The first floor was a cave quite similar to the Onrac Shrine floors. The only thing missing was water flooding the entire place as the party didn't need those bracelets that allowed them to breathe underwater. They still wore them just in case. Another thing that separated the floor from other ones was the fact that the stairs were right there just as they entered. Believing to have been some sort of a trick to it, the party went on to explore the rest of the floor, getting in fights with black goblins in process. After checking everywhere and failing to find anything, even in places where the floor collapsed into the water below, they found nothing. In the end they had to admit the embarrassing fact that they just spent 20 minutes exploring for no reason, returned back to where they started and took the stairs.
If their instinct above the first floor being a puzzle was wrong. It sure wouldn't be on the second floor. The party ended up in a room floating in the clouds with seemingly no way of getting across to other rooms. That was when the light reflection revealed for a brief moment the invisible pathway connecting the different rooms. Everyone ended up slowly marching across the invisible pathway, waiting for the light to reflect to reveal more. In order to accelerate their movement, Kelin used his sword's scabbard and tapped it around, revealing by sound where there was a walkway. In the end it took them over an hour with many dead ends to find the right room with the stairs. At least one of those dead ends proved to be more useful. It took everyone to a room with chest in it, containing a Genji Shield. Kelin ended up taking it as his reserve one. After having such a miserable time walking across the invisible walkway from one room to another, they were overjoyed to see the exit.
After having another floor reminiscent to that of the Sunken Shrine, the Warriors ended up in a massive cave where a very familiar-looking dragon greeted. "Welcome, Warriors of Light, to my humble abode." Everyone's mouth got wide open at that shocking sight. Lewyn was the first one able to mutter out: "Y-y-your Majesty!?!" The dragon smiled at those words and then continued. "Ah, I see you have met my counterpart from your world. Don't worry. I won't tear you apart limb from limb. Not immediately, anyhow. Hahahahaha!" The party now had the look of confusion. "Ah, you hadn't figure it out yet? Let me speed that along so that we get to the good stuff faster. This is not your world and I am not your famed Dragon King. I have many names and nicknames, but for your intents and purposes, I will let you to address me as Dark Bahamut." Lewyn was the first one to recover.
Lewyn: "Alright, Dark Bahamut. Where exactly are we?"
Dark Bahamut: "You are in my realm. This is the place where the bold are tested to see whether they are fit to advance beyond. You might have skipped some steps to get here, but that's alright. I won't judge you."
Lewyn: "And how do you know about us?"
Dark Bahamut: "You are not the first one to get here by accident from that place. Lifespring Grotto, if I recall correctly. Goblins, pythons and death elementals started appearing here months ago, ending up by accident. I must say you are the first thing that came here that is actually interesting. I swear, those monsters are just annoying at this point. But anyway, I sent a few scouts to investigate the world beyond. Came back here with tales of your heroics from cities across your world. I didn't even had to try and recollect your descriptions just now. I can sense those marvellous Crystals you are carrying with you. Ah, yes. You seem very strong."
Lewyn: "I see. So what now? Shall we get straight to the point then and start your test?"
Dark Bahamut: "Ah, straight to the point when it comes to fighting. I like that about you, Lewyn Marciano. Very well." A loud bang was heard coming from his throne which summoned 5 dragons to the room. "If you wish to proceed, you must first face my disciples. Defeat them and you may pass."
Sensing that his words rang true, the party turned in the direction of the five dragons that started to lunge at them. Mari and Rosch opened up the fight with Holy and Firaga. Only the black dragon seemed unfazed by these spells so Lewyn found a target for himself and sent the dragon into wall. Mari focused on targeting the sole green one and it was feeling Mari's War Hammer slamming on its scales. Meanwhile Kelin and Rosch focused on the blue trio. It was not even one minute into the fight when the Dark Bahamut called it over. "That's enough!" Everyone stopped fighting and the party returned to face Dark Bahamut, leaving the five bloodied dragons behind.
Dark Bahamut: "It seems I have truly underestimated you. Maybe I have should have challenged you. But deal's a deal. I am returning you back now." Below the party teleportation circles appeared and they started disappearing. "If you ever wish to have a shot at me, come again.", were the last words that the party heard. "Ouch. What the? Something happened back at the Grotto. It seems they were sent somewhere else. Well, I wish them good luck then."
