What's the matter?
I'm sorry, Juliana.
Burckhardt...
A demon?
No...
He was such a righteous man.
If I had only noticed the change in him sooner...
No.
It isn't your fault.
Are the others okay?
Y-Yes.
I see... That's good.
But the enemy knows we're here.
Traveling at night is dangerous, but I want to push forward.
You're right.
That's a good idea.
Goodbye.
Wait.
Stay safe.
Thank you.
Your Highness!
The Holy Capital's on fire!
What?
The Expanding Darkness
May all be engulfed in blackness!
No, stop!
Let go!
Move it!
Smash it!
Pull it down!
Please spare me!
Put it out!
Why are you doing this?
So that all may be engulfed in blackness!
Stop.
Shut up.
I'm going to join the Black Army so I can survive!
Hurry, this way.
Destroy it all!
May all be engulfed in blackness!
Fools! Getting riled up over a bunch of silly rumors...
Cervantes!
Don't worry. I'm holding back.
My back...
Don't over do it.
Give me your hand.
Don't treat me like I'm over the hill!
Focus on evacuating the citizens.
Close off all roads to the central square.
Stop this panic from spreading any further.
Put your backs into it, men!
Apprehend them!
Looks like things are finally under control.
This is all because you people don't do your job!
What are...
Please calm down.
For now, let's clean this mess up.
What's the matter?
I ordered the knights to clean up the city, but...
Seize him!
Your Highness!
I'm glad you're safe.
Save the greetings.
What is going on here?
Since the defeat at the castle, some of the citizens have been on edge.
Riots have started breaking out all over.
A bunch of punks making a racket,
ranting about joining the Black Army to survive.
That's...
Holy Princess Juliana!
You cannot save this world!
You!
A kid?
Aries, release him.
But...
Just do it.
If there's something you want to say, now's your chance.
The Holy King is dead.
The holy men at the Great Shrine won't help us.
But the Black King is different.
He'll spare us if we join the Black Army!
Nonsense.
Who told you that?
Everyone's saying it.
"Everyone"?
You believe such a rumor?
I don't want to die!
I'll become a demon and join the Black Army!
A demon?
Do you understand what that means?
Become a demon and you'll never see your friends or family or ever again.
You'd do that just to save your own skin?
Have you even considered what would happen
to those you leave behind?
We... We fought together all this while.
You swore to fight alongside your comrades.
Why?
Why did you become a demon?
How could I not have known?
Why couldn't I stop you?
Your Highness...
What in the world happened?
Burckhardt became a demon.
More fires!
Damn it all. There's no end to it.
Thank goodness you're safe.
Louise...
I'm sorry I worried you.
No, this whole situation started because I wasn't strong enough.
It isn't your fault.
The three of us have taken on the duties of the Holy King between us.
We promised to do what we could to help each other out, did we not?
Yes.
But the fact of the matter is that the current situation is becoming grave.
The riots are spreading faster than we could have imagined.
At this rate...
What should we do now?
What the?
Are you all right?
What is this?
Let's report this to Chief Olga.
I'm told that the forces of the Nine Territories,
led by Shuza, are stationed near the Holy Capital.
Shuza?
He's still in the Holy Kingdom?
Shuza's army is still recovering from their battle with the Black King.
It will be a while until they can move out.
Your Highness.
Why don't we have them join the Black King Suppression Army?
Right.
Shuza would be a invaluable asset.
Let's send a messenger immediately.
Yuri.
Phoena.
I'll slow down the blackening.
I'm fine.
Hold out your arm.
I'll be all right.
No!
All this time, you've helped me.
It's my turn to help you.
Why...
Please, Chronicle.
Please.
Phoena...
It's...
Thank you.
What the heck are they doing, skipping out on dinner?
What?
Hey!
Yu—
Shh!
We're going back.
What?!
A kid has no business seeing this.
I'm not a kid!
Shut up, idiot!
It's huge!
Is that the Sage's Tower?
Yeah.
It's some kind of weird building, made using some kind of weird technology.
Wow.
That's super weird, but awesome.
The Sage of Destiny there might know where Pirika is.
What the?
The Sorcerer's Army!
Why are they attacking us?
We've been waiting for you, Volunteer Army.
Melchior.
Where?
Melchior!
We're going to fight the Black King again.
Please.
Lend us the power of the Sage's Tower.
If you want our assistance, first prove your might.
Velnar!
All right!
No, you don't!
What firepower...
Damn...
Aram, get back! It's dangerous.
