PART IV: AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 4: The Holy City

(A/N: Like I mentioned in the previous section, the beginning of the Cernium storyline was modified after the addition of the 6th job storyline, as Carlisle would originally meet the Adversary right after the world merge.)

Soon after the Sol Erda crisis, Neinheart contacted the Adversary and informed them that a visitor had crossed the forgotten sea in order to meet the Alliance after the convergence of Maple World and Grandis. The Adversary was surprised to hear this, as it hadn’t been long at all since the two worlds had become one. Neinheart agreed and noted that it was almost as if they had been waiting for it to happen. He revealed that the visitor had wanted to speak to them, and that he had arranged an Alliance conference at the Outpost.

The Alliance traveled to Ereve, where Neinheart began escorting them to the Outpost. On the way there, Neinheart explained that the visitor’s name was Carlisle, and that he was the prince of a holy land that stood on the other end of the forgotten sea. He also noted that he had heard that the seas of Grandis were quite rough, to which the Adversary noted that they still couldn’t believe that he had made the journey so soon after the fusion of their worlds, as he must have been preparing for some time.

Neinheart explained that Carlisle had mentioned that he had a friend who was well-versed in theology and history, and that his friend had not only known about the absence of Maple World’s Transcendents, but he had also predicted that the two worlds would soon merge into one. The Adversary noted that Carlisle’s friend was quite impressive, and that it seemed as though he had more information about the Transcendents than the Alliance did. They then asked Neinheart why Carlisle had sought them out specifically, to which Neinheart told them that it would be better if they heard it for themselves, adding that they had just about arrived.

At the Alliance meeting, Claudine and the other leaders marveled at how unbelievable it was that Grandis and Maple World were now one. However, they acknowledged that the fusion of their worlds meant that fighting Darmoor, who had a similar goal to remake the world as the Black Mage, was now an even higher priority, though Claudine pointed out that they were still recovering from the war against the Black Mage and asked how they were supposed to fight Darmoor.

Neinheart then arrived with Carlisle, who reassured them that it wouldn’t come to that if they helped him. He told them that Darmoor was waging war against all of Grandis, and that though his army was formidable, resistance fighters had forced him to spread his resources thin. Because of this, Carlisle believed that Darmoor was far from capable of crossing the forgotten sea to Maple World.

(A/N: It definitely helps that Darmoor decided to start his war of genocide immediately after the Flora Civil War devastated the High Flora army. One thing that I find strange regarding the way that Grandis wages war is that despite Grandis being a planetary system, there don’t seem to be any interstellar battles, even though we’ve seen spaceships in past storylines.

I originally expected warfare to be more Star Wars-y with fleets of ships used for aerial and space battles. There definitely wouldn’t be any problem crossing the forgotten sea if they had transport ships available to fly their army to Maple World. I wonder if the Angler Company might have a bigger role in outfitting the High Flora army with fancy tech like that in the future.)

Edea asked Carlisle why he had come to see the Alliance, to which he explained that Cernium was on the verge of invasion, and so he had come to request that the Alliance take on Darmoor while the High Flora army was still weak. Claudine noted that it would be helpful to have new allies, especially ones who had an intelligence network on the High Flora army. However, Carlisle clarified that Cernium didn’t plan to join the Alliance, as they were only interested in protecting the holy land, rather than getting involved in a fight against a Transcendent.

Claudine was furious and demanded to know what kind of leader would abandon their allies just to save themselves. However, Cygnus told Claudine to calm down and reminded her that they couldn’t force everyone to join their fight. Neinheart concurred and added that they would be no better than the enemy if they were to ignore a request for help. However, Claudine and Edea both protested that the Alliance wasn’t prepared to fight in such a way, to which Neinheart told them that it was an opportunity to build a friendship with Cernium, which would not forget their aid.

Carlisle agreed and told them that as a holy land, Cernium was frequented by countless pilgrims, whose patronage had made the land quite wealthy. He explained that in exchange for the Alliance’s aid, Cernium would reward them handsomely. Though she conceded that it was a generous offer, Claudine pointed out that it wouldn’t do them much good if they didn’t survive the battle. Just then, an Alliance soldier arrived with urgent news for Cygnus, who adjourned the meeting and told everyone to consider what had been discussed in order to work out a plan the next day.

That night, Cygnus met with the Adversary and told them that the moment that the dimensional seal between Maple World and Grandis had been broken, ancient ruins and artifacts all over the world had lit up with an unusual magical glow, which Alliance experts believed to be the result of the Ancient Gods reawakening.

Cygnus told them that until now, the only one powerful enough to face a Transcendent had been the Adversary, who possessed the Seal Stone, which was why the heaviest burdens had always fallen to them. However, she believed that discovering how to use the power of the Ancient Gods would help the Alliance grow far stronger than they had been when they had faced the Black Mage.

(A/N: Kain gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which he’s surprised to know that Satiras is waking up, and that Cygnus is suggesting that they use that power. He thinks to himself that many people had suffered because of Satiras’ power and he wonders whether it’s really a good idea to use it.

It’s strange that Pathfinder doesn’t get any exclusive dialogue here, since her relic holds the power of an Ancient God.)

As Cernium was a holy land of the Ancient Gods and their people, Cygnus believed that Carlisle’s offer was an opportunity to learn more about the Ancient Gods and their power. Because of this, she asked the Adversary if they were willing to be part of the reinforcements that the Alliance would be sending to save not just Maple World, but Grandis as well.

(A/N: Mercedes gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which she thanks Cygnus for what she did with Lucid. A flashback then plays, which is set shortly after the events of Convergence. In this flashback, Neinheart meets Mercedes in Lachelein and tries to take custody of Lucid. Mercedes protests and argues that as the elven sovereign, she’ll decide the fate of Lucid herself.