True to Bahamut's words, rather than appearing back at the Lifespring Grotto, Warriors ended up in the open sea somewhere at dusk. It took them half a minute until they readjusted completely. While wondering what exactly had happened, they were met by an unexpected sight. A mermaid was coming to greet them. "More travellers?", were the first words that came out of her. Thinking they were back near Onrac and the city's shrine, they asked the mermaid for help returning back to the city. The mermaid's answer was turned out to be unexpected. "Onrac? The shrine there? The new Queen? I am sorry, but I have no idea what are you all talking about. I only know of Seahold and the King." The party was shocked to hear that answer. In the end they had no other choice but to ask the mermaid to escort them back to her city to see where exactly they were. While on the way there, they quizzed her about the Seahold and other supposed travellers. Apparently just a day before another one appeared out of nowhere like the party did and that was why she was there in the first place as it happened at the same place.
After about 10 minutes of swimming, they reached a great wall that was impassable for any sea creature as it stretched to above the water. Following the wall, they ended up on a gate and were let through. As they passed, the party could see that the mermaid was telling the truth earlier. Seahold was a small city built underwater inside an archipelago. Most of the populace lived underwater and their dwellings were seen from above as the group passed through. Used to fantastical sights by then, the party saw little interest in exploring those dwellings. What they found far more fascinating was something that they were told to be impossible and yet was on clear display there. Male mermaids, or as they were better known, mermen. According to Lianna and anyone they asked, there had been no records that a single merman ever existed in the entire history of Granbelos. And yet, they were there, swimming around like they weren't stuff of legend. That was what the party found the most surprising in the mermaid's answer to them. After several minutes of swimming, everyone saw where they were heading, the central island of the archipelago. After surfacing, they could clearly see the buildings on the island. To the naked they looked like any other building they would find in a city, but according to the mermaid, that was where the Sea King lived. After arriving there, the mermaid shapeshifted into her human form, like the ones from Onrac.
To the party's surprise, it did seemed like someone very important was living there once they got inside. The simple decor outside was replaced with a bit more ornamental one inside, such as the presence of statues and paintings. While they waited to receive an audience with the king who was busy at the moment, they ended up making a conversation with a sage who came to the party to see the party. After the party finished telling their story so far, the party ended up asking more about Seahold. The most interesting part they found was that the lore failed to match anything with they have known about their own world, practically confirming that they were somewhere else.
According to the sage, the humanity shared their home with other races under the grace of the gods. One day, however, almost all of the gods turned on their creations, attacking them mercilessly. The only god that remained on the side of humans was the Lord of Light who granted them the ability to shapeshift into mermen and mermaids. Unfortunately, it seemed that the gods stopped the destruction of the world and instead focused on successfully corrupting the survivors. And so the supporters of the Lord of Light ended up being forced to fight for their survival for over an millennia, being constantly hounded by surface dwellers and their cousins in the seas that believed that it was their right to rule it. Only recently, after near extinction of all sea dwellers, did fighting stop. Seahold was created by several tribes wishing to find their place in the world and settled down in that archipelago. Warriors felt sad for the tragedy that befell them. While mermaids of their world had similar reasons behind their creations, they weren't the subject of persecution once the dragons withdrew to their isles.
While this discussion was going on, a guard stormed over to notify the king about the other traveller that arrived before the party. Apparently, he locked himself into the room after getting the chest that washed up several days before. Curious about this traveller, the party ended up following the guard back to the room.
In a small room in the castle's corner a large armoured man with a halberd on his back was fiddling with a chest that washed up near Seahold recently. He wanted to avoid the prize that was in the chest getting damaged by his actions so he was careful while trying to open it. When he finally managed that and laid his sight on the blade, the room doors were broken into. With smile on his face he picked up the blade and spoke: "Hahahaha! I am afraid the contents of this chest are already in my possession. Ha! And thanks to you, the route to my egress is already clear!" He finally turned around and saw the Warriors of Light waiting for him. "Oh, of course. I knew I wouldn't be allowed to escape such a place without any trouble."
Kelin: "Who are you?"
Man: "You may call me Gilgamesh. I am sort of avid collector of fine crafts such as this one, the legendary Excalibur."
