PART IV: AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 14: Extradimensional Visitors

• Following the battle at Carcion, the Adversary, Lily, and Elwin were dispatched by Edea to investigate a strange dimensional crack which she believed had something to do with the High Flora. The group was sucked into the dimension, where they came across its creator - a toad named Gob - as well as a girl named Kelly, whom the Adversary recognized as Rusty’s friend from Hotel Arcus

• They learned that Gob - nicknamed the Hand of God - was an Ancient God and an old friend of Archelon who had created his robot body. They discovered that Gob was hiding from Gerand Darmoor in the pocket dimension, which had been created inside Gob’s dimensional toad Tyrnog, and that Kelly and her allies were using it as their hideout. As the dimensional machine sustaining it was miscalibrated from the convergence of Maple World and Grandis, and damaged from an Apostle’s recent attack, the Adversary agreed to help repair the machine.

• While working with Gob, the Adversary learned that Kelly’s allies were the Primacy - a militia which had been formed to liberate Grandis from Darmoor and the High Flora. However, they learned that the Primacy were mistrustful of the Alliance, and that Kelly’s team - the sniper Eileen, the information analyst Kapdi, and Captain Iker - were keeping their distance and watching the Adversary from afar.

• Soon after, Gob offered to analyze the Adversary and noted that their body was in good condition, adding that they would have been a great threat to him during the Ancient War. He revealed that he had created the pocket dimension inside Tyrnog to hide during the Ancient War, as he had been weak and easily dispatchable at the hands of the Adversaries.

• He explained that ages later, he had made a fatal mistake by leaving his hideout to return Archelon’s screw to a young Rusty in preparation for Archelon’s awakening, which was when Darmoor had attacked him and stolen much of his power. As he needed protection from Darmoor, and since he hadn’t trusted the Alliance when they had a godslayer as their chief weapon, he had sought out the Primacy and made a deal to give them his hideout in exchange for their protection, despite how unruly and wild they were.

• Gob then analyzed the World Heart and noted that its power was in stable condition. He revealed that the power of the Ancient Gods could not be used safely by anyone who wasn’t a god - with the exception of the Transcendents - though he added that since the Adversary was a Vessel, they were stronger than most mortals. Nevertheless, he advised them to remain cautious, lest the power overwhelm and consume them.

• While continuing with repairs, the Adversary met with Kelly and learned that an Apostle of Darmoor engulfed in blue flames and riding on horseback with a large flaming axe had ambushed the Primacy during one of their guerilla raids on a remote Flora outpost. Though the Primacy had retreated, the Apostle had used his overwhelming magic to pursue them by creating a portal into Gob’s dimension, resulting in heavy casualties. Because of this, Kelly asked the Adversary to help her with making new upgrades for her team to boost their morale.

• The Adversary spoke with the Primacy and learned about what kinds of upgrades that they wanted, during which they also learned that an information leak was the likely reason for why the Apostle had known about the Primacy’s plans. However, they were unable to gain the full trust of the Primacy, with Gob also stating that the Adversary’s plan to take the power of the Ancient Gods came in conflict with the Primacy’s goals.

• Eventually, the repairs on the dimensional machine were complete, with Gob thanking the Alliance for their help. At the same time, the Primacy began setting out on its next mission towards the Tomb of the Gods, with Captain Iker noting that perhaps their paths may cross once again in the not-so-distant future, hinting at the possibility of an alliance.