Seeker of Truth

* Title screen
* Original title card

**Seeker of Truth** is the seventh episode of Mainstream.

## Synopsis

> *Joo Shiyoon is nowhere to be seen. Yoo Mina and Seo Yoon chase after Ray, who vanished while searching for Joo Shiyoon. The two travel through an unusual forest and arrive at a location that retains the glory of the past.*
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## Characters

* **Seeker of Truth**
* Yoo Mina
* Kang Soyoung
* Lee Sooyeon
* Seo Yoon
* Jessica Green
* Hilde
* Yen Xing Lanchester
* Naielle Bluesteel
* Edith
* Janus
* Xiao Lin
* Mika Star
* Knight Captain
* Knight
* Lucrecia
* Allen Birmingham
* Sigma
* Machine G.A.P.
* Titan
* Na Heerin
* Joo Shiyoon
* Clareth El Arcadena
* Na Yubin
* Yeonhwa
* Kim Hana
* Dragonoid
* Joo Han
* The Administrator

## Plot

### Act 1

The episode begins with a narration about a "Seeker of truth." The Seeker was a person who saved many lives around the world at the cost of having to suffer on behalf of those he saved for the rest of his life. As he became older and weaker, the Seeker became a subject of ridicule, even among those who once praised and followed him. Eventually, he met an supposedly-omniscient sage and asked him how he can become a great dragon, thinking that turning into a legendary creature would end all of his suffering. The sage gave him dragon blood and said drinking it fulfill his desires but cautioned that no one can ever free themselves from their Kleshas; the Seeker's suffering will not truly end but only change in form. The Seeker drank the blood and turned into a dragon but soon found himself cast into an inferno.

A week has passed since Shiyoon disappeared. According to Kang Soyoung, the heliport where he was last seen was in ruins and all nearby CCTV had their data corrupted. Coffin Company decides to start their own investigation into Shiyoon's disappearance, and Lee Sooyeon temporarily assigns Yoo Mina to ALT Squad while she and Hilde attend to other matters.

Outside the briefing room, Hilde and Sooyeon agree that the top suspect is the necromancer who attacked them in their last mission, and the latter believes the necromancer may be an Apostle whose master has escaped from the Ark. Sooyeon provides Hilde the coordinates to the Ark and tells her she'll be working with a helpful and familiar person in solving the case.

Meanwhile, Mina gets a a call from Yen Xing Lanchester, who tells her that the Counter Academy has been looking into last week's dive training session and discovered a number of oddities. Most notably, the none of the faculty members somehow cannot remember why they agreed to conduct such a dangerous exercise. When Mina suggest asking Allen Birmingham, who first came up with academic dive training, about it, Lanchester reveals both Birmingham and Ray have gone missing. Furthermore, according to Naielle Bluesteel's testimony, Ray was last seen meeting with Shiyoon atop a heliport when an explosion occurred and knocked her unconscious. Because of these circumstances, Lanchester believes the incidents are related and invites Mina over to investigate Birmingham's residence. Mina decides to go and brings Seo Yoon along. They arrive at Birmingham's estate and find Lanchester, Mika Star and Naielle battling against Corrupted Objects. Everyone is perplexed at how expansive the estate's forest is as well as the presence of C.O.s when Edith Twins relays to the team that the Administration inspectors discovered that all of Birmingham's records turned out to be forgeries; his entire background was fabricated, including information regarding his history in the Academy.

Eventually, the group makes it to the end of the trail and out of the forest. To their shock, they find a medieval-style city on the other side. They are greeted by knights in full armor, who tell them they are in the Central Palace, capital of the Empire of Arcadena. One of the knights finds the group's sudden appearance in the city to be suspicious and questions if they were sent by the Demon Lord, so the Captain, Jacques, begins interrogating them. Naielle believes the entire place is a theme park, however, and proceeds to recklessly challenge the knights in combat, prompting the Knights to attempt to arrest the whole group. Fortunately, the group defeats the knights without dealing too much damage and explains that they are trying to figure out where exactly they are.

Captain Jacques describes that Arcadena was once the most powerful empire ever known until several years ago when a Demon Lord known as "the Whisperer" came and reduced it to just the Central Palace. The Demon Lord and his minions continue to encroach Arcadena, but the Knights of Redemption, an order of elite knights, keep them from completely destroying the kingdom. Recently, one of these Knights inherited the "Uniform of the Savior" and is expected to soon defeat the Demon Lord once and for all in an upcoming battle. Jacques also expresses hope that the "Fenrir Mercenaries" that defeated the Demon Lord's Apostles will assist them, catching Mina's and Yoon's attention. When Jacques notices that Mina looks like one of those mercenaries, he is interrupted by the Saintess of Resurrection, Lucrecia.

