PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 18: The Silent Crusade

• An Alliance member was recruited into the Silent Crusade by an agent named Starling, who worked with them to investigate a crack in time within Perion that led to Sharenian of the past, though the monsters inside were from the present day.

• After the Alliance member proved their skills, Starling brought them to the Silent Crusade headquarters in Edelstein. Bastille, the leader of the Silent Crusade, explained that their organization had been founded by Empress Aria in order to monitor the activities of the Black Mage and his Commanders. With the Black Mage having broken free from his seal, Bastille explained that the Commanders were starting to resurface.

• After the Alliance member joined the Silent Crusade, Bastille revealed that Arkarium was the one responsible for creating the crack in time, with his imperfect time magic being the reason why past Sharenian had been filled with present-day monsters.

• The Alliance member was then sent to work with another agent named Crow in Leafre, where they were led into a trap by Arkarium’s snake minions, who were corrupting the monsters of Maple World in order to keep the Silent Crusade distracted. While the Crusaders fought the monsters, Arkarium was able to create a crack in time within the Temple of Time itself.

• The Alliance member entered the Temple of Time, where they met the spirit of Rhinne from the past. Unable to materialize for long while so far from her physical body, Rhinne quickly told the Alliance member that Arkarium planned to go back in time and kill the Heroes before the Black Mage would be sealed away.

• After entering the crack in time, the Alliance member was surprised to find that they had arrived in Leafre shortly after the Heroes’ fight against the Black Mage, despite the fact that Arkarium had intended to travel back even further.

• While investigating, the Alliance member encountered Maha and an unconscious Aran. The Alliance member helped Maha regain enough of his power to take Aran to Rien. They also encountered Afrien, alongside an unconscious Freud and Mercedes. Afrien revealed that he had taken the Black Mage’s curse in Freud’s place, and that the curse had also wiped out the Onyx Dragons.

• The Alliance member helped Afrien recover his egg, which had shielded the child within from the curse. With the Alliance member’s help, Afrien was also able to heal Mercedes, who had been grievously injured.

• Afrien revealed that Freud had created a barrier that prevented time from flowing back any further than the moment when the Black Mage had been sealed, which was why Arkarium had been unable to go back to the time before the Heroes had sealed the Black Mage away. However, as the Transcendent of Time, Goddess Rhinne had the power to override the barrier, which was why Arkarium intended to steal her powers.

• The Alliance member rushed to the Temple of Time, where the spirit of Rhinne - who was much closer to her physical body in the past - was able to properly materialize at last. Rhinne revealed that Arkarium had intended to kill not just the Heroes, but the Demon as well. However, due to Arkarium’s short-sighted jealousy, he had decided not to kill the weakened Heroes when he had the chance, instead choosing to take Rhinne’s powers and kill them before the seal would be created.

• The Alliance member rushed to stop Arkarium, disrupting his ritual to break the seal on Rhinne. A furious Arkarium revealed that after being unable to find the Demon in Leafre, he had decided to take Rhinne’s powers and go further in the past to destroy the Demon before his betrayal. Without the Demon turning on the Black Mage and weakening his defensive shields, Arkarium intended for the Heroes to be exhausted while facing the Black Mage at full-strength, which would result in their certain defeat.

• As Rhinne would be given to Will in the present day, Arkarium had intended to take her powers in the past, where she remained unguarded. However, the Alliance member defeated Arkarium and forced him to retreat, saving both Rhinne and the past.