Kelin: "Oh, really?"
Gilgamesh: "Yes. And unless you wish to see first hand why is it legendary, I suggest that you leave me go and pretend you never saw me."
Kelin: "I am afraid I can't let you do that. However, (he said as he unsheathed his sword) I can at least show you what true legendary blade feels like with MY Excalibur."
Gilgamesh: "Ohoho, you picked my interested, Sir Knight. May I hear your name before I liberate that sword from you?"
Kelin: "It's Kelin. Kelin Cooper. Now before we start , how about we take this outside? I think we could fight more freely if we aren't in a cramped space like this room."
Gilgamesh: "Lead the way."
And so, everyone left for the courtyard. While others were keeping guards and spectators out of the fight, Kelin focused. It had been some time since he had a proper sword duel without anyone assisting him so he wanted to see how far he has grown. And grown he has. Once, his opponent might have been impossible to defeat, but now not only did he keep with Gilgamesh, he was the one leading this deadly sword dance. Feeling overwhelmed by Kelin's strikes, Gilgamesh casted on himself Protect only to be countered by Kelin's Saber spell. In the end the duel was decided by Gilgamesh's supposed legendary sword breaking. With his sword pointing at his opponent, Kelin asked: "Any last words?" Gilgamesh couldn't help but smirk at such an offer. "Who said I was done? Aero!" With that, he casted a wind spell, forcing Kelin back some distance. Using the opportunity, Gilgamesh grabbed the halberd from his back and returned to battle stance. "Do you wish to give up?" With anger visible on his face, Kelin's answer was clear. "Never!" "Then show me your strength! NullAll!" "Blink!" The fight restarted again, now much more ferocious than before. Defence seemed to matter little as both combatants started to bleed from cuts in their armour and on their skin, allowing Gilgamesh to see Kelin through his Blink spell. But in his heart he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Knowing that, a smile started to crept up on his face as the fight continued. Finally, Kelin managed to break Gilgamesh's halberd, allowing for the final blow as his sword went through Gilgamesh. With a huge smile on his face Gilgamesh whispered to Kelin. "Thank you young... knight..." before disappearing into mist. Kelin fell on his knees, felling tired and injured after that battle. Rosch and Mari immediately went to heal him.
The Warriors wanted to explain directly to the king on what happened there. But before they could reach the king, they started glowing. It seemed the only reason why they ended up in Seahold was to kill Gilgamesh. Everyone felt apologetic for not being able to return the favour. The sage at least promised to give their regards to the king. Everyone thanked the sage and disappeared into thin air. Wishing to tell her king about these brave warriors she climbed down the stairs into the basement where the king had been holed up on some important business. After approaching his quarters, the sage knocked on his doors, requesting that she be let in. The Sea King, Folka Labatt, allowed her to get in with sadness heard in his voice. Something had clearly happened.
Sage: "Why the long face, Your Majesty?
Folka: "They just sent the word from the expedition back north. It is as we fear."
Sage: "You don't mean-"
Folka: "Yes, as we speak, the last known merfolk city, Eambarr, is being blown up right now and the bay is red from all the merfolk blood."
Sage: "Dear Lord."
Folka: "We waited for far too long. Now we have to live with the fact that we failed to save so many lives."
Sage: "What about our expedition though?"
Folka: "I ordered to find any merfolk they can and get away from that hellhole. But that's not important. You are in charge of that otherworld gate outside the city, correct?"
Sage: "That's right, Your Majesty."
Folka: "Has your group been able to track down where exactly did these guests came from?"
Sage: "Sort of. We still need to verify that it would work."
Folka: "It doesn't matter. You had the Crystal of Lies, right? Had it resonated earlier?"
Sage: "No, Your Majesty. It seemed that they were telling truth about their world, as little as they revealed."
Folka: "Alright then. I hereby order you to initiate the construction of the gate to the other world."
Sage: "But, Your-"
Folka: "Don't. I hesitated to send that expedition up north to confirm if the prophecy was real. I will no longer hesitate to do so. If they say the eternal frost is coming, then it must be coming and we need to do everything to save our people. Do you understand?"
Sage: "Yes, Your Majesty."
Folka: "Then go."
Sage: "As you wish."
