ritual with Zethia and with her power, unleash the Flow Eternal. Euden and the party reveal themselves to the demon but he summons fiends to occupy them and runs away with Zethia further into the ruins.

The party defeats the fiends and catches up to them, where Euden commands the Other to release his father and sister. The mysterious girl also warns Zethia that while she intends to destroy the Other herself, she doesn't have the power needed but she can offer it so together, they use holy mana to attack the Other. However, due to Aurelius's dragonpact, the Other survives and summons his pactwyrm: the Shadowwyrm Zodiark, who destroys the mysterious girl and knocks out Zethia, allowing him to escape further into the ruins to perform the ritual. The party chase them down where they are surrounded by fiends, so Ranzal, Elisanne, Mym, Luca and Cleo deal with them while Euden and Notte keep up the chase.

Euden finds Zethia fighting Aurelius and steps in between them, protecting her. Aurelius tells Euden to step aside as he doesn't know what he's doing, but he firmly tells him that Zethia will not be hurt again. Out of the blue, Zethia backstabs Euden and reveals that the ritual was already completed and that the Other is possessing her now. Using Zethia's holy mana, the Other attacks Euden but Aurelius blocks the attack with his body, dealing a fatal blow. As he dies in Euden's arms, Aurelius gives up his soul as mana to Zodiark, who following his master's final wishes, chases after the Other who is going to unleash the Flow Eternal. Euden wishes to join but Zodiark stops him, saying that it is his duty and he should find safety. Euden and the party follow behind regardless.

Euden catches up to Zodiark, only to find him in a critical condition from his fight with the Other. Zodiark begs him to fight him as once their fight is over, they can form a pact so the pactstone's mana would sustain him. They fight and with the pact sealed, Zodiark is restored. With the power of the Six Greatwyrms, Euden faces off the Other who reveals his ultimate plan: remove the seals on the other Binding Ruins with Zethia's power to unleash the Flow Eternal: an endless horde of fiends birthed from negative emotions, and using it, destroy all dragons and create an ideal world where everybody worships him. Euden points out the Other's hypocrisy and the mysterious girl, who survived Zodiark's attack, appears as well to confront Zethia. She tells Euden that while she is powerless to stop the Other, she can still keep Euden safe and teleports him and the party back to the Halidom, but not before telling him to seek the Dawnshard. With the party gone, the Other declares herself Empress Zethia, Auspex of the Nether and ruler of the Dyrenell Empire.

Anniversary Event: Fractured Futures

Sometime after the events of Chapter 5, Euden has repeated nightmares of not being able to save Zethia and wishes to himself that he could've stopped the Other. Just then, a voice tells him that his wish is granted and in a flash of light, Euden is transported to a forest in the Mistholt. Just as he tries to get home, he hears his own voice and turning around, sees himself, Zethia and the Other in Aurelius's body fighting, just like on the day she was taken. Unable to withhold his emotions, Euden bursts out from hiding and confronts the Other, much to the shock of his other self. He demands the demon to release Aurelius, which causes the Other to realise that Euden could not have known that Aurelius was possessed unless he time travelled, but tries to kill him again. Fortunately, Euden is whisked away just in time.

Awakening back in his room, Euden wonders if it was a dream, but a small, grey dragon appears and confirms to him that it was real. The dragon introduces himself as Chronos and tells him that he simply wishes to fulfil Euden's wish of changing his regrets, and informs him that he can change the past via his power of time travelling. Euden accepts Chronos's offer to help him and travels to a time before Aurelius went to seek out the Sacred Shard. They see him conversing with a Tutelary named Delphi, a member of a tribe who have protected the shards for centuries. Delphi objects to the plan of removing the Sacred Shard, telling him that it is incredibly dangerous to remove the shards, but although Aurelius notes that his words are true, he goes anyways. Euden tries to stop him but a man calling himself Audric appears before him and blocks his path, telling him that time must continue its natural flow and the king has to go to the ruins. Euden, overcome with emotion tries to get him out of the way and the two duel, but Audric seemingly recognises his fighting style and defeats him. Audric tells Euden to abandon this quest and instead find the power to free Zethia, but he stubbornly refuses to and strikes back. However, time runs out for Euden and he has to return to his original time, but not before Audric warns him that meddling with time could spell disastrous consequences.

Back in his original time, Euden begins to have doubts about what he's doing, but with Chronos's encouragement, he decides to take another trip, this time to the Binding Ruins before his father enters. He tries to keep up with Aurelius but once again, Audric intervenes, telling him that this matter is one that he should not interfere in. Euden gets attacked, but Chronos saves him by collapsing the ceiling and once again, they chase after Aurelius. However, they are too late as Aurelius touches the shard just as Euden enters, with the Other possessing him and killing some guards. Euden tells the shocked bystanders and Delphi to back off, and at this moment Audric enters and tries to strike down Aurelius, revealing his plan to be to destroy the Other's soul completely. The Other summons Zodiark to attack him but Audric convinces him to resist the demon's control, allowing for an opening to attack. However, the Other summons fiends using the miasma he's been accumulating over the centuries and distracts them while he escapes.

The fiends are defeated but Euden begins to despair that whatever he does he can't change these events. Chronos tells him that despite that, there are two people doing the same thing, one being Audric and the other being the mysterious girl that looks like Zethia. Euden realises that with the girl's own time travelling capabilities, they could change the future for good. They track down the girl through time and manage to catch up with her, but just as he tries to ally himself to her, Chronos reveals that he hasn't been working for him at all and reveals his true form: a huge, kaiju-esque dragon with six wings on a golden wheel. He reveals his true goal is to kill the other Zethia for his master and attacks. Audric explains to Euden that the dragon has been using him for his own ends. Chronos tries to return Euden to his original timeline, stating that he has no intention of harming him as he will be of use to his true liege later on, but Euden, accepting responsibility for letting him achieve his goals, stays behind and helps Audric fight Chronos and protect the other Zethia.

Euden seemingly defeats Chronos, but the dragon rewinds time and heals all his wounds, forcing Euden to fight him over and over again, until finally he's too exhausted to move. Chronos swiftly kills the other Zethia and Euden and Audric are pulled back into the original timeline. Audric prepares to leave, but Euden begs him for his help to stop Chronos before he manages to commit any of the atrocities. He tells him that while he can only transport himself through time, he can find somebody to help him time travel so he brings Euden to the former court sorceress Cassandra. She explains that the other worlds are in fact, different streams of time which can be crossed via the space between them, and Chronos's time travelling is simply finding the right timeline and hopping into them. Audric reveals that he has a connection to the dragon and tells Euden that he knows which timeline to go to, but just before they leave, he warns him that the timeline Chronos comes from could be very disturbing to him. However, Euden insists that he'll be alright and will work to stop Chronos no matter what.

Euden arrives in the future from which Chronos comes from and finds the Halidom in ruins, where Audric reveals that in this timeline, the Other possessed Euden and with his power, killed all his allies or forced them to flee. Entering the ruins, he spots Notte and gives chase as she runs away, believing him to be the Euden from her timeline. When he finally catches up to her and attempts to comfort her, she breaks down in tears, vowing to never forgive him for what he's done and to avenge her fallen friends. Fortunately, Audric arrives and explains that the Euden before her is one from another time, but before he can finish, Chronos arrives, intent on using Notte's timeline to track down the past Euden. However, seeing Euden before him, he realises that his future self succeeded in his goals, so he tries to tempt Euden to give up and submit to his master, the Other and become his vessel. Euden refuses and alongside Audric, challenges him to a final duel.

The two manage to deal heavy damage to Chronos, and just before he can time travel, Audric, revealing that Chronos is in fact an amalgamation of the deceased Greatwyrms, summons Zodiark from him who bursts from his chest. Chronos finds that due to the loss of Zodiark he can no longer rewind time so Euden deals the decisive blow, ending the wicked dragon once and for all. Euden thanks Audric for his help and future Notte apologises for her initial reaction and wariness of him, but he tells her that it's alright, knowing what horrors she went through. Before Euden returns to his original time, Audric offers to reveal what happens to the young prince in the future, but he declines, stating that he believes in creating his own future. Audric quips that there could be hope after all and fades from the timeline. Euden returns to his own time, but after thinking through Cassandra's words of timelines of other possibilities, he realises that Audric, possessing a pact with Zodiark and having a fatherly look in his eyes, is none other than a parallel version of Euden's own father, Aurelius, later revealed to be in his youth after Chronos failed to erase his pact by rewinding time.

Chapters 6-10

Chapter 6: The Halidom's Crisis

Although he returns safely to the Halidom, Euden is melancholic for most of the time due to not being able to save Zethia but with support from his friends continues providing shelter to refugees from the Dyrenell Empire. One day, Ranzal spots a platoon of Imperial troops flying a flag with a bear on it, which Euden recognises as his brother Valyx's crest. The troop had managed to break through Midgradsormr's wall of winds so Euden and the party go and confront them. He meets with Valyx and tells him to withdraw as they mean no harm but Valyx, suspicious of the amount of refugees in the Halidom and fearing they might amass into a threat to the Empire even if they don't have a clear purpose yet, refuses. However, as his men are tired, he withdraws but not without warning Euden that he has his eye on him.

Euden reflects upon Valyx's words and realises he was right: since they failed to save Zethia, they have no purpose anymore. However, he refuses to let those words of doubt distract him and goes off to fend off a group of fiends from a village. When he returns, some villagers cheer him on as a king so Euden quickly realises what his purpose was all along: to give people a safe space from the conflict all around the continent and thus decides to found the kingdom of New Alberia. So, Euden sets off to make his purpose clear to Valyx. However, Valyx notes that Euden setting up a kingdom in Dyrenell territory is an act of aggression and thus challenges Euden to a battle to test his worth as a monarch by seeing his strength in body and spirit. Euden defeats Valyx's troops before taking on Valyx himself, who, despite having a dragon refuses to shapeshift into them as he believes he can take him on himself. However, Valyx tells him that he still has to test him on one more trait of a monarch and tells him to come into the woods alone. Though his friends are concerned for him, Euden accepts Valyx's challenge and goes to the woods, but not before telling Notte to help evacuate the Halidom's residents should he fall.

Euden and Valyx battle, with Valyx forced to shapeshift into his dragon Thor. However, Euden lacks stamina and is surrounded by Valyx's men. Suddenly, one of Valyx's commanders reports that an army of peasants that Euden saved have showed up to save him. Notte reveals to Euden that upon hearing the escape plan, the peasants took up arms to rescue him showing their loyalty towards him. Valyx announces that Euden has proved himself of the final trait of a monarch: possessing the people's faith, and peacefully retreats with his army. Thus, Euden declares his own kingdom: New Alberia.

Chapter 7: Trek to the Aquapolis

With the founding of New Alberia, Empress Zethia and Euden's siblings begin to prepare for an assault against it, so Euden sets out to the city of Saint Lotier, one of Grastaea's largest metropolises in hopes of securing an alliance. However, Ranzal is uneasy about the trek, which he claims to be about the water fiends. When they reach the metropolis however, they are barred entry due to Ranzal's previous shenanigans there, so they take another route through the swamp. They meet up with Zacharias, the Aquapolis's lord, but he refuses them an alliance due to Ranzal, who is revealed to be his son who left due to his disinterest in ruling. However, Zacharias does agree to protect New Alberia, but only if it becomes a vassal state with one of his lieutenants overseeing it. Euden isn't satisfied and tries to appease him, so he sends him and the party off to deal with a nest of fiends in the marsh.

The party clear up the fiends, but Zacharias reports that there are still fiends swarming the city, so they suspect they might have come from the Davian Wetlands, a marsh littered with ruins from old battles sealed off from the Aquapolis and decide to investigate. Ranzal is held back by Zacharias for a moment and when he regroups with Euden, he reveals that Zacharias is simply using him as an errand boy unless he accepts the terms of his alliance and wants Ranzal to stay with him and become a general. Despite hearing Zacharias's betrayal, Euden still decides to help clear the fiends to help the people of Saint Lotier.

Walking through the wetlands, they hear a strange metallic noise and go over to investigate. On the way, they discover Emile, who after threatening them, quickly runs away, leaving them to chase him down. They corner him but as Euden can't bring himself to kill him for answers, Ranzal volunteers instead. However, he too is unable to kill him due to Euden rubbing off on him, but instead threatens to send him to the Aquapolis's dungeons. Euden's elder brother Phares arrives and commands the party to relent. He reveals that he was the one who is behind the swarms of fiends as he wanted to see how their presence would affect the ruins that lay in the wetlands. In a rage, Ranzal attacks him with his axe but it bounces off, which Phares reveals is due to a disease he suffers from: wyrmscales, a condition in which a person with dragonblood's mana slowly turns into that of a dragon, slowly killing them and with Phares, giving him skin as tough as a dragon. The metallic noise is heard again which Phares reveals is ancient weaponry that still guards the ruins. As Euden goes off to stop the machines, Phares and Emile leave, remarking that he is interested in seeing in how Euden fares.

Euden defeats the weapon, which Phares congratulates him for. He assures him his neutrality towards New Alberia as despite being a Dyrenell general, his interests are only towards scientific progress. However, he warns Euden that his swearing of a pact with Midgardsormr would later cause a chain of events, and with that he and Emile leave. Returning to the capital, Ranzal urges Zacharias to let him sign the alliance. Euden refuses though as he tells him that Ranzal despite his actions in the past, is a vital part of New Alberia and is both wise and brave, thus he can't allow Ranzal to stay with him. Zacharias acts angered and tells Euden he will send a lieutenant to oversee the kingdom, but as quickly reveals that said lieutenant is Ranzal. Impressed by Euden's behaviour, he agrees to his terms for an alliance as equals, thus gaining New Alberia new allies.

Chapter 8: Entwining Flames

With the alliance with the Aquapolis secured, Euden heads north to secure an alliance with his eldest brother Leonidas's city: Valkaheim, home of one of the continent's largest armies. They receive news that there is internal scuffle due to an attack on an Ilian cathedral, so the party go off to offer their aid to the survivors, who have fled on a treacherous road called the Forsaken Way. They arrive to a ruined Valkaheim, where the villain responsible for the attack is still driving out citizens. Approaching the abandoned church where the survivors are hiding, the survivors eagerly invite Elisanne. Just then, the assassin who tried to kill her earlier appears, who she recognises as her old friend and member of the Ilian church Alex. Alex denounces Elisanne as a Paladyn and reveals she was sent by the Ilian church to purge the supposed heretics in Valkaheim, but as she is outnumbered, she decides to postpone killing Euden and the party and goes off into the caverns to purge the other survivors. Elisanne explains that a document of the Ilian Church, the Scrolls of Perdition, claimed that the Other, or rather, his real name Morsayati was a child of the goddess Ilia, and said document was accepted as canon by the Church. However, Elisanne and other members, believing the document to be fake refuse to believe it and were thus branded as traitors, although she notes that they bear the stamp of approval from a previous archbishop.

Just as Euden prepares to get the refugees to safety, one of them tells him that bewitched by a strange dark haze, some of the other Ilian believers ventured into the tunnels, so he goes off to find them as he also remembers Alex stating that she'd "deal" with the refugees in the tunnel. They catch up to Alex, but are surrounded by a squadron of the Imperial Army led by Leonidas. Euden tries to reason with Leonidas but due to their distant relationship, he doesn't listen. he reveals that the events of Valkaheim are a purge of his doing as he believes that using Morsayati's power, he can free the world of dragon worship and thus allies himself with the Dyrenell Empire. He reveals that another Binding Ruin with a portion of Morsayati's power lies within the Forsaken Way, so he and Alex set off to find it. Horrified at the notion of what Leonidas could do with Morsayati's power, Euden sets off in hot pursuit.

The party catch up to him, but Alex blocks them from attacking Leonidas. Leonidas reveals his pactwyrm and Mym's former rival in strength, the Blazewyrm Mars. With his alchemic enhancements, Mars decimates the party and heavily injures them including Alex, with Mym only managing to slightly weaken the attack. Euden helps Alex up to her feet where she reveals her motivation: she was once a backstreet vagrant until Elisanne saved her one day, so from then on she decided to devote her life to serving the Church just as it had saved her, so when people began doubting the legitimacy of the Scrolls, she saw it as a threat to it and decided to kill the heretics. She leaves to rejoin Leonidas as despite his attack wounding her, she believes by fighting with him she can still save the Church, so Euden, determined to help Alex change, follows her with the party.

Euden finds Leonidas performing the rite of unsealing Morsayati's power. Alex, tasked with protecting him, battles Elisanne and expresses her wish to restore the Church to its former harmony. Euden tells her that if she allows Morsayati to be restored, even if the Church could save more children, the horrors caused by the demon himself would outweigh them so Alex turns on Leonidas. However, the rite is completed, with a portion of Morsayati's body flying off to rejoin his core: Zethia's possessed body in the capital. Leonidas also uses his newfound power to open one part of the Flow Eternal and unleashes a manticore on the party before escaping.

The party manage to defeat the beast and catch up to Leonidas. Alex steps up to face him to atone for her sins but Elisanne volunteers instead, not wanting Alex to die. Mym, inspired by their self-sacrificial bravery instead goes to face off Leonidas. Mars unleashes a fully powered attack, but Mym, empowered by her love for Euden, fully absorbs the fire mana of the blast and unlocks her High Dragon form, allowing her to fight back with such might that even though he isn't harmed, Leonidas is forced to retreat. With the new fire mana, the party ready to go home. Euden invites Alex to join them and although she initially declines due to her sins, after telling her that many at the Halidom are seeking help and that she can help them, she accepts and joins the party. However, she still considers herself too sinful and declines forming a true friendship.

Chapter 9: The Princess's Party

Euden's eldest sister Chelle invites him to a gala she's holding in her marquess of Chanzelia as a guest of honour to catch up with him, so in hopes of securing an alliance from her as well, he and the party set off to the destination Chelle included on an enclosed map, with Jupiter following along to absorb some of the sunlight's light mana. They walk across an arid desert with no landmarks in sight until they see a mountain. Suddenly, the mountain begins moving towards them and is revealed to be a humongous landship with Chelle at the helm to personally fetch Euden. The party boards the ship and are dressed formally. He's invited to dance with Cleo by Chelle, which she does reluctantly due to her role as a servant. Chelle reveals the other guest of honour to Euden which turns out to be Leif, who, for their amusement is fighting fiends with his Vice Captain Patia. However, the horde proves too large so Euden hops down to help them fight off the fiends.

They reboard the ship, where Chelle reveals through her spies, she has discovered that Leif and the White Sparrows secretly oppose the Dyrenell Empire. He confesses that as his purpose is to protect the royal family, he has secretly been trying to find a way to free Zethia of Morsayati's control and believes that the key lies in the ruins of Clave Loy'elune. Chelle however, tells him that as she doesn't particularly care about Zethia or the people of Alberia, only being concerned about it as a gala venue, she doesn't want to join their resistance. Furthermore, due to Chanzelia's abundance in materium, a rare mineral that can hold impossible amounts of mana and is what gave it its riches, Chelle fears if she assists in the rebellion, she would be a prime target for Dyrenell due to her marquess's richness in the mineral. The party is disgusted by Chelle's indifference, but she simply explains that the poor and desolate need a leader to lead them out of their suffering, not join them which is the path Euden must take. The Royal Guard Captain of Chanzelia enters and informs Chelle of a large fiend infestation, so she dispatches Euden to take care of them as it may sway her opinion to cooperate with them, as well as the fact she doesn't want to get her hands dirty. Though disgusted by her selfishness, the party go off to save the people from the fiends.

The party return victorious, but Chelle twists the information and takes most of the credit. However, she does keep her word and offers her cooperation to Euden, agreeing to give him information and resources. Later on, she reminisces on the time she played horsey with Euden and advises him that forming bonds with people is like taming a horse: by sensing what they desire, you can treat them as such and gain their trust. However, Leif and Jupiter both notice something is amiss about the princess's behaviour, so Jupiter decides to bring Euden to the materium mines to investigate the strange mana he detected there under the cover of night. There, they find a suspicious amount of fiends and stumble across an ancient weapon similar to the one in the Davian Wetlands. Cleo explains the regions richness in materium is due to the fact that it has many ancient ruins, hence the presence of the weapon. Chelle arrives and reveals that it is an ancient superweapon called the Gran Criminale, which she would use to destroy the Dyrenell Empire and secure her position of power by destroying all who oppose her. She offers to spare Euden if he agrees to be loyal to her, but only if he supports her tyranny and secures her throne. Euden is disgusted and refuses, so Chelle unleashes the Gran Criminale on him.

Although the fight is hard, the machine is defeated so Chelle breaks down in anger, vowing vengeance against Euden. Leif however, sees through the act and gets her to stop, upon which she promptly revealed that the Gran Criminale was not hers, but the Empire's after they dropped it in to disrupt her mining operation. Euden asks why she couldn't just have asked, so she tells him that if she did so, she'd be indebted to him and have to repay the favour. Jupiter and Mym are not pleased at being fooled so she compensates Jupiter with materium and mana while she recognises Mym's romantic relationship with Euden, which successfully satisfies them both. With that, Chelle also agrees to continue supporting Euden with intel collected by her spies and the party returns to the landship for the party. During a dance, she warns him that his endeavour to bring about peace would most likely prove fruitless, but he tells her that he wouldn't give up so easily.

Chapter 10: Resurgent Despair

With the hope of saving Zethia, Euden departs for Clave Loy'elune. Sailing there, they encounter a thick cloud of miasma, so they detour. Zodiark explains that the isle is the greatest of the ruins where Morsayati was sealed away, which is the cause of all the black mana. As they venture into the ruins, Euden encounters an ancient monument to Alberius. Touching it, its mana reacts to his dragonblood and grants him and the party a vision of Alberius fighting Morsayati, revealing that this ruin was where their final battle took place. Empress Zethia appears from the shadows, remarking on Euden's cleverness to arrive before her. He demands Morsayati to release his control over Zethia but he simply tells him her body is a gift, and that he intends to unseal the part of his body trapped in the ruins. Harle also informs Euden that he sent invitations to his siblings to join them at the ruins. They exit and leave a thick fog of miasma to block the party's path. Fortunately, due to his former enslavement to the demon when Aurelius was possessed, Zodiark manages to dispel the misama and allow the party to go forward.

On the way, they encounter Emile and Phares who were invited by Zethia to watch Morsayati's regaining of his power (which Emile was uninformed of as the detail wasn't included in his invitation ). Phares revealed he came as to investigate the means of how the Other was sealed away, or at least contained, and finding another monument, he activates it with his dragonblood and grants everyone a vision of Alberius seemingly striking down Morsayati, only for the demon to reveal his true form of pure power, making Alberius unable to attack him due to him being incorporeal.

The party interpret it as Alberius being unable to seal the demon away, causing Emile to make fun of him until he is silenced by Phares and the party. Euden asks him why he chooses to let Morsayati gain more power in fear of the Dyrenell becoming a chaotic and wicked empire, but Phares remarks that a nation ruled by Morsayati need not be wicked and he chooses to simply observe fate, being a man of science. Though disturbed by his indifference, Euden and the party continue their trek through the ruins.

Further into the ruins, Euden encounters Chelle and Valyx, who simply showed up out of obligation and courtesy. There, they find another monument which Chelle activates with her dragonblood, granting the party another vision: As Alberius is unable to harm Morsayati with his sacred blade Dragalia, he reveals his last trick up his sleeve: the Blood Casket, a sacred ritual that would seal the demon into his dragonblood. Morsayati proclaims that even if the ritual succeeds, his soul would be able to influence his descendants, but Alberius is assured that his dragonblood will be able to neutralise him over the generations until he fades to nothing.

