After properly resting up and bringing up their spoils from the Tower, the Sky Empress launched the next day and flew towards Lufenia. They informed the people there of the events that transpired in the Tower and that Lufenians could try and retake the Fortress with guardians' help. While Queen Safiya felt sad for the loss of Warmech and so many designs by their famous engineer, she nevertheless thanked the Warriors for their work and salvaging some of Cid's work. She did have a request for them. Since the next plan of action was to report their findings to Sages at Crescent Lake City, she wanted several of her men brought along so that she could start the end of the kingdom's isolation. The Warriors accepted this gladly. Besides, they would be leaving the place with one passenger less. Unne, already excited beyond all beliefs for having this chance to meet the remnants of the ancient civilization, decided to stay behind and teach Lufenians the language that all other nations used. Everyone wished him luck on that endeavour. After the end of their preparations, the Sky Empress took to the skies and went south.
The main reason on why the decision was made to go to Crescent Lake City was to see the 12 Sages. According to the information from Melmond, the Sages might have been still there as Sadda hadn't yet returned. Hoping their luck would hold out, everyone went forward towards the city. What waited them, however, was more than they expected. Not only were the 12 Sages still there, but also the representatives from every nation across Feinan. As it turned out, Queen Iroha organized an official conference to discuss the continent's future once the crisis affecting them has passed. Warriors couldn't hold it in after seeing this sight. They felt immense pride from seeing their efforts pay off in such a way. However, they couldn't dilly-dally as that wasn't what they planned.
They assembled the 12 Sages and explained to them what they have discovered at the Flying Fortress. Lukahn, with the worry on his face, started explaining. "It is as we have been worrying about. It seems that someone had used the power of the Crystals and triggered this disaster. Now it must have escaped 2000 years back into past to escape." Puzzled at this reveal, the Warriors asked for more info. "We scoured every document to find out more about Fiends. It was a hard work for how little we have found. From what we can gather, the Fiends existed back during the Age of Chaos as the rulers of this world. For some unknown reason, they abandoned their old lairs and disappeared into history until 400 years ago when Tiamat awoke. You all know what happens after that." Everyone nodded at that. "While investigating the Chaos Shrine, the Cornelian explorers saw some strange weather effects. Like snow falling during a summer day or hail falling during sunny skies. We believe that whoever caused this opened a time portal to the time of 2000 years ago and it is now causing strange weather anomalies. As for the 2000 years thing. To be completely honest, we are only assuming that due to the connection with the Fiends. Most likely they have opened a time portal for that intruder. Unfortunately, we don't know where that portal is. That's what we want to request of you. To investigate the Chaos Shrine properly and end this threat once and for all." The Warriors gladly accepted this.
Curious about the earlier reveal, Kelin asked about Fiends' old lairs. Sadda answered that one. "I do believe you have encountered some, if not all of them. Lich's Earthgift Shrine, Kraken's Lifespring Grotto, Marilith's Hellfire Chasm and Tiamat's Whisperwind Cove. Each of these locations is their old lair that they have abandoned." This shocked the Warriors. "As I understand it, you already had a troublesome encounter in the Earthgift Shrine. From what our expeditions had told us, there are some extremely powerful enemies trapped in each location. It seems that Fiends hatched a plan to ensure they would awake themselves one way or another. Now the trouble is, what will happen now that they are all dead?" "That's something we won't need to find out.", Kelin retorted. "But isn't the your last duty at the Chaos Shrine?" I think I am speaking for everyone that I do not wish to leave loose ends behind." Everyone nodded at that. Seeing their determination, Sadda dropped the subject.
