PART IV: AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 8: Karote, the Unending Tower

Soon after the expedition to Hotel Arcus, Neinheart summoned the Adversary to Ereve in order to give them a new mission. He explained that the Chief Knights had just returned from their reconnaissance missions, and that he planned to explain everything during the debriefing. Upon arriving in Ereve, the Adversary was greeted by Neinheart, who explained that the Cygnus Knights had recently been undertaking reconnaissance missions led by the Chief Knights.

Between the merging of Maple World and Grandis, the imminent threat of the High Flora army, and the destruction of the Seal Stone, Neinheart emphasized that the situation was precarious, and that while the primary duty of the Cygnus Knights was to protect the Empress, they could not ignore their obligations to the world at large.

When the Adversary asked why only the Cygnus Knights had been undertaking missions, Neinheart explained that while the Alliance was helping wherever possible, it was getting difficult to politically justify their operations. As the Alliance had been formed to fight the Black Mage, his death meant that the purpose of the Alliance had been fulfilled.

The Adversary was shocked that the Alliance was on the verge of dissolving and asked if the other factions were still contributing to missions. Neinheart told them that the Alliance was still providing support, but without the threat of the Black Mage hanging over their heads, he felt that it was unfair to ask them to invest everything into the cause.

He explained that the Cygnus Knights had always carried out the Empress’ will, and that world peace continued to be her primary concern. However, he explained they could not force others to join in the fight, as every nation would naturally put its own people first. The Adversary noted that it was perhaps time for a new coalition to carry on the spirit of the Maple Alliance, to which Neinheart agreed and added that many others shared his sentiment.

(A/N: I wonder how Cygnus is taking the news that the Alliance has basically dissolved. The formation of the Alliance is probably the most defining event of her reign and it might’ve been one of her greatest accomplishments to unite Maple World when not even the White Mage could do it in his time. It must’ve hit Cygnus hard to see something that she put everything into building start crumbling right before her eyes.

It’s likely that we’re going to see a new Grandis Alliance in the future led by the Nova, and that Maple World and Grandis’ positions are going to be flipped from how they were in the Maple Alliance, with Grandis now at the forefront and Maple World providing background support. In a sense, the destruction of the Seal Stone - a relic that awakened from the collective willpower of the Alliance - symbolizes the fragmentation of the Alliance, which has lost its determination and purpose with the completion of its mission.)

After rendezvousing with the Chief Knights, Neinheart began the debriefing. Hawkeye first reported that the Thunder Breakers had been following news of Havoc, the First Apostle of Lightning. Though they had no confirmation of whether he was dead or alive, Hawkeye explained that he believed that Havoc had to be alive, since they hadn’t found his body after his defeat at Seren’s hands. Though they were investigating with the support of Prince Carlisle, Hawkeye reported that it was difficult to gather news in Cernium because of the chaos in the city.

Eckhart reported next, explaining that the Night Walkers had confirmed that the High Flora army was expanding, and that there were reported sightings of High Flora scouts having crossed the forgotten sea to Maple World. After a few skirmishes, Eckhart had also learned that the Specters, the primary force that made up their army, were different from normal soldiers because of their unnatural recovery rate. Eckhart added that he had a bad feeling about the Specters, and so he would be away from Ereve for some time in order to investigate further.

(A/N: Ark gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which Eckhart tells Ark that the person said to be at the forefront of the Specter army is an acquaintance of his. He adds that though Ark isn’t part of the Night Walkers and won’t be joining them as they face the Specter army, it’s never pleasant to meet people that they know on the battlefield, no matter what their previous relationship was like. He then warns Ark that he should prepare himself for that eventuality. Ark then thinks to himself that Albaire has chosen the path of war after all.)

Neinheart then explained that he had asked Oz to investigate something that the Alliance had previously overlooked, having hastily attributed it to be the work of the Black Mage during the war. He added that recent developments had led him to reassess that determination, which was why he had ordered the investigation.

(A/N: If the player has completed Yum Yum Island, Neinheart tells us that he’s been told that we’ve seen the place that he’s referring to firsthand. He explains that he’s talking about an artificial forest of Erda that had been created in the Arcane River through Erda manipulation, though not at the Black Mage’s hand. We realize that he’s talking about Yum Yum Island, which Neinheart confirms.

If the player hasn’t completed Yum Yum Island, Neinheart tells us that we haven’t been privy to those reports and explains that within the Arcane River exists a forest created artificially through Erda manipulation, though not at the hands of the Black Mage as they had originally expected. He then adds that its denizens call it Yum Yum Island.)

Oz told the Adversary that she had looked into it, and that all the clues pointed straight back to Grandis, just as Neinheart had suspected. She explained that though she hadn’t found many solid leads, there had been an eyewitness amongst their allies in Grandis who had met the responsible party, whose help had allowed them to fill in the dots.