Meanwhile, the Warriors ended up in a house in a flooded city. After exiting the house, they stumbled upon a boat which allowed them to cross the flooded the city. While stumbling around the few houses that were still above the water, they found a treasure chest with a Genji Gloves in them. The gloves ended up in Kelin's bag and they pressed on. Soon enough they found the right house and left the town.
The next two floors were ones similar to Sunken Shrine ones in terms of terrain. The first one was above the water infested with black goblins while the second one was below the water infested with sahagins and pythons. They posed no threat to the party and sahagins and goblins started to avoid after several of their groups got obliterated by Holy spell. Pythons ignored this threat, forcing the party to leave behind plenty snake corpses in the water. After passing through those stairs, they ended up in a cave reminiscent of Marsh Cave with even desertpedes and the undead patrolling around the pillars. It has been long time since then and they had grown so much since then, proven by Mari and her hammer killing desertpedes in one hit. After discovering the stairs and a chest with a Silver Apple next to it, they went down.
Finally on that floor they were able to establish where they were exactly. In front of them there was a bridge to a large room with a dark blue flame guarding the door, meaning they should be on the 10th floor. After taking a small rest and healing up everyone's scrapes, they went forward to trigger the monster waiting for them. Noticing the party's approach, the flame spoke only: "Interlopers...", before transforming into a giant purple monster with huge mouth that seemed to have a void inside it. Immediately sensing danger, everyone scattered after getting Invisra and Protera put on. That proved to be the right as it tried to suck Kelin into its body only to be stopped by everyone's magic attacks. It instead switched to launching spells and comets out of its mouth. While everyone distracted it with their magic, Lewyn snuck up behind it and started punching it with fury. By the time it had turned around to face Lewyn, there was enough time for Kelin and Rosch to charge in and give the killing blows. It was riled up in pain before disappearing into the mist. Warriors pressed on and, after checking the whole room and only finding a single staff known as Judgement Staff, they took the stairs and went down to the next floor.
The next two floors were in a castle environment, but other than a group of silver dragons, there wasn't anything of note. It was the 13th floor where things got weird. The party ended up in a theatre of some kind as female dancers were practicing their dances. Their presence was noticed by the play director who told them return to audition for the roles later. Realizing that they were mistaken for actors, the party initially didn't want to disturb the practice so they went elsewhere trying to find the exit. Unfortunately, it seemed the only way forward was through the stage where the practice was happening. In the end, Rosch and Mari created a distraction in form of a smoke, allowing the party to get to the backstage and getting to the stairs there. The strangeness didn't end yet, however. The 14th floor ended up being a library where the scholars were studying in peace. Not wishing to disturb them, the party navigated the maze of bookshelves in silence, occasionally waiting for a scholar to move out of their way. They felt so happy when they found the stairs, went down the stairs and discovered that the 15th floor was another castle floor with a silver dragon there to greet them. Everyone felt much more happier fighting monsters then trying to figure out what exactly are those strange worlds they keep finding themselves into. It was as if the reason and laws of those places were warped compared to Warriors' world and parallel worlds. While trying to navigate through the long corridors and large rooms, by chance they found a treasure chest with a sword called Asura in it. While no one wanted to use it, Rosch did put it in his bag and everyone pressed on, finding the stairs and leaving the floor.
After a brief stint in the water cave, the party ended up on the 17th floor in the flying fortress environment. It actually felt refreshing seeing the open skies, even if all you could see were clouds. The only thing ruining the view were packs of death manticores that swooped down on the party and tried to turn them into dust using Blaze spell. Rather than engaging all of them, Warriors saw the exit right from the gate and ran for it. They successfully escaped the pursuit, though they wished they could have enjoyed the chance as 18th floor was an ice cave and 19th turned out to be underwater one with a new threat, sahagins and their partners, killer sharks. While sahagins stopped being a threat long ago, the sharks could still somewhat pose the problem so they focused on them every time a fight broke out. After 10 minutes of exploration, they found their exit.
