PART IV: AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 5: The Chosen One

• The Alliance continued battling against the High Flora army, which remained camped outside Cernium. While Seren grieved Roland, Edea remained convinced that Seren was the true Chosen One, though Seren claimed that she was unworthy of the title, as she was unable to spread her wings anymore. The Adversary learned that Seren’s wings were uninjured, which meant that her inability to spread her wings was due to psychological trauma.

• During this time, Aaron gave the Adversary several library books, claiming that they would give insight into the repeated follies of history. The Adversary looked through the books and read about how ancient timekeeping involved measuring the sun at different positions, as well as Mitra’s different facets in each of those times.

• As they continued researching the Chosen One, Edea and the Adversary worked with Aaron to learn more about the Seal Stones, believing that it would help them understand Azor and the holy relics better. Aaron revealed that the Transcendents, the Ancient Gods, and the Overseers were all higher beings who existed outside the physical limitations of the universe, which was why mortals were unable to harm them. For this reason, it had been stated since ancient times that only gods had the power to challenge other gods.

• Edea realized that in order to kill a god, one either needed to be a god, or have an object containing the power of a god, such as a Seal Stone. By researching the Seal Stones, the Adversary learned that in order to quell the chaos of the gods, the will of the world had created weapons known as the Godspheres, which had fused with ‘the noble ones’ to begin the Ancient War.

• They also read that the Godspheres could only be awakened by the will and determination of the people, and as such, the godly power contained within the relics could never be limited to a single individual. Furthermore, the Godspheres themselves would choose their Vessels to bond with, similar to how the holy relics operated.

• Edea concluded that the power of the holy relics went to whomever the people deemed worthy to wield it, which was why the Chosen One needed the approval of the Order of Mitra to take possession of Azor. Because of this, she believed that Seren - who had the support of the Orders of Mitra, Spisa, and Nerota - already had the qualifications to be the Chosen One, though Seren continued to refuse to believe it.

• Just then, Havoc arrived at the palace and offered to trade the true Chosen One in exchange for the Adversary, though Carlisle immediately refused. Seren and the Glory Guard then infiltrated the High Flora camp and attempted to rescue the Chosen One. There, Seren discovered Gilmore and learned that he had sided with the High Flora in exchange for recovering his lost Celestial powers.

• After they escaped, Edea once again entreated Seren to take action instead of waiting for fate to step in, declaring that she was already the best savior that Cernium could hope for. However, Seren then revealed that after the fall of High Mountain, she herself had lost faith in Mitra as well, just as Roland had. However, she had continued remaining a Templar of Mitra, as she had believed that losing her faith was to dishonor all her comrades who had died believing in their god, which was why she believed that she was unworthy to be the Chosen One.

• Because of this, she believed that it would be better for Gilmore to take Azor as the Chosen One, despite the fact that Gilmore had declared that he would wipe out all non-believers of Mitra - including the Orders of Spisa and Nerota.

• Realizing that Seren had no intention of fighting, Edea withdrew the Alliance’s support, believing that they would be dooming their soldiers for a lost cause. Just then, Aaron appeared and revealed that his research - which the Adversary had also come to conclude from reading Aaron’s library books - was that Mitra, Spisa, and Nerota were all aspects of the same Sun God, rather than being different gods entirely, meaning that Gilmore couldn’t be the Chosen One when he had made enemies of the Orders of Spisa and Nerota.

• Upon wondering how Gilmore could be the Chosen One, Edea suddenly had an idea and rushed into the library to confirm her theory.

• Meanwhile, Havoc - revealed to be a pure-blood demon - transfigured into his demon form and began shooting down red lightning onto Cernium, causing the library to start burning down. Nevertheless, Edea continued researching and came to learn about the origin of Specters, which had been created by researchers during the age of the gods.

• Though most Specters had been mindless failures, the culmination of this research had been the creation of a special Specter, whose host body could be filled with many Specter souls without losing their humanity. Because of this, these special Specters could trick the holy relics into awakening, as the relics mistakenly thought the Specter souls was the will of the gods’ followers resting within the host body.

• Edea then rushed to meet with Seren, who was waiting for Gilmore in the chamber of Azor. There, Edea and Seren faced Gilmore, who was defeated before he could take Azor. Edea then revealed to Seren that Gilmore was a Specter who had been created to trick Azor, rather than being the true Chosen One.

• Meanwhile, Aaron revealed to the Adversary that the inscription on Azor, “Alvationsay inway Andhay” didn’t mean “Salvation is in Cernium”, but rather, it meant “Salvation is in your own hands”. The Adversary rushed to the chamber of Azor and told Seren the true meaning of the inscription.

• Because of this, Seren came to realize that her salvation wasn’t in Mitra, the holy city, or her religion, but rather, it was something that she had to give herself. By finally believing in herself, Seren was able to awaken Azor and spread her wings, allowing her to fight and defeat Havoc.

• After the battle, Seren was formally anointed as the Chosen One. During the ceremony, Aaron whispered something into Seren’s ear, causing Mitra to possess her. Mitra then attacked the Adversary after recognizing the power of the Seal Stone within them. During the battle, Seren barely managed to regain her senses, allowing the Adversary to shatter Azor.

• In the aftermath, Aaron used his powers to extract and shatter the Seal Stone within the injured Adversary before revealing himself as Gerand Darmoor. Soon after, Seren decided to leave on a mission to repair Azor, while the Alliance was driven away by the furious people of Cernium, who blamed the Adversary for shattering their holy relic.

• In the emergency Alliance conference following the mission, Edea revealed that Darmoor had used the power of time stolen from Chronica to restore the burned library, giving them access to the writings about the Ancient Gods. Edea also came to believe that Darmoor’s claim that he hated the High Flora, despite being born as one, seemed to be genuine.

• In the aftermath of the battle, the Adversary helped Carlisle obtain a report on Ebonstar from one of his spies. The Adversary learned that the spy had lost his report in the library, and while searching for it, they encountered a ghost who had found it. As the ghost was lonely, she asked the Adversary to listen to one of her stories about the founding of Cernium.

• The ghost explained that Cernium had been founded on the “scar of the earth”, carved from the blade of an Ancient God. Many worshipers had gathered at the holy site, and amongst them had been a priest named Masra, who had worshiped Mitra. Due to his immense power, Masra had overpowered the other priests and created Cernium as a temple dedicated to Mitra.

• Between Mitra’s followers and those who simply followed Masra’s power, Masra created rules to govern the holy land, and the resulting great war ended in establishing Cernium as its own nation. Masra then became the first king and High Priest, though Cernium had been plagued with internal conflict between various sects which had different practices.

• After the Order of Mitra had become the dominant power, order was restored to Cernium for a brief time until external enemies began attacking the city, as the scar of the earth was a holy site for many gods, not simply Mitra. To defend the kingdom, Masra stepped down as High Priest and appointed a successor so that he could focus on ruling the city. However, the citizens began rallying against Masra and his ineffective leadership, though the ghost recounting the story had no idea how it finished. The Adversary, however, recalled that Carlisle’s father had eventually allowed various sects to worship openly in Cernium.

• The ghost then gave the Ebonstar report to the Adversary, who brought it back to Carlisle. Carlisle read that according to the report, the people of Ebonstar had once been worshipers of the gods until one of those believers had crossed into another world through an Interdimensional Portal. That believer had then returned and claimed that all the gods were dead, and that a Transcendent would pave the way for a new era. The believer and their allies then formed Ebonstar, forsaking the gods who had abandoned them and hoping to help the Transcendent create a new world.