(A/N: Hoyoung gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which Neinheart realizes that Hoyoung was the eyewitness in question. Hoyoung feels awkward and tells Neinheart that there’s no need to point it out when he’s standing right there. Taotie then laughs to Hoyoung that it’s unlike him to feel embarrassed.

Lara also gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which Neinheart realizes that she was the eyewitness in question. Lara gets flustered and tells him that it was nothing, as she had barely done anything.)

Oz then explained that the suspect’s name was Kaling. Though she appeared to be an Anima to the untrained eye, who or what she really was remained a mystery. Oz also reported that it was unknown whether Kaling was affiliated with Darmoor or if she was another threat, adding that the Blaze Wizards would keep investigating.

Mihile then reported that the Dawn Warriors had successfully escorted Grendel from the facility in Ereve that he had escaped from and placed him under custody in a secure location, and that they were still working to locate Will.

(A/N: If the player is Mihile, Neinheart will explain that he handled the mission on our behalf before reporting the details about Grendel and Will himself.

Mercedes gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which Neinheart asks her whether Lucid’s new accommodations in Elluel are secure. He reminds her that Lucid’s efforts in service of the Black Mage make her a significant threat to the Alliance. While he admits that the elves are quite capable, he explains that what happened in Ereve weighs heavily on his mind, adding that the ramifications of Lucid’s potential escape would be quite grim. He then asks Mercedes not to let Lucid out of her sight.

Grendel was likely imprisoned for going off on his own and fusing Maple World and Grandis, which not only nearly brought about the end of the world with the creation of Sol Erda, but also gave the High Flora a red carpet invitation to invade Maple World, since it would’ve been highly infeasible for Darmoor to send his armies single-file through the Interdimensional Portal.)

Neinheart lamented that trust in the Alliance’s prisons were at an all-time low, as well as the fact that they couldn’t rely on Grendel’s counsel anymore.

Irena then reported that the Wind Archers had been coordinating with their informants and told the Adversary that one of their sources, Rusty, had told her about a story circulating amongst the Seekers, which spoke of a tower that hid something that even the gods feared. In order to investigate the rumors, Irena, Neinheart, Belle, and the Adversary traveled to the train station at Arcus. There, Neinheart and Irena recounted the legend of Karote, the Unending Tower to Belle and the Adversary, explaining that it was a self-building tower that hadn't stopped growing since it had first been created.

The tower took over a lifespan to build and the day of its completion would reveal to the world a secret that even the gods feared. When the Adversary asked why the tower built itself endlessly, Neinheart explained that when the tower reached a certain height, a force from above would blast it apart, as though it would not permit the tower to build itself any higher.

Irena added that even though it had merely been a popular legend amongst the Seekers, the fusion of Maple World and Grandis had resulted in the tower resurfacing, with an eyewitness even having seen the tower with their own eyes. Irena then told the others that the eyewitness was currently staying in Hotel Arcus. The Adversary recalled the part of the story that mentioned how the tower’s completion would reveal something that even the gods feared, causing them to wonder whether it could be a clue about the Godsphere, which they knew as the Seal Stone.

(A/N: The Godsphere is known as the “spear of god” in KMS, and its original name makes that last line make more sense, as it becomes pretty self-evident why we would make the connection between why the gods would fear a weapon capable of killing them. It still technically does work with the GMS localization, which just says “Seal Stone”, but the imagery of a spear piercing through the gods is what the original dialogue was going for.)

Neinheart told the Adversary that it was something that he was hoping for as well, as they had learned by now that legends reflected hints of truth. Just then, Rusty arrived with Toogi and Archelon and escorted them to the hotel. At the hotel, Rusty told them that a Seeker named Nicky had been exploring Karote, and that the completion of the tower was his family's dream. On the second floor, the Glory Guard met with Nicky and began to ask him about Karote.

Suddenly, the room grew silent as the other Seekers looked at the group before laughing. They began to jokingly ask Nicky if he was planning to rope more people into his expeditions, explaining that besides a few statues, there was nothing worth exploring in Karote. Nevertheless, the Seekers were good-natured and noted that all of them had wanted to visit Karote at one point when they had first heard the legends as kids.

The Adversary then asked Nicky if it was true that his family’s goal was to see the completion of the tower. Nicky told them that it was specifically his father’s dream, and that his father had been keeping his eye out for Karote even before it had resurfaced. He added that he hadn’t understood his father’s obsession with it until he had visited Karote himself, which had made him wonder where exactly it was growing towards, as well as what sort of power had the ability to reduce it to rubble. He added that the day that Karote completed itself would be when they would finally have a real blast.

(A/N: If the player has completed Reverse City, Nicky’s words will stir something in the Adversary’s memory and make them vaguely recall that they’ve heard something like that before. We actually heard those same words from T-Boy back in Reverse City.)