Neinheart asks Mercedes if she means to take Lucid to Elluel, which Mercedes confirms, explaining that Lucid is in unstable condition, and that she’ll keep Lucid safe until she regains consciousness. However, Neinheart replies that keeping an eye on Lucid with Elluel’s small forces is out of the question, as there’s no telling how much damage Lucid will cause if she manages to escape.

Mercedes vows that she’ll stop Lucid herself again if it comes down to that, and once again requests to have custody of Lucid until she regains consciousness. Neinheart tells her that she knows better than anyone else that she’s being completely unreasonable, noting that she isn’t acting like her usual self.

He then asks if something had happened while she had been rescuing Lucid, to which Mercedes explains that Lucid had been calling her name, adding that Lucid had been waiting for her to come save her for so long, crying alone in absolute darkness, where she couldn’t see or hear anyone. She tells Neinheart that she fully understands that Lucid deserves to be punished for her evildoings, but speaking not as a queen, but as her friend, she explains that she doesn’t want to make Lucid suffer anymore.

Neinheart notes that she’s presented him with a difficult decision, but though he fully understands how she feels, he adds that he’s still not at liberty to release someone who had once served as the Black Mage’s right-hand. Just then, an Alliance soldier arrives and gives Neinheart a message from the Empress.

Neinheart tells Mercedes that Cygnus has declared that Lucid’s fate will be left to Elluel. He then breathes a sigh of relief, adding that he wouldn’t have had the nerve to deny the request of someone who had saved the world anyways. However, he asks Mercedes that she thoroughly interrogate Lucid once she regains consciousness, to which Mercedes gives her word.

After Neinheart leaves, Protective Mask notes that it’s great news that Mercedes will keep custody of Lucid. Mercedes thanks him and asks what will happen to him now. Protective Mask explains that though he’s not sure how much longer Lachelein will remain, he plans to continue living there until it disappears. Mercedes then sees Lucid in Protective Mask’s arms and breathes a sigh of relief that Lucid is finally going home, noting that it must have been such a long nightmare for her. She then says that she hopes that there will be nothing but happy dreams for her from now on.

Protective Mask’s conversation with Mercedes confirms that the Arcane River and all the people inhabiting it are soon going to disappear. The writers probably aren’t gonna to give us a chance to say goodbye to everyone, but I’m still gonna miss them all, especially the spirits from Arcana. Then again, maybe it’s for the best that we don’t give them a send off. I’ve already sustained too much emotional damage from saying goodbye to Renee and Leo in the Neo Castle event.)

Several days later, Neinheart and Cygnus traveled to the border between worlds in order to see the Glory Guard off, which was composed of the Adversary, Edea, Hawkeye, and Checky.

(A/N: We get different combinations of job instructors on all our adventures with the Glory Guard, although both our companions will always be instructors for the same branch, like how Hawkeye and Checky are both pirates. I have no idea how they plan to integrate Mihile, since he’s both an established NPC and a class. They’ll probably need to have someone else fill the gap for Mihile characters, or just have Elex be the sole NPC who accompanies him. It’s also possible that they just might not have Mihile and Elex accompany the Adversary at all in order to avoid having to deal with that edge case.

I sometimes see people talk about the possibility of established NPCs like Seren or Edea being made into classes, and to those people, I have just one thing to say: there is absolutely zero chance that any NPC that shows up in the Arcane River story or beyond will ever become a class. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that there is no trajectory for this universe that exists that will ever result in a reality manifesting in which those NPCs become classes.

The reason why I’m sure of this is because of the stupid Adversary plotline, which makes it so that every single class is now forcibly funneled into Black Heaven so that they can become the Adversary and get thrown into the streamlined Arcane River story. There’s already a couple of continuity errors created by Mihile’s existence as a class and an NPC being in the same place at the same time. Nexon has been forced to bend over backwards in order to accommodate the existence of Adversary!Mihile in storylines like Karote. There’s no way that they’ll do it again.

More than anything else, Nexon is extremely lazy and constantly takes shortcuts. They hate having to put effort into writing more than one script, which is why we’re stuck with the generic Adversary protagonist and the occasional line of exclusive dialogue. There is absolutely no way in hell that they’re gonna create more work for themselves by having to micromanage NPC appearances and dialogue changes.

If they wanted to make an Edea class, for example, they’d have to rewrite all of Cernium from because there are a bunch of scenes that can’t work without Edea being a separate character from the protagonist. With that being said, however, there are definitely instances where an NPC could be made into a class. Yuna, for example, could definitely be a new FriendStory class because her story can take place after Kinesis’ story, similar to how Kaiser and Angelic Buster’s stories overlap each other without stepping on each other’s toes (for the most part). And I’m still on my crack theory bandwagon that Ismail, the last relic guardian of Pantheon who was only mentioned in the story, is gonna be the Nova magician class.)

Neinheart reminded the Adversary that above all else, their primary goal was to learn more about the Ancient Gods’ power. As neither the Resistance nor the Cygnus Knights were in a fit state to run additional missions, Neinheart explained that Pantheon would serve as the Alliance’s staging ground for reinforcements, with Edea taking command of the Glory Guard. Neinheart also told the Adversary that though Edea was a level-headed tactician, her deep resentment of the High Flora could hinder her objectivity, and so he asked them to ensure that she remained rational when engaging with the Flora.

Carlisle then approached them and reported that they had set up the magic in the seal to allow them to teleport across the forgotten sea. With preparations complete, Carlisle activated the spell and transported them to the outskirts of Cernium. After arriving, Checky marveled at their surroundings and noted that Grandis was a nice place. Edea agreed and added that she had always wanted to visit, which confused Checky, who had thought that Edea was from Grandis.

Edea explained that she was from Grandis, the planetary system. However, she revealed that Grandis took its name from the planet at the center of their system, which had many cities, cultures, and ecosystems, just like Maple World. She also explained that Verdel, Savage Terminal, and the others were all individual moons orbiting Grandis. Checky then joked that they could now also add Maple World to the neighborhood.

