PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 5: Fight for Azwan

(A/N: With the Milestone update, the presentation of theme dungeons and other storylines has been streamlined into a single continuity, with the player having a set journey from the time that they join the Alliance, to the moment they become the Adversary during Black Heaven, all the way into the Arcane River and continental Grandis. The Azwan storyline is chronologically the first entry into this journey, which is reflected in the dialogue at the beginning of the story. The story team has created a recommended order of quests to complete, which is what I’m roughly following while ordering this site, although you’ll see that there are times when I deviate from that ordering in order to avoid continuity errors that pop up.)

Following the formation of the Alliance, Neinheart summoned an Alliance member in order to assign them their first official mission. He explained that though they might be wondering whether it was too early for the Alliance to begin undertaking missions so soon after its formation, the war against the Black Mage was just beginning, and that they needed to prepare immediately.

He explained that amongst the Black Mage’s forces, the Commanders were those with the greatest power, and that the Alliance was tracking their movements. As the Commanders were formidable and dangerous, with the possibility of there being even more new Commanders in the future, Neinheart asked the Alliance member to lend their strength to the Alliance’s investigation, as he believed that only someone as strong as them could handle any unexpected situations that may arise. After giving them a report on the known Commanders, Neinheart told the Alliance member that he expected a great deal from them, as they were one of the strongest members of the Alliance.

He then began explaining that the lost city of Azwan had recently reappeared. He revealed that Azwan was the hometown of Hilla, who was said to have destroyed Azwan and offered it to the Black Mage after she had become a Commander. Because of this, he believed that there may be clues about Hilla in the lost city, for which he tasked the Alliance member with their first mission to assist the Cygnus Knights with their investigation of Azwan.

The Alliance member traveled to Ariant, where they encountered a group of citizens listening to the song of a wandering dancer. The dancer told them that her song was quite popular in Ariant and revealed that it spoke of an elixir of everlasting youth hidden somewhere amongst the ruins of Azwan, adding that Queen Areda of Ariant had already sent people on a mission to obtain it. (A/N: The wandering dancer is a disguised Hilla.)

Wondering whether the rumors were true, the Alliance member traveled to the ruins of Azwan, where they met a Cygnus Knight named Gardin. Gardin told the Alliance member that the Knights had set up a base camp near an obelisk that led into the underground city, though progress had been halted by a magical barrier that prevented anyone from entering. He explained that the rumors of the elixir had caused droves of grave robbers to swarm the city, and that he worried that they would make the situation worse. Suspecting that they were using a secret passageway, Gardin asked the Alliance member to investigate where the grave robbers were coming from.

The Alliance member began exploring the nearby area and soon came across a secret passageway that led underground into the city. After entering Azwan, they came across a pair of grave robbers and hid behind several boxes in order to eavesdrop. They then overheard the two soldiers, who had been sent by Queen Areda, discussing whether the elixir of everlasting youth was actually real. The pair agreed that it hardly mattered when Areda would claim it for herself after using them to do her dirty work. Then then shuddered at the thought of having to serve an immortal Areda for all eternity.

One of the soldiers suggested that he ought to drink the elixir instead, claiming that he was much better looking than Areda. However, the other soldier claimed that he himself was more handsome. The two then began to bicker as the bewildered Alliance member wondered why the two guards were arguing about who looked better when they were identical twins. Just then, a third identical guard appeared and claimed that his face was the one that was truly handsome, causing the Alliance member to realize that they were triplets.

The third soldier then reported that just as he had thought, the barrier only prevented access to the upper parts of the city, while the underground passageways allowed them entry through the lower parts, meaning that they only needed to drill a hole and climb up to the upper city. Realizing that they couldn’t allow the grave robbers to find the elixir, the Alliance member revealed themselves and quickly defeated the grave robbers before using their equipment to climb into the upper city.