Lucrecia demands the group, particularly Mina, to leave their domain, but Mina refuses and asks her to let them see Birmingham. In response, Lucrecia transforms Jacques and his men into C.O.s and leads them to attack everyone, but the battle comes to a halt when Birmingham appears as well and orders Lucrecia to withdraw. Though reluctant to let Mina and the others live, Lucrecia follows his command and leaves. Mina approaches Birmingham and demands to know what happened to Ray and Shiyoon, but Birmingham says he can't give her any answers yet. He then makes the entire city implode into a single point in space, forcefully returning the group out of the dimension.

Now back inside the forest, Yoon calls in the Coffin, which had been standing by over the forest the whole time, and asks Sigma to determine the dive coordinates to the Central Palace. The Machine G.A.P. also communicates with Mina and warns her that Shiyoon's kidnappers are after her, too— this is specifically why he had Yoon watch over her. Determined, Mina and the others dive back into Arcadena's dimension to find Shiyoon.

### Act 2

Hilde found Joo Shiyoon outside during a blizzard. After asking for his name, she took him inside a nearby warehouse and briefly left to kill his parents. Yeonhwa, Shiyoon's mother, begged Hilde to take care of her son and keep him from finding out why this was necessary. Hilde promised and proceeded to slay her. She then returned to Shiyoon and asked him if he will come with her from now on, but Shiyoon weakly asked why she killed his parents. Hilde answered he'll eventually understand once he becomes strong enough to defeat her. With no other choice, Shiyoon decided to follow his new master.

In the present, Shiyoon wakes up and finds himself shackled onto a dungeon wall and his blood drained. Shiyoon, sees a man and asks if he is with Ray, but the man dodges the question and introduces himself as Clareth El Arcadena, Crown Prince of the Empire of Arcadena. Lucrecia comes in and informs him that one of his partners, Na Yubin, who is with Hilde, wants to speak with him through telecommunications. Na Yubin tells Clareth that abducting Shiyoon wasn't part of their agreement, but Clareth retorts he is willing to start "the Game" as soon as possible through any means and demands he follow his orders. Yubin refuses and hangs up.

Hilde is disgusted that Sooyeon would have her work with Yubin, but Yubin assures her that he will not turn on her so as long as they currently share the same goal. Hilde demands to know what he is planning to do with the Qliphoth Factors, and Yubin answers he is simply fighting for the world just like the Administrator, albeit through different methods. When the two make it to Arcadena, Yubin is impressed that someone from outside the Old Administration was able to make the Ark expand rather than restrict an interdimensional gateway to the Qlipha Dimension. Hilde questions how much he knows about the Arks and how he obtained such knowledge, and Yubin reveals he has personally met the Administrator and was offered the position of Class 2 Administrator. Though he declined, he eventually gained administrator status and access to highly-classified information, allowing him to establish and run the Six Wings.

Lucrecia appears before the two and warns them not to defy Clareth, but they stand their ground and demand Shiyoon back. Lucrecia then turns to Hilde and blames her for the Arcadena's suffering and destruction, but Hilde denies she knows anything about the empire and suggests the Antagonist of Arcadena's world is to blame instead. Provoked, Lucrecia summons numerous Category 4 C.O.s. Hilde and Yubin do well against the army until Lurcrecia summons a Dragonoid, a kind of shadow made from the Dragon Blood of the Seeker of Truth's direct descendants, in the form of Shiyoon. Realizing that the Knights of Redemption plan on birthing and using the true First Dragon for their conquest, Yubin wonders why Lucrecia risking the incomplete Dragonoid by having it fight him and Hilde now— Lucrecia answers Shiyoon will die if the Dragonoid is destroyed before the Dragon Blood is completely drained from the original host. To defeat the Dragonoid without risking Shiyoon's life, Hilde plans to harm it just enough to force it to retreat. However, Lucrecia says she is willing to risk losing the Dragonoid as its destruction will not affect the Knights of Redemption's plans too much.

Before the battle can continue, though, Clareth contacts the Saintess and orders her to return to the castle at once. Lucrecia is reluctant to withdraw but is persuaded to leave when she is told Mina is in their domain. Afterwards, Yubin comments on Hilde's determination to save her apprentice, noting how his former master has changed since she abandoned Fenrir Division during the Failure. Hilde brushes him off and continues to look for Shiyoon.

