PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 13: The Lion King’s Castle

An Alliance member was summoned to El Nath by the Resistance agent codenamed J, who had requested backup for investigating the Lion King’s Castle. In El Nath, the Alliance member met with J, who asked them whether they had heard of Von Leon the Lion King before. He explained that Von Leon was a great warrior and a Commander of the Black Mage who, like the other Commanders, had recently resurfaced with the Black Mage’s return after he and his castle had disappeared for centuries.

He told the Alliance member that the castle was located where Von Leon’s kingdom used to be, and that he suspected that Von Leon had secluded himself inside. Though the region was sparsely populated, J nevertheless believed that they couldn’t ignore the threat of Von Leon resuming his activities, for which he asked them to help him investigate.

Together, J and the Alliance member infiltrated the castle, though they quickly found that the path ahead was locked. In order to move forward, J decided to use his Resistance skills to craft keys for the castle towers, for which he asked the Alliance member to collect the necessary materials from the nearby monsters. The pair then pushed ahead to the Fourth Tower, where they encountered the ghost of a knight named Luden. Luden was shocked to find that living people had entered the castle, while the Alliance member was surprised that only they could see and hear Luden, as J was unable to perceive him.

Nevertheless, J asked the Alliance member to speak with Luden, believing that he might be able to give them more information about Von Leon. Luden was relieved to know that the Alliance member could see him and asked them to hear his story. Luden explained that he was a knight who had once served Von Leon many centuries ago. Though their kingdom had been poor, Von Leon had been a benevolent king who had ruled with his beloved wife, Ifia, until tragedy had befallen their castle, resulting in the castle’s guardians being transformed into monsters.

Luden explained that the Black Mage had corrupted Von Leon, and that his own words had failed to reach his king, who had fallen beyond reason. He then added that even in the centuries after the Heroes had sealed the Black Mage away, Von Leon had shown no signs of returning to his former self, for which he begged the Alliance member to try and reason with the king, as Luden was only a ghost now.

The Alliance member decided to first consult with J, who believed that turning Von Leon’s heart would be a great victory for the Alliance. As he was unable to see Luden, J decided that he would continue investigating the castle while the Alliance member helped Von Leon. After J left, the Alliance member agreed to help Luden, who asked them to speak with the ghost of Queen Ifia, believing that she was their only hope of swaying Von Leon’s heart.

Following Luden’s instructions, the Alliance member arrived at the Fifth Tower, where he found Ifia’s ghost near the entrance to the Rose Garden. Ifia was surprised to find a living person in the castle, and even more surprised to learn that they had come at Luden’s request, realizing that Luden was also a specter that haunted their once-beautiful castle.

Ifia explained that her husband had once been a blunt, yet kind, man who knew nothing except swordsmanship. Though he had been a man of few words, Ifia told the Alliance member that his goodness spoke through his eyes, though she feared that whatever the Black Mage had done to him had changed him greatly, enough so that he no longer even acknowledged her, despite her calling to him for centuries. She asked Alliance member to speak with Von Leon to see if he still remembered her, as she feared that he no longer cared for her.

In the Audience Room, the Alliance member met Von Leon, who demanded to know what they wanted from him. The Alliance member asked them whether he still remembered Queen Ifia, to which Von Leon - surprised to learn that they knew her name - warned them that he wouldn’t forgive them if they blasphemed the name of the dead. The Alliance member told Von Leon that Ifia’s ghost had been calling to him, though Von Leon called them a liar, claiming that he would have known if his beloved wife were a ghost, and threatened them to never speak her name again.

The Alliance member returned to Ifia and told her that Von Leon still remembered her, but that he couldn’t see or hear her. Elated that Von Leon hadn’t forgotten her, Ifia asked the Alliance member to help her make herself known to Von Leon. She told them that he had once built a Rose Garden for her, and that there was a reminder of their shared memories still inside. She first asked them to find the key to the garden from the Grey Vultures, after which she told them the story of how she had first met him.

At the time, she had been a commoner who sold flowers in the kingdom. One day, Von Leon had disguised himself as a commoner during a festival and had been roaming the grounds alone. When she had run into him, she had thought that it was strange that he didn’t have a single flower on him throughout the festival. Eventually, the two had fallen in love and wed after Von Leon had proposed to her with a snow rose. Soon after, he had built the Rose Garden inside the castle in her honor.

Ifia then asked the Alliance member to find a Flower Book inside the garden and present it to Von Leon, hoping that it would help him believe that she still waited for him after centuries. The Alliance member brought the book to a surprised Von Leon and explained that Ifia had told them where to find it. Though Von Leon knew that only he and Ifia knew of the book, he still couldn’t believe the Alliance member’s story, as he refused to accept that he couldn’t hear Ifia’s voice when they could. The Alliance member then returned to Ifia and told her about what Von Leon had said.

Realizing that there was only one way that Von Leon would believe her, Ifia decided that she would visit him herself using a secret passageway that only the two of them knew about. She explained that she had previously been unable to enter the throne room due to the dark energy of the castle’s monsters, though she believed that she would be able to enter with the Alliance member’s help. (A/N: I thought that the one bonus of being a ghost is that you don’t take damage. Also, can I just say that she moved so slowly in this quest that I think that I might’ve died myself while waiting for her.)

 In the Audience Room, Von Leon was shocked that the Alliance member had discovered the secret passageway. The Alliance member revealed that Ifia had told them about it, and that Ifia herself was standing with them. When Von Leon still couldn’t sense her, he wondered whether it was punishment for having sold his soul to the Black Mage and stained his hands with countless blood and sins. Defeated, he gave the Alliance member a pendant containing Ifia’s picture and told them that now that he had completed his revenge, he didn’t deserve her memory.

