Gerand Darmoor

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The details below contain SPOILERS, you may want to view this after completing the storyline in-game.

StoryNPC

Gerand Darmoor (Aaron)
Gerand DarmoorAaron (Cernium)Aaron (Sefirot) Load video Local File Local File might collect personal data. Continue Dismiss
Title	Grandis's Transcendent of Life Embodiment of Death God-King of the High Flora
Hometown	Aboris
Current Residence	Aboris → Cernium → Aboris
Gender	Male
Race	Transcendent (High Flora)
Family	Former God-King of the High Flora (father)
Emblem	Draining Crystal / Flora Wings
Affiliations	Angler Company (business partners) Ebonstar (allies)
Minions	High Flora Knights of the Einherjar Apostles of Darmoor: - Havoc - Limbo - Kaling (deceased) - Ypsilon - Reina - Baldrix - Ressa - Ymir Magnus Melange Darius Asha Traitorous Elders of Grandis: - Shensung - Maolang - Xula - Youzhen - Chenyuan - Yinshuai
Enemies	Maple Alliance Primacy Verdant Flora Ark Adele Khali Anima Nova All other races
Status	Alive
Name (Other Servers)
KoreaMS	제른 다르모어 (Gerand Darmoor) 애런 (Aaron)
JapanMS	ゼルン・ダルモア (Gerand Darmoor) アロン (Aaron)
ChinaMS	吉伦·达尔摩尔 (Gerand Darmoor) 艾伦 (Aaron)
TaiwanMS	傑倫·達爾默 (Gerand Darmoor) 愛倫 (Aaron)
MapleSEA	Gerand Darmoor Aaron
Voice Actors
GlobalMS	Unknown (Cernium) Billy Kametz (NEO: Adversary Cutscene) Unknown (2023 - present)
KoreaMS	Jaeheon Jeong
JapanMS	Aoi Ichikawa

“The meaningless struggle of immature life... What a pathetic existence...”

― Gerand Darmoor

Gerand Darmoor is the main antagonist in the world of Grandis, the God-King of the High Flora, and the Transcendent of Life of Grandis.

Story

Becoming the Transcendent of Life

Gerand Darmoor was the prince of the Flora and the son of the God-King. In spite of his position, Darmoor grew disillusioned by the state of life, believing that most living beings were selfish, dragging others down in order to protect their own 'worthless' lives. Hoping to see the world from a different perspective, Darmoor aspired to become the Transcendent of Life, believing that it would give him an enlightened viewpoint. To this end, Darmoor planned to break the balance of life on Grandis, knowing that it would result in his awakening as the Transcendent of Life. In order to do so, Darmoor secretly instilled an unknown illness into his father, which gradually eroded his sanity.

In his belligerence, the God-King attempted to incite a war against the other races of Grandis. A faction of Flora opposed his will and entreated the God-King to make peace. When this faction of Flora were revealed to have plans to share their power with the powerless commoners, the God-King accused them of treason and stripped their wings before exiling them. They became known as the Verdant Flora, while the ruling faction became the High Flora. Within the Knights of the Einherjar - the God-King's personal guard - there was similar growing dissent. One of the God-King's most loyal knights, Adelaide, struggled with her loyalty to the God-King and her own morality in waging an unjust war against the other races of Grandis. When she declared that she could not follow him into battle, the God-King ordered her arrest and threw her into prison, planning to execute her for her treason.

During this time, Sefirot - the sanctum of Grandis' Transcendent of Life - was attacked by an unknown enemy, resulting in the deaths of countless guardians who fell while protecting the sanctum. Following this battle, the spirits of the fallen began haunting the sanctum, with the Monks of Life holding memorial services to put them to rest. Furthermore, the Transcendent of Life seemingly disappeared from Sefirot, with their altar remaining locked and inaccessible. However, a stone tablet was left behind at the altar, which contained an encrypted message about how to summon the Transcendent of Life, to which the Monks of Life continued tending to the garden in Sefirot in the hope of bringing back the Transcendent to the sanctum, believing that keeping the garden alive and verdant would allow for the Transcendent's return. Because of the schism that tore apart the High Flora and Verdant Flora, the balance of life on Grandis was broken, causing Gerand Darmoor to awaken as the new Transcendent of Life, with the former Transcendent of Life and their monks disappearing from the sanctum, though it remained unknown how or why the Transcendent had disappeared. Nevertheless, Darmoor kept his awakening secret from the rest of his people, leaving the people of Grandis unaware that the former Transcendent of Life had disappeared from Sefirot, for which they continued visiting the sanctum in the hope of having the Transcendent grant their wishes.

