The Old Eternus Galleries (トコシヱ旧坑道, tokoshiwe kyuukoudou?, lit. "Old Eternal Tunnels") is a set of tunnels and winding paths that interconnect several points of the Eternus Shaft. However, as the name points out, they are mostly abandoned due to the presence of monsters, and are currently used only for imprisoning Great Fang traitors and criminals, and as a secret gathering point for the Great Fang Coalition. This place is also where the ancient Dive Machine VR21 was found, as the tunnels are actually holes on the great piece of land that rose because of the Seven Bloodstains Incident and formed the Great Fang. Therefore, it also has a large number of old ruins and ancient artifacts buried inside itself.
History[]
Capture and Escape[]
After they got caught by the Clustanians at the Blue Canyon Hamlet, Aoto and his friends were imprisoned in the jail located deep inside these tunnels. When he came to, Aoto noticed a person he had never seen before standing at his side, remarking that they were lucky that Soma hadn't appeared this time, and they had to escape as soon as possible.
He first asked where they were, and bitterly remembered what happened before he was knocked unconscious. The woman advised him to not dwell in the past and try to figure out how he should proceed. Aoto then asked her who she was, and the woman introduced herself as a friend of Finnel's, her name being Yurisica. Aoto then asked about Finnel and the others, to which she answered that he was the only one locked up in the cell where they were imprisoned. She then advised him to break out before worrying for the others, and upon getting told that Yurisica had been sent expressly to set him free, Aoto caught on that she was actually one of Finnel's alternate personae. Yurisica congratulated him for finding this out, and revealed that she had come out because Finnel seemed to have gotten in trouble. Aoto then asked if she had any other personae besides Soma, to which Yurisica answered that it was the case, but also added that she was easier to get along with than Soma. She then set something right under the cell's bars. She then commented that she didn't know what she would been able to do with such limited resources, but she managed to because some fuel was leaking from a nearby pipe. Aoto was puzzled to this, but then the bars exploded, revealing that she had planted a bomb below them.
Aoto was surprised to see this, to which Yurisica answered that if she wasn't capable of doing this, she wouldn't have survived all the dangers she had seen during the course of her life. They then left the cell to search for the others. Almost immediately, they found Tatsumi imprisoned in the cell right beside theirs'. Yurisica repeated the same trick, and blowed up the bars to Tatsumi's cell. He thanked them for their help, while Yurisica introduced herself with Aoto's help. Aoto then told him to get out of the cell, so they could go and find the others.
A while later, Aoto complained on how long it was taking them to leave the Galleries, to which Yurisica replied that he shouldn't be such a wuss and that they hadn't even been a day in the place. Aoto was surprised to see how knowledgeable Yurisica was about survival. She took this as a compliment, while adding that if a girl was polite but wasn't capable of breaking out from a fort or two, she wouldn't be able to get married. Tatsumi then entered the conversation, wondering how Aoto and Yurisica were so close despite having just met. Aoto couldn't answer to this, but Yurisica simply answered that he should be more sociable. Aoto then changed the subject, as apparently Saki had gotten kidnapped, and that they had to find her as soon as possible. Tatsumi then added that he was worried for Hikari Gojo and Finnel too, to which Aoto replied that Finnel was safe. Tatsumi began getting suspicions from Aoto's attitude about Finnel's situation, and to get him out of trouble, Yurisica suggested to proceed.
Shortly later, they passed in front of a door from which they heard some strange noises. Aoto got close to it, and asked if anyone was inside. They were surprised to hear Gengai's voice coming from it, and Aoto asked him to step back, so they could use one of Yurisica's bombs to blow up the door. Tatsumi went first and greeted him, while asking why he had been put in this place. Gengai returned him the question, as well as asking what happened to the others and Saki. Aoto answered she had gotten kidnapped. Gengai then admitted ashamed that even if he had been guarding her instead of Aoto, the outcome would have been the same. Tatsumi then asked what happened, as he should have been holding an assembly for the Great Fang Coalition. Gengai then bitterly explained that the Eternus Shaft mayor was a coward, and decided to sell them off to appease Clustania's anger.
