Demon Realm Expedition
- English
Varnimyr
In the Demon Realm
Denif informs them that the Dark El that Hennon had used was no longer a viable means to getting to the Demon Realm. They brainstorm ideas, but are met with dead ends. They realized that the El functioned much like a seal between Elrios and the Demon Realm, Ara brings up seeing something below the Large El. Looking below, they find an ancient seal. Denif refuses to break the seal, but decides they could pry it open temporarily just long enough to let the El Search Party through.
Inside the seal, they find themselves in a subspace of Henir between the material and Demon Realm. Trying to go through the labyrinth, Elsword begins to have visions that his friends would be wiped out. However, the group manage to get through without issue. Making it out other side, they emerge from a place known as the Cave of Death by the local Dark Elves. Rena spots a Dark Elf, she tries to talk with her in an Ancient Elven tongue, however immediately becomes targets for capture. In their escape, they run into the Red Guardian, Forginay and defeat the guardian. In that moment, Chloe appears struck by what they had just done. They learn that Chloe had since left the Demon Army and has business with the Dark Elf Village. Chloe and he group reluctantly join forces to themselves into the Dark Elf Village.
Strange Phenomenon
Making their way through the forest, security was high due to the El Search Party attacking the Red Guardian. They are spotted, and the Dark Elves begin to fire at them. Chloe reveals that she is branded traitor, but she still believes in one person who she can reason with. Making their way deep into the Dark Elf Outpost, they face off against Sentinel Commander and prove victorious, when Rena was about to make the final shot, her arrow is stopped by the Dark Elf Elder, Edith. She, Rena, and Chloe begin to have a discussion. Chloe warns the Demon Army is likely planning to launch an attack on the Dark Elf Village since she had abandoned their ranks. Edith tells the El Search Party about the news and suggests they meet up with their patron god, Nephilim Lord, both for their sake and as their best lead to learn of the Dark El. Edith prepares an envoys capable of speaking the Elrios dialect to go with the El Search Party and meet with the spirits.
When they all arrive to the Forsaken Spirit Asylum, they find that the spirits had turned hostile and the land burned away. They manage to save a Tiny Spirit who then guides the group all the way to Nephilim Lord who had gone berserk. After defeating the berserk lord, he regains consciousness and the Dark Elves pleas him to help them. Nephilim Lord recalls the tower in the distance as the cause for the corruption when it appeared 500 years ago. Elsword tries to inquire abut the Dark El or Henir's Order, but the lord doesn't yet trust the group to divulge any information. He instructs them to deal with the tower plaguing the sanctum first.
Back in Elrianode
While in Elrianode, Denif and Ventus begin to speculate ways in which they may safely return the El Search Party back to Elrios when the time comes. Eventually, the two device a plan using one of Ventus's Wind Stones. They realized that the masters are able to sense the stone even from the other side of the seal. In addition, Denif had begun to suspect that Fire Master Rosso may also be in the Demon Realm. Denif tasked Ventus with delivering the Wind Stone to the El Search Party for them to return as well as seek out Rosso. With the help of the priestesses, they open the seal once again and Ventus delves into Henir's passage.
Cradle of Sin
Arriving at the Crimson Edge, the group make their trek towards the tower, Elsword noting energy identical to the Fire El. They are attacked by all manner of foe born from the power of the Fire El as they approach the tower and Elsword begins to connect with the one trapped inside.
Inside the tower, they encounter the core, a Crimson Eye, they fight it off but it escapes through the cracks. The group follow it up to the cradle of the tower.
They find Rosso trapped at the center. A massive surge of demonic energy bursts through the room and a massive demonic form created from the volcanic rubble stood before them. Elsword begins to hear Rosso's voice one more, this time directly communicating with him. After a series of battle against the berserk Rosso as the tower collapsed around them, they defeated him.