One of Carlisle’s knights then reported that they hadn’t arrived at the correct landing site, to which Carlisle asked if they had gotten redirected somehow. Just then, a horde of hooded soldiers surrounded the group and began attacking. Edea asked if they were Flora soldiers, but Carlisle explained that they were heretics who were enemies of Cernium’s god and faith.

Before the Adversary went into battle, Carlisle warned them that a strange, oppressive aura had settled over certain domains within Grandis, including Cernium, and that the aura interfered with the manifestation of one’s innate powers and abilities. However, Cernium had been able to discover Sacred Power, which was capable of counteracting the aura. He noted that it wasn’t the best time to go into detail about it and promised to convey their findings to the Alliance later. As the Adversary went into battle, they noted how much their power had weakened while fighting the soldiers.

(A/N: Although this is really the full extent of what we know about Sacred Power at this time, it’s likely that the oppressive aura has something to do with the awakening of the Ancient Gods. I’m curious about how Sacred Power itself will factor into the lore, as Arcane Power really had no actual significance to the story aside from the stuff with Kao.)

As they continued fighting, a woman appeared and dispatched the archers at the top of the cliff. Carlisle introduced her as Seren, the Guardian of the Holy Sword. With Seren’s reinforcements, they were able to defeat the heretics and arrive at the entrance to Cernium. Carlisle explained that when the Transcendents had been born, the Ancient Gods had faded from the universe.

With their disappearance, the Order of Mitra had been forced to disperse as the world fell into chaos. Many had resented the Transcendents for what they had wrought and had sworn vengeance against them, while others who had hoped that the Ancient Gods would return had gathered together in Cernium.

The Glory Guard marveled at how grand the city was, but noted how unnatural the landscape seemed to be. Carlisle explained that the entire countryside of Cernium had been shaped by the Ancient Gods, carved out in an ancient war between the divine, though many considered Cernium to be proof that the Ancient Gods were gone for good, as it was said that Cernium was the site of the final battle that had marked the end of the Ancient Gods and the beginning of the Transcendents. (A/N: The Odium storyline also references this battle and explains that the last Ancient God still left in the world had been defeated here.)  

Suddenly, a guard reported that more heretics had appeared. Carlisle was surprised that the heretics had come so close to the city and asked the Glory Guard for their aid once again. While Edea, Hawkeye, and Checky took care of the west, north, and east, the Adversary held off the enemies approaching from the south. After defeating the heretics, the Adversary realized that they had fallen too far behind the others. They rushed to catch up with them at the city gates, where they encountered Seren once again and took notice of the feathery wings on her head and back.

(A/N: They absolutely did not have to make Seren this radiant, but because they did, my skin is clear, my crops are watered, the sun is shining, my gear is 22*, and now, you’ll be just as blessed once your occipital lobe processes not only Seren, but the other love of my life, Carlisle, too. I’ve come to the conclusion that Cernium is objectively the best storyline because of these two. All the people who I simp for in this game have a bad habit of dying before their time, and so I’m praying that the writers do me this one favor and let them live.)  

Seren told the Adversary that the others were waiting inside the city and escorted them to the city square. While walking, the Adversary overheard the people of the city whispering about them, many of whom noted that they were younger than expected. Seren and the Adversary found Carlisle speaking with the Grand Master, who told Carlisle that his father, the king, was resting, due to his illness.

Carlisle then introduced the Glory Guard and the Adversary to the Grand Master, who was underwhelmed by the Adversary’s ordinary appearance. He warned Carlisle that the Alliance could be lying to him, but Carlisle coolly asked if the Grand Master intended to question his judgment in front of guests. The Grand Master apologized, but nevertheless urged action, reminding him that the Alliance didn’t even share their faith.

After he left, Carlisle apologized to the Glory Guard for the Grand Master’s behavior and went to make preparations for their lodging. Edea noted that between a frail king, an upstart prince, an overzealous order itching to take over, and a group of heretics, their mission would likely be even more difficult than forming the Alliance itself had been. However, she conceded that Carlisle seemed competent in politics and decided to give him a chance to smooth things over.

She then asked the Adversary if they had overheard the people talking about them. The Adversary told Edea that the gossip must have been why Carlisle had insisted on an armed escort. Hawkeye and Checky then left to scout the city, though Edea was certain that they had gone sightseeing. She suggested that the Adversary also tour the city and help anyone in need in order to show Cernium the best side of the Alliance. 

While wandering around the city, the Adversary encountered an old man, who was able to tell that it was their first time in Cernium. He told them that the Cernium royal family was loyal to Mitra the Sun God, and that they had made the entire castle a place of worship, which was the reason why Cernium had become a haven to those who believed in the Ancient Gods. He explained that the northern temple was devoted to Mitra the Sun God, the western temple worshiped Nerota the Dawn God, and the eastern temple honored Spisa the Flame God.

(A/N: Mitra is one of the twelve names of Surya, the Hindu sun god, whose mythology shaped much of the lore about Mitra. In Hindu mythology, there are twelve deities called the Adityas, who were the children of Aditi, the goddess of infinity. These twelve deities, including Surya, each represented different aspects of the sun, but over time, their names and attributes eventually became embodied by Surya alone, which is why Aditya, in singular, is one of the twelve names of Surya.

In the context of the game, the lore about Mitra is actually the exact opposite of Surya. Rather than there being multiple solar deities that eventually became embodied by one, Mitra started out as the singular Sun God until his followers scattered in the fall of the Ancient Gods. Over time, they began forgetting the origin of their beliefs, and as a result, the Order of Mitra split into three different sects that worshiped Mitra, Spisa, and Nerota, respectively, whom they believed were different gods, rather than the same one in different forms.

