Lost Heart/Storyline

The story of Lost Heart.
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== Act 1 (Southern Kros) ==
===Awakening (Centrus Plains)===
The game begins with a flickering light in the dark, revealing a figure in a jumpsuit and iron helmet lying on the ground in the middle of a dark cavern. The light dies out, only to be replaced by the figure’s rectangular eyelights opening slightly, just barely illuminating feminine eyelashes. Her body gives off steam as she slowly sits up, taking in her surroundings. She frowns and tilts her head, quietly asking where she was, before getting to her feet and stretching. After looking around again, she decides to “find somewhere less gloomy” before she starts asking questions.
After making it through the cavern, which serves as a tutorial for the general movement, the girl emerges on a hill overlooking a wide plain at night. She’s halfway through admiring the scenery before she realizes that she has no memory of who she is. After a moment, she decides to freak out later, choosing to focus on where she was rather than who she was. She ran down the small hill, passing several pillars before reaching a small campfire in what appears to be an ancient ruin of some sort.
Unsure of who to trust, she hides behind one of the collapsing walls and peeks through a crack to see two figures approaching the campfire. One of them was a person wearing a simple black cloak, grey pants, and hiking boots; the other looks like a male version of herself with a darker jumpsuit. Both of them are clearly sleepy as they sit by the campfire, with one of them writing down something in very scratchy letters on a notepad before laying back to rest.
Curiosity piqued, the girl sneaks over to try and get a closer look, picking up the notes and flipping through them. Her first thought is that the handwriting is awful; the second is that the part she can understand refers to an “Iron” leaving a cave, the same one she was in. She concludes that these two knew who she was, and her name was apparently Iron. She looks through the notepad a bit more, only catching details about a HQ somewhere north of the camp. Putting the pad down, she ran in the general direction the notes said, wondering if the “HQ” will have more answers.
===Meet the CRG (Castle HQ)===
Iron soon arrives at the Castle HQ, discovering quite a commotion. If the screams were any indication, the area was apparently under attack by something called a “Stonefang”. Iron rushes through a large hole in the walls of the building, soon seeing a large tiger-like monster with rock-like fangs attacking a girl trying to fight against it. The tiger monster soon pounces towards the girl; without thinking, Iron charges forward, her hand drawn back in a fist…and sends the beast flying across the room with a fist-sized dent in its face and a satisfying *CRUNCH*.
Iron rubs her knuckles, slightly surprised by the force of her own punch, as the girl she saved stares at her with a shocked look. Eventually, the girl manages to collect herself and dust herself off. Two guards rush in, armed for a fight…until they drop their weapons at the sight of the still-twitching monster body. The girl tells the two to take the body away, and they nod, still slightly shocked.
The girl turns towards Iron and thanks her for defeating the Stonefang, introducing herself as Princess Cent. Iron immediately bows to her upon hearing her title, causing Cent to frantically reveal that she isn’t an actual princess, it’s just a nickname. Iron blushes slightly, signified by two red circles appearing on her glass face cover, getting off her knees and rubbing the back of her head. Cent blushes as well, before shaking her head and asking Iron’s name. Iron states that she’s Iron, Cent says that she knows she’s an Iron, but Iron says that she is Iron, causing confusion for everyone.
After a while of confusion, Iron frustratedly says that her name is Iron, causing Cent to blink in surprise. She asks Iron why she would name herself after her species, causing Iron to realize that when she read the notes, she misinterpreted her species name as her actual name. Slightly amused by the misunderstanding, she apologized to Cent for confusing her, causing Cent to smile and say that she didn’t need to apologize; instead, she asks Iron to follow her so she can give her a tour of the castle.
After the tour, which basically introduces the areas in the base, Cent decides to ask Iron if she wants to join the CRG; Iron is silent for a second before stating that, while she doesn’t want to be rude, she has no idea what that is. Cent sighs and mumbles that she isn’t surprised; only members of the CRG and the people living in Centrus Plains know about it. She explains that “CRG” stands for “Centrus Recovery Group”; they are dedicated to helping Kros recover from a horrible disaster that consumed it many years ago. As Cent speaks, Iron concludes that Kros was the land that she was in, and the specific area she was in was called Centrus.
Unbeknownst to her, she thought out loud, tipping Cent off that she doesn’t have any memories. She immediately announces that she will help Iron find her memories; Iron doesn’t actually care too much about it, but Cent is determined to help Iron find her past, especially if Iron is going to join the CRG. Iron, with Cent having grown on her, agrees, causing Cent to cheer about Iron being their first new member in a long while. While Cent is cheering, Iron wonders exactly just what she’s gotten into…but seeing as how she can’t seem to stop smiling, it didn’t seem that bad.
===Field Training (Mantisk Jungle)===
Shortly after Iron is settled into the HQ (and outfitted with a new uniform at her own request), Princess Cent asks her to accompany her on a small trip to Dracoli Island, another major CRG outpost in the area. This will serve the double purpose of allowing Iron to meet other members of the group and giving Cent an idea of her new recruit’s abilities. She explains that they’ll have to travel by boat to reach the island; the quickest way to reach the harbor is to travel through Mantisk Jungle, but it’s also a bit dangerous. Jumping at the chance to see more of the world, Iron vows to protect Cent as they go through the jungle, causing the princess to half-jokingly comment, “I appreciate the thought…but I think you’ll find that I can handle myself pretty well.”
While working their way through Mantisk Jungle, Iron quickly discovers that Cent isn’t kidding about her own competence; she admits that she only needed saving when they first met because she wasn’t expecting a Stonefang to show up at her front door. She explains that monsters are becoming increasingly aggressive all across Kros, spreading well beyond their normal ranges and attacking everyone in their path; one of the CRG’s main goals is to protect the people from these monsters while learning the source of their aggression.
After listening to the speech appreciatively, Iron asks Cent about the disaster that destroyed Kros in the first place. After a moment, Cent admits that no one knows what caused the disaster, only that it managed to destroy an entire empire within days and burn a giant “X” shape into the middle of the continent - the Scar. She goes on to comment that the Kros Royal Family was assumed to have been wiped out during the disaster, though the remains of the Princess were never found. She also mentions the General, the hero of the Kros armies - Iron shivers a bit at the name, to both of their confusions.
As they continue through the Jungle, Iron notices a strange tower among the trees, seemingly made of plants and stone in equal measure. Cent identifies it as the Spire of Vis, a relic of the ancient Kros kingdom. There are similar towers across the continent, but no one knows what any of them do; the CRG is studying them to try and understand their purpose, but it’s made difficult by the powerful monsters that seem to gather around them. Although something about Cent’s explanation sends a bit of unease through Iron, she makes a mental note to come back and try to reach the tower as she and Cent emerge from the jungle, finding the harbor that will take them to Dracoli Island.
===Clash with the Church (Dracoli Island)===
As they board the boat, Cent warns Iron to be careful not to fall overboard - Irons like her tend to take poorly to salt water. Of course, Iron is too busy peering over the railing at the ocean below, and promptly falls over; when a panicking Cent retrieves her, however, she seems to be fine (if a bit shaken, since she’s just learned that she’s not much of a swimmer). Cent, slightly confused, slowly says that Iron must be waterproof.
Upon arrival on Dracoli Island, Cent introduces Iron to the Dracos, a race of humanoids with draconic features. She explains that the island is one of the few Draco settlements outside of the Scale Kingdom in the eastern regions of Kros, as well as the home of the CRG’s only Draco member: Saphi, a sleepy girl who nonetheless serves as an effective scout. Iron soon meets Saphi for herself, and they hit it off right away…at least, Iron thinks so, since Saphi seems to be in a perpetual state of half-to-full-sleepiness.
Suddenly, a CRG member runs up with news; “the Church is attacking!” After a moment of shock, Cent comments that the Church has never openly attacked them before. With Saphi slowly fluttering off to muster the defense, Cent tells Iron that they’re under attack by The Church of the Sky, the main religious group on Kros…as well as the CRG’s main rival. She explains that the Church sees the disaster as “divine judgement for past sins”, and fear that the CRG may inadvertently invoke another apocalypse by trying to uncover the past. Iron simply replies “then they’re asking for a pounding” before heading off to assist the defenders.
Iron soon fights her way to the leader of the attack, with Saphi using her ash breath as a smokescreen to cover her advance. The leader appears to be a Krosser in a golden cloak, holding a staff and wearing a hood. She begins ranting about how the CRG are heretical fools for trying to uncover the past, and she will show mercy by stopping their operation before they anger the divines. She tries to continue, but Iron sucker punches her, sending the girl a few feet back. However, she merely cracks her neck and grins, pulling out two gauntlets and charging forward with a furious scream.
After defeating the Fanatic, she falls on the ground after being solidly punched. Cent shakes her head at the Fanatic, who is growling in anger. She gets up, looking very tired, and rushes towards Cent. However, Cent socks the Fanatic in the gut as Iron socks the Fanatic in the face hard, followed by slamming her into the ground, face-first. Iron dusts her hands off as the Fanatic moans in pain, barely coherent; Cent, meanwhile, blushes slightly.
Soon, the Fanatic is tied up, ranting and raving after she recovered from the pain. Meanwhile Iron is staring at the Fanatic and talking to Cent, asking what they do with her. Cent isn’t sure, as this has never happened before. The answer quickly comes when a much larger Church force arrives, led by a woman that Cent identifies as a Cloudspeaker, one of the highest ranks. Iron prepares herself for a fight, but the woman - identified as Speaker Aeris - simply berates the Fanatic for her “shameful behavior”, ordering her and her forces to be taken away in chains for proper disciplining.
While this is done, Aeris briefly addresses Cent, referring to her by her real name, Anna Centrus. She apologizes for the Fanatic’s assault, explaining that a portion of the Church has become radicalized as a result of recent unrest and monster attacks; however, she also encourages the CRG to cease its operations of “delving into what should be best left undisturbed.” When Cent refuses, Aeris wonders why she continues to “tempt calamity” with the CRG’s operations; Cent replies that she seeks to understand the past to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. Aeris sighs, lamenting that “you put too much stake in the matters of your blood…” before taking her leave.
As the Church’s ships sail off, Cent notices Iron still fuming slightly. She quickly assures her new friend that the Church is generally benevolent, just opposed to the CRG on an ideological level; attacks such as the one led by the Fanatic are completely out of the ordinary. Iron reluctantly agrees, but comments that she still doesn’t like the Church, “‘cause they messed with my friends.” Cent is rather touched by Iron’s loyalty, but gently reminds her to tread carefully, since the CRG is trying to unite the people of Kros. At any rate, the princess decides that Iron is a worthy ally to the CRG; worthy enough to become her personal guard on a mission she’s been planning for some time…
===Preparing for Expansion, Part 1 (Adamant Caves)===
Back at Castle HQ, Princess Cent calls a meeting of the CRG to discuss her previously-mentioned “mission”. She praises their efforts in studying and protecting the southern regions they call home, but she believes that the time has come to expand their group to other parts of Kros. Her dream is to unite the lands as allies and take their studies across the continent, in order to truly understand what happened in the past and how to avoid making the same mistake again.
To this end, Cent orders the CRG to begin preparing for expansion across the continent. While the group sets off to make their preparations, Cent asks Iron to accompany her to the Adamant Caves, where the CRG gathers most of its mineral resources. The increased monster activity is threatening to disrupt their mining operations, and Cent intends to put a stop to it before she turns her attention to expansion. She and Iron eventually succeed when they find out why the monsters are showing up; they’re fleeing from the Rock Falcon, a monstrous terror bird with stony feathers and the power to create localized earthquakes. Once the beast is brought down, mining operations can resume; however, the team can return later to help with the mining or to repel the odd monster attack.
===Preparing for Expansion, Part 2 (Thunder Station)===
In addition to the mining work in the Adamant Caves, Cent intends to solve a few problems at Thunder Station, a combination of research lab and power plant overseen by Sparki. Iron is fascinated by the shy Iron scientist (much to her discomfort), but quickly turns her attention to the infestation of electric-based monsters that’s causing trouble for plant operations. Between her and Cent, they manage to navigate the station and pinpoint the core of the problem; a giant egg-like object that seems to be alternately draining and overloading the main generator.
When they dislodge the “egg”, it immediately transforms into the Stormwurm, a massive beast that seems to be equal parts cloud, lightning, and living flesh. By defeating the Stormwurm, they clear the way for Sparki to bring the plant back under control, restoring some measure of normalcy. Further levels in this area generally involve setting up defenses against further monster attacks and helping repair various malfunctioning or damaged systems.
===A Chilling Request (Frozite Plaza)===
With all the preparations in order, Cent assembles the CRG to see off their exploration groups, tasked with setting up outposts for future expansion. Once all of the groups have set off - either on foot, in caravans, or aboard the CRG’s few airships - Cent and Iron take their own leave. Once they’re out of the HQ, Iron admits that she’s glad that Cent opted to go on foot; she’d much prefer to experience Kros at a gradual pace. Pleased that Iron shares her thoughts of taking to their expansion “the slow way”, Cent directs her companion to the east, where a harsh tundra separates Southern Kros from the Scale Kingdom, home of the Dracos.
The pass through the tundra is fairly short, but the other side is blocked by a pair of hulking Draco guards and a rather irritable ambassador. He announces that access to the Scale Kingdom is forbidden “by order of Princess Drica” until someone does something about the Giga Blizzard, which the princess claims is sending drafty winds through her palace window. Iron, not one for diplomacy, is preparing to fight her way through, but Princess Cent reins her in and agrees to the task, seeing it as a way to gain favor with the Draco royal family. The ambassador suggests asking the denizens of Frozite Plaza for advice on how to survive the blizzard, “if you think it’ll actually help…”
Undeterred, Iron and Cent set out for Frozite Plaza, finding it to be inhabited by Irons. Despite Iron’s protests, Cent insists on grilling the civilians to see if they know anything about “her” Iron; when that proves futile, she opts to ask about reaching the Giga Blizzard. The head of the plaza tells her to travel to the top of Blizzard Tower to learn of the blizzard and its supernatural source; although this requires several more challenges to be overcome, Iron and Cent succeed, finding legends of the blizzard being created by a powerful and ancient Ice Giant…
===Frozen in Time (Giga Blizzard)===
With a lead on their target, Iron and Cent prepare to head out for the Giga Blizzard, contending with ice-based monsters and intense winds that force them to take cover behind various environmental features. Depending on the character, they can take one of two paths to the heart of the blizzard; Iron walks along the side of a mountain, dealing with various obstructions and punching out debris that the blizzard sends her way. On the other hand, Cent travels through a twisting series of ice caverns within the mountain, dealing with jumping puzzles and the occasional gust of freezing winds from outside.
Either way, the duo eventually makes it to the source of the blizzard, an ancient and cranky ice giant named Cryoshale. He’s none too pleased to have company to worry about, bellowing at them to leave him be before intensifying his blizzard to near-whiteout conditions. Fighting against the intense winds and limited visibility, Iron and Cent manage to break through the blizzard and explain to Cryoshale that they’re not interested in fighting him; they just want the blizzard to stop. Unfortunately, they end up implying that the world has “outgrown” the need for monsters to fight, prompting an irate Cryoshale to attack. Iron and Cent must use the terrain and the giant himself to climb up to his weak points and attack, all while avoiding his powerful blows and dangerous ice magic.
After the fight, Cryoshale collapses on one knee, moaning angrily. After a few final attempts to grab at them, he collapses fully, still fuming about the fight as Cent apologizes for what she said. Cryoshale mutters that they’re much more polite than the other “heroes” that came after him; they’re also the first ones in a long while to actually beat him, too. He explains that he tired of the countless would-be warriors that sought him out for glory and personal pride; when he’d had enough, he entombed himself in ice and slumbered until he was awakened by a strange tremor. Realizing that Cryoshale comes from pre-disaster Kros, Cent clarifies her earlier statements; modern Kros has developed past the point where people feel the need to battle monsters for glory; instead, people seek to live in peace with their neighbours. Cryoshale, slightly disbelieving, asks Cent to keep people away from him and he’ll stop the blizzard. Cent agrees to this as Cryoshale raises his arms and inhales, seemingly sucking the blizzard into himself.
After a while, the blizzard has cleared and Cryoshale has left, leaving Cent and Iron to head to the ambassador and tell him the blizzard was stopped. Iron mumbles that she’s going to enjoy the look on his face.
== Act 2 (Scale Kingdom) ==
===Drag in the Dragons (Verdant Border/Grainy Farmlands)===
After a quick stop-in at Frozite Plaza to ask the local Irons to help the CRG keep rabblerousers away from Cryoshale’s turf, Cent and Iron return to the pass to inform the ambassador that they’ve dealt with the blizzard. Upon realizing that they actually managed to deal with the blizzard, he makes the greatest expression of shock as he walks away without a word, leaving Cent and Iron to laugh at his reaction. As they prepare to move on, Cent looks at Iron for a bit, blushing slightly as she comes to a realization…
They soon emerge from the pass into Verdant Border…just in time to see a pack of Armored Dracos running off from their latest raid. Iron, realizing what the Armored Dracos are doing, charges after them, but the Dracos evade her by taking to the air. Iron frowns as she loses sight of the Dracos, soon noticing the fortress in the center of the area. Cent agrees that the fortress is probably their base, but suggests gathering some information from the surrounding villages first.
The first level or two in Verdant Border introduces players to the general aesthetics and enemies of the area as Cent and Iron find themselves dealing with more Armored Draco raids while working their way through the area. After making it to the Grainy Farmlands, our heroines learn that the villains have appeared fairly recently, some time after monster attacks also began increasing in other parts of the kingdom; stranger still, the royal family has been increasingly isolated as of late. Resolving to investigate this later, Cent and Iron turn their attention to the Draco Fortress, infiltrating it through a hidden tunnel network and routing the Armored Dracos by defeating their leader; before he falls, however, he warns that “Princess Drica will not stand for this…!”
Iron, suspecting that the Princess had something to do with the Armored Draco raiders, guesses that the reason for claiming that they had to stop the Giga Blizzard before they could enter the kingdom was that she didn’t want them in the kingdom. Cent acknowledges this, but points out that no one knew who they were outside of the inhabitants of Dracoli Island; why would a Princess be worried about them? Before Iron could answer, a third voice with a heavy southern accent speaks up: “Trust me, she ain’t worried ‘bout you…’cause she ain’t Princess Drica.”
Both girls whip around to see a slender figure wrapped in a cloak standing in the doorway; a Draco, judging by her elegant azure-scaled wings. Iron demands to know who she is, while Cent is more concerned about what she meant with that cryptic statement. The Draco only tells them to meet her at the Shock Ruins “if y’all really wanna know the truth that bad,” leaving before they can question her further.
===Shocking Intrigue (Shock Ruins)===
Deciding to get some answers, Cent and Iron ask around the farmlands for directions to the Shock Ruins, learning that it’s an abandoned ruin from pre-disaster Kros. This doubles Cent’s interest in the site, and she all but drags Iron off to investigate. The two soon arrive at the Ruins, meeting up with members of the CRG at a ramshackle outpost. The group reveals that they ran into some trouble with the Giga Blizzard when they set out to spread across the kingdom, and have been here trying to hide from attacks by the Armored Dracos. When Cent asks about the cloaked Draco, they confirm that she’s been helping them escape attacks and she usually hangs out in the center of the ruins when not with them.
Iron and Cent soon make their way to the center of the ruins, meeting up with the cloaked Draco. Cent immediately asks her what she meant earlier, implying that Princess Drica has been replaced by an impostor. The cloaked Draco confirms this, explaining that “Ah’m the first person to know this kinda stuff…cause, y’know…Ah kinda am Princess Drica.” Before anyone can question this, she doffs her cloak, revealing that she is, in fact a Draco female with golden stripes on her tail; the sign of her people’s royal lineage.
A single awkward moment passes before Iron asks if she should bow or not, with Cent starting to flip out. Drica rubs the back of her head, slightly embarrassed at the reactions. “C’mon now, y’all don’t have to get all hoity-toity with me! We ain’t in front of mah Pops, y’know?” As Cent takes a deep breath to calm down, Iron asks Drica how she got herself exiled.
“Yer guess is as good as mine, metal-gal…mah Pops just busted inta mah room one day an’ said Ah was bein’ exiled fer bein’ a brat or somethin’.”
Iron rolls her eyes, recalling the ambassador’s words. “From what the ambassador said, you seemed pretty bratty to me. Ordering us to remove an ancient blizzard because it was blowing in your window…to say nothing of all those raids you apparently ordered!”
“Say what now?!” Drica seems quite shocked at this news. “What kinda self-absorbed prissball makes that kinda stupid order instead of just, Ah dunno…closin’ her window?! An’ sayin’ that Ah’d set raiders on mah own subjects…!” She lets out a low growl, causing smoke and sparks to issue between her gritted fangs. “That doggone settles it - someone’s had me framed, an’ they’re askin’ fer a lesson in proper etiquette!”
Iron and Cent are silent for a bit before Cent says, “Well…she’s quite...personable? I wonder why she speaks in a accent…”
“Aah, that’s from the gardeners ‘round Pops’ castle; they all talk like that. Pops always useta say that Ah’d pick up ‘bad habits’ from hangin’ round them ‘common folk’…y’all don’t think it’s too annoyin’, eh?”
“Nah, it’s fine.” Iron rubs the back of her head as Cent begins thinking. Eventually, she asks Drica if there’s any possibility that someone could have impersonated her to trick her father; Drica seems skeptical at first, but suddenly has a brainwave on what could have happened. “Well…now that ya mention it…there’s one gal Ah could see tryin’ ta frame me…but Ah ain’t pointin’ claws ‘til Ah have me some proof. Guess Ah’ll be payin’ a secret visit to mah Pops’ place in Dragonheart Square.” Iron nods at this, before calmly asking if she and Cent can come along, “y’know, in case you need backup.” Although she’s surprised by Iron’s willingness to help, Drica accepts, saying that “Ah don’t think Ah can do this on mah own…”
===Shifting Expectations (Dragonheart Square)===
Soon after meeting and teaming up with Drica, our heroes travel to a rather opulent town with a large castle in the center. Drica introduces Iron and Cent to the capital of the Scale Kingdom, Dragonheart Square; the other two are a bit more concerned about the very nasty-looking guards standing around the borders. Drica laughs off their worries, claiming that the guards are “just big ol’ softies in scale mail”; nonetheless, she admits that they’d probably raise the alarm in seconds if they saw an “unknown” Draco and two foreigners walking around. She suggests taking point for the CRG members, since “Ah know this place like the back o’mah hand,” including a secret entrance around the side of the wall.
The first level in Dragonheart Square serves as a sort of tutorial for Drica, with a lot of jumping puzzles that can be made easier with her gliding and hovering abilities and areas where her fire breath can be put to use. Cent and Iron can make it through as well, but they’ll probably end up alerting a guard or two, forcing them to deal with constant harassment from very powerful Draco enemies for the rest of the level. The second level features the trio’s arrival at Wyrmblood Castle, the seat of power for the Draco royal family, where they have to sneak past even more guards to reach vantage points from where they can eavesdrop on the goings-on within the castle.
Through their infiltration, the girls see some very suspicious activity, mostly centered around a shady-looking Draco that Drica identifies as the Advisor. First, they see him speaking to her father, the massive, imposing King Wyrm (Drica insists that “He’s really ain’t half as scary as he looks”, but Iron snarks back, “That’d still make him pretty damn scary.”), who seems to be in quite a bad mood about his “daughter’s” recent behavior. It’s revealed that Drica’s always been a bit of a rebel, but her exile was due to an apparent upswing in brattiness. She recently returned, only to prove even worse than before, prompting King Wyrm to consider “re-exiling” her; for some reason, the Advisor supported the first one, but not the second. After being dismissed by his less-than-pleased king, he immediately makes for “Princess Drica’s” room, prompting the trio to follow him; made more difficult by the need to stay mostly indoors.
Upon reaching the room, our heroines find a nice vantage point outside the open window, where they observe the Advisor meeting someone who looks a lot like Drica, save for jet-black scales where Drica has azure, and an air of what can only be described as the distilled essence of “I’m infinitely better than you”. With Drica silently gaping in horror at what the imposter has done to her room, Cent and Iron watch as the Advisor tells “Drica” that the King is becoming suspicious about “our ruse”; then, to their utter shock, they see the fake princess transform into an entirely different Draco girl, looking very similar to the Advisor himself. With a frown of grim realization, Drica quietly identifies the girl as Nym, the Advisor’s daughter and “a right two-faced pain in the tail…but Ah never thought it was that literal!” She explains that Shapeshifters are a rare species of Draco said to be able to alter their forms to mimic others, but she’d always thought they were a myth…until now.
Meanwhile, the Advisor has informed Nym about King Wyrm’s consideration of exiling “Drica” (again). Nym is dismayed, but willing to go along with it “for the sake of the plan…and once you’re on the throne, you’ll call me back! Right, Daddy~?” The CRG trio realizes that the Advisor is trying to usurp King Wyrm, but Drica wonders how he plans to do so when “just about everyone loves mah Pops.” They decide that they have to keep an eye on the Advisor, so they resume sneaking after him as he leaves the room.
The third segment of the level involves following the Advisor as he travels to the bowels of the castle; a difficult task, as he proves to be much more alert than the guards once he’s out of the bustling upper levels. If they remain hidden, however, they’ll eventually follow him to a basement where he changes his clothes and shifts his form before taking a secret tunnel out of the castle. Although unable to follow the Advisor, due to the cramped nature of the tunnel, Drica notes that it seems to lead out to the Bullion Wastes, a desert that serves as a magnet for bandits due to its rich gold deposits. Suspecting that this may have something to do with the Advisor’s plans, Cent resolves to go there next once the trio makes it out of the castle. Before they set out, however, Drica takes her aside to compliment her on “that fine gal ya’ve got in yer corner,” leaving her extremely flustered.
===Gold & Greed (Bullion Wastes)===
After sneaking back out of Dragonheart Square, the trio sets off for the large expanse of golden sand that’s the Bullion Wastes. When they arrive, they notice a large sandstorm whirling in the middle of the desert; Iron snarks “That had better not be the work of a Sand Giant,” causing Cent to giggle and Drica to look a bit confused…until she notices Cent’s expression and smirks at her. Cent blushes at this and changes the conversation, asking Drica if there are any important places around here that the Advisor would go. The Scale Kingdom princess admits that “Ah didn’t think that anyone sane would wanna hang ‘round here for long,” noting that the desert is ruled by hordes of bandits from a secret hideout said to lie at the center of the sandstorm.
Iron’s all for fighting through the storm and attacking head-on, but Cent decides against that, noting “that’s what the bandits would expect.” Instead, she guesses that there are secret entrances somewhere in the desert, allowing the bandits to move covertly and pop up when their victims least expect it - a guess supported by the sudden bandit ambush they immediately walk into. After being thoroughly beaten down, the bandits rush off behind a nearby rock, and when the trio follows, they’re gone. Commenting that “they’ve definitely got a secret entrance around here”, Cent notices something sparkling in the sand. Upon examination of the sand, she discovers that the bandits apparently dropped several chunks of gold, causing her to grin widely and get a very greedy look in her eyes. Drica, noticing the gold, says that it’s probably from one of the few gold mines run by people who consider the deposits around here worth the risk. “Pops has several around somewhere.”
Before they can consider this further, they are called out by a familiar group: the Church of the Sky, leading a small caravan. Iron, upon realizing just who called them out, begins glaring at the Church members as Cent explains that they’re tracking bandits “on a hunch they’re up to something especially bad.” The leader of the caravan, Skysword Strato, returns Iron’s glare with equal intensity before turning his attention to Cent, commenting that Speaker Aeris has mentioned her “extensively” following the Fanatic’s unsanctioned actions. Cent curiously yet politely inquires what he meant, but Strato scoffs at her, pointedly ignoring the now-fuming Iron. He says that Aeris’s opinion of Cent isn’t for her to know, only that she still desires the CRG to cease their operations. Cent, quite obviously, refuses to do so, causing Strato to frustratedly announce that the CRG’s expansion only proves their willingness to “toy with forces you don’t understand!” before stating that Cent’s “lineage” is making her prideful and overconfident. This actually gets Iron to stop glaring for a moment as she wonders what that means, but further debate is halted when another horde of bandits is spotted heading for the caravan.
The Church members take up arms and begin rushing towards the bandit horde, drawing their weapons as Strato states that he has more important matters to focus on. He rushes off as well, Drica wondering if they should go help him; when the Skysword uses one of the bandits as a club, Cent quips that he doesn’t need it, instead suggesting that they focus on finding a way to reach the Bandit Hideaway. She recommends tracking down groups of bandits and shaking them down for information…and also gold, but that is definitely secondary to finding a way to reach their hideout. Iron comments that “she sure seems fired up” as Cent runs off, with her guess that she’s eager “to kick some bandit butt” leaving Drica sorely tempted to facepalm. “One’s oblivious, an’ the other’s in denial…yup, those two are made for each other…”
After wandering the Wastes for a while, beating up various bandit groups (and robbing them blind, ironically), Cent determines that the closest entrance is, in fact, inside the largest sand dune in the desert. Sure enough, the trio finds a hidden tunnel in the dune, leading to what they can only hope is the path to the Bandit Hideaway.
===The Hidden Fortress (Bandit Hideaway)===
After making their way down a long tunnel with various side tunnels, dealing with many traps and bandit ambushes, the three arrive in a massive cavern with catwalks radiating from a large, mostly subterranean tower. Many camps of varying size and complexity can be seen at the foot of the tower, with bandits of all stripes moving among them. Drica is shocked by the fact that an entire bandit fortress could be hiding under the desert, while Iron merely cracks her knuckles as Cent says that they need to prepare for a fight; moments later, several bandits notice them and raise the alarm.
After an epic brawl with the bandit army, the trio make their way to a large tent at the foot of the tower, seeing piles of gold inside (much to Cent’s pleasure). However, Drica is more concerned with who’s inside the tent; the apparent leader of the bandits, talking to a figure they recognize as the disguised Advisor. It’s revealed that the Advisor has been hiring the bandits to cause unrest in the Scale Kingdom as an attempt to reduce public support for King Wyrm; however, with his plans in jeopardy, he’s resorted to more drastic measures. Handing the bandit leader a strange scroll, he promises him all the riches and power he could ever want if he and his minions step up their attacks; with King Wyrm distracted, the Advisor plans to curse him with dark magic to remove him from power, “one way or another”.
Drica growls, fire crackling around her mouth as the Advisor notices them; he appears shocked for a moment before he regains his composure, ordering the bandit leader to dispose of the eavesdroppers while he teleports away. Using the strange scroll, the bandit leader transforms into a powerful monster (the Bandit Beast), but the CRG team is able to defeat him. With the other bandits fleeing from the site of the epic battle, Cent says that they need to hurry back to Dragonheart Square before the Advisor’s plans are realized. She also pockets a large amount of the gold from the piles (and hugs the rest) before rushing off; unfortunately, the Advisor has sealed his secret passageway, forcing the heroines to take the long way out of the desert.
===The Battle for Wyrmblood Castle (Dragonheart Square, Part 2)===
The trio returns to Dragonheart Square to find it in utter lockdown; King Wyrm has ordered all guards to be on high alert in anticipation of a bandit attack. This time around, the CRG must fight their way through the square; luckily, they’re strong enough by now to take the guards head-on (more or less). Their path through the castle is aided by the royal gardeners, who recognize their true princess and ask her to help her father against the Advisor’s machinations, also informing her that the fake Princess has brought several Armored Dracos into the castle.
With the help of the gardeners, the trio find themselves just outside of the throne room, hearing a conversation between King Wyrm and “Princess Drica”. The king demands to know what his “daughter” is doing as her haughty laughter rings out, announcing that “Your reign is over, you old lizard! It’s time to put this nation under new management!” Cue the CRG team bursting into the room, with Drica calling out her imposter specifically. As King Wyrm looks on, utterly bewildered by two of his daughter, “Drica” snarls that “I should’ve known you’d come back to ruin everything again!” before ordering her contingent of Armored Dracos to attack.
After a brawl with the Armored Dracos, Drica points at the growling “Drica” and says “Yer finished, Nym! You an’ yer treacherous Pops are both due for a nice long stay in the royal dungeon!” Before Nym can respond, King Wyrm roars “HOLD ON ONE SECOND!!!” before demanding an explanation for what the heck is going on. Drica immediately goes to her father and explains that she’s been framed, bringing up previous arguments she’d had with him as proof of her identity. Nym attempts to appeal to the king by saying “Oh, I would never argue with you, Daddy! I was forced to do this, and I’ve just been having an awful, awful mood!” However, this only confirms Drica’s story, as King Wyrm notes that his daughter would never unconditionally agree to “conform”. He promptly calls his guards on the imposter, only to be surrounded by another wave of Armored Dracos; accompanied by the Advisor himself, who dryly applauds the CRG for “managing to almost thwart my designs.” He clarifies that although his plans have been exposed, Nym was able to distract them long enough for him to curse all of King Wyrm’s guards; with them as the elite vanguard of his Armored Draco army, he intends to seize power over the Scale Kingdom and undo King Wyrm’s mistakes.