Elsword tried to grab hold of him when Ventus arrives out of the blue. After a tense chat, Ventus provides the group the Wind Stone as a means to return to Elrianode. The two begin to head back to Elrianode, but Rosso warns Elsword that the Master of Crimson Eyes is near. They group go back and meet up with the Tiny Spirit before immediately collapsing of exhaustion. After they rested, the Tiny Spirit tells them he got word from Nephilim Lord of a location nearby they may want to check.
The Master of the Crimson Eye
The Tiny Spirit lead them to a large deposit of Mystic Stones. Eve, Lu, and Ciel all confirm that the stones gave off a similar aura to the Dark El Hennon had used, though faint. Further down, they spot Shadow Demons with mining equipment, they try to sneak past them but are spotted. They encounter Nero who introduces himself as Ran's right-hand man. The group managed to corner Nero, in a last ditch effort, Nero manages to distract them and manages to strike and shatter the ground beneath them. They land and awaken the master of the vein, Dark Agate. After they defeat the gem monster, the Tiny Spirit thanks them, but a lone demon soldier tries to land a sneak attack. Caught off guard, the Tiny Spirit uses his powers and swiftly takes out the demon. He then reveals himself to be Stirbargen. Eun, taking over Ara's body, lashes out in rage, planning to kill the demon. He offers to strike a deal with the group, he tells them Barkat is seeking out the Dark El. He also tells them that the spirits are only able to vaguely sense the Dark El, and Nephilim Lord wouldn't be helpful in their search. The Demon Lord then strikes another bet with the group.
The group return to Nephilim Lord, and just as predicted, the group were left with no real lead, however decide to procure a Mystic Stone. They choose to return back to Elrianode. Elsword confess to his friends about the visions he had. The group take caution to Elsword's vision. They decide they need to report to Denif about their findings.
Fallenode
Reunion, Coming Face to Face
Following the compass, Laby entered the Fallenode region, her compass stops working. Gaia miraculously finds her and the two reunited. Gaia had been combing the coast of Fluone in search of her to no avail, but kept searching for her because they promised to go the Elrianode together, now that they are together they would try to get into the city. However, the city is now surrounded by a large Henir barrier, the two approach the city dealing with the nests of draugr. On the way, Bellonde expressed prior hesitation to return to Elrianode, but says meeting Laby at his sister's grave inspired him to press onward. They find an exceptionally large pool of Henir which housed a Giant Draugr, not wanting to leave such a beast free to roam, Gaia and Laby defeat it. Faced with the Henir barrier, Gaia creates a barrier around them with his El energy that will last them long enough to get through the barrier.
Nisha
Inside the barrier, Laby and Bellonde are isolated from each other. Remembering her teacher telling her that she must focus on leaving the barrier. Nisha begins to react and then takes on the form of Laby's Friend, Laby begins to remember it. Having severed the memory of her friend's death, she wonders why it is here and notices the gaps in her memory. Distorted memories of her journey thus far appear and torment her, false memories of Mao and Calonne, the port, and her friend. Unable to process the emotions, Laby runs till she winds up where she'd first met Bellonde. She pleads to him that she wants to leave, Bellonde tells her to go back to the place where these memories all began. She wakes up deep in the Black Forest, her friend appears before her, she expresses joy that they could be together and have fun forever but it transforms into formless monster and attacks her. All the memories of her friend come flooding back, both good and bad. She learns of Nisha's creation, and how she'd severed her sad memories of her friend. She realized what Nisha was, her sadness. She feels glad she finally knew what Nisha was, but she still feels scared of the sadness she once felt. She however decides she would face the future with Nisha.
Arrivals to Elrianode
Sage of Fluone
Laby made it to the other side of the barrier but was badly hurt from it. Bellonde rushes her immediately towards the El Tower for aid. While their sudden appears was a surprise, they are welcomed into the city and Denif tasks Darkmoon with tending to Laby. Gaia reclaims his duty as an El Master.
Darkmoon goes to try and heal Laby but her injuries had already healed. Laby wakes up and feels better. Learning about the situation from Artea, Laby runs off to see Bellonde's teacher, Denif.