The Alliance member soon reached a refuge, where the ghosts of King Iason, Prime Minister Longorias, and Shamaness Medina were shocked to find that someone from the outside world had managed to circumvent the barrier and invade the city. The Alliance member quickly reassured them that they hadn’t come to harm them, to which a surprised Medina noted that she couldn’t sense Hilla’s energy in them. As Longorias wondered whether another faction which they didn’t know about had appeared, Medina decided to speak properly with the Alliance member in order to learn their intentions.

Medina asked the Alliance member why they had come to Azwan, noting that the city had already fallen, leaving only souls with nowhere to go. She then introduced herself as a Shamaness of Azwan and explained that she was responsible for maintaining that barrier that prevented their souls from being taken by the Black Mage. She revealed that when Hilla had offered Azwan to the Black Mage, the people of the city had had their souls stolen and turned into monsters, while the survivors had hidden behind the barrier, unable to leave its boundaries without their souls being taken as well.

The Alliance member then revealed that they had entered the city through the underground passageway, causing Medina to wonder how they had survived the monsters which were attacking the kingdom. The Alliance member replied that there were no monsters currently attacking, likely because the Black Mage had already been sealed centuries ago. This news stunned Medina, who was shocked to learn that hundreds of years had already passed, and that the Black Mage had already been sealed and unsealed in that time.

After processing the Alliance member’s story, Medina realized that she and the other souls of Azwan must not have realized just how much time had passed, as the passage of time meant little to ghosts. Realizing that they had a common enemy, Medina offered to help the Alliance member gather information about Hilla. She explained that Hilla was living in a large tower to the east, as the people of Azwan had constructed it for her with the belief that the great Shamaness should pray to the heavens from high up. However, she warned them that Hilla was quite dangerous, as she had already been the most powerful Shamaness in Azwan history before receiving even more power from the Black Mage.

Fearing that even a scouting mission would prove too dangerous, Medina decided to accompany the Alliance member and protect them with her own power as a Shamaness of Azwan. Immediately upon entering the tower, however, the Alliance member found themselves in total darkness, unable to see anything around them, including Medina. Worried that Hilla may have done something to her, the Alliance member attempted to look for her, though they soon realized that they appeared to be walking endlessly through the darkness of the tower.

As they continued onward, they soon saw a shape in the distance, but upon coming close to it, the darkness in the room lifted, revealing Hilla standing before them. The Alliance member immediately demanded to know what she had done with Medina, to which Hilla revealed that she had already eliminated her, noting that Medina had grown quite arrogant to enter her tower so brazenly, despite her having once been Hilla’s favorite.

Upon seeing the Alliance member’s expression, Hilla laughed and told them not to look at her like that, pointing out that Medina had already been dead anyways. She then declared that the Alliance member would soon be dead as well, as there could be no living people in the city of the dead. She then used her powers to paralyze the Alliance member, who collapsed on the ground in pain. As Hilla told them to close their eyes and become another ghost of Azwan, the voice of Medina broke through as the Shamaness appeared before them and helped them back up to their feet.

The surprised Alliance member asked Medina how she had survived, as Hilla had claimed that she had already eliminated her. However, a confused Medina asked them what they were talking about, as she hadn’t even met Hilla, who wasn’t in the tower at all. Medina revealed that the Hilla standing near them was just an illusion, and that the Alliance member had fallen under her spell from the moment they had entered the tower. In order to prove her words, Medina used a spell of truth upon the illusion of Hilla, which quickly scattered away and disappeared. She then noted that it was fortunate that the Alliance member hadn’t lost their will, as she wouldn’t have been able to break the illusion otherwise.

The pair then returned back to the refuge, where Medina told them that Hilla’s specialty had always been illusion magic, and that she had cast a spell to create an illusion of herself inside the tower. She noted that Hilla’s powers were quite terrifying, as her illusions – strengthened even further with the Black Mage’s power – were capable of deceiving her victims, eroding their will, and even taking their lives. However, she then realized that the fact that Hilla had created an illusion of herself in the tower meant that the real Hilla was likely somewhere else in Maple World. She noted that Hilla wouldn’t be easy to stop, for while she had once been beloved by all of Azwan, she had ruthlessly sacrificed them all for her own selfish desires.

