PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 22: Stone Colossus

An Alliance member was called by Chief Tatamo to Leafre, who explained that he was seeking an experienced warrior to aid the Halflingers with their recent troubles. In Leafre, Tatamo told them that though most Halflingers lived in the safety of their village, some of their more adventurous members had formed an expedition team to explore Minar Forest.

He revealed that the expedition team had recently discovered a rocky mountain in the south, which had turned out to be a large monster instead. Worried that the enormous creature could cause great damage to smaller creatures like themselves, Tatamo asked the Alliance member to use their battle experience in order to assist the expedition team and determine whether the creature posed a threat or not.

On their way to the expedition team, the Alliance member ran into Valerie, a pirate of the Nautilus, who recognized the Alliance member, though she was disappointed to learn that they didn’t remember her, despite her having been in Heliseum during the operation to retake the Nova capital. Nevertheless, she introduced herself as a pirate of the Nautilus and Captain Kyrin’s right-hand. Upon learning that they had come at Tatamo’s request, Valerie revealed that she herself had been dispatched by the Alliance, which had believed the rock creature to be a minion of the Black Mage.

The pair decided to investigate together and headed to meet Lavi, the expedition lead, at the base camp. Lavi explained that when the rock creature had first moved and rumbled the forest, they had been afraid that any further rumbles would have destroyed all of Leafre. To their surprise, however, the rock creature had remained still since then, though dark creatures had soon begun attacking the base camp, causing most of the expedition team to abandon the mission out of fear. Though he appreciated the Alliance member’s help, Lavi decided to test their strength by first asking them to defeat the Mantis monsters around them.

After the Alliance member proved themselves, Lavi gave them permission to visit the rock creature and directed them to Kupo, who showed them the vehicle that he had custom-built for reaching the creature. He offered to take them on a test run, speeding them through the forest and giving Valerie motion sickness. Despite Lavi warning that it would take three days and two nights to climb up the mountain on foot, Valerie decided that she would walk there and told the Alliance member to go on ahead in Kupo’s vehicle.

Kupo then told the Alliance member that they needed to refuel, and that the vehicle ran on vegetable oil from the nearby Flora monsters. (A/N: Not to be confused with the Flora race from Grandis.) The traveler collected seeds from the Flora monsters near the base camp and brought them to Kupo, who extracted the oil from within the seeds. With ample fuel, Kupo and the traveler made their way to the base of the mountain.

(A/N: Originally, there used to be a mini-game that you had to play in order to reach the mountain, although it was removed in the revamp.)

Just then, a massive earthquake occurred, causing Kupo to stop for their own safety. Worried that something major was happening, Kupo decided that they needed to stop and turn back. When the Alliance member resolved to press on, however, Kupo told them to go on ahead and meet with his friend, Chino, who could help them get up to the rock creature. He also recommended that they bring her a gift and suggested Hornet Honey and Large Poison Glands, as Chino hated hornets.

Sure enough, Chino was pleased by their gift and explained that she had been watching the traveler defeat the hornets from her sniper perch. She also explained that she had been working to make the area safe for the rest of the expedition, as the hornets were making it too dangerous for them to use the elevator that led to the top of the mountain. After the traveler helped clear out the hornet population, they traveled up the elevator with Chino. Upon reaching the summit, Chino told them to go ahead and speak with the rock creature.

The traveler approached the creature and began hearing his voice. The creature was surprised to learn that someone could hear him and explained that no one else had been able to understand him, adding that he was overjoyed that someone had come to listen to him at last. Believing that the creature didn’t seem evil, the Alliance member asked him what his name was, to which he replied that though he didn’t have a name, he had overheard someone calling him the Stone Colossus. He explained that he didn’t know what exactly he was beyond just a mountain, adding that he had existed for a long time and had only just woken up.

