PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 44: Moonbridge

(A/N: During the 20th anniversary event in KMS, there were several minor quest removals made to the Tenebris storyline. Pretty much all of these were meant to streamline the story presentation, as well as to make clearing the questlines faster. For the sake of maintaining accuracy, I’ve modified this section to reflect those quest removals, although I’ll make a mention of what originally happened in the author notes.)

With the fusion of the Black Moon and White Sun, a storm zone was created over the Arcane River that grew stronger with each passing day, eventually making its way to the Esfera base camp. Knowing that the time had come, Neinheart ordered all Alliance forces in Esfera to return to Ereve in order to prepare for the final battle against the Black Mage. As the moment of destiny approached, a divine light spoke to the Adversary, telling them that only the hope of heroes could stand against evil. It then asked them to be the one who stoked the flames of that hope.

Meanwhile in Esfera, Shubert contacted the Adversary and Ollie and told them that he and Melange had finished evacuating the Temple Keepers. As they began their next mission to clean up the monsters in the area, Ollie told Shubert to focus on the outskirts while she and the Adversary took care of the inner area before rendezvousing at the base camp.

After they all began heading towards their assignments, Ollie told the Adversary that they were likely wrapping up the investigation because preparations for the final battle had been completed. She noted that conditions around the Black Sun seemed dangerous as well, and that the storm would reach them at any minute. She shuddered at the thought of the Black Mage being so close before suggesting that they head back to the base camp, where Neinheart would be waiting.

(A/N: Ollie’s conversation with the Adversary replaced the original quest in Moonbridge, which was to defeat Will’s spiders before heading back to the base camp. It’s a bit funny that they still kept in the reference to cleaning up the remaining monsters when we don’t actually do it anymore.)

At the base camp, the pair regrouped with Shubert, Melange, and Neinheart. Neinheart told them that the Alliance forces had been moved to the Outpost, and that he had remained behind in order to escort them there. He asked Shubert to teleport them to the Sky Ferry in Ereve, but Shubert’s miscalculations resulted in the group being scattered across Ereve instead. Neinheart and the Adversary awoke on the far side of the island, where the Adversary was taken aback by the enormous chains that had shot down from the sky into the ground. Neinheart explained that not long after the Adversary had departed for the Arcane River, immense chains had begun to appear across Maple World, pulling their world closer into the Arcane River.

Before he could continue explaining, several Wandering Soot Glare monsters appeared and began to attack. Together, the Adversary and Neinheart fought through the monsters, with Neinheart using a heavy book to whack the monsters away. (A/N: This fight now happens off-screen, rather than us having to physically defeat the monsters.) After defeating them, the pair encountered Kiriko, Kizan, and Kidan patrolling the area. They reported that the Soot monsters, which had begun appearing around Maple World, had finally reached Ereve.

As they continued onward, Neinheart resumed his explanation. He told them that the Arcane River had been created from the collision of three worlds, which drew them all ever closer, and that dimensional collapse had reached critical levels, which had resulted in the chains and monsters appearing. As all of existence would cease to be if the Black Mage succeeded, he emphasized how imperative it was that they stop the Black Mage once and for all. 

He then led them to the Conference Pavilion, where he explained that after he had resolved to look deeper into the Black Mage’s past following the Black Heaven incident, the Alliance had recovered the Scroll of Destiny from the Black Mage’s laboratory in Magatia.

(A/N: Ollie says during the Esfera storyline that Neinheart had grown obsessed with learning about the Black Mage’s plans following the World Tree incident, not Black Heaven, although it could be that Neinheart decided to start his investigation after Black Heaven and grew even more obsessed after the World Tree incident.)

The Scroll of Prophecy had led Neinheart to believe that the Black Mage had the power to predict events before they happened, as he had foreseen not only the creation of the Adversary, but also the birth of the Arcane River and the fusion of the Black Moon with the White Sun. Recalling how their actions had led to the Black Mage’s ritual succeeding, the Adversary fell silent in guilt, but Neinheart told them not to blame themselves, as he respected the lengths that they would go to in order to save a life. Reminding them not to get caught up in the past, he showed them the final prophecy written on the scroll:

They who cross the breath of twilight and turn towards the sun,
on broken wings will be crushed and undone by despair.