Gengai had been telling everyone at the assembly that this wasn't time to be afraid, and instead, they should be leading their people to unite against Clustania. The mayor answered that Gengai was acting absurdly, and that keeping a low profile would avoid further conflicts and bloodshed. Gengai told the mayor that he didn't understand the situation, as the Clustanians would keep attacking them even after the entire Great Fang had surrendered. The mayor didn't understand what he meant, to which Gengai had to explain all of Clustania's atrocities: the abductions, the assassinations to important members of the Great Fang communities, and finally, all the Cleansings they had done without any real cause behind them. He then told the mayor that if they didn't rally up now, they would most likely die at their hands. The mayor turned deaf ears on him, and declared him as stripped from his position as Chairman of the assembly, as the recent destruction of the Fallen Heaven Peak and its survivors being made into refugess made him think that Gengai was not worthy of addressing them anymore. He then expelled Gengai from the coalition entirely and ordered the soldiers to take him away.
After hearing the story, Tatsumi was unable to believe they had done such an underhanded thing, as Aoto was too because despite all the destruction and suffering that Clustania brought, they weren't going to lift even a finger to defend themselves. Gengai bitterly remarked that the mayor didn't care for the pain of others, and only was looking after his own neck. As he had now no standing, he would have to think where he should go. Gengai then noticed Yurisica's presence, and they both introduced to each other, while Gengai remarked that her name was the same as one of Ar Ciel's ancient deities. Tatsumi then advised the group to leave the place, but at that moment, Aoto noticed his voice was sounding strangely: it sounded like two people talking at the same time. Gengai then hurriedly advised Tatsumi to take a short rest, and pressed Aoto and Yurisica to go ahead. Once outside the sell, Aoto thought they were acting very strangely, while Yurisica told him he would be figuring it out very soon, and told him to go on. A little later, Aoto recognized the tunnel that connected the Waterforest Square with the Reverse Lamp bazaar, and thus, they finally made their way back to the main city of Eternus Shaft.
The group returned shortly later, when it became apparent that Hikari Gojo was still imprisoned in the Galleries. Gengai led them to the entrance of the Great Fang Coalition's HQ, where they were coldly greeted by some guards and machines. Gengai gently asked them to step aside, but the soldiers still insisted in trying to fight him and the party, which ended in their utter defeat. After the battle, Gengai noted the door was locked, and hoped that his ID pass would still work after he got expelled. Luckily, the Coalition hadn't updated yet their security systems, which allowed them to enter the place.
After advancing a little, they found the cell where Hikari Gojo was being held prisoner and rescued him. He was pretty relieved to see they all were safe, and when Gengai asked if he was injured, Gojo merely replied that they were just interrogating him. Aoto then asked if he knew what happened to Saki, to which he bitterly replied that the Clustanians had taken her away. Gojo then told Gengai that he had heard about his expulsion from the Coalition, and if he had heard the news about Ciela Gate. Gengai hadn't heard them, so Gojo took the time to update him: the Coalition decided to surrender Ciela Gate to Clustania to appease them, aside of handing Saki over. This enraged Gengai, as that meant the Great Fang would be losing its only contact point with the Tower of Harvestasha. And furthermore, Gojo heard that Clustania had seized the control of its largest industry: the Moebius Factory, and were using it as their base of operations, so most likely, Saki was being kept there.
However, the Eternus mayor appeared at that precise moment, scorted by a few guards, saying that no one of them should be out of jail without their permission. The mayor explained that they were about to ratify a peace treaty with Clustania, and that having such a sinful and war-mongering priest around would only invite problems. Gengai felt insulted to hear this, as that meant the Great Fang surrendering completely and unconditionally to Clustania, throwing to waste the efforts they had done for years. The mayor excused himself by saying that if they signed the treaty, Clustania would never take forceful actions against them again, which Gengai clearly saw it was a lie: they intended later on to send Soma to annihilate their leaders and then their army to conquer the Great Fang in its entirety. The mayor once again decided to ignore Gengai, and ordered his guards to kill him.