He told the Alliance member that he had no ulterior purpose, and that he was simply trying to stay still in order to keep the people below him safe. He also revealed that dark creatures had begun swarming around him when he had woken up, and that though he didn’t know where they had come from, he believed that it had something to do with his heart, which was being infected with darkness and causing his thoughts to turn violent. Terrified of his own thoughts, the Colossus told the Alliance member to leave, as he was afraid that he would accidentally hurt them.

(A/N: Before the Milestone revamp, Damien was the one responsible for corrupting the Stone Colossus, as evidenced by his mark on the Colossus’ forehead. The Demon’s storyline actually foreshadowed this by having Damien clone and corrupt the monster, Eliza, from Orbis in order to spread the corruption to the Colossus, although Damien’s involvement has now been removed, leaving Damien’s mark on the Colossus as just a residual element that they forgot to remove while revamping the storyline.)

Just then, Valerie reached the Colossus and prepared to attack it when the Alliance member called her off and explained the situation. After learning what had happened to the Colossus, Valerie wondered whether it had fallen under some sort of spell and asked the Alliance member what they should do. The Alliance member decided to help the Colossus and offered their aid to him. The Colossus was touched by their offer and asked them to first defeat the Corrupted Tree Spirits on his shoulder, which were whispering dark thoughts in him.

The Alliance member defeated the Corrupted Tree Spirits on the Colossus’ shoulder and returned back, but when the dark whispers still remained, the Colossus believed that those thoughts really were his own, and not just whispers from the spirits, for which he asked the Alliance member to leave before he lost control and accidentally hurt them.

Unable to help him any further, the Alliance member returned to Valerie, who told him that she had scouted out the area and located something on the top of the Stone Colossus’ head, which she believed to be the source of the spell upon him. At the Colossus’ head, the pair encountered a horde of dark spirits emanating powerful evil energy. After defeating them, Valerie wondered whether the dark energy had come from the Black Mage, and whether the Colossus really was related to the Black Mage after all.

Suddenly, a tremendous earthquake rumbled the land as dark energy emanated out of the Colossus, whose eyes had turned red. With the Colossus terrified of turning evil, the Alliance member attempted to calm him down, while Valerie asked him whether he was a minion of the Black Mage. The Colossus replied that though he had heard of the Black Mage and his acts of evil, he denied being affiliated with the Black Mage, claiming that he served no one.

When Valerie asked him about the creatures emanating the Black Mage’s energy, the Colossus told her that the dark energy had flowed into him centuries ago, and that it had been attempting to turn him evil. He explained that he had attempted to resist it by curling himself up, and that it had disappeared after some time, making him believe that it had gone for good. However, he told them that the energy had manifested once again, and that not even the Alliance member’s attempts to cleanse the corruption had stopped it.

Though he urged them to flee before he hurt them, both the Alliance member and Valerie refused to leave his side. Touched by their kindness, the Colossus called them true friends and allowed them to investigate inside his body. The pair then entered the Colossus and fought through the dark spirits inside his body before arriving at his heart, where they found Guwaru using his spirit energy to shield it from a dark Tarantulus monster.

(A/N: The Demon and all the Heroes except Aran and Evan get some exclusive dialogue, in which they recognize Guwaru as a Commander, which shocks Valerie, who notes that he nevertheless seems to be protecting the Colossus’ heart.)

The Alliance member quickly defeated the Tarantulus, after which Guwaru thanked them for their help, realizing that they hadn’t come to harm the Colossus. Valerie then asked him who he was, to which he introduced himself by name, causing her to quickly realize that he was a Commander of the Black Mage. (A/N: For some reason, Valerie will still ask Guwaru his name even if she recognizes him from the exclusive dialogue with the Demon and the Heroes.) Valerie was surprised to meet Guwaru, believing that he had disappeared long ago. She demanded to know whether he was the one responsible for corrupting the Colossus’ heart, though Guwaru pointed out that she herself had seen him trying to protect it.

Realizing that he had a point, Valerie asked him whether he had betrayed the Black Mage, to which Guwaru told her that he couldn’t have betrayed the Black Mage when he had never followed him willingly in the first place, asking whether she had thought that he was simply a corrupted Great Spirit. Valerie replied that the only thing they knew about him was that he had grown corrupted and joined the Black Mage, unleashing evil spirits upon the world until his disappearance after the Black Mage’s sealing.