Upon that revelation, Euden realises that Aurelius must have accidentally awakened Morsayati in the bloodline when seeking the Sacred Shard, which caused his change in behaviour. Valyx warns Euden that the kingdom of Alberia can be ruled by one party alone to achieve peace, and that Zethia might have to die to do so. The party encourage him to stand firm to his ideals, comparing his decision to Alberius's decision of sealing the Other away. However, Zodiark reveals that while the demon's soul was gone, his flesh still remained and even in pieces still caused fiends to spawn near it which terrorised Grastaea, so to keep them at bay, he shattered Dragalia and placed its pieces at the areas which held those pieces, eventually returning to Clave Loy'elune to seal the final piece. However, Zodiark falls silent afterwards, leaving the party to wonder what happened to Alberius afterwards.

At the centre of the ruins, Euden finds Leonidas and Mars battling Empress Zethia in an attempt to show their might. Seeing that he is too weak, Leonidas decides to form a truce with the demon so they both can destroy the rule of the dragons. Seeing the party and Euden's siblings, the Empress welcomes them to witness a final vision of the Founder king, and using Zethia's dragonblood, she activates a final monument and grants the party another vision: Just as he is about to seal away the core of Morsayati, he hears the demon calling in his mind. Morsayati reveals that he is still very much awake even sealed away, and reveals even as just a soul, he could still lay waste to the whole world and attempts to take control of the king. However, Alberius calls on his pactwyrm Chthonius's power one last time and as an act of self sacrifice, absorbs the demon's power wholly into himself. As Alberius starts experiencing unimaginable pain from the ritual, Morsayati taunts him, saying that eventually he will be unsealed but Alberius tells him that he is assured that his descendants will be able to stop Morsayati.

Seeing Alberius's demise, Empress Zethia mocks his end but Euden proudly declares that he's proud to have the king as his ancestor, but she assures him what he'll see next will shake his will. From the shadows, Alberius emerges from the shadows still alive, albeit twisted and oozing with black mana from sealing away the Other. Despite the pain, Alberius warns his descendants that he is at his limit and that they must kill him or Morsayati's core would be released. However, due to Empress Zethia's presence, he nearly attacks the party because of her influence and runs further into the depths. Euden gives chase to the king but Cleo protests, stating that she doesn't want to kill him. Still, Euden assures her that if they catch up to him, they could find a way to release him from his suffering, so they pursue Alberius into the ruins.

Catching up to Alberius, he begs Euden to kill him before the Other consumes his soul. Cleo still cannot accept that her former master would want her to kill him, but Alberius assures her that even if his body is destroyed, he would never truly die unless his soul was taken over with the Other. Before engaging in battle, Euden assures the king that he would carry on his will even after he's gone, so Alberius pronounces Euden the Bearer of Dragonlight before engaging in battle.

Euden deals the finishing blow to Alberius, and as he begins to fade away, he thanks the party for freeing him and gifts Chthonius's mana to Zodiark. However, Empress Zethia reveals that her core is still intact and absorbs it into Zethia's body, releasing waves of black mana that begin to knock the party out from fear. Unable to stand this ghastly scene, Zodiark launches an attack at Empress Zethia but it is wholly negated and he is struck down with a single blow. She then offers Euden and his siblings an ultimatum: swear loyalty to her or perish. To his dismay, Euden's siblings all pledge their allegiance: Leonidas to tap on Morsayati's power, Phares to satisfy his curiosity for fate, Chelle as a double agent, Valyx to ensure the wholeness of the kingdom and Emile simply out of spite for Euden. Empress Zethia attempts to convince Euden, stating that she has no interest in mere mortals and could easily create a perfect world for them. However, Euden refuses as if he allied himself to her, all the world's peace and prosperity would lie on Morsayati's whims which he cannot accept. Empress Zethia simply tells him if he does so, he will have to fight his own siblings and prepares to kill Euden. Fortunately, Alberius is revealed to be barely alive and using the last of his strength, tells him that he leaves the hope of this world in his hands and teleports them to safety before finally dying.

Back at the Halidom, Euden, donning new armor and with renewed spirits pledges to keep fighting for his friends no matter what, and asks that they join him in his fight for peace.

Gala Adventurer Story

Shortly after Empress Zethia regains all parts of her demonic body, she launches a campaign against all the villages not affiliated with Dyrenell, destroying many of them. During one such invasion, Euden intervenes and, calling upon his many pacts, drives the Dyrenell army away single-handedly. Despite this, upon trying to interact with the villagers, they pronounce Euden a monster and flee. Empress Zethia arrives, mocking Euden for having such great strength, it drives people away from him no matter how good his intentions are. Remarking that it's human nature to shun the unusual and that Euden will be abandoned by his people one day, Empress Zethia bids him farewell before she leaves, leaving Euden in doubt over his mission.

Euden and the party embark on another counterattack against a Dyrenell invasion, but due to the army releasing a large fiend, he is forced to take on the form of Midgardsormr, causing huge collateral damage and injuring a woman, causing her child to scorn Euden and state that he shouldn't have even helped. Noticing that Euden looks upset, Ranzal assures him that such damages are part of the war they're fighting and that campaigning for the greater good will always come with losses. Cleo also adds that Alberius himself was faced with a similar experience: despite defending a village from the Dyrenell army, the casualties were severe enough that the villagers rejected him, claiming that without his assistance, less lives would be lost. Cleo notes that while Alberius simply remarked that the strong will always face rejection, deep down he felt great guilt about his actions and bottled them deep within, causing Euden to realise his similarity to his ancestor.

Over a week passes and Euden is still deep in thought over his circumstances. When he is approached by Notte, he reveals that he was pondering over Aurelius's words to him before the dragon choosing: being too strong is a great flaw for any leader, with such a flaw being the only one the legendary Alberius possessed. Euden realises that Alberius's strength isolated him from his people, but as Euden too, needs his strength for his mission as much as the Founder King did, he still finds himself in a dilemma over what to do.

Later on, Euden gets lost during a mission and wanders alone in the woods. Just then, Euden spots a man and his daughter being assaulted by a fiend and springs into action, killing the beast. Thankful for his help, the duo offer to let Euden stay at their village for a while and gather his bearings. However, Euden quickly realises that said village was one allied with the Dyrenell Empire and thus attempts to lay low. Euden is eventually discovered by the village guard, who persuades the man, his daughter and village elder to report him, but they refuse as they were just saved by him. Realising the risk the village could face for harbouring a fugitive like him, Euden comes up with a plan: he would leave as fast as he could and once he's gone, the villagers would report him, preventing the Dyrenell for suspecting them. The plan goes into action but just as Euden is about to exit the village, he's spotted by a Dyrenell Captain. The Captain accuses the village of treason for harbouring a wanted criminal and thus orders for it to be burnt down so Euden quickly steps in, using his draconic power to defeat the troops and save the village. Afterwards, Euden asks of the villagers to flee to the Halidom should the Empire return and when asked why he's helping them after they sold him out, he simply remarks that some of the villagers also tried to help him and he's just doing this out of goodwill. With this, Euden realises that having people to protect is reason enough for him to fight.

During a battle against the Dyrenell empire, Euden gets separated from his friends and is surrounded by troops from all sides. Empress Zethia arrives, remarking that Alberius fought a legendary battle on this very plain and that just like the king, Euden now finds himself alone. However, she remarks that Alberius never intended to fight alone but due to his strength was forced to isolate himself. As Euden finds himself in a similar dilemma, Empress Zethia asks him what he'll do and sends her troops in to kill him. Euden manages to fend them off single-handedly, causing many of the soldiers to call him inhuman. Seeing this, Empress Zethia remarks to Euden that they are beings stronger than regular mortals and should he succeed in his goals, his world of peace will have no place for him. Euden retorts that he's accepted this fact and merely wants to protect those he holds dear to him. Just as he's about to call on Zodiark's power, Euden hears his father's voice, asking of him to not repeat Alberius's mistakes and instead foster his bonds. In the nick of time the rest of the party arrive to help him, with all of them assuring him that while they may not possess strength like Euden, they will all help him in his endeavours as best as they can. Empress Zethia is enraged at this development, and denouncing Euden's ideas of friendship as nonsense, leads another charge, with Euden gladly counterattacking with his friends beside him.

The Agito Uprising

Purveyor of Plague

One day, Ranzal and Euden receive news of a new murder in a recent string of killings: the mayor of a town. Noticing a trend that all victims were elites and nobles, Ranzal goes out to investigate, only to hear a voice in the woods, accusing him of being privileged of friends, status and body. Attacking, the source of the voice introduces himself as Volk, one who spreads the disease of weakness, and as both Ranzal and his father are noblemen, he must punish them for bypassing the plague of misfortune. Fortunately, Euden intervenes and attacks Volk, who backs off. Volk reveals himself responsible for the recent string of murders, equalising all by eliminating the strong, causing Euden to angrily rebuke him, telling him that what he's doing isn't justice and doesn't justify all the suffering he's brought. Volk laughs at his idea of justice, saying that the prince has no idea what true weakness feels like. Creating a Feral Shroud, Volk announces himself as Agito, and attacks the two, starting his boss fight.

The Pinnacle of Evolution

Hearing news of an attack on the village of refugees Luca helped to found, Euden and him rush over only to find it completely destroyed, with all inhabitants dead. A gigantic Qilin man arrives, denouncing Luca as a spreader of weakness. Introducing himself as Kai Yan, he reveals that he was the one who destroyed the village, for the sake of culling weakness. Horrified and confused, Euden and Luca demand him to explain, to which he reveals his philosophy: that coexistence brings about weakness due to people becoming content and affable with each other, and that in the current situation the world was in, the villagers of the hamlet would not survive if Luca wasn't there to protect them, and thus he culled them all so that true strength may spread. Enraged, Luca denounces Kai Yan as making up excuses to get rid of harmony, and that while there's always conflict in Alberia, this village was meant to be a safe haven for its refugees and he'll never forgive the Qilin. Accepting this as a threat, Kai Yan calls upon the power of the Vajra Orb he fused into his body and the Agito mask. Creating a Feral Shroud, he announces himself as Agito and attacks, starting his boss fight.

Wings of Despair

After a recent string of pious Ilian nobility disappearing, Elisanne and Euden go to investigate the fourth case. There in the mansion, she discovers a lone nobleman and the sole survivor. She attempts to ask him about what happened, but he is visibly shaken and claims that she's a friend of the perpetrator, only managing to tell her that the killer was a Sylvan woman using arrows. Euden bursts onto the scene, having heard the commotion and Elisanne quickly notices something strange about a nearby mirror. Emerging from the shadows, the Sylvan woman arrives, commenting on how she wished to see how Elisanne had grown as the youngest Grand Paladyn in history, but remarks that she's disappointed. Elisanne recognises the woman as Ciella, a famed Paladyn who used to be one of her role models and her teacher, but was excommunicated shortly after she became a Paladyn. Ciella remarks that it has been a while since the two have met, and says that while she didn't want to see her again, she also conveniently wanted to end Elisanne's life and thought this was a good opportunity. She reveals that she was the one behind the disappearances, causing Euden to confront her over the lives lost, to which she mocks him as being a puppet taking up the mantle of a stereotypical hero. Elisanne is disturbed by how much her former hero has changed and questions Ciella on why she has become like this. Ciella reassures her that she still fights for justice, but now instead fights against the lies of the Ilian Church, proclaiming its doctrines of equity and harmony a ruse, favouring the rich and powerful while leaving the good and pure to rot, declaring Elisanne brandishing a spear despite fighting for peace hypocrisy. Ciella vows to release Elisanne from her deception, just as she did for all her victims, to which the Grand Paladyn rejects as she declares that she will never despair like Ciella did. The former Paladyn suddenly summons a Feral Shroud, making the two realise that she's an Agito before she attacks, starting her boss fight.

Faerie-Tale Twins

Shortly after the events of Chapter 11, Laxi, Mascula and Euden are beset by the sudden destruction of four reconnaissance androids and go out to investigate, finding a fifth one. While investigating the remains, two girls, one with black hair and the other with white, emerge and ask the androids to play tag with them. Laxi initially declines, with Mascula telling them to run along home, but when they discuss how they'd rip off Laxi's head and stack it with the other heads they got, the two quickly realise that the girls are the ones behind the android destructions. The girls reveal that they know the two androids, with the black-haired girl introducing herself as Ayaha and the white-haired one as Otoha. They describe themselves as polar opposites of the two, for instead of having one body with two hearts, they are the same person but with two bodies. When Mascula asks why they attacked the other androids, they simply mock him for thinking they actually have motivations, and simply tell him that since they're free, they don't need goals and just attacked them because seeing the androids annoyed them. Otoha mocks Laxi and Mascula as puppets who are slaves to the hearts Maestro gave them, angering the two who prepare to engage. Euden arrives on the scene and encounters the two, and while initially doubtful, realises that Ayaha and Otoha are the ones behind the slaughter. The twins mock him for believing in his "freedom", saying that he lets his dreams lead him around and that they, who act on their impulses alone, are the ones truly free. Laxi and Mascula rebuke the two, telling them that denying others' freedom doesn't make them right and they're just immature. Enraged, Ayaha and Otoha declare that they will teach the trio freedom, summoning a Feral Shroud and declaring themselves Agito, starting their boss fight.

Punishing the World

The recent destruction of 3 mana founts, hotspots of mana which support the world, alarms Cleo and Euden, so the two go to scout out the area and find clues to the perpetrator's identity. Cleo contemplates who could have destroyed the mana founts, and realises that it could be the work of a dragon. Suddenly, from the shadows, a tall, dark man with a metal arm and leg arrives, recognising her, with Cleo recognising him as well as Tartarus. He accuses her of living in a world bereft of her king and attacks, but Cleo is saved in time by Euden. Tartarus comments that Euden is another puppet fulfilling the role of the world's hero, but proclaims that he will ensure that there is no world for the prince to save. Cleo realises that he is the one behind the destruction of the mana founts, and reveals to Euden that Tartarus is the Abyssalwyrm, a powerful dragon who fought alongside Alberius 300 years ago and was one of her close allies. Confused, Euden asks the dragon why he's destroying the mana founts and the world, to which he reveals he plans to take revenge on the world for stealing Alberius from him, accusing the people of the kingdom of pushing all their hopes and dreams on him, forcing him to take up the mantle of a hero and eventually causing him to end his own life to seal away Morsayati. Disgusted by how heroes are forced to carry the hopes and dreams of all, Tartarus plans to destroy all life and the world to finally see this "justice" gone. Cleo declares that while she agreed that they all counted on Alberius too much, she will still protect his kingdom he so loved. Disgusted by what he believes is Cleo falsely believing Alberius loved Alberia, Tartarus attacks, calling upon a Feral Shroud, making Euden recognise him as an Agito before his boss fight begins.

Chapters 11-14

Chapter 11: Android Anguish

With the revival of Morsayati, dragons are being slain left and right, so acting as a double agent, Chelle formulates a scheme to assist Euden by presenting to Empress Zethia ancient dragon-slaying weapons: the androids, humanoid robots built to kill from the Second War of the Binding and subtly tempts Emile into stealing the control element for himself, leaving the powerful weapon in the hands of the incapable and immature prince who is unable to use them properly. Eager for glory, Emile unleashes the androids on a village opposing the Empire, so Euden and the party go to stop them, with Cleo warning him to be cautious due to androids' power.

Managing to hold off the androids for a while, Cleo explains that the androids are soulless machines designed simply to kill, causing the party to feel uncertain about the morality of killing them. Unbeknownst to them, Emile, tired of how long the fight is stretching out, unleashes one of the commander androids, Mascula. To the prince's surprise, Mascula is disgusted by the violence and steals the weapons of all present. He approaches the battlefield, trying to calm down the androids, but when they refuse he disconnects them from Emile's control element. Luca thanks him, to which he states that he doesn't need to as androids do not want to fight, but quickly demands for the party's weapons so that the battle can stop. Luca tries to stop Mascula, but he yanks his bow out of his hands before running off to do the same with everybody, stealing Ranzal's axe and presumably everybody's weapons. Taking advantage of this sudden development, Euden and his friends evacuate the refugees, with Emile in hot pursuit. Fortunately, as only Emile has control over the androids, Euden requests his friends to lead the refugees in split directions so the androids can't pursue them due to being a single uint.

With the androids decommissioned, Euden and the party get the refugees to safety and push back the Dyrenell army. This causes Emile to lose his temper and thus, unleashes his reserve battalion of androids and their commander Laxi. However, Laxi appears to be malfunctioning and attacks everybody in sight, with Elisanne reporting the news to Euden. Laxi's presence also reactivates the androids, who continue on their rampage. They arrive on the scene of the fight, where, true to the reports, the rogue android is slaughtering Dyrenell and New Alberian soldiers left and right. Seeing his sister in this state, Mascula attempts to calm Laxi, which only enrages her as she charges to eliminate him. However, he asks her to think what their creator Maestro would think of them, causing her to run away.

Mascula begs the party to help him, stating that if he calms Laxi, he can deactivate all the androids and stop the battle, to which they all agree to. While trailing the rogue android, Mascula reveals that he and Laxi were special designs of androids created by a man named Maestro 300 years ago. However, Maestro did not intend them as weapons of war, but was forced to do so under orders of the Dyrenell empire, and thus would repeatedly defy orders to send his androids out to battle. However, as he had a critical illness and knew he would die one day, he ensured that there were 3 failsafes in store so that the androids wouldn't end up in the wrong hands after he died. Firstly, he gave his two command androids Laxi and Mascula hearts for them to identify right from wrong. Secondly, he ensured that all androids would prioritise Laxi's orders, and if she ceased function, all androids would as well. Finally, he made sure that if Laxi were to ever malfunction and go rogue, Mascula would be tasked with killing her and ending the carnage. He hypothesis that Maestro gave him a heart so that this ability of his wouldn't be used without much consideration, and realises Laxi's behaviour is due to her heart malfunctioning. However, Euden guesses that the reason they have hearts is because Maestro treasured them as children and wanted them to have moralities like humans. Thus, reluctantly, Mascula continues on the trail of Laxi to fulfil his role as a failsafe.

The party finally track down Laxi, so Mascula requests that they subdue her for a while before he deals with her. Euden and the party attack, defeating her and allowing Mascula to mobilise. To everybody's surprise, he rips out his own heart, gifting it to Laxi to replace her malfunctioning one. Luca is horrified at the prospect of losing his new friend, but Mascula assures him it's for the very best, although he will cease to function and die afterwards. Installing the heart into Laxi, Mascula asks of the party not to grieve, as androids like him are built for war and eventually he would be destroyed. This causes Luca to pledge to make the world a peaceful place where machinations like him don't have to fight and pacifists like him have a place. With that, Mascula deactivates, while Laxi, having been fixed, reactivates and, deciding to rectify her mistake, puts all the androids on standby mode. Despite her cold and mechanical nature, she vows to end the conflict Maestro sought to prevent, so Euden decides to invite her to his cause. Laxi declines as she notes that Euden and his friends themselves are causing conflict, and that she and the androids will do alright by themselves.

Suddenly, a voice originating from within her tries to convince her to join the party. Laxi realises that Mascula's soul, still inhabiting the heart, has accidentally merged with hers, causing the two to inhabit the same body. Mascula convinces her that the party can help the androids to achieve peace just as Maestro intended, to which Laxi agrees, lending the strength of the androids as well.

Bolstered by the new addition of the android army, Chelle's scheme of assisting New Alberia has succeeded, while Euden and the party have gained a new friend. Meanwhile, Elisanne, whilst defending a conservative Ilian church, runs into Harle, who is leading the attack on the church with his Dyrenell soldiers. The wicked man procures a manuscript he discovered regarding the true nature of Euden's princehood: that the true prince died a few months after birth of wyrmscale and that Euden is in fact, adopted, showing it to Elisanne and pointing out Aurelius's seal and signature, showing it's genuine. Unable to shake this truth from her mind, Elisanne leaves with doubts about the prince, even shooing away Euden to contemplate what she just read.

Chapter 12: Destruction and Domination

With renewed vigour, Euden and New Alberia plan a counteroffensive on the Dyrenell Empire, but the Empire catches wind of their plans and in response, sends out Leonidas and Chelle to lead their armies to attack the Halidom. Euden manages to hold off their collective might for a while, but when Leonidas charges into the fray with his Pactwyrm Mars, he is forced to direct his main force to face off the Blazewyrm. They manage to drive the dragon off, but are forced to retreat into the Mistholt to compensate for their lack of numbers. However, when some Dyrenell troops follow them into the woods, Mym detects a drastic rise in mana levels in them, too much for a human being. Alex realises that those troops are specialised Phobos units, humans enhanced by alchemy via magic piping in their bodies. Mym realises that their human bodies are too frail to withstand such power, to which Alex confirms that such units quickly burn through their lives in one battle. Disgusted by Leonidas' inhumanity, Euden and his companions lead a counteroffensive against the modified troops.

Euden and his main force manage to route some of the troops, but when he attempts to send his other soldiers to ambush the Dyrenell soldiers, Chelle, anticipating this attack, sends out Leonidas's Phobos units to ambush them instead. Deciding to prevent the two siblings from cooperating in their attack, Euden plans a strategy to lure Chelle's army into the woods, destroying her base of commands whilst distracted. She anticipates this strategy however, and ambushes the party. While they manage to fight through a large number of troops, they are still surrounded, so Euden reveals that he knows that Chelle plans to usurp the throne from Empress Zethia, only following her in order to make herself look good to the public before she does so. Euden makes a deal with Chelle that if she spares his forces, later on when he releases Zethia from Morsayati's control, he'll make it look like he's usurping the throne, allowing Chelle to kill him and be idolised as a true monarch. Chelle declines, but decides to retreat for now to Rovetelle so that she can find a suitable resting place for her army.

Alex relays news that Leonidas is on his way to lay siege to the Halidom, so the party rush over to intercept him. On the way, she notes that Leonidas is an incredibly prideful man, and thus both she and Euden agree to try and sway him from his blind following of Morsayati for power. Defending the Halidom, they manage to defeat most of Leonidas's Phobos units, that is, until he sends out ranks of alchemy-enhanced fiends: the Deimos units. Despite being badly beaten, Euden refuses to give up and let everybody's hopes and dreams die, to which Leonidas scoffs at his hope and prepares to kill him. Suddenly, an arrow narrowly hits Leonidas and emerging from the woods, people that Euden and his friends saved and allied with all arrive to help them: Sylvans from Luca's village and the western village, Ilian devotees from Valkaheim and the forces of Saint Lotier, led personally by Zacharias himself. With these troops dealing with Leonidas's main force, Euden and his friends directly face off the prince himself. However, he manages to used an enhanced version of shapeshifting known as dracoshifting and completely assimilates Mars' power, allowing him to swiftly defeat many troops.

Euden and his friends face off the draconic prince once again, but even though his body is approaching his limit, he refuses to give up, stating that a true ruler creates a will for others to follow, and that all who do not obey are to be annihilated. Euden asks why Leonidas is so obsessed with freeing humans from the dragons that he chose to side with Morsayati, but he simply replies that there are many who despise dragons, and that those who prospered under the dragons' rule will be annihilated. Euden tells him to have more faith in the people if he plans on making them independent, but he simply states that blind belief in others is how humanity ended up in this state and with a final attack, ends Euden's shapeshift. Though exhausted, Leonidas plans to deal the final blow but is stopped by Alex. He scoffs at her finding hope in others, to which she replies that even though Leonidas made Valkaheim a place where the strong lord over the weak, he inspired all the unfortunate to lift themselves from their sorry state and fight, but when he tried to use Morsayati's power instead of his own, he strayed from that path and that Euden, lifting up others and himself with his strength, is a true ruler.