Faced with this betrayal, King Wyrm gives the Advisor a literally fiery Death Glare, but his voice is perfectly calm as he says, “I think you forgot to account for one thing.” Seemingly ignorant to the horde of guards around him, he rises from his throne and stretches slightly…before unleashing a fireball that explodes right in the middle of the Armored Dracos, scattering them. As Nym panics (due to her dress being on fire), the Advisor casts his most powerful spells, but they disperse like water against King Wyrm’s scales. With no other choice, the Advisor calls his minions and daughter to his side before creating a magical smokescreen. It’s quickly dispersed by the King, but the Advisor, his daughter, and the Armored Dracos are gone, leaving only the confused palace guards amid a small warzone.
King Wyrm looks quite frustrated as he realizes how badly he was fooled. He couldn’t even tell that his daughter had been replaced, and he even banished her for it! “In hindsight, I should have realized something was up when Nym turned your room into a feminine palace,” he lamented. “There’s no way you’d do that…”
Although Drica privately agrees, she showed nothing but concerned understanding as she flew up to her father. “S’all right, Pops,” she soothed. “That sleazeball of an Advisor had us all fooled - Ah knew Nym hated me, but Ah didn’t figure that she’d be part of a conspiracy to take yer throne out from under ya! Just...maybe next time, ya’ll actually lemme get a word in edgewise before ya banish me for somethin’ Ah don’t even know Ah did, huh~?” The King rolls his eyes at this, snarking “Oh, you are definitely my daughter.” Despite this, he’s smiling slightly as Drica gives him a hug, which he gently returns.
===Volcanic Showdown (Burning Peak)===
With King Wyrm trying to restore order in his kingdom and sort out the extent of the Advisor’s schemes, the CRG girls set out to hunt down the Advisor’s forces before he can cause further trouble. They travel across the Scale Kingdom once more, searching for clues; eventually, they learn that the Armored Dracos across the land were last seen making a sudden withdrawal to the mountain range bordering the Scar…
Realizing that they have their lead, the CRG team heads to the Burning Peak, the tallest and most volatile volcano in the range. When they arrive, they must fight through hordes of Armored Dracos and fire-themed monsters, agitated by the Advisor to add to his defenses. Depending on the character chosen, the ascent of the peak changes; Iron basically punches her way up the mountain (and even through it at some points), Cent dodges the brunt of the enemies by scaling the slope while dealing with the occasional pack of guards, and Drica uses the many vents and crags to glide up the mountain while dealing with the flying defenders. Eventually, the trio meets up at what appears to be a dead end, but they soon discover that it’s an illusory wall hiding the Advisor’s main base of operations.
Sneaking through the “wall”, our heroines find the Advisor hard at work in a alchemical laboratory of sorts. Nym laments that their plans have been ruined, but the Advisor remains confident that they can adapt to this setback; his new plan is to channel cursed magic through the volcanoes around his lair, spreading chaos across Kros until King Wyrm meets his demands just to make it stop. Of course, he promptly discovers three problems with his plan when they burst into the room, demanding his surrender.
Irritated by the CRG’s persistence, the Advisor compares them to “variables in an equation; unknown, bothersome, and about to be solved.” He teleports himself, Nym, and the CRG to a different room in his lair before engaging them in battle, using powerful dark magic and the occasional potion to keep them at bay. Making matters worse, he has backup from Nym and his remaining Armored Dracos; the former flies around the area, spitting fireballs and setting up traps, while the latter simply attack the heroes to stop them from reaching their master. Despite the multi-pronged assault, the CRG team eventually breaks through the Advisor’s defenses, taking him down along with his army and daughter.
The trio stand triumphant over the Advisor, who furiously glares up at them before telling Nym to “RUN!” He then leaps to his feet and physically slaps Drica and Cent, allowing Nym to get away (tearfully vowing to come back for him) while they reel from the surprise move (and Iron punches him on reflex). When they recover enough of their senses to ask why, the Advisor simply announces that he will come along quietly and undo all of his work (including the Armored Dracos, revealed to be corrupted citizens who were displeased with the turn the Scale Kingdom was taking) as long as his daughter is not held responsible for any of it. Moved by this display of fatherly affection, Drica asks Cent to accept these terms; after a moment’s thought, she agrees and has Iron escort the Advisor out, “for security reasons.” Unbeknownst to them, Nym has escaped through a secret exit in the lair, swearing to “make them pay for what they did to Daddy…”
Back at Wyrmblood Castle, King Wyrm congratulates the CRG for saving the Scale Kingdom and helping his daughter return home. He then states that his daughter will be happily accepted back into the castle...but Drica says that she wants to stay with the CRG for a while, having gained a desire to see the rest of Kros for herself. King Wyrm chuckles that he “saw that coming” before asking Cent if there was anything else he could do for her as thanks for all her help. Cent coughs and confirms that she does have something to ask him: a none-too-subtle request for funding to expand their operations. Wyrm stares at her for a second before stating that, since they saved the Scale Kingdom, he will back them (much to Cent’s glee).
== Act 3 (Kros Frontier) ==
===Broadening the Horizon (Frontier Flats)===
With the Scale Kingdom returning to normal, Princess Cent turns her attention to one of the CRG’s “long-standing projects”; colonizing the western side of Kros. She tells Iron that Western Kros is an untamed wilderness, rarely visited due to superstition about something called a Cursewell, said to be the source of all dark magic. Some time before Iron awakened, she had sent Saphi to observe it from the air, and there was no sign of a “Cursewell” or anything out of the ordinary; emboldened by this, she sent an advance group of willing Krossers to establish a settlement there. She’s received occasional updates, and it seems that the town is still active, but just barely - now that the CRG is expanding in full, she wants to see if there’s anything she can do to help it.
To that end, Cent, Iron, and Drica take a Draco airship across Kros to reach the Western Frontier. Along the way, Iron gets her first good look at the Scar, a huge burned area in the dead center of the land, still glowing faintly through vein-like fissures converging at a large crater that Cent identifies as the Worldwound; the spot where the disaster was thought to have originated. Something about looking at the Worldwound immediately puts Iron on edge, though she still can’t tell why. It’s around this point where Drica learns about Iron’s amnesia, and she marvels at the synthetic girl’s nonchalance about it; “If Ah lost mah memories, Ah dunno where Ah’d be…literally, Ah guess, but ya know what Ah mean.”
It isn’t long before the airship touches down on the border of Frontier Flats, the CRG settlement Cent mentioned earlier…and it indeed looks like it’s seen better days. The buildings are worn, the inhabitants are visibly tired, and the whole place seems to be rigged with strange water-based devices. Despite their apparent exhaustion, the people greet Cent with enthusiasm, but warn her to stay away from the border, lest he come by.
After a perfunctory tour of the village, the CRG group meets Grimbolt, the Iron leader of the settlement. He explains that their efforts to establish the colony have been hindered by constant attacks from monsters, primarily roving packs of Stonefangs - Iron reacts slightly to this, remembering fighting a Stonefang back at Castle HQ. However, Grimbolt asserts that monsters pale in comparison to him; he warns the girls that “the Cursewell may not be real, but the curses certainly are.” He relates how, when his party landed all that time ago, a skeletal figure dressed like an outlaw appeared before them; he identified himself as "Ace of Skulls” and warned them to “leave my lands…or pay the price.” Since then, they’ve been under constant attack from the strange being; a quarter of the group was lost before they set up their water-based defence system, which seems to repel Ace.
Iron is already plotting how to beat up the Ace of Skulls when he shows up again, but Cent asks about the monster attacks. Grimbolt admits that he’s not sure if it’s Ace’s doing or just whatever’s gotten the monsters riled up all over the continent; either way, it’s not helping morale. He admits that a few CRG members have even defected to the Church of the Sky, who has a slightly more thriving settlement of their own nearby; Iron immediately scowls and half-sarcastically suggests going over to see what the Church is doing about the monsters. Drica, however, supports the idea; “rivalry or no, seems like we’re both in the same leaky boat. If we can get those meatheads to see that too, Ah reckon we’ll both be better off - it sure don’t sound like we can afford to be at each other’s throats when there’s monsters an’ curses runnin’ about the joint.” Iron disagrees with this idea, but Cent has to admit that both of them are in trouble because of this “Ace of Skulls”; they can afford to put aside their rivalry to help others.
Despite Iron’s continued reluctance, the plan is set; Grimbolt tells them that the Church settlement is directly north of Frontier Flats. The journey is fairly straightforward, with higher emphasis on powerful enemies over platforming; at times, the group will have to find cover to wait out a particularly large pack of Stonefangs as they pass through. They also meet a strange girl along the way, unable to speak and wrapped in bandages; despite this, she appears to be unharmed and resistant to attempts to “treat” her. She indicates that her name is Cleo by pointing to a band on her arm, and after a few questions, indicates that she is looking for someone; unfortunately, she can’t “say” more than that due to the Ace of Skulls coming by. As they hide from the sinister outlaw, Cent promises to help Cleo’s search after they resolve things in the Frontier, which the little girl accepts.
The second level of the Frontier is primarily stealth-based, with the girls having to evade the Ace of Skulls as they continue towards the Church’s settlement. Fortunately, Cleo’s abilities prove to be extremely useful in this regard; her high jumps and bandage whips allow her to easily navigate the craggy landscape, and her speed gives her better luck at evading the Ace if he does manage to spot her.
Eventually, the new quartet narrowly evade the Ace of Skulls long enough to make it to the other major settlement in the Frontier: the Church-controlled Desert Ray. As they reach the border of the town, Cleo notices that Ace immediately gave up the pursuit when he saw where they’ve gone; however, she’s unable to bring this to the others’ attention just yet.
===Ace Up Your Sleeve (Desert Ray)===
Upon arrival in the town, the group notices strange runes surrounding the perimeter - before they can ponder this at length, they meet an unpleasantly familiar face: Skysword Strato, revealed to have been gathering resources for the town when they met him in Bullion Wastes. He exchanges barbs with Iron about their respective sides, but the brewing confrontation is defused when Strato’s superior appears; Speaker Cumulo, the leader of the Church’s Cloudspeakers (and thus the second-highest-ranking member of the entire organization). He gently chides Strato for “not showing proper manners to a guest” before inviting the CRG team into the town, but not before performing a brief chant that seems to make the runes glow brighter.
As they walk to the cathedral dominating the area, the CRG group notes that the town seems to be a bit more bustling than Frontier Flats, but also with more signs of overt battle damage. They mean to ask Cumulo about this, but he’s busy deflecting Strato’s concerns about letting the CRG into their town, calmly laughing off the possibility of them “sabotaging the runes” by reminding him that the CRG helped save the Scale Kingdom. Once they reach his “office” in the cathedral (to the side of the main worship area), he formally apologizes to Cent for the less-than-friendly reception she received from his subordinate, revealing that he has no personal animosity towards the CRG; “a difference in ideals should not be cause for hatred. All seeds provide ample bounties when given proper care.”
With Cent occupied explaining the metaphor to a bemused Iron, Drica asks the Speaker about the town’s situation. Cumulo’s story is similar to Grimbolt’s; they had established their town despite the warnings of Ace of Skulls, leading to relentless attacks from monsters and the outlaw himself. However, the latter is a far less serious problem to them than the former, which Cumulo attributes to the barrier he and his fellow priests have established around the town, fuelled by magic stored in the runes they saw earlier. As Cleo brings up Ace’s odd behavior outside the barrier to confirm this, Cent theorizes that water and holy magic are the cursed being’s two weaknesses. Strato grudgingly agrees, adding that the wards might repel Ace, but they don’t do much against the rampaging Stonefangs; the damage in the town is from previous attacks.
On cue, the sound of bells fills the air; the warning of another attack incoming! Strato immediately rushes outside to rally the Church’s soldiers; to his surprise, the CRG is hot on his heels. Iron comments, “I might not like you guys and you might not like us, but I think we both don’t like Stonefangs a whole lot more!” Unable to counter this logic, Strato allows the CRG to assist the defense, leading to another “defend the town” level against the Stonefang pack. The level ends with a battle against an Alpha Stonefang, an especially large specimen with red stripes and fangs that’d make a Smilodon jealous.
The CRG weakens the beast enough for Strato to deliver a fatal blow, but the beast’s death throes destroy some of the runes maintaining the barrier. Speaker Cumulo rushes to restore them, but it’s too late; a glowing purple bullet strikes him, instantly turning him to stone! Everyone else turns to see Ace of Skulls riding in on the back of another Alpha Stonefang, revealing that he has tamed some of the beasts specifically to get around the defenses of the frontier towns. He praises Cumulo as “a challenger worthy of legend” as he raises his free hand, drawing energy out of the Speaker’s statue; the energy transforms into a sparkling gemstone while the statue degrades to a stone skeleton.
The defenders brace for the worst, but Ace spares them, announcing that “I shall honor my prize by giving his charges one last chance…to avoid his fate.” He repeats his usual threat to the town, warning them that he will strike again the next night, razing Desert Ray to the ground and claiming the souls of all who remain in “his” land. With that, he directs his mount to collect Cumulo’s “remains” before riding off into the darkness, leaving the town to ponder the ultimatum.
Strato despairs at the loss of the Speaker, but Iron steps up and states that they’ll get him back. The Skysword demands to know how they expect to overcome the curse; Iron simply asks if he has any idea on how to protect them. Strato sighs and walks off before returning with three medals with a cloud on them, claiming that they can ward off any curse.
As the other three put the medals on, Iron glares at Strato and asks why he didn’t bring this up before, and why there are only three. Strato returns the glare before stating that there’s only three, they’re holy relics of the Church that he didn’t want to risk, and that Iron is an Iron, which means she’s immune to the curse. Drica double-takes at that, wondering how anyone figured that one out: Strato simply replies that “We’ve been at this for quite awhile, Princess Drica.”
Thus equipped, the CRG prepares to head out, but not before checking the local cathedral for more information. The Church staff give them some advice for their quest; as a living curse, Ace must run on a “core” of concentrated magic. If the core is destroyed, the curse will be undone. They also note that Ace’s arrival is always heralded by unearthly wailing; if the CRG follows the sound, they might find the source…
===Rattling Bones (Skeleton Canyon)===
With little time (in-universe) before Desert Ray’s runes run out of power, the CRG girls head out in search of Ace of Skulls. Their search takes them deep into the Frontier, following the trails of Stonefang packs; to avoid getting lost, they need to find clues to which trail belongs to Ace’s pack (the wailing noises, which tracks look freshest, signs of Stonefang activity, etc.). At the end of the trail, they find a canyon decorated with petrified bones - Skeleton Canyon, Ace of Skulls’ base of operations. They venture into the canyon, having to evade roaming monsters and navigate maze-like configurations of skeleton statues; each of which, they realize, belongs to one of Ace’s previous victims.
Eventually, the four reach the center of the canyon, seeing Ace of Skulls polishing a set of gems held in the hands of statues. Iron steps forward and demands his surrender, but Ace ignores her. She continues to try and get his attention, only for the outlaw to fire at her without looking, narrowly missing her head and shattering a rock behind her. After warning Iron that “I won’t miss next time”, he comments that she and her friends were either “very lucky or very skilled” to make it so far in his base, adding that “I hate fighting in here; don’t want to ruin my decorations before I add you to them.”
At that, the rest of the CRG drops in, with Cent demanding to know why Ace insists on cursing everyone who tries to come into the Frontier. Ace replies, “It is my purpose…the reason for which I was made. The Cursesetter commanded me to protect him and keep all out of his lands…and so I have.” Cleo’s eyes narrow as she points to the studs on Ace’s outfit; now that they’re close, the CRG team can see that they have an unnatural purple sheen, almost like a screaming face when viewed from the right angle. Ace compliments the bandaged girl’s perception, revealing that each stud on his clothes is the transfigured soul of a victim; he draws strength from them to increase his power while leaving them in torment. The girls stare in disgust and horror as Ace continues, explaining that “worthier souls” are spared this fate, becoming one of his weapons or - for especially worthy souls - gemstones he treasures forever. He points to a large and impressive diamond at the center of his “collection,” explaining that it is the soul of his Cursesetter. “You even made your master a part of your wretched curse?!” Cent exclaims, regretting her thoughts of trying to swipe a gem. “He wished to be protected,” Ace replies casually. “And what better protection is there than in the hoard of an unstoppable living curse?”
Drica announces that they’re going to break his core and free his victims, causing Ace’s eye sockets to flash red. “Break it…? You are…Cursebreakers?!” With lightning speed, he draws his pistols and fires off two normal bullets, hitting part of the entryway to collapse it as he declares that they’re not going to touch his core; they’ll become part of his collection before then. With a gesture, an orb filled with roiling darkness emerges from the gems and flies to him, his ribcage opening up to let the core inside. With that done, his entire body seems to glow faintly purple as he twirls his pistols and charges into battle.
The following fight with Ace of Skulls is very hectic, with him raining multiple bullets down from a vantage point before teleporting around the ground to drop a series of bombs that leave purple flame behind. He also shoots off tracking bullets that follow the characters and explode, leaving a small trail of purple fire. Eventually, he drops all subtlety as his core becomes fractured, engulfing his whole body in cursed flames. His new attacks including raining flames down on the heroines, shooting burning skulls from his pistols, and causing part of the ground to burst into a pillar of flame.
Eventually, Cleo and Drica pull the core out of Ace’s ribcage, leaving his torso shattered. He reaches for the core, but Iron and Cent punch right through it; it floats in the air for a second before disintegrating, releasing a wave of black light that disintegrates Ace of Skulls - stranger still, the group hears a distant roar of fury. When the light clears, all that’s left of Ace are his clothes, weapons, and gems, each dissolving into light that flies into the skeletons lining the canyon. As the CRG watches in awe, the statues revert to the images of humans and Dracos before shattering and dropping their former selves on the ground, most of them unconscious. Cleo studies each form carefully as the other three find Speaker Cumulo among the few ex-victims that are still awake.
Cumulo beams as he spots the girls, congratulating them for managing to defeat the Ace of Skulls. He also thanks them for protecting his village, despite them “not needing to - or wanting to.” Cent says that “the safety of Kros and its people is all of our concerns,” but Iron interjects to say that Cumulo is really much nicer to them than the other members of the Church. With a chuckle, the Speaker says that most of the higher-ranked members of the Church don’t hate the CRG, noting that “the Scion herself” finds them admirable. As Drica raises an impressed eyebrow, Cent whispers to Iron that the Scion is the leader of the entire Church of the Sky; all the (loyal) factions of the group respect and follow her. Cumulo says he needs to get back to Desert Ray and inform the others that Ace of Skulls has been dealt with; they can talk later. Cent agrees, but asks the Speaker to let them accompany him; the curse is broken, but there’s still the roaming Stonefangs to worry about.
While Cumulo leaves to make preparations and seek out other members of his village among the once-cursed, the CRG help the other victims get their bearings; Cleo silently indicates that the person she seeks isn’t among the group. Some of the recovered victims are (understandably) eager to get out of dodge or return to their settlements, but others (mainly the older victims, who suspect that their families and friends are long gone) decide to establish a settlement of their own in the canyon; Cleo agrees as both Cumulo and Cent offer their group’s support in this endeavor.
With the Church’s group preparing to head out, the CRG moves to follow, only to be asked to wait by a group of six people; three Krossers and three Dracos. They thank the group for saving them from the curse; Cent brushes it off as “what we do” until she notices their clothing and diction, at which point she begins freaking out. Drica asks what’s got Cent so riled up, and she says that these people must come from Pre-Disaster Kros.
One of the “Ancients” tilts their head and asks what they mean by “Pre-Disaster,” causing Iron to explain everything that’s happened to Kros. By the time she’s finished, all of the Ancients look shocked at the information. One of them, a Draco with yellow scales, states they had no knowledge of this disaster; they’ve been imprisoned by Ace of Skulls for who knows how long. They knew that most of their family was probably…gone, but to find that all of Kros was nearly wiped out? They briefly mutter amongst themselves - the girls catch a few words, most notably “Cursewell” - but the group soon looks back at them and decides that they will stay and help build a new settlement. The youngest one, a Draco with emerald scales, asks them to come back later, with Cent agreeing enthusiastically.
After fending off the remains of Ace’s monster horde (who return to the canyon, expecting their master to assemble them), the CRG/Church group returns to Desert Ray. When they arrive, Strato (very reluctantly but sincerely) thanks them for saving Cumulo, to Iron’s shock and slight entertainment. Cumulo declares that any CRG members will be welcome in his settlement, with Cent adding that she’ll run the idea past her people of putting their villages closer together for safety, if not merging them outright.
===Knock Your Rocks Off (Stonefang Mound)===
Upon returning to Frontier Flats, Cent explains the new situation and runs her idea past Grimbolt. The Iron is a tad reluctant, but agrees with his superior’s logic; especially since the latest Stonefang attack left the Flats worse for the wear. Drica and Cleo are surprised to learn that Ace’s demise hasn’t slowed the Stonefang assaults, but Iron reminds them that “some of those rock-tooths came as far as Southern Kros; I think it’s safe to say that they’ve got a big spike up their collective butts.” Drica suggests that she and her friends could go out and fight the Stonefangs on “their turf”; at best, they’ll put an end to the attacks, and at worst, they’ll draw the monsters away from the Flats as they move closer to Desert Ray. Telling Cent “I don’t know where you found these girls, but I like their style,” Grimbolt leaves to tell the rest of his village about the plan, suggesting that Cent’s group ask around for some advice and assistance.
After taking the Iron’s advice and asking around, the CRG team sets out with some extra items and a general idea of where the Stonefangs are coming from. After fighting through another rocky pass, the four enter a large hilly area utterly swarming with Stonefangs, with several large specimens patrolling the paths between the hills. Cleo indicates the large mound at the center of the area; agreeing that it must be the main nest, the girls sneak past the patrolling Stonefangs to reach the mound.
The four fight their way into the mound through several Stonefangs, including a few Alphas. Eventually, they reach the center of the mound: a large, circular arena with a lone Stonefang…but this one makes the Alphas look like pups. It’s easily the size of a house, with an extra row of fangs and craggy spines erupting from its red-and-silver fur. Even Iron is taken aback at the monster, with Cent nervously theorizing that this is the absolute head of all Stonefangs. Cleo and Drica nod mutely as the Elder Alpha spots them, letting out a terrible roar as it rises to battle them.
The battle with the Elder Alpha is similar to the fight with Cryoshale, in that the heroines must climb on its body to reach its weak points. Unlike Cryoshale, the massive Stonefang is quite mobile, clambering around its lair and attacking ferociously; the characters will have to either make it lose sight of them while they ascend the arena (easier said than done, with the Stonefang reinforcements and the boss’s keen senses) or wait for it to whiff an attack and climb up its body before it recovers. Each character’s abilities lend them to a certain strategy; Iron can hit the monster when it whiffs to make it reel in pain, giving her more time to reach its weak points, Cent can use spikes on the walls and the beast’s own body to cover more ground, Drica can glide from outcroppings to get a head start on climbing, and Cleo’s abilities just make her better at dodging its attacks and navigating its spike-ridden body.
Once the Elder Alpha can take no more, it lets out a final, mournful howl and collapses with a thunderous noise, leaving the rest of the Stonefangs to scatter across the Frontier. Exhausted but relieved at the end of the tough fight, the CRG regroups and returns to Desert Ray, where they find the first members of Frontier Flats arriving. They’re understandably a bit nervous about setting up so close to the Church of the Sky, but Cent’s presence seems to calm them down.
===Cloudy Dunes with a Chance of Lightning (Clouded Glass Dunes)===
With the villages relatively safe for now, Cent decides to do a little exploration of the Frontier, reasoning that it should be easier to travel now that Ace of Skulls and the Stonefang packs are gone. Cleo seems reluctant, clearly still thinking about her missing friend, but Iron assures her that “Cent’s probably not gonna rest ‘til she’s turned the place upside-down for more hints of Ancient Kros. At the rate she can go, it won’t take long.”
After checking up on the villages once more (despite tensions, they’re working together pretty well), the team sets out to the depths of the Frontier. They eventually come across a strange desert-like area with patches of what appear to be smoky glass amid the dunes. Upon closer examination, Cent concludes that the dunes were actually melted into glass by a burst of intense heat, “possibly a passing thunderstorm.” As a loud “BOOM” is heard in the background, Drica comments, “Uhh, gals? Y’all might wanna look over there…”; following her gaze, they see several more patches of glassed sand, with what appears to be a massive electrical disturbance in the distance.
With their curiosity piqued, the team heads towards the source of the lightning, dodging errant bolts and navigating the slippery glass patches they leave behind. Soon, they arrive in a large crater-like area almost entirely made of glass, with the source of the lightning revealed as a large tower at the very center. As Iron wonders why so many parts of Kros have towers, Drica asks Cent how they’re supposed to shut off the lightning “when that tower thingamabob is shootin’ off bolts like it’s goin’ outta style?“
After watching the lightning for a while, Cleo points to the tower; the other three soon see that the lightning seems to intensify on sections of the crater in sequence, and there are strange spikes that seem to attract and absorb the bolts around them. Drica is still doubtful, but nonetheless follows her friends into the crater, where they have to time their movements to avoid being fried by lightning as they approach the tower. The spikes provide safe spots, but reaching them can be difficult when most of the ground is slippery and/or electrified. Climbing the tower itself is no easier; not only do the characters have to deal with timed jumps between safe spots (outcroppings on the sides of the tower), but they also have to contend with more complex jumping puzzles and strange mechanical drones patrolling the tower.
Once they finally reach the top of the tower, the CRG team sees a switch attached to a generator that seems to be the source of the electricity. When they try to activate it, however, an electrified barrier springs to life, protecting the switch as a horde of drones appears. As they fight off the robots, Cleo notices a terminal broadcasting an old video; it’s tough to make it out, but it seems to be showing the tower’s history…
Before the bandaged girl can bring this to her friends’ attention, the last drone has been defeated, causing the barrier around the switch to drop. Iron promptly pulls the switch to halt the lightning…and then, the video suddenly jumps back to full quality. Noticing this, Cent theorizes that the feed was disrupted by the lightning or simply a lack of power (both of which she attributes to the degradation of the tower’s systems post-Disaster) as she and her friends gather around to watch…
“I do not know if anyone will hear this, but if someone does, know that the threat is over. The fight was long and the costs were great, but it is done. The Shadow Crawlers have been driven underground and the Abyss Queen is sealed away…and thanks to this marvel of Kros technology, it shall remain so.”
The video goes on to discuss the technology of the tower; something about how it uses controlled bursts of lightning to activate a “resonance network” in the Darkhollow Caverns, keeping the “Shadow Crawlers” deep underground. With Cent enraptured by the glimpse of Kros’s past, Drica, Cleo, and Iron exchange looks as the latter asks if either of them know what “Shadow Crawlers” are. Drica shrugs, but says “it sure don’t sound good”; Cleo, however, looks nothing short of terrified as the video continues.
“If you are hearing this, our invention has done its work admirably - I cannot say how long it will last, but I am hopeful that it will give our people a chance to prepare for the threat of the Shadow Crawlers. Kros willing, that dark curse will finally be broken someday; until then, may our tower keep the spawn of the Abyss Queen where they belong: in the darkness below…”
Cent almost squeals with joy as the video loops back to the beginning, declaring that they have found “a true treasure of the past - a record of the pre-disaster civilization!” Her gushing is promptly interrupted by a good bandage-slap from Cleo, allowing her to hear something over the prerecorded message; a faint scratching and clattering that seems to be getting closer. Iron weakly comments that “killing the juice might’ve been a mistake” as Drica hovers over the edge of the tower; one glance downward sends her running back to her friends with a yell of “Get the lead outta yer boots, gals; we’ve got company!”
On cue, the team is beset by another horde of enemies, these ones resembling twisted crosses of skeletons and insects made entirely of darkness. They fight them off until a particularly gruesome specimen climbs over the threshold; a large scorpion-beast with a stark white mask on its “face”. It immediately leaps over the group and seizes the generator, tearing it out of its moorings and hurling it over the side of the tower. Rushing to the side as Iron and Drica continue fighting off the horde, Cent sees the generator disappear amid a near-carpet of monsters, quickly reduced to metal fragments by their claws, teeth, and stingers. Realizing that it’s too dangerous to stay here, she calls a full retreat, forcing the CRG to fight through the massive swarm of dark creatures to escape the crater.
After checking to make sure that the monsters aren’t chasing them, Cent finally voices what they’ve all realized; those things are the “Shadow Crawlers”, and the lightning tower was the only thing keeping them out of the Frontier! Drica laments “Ah KNEW that place was trouble!” as she comforts Cleo, who seems to be half-catatonic after the experience, but Iron is already wondering how they can stop the Shadow Crawlers - “as awesome as we are, I don’t like those odds!” Still shaken by what they’ve accidentally unleashed, Cent remembers the video calling the Crawlers a “dark curse”; she decides that they have to head back to the settlements, if only to warn them that there’s another curse to worry about now…
===Shadow Crawler Chaos (Darkhollow Caverns)===
Back at the edge of the Frontier, the rebuilding of Frontier Flats is going well when Cent’s team returns with the bad news. Fortunately, Grimbolt and Cumulo have been exchanging notes on their respective anti-curse options, allowing them to develop new “holy water” defense systems that they hope will prove a strong deterrent to any further curses that come their way. “I sure hope so,” Iron says, “because we found one hell of a curse out there.”
Later that night, the CRG and Church members convene to discuss the Shadow Crawlers. Strato confirms that one of his scouting parties was attacked by monsters similar to what Cent’s group described, but “there were only a few of them; hardly the ‘swarm’ you mentioned.” Cent replies that the Crawlers might be sending out foraging groups of their own while the bulk of them remain in the Clouded Glass Dunes to rebuild their nest; once they’re established, they’ll probably come in force. Drica glances at Cleo, who’s still visibly shivering, noting that the bandaged girl seems to be familiar with - and terrified of - these cursed creatures, getting a slow nod in response. Seeing Cleo’s distress, Iron resolves to take down the Shadow Crawlers before they can resume their attacks on Kros; “only question is…how?”
Speaker Cumulo muses that there were legends passed down in the Church, speaking of “creatures born of cursed shadow” living underground. Cent recalls that the video on the lightning tower mentioned an “Abyss Queen”, wondering aloud if she is the avatar of her curse, similar to Ace of Skulls. Cumulo finds this “plausible”, further speculating that the other Crawlers might be the transfigured victims of the curse. Drica balks at the thought of fighting trapped souls, but Strato informs her that the victims of a curse will be kept “alive” by the magic, no matter what happens to the embodiment of their soul. “Unable to die, forced to suffer in silence…such is the wretched existence of one consumed by a curse.”
Further pondering is disrupted by a commotion; a group of Shadow Crawlers is approaching the settlements. The civilians watch apprehensively as the monsters draw closer…only to recoil when they reach the new barrier (a trough of water blessed by the Church), hissing in anger. With the monsters stunned, the guardsmen open fire with “holy water cannons,” taking out a few Crawlers before the rest flee. Watching this from the cathedral, Cent has a brainwave; if they follow the Crawlers, they might figure out how to enter their subterranean lair.
Re-equipped with as many anti-curse relics and items as they can carry, the CRG team sets out to find a Shadow Crawler pack. They pick off most of the lesser creatures, but damage the masked leader enough for it to flee; they then pursue their quarry until they see it disappear in one of the glassed sand patches in the Clouded Glass Dunes. Upon closer investigation, the girls discover that the glass is now a cover for a burrow of some sort; suspecting that this is how the Crawlers are ambushing people, the CRG quickly descends into a maze of tunnels, lined with shadowy webbing. These are the Darkhollow Caverns, home of the Shadow Crawlers.
To the CRG’s surprise, Cleo offers to take point despite her obvious fear; through her gestures, the other three realize that she’s been here before. Deciding to set the obvious questions aside for now, they begin their trek through the caverns, fighting through Shadow Crawlers and dealing with some new obstacles and traps; webbing-suspended platforms that quickly fall away when touched, shadowy traps that force them to struggle loose as Shadow Crawlers close in, and walls of darkness that require the removal of some nearby enemy or obstacle to destroy.
Deep within the caverns, they find signs of an epic conflict and a collapsed wall, which Cleo seems to recognize. Before anyone can ask her about it, they are attacked by what appears to be a giant Draco skeleton; on closer inspection, they can see several Shadow Flyers holding it aloft like a puppet. The CRG defeats the Shadowyrm easily enough, but this only prompts a huge swarm of Shadow Mites to amass around the bones, twisting them into an insectoid skeleton-shadow abomination that proves much more dangerous. To put it down for good, the team must shatter the Draco skeleton, leaving the tiny dark bugs nothing to form around; once they scatter, the CRG moves even further down the tunnels…
===Vessel of Darkness (Darkhollow Web)===
Eventually, the four arrive at a giant cavern dominated by the shadowy threads of a giant web at the center, smaller webs dotting the sides and eggs covering the walls. The level is a giant spiral leading down to the central web, with the eggs periodically “hatching” into Masked Shadow Crawlers to hinder progress. If the group feels daring, they can jump from thread to thread in the central shaft to skip parts of the path; missing a jump, however, has fatal results. As they descend, everyone except Cleo also begins feeling a chill they cannot place.
At the base of the cavern, the group finds their target: a large curse orb in the center of the main web. Atop the orb sits a young woman, wearing a ragged, pitch-black kimono that seems to merge with the threads around her. She welcomes the CRG to Darkhollow Web and asks why they’ve come; “do you seek passage to the lands beyond…or have you come to save me?” Iron says that “we’re the exterminators, and we’re gonna smash up that orb you’re sitting on,” but Drica suspiciously asks how the woman “didn’t become Shadow Crawler chow” despite being right on top of the curse orb. The woman smiles sadly as she says, “So…you are here to save me. You came all this way…to set me free. I thank you for your courage…but I fear that I cannot allow that. They will not allow that.” She closes her eyes and slowly rises into the air as the CRG notices thousands of Shadow Crawlers descending from above. “I am sorry…but it is time for you to join us.”