Mission to Sefirot

Arriving at Sefirot

As the God-King's madness grew worse, he slowly began transforming into a twisted monster, rendering him incapable of speaking or even recognizing his people. In desperation, several Knights of the Einherjar began investigating the source of his insanity, which led them to realize that his affliction came from an illness. The knights began to secretly investigate a cure for his madness, but after finding no solution, they came to believe that the only way to save their king was through the blessing of the Transcendent of Life, for which they planned a secret expedition to Sefirot. Together with Prince Darmoor, Edvar and Yuel secretly smuggled the God-King out of the capital, leaving behind a double to keep up the ruse that the God-King was still in the palace. The four of them made their way to the garden of Sefirot, where they overheard Asha the gardener telling two peddler women that the Transcendent of Life was not in Sefirot.

Upon seeing the visitors, the two peddlers recognized them as Flora and decided to leave immediately out of fear. Asha watched the two women leave, noting to herself that the Flora certainly had a fearsome presence to make the peddlers leave right away. She then told the High Flora that just as they had overheard, the Transcendent of Life was indeed not in Sefirot, adding that they could check for themselves at the altar. However, she noted that the altar was closed, and that they would not be able to open it. Nevertheless, the High Flora decided to check the altar just to confirm, though Darmoor remained behind. Just as Asha wondered to herself why Darmoor hadn't followed the others, Darmoor told Asha that he wanted to ask her something, noting that the flowers were quite beautiful. Asha asked Darmoor not to touch the flowers without her permission, explaining that the plants in the sanctum were fragile and could easily wilt. She also told him that it would be best if he gave up on meeting the Transcendent, reminding him once again that she was merely the gardener, and that she had no information about the Transcendent or their whereabouts. Upon hearing her words, however, Darmoor noted that it was all the better that he was speaking with the gardener, revealing that what he was interested in wasn't the Transcendent, but the garden itself

He noted that the garden was beautifully tended and asked Asha whether she took care of it all on her own. When Asha told him that she was indeed the sole caretaker, Darmoor noted that Asha was quite incredible. Asha replied that the garden was once in an even grander state when the monks had tended to the sanctum, with the entire place being full of life and breathtakingly beautiful. She then asked Darmoor who he was, as most visitors were so preoccupied with the altar that they paid no attention to the garden. She explained that it was her first time seeing someone take an interest in it, to which Darmoor pulled back his hood and told her that his name was Aaron. Aaron then asked Asha what her name was, to which Asha merely told him that he could just call her the gardener, as he likely wouldn't be staying long without the Transcendent anyways. However, Aaron revealed that his goal wasn't to meet the Transcendent, though he remained coy when Asha asked him what he really wanted. Aaron asked Asha whether she was waiting for the Transcendent as well, and whether that was the reason why she tended to the garden so tirelessly. Asha told him that it wasn't the reason why she stayed, explaining that she wasn't even a monk, and that she had never met the Transcendent before, despite having lived in Sefirot all her life. Aaron told Asha that unlike himself, his companions strongly wished to meet the Transcendent, and that he wished to check on whether they had managed to summon them. Promising to speak with her again, Aaron set off towards the altar where the Transcendent was said to reside.

At the altar, Edvar and Yuel discovered that, just as Asha had said, the door remained firmly shut. Just then, Aaron arrived in order to check on their progress. Immediately upon his arrival, however, the door to the altar began glowing brightly and swung open. Though the knights were surprised, they nevertheless proceeded inside and arrived at the altar. There, they found that the altar was completely deserted, just as Asha had said. Refusing to return home empty-handed, the knights began to search the altar. Aaron then pointed out a stone tablet in the corner of the altar, with strange drawings carved into it. Edvar recognized the tablet as a cipher, explaining that solving them typically led to treasures or powerful spells, though in this case, he believed that it would allow them to summon the Transcendent of Life. Upon examining the tablet, he noted that it seemed to represent Sefirot, which meant that they would need to investigate the sanctum to find the answer. Yuel pointed out that it would be dangerous to be away from the capital for so long, which meant that they needed to solve it as soon as possible. As it could take quite a long time to solve it by themselves, Edvar suggested that they enlist Asha's help, as she would be very familiar with all the hidden parts of the sanctum.