Too exhausted to fight, Leonidas asks Euden to deliver the final blow, but the prince instead spares his life, asking of him to cut ties with Morsayati and go back to defend Valkaheim. Just as they are making peace, numerous void dragons corrupted by black mana arrive, along with Phares.

Chapter 13: Return from Darkness

Shocked by Phares' betrayal of Leonidas, Euden attempts to face off his brother, but Leonidas, summoning the last of his strength, manages to hold off Void Agni and Void Zephyr by shapeshifting, but Phares simply remarks that the creation of his dragons went well and that he can proceed to the next step. Exhausted, Leonidas warns Euden that the prince is headed to Lake Reeve, and asks of him to stop him. Obeying his brother's wishes, Euden and the party decide to rest up at the Halidom while Leonidas rests and recuperates from his battle. Arriving at the lake, Cleo notes that the area has been a taboo area since the time of Alberius. Spotting a mysterious tower emitting black smoke, they go to investigate but as they approach, they see a small boy standing dangerously close to a void dragon. They rescue the child, who introduces himself Ed and tells them that he's trying to find his older brother, who is inside the tower. Disgusted by the notion that Phares is kidnapping innocents for his experiments, Euden tells the child to wait, but he goes off himself, forcing him and the party to chase after Ed.

They catch up to Ed, asking him to wait at home while they find his elder brother, but the child replies that his home is where his brother is, having been abandoned by his father and his elder brother being the only one that needs him. The child asks Euden what he would do if somebody decided he wasn't of use and he was just a commoner, to which he is unable to think of an answer other than to prove them wrong and decides to keep moving. They approach the building, which has been corrupting the pond with black mana. Just then, two more void dragons, Void Zephyr and Void Jeanne 'D Arc. attack, which the party fend off. Entering the building, they spot bizarre machines, with inscriptions in Ancient Alberian which Elisanne translates as stating that they are mana kilns, machines which absorb natural mana to produce new mana, and that as all mana-producing machines were to be disposed off after Ilia and Elysium's pact was forged, these machines were very ancient.

Suddenly, Ed remarks that Euden is the hollow prince of Alberia, and that soon he'll be broken, attacking him. Elisanne manages to block the attack, but the "child" begins summoning a cloud of black mana around himself. Phares arrives and reveals that Ed is in fact, not a child but Euden's long lost elder brother, the missing fifth scion of Alberia and "the Royal Family's darkest secret": Beren. Euden is horrified at the revelation, being only told that Beren "disappeared" by his father and Leonidas, so Phares reveals that they in fact, locked the prince away and never told anybody about him. As the mana kiln reaches its maximum output, Phares and Beren leave, with Euden and the party chasing after them, defeating yet another void dragon on the way.

As they reach the innermost chamber, they note that somehow, Phares has rendered the mana tangible. Revealing the captured protector of Lake Reeve, the dragon Poseidon, he asks Beren to absorb the mana from the kiln, which he does so, converting it into black mana and thus, corrupting Poseidon into a void dragon. Euden and the party quickly realise that Beren was the one controlling the void dragons, and was the reason so many of them turned up as they followed him. Eager to test Void Poseidon's strength, Phares pits him on Euden, who attempts to sate them and make peace to no avail. Fortunately, Leif, who had heard of Phares's wicked plans from Chelle, arrives and blocks the attack, scolding the evil prince for using his intelligence in such a manner. However, Phares simply remarks that with the captain of the White Sparrows and Euden together, he can truly test Void Poseidon's strength, pumping more black mana into him and unleashing the dragon on the party.

Euden and the party manage to defeat the dragon, but more of them keep arriving. He attempts to reason with Phares, saying that the prince isn't a kind of guy who would hurt people. However, Phares simply laughs it off as morality has no meaning to him and he simply cares about discovery. Fortunately, Leif manages to fend off the dragons, declaring Euden Alberia's last hope and vowing to always protect him. Unfortunately, the mana kiln begins to spin out of control and explodes whilst Phares and Beren escape, sending the party tumbling into the depths below. In the basement, they discover multitudes of void dragons, which Phares reveals were captured by Empress Zethia and corrupted by him, which he hopes to use and conquer the whole world. Euden vows to protect Alberia from their minions, to which Beren simply comments on him wasting his time and along with Phares leaves.

The party return home, where Leif and Alex relay that in Valyx is preoccupied in the north dealing with invaders(who, unbeknownst to them, are in fact the Agito), Leonidas has returned to Valkaheim although unable to battle for the time being, and that Chelle is stationed in Rovetelle, presenting a golden opportunity to invade the Dyrenell Empire's capital and attack. Filled with thoughts of Zethia, Euden and his party march on to Sol Alberia to finally free his sister.

Chapter 14: Chaos in the Capital

Euden and his friends camp outside the border of the Dyrenell empire, soon to approach it. With worries in his heart, he steps away for a second, and is greeted by a combat androids who notes his sadness, and remarks it makes them sad too. Euden quickly realises that the android has seemingly gained sentience, to which Laxi hypothesis that Mascula's presence in her heart is causing the androids to gain the ability to feel emotions. With the assurance of the androids that they'll be with him no matter what, Euden gains the confidence to carry on and is reminded of his true goal: bring peace to everyone.

Arriving at the capital's walls, Euden attempts to negotiate with Harle to open the gates for them, to no avail. The Capital Guard's captain suddenly activates a magical barrier, burning all who touch it. Laxi and Mascula notice the device generating the barrier, and note that if it were disabled, they could escape. Hearing this, the androids, wishing for nobody to get hurt, push through the barrier and deactivate the device against Laxi's wishes, although all of them are seriously damaged in the process and their hearts begin to shut down. Feeling ashamed for giving them hearts in the first place, Mascula shuts down his ego circuits, leaving Laxi alone.

Despite this loss, the party manage to press on into the capital, with a group of Alberian loyalists hidden in the ranks of the Dyrenell troops also assisting in their offence. They are greeted with the captain of the group who, despite the casualties resultant from assisting Euden, assures the prince that they died for a righteous cause and believed he would be able to restore the throne. Together with other rebels in the Dyrenell army, the groups protect Euden as he marches on to the palace, causing Elisanne to feel somewhat uneasy due to knowing he's not the biological prince of the kingdom, yet so many are willing to risk their lives for him.

Approaching the castle, Euden and the party are surprised to learn that the scouts and Laxi have seen, nor detected any sort of troops or magical weapon guarding the palace, and thus walk in. Suddenly, a thick fog besets them and in the chaos, the troops accompanying the party are left stranded outside, with only Euden and his friends entering. They quickly realise that Morsayati has some kind of scheme cooking, but just before they can contemplate what it could be, they are beset by fiends, which they fend off.

Walking through the corridors, Euden spots the silhouette of Zethia and curious, pursues it, springing a trap of miasma that begins to make everybody dizzy. Laxi, being a mechanical being unaffected by the gas, goes into her mindscape to ask of Mascula's assistance, who is still sulking, feeling guilty for the loss of his siblings and tired of all the bloodshed and pain. However, Laxi assures him that even though the androids were scared of death, they willingly sacrificed themselves and that together, they can still rectify all the pain. Working together, Laxi and Mascula activate her annihilation mode, with Mascula guiding her away from their friends. Suddenly, he receives information on a new mode called Eden made accessible, and activating it, causes Laxi to begin absorbing mana from her surroundings and making it tangible, destroying all the fiends before she is forced back into standard mode, lest she overheat. Euden is excited to have Mascula back, and the two androids contemplate why this mode suddenly activated when they shared a heart, as if Maestro intended this to be a feature of theirs. Luca asks Mascula if he's OK with controlling Laxi's body to fight, but he assures him that as long as it's for a good cause, he'll fight on for peace. Reassured, Euden and his friends make a beeline to the throne room.

Euden and his party arrive in the throne room, where Empress Zethia awaits them. There, she reveals why she let them in so easily: she has been using and abusing Zethia's body for the past months, having no care for the Auspex, and her body will soon reach her limit, killing her if Morsayati doesn't seek another host. With no other choice to save Zethia, much to everybody's shock, Euden reluctantly accepts the deal. Ranzal and the prince's friends attempt to interrupt the rite of possession, but Morsayati warns them that if they intervene Euden could die, so they are forced to stand by and watch the ordeal. However, just as the process is to be completed, Beren emerges from the shadows, claiming that Morsayati shall become one with him instead. Amused by his cockiness, Empress Zethia looks down on him as a small child, that is, until he begins drawing the flow of black mana towards him, shocking the demon as he absorbs him. As he grasps onto life, Morsayati demands to know who the prince is and how he's so strong, but Beren simply tells him to quit resisting and accept his fate. With that, Morsayati is absorbed into Beren and is no more.

Euden reawakens, thankful that he's still alive and sees Zethia on the throne, unconscious but still alive. He turns to Beren and asks what he's doing here, to which the fifth scion replies that Morsayati, despite all of his intimidating appearances was really just fodder and is remarkably unimpressed with the simplicity of Euden's goals. Euden is still confused over how Morsayati was destroyed, to which an arriving Phares reveals that during the ritual, the Other's soul was at its most vulnerable, allowing Beren to destroy it and absorb his black mana. Phares asks Beren how it feels to wield such power, to which he replies that he feels much stronger, having no more need to replenish his black mana reserves. Suddenly, fading into visibility arrives the second Zethia, who Euden thought perished in the Binding Ruins. She pleads with Phares and Beren to not use the Other's power, claiming that it is too powerful for them. Phares recognises this second Zethia originated from another world where Morsayati laid waste to it, and replies that while it is rational to fear the Other's power, he has conquered the demon and no longer needs to be afraid. Beren proposes to test his newfound power and tries to attack the second Zethia, but is stopped by Volk, who under orders from the Agito leader, was told to capture the Auspex and bring her to his master, although he is somewhat certain that the second Zethia isn't his intended target.

Recognising that Beren is blessed with both princedom and the Other's power, Volk attempts to duel with him over the Auspex and as punishment for his privilege. The fight is broken up by Phares however, who assures Beren that Volk is not their enemy and leaves him to deal with Euden and the party as they leave. Volk, filled with resentment over the strength of the party, fights with them over Zethia. Euden seemingly triumphs, to which the Purveyor of Plague asks him if it felt good to trample on the weak. Euden tells him that while fighting isn't fun to him, Volk was trying to take something precious from him and he won't let him get away. Volk laughs at the prince's optimism, and calling upon the power of the Agito mask, gets up once again to fight. Knowing that their counterstrike would take a while, the second Zethia asks that Elisanne, as a Paladyn and servant of the Ilian church, take her mainstream self far from the battlefield, all the way to the north gate, to which she agrees. With that, Euden and the party prepare to engage with Volk again.

Midway through the battle, Volk hears a loud bell ring, and while disappointed that he can no longer punish the strong for now, he has to go as the Agito leader has probably found Zethia by now, running off. Panicked, Euden rushes to find Elisanne, and finds her injured and his worst fears confirmed: Zethia had been stolen away. Feeling that all he did to save Zethia was for nothing, Euden becomes depressed, but the second Zethia comes over to comfort him, saying that while he couldn't save her, the peoples of the Dyrenell empire are now free of Morsayati's tyranny. He laments however, that he wouldn't want to live in a world without Zethia in it, so the second Zethia comforts him by telling him that as they gaze at the moon, his dear sister is out there in the world under the same moon. Filled with determination, Euden and the party, along with the second Zethia, or as she requested to be called, Zena, head out to the northern border of Alberia, where the kidnapper told Elisanne he'd be waiting.

Meanwhile, nearly all of Valyx's army is felled by the Agito leaving him the sole survivor. Commenting on the prince's strength and honour to the people, but knowing that he too, desires the throne to lead Alberia, the Agito leader Nedrick formulates a plan to use the defeated Valyx.

Chapters 15-17

Chapter 15: Light and Shadow

After a rest at the Halidom, with no other leads, Euden and the party press on towards the Northmost border of Alberia to find Zethia. On the way through the mountains, Euden spots Zena being attacked by a fiend and by instinct, tries to help although she quickly lays it low alone. Euden apologises, hoping that she doesn't feel that he's treating her as a Zethia, as well as thanking her for supporting him and giving him hope. Suddenly, Ciella, despairing for the party's "lies", emerges to attack. She remarks that their bonds are superficial, and deep down, they each have secrets and unpleasant truths they hide to prevent any discord, directing her gaze at Elisanne. The party is convinced that their friend isn't keeping any secrets, and thus, Euden and Ciella clash.

Ciella is somewhat worn out, but when Euden asks why she hates the Ilian church so much, she is disgusted by his ignorance and assures him that his bonds will soon break, vanishing into the mist. As they rest, Alex, noticing how nervous Elisanne was when questioned by Ciella, asks of her to tell the truth about whatever she may be hiding from them. However, Euden tells Alex not to, as he is assured the Paladyn has good reason to keep such secrets to herself and asks that she reveal them whenever she's ready, assuring her that if the secret's about losing Zethia, he doesn't hold any of the party responsible, with only himself being at fault. Rested up, Euden and the party set off, although Zena is concerned that her brother's kindness may lead him on a dark path like many other versions of him.

They arrive at the checkpoint, where Euden spots Valyx waiting for him. He is shocked when Valyx uses a sneak attack, nearly hitting him. Valyx reveals that he seeks to duel Euden once again, knowing that he's a prime candidate for the throne of Alberia and one of the greatest political movers in the country, and thus challenges him to test his capacity as a king. Though suspicious of Valyx's behaviour, Euden accepts the challenge and they clash, with him emerging victorious but Valyx refuses to back down, with a strange mask-like device appearing on his face. The Agito and their leader Nedrick emerge, revealing themselves to have been watching the brawl all this while. Nedrick informs Euden that the device is used to bring out the user's true, hidden emotions, and that Zethia is indeed with him. He asks the prince what he seeks to do as a ruler, to which Euden responds that he plans to give peace to all no matter what difficulties he faces, but Nedrick simply notes that he struggled to even face Agito and asks how he can be so hopeful.

Confused, Euden asks Nedrick who he is, and thus the Agito leader, procuring the documents regarding Euden's birth from Ciella, reads it out to him. He reveals that as expected, a seventh and eight child, referring to Euden and Zethia, were born to King Aurelius, but after just 10 days, Euden was stricken with wyrmscale and died just a month after. The party refuse to accept this as they point out the prince is still alive and well, but Nedrick carries on, revealing that Aurelius adopted a new child who would grow up into the current Euden and that he is the true Seventh Scion, resurrected under mysterious circumstances. The party refuse to believe this until Nedrick points out Elisanne's pale face, revealing she learnt of this long ago, and that the seal and signature on the documents proved it's genuine. He tells the party that he can procure more evidence, but points out that Valyx is in a rage and on attack, calling upon his pactwyrm Thor the Fulminator. Euden once again fights his brother, hoping to bring him to his senses.

Euden triumphs and demands for true evidence, to which Nedrick reveals that the seal on the documents only glow in response to the an Alberian royal touching it, demonstrating it with himself and Zethia. However, when handed to Euden, the seal stops glowing. Refusing to believe it, the prince places the tome in the hands of the unconscious Valyx, but the seal glows as well, showing that he truly isn't related to the royal family. Gloating over his victory, Nedrick prepares to make for the north with Zethia but Euden, in a blind rage, attacks him and refuses to let him take his sister away from him anymore. However, even shapeshifted, Nedrick swiftly defeats him, as well as getting the Agito to prevent the party from helping. Nedrick comments on Euden's weakness and how he's always relied on his friends and royalty for help, preparing to deal a finishing blow but Valyx, overcoming the device's power, blocks the attack and orders Euden to escape. However, Nedrick calls upon his full power and defeats the fourth scion and Euden is too exhausted to move. Fortunately, Zena moves in to protect him but is injured by Ciella, so Zethia steps in to help as well, with the two Auspexes forming a protective barrier around the party. As they attempt to teleport away, Nedrick threatens that if Zethia dares leave, he will track them all down and end them all, and thus, despite Euden's protests and promises to protect her, knowing what Nedrick is capable of, she leaves the barrier and accompanies Nedrick before the party are teleported back to the Halidom.

Back at the Halidom, Euden, frustrated with his incompetence, tries to go back to save his sister but is stopped by his friends, who realise the futility of his efforts. He lashes out at them, even at Notte, saying that he's worried about Zethia and can't abide with staying at the Halidom. Fortunately, Zena intervenes, calming the prince down and reminding him that Zethia willingly gave herself up to keep them safe and they should respect her wishes. Euden thanks her for calming him down and apologises, retiring to his room to think things out.

The next day, Zena enters Euden's room, apologising for allowing Zethia to slip away from him again. Euden tells her that while it was the right thing to do, he just can't help but feel regret for letting his sister down over and over again, and, now knowing that he isn't actually a royal, feels unworthy to lead people especially with the recent events. Zena comforts him, telling him that he is kind and strong, and while he does have many weaknesses, it's alright and that he shouldn't keep pushing himself to carry the hopes and dreams of everybody, but instead find out who he truly is. Filled with renewed vigour, Euden goes out to greet his friends and, with renewed determination, decides to send a message to Leonidas in hopes of learning more about the Agito, the Ilian Church and who he truly is.

Chapter 16: New Bonds

On the way to Valkaheim, Elisanne returns from her lance training and informs Euden that she encountered Ciella, with the Agito out of her hate for lies warning her that rumours of the prince being possessed by Morsayati were being spread. The party is somewhat distrustful, but as Zena notes Ciella hates lies more than anything else, she was likely genuine in her concern. Euden decides to hurry onto the next town to investigate, but just as he's about to set off, a New Alberian guard arrives and informs him that citizens from all of the fragments of Alberia were leading an assault on the Halidom. Putting a pause in their journey, Euden and the party rush back to home base, where Ciella's warning is confirmed to be true, with some New Alberians even joining in the attack. Although he wants to negotiate with them, Zena tells Euden that any attempt to reason with the mob will just make them angrier and thus, they decide to retreat into the castle. However, as they approach they are blocked by Ayaha and Otoha, who wish to fight them again. Though Euden attempts to reason with the twins, even promising to fight some other time, they refuse to back down and thus they battle the party, with Euden and his friends triumphing. However, Ayaha and Otoha spot a regular citizen and, bored of fighting Euden's friends, attacks him only to be stopped by the prince himself. However, this causes the citizen to be scared and warn everybody about Euden, who all corner him.

Euden attempts to reason with them, saying that Morsayati was killed and absorbed when they went there. However, the peasants reveal that a void dragon has been wrecking the capital ever since they left, causing more distrust of the royal family as they believe Euden is controlling it. Just as they are about to attack the prince, a few warning shots are suddenly fired and emerging from the distance arrives Leonidas, dressed in a new scarlet garb and wielding an ancient manacaster. He tries to tell them that Euden is not possessed by Morsayati, but when they refuse to believe him, he acknowledges that it is reasonable for them to distrust the royal family as they have already lost their trust long ago by submitting to the Dyrenell Empire. To everybody's shock, Leonidas apologises to the peasants and offers compensation of crops and property that were wrecked in the war, as well as proper burials for all the dead and enhanced patrols to ensure the safety of the people. The crowd dissipates for now and Euden thanks Leonidas, but he informs him to truly clear all suspicion, he needs to stop the void dragon as well as cut off the rumour at its source. As the party sets out, the eldest prince informs him that once he comes back, he needs to talk to him about something, causing Euden to realise Leonidas knows of what transpired in the capital and the border.

Euden goes off to search for the void dragon while Elisanne searches for the source of the rumours. However, due to his mistaken identity as the Other, he struggles to find leads until a little girl who doesn't believe the rumours tells him of the dragon's location. He's summoned to Elisanne's location however by Alex, who has discovered the perpetrator of the lies: a priest in the region by the name of Father Marko. He reveals that he is spreading this lie as he believes that the royal family doesn't truly care for the people and thus hired some former Dyrenell soldiers to spread the rumours. While Elisanne cherishes how much the priest cares for the people, she cannot turn a blind eye to his deceit and thus Father Marko sends the former soldiers after Euden and her, over which they triumph. He sympathises with the soldiers, and vows to ensure the unemployed troops of the Dyrenell can now live peaceful lives and have adequate pay. Arresting Father Marko, they bring him to the Halidom where Leonidas declares that for slandering the royal family, the priest must face judgement by Alberian court. However, Elisanne declares that as a man of Ilia, he must be tried under Church law, to which Alex protests against as she could end up in more church conflict by handing him over.

To everybody's surprise, Elisanne declares that once she has handed Father Marko over, she will renounce her formal status as a Paladyn, having seen the deception and discord of the church ( as well as several attempted assassinations targeting her from the church ) has decided she doesn't want to work under it anymore, instead serving under Euden as his vassal. Suddenly, they hear the cry of a void dragon approaching the Halidom, and stepping outside, see that it is Void Poseidon, which Euden and Mym realise is suffering from his corruption by black mana. Zena, using her holy powers, begins to purify the dragon but as they are not enough, Elisanne steps in and with an earnest prayer filled with determination for herself and the future, allows Poseidon rebirth into an even stronger, reborn form. Just as they celebrate their victory, Ciella confronts the party, remarking that they have discovered the truth too late and, tired of their hopefulness attacks to try and enact a new form of justice.

The party defeat Ciella, who refuses the offer of them to treat her wounds, so Leonidas orders her to return to Nedrick and warn him of the retribution he shall face for daring to harm Euden. She retreats, with Chelle arriving with her army. Knowing of Euden's queries about his true origin, she and Leonidas return to the Halidom where he reveals unfortunately, despite not knowing of the tome's existence, it is truly genuine and the prince is not related to Alberius at all. However, he says that according to the tome, Euden was received by Aurelius from a man named Finlorda, king of the Faeries whose kingdom once had ties to Alberia. While the party is amazed at this, Euden is very confused at his heritage due to not being a fae himself, so Leonidas reveals that Aurelius told him to go to the city of Grams run by the Northern Ilian Church upon his death, and having received a letter from a man named Gatov, captain of one of Grams' troops, who reportedly was close friends with Aurelius for many years.

Leonidas orders Euden to head to Grams and find Gatov immediately, concerning the prince as over the course of his adventures, he has realised he has sacrificed looking after his people to search for Morsayati and Zethia, so Leonidas reassures him that it's better that he leaves, lest dissenters spread more rumours and that he and Chelle will look after New Alberia. Encouraging by Leonidas to keep searching to find who he truly is, Euden and his friends make preparations to head to Grams. Directed to a barren piece of land, Chelle reveals that they will be taking her landship, the Gran Fiore as a mode of transport, exciting the party. Euden however, is concerned about his people, so, using a jewel Alberius left to guide people back to the Halidom, Zena and Cleo temporarily teleport him, Luca and themselves back, where they encounter Leif and his subordinate Patia. While the White Sparrow captain expresses his regret for not being able to do more, Euden thanks him for his service in quelling parts of the rebellion in key areas, and with reassurance that his people are in good hands, Euden and his friends are teleported back to the Gran Fiore and onwards to Grams.

Chapter 17: The City of Grams

Upon reaching North Grastaea, Euden and the party disembark the Gran Fiore and continue on foot, arriving at the Holy City. They admire the wondrous sight, with the whole place being a pristine and beautiful haven. However, Chelle warns them that Grams isn't on friendly terms with Alberia, and if they are found out as Alberian nobles, they will certainly be in danger. Admiring the August Cathedral, the symbol of the Ilian Church's influence, they are suddenly interrupted when they witness a church guard barring entry to an old man to the church, who wishes to pray for his daughter's healing from her dire sickness, but is unable to do so thanks to his lowly status. While Euden is horrified at this injustice, he has to refrain so as to not cause a commotion. Ranzal steps in however, arguing with the guard on how he can act so injustly, and in response, the guard accuses him of blasphemy and summons more guards to apprehend the party. They beat them back, but are surrounded by Templars who demand for their identities. Chelle claims to be the chairwoman of the Rose et Chaton Family Company, arriving in Grams with her band of merchants to stock up on goods, even handing over an authentic visa as confirmation. The Templars remain suspicious however and attempt to arrest the party and interrogate them just in case, demanding money if they truly want to pass.

