El Search Party return to Magmelia to find a not so welcome face.
Quest Completion Dialogue
Betty:...... .......
Diana:Betty! What's wrong? Nervous? Hungry? Should I give you gold coins?
Victoria:As you can see... The Bettys are refusing to act as our eyes.
Stirbargen:That won't do. Not that I had high hopes.
Stirbargen:Now then, which one of you would it be?
Victoria:.......
Diana:... Mrr, I...
Vasili:I'll go.
Diana:What? You can't!
Vasili:There's no other choice. We can't have the Queen leave the tribe.
Victoria:... Yes. Sorry.
Vasili:Those who aren't awakened will have a hard time enduring it. Plus... If something happens, we need at least one Awakened one to support the Queen.
Vasili:It's better that I leave as the unstable one. I'm the only acceptable candidate.
Diana:If something happens? Don't say it like that.
Vasili:It is what it is. Right now, we have a problem and we need to find a solution.
Diana:.......
Stirbargen:It's decided then? Let's get a move on... Hm?
Stirbargen:Oh? Now this is an interesting turn of events.
Victoria:Huh? What do you mean?
Stirbargen:We have guests. Let's go greet them.
Lu:Tir! What are you doing here! Just what are you up to!
Ciel:Calm down, Lu. This is Red Demon Territory. He's right at home.
Laby:Oooh? Laby haven't seen you before. Hello! I'm Laby!
Stirbargen:Hello, long time no see! Have you grown? Though I see Lu's still tiny.
Stirbargen:... And now you have a suspicious being in your group.
Laby:Uugh...? Are you talking about Laby?
Victoria:You were still here? I'm sorry to tell you, but we're about to leave this place.
Raven:You're leaving the village? Is it because of what we've found?
Stirbargen:Oh? What did you find?
Raven:We found a strange phenomenon as we were passing Ran's Castle. Lu said it was dangerous, so we thought you should know.
Lu:... We found Abyss. A massive one, not too far from here.
[After Exiting Shadow Earl's Castle.]
Ara:I... can't believe it.
Chung:A, and then he showed me the safe way out of Red Demon Territory.
Chung:I'm sory about Aren leaving. I should have stopped him...
Ara:Don't worry. I'm not angry at you, Chung.
Ara:Aren... How could he leave without a word. I didn't think he'd be so headstrong.
Ara:He must still think of me as a child. Even though I'm no longer that naive young girl I once was! He didn't think he could rely on me!
Chung:I, I think you are very reliable! Truly!
Aisha:I understand how Ara's feeling. I didn't think Aren would leave like that without a word.
Eve:It would have been great to talk more and share more information.
Laby:Maybe he suddenly remembered something to do?
Ciel:...... Hm.
Ciel:Hey, I'm sensing something odd. Do you feel anything, Lu?
Lu:So you feel it, too. It's a massive current of demonic energy.
Lu:It's a familiar feeling... If it's what I think it is, we should be on our guard. It's not something to be taken lightly.
Ain:.......
Rena:Ah, hey? Is everyone feeling alright?
Rena:No one's feeling sluggish, or have sudden chills?
Rose:Hm? Ah... No. Not at all.
Laby:Laby's feeling peachy! Is something wrong, Rena?
Rena:Is it just me? I'm sensing something strange from earlier. Like shivers down my spine, and feeling a bit woozy...
Aisha:Are you ok? Perhaps we should take a rest.
Ain:(... It's a repulsive feeling.)
Ain:(Something I haven't felt since Feita.)
Rose:It might be fatigue from traveling uphill.
Rose:Let's rest while scouting around. Oh, is that dark thing the sea of the demon realm?
Chung:Something doesn't seem right.
Raven:It doesn't make sense that the sea would be located here... Wait here. I'll go check it out.
Laby:Laby will go, too! Laby knows about sea!
Noah:Um... ... Are you alright?
Rena:Totally. Sorry if I worried you. I'm sure it's nothing.
Rena:I'm just on edge because it's been oddly quiet.
Noah:What do you mean?
Rena:You see, there are spirits in the demon realm as well. Even though they don't like to come near us.
Rena:But I haven't seen any... for a while now.
Eve:It's strange. We also haven't encountered any beasts since we've left Magmelia and Ran's castle.
Eve:If the spirits are also gone... Then there's truly nothing here. It's oddly... empty.
Ara:Maybe it's always this empty?
Elesis:I don't think that's likely... If there's nothing here, there's no reason for the Dream Demons to do business here.
Add:Who knows. Maybe they're that bad at business.
Chung:W, wait. Something's wrong! The compass is pointing a different direction all of a sudden...
Elsword:Hey, everyone! Come check this out! There's something weird here!
Add:What we saw was a massive pit. It was overflowing with demonic energy.
Aisha:It was sure intimidating. Ugh...! It felt like I was getting sucked in, just from looking at it.
Chung:It looked very close, despite the distance. I kept checking where I was standing, to make sure I wasn't standing at the edge of the cliff.
Elsword:Lu thought we should warn you when she saw it, so we came back.
Victoria:So you found it, too. We knew there was a small Abyss around here for a while now.
Victoria:It was too big to take care of it, but we thought it might disappear on its own since it hasn't increased in size...
Vasili:Is that... why you've come back? Just to warn us?