A light whose brilliant glory is lost
will face the soul of the world whilst steeped in mire and rot.

A crimson tear will spawn a giant that swallows hearts,
and when determination is swallowed by the deepest dark,

a new destiny will be written, a destiny apart.

(A/N: The first stanza refers to Moonbridge, the second refers to the Labyrinth of Suffering, and the rest is for Limina. There’s also an alternate version of the prophecy written in the Black Mage: Origin webcomic:

The first adversaries will be lost to time.

When the fallen throne rises once more
the final adversaries will reach the sea of beginnings.

Once darkness swallows all and the end approaches
A new destiny shall be written!

The original line in Korean was actually, “The first adversaries will be encased in ice”, referring to the Heroes. The word ‘adversaries’, as written here, is meant to be taken as a word that just means ‘opponent’, rather than the in-universe title of Adversary with a capital A, as the actual title of Adversary refers to someone who’s bonded with a Seal Stone, which isn’t the case with the Heroes at the time when they fought him centuries ago.)

Neinheart explained that he had been able to interpret most of the other prophecies in the scroll based on what the Alliance knew of the Black Mage, but he added that the final prophecy was still unclear. He also added that he was uneasy about the prophesied new destiny, as a destiny written by the Black Mage could only end in disaster. He explained that after finding the scroll, he had sent letters to summon the leaders of the Alliance, who had all agreed to make a final stand against the Black Mage, though he added that the Empress had been uneasy about the decision.

(A/N: There was originally a quest that happened right here, in which you had to fight more Soot monsters that would appear and interrupt Neinheart.)

As they headed to the Empress’ Resting Spot, Neinheart explained that Cygnus had been having dreams of the Alliance’s destruction ever since finding the scroll, though no one knew whether it was because of stress or her ability to see the future. He admitted that he had been surprised to see her strong will collapse, after which she had decided that she needed to meet with Shinsoo before resuming her duties. The Cygnus Knights had then set out towards Leafre - Shinsoo’s last known location.

(A/N: Shinsoo was last seen in Leafre after she calls the Cygnus Knight to her resting spot during their level 125 quest.

Cygnus’ nightmare was part of a promotional animation for Tenebris. It starts out with her running through a clearing in the woods, which leads into Esfera. There, she’s horrified to find hundreds of Alliance soldiers lying dead on the ground. Ahead of her is the White Mage, who has his back turned towards her as he gazes up at Tenebris. He tells Cygnus that everything that she’s seeing right now is her destiny, adding that the future has already been written and can’t be changed.

He then tells her to accept her fate, and as he turns to face her, he morphs into the Black Mage and tells her that the only salvation for their world lies in destruction before launching his chains at her, causing her to wake up in terror. The cutscene ends there in the Moonbridge storyline, but the full promotional animation goes on to include the Alliance meeting, in which Neinheart and Cygnus explain that the Black Mage is going to end the world. They then send letters to call all the various heroes across Maple World, Grandis, and Friends World to action.)

After finding Shinsoo, Cygnus had told her about the prophecy and her nightmares, as well as her fear of leading the Alliance to its destruction. Shinsoo had helped Cygnus realize that their efforts hadn’t been for nothing, and that the Black Mage’s prophecy wasn’t certain. She had then bestowed the jeweled diadem upon her forehead to Cygnus, which had shrunk to fit on her wrist like a bracelet.

Shinsoo had explained that though she had the power to protect the weak, she no longer had the strength to use it. Because of this, she had believed that Cygnus was the only one who could use that power to protect the Alliance. She had also reminded Cygnus that she was the light of hope who could pull others from the depths of despair. Immediately after returning from Leafre, Cygnus had sent letters to all members of the Alliance, announcing the great expedition into the Arcane River.

Just as Neinheart finished explaining, they arrived at the Sky Ferry, where the Adversary cleared up the remaining monsters before they flew to the Outpost. At the Outpost, a large floating island in its own right, Neinheart showed them the White Spear, a massive airship that would serve as the Alliance’s flagship, modeled into a spear to symbolize their will to carve out their own destiny. He also told them that a mysterious divine light had appeared at the center of the Outpost, and that Shinsoo had told them that they would be ready to face the Black Mage once the divine light transformed.