When Laby arrived to the El Tower, she was struck with awe when she saw the Large El, saying that it was the same light she called morning. Denif asked her what she meant, and she explains herself. Denif concludes that the morning Laby spoke of were most definitely related to the Large El. The priestesses correlating them to the El's restoration during the Nasod War, the El Explosion, and its most recent restoration by Elsword. They speak of the boy before Denif asks Laby about Nisha, but Laby hesitates, simply calling it her friend.
Darkmoon wonders if Laby could be a demon, sensing a similar aura. Laby tells them about the demons in Northern Fluone, though initially fearful of their presence, Laby assures them Calonne and the others are good. The priestesses learn to trust Laby, Denif was still a tad suspicious. With the day soon reaching its end, Denif calls an end to their meeting and suggests they all rest.
Answer to Belief
That night, while Laby contemplated what she should do with Nisha, Ignia met up with her. The two talked, Ignia reflects on her life, regrets, and her current motivations. She says that she aspires to meet the Fire Master and learn under him to better her abilities. Laby opens up to Ignia and tells her that Nisha is her sadness. Ignia presents the information to Denif. He is vexed by Laby's situation as something unprecedented. Laby mentions the energy she felt inside the barrier felt familiar to her.
Denif senses that Ventus was approaching from the other side of the seal. With the priestesses and Gaia's help, they open up the seal where Ventus comes through with Rosso. The priestesses introduce themselves to newly arrived Fire Master. The introduction quickly spiraled into an argument between Rosso and Ignia. The two fight among each other until Gaia drags Rosso away to get his injuries tended to. Ignia feels dejected by her encounter with the Fire Master but both Ventus and Denif find their encounter to have gone better than expected.
Darkmoon tends to Rosso's wounds when Laby follows them to talk with Rosso. Bickering ensues and Rosso is not trustful of whatever Laby is, but Gaia assures him that she is of no harm. Laby is curious if Rosso knew what she was, he eventually states that her aura was certainly of Demon Realm origins, being something he himself felt near where he slept. Rosso warns Gaia that he only spoke this information so he would be aware and be responsible for the child. Rosso rests, Laby thanks Darkmoon for helping her.
You and I Are One
Laby feels she might need to go to the Demon Realm for answers. Ventus appears before Laby and she asks him if he and the wind are one, which he replies that he accepts the wind. He tells her of the Forgotten Elrian Sanctum where she could train and grow. Laby takes the offer and goes off.
In the sanctum, Laby began to hear the voices of the past. She begins hearing her own voice asking herself what she is afraid of, where she replies she fears losing Nisha. She fears what would happen if they became one, but comes to the conclusion that she and Nisha should share their sadness. To understand each other not as one being, but as partners. With her new perspective, she heads back to Elrianode.
Meeting the El Search Party
In the midst of planning for the future, Denif was just about to task Laby and Gaia to retrieve Calonne so they can make use of the portal in Debrian Laboratory. However, Ventus arrives with the news that the El Search Party were already approaching Elrianode. All the priestesses and Masters gather and open the seal, Ventus notices the El Search Party were being held up by the monsters and Artea notices the monsters trying to approach the rift they made. With all the masters tied with keeping the seal open, Laby volunteers to go in and help the El Search Party, Denif agrees to her plan.
Rigomor
Unexpected Meeting
The El Search Party once again enter Henir's Passage, the area had changed greatly since last they entered. The visions Elsword had were beginning to materialize. They were prepared, however the Chaos Leviathans began to swarm toward the opened seal. Laby jumped through the seal into Henir's realm before the space around them started to change, resulting in the entire El Search Party falling into a newly opened fissure, transporting them deep under the seas of the Demon Realm. Aisha uses her magic to allow everybody to survive. After defeating a Leviathan, they make their way with an unconscious Laby to find safer refuge.
The El Search Party take refuge in the Closed Deep-Sea Tunnel. Laby wakes up and is glad to finally see the El Search Party. Their introduction is interrupted by a gas leak and an ambush by A.M.P.S robots. Eve and Raven investigate the machines and suspect they were being regularly maintained, deciding to investigate further.