A mysterious man suddenly arrives, telling the Templars that the party are truly traders and he has been contracted to protect the Rose et Chaton chairwoman, and thus asks of the Templars to leave. Euden praises Chelle for her foresight in hiring mercenaries to guard them, but she reveals she didn't hire the man and has no idea who he is. The man introduces himself as Gatov, the man who sent the letter to Leonidas, and guides the party to somewhere out of earshot from the guards. They arrive in the slums of Grams, where he reveals that while the city is very rich, it is also a place of great wealth disparity and social inequity. Delighted to meet Aurelius's children, he reveals that he is here to guide Euden and his friends to the Faerie kingdom, but asks if the prince truly wishes to go there as the road is long, with the kingdom being protected by a magical barrier. While Euden tells him that he's doing it for Leonidas, Gatov asks if he himself wishes to go, telling him that painful truths may be discovered about himself there. Euden is unable to reply, so Gatov, having a meeting to attend about mysterious fiends spawning near the slums and asks of the party to wait for him.

Travelling throughout the slums, Euden attempts to assist a man with some building materials and a child when he gets hurt, but is met with suspicion by both until he helps heal the child when some materials fall onto him. The two thank him for his help, clearing all suspicion of ulterior motives and ask of Euden, Zena and Cleo to help heal others in the clinic, causing them to wonder why the Church isn't doing anything to help these people, even after seeing the rampant wealth and corruption present in the city. Afterwards, with Ranzal assisting some slum dwellers in learning swordfighting, they realise that with Gatov's financial support, the people of the slums have begun building facilities to support their lives, even enlisting bandits, crooks and pickpockets to change for the better by hiring them into his division of the Grams military: the 12th Watch division. Suddenly, Templars arrive, bearing a warrant to arrest the party so they flee into a back alley, but Luca accidentally signals to the Templars when trying to call over the party, and thus they have no choice but to fight through them.

Euden and his friends defeat the initial troop, but more Templars keep flooding in so Gatov comes to their rescue, defeating many of them with impeccable skill. Reinforcements from the Grams royal guard arrive as well to assist Gatov, and together the Templars are driven back. The Royal Guard captain informs Gatov and the party that in addition to the magical barrier surrounding the city (which prevented Zena from teleporting the party away ), Grams is under lockdown with Templars patrolling all entrances and exits to it. Fortunately, Chelle, having done research with her spies, knows of secret waterways in which the party can use to escape. They enter it, only to find Templars waiting within so Chelle whips out her weapon: a modified minigun-manacaster she recently repaired and fires it on them, forcing them to retreat. Exiting the waterway, they are surrounded by Templars, who proclaim that they are to bring the party before the Pope and Auspex Origa and Cardinal Graht immediately. Suddenly, several Templars fall dead, with the perpetrator revealing himself: Volk, who wishes to personally end Euden and Ranzal himself. Gatov recognises the Agito, and just as all hope seems lost, the 12th Watch division arrives, hoping to repay their Captain by helping him deal with the Templars.

With the Templars preoccupied, Euden and the party face off Volk, against which they triumph. However, the Templars begin to beat back the 12th Division and Volk, summoning the strength he has from his mask, attacks the party, only for Ranzal to block his attack. He asks him if he enjoyed his trip to Grams, asking Ranzal if he got a true sense of the injustice present before interjecting, stating that Ranzal is too privileged to understand. However, Ranzal manages to fight back against Volk, telling him that while he understands his privilege now, and that he will never know the suffering of the misfortunate, but now that he does he can't die and must amend this injustice, summoning all of his strength to deal a powerful blow to Volk, declaring that he will beat his foe no matter how many times it takes. Suddenly, out of the blue, Void Zephyr flies in, appearing in his Reborn form and chases away the Templars, with Volk swearing vengeance against Ranzal before leaving. As the dragon leaves, Zena theorises that Zephyr was attracted by his strong willpower which also purified the void dragon. With this, Ranzal vows to stay with Euden and the two agree to always expand their horizons.

With the slum leaders caring for the injured in their ranks, Gatov goes off to the slums to settle things while Euden and his friends go to the Gran Fiore, where they make for the Faerie kingdom. Arriving in the field, Gatov introduces the party to a young woman named Sheila, who doesn't respond to Euden's greetings. He reveals that Sheila is mute, but can assist them in finding the kingdom. Gatov asks Euden if it's truly his will to visit the kingdom, to which he replies that while he's nervous, he's determined to find out the truth about himself, to which Gatov agrees. Arriving at the Faerie kingdom's forest entrance, Sheila uses her special powers to unveil it before the party and they step inside.

Ilian Apostles Arc

Agents of the Goddess

Sometime before the events of Chapter 16, while venturing through South Grastaea, Euden and the party venture into a strange village steeped in black mana. Driven berserk by the miasma, the villagers attack the party, who are forced to fend them off whilst struggling to keep their wits about them. Suddenly a man dressed in purple arrives, throwing a bottle of holy water at Luca before reciting a quick prayer, removing all of the black mana. A tall, spectacled man in white and a Sylvan girl also arrive, having helped to dispel the miasma in the surrounding area. Using a holy power, they eradicate the black mana once and for all.

The man in purple introduces himself as Nevin, introducing the Sylvan as Pinon and the spectacled man as Ramiel, one of five powerful dragons known as the Five Archangels. Elisanne realises both Nevin and Pinon are apostles, though the latter refuses to outright admit it in case of security. Elisanne explains that the Archangels are special dragons that can hear the voice of Ilia and thus act out her will, forging sigil-bonds with powerful individuals who become their apostles, carrying out missions with them. However, as the Apostles hail from the Ilian Church of Grams, she is not very familiar with their ways. Ramiel reveals that he and the apostles are under orders of the Church to end the bizarre phenomenon called "wroth" driving fiends and people alike berserk, and thus he, Pinon and Nevin have seeked out Euden and his crew as allies to help them.

While initially suspicious, Euden, seeing their goodwill, decides to cooperate with the apostles. Using the Halidom as their base of operations, they install a statue of Ilia to ward off black mana, which Nevin points out that for some reason, holy mana gathers around. Battling wroth-infected fiends, Ranzal questions Pinon on what she intends to do, to which she inadvertently implies that the phenomenon is suspected to be the work of a malicious party. Before she can continue, more fiends arrive, which the party deal with swiftly. Pinon admires the teamwork of Euden's party, but Ramiel assures her that apostles have a much more different style of fighting and that learning from them won't help. Suddenly a fiend reaches through to her so she unleashes her Sigil, defeating it swiftly.

Returning to the Halidom, Pinon confronts Nevin on his seemingly lazy behaviour, although he claims to have been tracking the movements of the perpetrators. He claims that the wroth fiends will appear in the north of Myriage Lake and right on cue, Euden appears, proving Nevin right by reporting that the fiends have been spotted near a sylvan village there. Defeating the fiends, Euden and the party are told by Nevin that while he realises the wroth is being caused by a person, he doesn't exactly know how the perpetrator is causing it. However, he reveals that he has deduced their location as a nearby ruin, thanks to the location being the only place unaffected by the wroth, implying that whoever is controlling it is also affected by it and thus distances themself away from the wroth.

Arriving at the Shaif Ruins, the party infiltrate the ruins, defeating the bandit guards and find the culprit: an Ilian priest. He reveals the source of the black mana: a sealing stone recently stolen from the Ilian vaults. The priest reveals that he was chosen by a mysterious somebody to hold the stone and that now, instead of simply praying for guidance, he will use its power to accomplish his goals. Seeing evil and good as subjective nonsense, he informs the party that he plans to unleash the demon sealed within the stone, remarking that Ramiel was too worried about the Church's reputation to inform the apostles on the relic's true nature. Unleashing the miasma from within, the priest sets the wroth-inflicted bandits on the party, who block their escape.

Transformed by the demon's power, the priest turns into a copy of Ramiel from the Otherworld. Otherworld Ramiel attacks, easily overwhelming the party. Euden and Elisanne are disgusted by how a holy man would accept this demonic power, so he reveals that his plan is to fully unleash the demon sealed in the stone, terrorising the north and south Ilian churches and thus, he can take this opportunity and use his power to lord over all as their saviour as they have no choice but to unite. The party attack, managing to defeat the priest and revert him to normal, but Ramiel informs him that unless the sealing stone's black mana is sealed away, it will empower the demon within and allow him to assume Otherworld Ramiel's form again. Nevin volunteers himself, using his mana to seal it but the task is too great so Pinon, wishing to fulfil her duty, joins in as well, managing to push back the miasma. However, the priest seizes the chance and steals the stone back, regaining his strength and shapeshifts back into Otherworld Ramiel. While Euden declares that they will beat him no matter how many times it takes, the demon opens a tear in space and sends the stone to his own church, ensuring that he can keep receiving miasma to empower himself while the stone is far away from them.

Fortunately, Ramiel seems to be anticipating a plan and thus, he orders the party and apostles to keep attacking. Inspired by Pinon's determination, Nevin finally steps up to help, dealing serious injury to Otherworld Ramiel. However, the demon manages to inflict a heavy wound on him, gloating over his invincibility. Suddenly, an angel clad in white appears, informing him that the party has just been distracting Otherworld Ramiel all along. Nevin introduces the angel as Sandalphon, the leader of the five Archangels, and that, using her long-distance telepathy, Ramiel asked her to call in reinforcements. The demon laughs at their attempts to send in troops to kill him, but Ramiel reveals another thing: while he was battling, he also communicated with the strongest apostle Basileus who, being in the area, managed to find the sealing stone and cut the miasma link. Now vulnerable to attacks, Euden and the party lay Otherworld Ramiel low, defeating the demon. Escaping the crumbling ruins, Euden offers the apostles a night of rest at the Halidom, but as they are very busy, they decline, stating that they have to meet up with Basileus for a mission. Waving farewell, the party's new friends leave back to North Grastaea, promising to get the party to meet the strongest apostle one day.

Divine Deception

Sometime near the events of Chapter 17, Euden and his friends encounter a lost girl, so they guide her back to her village of Paradise. However, the girl's parents are seemingly unable to recognise their child, claiming to be newlyweds. Suddenly, Pinon arrives, disguised as a member of the neighbourhood watch and whisks the party away to a safe place to talk. There, she introduces them to her superiors, the apostles Faris and Ryszarda, as well as her Sigilbound Archangel and foster mother: Gabriel. Pinon informs the party that she and the apostles have been sent on a mission to investigate an individual living here known simply as Madame, who has started a spiritual community, helping people by erasing bad memories and installing pleasant ones. As another sealing stone, this one which steals the memories of people to revive the demon within, has been stolen, the apostles have been sent to check out the situation to see if there's a demonic influence afoot. Despite Faris's suspicions, Euden and the party agree to help out in the investigation and, disguised as regular villagers, infiltrate the village.

Helping out with chores with Ryszarda, the group gather that Madame only makes public appearances during nighttime rituals, in which villagers petition for her help in modifying their memories. Faris tasks the party with preparing a Cleansing Fount to replenish their supply of sanctified water to use in case a sealing stone truly is at work here. Exercising caution thanks to some Templar scouts disappearing here, the group infiltrate the night gathering. Madame arrives, granting a loveless man false memories of being a seasoned romantic so he can find love and brainwashing an old lady into a chicken after she wished to be reborn after all the tragedy in her life. Euden is called forward, during which Madame asks him if he has any unpleasant memories he wishes to rid himself of, recognising him as well. Euden states that while he has bad memories of losing his father and Zethia, he doesn't wish for them to be erased as he must face reality. The villagers are angered by this, so Faris calms them by revealing to Madame their suspicions. She assures them that she bears no sealing stone, allowing the apostles to search her, upon which they are unable to find any relics.

Confused, but suspicious at Madame's wit, the party continue searching for clues, with Ryszard and Faris discovering that she used to be the founder of the Association of the Aqueous, a bunch of frauds who sold fake holy water. Going for lunch to discuss the clues, Faris suddenly leaves for the "bathroom", causing suspicion after he takes very long. Suddenly, there is a loud uproar and the villagers point out the mangled corpse of one of the village girls, who they claim Faris was talking to earlier. Suspecting the group again, they plan to attack but Madame intervenes, assuring them that she will deal their due punishment instead.

Escaping into the mountains, Pinon remarks that Faris could be behind the murder, revealing that earlier she talked to the leader of the apostles Regina, who is sigil-bound to Sandalphon. She reveals that Regina suspects that Faris himself could be going after a sealing stone, seeking to revive the demon and as such, when she searched Madame, Pinon chose not to reveal that she possessed such a stone. However, Gabriel remarks that she heard of no such mission so Pinon assures her it was a secret mission given to her alone. Attempting to confirm with Sandalphon, the angel finds her transmission blocked by a magical barrier. The Templars who disappeared arrive, seemingly brainwashed into Madame's troops and surround the group. Fortunately, Basileus, who also received orders to stop Faris, arrives and beats the Templars down, greeting the group. He notes that in addition to a large laceration, the corpse of the dead girl had a bullet wound that matched Faris's manacaster was found, confirming his guilt as well as the fact only an apostle could erect such a disruptive barrier.

Tracking Madame to seek out Faris, the group eventually find him who notes that Basileus would arrive if he got near the stone. Euden, Pinon and Basileus prepare to attack, but Ryszarda, remembering Faris's remark on her good intuition, blocks them, expressing her trust that the apostle isn't a villain. Thanking Ryszarda for the opportunity, Faris throws a bag of sanctified water at Pinon, causing miasma to pour out of her, revealing that Regina's orders were false memories imprinted by the black mana. He reveals that through his investigation, he realised that Basileus was the one, in fact, who was loaned the sealing stones from Madame, with the story of her having a boyfriend actually being the apostle being given the stone. He also reveals that the victim from earlier was murdered by Basileus after she witnessed him manipulating Pinon, killing her so that nobody other than Faris could ask for more details on the investigation. Pinon suddenly reclaims memories of Basileus handing her a sealing stone, altering her memories.

Having been found out, Basileus admits his hand in the crime, but remarks that he has already done what he seeks to do. A scream rings out from the Grand Hall and he goes off, with the group following suit. At the hall, they see Madame using the memories accumulated to release the demon in the stone, where Basileus reveals that it was in fact, him that gave her the stone, hoping that she could use it to discreetly release the demon, as well as rewriting Pinon's memories to end the investigation. Fortunately, he was hindered when Euden arrived to help, and thus decided to trick the party into believing he was their ally after he realised rewriting Faris's memories would prove ineffective. Gabriel is horrified at this revelation but Pinon, now realising the true nature of her former idol, declares that she will hold back no longer. However, the demon is mostly unsealed and Madame transforms into the Otherworld version of Gabriel, although the true demon inside also begins to awaken within her, causing her extreme pain. Basileus escapes, and the demon, recognising the party and apostles as Ilian believers, attacks as her revenge for being sealed into an angel and a stone for untold eons. Thanks to the sealing stone, she survives so Faris orders Pinon and Ryszarda to fetch the sealing stone from Basileus. They succeed, sealing away the black mana and thus Euden and the party defeat Otherworld Gabriel, returning Madame to her normal self.

Though Ryszarda and Pinon have been injured from their brawl with Basileus, they recover and help out to restore the memories of the afflicted, including the little girl's parents, who finally reunite with their daughter. As the Templars prepare to take Madame away, Euden questions her on how she figured out his familial problems. She reveals that another man accompanying Basileus revealed those details to her, causing Euden to realise that Harle was conspiring with the Church too. However, Madame is confused at him calling the man Harle, revealing that Harle isn't actually his real name. Before she can say it however, she suddenly suffers a heart attack and dies. Whilst the apostles finalise the details of their investigation, Euden and the party set off back en route on their travels.

Rise of the Sinister Dominion

Fallen Angel of the Twilight and Evil Stirs

Hearing of rumours of mysterious wicked angels, Euden and the party set out to investigate and find a village beset by a phenomenon similar to "wroth". An old lady attacks them, but fortunately Nevin and Ramiel, who are hoping to clear the angels' names, are also present and quickly disperse her miasma with sanctified water. Noticing that miasma is flowing out of a nearby church, they go off to investigate where they find the true perpetrator: a fallen version of Ramiel. Euden initially mistakes the demon for Otherworld Ramiel, but Fallen Ramiel tells him that the earlier demon was a false one, merely being a construct formed of miasma and that he is the real deal. Knowledgable of how dangerous Fallen Ramiel would be to the world, the party attack, weakening him.

However, Euden and Nevin notice Fallen Ramiel's mana changing, as if something within him is stirring. The Fallen angel confirms this, stating that he is merely a vessel for the true demon: Lilith, and that the seal sealing her within him is weakening. He educates them on how this came to be, stating that during the Empyrean war hundreds of years ago, the angels selected their best warriors, the Five Archanagels and cloned them to create vessels to seal away the five strongest demons, the Archdemons, before said vessels were isolated in the Otherworld. Fallen Ramiel remarks that while he initially consented to this plan, he has since grown bitter with how they were discarded and detests how he has to protect weaker, insignificant beings. Realising that the demon has slowly been influencing the fallen angel, Euden and the group attack, planning to take down both Lilith and Fallen Ramiel.

The Demon's False Love and Ruler of Wicked Truth

Euden and the party apprehend a man who recently murdered a whole family. They are astounded when he claims to have killed them just because they were noisy, and that he simply wished to take their cakes initially. Questioning how he refuses to be remorseful, the man tells the party that "Mama" told him not to be nervous, and if he ever was in trouble she'd just erase his memories of it. Pinon and Gabriel arrive, investigating similar cases involving remorseless criminals all connected to some "Mama" figure. Suddenly the man points out this "Mama", causing Euden to realise that the figure is a Fallen version of Gabriel. The wicked angel convinces a lovelorn girl to simply kill the lover of her crush, as well as instructing a struggling farmer to just steal if his harvest should fail. Gabriel purifies the brainwashed villagers with sanctified water, while Euden confronts her over corrupting those innocent people, with Elisanne accusing her of instilling false memories of sins in them to numb them to crime. Fallen Gabriel simply laughs, proclaiming morals and common sense to be nonsense and that she is simply setting them free. Gabriel and Pinon declare that they will defeat her and stop the corruption, and thus Fallen Gabriel attacks.

The party beat Fallen Gabriel, after which she enters a mental breakdown before the demon's consciousness sealed within her awakens. The demon introduces himself as Jaldaboth, and proclaims that his corruption is simply the natural order of things; in his eyes, all living beings are born evil, and thus he is simply turning humanity to the true path of killing and sins. Pinon and Gabriel declare that while there is always confrontation, it isn't humanity's true nature and that he cannot declare evil as his law or code, instead they should support and raise up each other. Angered by the disobedience of these lower beings, Jaldaboth attacks, starting his boss fight.

Fallen Angel of Conflict and The Abyss of Strife Beckons

On their way to the Faerie kingdom, Euden and the party come across a town which, despite Gatov claiming it to be lively, seems completely deserted. Detecting miasma, Laxi and Mascula find the residents all gathered in the area where it is thickest, engaging in an all-out brawl. Fortunately Ryszarda and her Sigil-bound Archangel, Raphael arrive, knocking out some residents before getting to work healing them. Euden leads the party in finding the miasma's source, which they are shocked to find is a Fallen version of Raphael, who just finishes tainting a boy with miasma, making him fearless and aggressive to everything. Raphael arrives to apprehend her counterpart for her crimes, but Fallen Raphael simply claims that the wreckage wasn't her doing, with her miasma just releasing the true desires of all the villagers, allowing them to live without concern for themselves, morality or others, believing that in their hearts, everybody desires conflict. Ryszarda denounces Fallen Raphael's philosophy as simply imposing her will on others, angering her as she goes on the attack.

Fallen Raphael is knocked down, but she has a sudden surge in mana, reawakening the demon sealed within her: Asura. The Archdemon gloats on her ascencion to a new plane of power, explaining again to the party once again that conflict is the very essence of life, with all organisms having to compete and fight with each other to evolve, lest they decay and deteriorate, being overtaken by competition. Emotions fluctuating wildly, Asura declares that she will release the party from their lax peacefulness and remove all constraints, but Raphael rebukes her, stating that while conflict is sometimes necessary, people only grow stronger when they assess carefully whether they truly need to fight. Angered once again, Asura goes on the offensive, with the party readying themselves for battle.

Fallen Angel of Solitude and The Arrogant Demon's Sneer

On the trail of a Fallen angel, the Archangels Uriel and Ramiel, as well as Nevin ask for Euden and the party's assistance in helping Uriel's apostle: Faris. They arrive just in time to help him save a girl from the fallen angel: Fallen Uriel, who had brainwashed her with black mana into massacring a town. The fallen angel is annoyed at this advancement, remarking that the party is simply banding up together as they know they cannot face him, a stronger being, and they should respect and revere him. Uriel rebukes this philosophy, stating that even if he is correct, that would mean Fallen Uriel himself would have to submit in the presence of a stronger being, so even if he dominates others, it won't be permanent and he should be like Uriel and make others obey order and logic. Dismissing the angel's words as nonsense, Fallen Uriel attacks, showing off his strength.

The group manage to beat back the fallen angel, but Nevin senses the demon sealed within awakening. The demon, Iblis, declares the humanoid races as disgusting and foolish, and that the angels shouldn't be spending time with inferior races. Ramiel and Uriel comment that while humanoids tend to be foolish, this allows them to build bonds with each other and overcome each others' problems, which is why they've chosen to side with humanity. Iblis is disgusted by this view, proclaiming himself as perfect and having no such need for bonds, to which Uriel comments that everybody, even he has imperfections and true perfection is impossible. Iblis is irritated at this notion and thus, attacks the party.

Fallen Angel of Hesitation and The Demon of Ruin

Tipped off by Michael, Basileus's Archangel, on the advance of a fallen angel to a nearby town, Ryszarda, Raphael, and Pinon move out to prevent more casualties from occurring, with Euden and Sandalphon working to evacuate the citizens. Raphael ambushes the fallen angel: Fallen Michael, but to her surprise, he gets back up and begs for her to kill him. Begging for release from this endless boredom, the group prepare for a fight with the fallen angel.

They triumph, but Fallen Michael senses the demon within himself awakening and warns the group of what is to come. He tells them that the demon within him is called Surtr, whose thoughts are incomprehensible to him other than the fact he wishes to end himself, with that desire manifesting as a miasma that drives all to suicide. Being corrupted by the demon's power, Fallen Michael begins breaking down and begs the party to kill him quickly. The original Michael arrives, offering to release Surtr and end his fallen self's suffering, and when questioned about his motives, simply remarks that he wishes to support Basileus however he can. Offering his condolences to the fallen angel, Michael and the party attack, hoping to release Fallen Michael from his pain.

