To the skies!

Marina was abducted last night, and now we have to save her!

At the Chateau is a note. It’s yelling at Ashley and brings up The Divine Comedy, a reference to Cocytus and Odessa. Caina is the only person we didn’t see die, so everyone assumes it's him. Also, it turns out he’s a she...at least in the English version.

The Lost Garden is located on a lone island in the Inner Sea. It’s a puzzle dungeon where you need to activate various blocks by standing on them. These blocks will raise or lower similar colored blocks elsewhere through the rooms. Along the way, Caina’s key, Randolf, blocks the way forward. To pass, we need to leave a character behind to mentally block the waves. We need to leave everyone behind, which means a final confrontation and a one-on-one climactic fight between Ashly and Caina is coming. Ashley is a choice, though, but I don't know what happens if we try to leave him behind.

After Caina says s/he loved Vinsfeld and is upset we killed him, they try to take Marina from Ashley. A light forms in front of them, indicating a magic attack on Marina’s life. Ashley jumps in to protect her.

In the fight, Ashley transforms into a new, even more powerful version of KnightBlazer. The armor is golden and has two new attacks. The new form makes Caina a since. But after the fight is where things get interesting.

Caina is thrilled because he's taken Marina from Ashley. This is confusing at first, but we quickly hear that Marina doesn’t recognize Ashley. He’s, clearly, him, but it’s a fear thing. That power isn’t Ashley. It’s not even human. She’s right, of course, and we all return to the Chateau. Marina is shaken up, and Ashley isn’t himself, either. But this scene is about the Nuke. Readings have indicated it’s coming eminently. Another G4 meeting happens to discuss the threat. Guild Galad Master lets everyone know that the Nuke isn’t a nuke but, rather, a summoned dragon. When the dragon lands, it sucks up all the energy until it explodes. GGM, with some significant character development, suggests that Guild Galad can be used as bait. And that is the plan, but Ashley isn’t allowed to participate. Valeria believes his emotions will bring Lord Blazer into the world if something goes wrong.

We see GG preparing things, Ashley and Marina being scared, and ARMS standing by. And we get right into it. Grauswein is pretty easy. His single target moves are pathetic, and his teamwide attacks can be negated with a simple heal. Use a Lucky Card to get 30000 EXP and Gold.

Alas, he isn’t dead. He’s too strong because plot armor sucks on enemies. We cut back to the Chateau, where Ashley is fearing for his comrade's lives. He begins the whole "Power is neither good nor evil" shtick, and it cuts to the cockpit. The two girls who aren't plot relevant tell Valeria that Ashley has left his room, and the scene cuts back to Grauswein. And then, a transformed Ashley shows up. In a fight that is only hard if you’re low on berries, Ashley takes down the Nuke Dragon. Be careful using Banisher and Last Burst. Both will revert Ashley, and the second will heavily damage him.

Once again, the aftermath is where it’s at. Ashley is losing control of his body. Lord Blazer is coming. In his last moments of clarity, he asks Kanon to kill him. She, however, has given into the power of friendship and can’t go through with it. Everyone begins to panic until Marina shows up. She tries to settle Ashley but can only do so much. She, in so many words, says how much she loves him. And then Ashley starts to strangle her. She keeps pleading her love for Ashley...until he drops her. He reverts to himself and collapses into her arms. The world is saved from the Nuke but not from the other world.

Another G4 meeting happens, and GGM mentions the Last Dragon. Most dragons are dead, fossilized in GH or Sieljie, but Lombardia may still exist. The party heads toward the Sleeping Volcano.

The Sleeping Volcano is a legitimate maze, and I got lost. To traverse the place, we need to use Kanon's Rad Blades we got in the Grotto. Otherwise, the lava eats us. It will anyway because the controls are terrible, but, like, let's pretend. To open the path, we need to blow up black smoke to explode open the way. Use Illia's Fire Rod for this. Eventually, Brad needs to blow up a rock, and we can reach Lombardia. There’s more here than meets the eye. Get it? Because he’s a transformer? He lets us in on the fact that he and the dragons came from another world in a way not unlike today. All the other dragons withered away, leaving him alone. He won’t help us, at least not without a fight.

To test our mettle, he loses easily. The volcano begins to churn, ARMS offers him a fight against fate, and we now have a good airship! Valeria brings up the concept of Mana being used to physically conceive the encroaching world, and we now need to open the reserves. We must travel the world to find the four lay line points to free Mana. I'm iffy on late game McGuffins, but this is fine.

And I’ll do that tomorrow!

Now, obliviously, I explore around the world. I find most of the yellow dots on the map and buy new gear at the Palace Village. Everything seems to be open up to us, so make use of it. But first, there’s a secret character to get...