Guwaru admitted that while he had become a servant of the Black Mage, it had all happened against his own will. He explained that he had been born from nature, and that amongst the spirits, he was considered the Great Spirit, though not even he had been able to escape the influence of the Transcendents. He revealed that as the Transcendent of Life and the Transcendent of Time had gradually lost their power, the corrupted Transcendent of Light’s power had grown in turn, shifting the balance of the world towards darkness. As his existence was tied to the world itself, the shifting balance had caused him, in turn, to grow corrupted as well, becoming a servant of the Black Mage in the process.

The Alliance member realized that Guwaru hadn’t wanted to become a Commander, to which he told them that while he had memories of his time as a Commander, it all felt like a distant dream to him. He explained that though he had come to his senses after the Black Mage had been sealed away, his power had been stolen by Magnus, who had plotted to take it from the very beginning. He told the Alliance member that he had spent centuries recovering his power, though he hadn’t yet fully regained his abilities, which was why he had barely been able to protect the Stone Colossus.

(A/N: Before the revamp, Guwaru wasn’t corrupted by the Black Mage, but rather, he joined the Black Mage out of anger at the humans who disrespected spirits and nature. The Colossus was originally formed when Magnus’ misuse of Guwaru’s powers had caused the spirits to band together out of fear, with Damien eventually corrupting the Colossus with the demon army.)

Valerie noted that his story made sense, though she then asked why he had been trying to protect the Colossus, wondering whether it was atonement for his time as a Commander. Guwaru admitted that it was his fault that the Colossus had been corrupted by the Black Mage’s power in the first place, revealing that the Colossus was comprised of countless smaller spirits which had fused together into a large entity. He explained that he had given the Colossus his spirit power so that it could move, which made it his child, in a sense. Because the Colossus had been made of spirits that had come from him, however, the Black Mage’s influence on him had also resulted in darkness corrupting the spirits that made up the Colossus.

Fearing that such a large being would wreak havoc on the world if corrupted, Guwaru explained that he had been trying to cleanse the darkness upon it, though the Tarantulus inside its heart had made it difficult for him to do so, as he had been exerting all his power into halting the spread of the corruption, even as the creature’s power had grown after the Black Mage’s seal had broken. With the creature defeated, however, Guwaru used his power to restore the Colossus’ heart back to its original state.

Though unable to do anything about the spirits which had already been corrupted, Guwaru told them that eradicating them would ensure that the Colossus would remain safe. Having finished his word, Guwaru also told them that he would leave the Colossus, promising that they would not need to worry about him losing himself to the Black Mage again. He then revealed that the Black Mage didn’t seem interested in growing his power, and that while he didn’t know the Black Mage’s true plan, he suspected that there was something going on beyond just Maple World itself. He asked the Alliance member and Valerie to take care, adding that he hoped to help them someday in the future.

After Guwaru disappeared, the Alliance member and Valerie returned to the Stone Colossus, who thanked them for their bravery in purifying his heart. The Alliance member told the Colossus that he had also been very brave by enduring tremendous pain to keep himself from hurting others, for which he called them his eternal friend and hero.

Valerie then noted to the Alliance member that they had achieved much on their mission, from befriending the Stone Colossus, stopping the Black Mage’s corruption, and even learning more about the Commanders. She added that with Guwaru having left the Black Mage’s service, his forces had grown even weaker, though she noted that it didn’t seem as though the Black Mage had been trying to strengthen his forces lately. She told the Alliance member that just as Guwaru had said, something else seemed to be going on, though she hoped that the Alliance would be able to find out more later.

While she left to report back to Ereve, the Alliance member returned to Lavi and informed him about what had happened. Lavi was grateful to the Alliance member for their help and resolved to have the exploration team defeat the remaining dark spirits to stop the corruption completely, adding that he welcomed them to join his team anytime.