Mitra was referred to as a goddess in the GMS localization of the Cernium storyline, although Mitra’s gender wasn’t revealed in the original KMS story, as Korean doesn’t really have gendered pronouns. However, the High Mountain storyline confirms that Mitra is indeed male, and so I’ll be referring to Mitra as such for the sake of consistency, although based on past experience, I strongly doubt that GMS will put in the effort to fix it on their end.)

However, he added that calling them temples was a stretch, as all that the priests had done was put up a few banners. The Adversary asked about the heretics, but the old man merely told the Adversary not to worry about them, as Carlisle was always vigilant about keeping Cernium safe. He then suggested visiting the temple of Nerota, where a small boy welcomed them as a pilgrim and began telling them about the temple.

He explained that Nerota was the god of dawn and dusk, and that the temple had been built centuries ago when Nerota’s Order had conquered Cernium. He also told them that the Dawn Priests met at the same time every day in order to pray to each other, as they believed that Nerota’s spirit lived inside everyone, and that they even prayed to their own reflections if they were alone.

He added that Nerota only appeared to those who possessed a tranquil heart, and that he appeared as a dark blue deer, with the sun rising between its antlers if one stared long enough without blinking, as the deer would disappear once they did. Because of this, the Dawn Priests trained themselves not to blink in order to prove their devotion.

Just then, there was a loud rumbling, to which the boy told the Adversary that the Flame Priests were about to begin their prayers, adding that the Dawn Priests hated it, since they felt that it was too loud. He then asked them to help take care of the seagulls in the western part of the city as payment for the information that he had shared.

After taking care of the seagulls at the western ramparts, the Adversary ran into Hawkeye, who told them that he had been roped into helping the boy as well. Just then, they noticed Seren surveying the heretics from the ramparts. Hawkeye told the Adversary that he had learned that only Celestials had wings like the ones that Seren had. From what he had gathered in the city, the people of Cernium were fond of Seren and believed her to be trustworthy, though her own Order seemed to hate her.

After Seren left, Hawkeye suggested that they speak with the Dawn Priest at the ramparts, as he felt that something was wrong. The Dawn Priest recognized the Adversary from when Seren had escorted them into the city. He then asked them to tell Seren that the Flame Priests’ pyrotechnics were disrupting the Dawn Priests’ morning prayers, adding that he suspected that the Flame Priests were deliberately trying to sabotage their dawn prayers.

The Adversary asked why he didn’t tell the Flame Priests himself, to which he replied that he had already warned them several times. He explained that if Seren spoke to them, they would have to listen to her, as she was the Guardian of the Holy Sword. At the eastern ramparts, the Adversary ran into the same boy from the temple of Nerota standing with the Flame Priests.

The boy greeted the Adversary and launched into an explanation about Spisa’s Sanctuary of Red Flames. He explained that the followers of Spisa had once been able to wield fire magic through the grace of the Flame God. However, they had lost their powers after the Ancient Gods had disappeared and most of Spisa’s followers had left the Order as a result.

Those who remained in Spisa’s Order had eventually learned to make exploding powder that worked similarly to their old powers. He then pointed out a Flame Priest scattering around the black powder in order to create explosions and explained that the Flame Priests believed that the better the blast, the more dedicated one was to Spisa.

Just then, Checky arrived and noticed the Flame Priests creating explosions. He excitedly joined in and used his gun to create a massive explosion that left the Flame Priests awestruck. However, the explosion created Fire Spirits that fled to the top of the ramparts, and so the boy asked the Adversary to help defeat them.

After taking care of the monsters, the Adversary met with Checky, who apologized for accidentally creating the Flame Spirits. The Adversary asked if he had seen Seren, to which Checky replied that she had been heading up the eastern ramparts. They told him about the Dawn Priests’ request, to which Checky explained that the Flame Priests had their own grievances. However, as it was a centuries-old disagreement, he doubted that they could solve it in a day.

The Adversary was intrigued to know that the feud had spanned centuries, to which Checky explained that Cernium was a holy land to several faiths, all of whom had been fighting over the city for a long time, even after Mitra’s Order had taken over, until Carlisle’s father had finally decreed that all Orders would share the land equally, thus bringing about peace. The Adversary then headed up the ramparts and ran into Edea and Carlisle watching a Flame Priest confront a Dawn Priest.

A court knight immediately threatened exile for both of them if they refused to break up their argument. Edea was surprised that the knight would threaten exile for mere name-calling, but Carlisle explained that between the heretics both outside and inside the city, he needed to be strict, so as not to lose control of Cernium. He elaborated that the heretics would slip into the city in small groups, disguised as ordinary citizens, in order to stir up trouble between the different Orders.

Soon after, Seren escorted the feuding Dawn Priest and Flame Priest outside the city gates, as they had been exiled for refusing to cease hostilities. In the city square, the High Priests of Dawn and Flame blocked her way and entreated her not to exile the priests, as the threat of the heretics had made it dangerous to be outside the city. Seren told them that it wasn’t her place to decide, as she was merely carrying out the will of the king in the name of Mitra, and by the authority of the Cernium royal family.

The High Priest of Dawn countered that Mitra was her god, not theirs, and the High Priest of Flame agreed, claiming that they shouldn’t be subject to the same laws as Mitra’s Order. A court knight told Seren that the mob was growing unruly and suggested retreating. Unwilling to be impeded, Seren ordered that the two High Priests be arrested.

After the incident, Edea told Carlisle that it seemed that he had more problems than he had originally let on. Carlisle replied that he had a solution in mind and escorted her and the Adversary to the palace. Unbeknownst to them, a hooded heretic had watched the entire exchange before slipping away. Carlisle took them before the Holy Sword Azor, where the Templars told him that Seren would be furious to know that he had brought outsiders, though they acknowledged his right to do so as the prince.

