Cadena/Story

JobSkillsStoryNPC

Story

Fall of Heliseum

Many decades ago, Magnus - on Darmoor's orders - took the Specter army and sacked the Nova capital of Heliseum. During the battle, every member of the Nova royal family was killed except for the princess, who was rescued by the General of the Nova army. As she had been critically wounded from Magnus' attack, the Nova General brought her to Gen, the Savage Terminal branch leader of the Shadowdealers, a trade organization that specialized in black market merchandise. Gen treated her injuries with a special medicine, but the side effects of such a strong medicine put her into a coma for many decades.

Main Story

Cadena the Shadowdealer

When the princess finally woke up, she was shocked to learn from Gen that her family had been killed and her city taken by Magnus. Gen explained to her that he had only saved her because he had owed a debt to the Nova General, but with her awakening, his obligation had been fulfilled, and so he told her that she would need to learn to fend for herself. Vowing never to be weak again, the princess chose to reinvent herself by taking on the new name of Cadena and wielding chains as her new weapon. Because her horns, wings, and tail got in the way of her chains, she decided to cut them off and let her pain serve as a reminder that she would never be helpless again, after which she decided to climb to the top of the Shadowdealers' chain of command.

One day, Cadena woke up screaming from a nightmare about Magnus' attack on Heliseum and decided to go outside for some air. There, she found a group of Hoodlums loitering around and decided to entertain herself by stealing their money. The angry Hoodlums immediately picked a fight with Cadena, who easily defeated them and returned back to the hideout for an important meeting. Back at the hideout, Gen reprimanded her for fighting without profit, which was one of the Shadowdealer rules. He made her review the rulebook, after which he quizzed her on the rules and maxims. Satisfied with her performance, he gave her medicine in order to treat her wounds from the fight. As Cadena drank the medicine, the bitter taste reminded her of the day she awoke from her coma. After taking her medicine, she reported back to Gen, who taught her several new moves that would aid her on her first few missions. He then told her to go see the Papyrus Brothers, who would assign her first mission. The Papyrus Brothers acknowledged that Cadena was already one of the strongest people in the branch, but pointed out that she lacked real-world experience. Because of this, they told her that her first mission was to repair the hideout and ordered her to bring Cast Iron Plates from the nearby Hedgehogs.

After replacing the old plates, the Papyrus Brothers told her that the toxic air in Savage Terminal had likely caused the original iron to corrode. Believing that the Mutant Hedgehogs were releasing the toxic gas, they asked Cadena to defeat the monsters and bring back their nails. With the nails, the Papyrus Brothers were able to finish repairing the base, but as they were still concerned about the rising number of Mutant Hedgehogs, they asked her to thin their numbers, as well as to bring back their fur for analysis. Cadena brought the fur to Coney, a new member who was intellectual enough to serve as the Shadowdealers' subject matter expert. For her next mission, Cadena was tasked with collecting ingredients for dinner. Cadena first collected Nutria hind legs and then decided to take a break. While buying a snack at the Black Market, she was pickpocketed by an orphan named Anzu. Cadena chased him down and took back her money. As reparation, she decided that he would be her servant and forced him to collect the rest of the ingredients that she needed for dinner. The Papyrus Brothers congratulated her for completing all her missions and began preparing dinner. As they needed to finish their own missions, the brothers told her that Gen would soon contact her with her next orders. Soon after, Gen radioed her and explained that he had gone off-world for a meeting at the Shadowdealer Headquarters. In the meantime, he asked her to collect overdue debts from some of their patrons. In his ledger, Cadena found that Gusto from the Black Market, Corbo at the Mountain of Trash, and Antuin from the Pawn Shop at Brigand's Row still had unpaid debts. She also noticed that Antuin's name had been emphasized in the ledger.

Collecting Dues

She first went to meet Gusto, who told her that someone from the Shadowdealers had already come to see him, though he paid her nevertheless, as he knew that Gen's records were always reliable. Next, she met with Corbo, who told her that there were rumors circulating of people impersonating Shadowdealers in order to steal payments and asked her to warn Gen. Finally, she went to see Antuin, who told her that he had no money to pay her. Frustrated, Cadena told him to give whatever money he had stored in his vault. Antuin explained that there was something valuable in the vault which he could use to pay off his debt, but added that he didn't know the passcode to open it. Cadena wondered whether Antuin's excuses were the reason why Gen had emphasized his name in the ledger and radioed Coney to come over and open the vault. Though he was nervous to be in Cadena's formidable presence, Coney stammered that the Shadowdealer Code prevented him from helping Cadena for free and offered to help her in exchange for her helping him with his own mission. Cadena agreed and brought back Still Fluid from the Ooze Wastes, which Coney needed for an experiment that he was conducting on the Papyrus Brothers' orders. After Cadena brought back the fluid, Coney told her that he had figured out the passcode, but that there was a strong adhesive keeping the safe shut. While he worked on melting the adhesive, he asked her to collect Unburning Flames from Flame Wastes for his experiment.

After Cadena returned, Coney told her that he had successfully removed the adhesive and asked her to pound open the door, as he was too weak to open it. Cadena broke open the vault door with ease and Coney told her that their deal had been concluded before leaving. Antuin then scraped together the money from inside the vault, which was coincidentally the exact amount as his debt to Gen. Just as she was about to leave, Anzu, the orphan who had pickpocketed her, arrived and demanded to know why the safe was open, reminding Antuin, his grandfather, of his promise not to touch the safe, which had belonged to his late father. Swearing to never forgive his grandfather, Anzu ran off, leaving Antuin to apologize for Anzu's behavior, explaining that it was likely due to losing his parents in an accident. Unable to shake her feeling of guilt, Cadena decided to repair the safe with Soft Scrap Iron from the Scrap Iron Wastes.

Under New Leadership

Just then, the Papyrus Brothers radioed her and explained that their trading partner, Corbo, had sent a distress signal, and with Gen off-world for an important meeting, they needed to deal with it immediately. After tracing Corbo's signal, they determined that she was at the Brawl ‘n' Bash Club and asked Cadena to extract her. At the club, Cadena rescued Corbo, who explained that she had been kidnapped by the same people whom she had told Cadena were pretending to be Shadowdealers, and that they were demanding her to pay them taxes. Cadena confronted one of the kidnappers, who merely laughed and told her that their boss, Mr. Hazard, was the owner of the club, and that he had also replaced Gen as the Savage Terminal branch leader, meaning that all Shadowdealers, including Cadena, now worked for him. Because of this, they explained that they also outranked Cadena, and so she was to follow their orders. Cadena scoffed that there was no way that she would listen to them if she never listened to Gen to begin with. She then began fighting off hordes of Hazard's lackeys herself until the Papyrus Brothers arrived to back her up. After seeing the enemy's numbers, however, the brothers determined that it would be best to retreat.

Before they could escape, Mr. Hazard himself arrived and released a toxic gas which immobilized the group. He reminded them that infighting between Shadowdealers was against the rules and explained that he and Gen had come to an understanding. He decided to overlook their infraction and told them that he would see them again, disappearing soon after. The Papyrus Brothers recognized Hazard as the second-in-command to the leader of all the Shadowdealers, explaining that it was said that Hazard sowed chaos in his wake, and that the planets he visited all fell to ruin. The Papyrus Brothers arranged for Corbo to be escorted to safety and soon received a message from Gen, who had returned from the meeting. Back at the hideout, Gen explained that Mr. Hazard had told them that Savage Terminal was under a threat of attack, and so he had successfully petitioned the Shadowdealer High Council that he be allowed to take over the branch in order to protect its members. Though he didn't like the arrangement any more than they did, Gen emphasized that they all needed to cooperate with Hazard and his cronies until the situation deescalated. He also told Cadena that based on how things were going, there wasn't much for her to gain by staying, and so he gave her permission to leave if she so desired. However, Cadena refused and reminded Gen that she still had things to learn from him first. Gen was pleased by her loyalty and gave her a special mission to investigate Mr. Hazard, suspecting that there was a spy within their branch, as there was no other way that Hazard could have taken over so easily. He told her to come to the Back Alley late that night, where a fellow Shadowdealer would fill her in on the details. With that, he taught her the new skills that she had wanted to learn from him.