Knowing that they were approaching near the end of their journey, the Warriors went all out in preparations for their journey. They gave away all of the acquired weapons and armour that they collected over their journey, but wasn't being used. This alone would help weapon and armour development for all nations in Feinan as this collection was mostly anything that Feinan blacksmiths could achieve. The only thing they haven't give away was the adamantite as it was said that the dwarves could reforge it into a beautiful blade. Kelin felt it was finally time for his plan to come fruition. The next time he was in Dwarfheim, his old blades and the Ice Brand would be used for a great cause. In the meantime he and Lewyn were getting a crash course on magic casting. After the incident with the Lufenian language, Mari reasoned that they could learn simple magic really fast. For Kelin, it seemed that he had some talent in white magic like Heal and Null spells. For Lewyn, however, it seemed like a dead end. That's where the Lufenians that came with them made a big surprise. In cooperation with blacksmiths and few Sages that could understand then, they made magical bracelets that could cast all the spells from the various equipment that they have picked up along the way. Even rare spells like Blink, Saber and Scourge could be used by someone like Lewyn, even if they might have been weaker than Rosch's and Mari's casting. Everyone gave their gratitude for that gift. Other than that, Mari finally learned how to use Holy properly while Rosch added Thundaga to his spell list.
After two weeks of preparations, the Warriors of Light were ready for their next mission. One that wouldn't involve anyone else as it turned out. The closest location to where they needed to go was the Whisperwind Cove northwest from Crescent Lake City. Due to the terrain, the only way they reach it in short time is using their canoe so, after saying their goodbyes, Warriors left on foot with the Sky Empress in the air following them.
After several days of rowing and getting disturbed by local wildlife, they finally reached the Whisperwind Cove. Again, they found the strange old man that they met earlier. However, they could finally understand as it turned out, the old man was a Lufenian that was a part of the royal expedition. His task was to keep watch over the Tiamat's old lair while others went west from here. Warriors had inquired about that place, but the old man couldn't help them much. Other than the seal on the door disappearing, he hadn't noticed any change in that place. Nevertheless, they thanked him and started going to the door. The old man tried to warn them, but they disregarded him and went through the door. After Earthgift Shrine, they knew what they were getting themselves into and now they were ready for it.
Knowing that the terrain would change drastically between floors, they weren't too surprised to see that the first place they were sent to appeared to be another part of the Flying Fortress. However, unlike the real deal, this area was surrounded by clouds and ruled by the black goblins and the strange dark elementals. Feeling danger from them, the party killed them on sight. After they checked across the entire floor, all they could find was a treasure chest with a cape. Mari ended up picking it up and even wearing. She couldn't explain why, but she felt more safe wearing it. Soon enough, they found the teleport circle and stepped on it, now ending up in the ice cave. They pressed on, expecting more fights. Yet the enemies of that floor, gloom widows and revenants, mostly ran away at the sight of the party. This made the job easier and soon enough they found the stairs with a treasure chest next to it. The item in it turned out to be a protect drink, the same one as the ones that Lianna and Noelle brought from their trip. While they couldn't stop wondering how did that get in there, they still picked it up and pressed on.
The third floor is where things started to turn to strange. They found themselves in a forest, next to a lake and surrounded by purple flames. They also found an old man there who told them: "You walk among the wandering souls of those who cannot find true rest. Warriors of Light, will you not heed the flickers of their tongues?" While this creeped out the party, they nevertheless followed the old man's advice and heard what the flames had to say. As it turned out, the flames belonged to monsters that were slain by the Warriors during their journeys. As they met each flame and listen to their plight, they shortly turned to their old forms before disappearing completely. The stuff they said, however, horrified the party. A ghost was scared of getting Dia casted on him. A minotaur hated how he was made fun of by not using magic. A sahagin only wanted to see the princess of their clan before getting slain. A goblin guard was proud of his custom knife. These were just a small part of the stories that the dead told the party. With each flame getting its story revealed, the party felt more and more sick. These might not have been people, but they still have their own life stories and yet Warriors slaughtered them as if they were nothing. They dropped their guard as they saw no threat from them. This turned out to be a mistake as one flame held so much hatred that he could turn back the time and regained back his body. As soon as the party approached him, he screamed: "Give me back my treaseure!" and turned back into his monstrous form. The party didn't expect to see dark elf king Astos again and were caught off guard. This short time was all that Astos needed to cast Death again. As the Grim Reaper appeared, it headed towards Mari. Before she could react, Lewyn pushed her away, getting struck by the Reaper's attack and falling down lifeless. As Mari was scrambling to save him, Astos laughed. "Hahahaha, oh how I wished for this sight. To actually see him dead is all I ever wanted. And now it's your turn." He said that as Rosch and Kelin stared him down with anger in their eyes. They would repay Astos for that dearly.