After sending the Templars away, Carlisle told them that Azor was the holy sword of Mitra, which was said to be able to summon a divine light that could smite evil. Edea noted that aside from its exquisite craftsmanship, she couldn’t sense any special power coming from it. Carlisle explained that all of the relics had lost their light after the era of the Ancient Gods had come to an end. However, with the Transcendents all but gone and the fusion of Maple World and Grandis, he believed that the light of Mitra would soon return to the sword.

Edea realized that the reawakening of Azor could inspire the people of Cernium to unite together. Carlisle told them that there was a prophecy amongst Mitra’s Order: “The glory of the heavens will be restored by the grasp of the Chosen One.” The Adversary then noticed that both Carlisle and Edea were pointedly staring at them. Edea told the Adversary that they were a special type of hero, the kind who could defeat a Transcendent, and asked them to take up Azor.

Upon touching it, the Adversary had a vision of themselves back at the border between Maple World and Grandis, where they heard the voice of Mitra telling them, “The sun’s flames will have vengeance.” (A/N: If the player is Kain, the mark of Satiras will appear over his head as Mitra says this.) Immediately letting go of the sword, the Adversary fell unconscious and Edea, in her attempts to wake them, zapped them with lightning.

After they regained consciousness, Edea asked if they had felt anything after picking up the sword, to which the Adversary told her that they had felt a huge surge of hostility emanating from the sword, as though it was furious that they had dared to touch it. Carlisle noted that it was safe to say that the Adversary wasn’t the Chosen One, but he added that Azor had never reacted in such a way before.

(A/N: Kain gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which he wonders whether Mitra had recognized the power of Satiras inside him, or whether it was something else.)

Just then, Seren stormed in and immediately ordered them to leave, warning them that outsiders weren’t allowed. Edea told her that they didn’t mean any harm, but Seren immediately raised her sword at them. With no other choice, the three left the chamber and returned to the main hall. There, a court knight came up to Carlisle and showed him a pamphlet with a sigil that Carlisle recognized as that of Ebonstar, the heretics who were threatening the city.

The pamphlet claimed that the Ancient Gods had abandoned them all, and that Ebonstar rejected the evil carried out in the name of the gods, claiming that only the absence of the gods would allow the people to be free. It then warned them to flee Cernium, as Ebonstar would not rest until the memory of the gods had been wiped from the land.

The knight explained that such pamphlets had been posted all over the city, and Carlisle realized that it would only be a matter of time before it came to war. The knight also reported that a cache of black powder had been stolen from the Flame Priests, who were claiming that the Dawn Priests were the thieves. Carlisle told Edea and the Adversary that he needed to deal with the situation and promised that he would smooth things over with Seren.

In the meantime, he suggested that they continue looking into the Chosen One, though he asked that they keep their involvement as outsiders secret from the Order and recommended that they seek out his friend, Aaron, a librarian knowledgeable in history and theology, at the Cernium Royal Library. He confirmed to Edea that Aaron was trustworthy, though he asked her not to judge him by his appearance.

At the library, Edea and the Adversary encountered Aaron, and Edea immediately moved to attack, recognizing him as a High Flora. A knight arrived to assess the situation and Edea yelled for him to arrest Aaron, who asked her to calm down, explaining that not all High Flora were monsters. To prove his point, he manifested his wings, which they were shocked to find had been torn to shreds. He explained that he hated the High Flora just as much as the Nova did, and though he had attempted to tear his wings off out of disgust, they would nevertheless grow back.

(A/N: The Flora classes get some exclusive dialogue here. Illium tells Aaron that though he had thought that all High Flora were enemies, he realizes that it’s apparently not always the case. Ark and Adele note to themselves that Aaron seems to hate the fact that he’s a High Flora. They realize that his situation isn’t so different from their own, and that they might be able to empathize to a degree. Khali feels sorry for him, as he must have gone through the same pain that Rasha had.

Please note: the following text contains major spoilers for the rest of the Cernium storyline. If you don’t want spoilers, skip to the end of the author note.

Although Aaron being Darmoor was meant to be a left-field plot twist with little to no foreshadowing, someone paying close attention to this scene would’ve picked up on something off about Aaron’s cover story, which is that Aaron’s wings keep growing back no matter. A major plot point about the Verdant Flora is that their natural wings were lost to them forever after the High Flora tore theirs out and exiled them, for which they needed mechanical replacements.

The fact that Aaron’s wings keep growing back directly contradicts everything we know about how Flora wings work, which is our one and only clue that something about him is off. As Darmoor is the Transcendent of Life, he could easily restore back parts of his body, and although I don’t think that anyone would’ve been able to leap to that conclusion on just that single piece of evidence, I still think it’s strange that Illium or even the other Flora classes wouldn’t have picked up on the hole in Aaron’s story.

On a completely unrelated note, I have so much respect for Nexon after knowing that the story team has decided that Gerand Darmoor - God-King of the High Flora, Transcendent of Life, and the game’s equivalent of Hitler - is canonically a femboy librarian twink.)

Though Edea was still wary, she admitted that she had overreacted. Aaron told her that he was used to it and suspected that Carlisle had failed to mention it as a joke. He surmised that they had come searching for information about the Chosen One and asked why they were interested. The Adversary told him that they were trying to find out more about Mitra in order to enlist his aid.

Aaron was intrigued that anyone would seek to form an alliance with the divine and realized that they were the Adversary. He told them that he had heard that they were planning to fight Gerand Darmoor, even if it meant plunging all of Grandis into war. Upon learning that they had made up their mind, he told them that he shouldn’t be surprised, as they had already vanquished one Transcendent.

Satisfied with their answer, he agreed to help them in their research and suggested that they start with the ancient writings about Azor. However, he warned them that the section that held the writings was haunted by ghosts. The Adversary fought through the ghosts and collected the relevant writings before bringing them back to Edea and Aaron.