However, this failed spectacularly, as Gengai and the party were too strong, and to make the mayor pay for his selfishness and idiocy, Gengai punched him so hard that he made him crash into one of the walls of the cell. They then left the place. At the exit, Gengai remarked that this should keep these traitors of the Coalition quiet for a while. Aoto asked Hikari Gojo if it was true that Saki was at Ciela Gate, which Gojo confirmed, as he had heard that information from a group of Great Fang Soldiers. Aoto then vowed he would save Saki, no matter what, to which Gojo replied that if really intended to do so, it would have to be now, as they could take her back to Clustania at any time. However, it wouldn't be an easy task with the city under their control. Gengai and Tatsumi confirmed this, as most likely all its defenses were deployed and the main gate closed off. At that moment, though, Aoto revealed there was a way to sneak in: a secret path from which the enemies wouldn't detect them. Gengai then advised them to use that route, while he would reunite with the companions he still had over at the Fallen Heaven Peak to prepare a full assault to retake the city. Tatsumi volunteered to go with Gengai, but he refused the idea, and instead told Tatsumi to go with Aoto and keep him informed via Telemo. Tatsumi then asked what was the secret path, to which Aoto replied that they would have to use the normal route until right before the entrance to the city. They then left the tunnels for Eternus Shaft, to prepare for the infiltration.
Restoring Saki's Memories (Saki Route)[]
After Saki lost all of her memories due to the super Miracle she used at Clustania, Katene suggested the party to use the VR21 Dive Machine to restore them. They went back to this place, and in its deepest area, they found a sealed door. Katene stood in front of it and recited a Hymmnos Spell, unlocking it and allowing them passage to where the Dive Machine was stored.
Once there, Aoto remarked the place seemed very similar to the Rinkernator. Katene told him this was because it was also a ruin from the same era as it: from around 700 years ago. He then explained that his father Kiraha was the person who discovered it, and thanks to their restoration efforts, the machine was now operating at about a 60% of its functionality. He also informed Aoto that they could use for other things beyond Diving, such a reconstructing Cosmospheres. Hikari Gojo voice his opinion as a Reyvatologist that using this machine was inhumane, but he also told them that he would let it slide just this once. Katene then asked Gojo and Mute to help him with the preparations.
During that time, Aoto apologized to Saki for having her go through this shortly after having awakened, to which she replied this was nothing. Aoto then asked if it didn't feel odd to her that he was going to Dive into her, despite Saki not remembering him. Saki agreed it was a little scary, but she didn't have a problem with it, after all, Aoto had known her for a long time, and asked him to tell him everything that had happened since they met.
A while later, Aoto had finished, leaving Saki amazed that such events had happened and she couldn't remember any of them. Aoto remarked that his stories sounded a little far-fetched, but Saki still felt relieved to be at his side ever since he asked her to trust him back at Clustania. Katene then walked over, informing them that they could Dive now. Each of them entered into one of the pods of the machine, while Aoto vowed that he would everything he could for her to regain her memories. Katene announced the booting was completed, while Hikari Gojo told him they would have to trust them for the rest and Mute wished them luck. Gojo then informed them that he would go and stand guard at the entrance, prompting Katene that would be pointless, as no one comes to this place. Gojo didn't really mind it, and told Katene he had to talk with Mute so both of them would catch up about a lot of things. After Gojo left, Katene awkwardly told Mute that quite some time had passed since they last saw each other, to which Mute replied in the same embarrassed tone. Katene then apologized for not having recognized her, to which Mute replied it was okay, as at least he remembered her in the end. Katene clarified he remembered Mute because he had a big crush on her, which made her so nervous her heartbeats became audible to Katene, and she got all embarrassed over being a massive pile of muscles. Katene just told her she had become much more attractive and charming than ever, leaving Mute at the border of fainting.
On the other hand, inside Saki's Cosmosphere, Aoto met up with Teppo, who was amazed at the wide range of options the VR21 offered. Aoto then told him what they had come to do: find the lost parts of Saki's memories and restore them. Teppo told him to head to the World Tree Arphage, as that was the place that controlled her memories. Upon reaching that place, Teppo noticed that the cause of Saki's amnesia were a couple of special Hyumas supressing her memories, and at Aoto's request, he summoned them out. The Hyumas introduced themselves as Manjo Cruto and Memor Cruto, guardians of several pages of Saki's memory tome, which Teppo proceeded to explain as them being the cause of these pages being sealed away. Aoto begged the Hyumas to release the sealed memories, but they refused, as while Saki wanted to remember all of that, the Hyuma's master ordered them to use their entire power to seal them away.