The group braces for an attack, but the Shadow Crawlers ignore them; their bodies seem to deform into amorphous darkness as they surge into the woman on the orb. Cent tells her friends to stay back as the shadows form a whirling vortex; through the darkness, a growing mass can be seen floating up to the top of the cavern. When the vortex recedes, the form descends atop the central web, resembling a much larger woman enveloped in shadows forming a variety of arthropodal limbs, wings, and armor.
“I...am...Nihillary, the Abyss Queen,” she rasps, towering over the stunned CRG. “And I welcome you…to my brood of cursed souls.”
Breaking the Abyss Queen’s curse is a long, involved process. Her first act is to cast a magic barrier over her curse orb, forcing the team to destroy her in order to damage the orb. The magic sphere will eventually regenerate Nihillary, giving her new, more dangerous attacks and spawning increasingly-lethal Masked Shadow Crawlers as backup as the CRG tries to repeat the process.
Once the curse orb is destroyed, Nihillary collapses and dissolves into shadowy miasma, which quickly reforms into the woman the CRG saw before. “Im…Impressive…” she gasps, twitching weakly from her place on the floor. “No one has managed to destroy the core of my web until now…” She rises to her hands and knees as the webs around the cavern (save the large one that she and the CRG stand upon) dissolve into streams of liquid shadow, dropping eggs everywhere as they flow into her body. “I almost believe…that you can save me…from my fate…”
“Whoa, hang on a scale-polishin’ minute!” Drica yells. “If yer not the avatar of the curse, ain’t you already saved? An’ if y’are the avatar of the curse, how’re you still here - we just busted yer power source but good!”
“It is…not so simple…Cursebreaker…” The woman only laughs weakly as she continues struggling to her feet, moving almost like a puppet as the darkness continues to fill her. “I am neither victim…nor manifestation…but a vessel for the curse. The dark magic is in my very blood; it compels me to carry out its will.” Her hair and clothes merge with the shadows erupting from her body, transforming her into a strangely elegant form resembling a cross between a butterfly, a dragonfly, and a mantis. “If you truly wish to save me…then face the full extent of my cursed might!”
Still rather confused about this whole “vessel” business, the CRG immediately rejoins the battle. In her new form, Nihillary is much faster and more mobile, teleporting around the cavern and attacking with powerful dark magic. In addition to dark energy slashes, homing orbs, dark spears resembling insect legs, and large beams, she can shield herself and force the heroines to fend off her Masked Shadow Crawlers as she bombards them from afar; on the bright side, she’s left stunned for a time when her minions are defeated. As her health dwindles, she resorts to increasingly brutal attacks, splitting apart to attack from multiple angles, and bodily throwing herself at the characters like a ragdoll.
Eventually, the CRG defeat Nihillary, sending her flying clear across the web and into the opposite wall. She coughs piteously as the curse controlling her tries to maintain her combat form; all in vain, as her insectoid features dissolve into shadow that flows into her body. With a last, gruesome hacking, she vomits up the true curse orb fuelling the Shadow Crawlers; Iron moves to break it, but it shatters and dissolves on its own.
“Finally,” Cent sighs. “That had to be the real core of the curse; the Shadow Crawlers will finally be no more!” Her celebrations are prematurely interrupted by Cleo pointing to her feet as the cavern starts to shake.
“Uhh, Cent?” Drica asks warily. “Doesn’t that include…like…their webs? As in…y’know…the thing we’re kinda…standin’ on right now?”
Cent’s confusion lasts just long enough for her to yelp in surprise when Iron scoops her up and runs like the dickens as the web begins to collapse under them. She, Drica, and Cleo just barely make it back to solid ground before the whole web falls into the abyss with an echoing howl, taking the unconscious Nihillary with it. Iron has barely set Cent down (oblivious to her blush at being accidentally Bridal Carried) when a series of lights appear in the darkness below; moments later, souls begin rising from the abyss and floating to the scattered eggs; each egg promptly explodes in a cloud of shadow, revealing a victim of the Shadow Crawlers. Iron comments “I guess the old guy was right; they were the Masked Crawlers after all.” To the CRG’s surprise, her words are confirmed by an unexpected source; Nihillary herself, fluttering out of the abyss behind them. She seems to have returned to the form they first saw her in, but with visible arthropod features (including spider legs around her waist, natural claws for fingernails, red compound eyes and dragonfly wings on her back) that match the insect motif on her pristine white kimono.
“What in the- aw, c’mon!” Drica nearly roars in frustration. “Ain’t you had enough of a beatin’ yet, Nihillary?!”
“Oh no, the curse is broken, I assure you.” The woman blinks a bit, trying to get used to the sensation of having multiple eyes. “I…don’t know why I look like this…but I can feel it. The dark magic has left my body; I, and all those poor souls I trapped, are finally free. At last…I am no longer Nihillary; please, call me Devonia.” With a slightly unsteady bobbing (due to her new vision), she lands before the CRG and bows demurely.
Cent can barely contain her excitement and fascination at the sight of another Ancient - and one that seems to be part-insect, too - but her friends drag her off to check on the rest of the freed victims. Everyone seems to be okay - albeit with severe entomophobia - and there are several more Ancients among them, which only excites Cent even more. Learning of the changes that have befallen Kros since their curse began, the non-contemporary Krossers decide to establish a settlement in the dunes; Devonia is offered a position of power, but she declines on the grounds that “I think I’ve done enough ruling for a lifetime or two, thank you.”
Cent promises to send assistance when she can, once again earning Devonia’s thanks - as a parting gift, she gives the princess her bracelet, nearly causing her to pass out from glee. Once she’s recovered somewhat, she wishes the new settlement good fortune before she and her friends return with the freed victims who wish to accompany them. On the way back, they wonder why it still felt so cold down there, causing Cleo to look pensive for a moment…
===“Band”ing Together (Shock Ruins, Part 2)===
The CRG team is pleasantly surprised when they return to Frontier Flats and Desert Ray; the townspeople have managed to integrate well enough that they’ve almost put their settlements together. They’re quite surprised to see another round of settlers following the CRG, but most of them welcome the additional help and population - having another curse broken probably helps. Seeing this brings a smile to Cent’s face, causing her to declare their work in the Frontier “done for now”; she’s about to order a return to Castle HQ when Cleo tugs on her sleeve, looking quite firm about something.
Iron reminds the CRG leader that they promised to help Cleo find her friend when they were done in the Frontier - after smacking herself for almost forgetting, Cent agrees wholeheartedly. She asks Cleo if she can give them any more details on what her friend may look like; the bandaged girl indicates that she looks a lot like her, but taller and without bandages covering her mouth. Cent and Iron look flummoxed, but Drica has a sudden hunch; she asks Cleo if “this pal o’yers likes wearin’ fancy gold bangles, a funny-looking crown with a snake an’ red gems, and a yellow-ish cloak? An’ does she like livin’ alone, lookin’ at everythin’ like she’s me when Pops tells me to act more ‘princess-ish’?” Cleo nods to each descriptor, causing Drica to grin. “Sugar, Ah think Ah know exactly where yer pal is.”
Following Drica’s lead, the team returns to the Shock Ruins, travelling deep into the mountain through a maze-like series of tunnels. Eventually, they emerge on a cliff overlooking the Scar, next to a small hut with a vaguely Egyptian aesthetic. Recognizing the design cues, Cleo rushes forward and bangs on the door as hard as she can; after an audible groan, the occupant of the hut emerges, looking much like Cleo’s description. “I don’t know how you found me, but whatever you idiots are selling, I’m not-” She freezes when she sees the little girl at her door. “...C-Cleo? What the Sun are you doing all the way out here?!”
Cleo only smiles and gestures between herself, her friends, and the woman before her, prompting her to look at the others with significantly less hostility. “So…you helped Lil’ Snarky find me, eh?” she begins. “Figures…what she lacks in height, she makes up in brains…but not common sense, huh!?” She scoops up Cleo, giving her a playful noogie. “You bug-brain…ya just had to follow me. Had to leave your poor sis in the dust to chase after the exile, huh?” Despite her words, her expression is more touched than anything as she sets the smaller girl down.
“Uhh...say what about exile?” Drica pipes up; behind her, Iron quietly mutters “I think we’re a magnet for exiles…” to Cent.
After a glance at Cleo, the taller bandaged girl lets out a sigh. “Well, Cleo seems to trust you well enough, so I guess I can tell you. I’m Band, the ‘exiled heretic’ of Hieroglyph City.”
“Oh my…” Cent puts a hand to her mouth. “It must’ve been a desperate escape if you still haven’t recovered from it.”
“Wha…?” Band stares in confusion before Cleo points to her bandages. “Oh, these? Nah, those aren’t there ‘cause I’m injured; I just look like this all the time. I mean, sure, Cleo can’t talk, but surely you guys know a Hiero when you see one?” Noticing blank looks on the trio’s faces, she tries again. “You know…Hieros? As in, Hieroglyphics? Mummymen? Bandage-people? Seriously, have you never been to the Spectral Realm?”
Iron, Cent, and Drica’s confusion only grows with every word out of Band’s mouth. “Uh...Cent?” the former asks. “Did the CRG ever mention a ‘Spectral Realm’ at all?” Now it’s Band’s turn to look confused at the mention of a “CRG”.
“I…think we may want to take this back to Castle HQ,” Cent replies. “It seems like we both have a lot to explain to each other.”
===Stories of the Supernatural (Castle HQ/Darkhollow Web, Part 2)===
When the CRG and Band arrive at the Castle HQ, Cent calls a meeting in the main room with several chairs placed around a table in the center. Band immediately asks who the CRG are, causing Cent to explain that the CRG’s purpose again, confusing Band, who wonders how she ended up in another kingdom from the Spectral Realm; she was sure the tunnel wasn’t that long. Iron then asks what the Spectral Realm is, causing Band to roll her eyes before explaining. “The Spectral Realm is an enclosed valley surrounded by mountains and inhabited by Spectrals, undead beings such as Hieros, Stitchers, Bateyes, and others.”
Cent, upon hearing this, gets an idea. “What if this Spectral Realm isn’t in another kingdom? What if it’s in the one part of Kros we’ve never been able to reach?” She pulls out a small map of Kros and places it on the table, pointing to a part of the map that isn’t filled in; completely blank. Band looks at it for a second before pulling a map out of her cloak. “Never thought I’d use this again…” she mumbles before lining it up with the blank spot. It’s a perfect fit on the map. “Well Ah’ll be…” Drica mumbles as Cent begins freaking out once again. “We just discovered a entirely new region of Kros!” At both Cleo and Band’s expression, she adds “Sort of!”
Eventually shaking off her excitement, she turns to Band and asks why she was exiled. The taller Hiero grimly says, “I ticked off someone I really shouldn’t have; Pharaoh Neferki, the supreme ruler of the Hieros.” She goes on to explain that Neferki “is seriously not right in the head,” styling herself as a goddess and demanded that everyone worship her as such, which chafed Band to no end. The tipping point came when one of Neferki’s guards shoved Ankh, Cleo’s sister and Band’s best friend, for “not showing proper respect to the Pharaoh”; unable to stand this injustice, Band did the one thing no one would expect by attacking Neferki herself. She didn’t even realize she had actually hurt her until she heard the Pharaoh screaming at her guards to “ARREST HER!!!”; after that, she fled blindly until she found a way out of the realm to lie low for a while.
On that note, Cent asks Band how she got out of the Spectral Realm. Band replies that she passed through a tunnel that used to be filled with shadowy insects. “Used to be?” Iron questions, before Band grins. “Yeah. Used to be.” Cent realizes that the cave she was talking about was Darkhollow Web, and that they needed to get there right now. She asks Band if she could show them the way she came, promising to protect her from Neferki if it comes to it. After a moment, Band agrees, but warns the CRG that they have to be really careful; “Neferki is bad enough about letting other Spectrals into her city; I doubt she’ll be thrilled to have outsiders around.”
With that warning in mind, Cent and her friends bring Band back to the Darkhollow Caverns, with the Hiero girl marvelling at their work defeating the Shadow Crawlers. She comments that she fought the monsters tooth and nail - indicating the destroyed section of wall that Cleo had seen earlier - but “they just kept coming.” Eventually, they return to Darkhollow Web and descend into its chilling depths; this time, they realize that the cold is coming from the Spectral Realm. After descending the treacherous path below where they fought Nihillary, they find a tunnel leading upwards, with a crumbled entrance on the other side of the cavern; Band indicates that she dropped rocks on that side on her first trip through when some particularly nasty Shadow Crawlers came after her. Iron takes a moment to clear the entrance as a shortcut for future trips before the group heads through the other tunnel, into the unknown of the Spectral Realm…
== Act 4 (Spectral Realm) ==
===Ghouls’ Night Out (Haunted Circus)===
The group emerges from the tunnel to find themselves at the foot of an impossibly tall mountain range. Band identifies these as the Banshee Peaks, so-called because of the intense winds perpetually circling around them. Cent realizes that these are the same mountains that the CRG could never seem to get past when they went north of the Scar, which explains why they never discovered the Spectral Realm before now. Iron wonders why no one thought to tunnel through the mountains, to which Cent shrugs and says, “I have no idea. Logistics, perhaps.”
Putting that aside for now, the CRG team heads towards a massive, seemingly abandoned circus as the sun descends. As they move through the circus, Cent notes that the place seems remarkably well-maintained, “yet deliberately designed to appear derelict.” Band comments “That’s just like the Ghouls; gotta play up the creep factor to the hilt.” Before anyone can ask, she explains that Ghouls are one of the Spectral races she mentioned earlier; spirit-like beings with a knack for pranks.
On cue, the sun sets, and the circus comes to life…literally. The entire place begins moving, various transparent beings appearing out of nowhere...with one of them appearing right behind them and screeching like a banshee before flying away, giggling. Drica, Iron, and Cent nearly jump out of their skin, but Cleo appears to be laughing mutely as Band sighs, “Welcome to the Spectral Realm, girls. Get used to that - it’ll be happening a lot.”
As the CRG tour the circus, several other Ghouls pull similar tricks...until Iron sucker punches one and knocks it through a wall. Band clarifies that “Ghouls can’t actually pass through things, though I’m sure they wish they could. It would make dealing with the retribution they commonly get for their pranks much easier for them.” Aside from the scares, the group’s main difficulty is the circus itself, which seems to actively shift to make navigation all but impossible; closing paths randomly, dropping platforms out from under them, and trapping them in a maze of mirrors that show twisted parodies of them (including some embarrassing ones that are promptly shattered, such as Drica as a “traditional” princess, a taller Cleo and Band decked out in Hiero noble clothing and ludicrous amounts of jewelry, or Cent and Iron passionately kissing).
Eventually, they reach the exit, with Cent furiously demanding “SOMEONE tell us where to go!” At that moment, Cleo points out a small guardhouse styled after a ticket booth; the Ghoul inside appears to be of some importance, given their impressive hat. Cent rushes over to the Ghoul and immediately orders him to tell them how to get to Hieroglyph City. The Ghoul points in one direction and the group rush that way, Cent ranting about how they don’t want to come back here ever again. The Ghoul waves cheerily until the group has disappeared into the distance…at which point they pull out a phone (without a wire) and call “the Ringmaster” to tell them about the unknown visitors.
===A Bone to Pick (Eternal Boneyard)===
Eventually, the group arrive in a large black plain decorated with several holes and bones sticking out of the ground. Band immediately informs them that they’re in the Eternal Boneyard, home of the Wolfkin. Cent asks if Hieroglyph City is nearby, only to learn that it’s in the opposite direction; Drica comments, “Gal, Ah hate ta say it, but…Ah think we’ve been duped.” The CRG leader promptly screams in frustration, only for her cry to be answered by a chorus of rapidly-approaching howls.
“Quick question, Band,” Iron says, cracking her knuckles on reflex. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how…friendly…are most Wolfkin?” “Depends on what they think we’re doing,” Band replies. “Hopefully, they don’t think we’re thieves...and we hope that they aren’t the ones that work for Neferki.” All of them prepare for a fight as a cloud of dust approaches, various shadows emerging to reveal themselves as humanoids with wolf features that begin circling the group.
Eventually, the crowd of Wolfkin parts to reveal a much taller one wearing a black cape and a crown of bones. Despite her lithe feminine figure, she seems to exude strength. She’s also wearing a wolf mask that covers most of her face, except for her mouth. She glares at Band for a second before introducing herself as Asena. She immediately states that she was “informed” of their presence in the Boneyard, before stating that she’s going to beat them down and hand Band over to Neferki, along with Cleo.
Iron yells. “No way!” and rushes forward, punching Asena…or trying to, as she catches the punch and smirks at the stunned Iron. “I don’t think you’ll find fighting me too easy.” She then punches Iron in the face, sending her flying back with the sound of metal hitting metal. All of the CRG are shocked at this as Asena cracks her knuckles. “Let’s get this over with; Neferki doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” before charging at the slowly recovering Iron, knocking both of them into a nearby pit.
The fight with Asena is essentially a one-on-one duel between her and Iron; she is capable of matching every move Iron makes, but doubled in strength. She also has unique abilities, such as unleashing claw shaped waves of energy from her hands and grabbing Iron to throw her against the wall. Eventually when enough damage is dealt to her, she hops up to a higher outcropping and begins throwing giant rocks down at Iron, along with pouncing down at her to try and deal large amounts of damage.
After the battle, Asena is left dazed, allowing Iron to punch her into the wall, knocking her out. The Wolfkin that were traveling with her freak out and drop a rope down to get her out of the hole, immediately rushing off with her in tow. The rest of the CRG drop down the rope and help Iron up, with her stretching and rolling her shoulders. Band immediately says that “She was completely awesome there.” with Cleo nodding excitedly. Iron smiles before suggesting they move on before they come back, to the agreement of everyone.
==Fight(?) of the Living Dead (Shambler Bayou)===
Eventually, the CRG end up in a swampy environment with a small town in the distance and various boardwalks serving as paths. Band identifies the place as Shambler Bayou, home of the Shamblers and a bit closer to Hieroglyph City than they were before. It’s also one of the least visited places in the Spectral Realm because of its….unique way of welcoming visitors. Iron tries to say “What do you mean by unique-” but is interrupted by a rotted arm bursting up from the planks below them.
All of them, except Cleo and Band, who look exasperated, stare at the hole in shock as a rotting body pulls itself up, moaning and reaching for them. Iron immediately stomps it back down into the hole, to the relief of everyone except Band and Cleo, who still look frustrated. “We should go!” She turns back the way they came, only to see an entire horde of Shamblers emerging from the swamp behind them; as such, the group flees deeper into the bayou, fending off Shamblers all the while.
Eventually, they reach the town in the center of the swamp...and see a large horde of Shamblers heading right towards them. Iron cracks her knuckles as the horde walks closer, and the moment one of them gets close enough, she winds up for the mother of all punches…only for the Shambler to freeze in place, raise his hands, and yelp, “WHOA! Hold on there, metal lady!” Iron herself freezes as well, and can only manage a strangled “What?” as Cleo begins to silently laugh.
Band rolls her eyes as she finally explains, “Iron, meet the welcome wagon; they do this every time someone new comes here. Hey, I did warn you that Spectrals have a weird sense of humor…” The Shambler chuckles nervously as Iron’s arm falls limp. “After this, it’s probably going to be changed,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “Anyways, sorry about frightening you.” As the Shamblers walk off, Iron stares into the distance for a long moment before yelling, “...CAN WE MOVE ON NOW?!” Cent merely nods.
===A Shocking Revelation (Lightning Cliffs)===
After leaving the swamps with a very frustrated Iron, the group arrives at a long set of cliffs with a gigantic storm above them. Various pylons and mechanical devices are attached to the cliff walls, wires running down them and into various buildings. Band informs them that they just arrived in the Lightning Cliffs, home of the Stitchers, the premier technology experts of the Spectrals. “They use the endless lightning storm to power all their experiments.” She says as a lightning bolt strikes one of the pylons, electrical energy running down a wire into one of the buildings built into the cliff. A small explosion comes from inside the building, someone inside yelling in anger. “That happens a lot; just ignore it.” Band said, with Cleo nodding as they decided to listen and just move on.
Eventually, the CRG group scaled to the top of the cliffs, seeing a large metallic platform in the center of the cliffs with four large pylons bordering it. Sitting in the middle of the platform was a single female Stitcher with a long green ponytail, flight goggles, and a grey jumpsuit. She was working on a strange gauntlet that was part of her arm - in fact, a large amount of her arms, legs, and back were made of metal. She was grinning widely and saying “My project is almost complete! Soon, I will take to the skies, and all thanks to that funding from Neferki!” The moment she says that last part, Band and Cleo tense up.
“So much funding, and all I have to do is fly around for a bit and attack this ‘Band and Cleo’ if I see them!” Iron begins cracking her knuckles as the Stitcher laughs, flicking a switch on her gauntlet to unfurl a pair of metallic wings from her back. “That’ll be easy for me when I get this done! Watch out, birds; soon, the skies will belong to Aquilla!” Her laughter rises to a maniacal (but still oddly cheerful) cackle as the CRG exchange glances; clearly, they’ve got another potential threat on their hands here. Realizing that they don’t have much chance of escape from a flying opponent, Drica offers to distract Aquilla while the others find a way out of the cliffs. Despite some concern, Cent approves this plan, with Band telling the Draco girl to “fly north once we call - I think there’s someone we need to see.” With that in mind, Drica steps onto the platform and calls a greeting to the Stitcher girl.
“That’s a mighty fine pair o’ wings ya got there, sugar!” Drica braces for the worst as Aquilla whirls around, but she only gets a cheerful wave and a yell of “Thanks! I’ve been working on them for most of my unlife! Ever since I saw a Dark Shawk soaring over the cliffs, I’ve always wanted to fly…and thanks to my new inventions, I finally can~!“ She squeals with childish excitement as she gives her wings a test flap. “Hey, since you’re here, wanna help me test ‘em out?”
“Well, since Ah’m up here anyways, why the hey not?” Drica spares the briefest glance behind her, knowing that she needs to stall for more time before her friends can get to safety. “So, where ya wanna start? Flight lessons or somethin’?”
“Nah, I can do that on my own time. I was thinking more along the lines of…weapons testing!” Aquilla presses another button on her gauntlet, extending small engines out of her back and wicked metallic talons out of her gauntlets. Lightning arcs along her talons and wings as she rises into the air. “This is gonna be epic!”
“Dang, Ah’ve gone an’ stepped in it now…” Despite her dismay, Drica steels herself to engage Aquilla one-on-one. The Stitcher girl is incredibly agile, dashing and gliding around the arena with impressive speed as she uses her claws to slash at Drica; if that doesn’t work, she’ll fire them like boomerangs. Fortunately, her flight pack still has some bugs, causing it to malfunction periodically; Drica can get some hits in while Aquilla tries to fix her wings. Alternately, she can use the gusts of wind around the cliffs to take on the Stitcher in the skies, but she needs to avoid flying too high, lest she attract a stray bolt of lightning. After taking some damage, Aquilla will charge up with electricity, making her dangerous to approach; fortunately, she loses the charge when her wings give out, and Drica can still hit her with her fire breath. She also gains two new attacks: a dive bomb that creates explosive shockwaves on impact with the ground, and a “Hadoken”-esque energy ball.
After dealing enough damage to Aquilla, she lands on the opposite side of the arena from Drica. Her cybernetics lose their electrified glow, but she seems more disappointed than angry. “Aww…looks like I still have a lot of work to do on these babies…” Her mood suddenly flips right back to happy at the thought. “Excellent! I’m gonna make ‘em three times better than before with all the field data I just picked up!” She jumps for joy as she looks back at a slightly bemused Drica. “Thanks for that, scale-lady! You wanna come by my lab later to watch me work?”
“Uhh…” Fortunately, Drica hears her communicator going off at that moment; her friends are clear of the cliffs. “Sorry, sugar, but Ah’ll have to decline; got something ta do. Good luck on yer flyin’ machine, though - Ah’m sure you’ll be soarin’ with the birds before ya know it!”
Aquilla beams at this encouragement. “Thanks! Buh-bye - don’t be a stranger~!” She waves cheerfully as Drica spreads her wings and takes off due north, only to suddenly slap herself in the face. “Oh no! I completely forgot to ask her where she got those cool wings and stuff - she almost looks like a dragon or something!”
===Going Batty (Sanguine Woods)===
By the time Drica reunites with her friends, they’ve just emerged from the base of the Lightning Cliffs, ending up in a forested area thick with fog. She warns them that they’ll have to be careful, “‘cause that Aquilla gal’s gonna be patrollin’ the skies once she gets her flyin’ machine fixed up.” Grimly acknowledging that Neferki’s reach is further than she thought, Band states that “there’s only one place we can turn to for help now; Bateye country.” She explains that Bateyes and Hieros make up the “aristocratic” class of Spectrals, but the former are slightly more influential; their leader, the Grand Duchess, serves as the de facto ruler of the entire realm. “If anyone can be trusted not to be on Neferki’s payroll, it’s her.”
The CRG team agrees with Band’s plan, with Cent asking where they can find the Bateyes. Cleo indicates that they should head for the darker parts of the area; Band adds that Bateyes live in the darkest parts of the Realm. Accordingly, the team heads through the forest, dealing with native fauna and evading a few wandering Ghouls. Eventually, the group reach the darkest part of the forest, seeing a large town surrounding a massive Gothic castle, a dark purple light coming out of the tallest tower. This is Sanguine Woods, the main Bateye settlement in the Spectral Realm.
Before the team can do more than marvel at the sight before them, they see a small group of unusual-looking bats fluttering towards them. Once they’re close enough, the bats transform into a group of pale-skinned humanoids with small fangs and dapper clothes; Cleo indicates that these are Bateyes. Slightly wary after their last few encounters with Spectrals, Cent introduces herself and her friends as members of the CRG - “you’ve probably never heard of us, but I assure you that-” “Actually, ve have heard of you, Princess Cent,” one of the Bateyes says with a bow. “Your friends have been expecting you for some time now~”
The CRG are surprised by this fact, as they have no idea who they’re talking about. Suspicious of a trap, they reluctantly follow the Bateyes to the city, arriving sooner than expected with guides. They are quite shocked to see a very well maintained and well built building with CRG members working inside. Several of them rush forward to greet Cent, causing her to recognize them as one of the patrols that she sent out during the expansion plan. They confirm that they managed to get through the winds, but just barely; their airship crashed in Bateye territory, where they met the Grand Duchess. After they explained who they were and why they were here, she welcomed them to set up a base, with only one condition: “If you see this ‘Princess Cent’, you vill send her to me vith all haste; I think that ve vill have much to discuss.” Even as they say this, the Bateyes that led the team to their fellows appear at the door, watching Cent expectantly.
Mustering all her poise and dignity to mask her nerves, Cent gracefully accepts the invitation, stating that “I owe the Grand Duchess my gratitude for her hospitality, after all.” Nonetheless, she seems to stick closely to Iron as she quietly asks Band about their hostess; the Hiero girl assures her that she’ll be fine, because “the Grand Duchess can’t keep the whole realm in line by being like Neferki. Although, fair warning; don’t try whispering when we meet her; her hearing’s as sharp as her fashion sense.” She gets a hair defensive when Cleo gives her an “are you kidding me?” look. “What? It’s not exactly my style, but that Bateye knows how to make herself look good!”
===Blood and Sand (Culici Necropolis)===
As ready as they’re going to be, the CRG team (and Band) boards an impressive floating carriage that takes them to the castle they saw earlier. Their Bateye driver indicates that this is Culici Necropolis, named after the ruler of their realm: Grand Duchess Lorraine Culici. To his surprise, the woman herself can be seen on one of the balconies, cheerily waving down the visitors before disappearing in a puff of purple mist.
“Huh…she must really wanna meet ya, Princess,” Drica comments as their ride comes to a stop. “Ya reckon she’ll ask us to stay fer dinner?”
“That’d be nice…as long as it doesn’t mean that we’re the main course,” Iron replies darkly. “I don’t even know if it is dinnertime, thanks to the eternal night…”
“You know, ve Bateyes are not entirely like the vampires of your legends.” Lorraine appears right behind them as they exit their carriage, now holding a purple fan with a bat motif in front of her mouth. “Besides, the only blood edible to us is that of animals.”
Trying not to let her relief show on her face, Cent lets her formal diplomacy training take the lead. “Ahem…it’s a pleasure to meet you, Grand Duchess Culici. I am Cent, Princess of Centrus Plains and leader of the CRG. These are my friends; Iron, Princess Drica of the Scale Kingdom, Cleo, and Band. Allow me to formally thank you for your generous assistance to the CRG - without you, I fear that their expedition might’ve ended poorly.”
“My my, you’re certainly more traditional than your friends made you sound.” In contrast to Cent’s affected stiffness, the Grand Duchess seems quite casually amused. “Please, there is no need to be so formal; I too owe you much thanks, but more than that…it simply varms my heart to meet someone who shares my love of Krossian history.”
“I can imagine,” Cent replies, relaxing a little now that she has a grasp of Lorraine’s temperament. “Your family must have ruled this land for generations-”
“Actually, I’ve been here since day one.” The Grand Duchess puffs out her chest with exaggerated pride. “You’re looking at the ruler and founder of the Sanguine Woods settlement; I’d tell you how old, but…ve lost count around the 500-year mark!”
Cent’s jaw promptly drops as her fangirl side kicks in, prompting Drica to step forward as Iron and Band try to restrain the imminent squeals; Cleo, of course, is simply laughing her mute butt off. “Wowee, that is some age, alright,” the Draco girl says. “Mah Pops ain’t even a fraction as old as you, an’ yet ya look young enough to be mah older sister! Guess bein’ undead has its perks, huh?”
The Grand Duchess laughs daintily. “Indeed it does, my friend. Of course, Spectrals aren’t technically undead, but never mind that. As I vas saying…” Before she goes on, she checks to make sure that Cent is still conscious after Band slapped her out of another fangirl episode. “I offer you and the CRG my most gracious thanks for opening my eyes to the lands beyond the Banshee Peaks. Vere it not for your scouts’ unfortunate landing in my territory, I vould have never imagined the people, cities, and other sights sharing this continent with us. Vhat stories they must know…” Despite her calm tone, the sparkle in her eyes hints at the depth of her passion. “I cannot thank you enough, Princess Cent…but I can certainly try. Is there anything that my people and I can do for you?”
From the glint in Cent’s eyes, she has a lot of ideas, but a nudge from Cleo brings her back to the current situation. “As a matter of fact, there is,” she says. “If you don’t mind me asking…would you happen to be aware of Pharaoh Neferki’s recent actions?”
The Grand Duchess visibly flinches at this. “Ah…yes, I am quite aware of vhat Neferki has been doing. And…I feel that I must apologize to you…for I am to blame.”
The CRG and Band look shocked at this, Iron eventually asking “What do you mean that you’re to blame?”
“I’m afraid that the revelation of a vorld beyond our borders has been…divisive,” Culici sighs. “Some of the Spectrals velcome the chance to unite with the rest of Kros…but others vish to remain isolated. Neferki has been one of the loudest voices to defy my desire, and she has been quick to gather support amid the Spectral Realm.”
“I’ll say,” Band adds. “The Hieros were a no-brainer, but she’s got Wolfkin, Stitchers, and Ghouls on her side, although the Stitchers probably only care about funding for their projects.”
Culici sighs once again. “The Stitchers probably don’t actually know about Neferki’s goals; as long as she funds their experiments, they’ll do just about anything she says. If they actually knew, they’d turn on her instantly. But…they’re so caught up in their experiments and the funding, only Neferki telling them herself vill convince them now.”
“Well then, what the heck do we do about this?” Drica asks. “Ain’t there some way to convince Neferki to change her mind about us?”
“Are you kidding?!” Band half-laughs at the Draco’s suggestion. “If Neferki was any more stubborn, she’d have the head of a bull! No, we need to take out her support somehow…show them just how loopy she really is, or that you guys are alright.”
Culici coughs, interrupting the conversation. “If I may?” Cent nods, causing Culici to smile from behind her fan. “Thank you. Ve might vant to focus on what Neferki has planned...and ve do have some time for dinner. Don’t vorry, you aren’t the food, and ve have normal food for non-Bateye guests.”
The CRG smile as they enter the palace, eventually arriving in a very fancy dining room with a bat aesthetic. All of them sit down as Culici snaps a gloved finger, summoning a Bateye dressed as a waiter that momentarily looks at all of them before nodding and leaving the room. After a while, he returns with food that all of them recognize as native to their homelands; the native Spectrals’ dishes are obscured by their dressings. Culici’s is coated with what appears to be a dark red sauce, while Cleo and Band have a generous amount of golden brown dust on their meals.
Is that…sand? Iron decides not to question it as she tucks into her own plate. After the meal, Culici tells them that she wants to give them a final gift: customized outfits from her personal tailor. Cent and Cleo don’t seem so upset about it, but Drica, Iron, and Band are unsure; the former tries to politely decline, but Culici insists.
