Part 38: Update XXXVI - Featuring: Incomprehensible Plot Developments

Update XXXVI - Featuring: Incomprehensible Plot Developments

Music: Re:Vanishment (code：VFD Ver)


Oh... D-Don't worry about me, though! OK? I know how much everyone needs my grandpa's help. Although... I am a little bit worried. Back before my grandpa took me in... My mom had to go to the hospital, and... she never came home. After her funeral, my dad went off somewhere... and he never came back, either. So now I'm kinda afraid that the same thing will happen with my grandpa. If he leaves, I'll be all alone...





Are you lonely?

Y-Yeah, I am...

~

...

...

~~

H-Hehehe! Sorry for bringing this up... I'm such a depressing person... *cough* *cough* The 7th True Dragon is really about to appear... Even now, I'm useless... It's no wonder people keep abandoning me...



You're not useless, Mio.

Really...? All I want is to be able to help everyone...

~

Usefulness isn't what's important.

Really...? But I don't want to bring everyone down... Is it really OK?

~~

Opal... Thanks. I feel better now that I vented a bit. I'm going to work hard to make sure I can help the people around me! I need to know for sure that I can actually do things...



Don't forget about the mission! Just finish up the construction and get over to the Portal!

S-Sorry! I'm going to sleep now! I need my rest so I can recover quickly!



Music: The Daily Grind


Now that we've talked to Mio and built the Portal Expansion, we can finally go to Kazan.



Rick: The Portal system expansion has finally been completed! Feel free to use it as you see fit!



You seem bent outta shape about something... Are you worried about Tokyo? I get why you'd be concerned, but just make sure you focus on the mission when you're over there. You'll get yourself killed if you let your guard down just cause you got a bit stronger, you know?

*shakes head*

Eeheehee... Are you ready? Let's go...!



The next phase of Operation Code: VFD will now commence!



Music: UE77 In Ariake


Now, the Atlantis arc worked just fine in relation to the rest of the series (until Nyala died, anyways) because everything that happened at Atlantis has never been elaborated upon. The Lucier vanish, Atlantis falls, Nyala loses a wing; as long as you hit those three points, everything slots in perfectly with the rest of the timeline.



Eden, however, has much more stuff known about it because it was sorta, you know, the first game in the series. Any changes here that break from the original events will naturally be much more noticeable.



The 7D1 world map, for comparison.



Music: Kazan - Drowning in Petals, The Future


...Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, guys?



Has Kazan always had a giant ominous tower sticking out of it?



The Eden arc takes place about a hundred years or so after the events of 7D1, so no lovingly crafted recreations of Kazan or run-ins with the original party here. Instead we get a sprawling city that we'll see two screens of.





I thought it'd be more futuristic.

Eeheehee... I understand. That place is 5,000 years after UE 77, after all. I guess civilization has its cycles, though.

~

The Dragonsbane is already here...

Eeheehee... You're starting to understand. Don't sweat it, though. You'll find the True Dragon in no time.

~~

Before this, Eden was invaded by two True Dragons at the same time.



The wording here implies that things went entirely differently compared to 7D1. There, dealing with Haze came first. They didn't have a Dragonslayer at that point either, they needed to seal Haze to make the Dragonslayer in the first place!

Also the True Dragon they killed was, you know, Nyala. And he's still dead in Atlantis, so God knows what happened there.

Get used to this, as things are going to get very, very weird in Eden.

However, that seal weakened, and eventually Haze broke free and spread all this Dragonsbane. I don't think Haze is back at full strength yet, but we can't afford to let our guard down.

*nods*





Don't rush in just yet, though. Start off by examining the surrounding area.





Female Huntsman: I came here to defeat Haze, but now the door won't open and I'm in debt from the travel costs!



Poor Boy: You want to know what's wrong? There are no jobs for me, and I'm all out of money... *sigh* How am I gonna manage to buy food...?