Seeing that the Adversary was curious, he offered to lead the Glory Guard to Karote. Neinheart began to explain that they hadn’t come prepared for a large journey, just as Archelon appeared and showed them the Arcus Gate, which could take them anywhere across Grandis if they had a destination. Neinheart noted that it seemed to be similar to the Interdimensional Portal, but whereas the Interdimensional Portal had been created when a Transcendent utilized another Transcendent’s powers, he believed that the Arcus Gate had been created by the power of the Ancient Gods.

(A/N: The translation team for GMS messed up on this at release. The original text for this was that the Interdimensional Portal is formed when a Transcendent of Time steals the power of another Transcendent of Time, which is blatantly false. They fixed this sometime before the Ignition update.)

With Nicky able to chart their destination, Neinheart was hopeful that they would find something that would help them face a Transcendent. Before they left, however, Archelon told the Adversary that he had something important to say. He explained that Karote had been built after his original body had fallen into slumber and before his consciousness had awakened in his robot body. He told the Adversary that the intermittent time in which he had been inactive was when the line between good and evil had vanished. He warned them to be careful, as he feared that what awaited them was more difficult than what a human heart could handle.

Nicky, Irena, Belle, Neinheart, and the Adversary then used the portal and arrived at the entrance to Karote, which stood nearly complete. Nicky realized that they had arrived at the wrong time, as the tower had grown too high. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck and caused the tower to crumble to pieces. Neinheart realized that they could be certain that the power which wanted to keep the tower from growing was still active even now.

They went inside the ruins to investigate and found an unscathed statue, which they realized had been mentioned by the Seekers. Neinheart asked Nicky if there was anything special about the statue, but when Nicky told him that there wasn't, Neinheart asked the Adversary for their perspective and told them to look closely.

Irena and Belle noted that it seemed to be an ordinary stone statue. However, as the Adversary touched it, the statue glowed and teleported the Adversary to a subspace where tower fragments floated around a large beam of light. Suddenly, toad-like Corallite Guardian robots approached the Adversary and recognized them as a Vessel who had come through the gateway. After a pause, they concluded that the Adversary was a failure and declared that defective Vessels were subject to disposal before attacking. After defeating them, the Adversary approached the statue and touched it, which glowed and teleported them again.

As they were transported, the Adversary experienced a vision of the man from the statue being deemed a failure of a Vessel by the toad robots. The man demanded to know why he had been deemed a failure, claiming that the ‘old geezers’ must have gone mad from all the time that they had shut themselves within their laboratory. (A/N: The ‘old geezers’ are the elders from the realm of the sages.) He told himself that if he could find a way out, then he could find a way to fix everything.

As the Corallite Guardians threw him off the edge of the laboratory in the sky, the man recalled how the specter of death had always been near him, whether it had come from drugs injected into his blood, the makeshift instruments that had cut away at his flesh, or even a living person. However, he had always been sure that he would have survived it because he had believed himself to be the one.

He then fell into the ocean, and with his body having been replaced with metal from the experiments, he sunk deeper to the bottom of the ocean. Though he was sure that he would never see the sun again, he had still discovered a ray of light that came from an enormous anglerfish. (A/N: It's possible that this anglerfish may have been an Ancient God lying dormant in the ocean.)

The Adversary then returned back to the tower and found the others standing on the rebuilt floor, where the statue of the man had changed its pose and a large mural of the anglerfish now decorated the wall. Nicky excitedly told the Adversary that even though only ten minutes had passed since they had touched the statue, the tower had rebuilt itself at a remarkable speed, to the point that it had rebuilt several floors, which normally would have taken weeks.

Nicky supposed that the Adversary had a special power, which had caused Karote to accelerate its completion. After the Adversary explained where they had gone, Irena pointed out the anglerfish in the mural. Once again, something stirred in the Adversary’s memories and they explained that the anglerfish somehow felt familiar. Nicky told the Adversary that they must have been remembering the anglerfish carved at the entrance of Karote.

They then climbed to the next floor and found a statue of the same man placing bricks atop each other. Neinheart speculated that Karote itself was a large artifact, which he defined as a machine or device powered by magic. He explained that the creator of the tower had known that Karote would fall apart, and so he had created a mechanism so that those whom he deemed worthy could quickly ascend to the top with the statues.

The Adversary then realized that they had likely witnessed the creator’s memories in the subspace, causing Neinheart to wonder what would have caused the creator to do such a thing. He began regretting that they couldn’t use Grendel’s wisdom, as he himself was nowhere near as knowledgeable about magic.

However, he noted that the monsters who had attacked the Adversary were likely guardians, and that the robots calling them a ‘Vessel’ and the statue only reacting to them could only be because of one reason. The Adversary realized that it was because they had once been an Adversary, though they pointed out that the Seal Stone within them had been destroyed. Neinheart admitted that the thought had crossed his mind and promised to contemplate it some more.