Sakia Lumei then appeared, revealing herself to be the master of the Hyumas and the person who ordered the sealing of Saki's memories, and upon asking what problem there was with it, Aoto told her that Saki didn't want this to happen, and that while he didn't care what Sakia did to her own memories, she didn't have any right to do whatever she wanted to Saki's. Sakia replied she authority to do whatever it was needed to carry her duty out, and that included the sealing of the memories. Enraged, Aoto screamed that this was Saki's body and that she was just one of the personae residing in it, but this was a grave mistake: Sakia was the actual owner of the body, the γ Sublimate born in the Archia Think Tank, while Saki was only a person that was forced to descend into it. She was given the duty of keeping Saki alive and making sure she accomplished her duty as the Vaccine. However, the usage of the Miracle, which drained away her life force, was a large hindrance to Sakia's duty, and since it was triggered by particularly strong memories and feelings, she ordered the Hyumas to seal them away. This was why she deleted the memories about Kiraha and the party, as in Sakia's opinion, people over which Saki would sacrifice her own life were no more than poison to her. This enraged Aoto further, who screamed at Sakia that she didn't have any right to trample on Saki's memories, and tried to attack the Hyumas to force them to release the memories. Teppo then informed Aoto that he could uninstall the Hyumas thanks to the controls possessed by the VR21, and upon being asked by Aoto, he did so, instantly eliminating them and unlocking Saki's memories.
Sakia Lumei screamed at Aoto that he didn't understand the situation, and that Saki would now carry the burden of her fate due to his stupidity. Aoto asked if she was actually thinking about Saki's happiness, to which Sakia replied that she agreed it would be the best if they could release Saki from her fate, but it was impossible and saving the world was the only thing she could do. Now Aoto had uninstalled the Hyumas, it would be impossible to prevent the memories from leaking out, and they would have to trust in her. Aoto then declared he would protect Saki at any costs, and the Dive ended.
Upon awakening, Hikari Gojo asked if they were okay, which prompted Aoto to ask Saki if she could remember now. Saki told him she did, and that she had regained all of her memories, which made everyone welcome her back. However, this only reinforced her decision of going back to Archia, as if she kept on running away from her duty, they would continue getting in trouble and the world would continue being an unhappy place. She wanted to accomplish the duty of Vaccine for which she was created, despite of the intentions of the Archians. Aoto told her to wait, as he would come up with something to save her and the world. However, Saki then told him she now remembered what happened to Kiraha, to Katene's surprise: Kiraha risked his life to help her escape from the Archia Think Tank and sent her to the Ogai Memorial Pre-school. When the Clustanians tried attacking the Pre-school, he rescued her and told her they would flee to the Great Fang. However, as they escaped, their airship was hit by one of Clustania's warning shots, forcing them to make a crash landing. This gravely injured Kiraha, who then died in front of Aoto's house at the Blue Canyon Hamlet. This made everyone realize that Mute and her platoon hadn't killed him, but Mute still felt responsible, as they were the ones who fired that shot, and she apologized to Katene. He told Mute that this couldn't be helped, as he was knowingly risking his life.
Katene then asked why the Clustanians were chasing Saki, but Mute herself revealed she never knew the reason. Hikari Gojo thought it was to fend off Ar Ru, based on everything he had heard. Saki then cried, as she felt as the responsible of all this mess. She really was grateful for Aoto's concern and she wanted to always be with him... but at this rate, he would get himself killed, and she didn't want this to happen. Aoto tried to reassure her that something like that would never happen, but knowing he would still continue fighting. She told Aoto she didn't want to see getting hurt because of her, to which he replied he would continue fighting to protect her, no matter if she wanted it or not. Saki then threatened him with using her Miracle power again, as she preferred to forget everything than seeing him getting hurt. Before the quarrel scalated into something worse, Hikari Gojo butted him and told them to stop. He then suggested to go back to the Eternus Shaft and rest, as it had been quite a long day and they should be tired.