~

Kazan Resident: I am aware that dragons pose a threat to our lives here. However, I have grown accustomed to this place. I cannot simply leave.



Composed Man: However, that door is shut tight. We've been at this standstill for a while now...

The people of Eden are more proactive about the dragon threat, at least.





Wait, a rescue marker?



Resolute Boy: Look, I wanna be a huntsman, alright? I haven't missed a single training session yet!



We got a new tier of MN restoration.





I'd like to point out that there's no imminent danger here, Kazan is holding on just fine.

Meaning we just straight up yoinked a cat and dragged it back to the past for no reason.

Hell, it might not even be a stray! That could be some poor kid's outdoor cat that they'll never get to see again!

On the plus side, under VFD's time travel rules there's a non-zero chance the next cat they get could be their old cat's distant descendant.





Confident Huntsman: At what, you ask? As an adequate partner, of course. I would find myself in all sorts of danger if I teamed up with a weakling like you.



Uber-Curious Girl: I reallllly wanna see one, even if it's just once!









Not much we can do. Maybe try talking to some of the people around here?



By that, Nagamimi means that door on the far left.



In any case, we don't have much info. It's quite strange that there's no data on those ruins~. Has Kazan always had that giant tower there~...?

You know what this reminds me of? That Lucier scholar forgetting about the fish mid-conversation.

So somehow, killing Nyala causes a giant tower to appear in Kazan close to 20,000 years later.

Welcome to VFD.

Have you been asleep? I have said from the beginning, we should simply break down the door!

*sigh* We've told you time and time again, that is not possible. Please silence yourself for now.

What...!?

Meet the supporting cast for the Eden arc.



And an old face.







We're not even being subtle with the whole time travel thing anymore.

I'm a time traveler.

... I am not sure I understand, but it feels as though you mock me!

~

I'm here to kill Haze.

Kill Haze...!?

*nods*

You fool... That is not something you can simply say with such reckless abandon!

~~



As commander knight of the Federated States of Mylos... In the name of peace and equality, I shall punish you!

Mylos is better known as Miross back in the fan translation for 7D1. Back then, they were idiots who spent most of the game trying to negotiate for peace with the dragons.

In VFD, Brijilt is ready to throw hands at a moments notice.

Hell of an improvement, really.

Hold on a second, Jil~.



Do not call me dumb!



I'm an astrologist from Preloma, the Scholar City. Well, I'm basically a scientist~.

*chuckle* Sailas here is regarded as the brains of Eden.

...And you guys are? Unit 13, huh? Well then, come right this way, Unit 13~. You're looking for access to the ruins, right? We might be able to be of help to you~.







The Guild Hall is actually accurate to 7D1!



Although this side area with a bed is new.



~

Hmm~... If I could figure out that console, I would be able to make an incredible weapon... If only I had more materials~... *grumble* *grumble*

~

Jil's impatience has been causing problems ever since she was a child.



We have to talk to our new-old friend to continue.







She also ever so conveniently neglects to mention the time she got fired and arrested for trying to shove all mankind into a soul-powered cannon in an attempt to kill Nyala.

I guess when you can outlive everyone on the planet you can make the history books say whatever you want.

Currently, I'm the commander of the Kazan Recovery Corps... for now, at least.

Huh? For now...? What do you mean by that, Lady Emel?



*nods*

N-Not from this era!? Hey, Nagiri! What is Lady Emel saying...?



Emel is also a lot more open about being a ghost made of solid hate.

It wouldn't surprise me to know that she's been acquainted with people from many time periods.



Wait, I still have yet to grasp what is happening! Please explain it more clearly...



Right away, Lady Emel.



I need to help as much as I can if I want to retain my title as the brains of Eden! Well, let's go~!









You'd think claiming the name of a group that fended off a True Dragon and killed another would get more of a reaction from her.