The Adversary then touched the statue and was transported back to the subspace, where they encountered rabbit-like Olivine Guardians, which recognized that they had found a Vessel powerful enough to defeat a Guardian. However, they noted that Vessels who had come from the gateway were to be considered defective and began to attack. The Adversary recognized that the Olivine Guardians were more powerful than the Corallite Guardians, though they managed to defeat the robots nevertheless.

After defeating all the Guardians, the statue of the man appeared, and upon touching it, the Adversary witnessed more of the creator’s memories. Using the light of the anglerfish, the man began to build Karote from the bottom of the ocean in order to reach the surface. He continued working tirelessly for years without pause, as the elders’ experiments had given him infinite stamina. When he finally reached land after centuries, the sight of the rising sun led him to realize that he wasn’t a failure. He concluded that the elders had merely been afraid that they had created an Adversary who was stronger than them.

The Adversary then returned back to the tower and found the others standing around a new statue and a new mural that depicted Karote emerging from the ocean in the sunrise. The Adversary told them about the shocking revelation that they had learned from the creator’s memories and noted that Neinheart wasn’t surprised.

Neinheart told them that the clues had always been there, and that the Adversary themselves had seen the results firsthand in Cernium with the experiment to transform Gilmore into a special Specter, which would have allowed him to trick the holy sword Azor into believing that he was the Chosen One. He then summarized that the creator had built Karote in order to escape the sea, and that he hadn’t stopped building, even after reaching the surface.

Belle noted that the fact that there was a large laboratory in the sky meant that the experiments to create an Adversary hadn’t been a singular occurrence with the creator and wondered who could have conducted the experiments and what their purpose might have been. The Adversary then recalled how Archelon had told them that when the tower had been built, the line between good and evil had vanished. Irena wondered whether his words had been referring to the experiments, causing Neinheart to speculate that there had to be clues left behind to investigate.

Neinheart then asked Nicky why his father had been looking forward to the completion of the tower. Nicky explained that his father didn’t talk much about his plans because he knew that the world ridiculed geniuses and he didn't even trust his own children not to follow suit. He explained that unlike his genius father, he was merely a Seeker and a disappointment in his father’s eyes, and that his only goal was to see the completed tower and what had been destroying it.

As Belle and Irena began to console him, Nicky snapped at them not to treat him like a child, though he quickly realized that it wasn’t the time to get angry when they were almost at the top of the tower, with the attack from the sky possibly coming at any minute. The group then ascended to one of the top levels and found a statue of the creator falling.

Upon touching the statue, the Adversary was transported back to the subspace, where they encountered wolf-like Diamond Guardians. As they began fighting the Guardians, they noted that not only did the robots seem to be getting stronger, but they also seemed more intelligent. Sure enough, one of the Guardians registered that the Vessel that stood before them was not a failure, but rather, they were the Vessel of an Adversary.

It then wondered whether it was possible for an Adversary to exist that hadn’t been created through experimentation, after which it ordered the other Guardians to cease their assault and open the door. After the Guardians disappeared, the Adversary touched the statue and experienced more of the creator’s memories. Having completed Karote, the creator hoped to return to the door of the laboratory, which would only open for a true Vessel.

Though he knew that he wasn’t complete yet, he was certain that he could pass through the door, as he believed himself to be a true Vessel. He hoped to enter through the door, after which he was certain that he would be able to become an Adversary. Just as he built Karote to the top, however, Guardian Kalos appeared and launched an attack that reduced Karote, which had taken countless years to build, to ashes in an instant.

As the creator fell once again, Kalos told him that the door would never open to the unworthy. Having sunk to the bottom of the ocean once again, the creator realized that he didn’t need to open the door himself, but rather, he simply needed a true Vessel to do it for him. He then directly addressed the Adversary from his memories and told them that he needed someone just like them.

The Adversary was then sent back to Karote and found that it had been completed at last, and that it hadn’t been immediately destroyed like it normally would be upon completion. After they explained the situation to the others, Neinheart realized that the creator had been using the tower in order to reach the laboratory in the sky, and that the Guardian had been responsible for destroying Karote.

Belle realized that the only reason why the Guardian had allowed for the tower to finally be completed was because the Adversary, a worthy Vessel, had come at last. However, Neinheart found it strange that the creator, who had been confident that they were a worthy Vessel for the Adversary and stronger than the ones who had created him, had been deemed a failure, with even Karote itself remaining unfinished until the Adversary had appeared.

He realized that the creator was a defective Vessel, and that he had manipulated them into helping him reach the laboratory. He warned the Adversary that it would be dangerous to investigate further, as the creator, whom he believed wasn’t a normal person, may soon appear and become a threat. Just as he recommended that they retreat, Nicky grew frustrated and decided to climb to the top himself.

