PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 46: Limina

• In the labyrinth, Orchid revealed that after Black Heaven, she had sought out Guwaru in order to reclaim her Spirit of Darkness powers after losing her Wing Master abilities. Having realized that the Black Mage had manipulated events for centuries, which had resulted in Lotus’ death, Orchid sought to take revenge on her former master.

• Guwaru, through Orchid’s mask, instructed the Adversary to use their divine power to destroy the Labyrinth Core. When the Adversary failed to awaken the power of the Seal Stone, Orchid grew frustrated and used her gravity powers to compress the core into another space, thereby causing the labyrinth to be replaced by the waterfalls of Limina.

• Declaring the Adversary to be weak, Orchid resolved to destroy the Black Mage herself and shattered Guwaru’s mask. As Guwaru’s voice faded away, he warned the Adversary that only they had the power to step off the “path” and destroy the Genesis Crux, the seed of the new world.

• The Adversary chased after Orchid and fought against the Elite Bosses until they reached the Genesis Crux, which turned red and stained the Arcane River crimson. The Adversary then faced off against Guard Captain Darknell and managed to defeat him before Orchid teleported them back to the White Spear. From the airship, the Adversary was shocked to see that from the stained waters, an immense giant, whose heart was the Genesis Crux, had emerged from the Arcane River.

• Neinheart then spoke to them and revealed that the Black Mage - bound by the laws of the Overseers - had been unable to battle the Transcendents directly, for which he had required the Commanders. However, the Black Mage had also known that the Commanders had their own agendas. Despite this, he had inexplicably been able to manipulate centuries of history in his own favor by using his Commanders and having the Alliance eliminate them before they could interfere with his plans.

• As the Adversary met with Grendel to hear his analysis of the core, Claudine and the Resistance - who had been asked to move to the vanguard - faced heavy casualties from the Erda monsters, as well as the Light of Annihilation from the giant, which decomposed the soldiers caught in the blast into Erdas. Furious, Claudine set out to confront Cygnus.

• Meanwhile, Grendel revealed to the Adversary that the Black Mage had been able to manipulate destiny in his favor, which meant that everything that they had done until the present moment had been part of the Black Mage’s Path of Destiny. Because of this, Grendel claimed that he saw no way that the Alliance could emerge victorious when everything had been predetermined by the Black Mage.

• As the Adversary began spiraling into despair, Cygnus reassured them by telling them that they were the Adversary of Destiny, not the Adversary of the Black Mage. She revealed that they were the only person whom the Black Mage couldn’t control, which was why he was trying to make them fall into despair. Thanks to her support, the Adversary’s resolve was bolstered as they began heading towards the Genesis Crux.

• At the same time, Claudine confronted Cygnus for making the Resistance suffer in the front, while the Cygnus Knights cowered in the rear. However, after seeing Cygnus’ injuries beneath her armor, Claudine realized that Cygnus was indeed risking her life as much as the Resistance, for which she agreed to return back to her post, while Cygnus continued carrying out her plan.

• As the Adversary headed for the Black Mage, their ship was destroyed in the journey, though they were rescued by the Flying Fish and brought to the Temple of Darkness, where the injured Flying Fish scattered into Erdas. The Adversary then confronted the Black Mage and began facing off against him and his twin knights of light and darkness, the Aeonian Rise and Tanadian Ruin.

• As their battle intensified, the Black Mage used his power to transport them into an inner realm, where the Adversary found Orchid, who had been fighting the Black Mage from within the entire time. Together, the Adversary and Orchid continued facing the Black Mage, whose body had turned into a god-like figure of pure light. Despite their best efforts, neither the Adversary nor Orchid were able to leave any damage against him.

• With the inner realm consumed into a void of black and white, the Adversary attempted to use the power of the Seal Stone to destroy the Genesis Crux. Orchid revealed that the Seal Stone responded to powerful determination, and that the Adversary needed to focus everything into their determination to sacrifice their own life.