She then told the Alliance member that without Hilla in the tower, there was no point in maintaining the barrier. However, she explained that she was worried about what Hilla might do in the outside world. Recalling how the Alliance member had mentioned that they were part of an alliance against the Black Mage, Medina noted that it was fortunate that such a group had appeared over the centuries, as many had lost their lives in the past because nobody could come together against a common foe. Though she admitted that there was little that they could do as ghosts, Medina promised that the souls of Azwan would do whatever they could to help, and that she would lift the barrier to allow the Alliance entry for their investigation.

The Alliance member told Medina that they were grateful, though they wondered whether lifting the barrier was safe with so many grave robbers around. Medina was surprised to learn that there were many in search of the Elixir of Youth, revealing that there was no such treasure in Azwan, as Hilla would never have betrayed Azwan for eternal youth if such a thing already existed in the city.

The Alliance member then decided to speak with Gardin, who was shocked to learn that they had found themselves in such a situation and noted that they should have requested for assistance. Nevertheless, he was relieved to know that the Alliance had such a powerful ally, adding that the Alliance member was quite amazing. He then told the Alliance member that the Cygnus Knights had been investigating the Elixir of Youth in order to curb the number of grave robbers entering the city, and that they had discovered that a small number of elixirs were in circulation. As the Alliance member had determined that there was no real Elixir of Youth, Gardin asked them to figure out what exactly was being sold in Ariant.

Back in town, the Alliance member defeated several grave robbers and obtained an elixir, which they brought back to Gardin. Though he wondered whether they ought to send it to Ereve for analysis, Gardin realized that it would be more helpful to have a Shamaness like Medina look at it. The Alliance member brought the elixir to Medina, who noted that there was an inscription upon the elixir: “The loss of beauty across this fair world so saddens me. I have in my possession the power of immortality, which I shall grant to only the most beautiful souls,” noting that it had also been signed by Hilla herself.

Though she wondered whether Hilla had really obtained eternal youth from the Black Mage, Medina analyzed the elixir and learned that it had been created from Hilla’s powerful illusion magic, which actually extracted obsession and insanity that hid inside the drinker’s heart. Medina suspected that the rumors about the elixir had been started by Hilla herself in order to spread the effects of the elixir and urged the Alliance member to inform the Alliance about Hilla’s conspiracy. She warned them that Hilla’s power of illusion was deadly, and that her Shamaness’ intuition told her that they would someday have to face Hilla and her dark magic.

The Alliance member then spoke with Gardin, who thanked them for the information and explained that the Alliance would work to confiscate the elixirs and warn Areda, who was obsessed with finding everlasting youth. After reporting to Gardin, the Alliance member returned to Ereve and told him about what had happened in Azwan.

Neinheart was disturbed to know that his suspicions about Hilla being active in Maple World had been confirmed, though he nevertheless thanked the Alliance member for their help. He told them that the Alliance would continue their investigation, and he they would call upon them when they were next needed, though he asked them to share any new information about the Black Mage that they uncovered in the meantime.

Soon after, Gardin visited Areda at her palace and heavily emphasized to her that there was no such thing as an Elixir of Youth. However, Areda merely waved away his concerns and dismissively told him that she understood before ordering him to leave, claiming that the silk merchants for her new slippers were about to arrive.

After Gardin took his leave, Hilla – disguised as the wandering dancer – entered the palace and asked her whether she really believed Gardin’s words. Areda replied that it was clear to her that the Alliance was merely attempting to monopolize all the elixirs for themselves. As she fumed in annoyance at the thought of the Alliance having confiscated so many, Hilla placated her by assuring the queen that she was at her service.