Chapters 18-22

Chapter 18: The Forest of the Faeries

Entering the snowy forest, Shiela guides the party on, with Gatov revealing her to be his daughter. He warns the party to keep close to her, as the faerie forest constantly changes, and thus losing sight of her could mean they would be lost. Suddenly, they hear fiends so Euden and his friends ready for combat. However, Gatov stands them down and with minimal effort, Sheila dispels the monsters, revealing them to be illusions. Gatov explains that the faewood senses the feelings of one's heart to create fitting illusions, and thus projected fiends from sensing the fear in their hearts. However, such illusions may cause a person to get imprisoned in their own fantasy until they die, wandering the endless mist, so Gatov cautions the party to hold onto each other and use their friendships as anchors to reality, calling back each other should they be affected, as well as thinking about someone they trust should they be alone.

Continuing onwards, the party are faced with a blizzard which blinds them as the entire place is filled with snow. Suddenly, Notte hears a mysterious voice, warning her of incoming danger. Right on cue, an avalanche arrives, forcing the party to split up, where they are faced with their illusions. While they manage to regroup, Euden and Luca are separated from the team. Alone in the snow, Euden faces his worst fear: causing everybody to lose faith in him, seeing illusions of his friends abandoning him and his subjects renouncing him as king. Feeling frightened, he desperately searches for a way to make amends, but fortunately Luca, using Mascula's blade to remember his friendships, arrives and saves Euden from the illusions, giving him some Sylvan medicine to cure his fatigue from the snow. The prince admits that he feels guilty about dragging the party on this self-centred journey to the Faerie kingdom, but Luca assures Euden that everybody joined him out of free will, and that since he has done so much for them, they also want to give back and help him.

Euden thanks Luca for being with him all this time, but a thundering voice reprimands him for being beyond saving. Emerging from the snow, Kai Yan appears, denouncing the duo's harmonious natures as heretical, and thus vows to rid the world of evil and vice by killing them. Euden and Luca face him off, but Kai Yan still manages to stand while the prince, on the other hand, begins to tire and is weakened. Kai Yan prepares to kill him for his weakness but Luca steps in, so he decides to kill them both. Fortunately, Gatov and the rest of the party arrive, with Zena healing Euden and Luca telling him that this is a true demonstration of friendship. Kai Yan sneers at this notion, remarking that with their collective weakness, they're simply hurtling towards annihilation even quicker and thus, faces off against the party again.

The party manage to weaken Kai Yan, with Luca vowing revenge for him slaughtering his village, but the Agito denounces him as a fool, declaring that their harmony led to depravity and that they had to be culled as they were not strong. Calling upon the power of his Vajra Orb, Kai Yan summons a blast of energy that sends everybody flying, but Luca refuses to stand down, declaring that he promised to create a world without borders or discrimination, and that he won't let anyone stop him. Picking up Mascula's blade, he goes on the assault. Suddenly, the dragon Jeanne 'D Arc, albeit in a different form, arrives, granting him a boon. With a single strike, he knocks down Kai Yan, forcing the Agito to retreat into the snow, with Luca deciding not to pursue as he doesn't want to kill anyone. Jeanne thanks him, as his powerful emotions and will for harmony dispelled the black mana inside her and allowed her to be reborn. As she leaves, Euden thanks Luca for saving him, to which he assures him that what he did was just what friends do. About to set off, Notte suddenly hears the voice in her head and gets a splitting headache, passing out.

When she comes to, the party realise that for some reason, she's now the size of a regular human instead of a small faerie. Chelle remarks that she read that faeries undergo humongous growth from being insect-sized to human-sized during adolescence, and that Notte's condition could be due to her undergoing puberty. Notte suddenly realises she has memories on how to get to the Faerie kingdom, which Gatov hypothesises is because the faeries are using her as a conduit to transmit information. Guiding the party along, Notte decides to try walking, remarking that now that she's bigger she wants to be more helpful, to which the party respond she's always been a great help to them, no matter her size. Reaching the mountain's summit, Gatov informs the party that the entrance is hidden and can only be opened by a faerie, instructing Notte to open it by praying at a nearby lake, filling her soul with as great a desire as possible to enter it.

Notte prays, causing the lake to glow but it abruptly stops, causing her confusion. An angry wolf-dragon suddenly appears, delaying her attempts to open it again as the party faces it off. The voice in Notte's head informs her that the lake was tainted with miasma, causing the mechanism inside to malfunction. Suddenly, Harle arrives, mocking Elisanne for her faith in Euden even after that revelation. When asked about his intentions, he simply remarks that he serves people to gain more power, and quickly notes to the party about the dragon who rises again, as well as fiends and church Templars who surround them. As Harle leaves, Notte hears the voice again who tells her that she and the party can escape into a nearby cave, wherein lies an old gate to the Faerie kingdom which would let them in.

Fighting his way through the hordes of enemies, Euden and his friends retreat into the caves with the Templars and fiends in hot pursuit. They reach a wall with a fae sigil inscribed onto it, and thus Euden asks Notte to do her best to open the way while they hold the horde off. They are being badly beaten back but while Gatov and Chelle propose fleeing, Euden puts his faith in the faerie and trusts she'll be able to do it. As they are overcome with enemies, Notte sees the party and is filled with determination to help and shines with bright light, blinding the enemies. When the light clears, the party realise she has grown into a giant, adult form, which she uses to defeat the mob, sending them packing. Notte's strong mana also calms the wolf-dragon, who she gives belly rubs to before sending it on its way. The party thank her for her helpfulness although the gate still isn't open, so the voice in Notte's head, recognising her worthiness, asks of her to use her mana to share what she hears with everybody.

Telepathically communicating, Gatov recognises the voice as Finlorda the faerie king. Finlorda greets the party, recognising Euden and thus, allows him and his friends entry to the Faerie kingdom. The gates flung open and with anticipation in his heart, Euden and his friends enter the gates into the kingdom.

Chapter 19: Hidden Truths

Travelling the path through the kingdom, the party marvel at the architecture and bizarre flora, which Gatov explains is thanks to the roots of the aptly named Sacred Tree spreading throughout the land, enriching it with potent mana, so the faeries have since gained an expertise of mana far beyond human understanding. Noticing the lack of people, Finlorda suspects that the party's arrival has caused the faeries to hide in their homes, and asks of them to quickly come to him as danger is approaching. Right on cue, a troop of androids arrive, shocking Laxi, Mascula and Mym as not only are androids designed to kill dragons by humans, but faeries are also relatives of dragons and it would be illogical for them to possess such weapons. The faerie king tells them that these androids were found on old battlefields and that his subjects had restored them for self-defence and manual labour. The androids attack, being controlled by an unknown party so the party face them off.

As they fight the androids, Euden is almost ambushed so Laxi saves him, with the party noting the androids seem to be exclusively targeting the prince. Finlorda reveals to the party that he is no longer the king of faeries, with his title having been ousted from him by his rebellious son Jinlorda, whose reformative ideals have caused different factions to arise in the kingdom, throwing it into chaos. However, the new faerie king has no reason to harm Euden, so Finlorda suspects the android attack is the work of other faeries who dislike him. Suddenly, felling the androids, Ayaha and Otoha arrive, still seeking to kill Laxi and Mascula thanks to their "false freedom".

Fighting off the twins, Laxi requests them to leave as they don't want to fight. Ayaha and Otoha simply laugh at the two trying to give them orders, and suspect the party is trying to suppress their freedom, denouncing them as puppets who want to boss them around and give them orders. Filled with renewed fury, the twins attack again, but are tired out. Ranzal asks of them to stop, but they stubbornly refuse to, to which Laxi and Mascula realise something: Ayaha and Otoha are insecure about their sense of freedom, and thus are obsessed with fighting the two as seeing Laxi being a robot makes them feel better about themselves. Instead, Laxi tells them that the path to true freedom is to understand each other and live in harmony. The twins are furious at their insecurities being seen and activate their Agito masks, filling them with power.

Despite Euden's pleas, Laxi decides to fight the twins alone, reconciling with Mascula along the way. Suddenly, the Firelord Agni arrives in a reborn state, attracted by the android's strong emotions. With Laxi activating Annihilation mode, the two swiftly defeat Ayaha and Otoha in a single blow, who hurl curses at them as they retreat. Continuing on the journey, Notte (who has shrunk back to her regular size), guides the party on to Finlorda's humble house. The former king greets the party, and stuns everybody when he apologises to Notte for altering her destiny. He reveals that through magic, he sealed away her memories of living in the Faerie kingdom and gave her false ones of growing up in South Grastaea, sending her to Sol Alberia and awakening her just as Euden and Zethia arrived, revealing their coincidental meeting to in fact, have been planned, as well as that he has been using Notte as a surveillance tool all her life. Horrified at Finlorda's actions and impatient with his riddles, the party ask for him to reveal why he went to such means.

Finlorda reveals the truth to Euden: He isn't a human, but is instead a magic construct made of the Other's flesh and animated with fae magic. The party refuses to believe this, and Chelle recommends Euden leave if he finds it too painful, but he decides to go on. Finlorda continues and retells the whole story: one day, he received a message from Aurelius, informing him that his child had been suffering from wyrmscale and that he needed the faerie's help. However, by the time he arrived at the kingdom it was too late and baby Euden died. Desperate to have his son back, Aurelius begged Finlorda to bring back Euden and thus the king agreed to use forbidden magic to create a vessel to house the prince's soul, deciding to use a piece of the Other's flesh as the demon's power would allow mana circulation. Thus, using the purified Otherflesh, fae magic and some of Euden's blood, Finlorda resurrected the young prince into a new vessel.

The party is still unable to accept Finlorda's atrocities, to which he explains that in his foolishness and curiosity, he wished to research the secrets of dragonblood, which is why he accepted Aurelius's request, keeping the original body of Euden to study it, hoping that he could bring faekind to greater heights. However, he also feared that Euden's new body would prove unstable, being of Otherflesh which is why he sent Notte as a surveillance tool to make sure the prince didn't go berserk. When questioned why he thought that Morsayati's flesh would be stable by Chelle, Finlorda reveals an old manuscript written by Meene, a fairy princess who witnessed the birth of the Other, which he used as a reference. He notes that the manuscript also claims something different about the Other's origin contrasting with the Ilian Church's preaching.

With that, Finlorda's tale comes to an end and he hands a letter from Aurelius to Euden. Hoping that reading the letter with his friends could help lift a burden off his shoulders, Euden decides to read it aloud. In the letter, Aurelius expresses his hope that his son is surrounded with allies that he can trust, expressing his pride in Euden and asking that he doesn't blame Finlorda for creating him and that his creation was entirely his fault. Regardless, Aurelius tells him that artificial or not, he loves Euden and has left his thoughts for him in the Sacred Tree. Finlorda tells him that the Tree is a mystical plant in the center of the kingdom, worshipped by the faeries for its potent mana, which in turn have led to many miraculous phenomenons happening there.

The party enthusiastically ready to set off, but Euden asks of them to stay back a while so he can collect his thoughts, heading to the forest to sit around a while. However while resting, androids suddenly emerge and attack him. He manages to hold his own for a while but they begin to overwhelm him. Fortunately Zena and Notte arrive just in time, with the latter expressing she knows that Euden feels unsure of himself as a burden to the party, but that she'll never abandon him. The rest of the party arrives to fend off the androids, promising to never leave Euden behind as well.

As they beat back the androids, Zena notices they seem to be targeting Euden alone so they all gather up to protect him. Just in time, Laxi arrives to back them up but to everyone's surprise, Mascula arrives in his own body to assist them as well. Speeding into action, he manages to disable all the androids and knock them out for the time being. Chelle, along with Gatov and Finlorda arrives. She explains that she had retrieved Mascula's broken body earlier to attempt to repair it but while it isn't fully operational, with the help of Finlorda's magic, she has allowed the android to remotely pilot it from within Laxi's body, albeit only for a short amount of time. Pulling aside Euden for a while, the two androids thank him for treating them as more than artificial constructs, allowing them to choose their own paths in life. Announcing him as their new Maestro, they vow to work towards the world of peace he works to create. With the encouragement of his friends, Euden prepares to make for the Sacred Tree.

Just then, one of Finlorda's subordinates arrive, informing the king that Nedrick, the Agito and Jinlorda, with Zethia and Valyx in tow, are attempting to break into the Tree. Finlorda deduces that Nedrick plans to steal the Dawnshard located at the top, explaining that contrary to popular belief, the Sacred Shards are not remnants of Alberius's sword but instead concentrated mana clumps produced by the Sacred Tree, with a powerful one called the Dawnshard created every century. Realising that Nedrick plans to use the Shard to swear a full pact with his pactwyrm, the Wyrm of Genesis Bahamut, the king spurs the party to climb the Tree. However, another subordinate arrives to inform Finlorda that there are also several rebellions breaking out in the kingdom, so Euden decides to pursue Nedrick while the king quells the outbreaks.

Setting out at dawn, the party rush to the Tree, but Gatov treads uneasily, sensing that somebody is stalking them. True enough, Tartarus emerges from the shadows, remarking on Euden's true nature as a construct. Scoffing at how the prince's confidence, he rebukes Cleo when she states that Euden carries Alberius's will, stating that the king's will belonged to him alone. As he denounces Euden as a pathetic creature, Tartarus calls upon a Feral Shroud and attacks the party. However, he remarks that they are too weak and unworthy as sacrifices to Alberius and stops fighting. Before he departs, Tartarus attempts to convince Cleo one last time to stop following Euden, but when she insists he is a worthy inheritor of the king's will, he warns them that the party is headed for ruin at the top of the Tree.

Chapter 20: The Sacred Tree

Arriving at the Sacred Tree, the party can feel the powerful mana pulsing through them but just as quickly stumble upon the Tree's injured guards. As they tend to their wounds, the guards explain to the party that Nedrick and his band arrived and while they fought hard, Jinlorda's metamorphosis technique completely outmatched them, allowing him to destroy the Tree's barrier like it was nothing. Mym is enraged by Jinlorda's treachery to his people, but Zethia and Notte calm her and decide to work on healing the wounded faeries. Fortunately, the guard reassures them that he can heal his comrades alone and encourages the party to stop Nedrick and his band. Giving Euden directions up the Tree, the guard wishes the prince luck as he and the party depart.

Venturing through the misty branches, Euden and his friends notice that Cleo has been slightly dazed after talking to Tartarus, as if deep in thought. While the party sets up camp for the night, Cleo ventures off into the mist to clear her thoughts when she sees the silhouette of none other than Alberius. The king greets her and reveals that he's a mana apparition, temporarily manifesting and that he wishes to talk to Cleo once more. Asking her for a meal, Alberius listens to Cleo as she laments on how she feels lost on whether to follow Euden or not, knowing that he has pure intentions despite his artificial nature. Alberius comforts her, telling her that while nobody truly knows what the right path in their lives are, everybody can try to make the path they're taking the right path. Noticing that he's fading away, Alberius reveals a simple truth to Cleo: he protected the world simply because he wanted to and also didn't want the world to be a place without her wonderful cooking. Thanking her king for the opportunity of serving him, Cleo bids farewell to Alberius as he passes on to the afterlife.

With renewed vigour, Cleo prepares breakfast for the party as they prepare to set off. They ascend to the highest branches, but Tartarus blocks the way once more. He chastises the party for ignoring his warnings, remarking on how Mym has fallen in love with Euden even though she still takes the form of Myriam, one of Alberius's late friends. Luca comments how Tartarus does whatever Nedrick says despite claiming to follow Alberius, so the Abyssalwyrm simply states that his obedience to Nedrick is to repay his debt of power, nothing more and that now his king is dead, Tartarus will destroy the world for taking him away from him. Cleo rebukes Tartarus and affirms she will continue protecting the world, to which he accepts it as a challenge and attacks the party. They manage to tire him but calling on the Agito mask, Tartarus traps the party in pocket dimensions, leaving Cleo to face him in single combat. She explains to Tartarus that she too mourns for Alberius and that she's not trying to replace him with Euden, but instead she and the party will do their best to save the world he loved their own way.

Just then, Nidhogg arrives in his reborn form. Tartarus notices him and, learning that Cleo talked to Alberius not long before the fight, demands to know what his king said. Cleo reveals that Alberius simply granted her the closure to move on from his death, and, working with Reborn Nidhogg, attack Tartarus, defeating him. Exhausted from her battle, Cleo apologises to Euden for not having faith in him but now she truly wants to help him on his quest. Thankful for her passion, Euden accepts Cleo's apology and the party once again heads off.

The party trudges up the Tree, barely halfway up and tired from the journey. Fortunately, Gatov informs them that a magical barrier has been set in place near the top of the Sacred Tree, which neither faerie nor human can dispel, buying them some time as Nedrick is unable to get rid of it. However, he also reveals that powerful wielders of mana, such as Auspexes like Zethia, could easily remove the barrier and is concerned Nedrick could use her to open the way, though the barrier would quickly close. As Gatov is concerned that removing the barrier would cause Zena's mana form to erode, he informs the party that Sheila can assist in removing it instead. Gatov reveals to the party that a long time ago, Sheila almost died but was magically saved by having her soul transplanted into a body made of Morsayati's flesh, similar to Euden. However, the technique was imperfect and the black mana remaining in the flesh eroded away Sheila's soul, leaving her mute and emotionless. Hearing of Gatov's tragic tale, Euden expresses further gratitude to the father and daughter, knowing how hard it must've been for him.

Venturing upwards, Euden and the party find themselves facing the faerie king Jinlorda and his posse of metamorphosised faeries. Jinlorda cheerfully greets the party, thanking Euden for taking care of Notte as he has known her for quite a while. When asked to give up his quest to retrieve the Dawnshard, Jinlorda remains stalwart however, proclaiming that as the new Faerie King, he decides the kingdom's course of action and that he doesn't care what Finlorda thinks. He also informs them that while Zethia has indeed been kidnapped, she is not in need of saving and if the party attempt to continue, he will personally put an end to them. Jinlorda reveals the Agito, who, after being humiliated by their defeats, have empowered themselves completely with the masks and are dead set on revenge. Readying themselves, Euden and the party battle against their foes and triumph but Jinlorda awakens the power of metamorphosis in his fellow faeries and fights the party once again. Nedrick arrives on the scene and revives the Agito but out of the blue, Audric arrives and singlehandedly strikes them all down. As the party deal with the other foes, he encourages Euden to seize this chance and rescue Zethia, which he does so.

Racing to the top of the tree, Euden arrives just as Zethia dispels the barrier. There, she shamefully admits to her brother that she's helping Nedrick and his party out of her own volition, with Valyx affirming this. She explains that while possessed by Morsayati, her consciousness was transported by the Other to the distant past, allowing her to witness the true nature of Ilia and the Ilian Church, and thus she is cooperating with Nedrick to learn the truth of the world. Asked to fulfil his end of the bargain by explaining his goals to Euden, Nedrick obliges but quickly notices something is strange about the altar Zethia's standing on and sure enough, she vanishes with a scream. Nedrick concludes that the altar must've contained an otherworld portal which whisked her away and while slightly concerned, he has to leave so as to claim the Dawnshard, stranding Euden on the other side of the barrier. However before he leaves, Valyx assures him that Nedrick will explain everything to Euden sooner or later.

While Sheila and Zena work on dismantling the portal, Euden sits nearby in shock. Audric arrives to console him, telling him that while he may not have saved Zethia, he can still stop Nedrick from claiming the Dawnshard. Euden is unable to recognise him, so Audric "reintroduces" himself as Aurelius's friend, revealing that he knew him ever since he was a baby. Audric tells Euden that while Aurelius initially thought of him as different from his other children, a child made of his own selfishness, once he held the baby Euden, all of such thoughts vanished from Aurelius and he only cared about letting him live a happy life. Before he leaves, Audric informs Euden that Zethia is still nearby, though in another realm and the two will surely reunite.

With no time to lose, Euden and the party rush to the Tree's summit, discussing what Nedrick could possibly want Bahamut's pact for. When Mym remarks Nedrick likely wants world domination, Jinlorda arrives just in time and insists that his accomplice's goals are much more sophisticated. Euden tries to settle the argument peacefully, but when Jinlorda points out that the prince hasn't even thought of why Finlorda asked the party to stop Nedrick, he decides that he'll hear Nedrick out before deciding his next course of action. Hearing this, Jinlorda is delighted and decides to test the party's strength in battle. He is badly beaten, but even then Jinlorda refuses to submit to Euden and his party. Jinlorda reveals a truth that he promised to reveal: despite being closely related, faeries like himself are weaklings compared to dragons, and that many people in the world are born with misfortune and weakness simply due to circumstance. As Nedrick once was weak himself, dying as a child to a disease and being forced into a half-pact with Bahamut to sustain himself, he wishes to use the Dawnshard to grant the weak the strength to overturn their circumstances. Gatov sympathises with Jinlorda, but states that all this action would do is reverse the circumstances, so the faerie retorts by saying as a king of a fallen kingdom, Gatov really is as stagnant as his father. Despite Euden's pleas for peaceful negotiation, Jinlorda announces that he will gain power by whatever means necessary. By the power of apotheosis, Jinlorda steals Mym's mana and transforms into an identical form to her and prepares to attack Euden for his belief that he could even understand what being weak means, forcing the party to face him off.

Chapter 21: The Two Creators

After a long and gruelling fight, the party manage to defeat Jinlorda who still refuses to stand down despite his wounds. Fortunately Nedrick arrives and pacifies the faerie. Keeping his word, he guides Euden and the party up to the top of the tree where he prepares to tell them the truth. Knowing that the party wouldn't trust him, he invites someone else to tell them the truth, the Sacred Tree itself. The Tree reveals that it has been guarding the Dawnshard for millenia, and has seen the beginning and will see the world's end.

By Nedrick's request it tells the story of creation: at the beginning of time, there lived two creators, a man known as The Progenitor and a dragon known as The Origin. After creating the world, the two deities began fighting with each other over the best way to rule over their creations, with The Progenitor believing absolute control was the best method while The Origin held more faith in allowing the things of the world to decide their own courses of action. Unable to come to an agreement, the two deities fought, resulting in The Progenitor being banished to the Otherworld and The Origin losing his physical form, preserving the world's possibility. Nedrick reveals that while sealed away, The Progenitor has slowly been breaking into the universe using its black mana and should it escape, it could transform the world into one of complete order, preventing anybody from improving their own fates and resigning them to doom.

Thus Nedrick finally describes his entire plan: Bahamut is The Origin's true name, thus if he forges a full pact with the Genesiswyrm, he could gain the power to destroy The Progenitor when it inevitably returns. Seeing Nedrick's noble goals, Euden and the party decide to trust him but the Holywyrm and leader of all dragons, Elysium arrives to prevent them from using the Dawnshard. Fending him off, Nedrick asks Elysium why he plans to stop him, to which the Holywyrm reveals that he too wants to protect the world, but by using The Progenitor's methods. Having seen the ends of numerous other universes spawned by possibility, he wishes to stop Nedrick from allowing Bahamut to bring back his pure possibility. Seeing that the two have a common enemy, Euden teams up with Nedrick and together, their parties both face off Elysium.

Euden and Nedrick fight hard and successfully hurt Elysium. While the Holywyrm is impressed by their efforts, with the heroes being the only ones to wound him since Alberius, he notes that no matter the amount of heroes a world has, it's always destined to ruin with most worlds being ended by Alberius's descendants. Euden attempts to assure him that future heroes will stop this ruin but to no avail, so Nedrick decides that they should simply kill Elysium. However Elysium simply stops the flow of mana, freezing everyone in place as he prepares his final attack, with Jinlorda being too weak to use apotheosis. However, Euden quickly remember that the Agito are composed of black mana, a substance out of Elysium's control so absorbing Volk's lingering black mana, he calls upon a Feral Shroud and transforms into Beast Volk, allowing the party to move again. With that, Euden and his friends lay the Holywyrm low.