He explained that with the final battle approaching, the light had recently reacted to the determination of the Alliance and had formed the three Goddess Statues, depicting the Goddesses of Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum.

(A/N: I have no idea what the divine light is, but given that it forms the Goddess Statues, it might be the combined will of the Goddesses formed to help drive the Alliance to victory. The light also talks to us periodically throughout the Tenebris storyline, particularly in the Labyrinth of Suffering, and takes on the voice of someone close to us.

During the original Tenebris event, the progression of the divine light’s transformation into the Goddess Statues, as well as the expedition to Tenebris, was all part of the Journey of Destiny, which progressed with the amount of determination collected by the players on their respective servers. Neinheart’s explanation about the transformation of the divine light alludes to the original story event, although the permanent area storyline skips straight to the formation of the Goddess Statues for the sake of story progression.)

Just then, Shubert, Melange, and Ollie found them and apologized for the mishap in teleporting them to Ereve. After they headed back to their delegations, Neinheart took the Adversary to meet Cygnus, who was dressed in full battle armor and carrying an ornately-crafted sword. She thanked the Adversary for their instrumental role in pushing forward through the Arcane River and asked them to lend their strength once again for the Alliance.

After reaffirming their dedication to the Alliance, the Adversary was escorted by Neinheart back to the center of the Outpost in order to wait for Athena Pierce to arrive. While waiting, they went over the Adversary’s journey through the Arcane River, and how they had bested Commanders Lucid, Arkarium, and Will in their travels.

He also told them that there was one more thing that the Alliance had found in the Black Mage’s laboratory: a writing that said, “Only the Adversary can counter immortality’s fate with the strength of a Seal Stone.” Though Neinheart didn’t want to immediately trust it, given who had written it, he felt that they needed something to believe in while waging war against a god.

(A/N: The game has always been pretty loose with throwing around the word ‘god’, but in this case, it’s being used more poetically to say that the Black Mage has gotten immensely powerful, rather than making any sort of lore revelation about him becoming an Ancient God or something. In the continental Grandis storyline, they’ll sometimes use ‘god’ as a catch-all term for both Ancient Gods and Transcendents, and sometimes they’ll just use the term ‘higher being’. It’s just one of those side-effects of having a ridiculously convoluted pantheon.)

Just then, Athena Pierce arrived from helping with the disasters affecting Maple World, with their world - and others - suffering from dimensional collapse. Because of this, Neinheart had assigned her to remain on Maple World in order to protect the people, rather than having her accompany them to Tenebris. He then told the Adversary that the divine light, which had transformed into the Goddess Statues, responded to the collective determination of the Alliance, and that it also activated the gems in the Goddess’ hands.

Athena Pierce told the Adversary that she planned to distribute emblems of the Alliance to each ship before departing in order to boost morale. She gave the Adversary their own emblem and asked them to give one to Kyrin aboard the Nautilus before returning to the White Spear. Aboard the Nautilus, they gave Kyrin the emblem, as well as a letter from Athena Pierce reminding her that they were all in the fight together.

(A/N: This was a nice callback to Athena and Kyrin’s shared history, as Athena raised Kyrin after the deaths of Destonen and Yuris, since Tess had gone in search of a way to break their blood curse.

Pathfinder gets some exclusive dialogue when Athena asks her to give the emblem to Kyrin. Athena realizes that the Pathfinder is about to embark to save the world and explains that it’s a new feeling entirely. She notes that the Pathfinder always manages to surprise her each time that she shows up looking more mature. She then adds that she’s looking forward to reuniting once the fight is over.)

Meanwhile, Athena found Edea arriving and gave her an emblem, thanking her for the Nova’s help. Edea replied that she should be the one thanking Athena, as the Alliance had played a major role in retaking Heliseum. She then confessed her worries about the Black Mage’s influence in Grandis and added that she needed Athena to remain in Maple World and lead the soldiers in her place while she was away at Tenebris. Elsewhere, Neinheart gave Claudine an emblem, to which Claudine told him that though they’d had their differences, they were all committed to fighting together.