Communicating with Ar Ru[]
After the failed attempt to converse with Ar Ru, the party went back to VR21 deep in the tunnels to try and Dive into Finnel to converse with Ar Ru in the Soulspace. Katene greeted Tyria and told her they would be able to make her remember the Song. However, Hikari Gojo stopped him, and told Katene that there was something else they had to take care of. After the pertinent explanations, Katene showed them his understading of the situation, revealing he knew about EXEC_COSMOFLIPS/. and the importance it held for the Planet Regeneration Project, which was why the faction of his father Kiraha, the Ancient Faction, spent many long years looking for it. Gojo asked him if he knew any other details about it, or why Kurogane had refused to Download it into Tyria, but Katene unfortunately didn't know the answers to that, as his father had shut down the Tower's Mainframe and discarded its boot key, which he chalked up to him being insane. However, he still was startled to find out that Raphael was the one who had possession of Cosmoflips' Hymn Crystal, which Gojo rationalized as him trying to keep it away from the hands of the Ancient Faction. He then told the party he would get ready for the Dive, and Aoto to call him whenever he was ready.
When they were ready, Katene told Finnel to enter in one of the Pods, while Saki reassured her that everything would be okay. Then, it came Tyria's turn, so Katene asked who would be the one to contact Ar Ru. Aoto thought it would be Finnel, but Katene told him that Tyria would serve basically like a telephone and that Finnel and her couldn't perform the communication, so they would need someone else to talk with Ar Ru. When Katene told the party they would require someone with an ample experience in Diving, both Cocona and Hikari Gojo turned their gazes to Aoto, so he didn't have more choice than to go through with it. Katene then gave them a briefing of their little mission: Aoto would first Dive into Tyria, and using her Binary Field as a shield of sorts, he would Dive into Finnel down to Lv. 17. However, he also began hesitating under the possibility of something happening to Tyria due to how deep this Dive would go, but Tyria told him to not worry, as due to her unique nature, she had the capacity of reaching frequencies even deeper than that. This encouraged him, and offered to use everything he had to support the party. The rest of the party cheered them on, and thus, the Dive began.
Once inside Tyria's Binary Field, Aoto was astonished to see how different the place was from the Cosmospheres of Saki and Finnel, which Tyria explained was because it was a virtual world modeled from her memories. She then explained why Lv. 17 was so dangerous: it was filled with high frequency energy waves that no human would be able to withstand, so her own high frequency waves would protect him like a scuba diving suit. She then told Aoto to follow him to execute the Paradigm Shift to that level. However, when they got out from the temple where they were and got into the city, Aoto couldn't hide his surprise to how different it was from his previous Dive experiences, to the point in which Tyria had to tell him they weren't here to play. She then told Aoto that there was a pressure bulkhead somewhere in this place, which would serve as the door to Lv. 17, and told him that once they had gone there, they wouldn't be able to be in that place for a long time. She then left Aoto, as she had to prepare to support him. Aoto didn't know which was the way to the pressure bulkhead, so he had to find the way on his own.
After he finally got to the pressure bulkhead, Tyria greeted him, and told him to get ready for opening the it. However, she first gave him several warnings: first, when the bulkhead was opened a tremendous torrent of energy would hit him, so he should brace himself for it. Second, the Binary Field was were Tyria's main programs were installed, so he shouldn't try to toy around in it, as otherwise that could cause undesirable effects on her psyche and even overwrite her memories. Aoto protested as it seemed like they were doing something very dangerous, so Tyria told him he should have realized that before, and opened the bulkhead. Instantly, an overwhelming torrent of waves hit Aoto, greatly injuring him, and making him comment that he would fall unconscious if he lost concentration even a little. Luckily, he didn't have to find Ar Ru, as she was right before him.
Strangely enough, she didn't recognize Aoto, which Tyria explained was because she didn't have any Dynamic or Static H-Waves belonging to her in this place. Aoto replied he didn't care, and he just wanted Ar Ru to answer his questions. He asked Ar Ru why she attacked the humans, and what kind of grudge she had against them. Ar Ru just replied she wanted to save this Planet, and that she actually didn't have any grudge against the humans. Aoto told her that if she didn't hate the humans and actually wanted to save the Planet, she should just stop what she was doing; and told her he wanted to save the Planet too; and asked her if there was no way for them to exist and support each other. Ar Ru replied that his feelings were very strong, but she was unable of understanding them, and blasted him with powerful energy shocks. However, at that point, he was saved by Sarapatra, Saki, Filament, Soma and Yurisica, who had come to help him, as he was their final hope. Soma
told Aoto that after she had met him, she started believing that coexisting with the humans was possible, and she wanted Aoto to convey these same feelings to Ar Ru. Filament then told him they had created an special Song to deliver their feelings to Ar Ru, which would become greater and more powerful the more filled with feelings it got: it would allow to convey feelings without harming its target. And after receiving encouragement from them, Aoto woke up from the Dive.