As Elysium dies, he begs for a chance to protect the world, to which Nedrick replies that the people he wishes to protect have rejected his method before laying the final blow. The Sacred Tree chastises the group for killing the Holywyrm despite how much he loved the world, so Euden replies that while Elysium could be proven right in the future, he wants to believe in possibility for now. Nedrick simply remarks that he simply doesn't agree with Elysium's views and requests for the Dawnshard, which the Sacred Tree obliges to. However before he can act, Zethia reappears from the Otherworld with Ilia and Morsayati's old self, Mordecai following along, the two having banished themselves to that realm to seal away the Other centuries ago. Ilia reveals that during her imprisonment in the Otherworld, she found out Nedrick's true plan: to give everybody the power of shapeshifting. While this plan is good and all, she points out a vital flaw in Nedrick's plan: many people in the world cannot handle a dragon's power like the Alberian royal family can and if they attempted shapeshifting, they would surely die or be twisted into some form of dragon-humanoid abomination. Nedrick acknowledges this flaws as part of his plan, stating that he believes that sacrifices must be made for progress and that he Euden's form of justice that lacks sacrifices is as hollow as the artificial prince himself.

Suddenly, Elysium begins to reanimate, though clearly in pain. Phares and Beren reveal themselves and announce that they are going to take on an ultimate challenge: to try and control the Holywyrm with black mana. With the fiends thrown into a frenzy by the black mana, Nedrick seizes this chance and races to the Dawnshard and touches it, travelling to a realm similar to his past where he begins to alter history, prompting Zethia to touch the Dawnshard as well and chase him down, using a special blade made from Bahamut's flesh given to her by Ilia to steal Nedrick's pact. While Euden's concerned, he also realises that his sister is more than capable of keeping herself safe and he no longer needs to protect her and thus he and the party form a safe passage for her to enter Nedrick's realm and chase him down.

Sometime later, Nedrick is ejected back into the real world but Zethia is absent. While concerned, Euden and his friends have no time to waste as Beren successfully corrupts Elysium into a dark dragon of black mana, who attacks the party. Fortunately when all seems lost, Zethia reappears in a new outfit, revealing that she successfully secured half of Bahamut's pact and has the power to stop the Holywyrm. Together, the party take up arms against Elysium and with Zethia's help, manage to lay good hits on him though she remarks that when using Bahamut's power, she is rendered blind and instead uses a sixth sense to instantly detect attacks. With that, the party manage to immobilise the Holywyrm and Zethia reverts to her old self, regaining her sight but they soon realise that the battle has destabilised the Sacred Tree, prompting them to leave but she and Euden fall down from the canopy as the branches collapse.

Euden, Ilia and Zethia reawaken at the lower branches of the Tree, where they're confronted by Beren. Beren is frustrated that even though Euden has discovered that he is an empty husk and not an actual royal, he still insists on protecting his friends and the world and refuses to despair. Declaring Euden as a hollow husk, Beren and Phares depart to help in the revival of an unknown being named "Satan". The rest of the party arrive too, but Nedrick follows along, stubbornly insistent on allowing his plan to come to fruition, challenges Euden to a duel.

Chapter 22: Twice Sworn

In the face of Nedrick's overwhelming power from Bahamut, Euden struggles to face off against his foe, with even Zethia's pact barely being able to repel Nedrick's shapeshifted form. Euden denounces his stubbornness, proclaiming that Nedrick's refusal of accepting other plans is denial of possibility itself to which Nedrick rebukes him, stating that possibility is never fair and that unless the prince can best him, his words are all but hollow. But just as Nedrick can land the killing blow, he screams in agony and, reverting to his human form, flees with Jinlorda, causing Zethia to realise that he's feeling the negative effects of his pact with Bahamut. While finding the idea of fighting a tormented Nedrick dishonourable, Euden follows Chelle's advice and withe the party, gives chase.

Catching up to Nedrick, Chelle recommends for the party to kill him here and now, which Euden rejects as he believes Nedrick could be pacified and become a valuable ally against their common enemy: The Progenitor. Suddenly Nedrick shapeshifts once again and begins opening rifts in reality's fabric, causing Gatov and Zethia to realise that Bahamut is attempting to possess him and destroy the world. Temporarily regaining control, Nedrick explains Bahamut's reasons for destruction: due to Beren obtaining Morsayati's power, a rise in demonic activity and Elysium being corrupted by black mana, conditions are ideal for The Progenitor to return so in order to bypass this fate, Bahamut aims to destroy this realm of possibility to prevent its resurrection. Realising that Nedrick can't subjugate Bahamut alone, Euden and the party decide to cooperate with Jinlorda to enter his mind and pacify the Genesiswyrm. While unconvinced that his plan could work, Nedrick accepts Euden's temporary truce and together, they plunge into Nedrick's subconscious.

In Nedrick's mindscape, Euden sees various memories and learns of his past: belittled by the faeries as Finlorda's guinea pig and feared by other children due to being a Faewood resident, Nedrick was constantly lonely but still cherished his only companion Bahamut, believing him to be a friend. However, after a shapeshifting episode, Nedrick is informed by Jinlorda that he's a mere pawn in Bahamut's plans, causing him to accept his solitude and decide to one day subjugate the Genesiswyrm's power and turn the tables. Euden realises that as his soul is connected to Nedrick's, the latter must have intentionally let him see these memories. Hearing a loud roar, Euden catches up to Nedrick and, reuniting with the party, prepare to face off Bahamut.

While they fight valiantly, the party is unable to lay Bahamut low, which Jinlorda points out is because the Bahamut they face isn't the real one but merely his subconscious. Resolving to break Bahamut's spirit, Nedrick leads yet another charge. When Euden shapeshifts to take a hit for him, Nedrick denounces the prince's actions as idiocy, to which Euden realises why Nedrick hasn't claimed a full pact: he regards his own pact as burden from Bahamut he intends to use on the Genesiswyrm instead of a relationship. Euden informs Nedrick of this and suggests that if he trusts that Bahamut won't hurt him, he may stop the dragon from resisting and forge a true pact. While he's doubtful of this plan, Nedrick recognises that brute force is getting him nowhere and with Euden's encouragement, surrenders himself to Bahamut. With this, Nedrick finally forges a true pact, with his sheer power ejecting the party back into the real world. Seeing the power of bonds, he decides to ally himself with the party and form a truce.

However, Bahamut quickly begins to take over Zethia's consciousness, opening even more rifts in reality. Realising that if she shapeshifted, Zethia would either be stuck as a dragon forever or be erased from existence, the party get to work trying to knock her out. Nedrick shapeshifts to deal with Bahamut's mana projection, allowing Euden to knock out Zethia but when he senses that she's about to shapeshift, he stops in his tracks, allowing Bahamut to deal a devesating blow and flee. When he explains his feelings, Audric theorises that it's possible Euden can recognise when people will shapeshift either due to his multiple pacts or purely out of experience. Ilia realises that Bahamut is using Zethia's body to try and destabilise the Sacred Tree and remove one of the pillars holding up the world, so the party make haste to stop him.

Arriving at the Sacred Tree's canopy, the party is faced with a dilemma: if they are to stop Bahamut, they have to enter Zethia's mind which would leave them vulnerable to the mana projection. Audric reveals that he may have a method of solving this: a forbidden spell used by dishonest monarchs of Alberia which allows one to share a pact with another. Using this spell, he relieves Bahamut's control of Zethia temporarily, allowing her and the party to fight the Genesiswyrm in the mental realm. They arrive in Zethia's mind, which is a picturesque landscape of flowers and buildings. Spotting Bahamut, Zethia attempts to reason with him but he seems disinterested, confusing her as he initially seemed willing to cooperate. With no other option, the party lead an attack on the Genesiswyrm once again. However as Bahamut refuses to yield again, Euden and Zethia notice he seems to be in pain, as if being forced to fight the party. Nedrick also comments that he feels no animosity from Bahamut, implying that an unseen third party is manipulating the Genesiswyrm's actions and thus comes up with an idea: Zethia can begin the process of shapeshifting, allowing Euden to sense the third party's mana and cut it off. With the rest of the party focusing on boosting Bahamut's mana in battle, the plan goes into action.

Just as planned, Euden manages to nullify the other party's influence, returning the party to the real world and allowing Zethia to regain her pact. However, seeing as she was unable to completely control Bahamut, Nedrick asks of Zethia to surrender her half of the pact for her safety. She refuses, noting that deep down, Nedrick still considers using his original plan. Valyx adds on to this rebuttal, stating that not everybody desires the strength that Nedrick wishes to grant. The latter insists that what he's doing will create an ideal world, to which both Audric and Gatov attempt to dissuade him by describing the sheer stress of possessing Bahamut's pact. Nedrick stubbornly refuses and attempts to take Zethia's pact by force, causing Euden to step in and the two to battle again.

Euden prevails over Nedrick and, noticing that his foe is tired, asks of him to stop fighting and join his cause for real. Nedrick however, refuses and berates him for being soft and weak, causing Audric to intervene. He wonders if Nedrick's desire for Bahamut's power is due to jealousy over Euden's privilege, which Nedrick denies. However, when Audric comments that the powerless too seek small goals such as those and fight with all their strength, Nedrick admits that his envy of Euden is true. Thus, Audric decides to pacify him by revealing his true identity of an alternate Aurelius who had arrived in this timeline to atone for his sins. He also reveals that venturing into the Sacred Tree he had found remnants of Aurelius's thoughts towards Nedrick: while initially overjoyed that his true son had indeed survived, he began to worry what welcoming Nedrick back would mean for Euden and, unable to find a conclusion, began to view himself as a useless and horrible parent. However, there was one thing he was determined to do, and that was to save Nedrick from Bahamut's pact. To this end, he would unearth the forbidden spell used by Audric and, running out of solutions, went to the Binding Ruins to seek out Morsayati, hoping that the demon's power could free his son of this burden.

Audric informs Nedrick that Aurelius never sought the help of others due to fear of his insecurities being exposed, and that Nedrick should try to trust people so as to not repeat those problems. When he expresses his fears of people not being able to carry those burdens, Audric instructs Nedrick to simply believe in others and trust them. As Audric swears in the name of Alberia and Alberius, Nedrick is touched by this sentiment and accepts a true alliance with Euden. With his purposes fulfilled and his time in this world up, Audric begins to fade away, entrusting the future of this world into the hands of his parallel children. Before he dissipates into mana, he entrusts the care of his children to Gatov before finally, bidding goodbye to his children.

A few days later, Euden and the party are at rest at the Faerie Kingdom when Jinlorda and Chelle report that Phares successfully resurrected the mysterious "Satan" being, who is now wreaking havoc on Grams. With Nedrick still recovering, Ilia advises Zethia and Jinlorda to stay behind to research Bahamut's power and stop The Progenitor while the rest head off to help in the rescue effort. Euden agrees and with that, he and the party set off.

Anniversary Event: Faith Forsaken: Part Two

Arriving at the Holy City, Euden discovers that true to the reports, Grams was razed by Satan's strength. Greeted by Pinon, he's informed that while the Demonlord is currently in a stasis, Satan is surrounded by an impenetrable wall of miasma. With Ryszarda dealing with the impeding fiends, Faris escorts the party to the evacuation site where they meet the leader of the Apostles Regina. Euden agrees to assist in evacuating the civilians, with Chelle also lending the Gran Fiore for this purpose. Much to the party's dismay, Pinon also reveals that in the clash between the Archangels and Satan, while the angels did manage to force him into a stasis, they were also killed, leaving the Apostles with mere hours of a lifespan.

Pinon describes the whole situation to Euden and the party: the true mastermind of Satan's revival was the demon Loki, who had banished the real Harle and impersonated him for all these years. Loki had deceived the Ilian pope Origa and the Apostle Basileus into believing Satan's might could hold off The Progenitor, causing them to unleash multiple demons as a scheme to revive the Demonlord himself. However, this was all a ruse by Loki as when Origa used herself as a vessel for Satan, the Demonlord overpowered her mind and took control of her body, allowing him to run amok in the city. News arrives of a foreign army keen on avenging an emissary killed at the Auspelica festival advancing on Satan, so Euden and the Apostles (Basileus included), rush over to dissuade them from this suicide mission.

Despite their efforts, Euden and the Apostles only manage to save half of the soldiers, with many succumbing to the miasma and driven berserk. Nevin also notices that Satan is causing the miasma's range to spread, prompting the party to speed up evacuation efforts. In the meantime, Zena, Nevin and the Apostles interrogate Basileus. There, the traitorous Apostle reveals the background behind Satan's revival: having been pitted into an environment of strenuous training where candidates fought and slaughtered each other, Origa only became Auspex thanks to the power of possibility, giving her the drive to prevent The Progenitor's return at any cost. However due to the fact that she was a mere figurehead, Origa was forced to keep quiet about her vision of its return and had to plot in secret. Basileus also reveals that he only joined her after she discovered that one of the cardinals, Graht, was the one who destroyed his hometown and that at the end of the plan he'd be killed. While Ryszarda empathises with Basileus's tragic backstory, she remarks that his bloodthirsty methods of vengeance made him no better than Graht, to which he agrees, stating that unlike him, Origa was much more sympathetic towards the victims of this plan.

Basileus reveals his suicidal plan of going straight into the miasma and saving Origa, causing Pinon to beat some sense in him and demand that he think of a way to properly use the time he has left instead of despairing. Regina, deducing that Basileus fell in love with her stepsister, sympathises with him and tells him that they should work on a rational plan for Origa's sake. Back at the Gran Fiore, Euden and his allies work on calming the quarrels between the different social classes, encouraging them to calm down and put their differences aside.

Coming back from scouting with Basileus, Euden spots a stream of demonic entities and rushes to their target, which he discovers is a very much alive, albeit injured Sandalphon. Defeating the demons, the party escorts her back to the Gran Fiore where she reveals that despite their deaths, the souls of the Five Archangels are still alive and she can still feel them. As the combined souls of the Fallen Angels were destroyed when the Five Archdemons were released, Sandalphon theorises that she can use these artificial bodies as replacements for the Archangels' destroyed ones. Basileus points out that none of the Archangels were aware that they'd been copied till the Fallen Angels were released, so Sandalphon explains the truth of the situation: thousands of years ago, her elder sister Metatron fought Satan in an epic battle, destroying his body and scattering his flesh over the continent. However, in time the black mana contained in his demonic body would mutate into armies of demons which would be lead by the Demonlord's second-in-commands, the Five Archdemons. Rallying the Ilian Church and the angels, Metatron led the holy forces into the Empyrean War, fighting bravely. However, the many battles would result in a stalemate so Metatron, creating the Fallen Angels, sealed the Archdemons within these clones before sealing the clones in the Otherworld, with sealing stones holding these prisons shut. With the demon commanders gone, the angels swiftly defeated the demons and peace returned to Grastaea.

After the war, Metatron sought the help of the Ilian Church to secure the sealing stones, which they agreed to on one condition: that she provide them with the spell used to copy the Archangels. Knowing the disastrous consequences of being able to clone dragons freely, Metatron decided to formulate a plan with the Archangels: the five would allow themselves to be ceded to the Church, in exchange for no more inquiries being made about the cloning spell. In the meantime, the Archangels had their minds wiped of any memories of the war and mimicries to prevent the dangerous information from circulating, while all documents regarding the Empyrean War were destroyed. Sandalphon was also posted to the Ilian Church to cover up any sensitive information, with Metatron casting a spell on her which would knock her out should she attempt to speak of the mimicries. Fortunately, Sandalphon also revealed that her sister put in a failsafe so that if majority of the Archangels were to die, the remaining one would have their curse lifted, allowing them to give the information needed to resurrect their deceased comrades.

Sandalphon also reveals that Metatron planned that in the event of her death, the spell and her soul would turn into a Sacred Shard guarded by the Sacred Tree and Satan would be sealed away forever, with the realisation that her sister is dead saddening Sandalphon. However, due to Nedrick's arrival at the Tree, the Shard would be able to fall into Loki's hands and allow Satan's revival to take place. Sandalphon apologises for not giving the party this vital information sooner but, after being assured by the Apostles that they still trust her, begins to commence the Archangel revival plan. Revealing that the souls of the Archangels have bonded to each other for survival, she instructs Basileus to use the feather Michael gave him before death to seek them out as said feather is attuned to the Archangel's mana wavelength. On the way to the mana fount that the souls are in, Basileus comments to the party that while he and Michael initially formed a Sigil bond for selfish purposes, the two actually got closer together and Basileus even grieved for Michael's death.

The party arrives at the mana fount, where Zena notes that the souls are fading away. Realising that she herself cannot prevent their departure, she encourages the Apostles to encourage the Archangels and lend them the strength needed to persevere. Together, the Apostles profess that the Archangels have taught them so much and that they genuinely view them as family. With the souls stabilised, Sandalphon implants the souls into the mimicries, reviving the Archangels as they tearfully reunite with the Apostles. With the Archangels back, Euden and the party receive news that the Archdemons have increased their attacks on the continent, Gabriel also remarks that the miasma is so thick that even in this artificial body, she can't approach Satan head-on without being hurt. Fortunately, Pinon receives intel from the real Harle that the Archdemons are bound to Satan via miasma links, supplying him with miasma produced from their attacks on others while also using the miasma to heal each other. While the party initially realise that they don't have the forces to take on the Archdemons separately, many of Grams' natives from the nobles to slum dwellers all volunteer to assist in this battle, with Chelle also lending her and Leonidas's aid. Euden also sends out allies from the Halidom to take down the demons. Before they plan to take on Satan, Uriel realises that even with the Apostles' combined power, their odds of defeating the Demonlord are rather low. Fortunately, Sandalphon reveals that she can grant them a stronger Sigil which would grant the strength needed, albeit of the cost of shaving a few years off the lives of the Apostles. While somewhat concerned about their shorter lifespans, they agree to this contract and accept to this newfound power to save the world.

With all of Grastaea united in this effort, the Archdemons are swiftly defeated, sending them fleeing to parts unknown and leaving Satan exposed. Despite this, many demonic entities still guard the Demonlord so Sandalphon, transforming into a stronger Heavenly Wings state, holds them back with the Grams Watch while Euden and his friends advance. However, at the end of the miasma cloud Loki reveals himself and, using a spell he had prepared beforehand, paralyses the party. Loki gloats over how the party is powerless to stop Satan even as he's just a few steps away but when all hope seems lost, Harle reveals himself. He reveals that while absent, he'd found the spell used to seal his Archdemon imposter back in the Empyrean War. Harle thanks the party for distracting Loki and, eager to give the demon a taste of his own medicine, banishes him to the Otherworld just as Loki did to him all those years ago. As Satan stirs and prepares to engage the party, the Apostles unleash their new Sigils and prepare to take him down once and for all.

With their combined might, Euden and the Apostles heavily damage Satan, causing the Demonlord to fly up into the air to launch an attack that would take out all of Grams. Pinon, calling upon an incredible amount of strength, fires a powerful Sanctus Arrow, striking him out of the sky where he falls to the ground defeated. The downed Demonlord drops the Sacred Shard, allowing Zena to use it and free Origa. She reunites with Regina and Basileus, expressing her remorse at being seduced by Loki's lies and apologising for hunting Euden down earlier out of jealousy for his power. Basileus and Euden both offer their support to her plan to stop The Progenitor but Origa's forced to decline as while she is free for now, her soul is bound to Satan's and he'll awaken any moment. Hoping to atone for her crimes, Origa asks of Zena to seal both her and Satan away, which she obliges to. While Regina mourns the loss of her stepsister once again, Origa reassures her that one day they'll reunite again and thus is sealed away, leaving nothing but her comatose body behind.

With the crisis now over, New Alberia and Alberia both lend their aid to Grams to rebuild it, securing friendly ties between the countries. Chelle assists in guarding Grams during its time of instability as well as looking into a way to save Origa with Regina. In the meantime, Harle leaves to find out more details on Loki's co-conspirators and Euden partners with the Apostles to track down and eliminate the Archdemons.

Chapters 23-24

Chapter 23: The Progenitor

Despite the threat of Satan being neutralised, the miasma left behind keeps spawning fiends, hindering the reconstruction efforts. As the party struggle to keep morale up and fiend levels low, Chelle arrives with even more bad news: somehow, corrupted dragons have begun terrorising the Alberian capital, inhibiting Leonidas's aid as he has to deal with them. The party quickly realise that the foe behind these calamities is none other than The Progenitor, who is attempting to speed up its revival by hindering the attempts to restore Grams. Hoping to know its true purposes, Chelle and the party seek out "Phares' and Beren, where they overhear the two discussing about how Phares's bond to The Progenitor is causing him to waste away, so they must quickly collect enough miasma to produce a gate to release it. Euden and the party confront them, with Chelle denouncing "Phares" as an imitation of her brother and demands of The Progenitor to quit the act. However, Phares reveals that he is indeed Chelle's real brother, albeit under The Progenitor's influence, and when Valyx vows to rid his brother of its influence and save Beren, he also reveals that The Progenitor's will is what keeps him alive and that Beren is following him out of his own free will.

Realising that they themselves gave little free will to Beren, the royal siblings apologise to him for their cruel treatment and imprisonment of him, offering their alliance to him. Beren remarks that he always felt different from regular people due to his powerful control of black mana, so Phares decides to reveal the truth behind the Auspexes: their power stems from the fact that they possess the Primal Marks, remnants of The Progenitor and The Origin's power to control the way the world works. After their banishments, the two creators gave up their Primal Marks to others, with The Origin giving its Mark to Elysium and The Progenitor made their Mark pass from person to person, with the Mark eventually ending up in the possession of Ilia. However, when Ilia formed a pact with Elysium the Holywyrm managed to steal her Primal Mark and assert total draconic control of the world.

While the siblings assume that this means Beren is simply another Auspex, he still remains confused as unlike them, nobody understands or sympathises with him. Thus, Phares, or The Progenitor, reveals Beren's true nature: he is the perfected vessel of its Primal Mark, capable of wielding black mana as it can. Finally finding somebody to confide in, Beren accepts The Progenitor's offer of cooperation. Euden attempts to dissuade him however, telling Beren that while he too is very different from everybody else, he managed to find companionship in others and that Beren doesn't need somebody exactly like him. However, the latter simply demands for him to shut up and under Phares's orders, begins opening the black mana portal while Phares himself summons Terminals, strange, powerful cube-shaped beings that the party have faced occasionally.

The party face off the Terminal valiantly, but to no avail as Beren is almost done with the portal. Just then, the real Phares regains control over his body and, knowing of The Progenitor's return, asks of the party to kill him while he's still himself. While saddened they have to kill their brother after reuniting with him, Euden, Valyx and Chelle agree to this plan and charge towards him, but The Progenitor regains control over Phares and tasks Beren with eliminating the party. It struggles over control with Phares, during which the prince tries to convince Beren to free himself of The Progenitor's control, informing him that it seeks to destroy bonds instead of creating them and that he and the rest of Beren's siblings will work together to make sure he never feels alone.

Beren thanks everybody for their words but quickly reveals his true intentions by attacking them. He reveals that even after realising that others wanted to connect with him he felt no joy and realises his true desire: to destroy all bonds everywhere to show people how useless they are. Ignoring the pleas of his siblings, Beren channels the black mana into himself, opening the portal to release The Progenitor. Emerging from the portal, The Progenitor remarks on how they're finally free again and describes how he'll remake the world once more. The party express their strong opposition to this plan so The Progenitor, introducing himself as Xenos, simply tells them that a struggle against him would be useless.