Solving the Cipher

Back in the garden, the knights showed Asha the stone tablet which they had found inside the altar. Asha was shocked to know that they had managed to open the door, though Edvar told her that the important part was that the tablet had the power to summon the Transcendent. Though Asha was hesitant to believe it, she noted that the knights seemed to be special if they had been able to open the door to the altar. She then agreed to help and asked them what she should do. Aaron told her that he had a great interest in ancient documents, and that he had a sizable knowledge about ciphers, which he believed would be useful on their mission. Noting that it wouldn't be particularly dangerous, Aaron suggested that they split up. After Edvar and Yuel headed off to investigate, Aaron asked Asha whether she was ready to go. Asha noted that she was surprised, as Aaron seemed to be of higher status than the knights, which meant that he could have simply left the task to his subordinates. Aaron explained that he was a very curious person, and that he wished to solve the cipher himself. He also added that what he was more interested in than the solution was the process of solving it. He then noted that Asha seemed to be quite interesting as well, as she was able to speak plainly with him, even after knowing of his higher status, which made him wonder what gave her such courage.

Asha explained that it wasn't courage, but rather, she believed that everyone – even the Flora or those with high statuses – had equal existences as living things. She added that it was meaningless for her to bother with who was ‘higher' or ‘lower', though she noted that her opinions might bother a Flora like himself. To her surprise, however, Aaron told her that he actually agreed with her, as status had no meaning to him, with even a king being nothing special at all. At Asha's confusion, Aaron merely suggested that they begin to head out in order to solve the cipher. Asha then told him that she had brought a map of the sanctum, explaining that Sefirot consisted of the garden at the center, as well as a forest surrounding it on all sides. Aaron asked her whether there was anything near the garden which might have something to do with the tablet, to which Asha replied that she couldn't think of anything, adding that since the garden was under her care, she would have noticed if there was something. Aaron noted that it meant that there was a high chance that the sanctum outskirts was where they'd find answers.

Asha explained that the outskirts were practically in ruins, as no one had tended to them in a long time. She added that there were also monsters there, though there were also a few barrier stones which had been created not so long ago. Upon hearing that there were monsters, Aaron offered to go himself if it was too dangerous for her, though Asha told him that she would be able to handle the monsters herself. Asha then led Aaron to the northern outskirts of Sefirot, which Aaron noted was a bleak and desolate place. He then noticed an owl-shaped statue, which Asha explained was one of the four barrier stones that kept the barrier around Sefirot in place. She added that according to the monks, the barrier stones were the reason why Sefirot was hard to detect from the outside. Upon examining the barrier stone, Aaron found a slot that appeared to be the same size as the stone tablet. After placing the tablet in the slot, writing appeared on the stone statue: “Come to me with cold warmth”. Asha was confused by what ‘cold warmth' meant, to which Aaron explained that it seemed to be a metaphor for something.

Suddenly, Orange Lantern Nightghosts appeared and surrounded them both. After escaping to a safe place, Aaron asked whether the spirits always appeared in the area, noting how fascinating it was that there were monsters in the Transcendent's sanctum. Asha explained that the spirits weren't always monsters, but rather, they were the souls of those who had died protecting the sanctum from outsiders. She explained that when the monks were still around, they had kept the spirits at bay by holding memorial ceremonies for them, though without the monks to conduct the rituals, the spirits wandered around freely. However, she added that she had never seen so many appear at once, as it was usually just one or two of them. Aaron noted that it seemed as if they had made a pledge to appear at a certain time, which he supposed was a response to the tablet. Realizing that the spirits themselves were a clue, Asha explained that the eastern outskirts housed spirits carrying orange lamps, while the spirits in the western outskirts held blue lamps. She then told Aaron that the ‘cold warmth' could refer to the Blue Lantern Nightghosts.

