In the lavishly decorated city hall, the ashen-faced mayor sits at the table in the council chamber, silently glaring at Sheriff Shorthalt for what seems like an eternity.
Anxiety hangs over the mayor like a storm cloud. Nothing but bad news has reached his ears since he signed the order to execute the Aberrations.
Whether it's the Aberrations escaping the gallows, or the continued silence from the Academy regarding any breakthroughs in their research.
Right now, the mayor opts for the most straightforward approach to unleash the frustration that has been festering within him.
Those good-for-nothing buffoons under your command still haven't captured those damn fugitives after all this time!
You let them escape from the gallows! They could be sauntering out of the city right now for all we know, ready to summon more fog and drive us all mad!
The fog in the city is too thick. Anyone who stays in it too long goes insane.
I've already sent out search parties, but they can't possibly enter the Mist. They can only focus on areas that haven't been consumed by it yet.
No one can find them at a time like this. We have to wait until the fog clears before...
Fine. I get it now. You and your underlings are nothing but useless parasites, collecting paychecks while doing nothing. You are thieves, stealing from the treasury.
I should send you and your men to the gallows too, Sheriff Shorthalt.
Take your men and bring them in now! I want [player name] and those Aberration freaks now!
Sheriff Shorthalt hesitates for a moment before ultimately deciding to say nothing, leaving and closing the door behind him.
Behind him, the mayor, still consumed by rage, hurls a cup forcefully at the door, bringing the conversation to an end.
A long time has passed since Shorthalt left, but the mayor's anger hasn't subsided in the slightest. He continues to pace fanatically alone in the council chamber.
These damned Aberrations!
Once these freaks are captured, I'll set up the gallows right in the city hall lobby. I want to watch each one of them choke with my own eyes!
...And those scholars who bury themselves in their labs all day! I left them an Aberration, and they still can't figure out what's causing the damn fog after all this time!
The mayor opens the door to the council chamber, cursing under his breath, ready to continue his pacing in the hallway.
However, the moment his hand touches the doorknob, the entire door is violently torn from its hinges.
...!!!
The first thing that catches his eye is the gun in your hand.
Then come the silhouettes of four Aberrations behind you.
The Aberrations are here! Someone come and lock them up!
But the mayor's shouts only reverberate through the empty council chamber. There is no response, save the echo of his own voice.
Only now does the mayor realize that he has sent away all the officers who would have guarded this place.
He sent Sheriff Shorthalt and all his officers to capture the Aberrations in the fog, never imagining the Aberrations would exploit his biggest oversight: himself, left alone in the city hall.
You fugitives—
Hah! I'm not that stupid. I'm well aware of the trump card I hold!
If I release your friend, you will just walk away into the Mist! I refuse to just sit here and wait until I die!
You stop talking, only exchanging a meaningful look with your companions nearby.
You're right! It's so stuffy in here. We could all use some fresh air outside!
Right this way, Mister Mayor!
I enjoyed the refreshing breeze on my way here. Now it's your turn to experience it for yourself!
The "Revenant Hunter" pushes open the council chamber's glass window with one hand, then grabs the mayor by his collar and forces his head outside.
ARGH—!
The mayor's body dangles from the windowsill in a comically awkward position, his head firmly in the grip of the "Revenant Hunter" and completely exposed to the outside.
Beyond the window, mist flows through the darkness, obscuring the night-cloaked city.
Shadowy figures lurking in the fog keenly sense the presence of human sanity, slowly drifting closer.
Pull me back in! I'll do anything you—!
Oh really? But I don't think you sound sincere enough.
Sharp, monstrous tentacles creep closer and closer to the terrified mayor.
...!!!
With a swift slash, a massive scythe severs the tentacles lunging toward the mayor.
Simultaneously, the "Revenant Hunter" yanks the mayor back inside and slams him violently onto the floor.
After the brief excitement, you walk back toward the ashen-faced mayor.
Cough, cough... I-I can release your companion, b-but you must agree to one condition of mine... Cough!
How absurd. First you label us as Aberrations who brought the Mist, then order us hanged.
Now you have the audacity to make demands on us.
Putting a hole in your head should help clear your mind a bit.
All your companions look nonchalant.
The mayor straightens up, adjusting his collar first thing. Even when he just escaped death at the hands of these Aberrations, he still slips back into his well-practiced politician persona.
Completely setting aside his previous anger and agitation, he now fully concentrates on a negotiation that he cannot afford to bungle.
Tell me what you want. Money? Glory? Something else? Everything is negotiable.
...Very well. Now that our negotiation has an immovable "price point," we can proceed more productively.
I will release your companion and revoke your death sentences as the foundation of our productive partnership.
Upon hearing your words, the mayor's eyes light up, seizing this opening for negotiation like grasping at straws.
That's exactly what I was saying. From now on, you'll no longer be Aberrations, but... "Detectives" authorized to research the Mist.
How about that, Detectives? Give my proposal some serious thought.
You have proven how much you care about your companions... Why not give them all a chance to clear their names?
But your companions have not taken the mayor's bait. Instead, their actions speak louder than words.
This guy spouts a mountain of crap, and it's all just hot air! I'm fuming listening to this nonsense!
Nirvatia, why haven't you put a gaping hole in this guy's head with your scythe yet?!
We think alike, Morigan.
Hey, hey, hey! I should be the one who does it! I'm clearly the most pissed off person here, aren't I?!
But you simply raise a hand, stopping the farce before it fully unfolds, and turn your attention back to the mayor.
The mayor's carefully maintained composure begins to crumble in the face of your response.
...Think it through carefully! If you don't make this deal, your companion will never return to your side!
Remember, I'm the only one who decides whether she lives or dies!