Infiltrating Hazard's Lair

That night, Cadena went to the Back Alley, where she found a disguised Coney. Coney gave her a robe to conceal her appearance and told her that their objective was to infiltrate the Brawl ‘n' Bash Club. He explained that all the strange events were connected to the club, as Hazard had built his hideout there and had installed the emitters for the toxic gas which had immobilized them, adding that even the monsters in the area had been mutated to varying degrees based on their proximity to the club. The pair arrived at the club entrance, where they pretended that they had come for advance registration for the Coliseum Arena, for which they had brought Wriggling Tails from the Specter Stray Dogs as payment. While the pair were investigating, the security guards noticed that they were poking around and decided to pick a fight with them. After Cadena defeated the guards, Coney realized that there was something at the other side of the club and told Cadena to covertly infiltrate the area. She managed to sneak over to the other side, where she defeated the guards patrolling the interior. Coney discovered reagents, which he believed were connected to the Mutant Hedgehogs, whose toxic gas had been corroding the metal in their hideout.

While gathering the reagents, they came across a Popoh bird, which had been captured in order to be experimented on. Feeling bad for it, Cadena released it and allowed it to escape. She and Coney then grabbed as many reagents as they could before returning to the Back Alley, where Gen was waiting for them. When they explained that Mr. Hazard had been injecting the reagents into the local creatures, Gen told Coney to return to the hideout and analyze the reagents. After Coney left, Gen told Cadena that he had looked through Hazard's trade log and had determined that a suspicious trade would be taking place later that night. He asked her to spy on the trade in order to determine who the vendors were. Using a reagent that Gen had given her, Cadena transformed into one of Hazard's cronies and told Hazard's group that the order had been cancelled. Just as they were about to leave, a Lab Tech bot from the Angler Company arrived to deliver the shipment. The cronies quickly realized that Cadena was lying and moved to attack. She transformed back into herself and defeated the cronies, forcing them to retreat and allowing her to take the shipment from the bot, which had been broken in the fight. She discovered that the shipment was a document called Report X-9, but as the rest of it was written in strange letters, she decided to bring it to Gen.

At the Back Alley, Gen was unhappy that she had resorted to force, as it would mean that Mr. Hazard would soon learn about the altercation. Nevertheless, he took the report from her and called Coney to decipher the code that it was written in. Coney realized that it was double-coded and managed to break through the first layer of encryption. However, he was concerned about the second layer, which had a particular phrase constantly repeating. After some time, he decrypted the phrase and learned that it referred to the reagent which he and Cadena had found at the club. He told Cadena that they needed to both decipher the code and figure out the mystery of the reagent at once, and so he asked her to help with the reagent while he continued decrypting. He then instructed her to bring Mutant Nutria blood samples, believing that it was the key to figuring out the reagent.

The Heliogene Device

Using the samples that Cadena brought him, Coney was able to complete his investigation. He explained that Report X-9 was a blueprint for a bioweapon called the Heliogene Device. Based on the schematics, it appeared to be a bomb made from a type of bioenergy, and Coney realized that it was likely what the animal experiments had been for. Gen concluded that Hazard's scheme was to sell dangerous weapons to the warmongers of the galaxy. Coney told them that the good news was that they knew why Hazard had picked Savage Terminal, as according to Report X-9, the weapon parts needed were scattered all over Savage Terminal, with the report showing exactly where they could find each part, meaning that they had a chance to prevent the Heliogene Device from being built if they could get the parts first. Cadena asked why they had to stop it in the first place, as she assumed that Hazard would leave after he finished building it, and so Coney explained that creating the Heliogene Device would destroy Savage Terminal., as when the device was detonated, it would release a powerful, poisonous gas, similar to the poison gas released by the reagent lifeforms, but on a much stronger level. Gen realized that Mr. Hazard had been planning to destroy them all along, and that the competing Shadowdealer crew was just a ruse to cover the bigger operation. They decided to gather their team and invade Mr. Hazard's hideout with full force while Cadena gathered the remaining weapon parts to use as proof of Hazard's atrocities.

Coney told her that the weapon parts were located at the Shaded Dump Site, Stray Dog Alley, and the Pawnshop. Cadena obtained the first two easily and headed towards Brigand's Row. At the Pawnshop, neither Antuin nor Anzu were there, and unlike the first two sites, she was unable to find the part easily. She began searching around the safe, where she found some sort of blueprint and a family photo. In the garbage bin, she found a pile of half-written notes from Anzu, thanking Cadena for fixing the safe. On the floor, she found crack marks, indicating that there had been a fight. Still unable to find the part after searching, she decided to radio Coney.

Before she could, however, Coney radioed her first and explained that he had discovered that the last piece of the weapon was actually a living person. He told her that the crew was preparing to invade Mr. Hazard's hideout and asked if Antuin and Anzu were at the Pawnshop, as he was worried about the report mentioning their shop specifically. Cadena had a bad feeling and decided to return to the hideout, which she found empty. Just then, the radio buzzed and she picked it up, expecting it to be Coney, but she was surprised to find that it was one of Hazard's lackeys, who explained that they had captured Coney and the rest of the crew. He told her that the rest of her branch was going to be killed for betraying Hazard, but added that she could still survive if she brought them the weapon parts. Cadena immediately rushed to the Brawl ‘n' Bash Club. As she prepared to fight her way through, Gen and the Papyrus Brothers arrived to back her up, having defeated their captors. Gen told her to sneak through the back in order to stop Hazard while they covered her. Just then, the Popoh bird which she had freed appeared and led her through a secret entrance to Hazard's lair.

Confronting Hazard

Cadena fought her way through the guards and rescued Coney, who was tied up at the entrance of Mr. Hazard's lair. Coney thanked her for rescuing him and ran back to support the rest of the crew fighting Hazard's cronies. Cadena thanked the Popoh bird and warned it to escape before the situation grew dangerous. She then entered Hazard's lair, where she found Antuin and Anzu hooked up to the Heliogene Device. Antuin asked whether she had come to rescue them, but Cadena replied that her only objective was to take down Mr. Hazard. Antuin begged her to at least save his grandson before Hazard's cronies returned. He told Cadena that the machine drained one's life force, but Anzu was just a boy who had many more years of living yet to do. Just then, Mr. Hazard arrived and demanded that Cadena hand over the rest of the parts. When Cadena refused, Hazard put on a gas mask and told her that he would simply take them by force. He then turned up the Life Force Conductor to drain Antuin and Anzu's lifeforce faster and laughed that once the battery was fully charged, the weapon would be ready and he would be rich. He then suddenly grew much larger, with his arms bearing Specter markings, and began to fight Cadena.

After a vicious battle, Cadena was able to defeat him. She demanded that he leave Savage Terminal immediately, but Hazard merely scoffed at her thinking that he had been defeated. He then activated the toxic gas emitters to paralyze her, and as she fell, her emblem of the Nova royal family fell out of her pocket. Mr. Hazard was amused to learn that Cadena was a member of the Nova royal family and told her that the High Flora would love to hear the news that there was still a survivor. He attempted to blackmail her by promising to keep the news to himself if she were to give him the weapon parts, but to his surprise, Cadena merely laughed and got up, explaining that he didn't understand what he had just done. Rather than finding something to hold over her, he had ensured that she would go to any lengths to stop him from telling anyone her secret. She then damaged the Heliogene Device, causing a large explosion that freed Antuin and Anzu. Together, they escaped, with Cadena leaving Mr. Hazard for the Shadowdealer High Council to deal with.

Encounter with Magnus

In the aftermath of the battle, Hazard's treachery was laid bare to the Council. Though no one knew what happened to him afterwards, his reign of terror over Savage Terminal was finally over. After the incident, some fled the moon in fear. However, Cadena knew that others would replace them in time. In Hazard's absence, Gen had found himself at the top of a large and lucrative trade empire, although most of the money had gone into repairing the hideout and paying for his crew's medical bills. Meanwhile, the people of Savage Terminal had given Cadena the title “Hero of Justice“, much to her annoyance. Some time later, Cadena went to the Pawnshop on a mission to deliver a package to Antuin and Anzu. Anzu thanked her for rescuing him and asked her to teach him how to use chains once he had recovered, to which Cadena reminded him that he owed her for saving him, plus interest. Cadena then gave Antuin the package that she had been sent to deliver and returned back to the hideout. There, Gen gave her the details of her next mission. He explained that Mr. Hazard had been dealing with many partners that the Shadowdealers didn't approve of. The High Flora, in particular, were rumored to be some of his best customers, to whom he had given Vision Bomb tech. He told Cadena that she was to break into Hazard's old office and get his papers to confirm the rumors of his clients. He then introduced a special new recruit with whom Cadena would be completing the mission, which turned out to be the Popoh bird.