Praising Asha for her excellent deduction, Aaron suggested that they gather the blue flames from the lanterns. After they gathered the flames, Asha noted that the lamps were essentially the cores of the spirits, which contained the emotion that they had felt most strongly when they had been alive. She explained that those who had died protecting the sanctum with fear had that fear turned into blue flames, while rage had become the orange flames. Aaron observed that the blue flames were not hot to the touch, which lined up with the description of ‘cold warmth'. Asha then placed the flames before the barrier stone statue, causing a portion of the tablet to light up with color. Aaron realized that they would soon be able to find the answer if they continued filling up the tablet. Asha noted that though it may be a coincidence, the carving of the Blue Lantern Nightghost was on the east side of the tablet, which may be helpful to keep in mind. Just then, the statue turned itself towards the west as the words on the tablet changed to say: “You who solved the first riddle, I shall guide you down the next path.” Asha then suggested that they head to the western outskirts, where she placed the stone tablet in the slot within the barrier stone statue.

Upon doing so, the words on the tablet changed to say: “Come to me with the augury hidden in earth warmed by the sunlight. That earth rests beneath your feet.” Aaron and Asha together realized that both ‘earth warmed by sunlight' and ‘that earth rests beneath your feet' referred to the south, and so they decided to head to the southern outskirts. There, Asha found several hidden amulets, which she brought back to Aaron, who noted that thought the tablet had described them as a hidden treasure, the amulets didn't appear to be anything special. Asha explained that the amulets had been created for those who had died protecting the sanctum in the hopes that such a tragedy would never happen again. Aaron noted that there seemed to have been a large number of casualties, to which Asha explained it was said that it was the very reason why Sefirot had been hidden behind a barrier. Aaron then wondered why, of all the possible ciphers, the ones who had created it had chosen on this one. Nevertheless, he suggested that they continue solving it.

Asha placed the amulets at the foot of the barrier stone statue, causing another part of the tablet to immediately change color, while the statue turned itself north. Asha noted that the colored portion was the picture of the amulets on the west side of the tablet, while the words on the tablet had changed to say: “You who solved the second riddle, I shall guide you to the next path.” After arriving at the northern outskirts, Aaron noticed several Empty Scarecrows and wondered whether they had anything to do with those who had died protecting the sanctum. Asha explained that the scarecrows were guardians who had protected the sanctum from the outside. After the monks had disappeared, the scarecrows – upon losing the thing which they had been made to protect – had been turned into ordinary monsters. Asha then placed the tablet into the barrier stone statue, causing the words on the tablet to change into: “Come to me with the screams of one who has stood on empty ground.” Asha realized that the words likely referred to carrying the sound of screams in their memories, which meant that they would need to defeat the Hollow Scarecrows and hear their screams.

After defeating the monsters, the scarecrow drawing on the tablet began glowing, while the statue remained facing south. Though Asha realized that they needed to head to the southern outskirts, she remained in place, deep in thought. When Aaron asked her what she was thinking about, Asha explained that she had been thinking about how he had been wondering why the ones who had created the tablet had chosen such a cipher. She explained that after thinking about the actions which they had to do – gazing upon the emotions of the spirits, taking care of the amulets made to comfort them, and laying the guardians to rest after their purpose had been lost – she had realized that they were all actions that reflected upon those who had sacrificed their lives for the sanctum. She explained that the ones who had created the cipher had wished for the Transcendent of Life to remember those who had been sacrificed. Her words caused Aaron to note that everything had been done in service to those who had been sacrificed, adding that her theory indeed seemed to be the case. He also noted that the Transcendent of Life must know how selfish the living could be, and how living things would drag others down in order to protect their own worthless lives.

However, he believed that those who had died for the sanctum must not have made a true sacrifice, as they had left malicious spirits behind when they had departed the world. He noted that it was difficult for one to lay down their life for something without regret, such that no part of them would remain after they were gone. He added that only a handful of people would be capable of making such a choice. After a pause, he apologized for rambling and asked Asha to place the tablet into the statue. Upon doing so, the words on the statue changed to say: “You already know this answer. Carry out that which you know must be done, and return to me.” Realizing that the orange flames were the last uncollected things left, Asha and Aaron traveled to the northern outskirts, where they collected the orange flames and brought them before the barrier stone statue. Immediately, the final picture in the tablet was colored, though nothing else happened afterwards. Aaron was surprised, as he had expected something to happen after solving the cipher. Just then, the words on the tablet changed once again into, “This is not the end. Rely on your own strength to find the last key.” Aaron realized that there must be a fifth riddle to solve, and upon seeing that the statue had turned towards the garden, Asha realized that the final key had to be there, though she noted that there was no barrier stone statue in the garden.