Once there, everyone asked him if he was okay, while Hikari Gojo noted that the girls had gotten quite worried for him due to being unconscious for quite a while. Aoto asked them if the bit about creating a new Song and saving him was a dream, to which they both replied it was real, so Aoto got fired up and told everyone to head off. However, at that moment, Mute appeared singing and bringing some food for Katene. Katene thanked her for this, to which Mute replied she would do this everyday for him, which made her get all embarrassed. Aoto greeted her at that moment, which doubly embarrased her upon noticing the party's presence. Katene explained them that Mute always made and brought him food, which was one of the greatest pleasures to him. Hikari Gojo then suggested them to settle together given how much they liked each other, which them both, after a little hesitation and embarrasment, accepted and had a little romantic scene. Cocona was left without words to this, but Gojo suggested them to leave for Moocheriel now, which Aoto agreed to in order to give some space to the couple.
Raphael's Plans[]
While Aoto and the party were over at Moocheriel, Katene continued his work in VR21 to help with the restoration of Tyria's memories of the song, which made Mute suggest him to rest a little. Katene answered he felt very motivated due to now having a family, making Mute embarrassed. However, Raphael, Jack and Krusche, accompanied by several Archian soldiers, appeared at that moment. While Mute prepared to fight, Raphael told Katene that he was very thankful for his work on the VR21, which sounded very weird to Katene's ears, as his father Kiraha and Raphael were mortal enemies due to being in opposite factions of the Archia Think Tank: Kiraha was the leader of the Ancient Faction, while Raphael was the leader of the Neo Atlas Faction. Raphael told him it was time to leave these petty conflicts in the past and establish a new system. He then told Katene they needed the VR21, and that unfortunately, Katene himself was the only man knowledgeable and skilled enough to operate it, as he was the only survivor of the Ancient Faction. Katene sarcastically retorted that he had quite a nice memory and a lot of guts to ask that, as he himself was the one who expelled from the Archia Think Tank the Ancient Faction and completely annihilated them. Without any show of remorse, Raphael told him he was ashamed and asked if Katane would help him. This made Mute explode, declaring that Katene would never help him and threatening to turn him into dust. Katene asked her to calm down, and then told Raphael that while he understood his reasonings, he had no reason at all to help him.
Raphael insisted, and added giving him the keepsake from his father in exchange for his help. Katene refused, as he didn't want anything to do with Kiraha, to which Raphael added that upon examining the necklace, they had found out was the boot key for Harvetasha. This left Katene baffled, as supposedly Kiraha had disposed of it, but Raphael explained that he actually kept it on his person all the time. Raphael then told him that in exchange for his help, he would give him the boot key and the position of project leader in the Think Tank. Katene asked why he wanted to use the Dive Machine so much, to which Raphael replied he wanted Katene to scan Tyria's Cosmography using it and hand over her data to the Think Tank. Both Mute and Katene refused to do this, so then Raphael used a Hymmnos Spell on Mute, which began causing extreme pain to her. Raphael explained this was an ability the Archia Think Tank that allowed them to freely manipulate the physical composition data of the Reyvateils by modifying their data in the SH Server, and it was invented by no other than Mute's father: Dr. Laude. He then told Katene that if he continued refusing, he would turn her into a hideous beast. Mute tried telling him that Raphael's weak point was a crystal he had buried in the back of his neck, but Raphael silenced her by intensifying the pain and threatening to turn her into a grotesque abomination. Left with no other options, Katene had to accept helping him. Having seen this, Jack and Krusche decided it was time, and then, they presented before Raphael and told him that their contract expired that day, and before Raphael could get anything from them, they ran away. Knowing they were up to something, Raphael ordered the soldiers to capture them.