• Despite the Adversary’s attempts, the Seal Stone remained inert and unresponsive to their thoughts. Just then, the Black Mage mocked them for believing that they had escaped the Path of Destiny. Declaring that they would not live to claim the true power of the Adversary, the Black Mage entered the Genesis Crux, leaving the Adversary aghast that even this very moment had been preordained.

• Just then, a formless white light appeared and spoke with Tana’s voice, telling them that they had indeed escaped the Path, just by a single step, and reassured them that there had been no lack of determination on their part. However, she told them that the world was crying out that it didn’t want to disappear, and because of that, it would not lend its power to the Adversary, who was ready to kill themselves for the sake of victory.

• Her words helped the Adversary realize that they had been prepared to sacrifice themselves all the while that they had faced the Black Mage, but what they had instead needed to believe was that they needed to survive and save everyone, including themselves, not to give up on themselves and die for the sake of a world that wanted them to live.

• With the Adversary and the Alliance’s determination synchronized and honed, the Goddess Statues at the Outpost unleashed a beam of light that traveled to Tenebris and cleared a path to the Genesis Crux. With the time at hand, Cygnus ordered all forces to pull back as the White Spear pushed ahead and pierced through the giant.

• The Adversary then focused their determination and used the power of the Seal Stone to create a divine blade. They then entered the Genesis Crux and plunged their sword straight through the Black Mage’s heart, defeating him once and for all. Immediately after, however, the Adversary was caught in the Light of Annihilation and scattered into Erda.

• The Adversary awoke in the Erda Flow, where they found themselves face-to-face with the White Mage. The White Mage thanked them for putting an end to his life and revealed that he had sought to create a perfect world without Transcendents. As the Transcendents were bound by the laws of the Overseers, they were unable to kill each other or themselves, which had necessitated the Adversary to kill him.

• He explained that when he had set out to defy the Overseers, he had intended to create a perfect world free of their influence by removing the Transcendents and starting everything from the beginning. In the process, however, he had lost sight of the value of the life which he had tried to protect, for which he declared that he had lost his qualifications to realize his ideals.

• He revealed that when Kao had failed to kill him in the past, his faith in his plan had been shaken, for which he had begun to retrace his steps to see where he had gone wrong. While taking a second look at the world, he had come to realize that the world had changed significant since his time, when Maple World’s rulers had selfishly subjugated their people to satisfy their own greed.

• He noted that in the present day, there were countless individuals who were ready to put others before themselves, which was why he had begun wondering whether his dream of creating a perfect world was truly necessary.

• In the end, he revealed that it was the Adversary who had changed his plan - and destiny along with it - in Esfera, when they had refused to take Tana’s life. Despite everything, the Adversary had refused to compromise their values and had chosen to save everyone, no matter the cost, which was what had ultimately changed the Black Mage’s mind about following through with his goal.

• Because of this, he had ultimately chosen not to enact the Genesis Ritual, despite the Adversary having successfully killed him and put an end to the Transcendents of Maple World, as he believed that a world that good-natured beings like the Adversary would create through their leadership would be more perfect than anything that he could have made with the power of the gods, for which he was content with leaving it all behind to them. As the White Mage faded away, however, he asked the Adversary to never forget the anger they had felt when they had believed that higher beings had taken their power away and predetermined their fates.

• With the Black Mage’s death, the Adversary, the Flying Fish, and all the Alliance soldiers caught in the Light of Annihilation were brought back to life through the Black Mage’ final act of using the power of creation. With the giant decomposing into Erdas, the Alliance celebrated their ultimate victory over the great evil of their world.

• Meanwhile, Melange returned back to the Aboris Royal Palace and presented the book which he had stolen from Will to Gerand Darmoor. Melange noted that the book contained useful information, such as the Black Mage’s prophecies, and noted that Darmoor must be pleased to have received the book and found the Genesis Crux - the seed of the new world that the Black Mage had left behind. Darmoor then ordered Melange to find both Tana and the Genesis Crux, claiming that all would be “there”.