When Lewyn awoke himself up , he found himself somewhere he couldn't recognize. A snow covered plain outside of the city with corpses all around him. Corpses of humans, elves, dwarves and even some humanoid cats wearing the uniform he couldn't recognize with most of them seemed to have frozen over or something in similar manner. He tried calling those that were picking up the wounded, but he quickly realized he was like a phantom. No one could see him or hear him. While he was trying to find out what was going on, he started feeling as if something was calling out to him inside the city. Thinking it might help him to figure out, he started walking towards the destroyed city gate, only to find himself with sharp chest pain. He couldn't figure out where it came from as there was no signs of any injury on his body. Nevertheless, he felt like he had to press on so he continued to walk even as he was hit with more pain. First in his right arm and then in his right leg. By the time he passed through the city gate, he was visibly limping and suffering from chest pain. He also started hearing voices. "Leave me... Leave me, Captain..." Those were the words ringing in his head. He couldn't realize where this was coming until he saw something. A man in dark-blue and white uniform and with wolf skin hat was carrying another on his back, both clearly wounded. When that man fell down, a sense of cold went across Lewyn as that man fell into a pile of snow. Realizing that's what might have been calling him, he started approaching them, with pain increasing at every step. By the time he was in the ear shot, another young man with black hair and wearing glasses approached them, clearly distressed at what he was seeing. "Captain! Hang in there." What happened next utterly shocked Lewyn. The captain, hearing someone that seemed to be his commander, removed his facemask, revealing a very, very familiar face. That same chin, those brown eyes, that blond hair, that slightly tanned skin. The wounded captain was none other than Lewyn. As Lewyn stood there shocked at this sight, he was silent as he listened to what the three men had to say.
Lewyn?: "Yo-your Highness. Can you h-help me carry Grant to M-miss Pireni?"
Soldier: "Tha-that's enough, Captain."
Commander: "That's right, Captain. You listen to your soldier there. (He helped Lewyn? sit down.) You're in no better condition yourself."
Lewyn?: "Nonsense. I'm... I'm... (He coughed up blood while trying to speak.)
Commander: "That's enough, Captain. You earned your rest after today's victory."
Lewyn?: "You think... You think few of them could leave Wolvenguard now?"
Commander: "Yes, of course. With how you all fought today, I am sure a lot of them will be granted their freedom."
Lewyn?: "That's good to hear. I'll... I will assemble the men and tell the... good..."
Commander: "Captain? Captain Marciano?"
The commander tried to shake Lewyn, but he knew there was no point. His captain died. The commander then turned around and tried to help the Wolvenguard soldier, but he too had perished. The only thing the commander could do was close soldier's eyes and with clear sadness on face say to himself: "I'm sorry, soldier. It shouldn't have gone this way. If anything, I should be the one lying here – the one responsible for this mess. Instead here I stand and the only thing I can do is ensure your sacrifice will not be forgotten. I hope your next life under another star will be peaceful."
Lewyn felt immense sadness as if he should be there crying. He couldn't figure out why, but it felt like this was very important to him. While trying to stave off tears, the scene was interrupted by a voice coming from behind him. "Your Highness! Your Highness, there you are!" When Lewyn turned however, all he could see was darkness in front of him. He screamed loudly: "What?! What is this?!" As he went in a circle, all he could was darkness as far he could see. The only thing that stood out was a mysterious figure than suddenly appeared in front of Lewyn. While Lewyn reeled from shock, the figure spoke. "You have my apologies for that sight. It was my mistake." "Wh-wh-wh-wh-WHO ARE YOU?", screamed Lewyn. " I am afraid you have more important things than questioning that. But don't worry. I will return you there now." "Huh?" Before Lewyn could react, the figure started casting something. Lewyn didn't even see what the spell was before he pulled away.