After clearing out the remaining guards, she entered Hazard's office and found a blank piece of purple paper hidden away. Upon examining it, she realized that the purple color was saturated over the words, making it difficult to remove. She radioed Coney, who suspected that the color had come from the poison gas and suggested using the Poison Remover that Hazard's cronies were carrying. Using the remover, Cadena discovered that the page revealed the identities of Hazard's secret trading partners, along with a log of when and where he had met them. She returned to Gen, who was pleased by her success and told her that the Shadowdealer High Council was impressed by her actions, meaning that she ought to expect bigger and more dangerous missions in the future. He also told her that she would be taking over managing one of Mr. Hazard's contacts and referred her to the Papyrus Brothers for more information. The Papyrus Brothers assigned her a trade in East Pantheon and gave her the shipment to deliver, instructing her to pick up the payment that she would find there. On the day of the trade, she made her way to the trade site and found a large pouch of payment. Just as she placed the shipment on the ground, she began feeling as though she was being watched. Suddenly, the ground began to quake and dozens of Specters appeared. Cadena fought off droves of them, but there seemed to be no end. Just then, Magnus appeared and asked her why she was attacking his minions when he had come to trade. Cadena immediately recognized him as the man from her nightmares, the same one who had destroyed her life decades ago. She immediately charged at him, but Magnus easily defeated her, knocking her unconscious.

A New World

Cadena woke up at the hideout, where she found Gen tending to her wounds. He explained that he had followed her after hearing about her trade at Pantheon. He berated her for acting foolishly and told her that it was only through luck that he had been able to get her out safely. However, he suspected that Magnus may have figured out her true identity and advised her to leave Grandis for some time, as it would be safer for her not to be around any potential spies in the hideout. He also added that she had outgrown the Shadowdealers, and that training on her own was the best way for her to grow stronger, especially in a new world where she had no reason to hold back or fear getting noticed. Cadena was surprised by Gen's words and told him that she needed time to think about it. After some reflection, she realized that Gen was right, as being defeated by Magnus so easily, even after she had made so much progress, had made her realize that she still had a long way to go. She then felt a throbbing ache on her shoulder and wondered briefly whether Magnus had done it, though she quickly remembered that it was an old pain from her cutting her wings, horns, and tail off. The pain helped her remember the oath that she had made to herself to get stronger, with her self-inflicted injuries serving as a permanent reminder of her commitment.

After telling Gen that she would follow his advice, he directed her to the Great Temple at Pantheon, where she was to go through the Interdimensional Portal. He told her that the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers would be in touch soon in order to help her out. Soon after, a Shadowdealer named Romero radioed her and explained that he had made all the necessary arrangements for her passage to the Great Temple. She traveled to Pantheon and entered the Great Temple, where she met Fenelle. Fenelle felt as though Cadena seemed familiar and asked if they had met before. Cadena remembered that the priests would sometimes visit the castle and wondered if Fenelle recognized her from then.

However, Fenelle then said that she must have confused Cadena for someone else. She told Cadena that the Shadowdealers had vouched for her strength, but that she wished to test Cadena's strength, since they didn't know what dangers awaited them in the new world. She then asked Cadena to see Beldar and Cartalion, who would each conduct a test of strength. After passing Beldar's test to collect Onyx Stonegar Magic Stones and Cartalion's test to defeat Gravi Stonegars, Cadena received permission to use the Interdimensional Portal. Before Fenelle could show her how to use the portal, Cadena felt a sudden rush of homesickness and ran back to Savage Terminal to say goodbye to Gen. Though he made fun of Cadena for her sentimentality, Gen told her to take care while in the new world and explained that he would tell the other Shadowdealers that he had sent her on a special mission in order to cover up her absence. With that, she returned to the Great Temple, where Fenelle instructed her on how to use the portal. She also mentioned that Cadena could use the Interdimensional Portal in the Six Path Crossway to return. With that, Cadena began her journey in Maple World.

Third Job Advancement

During her travels, she honed much more of her power and eventually returned to Gen, who taught her the last of everything that he knew, after which he warned her that she would soon need to create new skills for herself if she wanted to become truly strong.

Fourth Job Advancement

Cadena eventually heeded Gen's words and successfully created her own skills to use in battle, allowing her to surpass her teacher.

Temple of Time

While exploring the Temple of Time, Cadena's memories were drained by Dodo. After being told by the Memory Keeper to return to where her adventure began, Cadena used her radio to contact Gen, who asked her why she had reached out to him, as she was supposed to be busy training in Maple World. Cadena noted that after meeting him, her whole life had become drastically different, as though she had been reborn. She told Gen that he had saved her and had helped her with her training, and had even accepted her as a member of the Shadowdealers. Gen joked that her time away had made her sentimental and explained that when the Nova General had brought her to their hideout, they hadn't even been sure that she would survive her injuries. He added that the powerful medicine that they had given to her had been meant to help her sleep and eat, though it had also caused her to sleep for a long time. When she had awoken, they had discovered that she had sustained more than just her physical injuries, as she would fly into a rage at the slightest provocation. Gen added that it was all that they could do to keep her calm, to which Cadena pointed out that she had come a long way since then. Gen agreed and told her that he hoped that it meant that she would be willing to help them in the future, though he would say goodbye for now. Before ending the call, he told her that he'd be waiting if she ever wanted to come back.

Final Quest

Through her vigorous training, Cadena felt her power getting stronger. However, she still felt as though there were powers still inside her that were yet to be unlocked. By concentrating on her past experiences, new power flooded into her body as she felt herself grow stronger through those experiences.

Fifth Job Advancement

Upon entering the Erda Flow and meeting with the Goddess of Maple World, the Goddess asks the player what it is that they cherish most in the world. Cadena gets to choose between her old memories of her castle and her family or her fellow Shadowdealers.

Upon entering the Erda Flow and meeting with the Goddess of Grandis, the Goddess greets her and notes that though she had been born to royalty, she has chosen a darker path, adding that she knew that Cadena would come to her seeking more power.

Sixth Job Advancement

After the player frees the Goddess of Grandis, the Goddess will recognize Cadena and greet her by name.

Meeting Ark

After escaping Verdel, Ark decided to explore Savage Terminal in order to learn more information about Grandis in order to help him recover his memories. In the Black Market, he found Market Hoodlums attacking Coney. Ark intervened and fought off the Hoodlums. As thanks for helping him, Coney began to explain the situation with the High Flora and the appearance of the Interdimensional Portal. Just then, Cadena arrived and confronted Ark about attacking Coney. Coney clarified that Ark had actually saved him, but Cadena still looked at Ark suspiciously and took Coney back to their hideout.

Information Broker Bureau

While reading through several documents about Grandis, Hoyoung read a document compiled by Cadena, under the alias of Brawler C, which contained details on Maple World, as well as rumors that the Black Mage would soon break free of his seal.

Meeting Kain

Kain arrived in Savage Terminal while following Amos' directions to meet Coney. He soon encountered a group of Market Hoodlums holding Coney hostage, having learned that Kain would be arriving from Amos' letter to Coney, which they had intercepted. Kain managed to defeat all the Hoodlums, just as Cadena arrived to rescue Coney. Kain immediately felt a strange sense of kinship with Cadena when he saw her. Cadena then took him to the Shadowdealers' hideout and introduced him to Gen.

Meeting Adele

While searching for her lost memories, Adele was contacted by her allies, Brook and Laddie, who told her that they had recovered an old banner of the God-King she once served. Adele went to Savage Terminal to pick it up, where she encountered Cadena and Coney. Recognizing her as a High Flora, Cadena refused to deal with Adele and left Coney to complete the transaction himself.

Meeting Lara

Lara arrived in Savage Terminal and met with Coney, who introduced her to Cadena. When Lara presented a letter of introduction, Cadena grew furious and used her chain to tear it up, telling Coney that the letter was a contract with Mr. Hazard. Suddenly Gen arrived and diffused the situation. After Cadena stormed off, Gen apologized for her behavior and explained what had happened with Hazard and the Heliogene Device.

Heliseum Reclamation HQ (Post-Remaster)

Note: The Heliseum Reclamation HQ storyline was remastered under the KMS story team's new continuity in the KMS Fall 2023 Update.

Pushing Forward

Cadena received a message from Gen asking her to meet in the Back Alley. There, he told her of an opportunity to settle her grudge with Magnus and explained that the Nova were planning to launch an attack on Heliseum. After she expressed her interest, Gen told her that he would contact the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers and gave her a D-03 Transmitter. He told her to speak with Beldar in Pantheon and reminded her, above all, to never reveal her true identity. In Pantheon, Beldar told her to meet with Tiron at the Transitional Dimensional Door, where he would guide her to the commanders. Upon hearing Beldar's words, Cadena noted to herself that the rumors that Gen had told her about were true, and that with the chance to retake Heliseum being real, her heart was feeling heavy all over again.