### Act 3

During his initial years as Hilde's apprentice, Shiyoon kept having a recurring nightmare where his mother would feed off his blood in hopes of becoming a dragon. One night after waking up from his nightmare, he asked Hilde what Dragon Blood is and what it means to become a Dragon. Hilde vaguely answered that being a dragon means being human no more and threatens to kill him if he becomes one— yet, she claimed she cannot elaborate or else his nightmares and violent impulses will worsen. She then gave him his mother's sword, the Dragon Fang, and said she'll teach him to how to fight so he can get rid of his nightmares entirely. Shiyoon asked where the sword's scabbard is, and Hilde told him he might be able to get it back once he become strong enough to overcome with his fate.

Hilde then took Shiyoon to Coffin Company so he can start working there, but Sooyeon was doubtful over the boy's potential. Hilde explains she just killed Shiyoon's parents; she then persuades Sooyeon to hire him by pledging to participate more in missions so that Coffin Company can become a certified TASKFORCE company.

Clareth meets with Shiyoon again and tells him that several people, including Hilde and Mina, are coming to try to rescue him. Lucrecia promises Shiyoon that he will soon learn the truth about himself and his bloodline, and she'll give him the opportunity to find salvation and take vengeance on those who lead him to his fate. Shiyoon says he's not interested in becoming a Dragon or taking revenge, so Lucrecia tells him he can try to save his parents instead.

Elsewhere, the Coffin successfully enters Arcadena's dimension, and Mina, Yoon, and the Academy Student Council members drop down to search for Shiyoon once more. Using the Wolvesbane (which had previously absorbed Dragon Blood) to track Shiyoon down, Mina leads the group back to the Central Palace and into the city's inner castle, which is protected by an impenetrable force field. Mika notices that the layout of the entire city resembles that of a dimensional ship's and suggests they can find and shut down the security system that's powering the barrier. Yoon consults with Na Heerin for instructions on how to find the barrier's power sources and find that each one is located separately from one another. Yoon and the Academy members then split up and go after the power supplies while Mina waits at the castle's main entrance. After the power supplies are destroyed and the barrier is down, however, Yoon is encountered by Clareth, who is actually grateful that the security system is down. As it turns out, its destruction temporarily gave Clareth complete control over the Ark, and so Clareth uses it to manipulate the Central Palace's layout and shut the city off from the Normalside to prevent any more intruders from coming in. At the same time, a Mina encounters a Category 4 C.O. near the castle entrance and is forced to fight it off before she can enter the building.

Inside the castle, Lucrecia narrates to Shiyoon about how the Seeker of Truth sought vengeance after he failed to save the world, but Shiyoon remains unpersuaded. She then reasons that revenge is a means of survival and continues to tell that the Seeker could even complete his revenge properly because he chose to take revenge on himself instead of someone else— as a result, he allowed his Kleshas to take over him and transformed into mad Demon Dragon. After the Seeker's death, his Dragon Blood was passed onto his descendants, forcing them to carry on his own hope and Kleshas until they turn obsessively insane. Shiyoon received the thickest strain of blood but was never compelled by the Seeker's will because Hilde not only kept the truth about his bloodline a secret but also trained him to become strong enough to repress the Dragon Blood on his own. However, Lucrecia tells him he will inevitably meet the same fate as his parents and ancestors— the only way to avoid it is to eliminate the source of the Kleshas and become a true Dragon. Now curious, Shiyoon asks how he can avoid the curse of the Dragon Blood, and Lucrecia answers he can do so by sacrificing the entity known as the Cursed Wolf, who ultimately drove the Seeker to his doom; that wolf being none other than Yoo Mina.

Evntually, Mina finds Shiyoon and releases him from his shackles, but the two are ambushed by the Dragonoid on their way out of the castle. Mina fights back alone but finds herself in a dilemma when she realizes the Dragonoid heals itself by draining more and more Shiyoon's blood. As Shiyoon watches the battle, Lucrecia continues to tempt him to kill Mina and hands him a pistol— though it is an ordinary gun, the Saintess claims it can still kill a Counter like Mina so as long as Shiyoon demonstrates his resolve to attain salvation. Once Mina is dead, the Dragonoid will devour her according to Shiyoon's will and become a true Dragon free of the Kleshas. Shiyoon takes aim and fires.