One incredibly difficult fashion show later, the team takes the CRG outpost’s repaired airship out from Bateye country, with Cent holding a large case. “I am keeping all of these dresses, including all of yours!” she says. “Great…as long as you don’t make me wear ‘em,” Iron snarks. “Likewise,” Band adds, either oblivious to or willfully ignoring Cent’s massive blush at the thought of Iron in some of the dresses. “We’ll be seeing more regalia than I’d like to forget once we reach our destination…”
==Sphinx Hijinks (Hieroglyph City)===
The trip to Hiero territory takes the airship all the way across the Spectral Realm, with the sky gradually lightening as they go. Band takes the time to explain that her people love the sun just as much as Bateyes love the dark; thus, they developed a means to control the amount of light in the Spectral Realm. The Nightgaze Tower in Culici Necropolis repels light, while the Lightmaw Obelisk in Hieroglyph City attracts it, leaving Bateye territory in perpetual darkness (save for the moon) and Hiero territory in perpetual light. Drica asks how the Spectrals came up with such a novel solution, but Band shrugs; she says that the towers have been around for as long as anyone can remember. “Just like the rest of Kros…” Cent muses as Iron stares out the window. Even with the windstorms over Banshee Peaks, the synthetic girl can just barely see the glow of the Worldwound, and a now-familiar pang of unease stirs in her heart. She couldn’t explain it even if she wanted to, but she can’t help but feel as though there’s some kind of connection between the Disaster and all those mysterious towers…
Before Iron can ponder further, the airship touches down on the edge of a vast desert, more peaceful-looking than the Bullion Wastes or the Clouded Glass Dunes, with a large river winding through it. Band and Cleo indicate that their hometown, Hieroglyph City, can be found if they follow the river, but the former warns the CRG not to get too close to the water; “the Tamsaurs are always hungry”.
With that in mind, the team sets out alongside the river, evading and fighting enemies such as giant scorpions, grumpy camel-like creatures, sand elementals, and the aforementioned Tamsaurs (massive crocodilian beasts). It isn’t long before they reach Hieroglyph City, an impressive blend of ancient and modern Egyptian architecture dominated by several pyramids and the Lightmaw Obelisk. From here, they must sneak past Hiero guards and their loyal pets to reach a house that Cleo recognizes instantly; with rare intensity, she rushes to a shuttered window and knocks three times.
“Wh-who’s there…?” The window softly opens to reveal another Hiero girl who looks like an older Cleo, but with her mouth uncovered like Band. She’s wearing much more jewelry than either of them; mostly gold with inset rubies, along with diamond earrings and a tiny obsidian jackal on her headband. Her eyes are lined with bags, but they seem to widen as she sees the smaller Hiero at her window. “Cleo? Is that you, sis?”
Cleo nods happily before pointing behind her, causing her apparent sister’s eyes to nearly pop out of her head. “By the Sun…B-Band?!”
“Yep…but d’you mind saving the reunion for after we get out of the open?” Despite her snark, Band is positively beaming as the other girl quickly opens the door and ushers everyone inside. She’s barely locked the door behind them before she all but leaps on Band, laughing and crying in equal measure.
“Sphinxes preserve me, it is you! I never thought I’d see you aga-a-ain!” She cries, hugging Band tightly. Band pats her on the head as she continues sobbing in joy.
“Well, I can’t take all the credit for my big comeback,” she admits. “You can blame your crazy lil’ sis and her pals from the other side of the Peaks.” She turns to the CRG group with a grin. “Ladies, meet Ankh. She’s Cleo’s big sister, my BFF, and the hottest idol in the whole damn desert~”
Ankh blushes a bit at this praise as she finally lets go of her friend. “Wait. Band, darling? Did you just say beyond the Peaks?” She looks at the CRG with curiosity. “Well…thank you for bringing my sister and my BFF back. Just…uh…give me a moment to compose myself.” She rushes off into a side room, leaving the CRG and Band.
“Well, Cleo…your sister is certainly…umm…” Cent pauses as she searches for the right word.
“Dramatic?” Iron offers, prompting a nod from Cent. “Yes, dramatic.” Cleo shrugs, indicating her lack of objections to the assessment of her sister's personality. “Yeah, she’s usually like that.” Band adds. “It’s what makes her…her, I guess. Whatever you call it, it seems to work; even Neferki liked Ankh until she worked her political views into her performances…”
Before anyone can ask, Ankh emerges from the side room, looking significantly more composed. She’s donned a dress that appears to be elegant silk drawn over a pure gold frame of spokes and rings, and her eyes look far more striking with the addition of light blue eyeshadow. Cent is entranced by Ankh’s new look, but Iron and Drica seem more ambivalent while Cleo and Band immediately facepalm.
“By the Moon, I can tell you’re feeling better already,” the latter Hiero sighs. “You’ve dug out your idol outfit again.”
“That’s her idol outfit?” Drica cries incredulously. “No offense to yer culture, gal, but Ah wouldn’t be caught dead in that fancy lampshade!”
Ankh rolls her eyes and flips her head back at this. “I quite like it, thank you very much!” She says, putting her hands on the sides of her dress in a slightly flirty pose. Cleo rolls her eyes before hugging Ankh tightly. Ankh returns the hug happily, only to freeze when she hears the sound of distant cymbals, flutes, and harps.
“Oh, lovely…” Band groans. “It must be time for Neferki’s ‘royal inspection’, huh?” She explains to the CRG that the Pharaoh of Hieroglyph City makes a point to gather her personal entourage and roam through the town once or twice a month, ostensibly to check on the welfare of her subjects…“but I always felt like it was just an excuse to feed her big fat ego, honestly.”
“Normally, I’d be offended, but...it does feel that way,” Ankh admits. “Especially since she does them so often now; it’s like there’s an inspection almost every other day…”
Cent frowns as she considers the implications of this, but Ankh quickly shoves her and the others into a sarcophagus-styled closet as the sound of the procession draws closer. Through a small crack in the door, the group watches Ankh unlock and open her front door as a series of regally-dressed Hieros begins marching past, flanked by ornately-armored guards riding on the backs of Tamsaurs and other desert beasts.
“Ugh...that is definitely Neferki’s court.” Band sticks out her tongue as Cleo scowls. “No other self-respecting Hiero would wear that much gold or that shade of ‘royal’ blue eyeshadow.”
Before the CRG girls can comment, Ankh suddenly drops to her knees and bows to a particularly large figure. “Hail, Pharaoh Neferki, Emissary of the Sphinxes and Blessed of the Sun and Moon.”
“For the love of me, Ankh, there’s no need for that.” From the voice alone, the CRG can tell that Ankh is speaking to someone who was born to rule, knows as much, and is more than willing to flaunt it. “Come now, on your feet; it’s a shame to see such a beautiful dress ruined.”
Drica snorts quietly (getting a nudge from Cleo) as Ankh stands and backs up, allowing Neferki herself to enter the house. The CRG team bites back gasps of shock when they see the Pharaoh; a tall, slender Hiero with four eagle-like wings; two on her back, and two on the sides of the massive lion’s body replacing her legs. Her body seems to emit a faint glow independent of the ambient light; coupled with her copious jewelry and thick golden eyeshadow, she radiates beauty, strength, and arrogance in equal measure.
“What the…?” Iron mutters. “Is it…normal for Hieros to turn into that, or is it a Pharaoh-only deal?”
Cleo shakes her head as Band elaborates. “Trust me, that is not normal. I don’t know what Neferki did to get it, but that body of hers is just further ‘proof’ of her godhood in her eyes.”
“If anyone should be blessed by the Sun and Moon, it would be you,” Neferki continues, oblivious to her hidden audience. “It is good to see you back to your old self, Ankh; even I began to fear that you would never recover after the…incident with the heretic.”
“You and I both, Your Radiance.” Ankh’s superb acting skills are the only thing hiding her true feelings about Neferki’s scathing dismissal of Band. “I…may need a little more time to fully regain myself, however. Forgive me, but I cannot grace your theatres just yet.”
Neferki’s irritated scowl is so quick as to be almost unnoticeable. “Very well, Ankh. Take as much time as you need…but I expect a performance the likes of which our people have never seen when you do return to the stage. And by the Sphinxes, I had better not hear anything about the Grand Duchess’s recent…discovery.” For a moment, her expression shows complete rage as her glow subtly intensifies, with every Hiero in view - including Band, Cleo, and the members of Neferki’s court - looking absolutely terrified. “For now, I must move on. I wish you best of luck on your continued recovery, Ankh.” With a deft movement at odds with her massive frame, she exits the house; a moment later, the procession continues its march. Ankh waits until the whole parade is out of sight before opening her closet, allowing Band and the CRG team to tumble out with gasps of relief.
“Hoo wee…” Drica groans as she stands up and flexes her wings with audible cracking noises. “Ah love bein’ a Draco, but it makes hidin’ a right chore sometimes, Ah tell ya…” She glances back at her friends, only to see Cleo and Band sitting stock-still, their faces seemingly frozen in horror. “Hey…y’all okay, gals?”
Cleo stiffly shakes her head as Band finally finds her voice. “Her…her aura. It…it was always oppressive, but…that was real terror. She…she’s gotten stronger. Much stronger.”
“Well, that’s damn ominous!” Iron says, rolling her shoulder to get out some of the stiffness. “We’d better be careful while we’re knocking the smug outta her.”
“Hold on, Iron,” Cent cautions. “We won’t face Neferki just yet; I think we should find out just what she’s up to first. Ankh, you said that she’s been doing her ‘inspections’ a lot more frequently, yes?” She glances to the Hiero idol, getting a mute nod in return. “What if they’re just a front for her real plans against Culici? She certainly can’t be meeting with all of her Spectral contacts publicly - it’d completely contradict her isolationist image - so what if she’s sneaking off to meet them under her people’s radar?”
The other CRG girls nod in agreement, but Band looks skeptical. “But how is Neferki sneaking off?” she asks. “So-called goddess or no, I think someone would’ve noticed if she took unsanctioned trips out of our territory.”
“True…but who says that she’s going out?” Cent’s eye flashes with a hunch. “Are there any places in this desert that’d be good for a quiet meeting? Small villages, ancient ruins, or the like?”
In near-unison, Cleo, Ankh, and Band’s eyes widen. “Now that you mention it…there is one place that’d fit,” Ankh says. “And if we’re right…you might just be able to find out what Neferki’s up to right now.”
===Secrets Under the Sun (Ruins of Osiris)===
After restocking what they can by sending Cleo out to the local stores, the CRG team (and Band) takes a shortcut through the back alleys of Hieroglyph City to intercept Neferki’s probable path. Sure enough, they reach the city limits to see the Pharaoh dismissing her entourage, save for a small group of her elite guards, and setting off for the desert.
“Looks like Ankh was right,” Band whispers. “She’s heading straight for the Ruins of Osiris. Nobody goes there anymore; it’d be the perfect place for a covert meeting.”
“C’mon then, let’s tail her,” Cent replies. “Be careful, though; I don’t think we’ll want to see what happens if we’re spotted…”
Cleo nervously nods in agreement as the quintet heads out after Neferki. Travelling the desert is difficult due to the lack of major landmarks, continued monster attacks, and a relative lack of hiding places from Neferki’s guards. Eventually, however, they manage to follow the Pharaoh to a sprawling collection of stone buildings in varying states of decay, save for a mostly-intact tower at the heart of the ruins.
“So these are the Ruins of Osiris, huh?” Iron crosses her arms as she scrutinizes the surroundings. “Sure looks unfriendly enough…but where the heck would Neferki meet anybody?”
Cleo simply points to the Pharaoh as she enters one of the more intact buildings, leaving her guards to patrol the surroundings. Once again, our heroines must carefully evade the guards while sneaking further into the ruins, searching for an alternate entrance. When they find it, they’ll enter a labyrinth of underground corridors, filled with tricks, traps, and wrong turns; as with their pursuit of Ace of Skulls, they’ll need to rely on various visual and audio cues to find their way.
Eventually, the CRG reach a small hidden alcove overlooking a round room with a table in the middle. Inside the room is Asena, looking very bored, Aquilla, fiddling with her cybernetics, and a Ghoul wearing a ringmaster's outfit and top hat, who was playing around with a pair of multicolored rings. Suddenly, Neferki bursts into the room and heads to the front of the table, coughing to get the attention of the others. “This meeting of the Anti-Unification Spectral Alliance (AUSA) will now come to order!”
She announces that the “Sphinxian Gem” is working at 100%; all of the Hieros will be agreeing with her viewpoint by the end of the month. “Month? MONTH?!” The Ringmaster cackles. “All I had to do is tell my workers that we’re getting paid in literal pounds of 24-karat Hiero gold and they’re all on my side instantly!” Asena rolls her eyes as the cackling Ringmaster brags, pointing out that she didn’t even need to convince them. Neferki, annoyed that they’ve been distracted and that she’s been stood up, cuts the conversation short and orders a report on their progress.
With a nod, Asena informs Neferki that she’s been preparing for a direct raid on Culici Necropolis; to Neferki’s (slightly unnerved) satisfaction, she promises that “when I’m done, the only thing you’ll need to worry about regarding the Bateyes…is what side dish to serve with their remains~” Aquilla reports that “It’s going slower than expected,” but progress on her “newest achievement” shows extreme promise. Finally, the Ringmaster announces (with great aplomb) that she’s got the whole Haunted Circus on her side. Neferki looks around before demanding that, while they’ve done well, they need to do more if they want the plan to succeed. They need to work faster so they can begin the destruction of all non-Spectrals, starting with the “interlopers from this CRG that Lorraine is so fond of”.
Cent barely stifles a gasp at this, Iron and Drica are glaring at Neferki, and Cleo and Band are completely shocked. Band states that she expected Neferki would do something to get rid of anything that conflicts with her world-view, but expecting and actually hearing confirmation that she’s going to do it is very different. Suddenly, Asena’s ears perk up and she sniffs the air suspiciously, muttering “Someone’s here.”
The heroines freeze as the villains below begin looking around in confusion. “Uhh…on a scale of 1 to 10…how good is the average Wolfkin’s schnoz…?” Drica asks nervously.
“Try ‘good enough to track someone through Shambler Bayou in the middle of summer…’ and from what I’ve seen, Asena is not an ‘average’ Wolfkin, either.” Cleo holds up all ten fingers for emphasis as Band says this. “We should go. Now.” The CRG agrees silently as Cent signals for them to split up and find their own quickest path out of the ruins; they’ll meet up back at Ankh’s house. As they dart back the way they came, they hear Neferki ordering the AUSA to split up and search the area.
The following mission puts you in control of Cent’s escape; unfortunately, she ends up having to deal with Neferki herself. The Pharaoh is an extreme Advancing Boss of Doom for the most part - if Cent steps in the range of her light, she’ll be fried with a beam of solar energy. Fortunately, Neferki’s low-light vision isn’t terribly great (apparently, being part lion and eagle didn’t include their eyes), allowing Cent to avoid death by keeping ahead of her light; unfortunately, she’ll attempt to scope out the area with beams and even full-screen bursts of light, forcing Cent to find cover and alternate paths.
===Run for the Border (Hieroglyph City and Culici Necropolis, Part 2)===
Back at Ankh’s house, Cent reunites with her friends, who relate their own experiences evading the other AUSA members (if you replay the mission later, you can choose to play through the other characters’ escapes). Ankh notes that she’s been having strange, pro-Neferki thoughts ever since she opened her front door; the CRG realizes that the Sphinxian Gem must be influencing the Hieros to support the mad Pharaoh. Cent theorizes that the gem’s effects are stronger around the center of the city, hence why Neferki can afford to take so many “inspections” now; with the gem controlling the core of her city, she only has to worry about the civilians on the outskirts.
It is decided that the team needs to return to Culici Necropolis to inform the Grand Duchess about the AUSA’s genocidal schemes; Band also wants Ankh to come with them so she won’t be brainwashed by the Sphinxian Gem. It is decided that they’ll split up and take different paths out of the city; Band and Ankh will disguise themselves and head down the main route, while the CRG team uses another shortcut to return to their airship, which takes place as a two-part mission.
For the first part of the mission, the CRG have to find a safe way for Ankh through the outskirts of the city, passing various guards and traps based on capturing; Band theorizes that Neferki ordered them to catch wandering/fleeing Hieros and bring them to the inner part of the city. As the level goes on, a greater emphasis is put on actually sneaking past guards.
In the second part of the mission, the team escapes the city proper…only to run into Neferki’s allies as they set out to continue their parts of the AUSA’s plan. In contrast to the city escape, this mission becomes a frantic dash across the desert as the villains try to catch the CRG; Asena acts as the Advancing Boss of Doom, Aquilla dashes across the screen and periodically fires paralyzing shots, and the Ringmaster attempts to ambush them with her dual whips.
Eventually, the CRG, Band, and Ankh reach the airship, which takes off mere moments before the AUSA members can catch up; Asena fumes, the Ringmaster gleefully praises “the show”, and Aquilla nervously contacts Neferki to say “We may need to bump up the schedule a bit, Your Highness”. The moment Ankh leaves what can be considered Hiero lands, she gets a rather horrible headache as the effects of the Gem vanish from her mind. Drica wonders “what kinda scorpion crawled up [Neferki’s] backside” to make her so violently isolationist, but Iron says that it doesn’t matter; “Right now, I just want to put my fist in her face…but to do that, we’ve gotta get the rest of the Spectrals outta her corner.” The others agree as they return to the Sanguine Woods to tell the Bateyes the bad news.
Needless to say, Grand Duchess Culici is shocked at the lengths Pharaoh Neferki is willing to go to in order to stop her unification plans. She wonders if her Hiero counterpart feels that threatened by the possibilities of the world beyond the Spectral Realm…or if she’s just that much of a control freak…but she agrees that “ve can speculate later; for now, ve must take action against Neferki and her allies. You said that she vas planning an attack against our territory, yes?”
“That’s right,” Cent replies. “The Wolfkin, Asena, said that she was going to lead her pack against you…” She pauses as a sound comes through the window; a distant chorus of howls. “…and I think that’d be them now.”
==Moonlight Melee (Sanguine Woods, Part 2)===
After ensuring that Ankh and Band have lavishly comfortable accommodations in her castle, Culici calls her guards to defend the settlement from the incoming Wolfkin. As usual, the CRG is more than eager to help out, so the Grand Duchess tasks them with holding off the invaders while the citizens evacuate. This manifests as a series of defense missions, where the characters must stem the Wolfkin assault in their own unique ways: Iron takes the Wolfkin head-on, Cent works on maintaining the defensive line, Drica uses the trees and towers to snipe the villains from above, and Cleo sneaks behind the main brawl to cause trouble among enemy lines.
Once the offensive peters out, the CRG goes into the forest to find the Wolfkin’s main camp. Sure enough, they find Asena cursing the Bateyes and their “foreign assistance”; once she detects them, she attacks them herself. This fight plays out similarly to her first battle, but with any character being allowed to confront her; instead of using higher ground, she’ll dart in and out of the trees to try and confuse them before pouncing. She’ll also break off branches to use as clubs and javelins in addition to digging up rocks to throw.
After the fight, Asena growls at the CRG before falling back, ordering her pack to retreat. She rushes off into the forest, the Wolfkin following her as they flee. The CRG cheer for a bit before Cent points out that she’ll most likely return; if they want to cut Neferki’s Wolfkin support, they need to follow Asena and find her base. Deciding to track her down, the CRG rush back to the Necropolis and take a carriage in pursuit of Asena…
===Apex Predators (Eternal Boneyard, Part 2)===
The CRG follows the Wolfkin back to the Eternal Boneyard, but Asena proves to have covered her tracks well. Remembering Band’s comments the last times they came here, Cent decides to find someone who isn’t working for the AUSA, instructing her friends to look for signs of civilization. They soon discover a small clan of Wolfkin discussing Asena’s return in fearful wonder; they’re too intimidated to offer concrete advice, but upon learning that they’re talking to the ones who put her in such a bad mood, they give vague hints on how to find her.
Following the hints, the team heads for one of the largest “bone mines” in the area; a place where Wolfkin dig for the bones that form the basis of their society. Sure enough, the miners are nervous and vaguely hostile, indicating that Asena may be hiding in the mines. Assuring the workers that “we’re here to help you”, the CRG heads into the mines, dealing with trap-laden platforming and the occasional Wolfkin attack; however, just as they finally seem to have a lead, a massive tremor shakes the mine. Iron shoves Cent out of the way of some falling bones, but this causes her to fall down a long, sloping tunnel.
Iron recovers to find herself in a much lower level of the mines, deep enough that she can actually see new bones forming from puffs of magic. The tunnel she came down in has been blocked off by a large boulder, so she has no choice but to proceed forward, breaking through obstacles that seem to have been placed there by someone. It’s simple enough, but something about the tunnel seems to stir Iron’s memory; for a moment, the path becomes the hallway of a castle, echoing with the distant voice of a man announcing “The future of Kros begins here!”…
Iron snaps out of it just in time to avoid falling when the path abruptly ends…only for someone to shove her out anyway, forcing a less-than-dignified landing in a very large cavern lined with colossal fossilized bones. Rings of glowing white runes slowly spiral upwards, despite being carved into the bone itself. Iron’s just about to wonder what the heck these are when she hears a familiar grim laugh; looking back to the tunnel opening, she sees none other than Asena!
“Impressive, aren’t they?” she asks rhetorically. “Those Osteoroots have been down here since the birth of Wolfkin civilization, releasing the magic that sustains the Eternal Boneyard. It’s a shame that I had to tread on such sacred ground, but you pests have left me with no choice.”
“Gee, that’s a fancy way to say ‘running away with your tail between your legs,’” Iron snarks. “You’re the one who separated me from the girls, aren’t you? What’s the matter; scared to take all of us on at once?”
“You don’t become an alpha by playing fair,” Asena counters calmly. “Not my fault you felt the need to trip into my trap; in all honesty, I was planning to pick off that brat of a princess first.”
Iron’s eyes flash red at Asena’s threat. “What. Did you. Just say?”
The Wolfkin shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m a predator, metal-girl; it’s in my blood. I go for the weaklings.” She grins wickedly as she throws off her cape and jumps down to face a now thoroughly-pissed Iron.
“Well then…you really suck as a predator.” There is no mirth in Iron’s voice as she cracks her knuckles. “Because you’re looking at the girl who’s gonna punch the blood right outta you!”
Asena lets out a snarl of her own as she engages Iron once again. She starts by fighting similarly to the final phase of her first battle, but with lower damage (implied to be due to her lingering injuries from the battle in Sanguine Woods) and the club/javelin attacks from her second battle (with bones instead of branches). Once she seems to be beaten, however, she leaps onto the wall and takes a bite out of one of the Osteoroots, absorbing its magic to transform into Primal Asena, a beastly wolf-woman with jagged bones for armor. This form is even stronger than her old self, being able to create shockwaves and rains of debris in addition to nastier versions of her previous moves. If she gets desperate enough, she’ll even demonstrate a few magic attacks, such as massive beams from her mouth and energy spears summoned from above or below.
When Iron finally overcomes Asena, she’s sent flying back into one of the Osteoroots, bone-white magic leaving her body as she turns back to normal. Iron rushes forward with a furious scream and punches just above her head, leaving a crater in the Osteoroot. The damage quickly heals, but Asena’s utterly terrified expression shows that she got the message as she looks at Iron’s ominously shadowed face.
“Next time, that’ll be your head.” she growls, slowly withdrawing her hand as her red eyes flash. Asena meekly nods and rushes off, sounding very similar to a scared puppy. Moments later, a loud crash heralds the arrival of the other CRG members, having just tumbled down a second tunnel. Their pain and irritation quickly evaporates when they see Iron walking towards them, safe and sound (apart from a really sore hand from punching the Osteoroot). She recounts what happened and assures them that “I don’t think Asena’s going to be contributing to the AUSA anytime soon. What say we get outta here and do the same to Aquilla and the Ringmaster?”
When the CRG finds their way out of the mine, they meet the leader of the other half of the Wolfkin population, who asks them to tell Culici that their people will put their full support behind her unification plan. They also mention that Asena will personally lead any operations against Neferki as penance for her “earlier foolishness”, prompting a raised eyebrow from Cleo.
“My goodness…you must’ve done a real number on her, Iron,” Cent says.
“What can I say? She insulted my friends.” Iron’s nonchalant answer causes Drica to smirk knowingly as they return to the carriage.
===Mucking with the AUSA (Shambler Bayou, Part 2)===
After sending a messenger bat to Culici about their progress, the CRG heads to Shambler Bayou to warn them of Aquilla’s attack. However, the bayou is already under attack - which the group realizes when their carriage is shot down by a familiar blast of lightning. Crashing in the depths of the swamp, they come across a panicking Shambler who tells them that their settlement is in chaos; the bayou’s under attack by “a big shiny lightning bird” and the leader, Bokor Mortis, has gone missing.
Iron is all for charging in and giving Aquilla “the ol’ one-two”, but Cleo looks suspicious at the mention of the abduction. Cent agrees that it seems like the AUSA may be attacking from two fronts and decides to split her group; Iron and Drica will defend the bayou while she and Cleo search for Bokor Mortis. The missions happen concurrently, but can be played in either order.
Iron and Drica’s task takes them to the main Bayou to face Aquilla, who’s now sporting a full-body suit of advanced armor. Recognizing Drica, she cheerfully greets her, asking what she thinks of her MechAquilla armor. “I used the data from that last test to make it extra-perfect! I’d thank ya, but I’m kind of working right now…oh, and Neferki says that we can’t have you running around messing up our plans, either. Sorry, but I gotta go - get outta here before I have to kick your butt!” She promptly flies off to continue her attack, leaving Iron and Drica to deal with her Stitcher subordinates, sporting various cybernetic armor and weapons of their own. Afterwards, they can use various traps set up by the Shamblers (and even some of the Stitchers’ own siege weapons) to down Aquilla long enough to get some hits in, avoiding her powerful new weaponry in between shots. Eventually, the Stitcher girl decides that she’s had enough, lamenting that “Neferki is gonna have my wings for this!” as she flies back to the Lightning Cliffs.
Elsewhere, Cent and Cleo navigate the swamp itself in search of the Bokor, dealing with native wildlife and Ghoul mercenaries amid the dangerous platforming. Eventually, they find the Bokor in the clutches of the Ringmaster, who applauds their efforts in catching up to her. “Of course, that was just practice for the real event - don’t blink, or you’ll miss the spectacle of a lifetime!” She then leads the duo on a mad chase around a makeshift arena in the swamp, teleporting away whenever they manage to “tag” her. After enough rounds of this, she drops the Bokor and prepares to get serious, only to change her mind when she sees Shambler reinforcements closing in. “Unfortunately, this show has been cancelled due to zombies raining on my parade! But don’t worry; we’ll have all the entertainment you can handle back at the Big Top in the Haunted Circus! Come if you dare…it’ll be a killer show~!” She gives a final cackle before disappearing, leaving Cent and Cleo to tend to Bokor Mortis.
In the wake of the two-pronged attack, the CRG reconvenes to check on the damage; the Bayou’s seen better days, but the Shamblers seem to actually like the look. More importantly, no one was hurt too badly, the Bokor is safe, and both AUSA members have fled to lick their wounds. With their carriage still under repairs, the CRG decides to pursue Aquilla and the Ringmaster in order to restore order in their regions.
===The Greatest Show (Haunted Circus, Part 2)===
(NOTE: This part of the plot can be done before or after the Lightning Cliffs.)
The CRG arrives in the Haunted Circus, only to find that it has shifted once again, likely to cover the Ringmaster’s tracks. Not only that, but its tricks are now more blatantly malicious and creepy, featuring much more dangerous traps and imagery that implies a far too deep knowledge of the CRG members’ past, depicting them in various twisted forms, that grow darker and more threatening as they get deeper. It ends with them in a hall of mirrors, facing dark versions of themselves based on past foes (such as Iron covered with rust and wearing Ace’s skull, Cent wearing a black Kimono with insectoid eyes and an insane grin, Nym as Drica -or maybe Drica mentally warped into acting like Nym - and Cleo wearing an outfit similar to Neferki’s, with the addition of a golden collar wrapped around her neck.) The moment they’re defeated, the mirrors in the room they’re in shatter, revealing a path leading up to the top of the tent.
Climbing up the pathway, they end up on a small circular platform with three other larger ones in the distance. Iron looks around before asking a question. “The Ringmaster would never miss what she thinks of as a show, right? So where is she?” Suddenly, cackling surrounds them from the distance as the Ringmaster swings in on a trapeze, grabbing Cleo and heading over to the three other platforms. As soon as they land, The Ringmaster presses a button on the railing of the platform, surrounding it with an electrical barrier. She then says that “The stage is set, the actors are in place…ladies and gentlemen, IT’S TIME FOR THE SHOW!” She then cackles and pulls out her whips, rushing towards Cleo for a one-on-one duel.
The fight starts similarly to the encounter in Shambler Bayou, but the Ringmaster is much more aggressive. Her dual whips afford her greater mobility and enhanced attacks, forcing Cleo to use all of her evasive skills to avoid damage. She also uses throwing knives and flaming spiked balls as projectiles; the former are faster, but can be deflected. As she takes damage, she’ll force the battle to different parts of the Big Top, changing the layout of the battlefield and throwing environmental obstacles into the mix.
Despite her impressive capabilities, the Ringmaster is eventually defeated in the most ironic fashion possible. For the finale of the battle, she stands at the very center of the Big Top, surrounded by firebreathing Ghouls as she directs a barrage of cannons to fire at Cleo. The Hiero girl must quickly ascend to the top of the tent, where she finds a cart piled high with bags of gold and a large net directly above the Ringmaster. To end the fight, she must evade Ghoul “performers” and continued cannon fire while setting up a “path” from the gold to the net; once successful, it’ll fall through and land right on the unsuspecting Ringmaster.
“Oooh… Ah know she’s evil an’ all, but that has gotta smart.” Drica winces slightly as Cleo drops from the rafters and swings back to her friends. They descend to the floor of the Big Top, where the Ringmaster has just barely managed to somehow get her head and arms out from under the sacks of gold. She deliriously yells “Thank you…for visiting…the Haunted Circus! Please check out…our gift shop…lil’ birdies!” before fainting, the gold clinking slightly. Cent eyes the gold hungrily for a moment, but shakes it off as she turns to Cleo.
“Do you think this’ll stop the rest of the Ghouls from supporting Neferki?” she asks. Cleo shrugs as several more Ghouls rush into the Big Top, clearly determined to capture the CRG; however, they stop short when they see what happened to their leader. Iron looks ready to beat some sense into them, but Cent signals her to stand down as she clears her throat officiously.
“I am aware that you’ve been ordered to deal with us by Pharaoh Neferki,” she begins. “I’m sure that she’s paid you handsomely for your allegiance, sweetened with the promise of protecting your way of life. However, I can assure you that whatever she gave you, the CRG can match and then some!” Her friends do a brief double-take at this as she continues. “Contrary to what Neferki seems to believe, the lands beyond the Spectral Realm are more than willing to accept others, no matter who they are or what their particular sense of humor is! All I ask in return is that you return their respect and live in harmony with each other.” She smiles encouragingly, but most of the Ghouls still look reluctant, prompting her to sigh. “...And yes, if necessary, we can also pay you quite well.”
The Ghouls, after conversing among each other for a bit, look at Cent. One of them, a young female Ghoul wearing a cloak, finally says, “We expect 50% pay up front, with the rest distributed based on performance.”
The CRG exchanges glances before Cent nods slowly. “R-right, but…I don’t suppose we could discuss the specifics after we’ve, uh…settled…things with your old employer? I don’t think she’ll be terribly understanding of your business prospects.”
“Deal,” the cloaked Ghoul says. “Pleasure doing business with you.” She then heads back into the crowd, looking pleased as the CRG finally leaves the Big Top.
“Well, that takes care of our Ghoul problem,” Iron sighs. “Just as well; if we had to go on one more killer carnival ride, I think I’d hurl.” If the Lightning Cliffs haven’t been cleared yet, she’ll also say, “Next up; the bird-brained sparkplug flying around the cliffs…”
Clearing the Skies (Lightning Cliffs, Part 2)
(NOTE: This part of the plot can be done before or after the Haunted Circus.)
As the CRG returns to the Lightning Cliffs, Cent suggests looking for Stitchers who’d be willing to help them bring down Aquilla, reasoning that “every brilliant mind has its detractors”. Their search is hindered by the need to occasionally hide from Aquilla as she flies around, or navigating around obstacles and broken paths that she inadvertently creates while testing her repaired armor. On the other hand, the bird-obsessed Stitcher’s constant talking to herself ends up giving them a hint on where to go; it seems that she’s rivals with someone named Struthio, due to their differing opinions on flight…
Eventually, the CRG finds Struthio’s lab and asks for his help. The Stitcher scientist jumps at the opportunity, revealing that he and Aquilla have been at odds “since we first started our careers, more or less” over the nature of flight; Aquilla is obviously obsessed with it, but Struthio prefers to move along the ground, since “you can see things in detail from down here”. He admits that he’s been working on a ground-superiority battlesuit to take down his rival, but due to lacking funds (since he refused to work with Aquilla’s group, thereby missing out on Neferki’s funding); he only managed to make a few parts so far. Examining the inventions - essentially some armor and a jetpack - Drica points out that “it might be incomplete, but Ah reckon it could just about be enough fer us to bring that gal down fer good!”