After Tyria was taken captive by Richa at Moocheriel and brought here, Aoto and his friends ran to back to the VR21 as fast as they could. Once there, Hikari Gojo asked Katene if he was okay, to which he replied he was okay. However, they were too late to do anything: Katene had extracted the Soulspace Map from Tyria's data and was giving it to Raphael. Gojo first thought he was betraying them, but Mute explained it was because Raphael threatened him. Cocona called Raphael a coward, while Mute tried to persuade Katene on not giving the map over. Aoto told Raphael he had already learned about the murky secrets of the Human Evolution Project, and that he would stop him. Raphael merely laughed and told him he didn't understand the lofty destination of their long path of learning, as they were trying to realize the now obsolete Planet Regeneration Project the defunct Ancient Faction carried back in the day.
Raphael explained that project was a lost cause from the start because the Tower of Harvestasha lacked the amount of Symphonic Power to carry it out, to then say that Kurogane had lost his position due to committing such a terrible miscalculation in his plans, which finally drove him to commit suicide. Although this greatly enraged Tyria, due to knowing that a large part of this was an utter lie, she couldn't reply at all. Raphael then told him that compared to Kurogane, the Human Evolution Project was practical, allowing humankind to evolve and acclimate to the Planet; but also committing the stupid mistake of ignoring that Kurogane himself was the man who originally came up with that project as well and proposed the basis for its execution. Raphael continued with his rambling by saying that Reyvateils were essential for the project, as the mental structure of the humans hadn't been completely detailed at the time, but for the Reyvateils their mental structure was already fully mapped out and the process tested thoroughly, so infusing the humans with artificially active Reyvateil genes was the only way to accelerate evolution.
Aoto wrote him off as a complete psychopath, while Hikari Gojo screamed in rage that for such a ridiculous purpose, the life of his younger sister was used and thrown away like a lab animal. Raphael realized he had talked too much and asked Richa if she was ready. Richa answered she was and began walking behind Raphael. Gojo tried to stop her, asking if she was okay with this. Richa told him to leave her alone, as he already had discovered everything and there wasn't any reason for him to continue wanting to be with her. Gojo replied he still wanted to trust her, no matter how hard it was for him to forgive the atrocities Archia had committed. Upon hearing this, Richa asked if Gojo would protect her, and if he would revive her if she died. Gojo couldn't really grasp the meaning of this, and thus Richa ran off before he had a chance to tell her anything else.
Mute burst into tears due to this mess being all her fault, as Katene wouldn't have been coerced into being part of this if she wasn't around. Katene consoled her by saying that it wasn't her fault and it wasn't something it could have been avoided. She then screamed she would never forgive Raphael. Tyria finally voiced how enraged she was at Raphael's ramblings, as Kurogane never committed any mistakes or miscalculations, although she couldn't recall he actually committed suicide, but for an entirely different reason. Cocona told the party they couldn't back down now, and thus the rest of the party agreed to go back to Archia to stop that lunatic and his insane ambitions. Katene told them they would follow them once they had finished cleaning up this mess, and that they would do something to take revenge of how Raphael had used them.
Layout[]
These tunnels are an small labyrinth that has to be navigated with care in order to not get lost. Still, it isn't very hard to go through them in comparison to some of the later dungeons, and the enemy encounters aren't much of a problem either. However, keep on mind that there is a ledge that won't allow you to return to some areas once you jump down from it, so if you missed some of the treasure chests in there (which include the recipes for Aoto's and Hikari Gojo's first Supermoves), you won't be able to go back and pick them up, precluding you from attaining the "Master of Unlocking" trophy (unless you use an special glitch to jump back to it).
Maps[]
Treasures[]
- Replica Horn
- Hot Video
- Human Anatomy
- Duel Bobble
- Protection Suit
- Emergency Patch
- B-Good β
- Optic Shield
- Rare Metal
- B-Good β
- Proliferation Diode
- Quick Loader
- ?Medical Bag?
- ?Worker Armor?
Number of Treasure Chests in this Area: 14
Enemies[]
- Snow Stalker (from Phase 4 onwards)
- Mini Wolf (from Phase 4 onwards)
- Type 1 (until Phase 3)
- Doll Model B (from Phase 4 onwards)
- Doll Model B-G (from Phase 4 onwards)
- Great Fang Soldier (until Phase 3)
Number of Random Encounters in this Area: 10
Encounter Probability: Low