The Glory Guard decided to go after him and found themselves higher than the clouds. In the sky, they found a citadel floating in the sky, which they recognized as the laboratory. Belle was shocked at the kind of technology that could hide something so enormous in the sky, as well as its power source, fuel, and why no one had encountered it until now.

Just then, Nicky told them that there was someone waiting to meet them. Suddenly, Guardian Kalos appeared in a flash of lightning and told them that he had wondered who had completed Karote, which he called the blasphemous tower. The Adversary immediately recognized that Kalos was a machine similar to the other Guardians that they had encountered in the subspace.

Realizing that they had survived the Guardians, Kalos recognized them as a true Vessel of an Adversary. He explained that he didn’t attack those who were worthy and revealed that the ones who had created him had also created the Guardians in order to identify a true Vessel. However, Kalos wondered how the Adversary could have encountered the Guardians in Karote, as they could not function outside the bounds of their domain.

The Adversary asked what he meant by ‘their domain’, to which Kalos explained that he and the other Guardians had been tasked with protecting the laboratory of his creators, who had long since turned their gaze from it. He told them that the elders had been afraid that one not committed to the cause would steal the Vessels, because of which, the Guardians were only permitted to function within the laboratory, and that they would grow as still as statues outside its boundaries.

He explained that over the many years, countless Guardians had gone missing, making him suspect that someone had lured them away and reprogrammed them in order to attack those who entered the subspaces so that they could determine whether those people were true Vessels. However, he added that none of it changed his duty, which was to open the door for a worthy Vessel.

He permitted the Adversary to pass, though he ordained that the others – Nicky, in particular – may not. He explained that Nicky’s body had been created with the technology of the laboratory, and that though he had been fooled for a moment, seeing him alongside a true Vessel had made him realize that Nicky was a fraud, though a well-made one.

He explained that he was not permitted to attack if it would risk harming a worthy Vessel, and so he ordered Nicky to leave immediately. Frustrated, Nicky claimed that his father would be disappointed after finding out that Kalos had seen through his schemes, especially when he had spent so much time recreating Nicky’s body with technology from the laboratory. Upon being confronted by Neinheart, Nicky revealed that his father was both the creator of Karote and a defective Vessel.

(A/N: The dialogue here changes depending on whether the player has completed Reverse City.

If the player hasn’t completed Reverse City, Belle will express her shock that Nicky had known that we’re the Adversary the whole time. Nicky replies that there’s no way that he couldn’t have, as for a while, the Adversary was all that anyone could talk about. He explains that he had been hoping that they’d have a chance to meet, even though it never came.

He jokes that we must be a very busy person before explaining that he had been waiting for us in a city near the Arcane River. He then says that we might know him by reputation and puts on his computer-screen mask before introducing himself as T-Boy. He then laughs that compared to us, he’s a very ordinary person, which echoes T-Boy’s first words to us in Reverse City, in which he calls himself the most normal person in Reverse City.

If the player has completed Reverse City, Belle will express her shock that Nicky had known that we’re the Adversary the whole time. Nicky replies that there’s no way that he couldn’t have after what had happened last time. He explains that they’re old friends and asks us whether we remember. He reminds us that we blew up his greatest invention and adds that it sucked harder than a black hole, which is a reference to the black hole generator that we destroyed.

When we still don’t remember him, he asks us whether we know how much a black hole generator would’ve sold for and jokes that they wouldn’t have forgotten his name if he had sent them the bill. Since the Adversary is an idiot, we still won’t remember him, and Nicky will express his disappointment in us. He then realizes that we might remember him if he puts on his mask. After putting on his T-Boy disguise, he greets the shocked Adversary, who replies that Rasol had suspected that he was still alive, which is a reference to how Rasol found T-Boy’s bloodstained mask at the end of the storyline.)

The Glory Guard immediately recognized T-Boy as a member of the Angler family from the Alliance reports that detailed the events of Reverse City. (A/N: The Angler Company’s logo was inspired by the creator of the tower’s encounter with the enormous anglerfish.) They also recalled that his sister, Senya, had been responsible for trying to buy Hotel Arcus, causing them to wonder whether her true goal had been to lead the Adversary to Karote, as she had given up her schemes too easily.

An annoyed T-Boy told them to stop talking about his sister right in the middle of his grand reveal and explained that his father had given him permission to claim one of the greatest weapons in the world, causing the Adversary to realize that he had come to take Kalos. Nicky then approached Kalos and told him that he was sharp to have noticed that he was built from technology from the laboratory, but he then claimed that Kalos had been blind to everything else, mockingly asking whether Kalos understood why his father had built him with the technology of Odium.