Your words carry no emotion, yet they resonate with quiet, unwavering resolve.
Rather than a simple acceptance of an "agreement" built on injustice, they are the pure expression of your convictions.
...Deal.
The mayor struggles to maintain what little dignity he has left, extending a hand toward you.
But you don't react to a handshake steeped in hypocrisy and self-interest.
Having gotten the answers you came for, you turn and leave the council chamber without so much as a backward glance.
The Aberrations soon vanish into the night, driven by a clear purpose that cannot wait.
Your footfall on the stone pavement echoes through the silent night.
The terror from the Mist's arrival seems to have drained all courage from the city's inhabitants. No one walks the streets, leaving the entire city shrouded in a deathly silence, as if it has fallen into a deep slumber.
As you walk through the city, you seem to enter some kind of eerie, deserted zone.
But a shout from behind you suddenly shatters the quietness.
Hey! Don't move! Put your hands up!
Even though she deliberately lowers her voice, that familiar tone instantly strikes a chord in your heart.
Surprise and joy intertwine, before giving way to a profound sense of relief that washes over you.
Overjoyed at the reunion, you decide not to call out her little prank, instead tacitly playing along with her "performance."
If you don't, then... Bang!
Unable to suppress a smile, you gently raise your hands as instructed.
That's more like it! Alright, you can turn around now.
As you turn around, a familiar figure comes into view: a long-awaited reunion, just as she promised.
The clouds in the night sky part at just the right moment, allowing the high-hanging full moon to illuminate your surroundings and bathe the young woman in silvery light.
Eileena perches up high, her legs swinging restlessly beneath her.
Keeping at her joke, she makes a finger gun and points it at you.
Her face bears the same smile as always, as if whatever happened after parting ways with you has not weighed on her mind at all.
I spotted you from afar the moment you walked out of the city hall.
I was so worried... What if you hadn't managed to escape from the gallows...
But if I had shown up before you then, we wouldn't have had this little "surprise" now, would we?
You're quite good at keeping your word, [player name]! Were you getting worried after waiting this long?
The key, of course, was... you.
The young woman's smile softens. She drops her finger gun and tosses a small object to you with a flick of her wrist.
You reach out, and the object traces a graceful arc through the air before landing lightly in your palm.
The gray, wing-shaped ornament emits a faint glow in your palm.
Looking at it, you smile, having already pieced together everything she must have gone through.
You can almost see how she diverted the scholars' attention, then secretly used the ornament as a "key" to gradually pry open the enchanted chains that bound her...
Otherwise, why would I have rushed forward like that?
But that's not nearly enough! You still owe me a proper hug, just like... this one!
The girl leaps down and uses the momentum of her descent to fall into your embrace.
After giving you that proper, "overdue" hug, Eileena steps back and gazes at you with a radiant smile.
I'd never lie to you. I told you to wait for me, so I was always going to find my way back to you.
Because I can't remember anything clearly besides you... It's as if everything before the moment I met you is just a blank void.
Before I escaped from those "scholars" today, they accused me of playing amnesiac, but... only I know the truth. I really did lose most of my memories.
I don't even remember who I was, where I came from, or what I've been through... I've forgotten all of it.
Those "scholars" kept threatening me, demanding that I explain what the Mist really is and wanting to know if I was the one who brought it here.
I even started to doubt myself, wondering if I'd done something terrible in the past before losing all those memories...
As she brings up this subject, her previously playful expression fades away, and her voice unconsciously softens.
But you simply take hold of her fingertips gently and comfortingly.
Of course! As your assistant, I'll go anywhere with you, no matter where.
After a long silence, she finally smiles again and responds.
Even with the truths hidden and the unknowable Mist stretching before you, this unwavering determination of yours remains unhindered by any obstacle.
The last of your companions has finally returned to your side.
Ohhh—everyone's finally here! Looks like today's a day worth celebrating!
Morigan the raven takes flight from the shoulders of the "Silent Undertaker", soaring to the young woman who has just returned.
You refuse to be truly wicked even when they call you an Aberration. Just so you know, I wanted to send that guy to hell several times today.
I often wonder if being completely and utterly evil would make me happier.
The "Silent Undertaker" doesn't speak, merely swinging her scythe and striking at the flickering tentacles of the shadowy figure beside you.
The shadow creature collapses in a heap, but the tentacles severed by her scythe writhe with frenzied purpose, lunging toward you and hungering for human consciousness.
Just as the tentacles are about to touch you, a massive blade smashes down, crushing the writhing appendages into a pool of slime.
Ha, take that! Bullseye!
Had I known, I should have delivered that crucial strike at the clock tower.
Having finished the kill, the "Revenant Hunter" nonchalantly hoists his massive blade back onto his shoulder.
Someone seems to care more about basking in glory than uncovering the truth.
The katana the "Crimson Countess" is holding still drips with slime from the monsters she slew in the fog, her cold gaze now piercing into its depths.
She moves forward without a word, yet her gaze lingers briefly on Eileena when she walks past the young woman.
...
Not far above you, the voice of the "Bloodthirsty Siren" carries down, her figure almost melting into the shadows of the eaves, only her unfurled wings barely visible.
Quiet. Something's coming.
..."Whispers of the Elder God".
Meanwhile, faint, ethereal whispers seem to drift through the air from deep within the dense fog.
Eerie whispers permeate your consciousness, filling every corner of your mind.
Under the cover of night, fog envelops the entire city, threatening to plunge it into a deathly silence.
Only the monsters prowling through the fog break the quietness with their faint, sinister sounds.
Hatred, injustice, and secrets lie concealed beneath this swirling fog.
You gaze into the unfathomable Mist, and the Mist seems to gaze back at the Aberrations within it.