Back at the White Spear, Cygnus told the Adversary that the emblem of the Alliance represented their mutual trust and the courage to stand against evil. She showed them the jewel on her wrist that Shinsoo had given her and explained that as commander, it was her duty to nurture that trust and courage, adding that she was determined to do just that. (A/N: Cygnus Knights get exclusive dialogue here, in which they vow that they’ll protect the Empress with that same determination.) Cygnus then announced that it was time to launch all Alliance ships to Tenebris. Hundreds of smaller ships launched alongside the White Spear, including the Lumiere and the Nautilus, and headed straight into a large portal that would take them into the Arcane River.

Soon after, Neinheart reported that they were passing over the Esfera base camp, which had vanished without a trace. He told the Adversary that they would soon be arriving at Moonbridge, which was the Alliance’s name for the path that had bridged Esfera with the Black Moon, before it had become the Black Sun. As they entered Moonbridge, Kyrin reported that the Nautilus had encountered heavy fog.

Neinheart suddenly realized that the “breath of twilight” from the prophecy referred to the dense fog, from which enemies were emerging. Edea sensed a powerful soul in the fog and recommended that they wait and prepare. Cygnus then ordered all the ships to hold while they investigated the new threat. In order to assess the nature of the threat that they were facing, Neinheart asked the Adversary to obtain samples from the Soot Beasts and Soot Talon monsters. The Alliance member returned with Wicked Soul Remains, which Edea analyzed, allowing her to learn that a dark entity within the fog was crafting the monsters from pure Erda.

Edea also told them that the fog was surrounded by a powerful barrier, as though the entity had formed a shell around itself. Claudine suggested focusing their firepower at a single point, but Edea told her that they would need to clear the enemies between them and the barrier, or else the blast wouldn’t be strong enough.

Claudine decided to launch a surprise attack, which she explained was the Resistance’s specialty, so that the Nautilus could spearhead the attack while the Nova defended the rear. Neinheart asked the Adversary to help the Resistance forces, which were planning to draw the enemy’s attention to one spot by setting off massive explosions.

While Checky and the Adversary snuck past the enemies, the rest of the Resistance herded the monsters towards a central area. Checky then set off an explosion to destroy the monsters. (A/N: In the original quest, we had to defeat monsters while Checky set off the explosions, although this now just happens off-screen.) With the Resistance ships safely out of the way, Cygnus ordered the White Spear to send out a massive blast that pierced a hole through the fog.

As the airfleet pressed forward, more monsters began appearing, and Claudine feared that they would be overtaken before reaching the fog. The Adversary helped the Resistance clear up their ship deck and returned to the White Spear to report their status before heading back to the Resistance airship again.

As the airfleet reached the fog, a Nova soldier saw a giant chain flying straight toward them. He attempted to defend himself, but found that the chains had disappeared. He then saw dozens of eyes staring at him before they, too, disappeared, leaving him to wonder whether it had all been an illusion. Unbeknownst to him, a strange substance fell onto the deck of his ship.

On the Resistance deck, a soldier reported similar incidents to Claudine, who sent Belle, Checky, and Brighton to investigate before receiving a report that the White Spear had ordered reinforcements to defend the Nautilus. Claudine told the Adversary that the Nautilus had requested for them specifically, and that they had claimed that the Adversary’s presence alone would be sufficient.

(A/N: We’re basically a one-man army at this point, although one-man deck swabber would probably be more appropriate, given than 90% of this storyline is just us running around from ship to ship cleaning up monsters and fetching drops with no interesting plot to make it worthwhile. This whole area feels like atmospheric filler and I really wish that they would’ve reworked this storyline to find a better way to integrate the Alliance subplot. It’s the final battle for Maple World and all its many people’s survival and all we do is interact with the same three NPCs that bounce us around the map like a pinball. I’m really feeling the emotional stakes here, Nexon.)

Aboard the Nautilus, Kyrin told them that Edea was analyzing the situation, adding that their presence would help speed things up. (A/N: Kyrin originally asked us to defeat Soot monsters while Edea worked on her analysis.) Kyrin then decided to recommend to Cygnus that they take a more defensive formation with the fog thickening. Kyrin asked the Adversary to help escort the ships nearby and sent them to the main deck. (A/N: There was a quest that originally took place here, in which a Cygnus Knight asked us to take charge of a convoy to help defend an escort ship in trouble by defeating monsters.)