By the time Lewyn woke up, he could hear someone calling him and shaking him with sounds of fighting in background. When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar face.
Mari: "Oh, finally. I was starting to get worried."
Lewyn: "Mari? Wait, where am I? (He looked around but saw no snow, no battlefield nor any corpses.)"
Mari: "I casted Full-Life, but you weren't waking up. I thought something was wrong."
Lewyn: "What? What exactly- Oh. (He finally remembered what he was doing before that strange dream or whatever it was. While he was getting help, Rosch and Kelin were beating up Astos. At that, he stood up and, with pissed off look on his face, started running towards that fight.) ASTOS, YOU BASTARD!"
Astos: "Huh?"
Before Astos could react, a single punch from Lewyn sent him flying into a tree. Him trying to get up was met with Lewyn's kick, breaking his arm instantly. Lewyn then grabbed Astos by his neck.
Lewyn: "You got some nerve pulling that."
Astos: "How are you still alive?"
Lewyn: "Because you don't know to finish something, that's how."
Astos: "I swear to you I will end you someday. My curse will follow you to your dying day."
Lewyn: "Like I give a damn. In the meantime, let me show you how a real man finishes things."
With a single squeeze, Lewyn snapped Astos's neck, not even allowing him to scream as he disappeared into the flame like others. Mari approached him and asked: "Are you alright?"
Lewyn: "I'm fine. Just wondering about something."
??: "Last floor."
Lewyn: "Huh? That voice."
Mari: "What voice? What are you talking about?"
Lewyn: "You haven't heard it?"
Mari: I don't know what you are talking about."
??: "Last floor. If you can reach it, you can hear more."
Mari: "Hey, are you sure you are fine?"
Lewyn: "Yes. I just found another reason for reaching the bottom of this place. I'll explain later."
Mari(with a look of worry on her face): "Alright. If you said so."
Once everyone had calmed down, they returned back to listening to flames' stories, while also being on guard for any surprises like the last one. As it turned there was another one. Vampire that attacked Melmond and was guarding the way to Lich was also there. As soon as the Warriors approached to his flame, he regained his form and tried to attack the party. Rosch, not being happy after the last surprise, just casted Blizzaga. Instead of killing him outright, it encased the vampire in a block of ice, leaving Kelin to finish him and he had the perfect thing for it. When they encountered that vampire in the Flying Fortress, they defeated it so fast they didn't even have time to use a packet of nitro powder on it. So it was determined that they no longer needed to carry them. Everyone but Kelin had left them behind. Now it was time for it to be used for the last time. Kelin took it out of his bag and threw it on the vampire. Vampire, realizing what it was, started panicking, trying to get out of that block. He failed to do so and could only watch in horror as Kelin used his bracelet to cast Scourge, obliterating him. Kelin couldn't help but relish at having another chance at revenge for people of Melmond. After this, the old man came over and thanked the party for helping ferry the souls to their eternal rest and then showed them the stairs leading out of that place. While the party felt angry because Astos and vampire were among these souls, they knew why this had to be done so they left the old man in peace and continue on their way.
The next floor was also a strange one. They found themselves in the ice cave again, but instead of monsters, they found giant beavers roaming across the place. Confused at this, they wandered around until they have found another old man at the entrance to two rooms. The old man had asked the party for help. Apparently his giant beavers had escaped from their room and he needed help bringing them back. All the party needed to do was to herd two beavers to the room on the right and four to the room on the left. Not wishing to know more, they quickly achieved their task. The old man, grateful for this, revealed the stairs and said that if he needed more help with that, the party would be first ones to know. They, feeling like their sanity would leave them if they wanted to know more about that place, took the offer and left without saying anything, vowing among themselves not to tell a living soul about what just happened.