Cadena traveled to the dimensional door to Heliseum, where she found Tiron crying, though she impatiently told him to stop and explain clearly what had happened. Tiron explained that Specters had just attacked HQ, and that Edea and Piston had rushed in to rescue the soldiers cut off from the others. Though he had faith that Edea and Piston would be safe, he told Cadena that he was worried that the operation was taking much longer than usual, with the number of soldiers holding the barricade growing smaller. Cadena, eagerly noting to herself that it was time for her to step up, immediately rushed into the battle, where she encountered Edea and Piston holding the line.

After they retook HQ from the Specters, Edea thanked Cadena for her help, noting that her battle prowess was incredible. She then wondered Cadena was the Hero of Justice that Beldar had talked about, though she then noticed that Cadena didn't seem to be a Nova because of her lack of horns, wings, or tail. Nevertheless, Edea asked Cadena whether they had met before. Cadena recalled how she had often met Edea as a princess, though she decided not to mention it and instead pretended not to know her. Though Edea wondered aloud for a moment, she then noted that there was no way that the person whom she had been thinking of could still be alive. Edea then explained that the Specters had been attacking quite frequently, though the most recent attack had caught them off-guard with the sheer size and scale of the surprise operation, which made her believe that it was due to a lack of intel on their part. As HQ was lacking in many other things, Edea explained that their first priority was to reestablish their operations before continuing the fight.

Piston told Cadena that the Specter Battle Hounds had played a major role in sniffing out HQ, for which he asked her to defeat the monsters. After defeating the Specter Battle Hounds, Cadena returned to Piston, who told her that her efforts had helped free the supply lines. However, in order to open them up further, he asked her to defeat the Specter Shieldbearers in the Forest of Choices. With the Forest of Choices opened up, Edea asked her to check with the quartermaster, Harpoon, about their supply problem. Outside the tent, Cadena met Harpoon, who introduced himself and his twin brother, Maroon. Harpoon explained that he and Maroon had chopped off their horns on different sides in order to help people tell them apart. Harpoon then asked her to collect Dinogoth Tails in order to restock their rations. After collecting the meat, Cadena returned back to Harpoon, who thanked her and explained that their next focus was to obtain armor. When Harpoon began to wonder where they could obtain wood from, Cadena suggested taking it from the Specter Shieldbearers.

After Cadena obtained the shields, Harpoon thanked her and explained that Edea was looking for her. Back at HQ, Edea told her that with their supply lines and rations secured, she hoped to focus on strengthening the soldiers. She explained that though their soldiers had been trained in Pantheon, none of them had ever faced someone as strong as Cadena, and so Edea asked her to spar with the soldiers in order to help them grow stronger. After Cadena agreed, Piston led her to the training field, where he introduced her to the soldiers and explained that they were a warrior from another world who had come to help them. He then asked her to demonstrate her skills by sparring with the soldiers. After the sparring session, Edea thanked Cadena for her help, noting that it would go a long way in making the soldiers ready to retake Heliseum. Soon after, Edea told Cadena that many of the soldiers had unexpectedly asked to spar with her again, as they had been invigorated by her skills and passion. Cadena agreed to another round and fought the soldiers once more. After the battle, Edea told her that in addition to training the soldiers, they would need to obtain stronger weapons for the battle.

Meeting Eurenth

She revealed that the Nova had a powerful weapon called the Blue Dragon Cannon, which was capable of breaking down a city wall in a single blow, though most of it had been lost years ago during the first battle against Magnus. However, she explained that Eurenth, once known as the Great Sage of the Nova, knew how to restore the weapon. Edea asked Cadena to speak with Eurenth, though she warned her that he was rather eccentric, for despite once being a great sage, he was now a recluse who never left his hut in the Forbidden Forest. Cadena was also warned not to mention Edea's name to him. Cadena traveled through the Forbidden Forest and arrived at Eurenth's hut, where Eurenth noted that though she looked like a member of a different race, her aura felt far too familiar. After noting her arrogant features, he realized that he had seen her somewhere before. Cadena noted to herself that she had seen Eurenth a long time ago, and that she didn't have much to say to him. She also noted to herself that there was no way that he would recognize her as a Nova without her features, and that he would simply find her strangely familiar without realizing her true identity, just like everyone else who had known her in the past. To her surprise, however, Eurenth recognized Cadena from when they had seen each other at the royal palace, to which Cadena played dumb and ordered him to help her restore the Blue Dragon Cannon.

Eurenth explained that though he did know how to restore the cannon, he couldn't share that information with just anyone. In order to test her, he asked her to obtain the tears of Popo, his pet Kaloong, who was a special monster capable of talking. He explained that Popo only cried for people that it liked, though he hadn't been able to get Popo to cry for him in years. He told Cadena that if she could get Popo to cry for her, it would mean that she was truly a special person worthy of the knowledge. Cadena spoke with Popo and learned that though Eurenth considered it a pet, he never actually fed it. Popo revealed that the Yellow Speeyor monsters had stolen its jewel, and so it asked Cadena to recover the jewel in exchange for its tears.

Cadena recovered the jewel and brought it back to Popo, who ate it and revealed that it was actually candy. For her help, Popo gave Cadena a bottle of its tears. Popo then revealed that the reason why Eurenth lived alone in the woods was because the Nova had ignored his counsel, which had resulted in Magnus taking over the capital. Since then, Popo had refused to shed its tears for Eurenth, as it wanted him to change his mind and continue helping his people. Popo explained that it hoped that Eurenth would reconcile with his disciple, as it didn't want to see him stuck in a rut anymore. Cadena then brought Popo's tears to Eurenth, who was surprised that she had been able to obtain them. He then presented his documents on the Blue Dragon Cannon and revealed that though he had initially planned to withhold them until the Heliseum Council would beg him for it, he would nevertheless give them to her, just as he had promised. However, he then added that he supposed that he was merely returning them back to his original owner. Cadena retorted that she didn't know what he was talking about, to which Eurenth replied that perhaps he was merely an old man rambling without making any sense. He then told Cadena to hurry and give the documents to Edea. A surprised Cadena asked how Eurenth had known that Edea had sent her, to which Eurenth told her that only his former disciple would know to send her to him.

The Shadowdealers

Cadena then returned back to HQ and gave the documents to Edea, who revealed that though she had once been Eurenth's disciple, she had stopped considering him her teacher after he had gone into exile. After looking through the documents, Edea realized that the cannon, which converted willpower into energy, would be difficult to restore with the lack of supplies at headquarters. She explained that the amplification device couldn't be built with their current resources, as the required materials would need to be obtained outside Pantheon. As the Nova had cut off all trade routes with external merchants after the fall of Heliseum, Edea realized that only way to obtain the materials without establishing a new trade route would be to work with the Shadowdealers. She explained that the Shadowdealers were black market merchants who worked in the shadows. However, she revealed that the scale of their operations was huge, as they had even handed the secret of creating Vision Bombs to the High Flora. Though the Shadowdealers weren't directly allied with the High Flora – only siding with the highest bidder – Edea told Cadena that she had wanted to avoid dealing with them unless it was absolutely necessary, despite the fact that they had reached out to the Nova several times in the past. She then gave Cadena a Heliseum Communicator and told her to work with the Shadowdealers to obtain the amplification device for the Blue Dragon Cannon. Cadena noted to herself that Edea's idea wasn't a bad one, as the Shadowdealers would never betray a source of good money, and that they would definitely help. She then wondered to herself who the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers were.

At the meet-up spot, Cadena contacted a Shadowdealer named Tonero, who recognized the signal as Edea's and noted his surprise that she had finally reached out to him. After Cadena clarified that she had been sent on behalf of Edea, Tonero traveled to the meet-up spot personally and met with her, recognizing her from the stories about her. Upon learning that she wanted an amplification device, Tonero agreed to help her in exchange for Specter Cores. After Cadena obtained the cores, Tonero was impressed with how quickly she had returned and noted that she was quite powerful. He also noted that the situation with the Nova seemed to have changed as well, and upon learning that the Nova were planning to retake Heliseum with the help of the Alliance, he told Cadena that he believed that the Nova had a high chance of victory. He then revealed that he hoped to establish trade with the Nova, as they were major race cut off from the outside world, which meant that there would be no other competition. He added that he would always have an ample amount of trade opportunity whether the Nova prolonged the war or retook Heliseum, as they would need military materials during the battle and resources to maintain the capital.