He then began hacking into Kalos, who recognized that T-Boy was using the power of the elders. T-Boy explained that his father had rebuilt him using the technology of Odium, and so the power of the elders, whom he called the ‘old geezers’, flowed through him as a result. When the Adversary asked who the creators were, T-Boy mocked them for their lack of knowledge, despite being the hero of the Alliance, and told them that only one of them would leave Karote alive. He invited them to challenge him, claiming that it would be the ultimate thrill to see which of them would win.

(A/N: If the player has completed Reverse City, T-Boy will tell us that we got something wrong in Reverse City. He reminds us how Barr had called him a coward for not even having the guts to face danger in person, while we had told him how it was easy to play the daredevil from the comfort of his secret lair. He then tells us that he’s standing right there, and that he’s not going anywhere.

Following this, the scene cuts to an image of T-Boy standing before us with a hacked Kalos under his control. If the player hasn’t completed Reverse City, T-Boy will invite us to find out just how much machine the champion of the Alliance can handle. If the player has completed Reverse City, T-Boy will note that we’ve never gone head-to-head with him before and invites us to find out just how much machine we can handle. The two dialogue paths then converge to T-Boy claiming that the Guardians that we’ve faced before are nothing compared to Kalos.)

Neinheart immediately realized that the situation was dire and suggested that they retreat, as T-Boy wasn’t an enemy whom they could defeat with no preparation. When Belle protested that they couldn’t allow T-Boy to escape and carry out his plans, Neinheart reminded her that their opponent was the sentinel of the very laboratory that had created artificial Adversaries.

He pointed out that the odds that they were facing were just like what they had experienced at Tenebris, when they had faced a threat almost indistinguishable from a god that only the Adversary could face. Though Belle and Irena conceded that Neinheart was right, they reminded the Adversary that they had nevertheless been able to defeat the Black Mage back then, adding that it hadn’t been because of the Seal Stone, but because of their determination and the full support of all their allies standing together.

Neinheart acknowledged their point, but he reminded them of the lesson that they had learned in Cernium when Aaron had explained to them that only a god had the power to challenge other gods. Suddenly, Kalos prepared to launch an attack, though they noted that his mind was still resisting T-Boy’s control. The Adversary realized that now was their only opportunity to free Kalos from T-Boy and stood with the rest of the Glory Guard in order to defeat him.

After a fierce battle, the Adversary managed to defeat Kalos, allowing him to break free from T-Boy’s control. Neinheart congratulated them for their victory, though he noted that the outcome may have been much different had Kalos not been fighting against T-Boy’s programming the whole time. Suddenly, Karote began falling apart as a result of the damage that it had sustained from the battle, causing everyone to fall from the sky.

As he plummeted, T-Boy suddenly felt his mind strangely clear after the fight. As he began regretting that it was he himself whom he should be disappointed in, his walkie-talkie began to ring, with his father calling him to ask about the status of the mission. T-Boy joked that though he was adopted, he wondered whether that should be the first thing that his father should ask when he was falling to his death.

At his father’s silence, T-Boy laughed that he was merely joking before confirming that the door to the laboratory had finally opened, and that since the elders had gone to the realm of the sages, they likely had no idea. He also noted that the Adversary was in bad shape as well, and that there wouldn’t be any more obstacles in his father’s way for a while.

However, he added that he had failed to control Kalos and asked his father if he was disappointed in him. His father told him that he knew that T-Boy could hack into Kalos and explained that he had been right in his belief, and so there was nothing to be disappointed by. T-Boy suddenly realized that his father had already known what would happen and demanded to know the truth, claiming that there was no need to hold back when he was about to die.

T-Boy explained that he had been intoxicated by Kalos’ power and asked whether his father had programmed his thirst for power and impulsiveness, knowing that it would lead to both Kalos and the Adversary’s destruction without his father having to lift a finger, regardless of what would happen to his son. He explained that he had only come to realize the truth as he was dying, as he had previously thought that it had merely been his personality.

He then asked whether his father had altered his personality after fixing him in the aftermath of Reverse City, or even before that. He realized that he was only a tool for his father and asked whether even his desire to make his father proud had been programmed into him. He begged his father not to lie to him, and to at least tell him that he was wrong, adding that they both knew that he would inevitably believe anything that his father would say. After a pause, his father told him that he was proud of him. (A/N: This game was specifically created to remind its players of their daddy issues.)

Meanwhile, the Adversary was plummeting from the sky, having been separated from the rest of the Glory Guard. T-Boy made his way to the Adversary and laughed at how they were worrying about other people when they couldn’t even help themselves.

(A/N: If the player has completed Reverse City, T-Boy will tell us that Barr isn’t here to save us this time and asks us what we’re going to do. Otherwise, he’ll say that he doesn’t think that there’s anyone who can help us this time before asking what we’re going to do.)