Areda noted that it was fortunate that Hilla was there, lambasting her grave robbers for being useless compared to a wandering dancer. Hilla then presented an elixir to Areda, who greedily drank it and noted that she could already feel the power of everlasting youth flowing into her. In exchange, she promised to give Hilla enough gold to set her for life, to which Hilla thanked her before leaving the palace. As she did, she lifted the illusion on her form, changing her brown hair back to red, laughing at the chaos and confusion that she had just created.

(A/N: This storyline got a pseudo-conclusion in the Labyrinth of Suffering storyline. The reason why I say pseudo-conclusion is because it raises more questions than it answers. While stumbling through the labyrinth, the Adversary is plagued by visions of despair, in which their allies in Tenebris and the people of Maple World are suffering. One of these visions has them view a conversation between two citizens of Ariant - SagaT and Ahmad - who are being forced to work like slaves.

Ahmad tells SagaT that everything had fallen apart once Areda had found the Elixir of Youth, causing her greed to grow insatiable. The Adversary is surprised because they believed that they had given the elixir to Medina. Ahmad then says that many people have begun to leave the city, causing the situation to worsen for those who remained.

However, SagaT reveals that the people haven’t left, but rather, Areda has imprisoned them in the palace in order to drain their vitality, as she has to keep draining youth from others in order to maintain the effects of the elixir. The scene then flashes to a corrupted Areda being consumed by dark energy as she tells herself that she has to keep draining life, causing the Adversary to realize that she’s really draining Erda.

The canonicity of this vision is left up to your interpretation because for the most part, every vision inside the labyrinth is an illusion created by Hilla in order to break you. However, this vision seems to be pretty plausible based on what we know happens at the end of the Azwan storyline. Personally, I believe that this one is actually true because all the other illusions of Maple World’s people suffering are stripped away at the end of the storyline and it’s revealed that they’ve been fighting all along, with the exception of this vision.

The only thing I don’t like is that we never figure out whether the people of Ariant are saved or not. The whole situation in Ariant has been weird to me from the beginning because of how not a single person in Ereve thought to themselves, “Hey, maybe as the federal government of this world, we should do something about one of our states falling under authoritarian rule.”

To an extent, there’s a fairly reasonable explanation for that. My headcanon has always been that in the centuries since Empress Aria’s death, the authority of the Empress has become almost ceremonial at this point. Ereve has a Senate, but I’d wager that there’s a limit to the kinds of laws that they can pass. Plus, who’s even left to enforce them? The Noblesse and the Knight of Light are technically there, but the Noblesse were all wiped out in the war from 300 years ago and the Knight of Light’s power is weakened without an Empress to serve.

By the time that Cygnus is coronated, the people of Maple World have lived without an Empress for over 800 years. Cygnus started out with no army, no authority, and no visibility. On top of that, she was probably somewhere between 5-8 years old when she became Empress. Even with Neinheart to help her, she’s struggled with an inferiority complex her entire life where she thinks that she’s not worthy of being Empress, which means that she’s probably terrified of having to be assertive in enforcing the laws of Ereve. She probably doesn’t want to send the Cygnus Knights to overthrow Areda and risk looking like a tyrant, and Areda definitely isn’t going to listen to Cygnus because there’s no way that she’ll take the words of a child seriously.

However, the thing I don’t understand is why Cygnus still hasn’t intervened in the present day. The fact that nearly every citizen in Ariant has been kidnapped by the queen should be a national-level emergency, even with the fight against the Black Mage going on. It just comes off as completely irresponsible of Cygnus to ignore what’s going on in Maple World when she’s literally the sole ruler of the whole planet and a good chunk of her constituents are having the life sucked out of them.

The probable reason for this is that the writers didn’t feel like resolving all the problems in the town storylines because the KMS director wanted the story focus to shift to Grandis. I love the Grandis story and everything, but there’s no good reason that they couldn’t have wrapped up the problems in Maple World the same way that they resolved all the Maple World class storylines in the Aftermath cutscenes.)