Xenos summons a cloud of black mana, enraging the fiends which attack the citizens of Grams but when the party attempt to help them, Xenos summons a barrier which forces them to fight them. Recognising the power of their new foe, Euden and the party engage in an all out attack but when the smoke clears, they realise that not even a scratch has been left on Xenos. Phares realises that Xenos has altered possibility to only allow their survival, thus making him invulnerable to the party's attacks. Xenos confirms this and once again reiterates that the party is useless against him and that everything in history has led up to his revival, causing the party to despair. Euden pledges to stop Xenos and prevent their tyranny, but he finds himself unable to stand up to their might as they attack him, nearly killing him. Fortunately, Xenos is distracted by the arrival of Zethia and Nedrick who, wielding the power of Bahamut, lead another assault on him. However even their might proves useless as The Progenitor is still unharmed.

Too tired to flee, the party accept their grim fate but suddenly Emile, leading a fleet of Dyrenell troops, rescues them and whisks them safely away from Xenos. When Euden comes to, he is greeted by Phares he who informs him that Emile managed to rent a house for the party to stay in while they recover. He also notes that while his servitude to Xenos has cured him of all ill effects of dragonscale, he still feels remorseful that he couldn't have done more to stop their return. Hearing of the fiends ravaging Grams thanks to Xenos's revival, Euden decides to set off to help but Emile, denouncing him as an idiot, stops him. Emile points out that in the state Euden and his friends are in, there's nothing they can do and that acting right now would not only be useless but even suicidal. Chelle and Valyx chime in as well, remarking that for once, Emile is correct. Fortunately, Phares notes that due to the high number of fiends, it's likely that Xenos hasn't regained their full power yet and is hiding out in Grams for now, allowing the party an opportunity to evacuate the wounded. Recognising the right thing to do, Euden decides to help out in the evacuation effort and thus, joins his siblings to escort the refugees to safety.

Taking a break on the road, Euden and Mym realise that while they may be safe, many of the refugees are emotionally wounded, having lost everything in the wake of both Satan and Xenos's revivals. Just then, they hear Emile and his troops playing music nearby, which he claims is to help himself stave off the nearby melancholy. This music in turn catches the attention of nearby refugees who, listening to the music, begin to feel more at ease. Chelle remarks that while Emile has a long way to go, Euden can learn much from him, one being how he lifts the spirits of his allies using his talents. Remembering how Emile was once seen as incompetent and useless, Euden begins to sympathise more with him and recognise his character growth. Ilia and Nedrick approach Euden, informing him of a plan to stop Xenos. Ilia reveals that in the Sacred Tree, she saw a memory of the primordial Five Greatwyrms defeating Xenos, and while the current incarnations of the Greatwyrms cannot stand against him, they can find a way to restore their powers. Gatov reveals that their destination is the desert of Lefkos, the ruined kingdom which he used to rule, wherein lies the Dragon Necropolis where the first Greatwyrms were said to have been laid to rest. Euden is uncertain about abandoning the refugees for this plan, but Emile and his siblings quickly arrive and offer to help look after New Alberia and the refugees in his stead. Corrupted fiends and dragons arrive, so the party get to work fending them off.

While the party manage to defeat the corrupted dragons, another wave of fiends arrive, overwhelming them. As the citizens of Grams resign to their fate, Emile stirs up their spirits, proclaiming that they will never know if they're useless or not unless they try and urges them onwards to battle. With their hope restored, the refugees take up arms and charge, arriving just in time to save Euden and his friends, as well as defeat the fiends. The royal siblings praise Emile for his unorthodox yet effective methods, though Chelle notes that she will have to take extra care to take care of the political disputes that will be caused due to his recklessness. With his siblings wishing him luck and watching over Alberia, Euden and his friends depart for Lefkos. On the way, Gatov reveals that Lefkos was not always a desert and actually used to be a thriving kingdom, transformed into a wasteland after he and Sheila were forced to flee. While somewhat anxious of having to face his old sins back at his former kingdom, Gatov musters up the strength to carry on with the party.

Chapter 24: Primal Strength

Arriving at the desert of Lefkos, Gatov reveals that though the kingdom had since been invaded by a foreign nation, even the victors had abandoned this accursed land due to the plague of black mana seeping throughout the area, which he reveals was one of the reasons why his kingdom was laid low so easily. Though Gatov comments that at the time neither he nor Sheila could discover the source of the black mana, Euden and Ilia decide that now was a good time to carry out their own investigation. Arriving at a dense fog of black mana, the party seem lost at what to do due to the miasma being so thick it could damage even non-organic beings such as Laxi. Fortunately, Ilia points out that as Morsayati's body is made of concentrated hate, which is pretty much what black mana is made of, Euden should be completely fine in the miasma due to being made of Morsayati's flesh himself. Sheila, also being made of Otherflesh herself, decides to join in the expedition.

As Euden ventures into the mist, he begins hearing Sheila's voice despite the latter being silent. However, he soon realises that the voice is coming from her soul which is lingering in the miasma. Meeting up with the soul, Euden is given a glimpse into Sheila's memories where he learns that witnessing her father's desperation to defend Lefkos, Sheila, seeing as she was unharmed by the black mana, tried to weaponise it to protect her country only for her to lose control of it and cause black mana to flood Lefkos, rendering it a destitute wasteland. Euden realises that Sheila's soul is still subconsciously summoning black mana, and thus decides to inform Gatov of this discovery so he can decide what to do.

Hearing of this discovery, Gatov receives some closure on the destruction of his kingdom and Ilia realises that Sheila is in fact an Auspex due to her ability to manipulate black mana, with her soul not being destroyed but instead lingering at the place where she died. However, they soon realise that Sheila's soul is bound to the black mana and they could very well be forced to kill her in order to advance. After a long time of consideration, Gatov decides that he will accompany Euden into the miasma for one final attempt to save his daughter. As he trudges through the miasma, Gatov manages to keep his wits about him despite the black mana and even manages to reach out to Sheila's soul. However, despite his consolations Sheila begins to break down into a rant of regret, with her negativity summoning a huge fiend. Euden notices that Gatov is in a critical state and tries to dissuade him from fighting but the former king presses on, declaring that he would rather die trying to save Sheila than live a life of regret.

While Euden and Gatov defeat the fiend, Sheila's soul is not yet saved and continues to spew black mana. Realising that her guilt was a result of not being able to live up to his expectations, Gatov makes one last attempt to reach out to Sheila, asking that she let go of the burden of her past sins and let the both of them shoulder these mistakes together. Finally freed from her guilt, Sheila returns to her body and tearfully reunites with Gatov, causing the black mana to dissipate. She happily meets up with the rest of the party, revealing that in her time trapped in Lefkos, she learnt of her own status as an Auspex and thus dons a ceremonial outfit to celebrate this occasion, with Ilia remarking that this whole incident is another miracle of possibility. With that, Sheila closes the rift in reality and seals away the black mana, allowing the party to proceed.

As they travel along to the Dragon Necropolis, Midgardsormr remarks that he's felt something calling to him ever since he set foot in Lefkos, explaining that due to being akin to natural phenomena, Greatwyrms such as him reincarnate and die in cycles without ever aging. However, upon reincarnation each Greatwyrm will bear no recollection of their past lives, which Ilia notices as Midgardsormr does not remember his past life as Midgardsormr Zero with her. Midgardsormr is puzzled by why he lost his powers upon being reincarnated into his current form but just then, a booming voice greets the party. A Midgardsormr resembling Midgardsormr Zero arrives, introducing himself as a memory of the first incarnation of the Windwyrm, left behind to help his descendants in case of Xenos's return.

Primordial Midgardsormr describes to them the tale of how he and the other Greatwyrms defeated The Progenitor: shortly after Xenos was sealed away, he, the other Greatwyrms and Elysium watched over the world until one day, Xenos broke loose again and began constructing their own world, attempting to destroy all other alternate universes in the process. Powerless against Xenos's immeasurable might, the Greatwyrms decided to offer up themselves as vessels for an incomplete vessel for The Origin's might, forming the Genesiswyrm Bahamut, with Zethia realising that the will she felt earlier controlling Bahamut was The Origin himself. While still not powerful enough to defeat Xenos, Bahamut was backed up by Elysium who, possessing the Primal Marks, managed to seal them away once again. With that, the Greatwyrms dissipated to mana while Bahamut remained in the Otherworld, seeking out a new vessel.

Midgardsormr points out to his ancestor that the Greatwyrms have somehow lost their primal powers, confusing his primordial counterpart as the other incarnations didn't lose theirs. Suddenly, Beren arrives to confront the party proclaiming that while whatever they do is useless, he still finds them annoying and wants them dead. As Beren clashes with the party, he comments on the uselessness of possibility as nobody knows what the future could hold in store for them anyways. Nedrick remarks that it's useless arguing with him, so Beren summons the corrupted Elysium to deal with the party. Seeing the Holywyrm, Primordial Midgardsormr realises the reason why his descendants lack their powers: when they died, Elysium stole their Primal Marks in an effort to gain enough strength to defeat Xenos or protect the world even if they won. Hearing this, Ilia realises that everything Elysium had done up to this point was out of love for all life, with Primal Midgardsormr confirming that the Holywyrm was always overly sympathetic to the mortal life on Earth and regretted allowing his friends, the Greatwyrms, to sacrifice their lives to protect the world. Beren revels in this tragic tale, remarking that Elysium's tragedy is the perfect example of the uselessness of possibility. However, Euden rebukes this as Elysium's tale isn't over and, under the request of Primordial Midgardsormr, attacks with the party, hoping to ease the Holywyrm's suffering and regain the Greatwyrms' Primal Marks.

While they fight long and hard, the party are unable to defeat the Holywyrm as Beren creates a miniature world around them, ensuring Elysium's survival by manipulating causality. Hoping to regain the Primal Marks from Elysium to destroy this mini-world, Nedrick and Zethia both call upon their pacts and attempt to force them out of him. When even this doesn't prove enough, Primordial Midgardsormr points out that Elysium is currently using the Marks to hold up this miniature world and thus orders the two to attack the world's borders. As planned, Nedrick manages to absorb the Primal Marks using Bahamut and destroys Beren's world, returning the party to their original one. Angered by his plans being spoilt, Beren vows to kill Euden and begins summoning Terminals and black mana. The party manage to deal with them, leaving only Elysium left. Together, the Greatwyrms and Ilia all apologise to him for misunderstanding him and vow that he no longer has to shoulder the burden of protecting the world alone. These combined messages manage to free Elysium from the black mana and return him to his senses. As he dissipates to mana, he remarks his sadness at no longer being able to appreciate the beauty of this world, to which Euden promises that despite their differences, he will do his best to ensure the world Elysium loves stays safe. With this assurance, the Holywyrm thanks the party for their willpower and, leaving stewardship of the world in their hands, finally passes on.

With Elysium gone, Beren expresses his annoyance at losing a powerful weapon, though he quickly points out that Nedrick is slowly succumbing to the sheer power of the Primal Marks. When asked to give them back to the Greatwyrms, Nedrick expresses that he's unable to due to them being fused after being possessed by Elysium for so long. Thus, Euden asks for him to give him the Primal Marks instead as his multiple pacts could sustain him, giving him enough time to separate the Marks and return them to their owners. While Mym is worried at the idea of him suffering like Nedrick, he assures her that with her (and the other Greatwyrms) by his side, he'll be alright. With that, Euden accepts the Primal Marks and returns them to the Greatwyrms, transforming them into their powerful, primal forms. Thankful that his purpose has been fulfilled, the memory of Primordial Midgardsormer bids Euden farewell as he dissipates back to mana.

Triumphant, the party take shelter in one of the ruins while Nedrick recovers. However, Ilia still worries about how they will triumph over Xenos as even with the combined might of the primal Greatwyrms, they still wouldn't be able to defeat him. Fortunately, she realises that as Beren, a perfected Auspex managed to create a world of his own, Ilia and the other Auspexes could train hard enough to awaken their latent Primal Marks and using the combined power of their Marks and the Greatwyrms', could restore the world and overwrite Xenos's new world when they attempt to create it. Settled on a plan, Euden, the party and the Auspexes set to work on saving the world.

Anniversary Event: Advent of the Origin

While they rest in Lefkos, Ilia reveals her uncertainty that four Auspexes will be enough to defeat Xenos, so Euden quickly informs her that they could attempt to recruit Origa, who is still undergoing treatment to unbind her from Satan. Curious on the treatment's progress, Euden and the party head back home while Ilia stays behind with Gatov and Sheila to probe the nearby ruins. Arriving at the Halidom, Euden and the party are stunned at the news that Origa has entered a more life-like state, meaning that she has somehow restrained Satan's power thanks to being a very strong Auspex and having great knowledge on the Demonlord's power. Euden quickly realises that if Satan is truly weakened, should the party remove the seal they can defeat him once and for all. As such, Cleo decides to confirm with Chelle and Regina if Origa is in a suitable condition for such a procedure while the party take the time off and relax in the Halidom.

As Euden settles back into his kingdom, he quickly finds his schedule filled up with the duties of a monarch, from managing his troops to interacting with the common folk. During his downtime from his job, Euden reminisces with Zethia on how he promised to protect her no matter what when they were little, but the princess assures him that she's alright by herself now. Looking back, Euden realises that Zethia has managed to hold her own all these years despite being kidnapped multiple times and she was the one in fact, who helped him grow instead. Euden, recognising that Zethia is a grown woman now who can look after herself, finds peace in the fact that he no longer has to worry over her and thus goes back to doing his monarchal duties.

The day arrives for the battle and thus, using faerie magic, Nedrick sends himself and the party into Origa's consciousness while Cleo and Regina are on standby for medical support. There, the party find themselves in a memory of their final battle with Satan. Origa arrives, warning the party that while this Satan is but a figment of the mind, he is equally as dangerous as the original Demonlord. Having seen into the future, she deduces that the party has arrived to seek her help and while remarking that their future appears bleak, she is still hopeful for the future and thus allies herself with the party. Origa, manipulating the mindscape around her, summons copies of the Apostles and Archangels, backing her and the party up as they clash with Satan once more.

Euden and his friends triumph, so they quickly exit Origa's consciousness while she subdues the weakened Satan. Upon arriving in the real world, Zena quickly undoes the seal, freeing Origa and the Demonlord once again. However, just as the party prepares for a final strike, Zethia's sword overflows with power and her pact is forcibly activated, with a mysterious third party possessing her. With a single strike, she slays Satan and returns to her normal self. Euden and the party applaud her for her strength until they realise where Satan once stood a strange Bahamut now stands: gigantic, pure white and with six scarlet wings. Zethia reveals that the Bahamut that stands before them is the true Genesiswyrm: The Origin himself who used Satan's body as a vessel to reincarnate. As the sky turns scarlet from Bahamut's mana, Zethia reveals that while the Bahamut that formed pacts with her and Nedrick is an ally, the original Bahamut still wishes to destroy the world so as to prevent Xenos's return, with his power over possibility being able to erase anything from existence. While faced with such an insurmountable foe, Euden still refuses to give up and thus, leads a desperate charge against the Genesiswyrm.

Despite their valiant efforts, the party do not lay a single blow on Bahamut, leaving them powerless. Matters are made worse when Bahamut begins charging up an attack, set to destroy the whole world. Zethia, taking responsibility for her role in his revival, sacrifices herself to block the attack, asking of Euden to protect the world before she's erased from existence. With the mainline Zethia gone, Zena also begins to fade away from existence. Bahamut charges up another attack but Euden, enraged over the death of his sister, is empowered with a new armour. As he attacks, his mana manages to counteract Bahamut's, negating the attack and rending apart space, scattering the party.

Euden and Origa awaken in a desert, having been sent there by the blast. Euden admits that his grief filled him with a mysterious power that gave him that new armour, though as Zethia has been erased, he doesn't remember her or her death. With Bahamut gone for now, the two trek through the wasteland, hoping to find their friends before he returns. After trekking for hours, Origa notices that time doesn't seem to pass in this realm. Just then, Midgardsormr in his Primal Form manages to find Euden and Origa and reveals that while they are still in Alberia, Bahamut's power has caused possibility to go haywire, warping the landscape with different possibilities. Fortunately, he also reveals that Euden's power managed to stop the world from completely collapsing and that should he master that power, they could best Bahamut and save the world. Euden decides to find out how to master and summon that power on command, but is lost on how to do it without his friends.

Just then, Euden spots his friends flickering past in another parallel realm Bahamut created, fending off some fiends. Euden attempts to get Origa to make a portal so he can reach them but Midgardsormr dissuades him, saying that should Euden enter he might be erased as well due to the instability of those realms. Despite this, Euden decides to accept the risks and reluctantly, Origa opens a portal for him with Midgardsormr tagging along. As he traces the mana trails of his friends, Euden sees brief glimpses of them being terrorised by foes resurrected by possibility such as Morsayati and Elysium. Midgardsormr notices that Euden appears connected to his friends by the mysterious power and asks of him to use it to find them. Euden, calling upon his power's help, manages to open a rift to the reality his friends are trapped in and reunites with them. As Euden states that their unity despite everything is a sign of hope, Ranzal remarks that their bonds truly are powerful. Euden suddenly feels the power return and the armour appears again, causing Midgardsormr realise that Euden wields the power of bonds. As fiends approach, the Windwyrm promises to explain to him how this came to be later after they fend them off.

The party manage to successfully fend the fiends off, with Origa also arriving after tracking Euden's powerful mana down. Midgardsormr explains that while Bahamut's power of possibility is strong, Euden's memories and bonds to his friends can help stabilise reality by negating their erasure from existence, with his desire to protect manifesting as the strange armour and his new power. He also reveals that by splitting the Primal Marks, Euden has gained the ability to share his mana and coupled with his power of bonds, he could be the key to defeating Bahamut and stopping his rampage. Euden is delighted by this news and thanks his friends for literally empowering him but as he looks back on his journey, he feels a sense of loss, as if he had forgotten somebody he was close to. Suddenly Bahamut arrives and Euden, calling upon his bonds, blocks the attack but only barely. As Bahamut charges his most powerful attack, Euden, ignoring the warnings of his companions, shields them from the attack using himself, being erased from existence.

Euden awakens in a strange realm, kept alive by the power of his bonds. Remembering Zethia and her sacrifice, he laments on how yet again he couldn't save her and that even after so many failures, he still single-mindedly focused on protecting her all the time. Suddenly, Euden hears a voice who reveals herself to be a remnant of Zena. She informs Euden that Zethia's demise was a sacrifice she made of her own free will and that he shouldn't blame himself for it. Instead, Euden should focus on what's been driving him forward all along: his desire to save Zethia and that using his power of bonds, he can bring her back. With his spirits lifted, Euden is directed into a pocket realm where Zethia's spirit resides.

Euden enters the realm and finds himself in a copy of the forest where he played hide and seek with Zethia. Zethia's voice greets him, but she warns Euden not to lay eyes on her as she's currently in a state of limbo and should he look at her when she's non-existent, she would certainly disappear for good. Euden however, assures her that no matter what, he'd always find her back. This sentence filled with the power of bonds completely restores Zethia to life as she regains her physical form. Zethia admits that she felt that Euden had drifted too far from her already and that occupying his time would be selfish, causing her to isolate herself from him and hide her dreams of Bahamut's return from everybody else. Euden forgives her, telling her that she and his friends are what make life worth living to him and while he may not be related by blood to her, they will always be family. Zethia is touched by this and swears to remain by Euden's side forevermore, causing their bonds to stabilise the realm and allow Zena to return.

With his sister and her parallel counterpart back, Euden, Zethia and Zena return to the main universe, where they happily reunite with the party. With all his friends by his side, Euden prepares to face off Bahamut with the power of bonds. Zethia too, manages to combine Bahamut's power with that of her bond with Euden and his friends, granting her the strength to suppress even the Genesiswyrm's power. With Bahamut weakened by Zethia's might, Euden and the party rush into the fray to stop him once and for all.

The party manage to successfully repel him but as his spirit begins to split from Satan's body, Bahamut prepares a last ditch attack to end the world. However, Euden, declaring that no matter what, his bonds will never fade, stops the attack and lands a final blow, causing the Origin to fade away and the Demonlord to be vanquished for good. With Bahamut gone, all returns to normal and the party celebrate. As they celebrate, Euden notes that he felt no animosity from Bahamut as he faded away and theorises that the Origin, recognising the party's strength, found peace in the fact that Xenos could be stopped without his intervention. Midgardsormr remarks that just like Alberius touched the heart of Elysium 300 years ago, Euden has done the same but on a grander scale, causing him to remark modestly that he's just theorising.

Arriving back at the Halidom, Euden notices that Zethia is a little uncomfortable and thus reassures her as they will be there for each other, there's no reason for her to hesitate coming in and welcomes her to her new home.

Bondforged Adventurer Story

Sometime after the events of Advent of the Origin, Euden and Midgardsormr call upon their power to fend off multiple fiends, causing the party to remark how strong the prince has grown. Noticing the miasma, they deduce that a demon must be lurking nearby summoning all of the enemies. Iblis arrives, angered at the party for accusing him of such base behaviour, annoying the party who tire of his pride. A mysterious voice comments on their sharp words, revealing himself to be Loki who had been freed from his imprisonment by Xenos. Sensing Loki's obvious malice, the party steels themselves as the enemy closes in on them. During the battle, Loki notes Euden's newfound strength but comments that his power of bonds is nothing but power borrowed from his friends, and that he would become useless without them. Euden retorts that his bonds aren't a way to abuse his friendships for power so Loki, eager to shatter the prince's hope, casts a spell that freezes the party in place before attacking Euden, knocking him out.

While unconscious, Euden has a nightmare of all his friends dying before his eyes and Midgardsormr remarking that without them, he is truly powerless. He reawakens at the bottom of a cliff and, thankful that his horrible vision was just a dream, Euden sets back off to the Halidom with determination to prove Loki wrong. On the way, Euden spots some villagers being terrorised by fiends so he holds the monsters back while they escape to higher ground. However, Euden finds himself unable to call upon his bonds and thus, tires himself out and eventually retreats. When Euden returns to the evacuation spot, he is horrified to find it overrun with fiends and all the villagers dead or dying. One of the village girls reveals that they mistook a humanoid fiend (possibly Loki) for the prince and called out to it, causing more fiends to arrive and slaughter them. As she thanks Euden for trying to help them with her dying breath, he reflects on how Loki's words could be true and thus resolves to reach his friends as soon as possible to prevent another tragedy.

Euden arrives at the Halidom but finds that to his horror, it too is overrun with fiends and all his friends are dead. Spotting a black mana corrupted Midgardsormr, Euden begs him to regain his senses, being the only ally he has left in this world. These words successfully free Midgardsormr, who mournfully admits that under his corruption, he had killed Euden's friends. Euden forgives him and finds relief in the fact that his last friend is still alive. Iblis arrives, disgusted by the bonds between them and mocks Midgardsormr for guarding Euden despite his grave injuries, remarking that higher beings such as them shouldn't interact with mere mortals like Euden. Midgardsormr retorts that only arrogance could make one believe dragons and humanoids could exist alone so Iblis, tiring of this sappiness, deals a fatal blow to him.

Before Euden's eyes, Midgardsormr begins to return to mana. As he begs of the Windwyrm to stay, Midgardsormr reassures Euden that even when he's gone, their bond will never fade. Iblis, noting that Euden's spirit has been broken, sets a fiend on him to kill him. However, just before he can accept his fate, Euden notices a gust of wind blow past: a final gift from Midgardsormr. With what remains of his soul, Midgardsormr reassures Euden that he's not a weakling and that no matter what happens, their bonds will always remain. Hearing this, Euden calls upon the power of bonds and defeats the fiend, shocking Iblis. However, after some quick thought, Euden also quickly realises his true circumstances and asks of Loki to reveal himself. The demon remarks that Euden doubling the power of his bonds even after such despair was unexpected, but just as he prepares to make him suffer even more, Euden boldly tells Loki that such schemes are useless. Euden spells out Loki's plot: he had trapped Euden in a false world of despair and planted the nightmare from earlier to doubt his abilities, preventing him from summoning the power. However, Euden realised later that he couldn't use this power as he had no bonds in this false world until interacting with this world's parallel Midgardsormr. Loki remarks that Euden is still weak until he senses an increase in strength, to which Euden reveals that so long as he holds the bonds he has with his friends in his heart, he will always be able to call upon this power.