Suddenly, T-Boy noticed someone in the distance and told the Adversary that he was actually wrong, and that they were going to live for a long time after all. He explained that he had never expected to see that person again, least of all at Karote, and laughed that the champion of the Alliance really was as special as their reputation claimed.

Though the Adversary was confused by his words, T-Boy told them that he had decided that he would tell them a secret that he knew they wouldn’t believe. He revealed that he had once met Gerand Darmoor, who had approached the Angler family after the explosion at the Company’s headquarters. During the meeting, he had learned that Darmoor had planned to destroy the Adversary’s Seal Stone from the beginning, long before they had even reached the end of the Arcane River.

He then told the Adversary to go to Odium if they wanted to learn more about Darmoor’s plans before calculating an optimal trajectory to push the Adversary away from him. He laughed that though there were worse fates than dying alongside the champion of the Alliance, he would have to pass on that opportunity. He then asked them to look after his father if they met him, as well as to say hello to Cosim, whom he explained wouldn’t be able to keep himself from getting involved in what was about to come.

After he pushed the Adversary to safety, he continued plummeting to the bottom of the sea. As he fell, he began wondering whether what he was feeling was real or fake, though he realized that it didn’t matter to him either way. He noted that it hadn’t all been a lie, as he really had been thrilled in the end.

Meanwhile, the Adversary was caught by Cosim, who had unexpectedly appeared. The Adversary realized that T-Boy had deliberately pushed them in Cosim’s direction. Cosim revealed that he had already saved the others, just as the clouds around Odium dissipated and revealed its magnitude. The Adversary asked Cosim how he had been able to get there, to which Cosim explained that everyone in his family knew about Karote, as the knowledge had been programmed into them by their father, revealing that he was the brother of Nicky and Senya.

(A/N: The NEW AGE update introduced a small side quest that you can complete after the main story.)

After the expedition to Karote, the Adversary returned back to Hotel Arcus and went to the second floor, where they met with a Seeker named Baz, who greeted them and noted that he hadn’t been able to properly introduce himself last time. He then asked them whether they could talk, explaining that there were stories circulating that they had completed Karote, which was a hot topic amongst the Seekers.

He asked them what had happened at Karote, as the rumors were saying that Karote was a tower meant to reach some place floating in the sky, and that upon its completion, the Angler Company had shown up with a fleet of ships. He noted that there were many eyewitnesses, and that Nicky had disappeared without a trace, and so he asked the Adversary exactly what kind of secret was hidden in Karote.

(A/N: Here, you get presented with two choices. The first option is to reveal that Karote is a large artifact. The second option is to say that though we can confirm that Karote was completed, we can’t reveal any details.

If you choose the first option, Baz will express his surprise and note that it must have required special conditions to work. He added that we must be quite talented, as most Seekers had only wasted their time trying to figure it out.

If you choose the second option, Baz will tell us that he understands that we must have our reasons, as getting the edge on having information is the most important thing for a Seeker. Nevertheless, he notes that even beyond that, we seem quite talented.)

After Baz pointed out the Adversary’s talents, he told them that they had a knack for being a Seeker and suggested that they try it out, adding that he had heard from Rusty about how they were searching for traces of the Ancient Gods. He explained that they didn’t have to work together right away, as the Adversary would undoubtedly have their own work to focus on. He told them that just exchanging information would be enough for now and asked them whether they were interested.

After the Adversary accepted, Baz told them to speak with Blanc for more details. Blanc told them that ever since they and Nicky had completed Karote, the others had made a huge fuss about how they needed to make the Adversary a Seeker. She laughed and noted that the Adversary probably hadn’t intended to make a name for themselves as a Seeker.

She explained that she had originally been planning to have Nicky convince them to become a Seeker, though Nicky had unexpectedly disappeared without contact. She then asked the Adversary whether Nicky had told them where he was going.

The Adversary thought to themselves that they didn’t want to talk about Nicky, and so they merely told her that they didn’t know. Blanc replied that she had wanted to dote on Nicky all day when he returned, though she noted that since Nicky was a Seeker, she was sure that she’d see him again someday, as he was always looking for new adventures.

Returning back to the subject, Blanc asked the Adversary whether they knew anything about the Seekers. When the Adversary told her that they didn’t, she laughed and noted that it had been a long time since the Seekers had last been active, and so she decided to tell them more about it.

She explained that the Seekers searched for ancient artifacts, most of which had been left behind all over Grandis by the Ancient Gods. She added that at one point, Grandis had been overflowing with artifacts of great power, and that it would be a shame to leave them alone.

She told the Adversary that the Seekers had many reasons to find those artifacts, whether it be wealth, power, or something more. As the artifacts had immense power, they could make their owner a king, or even destroy an entire nation overnight. However, she added that finding such artifacts wasn’t easy.