### Act 4

Outside, the Academy members rendezvous with Seo Yoon. To reset the Central Palace's layout, Yoon deduces they'll need to shut down the "engine" of the Central Palace, so Lanchester sends Mika and Naielle to locate and destroy it. Mika finds a tower she believes is that engine, so she and Naielle take it down along with the Category 3 C.O. guarding it. The Ark's power supply is cut off, disabling its spatial rift and reordering the Central Palace. Soon after, Hilde and Yubin find the students and reestablish communications with Yoon. Yoon informs Hilde Mina went ahead to rescue Shiyoon and Clarteh is likely following her. Hilde orders her to stand by and wait for her to arrive.

Back inside the castle, Shiyoon fires the gun at the Dragonoid and instantly kills it but apparently dies as a result. Horrified and enraged, Mina charges at a taunting Lucrecia.

Meanwhile, Shiyoon finds himself stuck in a mysterious void. The Administrator is present as well and explains to him they are in the boundary between life and death, where heirs of the Dragon Blood face their final test to become a Dragon. He is also surprised that Shiyoon doesn't appear to be suffering from the effects of the Kleshas and asks him how he was able to keep the Dragon Blood from contaminating his mind. Shiyoon replies he's still doens't understand the situation and states he just wanted to be himself. While he agrees with Lucrecia that taking revenge is one way to live, he also does not think it is the best way; in fact, Shiyoon is willing to live by and accept his Kleshas as he believes that all the painful experiences he's went through are what make him who he is. Moved by Shiyoon's words, The Administrator realizes the Seeker had sacrificed his own humanity when he took the Dragon Blood so that one of his descendants would eventually inherit his full powers and succeed in what he failed to do. Then Shiyoon's parents appear, apologize to their son for all the suffering they made him go through, and ask him to tell Hilde they are grateful for raising him on their behalf. Shiyoon says farewell to his parents before leaving.

Mina is struggling against Lucrecia, but their battle is intervened by a resurrected Shiyoon, now donning an ancestral suit and wielding a sword and sheath. Lucrecia is dumbfounded at Shiyoon's revival and newfound power, questioning how it was possible for him to become stronger after losing his Dragon Blood. As a last resort, she tries sacrifice herself instead by fatally impaling herself with the Wolvesbane, but Clareth arrives and stops her. After chastising the Saintess for her failures, Clareth reveals to Shiyoon that the Arcadena bloodline are descendants of the Seeker as well, meaning he too has Dragon Blood running in his veins. Even more shocking, he can use the its power without it corrupting his mind by having his greatsword, the Dragonsword Largo, absorb and utilize the Blood in his place. After sticking his sword into the ground to collect the blood from the dead Dragonoid, Clareth prepares to fight Mina and Shiyoon but is interrupted by Hilde's and Yubin's arrival. Ray and Birmingham also appear and convince the Crown Prince to back down. Ray also apologizes to Yubin for violating their agreement on behalf of the Knights of Redemption, and Yubin decides to maintain their alliance. Mina demands Ray to tell her who he really is and what his plans are, and Ray answers he intends to destroy her world so that he can protect his own. Without elaborating further, Ray both wishes the best for Fenrir Squad and threatens to kill them all before peacefully leading them out of Arcadena.

After everyone safely resurfaces back into the Normalside, Lee Sooyeon commends Fenrir Squad for successfully rescuing Shiyoon and tells the Academy members they will be paid for their support. Before she can be dismissed, Mina demand to know what the deal is with Ray and Birmingham. Hilde answers Ray's true identity is the Nehemoth the Whisperer, one of the Demon Lords of the Qliphoth.

## Gallery

The Seeker of TruthThe Seeker and his followersThe Seeker meets with the Sage.Joo Shiyoon sitting in a blizzard.Shiyoon sees Hilde.Shiyoon trapped by the Knights of Redemption.Hilde prepares to kill Yeonhwa.Yeonhwa appears in Shiyoon's nighmare.Lucrecia tempts Shiyoon.Shiyoon kills the Dragonoid.Shiyoon seemingly dead.Yeonhwa begs Hilde to take care of her son.Shiyoon meets with the Administrator.Shiyoon smiles.Shiyoon briefly reunites with his parents.Shiyoon reawakens (1).Shiyoon reawakens (2)Clareth draws Dragon Blood from himself.Mina confronts Sooyeon and Hilde.Hilde reveals Ray's identity.