At the end of the tunnel, Eve detects that only sea lied beyond. The door in front of them began to move on its own, revealing itself to be an A.M.P.S type robot itself. Once the group managed to defeat the robot, Eve detected a new life form approaching. Winster had already spotted the group and had considered destroying the tunnel entirely to rid the potential threads, however he meets to greet them on the possibility they may ally, feigning ignorance of Lu's identity. After Laby makes mention of Calonne, Winster decides to trust the group and divulges both the purpose of the tunnel and some history about the Nous and Garen.
Deal for Return
Under Winster's condition, they go to his village to hear them out. They take Winster's submarine, but it crashes in an air pocket of Rigomor. As they landed, local Troshes stole the energy core of the submarine, Winster requests the group help retrieve the energy core back while he stays and called for help, he does plea them not to harm the local wildlife. While on their mission they ran into Winster's son, Haivan, who was also in the region searching for something. Haivan guides the group to the nest, they enter the nest and encounter the Troshes. The group managed to retrieve the energy core without excessive violence, however Haivan was not so lenient. They return with the energy core and the news that they abided by his conditions. Winster then bows down to Steel Queen Lu, revealing he was testing if Lu would be their ally. He reveals their plan to revive Aegirp. Winster offers the use of the portal in the White-Ghost Land in exchange for Lu's cooperation, the group compromise and agree to work alongside Lu to assist in reviving Aegirp first. However both Add and Eve request to see the portal before anything is decided.
Abandoned Icerite Plant
Nichel arrives to help take the group back to the village. Winster informs the group that in order to reach the portal, they would have to craft a special key first. The group travels to the Abandoned Icerite Plant to perform the necessary task. Since the plant had been in a state of disrepair, the group split into three smaller groups in order to get the plant functioning again. Winster, alongside Chung, Lu, Ciel, Rose, and Ain cleaned out the mines of the Icerite devouring wildlife. Haivan working with Elsword, Aisha, Raven, Ara, and Add helped repair the refinery, running into a batch of already activated A.M.P.S robots which they managed to salvage for parts. Nichel, working with Rena, Eve, Elesis, and Laby cleared the stacks of the factory of natives that had nested in the factory. When they had neared completion, a large armored Clockwork Frost Hermit awoke in the mines, they were able to defeat the beast before the others arrived to see what had gone on. Haivan crafted the Power Capsule they needed during the commotion. Haivan suggests he go open the way by himself but his father insists they all need to go for this important matter. Lu confesses that she wished for the rest of the group to go back to Elrios and leave her behind, since her goal lied in the Demon Realm, however still admitted their separation would be short as the El Search Party still sought out the Dark El. Haivan requests his father take Nichel back to the village as he goes to the portal alone with the El Search Party.
Another Deal
Haivan goes to the Laboratory by himself ahead of the group, the El Search Party, Winster and Nichel go the lab which is underneath a lake. Haivan activates the titan stored inside the laboratory, declaring he cannot have anybody interfere with the fragment of Aegirp's soul that was stored in the laboratory. Haivan enters the cockpit of the titan and sends all of its defenses to destroy the El Search Party. After Haiven nearly caused the core to overload, the group manage to stabilize the core and Aegirp's soul escaped. The situation was interrupted when Berthe infiltrated the lab and snatched Aegirp's soul. Haivan reveals he had worked with Berthe in order to place himself among their ranks. The El Search Party realize Berthe had absorbed a fragment of Aegirp's soul and had become more powerful. Berthe's forces begin to approach the facility, corning them in. Winster activates the portal and unwillingly sends the El Search Party away. Winster is captured and the Demon Army take the machines and return to central.
In Elrianode, Denif decided to go forward with the plan to send Gaia to seek out Calonne, now more than ever to retrieve the El Search Party. Before Gaia departed, they received news that the El Search Party had suddenly appeared out of a portal.