He explained that he had been hesitant to support the Nova initially, for it would be impossible for them to defeat Gerand Darmoor, even if they were to defeat Magnus. However, with the support of allies from outside Grandis, he noted that there was a chance for victory. He then gave the amplification device to Cadena and told her to give it to Edea as a show of trust that their transactions were trustworthy. Cadena brought the device to Edea and told her what Tonero had said. Edea explained that she had been worried about the Shadowdealers taking advantage of their war, for which she decided to speak with the Heliseum Council in order to decide their next move in regard to an alliance with the Shadowdealers.

Taking Downtown Heliseum

After the completion of the Blue Dragon Cannon, Cadena noted to herself that though the weapon had been completed, there hadn’t been any contact from headquarters yet. Because of this, she resolved to make the weapon her own and met with Coney at the Back Alley. There, she gave him the schematics for the Blue Dragon Cannon and asked him to make some special modifications to it so that she could add it to her arsenal. Soon after, Edea informed Cadena that all the necessary preparations had been made for launching the weapon. However, she explained that though the weapon had immense power, the true operation would begin after launch. Kaiser then activated the Blue Dragon Cannon, after which the Nova and the Alliance fought to drive back the remainder of enemies. With Piston's guidance, Cadena continued driving the Specter army into the valley near the outskirts of Heliseum, where Edea unleashed a massive wave of lightning to destroy them all at once. With Magnus' forces in shambles, the Nova were able to push forward and establish a new base camp in Downtown Heliseum. Edea and Piston then told Cadena that before they could push forward to retake Tyrant's Castle, they would first need to properly setup their new base in the black-market district. Cadena began working with Tiron to defeat the Specters near the base.

As Cadena defeated the Guerrilla Specters, Tiron was amazed by how many Specters had been deployed by Darmoor, causing him to wonder whether the Specters were all made somewhere. As Cadena moved to the next area, she found scribbles on the wall that spelled out “leaving home”. They then fought off the clearing out the Specter Engineers, with Tiron noting that there were no Nova living in Heliseum, as the entire capital was filled with nothing but Specters. He speculated that the Nova who had been unable to flee to Pantheon had already been killed long ago. On the way to the next area, Cadena found another scribble of two dragons, an adult and a child, with the words “where the moon and stars dance”. Finally, they reached the last area and fought off the Power Specters. As they did, Tiron pointed out that Magnus had filled the entire city with low-intelligence Specters who had no leader directing them, which made him believe that Magnus was shut inside the castle for some unknown reason. There, Cadena also found a doodle of someone wearing a crown and a small, happy dragon, with the words “sleep with a smile” written on it.

After Tiron left, Cadena suddenly recalled the location hinted by the drawings and headed to a secret tunnel that she had discovered as a little girl, which she would retreat into whenever she got in trouble. She wondered why the drawings still remained and felt as though someone had wanted her to find them. Inside the secret tunnel, she found a box filled with old memorabilia, such as a slingshot, a wooden sword, a bouquet, and a letter. She recalled how she had gotten the bouquet and written the letter to her mother as a surprise, which she remembered had been the day before Magnus had sacked Heliseum. As the scent of the flower filled her nose, she turned away, reminding herself of her oath to never look back. After leaving, Cadena returned back to Edea, who told her that based on Tiron's investigation, she could conclude that the reason why Magnus had left Heliseum overrun with Specters was because he had no interest in the city itself, as his true goal was the Outrigger, which she explained was a holy relic that the Ancient Gods of the Nova had left behind to protect their people.

Guardians of Heliseum

She then told Cadena that their next mission was to scout out Tyrant's Castle in order to confirm that Magnus was inside. She asked her to check the castle, though she noted to Cadena that she would likely be unable to enter the throne room due to a barrier. However, she warned her not to enter if she found herself able to enter, as Magnus and his defenses were too dangerous for her to handle alone without preparation. Cadena infiltrated Tyrant's Castle and arrived at the throne room, which she found to be locked. She reported back to Edea, who realized that the locked door meant that the three Guardians of Heliseum were still active. She explained that the three Guardians were responsible for keeping the keys to the throne room, and that Magnus had swayed two of the three Guardians to his side when Heliseum had fallen, which was how he had been able to take the castle so easily. In order to take the keys from the Guardians, Edea devised a plan and asked Cadena to defeat the Purple Reagent Rocks and Red Reagent Rocks in the eastern part of the castle. After Cadena defeated them, she reported back to Edea, who revealed that Treglow, the eastern Guardian, had created the creatures long ago, and that they still appeared to be active. She then asked Cadena to investigate the basement, which she found to be locked with a chemical seal. Edea explained that Treglow would often lock his laboratory in order to block out distractions, though she had several books which he had lent to her, which outlined the creation of his chemical seal.

After looking through the books, Edea told Cadena to obtain Purple Reagent and Red Reagent in a 3:2 ratio, which would break the chemical seal. Cadena used the reagents in order to melt through the seal before reporting back to Edea. Edea explained that Treglow had been a genius scientist adept in various fields, though chemistry had been his greatest. Despite being celebrated by the Nova, his thirst for achievement had been insatiable, which Magnus had taken advantage of by sending spies to support his research for a long time, procuring books and materials from the High Flora that were difficult to obtain. Eventually, Magnus had given Treglow a cursed reagent several days before the fall of Heliseum, which he had claimed was extremely useful. Because of the cursed reagent, Treglow had lost his mind, resulting in him obeying Magnus' orders blindly in his madness. Cadena then entered Treglow's lab and defeated him, taking his key in the process. With Treglow's key, Cadena returned back to Edea, who noted that though she couldn't sympathize with Treglow, she was relived that her old colleague's suffering had been put to an end. She then told Cadena that though she was surprised that Treglow had been alive, she was certain that the western Guardian, Victor, was dead. However, she told Cadena to check his workshop in order to see whether his creatures were still there, which would prove that he was actually alive.

In Victor's workshop, Cadena defeated the Red Totem Staffs and Blue Totem Staffs before reporting back to Edea, who was shocked that Victor was still creating minions, despite his death. She asked Cadena to check Victor's workshop to see what condition he was in, as she was curious to know how he had seemingly survived. Cadena peeked through the door and saw that Victor was nowhere in sight. She reported back to Edea, who asked her to obtain the key. Inside, however, Cadena encountered a magical canvas that began attacking them. After she defeated the creature, Cadena obtained Victor's key and his diary. She gave the diary to Edea, who read through it and learned that long ago, Victor's fiancée had passed away after falling ill, leaving Victor so heartbroken that he refused to see anyone else, only painting pictures obsessively. Soon enough, an anonymous sender had given Victor a magical canvas said to bring anything painted upon it to reality. Victor had earnestly drawn his fiancée, though the canvas continued creating only dolls of her. Over time, Victor had felt his soul being bound to the canvas as he compulsively kept drawing upon it. Edea explained that the diary ended with Victor declaring that he would end his pain by taking his own life. She told Cadena that she felt rather shaken to know the fates of her fellow Guardians, and that the magical canvas which they had fought must have been Victor, with his soul trapped inside it. Nevertheless, she took Victor and Treglow's keys and began combining them with her own.

Facing Velderoth

Just then, however, a Nova soldier arrived and reported that Piston had been seriously injured. At the infirmary, Edea and Cadena met with Piston, who explained that Velderoth had attacked them, and that he had become a new Guardian of Heliseum, replacing Edea. Soon after, Velderoth led Kaiser into a trap to draw him away while attacking Downtown Heliseum. Edea then realized that the Specters would be launching another attack while Kaiser was drawn away, and so she ordered Tiron to locate the Specter army so that the Nova could attack first, which she believed would deal a huge blow to Magnus. Together, the Nova and Cadena successfully launched a counterattack that wiped out the remaining Specters.

With little resistance left, Edea hoped to launch the final attack on Tyrant's Castle. However, she first asked Cadena to defeat Velderoth, who was a formidable opponent as the third Guardian of Heliseum. Cadena fought her way into Velderoth's chambers, where Velderoth was shocked to find that the Nova had come for him. He began wondering whether he had been wrong to leave, though he quickly regained his resolve and noted that he would have stayed nothing if he had chosen to stay in Pantheon. He told himself that all he needed to do was win, so that Magnus could soon arrive and turn the whole situation around. However, he was quickly defeated by Cadena, forcing him to retreat.

