If you have come here, it must mean that you have made up your mind.

Yes. We have.

We're already here, so do you even have to ask?

I don't trust you. You betrayed Lord Eriole.

However, I have full faith in the Summoners here with me.

That is the only reason why I've come along.

Hmph, you can just tell by looking at their faces, can't you?

You've been pushing everyone's buttons.

Well, let's hear the real story this time.

......

Tilith, what have you decided?

Of course, I'd like to avoid a fight if possible.

But I have faith in Hans's judgment!

Hans...

The sole fact that you have made it here must mean that fate has intervened on my behalf.

Maybe your coming is what I had been waiting for.

The coming of the Summoner who can surpass the gods.

......

Ark?

I have confirmed your intentions!

And thus, I will settle on my own as well.

I will part from Lucius, and leave my past behind, along with this mask!

I can't remember the last time I didn't see anyone through that mask.

I wore that mask in order to erase my existence from the annals of time.

However, I no longer have to hide.

I will now share with you every bit of truth that I know.

And once I do, it may mark the destruction of humanity.

There won't be any going back.

But even so, I will tell you what I know.

This is my own will now replying to yours.

Every bit of truth...?

Some time before the great war began...

...I had sworn myself as a knight to Lucius, along with a shrine maiden.

But at that time, the head of the 12 Guardians of the Gods instigated a rebellion...

...and the stability of Grand Gaia slowly began to crumble.

And in the midst of it all, one day Lucius presented a revelation upon the shrine maiden.

He revealed to her that the Holy Emperor Karna Masta had decided to destroy the human race.

What...? Lord Karna Masta wanted to destroy us...?

The maiden and I had no idea of what to do regarding what we had just learned...

...but Lucius gave us yet another revelation.

This time he claimed that Karna Masta had to be defeated in order to save the world.

The maiden and I believed Lucius when he said he would save the people.

So we gathered more friends to support us, and went after Karna Masta.

I've never heard this one before.

Because at the same time, a battle with the 12 Guardians of the Gods was about to take place.

So, we decided to put our plan into effect from the shadows.

Since we feared that if Karna Masta were to find out, it would mean the end for all of us.

......

Afterwards we were led by Lucius until we reached Karna Masta.

However, the Holy Emperor standing before us had already been seriously hurt before our arrival.

We thought his situation to our advantage, and decided to fight him then and there.

In order to save the human race, of course.

Though Karna Masta was critically wounded, his powers were still a force to be reckoned with.

As our comrades fell one by one, the maiden and I combined the last of our remaining power...

...and struck him with all our might.

Our attack wounded Karna Masta even further...

...but it was still not enough to bring him down.

So the maiden and I prepared to welcome our deaths...

However, Lucius appeared at that very moment, and opened the gate.

He had been waiting for us to create an opening before facing Karna Masta himself.

The gate swallowed Karna Masta and everything else with him before closing.

I was somehow able to get away, but the maiden was trapped beyond the gate along with Karna Masta...

But with that, the god that meant to destroy the human race, Karna Masta, was finally sealed away.

So doesn't that mean that Lord Lucius really did save us all?

Yes. That's what it meant at that point in time.

I thought that by defeating Karna Masta I had helped to save all of humanity.

I thought that the sacrifices of my comrades who fell in battle...

...and the efforts of the maiden who was sealed beyond the gate had all been worthwhile.

But I was wrong.

I lost my consciousness after the battle with Karna Masta...

...and was apparently transported back to the Tower of the Oracle by Lucius.

And when I finally woke several months later, the war between humans and gods was already well on its way to erupting.

I then rushed towards Lucius to ask him why it had all turned out this way...

...and the answer I received was more than enough to break my heart.

......

Another disciple Lucius had taken under his wing, told me thus...

..."The gods resent the humans who sealed away Karna Masta...

...and have begun a war to destroy them all."

And that's when I realized that the reason why the gods had settled on war was because of what I had done.

It can't be...

Then, the disciple spoke to me again.

"Lend us your power once more.

At this rate, all humans will perish by the hands of the gods anyway.

However, if you destroy the hope of humanity, the Six Heroes...

...the gods will be relieved...

...and Lord Lucius may be kind enough to save a portion of the humans who remain."

And you believed the disciple, so you went off to kill them all.

......

The Six Heroes were tenacious.

I could have not possibly hoped to win by myself.

But by resorting to many different approaches, I was able to chip away at their power...

...and began dealing with them one by one.

If only they had been able to join forces...

...the humans could have probably won the battle against the gods.

And you prevented that from happening, didn't you?!

......

There was a hostage...

...That's right.

Lucius's disciple had taken as a hostage...

...the shrine maiden that I thought remained trapped behind the gate.

My lover had been captured by the disciple.

The disciple captured your lover...? How cruel...

Heh! If you loved her enough to erase the hope of humanity to protect her...

...then she must've been quite the lady!

But of course, that was not the sole reason for everything.

If the Six Heroes won the battle against the gods and then were to face Lucius in battle...

...it would have led to yet another problem.

And knowing that, I wasn't just going to stand there with my arms crossed.

After defeating the Six Heroes...

...I requested an audience with Lucius to release the captured shrine maiden.

And as soon as she was returned to me, I attacked Lucius.

I drove him into a corner, and when I was about to deliver the finishing blow...

...that disciple came after me.

The maiden helped to shield me from the attack, but Lucius saw it as an opening...

...and sealed her away once again.

Completely at a loss as to what to do...

...I made a proposal to the heavily wounded Lucius.

I said that if he promised me that the maiden would live, I would become his servant...

That's when I betrayed my fellow humans and became the Dark Figure.

So that's what happened...

And? Do you have any proof that your story's the real deal?

You're free to choose whether to believe me or not.

Ark, there's just one thing that I'm curious about.

Why have you chosen to retaliate against Lucius after so long?

Your lover is still sealed away somewhere, isn't she?

Well...

Humans...

Erase his pitiful existence...

Wh-What is that?! What's this voice inside my head?!

This voice... It's Lord Lucius!

Tsch... So he did notice after all.

That voice just now...was from Lord Lucius?

The power of his presence is on a whole different level than that of the Four Fallen Gods...

And yet, his presence also has a sort of divinity to it...

Well, Mr. Ark.

Lord Lucius just told us to get rid of you.

......

Oh, please don't make that face.

We have all decided to go see Lord Lucius personally.

We'll decide if your story is true or not only after we've talked to him.

Then you should continue forth.

The more time that passes, the faster Lucius recovers.

Let's continue our conversation later.

Does the story get any longer than that? Geez...

If you don't want to hear it, then you don't have to come with us.

Hah! I can't trust you guys' judgment on such important stuff.

You'll blow it if I'm not around.

I wonder who he thinks he is...

Lugi thinks way too highly of himself...

Whatcha say?!

What do you care?!

But more importantly!

Tilith, are you all right?!

Yeah, I'm fine.

But the Lord Lucius I know...

...and the Lord Lucius that spoke to Ark in the past are two completely different beings, so I'm a little confused.

But I know what we have to do, so don't worry about me!

Tilith...

Right, Hans? You're doing okay too, aren't you?

Hey, Hans! Stop daydreaming and focus!

We're about to leave, you know!

We only have a bit more to go before we reach the Grand Gaia Crater, where Lord Lucius is waiting!

And if we all go together, I'm sure things are gonna turn out just fine.

Right? I'm right, aren't I? Hans...