PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 45: Labyrinth of Suffering

• Ollie was rescued from the explosion by the Flying Fish, who had finally regained his original form after being stuck as Jean in the Morass. The Flying Fish returned Ollie back to the White Spear and told her that he would return when it was time.

• Having been exposed to the core, Ollie revealed that she had seen the Black Mage’s memories from when he had been the White Mage. Having stepped into the divine realm, the White Mage had been held back by an unknown force that Ollie described as the world itself, or something beyond that.

• Ollie attempted to explain it as the force of order, an essence of balance, principles, and rules. She explained that it was shapeless as fog, conceptual and abstract in nature, though she knew that it was real because of the way it had wrapped around the White Mage like an unbreakable chain, colder and heavier than any metal in existence. Unbeknownst to Ollie and the others, the unknown force holding the White Mage back had been the Overseers themselves.

• The White Mage had demanded to know why the Overseers refused change, and why they allowed the world to remain stagnant and incomplete forever. Furious at the Overseers for deliberately leaving humanity to suffer without end, he had chosen to reject them, vowing that he would break free from the chains that kept the world anchored to darkness, even if he had to destroy the world itself in order to change it. In that moment, he had embraced the ultimate darkness and had awakened as the Transcendent of Light.

• Disturbed by the revelation that the Black Mage was not merely a warmonger set to destroy the world, the Alliance began their descent into Tenebris when a powerful darkness separated the Adversary’s ship and forced them to crash into the Labyrinth of Suffering.

• Over time, the Adversary’s allies began disappearing one by one, leaving them alone and terrified that their poor leadership had led to their deaths. As they continued wandering through the labyrinth, they encountered a Night Walker named Azalin, who continued feeding into their fears and paranoia by questioning their decisions and leadership.

• As the Adversary continued fighting through the monsters in the labyrinth, they were soon horrified to learn that these monsters were were reanimated souls of their fallen comrades. The Adversary was disgusted with themselves, not only for having led them to their deaths, but also because they were being forced to cut down their allies after making a vow to keep them all safe.

• Eventually, Azalin revealed herself as Hilla - augmented with new power from the Black Mage - and attempted to consume the Adversary’s soul, just as they were rescued by the masked figure from Esfera. Cursing the masked figure for their interference, Hilla disappeared and left the Adversary to wandering the labyrinth alone.

• Throughout their time wandering the maze, the Adversary was plagued with hallucinations and voices of despair, as well as visions of Maple World falling to ruin all around them. They also saw a vision of Queen Areda draining the life force of Ariant in order to maintain the effects of the Elixir of Youth, which had been given to her by Hilla. Due to the effects of the potion, Areda’s obsession and greed were brought out, causing her to crave Erda to preserve her youth.

• With their willpower eroded, believing that the world had been doomed, the Adversary fell into utter despair, at which point Hilla appeared to finish them off. Just then, the masked figure appeared once again to save them, revealing herself as Orchid. Though Orchid urged the Adversary to get up, the Adversary was consumed by their inner darkness, losing the will to live.

• In the darkness of their mind, the divine light which had formed the Goddess Statues spoke to the Adversary in the voice of their closest loved one, urging them to get up and fight. Thanks to them, the Adversary was able to see through Hilla’s tricks and realized that all the fallen Alliance soldiers in the labyrinth and visions of a ruined Maple World were nothing more than illusions.

• Furious, Hilla used her powers to bring back the souls of Damien and Lotus. Orchid was furious to see her brother turned into a puppet and fought alongside the Adversary to defeat Hilla, whose power and youth were taken away, leaving her as an old, withered hag. Hilla wailed and vanished in black flames, leaving behind the Labyrinth Core.

• Meanwhile, Neinheart and Grendel the Really Old discussing their findings from examining Gloom’s core. Neinheart noted that the Genesis Ritual required the power of creation and destruction, as well as a large volume of pure Erdas. He realized that in order to create the Arcane River by converging the three worlds from a lack of Transcendents, the Black Mage had allowed himself to be sealed away, in addition to sealing away both Rhinne and Alicia.

• He noted that the Black Mage had deliberately set into motion the events of his sealing by praising the Demon after Rhinne’s sealing, knowing that it would make Arkarium jealous enough to target his family, which would have led to the Demon’s betrayal. Disturbed by Neinheart’s implication, Grendel hoped to finish the analysis of the core to confirm his hypothesis.