Defeating Magnus

Cadena then reported back to Edea, who noted that while Velderoth may remain a thorn in their side, his injuries meant that he would be out of the picture for some time. She then explained that she had combined the keys and unlocked the throne room. She warned Angelic Buster that Magnus would likely be trying to absorb the power of the Outrigger, though the fact that his door had remained locked likely meant that he was encountering trouble. As Magnus taking its power would spell disaster, Edea asked her to stop him while the Nova held off the Specters. Cadena noted to herself that the moment that she had hoped for was finally here. She then realized that though she had thought that she would be excited, her heart still felt cold, which she wondered was because it didn't feel real yet. Nevertheless, she noted that she would finally know what it would feel like to break Magnus’ neck and rip his heart out, vowing that she would kill him.

Cadena arrived in the throne room, where she found Magnus attempting to absorb the power of the Outrigger. However, Magnus was quickly pushed back by the relic, causing him to seethe in fury that he had failed once again. He then cursed the Ancient Gods of the Nova and demanded to know why they continued to reject him, despite having taken the Nova throne. He then wondered whether they were rejecting him because he had betrayed the Nova, sighing to himself that he should have found a way to take the sacred stones of the Nova and transfer the rest of the Outrigger's power into them. Nevertheless, he declared that he would never give up, and that the Ancient Gods' power would be his. He then declared that he would kill every single Nova in the world, even if it meant that he would be the only one left.

Just then, Cadena confronted Magnus and vowed to stop him. Magnus was surprised to see Angelic Buster, whom he didn't recognize from their last confrontation, to which Cadena replied that they had finally gotten the chance to meet. Magnus vaguely recognized her face and realized that she looked similar to the royal family, surprised at her survival, as he had believed that they had all been killed. Cadena retorted that he was right, and that every last member of the royal family was dead, with the person standing before him - Cadena of the Shadowdealers - being just one of many people who wanted to kill him. She then declared that there was no need to tell him any more, as he was going to die anyway.

Magnus and Cadena then fought in a fierce battle, during which, Magnus lost control of Guwaru's power, allowing it to flow back into him on Maple World. After Cadena emerged victorious, Magnus expressed his shock that he had lost, claiming that it couldn't be over yet when he still had work to finish. Suddenly, a large, mysterious vortex appeared and sucked in both Magnus and the Outrigger, causing them to disappear from the throne room. A shocked Cadena returned back to Edea and told her everything that had happened. Following the battle against Magnus, Cadena tearfully left flowers on the throne for her family, telling herself that even if her family were to somehow come back, things would never be the same, and that she would never be who she was before. She then resolved to stay on the path that she had committed herself to, hoping that she might one day make sense of why she was the only one who had survived. Though Edea was surprised to learn of Magnus' fate, she nevertheless thanked Cadena profusely for helping them retake Heliseum, explaining that she had never thought that she would see the day that the Nova would regain their capital.

Nova Alliance

As part of the celebration, the Nova arranged for a festival headlined by Cadena, who agreed to put on a performance for both the Nova and the people of Maple World. After the concert, however, Edea met with Cadena and noted that despite her early happiness, there was still a lot of work to do, as Magnus was still alive, the Outrigger was missing, and Heliseum was barely up and running. She also noted that their true enemy, Gerand Darmoor, had remained completely absent throughout the conflict, which made her wonder whether their struggle to retake a single city was beneath his notice as the ruler of all of Grandis. However, she explained that it was possible that the Nova would fight him one day, and that the people of Maple World may be involved in that battle as well. She told Cadena that though his goals remained unknown, it was possible that for someone who already ruled Grandis, it was possible that he would covet to rule another world. In order to prepare for the coming fight, Edea decided that the Nova would officially join the Maple Alliance, for which she traveled to Ereve in order to finalize the details. There, she spoke with the Alliance leaders, who were pleased with having new allies. Though Claudine was wary about committing to a fight against another enemy when the threat of the Black Mage still remained, Edea noted that she had learned that their two worlds were connected, and that the enemies of one world were the enemies of the other. Cygnus welcomed Edea and hoped that their alliance would make them all stronger.

Reunion with Ark

After helping retake Heliseum Downtown, Ark met with Cadena and introduced himself, reminding her that they had met before in Savage Terminal. He explained his situation to her, and though she still didn't fully trust him, she acknowledged that his actions to help the Heliseum Reclamation HQ, as well as having saved Coney during their first encounter, was enough to make her believe that at the very least, he wasn't a follower of Magnus. As they talked, Cadena told him about how Mr. Hazard had nearly destroyed Savage Terminal while making a weapon for Magnus.

Heliseum Reclamation HQ (Pre-Remaster)

Pushing Forward

Cadena received a message from Gen asking her to meet in the Back Alley. There, he told her of an opportunity to settle her grudge with Magnus and explained that the Nova were planning to launch an attack on Heliseum. After she expressed her interest, Gen told her that he would contact the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers and gave her a D-03 Transmitter. He told her to speak with Beldar in Pantheon and reminded her, above all, to never reveal her true identity. In Pantheon, Beldar told her to meet with Tiron at the Transitional Dimensional Door, where he would guide her to the commanders. There, Tiron told her that Specters had attacked the base, and that Edea and Piston were trapped inside. Cadena fought through the Specter forces and reached Edea and Piston.

Edea was impressed by her unorthodox tactics, but wondered about Cadena, since she didn't seem like a Nova. Cadena explained that her story was complex, but she added that she was committed to taking down Magnus. Edea welcomed her to the land of dragons and asked for her help in aiding the Heliseum Reclamation HQ. Piston first asked her to defeat the Specter Battle Hounds, which had largely been responsible for finding their base. Next, Edea asked her to attack the Specter Shieldbearers in order to secure their supply routes. With their front lines stabilized, Edea asked her to help Harpoon get supplies. Harpoon asked her to obtain Dinogoth Shoulder Meat for the soldiers. To help get strong wood for armor, Cadena suggested that they obtain some from the Specter Shieldbearers. Next, Harpoon told her that the supply route was too far away, and that the enemy camp was slowing them down. Cadena offered to destroy the enemy camp in order to open up their supply lines. With the enemy forced to retreat, Harpoon told Cadena that they would be able to open up a new supply route.

The Blue Dragon Cannon

Piston congratulated her on her work and explained that they were planning to use the Blue Dragon Cannon in order to attack the Specters. He told her that they had reached a setback while constructing it and asked her to help Cartalion, as he knew that Cadena was experienced with weapons. Cartalion and Beldar asked her to collect Animal Oil from the Red Speeyors in order to help the weapon run. After she brought the oil, Beldar told her that the ancient schematics were too faint to read, and so they weren't sure of what to do in order to finish construction. Unsure herself of what to do, Cadena decided to call the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers, as Gen had told her to contact them if she ran into trouble. At the Secret Merchant Meet-Up spot, she used the D-03 Transmitter to contact Romero, who arrived and gave her the updated schematics. When Cadena asked about payment, Romero explained that the Heliseum branch had an understanding with Gen, who had saved them a while back. She brought the schematics back to Beldar, who excitedly showed it to Cartalion. With the new schematics, they were able to finish constructing the Blue Dragon Cannon. While construction on the weapon was happening, Cadena contacted Coney and asked him to meet her at the Back Alley so that he could help her add the Blue Dragon Cannon to her arsenal. Coney took the schematics and set to work on adding the extra modifications which Cadena had asked for.

Meeting Eurenth

At the Heliseum Reclamation HQ, Edea told Cadena that the Blue Dragon Cannon had been largely successful in helping them with their counterattack. With their next move being retaking the city center, she asked Cadena to gather intelligence for their next move. She asked Cadena to speak with Eurenth and learn what he knew about the region. At Eurenth's hut, Eurenth found Cadena to be familiar, but he nevertheless told her to leave him alone. Even after being threatened, Eurenth refused to speak, and so Cadena decided to call the Shadowdealers. Tonero met her at the meet-up spot and told her that Eurenth may speak to her if she gave him a gift. Cadena gathered Yellow Speeyor Fur Coats and brought them to Eurenth, who simply took the gift and fell asleep. Frustrated, Cadena returned to Tonero, who suggested that she gather Dinodon Ribs for Eurenth's pet, Popo. Cadena gathered the ribs and brought them to Eurenth, who ate them all himself without sharing them with her or Popo. Cadena once again returned to Tonero, who decided to pull his failsafe - a limited edition, hand-stamped figurine of Angelic Buster, though Tonero secretly told her that the hand-stamp was from a Yellow Speeyor, making it a counterfeit. After she brought it to Eurenth, the sage began scribbling like a madman and quickly gave her the letter to give to Edea in exchange for the figurine.