Edea found that the prophecies all hit the same major points, but the details were impossible to pinpoint. However, all the writings agreed that Azor had always been wielded by a Celestial. Aaron explained that Celestials were demigods who had joined Mitra when he had descended from the heavens. After the defeat of the Ancient Gods, the Celestials had lost their powers and had been trapped on Grandis ever since.

Edea mentioned that she had heard that High Mountain, the home of the Celestials, had fallen some time ago and asked what had happened to the Celestials after that. Aaron explained that the surviving Celestials had scattered and gone into hiding, and with the exception of Seren, they were rarely seen anymore.

With so much information to process, Edea decided to focus on Azor’s reaction to the Adversary wielding it. The Adversary explained that it had been extremely hostile, to which Edea noted that since Transcendents were akin to gods, it was possible that Mitra was angry with the Adversary for having killed a fellow godlike being.

However, Aaron disagreed and explained that his understanding was that the Adversary carried the power of the Seal Stone. He then revealed that the Seal Stone had been created by the will of the world in order to seal away the Ancient Gods, and so it was more likely that Mitra had shown hostility towards the Adversary because they held the same power that had sealed him away.

(A/N: Kain gets some exclusive dialogue here, in which he thinks to himself that the conflicting forces of the Seal Stone and the Ancient Gods’ power coexist within him, and that having these opposite powers inside him is dangerous.

The knowledge that the Seal Stones were originally created by the Overseers recontextualizes Freud’s creation of the Seal Stones in an interesting way. With the knowledge that the Seal Stones have divine power greater than that of the Ancient Gods and the Transcendents, it puts into perspective how Freud was so easily able to steal back the powers of time that the Black Mage had stolen from Rhinne in order to trap him with that same power.

The only time that we’ve ever seen a Transcendent’s power stolen is either by another Transcendent, the Abyss Crystal, or a draining crystal, meaning that it shouldn’t be possible for a regular mortal to steal a Transcendent’s power through conventional means.

However, when you consider that Freud had used the Seal Stones, with the addition of Shade’s sacrifice, as a proxy for stealing the power of a Transcendent, it makes perfect sense as to how he was not only able to take that power, but also use it to seal away the Black Mage, reminiscent of how the Ancient Gods had been forced into dormancy.)

Both Edea and the Adversary were shocked to learn about the origin of the Seal Stones. Edea then realized that if the Order of Mitra learned that the Alliance’s champion wielded the same power that had sealed away their god, any hope of a partnership between the Alliance and Cernium would be lost, and so she asked Aaron to keep it to himself. She added that they would also need to be particularly cautious around Seren, who may threaten far worse than exile if she were to learn about it.

Just then, Seren herself arrived and told Aaron that she had come regarding her earlier request. She then noticed Edea and the Adversary and told them that she wanted to apologize for earlier. She explained that Carlisle had claimed that they were trying to find the Chosen One and added that though they were outsiders, the Order would be grateful for any help in finding the Chosen One after it had searched in futility for so long.

In order to aid their search, Seren told them that she had recently learned that High Mountain had continued to hand-pick the Chosen One, long after Azor had lost its light in the Ancient War, and so she had come to see Aaron for any information regarding it. After fighting through the library ghosts, the Adversary collected more writings on the Chosen One. They learned that the Order would carefully select every recipient of Azor, as each was a paragon of the Holy Knights devoted to their faith. Believing that the return of the Ancient Gods would allow them to recover Azor’s light, the Order would give a special emblem to the Chosen One.

In the writings, they also learned about a second, less ornate emblem, which Seren recognized as an emblem for the Templars of Mitra, revealing that she had one herself. She believed that there had to be other survivors of High Mountain, and that one of them must possess the emblem of the Chosen One. Edea pointed out that it would be difficult to find such a survivor, especially if they didn’t want to be found, but Seren remained hopeful that the Chosen One wouldn’t stray too far from Azor.

Edea suggested that Seren herself could be the Chosen One, but Seren told her that she didn’t have the emblem of the Chosen One. Edea countered that the only thing that should matter was that she had Mitra’s blessing, but Seren explained that she wasn’t worthy, as she was unable to even spread her wings, having been injured when she had brought the sword to Cernium long ago. Overwhelmed by her emotions, she decided to leave. 

Edea then suggested that the Adversary head back to the city square, as she wanted to do more research. At the city square, the Adversary saw a hooded Ebonstar soldier and decided to follow him outside the city gates, though he managed to evade them. Amidst a field of swords, they encountered Seren and told her about the hooded man. Seren explained that she had seen him visit the field that they were in, though she had never actually met him. The Adversary asked what the memorial was for, to which Seren replied that it was for her fellow soldiers who had been slain in a battle defending Azor, of which she had been the only survivor.

She then recounted how, long ago near High Mountain, she and her fellow Celestials had been pursued by the enemy. Her commanding officer, Gilmore, had ordered her to destroy the bridge in order to slow down the enemy, though she and another Celestial named Roland had told him that the rest of their company would be trapped behind enemy lines.

When Gilmore had moved to destroy the bridge himself, Roland had drawn his sword and attacked him. Gilmore had reminded Roland that he was in charge and had ordered him to step aside. Roland had then told him that even while knowing that the operation was doomed, their soldiers had rushed into certain defeat without protesting because they had known the importance of protecting Azor, and so he refused to allow Gilmore to sacrifice their lives.

Gilmore had shouted that sacrificing themselves for Azor was their very purpose, and that to die was their mission. He had told them that they had been outnumbered from the beginning, which was why he had chosen to divide their forces. Outraged to know that they had merely been bait, Roland had called Gilmore a traitor and had moved to attack.

Though Seren had tried to break the fight, the two had continued fighting viciously. Between disobeying orders and engaging in outright mutiny, Gilmore had asked if Roland even knew who he was pointing his sword at. Roland had replied that he was pointing it at a religious zealot and had claimed that if someone like Gilmore was the Chosen One, then Mitra was not worthy to be his god.

