PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 17: The Elite Bosses

• For centuries, Commander Kellad and his squad had been trapped in a time-loop by Ergoth Dunamis, forced to relive the fall of Sharenian over and over again. Driven mad, Kellad’s knights destroyed each other, leaving Kellad alone.

• In the throne room, the fallen Prince Sharen IV inexplicably rose up and revealed to Kellad that Ergoth’s power wasn’t to create a time-loop, but to imprison them in a mirror of the real Sharenian, which had weakened as the subjects of Sharenian died.

• Sharen then reminded Kellad that he was sworn to protect Sharenian so long as even a single citizen still lived. With Sharen being the last survivor, Kellad pledged himself to serve him eternally. Sharen then revealed himself as the Black Mage - who presented himself in his human form as the White Mage.

• Taking advantage of Kellad’s weakened metal state, the Black Mage gave Kellad the Rubian that King Sharen III had sought. Though the Rubian, in the end, was only a normal gem, the Black Mage infused it with his Transcendent powers, allowing Kellad to revive his fallen squad by fusing their souls with the bodies several Explorers in the ruins of the real-world Sharenian.

• Fusing himself with the body of the fallen Ergoth Dunamis, Kellad was reborn as Guard Captain Darknell, while his squad became the Elite Bosses, sworn to obey the Black Mage with unimpeachable loyalty.

• Soon after, Will was given control over Rhinne and her child by the Black Mage. Inspired by Ergoth’s ability to create a mirror dimension of Sharenian, Will remade the prison dimension which Rhinne’s child had been kept in, transforming it into an imperfect replica of Maple World, which he called Mirror World.