The carriage!
Got it.
Attack!
This place is never boring.
Aram!
You don't have time to worry about others!
My mana can't keep up.
This is over!
Aludra!
Thanks!
Give it up, old hag!
Who are you calling an old hag?!
That kid can transfer mana?
You seem to be having fun, Melchior.
That is indeed entertaining.
But there'll be a lot of damage.
Sacrifices are necessary if progress is to be made.
Then why not sacrifice yourself?
You've toyed with them long enough.
That's enough.
No more games.
Y-You're naked?!
Aram, allow me to introduce you.
This is Dilma.
Fatima.
And Melchior.
They are the Sages of the Tower.
Nice to meet you.
I heard you were gathering an Army, so I put you through your paces.
Actually, your magic experiments failed, and you were just taking it out on them.
They're different from how I imagined them.
Everyone says that at first.
This is the Imperial Castle as it is now.
That's right.
There's something interesting going on there.
A High-Density Black Element is being emitted
from the castle non-stop, creating a barrier.
Calculations show that its density is double— no, more than double—that of normal,
causing an unprecedented blackening of the region.
Shut up.
Basically, the Black Element barrier has grown so powerful, no-one can penetrate it.
Tell us, do you believe people will follow you in this increasingly desperate situation,
despite the fact that you've already failed once before?
Well...
We're doing this, regardless.
Very well.
The world's fate is a blank canvas.
The future has yet to be written.
Follow the path you believe to be true.
Do you mean it's up to us what happens next?
Yes.
If that's what the Sage of Destiny says.
She's the Sage of Destiny?
She is.
Fatima knows a lot of things.
Even though she's naked?
Fatima, if you know anything about Pirika, please tell us.
Pirika survives.
But is somewhere from which it is impossible to return by oneself.
Where is that?
So not even Fatima knows.
There is still hope.
Huh?
Also, you must travel to the Maze Pass.
Hey, kid.
You're new around here.
I'm not a kid.
I'm Aram.
Oh?
You have a big mouth.
What's up with your body, anyway?
That's the mark of a Sealer.
He's strengthened himself by carving magic runes into his body.
In other words, he's crazy about fighting.
Clauss.
You weren't at the battle.
Where were you?
It's my day off.
Is that why you can use that awesome magic? Because you're a Sealer?
Wanna see it again?
You're going to get suspended again.
Speaking of which, you did something interesting yourself.
You can transfer mana, can you?
Yeah.
I thought I'd won when that old hag ran out of mana.
Good job watching out for her.
I hate losing.
And if you lose anyway?
I won't quit until I win.
You're quite the dumbass, too.
I'm not quite a dumbass.
I'm a real dumbass.
Is that supposed to be a compliment?
It's important to look at the battlefield as a whole.
Once you do, you start to see things that you couldn't otherwise.
Yeah.
That was a surprisingly mature comment, coming from you.
You need to watch carefully if you're gonna kill everyone.
Right.
Aren't you guys going to fight the Black Army?
We are fighting them.
The ones that attack here, anyway.
We, the Sorcerer's Army, can't act without orders from those weird Sages.
I see.
I apologize.
We didn't want to fight you, either.
Don't worry about it, Katya.
I know you're at the mercy of those crazy Sages.
Is someone speaking ill of me?
You're imagining things.
So, when are you leaving?
Unfortunately, I'm going to be staying for a while.
So will I.
We came all the way here to find out how to take on the Holy Castle, after all.
After you ran away from here all those years ago, too.
Don't worry. I'll stay away from your room.
I'm not going to show you my newest paper on magic theory.
Don't worry. I'll find it myself.
Then I'll set some magic traps where I hide it.
I wonder if your theory-obsessed magic will work on me.
I'm sure we'll see the failings of your half-assed applied magic.
Geez.
All that and we still don't know Pirika's whereabouts.
Sadly.
We'll have to ask Yggdra at the island of sprites.
Yeah.
I'd like to go there immediately, but...
Let's go to the Maze Pass first.
Fatima doesn't offer advice unless there's a reason.
I know.
Juliana asked us to check on the area, too.
This is a good opportunity.
We'll come with you.
I haven't had enough action lately.
Awesome!
You're coming with us?
Yes, under orders from Melchior.
He's interested in an artifact discovered recently at the Maze Pass.
We're to investigate.
Artifact?
I wonder what they found.
Who cares what it is?
All right, let's go.
To the Maze Pass!
Snowy Mountain Screams
Fate is set in motion.