Royal Passageway

With Eurenth's intelligence, Edea was able to devise a plan to draw the Specters to one spot, where she would finish them off with a single blow. While Kaiser drew the enemy out and Angelic Buster provided rear support, Edea tasked Cadena with disrupting the enemy's communications with explosives. However, she explained that the enemy used explosive signals to quickly dispatch orders, which was why there were explosives piled up throughout Heliseum's forests. Edea wanted to take advantage of those explosives, but since they were spaced too far apart, there was no way to detonate them all at once without alerting the enemy. However, Cadena formulated a plan to deal with it using her royal crest. She went to the Nova royal family's secret passageway near the barracks at the Twisted Forest Border, where she placed the crest into a rock, which lit up and revealed a passageway.

As she entered the passageway, Cadena reminisced about how she used to hide in the passageway when she wanted time alone. She recalled that the adults would use them to travel under cover, and that she never expected that the passageway would be used for a siege. She also remembered that there were three entrances to the secret passageway, all of which passed through the forests of Heliseum. She first went to the Forest of Choices and detonated the explosives before quickly moving to the Specter Mine Zone and the Specter Forward Base. Having detonated all the explosives, she returned to the battlefield and joined in the fight. With her aid, Edea was able to destroy all the Specters with a powerful lightning spell. Pressing their advantage, they pushed out the enemies in the central region in order to make it their new base of operations.

Secret Tunnel

Having taken the downtown market, Cadena spoke with Piston, who asked her to rendezvous with Tiron. Tiron told her that they would be working together to defeat the rest of the enemies in the western district. They first took down the Guerrilla Specters in the Downtown District. As Cadena moved to the next area, she found scribbles on the wall that spelled out “leaving home”. They then fought off the Specter Engineers, where she found another scribble of two dragons, an adult and a child, with the words “where the moon and stars dance”. Finally, they reached the last area and fought off the Power Specters. There, she found a doodle of someone wearing a crown and a small, happy dragon, with the words “sleep with a smile” written on it. After Tiron left, Cadena suddenly recalled the location hinted by the drawings and headed to a secret tunnel that she had discovered as a little girl, which she would retreat into whenever she got in trouble. She wondered why the drawings still remained and felt as though someone had wanted her to find them.

Inside the secret tunnel, she found a box filled with old memorabilia, such as a slingshot, a wooden sword, a bouquet, and a letter. She recalled how she had gotten the bouquet and written the letter to her mother as a surprise, which she remembered had been the day before Magnus had sacked Heliseum. As the scent of the flower filled her nose, she turned away, reminding herself of her oath to never look back. Just then, Edea messaged her to return immediately. She told Cadena that they had played into the enemy's hands, and that the Specters had set up a trap for Kaiser. While Angelic Buster held the rear, she asked Cadena to strike at the enemy's flank. Cadena successfully helped push back the enemy, though Edea told her that Piston had been injured. Cadena went to speak with him at the Pantheon clinic, where he told her about the concert that Angelic Buster and Edea were performing. At the concert, Cadena also performed tricks, such as knife juggling. After the concert was over, Edea told Cadena that she would contact her once the seal on the castle was broken.

Reunion with Ark

After helping retake Heliseum Downtown, Ark met with Cadena and introduced himself, reminding her that they had met before in Savage Terminal. He explained his situation to her, and though she still didn't fully trust him, she acknowledged that his actions to help the Heliseum Reclamation HQ, as well as having saved Coney during their first encounter, was enough to make her believe that at the very least, he wasn't a follower of Magnus. As they talked, Cadena told him about how Mr. Hazard had nearly destroyed Savage Terminal while making a weapon for Magnus.

Defeating Magnus

The Alliance was eventually able to push forward and defeat the Heliseum Guardians before taking the fight the Magnus. After Magnus was forced to retreat, Cadena tearfully left flowers on the throne for her family, telling herself that even if her family were to somehow come back, things would never be the same, and that she would never be who she was before. She resolved to stay on the path that she had committed herself to, hoping that she would one day make sense of why she was the only one who had survived.

Detective Rave's Case Notes

Upon arriving in Savage Terminal after receiving the luxury tour package invitation, most players will get dialogue, in which they express their surprise to see how filthy the town is. Cadena gets alternate dialogue in place of this, in which she notes that the city never changes.

After initially being surrounded by Toole and his men, the player will be confronted by Toole, who is enraged that they've destroyed his office after inadvertently shooting down a ship, causing an escape pod to crash into Toole's office building. Cadena gets exclusive dialogue during this part, in which one of Toole's thugs will inform him that Cadena is quite famous around Savage Terminal.

When Detective Rave offers the player as a contestant in Maroni's arena match, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which Maroni vaguely recognizes her and notes that she's infamous enough to draw some attention to his arena match.

Fox Valley

When Cadena first arrives at Fox Point Village, she sees that the villagers have fox ears and tails, and she wonders whether she's stumbled across a hidden village of fox Anima.

Black Heaven

The day before the operation, Cadena met Gen in the Back Alley. There, she told him that she was moving on, and that she wanted to say goodbye. Gen asked if she was still determined to go, to which Cadena replied that there were enemies to fight wherever she went, and that she believed that she could help people this way. She told Gen to consider it as the Shadowdealers expanding their territory, as there was a lot of potential in Maple World. Gen told her that it seemed like she could take care of herself, given her recent battles, and wished her luck, reminding her to take care, since he couldn't save her a third time. Just then, Coney arrived with the Papyrus Brothers and the Popoh bird. Coney asked Cadena why she hadn't told them about her leaving, as they were supposed to have each other's backs. Regardless, he told Cadena that she would do great in the battle, as she was the hero of the day. Cadena simply laughed and explained she was just looking for a worthy opponent, to which Coney told her that it didn't seem as though she had found one yet. With that, the Shadowdealers bid Cadena farewell.

The day of the operation, Cadena ran into Kain and asked him whether he had any friends to meet up with before the battle. Kain curtly told her no, which annoyed Cadena. She reminded him to pull his weight, to which Kain simply told her to do the same. As he walked away, an irritated Cadena thought to herself that she knew that she didn't like the look of him.

After Athena Pierce and the player fight their way to the main deck, Athena gives a word of encouragement to the player as they charge into battle, which depends on their class. For Cadena, Athena tells her to show the enemies her power.

Vanishing Journey

After the player defeats Arma, Kao will speak to the player while being carried through the cave. Kao asks Cadena if she remembers when she had awakened with the power of the Seal Stone. Kao recalls her own life, and how she had shouldered the responsibility to save another dimension instead of her own. Though she hadn't shown it, Kao notes that it must have weighted on herself, and for good reason, as it was someone else's world and not her own. However, Kao adds that she had taken her responsibilities seriously, and though she wants to say that her heart had been true, she finds that she's not sure anymore. She then wonders whether there's someone better than her who can actually save the world. Kao then supposes that she had lost her worthiness the moment that her faith had wavered.

Yum Yum Island

Upon encountering the Afrien fusion, Cadena will initially mistake the creature for a Nova before realizing that its energy is completely different from normal Nova, as the creature has a dragon face, whereas the Nova have human faces.

Esfera (Post-Remaster)

Note: The Esfera storyline was remastered under the KMS story team's new continuity in the NEXT Update.

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Esfera (Pre-Remaster)

Upon meeting Melange, Cadena will note that she's never seen anyone of Melange's species before in Grandis.

After seeing the Black Moon in the skies above Esfera, the Adversary notes to themselves that their long struggle against the Black Mage is finally coming to an end. Cadena gets some exclusive dialogue, in which she also notes to herself that defeating the Black Mage will also take her one step closer towards defeating Gerand Darmoor, which will allow Grandis to know peace once more.

After witnessing how Aeona and Tana received their names, Cadena gets some exclusive dialogue, in which she recalls rumors that Aeona had once faced Gerand Darmoor.

After learning about the origin of the Executors from Melange, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which she notes that Melange's explanation is completely new to her, and that she doesn't think that anyone has ever seen the Executors before.

When Melange points out that Aeona had seemed to have wiped out seven races of Grandis against her will, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which she asks Melange if there were more races in the past that they never knew about. When Melange tells the Adversary about how the Transcendents of Grandis had actively shaped their world, he will preclude his explanation by saying that they might already know that if the player is Cadena.