As the fog grew even thicker, a Resistance soldier reported a large collision between ships. The Adversary saw that a massive chain had wrapped around one of the ships and rushed to save them. There, they saw several injured soldiers and decided to sever the chain holding the ship. After finding a weak spot in the chain, they began attacking it and managed to free the ship. (A/N: Originally, we had to fight off monsters before breaking the chain.) However, the Adversary was surprised, as the soldiers had mentioned thousands of chains and eyes, none of which the Adversary had encountered.

Aboard the White Spear, Neinheart recommended that they maintain their current speed in order to make it out of the fog. Several hours later, the White Spear emerged out of the fog and found Tenebris floating ominously above the clouds. A soldier reported that the chain attacks had stopped, and that they had heard positive reports from the other airships. Neinheart then told Kyrin to pull the Nautilus into the clouds and set sail straight ahead toward Tenebris, after which the White Spear would follow.

The Adversary then returned to the Nautilus, where Kyrin thanked them for their help and asked them to return to the White Spear. There, Neinheart told Cygnus that he estimated that they would reach Tenebris in an hour. However, Cygnus’ thoughts turned to the prophecy as she wondered whether they had truly defied fate.

Just as the Adversary returned, the storm began to grow and caused the White Spear to tilt. Kyrin reported that there was something up ahead, to which Cygnus ordered the White Spear to take point in order to provide cover for the fleet. Edea reported that she sensed a great evil just beyond the fog, where the giant monster Gloom appeared. From its eye, a large laser beam shot out and destroyed the majority of the fleet. Cygnus immediately used Shinsoo’s gemstone to create a giant shield, which repelled Gloom’s attack enough for the White Spear and a few nearby ships to survive.

After Gloom laid waste to the fleet, it closed its eye and retreated back into the fog. Most of the Alliance fleet was destroyed from the attack and was swept away into the void, with only the White Spear and a handful of other ships surviving. As the soldiers’ morale began dwindling from fear, the Temple Keepers rushed to heal the wounded, though they soon assessed that many would need to return home.

The Adversary surveyed the damage and listened as the soldiers were consumed by fear. At the deck, they met Cygnus, who told them to prepare for a new mission to save their allies before the fleet could press on. Realizing that the pressure of command was taking its toll on Cygnus, they provided encouragement, hoping to boost her spirits.

Neinheart then arrived with Edea’s report, which stated that Gloom’s next attack would happen in twelve hours, giving the remnants of the fleet enough time to reach Tenebris. However, Cygnus pointed out that they would be ill-prepared to fight the Black Mage with their meager forces and resolved to regroup with the others in order to face Gloom together.

Neinheart asked the Adversary to search the nearby wreckage for survivors, and to help as many heroes as they could. Aboard Edea’s ship, the Adversary watched her take care of the chain monsters. Using fragments from the monsters, Edea triggered a reaction with the chain remnants attached to the ship, allowing her to learn that the chain remnants were acting as homing beacons for the enemy to pursue them. (A/N: The quest in which we obtained these fragments was removed, with Edea now having them already with her.) They then destroyed the remnants, thus preventing the enemy from learning their location, after which they returned back to the White Spear.

(A/N: Originally, we had to fight through monsters in order to reach the chain remnants. There was also a quest in-between destroying the remnants and returning back to the ship, in which we rescued survivors in the wreckage by defeating monsters. I’m actually a bit confused why this quest got removed when the entire reason that Neinheart sent us out here in the first place was to check the wreckage for survivors.)

With Gloom’s next attack nearing, the Alliance formulated a plan to amplify the White Spear’s laser with magic in order to break the barrier protecting the core. The Adversary then volunteered to destroy the core once it had been exposed. Just then, Gloom sent a wave of monsters to attack the White Spear, preventing it from focusing its laser on Gloom’s eye. Aboard the deck, the Adversary and the other soldiers fought off the monsters with powerful determination. (A/N: The actual fighting has been removed and goes straight to a cutscene of everyone facing off against the monsters.)

As the Alliance continued defending the White Spear, Cygnus resolved to be the one to protect others, rather than being protected, and her powerful determination allowed her to summon a large shield to defend her allies. However, Gloom’s attack easily shattered the shield, and she found that she was unable to summon a new one. Though she prayed to be granted the strength to protect everyone, the shield had lost its light as Cygnus fell into despair. Around her, she saw the morale of the soldiers dwindling as Gloom came closer to the White Spear.