Nevertheless, the pair decided to return to the garden, where Aaron noted that Asha had once mentioned that there had once been Monks of Life in Sefirot in the past. Asha explained that there were once many monks who had taken care of the sanctum, which had been much more beautiful back in those days as a result, with the garden being much larger and more spacious as well. When Aaron asked how she alone remained, Asha told him that the monks had all suddenly disappeared one day, as though they had never existed at all. Aaron asked whether the monks had died, to which Asha explained that the monks were spirits which had been created from the Transcendent of Life's power, which meant that they weren't beings who could die like ordinary life forms. She added that in the past, she had thought that the Transcendent of Life may have disappeared as well if the monks created by them had vanished. However, she also noted that she had never seen the Transcendent of Life, even when the monks had been around, and so she couldn't be sure. She explained that she had been left with no choice but to take care of the sanctum alone, and because of the impossibility of having to do it alone, she had been forced to make the garden smaller so that she could take care of it by herself.

Aaron admitted that the remaining part of the garden seemed quite wonderful, and that it even seemed more beautiful because of its downsizing. Asha agreed, adding that she had done a bit of pruning, explaining that in order to raise a plant properly, one couldn't just treat it with kindness, as they needed to be able to ruthlessly cut away the useless parts, leaving only what was most important if the plants were to grow beautiful and strong. She explained that if one let the useless parts remain as they were, it could hinder the plant's growth, or even kill it. Aaron quietly pondered her words, thinking about what she had said about leaving only the things which had value, adding that her thoughts lined up with his. He explained that pruning was an important job to undertake, not only in the garden, but elsewhere as well. He then noted that the sun was about to set, and he suggested that they finish up for today.

The Final Riddle

The pair then returned and met with Yuel and Edvar, who asked them where they had been. Yuel explained that they had discovered another barrier stone statue near the altar, and that they believed that it may be helpful in solving the cipher. Asha immediately realized what they were referring to and explained that it likely had nothing to do with the cipher. After arriving at the altar, Aaron read the inscription on the statue, which said “The beings on the outskirts have turned their heads in the right direction, and the gate to the outside has opened. The path below the gate shall lead you down the mountain.” Asha explained that the statue was an emergency exit, which could lead them down the mountain. Yuel apologized that the statue had nothing to do with the cipher, though Aaron told her not to be sorry, as it may be useful to have an emergency exit. He then suggested that they turn in for the night, believing that they may have better luck tomorrow. Soon after, Asha returned to the garden, as she hadn't been able to water the flowers because she had been busy solving the cipher. As she began watering the flowers, the God-King silently entered the garden, leaking black smoke from his robes. From the gap within his robes, he began draining the mana from the flowers into himself, much to Asha's shock.

As he did, his robes began tearing, revealing a monstrous head glowing with red and black energy, as well as dark tendrils peeking out from the foot of his robes. Asha immediately attempted to stop the God-King, though none of her attacks had any effect. Defeated, Asha collapsed on the floor as the God-King growled mindlessly. As he began approaching her, Asha expressed her relief that she had been able to get him to attack her and leave the flowers alone. Suddenly, Aaron arrived at the scene and used his powers to seal the God-King away. Just then, Yuel and Edvar rushed to the scene, where they were shocked to find the God-King being sealed away by Aaron, whom they called the prince. As Asha lost consciousness, she managed to overhear Yuel referring to the monster as the God-King and Aaron as their prince. After she passed out, Edvar expressed his surprise that the God-King had managed to escape, as he was supposed to be inside the annex. Yuel realized that he must have managed to escape while they had all been preoccupied. Edvar then noticed Asha passed out and realized that she had seen the God-King in his monstrous state, which meant that they had no choice but to kill her. However, Yuel pointed out that they still needed Asha to solve the cipher, to which Edvar decided that they would keep her locked up in the annex until she finished helping them, after which they would kill her, just like all the others who had witnessed the God-King's true madness.