Outraged at Roland’s blasphemy, the two had continued their duel until Seren had drawn her own sword and knocked theirs onto the ground, demanding that they stop before they revealed their position to the enemy. Gilmore had told Seren to stay out of it, warning that he would cut her down too. Once again, Seren had yelled at him to stop before the Apostle of Lightning found them. Suddenly, their blades had begun crackling with red lightning as the Apostle discovered their location.

Roland had yelled at Seren to get down, just as a giant bolt of lightning had struck down and knocked Seren out. Some time later, she had regained consciousness and had discovered that the bridge had been destroyed. Realizing that it meant that all the other Celestials had been killed, she had solemnly completed her mission by bringing Azor to Cernium alone.

Having told her story, she told the Adversary that she had heard that the Alliance didn’t follow any single religious order and asked how they felt when their brothers and sisters-in-arms fell in battle. (A/N: You get to choose whether to tell her that you felt loss and sadness, or that you’re still not sure how you feel about it.)

She then asked them to tell Edea that she was right that it would be too difficult to find another Celestial, and that they should think of another way forward. Suddenly, a white feather fluttered down from above, which they immediately recognized was from another Celestial. Meanwhile, the hooded Ebonstar man from the city square, who had been watching them in secret, turned to leave. (A/N: Later on, he’s revealed to be Roland.)

Soon after, the Adversary, Edea, and Carlisle found Seren praying to Mitra. Edea asked the Adversary if they were sure that the feather didn’t belong to Seren. Carlisle wondered whether it belonged to the Chosen One, but Edea asked how a Celestial could have made it into the city without being noticed. Carlisle surmised that it was likely in the same way that Ebonstar had been slipping past them. Edea then expressed her belief that Seren should be the Chosen One, not some stranger.

Edea told them that Seren believed that the Celestial who had the emblem of the Chosen One was hiding in Cernium, and that she was determined to find them. She asked Carlisle what his plans were, to which he explained that he was busy with the Ebonstar heretics in the city, whom he believed had stolen holy water from the Dawn Priests the day before.

Edea asked why Ebonstar would want holy water, to which Carlisle explained that it was a very effective medicine when used on its own, but when it was mixed with the Flame Priests’ black powder, it could create massive explosions. He then asked Edea if she would help him track down the Ebonstar operatives and asked the Adversary to guard Seren.

After Carlisle and Edea left, Seren returned from her prayers and went with the Adversary to the town square, where she met with the Flame Priests to ask for their help in finding the Celestial. However, the Flame Priests refused to aid her after she had arrested the High Priests. They found that the Dawn Priests held similar sentiments and the Adversary realized that Seren had lost much of her good standing with the people.

On their way through the square, the two ran into a little girl, who recognized Seren’s Templar emblem and explained that she had seen one just like it earlier on the ground. When Seren asked where it was, the girl replied that she had given it to a man who had claimed that it belonged to him. She described him as a nice man who had given her candy, emphasizing how good it was.

Seren got the hint and told the Adversary to get the girl some candy. Just as they returned to the girl with candy, her mother took her away and warned her that she shouldn’t talk to people like Seren. Without any further leads, Seren decided to give up for the day, but the Adversary suggested that they check the memorial site for clues.

Meanwhile, Carlisle and Edea learned about the location of the Ebonstar hideout from their contact, but found it empty upon arriving. While searching for clues, Carlisle found black powder scattered on the floor and believed that Ebonstar had changed its location. Noticing scorch marks, he believed that Ebonstar had also been experimenting with the new compound created by mixing the powder with holy water.

Edea then noticed a communique from the High Flora addressed to Ebonstar, which thanked them for placing explosives at the temples of Nerota and Spisa. It instructed them to use the explosion in order to incite a war between the Flame Priests and Dawn Priests, after which the High Flora army would arrive to deal Cernium’s deathblow. Edea also found another Celestial feather, causing them to realize that the Celestial whom they were searching for was in league with Ebonstar.

At the memorial, Seren and the Adversary ran into the hooded Ebonstar soldier, whom Seren immediately recognized as Roland. Seren was shocked to see him, believing that he had died at the battle of High Mountain, but Roland revealed that he had merely run away and had spent many years as a wanderer.

Having heard that she had become the Guardian of the Holy Sword, he asked if she had read the inscription upon Azor, written in the old tongue: “Alvationsay inway Andhay.” Though he admitted that he was rusty, Roland believed that it translated to “Salvation is in Cernium” and asked Seren if she had found her salvation.

(A/N: This is a variation of Pig Latin, which roughly translates to “Salvation in Hand”. The original KMS text actually says, “Take it, Salvation will be in Palma.” Roland believes that Palma is the ancient word for Cernium, which makes him believe that the inscription says, “Take it, Salvation will be in Cernium.” Later on, Aaron reveals that “Palma” actually means “hand” or “grip”, meaning that the inscription actually says, “Take it, Salvation will be in hand.”

The word “Palma” obviously has its root in the English word “palm”, and so the connection between the word “palm” and “hand” is immediate to anyone who knows English. “Palm” not being a Korean word makes it easier to have the word “Palma” reasonably be a word from a foreign, ancient language in the game, which better explains why Roland misinterpreted it as “Cernium”.

The alternative inscription that we got in Pig Latin is a GMS localization, which might’ve been changed because “Palma” doesn’t really work as well in English. However, I think that localizing it as Pig Latin is just as ineffective because literally any person on the street could decipher something so simple, which makes it feel strange that Roland would get the first two words right, but then completely butcher the third. It also feels really weird that GMS is insinuating that the people from the time of the Ancient Gods exclusively spoke in Pig Latin.)

Suddenly, Ebonstar soldiers surrounded them as Seren asked Roland what he was doing. Roland told her how sick he was of holy swords and gods, and asked why so many people had to lose their lives over a useless hunk of metal. He vowed that he would show the people of Cernium how meaningless it all was, declaring that they needed to free themselves from the gods in order to prevent such tragedies from happening ever again.