Just as she lost hope, she recalled the Adversary’s encouragement and remembered the sacrifices which had led the Alliance to where they currently were. By inscribing those sacrifices upon her heart, Cygnus regained the determination to use her power. She then created a powerful light that served as a beacon for the ships lost in the fog. (A/N: There was a quest in-between Cygnus awakening her powers and creating the beacon that got removed, in which we fought more monsters.)

Meanwhile, the Adversary reached Gloom and weakened its eye as the White Spear fired its laser, opening the path to the core. Upon destroying the core, the Adversary was consumed with the malevolent thoughts of Gloom, preventing them from moving, just as the core began to collapse. Cygnus then personally headed to the core, where she found the Adversary and rescued them before the core exploded.

Back on the White Spear, the Temple Keepers healed the Adversary as Ollie came to congratulate them. She showed them a box, inside which a fragment of the core rested, and explained that she had been tasked with bringing it back to the Outpost for analysis. As it had been formed from the Black Mage’s soul, Ollie hoped that they could learn something from it. Several hours later, however, the Alliance was preparing to advance upon Tenebris when a soldier reported that the core fragment had exploded during transport, and that Ollie was missing.

(A/N: At the end of the Moonbridge storyline, Cygnus Knights get an extra quest with Neinheart, who asks them if they had seen the light that the Empress had wielded to block Gloom’s attack. He notes that her power was much stronger than what she had used to save Shinsoo after Damien’s attack. He reminds us that the Cygnus Knights’ power is directly linked to that of the Empress, to which we note that we can feel a surge of strength within us. Neinheart explains that though he doesn’t know what this means for the future, the boost in power is nevertheless helpful for their current situation. Following this conversation, Cygnus Knights’ 5th job skill “Empress Cygnus’ Blessing” gets upgraded into “Transcendent Cygnus’ Blessing”.

The scene between Shinsoo and Cygnus early in this storyline, as well as its connection with this exclusive quest, is somewhat recontextualized by the Arteria storyline, which reveals that Shinsoo is an Ancient God. Putting aside the ridiculous amount of mental gymnastics required to make sense of this and all its continuity errors, it elaborates a bit more about the kind of power that Cygnus wields throughout the game, whether it’s Shinsoo’s Ancient God powers, her own partially-awakened Transcendent powers, and sometimes a combination of the two.

Based on everything we know from past storylines, combined with the Arteria storyline and a bit of headcanon, Shinsoo was tasked by the Overseers with watching over the Empress’ bloodline until the day that a new Transcendent is needed to replace one that’s disappeared, whether that’s Rhinne or Alicia (or possibly the Black Mage, but the mechanics for mortal-born Transcendents have gotten pretty wonky over the years, so I’m not sure how the specifics for that would work.)

Since Zero replaced Rhinne and Alicia is still technically alive, Cygnus’ unexpected awakening at a moment when all the Transcendents are around puts her in a limbo state as a Transcendent-in-reserve until Zero or Alicia die, allowing her to replace them as a fully-awakened Transcendent. Zero dying is never gonna happen for obvious reasons, and Alicia dying may or may not happen depending on what Darmoor has planned, but given that he’s harvesting the power of higher beings, rather than killing them outright, it’s unlikely that Cygnus fully awakening is in the cards at this time.

In regard to Cygnus and her powers, the only power that the Empress is meant to wield is Shinsoo’s, which Shinsoo can’t manifest on her own, likely because the Transcendents suppress her powers as an Ancient God. As a result, each Empress spends years in a state of weakness until their adult body can handle the power of the gods flowing into them. Through Cygnus as a medium, Shinsoo can manifest her powers in order to strengthen the Cygnus Knights and create the protective barrier around Ereve.

After Cygnus prematurely awakened as a Transcendent-in-reserve, the Knights got an added power boost through Cygnus’ new abilities, which is independent of Shinsoo’s. After Shinsoo left Ereve, Cygnus likely stopped absorbing Shinsoo’s powers without the two of them being in close proximity to each other, until Shinsoo gave her the diadem that contains a portion of her Ancient God powers. Because of this, Cygnus - who’s now reached adulthood - can fully command Shinsoo’s powers, on top of the Transcendent powers that she’s awakened, allowing her - and the Knights, by extension - to grow even more powerful.)