Chapter 2

## "Inflection"

**Chapter 2** is the second full chapter of the game.

Previous chapter: Chapter 1

Next chapter: Chapter 3

## Story

Chapter 2 begins right where the previous chapter left off, with the Protagonist having newly-acquired the War God's Hammer in the Altar of Will beneath Murmur Tower. From there, they return to speak to Matthias in the Acacia Temple, and are directed towards Dajjal Temple in Sagaxis Deep Wood. Using the power of the War God's Hammer, the Protagonist is able to shatter the rock blocking the path to the Deep Wood, and makes their way through to the ancient temple within.

Immediately inside the temple, they are accosted by the Cloaked Marauder, who tries to turn the Protagonist away. After defeating her in battle, she is impressed by the Protagonist's power, and allows them further in, but not before warning them about the danger the Calaveras present. After the Protagonist makes their way through the temple, they find Samael and Lucifer in the Altar of Truth, performing some sort of experiment on the Ancient Artifact there, the All-Seeing Eye. Upon noticing the Protagonist, Lucifer exposits that the Calaveras are looking to create Tears between Assiah and Gehenna in order to jump between worlds at will. Any instability that this causes in either world is of no concern. Samael then taunts the Protagonist about how insignificant they are, before attempting to kill them, using their Weezing to flood the room with noxious gas and attacking them with his team.

When the Protagonist defeats Samael, they are unable to remain conscious due to the gas and pass out. Their machine completes its function and a tear appears above the altar. At this time, Yorick appears and distracts Samael and Lucifer while his Zoroark steals the All-Seeing Eye and shoves it and the Protagonist through the Tear, which promptly closes.

Through the Tear, the Protagonist emerges in Nascene City in the middle of the Nascene Mall. They are rescued from the fountain by Dad, who takes them to the Nascene Medical Center to be treated for their poisoning.

When the Protagonist wakes, a week later, Dad attempts to convince them that their adventure in Gehenna was a figment of their imagination created as a coping mechanism when the Rival was murdered by a serial killer. The Protagonist has no idea what to believe about this development, and spends some time pondering this as they are released from the hospital.

Later, during a conversation with Dad, the two talk about the Protagonist's rare heart cancer that they suffered as a child, and how the strain on the family tore Dad and the Protagonist's mother apart. The Protagonist expresses a deep desire to find her and ask her why she left. The heart-to-heart moment is interrupted by a call to Dad's phone, where he lets slip some suspicious terminology, claiming it was merely work jargon.

The next day, the Protagonist decides to go to Dad's office at XENO Corp. Labs to find out some answers. While there, they hear about a presentation being held in one of the rear labs, and after sneaking through the facility, arrives to find that XENO Corp. is also conducting the same experiment on the All-Seeing Eye with the same equipment.

Furious at their father's lies and betrayal, the Protagonist steals back the All-Seeing Eye and bolts for The Secret Spot, a hidden glade in the woods by town where they and the Rival used to play as kids. Once there, they find an Axis Mundi has opened in the trees there, and follow it back into Gehenna at Mt. Belial Base.

At this point, the story flashes back a week ago to the Rival being held in a cell in the Unknown Dungeon, which is presumably the hideout of the Calaveras. They exchange vitriol with Dante, who is charged with monitoring them, before left on their own. Just as the Rival is about to succumb to despair, Yorick bursts through the wall and gives the Rival a Pokémon, allowing them to run free. The Rival then makes their escape from the area, defeating Dante in a battle as they do.