She explained that every Seeker had their own reasons for finding ancient artifacts, noting that they must have their reasons for finding traces of the Ancient Gods, adding that she wouldn’t bother asking, laughing that she wasn’t even curious enough to know. She told them that the Seekers had many different ways in which they searched for ancient artifacts, such as exploring ancient ruins or tracking down leads on where those artifacts might be hidden.

She explained that some Seekers worked in teams, while others chose to work alone. She added that even affiliation was varied, with some Seekers like herself working for themselves, and others being hired to find ancient artifacts for someone else. She pointed out that if the Adversary were to become a Seeker, they didn’t have to team up with her, as they could simply continue on their journey to find traces of the Ancient Gods and share any information that they learned. Likewise, she offered to share any information that she and the other Seekers learned.

After the Adversary accepted her offer, Blanc told them that she would begin the test to determine whether they were skilled enough to be a Seeker, jokingly asking whether they had thought that it would be easy to be a Seeker simply because they wanted to.

She sent the Adversary to Nell, who greeted them and explained that though it felt awkward to say it after they were the ones who had suggested it, he told the Adversary that not just anyone could become a Seeker. He decided to first test their survival skills, noting that though they had likely been on many wild adventures, the other Seekers had no way of knowing. Having heard about their skills from Rusty, he asked them to prove their strength by defeating the haywire robots on the desert train.

After the Adversary returned, Nell expressed his amazement at their skills, explaining that despite having wandered all over Grandis, he had never seen someone quite like them before. Unsure of how else to test them, he asked them to speak with Baz, who seemed to have come up with something. Baz was impressed with what he had heard from Nell, though he explained that strength alone wasn’t enough for a successful Seeker.

He told the Adversary that the most important qualities in a Seeker were insight and intuition for finding even the smallest clues, adding that the stronger the person, the less perceptive they were to such details. He then instructed them to return back to Karote, explaining that if they were able to learn the secret of Karote, then they might be able to discover something new as well. He added that Nicky disappearing without a word was also quite suspicious, and so he believed that there had to be something hidden in Karote.

The Adversary used the Arcus Gate to return to Karote, where they began investigating the completed tower. As they scaled up the steps, they attempted to interact with the statues of the tower creator, which had once taken them into a subspace filled with Guardians. However, upon examining the statues, they found that there was no power left within them, leaving Karote as nothing more than an ordinary tower.

They returned back to the hotel and spoke with Blanc, who asked them whether they had discovered anything. The Adversary told her that the tower had no secrets left, and that even its original power seemed to have vanished. Blanc then revealed that she had already known that the tower had nothing inside it, explaining that since the legendary Angler Company had sent a fleet of ships to Karote, and since several other investigation parties had passed by, she had hoped that there was something important still hidden there.

However, in the end, there had been nothing left there, with the only new information that she had learned being that even its mysterious power had vanished. She then laughed and asked the Adversary whether they were curious why the Seekers had given them a test to investigate Karote.

She explained that it had been more like a welcoming ceremony, as they had already known from the beginning that they would accept the Adversary into their ranks. She told them that they had already conquered Karote, the tower of legend, and so there was nothing else that they had to prove.

She then admitted that she had also hoped that they would be able to find a clue about Nicky’s whereabouts, since they had climbed up the tower with him, though she apologized that it had regrettably all been for nothing. After a pause, she hesitantly asked them whether they thought that Nicky might have died somewhere.

(A/N: Here, you get presented with two choices. The first option is to tell Blanc the truth about Nicky’s affiliation with the Angler Company and his fate. The second option is to hide the truth about Nicky and to promise that we’ll tell her if we learn anything more about where he is.

If you choose the first option, Blanc realizes that if we’re telling the truth, Nicky wasn’t really a Seeker, and that all his stories had been lies. She explains that she could tell that he had been hiding something, though it wasn’t something that she had given much thought to.

We then ask Blanc why she cares so much about Nicky, to which she explains that just like us, she had met Nicky in Arcus as well. She tells us that though it may seem strange to us, every Seeker runs away to find new adventures and chase after artifacts from their dreams, but eventually, they all really leave. She explains that she felt the same way about Nicky, whose eyes, despite shining, also seemed empty. She then thanks us for sharing the truth and says that she’ll tell the others.

If you choose the second option, she thanks us and then asks if we’d like to meet her brother with Nicky if we ever happen to find him. She explains that her brother is eight years old, and that he’s obsessed with Karote. She adds that he’s wanted to meet us ever since hearing about what we did.

After we reluctantly agree, she laughs that we seem to be the kind of person who has a hard time saying ‘no’. She then thanks us for deciding to work with them, explaining that they’re planning to base their activities in Arcus for the time being, and so she tells us to stop by Arcus if we learn anything new, and likewise, they’ll contact us through Rusty if they happen to learn anything.)