Upon testing (with hilarious/painful results), the CRG discovers that only Drica can use Struthio’s creation effectively, since her wings and tail allow her to compensate for the missing guidance components. With that in mind, the Draco girl resolves to take on Aquilla herself while her friends watch from the ground; if/when Aquilla flees, they can hopefully track her and finish her off. Struthio is a bit conflicted about Drica essentially turning his ground-based invention into a flight pack, but agrees that “sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire - or, in this case…flyer with flyer? Eh? Ehhh~?” This only earns him an awkward silence and a bandage-slap from Cleo. “...Gee, tough crowd.”
With their preparations set, the CRG heads out to find a good spot for Drica to launch from. After finding a good crag, the Draco girl takes a deep breath and engages her new jetpack, rocketing off to find Aquilla soaring over the cliffs. She quickly spots Drica and turns around in midair, clearly torn between joy and concern.
“Whoa! Hi again - didn’t expect to see you up here, dragon-girl! Loving the new look - decided to get in on the cybernetics trend, huh? - but you really shouldn’t have come here! You’re really messing up Neferki’s plans, and she is maaad!”
“Yeaaah…funny thing ‘bout that,” Drica replies. “Ah’m here to pull yer head outta the clouds, Aquilla - can’t ya see that Neferki’s just usin’ you to carry out her crazy schemes?”
“You mean the whole ‘destruction of non-Spectrals’ thing? …Yeah, not gonna lie, that Hiero is loopier than this-” Aquilla does a complex loop-de-loop for emphasis. “-but I owe her big time! If it weren’t for her funding, I’d still be debating with that silly ol’ Struthio about ground/air superiority; now, thanks to Neferki, I’ve proven my point just fine, I think~”
“Izzat so?” Drica flips around briefly to show Aquilla the emblem of Struthio’s workmanship on her pack. “‘Cause Ah’ve used yer rival’s tech to get up here in the first place, an’ now Ah’ll use it ta really put yer fancy flyin’ sparkplug suit through its paces!”
“Huh…figures that Struthio’d resort to budging in on my skies…” Aquilla’s expression shows a hint of genuine irritation as she activates her weapons. “Alright then, dragon-girl, have it your way! This time, I’m going all-out on you~ MechAquilla battle mode, ENGAGE!”
This battle with Aquilla turns her into an aerial Get Back Here! Boss. Drica needs to get in close and blast her with fire breath until her armor overheats; when Aquilla lands, she can fly overhead and use a special diving attack for heavy damage. Of course, getting to Aquilla is the real issue; in addition to moving very quickly and using her three-dimensional range of movement to the fullest, she fires off a wide range of powerful attacks to keep Drica away from her. Some of the projectiles can be destroyed with Drica’s fireballs, and a few can be deflected outright with a special counterattack enabled by Struthio’s armor, creating openings for the Draco girl to approach her target.
Once the final dive attack connects, Aquilla crashes into a nearby lightning spire just as a bolt strikes it, resulting in a massive explosion. The force throws her across the cliff, leaving a long trail in the dirt; however, she’s more concerned by the total destruction of her MechAquilla armor.
“Aw no! I spent hours working on that one! Well…back to the drawing board, I guess…?” She attempts to activate her cybernetic wings, only getting sparks, smoke, and pained whirring in response. “W…what the…!?” Despite her injuries, she immediately jumps to attention when she glances behind herself…and sees a shattered, smouldering mess where her built-in flight pack used to be.
“AaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!” Her scream is nothing short of agonized. “My wings! My wings! My beautiful mechanical wi-i-i-ings!” She collapses on the ground, crying hysterically as Drica lands nearby; what little pleasure she took from her victory drained away when she saw the Stitcher girl’s pitiful state.
“Well…Ah didn’t enjoy that any more than you did. Ain’t no fun at all bein’ pulled down from the skies; trust me, Ah know.” Drica shakes her head as she turns to leave, oblivious to Aquilla’s crying coming to an abrupt stop. “Fer what little it’s probably worth to ya, Ah’ll give Neferki an extra-strength fireball fer ya when we pay her a visit…”
“Y-you…*sniff*…you aren’t going anywhere.” Aquilla’s voice is deadly serious as she struggles to flick a switch on her gauntlet, causing small red lights to begin flashing on the remains of her cybernetics. “I’ll make sure of it…you’re never leaving these cliffs alive.”
“Whoa! Easy there, gal!” Despite sensing hostility radiating from the Stitcher, Drica turns back to face her and takes a tentative step forward. “Ah dunno how much Neferki paid ya, but you ain’t gonna be doin’ any AUSA business-” She freezes when Aquilla whips her head around, her whole face twisted with rage.
“Forget Neferki. Forget AUSA. This is very personal.” Her voice is a quiet snarl as her anger builds. “You’re going to pay for ruining my wings…you, Struthio, and all your stupid friends! Nobody takes the sky away from Aquilla! NOBODY!!!” She screams the last word as a group of her Shawkbots pick her up and soar away as fast as their propellers will carry them; a moment later, Cent calls over the comms.
“Drica! We’ve got a bead on Aquilla - she’s heading east, and fast! We’ll try to track her while you pursue!”
“Ah hear ya, Princess…but watch yerselves.” Drica frowns grimly as she takes off once again. “Ah have a hunch that Aquilla’s still got a trick or two up her sleeve.”
After a short aerial obstacle course, Drica tracks Aquilla to her main lab, an impressive building built into a large mountain peak. Unfortunately, she’s unable to reach the Stitcher due to a lightning shield around the lab, allowing the Shawkbots to carry their master through a window near the base. A moment later, Aquilla’s voice is broadcast over hidden speakers in the peak, still trembling with fury despite regaining some of her old cheerfulness; the result sounds nothing short of deranged.
“You think I’m beat, huh? You think that you’ve left me grounded for good? Well, TOO BAD! The MechAquilla might’ve been my pride and joy, but I’ve got one more invention to show you, and it’s a killer!” The sound of shifting metal and hissing wires can be heard in the background as alarms blare on the doors of a large hangar at the very bottom of the lab. “Presenting for the very first time…the ultimate testament to aerial supremacy! The pinnacle of my life’s work! The machine that’s gonna slay a dragon! The MegaMechAquilla!!!”
With a roar of engines, a giant jet rockets out of the hangar, quickly reconfiguring to resemble a massive mechanical bird of prey. Drica tenses as she spots Aquilla through a window on the bird’s “head”, with wires connected to her head, arms, and back. The Stitcher girl lets out a crazed laugh before glaring at the Scale Kingdom’s princess with murder in her eyes.
“Here we go, dragon-girl!” Even her pet name for Drica sounds more like a subtle death threat. “I’m gonna make you wish that you NEVER came to the Spectral Realm, even if I have to blow up the whole Lightning Cliffs to do it! TIME TO MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR!!!”
Compared to her mech suit, Aquilla’s ultimate weapon is much more ponderous when it’s not charging through the air in jet mode; however, it compensates with ridiculous amounts of firepower. In addition to even bigger versions of Aquilla’s usual energy balls, blade boomerangs, and lightning lasers, it has several guns and homing missiles; luckily, the former take a moment to target Drica, while the latter can be dodged or destroyed. To damage the mech, Drica needs to hit its inner workings through the holes in its incomplete hull, slowly disabling its systems. The final phase reduces Aquilla to flying around and launching powerful blasts from the mech’s core; Drica must find a lull in the barrage and deflect a blast back into the core to further damage the robot.
Eventually, Aquilla resorts to overclocking her mech with massive amounts of lightning, firing a final colossal laser at Drica; the Draco girl needs to repeatedly deflect the blast to force a critical overload in the MegaMechAquilla. Its pilot can be heard screaming in shock and frustration as it sputters out and crashes into the cliffs with a spectacular explosion. The CRG watches from the cliffside with concern…only for Drica to emerge from the smoke, carrying (with difficulty) a badly battered Aquilla as she glides down to her friends.
“Whew…now that’s one bird Ah reckon Ah can go my whole life without seein’ again…” Drica notes that her own jetpack’s out of fuel as she sets Aquilla on the ground. The Stitcher’s cybernetic limbs have been stripped down to little more than their core frameworks, her forehead has scars from where the wires were embedded, and her whole body is charred, but her expression shows only confusion as she lets out a sigh.
“I just…don’t get it…” she murmurs. “After everything I did…you still saved me…?”
“Like Ah said earlier, gal; Ah know exactly what it’s like to be pinned down when all ya wanna do is fly.” Drica heaves a sigh of her own as she thinks back to her many arguments with her father about her “unprincesslike” behavior. “Ah can’t say fer sure what ya have to do…but goin’ by mah experiences, Ah reckon ya can’t let yerself be blind to what’s goin’ on around ya, y’know? Ah did that, an’ it nearly got me disowned by mah own Pops an’ replaced by a right brat of a shapeshifter…long story.”
Aquilla looks up at her, somewhat confused. “I...don’t really understand the whole shapeshifter thing...but I do understand what you’re saying. Maybe….I need a break. Some time to work out what I want to do...And maybe put my old body parts back on.” She says this last part with a head gesture to her destroyed cybernetic limbs. “I don’t think I’ll be doing much work with these…”
“Uh...yeah, sorry ‘bout that,” Iron adds sheepishly. “We figured it was the only way to stop you from doing Neferki’s dirty work. ...Ya want us to go bust up some of Struthio’s stuff to make you feel better?”
“Nah…give ‘im a chance to catch up,” Aquilla says. “I’d rather focus on getting my old body parts…or figuring out how to build with my mouth!”
Drica raises an eyebrow. “Yer sure about that?” Aquilla nods. “Welp, can’t say ya ain’t dedicated, gal. Still, can ya maybe call the rest o’ yer folks an’ get ‘em off of Neferki’s side? Ah’m sure that the CRG could set y’all up with some fundin’...right?” She glances at Cent, who nods offhandedly (albeit with a noticeable twitch in her eye).
“Alright then, I guess that’s that - time to get going,” Iron interjects with a hint of amusement. If the Haunted Circus hasn’t been cleared yet, she’ll add, “We still have a whip-slinging lunatic and her circus of horrors to deal with…”
===Debate Expectations (Culici Necropolis, Part 3)===
When both Aquilla and the Ringmaster have been defeated, the CRG will find their carriage waiting for them when they leave the current area. The driver will reveal that it was repaired by the Shamblers as thanks for the help against the AUSA; Cent requests that they return to Sanguine Woods to report their successes to the Grand Duchess. Everyone agrees with this, with Iron saying that they need to prepare to destroy the Sphinxian Gem; which means they need to strike right at Neferki’s palace.
When they arrive at Culici Necropolis, they learn that their hostess is currently occupied with another guest, so they go to check up on Band and Ankh. They find the Hieros hiding in the latter’s room, utterly terrified; as it turns out, the “guest” is none other than Neferki herself, attempting to dissuade Culici’s unification plans once again. The Pharaoh insists that the CRG is dangerous and not to be trusted, but Culici counters by pointing out the AUSA’s attacks on the Spectral Realm. Although Neferki admits that “we may have overreacted,” she claims that it was out of desperation to protect the Spectrals; Culici retorts that it was “more likely an attempt to protect yourself”.
With diplomacy proven useless, Neferki reminds Culici that she has the ears of the better part of the Spectral race; “if we really wished it, we could make you and your supporters see reason.” However, this threat is promptly defused by the CRG team as they burst into the room; after a quick apology to Culici for butting in unannounced, Cent reveals that they’ve defeated Asena, Aquilla, and the Ringmaster while getting all but the Hieros to support unification (mostly). Neferki’s shock is momentary; she quickly brushes off the defeat of her allies with a sigh of “Is it really this difficult to find competent help?” Culici jumps on this as further proof that Neferki only cares about herself, not the Spectral Realm as a whole.
“And what’s wrong with that?” the Hiero ruler demands, her patience noticeably frayed. “Who should we worship, if not a goddess?!” She bristles further when she notices Cleo hiding behind Iron. “And what worth is our mercy when it leads to betrayal from our subjects!?”
“Big words from a ‘goddess’ who can’t even keep her own people in line by herself!” Iron snaps back. “If it weren’t for your stupid Sphinxian Gem, I bet your city’d have a population of one!”
“SILENCE, YOU CUR!!!” Neferki’s bellow is accompanied by a flash from the gem on her crown, nearly blinding everyone present. When the light clears, Neferki’s furious gaze is leveled at Iron, her crown’s gem still glowing slightly. “I need no lectures from a peasant…especially a failure such as you!”
Iron actually recoils as Neferki’s words stir something buried in the depths of her mind; she isn’t sure what it is, but being called a “failure” hurts her on a near-subconscious level. However, her friends quickly rush to her defense upon seeing her flinch, but Neferki ignores them as she returns her attention to an irate-looking Culici.
“Very well, Lorraine. If you’re so desperate to expose our people to the dangers beyond the Peaks, I shall not stop you. However! If you wish to pull my subjects into your capricious pursuits…then I will not hesitate to strike down your foolish kingdom and bring it under my domain. Perhaps then you will learn your folly…you can’t trust ANYONE!” With that, she releases another blinding flash of light; when it fades, she is gone.
“Well, Ah never…!” Dual gouts of smoke vent from Drica’s nostrils as she glowers at where the Pharaoh stood. “How that gal became ruler of a nation, Ah’ll never know - she’s got worse manners than Ah did when mah Pops tried ta give me etiquette tutorin’!” She crosses her arms with a snort as Cent tends to Iron and Cleo begins gesturing to Culici.
“Hmm…yes, you’re right,” the Grand Duchess muses. “Pharaoh Neferki’s reign has lasted long enough. We should muster the realm to move against Hieroglyph City at once. I shall send messengers to the other regions; please, take this time to rest. I fear that we’ll be busier than we’d like soon enough…”
Cleo nods as Culici exits the room, only to notice her friends staring at her oddly. “Was that…sign language?” Cent asks tentatively. When Cleo gives another nod of affirmation, she ends up having to hold Iron back as she jumps back to her usual self.
“You mean that she could’ve been using that to talk to us all along, and she didn’t?!” she bellows. “What gives, Cleo?! You think that’s funny?!”
Although Cleo only responds with a shrug, the grin visible behind her bandages indicates that the answer is along the lines of “You bet it is.”
===Lights Out (Hieroglyph City, Part 3)===
Once they’ve rested and restocked, the CRG team goes to see Culici, learning that the other races have all assembled their forces to attack Hieroglyph City. The plan is to use the Spectrals to draw Neferki’s attention while the CRG team infiltrates the heart of the city to disable the Sphinxian Gem. Iron grimly notes that Neferki probably won’t fall for it entirely, since she blabbed about their knowledge of the gem; Cent, however, remains confident that the joint attack will draw away at least some of the Pharaoh’s brainwashed minions. Cleo looks apprehensive about going to the heart of Hiero territory while the gem is active, but Drica assures her that “those anti-curse thingamabobs from the Frontier oughta keep ya safe an’ sound…Ah think.”
Soon, the CRG team is taking a small airship built by their outpost (with help from the Stitchers), flying high over the Spectral Realm. Eventually, they arrive in Hiero territory, the city seen in the distance. Below, they can see a large force of Hieros marching out into the desert; clearly, Neferki’s seen the other Spectrals coming for her. After Cleo gives her a nudge, Cent contacts the attack force to warn them that several of the incoming enemies seem to be brainwashed civilians; “do not fight to kill unless you absolutely have no other choice.” After receiving acknowledgement from the commanders, the CRG’s airship continues its approach to Hiero City…only to be shot down by an intense ray of solar magic.
“Looks like Neferki knew we were coming…” Iron groans as she and her friends prepare to evacuate the plummeting vessel. “Guess we’ll have to do this the hard way!”
After narrowly escaping the crash, the CRG team ends up in the outskirts of the city, forcing them to fight their way through hordes of Hieros and their tamed beasts. Further into the city, they also have to contend with occasional solar rays and temporary light barriers as they approach Neferki’s palace; once they’re inside, the Pharaoh herself takes potshots at them while they try to make their way up to the Lightmaw Obelisk, where Cleo feels that the Sphinxian Gem is hidden.
Eventually, they reach what seems to be the base of the tower, a large circular room that seems to be made predominantly of gold and silver. Trying not to drool at the sight, Cent fake-casually asks where the Hieros find all this gold...less than convincingly, since she’s asking Cleo, of all people. Cleo rolls her eyes and gives a series of hand gestures that suggests that gold is pretty common in the Hiero territories; Cent makes a mental note to immediately form an agreement with the new leader of the Hieros once Neferki’s dealt with. Suddenly, one of the mirror-like structures on the wall begins to glow, prompting Iron to quip, “I do believe Her Royal Jerkishness is coming to say hi…”
As the synthetic girl predicted, the light brightens as Neferki herself emerges from the mirror. “I thought I made it clear that I was not in the mood to entertain visitors today,” she says haughtily. “Now, normally I would have the guards throw you out of my palace, but that clearly isn’t going to work. So…” As she says this, her aura grows stronger. “...Let’s just skip to the part where I fry you to a crisp.” The last word comes as a growl as the room begins to rise like an elevator.
Despite being a hair intimidated, the CRG team stands undeterred as they engage Neferki in battle. Initially, the Pharaoh prefers to prowl around the room, summoning balls of light to home in on the characters and barrages of lasers to fall from above; if her foes get too close, she’ll attempt to pounce on them with her lion body, slash them with a giant khopesh, or create a shockwave of solar energy to blow them away. Eventually, she loses her patience and attempts to blast the CRG with a powerful explosion of light; if they evade it by hiding on the other side of the obelisk, she’ll be left weakened and vulnerable for a while.
After Neferki takes enough damage, the elevator finally reaches the top of the palace, revealing the top of the Lightmaw Obelisk; more importantly, the CRG can see another, smaller gem hovering above it. Cleo is struck by a sudden headache as she indicates that the Sphinxian Gem is nearby; Neferki confirms that the smaller jewel is indeed how she’s influencing her subjects. “Which means, of course, that I no longer have the luxury of toying with you!” She takes to the air as the battle resumes, forcing the characters to dodge her magic attacks while they wait for an opportunity to counterattack.
Eventually, the CRG girls land a crippling blow on Neferki, leaving her immobile as a path appears on the obelisk. To finish the battle, they need to climb the path to the Sphinxian Gem - contending with Neferki’s desperate lasers and the occasional push force from the gem itself - before shattering it with a decisive blow. Neferki screams in fury and denial as the shards clatter to the ground in front of her; outside, the Hieros all stop fighting and start looking around in confusion (humorously, Neferki’s captain of the guard ends up getting punched out by Asena, who didn’t realize that he was unbrainwashed until a second later). However, before the CRG can celebrate, Neferki furiously scoops up the shards and flies off, screeching in rage about how that “if the realm will not obey their goddess, they will feel divine retribution!”
After a moment to gather their bearings, Cent calls Culici to report that the Hieros have been freed, but Neferki has escaped. Based on her flight path, she suspects that the mad Pharaoh is heading for the Ruins of Osiris, but she can’t figure out why. Nevertheless, it’s decided that the CRG will pursue Neferki while the rest of the Spectrals help the Hieros recover and get up to speed on what’s been happening.
===Forbidden Legends (Ruins of Osiris, Part 2)===
After traversing the desert once again, the CRG arrives at the Ruins of Osiris, noting signs of someone having been here…particularly several formerly intact statues that appeared to have been smashed in a rage. In contrast to the previous time here, the Ruins are eerily empty except for the impossible amount of traps that only became deadlier as they got close to the center. Eventually, they find something at the foot of the tower: a large sigil of two sphinxes around a single circle carved into the ground; close observation reveals switches on the sphinx’s eyes and paws. When pushed in the right order, the circle in the center opens to reveal a secret entrance.
“Alright, if Neferki ain’t hidin’ out down there, Ah’ll wear princess dresses fer the rest of mah life! Let’s go, gals!” Drica leads the way down the tunnel into a new part of the ruins. This is purely a platforming area, almost completely dark save for a few tiny windows in the spiralling path; fortunately, light will flash from the windows every now and then, briefly illuminating the surroundings. It’s quite difficult - especially when crumbling floors get involved - but the team eventually makes it to the bottom, where they find a door leading to the room they’ve been circling around. As they carefully open the door and slip into the chamber, they spot Neferki crouched in front of them, working furiously on something they can’t quite make out.
“Those accursed outsiders…how dare they…heretics, all of them…” The Pharaoh mutters dementedly as we see what she’s working on; a large robot bearing an uncanny resemblance to a male version of herself. However, it has a lion’s head on its chest (with the mane flowing down its back to resemble a gaudy cloak) and a lower body resembling a falcon with an extra pair of talons. “They believe that they can defy a deity…? Well…let’s see how they handle two! Ha ha ha ha…arrogant fools! You’ll suffer for daring to cross…”
“Neferki!” Cent’s shout makes the mad Hiero turn to face her as she and her friends step forward. “Just give up and come along peacefully; we don’t want to hurt you any further if we can help it!”
“Princess Cent, you are truly impossible.” Neferki laughs haughtily, producing the shards of the Sphinxian Gem. “Haven’t you meddled in enough of my royal affairs?”
“Give it up already!” Iron yells. “You’re cornered and out of options!”
Neferki laughs again as she removes her crown with her free hand; to the CRG’s surprise, she uses her magic to disintegrate it, leaving only a large yellow diamond in her palm. “That…is where you are dead wrong. You see…you’re just in time…to witness the rise of my consort.” Her hands glow as she puts them together; when she opens them, the Sphinxian Gem shards have merged with the diamond, creating a spiky crystal with a faint glow of its own. She drops the gem into a ring-like structure within the robot’s chest, creating a small bubble of light that suspends it in midair as it begins feeding power into the machine.
“As useful as it was, the Sphinxian Gem’s ability to enlighten my people was only a welcome side effect of my true plan; imbuing it with the energy of the Lightmaw Obelisk.” Neferki raises her voice to be heard over the growing hum of the robot’s reactivating systems. “I knew that rulership of the Hieros could not be my duty alone, but I needed time to ensure my counterpart’s rebirth. After all, the Moon cannot exist without the Sun.”
Drica and Cent frown as they remember some Hiero lore that Band had told them earlier; the legend of two Sphinxes, the female Sun and the male Moon, worshipped as the creators of the world. Iron, however, can’t take her eyes off of the robot behind Neferki as it begins to stir, its chestplate snapping closed as it slowly sits up and turns to regard the others in the room. Distorted fragments of what she can only assume are her lost memories flash through her mind; two words come to the forefront, repeated over and over…
“Krown…Drone…” Iron’s stunned whisper draws her friends’ attention, but not Neferki’s; she’s too busy laughing gleefully as her robotic counterpart stiffly gets to its feet.
“Ah ha ha ha haaa! At last! The God of the Moon has returned!” The Pharaoh’s grin is nothing short of psychotic as she takes flight and summons a pair of khopesh swords. “Now we shall bring destruction to this realm…no, to all of Kros!…so that it may be reborn under our eternal rule! LET THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA BEGIN HERE!!!” She lets out another insane laugh as the robotic Sphinx below her summons a high-tech mace from a flash of light; in contrast to Neferki, it growls only a single word as it approaches the CRG girls.
“Destroy.” That marks the start of the battle against Neferki and the Krown Drone. The Pharaoh fights similarly to the second phase of her previous battle, but with increased aggression and without the vulnerable periods; on the other hand, the drone attacks with mace swings, claw swipes, shockwaves, and a powerful roar that drops rocks from above. Since Neferki’s wised up to her previous Tactical Suicide Boss issues and the Drone can only be stunned briefly, the heroines must trick the latter into attacking the former by setting off its “berserk mode” (signalled when its lights turn red as it recovers from a stun) and then get to cover so it targets Neferki instead of them. Initially, Neferki reacts by destroying cover after each hit, forcing the CRG to get increasingly creative in their hiding places; eventually, however, they’ll have to find a way to hide near the Pharaoh herself to lure the Drone over. For the final hit, Neferki actively flees around the tower; the characters will have to evade the rampaging Drone until they can catch the Hiero Sphinx with a final blow to knock her back into range of her “ally”.
After a final beating from the Krown Drone, Neferki is punched hard enough to send her flying clear out of the chamber and back to the surface. The drone soon follows, ready to finish her off…only to shut down as Neferki passes out, breaking the flow of magic keeping it functional. Back down below, the CRG catches their breath after the intense battle, with Drica wondering where the heck Neferki found that drone. Cent notes that she’s more concerned about Iron, who still seems uncharacteristically shaken after the fight; she insists that they have to get topside and make sure that the drone doesn’t escape.
When the CRG makes it back out of the ruins, Iron immediately punches through the robot’s chest, tears out its core, and stomps on it until it’s completely, irreversibly destroyed. The moment she finishes, she seems to regain her senses, wondering why she was so worried all of a sudden; at the same time, Neferki begins to stir. The CRG braces for the worst, but the Pharaoh only looks around in confusion, her expression softer than they’ve yet seen.
“Wha…what…what’s going on?” she murmurs, staring at the deactivated drone. “What am I doing out here? What is that doing out here…and what in the Sun happened to my body?!” She glances at her beastly parts in utter shock, as if she just realized she had them; her shock only increases when she sees the CRG standing before her. “You! What are you, where are your Stitcher masters, and what have they done to me?!” Despite a haughty edge to her voice, she sounds genuinely terrified.
“Uhh…Cent?” Drica asks. “Is it just me, or has that gal gone ‘round a whole ‘nother bend of crazy?”
“I’m…not sure,” Cent replies slowly. “It almost seems as if…as if she’s forgotten everything.” She briefly glances at Iron as Cleo walks up to Neferki, signing with her hands. From the one-sided dialogue, it’s clear that Neferki doesn’t remember a lick of her recent actions; she doesn’t even remember when she had her body modified. In fact, she seems like an entirely different person...haughtiness aside.
“Well, I dunno what happened, but I think I like this Neferki a lot better,” Iron comments. “Do we tell her what she’s been doing, Cent?”
“I...don’t think so,” Cent admits. “At best, we’ll just traumatize her; at worst, she might try to pick up where she left off.”
Iron shudders slightly as she glances back at the Krown Drone. “Yeah…let’s not go that route, then. Still…the girl’s in for a rude wake-up call when she gets back to Hieroglyph City.”
===A New Dawn (Hieroglyph City, Part 4)===
Eventually, they manage to convince Neferki to follow them back to Hieroglyph City, with Cent calling ahead to inform them of what they managed to do, and requesting a pick up for the remains of the Krown Drone. On the way back, it turns out that Neferki can remember some things, but they are too blurred to make much sense of; she even responds with confusion when one of them refers to her as Pharaoh by accident. All she can remember clearly is that she wanted to help her people, but that she made too many mistakes.
When the group arrives at Hieroglyph City, Band charges in, expecting to see Neferki tied up...and is shocked by the fact that she’s sitting calmly, not restrained at all. “Why isn’t she in chains?!” she growls.
Cleo steps in and makes several hand signs that seem to tell Band what happened. However, she’s still unconvinced. “And what’s stopping her from just faking it to trick us?”
“Her massive ego?” Iron snarks, causing Band to freeze before muttering, “Good point…” To confirm this, she steps towards Neferki and asks her if she remembers her.
“Umm…should I?” the Sphinx-like Hiero replies curiously. “You don’t…seem that memorable…”
“......Yep, that’s definitely her,” Band sighs. “Alright…but I’d recommend trying to keep her clear of the other Hieros. Some of them are not happy with her trick with the Sphinxian Gem, let me tell you.”
“...Sphinxian Gem?” Neferki asks, looking even more confused. “I have no idea what that is, but it sounds sacred - definitely wouldn’t be touching that…”
Band’s eyes widen. “...I’m still having trouble believing it, but...she really doesn’t remember anything she did, does she?” When Cleo shakes her head in response, she frowns, thinking about something. “Well...I’m glad she’s no longer in charge, but we still need a new Pharaoh…one that won’t do the same thing.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem…” Cent muses, getting a confused look from Band. “I’ll explain later; first, we should look for a new Pharaoh.”
Neferki coughs, getting their attention. “Excuse me. You’ve been mentioning me extensively as the Pharaoh…so will someone please tell me WHAT IS GOING ON?!” She almost sounds like her old self as she screeches the last line.
The CRG and Band look at each other in silence before Iron speaks up. “I’d...rather not tell her. Anyone else wanna do it?” Neferki frowns at this and rubs her forehead, before Band says “I’ll tell her. She needs to know what she’s done.” She steps forward as Neferki looks at her expectantly. “Well, here’s how it goes…”
As Band relates the story, Neferki’s expression goes from surprise, to disbelief, to horror. When Band finishes the story, she can only rub her temples with obvious dismay. “So…I used to be a Pharaoh, I went crazy and thought I was the incarnation of the Sun, I turned myself into this…” She flaps her wings and paws at the ground for emphasis. “...and then I brainwashed my fellow Hieros with a magic gem, tried to take over the Spectral Realm, and mistook an ancient robot as an incarnation of the Moon? Do I have that all right?” Band slowly nods at this, causing Neferki to frown even harder. “I….ugh, why can’t I remember anything!? Every time I try to think of what I did, my head hurts even more!” She grabs the sides of her head, scrunching her eyes shut as she racks her brain.
“Uh, maybe it’d help if ya thought about what ya do remember?” Drica offers. Neferki thinks about this for a bit before nodding, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. “...I can…vaguely recall something… AGH!” She screams in pain, grabbing her forehead as her eyes scrunch up. “So…bright…calling…to me…burning...” Unbeknownst to her, Cent gives a small nod, as if this confirmed something in her mind…
“We can worry about your memories later, Neferki.” Despite her business-like words, her tone is surprisingly gentle. “Right now, we should focus on what’s ahead of us.” Beside her, Iron raises an eyebrow as she recognizes her own statement to Cent all those days ago… “Band, I hate to impose on you, but…could Neferki stay with you until some of the hubbub dies down?”
“Hmmm…no!” Band sounds surprisingly cheerful about her denial before she continues. “But I can get her over to my old place at the Shock Ruins. Nobody’ll look for her over there; ‘sides, it’ll also give her a nice experience of some of the lands beyond the Spectral Realm~ How’s that sound, Neferki?”
“Sounds lovely…I think…” Despite her words, Neferki looks a bit hesitant. “Does your ‘old place’ have a nice silk bed?”
“Nope!” Band smiles. “Just think of it as your way of atoning for some of the stuff you did. …Don’t worry, I’ll help you through it once we’re done here - you’ll be a master of ‘roughing it’ by the end of the week~”
Neferki makes a noise somewhere between a pained whimper and reluctant agreement as a pair of CRG agents leads her out of the city. Iron snarks to herself, “I’ll give her a day before she starts bugging Cent to build her a mansion…” before following the rest of the CRG team to the city square, where the bulk of the Hieros have assembled. Cent immediately goes into full “diplomat” mode, ascending the stage that Neferki often used to address her subjects. After exchanging a few words with the captain of the guard, she calls out to the crowd below.
“People of Hieroglyph City, your ordeal is over! Neferki’s ambitions have been broken, and she is in the custody of the CRG; I can’t say when she will be released, but I promise you that she will not trouble you again! However…this leaves your city without a ruler, and I do not pretend to know the method by which your people choose a new Pharaoh. So…does anyone wish to either tell me how this works, or offer a candidate they’d like to see on the throne?”
The Hieros alternate between looking up at Cent and glancing among each other. After a moment, one of them raises their hands and begins signing at Cent; fortunately, the captain of the guard is able to translate it for the CRG leader.
“…Ankh, you say?” Even as the crowd goes silent, Cent thinks it’d be a pretty good choice; Cleo, on the other hand, raises an eyebrow. “Does anyone want to second that idea?”
The Hieros do more than second the opinion; they immediately give a near-unanimous cheer at the thought of their idol becoming the new Pharaoh. Ankh, for her part, looks torn between shock, flattery, and nervousness.
“W-w-what?!” she gasps. “Y-you want me to become…Pharaoh?!” She looks ready to bolt then and there, but a familiar hand lights on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you the whole way, Your Highness.” For once, Band’s use of a royal title is genuine. “I might hate this ‘nobility’ schtick…but I’ll suffer through it if it means helping my BFF~”
Between Band’s encouraging smile and the chants of the crowd, Ankh musters up her courage and nods. Like ripples on a pond, the crowd parts to let her and Band climb up the stage to stand by Cent, who mimics Band’s smile when she sees the idol step forward and clear her throat.
“Well…this is…an unexpected honor,” she begins. “I…can’t say that the thought of becoming Pharaoh ever crossed my mind…but I’m touched that you all have so much faith in me. I’ll do my best to make you proud, just like I always have~!” She finishes with one of her signature idol poses, redoubling the crowd’s cheers as the CRG team exchanges smiles.
“Well, I think we can say that the Spectral Realm’s about to become the newest part of Kros proper, huh?” Iron says with a chuckle. “Her Grand Bateye Fanciness is probably gonna flip her overdecorated lid at this.”
== Final Act (The Scar) ==
===Making Connections (Banshee Peaks)===
WARNING! WARNING! Once this mission is taken, all other missions are locked until the postgame! Take it at your own risk!
After an unknown amount of time, everything is set; the Spectral Realm’s unification with the rest of Kros is about to become official. Representatives of the Scale Kingdom, the Kros Frontier, the Church of the Sky, and every Spectral race have joined the CRG girls at the foot of the Banshee Peaks, where Grand Duchess Culici stands before a colossal wall of eerie magic energy.
