Each of the Daises have been toppled, but with her restraints broken, the enraged Angelus is free from her shackles. Our heroes must stop her but at what cost?!
The Unshackled Terror
The last we met Nowe and Manah stood toe to toe with the tyrant General Gismore. Having been consumed by his hatred, he has oppressed the people of the world and corrupted the purpose of the Knights of the Seal. Before his defeat however, he took it upon himself to topple the final Dais and let loose the final seal protecting the world from chaos. The vengeful Red Dragon.
Although the Red Dragon had sacrificed herself to reestablish the seals after the events almost two decades ago, she has gone mad and is now terrorizing the lands surrounding her resting place. It is a dangerous endeavor and the results could be devastating, but Nowe and Manah must pursue the enraged beast and put an end to her reign.
An Enraged Savior
Nowe and Legna take to the skies in pursuit of Angelus, this time they must put her to rest before she causes more terror! But Nowe hesitates to kill her. He feels sympathy for this beast who seems to have no control over her rage. But not only that, Legna explains to our hero that Caim and Angelus are connected. In the past they entered a pact, both sacrificing a part of themselves to further their strength and allow them to fight against the evil that spread across the world almost two decades ago.
This doesn’t strengthen Nowe’s resolve however, as the death of either of the creatures entered into such a pact would mean the death of them both. Even though he knows he must do it, to condemn either to such a fate feels unfair. That being said, they must have known the inevitable price of their actions.
Just as Nowe is trying to come to terms with this revelation, Legna receives a telepathic message from Caim. One that will set his and his pact partner’s fate in stone. He explains to Legna, who relays the message to Nowe, that he longs for death and that to grant him and Angelus this release would be the most merciful path. They have suffered long enough. Nowe also deduced that this must have been the reason Caim has been targeting the Districts. To free his long shackled partner, to see her one last time and to finally to end the madness that consumes them both.
Despite Caim’s pleas, Angelus feels differently. Though it is more than likely due to her all consuming rage, she retaliates with all of her might! She is swift and difficult to hit, and her attacks do devastating damage, but as it was with all of the battles leading up to this point, the determination and strength of our heroes overcome the Red Dragon’s onslaught. Nowe and Legna ground the flying terror.
The End of an Era
Legna lands before the toppled beast and let’s Nowe and Manah down. It seems that Angelus has come to her senses and is no longer a threat. She explains that she had heard a voice calling to her amongst the haze brought on by her rage. One that comforted her and wanted to set her free. That voice was of Caims who now stands by her side.
A man that for many years has been shunned by his people, including the Knights of the Seal. But his actions were selfless and despite the pain that they brought him, it was for his friend.
She is glad to see her friend one last time before she dies, and the same sentiment can be seen in Caim as well. As Angelus draws her last breath, her body and the surrounding area become engulfed in flames, consuming both her and Caim.
An Aimless Pursuit
With the final seal broken, the world begins to collapse toward its end. The sky shatters and reveals a sickly blood red canopy.
Nowe, lamenting over the state of the world finds seeing such sights of devastation to be an agonizing revelation. Legna, on the other hand, explains that this is in fact the world in its natural form. But, when the world is in such a state, it is the only time such grotesqueries can be seen. It seems hopeless, Nowe thinks, how is he to save the world and prevent it from sinking into an eternal darkness. That is when Legna mutters that a new goddess could reestablish the seals, but he knows of no such woman. But perhaps Manah’s brother, the Hierarch Seere, has the information they need.
The way to Seere is a treacherous one though as the skies are laden with ghouls of all sorts, strong spirits and creatures unlike our heroes have ever seen, guard every corner! The battles are fierce and difficult, but Nowe and Manah finally make it to the fortress where Seere is supposed to be waiting. However, as our heroes enter the halls, Seere is nowhere to be seen.
Disappointed, our heroes turn to leave this empty Shrine, but just as they approach the doors, strange sounds can be heard from beyond. More hideous creatures lay in wait beyond! They aren’t our heroes’ only opposition either as the remnants of the Knights of the Seal also stand in their way. It is once again a struggle to make it to the exit.