Labyrinth of Suffering (Post-Remaster)

Note: The Labyrinth of Suffering storyline was remastered under the KMS story team's new continuity in the NEXT Update.

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Labyrinth of Suffering (Pre-Remaster)

After Cygnus tells Neinheart that she will lead the fleet into Tenebris in the Adversary's place, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which she notes that the Empress is more resolved than ever. Thinking about the upcoming battle, she realizes that if they don't win the war, then Grandis won't be safe either. She then resolves herself to defend Maple World and Grandis.

When the player first meets with Azalin - Hilla disguised as a Night Walker - she tells Cadena how amazing it is that people from another world are working so hard to fight for Maple World. Quietly to herself, however, she snidely remarks how funny it is that Cadena is trying to protect Maple World when she can't even protect her own. When Cadena asks her what she had just said, Azalin tells her that she had merely said that she seems a little distracted.

After the Adversary collapses into despair as a result of Hilla's machinations, they pass out in a void of darkness within their own mind. As their morale and strength threaten to diminish completely, the mysterious divine light speaks to them in the form of someone close to them and provides them motivation to continue. For Cadena, the voice of her parents asks her why she risks her life to save others. Cadena tells them that it's because everyone is that precious to her, to which they ask her why she cares so much for Maple World, as it's nothing like Grandis. She replies that Maple World is the home where her loved ones live, and that it's a precious place, filled with happy memories. She explains that the people of Maple World had come to Grandis and had helped save them when they had needed it most, and that it's now their turn to help them. Her parents ask her whether she remembers what she needs to do next, to which Cadena begins to say hopelessly that everyone is already dead, and that she couldn't protect anyone. She realizes that they'll never be able to return to Maple World, adding that there's nothing that she can do, and that she's completely helpless. She then asks what else she can do, to which her parents tell her to open her eyes and see for herself, explaining that even if Hilla covers her eyes, she can never cover the truth. They ask Cadena to open her eyes, get up, and do what she has to do. Cadena realizes that what she needs to do now is to get back up and keep moving forward, as Maple World cannot fall while Darmoor still remains, for which there's no time to despair. Her parents proudly note that she's matured and remind her that all roads exist inside her heart, and to never forget that. As the voice fades away, Cadena recognizes the voice as belonging to her parents.

Limina (Post-Remaster)

Note: The Limina storyline was remastered under the KMS story team's new continuity in the NEXT Update.

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Limina (Pre-Remaster)

When the Adversary faces the Black Mage, he tells them that their path has always been preordained. In response to his words, Cadena vows that she'll transcend the destiny that the Black Mage has created for the sake of everyone who calls Maple World their home.

After the Adversary scatters into Erda after killing the Black Mage, they awaken in the Erda Flow, where the White Mage thanks them for putting an end to the battle and helping him liberate the world from the influence of the Overseers. After the conversation, the Adversary will return back to the real world. As they do, the White Mage will give them a unique title based on their class; the title he gives to Cadena is "Descendent of Dragons".

After the final battle, the Adversary will return back to the Outpost and speak with Neinheart and the other leaders of the Alliance. For Cadena, Neinheart tells her that all of Maple World owes her a debt that can never be repaid. Cygnus adds that the Alliance's allies in Grandis played a major role in bringing peace to Maple World, for which they have her utmost gratitude. Edea notes that they were fortunate enough that the situation on Grandis was quiet enough for them to come. She adds that there's no telling what will happen next, though this was a nice enough break. Cygnus then promises that Maple World will be there when Grandis needs help, just as Cadena was there for Maple World.

Aftermath

Cadena returned back to Gen's hideout, where she reunited with Gen and Coney. Gen asked Cadena how her time in Maple World had been, as the look in her eyes made it seem as though she had finally reached the level of strength that she wanted. Cadena told him that though she wasn't as strong as she wanted to be, she was now finally able to protect herself. Gen told her not to be humble, as he had heard about her role in defeating the Black Mage. Though he wanted to praise her, he reminded Cadena that she had only taken care of the problem in Maple World, and that Darmoor's threat to Grandis would result in things being much worse than they had been in Maple World. Cadena told him that it was to be expected, as the people of Grandis weren't as united as the people of Maple World.

To solve that problem, Gen suggested that Cadena reveal herself as the princess of the Nova in order to rally forces into fighting back against the High Flora, as well as to organize an alliance similar to the one on Maple World. However, Cadena told him that she had already torn off her wings, tail, horns, and even her old name, and that she had lost all her connections to the royal bloodline. She also joked that leadership wasn't her strong suit, and that she was content to leave it to Kaiser as the Nova Guardian while she took care of the business side like a true Shadowdealer. She then told Gen that she was planning to see the Shadowdealer boss. Gen warned her that it could be dangerous, but she replied that nothing excited her as much as playing with danger.

Twilight Eve Festival

When the Adversary speaks with Seya, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which Seya immediately recognizes Cadena and greets her before asking whether the Savage Terminal branch of the Shadowdealers has business in Evernia as well. Cadena explains that she isn't in Evernia on Shadowdealer business, though she then asks Seya what brings her to the village. Seya realizes that Cadena must be in Evernia for the Alliance and explains that she's come on Shadowdealer business herself before the dialogue returns to the generic script.

Arteria

Before the Adversary leaves to rescue Cygnus, Shinsoo calls to the Adversary and addresses them with a unique title based on their class; the title she gives to Cadena is "You who've come from another world".

Cadena gets exclusive dialogue with Cygnus at the end of her dialogue when she sacrifices herself, in which she tells Cadena that she's too kind for having come to save her people from another world.

During the investigation into the High Flora artillery weapons in the Arteria side quests, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which which recognizes the symbols on the Flora army weapons as belonging to the Shadowdealers. After the player notes that the cavalry shields aboard Arteria are different from the ones used in Cernium, Cadena gets some exclusive dialogue, in which she realizes that there's a clear correlation suggesting that these weapons came from the Shadowdealers. However, while she determines that the weapons didn't come from the Heliseum or Savage Terminal branches, she's unable to figure out where they did come from. She also notes that though the Shadowdealers would do anything for profit, this is the first time that she's seen such open collaboration with the High Flora. After reporting back to Neinheart, who notes that Mr. Hazard had been selling weapons to the High Flora, Cadena affirms his statement and notes that she had gone through a lot of trouble because of Mr. Hazard. She then notes that the poisonous gas aboard Arteria is very similar to what she had smelled while fighting Mr. Hazard, and that she suspects that there's some relation between the two.

Extradimensional Visitors

When the Primacy arrives in Tirnog and sees Cadena, Ailene notes that they can't trust her, despite her being the Adversary, as she had left Grandis behind to go fight for another world.

Night of Falling Illusions

When the player first meets Gen and Tara, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue in place of the generic script. As Gen and Tara remove their hoods, Gen notes that Cadena has gotten even stronger since the last time they've met before telling her that it's good to see her. Cadena is surprised to see Gen and asks him how he knows about Tallahart. Gen tells her that there's no way that the appearance of such a huge city wouldn't have spread rumors, adding that though many people didn't put any stock in them, the Shadowdealers definitely had. Tara then greets Cadena, explaining that she had heard a lot about her.

When Gen promises the player that he and Tara don't mean any danger, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue in place of the generic script. Gen promises her that she would be in no danger, with Cadena believing Gen's word as her branch leader.

After Ailene stands down and storms off, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue in place of the generic script. Gen notes that Ailene is quite interesting and tells Cadena that Ailene reminds him of her in the old days, causing Cadena to ask whether she had really been like that.

When Tara explains that she has replaced Mr. Hazard as the second-in-command of the Shadowdealers, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which she immediately recalls Mr. Hazard.

When Tara tells the player about Mr. Hazard's fate, Cadena gets slightly different dialogue, in which Tara tells Cadena that as she must remember, the Shadowdealer High Council had incapacitated and expelled Hazard, believing that such a punishment would be more humiliating than execution.

After Tara finishes telling the player about Mr. Hazard's fate, Cadena gets exclusive dialogue, in which Tara tells Cadena that it was all thanks to her that they were able to expel Hazard. She then expresses her gratitude to Cadena on behalf of the entire Shadowdealer organization.

Trivia

• Cadena is Spanish for chain, which suits her as Chain is her main weapon.
• Despite appearing to look the part, Cadena is not actually a human, as her Nova horns, wings, and tail were removed. This makes her the eighth class that is not human, succeeding Mercedes, the Demon, Kaiser, Angelic Buster, Xenon, Beast Tamer, and Zero.