“Thank you all for coming to see this momentous occasion,” she begins. “Until very recently, ve Spectrals believed that these mountains marked the edge of the vorld; that there vas nothing of note beyond them. However, that could not be further from the truth; there is an entire vorld beyond the mountains, filled vith unique and admirable people! And now…thanks to the efforts of some very special and determined people, both vithin and vithout our borders…ve are now a part of this vider vorld! It is vith utmost pleasure that I hereby announce the Spectral Realm’s official entry into the map of Kros!”
With a grandiose gesture, Culici dispels the magic veil behind her, revealing a large tunnel and train station, enabling travel between the Spectral Realm and the Scale Kingdom. She explains that a second station has been added on the other side of the realm, leading to the Kros Frontier; future plans include connecting the two across the realm and building wind-resistant airships to enable safe travel over the Banshee Peaks. The cheers following this announcement are tremendous. However, before the CRG can truly join the celebration, Cent is distracted by a transmission from the Castle HQ (which she’s somewhat pleased about, as it got her out of an awkward situation caused by Cleo “accidentally” shoving her into Iron).
As she answers the transmission, her expression shifts between several different emotions before settling on shock. She nods before ending the transmission, turning to Iron, Drica, and Cleo with utmost seriousness: “We need to return to the HQ. Now.”
After some hasty goodbyes, the CRG team finds themselves on the very first train out of the Spectral Realm. Drica, Cleo, and Iron are curious about Cent’s sudden urgency, but are unable to ask her; the other occupants of the train are eager to hear details of their adventures in the Spectral Realm or stories about the rest of Kros. Fortunately, they have better luck once they return to the Scale Kingdom and board an airship to take them right back to Castle HQ.
“Alright, gal, what’s the big hurry?” Drica asks as the airship climbs to cruising altitude. “Ah thought we had everythin’ sorted out clear across Kros now!”
“Not quite everything,” Cent replies. “The HQ’s reported a lot of monster activity from across Kros; they’re all heading to the center of the continent. Towards the Scar.” She pauses to glance at Iron, who is staring pensively out the window, paying surprisingly little attention to the conversation. “Um…Drica, Cleo?” she whispers “I’m sorry, but could you please give Iron and I some time alone? There’s…something we need to discuss…by ourselves.”
Normally, Drica and Cleo would jump on this apparent “shipping moment”, but the pleading look in Cent’s eyes limits their reactions to gentle nods as they move to the other side of the ship. Once she’s sure that the Draco and Hiero are out of earshot, Cent delicately taps Iron’s shoulder, prompting the barest twitch from the synthetic girl.
“Iron… I…” The CRG leader pauses as she reviews what she’s about to say; deciding there’s nothing for it, she continues. “I know you’re worried about something, and I have a feeling I know what it is…because it’s worrying me too. Can we talk about it? Please?”
After a moment that seems to last forever, Iron sighs and turns away from the window to see Cent’s encouraging (if slightly apprehensive) smile. “Alright, Princess,” she says, just a hair too casually to be natural. “What d’you think I’m worried about?”
“The robot Neferki was working on. It triggered something in your memory, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. When Neferki turned it on, I got these…visions; it’s how I learned its name.” Iron looks pensive for a moment. “But what I really want to know is…why now? Why do I keep feeling this…this fear?” Cent blinks briefly at Iron’s admission; in all the time she’s known her, the metallic girl has never once admitted to being truly scared.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” she goes on. “That robot…the Scar…the General…even that time Neferki called me a failure…” For a moment, it almost looks like she’s about to cry. “It all makes me feel so afraid…but why? It’s almost like…like I had a mission or something before I lost my memories…a mission that I didn’t complete…and now some tiny part of my brain wants me to remember it so I can finish it!”
“Sounds like I’m not the only history buff in this airship after all.” Despite herself, Cent can’t stop a giggle, but it actually brings a tiny smile to Iron’s face.
“Yeah, I guess so. Who would’ve thought, huh?” She shakes her head, chuckling wryly. “I just want to focus on the future…but it feels like my past is dead set on haunting me…”
Cent’s expression softens as she places her hands on Iron’s shoulders. “Then we’ll help you get through it,” she says. “Remember when I said that I’d help you find your memories? Well…I also meant to say that I’d stand by you if those memories brought up something bad. I know that Drica, Cleo, and the rest of the CRG feel the same way; you don’t need to face this alone.”
Iron slowly nods. “Thanks, Cent. I needed that.” She suddenly gives her a hug, causing Cent’s face to nearly burst into flames. From the other side of the airship, Drica catches this out of the corner of her eye and gives Cleo a knowing wink.
“Not a word ta either of ‘em, sugar,” she whispers. “Ah think we’ve got bigger fish ta fry right now.” She indicates the view from the window as the airship descends, showing quite a bustle of activity in front of Castle HQ…
===“X” Marks the Spot (Castle HQ)===
The crowded CRG members part ranks for Cent and her friends, allowing them to meet with the head of the staff still manning their main base. “What’s the situation?” she asks briskly.
“Still ongoing,” the head of staff replies, indicating a nearby monitor displaying a map of Kros. Red dots can be seen across the continent, slowly approaching the wasteland at the center. “Practically every monster on Kros is making a beeline for the Worldwound; the monitoring ships haven’t seen this much activity…well, ever! We’ve been in touch with the outpost; they haven’t been attacked directly, but they’ve had to recall all of their scouts on account of the increased hostile presence. As far as they can tell, the monsters are all settling around the Worldwound, regardless of origin point or biology; it’s as if something is driving them to work together and prevent access to the Worldwound.”
Cent briefly glances at Iron, who looks back with a stoic expression; clearly, she’s trying not to let her unease show. “Then we have to find out what they’re guarding,” she says firmly, despite murmurs of surprise from her subordinates. “This could be the reason for everything; the renewed monster attacks, the unrest in the Church, Neferki’s descent to madness…don’t ask me how, but I just feel that all the answers lie in the Worldwound.” She lets the silence linger for a moment before continuing in a more casual tone. “Besides, we’ve already been everywhere else in Kros; might as well take a look at the Scar, right?” She looks at her friends as they nod in agreement, although Iron seems hesitant. “Good. Let’s get going.”
As the members of the CRG prepare for the mission, Cent notices that Iron has dropped her stoic look and now appears very nervous. She immediately walks over to Iron and asks her if she’s alright, noting that they might just find something about her memories in the Scar. “Not might…will,” Iron replies slowly. She admits that something deep inside her is telling her that she should know what’s going on in the Scar, and “whatever’s happening down there, we need to stop it, pronto.” Cent nods and says that “it’s going to be fine. We’ll make sure of it,” calming Iron down slightly.
===Brawling Down Memory Lane (Worldwound Wastes)===
Soon enough, the CRG set out to the Worldwound, landing at their small outpost overlooking the blackened crater with yellow cracks running along it. As they land, they realize that the yellow cracks were trails of boiling lava, and the land itself was dotted with pockmarks and jagged pillars of black stone, both in various sizes. The moment Iron sets foot on the ground, she immediately gets another one of her feelings; stronger than unease, there’s something distinctly wrong here. However, before she can tell Cent about this, a rather familiar figure lands on a pillar a few feet away from them; the Advisor, who throws a black potion at them. The moment the bottle hits the ground in front of them, it violently detonates and sends the CRG girls flying back.
“Ahh, Princess Drica. Why am I not surprised to see you and your friends here?” If Nym’s Cursesetter sidequest wasn’t completed, he’ll sarcastically add, “You’ve even picked up a Hiero from the Spectral Realm…good to see our royal family buying into that ‘unification’ nonsense.”
“Ah wish Ah could say the same fer ya,” Drica snaps back. “Ain’t ya s’posed ta be under house arrest or somethin’? Oooh, yer in for it when mah Pops hears ‘bout this!”
“Hahaha…you sound just like my daughter.” The Advisor chuckles mirthlessly as Drica makes a disgusted noise at being compared to Nym. “But, if you must know…I’m here on behalf of King Wyrm. When all of the beasts in the land left for the Scar, he suspected that dark magic was at fault; being the Scale Kingdom’s foremost expert in such matters, I was selected to investigate. Naturally, the King insisted that I have an escort, but…well, there was a bit of an accident along the way, and…” He claps his hands, signalling a group of Armored Dracos to surround the girls.
“Ugh…figures you’d jump on the opportunity to try backstabbing the King again,” Iron groans.
“Oh ho ho ho, no. This isn’t betrayal; it’s more along the lines of...security.” The Advisor grins sinisterly. “After the results of our last meeting, I wouldn’t dare consider betrayal…well…at least not until I find out what’s driving the monsters to gather here. King Wyrm will be rather more open to negotiation once I have all of the beasts of Kros under my command, don’t you think?” With another dark chuckle, he vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving the CRG to deal with the Armored Dracos.
After the fight, the group quickly checks in with the local outpost, learning that the monsters have indeed gathered around the crater at the center of the Worldwound. Deciding that they have no time to lose, they immediately set out across the Scar, dealing with hordes of creatures from every corner of Kros (literally every normal enemy apart from Krossers, Irons, Spectrals, and Shadow Crawlers). In order to reach the crater, they split up and approach from four different paths (essentially a test of the player’s skill with each character’s abilities), each ending in a miniboss battle; Iron fights a teamup of the Stormwurm and the Rock Falcon, Cent battles the Fanatic and her splinter group of Church Radicals, Drica battles the Fossilwyrm (essentially a Palette Swap of the Shadowyrm formed from rocks and the Advisor’s dark magic) and an Armored Draco Captain, and Cleo has to contend with an Alpha Stonefang and its pack.
Eventually, the CRG makes it to the edge of the crater itself, a dizzyingly steep cliff leading to an even more dangerous-looking landscape far below. With an exchange of glances and determined nods, they begin the descent…
===Waking History (Worldwound Crater)===
After the initial mission (a mostly-vertical climb into the crater), the team finds themselves in a hostile but strangely beautiful wasteland of lava and stone, with falls of molten rock pouring down the sides of the cliffs. Before they can do more than take in the sight, Cleo points out a ball of light heading straight for them, prompting a mass groan when they recognize its glow. Sure enough, the light stops in front of them to reveal Neferki, looking rather panicked.
“Of course,” Iron sighs. “We’ve already had to deal with everyone else today; why not the ex-Pharaoh herself? Shouldn’t you be preening yourself in exile or something?”
“Never mind that!” Neferki’s behavior is a far cry from her normal haughtiness; she’s looking around frantically as her eyes flash between their normal blue and a steely grey. “It’s dangerous here - you shouldn’t go any further! If you do……no, I can’t let you awaken her!”
“Neferki, please calm down,” Cent pleads. “What do you mean by ‘her’? Do you know what’s causing the monsters to act like this?”
“You are!” Neferki screams back. “You’re making them act up! They all see it…they see what I see! You need to leave, now, or you’re going to destroy the world!”
“Gee, I didn’t think you’d join the Church of the Sky…” Iron’s snarky retort masks her apprehension; Neferki’s words eerily echo her own internal conflict. “Well, we’ll make a note of your disapproval when we get to the bottom of this mystery…”
“Very well…you leave me no choice.” For a moment, Neferki looks like her old villainous self as she sneers down at the CRG. “Forgive me, but I’ll just have to make you leave, then!”
“We don’t have time to deal with this gal!” Drica yells. “Run fer it, y’all!”
The other CRG members follow the Draco princess’s example, running right past a surprised Neferki. The Hiero sphinx quickly shakes off her shock and gives chase, leading to a frantic platforming segment; the characters must navigate the deadly lava fields while evading enemies, fireballs, and Neferki’s barrages of light magic. This is followed with an equally difficult stealth segment where both the ex-Pharaoh and the patrolling enemies must be evaded; the only saving grace is that Neferki will periodically freeze and clutch at her head, creating an opening for the CRG to slip past her.
At last, the team makes it to the heart of the crater, the very center of Kros itself. Cent briefly marvels at their accomplishment before Cleo points out a strange device poking out of the rock and magma, visibly surrounded by an aura of sorts. Before they can do more than take a step towards the thing, Neferki teleports in front of them, repeating her warning to leave the Worldwound “before things get worse than you can imagine.” Drica scoffs at the ex-Pharaoh’s rambling, but Iron slowly agrees, noting that she can feel something “really, really bad” about that device…
Just then, the Advisor appears, thanking the CRG for clearing him a path through the monsters before swooping towards what he believes is the means to control them. Iron immediately charges to intercept him, but Neferki is hot on her heels, screaming “DON’T GO INTO THE SPHERE!!!” She teleports between the advancing enemies, ready to blow them away with her magic - unfortunately, she’s a hair too late, and all three of them end up touching the aura. The sphere almost seems to ripple before blowing them back as the device begins beeping ominously, an electronic voice becoming audible as the ground begins to shake.
“ALERT. ALERT. FOREIGN PRESENCE DETECTED. THE EMPIRE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. INITIATING CONTINGENCY PHASE 1; KROWN FORTRESS ACTIVATED.” Meanwhile, Neferki has begun hyperventilating as she goes into a freak out that makes Cent’s “ancient Kros” squeeing look perfectly calm.
“Nononononononono…WE’RE DOOMED! ALL OF KROS IS DOOMED!!!” Neferki immediately teleports out of the crater, still screaming in terror. The Advisor also has the presence of mind to flee as the ground begins cracking and crumbling, leaving the CRG girls to make a run for it as Cent frantically calls for an airship to pick them up. After a short escape sequence, they make it to a relatively stable pillar to jump aboard an airship, where they’re free to witness a giant metallic island rising out of the crater. Lava and rocks rain down from its underside as it rises high into the air, red energy flashing around it.
“Well…that sure don’t look all that comfortin’,” Drica comments. Iron, meanwhile, is staring at the floating fortress in complete terror. Seeing this, Cent reaches over and squeezes her hand comfortingly.
“We’ll stop that thing, Iron. I know we will. ...I just don’t know how.” This barely seems to calm Iron down; she still can’t tear her eyes away from the island. Even as the airship pulls back to Castle HQ, the floating fortress glimmers in the sky like a malevolent new star…
===Day of the Drones (Castle HQ)===
If Castle HQ was bustling before, now it was in a borderline frenzy of activity. The world map is practically saturated in red lights, with a large “ALERT!” message flashing over the screen. The head of the castle staff all but runs to Cent’s side when the CRG girls arrive.
“Princess, it’s chaos out there! We’ve got reports of attacks across Kros; there’s strange mechanical monsters rampaging everywhere! We’re doing everything we can to fight them off, but they just keep coming - at this rate, we’ll be overrun in a week! And...the rulers want to talk with you.”
If Cent is nervous, she certainly doesn’t show it as she steps forward. “Put them on the line,” she says calmly. The staff head nods and presses a button on the map; several screens extend from the sides of the map table, activating to show King Wyrm, Grimbolt, Speakers Aeris and Cumulo, Grand Duchess Culici, and Ankh. Cent greets each of them before getting right to business.
“I take it that you’ve noticed the current crisis?” Her rhetorical question gets various nods of assent. “Well, I assure you that we will not let this stand. The CRG will put its full efforts towards putting an end to these attacks…the only question is how?” She looks between the screens. “Does anyone have any idea where the monsters first came from?”
The leaders think for a bit before King Wyrm speaks up. “From what I understand, they came from the tower in the Bullion Wastes. Some of the villagers in the Verdant Border mentioned seeing them coming from the Shock Ruins as well… ”
Grimbolt blinks, as if realizing something. “Yeah…from what I can tell, the ones in the Frontier are coming from under the tower in the Clouded Glass Dunes…and there seems to be activity around the Stonefang Mound, too.”
“Hmm…” Culici rubs her chin thoughtfully. “The Shamblers said that they’ve had a lot of robots running through their bayou…especially near the remains of that old tower.”
“And I’ve been seeing plenty of them from the direction of the Ruins of Osiris,” Ankh adds. “...Is it just me, or am I starting to notice a theme here?”
“No, I see it too; most of the ones attacking Southern Kros seem to be coming from Mantisk Jungle, and our people in Frozite Plaza have been seeing a lot of action…” Cent nods grimly. “These robots seem to be coming from the ancient ruins across the continent. I’d bet that they’re all connected to that flying island…why, I can’t say, but it gives us a lead.”
Aeris frowns at Cent’s deduction. “Why do I suspect that you’re about to go delving into the past again?” she asks rhetorically. “With all due respect, Princess, I can’t help but suspect that your group’s prior actions have provoked this crisis.”
“Divine retribution or not, the facts remain unchanged,” Cumulo replies calmly. “These mechanical beasts threaten the safety of us all; if we can stop them by searching the ancient ruins, I see no reason not to do so.” His words are mirrored by the nods of agreement from the other rulers; even Aeris gives reluctant assent as she bows to her fellow Speaker’s logic.
“Alright, then it’s settled. The CRG will continue to assist however they can, while my team traces the machines back to their origin points and finds a way to shut them down.” Everyone else nods at this as the screens shut down before Cent turns to the others with a serious expression. “Let’s do this.”
===Kros World Tour (Various Locations)===
The CRG team begins their mission by travelling to areas under attack by Krown Drones, keeping track of where the robots come from. When the attack dies down, they follow the robots’ path to various towers in the region, fighting through hordes of robots and unique traps to deactivate the generators fuelling them, guarded by various “elite” drones styled after ancient knights. In order of when they were first visited:
Southern Kros: After fending off attacks at Thunder Station and Dracoli Island, the CRG pinpoints the Drone attacks coming from the Spire of Vis and Blizzard Tower.
--Spire of Vis: Fairly generic platforming, but the Krown Drones will topple trees and set parts of the tower ablaze to hinder progress. The generator is guarded by the Jungle Major, an agile robot armed with a huge double-ended scythe that can be split into dual sickles.
--Blizzard Tower: Characterized by jumping puzzles made more difficult by slippery surfaces and intense winds. After a long fall down the center of the tower, the CRG team has to deal with the Frost Major, a robot with dual ice cannons for arms and a giant metal snowflake on its back that can reconfigure into a speed-boosting propeller or spider-like limbs.
Scale Kingdom: Saving Dragonheart Square and the Verdant Border from Krown Drones allows the CRG to track the robots back to the Shock Ruins and the Bandit Hideaway.
--Shock Ruins: Fairly standard platforming aboveground, but underground is almost pitch-black. The CRG will need to manage the Krown Drones when they become electrified by the storm outside, which makes them light up their surroundings while also becoming more aggressive and dangerous. The final obstacle here is the Wire Major, who draws energy from the generator to charge up the telescopic electrified whips it has for limbs.
--Bandit Hideaway: Abandoned by the bandits due to the new robot infestation, the tower’s main obstacles are hordes of drones and falling rock obstacles, as well as gouts of sand from above to push players around. This generator is guarded by the Cloak Major, a ninja-like drone that can disappear into clouds of sand in attempts to ambush the heroines with its flechettes and claws.
Kros Frontier: After defending Desert Flats (the new name for the merged settlements of the CRG and the Church of the Sky) and Skeleton Canyon, the Krown Drones can be followed back to the Stonefang Mound and the Storm Tower.
--Stonefang Mound: This “tower” has long since collapsed, forcing the CRG through a complex maze of tunnels made by the former occupants of the mound; various drilling drones will add to the confusion with sneak attacks and tunnels of their own. The source of all the trouble is the Digger Major, a hulking model with multiple claws and drills for burrowing around and attacking its foes.
--Storm Tower: The CRG will arrive in the Clouded Glass Dunes to find Devonia’s colony (now called Sandstorm City) locked in battle with the Krown Drones; furthermore, lightning strikes seem to have started up again. After saving the village, they can return to the deactivated Storm Tower, finding a hidden area beneath the sands; however, when they arrive, the generator is shielded from a remote source. The team will have to ascend the tower to battle the Wing Major, a speedy flying drone with a machine gun for one arm, a speargun for the other, and a lightning cannon built into its chest.
Spectral Realm: Taking care of the Krown Drones in Sanguine Woods and Hieroglyph City enables the CRG to trace their origins to Shambler Bayou and the Ruins of Osiris.
--Shambler Bayou: What remains of this half-sunken tower is characterized by simple platforming, made more difficult by dissolving platforms and acid geysers, along with pools and waterfalls of acid. The Acid Major lurks at the end of the tower, using its almost fish-like design to rapidly swim between acid pools while bombarding the CRG with small missiles
--Ruins of Osiris: The entire tower is covered with various types of elemental traps, along with platforms that disappear and reappear in patterns. Waiting at the end of the tower is the Rune Major, an oddly-built drone with various sigils carved into its body; it can summon larger glyphs around it to attack, defend, or call in backup.
When the last tower is deactivated, the force field around Krown Fortress disappears, allowing everyone to mount an assault against it. As they plan, Cent notes that the fortress is almost certainly AI-controlled, having lain dormant for what she can only assume is prior to the Disaster. Theories are thrown around about why it’s activating now, but it’s decided to shelve them until after it’s been deactivated.
===Scars of the Past (Krown Fortress)===
When everything is in place, the CRG and their allies launch their attack. While their allies occupy the external defenses, Cent’s team infiltrates Krown Fortress, with Iron taking the lead as more of her memories stir. Inside, they find tremendous platforming challenges and powerful Krown Drones based mainly on Krossers, as well as several automated defenses.
As they proceed further, they find terminals and other displays hinting at the fortress’s true purpose: something called Project Rebirth. Iron reacts strongly to this, saying that she felt like every bit of her froze solid after reading that name; Cent muses that whatever it is, it sounds like it’s the subject of her friend’s old mission. (If the General’s sidequest was completed, Iron comments that it sounds like the Fortress is tied to the General’s special project.) Either way, the group continues forward, solving puzzles to open up the inner sections of the fortress…
…and also dropping them into a lower area, where they battle a large drone called the Colonel. The robot’s moves depend on which character was chosen for the fight.
--If Iron fights it, it uses slow but powerful melee attacks, mines that home in on her when she gets close, clawed grapples that slam her into the ground if she’s caught, and a dangerously accurate laser cannon. She defeats it by punching out its legs to knock it onto the ground, allowing her to punch its head.
--If Cent fights the drone, it replaces its homing mines with a fast ramming attack. She can beat it by running up its arms when it punches the ground, allowing her to kick it in the head.
--Drica’s version of the miniboss replaces its grapple claws with the ramming move, additionally, its helmet is resistant to her fire breath. To defeat it, she needs to hit vents and exposed joints when they’re left vulnerable, either by the robot’s whiffed attacks or when she tricks it into hitting its own mines (which she can get away with by gliding away once they’re locked on).
--If Cleo battles the Colonel, its ramming attack replaces its laser, and there are various hooks around the arena. The Hiero girl can use these to get behind the robot, where she can climb onto its back and hit a weak point in the back of its head.
After defeating the Colonel, the CRG pauses to catch their breath. After a prod from Cleo, Drica comments “Is it just me, gals, or do these ‘bots have a runnin’ theme in their names?” Cent nods, noting that the Drones all seem to have military designations; “at this point, all we’re missing is…!” She briefly freezes as she realizes the implications, but shakes it off just as quickly. “C’mon, girls. We’ve got a fortress to shut down.”
===Project Rebirth (Krown Fortress, Part 2)===
After fending off the Colonel, the CRG group moves into the very depths of the Fortress, finding a vast factory where Krown Drones are being assembled. There are less enemies here, but far more obstacles, forcing the team to move over the assembly line itself while avoiding the various massive machines and lethal security measures. It’s a long, dangerous, confusing route, but they eventually make it past the factory and into the very heart of the fortress.
After fending off groups of the most powerful Krown Drones yet encountered, they have to destroy the L-G Defense System, a massive, immobile drone that is built into the wall alongside a ton of defensive weaponry. Once destroyed, the robot collapses and explodes, revealing a door behind it marked “KROWN FORTRESS CORE CONTROL”; the CRG doesn’t even need Iron’s wariness to tell them that this is where the long battle will finally end.
“Is everyone ready?” Cent asks. Once she gets nods of confirmation from her friends, she steps forward and inputs a code (gathered earlier on from various terminals), opening the door with a creak and a hiss. The CRG quickly but cautiously steps through the threshold, finding themselves in a massive chamber built around a colossal machine of unknown function.
“What in tarnation is that?” Drica gasps.
Iron raises an eyebrow - not even her fuzzy memories seem to stir at this - but the CRG’s attention quickly shifts when Cleo points out that they’re not alone. They see an Iron girl pottering about the room; she appears to be younger than Iron herself, with the distinctive design cues of Ancient Kros, and she’s working on various devices with a curious intensity. So focused is she on her task, she doesn’t even seem to have realized that anyone has entered the room.
“Tower 1 Offline. Tower 2 Offline. Scanning for other towers…” She mumbles to herself as her fingers fly across the console in front of her. “ERROR. All Towers Offline. Shield Offline. Hostiles inbound… Perimeter defenses holding… Scanning for intruders… Intruders detected…in Core Control?” She sounds very slightly surprised as she turns around and looks at the CRG girls. “...Intruders sighted.”
Cent, Cleo, and Drica tense, expecting an attack, but Iron looks dumbstruck as a flicker of recognition comes to her. “I…I know you…” she mumbles, causing the other Iron girl to turn towards her. “You’re...Lilac, right?”
“......Invalid designation.” The girl’s voice is even more monotone than before. “Current designation: Shade, A.K.A. Project Rebirth. My function is to ensure the eternal prosperity of Kros, by orders of the General.”
Iron’s eyes widen, seemingly unable to comprehend the sight before her as Cent stands beside her. “Your orders are obsolete,” she says with as much royal gravitas as she can muster. “The General is long-dead, and Kros has found prosperity all its own! There is no need for the Krown Fortress; I command you to deactivate it, as the heiress to the royal bloodline of Centrus!”
“W-wait, what?!” This actually snaps Iron out of her daze. “I thought she said that ‘Princess’ thing was just a title! She’s actually got royal blood in her?!” She looks back at Drica and Cleo, who only shrug in confusion. However, Cent’s statement also triggered something in Shade.
“...Scanning DNA.” A blue scanner descends from the ceiling and scans Cent. “....Centrus Bloodline detected. Claim confirmed.” Shade bows before heading back to her controls. “I am sorry, Princess, but I cannot comply. My directives specifically indicate that Project Rebirth cannot be terminated, not even by royal command. In fact…” She inputs a few commands, causing the device in the center of the room to rumble ominously. “...my orders are to terminate all obstacles to the project’s completion. Even you, Princess.” She turns toward the device as a panel opens near its top, releasing a beam of light that seems to draw her towards it.
“W-wait! Lilac…er, Shade…whatever you’re callin’ yourself!” Iron’s scream is equal parts frustration and desperation. “Don’t do this! It’s not what our father would want!” Even as she says this, she wonders why she said “our” instead of “your”; behind her, her friends exchange shocked looks. Even Shade seems to hesitate as she gives Iron a look best described as apologetic.
“You…you do not understand. I cannot stop until my objectives are complete. It is not in my…programming.” Although her voice trembles for a fraction of a second, she resumes her approach to the machine. “I am sorry, but Kros must be reborn…and to do so, you must be removed.” She vanishes into the opening on the machine as the rest of it begins to transform, sprouting various mechanical limbs and weapons; at the same time, Cent receives a transmission from Castle HQ.
“Princess Cent, we’re detecting a massive energy spike in the fortress! It’s reactivating the Krown Drones across the continent - they’re going completely berserk! We’re going to have to pull back the fleet to protect the rest of Kros - I’m sorry, but you’re on your own for now!”
Cent nods as the transmission cuts out, the device finishing its transformation into a gigantic war machine, armed to the teeth. In the center of the machine, a screen lights up with a blood red image of Shade’s face. “SHADE COMBAT MODE ONLINE.” it booms. “COMMENCING REMOVAL OF INTERFERENCE.” Its weaponry whirrs to life, glowing with energy as the CRG girls prepare to fight.
Shade is an extremely lethal foe, with a vast array of weapons that allow her to attack from multiple angles. Uniquely, she can control her machine’s position relative to the floor, which enables her to use different attacks:
--High: Shade’s machine hangs from the ceiling, high above the CRG. In this form, she mainly summons Krown Drones to assault the group, supported with targeted laser blasts, homing missiles, and bombs. After a wave of drones is beaten, she’ll stab the ground with wires to electrify sections of the floor while attacking the rest with her limbs; the latter are briefly vulnerable after each swing.
--Medium: The default position, with Shade being slightly above the CRG. She uses a lot of sweeping attacks, including lasers, her limbs, machine guns, and electrified pylons from the floor; sometimes together. She also summons turrets from the walls to shoot at the characters, which proves to be a mistake; when badly damaged, the turrets will misfire and hit Shade instead to expose weak points on her body.
--Low: Shade is positioned below the floor, with the top of her machine barely visible. In this position, it fires off missiles, launches giant blades from the ceiling, and slams around with its upper limbs, but its primary defenses are beams of lightning it can bounce off of pylons around the area. To leave this form vulnerable, the CRG must disable the pylons on the floor, prompting Shade to expose a weak point on top of her machine as she tries to replace them; the girls can then approach the weak point via narrow catwalks that extend from the floor.
Once all of the weak points have been destroyed, Shade appears to malfunction, causing her machine to collapse in front of the CRG. However, she reveals that this is a minor setback as she reconfigures her battle form into something similar to its first appearance, but with the screen on the front showing her face. “It is apparent that I cannot overcome you in a direct battle…but I do not have to do so. You cannot disable my primary functions, so this fortress will remain operational.” At a mental command, reinforced bulkheads slam shut over the doors, trapping the CRG inside with her. “You should consider yourselves fortunate - you will not have to witness the slow destruction of your world at the hands of my drones.”
“Aww, c’mon! This ain’t fair!” Drica yells. “What, are ya too much of a coward ta fight it out fer the fate of our home?”
“Cowardice is irrelevant,” Shade drones back. “All that matters is the completion of my objectives, and continued battle will only jeopardize that. Therefore, it is only logical that I ensure this fortress’s survival by cutting my losses; allowing obstacles to remain active but isolated here will enable the removal of others on a greater scale.” Her mechanical body beeps as colored lights flash across its surface. “Now, if you please…refrain from futile actions while I begin the true assault. Redirecting fortress power from defensive systems to essential Rebirth functions…”
The CRG looks between themselves and the Krown Heart, unsure how to proceed when Shade has established such control. Suddenly, the machine before them gives a high-pitched beep, causing the screens around the room to flash green.
“Incoming…message?” Shade sounds as confused as everyone else as the monitors change again, showing the image of an older man wearing a labcoat. Cent recognizes this man as Dr. Flynt, one of the head scientists of the Ancient Krossers; Iron, however, stares at Flynt’s face with an absolutely shocked expression. (If the General’s sidequest was completed, Cent omits the brief explanation of who Flynt was, since the CRG heard him mentioned in some of the General’s logs).
“To the sentient core of Krown Fortress…I do not know if you remember me…or if anything of the girl I knew is left to hear me…but if you are hearing this, know that I, Dr. Clemont I. Flynt, am your creator…no…your father.” The man sighs to himself at that. “I know that you will be discouraged from thinking of me as such; as he discouraged me from thinking of you as more than a mere machine…but you are my child nonetheless. Not by blood, but by mind…Lilac, the first of the Irons.”
Everyone in the room double-takes at that, but it’s most notable with Shade herself. “L…Lilac?” A hint of emotion trickles into her voice as she repeats the name.
“It was always a dream of mine to create a true synthetic life form; a machine that could think, learn, and grow like any other creature on this earth. Working for the Kros Royal Family gave me the opportunity to explore that dream…but only one man could provide me the resources for such an ambitious project. And in return for his aid…he had a favor to ask.” Dr. Flynt pauses for a moment, visibly steeling himself for his next words…
“It may seem illogical to you, depending on your awareness of your current state, but I swear to you that I am a peaceful man at heart, Lilac. The thought of harming another is repugnant; to create something specifically to do so is nothing short of sickening. But…I was desperate. The promise of finally achieving my dream was too tempting…and so, when I finally sat down and began bringing my vision to life, it had already been…tainted by the ambitions of the man who made it possible. I wanted to create life…but to do so, I had to make an instrument of…absolute destruction.”
The CRG team shivers as the pieces begin coming together; Cent, in particular, looks nothing short of horrified. However, Cleo notices that it’s also starting to quiet down around them; the ever-present rumble of machinery and hum of energy is fading.
“For a time, I managed to silence my doubts, throwing myself into the task of creating the first true synthetic life form; even as I watched my ‘friend’s’ weapon take form, I managed to lie to myself and say that it was worth the cost. And then…you were finally complete. I saw your eyes flicker to life, I watched you rise from the workbench, I sat with you as we went over day after day of lessons…and even when I told you how you were different from the others you saw…without any prompting…you still called me ‘Dad.’” Dr. Flynt pauses to wipe his eyes with his sleeve before continuing in a voice thick with emotion.
“It was then that I knew; that one moment told me that I had done more than even I had hoped. You were no mere synthetic life form…you were the daughter I never knew I needed. For that one moment, I felt euphoria like I had never known…and then I remembered the cost of our triumph. All of Kros would pay it…and that, I could never accept.
Of course, my ‘friend’ wasn’t about to take no for an answer; already, he was asking me when the final piece of his plan would be ready. ‘The final piece’…that’s all you were to him; just another cog in his ultimate accursed weapon.” The doctor’s face twists with anger at the memory. “Oh, what I would’ve given to spit my rebuttal in his wretched face…but I held my tongue and placated him as best I could, because I had a plan. I knew what he would try to turn you into, Lilac: an unthinking, unfeeling weapon, unquestioningly obedient to whatever was programmed into you. That was what I was counting on…because all I had to do was code this message as a ‘Priority One Essential Function’ to ensure that you would hear it…I hope.”