This door's the only way in. Having said that, there aren't any keyholes or switches or anything. All we know now is that the ruins themselves are made out of some kind of unique magic stone.

A magic stone, hm? Let's take a look. Yo, Unit 13. Get closer to the door.



~

There's probably a chest full of unknown data in those ruins~! *sigh* This whole situation is so frustrating~...







...What the fuck?

What the fuck!?

HOW DID IT GET HERE.

Like, sure, we utterly screwed the pooch when we killed Nyala, but that doesn't explain HOW A TOWER FROM ATLANTIS ENDED UP HERE.

Ladyin couldn't have survived the collapse of Atlantis either, because Ulania even says that Atlantis vanished without a trace in the new history! So either Ladyin got yeeted into fucking hyperspace and got dropped here at some point in the past, or the writers just said fuck it!

I've said it before, and I'll say it in the future, but at this very moment?

Welcome to VFD.





Who woulda thought we'd end up at the same place we just left... except 20,000 years later. I think the reason it's like this might be... your guys' fault, though... Eh, let's not sweat the details. If this really is Ladyin, opening that door should be easy. We do have the goddamn queen of Atlantis here, you know?





*shriek* It's some kind of... weird rabbit!?

And who the hell are you!? I'm not a rabbit! My name is the Almighty Nagamimi!

Hwa! The rabbit speaks!?

Grrr, you bastard! I've had just about enough of you...

*sigh* I see~... I didn't quite believe all of this at first... But now that I've seen your technology, I don't have much of a choice~.

What do you mean, Sailas?

Nagiri, it's clear to me that Unit 13 are indeed time travelers. And that their civilization is somehow more advanced than our own... On top of all that... they have some kind of connection with these ruins! Did I get it all?

And as an aside, don't expect any answers on whatever happened to the Earth to cause Eden to drop down to a fantasy setting.

A connection...? That would explain how loud the stones of the ruins have been...

Oh yeah, you're a Lucier. That means you can hear the voices of stones, right?

Correct. The ruin stones have been joyous since Unit 13 came. It's as if they found a long-lost friend.

Hmm~... OK. How about we go and discuss this back at the guild hall? Man, this is getting exciting~! It sounds like we finally have a solution~!



Back to the Guild Hall.



Now that I think about it, Emel should have known it was Ladyin from the start!

Because she was there, at Atlantis! She should have recognized something!



I see~... So those are the ruins of the ancient sea kingdom, Atlantis. And you guys have a deep connection to Atlantis...

Oh, I know of Atlantis! Is that not from a fairy tale? The story goes that Atlantis sunk a long time ago, and in doing so saved the world. Hahaha! To think you would bring up a fairy tale! It is a fairy tale... right?



That may be true, but we are ultimately still unable to open the door. Correct?

Well, yeah~...



Okay, why are we suddenly acting like we don't have a way in? Nagamimi mentioned Ulania just a few minutes ago.

The answer is clear. This group is nothing more than a pack of liars.



Now, now... Calm down, Jil...

Jil... You can't solve every problem in life through punishment.

Tell that to 7D1's Princess.



B-But...! Nrghhh...!



*sigh* Anyways, how can we open the door, Sailas? You surely must have something in mind.



Don't you have someone who can help us, Unit 13?



You guessed it.



~

Maybe I do, maybe I don't.

Well, which is it? Make up your mind!

~~

Now Jil, let's let Unit 13 go retrieve this important person of theirs. In the meantime, I'm going to go examine the ruins a little more. Maybe it'll even give us a clue about how we can beat Haze~.



I should head to the ruins as well. Sailas would surely perish were he to encounter any monsters.



Understood, Lady Emel. Well then, Unit 13... Let us meet again.



Music: None


Perhaps they can be the ones to destroy that detestable Haze... The annihilation of all dragons is what this planet desires... They all must die!

Nice to see that Emel hasn't changed a bit over the years.







...Although it looks like age is starting to take its toll on her.



Next time: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA