PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 33: Pinnacle of Power

• (A/N: This section is mainly for level 200 quests for various classes, as well as questlines for several of them set afterwards. Many of these quests have no important details worth covering, and so this abridged section will only be covering things that are actually important in a long-lasting way to the overall story.)

• Mihile was called to Leafre by Shinsoo, who revealed the true origins behind the Seal Stone of Ereve. She explained that after Freud had entrusted it to her, Orchid and Lotus had killed both Empress Aria and her Knight of Light. With Shinsoo too weak to protect the Seal Stone anymore, she had entrusted it to the Knight of Light’s successor, who had kept it safe within the Soul Shield. Shinsoo had also named it Shinsoo’s Teardrop, in memory of Aria’s death.

• After Phantom regained his full power, Cygnus called him to Ereve, where she gave him the remains of Aria’s diary. After reading through it, Phantom learned that Aria had resented the selfish nobles of her time, and that she had grown intrigued by Phantom stealing from them. As Ereve had no treasures worth stealing, Aria had made up rumors about Skaia and its magical properties, hoping to draw out Phantom so that she could finally meet him.

• Shade was brought back to Vulpes by the Fox God, who claimed that she had a gift for him. There, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Moonbeam’s new guardian spirit took on his appearance, as the strongest guardian spirits took on the form of the person that their owner missed the most. Shade was glad to know that Moonbeam wouldn’t be lonely, and that she wouldn’t think of him as a stranger anymore for the next time they met. The Fox God then enhanced Shade’s own guardian spirit to take on the form of Moonbeam.

• Kain was lured back to the old Drakas headquarters, where he was shocked to see Luska alive again. Luska, emotionless and robotic, attempted to attack Kain, revealing that she had requested for her memories to be erased in order to ‘escape death’. Just then, Dr. Y appeared and stopped her, noting that she had passed her condition check. Dr. Y revealed to Kain that Luska had chosen her fate for her own reasons, and that between Luska, who had abandoned her past, and Kain, who chased it, he wondered which sibling would come out stronger.

• After Ark mastered his full power, the Specter brought him to the Abyss and attempted to seize control of his body. Though Ark managed to fight it off, the Specter promised that it would return the next time that Ark’s will wavered. Following the battle, Ark felt a vague memory of the Abyss return to him, though he couldn’t recall the details.

• Adele was lured to Ristonia by Veronica, who reminded Adele that she had promised that they would meet again once Adele regained her memories. Veronica attempted to seal Adele back into the Void, where she felt the magic that had carved her soul into a hundred and seven pieces. She was then confronted by a phantom of herself, the 108th sliver, which attempted to keep her trapped inside.

• As her memories began slipping, the pendant that Jerome had given her fell to the floor. Upon seeing it, she was reminded of her oath to her liege, which triggered another memory that revealed that Veronica was the one who had led the revolt against the God-King, causing her to realize that she had never betrayed her oath until the very end. Adele then broke free from the Void and confronted Veronica, who declared that their business was over before retreating.

• In Toolen City, Khali’s family servant, Nile, arranged a meeting between Khali and Kain, who had key information on Ypsilon’s powers. Kain revealed that he had encountered a man named Dr. Y, who had similar powers as Ypsilon. He explained that Dr. Y could extract memories, Malice, and even death, causing Khali to wonder whether extracting death was possible, as Ypsilon had to absorb everything that had extracted before moving it somewhere else.

• Kain realized that as he hadn’t seen Luska die with his own eyes, it was possible that Dr. Y had merely extracted the damage which would have led to death instead. Khali explained that Ypsilon had been extracting life force and magic, which had made her believe that he had been planning to become strong enough to challenge Darmoor and become the new God-King. However, she noted that if Ypsilon and Dr. Y were the same person, then his plan wasn’t as simple as becoming stronger or living longer, as he would have no need of memories just to become more powerful.

• Elsewhere in Erimos, Dr. Y arrived at the palace and removed his mask, revealing himself to be Ypsilon in disguise.

• In the Temple of Time, Hoyoung and Taotie successfully recovered the final field, allowing Taotie to regain his full power. Just then, Kaling arrived and confronted Hoyoung, revealing that she wanted the power of the Four Perils. However, Hoyoung refused to give up Taotie, whom he now considered a friend, much to Taotie’s surprise.

• Kaling then attempted to use another one of the Four Perils to attack Hoyoung, who barely managed to escape, thanks to Taotie’s interference. As Kaling prepared to attack again, the spirit of Hoyoung’s Master appeared and brought Hoyoung back to safety.

• After his spirit disappeared, Taotie revealed to Hoyoung that his Master was actually the legendary sage Tai Yu, who had sealed away the Four Perils originally. Hoyoung was surprised to know that his master was his idol, and though Taotie was angry about the news, he decided to remain with Hoyoung, whom he had secretly grown fond of as well.

• After mastering her powers, Lara was suddenly consumed by an overwhelming darkness inside the bell, which led her into a memory of someone filled with pain. In the memory, the shadowed person lamented the loss of their humanity due to the contamination, praying for someone to ring the bell and save them.

• Just then, Tai Yu broke through the memory and brought Lara back to the real world before the darkness of the memory could consume her. Tai Yu revealed that the bell had been created by the Sinners, who had imprisoned themselves in the realm of the sages for the crime of having forsaken their humanity. He explained that the bell was their only chance of redemption, though many had given up hope that it would ever ring after ages.

• After hearing the Sinners’ story, Lara vowed that she would make the bell ring again and bring back the hope that they had lost.