After what seemed to be an eternity of twists and turns, Nowe and Manah finally breath fresh air again. Manah is losing her mind, the madness of it all is getting to her and she is slowly regressing into a child. Or perhaps she is reliving her time as the catalyst that brought the same chaos to the world years ago. Legna attempts to convince Nowe to leave her behind, but he won’t have it. He is also starting to doubt that he has the power to fix all of this. And that is when Legna mentions that perhaps the new world or the hope to fix the current world is in fact amongst the skies, in the Ancient Tombs.
The Ancient Tomb
Legna explains that there is a race of dragons referred to as the Holy Dragons that may have the knowledge they need to stop the world from crumbling and save Manah. Knowledge that can only be found in the Ancient tomb. Now having an objective our heroes head to the skies once more and seek it out.
As they approach the Ancient Tomb, our heroes are shocked by its size. It is a massive floating structure, surrounded by odd machinery and architecture. The entrance to the tomb is guarded by a flock of arch-dragons, a breed of dragon all of their own tasked with protecting the knowledge found within and a part of the Holy Dragon lineage, and our heroes must defeat them before they can gain entrance. It is a quick battle and with the way clear our heroes can finally cross the Tomb’s threshold.
The structures and architecture within the Tomb is astounding, but it is also a maze of machinery and unfamiliar technology. The walls of the tomb shift and reveal hostile cannons that attempt to stop our heroes from proceeding. Legna is insistent though, explaining that they must make it to the cradle of the structure to learn the truth and to gain the knowledge to rebuild a new world. As Legna and Nowe get closer to their destination, a voice can be heard, one that is reciting what seems to be an ancient history or perhaps the events from the past two decades that have led to where our heroes currently stand.
As Legna and Nowe breach the final threshold and enter the glowing epicenter, the voice is clearer now. It explains that the Holy Dragons, in their endless war against a race called the Nameless, created the humans to help stave their enemy off. But it wouldn’t be enough, they would have to combine their forces, exploit their creations’ strength and perhaps engineer a new breed. One that is stronger, one that is the epitome of their salvation.
Confused, Nowe reels as Legna explains to him that he is in fact the progenitor of this new breed, and if he can harness this power, then he would be the key to their victory. As the voice finishes its last words, the tomb begins to collapse around our heroes. Knowing they now possess the knowledge that they need, they escape from the depths and once again surface to the foreboding red sky. Only this time with a new hope.
Into the Madness
Their high spirits are short lived however, since as soon as they escape from the collapsing tomb, an airship can be seen in the distance. One that is brandished with the mark of the Knights. Could this be Seere! Unfortunately, the ship is surrounded by more of the arch-dragons! Knowing that they must save the Hierarch, Nowe and Legna engage, and attempt to foil the offense of these guardians. They are trained on the ship, but because of that they also leave themselve wide open to our heroes’ attack and fall quickly. Not without causing severe damage to the airship first though. Just as the last arch-dragon falls, so does the airship, plummeting toward the surface of the tomb, where it crash lands. Legna and Nowe swiftly descend to check on its remnants and to be sure that Seere truly was on board, and that he is safe and still alive.
Nowe approaches the wrecked ship, but it isn’t Seere he finds, like he had hoped, but Eris! She’s still alive! She explains that Seere helped her and healed her after their battle with General Gismore. Nowe questions her trying to get information out of his old friend as to where the Hierarch could be. She mentions that as she made her approach to the Ancient Tomb, Seere took off on his own, stating he had something he needed to do. Before she could explain the situation further though, Manah’s madness once again interrupts them. This time however, a deep and disturbing voice emanates from her. An unnatural voice that articulates without her moving her lips. Her eyes become wide and she becomes more frantic. The voice declares that the humans and dragons are his enemy and that they must die. Nowe approaches Manah to attempt to shake her out of this disturbing stupor, but as he gets close, he is dragged into her twisted mind.
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