Using is bonds, Euden destroys the parallel world and forces himself and Loki back to the real one, where Midgardsormr and the party have waited anxiously for him. The party is angered at Loki's torment of their friend and beat him down but are repelled when he uses his true might. Isolated once again, Loki remarks that Euden will truly be powerless when his friends are actually gone as their bonds also vanish. Euden however, reveals that bonds last as long as one lives and, calling upon his full might, deals a mortal wound to Loki. As Loki dies, he commends Euden for his strength and, remarking that the prince's battle with Xenos should be eventful, is finally vanquished.

The party celebrate their latest victory but Euden, realising that Loki was sent as a test of his strength, decides instead to focus on how he now has greater power that he can control thanks to his friends. With Midgardsormr declaring Euden as Dragalia, Euden and the party set out once more with reinvigorated will.

Chapters 25-26

Chapter 25: Proof of the Pact

With all preparations complete, Ilia stokes the party up for their new mission and describes her plan to the others: by training against the Five Greatwyrms, who now possess the might of Bahamut thanks to the Primal Marks, the Auspexes would build up their mastery of their own Marks, with the method of that being to battle against them. Euden, knowing of the strength the Greatwyrms possess, is concerned for the Auspexes' safety but both parties assure him that they'll be fine. Relieved, Euden and the other party members go off to patrol the surroundings to scout out any trouble arising from Xenos's return. Saving a nearby village, Euden learns that with the return of The Progenitor, strong fiends have been spawning in larger numbers and are beginning to overwhelm the Halidom's inhabitants. Euden promises to find a solution to the problem but just then, Terminals arrive which open rifts in reality. Cleo realises Xenos's plan: they aren't trying to target people but instead the world's fabric. Euden and the team try to stall the Terminals while the people escape, but they soon realise with the number of foes, defeating them would be a fool's errand. Elisanne remarks that she finds comfort in the fact that no matter what troubles the party's faced, Euden never wavers from his goals, to which he replies that he just wants to live up to everybody's expectations.

In the midst of battle, a rift opens up underneath Euden and he falls in. Euden finds himself in a mysterious, black mana-saturated void and witnesses a giant dark ball absorbing many pinpricks of light. Just as he's about to be pulled in, Mordecai arrives and returns Euden back to his world. He reveals that ever since the incident at the Sacred Tree, he's parted ways with Ilia to do his own adventuring and has some intel that would greatly benefit the party. Arriving at the safety of the Halidom, the party is relieved to see Euden back, with Ilia revealing that she was the one who sent Mordecai to save the prince. With the party brimming with curiosity, Mordecai reveals what he knows: the void Euden fell into is the interstitial space between worlds and that the black ball he saw was Xenos's stronghold. Mordecai reveals that Xenos is consuming all other realms of existence, funnelling them into the black ball as raw material for their new world. The party is mortified at Xenos's depravity, which Mordecai explains is a result of them believing that as all existence is their creation, they can do as they please with it.

Ilia recalls that before she created a body for Mordecai, he was but a mass of pure power that came forth from the Otherworld and that his strangeness led her to believe he had some divine purpose, which is why she let him go on his own journey. Mordecai reveals that after traveling to many worlds, he's realised his true identity: the cast-off conscience of Xenos, which he threw away as he felt the bonds and connections the heart desired were irrelevant and useless. Mordecai also remarks that he was probably drawn to Ilia's Primal Mark and became attached to her due to his innate desire for companionship. With this truth revealed, Mordecai asks if the party trusts him despite his origin, which they affirm they do as Euden was also born under similar circumstances.

More Terminals arrive, so the crew rush off to fend them off while the Auspexes try their best to hone their power. On the way Mordecai explains that the true reason rifts are opening is because Xenos plans on invading the mainstream world and taking over it, and thus the rifts are allowing them passage to reality. The party seems to be fighting a losing battle but Ilia, with her awakened powers, seals the rifts and deactivates the Terminals. However, they quickly reactivate and Xenos emerges from the rifts, preparing to unleash their stronghold onto the world, remarking that the party is lucky to see the creation of a new world. Euden questions why Xenos wants to destroy possibility, to which they remark that alternate worlds are like rubbish to them which simply needs to be gotten rid of. Furthermore, these new worlds don't suit their vision of a perfect one, which is why Xenos despises them. Mordecai steps in and, using the powers of creation, stops the stronghold's advance. Xenos is impressed by their discarded heart's power, but scoffs that Mordecai has simply delayed the inevitable, smirking at the notion that they could be stopped and with Beren, leaves the party be for now.

The party is both amazed and confused at what Mordecai did, to which he explains that the mainstream world is the only thing preventing Xenos's reality from being created, and thus using the power of each world's shared events, he managed to keep the mainstream one from being destroyed. Mordecai also reveals that he learnt of this power from a parallel Elysium, but as all Elysiums are linked to a single will, the parallel Holywyrm perished when the mainstream one did. Thus, Ilia decides to take the time that Mordecai bought to properly hone the Auspexes' powers by having a showdown with all the Greatwyrms at once. While scared of accidentally killing his compatriots, Midgardsormr agrees thanks to the lack of time and thus, Auspex and Greatwyrm clash.

Through these trials, the Auspexes manage to fully awaken their powers, all except for Zena who struggles to keep up. As she takes a break, Zena realises that as she is a mana projection, her current form would be destroyed if she tried to use her full power and thus, she must retrieve her true body to unlock her true potential. However, she notes that to cross over to Euden's world she had to sever her chain of causality, which would make her slowly fade from everyone's memories and eventually, from the world. Zena decides that with the fate of the world at hand, she has nothing more to lose and thus prepares to depart for her world. Euden asks to join her, and, while acknowledging that the parallel version of him that resides there is far more dangerous, he wants to keep Zena safe, with Zethia adding that Euden's presence could help her have some peace of mind. Zena agrees and together, the duo depart for the Otherworld.

The two arrive in the Otherworld, where they're greeted by a Halidom that was laid to waste by the Dyrenell. Euden reflects on how the prince of this world succeeded in giving up his body to the Other, and that it was by sheer luck Euden managed to avert his counterpart's fate. However, he quickly decides that moping on the past is useless and the two quickly find Zena's body, which she reenters. Just before the two can sever Zena's chain, Terminals arrive and begin opening more rifts, which Zena manages to close using her unbound powers. The noise attracts the attention of this world's Morsayati who, under the title Emperor Euden, greets Zena, mockingly calling her his sister and remarking that all their effort will be for naught. Euden tries to reason with the demon, claiming that his counterpart's world will be destroyed as well but Emperor Euden reveals that while he knows about Xenos's plans due to being made of their hatred, he doesn't mind the world being destroyed. Emperor Euden reveals that when mainstream Elysium died, the one of his universe vanished before his eyes before he could have his revenge, causing him to take his hatred out on the next thing Elysium loved the most: the whole world. Zena remarks that she too, feels a similar hatred towards Morsayati for stealing her brother's body and thus, she and Euden charge into battle against the demon.

The duo fight hard and manage to wound Emperor Euden, but with the vast reserves of black mana around him, he manages to regain his strength and strike once more. Recalling how Beren managed to extract Morsayati earlier, Zena calls upon her Auspex powers and, manipulating black mana, rips Otherworld Morsayati out of Otherworld Euden. Euden tries to calm the demon, saying that his creator Ilia loves the world and wouldn't want him to destroy the world, to which Morsayati responds that he doesn't care about what his mother feels and that all of this is a product of his own hatred. Seeing that Morsayati can't be reasoned with, Euden strikes him down as he curses Alberius, Elysium and Ilia. Zena is overjoyed at finally freeing her brother, which Euden also relates to thanks to their similar journeys.

Otherworld Euden awakens and, greeting his sister, expresses his shame at all he's done. However, when he reveals his knowledge of Xenos's plans, he reveals that he wants to detonate his black mana infused world to cause a chain reaction to destroy all other ones. Zena and Euden are horrified to realise that Otherworld Euden is a willing servant of Xenos, who hopes to undo all of the misdeeds he did by ushering in a new, harmonious world. Zena protests that the eradication of all other worlds in itself is a horrid crime, to which Otherworld Euden states is necessary for the creation of a perfect world and thus, he asks of Euden and Zena to not resist as he doesn't want to hurt them. However, seeing as the duo refuse to back down, Otherworld Euden warns them that he will show them no mercy, which Euden states he will fight with his all as well. Thus, Otherworld Euden combines all his pacts and transforms into his pactwyrm Chronos, with the two Eudens clashing.

Euden defeats his Otherworld counterpart, revealing that his counterpart's forcible twisting of the pacts was why he lost and that Xenos has truly corrupted him. While Otherworld Euden recognises his wickedness, he refuses to stop fighting for the cause so many others have died fighting for, leading Zena and Euden to despair in changing him and thus, reluctantly resolve to killing him to thwart his plan. Euden offers to end his counterpart, but Zena resolves that as Otherworld Euden is her brother, it's her responsibility to end it all. Recognising his imminent death, Otherworld Euden remarks that he's happy to see Zena one last time and pleads that in the new world, there will be no suffering. Zena however, rebutts that people will simply be unable to recognise suffering and, denouncing her brother, deals the killing blow. However, just before he dies Otherworld Euden reveals that the spark of the black mana has been struck and the world explodes, blasting Zena and Euden into the void.

While unharmed by the blast or black mana, Zena confesses to Euden that all this loss came to her so suddenly that she doesn't know how to feel, but they still must focus on getting back to the main world and stopping Xenos. Euden commends her stoicism, to which Zena admits that she feels like breaking down and disappearing, but she will instead carry the memories of her world with her and use them to empower herself. The duo arrive back at the mainstream world, where Mordecai tells them that the blast destroyed all other worlds. With nothing holding him back, Xenos arrives and, using his divine strength, destroys the world, ending the universe as it was.

Chapter 26: Dragalia Lost

Blasted into the emptiness, Euden frantically searches around for any survivors and finds that to his relief, the Auspexes have managed to use their powers to preserve the Halidom, keeping its inhabitants safe. When Euden expresses his relief that his allies are safe, Origa retorts that everybody outside of the castle is dead, to which the rest of the party calm her down and tell her that they too, are alarmed that all their families and friends are gone. While despairing over their failure to protect the world, Mordecai reveals to the Auspexes that the Halidom also stores memories of the world like a second Sacred Tree and that they could try to restore the world again, though they note that at his full power, Xenos could destroy it just as easily. Euden proclaims that he's going to challenge Xenos head on and when mocked for his optimism by Nedrick, he simply tells him that his job is to bring hope to even the most dire situation. Stirred by Euden's words, the whole party decide to join him on his quest to defeat Xenos and thus, boarding the Gran Fiore, set out to challenge the Progenitor.

The party approach Xenos's fortress, but are assailed on all sides from parallel versions of the Greatwyrms, forcing them to abandon ship and continue the charge. Parallel versions of the Halidom crew arrive and attack, and when Luca remarks that Beren's probably controlling them, the prince himself arrives and reveals that the adventurers are doing this of their own free will. The Otherworld Halidom crew back this up, explaining that thanks to other versions of Euden giving up himself to Morsayati, countless lives were lost and that they feel betrayed by their former ally. Beren tells the crew that these dark reflections of themselves demonstrate how fragile bonds truly are, but Elisanne rebukes that no matter what challenges the party faces, they will always hold onto her bonds and thus the party face off their counterparts.

The party swiftly defeat their counterparts, who are confused as to why their parallel versions beat them as they possess equal strength, To this, Cleo comments that the Otherworld party still harbours doubts about abandoning Euden and thus, as long as they have doubts in their hearts they will never triumph against the party. Beren is angered by the party's determination and unleashes more parallel versions, hoping to show how pitiful their bonds are. The party however, rebukes him and claim that his continuous emphasis on how weak bonds are only shows that their everlasting ones are a precious miracle they should guard, so Beren, seeing that the party's minds are decided, decides to sit back and keep summoning more foes. Alternate Greatwyrms also arrive, summoned by Beren from realities where Euden betrayed them. Otherworld Midgardsormr and Brunhilda ask of their counterparts to stop supporting Euden, claiming that just as they were betrayed by him even without the Other's influence, their bonds with Euden will spell doom for their realities. Midgardsormr tries to appeal to his counterpart, asking of him to remember the happiness they felt from interacting with people, which Otherworld Midgardsormr dismisses as base fantasies and announces that he and his comrades will put down the Greatwyrms who've strayed from the natural order. Midgardsormr however, informs him that he and his comrades haven't strayed from this order, but overcome it and thus, the Greatwyrms clash.

The party triumph over the parallel counterparts, but more keep getting summoned so the party decides to entrust Euden and the Auspexes with taking on Beren while they hold off the endless foes. Arriving at Beren's location, the prince mocks Euden for his hopefulness and denounces possibility as a bringer of despair, to which Euden rebukes that possibility is a good thing and his very presence is one of its gifts. Beren rebukes Euden, claiming that possibility forces people into an endless cycle of want and desire to be something, causing Euden to realise his brother just hates the concept of hope. Seeing as the two are irreconcilable, Beren uses Morsayati's power and takes on his form, announcing that his hatred of possibility and the world have made him the closest thing to the personification of black mana and thus, attacks the party.

The Auspexes manage to remove Beren's world of fixed causality and triumph over him, causing him to attempt a last-ditch attack by absorbing absurd amounts of black mana. Fortunately, Euden steps in and delivers the final blow, mortally wounding Beren and reverting him to his human form. Euden claims that this could've ended differently if they saw eye-to-eye, but Beren reveals that after seeing he was the only version of himself to survive to adulthood, he lost all hope in possibility. Origa tries to console Beren by recounting her similar circumstances, but he proclaims that while Origa seeked to bless all with the possibility she received, he sought to deny it as fate had to so many other versions of himself. As Beren dies, Euden tells him that his brother truly did desire bonds after all and that perhaps the possibility of the two living in harmony wasn't always a fantasy. Beren smirks that his hopelessness could have been used for good and with his final breath, cryptically warns Euden that possibility will end them all.

Euden and the Auspexes reunite with the party but just as Beren foretold, fragments of worlds containing parallel foes such as Archdemons and corrupted dragons hurtle towards the party, spawning in hordes of the monstrosities. The party manage to push their way through the endless ranks but as they begin to tire, Gatov elects to stay behind and distract the fiends. Sheila protests, wanting to help her father but due to her Auspex powers being essential, she's forced to flee with the party though Ranzal assures her Gatov will survive. However, before she leaves Sheila makes Gatov promise her that neither of them shall die till their sins are atone for. With Gatov defending their behind, the party continue their escape, but are stopped by counterparts of the Five Archdemons, who surround them. They manage to defeat the Archdemons and escape, but soon void dragons appear as well, with the dreadful roar of a parallel Bahamut also ringing through the party's ears.

Mordecai realises that if Bahamut destroys the world fragment they stand on, the party will be scattered and asks of the Auspexes to create a mini world to shelter them. However, the party ask to be left be as when the world fragment is destroyed, their foes will be scattered as well and Euden and the Auspexes could breeze through, with Mym also volunteering to personally take on Bahamut. The Auspexes agree and, reverting time to the instant Bahamut destroyed the world fragment, scatters the party and foes, clearing a path for them to Xenos. While Nedrick remains pessimistic on the party's odds of survival, Notte and Zena assure him that after what they've survived, they should be fine. Euden suddenly feels Xenos's presence in a direction which Mordecai, as the Progenitor's heart, confirms and thus the crew set off to defeat him once and for all.

The party arrive at Xenos who, while impressed his creations actually made it, informs them that all their efforts will be for naught. Seeing no further way to negotiate, the Auspexes begin making their own world but fail to produce any result, allowing Xenos to strike them down. Mordecai realises that their powers are not in sync, preventing them from creating a singular world and thus, just as how the original Greatwyrms lent their strength to the singular will of Bahamut, he asks the Auspexes to channel their powers into him. Xenos mocks them for this last-ditch attempt, but he too finds himself beaten down by the concentrated power of creation. Noting Xenos's confusion at how his discarded heart is triumphing, Mordecai proclaims that his bonds have made him stronger than Xenos could ever comprehend, but the Progenitor retorts that his understanding of bonds is why he's determined them as unnecessary and thus, launches a lethal blow towards Ilia.

When the smoke clears, Ilia realises that Mordecai used himself to shield her from the attack, fatally wounding himself in the process. Noting Ilia's fury at her "son"'s death, Xenos offers her the removal of all negative emotions in his perfect world, to which she retorts that they aren't so bored of life as to agree to be mindless puppets. Xenos is amused, remarking that he himself created the world because he was bored, mockingly asking them how else the party plans to amuse him. Nedrick battles Xenos while the party attempt to heal Mordecai but to no avail as the wound is too deep. However, Mordecai conveys some news of hope: Euden can replace him as the vessel of creation. Recalling how Euden's heart is separate from Nedrick's, could withstand the black mana of Morsayati's flesh and could lead Euden to Xenos just as Mordecai could, Mordecai realised that the prince too is a fragment of Xenos's conscience, with Euden being the self-sacrificial portion while Mordecai is the accepting portion. As Mordecai begins to succumb to his wounds, Ilia pleads him not to go, but while Mordecai is unable to do anything, he expresses his thanks for Ilia teaching him how to love and giving him someone to love before finally passing away.

While grieving for the loss of Mordecai, Ilia decides to bottle her emotions and commit to the mission just as Nedrick tires out. Xenos reveals that he knew of Euden's true nature, but declares that he will die as insignificant a death as Mordecai and thus, launches another attack. Fortunately, Notte transforms into her Metamorphosised form and deflects the attack, proclaiming that while the heart can make people feel anguish and pain, it also brings people together which is why Xenos has been completely wrong about it all this while. Arriving to back Notte up, the rest of the Halidom crew arrive, having been rescued by parallel versions of the Agito. Xenos is shocked that they broke through his defences so effectively, which Euden declares is the power of bonds before engaging Xenos in battle. Euden battles long and hard, negating Xenos's black holes and forcing him to transform into a draconic form. During the fight, Xenos questions why the party would reject a perfect world like his, to which they proclaim that having cast away his heart, he's unable to understand others and thus shouldn't decide what others want. Euden defeats Xenos's draconic form, but just as this form is defeated, Xenos summons a huge demonic shell around himself to protect him, rendering himself near invulnerable and blasting Euden with elemental attacks from his tentacles, which must be cut down for brief windows of vulnerability. With Euden dealing high amounts of damage to him, Xenos resorts to using a beam attack that begins pushing the prince back, all while sadistically laughing all the way. Fortunately, Zethia steps in and, blocking the attack alongside her brother, deflects the beam into Xenos and cuts down the tentacles, rendering him vulnerable. Finally cut down, Xenos screams as his own power overwhelms him, exploding into a blast of purple energy.

With Xenos defeated, the party celebrate though without the Progenitor, his stronghold begins to destabilise. Fortunately, Ilia realises that using the abundant raw materials present here, she and the Auspexes could easily recreate the world and, focusing their powers, begin recreating the homes of the party. As part of the final step, Ilia asks them to revitalise the restored world with their bonds by returning to places with significance to them. Bidding Euden and the Auspexes. farewell, the party enter the portals to their homes, reuniting with friends and family; Luca promising to hold a huge party for everyone, Ranzal promising to repay Euden for all he's done, Elisanne promising to forever be loyal to the prince, Cleo expressing her interest at Euden's future, Alex promising to continue atoning for her sins, Laxi and Mascula expressing their desire to become peaceful automatons, and Mym promising to see Euden again. With the party having entered the new world, the Auspexes begin to depart as well, with Zena heading back to her own reality. However, just as Ilia can go back to her time, the world begins to destabilise, which Euden senses is Xenos's core interfering with the restoration from deep within the stronghold. As the core of the stronghold only allows Xenos in, Euden resolves to go alone as his heart, and thus bids farewell to the party as he goes to defeat the Progenitor once and for all.

Entering the stronghold, Euden hears Midgardsormr's voice and realises his pactwyrm tagged along, using their pact to accompany him. Looking back on how he first met Midgardsormr at the start of his journey, Euden remarks that it must be fate that things end with the Windwyrm at his side. Midgardsormr however, believes that all of this was merely a product of Euden's actions, with the prince agreeing that fate is something people create for themselves. Arriving at the stronghold's core, the two come across "Xenos", though upon further examination realise it's just one of his memories. The memory recounts about how in the first world, Xenos freely shared his power with both humanoid and dragon alike, but after they began lusting for the creators' powers, Bahamut was forced to erase the world, causing Xenos to be disillusioned with possibility and the feud between the two. While Xenos refused to use his creations to beat back Bahamut, he was beaten by the combined force of the dragons and Origin, sealing him away and leaving him bitter. The real Xenos arrives, commenting on how far Euden has come. When confronted on his past by Euden, Xenos remarks that since then, he's viewed the heart as unnecessary and what prevented him from gaining a perfect world. Euden finally comes to a revelation and informs Xenos of it: the Progenitor isn't some kind of disconnected god as he likes to believe, but a wholly human person with emotions and a moral compass like everyone else. Insulted that he could be compared to his own creations, Xenos attacks Euden, negating possibility and critically injuring him. Suddenly, Euden hears Zethia's voice reaching out to him from outside, who reveals that all people have small bits of the Primal Mark within them as Xenos's creations and thus, rallying everybody to channel their power to Euden, empowers the prince with the power of creation. Xenos is astounded by this new development, which Euden declares is the power of bonds and thus attacks Xenos once again.

Finally, with one final blow from Euden and Midgardsormr, Xenos is laid low, severing his connection to the world. But soon, Midgardsormr also realises something horrifying: Euden too is fading away. As Midgardsormr mourns the loss of his friend, Euden consoles him, telling him that as Xenos's heart he always knew this was the way it'd end and that as his final act, will fulfil Xenos's last wishes. Using his power of creation, Euden completely restores the world to one of harmony and possibility before finally, fading away from existence.

Epilogue: A World without End

Days pass by peacefully in the restored world: Zena lives her life without a care with her own Euden and Notte, Meene, Ilia and Mordecai embark on more adventures together in the present, Gatov and Sheila continue ruling over the prosperous kingdom of Lefkos, Elisanne and Alex serve as Origa's faithful bodyguards, Laxi and Mascula move into Luca's village, Volk and Ranzal both serve as knights and generals for St. Lotier, while Cleo continues guarding the Mistholt with Midgardsormr, who, in mourning an unknown friend, decides to show up for King Aurelius's ceremony. Yet in all this peace, Zethia cannot shake a feeling that something's amiss. Deep in thought, she's woken up by Notte who informs her that all her siblings (Beren included) are coming back to Sol Alberia for an important ceremony along with guests from Lefkos and Grams. Zethia comments that she feels a sense of loss, which Nedrick comments could be the new era of peace the world's experiencing. Zethia is dissatisfied with the answer and leaves for outside to ponder, where she spots a familiar silhouette. However, when the silhouette is revealed to be a regular villager, she breaks down in tears suddenly and begins crying, remembering that the sense of loss she feels is somebody she can't remember. A voice rings out from behind, comforting her and remarking Zethia was always quick to cry. When questioned who he is, the voice's owner remarks that he's just a regular villager and introduces himself as the one Zethia had been missing all along: Euden.