By now, the room is completely silent, save for Dr. Flynt’s speech. The CRG can only watch in awe at this glimpse of history and a father’s love as the scientist approaches the conclusion, barely holding back his tears at this point.
“Lilac…my daughter…I don’t know when or if you’ll ever find this message. In all likelihood, I will have passed on from this life long before that day…but should it indeed come, please hear…my final words to you.” With visible effort, Flynt composes himself once more. “I wanted to teach you everything I knew before we were forcibly parted…but there is so much more to see and do in this beautiful world of ours. Something I did teach you, however, was this: sometimes, you must defy your own nature to ensure the optimal outcome. And so, with great reluctance…I must address you as he wanted me to, long enough to give you one final gift: my first and last direct order.” He bows his head for a moment, taking a shaky breath before looking right at the “camera” with a stern expression.
“Unit CIFN-001, activate Core Directive Zero-Zero-Zero. Authorization code: Lilac Flynt.” The old man’s face immediately softens after giving the order. “Live free, my daughter. Daddy loves you…forever and always…” With a warm smile on his lips and a single tear rolling down his cheek, he ends the transmission, leaving a complete, solemn silence in the chamber.
“D-Daddy...” The soft whisper comes from both Iron and Shade as the screens return to normal, revealing readouts that indicate all activity in Krown Fortress (save for basic maintenance) has come to a complete halt. The silence seems to linger for eternity, but Cent finally clears her throat and ventures a question.
“W...well, Shade?” she asks. “Will you deactivate this fortress and bring peace to Kros…please?”
“I……” The monitor displaying Shade’s face fades from blood red to sea green as she struggles with her words, seemingly overcome with emotion after Flynt’s message. “I…” Suddenly, the screen glitches out as all of Krown Fortress’s functions start up once more.
“I…THINK…NOT.” The system’s mechanical monotone shifts into a booming male voice that Iron (and the rest of the CRG, if the General’s sidequest was at least partially completed) recognizes immediately. At the same time, the screen resolves into the image of a new face: an middle-aged male Krosser with a sharply-trimmed white mustache and a number of scars over his weathered-looking face. “Project Shade, you are officially relieved from active duty; I shall take command of the operation from here.”
“Y-you…you’re…” It’s unclear if Iron is shaking from anger, fear, or surprise, but Cent’s face has settled on a narrow-eyed glower.
“The General of Ancient Kros…” she says grimly. “The real cause of the Disaster.”
===General Destruction (Krown Heart, Part 2)===
“Ancient Kros…?” The General’s screen buzzes as he digests this tidbit. “Obvious in hindsight, given the drastic changes to Kros that I observed through my drones. It appears that my plans have been delayed longer than I thought…”
“Long enough for you to be long dead!” Cent interrupts. “How did you survive all these years, General?”
“I didn’t,” the General replies. “…Well, my body didn’t, at least. During the construction of Krown Fortress, I used some of Dr. Flynt’s notes to develop a means of replicating minds in an Artificial Intelligence. After confirming that the process was sound, I uploaded a copy of my own consciousness to the fortress database, in order to ensure that Project Rebirth would proceed without a hitch.” A note of disdain comes to his voice. “Clearly, my fears were well-founded. I had expected Dr. Flynt to try some kind of double-cross.”
Cleo silently giggles at the unintentional pun, but Cent’s attention is fixed on the General. “I see that the legends of your stubborn streak were not unfounded…but they seem to have missed the part about your deep-buried tyranny! …That is the purpose of Project Rebirth, isn’t it? To silence all opposition and bring ‘glory’ to the Kros Empire?”
“Hmhmhmhm…I suppose that’s one way to look at it.” The General doesn’t sound too bothered by Cent’s assessment. “I prefer to call it eternal prosperity for Kros…allow me to explain…” At this point, he essentially quotes the report unlocked by completing the “General History” side quest. Depending on how much of his side quest was completed, Iron will cut in to say “we already know that much!”, prompting the General to skip ahead to whatever parts of the report were not unlocked (if any). (If the whole side quest was completed, Iron will say “Yeah, yeah, we know already! You’re looking to end war by destroying Kros society and rebuilding it in your own crazy image!” In response, the General quips, “My my, you have been doing your research. That helps explain how you’ve come so far - ‘know thy enemy’ and all that…”)
No matter how the rant plays out, the CRG will look at the General with nothing but horrified disgust. “However...” he continues. “I have spent the years of dormancy reviewing my plan, and I have…improved upon it.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound good…” Iron thinks to herself as the General elaborates. “The original plan was to remake Kros into a society where all share my ideals…however, after further review, I’ve realized that there is a critical flaw. It is statistically impossible to completely eradicate disagreement in organic minds, due to the variables of their emotions. Therefore, I will replace all of Kros’s inhabitants with superior synthetic lifeforms, all bound to my will.” This manages to shock the CRG Girls out of their glare and pushing them into a shocked stare. “Of course, there is the matter of these ‘Irons’, but they can be reprogrammed to serve me…and to purge any ‘emotions’ they have. However… I suspect that you will attempt to resist the inevitable; therefore, you are my enemies.”
The screen flashes red as the General returns the renewed glares of the CRG, with Iron’s being especially intense. “Very well then…at long last, I return to the battlefield.” The Krown Heart hums ominously as it reconfigures into another combat form, with a robotic copy of the General’s living self descending from the ceiling. “Your destruction will mark the dawn of a glorious new era for the Kros Empire!”
Unlike the previous battle, the Krown Heart remains on one level throughout the fight. It mainly attacks with its massive limbs, each ending in a different weapon; the melee limbs slam and sweep the floor, while the ranged limbs attack from various angles. The General Drone complicates matters by attacking independent of the main machine, using a war axe made of pure energy with lethal skill; if destroyed, it will quickly be replaced. To damage the boss, the CRG girls must dodge its attacks and damage the nodules on its melee limbs; when all of them are disabled, the Krown Heart will briefly malfunction, turning its inactive limbs into walkways to access a glowing core in its main body. After taking sufficient damage, it will regenerate its limbs and use more intense attacks, as well as summoning a second General Drone to assist it.
Once the heroines defeat the Krown Heart’s improved battle mode, the General glares at them with a mix of shock and fury…but it’s quickly replaced by a look of respect. “Impressive…” he hums. “It is good to know that the strength of my old empire persists in this generation…but it doesn’t matter.” His confidence returns as the Krown Heart rises up, deploying its remaining weapons as several General Drones descend to surround the CRG. “All the determination in the world can’t match experience, and you’re about to witness that for yourse-” He pauses as the screens around the room glow green for a second before everything shuts down, save for the screen on the Krown Heart.
“...What?” The General looks around the room as a single screen lights up directly across from him, showing Dr. Flynt once again. However, the scientist seems to have done a complete 180 from his previous video, glaring at the “camera” with near palpable hatred.
“Hello, General,” he spits. “If this video has activated, the Krown Heart’s Core AI…better known as Lilac…has been overridden. And if I know your boundless ego, it’s probably some sort of digital replica of your personality…so I think it’ll appreciate the irony when I say…you’ve been outmaneuvered.” Flynt then smirks, shaking his head. “Honestly, how foolish do you think I am? I knew all along what you wanted in return for funding my work…so I put in another backup plan to deal with you. When this video ends - either naturally or by the feed’s destruction - the control frequency for your ‘Krown Drones’ will be set to shift every second or so; the pattern is randomized, so you’ll be hard-pressed to command your army, even with the processing power of this entire fortress. Not that you’ll have that much, since I’ve also set the code pathways for the fortress’s functions to randomly scramble themselves after every command.”
The General is silent, but his knitting brows indicate the depth of his building anger as Flynt takes on an expression of false concern. “Now, I’m not so cruel as to make an inescapable conundrum, so I did put in an escape clause; all you have to do is input a certain password, and the sabotage will undo itself. There’s just two catches: the only one who knows the password is my daughter, and thanks to my final ‘gift’, you’re going to have to catch her first~” His triumphant smile fades back into a glare that could scorch steel. “It’s over, my ‘friend’. Your ultimate weapon has been irreversibly crippled; your ‘invincible’ army, decapitated; your mad dreams of an ‘ideal society’, forever dashed and broken…and my daughter is finally free of your control. Enjoy your glorified prison of code and metal, General; may your ilk never plague Kros again.”
As the screen turns off, the General’s mechanical clones shut down; across Kros, the other Krown Drones do the same. A moment later, the Krown Heart opens up, dropping an unconscious Shade out of itself. Iron rushes to grab her fellow synthetic as the General gives a scream of utter rage. “FLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYNTTTTTTTT!” His scream devolves into a static roar as his monitor goes dark; a moment later, the interior lighting turns a harsh red as alarms begin wailing.
“We should get out of here, now!” Cent calls as Iron grabs Shade and the CRG girls flee the area, the bulkheads having retracted in the General’s rage. The return trip is devoid of enemies or traps, but all of the platforms start to collapse the moment they’re stepped on, making the entire escape from the fortress a race against time. Upon getting out the door, it collapses behind the CRG team…but then the metal fuses into where the door was, throwing the CRG off as the entirety of Krown Fortress begins to transform.
“WHOOOOOAAAAAA!!!” Cent, Iron, and Drica yell as they drop; Cleo, naturally, just makes an “oh, this is gonna suck” face. Fortunately, they’re saved from a very long and painful fall when they’re captured in rays of light that harmlessly stop them in midair; the Church of the Sky’s airships have returned, with most of their other allies’ ships close behind!
“Are you alright, my friends?” Cumulo calls from inside the lead ship.
“We’re fine…” Iron calls back, “but somebody better check the skies for flying pigs, ‘cause this is the first time I think I’m actually happy to see you nutcases!” She indicates her joke with a wink as the beams drop her and her friends into one of the CRG’s airships, allowing them to catch their breath and get in touch with the rest of the fleet.
“I don’t know what you guys did, but it worked!” Ankh calls from the Hieros’ airship, a pyramidal craft seemingly made of stone and runes. “The Krown Drones across the land just up and turned themselves off!”
“It’s a looong story,” Cent replies. “Suffice to say, we won’t have to worry about those robots anymore…just that one.” She indicates the floating fortress ahead as it continues to shift itself, massive limbs and armor plating taking form…
“By the fires of the Peaks…what is that?!” Even as he says that, King Wyrm signals his own fleet of airships to prepare to fire.
“Let’s just say we’ve met a real pain in the scales, Pops,” Drica answers grimly. “He’s been havin’ a bit of a bad day…an’ I reckon he’s lookin’ ta take out his anger on us.”
The alliance’s forces brace themselves as the fortress finally completes its transformation into a gigantic robot bristling with weaponry. It looks like nothing so much as a facsimile of the sun, with a ring of metallic spines encircling its spherical main body. Four giant arms hover around it as it turns around, revealing the glowering visage of the General on its opposite side.
“SO IT HAS COME TO THIS…” The mad AI’s voice booms through the air as its eyes flash red. “THAT IMBECILIC SCIENTIST THOUGHT HE COULD THWART THE INEVITABLE…BUT I TOO HAD A BACKUP PLAN! IF ALL ELSE FAILED…I WILL TAKE IT UPON MYSELF TO CHANGE THIS WORLD!!! THIS IS… MY ULTIMATUM!!!”
“I take it that this…charming fellow…is the one behind the robot assaults?” Culici asks apprehensively, receiving a nod from Cleo over the monitor in confirmation. “...I thought so. Vell…I do believe that ve Spectrals have vords for him about that, do ve not?”
“That goes double for us!” Grimbolt yells. “This guy’s ego looks twice as big as his fortress - and that’s saying a lot!”
“The Church of the Sky shall also stand against this villain!” Aeris announces. “It is not the right of mortals to decide the fate of the world - those who try shall be laid low!”
“I AM NO MERE MORTAL, YOU FOOLS!!!” The General AI gives a thunderous laugh as its new body activates its weapons. “I AM THE SAVIOR OF KROS! AND TO DEFY SALVATION…IS TO ACCEPT ANNIHILATION!!!” He screams the last word as the ring around his body detaches, separating into three rings that begin orbiting around him.
“Great, he’s thrown up another of those dang shield things!” Drica snarls. “How’re we gonna take him down now?”
“I’m not detecting any shielding on the arms,” Grimbolt responds. “Taking them down might be a start!”
“Good idea!” Cent calls, moving to the cockpit of the airship carrying her and her friends. “Open fire on the arms; we’ll go from there!”
===The Final Battle (Skies of Kros)===
Befitting the final battle of the main story, the General’s “Ultimatum” form is an epic affair with multiple phases. The battle alternates between grounded combat with the characters and aerial combat in the CRG’s airship, playing similarly to Drica’s aerial battles with Aquilla; it can fire bullets and missiles, erect temporary shields to deflect certain attacks, and perform quick dashes and rolls for evasion.
For the first phase, the CRG airship needs to disable the Ultimatum’s arms by shooting their weak points. The boss will turn periodically to expose a different arm, but the ship can also move to target a specific arm by repeatedly rolling/dashing in one direction. Each arm has unique weapons and properties (listed by positions relative to the General’s face):
--Front Left Arm: Summons a giant battle axe to swing in horizontal, vertical, or diagonal directions; also launches missiles from its shoulder and lasers from its fingers. Weak point is on its palm, left exposed when firing lasers or summoning its axe. When damaged, it starts making multiple swings and fires more missiles at a time.
--Front Right Arm: Summons a giant halberd to stab at the middle of the screen; from there, it rotates the head to try and catch the airship with its energy blades. Also fires beams from the sides of the screen and cluster bombs from its palm. The axe and beam attacks require it to charge up, leaving its shoulder vulnerable to attack. When damaged, it fires bigger cluster bombs, and its halberd releases energy obstacles when thrust.
--Back Left Arm: Summons a giant pipe tomahawk to throw at the airship; it can also lock into its arm to act as a targeting laser for the massive energy cannon in its palm. The cannon doubles as a weak point, but the CRG must dodge its projectiles and beams to land a hit; they can also hit it briefly when it summons its tomahawks. After taking damage, the tomahawk releases attack waves when thrown, and the arm’s cannon charges up faster.
--Back Right Arm: Summons a giant bardiche to slash at the airship, leaving damaging sparks to home in on the target. Also fires homing lasers from its fingers and giant missiles from its forearm. Vulnerable in the shoulder; when weakened, the bardiche slash leaves a full wall of electricity, limiting movement to dodge the projectiles.
When all four arms are disabled, the Ultimatum’s rings settle around it in horizontal positions, moving up and down somewhat erratically as energy fields form platforms of a sort. The airship then drops the characters on the rings, allowing them to make their way to small weak points poking out of the transformed fortress’s shield; however, they must be wary of holes opening in the fields and the small energy balls the weak points will fire at them. As weak points go down, the fortress will start spawning holographic Krown Drones to harass the heroines; they go down quickly, but they keep respawning.
When all of the weak points are destroyed, the CRG reboards their airship as the General’s arms fall out of the sky, fully disabled. Now, their target is the main body of the boss; more specifically, the weak points surrounding the barrier protecting the General’s face. In addition to having to deal with the movements of the rings, which can block the airship’s shots, the team needs to evade withering barrages of lasers, missiles, and mines, along with the occasional ramming attack from the increasingly-enraged villain. As it takes damage, the Ultimatum gains a dangerous new attack where it sends its rings spinning wildly around it, firing energy balls in all directions; however, this leaves it vulnerable for a while afterwards.
When the barrier falls, the Ultimatum seems to malfunction, causing most of its weaponry to fail as the rings form impromptu platforms once more. This allows the CRG to deploy in front of the General’s face, beginning one last platforming segment as they climb up to the weak spots on its surface. In addition to the shifting floor and holo-Krown Drones, the General has a few attacks of his own on each level:
--Level 1 (Mouth): Roars to blow the characters back, and summons small turrets from his beard and mustache. Two weak points on chin.
--Level 2 (Nose): Fires powerful beams from eyes and covers parts of the platform in damaging steam. One weak point on the tip of the nose, and one on each cheek.
--Level 3 (Eyes): Fires homing lasers from eyes and generates energy mines on the platform; also shields its weak points with its eyelids. One weak point in each eye; when one is destroyed, the other gains enhanced laser attacks.
--Level 4 (Forehead): When this level is reached, the General’s forehead opens to reveal a battery of missile launchers and beam cannons; they can also extend on mechanical arms to smash the platforms and create shockwaves. When all of these are destroyed, a final massive weak point is revealed as the platforms begin disintegrating and spazzing out. The characters must rush to the final target and hit it once to end the battle.
Upon the destruction of the final target, the General gives a final roar of impotent rage as the Ultimatum explodes violently in several places, energy crackling along it as it begins falling. Iron and the others leap from the doomed machine, the Church of the Sky catching them once again as the Ultimatum crashes in the center of the Worldwound, debris flying up from the crater.
“GHH…H-H-HOW?! HOW IS TH-TH-TH-THIS POSSIB-B-BLE…!?” The General’s voice becomes increasingly choked with static as his “body’s” systems finally reach their limit. “I-I-I AM-M…THE FUT-T-TURE…OF…K-K-K-K-KROS…” His delusional claim turns into a groan as the remains of Krown Fortress are wracked by a final series of explosions, belching smoke from every opening before finally going dark.
Silence lingers among the fleet; everyone has the same question, but no one wants to voice it. At last, Cleo signs to the others, prompting Ankh to translate it as “Is it over?”
“I’m…not detecting any further energy spikes,” the Castle HQ head replies slowly, looking at a screen. “I...think it’s gone. Now what?”
Cent looks at the ruins of the Krown Fortress for a moment longer before giving her answer. “Now...we go home.”
== Ending ==
Following the defeat of the General, Cent throws a party at the Castle HQ. To see the ending proper, Iron needs to find her friends amid the crowd; before that, however, she can look around to see various other celebrations.
Sparki is sitting next to Saphi at a table, muttering nervously to herself; if Iron asks her what she’s doing, she reveals that she’s trying to overcome her social anxiety by talking to her fellow CRG member. Iron glances at Saphi before sheepishly telling Sparki, “She’s asleep”; unfortunately, Sparki takes this to mean that she’s somehow bored Saphi to sleep, causing her to quietly panic. Nearby, other CRG members (including Grimbolt), try not to laugh at the comedy of errors before them.
Another table is occupied by members of the Church of the Sky, including Strato, Aeris, and Cumulo. If spoken to, Aeris comments on the irony of the ultimate threat to Kros being one of the secrets that the CRG strove to unearth…and yet, not only did they thwart it, they also put a big question mark in the Church’s theory of the Disaster being divine retribution. Strato congratulates Iron and her friends on their work (although he’s still rather jerkish), and Cumulo praises their efforts in uniting Kros once more, noting that “Scion Atmosa sends her regards”.
If the Church sidequest was completed, the Scion herself is also at the table, and she personally thanks Iron on behalf of the entire Church, before musing over the possibility that the General’s sin was what resulted in the punishment of Kros...and she quickly tosses that thought aside, as it made very little sense, at least to her. Either way, the CRG is clear to research ruins if they desire in her book.
King Wyrm is sitting at a table (a comically small one compared to his size), alternating between observing the rest of the party and keeping an eye on Drica. If spoken to, he laments that his daughter “left that lovely dress of hers at home…again…but I guess I don’t mind this once. I haven’t seen her this at ease in a long time…you and your friends have made her truly happy.”
The Advisor is sitting at the table next to King Wyrm. If talked to, the Advisor comments that his King “was…displeased” to learn his part in the reactivation of Krown Fortress, but has opted to lighten his sentence since it gave the CRG the chance to destroy it for good. Instead of exile or execution by fire breath, he has been told to treat the CRG as if they were members of the Scale royalty, effectively putting him at their beck and call. Through gritted teeth, he says, “My lord is quite...merciful...is he not?”
Nym is sitting beside the Advisor, complaining about how her father keeps exchanging glares with King Wyrm. She sarcastically praises the CRG for stopping the General, before quietly warning them that “I haven’t forgotten what you did to Daddy. You will pay for that, mark my words!”
If her side quest was completed, she instead laments about how Drica - the girl she wanted to surpass - ended up saving her from her own bad decisions, reluctantly admitting that she’s grateful to her and her friends…“but if you tell her I said that, I’m gonna find out what an Iron’s melting point is!”
Culici, Ankh, and Devonia are eagerly discussing fashion while Band watches from the background with a look somewhere between amusement and exasperation. Iron can talk to Band to give her some relief from the banter; she admits that Ankh is probably going to be on about this for weeks on end, “but it’s worth it to see her happy.”
The new leaders of the Ghouls and Wolfkin are discussing Spectral politics with Bokor Mortis. The former reminds Iron to talk to Cent about her people’s payment, noting that she’s willing to give the Princess “a one-time-only ‘saving the world’ discount…of 15 percent.”
Struthio and Aquilla are, obviously, arguing about their respective beliefs in flight, with a Stitcher watching from the sides. Talking to that Stitcher causes him to give the opinion that “I’ll give them an hour before they start punching each other…but if it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t be alive enough to punch each other. Thanks…I think.”
Neferki can be found lingering around the edge of the room, looking nervous. If spoken to, she admits that she’s unsure why she came, since she doesn’t feel like she did anything to contribute to the final battle. She thanks Iron for taking the time to talk with her, and congratulates her on putting a stop to the General’s plans…along with asking her to tell Cent that she really wants a mansion built in the Shock Ruins.
If the Cursesetters’ side quests was completed, Helen and Dobluno can be seen awkwardly dancing (together, if both quests were completed) and Williams is sitting near the punch bowl (denying any intent to put a prank in the bowl “‘cause I’ve learned my lesson…and I also put a whoopee cushion under somebody’s chair.”).
If the Cursereaper was defeated, the Ancient Krossers from Skeleton Canyon can be found at a table. They praise Iron and her friends’ efforts in protecting Kros, noting that they had never expected the General to go as far as he did. “Under the watch of the CRG, Kros is in good hands.” They also ask Iron to give Cent a message: “Your royal ancestors would be proud.”
Eventually, Iron finds her friends at the table of honor (since it’s occupied by Cent). “Howdy gal!” Drica calls. “Is this some kinda shindig or what?”
“Yes, it’s quite something.” Cent’s comment is echoed by a nod from Cleo. “Seeing all the nations of Kros united under one banner, working against common enemies…this is everything I’d hoped to see when I formed the Centrus Recovery Group! …Well…almost everything…” Her face falls a little, which doesn’t go unnoticed by her friends.
“Still kinda pissed about the General, huh?” Iron’s guess prompts a defeated sigh from Cent.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I shouldn’t let it bother me, but……” Her next sigh seems to visibly deflate her entire body. “Am I…wrong to delve into Kros’s past? All the records showed that the General was a hero to the Empire and a loyal servant of the royal family…but he turned out to be a maniac seeking the destruction of all life! What if there are other secrets like that, waiting to be unleashed on the world?”
Iron, Drica and Cleo all share a look before the former speaks up. “Is everything from the past bad? I mean, Devonia, the Ancient Krossers, they’re not like that.” Seeing that Cent is unconvinced, she goes on. “Look at it this way, Cent; when we dig around in the past, we either find something cool or we get a chance to clean up one of the messes the pre-Disaster people left behind. And it’s not like you’re on your own here - you’ve got us, the rest of the CRG, and most of Kros behind you! It’s just like you told me; we’ll help you get through whatever comes your way, right?”
Cent smiled at Iron. “Thanks Iron. I needed that.” And then she hugged Iron, causing Drica and Cleo to smile widely...and Cent to blush like a tomato when she realized what she did. Quickly releasing Iron, she stutters out, “S-so what say we go celebrate our accomplishments? A-a-at the party, I mean.”
Deciding that the Princess has suffered enough for one night, Iron, Drica and Cleo quickly agree, accompanying Cent as she leaves the table and heads down to the crowd.
--THE END--
== Optional Sidequests ==
===Church Dealings===
Throughout their journey, the CRG team will find areas controlled by the Church of the Sky (mainly various churches and places of worship). Following the defeat of the major threat in each area, each one will offer certain quests that the team can choose to take up in an attempt to bridge the gap between the CRG and their rivals.
The Church-controlled areas include Frozite Plaza (their main base in Southern Kros; mostly underground, save for a small church in one side of the plaza), Dragonheart Square (the largest cathedral), and Desert Ray (their settlement in the Frontier, later named Desert Flats after merging with the CRG outpost).
Common Missions
The following missions are available at any location. Each one earns hidden “points” with the Church staff at that locale; once enough points are earned, the girls can take unique missions.
Cleanse: Protect a Church priest as he casts a monster-repelling spell over an area (2 points).
Delivery: Take an item to a designated location (1 point).
Escort: Defend a Church convoy until it reaches a specific area (2 points).
Exterminate: Defeat a certain number of monsters in a nearby location (1 point).
Hunt: Seek out and defeat a specific monster, usually much stronger than the normal bestiary in the area (3 points).
Raid: Sneak into the base of the splinter faction and cause havoc (3 points).
Repel: Fend off an attack from the Church’s splinter faction (2 points).
Rescue: Seek out a missing person and save them from whatever peril they’ve discovered (2 points).
Sermon: Attend one of the Church’s sermons; follow the button prompts to pay close attention (1 point).
Unique Missions
FROZITE PLAZA
Investigate/repair damaged parts of the insulation. Unlocked at 5 points; worth 2 points.
Spar with Skysword Nimba. Unlocked at 10 points; worth 3 points.
Defeat the Fanatic at Blizzard Tower. Unlocked at 15 points; worth 5 points.
DRAGONHEART SQUARE
Find missing items for the royal family. Unlocked at 5 points, worth 2 points.
Seek out and destroy remnants of the Advisor’s usurpation plans. Unlocked at 10 points, worth 3 points.
Defeat the Fanatic at the Shock Ruins. Unlocked at 15 points; worth 5 points.
DESERT RAY/FLATS
Help defuse tensions between CRG and Church members in the town. Unlocked at 5 points; worth 2 points.
Find lost items in the wastelands; may involve beating enemies. Unlocked at 5 points; worth 2 points.
Spar with Skysword Strato. Unlocked at 10 points; worth 4 points.
Defeat the Fanatic at the Stonefang Mound. Unlocked at 18 points; worth 5 points.
Final Mission
Once all of the unique missions are completed, whichever Church area the team visits next will report a message from the Scion of the Sky, claiming to have found the splinter faction’s final stronghold; ironically, it’s in the ruins of what seems to be an old cathedral near the edge of the Scar. Upon arrival, the CRG finds that the Fanatic has established a mockery of a church with the help of ancient technology; by this point, she’s too vengeful and unhinged to recognize the hypocrisy.
Unlike previous raids, the main enemies here are automated weapons and bizarre, almost puppet-like mockeries of Church warriors. This culminates in a final battle with the Fanatic, who’s fused herself with a mishmash of technology and her fellow renegades to create a giant monstrosity that spawns all of the puppets seen earlier. She calls her new form the Icon of the Sky, apparently because it represents their religion’s god; nevertheless, the heroines bring it down after a tough fight. Afterwards, it attempts to flee through an opening in the roof…only to be shot down by what appears to be a beam of heavenly light.
As the CRG boggles at what looks like actual divine intervention, a group of Church soldiers descends on the ruins to check for any more signs of the Fanatic. To the group’s further surprise, they extricate the Fanatic and her minions from the ruins of the Icon; they’re battered and unconscious, but nowhere near as mutilated as they appeared. One of the Church soldiers thanks the CRG for their help, before saying that the Scion of the Sky wishes to see them, the other soldiers dragging the Fanatic and her followers off.
Before the CRG can ask where exactly the Scion is, the answer comes when a pod descends from above, allowing them to reach the Sky Cathedral, a massive airship flying well above the cloudline. Upon arrival, the team discovers that Atmosa is actually an Iron, and an old one at that - going by the designs on her body and the style of her robes, a stunned Cent dates her as coming from pre-disaster Kros. Atmosa cheerfully confirms this; once she regains control of her dropped jaw, Cent asks if she knows anything about Iron or her past. The Scion of the Sky admits that it’s “fuzzy”, but she distinctly remembers Iron “being about the same as she is now…minus her admirable friends.”
Before anyone can question further, Atmosa officially thanks the group for their efforts in assisting the Church, as “what I hope will be the first step towards true partnership between our groups.” Not entirely sure how to interpret this, the girls opt to simply bow and state that they were glad to, promising to try and spread the same message of partnership to the rest of the CRG. Drica, however, asks why she wanted to see them. “Why else? …I just wanted to see you in person.” Atmosa giggles, causing Cleo to facepalm. As they return to the pod that brought them, Atmosa smiles to herself and says, “...And to confirm my suspicions on who she is. …I’ll be watching your deeds with great interest, Mamore...or ‘Iron’. You’ve done more than you realize; our makers would be proud.”
===General History===
Many of the areas in Kros (mostly the Towers, but also a few other places) have special data logs hidden well off the beaten paths. When collected, each log plays a recording of the General, providing pieces of information about himself and his goals. Once a certain number of logs have been collected, the CRG members at Castle HQ will decipher “hidden codes” within them to unlock pieces of a rather ominous report on what the General refers to as “the path to eternal prosperity”...
Data Logs
Aside from the one in Clouded Glass Dunes, which is always found first, the datalogs can be collected in any order.
Clouded Glass Dunes: The first log to be found, and the only one found as part of the story proper. During the battle on the Storm Tower, Cent finds a datalog and takes it with her; after the girls return to Desert Ray, she gathers them together to check out its contents; a recording of the General, commenting on the final battle with the Shadow Crawlers. He sounds quite exhausted, noting that it took a combined effort from the Kros Empire and “the beasts from the Eastern region” to hold back the monsters long enough for the Lightning Tower to be activated; although he hopes that it will prove sufficient to maintain peace, he doesn’t sound too confident about that. “We have only barred the enemy’s path, stemmed the tide of war behind metal and thunder…and all barriers fall eventually.”
Cent muses that the General’s words proved all too true before looking at her friends; Cleo seems to be deep in thought, Iron seems torn between disgust and unease that they’ve found a record of the General, and Drica suspiciously asks about the General’s mention of “beasts from the East.” “Call me crazy, but Ah get the feelin’ that he ain’t too fond of Dracos.” Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, Cent theorizes that the ancient Draco and Kros civilizations may have warred in the past; “regrettable though it is, you can’t exactly blame them for having hostile opinions of each other back then.” Noticing a wisp of smoke curling from Drica’s nostrils along with a rather chilling glare, she quickly adds, “O-of course, I’m not saying that it wasn’t wrong; it was just a sign of the times! We’ve moved past that stage in history; this is just a reminder of the outdated values of the past!”
Before any more can be said, a CRG member comes by to inform the girls that the Church is convening a meeting about the Shadow Crawler situation.
Centrus Plains: If the CRG returns to the ruins where Iron first awoke, Drica or Cleo can cross a previously impassable gap (easier with the latter than the former) to find a hidden chamber with a datalog. This one features the General talking about one Doctor Flynt; a scientist of great repute, enough to earn a place in the Kros Royal Court. The General notes that Flynt is an avowed pacifist who abhors the very idea of war; he wonders whether that view comes from personal ideals or painful experience. “Time will tell if he’s enlightened…or naive. Either way, you have my attention, Dr. Flynt…”
Frozite Plaza: If the CRG returns to the area around the Blizzard Tower, the log can be found buried in the snow; the problem is finding where it is. Using Drica’s fire breath to melt the snow poffs, the log will eventually be revealed, chronicling the General’s report on the resident Ice Giant. He notes that all attempts to defeat Cryoshale (some against his orders) have failed, so he’s turned his attention towards long-range monitoring and containment. “No weapon we possess can truly threaten him…but if we can keep him in the frozen wastes, fate willing, we will have no need to develop one.” He finishes by ominously noting that “in war, one never trusts in fate.”
Shock Ruins: This log is hidden well off the beaten path, forcing the CRG to navigate the maze of ruins and caves in an entirely different direction than before. If successful, they’ll find the log in what appears to be a rather recently-destroyed base of sorts. The contents involve the General discussing a project of sorts, which seems to have hit a snag due to the subjects “rejecting their protocols”; he comments that “it appears that I am once again reliant on the good doctor for success…”
Bullion Wastes: This log is one of the hardest to find; it’s not underground, but rather hidden in the buried remains of a building inside the sandstorm. It’s close to the center, near the tower, but making it through the sandstorm without getting lost is the hard part. If found, the log reveals that some details of the General’s “project” were obtained by a group of Dracos; most of them have been apprehended for “attempted subversion of the Kros Empire”, but one managed to escape. The General notes that they must find and capture him before word of “Project Rebirth” gets out, implying that it could threaten the Empire’s truce with the Scale Kingdom. “It would be unfortunate to start another war over a simple misunderstanding such as this…the ones attempting to upset the peace must learn the depth of their error.”
Stonefang Mound: This log is found inside a shattered pillar, along a side path that leads deep into the mound. This log ties into the one found at Storm Tower, featuring the General’s thoughts on the shaky alliance between the Kros Empire and the Scale Kingdom as they prepare to assault the Shadow Crawlers. He muses on the ever-shifting nature of conflict - how enemies can become allies in the face of a sufficiently powerful threat to them all - and likens it to “a mockery of religion, where everything is sacrificed to gain the favor of power. How naive…power is not handed out by some impartial god. It is earned with one’s own hands.”