The Alliance member and Ifia returned to the Fifth Tower, where Ifia told them that she was touched that Von Leon still had the pendant after centuries, which made her wonder whether it was proof that he was still a good man deep down. Nevertheless, she noted that she hadn’t heard him say that he wouldn’t help the Black Mage anymore, which made her wonder what had caused him to change so much. She explained that she could remember very little at the time of her death, as she had blocked out the painful memories, leaving only flashes of flames and screams in her mind.

Believing that Luden may still remember, Ifia asked the Alliance member to speak with him, resolving to stay by Von Leon’s side so that he wouldn’t be alone. She told the Alliance member that though she knew that he had committed grave sins, she couldn’t allow him to suffer by himself, and that she would bear those sins with him.

The Alliance member then met with Luden, who was disappointed to learn that not even Ifia’s voice could reach the king. The Alliance member asked Luden what had caused Von Leon to change, to which Luden began telling the story of their kingdom’s fall. He explained that because their kingdom had been poor, the people hadn’t feared the Black Mage’s rise, as they had believed that the kingdom had nothing to offer him, because of which they had thought that he would spare them.

Soon after, a coalition had formed against the Black Mage and had asked Von Leon to join them. (A/N: They refer to this coalition as the Anti-Black Mage Alliance, but I’m refraining from using the word ‘alliance’ to avoid confusing it with the Maple Alliance.) However, the people had refused to fight against the Black Mage, as they hadn’t wanted to sacrifice their lives needlessly when they were sure that the Black Mage wouldn't attack them.

Von Leon had gone to negotiate with the coalition, but while he had been gone, the coalition had branded the citizens as minions of the Black Mage and had attacked the kingdom. Von Leon had returned to find his kingdom in flames and his beloved wife killed. Driven to despair and fury, he had sold his soul to the Black Mage in order to exact revenge on the ones who had destroyed his kingdom.

Luden told the Alliance member that though the Black Mage had threatened the world, it was the coalition which had wiped them out. However, though Luden admitted that fear and pain could warp one’s judgement, he noted that the actions of the coalition didn’t seem to make sense to him. However, to prove the coalition’s betrayal, he asked them to hunt Castle Golems, which he explained had been knights of the kingdom before they had been warped into monsters.

The Alliance member found several medals on the golems, which Luden explained were symbols of the coalition, some of whom had been transformed into monsters alongside the kingdom’s knights. Luden saw that the Alliance member felt sorry for Von Leon, though he urged them not to feel pity. He explained that though the king’s rage and sadness were understandable, it was unjustifiable for him to have sold his soul to the Black Mage. He added that Von Leon had already had his revenge, and that it was time to break the cycle, even if it meant putting the king down. 

Luden told the Alliance member that Von Leon was a master swordsman, and that he had likely also gained more power from the Black Mage, for which he warned them to be careful. The Crusader then entered the Audience Room and faced Von Leon. After a fierce battle, the Crusader emerged victorious and returned to Luden. Luden thanked them for their actions, but explained that Von Leon had only been weakened. Since his powers were tied to the Black Mage, Von Leon could never truly fall until the Black Mage’s power had been driven from his body.

(A/N: Since the Black Mage is now dead, I wonder whether Von Leon has regained his humanity. Nexon seems to have forgotten that Von Leon exists, as his last chronological appearance was in Zero’s storyline, ten years ago. Technically, he appeared in one of the flashbacks for the Genesis Weapon liberation questline, but that flashback was chronologically set even before Zero’s class story. If I had the power to shape the lore, I’d have Von Leon, Lucid, and Orchid appear as an ex-Commander trio in the Grandis story.)

After speaking with Luden, the Alliance member met with J, who was surprised to learn that they had managed to defeat Von Leon. The Alliance member told J about what they had learned from Luden, causing him to realize that the reason why Von Leon remained inactive was because he had already completed his revenge. However, he told them that one aspect of their story didn’t make sense, which was the coalition’s actions. He explained that while they had indeed existed, they had been a small group which had quickly disappeared.

He noted that it seemed strange that such a small group would have wasted all its forces on attacking Von Leon’s kingdom when they knew that their meager forces would have been wiped out in the battle. He then explained that while investigating the castle, he had come across several strange totems in the possession the coalition, which contained a dark energy that created madness in the bearer, which made him believe that some external force had driven the coalition mad, forcing them to attack Von Leon’s kingdom.

Though they were both disturbed by the idea, J noted that those events had already happened centuries ago, and that there was nothing they could do to change it. As they had confirmed that Von Leon was unlikely to act again, he believed that their investigation had concluded. He then told the Alliance member that defeating the Black Mage was their only hope of breaking Von Leon’s curse and putting an end to his great tragedy.

(A/N: It’s heavily implied that Hilla is the one responsible for driving the coalition mad, as we’re told in the Azwan storyline that Hilla’s illusions are strong enough to drive people to insanity. We also see Hilla being the one to recruit Von Leon in the Winter Bard.

Personally, I really hate how the story team keeps shoehorning “the Black Mage did it” into everything. The original version of the story had the coalition attack because they were driven by fear and paranoia by the slow collapse of their world around them, which was a much more compelling story with the amount of gray morality present in it. The new version takes away all the interesting elements of it, and pins everything on the Black Mage, which further goes on to ruin the rest of the storyline.

The Black Mage’s motivations in everything he did was because he thought that the Overseers had left their world broken beyond repair, and it’s a hell of a lot harder to see his point of view when almost all the retcons in the story have now made it so that the Black Mage was responsible for creating half the issues in the damn story, creating problems where none existed. I really wish the story team would stop forcing everything to be related to the Black Mage and just let some things happen independently of him.)