Unfortunately for them, the next floor was another strange place. They appeared in a large room with two beds and a kid counting down. When they approached the kid, the kid explained that he was playing hide-and-seek and if they helped him with finding a boy with red hair, that he would tell them a secret. The Warriors, thinking this to be another some kind of strange test, sighed and then went outside to look for this kid. The place outside that city was town with canals flowing through it and a tall wall surrounding the city. The only civilians that were present were kids playing around. Every kid they approached said something about forgetting important thing or nonsense. While trying to figure out how to get across the canals without bridges, Mari noticed across that canal that one kid went into one door and ended up on another island so she decided to test that. Instead of entering another building, she ended up on another island with others soon behind her. After realizing what they actually needed to do, they sighed again and went to work. It took them about 30 minutes until they found the kid and then another 30 minutes until they returned back to the original kid. The kid, being grateful for the help, pointed out where the stairs were and left the room. Lewyn couldn't help but facepalm.
Lewyn: "You did revive me, right? This isn't just a hell I am going through?"
Kelin: "Trust me, we are in this, whatever this is, together."
Lewyn: "I wish that felt comforting."
Mari: "Trust me, we all share that feeling."
Rosch: "So, shall we press on to see what next insanity waited for us?"
Lewyn: "Let's go."
The sixth floor was another ice cave one and it was finally a normal one. Only the gloom widows and revenants roamed the cave. The monsters seemed to have realized that the Warriors looked at them with glee for some reason and started running away. Very few escaped the massacre that the Warriors were doing. After two floors of insanity, they released their frustrations onto the poor monsters. They would have probably even wiped the floor clean if they hadn't stumbled upon the stairway. Now it was up to the monsters of the seventh floor to the feel the wrath of the party, something that desertpedes, the ones ruling the floor, had no idea about. Unlike other monsters, they tried to actively engage the party, only to be killed quite quickly. The party would have gone on another rampage in that marsh cave environment hadn't they stumbled upon two chests. In them there was another Protect Drink as well as an item called Soma Drops. It was an item rumoured to improve magician's capabilities of casting spells. Mari decided to take it and hold it in her bag until they left the Cove for further decisions. Not long after they found the stairs and climbed down the next floor.
The next 2 floors were nothing too special of note. After the variety of caves and their environments they went through, the regular cave on eighth floor was nothing exciting and neither were the black goblins nor gloom widows that populated it. The ninth floor could have been more exciting as the environment reminded them of the tunnels under Mount Duergar and even the monsters were different as pythons and strange lizards roamed the floor. Unfortunately for the party, most of these ran away at the sight of the party so they weren't even a time distraction. In the end they found the stairs in a random corner and left that place.
The 10th floor was where the scenery finally left the caves and returned to the sky. Again they found them in the area similar that to the Flying Fortress, but unlike the previous time, it was clear that this one was different. As far as they could see, there was no monster roaming around this place and the only direction they could take was to follow a corridor. After following it in what felt like they did a full circle, they ended on a small floating island with a dark blue flame preventing them from going further. Knowing what waited for them, Warriors prepared themselves for a tough fight and approached the flame. The flame screamed before turning into a strange purple cloud with yellow streaks and mouth that was almost as big as its body. By now the Warriors knew how to work with each other against these things Rosch and Mari casted Invisra and Protera for defence, Kelin casted Saber on himself to prepare for attack and Lewyn approached this thing, trying to punch it. This monster didn't like a puny human doing that so he casted a wind spell and pushed Lewyn away, nearly causing him to fall from the island. While Mari was helping him, Rosch casted Haste to Kelin and helped distracting the monster. Lewyn, angry at nearly getting thrown out, responded by using his bracelet to cast Blink while Mari casted Protect on him. Now with all 4 of Warriors attacking it, the cloud tried to push them all away, but it failed to repeat the success. After getting Haste from Rosch, Lewyn tried to pummel the cloud, but his attacks seemed to do little effect. Rosch and Kelin jumped in to help him with Blizzaga and Ice Blade, forcing the cloud to take a more solid state. The final blow came from Mari who obliterated it completely, leaving only a strange helm behind. Kelin picked it up and put in his backpack. After a good hour of rest, they decided to press on.