Elesis:Yeah. It sounded really dangerous. All the beasts and spirits probably ran away because of the Abyss, too.
Elsword:We don't know how dangerous this Abyss is, but you should be careful, since your village might be affected.
Vasili:Aah, I... see... Thank you...
Lu:Hmph, what are you doing, standing as if you belong here.
Stirbargen:Don't mind me. I'm just listening.
Aisha:Oh, uh... So, about that Abyss... We don't really know anything about it other than the fact that it's dangerous. Could you tell us more about it?
Victoria:As you've seen, Abyss is a pit where demonic energy flows out. It appears all across the Demon Realm, but you can find more around here.
Victoria:It's not that common, so I'm not surprised it's the first time you've seen it.
Lu:Yes. It used to appear in my land as well. But Abyss itself it quite a rare phenomenon.
Lu:Even rarer still, in Varnimyr and Aegirp's land. So it must have slipped my mind.
Rena:Something like that just appears without warning? I wouldn't be able to sleep from worrying about it.
Diana:It's fine! We have some resistance to the demonic energy of Abyss. Not a lot, but enough to buy us time.
Vasili:We would have tried to get rid of it, if the Abyss was in its early stages... But that's no longer an option.
Victoria:Abyss starts off small, but continues to grow. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule.
Victoria:It might remain the same for hundreds of years, or disappear before the day is even over.
Laby:Maybe, maybe not. So it does whatever it wants!
Diana:Yes. But there's one common trait. No matter the size, the demonic energy from Abyss is very dense.
Victoria:The kind that will make you lose consciousness from merely approaching it. That's why even the greatest demons avoid Abyss.
Vasili:There are monsters and curses in Abyss. It's best you never approach it.
Stirbargen:Heading inside Abyss on your own basically means you forfeit your own life!
Ain:The reason why we haven't encountered any beasts in Red Demon Territory, and what Ms. Elf and I felt... They were all effects of that Abyss.
Chung:There's so much information, it's difficult to take it all in. So, what you're saying is that we shouldn't go near that Abyss?
Laby:But the Abyss is right in the way of where we have to go! Should we go around it?
Stirbargen:Hmph, wishful thinking.
Stirbargen:But you guys have potential! Why don't you challenge the Abyss? It'll be fun!
Lu:Hey now! Who are you trying to drag into danger!
Vasili:...... Excuse me.
Vasili:I do know a way out of Red Demon Territory by going around the Abyss. If you'd like...
Elsword:What? Of course! You'll be doing us a favor.
Stirbargen:Ah ah.
Vasili:Or... not...?
Lu:Don't pressure the child.
Raven:There's no reason for us to go all at once. We'll go check out the premises while you rest here.
Rose:This book... Let's see... This is the only part that's legible. 'A Story I Heard When I Was Young'.
Rose: 'In the beginning, they say, only a small darkness existed in a desolate wasteland.'
Rose: 'A lonely point, an opening in the earth, a handprint left by god.'
Rose: 'It swallowed the lands and grew.'
Rose: 'And we crawled out of it, or so they say.'
Rose: 'The visage of sin, that which escapes the long darkness and crawls out towards the light.'
Rose: 'Cursed being, return back to the beginning.'
Laby:So spooooky. What do they mean, cursed being?
Rena:All the stories in the Demon Realm seem to have an ominous feel to it. Like that song Lu sang to us in Varnimyr.
Victoria:That's legend for you. I did hear a theory that all demons originate from Abyss.
Victoria:That only monsters exist in Abyss, but when they left, they obtained identity, will, and knowledge.
Aisha:Genesis? It doesn't seem so scary anymore from that angle.
Rena:Is that so...? It seems too grim, don't you think? And the speaker seems to have changed.
Chung:.......
Elsword:Chung. Are you alright?
Chung:Yes. Did I miss something?
Aisha:Not really. Just worried you're feeling uneasy because of the compass.
Chung:Ah, it's fine. I was just thinking about what the Red Demon King said.
Chung:When we went near the Abyss, the compass suddenly moved, as if it were snatched by something invisible.
Chung:After that, it hasn't stopped pointing towards the Abyss.
Aisha:I'm glad you're not feeling uneasy, but yeah... It's strange, isn't it?
Chung:I imbued the power of my guardian stone into the compass. That means the compass is pointing towards something that has similar properties to that of the El.
Aisha:Like the Dark El?
Chung:I'm not sure... But it's possible. Our purpose it to check if the Dark El is fit to completely restore Large El and to retrieve it, if it's a match.
Elsword:But we can't go there. It sounds too dangerous.
Chung:Yes. That's why everyone's searching for a way to go around the Abyss. I understand.
Chung:But... I still want to confirm with my own eyes. I don't know what it is, but if we don't check, the compass will continue to point to the Abyss.
Aisha:Chung....
Chung:If I said I wished to go on my own...
Elsword:.......
Elsword:Don't be stupid. If you try that, I'm going to stop you.
Aisha:Elsword! Don't be so harsh...
Elsword:I don't think it's the Dark El. And...
Elsword:If you have to go, we're all going together.
Chung:.......
Ara:Hey, everyone?
Ara:We have much to tell you. Will you all come this way?
Unexpected Reunion
Serpentium