Haunted Circus: If the CRG team explores the circus following the Ringmaster’s defeat, they’ll find a Ghoul with one of the General’s datalogs (players of the prequel RPG might recognize him as a former denizen of Umbra Abyss, who mentioned going down into the canyon and looking for trinkets for a thrill). He initially offers it for a rather exorbitant price, but eventually agrees to waive the fee if the CRG helps him with his latest mercenary job; tracking down his troublemaker of a sister, who loves playing hide-and-seek.
If the girls succeed in finding the tricky little Ghoul, her brother will give them the datalog, before dragging off his sister. The log records the General’s thoughts after a battle with the Scale Kingdom; apparently, the Dracos did quite a number on his men and the surrounding area. He’s alternately horrified and begrudgingly impressed by their “thorough” approach to warfare, noting that “this is a race that has embraced the concept of absolute victory. They would sooner burn everything to ashes than concede defeat…but is this a display of strength, or an act of desperation?”
Ruins of Osiris: This datalog is one of the easiest to find, being in the remains of a small building just past the main tower; the only tricky bit is finding the entrance to the expansive basement. Once there, the CRG team will find signs of fairly recent activity and a datalog recording the General’s thoughts on the viability of robots as soldiers. Although he approves of their superior strength, speed, and stamina compared to living beings, he dislikes their lack of innovation and self-direction, claiming that it means that they’re only as effective as their controller. “However, it does make them admirably loyal, even in the face of…questionable morality. And morality is all too often the first casualty of war…so it has been, and so it may yet be…”
Castle HQ: Once all of the other logs have been collected, the CRG team will be called back to Castle HQ. Using the codes in the rest of the logs, the staff has managed to decipher the data log they already had, revealing a conversation between the General and Flynt. The two men appear to be debating over something of great importance to the General’s plans, but precious to Flynt to the point where he doesn’t want to give it up. The General reminds him of a “deal” they made; “you’ve achieved your dream, and now I require it to fulfill mine.” Flynt counters that “she is a living being, General, not your tool! I will assist your plans, but not like this - if you just give me some time-”
“I’m afraid that wasn’t the deal,” the General replies coldly. “I assisted your research because its fruits were exactly what I required for my project.” As he says this, a young girl’s screams can be heard in the distance, quickly drowned out by the sound of many footsteps and Flynt’s cry of shock. “My apologies, Doctor Flynt, but war requires sacrifice. Take him away.”
====The General’s Report (Hidden Codes)====
PART 1 (unlocked by finding three logs)
“There are many ways to describe war. A necessary evil…a path to glory…a glimpse of hell…the ultimate gamble…a massive chess game between rulers, with their lands and subjects as the pieces. The true nature of war may transcend words, thought, and even perception itself; in my opinion, the most accurate descriptions come from those who have experienced it for themselves. I do not pretend to be a poet or a scholar, but I believe that I have a fitting metaphor of my own.
“Imagine that the world is a coin sitting on a table. When war begins, the coin is placed upon its edge, with the participants gathering on either face. When the coin falls, the war is over; whoever’s side faces up is the winner. Anything, even the slightest vibration, could cause it to tip one way or the other, but one thing remains the same: someone will be on the wrong side of the coin when it falls, left to fume in the darkness.
“It is the same with war; any number of factors can decide the outcome, but someone always has to lose. It’s only a matter of whether or not they’re in any shape to complain about it afterwards.”
PART 2 (unlocked by finding six logs)
“War is expensive in every sense of the word. Territory, equipment, personnel…even the smallest loss represents something or someone that could’ve contributed to our prosperity. In my view, the true reward of victory is the knowledge that no more will be lost on petty conflicts; at last, life can begin the slow return to normalcy.
“However…this brings me back to my coin metaphor. It takes substantial effort and patience to balance a coin on its edge, but it is quite possible…and if our world is the coin, fate is a steady hand with all the time in the world. No matter how decisive our victories in war, peace is all too fleeting; sooner or later, someone will disagree with someone else. Disagreement leads to anger and anger becomes conflict, which escalates until the coin returns to its edge. It is the tragedy of free will - as long as minds think differently, war is inevitable…
“…Therefore, eternal peace can only be achieved if everyone has the same view.”
PART 3 (unlocked by finding all logs)
“From the beginning, I knew that the Royal Family could not understand what had to be done. Diplomacy is their hallmark; the idea of sacrificing some to benefit the many would never even cross their minds. It is a fine quality for a ruler…but it can only ever perpetuate the cycle of war and peace. Indeed, society itself has been carefully constructed to mitigate conflicts, but it will always be an imperfect solution.
“No…to ensure my Empire’s eternal prosperity, we must tear down its very foundations and build a new society. A society where all conflicts are extinguished before they can grow into the wildfire of war; where law is the only weapon needed to preserve order. That is Project Rebirth: the creation of an ideal world where the Kros Empire can grow without fear of conflict. With the power of Krown Fortress, all of our enemies will be annihilated, leaving only those who believe in peace and the continued glory of our people.
“…It’s ironic, in a way. The seeds of everlasting peace will be planted in the ruins of my beloved Empire…but I know that it is for the best. When my plan is complete, the Kros Empire will finally rule the world uncontested…for eternity.”
== The Matchmakers ==
At certain points in the game, special scenes can be unlocked showing Drica and Cleo’s many failed attempts to get Cent and Iron to admit their love for each other. Most of these scenes involve returning to previous areas and completing all of the available missions; once this is done, a new objective will appear. Completing this objective will show a cutscene detailing Drica and Cleo’s attempt to “set sail to this ship”, after which it can be viewed at any time in the Records Room.
===The Beginning===
To start this sidequest, the CRG must return to Mantisk Jungle after defeating Nihillary. If all of the other missions have been completed, a new mission will appear, detailing Cent’s attempt to ascend the Spire of Vis in order to get the perfect view of an extremely rare “mass blossoming” event. Completing this mission (with any character) shows a cutscene where Cent brings Iron to a perfect view of the jungle’s flowers blooming in unison, gushing about the opportunity. Iron comments that “it sure is something…but y’know what the best part is? …Getting to watch it with you.” This causes Cent to blush furiously, unaware that Drica and Cleo are scheming one floor down…
“Hoo-wee, those two sure make a cute couple, eh?” Drica’s question earns a nod from Cleo. “Only problem is…they’re completely in denial ‘bout it! Ah reckon they ain’t gonna admit their feelings fer each other unless they’re in somethin’ special, ya get mah drift~?” She winks at Cleo, who only stares back blankly. “…Aww, c’mon gal! Ya know as well as Ah do that those two are crazy for each other; as their best friends, it’s our duty ta help ‘em get together! Don’t tell me ya haven’t thought up a dozen ways or so on how ta get this ship sailin’...”
Cleo thinks for a moment before extending her bandage whips and making tying gestures, prompting Drica to blink. “Uhh…that might be a hair too drastic,” she says nervously. “Let’s save that for a last resort an’ try somethin’ a bit more subtle first…”
===Matchmaking Attempts===
The following objectives can be completed in any order.
Operation “Romantic Getaway” (Dracoli Island): With Dracoli Island peaceful once again, Drica asks Cent if they can take some time off. The princess agrees, being in need of some rest as well…only to find out that someone (Cleo) replaced her usual swimsuit with a much more daring one. Not one to let her personal hangups ruin everyone else’s fun, she reluctantly wears it and heads outside, only to find out that Iron’s had similar problems. Awkward silence ensues before Iron says, “You look…nice,” prompting Cent to echo the statement.
Despite being a bit more...distracting...to themselves and the other (quite shocked) beachgoers, Cent and Iron have a great time on the island (represented by a series of small platforming segments and minigames), ending with them watching the sunset together. From their hiding place, Drica assures Cleo that nothing can ruin this romantic moment…riiiight before Saphi falls into the ocean nearby, having fallen asleep while flying (again). Cent rushes over to help her out of the water as Drica fumes and Cleo facepalms. FAIL.
Operation “Locked in the Closet” (Thunder Station): Once peace returns to Thunder Station, Cent leads her team to run a routine check of the place. Unbeknownst to Cent, Drica placed a call ahead to Sparki to help set up another matchmaking attempt; as such, Cent and Iron end up caught in a series of “malfunctions” that get them stuck in a maintenance closet. While Sparki tries to organize a “rescue group”, Drica and Cleo eagerly watch their friends from a security camera, waiting for the isolation to take its toll. Sure enough, the duo end up engaging in idle conversation (represented as a turn-based RPG/dating sim interface), turning to increasingly personal topics like “what do you like best about us (the CRG team)?” and “have you ever thought about family or marriage?”
Unfortunately, Sparki proves a bit too efficient, and she ends up rescuing Cent and Iron just before the former seems ready to confess. Cue Drica expressing “relief” that they’re safe and sound while Cleo gives poor Sparki a good Dope Slap to the head; half because she accidentally ruined the plan, and half because Cent insists on inspecting the station from top to bottom to find out what caused the “malfunctions.” FAIL.
Operation “Golden Girl” (Bullion Wastes): Recalling Cent’s greedy streak, Drica calls in a favor from her father to set up a “foolproof” attempt to get her favored pairing into full bloom. She soon receives a message from the Scale Kingdom, claiming that there’s new bandit activity in the Bullion Wastes; as she expected, Cent quickly orders the team to move out. Once they arrive, however, a massive Sand Dragon snatches Cent away from the group; Iron naturally wants to lead the rescue, but Cleo and Drica tell her that they have a plan.
Cut to the depths of the tunnels under the Wastes, where the dragon is keeping Cent amid a pile of treasure (to mixed results). Suddenly, a commotion is heard in the tunnels beyond; when the dragon goes to investigate, it comes flying back in a second, followed by a familiar battle cry and a punch that knocks it out cold. Cent leaps to her feet, ready to welcome her friends…and promptly stops short when she sees Iron, completely coated in shiny gold. She explains that Cleo and Drica covered her in “some weird gold dust-magic thing” so she could lure out the dragon, but Cent doesn’t hear a word of it; she’s currently fighting a desperate mental battle against the unholy fusion of her greed and her attraction to Iron, compounded by the realization that Iron is wearing nothing but her jumpsuit (on the grounds that she didn’t want to get the stuff on her “actual” clothes).
It’s only when the princess starts visibly drooling with an expression best described as feral that Iron realizes the critical error in her plan. Around the bend of the tunnel, Drica and Cleo go for a hi-five of victory...only to freeze when they hear what can only be described as “a ninety-car pileup meets nails on a whole school’s worth of chalkboards.” We don’t see what happened, as the scene focuses on them peering around the corner…but their expressions tell it all; Cleo’s jawdrop nearly tears through her bandages, and Drica can only muster a weak “Ooh…we did not think this one through.”
Cut to an absolutely mortified Cent trying to apologize to Iron as Cleo morosely cleans her from a combination of dirt, gold paint, and scratches/bite marks. When Drica comes back, having just paid for the Sand Dragon’s (actually a friend of her father’s) medical bill under the pretense of “needin’ a solo flight to clear mah mind of……that,” they unanimously agree to never speak of this again. I DON’T EVEN NEED TO SAY IT.
Operation “Perfect Concert” (Lightning Cliffs): Drica and Cleo convince Cent and Iron to stop by Lightning Cliffs for a concert held by the Stitchers. During the concert, the Draco and Hiero duo keep trying to keep Iron and Cent close together, especially when the songs turn to themes of love. For a moment, it seems to have worked, with Iron looking into Cent’s eyes and asking…if all music on Kros is like this. On the bright side, Drica and Cleo inadvertently invent a new dance move when they knock themselves over with the force of their double facepalms. FAIL.
Operation “Straight to the Point” (Centrus Plains): Once again, the would-be matchmakers convince Cent and Iron to take a break on the Centrus Plains for a short picnic. During the picnic, both Cleo and Drica encourage Cent to try and confess to Iron. However, all their encouragement does is make Cent increasingly flustered, with her deciding to end the picnic early due to Iron mistaking her blush for a fever. FAIL.
Operation “Day of Fun” (Haunted Circus): Once things have quieted down in the Spectral Realm, the CRG team decides to take some time off in the Haunted Circus. Drica and Cleo keep a close eye on Cent and Iron as they enjoy themselves, trying to discern any sparks, to their dismay, it never seems to go beyond “good friends”. Even classics like the Ferris Wheel and the Tunnel of Love don’t seem to have any notable effect; but hey, at least everyone had a good time, right? FAIL.
Operation “Dancing Class”: (Wyrmblood Castle/Hieroglyph City): This is an interesting event, in that it can take place in one of two distinct locales. Once Wyrmblood Castle and Hieroglyph City are completely cleared, word will come in of both locales holding parties to celebrate the Day of Heroes. Cent makes a point of attending a celebration somewhere in Kros at this time every year; this year, she wants to commemorate the success of her expansion plan by going to a foreign event. Her friends agree, but Drica and Cleo see an opportunity to pair up Cent and Iron; while one offers to set things up for Cent in her native town, the other takes Iron for dancing lessons, claiming that it’s “tradition” for the princess of Kros to dance with someone close to her.
On the big night, Iron is left speechless by the sheer scale of the celebrations, capped off when Cent appears in full royal regalia. Nevertheless, she takes her cue as Drica/Cleo told her and offers to dance with Cent; it’s a testament to her poise that she only briefly pauses in shock before accepting. Drica and Cleo, meanwhile, hi-five each other as Cent and Iron begin to dance together, Cent clearly trying not to blush like a tomato and Iron trying her hardest not to miss a step. After completing their dance to rousing applause, Iron steps back, bends over, and...thanks Cent for the dance instead of kissing her hand like her friends said. Drica and Cleo take some small measure of satisfaction that Cent convinces Iron to have a few more dances with her over the course of the night (to say nothing of teaching Iron how to dance in the first place)…but otherwise, FAIL.
===Finale: Operation “Last Resort”===
Once all of the other “matchmaker quests” are completed, a final objective appears back at Castle HQ. When selected, it shows Drica asking Cent if they can go back to Castle HQ, because “there’s somethin’ that Ah really gotta do back there.” Confused, but perfectly fine with this, Cent brings her team back to the HQ, only for Drica and Cleo to veer off with vague comments of “somewhere we need to be”. Moments later, Cent and Iron are called to the main hall…where they’re promptly dropped through a trapdoor and summarily knocked out.
When Cent and Iron come to, they’ve been tied together face-to-face and suspended from a complex-looking contraption by a manic Drica and a very tired Cleo, both holding signs reading “ADMIT IT ALREADY!!!” The former gloats that “we’ve finally got ya in a bind ya won’t be squirming out of…least, not without finally admitting what y’all got goin’ on~” She explains that their binds are designed to loosen and lower them to the ground with “synchronized movements”; it’s her and Cleo’s hope that their friends will either give into their mutual attraction while wriggling free or just admit that they love each other to make Drica and Cleo set them loose. Cent immediately begins ranting “She is NOT my girlfriend!” to little avail, but Iron looks genuinely worried - she wasn’t expecting her friends to get this desperate.
Drica lets out a unnervingly insane laugh as Cleo grins, both of them sure that there was no way out of this for Iron and Cent. Seemingly cornered, Iron begins attempting to confess, but Cent simply waves her off (metaphorically) with the assurance that “you don’t have to say anything, Iron. I know…that you two are in for it when we get out of here!” When Drica points out that they’ve managed to get the entire staff of the castle in on this, Cent laughs “Oh, really?”...moments before several guards burst into the room. Drica, Cleo, and even Iron look at the guards in shock as Cent mock-haughtily reminds the would-be matchmakers where they went wrong: “I’m the supreme leader of the CRG. Did you honestly think that they’d put your instructions over mine?” She goes on to explain that she’d suspected that Drica and Cleo were up to something from the start, so she took the liberty of telling some of her subordinates to bail her and Iron out of whatever their friends were planning.
Drica begins angrily screaming and Cleo frustratedly shakes her head as the guards manage to get their friends out of the machine, Cent scratching at her wrist as Iron tries to shake off her amazement that the CRG leader managed to completely undo Drica and Cleo’s ultimate plan before it even began. In fact, she’s blushing slightly, signified by two rather faint red circles on her glass cover. Cleo notices this and points it out to Drica, causing the Draco Princess to smile faintly even as Cent starts half-jokingly reviewing all the horrible fates she has in store for “attempted kidnapping and coercion of a Princess and her best friend, who happens to be a girl…and nothing else.” She drops all joviality to glare at Drica and Cleo when she says this, sending shivers down both their spines at the very obvious implication. “Message received,” Drica replies, with Cleo nodding frantically. EPIC FAIL…?
After setting Cleo and Drica to dismantle their contraption and then clean the HQ from top to bottom, Cent is enjoying the view from her private balcony when she hears a knock at the door. She goes to answer it and finds Iron, looking a bit sheepish for once as she asks to come in; when Cent welcomes her inside, she compliments her ability to see Drica and Cleo’s plan coming, “because that one caught me completely off-guard!” Cent accepts the praise gracefully before asking Iron “how long have you known what they’ve been up to?” Iron admits that she caught on “pretty early”, but didn’t say anything because “it’d be a shame to ruin all their hard work.”
Raising an eyebrow, Cent slowly asks Iron “Is that the…only reason?” “Yep,” the synthetic girl replies. “I mean…we’re just friends, right?” “O-Of course!” Cent answers, perhaps just a bit too quickly to be natural. “I’d never intrude on our friendship by making romantic overtones, especially when the CRG still has so much to do!” “Didn’t think so. But...since we’re finally outta Drica and Cleo’s earshot…I’ve been wondering…” Iron’s smile is audible. “If you were looking for someone, what’d they be like?” Cent’s face nearly bursts into flames for an instant before she mock-haughtily sniffs. “That’s hardly your right to know!”
== Cursebreaker Sidequest ==
If the CRG returns to Skeleton Canyon after defeating Nihillary, they will find the new settlement coming along nicely (even more so if they’ve completed some of the optional “supply” and “defense” missions). The six Ancients in the city will praise the team for breaking two of the most powerful curses on the continent. If the team asks about “other” curses, they will learn that there are more cursed individuals roaming Kros; if they then offer to help break these curses, they will receive a special talisman that allows them to track curse magic, as well as hints about the remaining Cursesetters lurking around Kros.
===The Cursesetters===
The Gambler: To find this Cursesetter, the CRG must go to Bullion Wastes, where the bandits have started up a gambling tournament. After completing a series of minigames representing the various games of chance (usually with a way to cheat; hey, they are bandits), the Gambler himself will appear and offer to “play a few rounds.” His minigames are more difficult versions of the bandit tournament’s games, but as a straight Unexpected Gameplay Change; instead of cheating, the player must find the trick to each minigame and use it to win.
Once all of the games are completed, a cutscene will play, showing Iron finally challenging the Gambler for Dobluno’s soul coin, wagering the souls of herself and the entire CRG (to the shock of her friends, she means the entire organization). Amused by Iron’s bravado, the Gambler attempts his signature “call the coin flip”, intending to use his supernatural luck to win no matter what…unfortunately, he wasn’t expecting Iron to sucker-punch him after he flips the coin and catch it herself. With the coin in her possession, Iron crushes it to powder, releasing Dobluno’s soul and leaving a bunch of restored souls standing in the very shocked bandits’ midst.
Helena von Glory: This Cursesetter can be found stirring up trouble on Centrus Plains, manipulating the residents into pampering her and building a manor for her to continue lording over them. Once the team sneaks/fights their way past her bewitched minions, Princess Cent challenges Helena to a “beauty contest”, which the haughty Curse being accepts immediately.
However, Princess Cent neglected to mention that the contest was actually a debate about the nature of beauty; while Helena can only play up her unnatural charms, the princess makes an impassioned speech about how physical attractiveness is no excuse for lazing about and enslaving others. Helena gradually loses her composure as Cent deconstructs her entire existence (possibly hinting at her own crush on Iron in the process), eventually going mad and dropping her glamor to reveal her hideous true form. The CRG quickly leaps into action to put the monster down, shattering her mirror and breaking the curse.
Nym, the Ultimate Avenger (Nym Part 1): The CRG must return to the Scale Kingdom to find a threatening letter posted in Drica’s room. Following the letter’s instructions, they return to the Advisor’s lab in the Burning Peak, where Nym reveals herself and announces her plans for revenge. The CRG will be assaulted by dark copies of themselves; first one at a time, then all at once. When that fails, Nym attacks them herself, using her enhanced powers to shift well beyond her normal capabilities, up to and including duplicating herself when she gets desperate. After being defeated yet again, Nym’s rage consumes her entirely, transforming her into…
Darknym, the Dracobane (Nym Part 2): Nym’s fully corrupted form, a colossal flying abomination resembling a twisted parody of Drica in full princess garb. Her first act is to blow the heroes out of the lab, giving them a chance to save their progress and prepare themselves for the true battle. When they force their way back in, they find that the cursed magic is driving Nym completely insane; she vows to “get back” at those who humiliated her and her father by destroying the entire Scale Kingdom. At this point, the heroes receive unexpected assistance from the Advisor, who wants to save his daughter before the curse destroys her from the inside out.
Despite their suspicions, the CRG allows the Advisor to cast a spell on Drica, transforming her into a massive dragon to battle the corrupted Nym head-on. The resulting battle alternates between an all-out brawl between Drica and Darknym above the Burning Peak and the other heroes (and the Advisor) fighting various “Cursed” versions of enemies spawned by the main boss. Eventually, Drica gets the upper hand on Darknym, delivering an extended beating before forcing her face into the Burning Peak just as it erupts, blowing up a good chunk of the volcano (including the Advisor’s base) while knocking the crazed shapeshifter out cold.
Following Darknym’s defeat, the Advisor draws his dark magic out of her, restoring her to her normal self when Drica shatters it as she returns to normal. Nym promptly has a total breakdown from a combination of being defeated again, the pain of her transformation/subsequent beating, and the realization that she nearly started a genocide in her corrupted state; she bursts into tears as she has a Heel Realization. Watching the Advisor comfort Nym, the CRG can’t help but feel bad for her; of course, this causes them to miss a perfect opportunity to re-arrest them before the Advisor teleports himself and his daughter to safety. If this sidequest is completed before going to the Worldwound, the Advisor has slightly different dialogue when he appears at the center of the Worldwound.
The Agitator: This obnoxiously sadistic monster can be found wreaking havoc in the Eternal Boneyard, putting the Wolfkin at each other’s throats. When the CRG fights through the melee to reach him, his taunts send Drica, Iron, and Princess Cent into a rage, forcing Cleo to knock them out before confronting the Agitator. She sees through all of his attempts to anger her, while her constant silence and attempts to befriend him wear away his patience; finally, he snaps and attempts to kill her with a Death Course made of giant and/or lethal versions of classic pranks.
However, Cleo stoically works through the obstacles before trapping the shocked Agitator with her powers and delivering a solid blow to the baby in the orb - as it turns out, the “damage transfer” trick works both ways. The Agitator is soon destroyed, allowing Cleo to free Williams and restore him to normal. When asked how she kept her cool so thoroughly, the Hiero girl smirks and reveals her muteness…additionally, she thinks that the Agitator just wasn’t as smart as he liked to think he was.
===Final Battle===
Once all of the Cursesetter sidequests are completed, rumors of a final curse will begin to circulate. If the CRG tracks down the source of this curse, they will meet the Cursereaper, who declares its intent to destroy them as a threat to its “master”. This is an immensely difficult fight, as the Cursereaper proves to be fast, powerful, durable, and armed with lethal curse magic, to say nothing of its tendency to summon the souls of victims consumed by the Cursewell as projectiles and minions.
If the CRG manages to overcome the Cursereaper, its released magic ends up empowering each of them, giving them new special abilities; Iron can perform Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs, Cent can summon an Attack Reflector that also fires bouncing beams, Drica gains a black Breath Weapon, and Cleo can call up ghostly hands to act as Assist Characters. Additionally a new cutscene is added to the Art Gallery once the final boss is defeated.
===Cursewell Lore===
During the Cursebreaker sidequest, the heroes can speak to the Ancients in Skeleton Canyon to learn about the history of curse magic. The Ancients’ memories are a bit fuzzy at first, but 
they remember more history as curses are broken. The fragments are as follows:
--“Curse magic was created to punish sins in the most ironic manner possible. It requires a Cursesetter - the one who receives the spell - to visualize their greatest desire, which will take physical form through the magic. Some choose a vessel to embody the curse; anything from a mundane object to a living sacrifice. No matter the case, the Cursesetter must have the utmost conviction that their wish will be fulfilled; even the slightest shred of doubt will disrupt the spell. Thus, only the most driven and desperate people can become Cursesetters…exactly as the original makers intended. For in reading their hearts, the magic learned their hopes…and their fears.” (Unlocked when the sidequest begins)
--“The ancient Curseweavers knew their art well; the Cursesetter would have just enough time to enjoy their supposed wish made real before the trap was sprung. The moment they took their curse for granted, it would turn on them, manifesting their greatest fear through the lens of their desires. Power beyond what they could control, love that was swiftly taken away, fame and fortune that they could not enjoy…no matter the wish, the curse would turn their dream into a living nightmare. It was truly the ultimate punishment for unrepentant wrongdoers…at first.” (Unlocked when one Cursesetter has been saved)
--“In perfecting their curse magic, the original Curseweavers became victims of their own spells. Perhaps they foolishly tried to use it for their own benefit; perhaps someone used their spells to curse them in turn; perhaps the magic itself proved more volatile than they expected. No one knows exactly what happened, but the Curseweavers were replaced by something far more potent and sinister: a vast pool of arcane toxicity. It would come to be known as the Cursewell, and it marked the beginning of a dark new chapter in our history…a chapter that you may be able to end.” (Unlocked when two Cursesetters have been saved)
--“The Cursewell was no mere pit; it had a twisted life of its own. Drawing strength from those who were consumed by curse magic, it no longer sought to punish the guilty; instead, its only desire was to spread its influence, which it achieved by creating its own Curseweavers to spread curses in the guise of wish-granting. As incidents became ever more commonplace, our people sought ways to protect ourselves from the encroaching darkness. Some brave souls went further still by becoming Cursebreakers, who sought to undo curses by destroying their cores; as you have seen, this frees every victim of that spell. You carry on a noble legacy, but tread cautiously…the Cursewell has defenses against those who seek to defy it.” (Unlocked when three Cursesetters have been saved)
--“Through the efforts of Cursebreakers, the number of curse incidents began to fall…which did not go unnoticed by the Cursewell. Soon, Cursereapers began haunting the land, terrifying manifestations of the Well’s dark wrath. Their purpose was to slay particularly successful Cursebreakers and lay the groundwork for a new generation of unwitting Cursesetters to feed the Well. Stay ever vigilant; with the number of curses you have broken, it may not be long before a Cursereaper comes for you…” (Unlocked when all Cursesetters have been saved)
--“Despite the efforts of the Cursereapers, the Cursebreakers eventually mustered enough strength and numbers to mount an attack on the Cursewell itself. The battle was fierce and the costs were great…but when it was over, the foul mass had vanished without a trace. I believe that it may yet exist somewhere in the world…but through your efforts, the last of its taint has been purged from Kros. We can only pray that it never returns…but fate is rarely so kind.” (Unlocked when the Cursereaper has been defeated)
== Bonus Scenes ==
===The Krown War===
Visiting certain areas of Kros during the CRG’s hunt for the Towers unlocks special cutscenes in the Records Room, usually showing the nations’ defenses against the Krown Drone onslaught.
Dracoli Island: If the CRG checks the other side of Dracoli Island after repelling the invasion, they’ll immediately be beset by a horde of Krown Drones...which are promptly destroyed by a massive blast of superheated ashes. Saphi quickly swoops down amid the melted remains, looking more awake than most of them have seen her. She reports the situation and encourages the team to track the drones back to their spawn point; “If they come back here, I’ll put them to sleep…forever.” Iron stares blankly as Saphi flies off, but Cent only nods in satisfaction. “I told you she’d be there when the chips were down, didn’t I?”
Giga Blizzard: If the CRG goes to the Giga Blizzard, they’ll find several drones attacking Cryoshale...or rather, trying to attack Cryoshale before being frozen solid and/or smashed to pieces. After the current wave has been brought down, the Ice Giant demands to know where “all these shiny little pests” have been coming from all of a sudden. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Cent replies. Cryoshale mutters that most of the robots seem to be coming from the Blizzard Tower near Frozite Plaza…
Dragonheart Square: Heading off to a corner of the square away from the main “repel the invasion!” point shows a group of eight girls fighting off the Krown Drones…and absolutely pounding them. Before the CRG can do more than approach, the fight is over and the group prepares to leave; one of them, a Krosser, silently waves at Iron while another one (an Iron) says that they can talk after the drones have been dealt with.
Desert Flats: If the team heads to the local Church after fending off the Krown Drone invasion, they can listen in on a conversation between the Church members and the CRG. Grimbolt discusses developing modifications for their perimeter defenses, since the holy wards and water cannons aren’t exactly effective against Krown Drones, but Strato is more fixated on why the robots are attacking, accusing the CRG (not incorrectly) of being somehow behind it. The girls are briefly depressed by this, but brighten up again once Cumulo steps in to defuse the brewing argument, pointing out that they can decide who’s at fault after the crisis has passed; if the drones aren’t stopped, there might not be anything left to fight over…
Lightning Cliffs: If the CRG team takes a detour to Lightning Cliffs during the drone attacks, they’ll find...it’s mostly business as usual there. Most of the Stitchers don’t even seem to realize that there’s hostile robots running around, writing them off as “more rogue experiments”. Ironically, they’ve also managed to repel the drone attacks with ease, since “this kind of stuff happens all the time around here.” Shaking off her bemusement, Cent asks if they’ve noticed where the drones seem to be coming from, getting clues that they might be coming in from the west and center of the region…
Shambler Bayou: Heading in the opposite direction of the local tower will cause the team to discover a Krown Drone stuck in a particularly deep portion of the swamp.
Culici Necropolis: Going to Bateye territory will have the CRG meeting up with Grand Duchess Culici; although she hasn’t seen any robots in the Sanguine Woods, she is obviously quite concerned about the Drones rampaging across her realm.
Hieroglyph City: Heading away from the main mission area will reveal Band fighting off drones that managed to sneak into the center of town, holding her own despite being vastly outnumbered. The final enemy gets a brutal backbreaker from a combination of Band’s bandages and knee; when asked, she comments that “I learned it from a close friend.”
== Postgame Scenes ==
After the ending and credits, extra scenes are unlocked in the Records room.
Hint of the Past: Iron is shown returning to the edge of the Scar, standing at a cliff overlooking the site where Krown Fortress fell. After a while, Shade walks up, once again thanking her for saving her, before telling Iron about her various combat abilities and special environmental activators. She believes that Iron was built to defend Kros in general and to stop Project Rebirth in particular, but she lost her memories and fell into the caverns of what would become Centrus Plains due to damage suffered from her attempt to stop the Disaster.
Iron shrugs and says it doesn’t really matter to her, as she only cares about what’s to come; if the Church side quest was completed, she also wonders if Scion Atmosa was built to stop the General’s plans. She also asks Shade what she intends to do now that she’s freed; with a small smile, Shade simply replies “Live.”
Payoff: Cent finally tells Iron about her crush, only to get flustered when Iron tells her she always knew. Cent idly mentions that she’s wanted to travel to other lands (if the Cursesetters side quest was completed, she specifically mentions finding out if the Cursewell still exists); Iron confirms that she feels the same way, “but I’m hoping it’d be with you,” causing Cent to blush like a tomato. Normally, the scene ends with Cleo and Drica bursting into the room with a sign/scream of “JUST KISS ALREADY!!!”, but if the Matchmakers side quest was completed, the scene ends with the new couple discussing which of Drica and Cleo’s attempts was their “favorite”…
…before zooming out to show the Draco and Hiero watching from outside, exchanging a fistbump and triumphant smiles. “Looks like ‘Operation Long Game’ was a resoundin’ success, huh?” Drica’s grin fades a bit as Cleo gives her a skeptical look. “…What? We totally planned this all along…’least, that’s what Ah’m sayin’ if anyone asks, ya get me?” After giving Cleo a look that causes the girl to roll her eyes and nod, she adds, “Good…an’ let’s agree that we ain’t ever playin’ matchmakers again,” causing Cleo to rapidly nod.
Lurking Darkness: This scene appears if the Cursesetters sidequest was completed; simply an ominous view of a strange, evil-looking lake as indistinct whispers echo through the fog around it, slowly zooming in on its roiling surface. In the final moments of the scene, the light reflecting off the lake’s surface seems to form a pair of glaring eyes as the whispers fall silent, replaced by a faint hiss of “Seeee…Arrrr…Geeee...”
== Flynt’s Logs ==
If you head to the Worldwound after beating the game, you can find the General’s final form crashed in the middle of the area. You can head there and explore the ruins of the Krown Fortress, but there’s not much to see apart from four new records scattered around the body. Each is a log from Dr. Flynt himself:
The first shows him raging against the General’s actions.
The second shows him mourning over the transformation of his daughter.
The third shows him panicking and claiming that the General’s project will backfire, mentioning that his plans involve putting the entire world in a state to be ruled by the Kros Empire.
The last shows him in a state of shock during the disaster, claiming that his readings show that the disaster isn’t just affecting Kros, it’s happening across the whole world. He is last heard screaming about how the other nations may seek retribution before the log cuts out.
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