As Seren and the Adversary defeated the Ebonstar soldiers, Roland attempted to retreat when Edea and the court knights blocked his path and ordered him to surrender. Roland merely laughed and told them that it was too late, just as a large explosion was set off in the city. Roland told them that the two Orders would turn on each other and destroy the city unless the knights intervened, though that would leave the city defenseless when the High Flora army appeared at the gates.

Roland then spread his wings and took to the air, telling Seren that she could still escape before the city was destroyed. He warned her that Darmoor was sending his First Apostle, the same one who had destroyed High Mountain, before flying away. As Edea attempted to shoot a lightning spell at Roland, Seren stepped between them and asked her not to kill him.

Before Edea could argue, the knights reported that Ebonstar had breached the city, forcing them all to let Roland escape while they returned to the city square. There, Carlisle told them that he had been close to stopping the explosions, though he hadn’t been able to stop it in time. A knight then reported that Flora soldiers were climbing over the eastern ramparts. Edea told Carlisle that the Glory Guard would defend the ramparts while he rallied his troops. The Adversary and the others arrived at the eastern ramparts and fought off the Flora soldiers.

After defeating them, Hawkeye told the Adversary to get to the east city gate while he managed the ramparts. As the Adversary started heading over, Roland attempted to light a fuse that would destroy the eastern gate. Suddenly, Seren charged at him, forcing Roland to drop his torch in order to parry her attack with his own sword. Seren entreated him to open his eyes, believing him to be the Chosen One who would save Cernium.

Roland asked Seren how she could still believe in Mitra after everything that she had gone through. He asked if she could still remember High Mountain and its people in flames as bolts of lightning had fallen from the sky, reminding her of how the sun hadn’t dared to show its face that day. He told her that he had worried that she had become yet another power-hungry priest when he had learned that she had become the Guardian, but he had come to realize that she was still her same, naïve self. Just then, two Ebonstar archers shot Seren while her guard was down.

As she fell onto her knees, Roland picked up his torch and told her that Mitra wasn’t a god worth dying for. As he lit the fuse, Seren watched powerlessly as it reached the bags of black powder. Before they could be set alight, however, the Adversary arrived and cut the fuse before the spark could reach its destination.

They then fought the Ebonstar soldiers as Roland recognized them as the one who had killed the Black Mage, whom he called a godling. Seren told Roland to surrender, but he merely joked that he wouldn’t be a good Chosen One if he gave up so easily. As Seren warned that she wouldn’t hesitate to cut him down, Roland took to the air and rushed past Seren, who managed to wound him. As he collapsed in pain, he revealed that he still had his torch, which he dropped onto the bags of black powder, creating a massive explosion that killed him in the process.

At the ramparts, Hawkeye checked on Checky, who had briefly lost consciousness in the explosion. Checky told Hawkeye that it was a relief that they had managed to stop the enemy, but Hawkeye explained that they had merely defeated the first wave, pointing to a much larger force approaching. At the eastern gates, the Adversary found a black Ebonstar emblem that Roland had dropped before realizing that Flora soldiers had breached the city gate. Checky and Hawkeye arrived with reinforcements, but Seren noted that there was no end to their numbers.

As Edea arrived to check on Seren’s condition, Seren told Edea that she had long held onto the hope that Roland would be the one to restore Azor. When she had found out that he was alive, she had believed that he had come to fulfill the prophecy. Edea yelled that it was no time to wallow, as enemies were flooding into the city, but Seren told her that they had already lost, as there was no holding the city with the gate fallen.

Realizing that she was right, Edea told Seren to take Azor and escape while they held the Flora army off. As the Glory Guard reassured Seren that they would be fine, Carlisle arrived and told her that though it wasn’t time for the prophecy to come true yet, they owed it to the future to keep fighting. Realizing that Carlisle was right, Seren rallied the troops, who could sense the steel behind her voice as that of the Guardian whom they all believed in. The knights and the Glory Guard, against impossible odds, managed to stop the Flora army at the gates.

Some time later, Edea and Carlisle spoke at the city ramparts about their victory. Carlisle was pleased that the Orders had all been able to set aside their differences to achieve victory. Edea was surprised that the High Priests had been released, and that the exiled priests had been pardoned at Seren’s insistence. Carlisle told her that Seren had even gotten on her knees in front of her own Order, beseeching them not in the name of the gods, but the people of Cernium, not to throw the High Priests’ lives away out of spite.

Edea was worried that the Order would lose trust in her because of her actions, but Carlisle told her that when Seren had first arrived in Cernium, she had arrived with not only Azor, but all the swords of her fallen comrades, carried from halfway around the world. Because of that, he was confident that every single one of Seren’s men would risk their lives to follow her, even if she had knelt on behalf of a heretic. Edea told Carlisle that though she didn't put much stock in prophecies, Mitra would be foolish not to recognize Seren as the Chosen One.

Elsewhere, the First Apostle of Lightning, Havoc, told Gilmore, Seren’s old commander, that the people of Cernium still fought, despite having lost the gate, but added that it was precisely why he had Gilmore, who was revealed to possess the emblem of the Chosen One.

Back in the city, Carlisle and Seren began repairing Cernium and fortifying their defenses for the next wave of the High Flora army. Carlisle told Edea that he wanted to express his gratitude to the Alliance. Edea then gave the Adversary a Sacred Symbol, which contained Sacred Power that was tied to the Ancient Gods, and explained that Cernium had created it in order to counteract the strange, debilitating energy settling over the land. With it, the Adversary was able to utilize more of their true potential for the battles to come. (A/N: Hey Edea, you know what would’ve been really helpful? If you actually gave me the object that could make me stronger before the giant battle that nearly killed us all.)