I. The Limit of the Voiceless Ruins
The story opens with an ochre sky as Akihiko, Lirea, and Zarek traverse a forbidden region called the Voiceless Ruins. The wind makes no sound, and the ground responds as if each footstep triggers echoes of ancient commands. According to documents found in the Blood Archive, sealed weapons by extinct mafia clans were hidden here.
II. Mechanisms of Blood Warfare
As they explore, they accidentally activate one of the defense mechanisms: a giant suit of armor made of bone fragments and living metal known as the Dead Oath Corps . Zarek rushes into combat, demonstrating a special ability: he can temporarily dissolve time in his surroundings, becoming intangible for seconds.
III. The Contract of the Three Echoes
With the initial threat defeated, the group reaches a hidden door only visible within the Void. To open it, they must form the Contract of the Three Echoes , a spiritual union that allows them to synchronize their memories and wills. Reading each other's pasts nearly tears them apart, but they manage to enter the heart of the labyrinth.
IV. Meeting with the Guardian of Laments
Inside, they face the Wailing Guardian , an entity formed from the accumulated pain of generations of mafia gangsters. The being attacks with illusion-inducing screams. Lirea nearly loses control, but Akihiko manages to anchor her to the present by using the Void linked to their shared memory.
V. The Map of Meat and Smoke
After the victory, they find a kind of living map tattooed on the skin of a still-warm corpse. This reveals that the labyrinth is merely a containment chamber. Inside lies the true artifact: The Cage of the First Vow , the object that started the Edenfall mafias.
VI. Combat in the Captive Chamber
The trio enters the chamber where they encounter three unknown figures: members of the ancient mafia known as the Crimson Prayer , freed after centuries of imprisonment. A fierce battle ensues. Zarek, using his ability to freeze enemy decisions, allows Lirea to execute a precise attack that destroys the mind control of one of them.
VII. The Rules of the Forgotten Vow
With one member defeated, the other two reveal the rules of the Cage of the First Vow: whoever touches it must sacrifice an essential memory in exchange for absolute power for one minute. Akihiko decides not to touch it… but Lirea does so without warning, erasing his mother's memory to acquire a technique: Silent Chant of Total Void .
VIII. Escape from Rhythmic Collapse
When activated, the cage disrupts the maze's balance. The place begins to crumble as jumbled musical notes float through the air like blades. They flee while Zarek holds the walls with his time-pause ability.
IX. Arrival at the Ash Shelter
They manage to escape and take refuge in an abandoned shrine in the Ash Desert. There, Lirea doesn't remember what she lost, but her power has changed. Akihiko, worried, notices that her aura has lost its warmth. Zarek remains silent, but fears that the price of power is marking the beginning of internal corruption.
X. First Fragment of the Ancestral Judgment
As they rest, a masked figure watches from a distance. He is one of the Twelve Remnants , former judges of the lost mafias. In his hand, he holds a fragment of the Ancient Judgment , which can only be activated by the one who has used the Cage of the First Vow. This figure's goal: to reclaim Lirea as the herald of the new mafia order.