After reaching the 20th floor, the party checked the place around. It was in the large underwater cave with stone pillars supporting it and two bridges leading up to two rooms. Not sure on where to go next, the party ended up taking the right path. After entering the room at the end of the bridge, they saw a dark blue flame guarding the chest and the stairs behind it. After healing up and having a short break, they approached the flame. The flame spoke only one thing: "I am that which follows Omega...", before transforming into a fearsome black-scaled dragon. The power emanating from it felt the same as the last boss of Whisperwind Cove so Warriors immediately started with their regular strategy. Mari and Rosch were buffing up the defence with Invisra and Protera while Kelin and Lewyn were casting Saber on themselves and even chugging some potions they kept for occasion such as that one. Very quickly they realized just how powerful this dragon was when the first attacks just bounced off those thick scales and dragon casted its first spell, Flare. Just the strength of it knocked the party around in all direction and they felt as if their skin was burning up. Seeing this, they had no choice but to go all out. Mari casted NulAll and was practically forced to heal everyone the entire time. Meanwhile, Rosch had to use every non-offensive spell he had in his arsenal to keep Kelin and Lewyn in the fight. That meant that only Kelin and Lewyn were attacking the beast and suffered greatly for it. Quickly Lewyn's arms became bloodied from trying to break the dragon's scales while Kelin tried to keep the dragon's attention on him. The suffering those two went through was unlike anything they had experienced before. Tidal Wave, Thunderbolt, more Flares, even just the dragon's strike with its arms hurt badly. Only because of Mari and Rosch did these two survived, let alone managed to fight for so long.
Eventually, as his armour was starting to buckle under the weight of constant attacks, Kelin went for a quite desperate attack. As the dragon was going to cast another Flare, it lowered its head, giving Kelin a chance. Seeing the knight approach, dragon stopped casting the spell and instead went for a breath attack. It melted Kelin's shield and his right armoured glove, but failed to stop him. Kelin casted Holy from point blank using his bracelet and destroyed the scales on dragon's head. In its pain dragon tried another breath attack and that was when Excalibur shone as it absorbed the attack, turning the golden blade into ominous black one. Kelin finally took his chance as he jumped on the dragon's head and stabbed right through its head, finally ending it. As the dragon disappeared into the mist, Kelin and Lewyn collapsed onto the floor. After Rosch and Mari healed them, they too collapsed into sleep on that stone floor.
Kelin ended up being the last one to wake up as he woke up to concerned Mari looking over him. He was feeling much better after having that sleep so he was able to stand up again without much trouble. If there was ever a proof to their theory that Crystals healed them while they were asleep, that was as closest to the proof as they would ever get. Rosch handed Kelin the Excalibur, which gained a silver colour while everyone was asleep. Kelin was curious about the change in colour, but it wasn't the time for that. With everyone ready to fight again, they proceeded to step into the teleportation circle awaiting for them and press on. That circle led them to another room with another circle in it. Before they could step in that one, however, a mechanical voice surprised them. "So not even Shinryu could stop you." They turned around to see a quadrupedal robot with a single eyes for its face approaching them. The robot ignored the surprise and continued talking. "Very well then. Let me be your final challenge. Thousands of years it has been since a challenger stood before me. I am Omega, the end of everything. Show me the power you possess. Defeat me if you can."
With that, Omega started attacking immediately. Its laser attacked singled out Mari who was knocked into the wall. Despite her bleeding, she somehow managed to cast Protera while Rosch casted Invisra and then Temper and Haste to Kelin and Lewyn to improve their attack as they didn't seem effective. Everyone spread around to avoid its laser attacks and its AOE attack, the Wave Cannon. Now that they thought it was safe, everyone went on the attack with Rosch and Mari on their thunder spells and Kelin and Lewyn on physical strikes. Realizing it couldn't attack its opponents, Omega switched tactics. It casted Earthquake that missed everyone, but created a large cloud of dust. Warriors realized the threat too late as Omega knocked Lewyn and Rosch into the teleportation circle, leaving only heavily wounded Mari and Kelin behind. Realizing this, the two had to go for desperate tactics. In the Rosch's bag there was a staff that he picked up earlier. Mari took it and casted the spell engraved in it, which was Flare. The spell heavily damaged Omega's metal armour, allowing Kelin to knock the robot down. As it tried to charge another Wave Cannon, Kelin pierced its eye, finally ending it and making it disappear into the mist. After picking up everyone's bags and putting Mari on his back to carry her, Kelin took the teleportation circle and left the place.