Yuel then began carrying Asha to the annex, though Aaron remained in place and began observing the area. He noted that the God-King had become extremely sensitive to mana as a result of his madness, which made him wonder why he would come to the garden when there should be no traces of mana in a sanctum bereft of its Transcendent. Though Edvar speculated that it was because the God-King was not in his right mind, Aaron began observing the garden and noticed the wilted flowerbed nearby. He noted that the flowerbed was right where the God-King had been standing, and since it was highly unlikely that Asha would have let a single flower wilt under her care, he concluded that the flowers – along with all the other plants in the garden – were imbued with nearly imperceptible mana. Edvar realized that the plants being imbued with mana would be quite troublesome for them, as they needed to stay in the sanctum until they could solve the cipher, yet they were surrounded by things that would agitate the God-King. He pointed out that if the God-King were to absorb any more mana, his madness would only grow worse. Aaron suggested that they focus on isolating the God-King by raising another anti-mana barrier around the annex where the God-King was being kept.

Meanwhile, Asha awoke in the annex and found herself trapped in a cage. Aaron greeted her and told her that he was glad that she was unharmed. Asha immediately asked him whether the flowers and the garden were alright, to which Aaron told her that though a few flowers had wilted, the rest were still unharmed. When Asha expressed her relief, Aaron noted that it was curious that the first thing that she thought about upon awakening was the safety of the garden, as well as the fact that she had confronted a monster far beyond her own strength, which led him to believe that she considered the garden's safety far more important than her own. Asha replied that thought it sounded strange, the garden was more precious to her than anything. She explained that she was an orphan from the countless wars that plagued Grandis, and that she had always considered herself to be just another worthless war orphan. She told Aaron that the monks of Sefirot had found her starving on the streets, and that they had named her and taught her how to survive. Following this, she had chosen to follow the monks and help them wherever they could, even though they hadn't asked her to do so.

She explained that the monks had told her that if the garden grew beautifully, the Transcendent of Life would return to the sanctum, which was why both she and they had put all their effort into tending the garden, eventually leading to her becoming Sefirot's gardener. Eventually, however, the monks had all vanished mysteriously, and with them being her entire world, she had been left completely alone. Nevertheless, she had continued doing what she had promised to do, as there was nothing else which she could do. Hanging onto the monks' words, she had continued tending to the garden in the hope that when the Transcendent of Life returned to the garden, the monks – who had been created from the Transcendent's power – may return as well, which would mean that her miserable life would finally have some meaning. After hearing her story, Aaron asked her whether she would continue to protect the garden, even if it led to her own death. Asha immediately told him that she would, without hesitation, to which Aaron paused for a moment before warning her that her life was in danger. Asha asked whether it was because she had learned about Aaron and the monster's identities as the prince and the God-King, which Aaron confirmed.

He explained that he and his comrades had come to Sefirot in order to return the deformed God-King back to his old self by borrowing the power of the Transcendent of Life, and that neither the Gods of the High Flora nor the Knights of the Einherjar knew the truth. He added that no one could know the truth, and that those who did must be killed immediately. When Asha noted that they still needed her to solve the cipher, Aaron revealed that he had already solved the final part himself. He noted the riddle – “This is not the end. Find the final key with your own strength” – as well as the statue pointing towards the garden, and the monks' words about the Transcendent of Life only returning if the garden is well tended for, had made him realize that the statue was pointing towards the plants in the garden, whose mana was the key to solve the cipher. He then showed her the tablet, which had absorbed the mana of the flowers, and pointed out a new glowing sentence upon it: “Only the beautiful sacrifice of a noble life will draw his gaze.” Asha told Aaron that she had no idea that the flowers were the answer, despite having tended to the garden for her entire life.

She realized that the flowers in the garden had been prepared for the sake of those who got sacrificed, and she was relieved to know that there had been a purpose in her tending to the garden. However, she then realized that with the cipher solved, Aaron had no use for her, and she asked whether he planned to kill her. To her surprise, however, Aaron revealed that he had no wish to kill her, as she was quite an interesting person to him. He suggested that she escape the sanctum while she could, forget everything that she had seen, and start a new life, adding that she should be able to escape unnoticed with her knowledge of the sanctum. He then unlocked Asha's shackles and told her to run away once the chaos outside would die down, bidding her farewell.

The Transcendent's Sacrifice

After freeing Asha, Aaron traveled to the entrance to the altar, where he met with Edvar and Yuel, who had just finished setting up the barrier for the God-King. Aaron then revealed that he had finished solving the cipher and showed them the words upon the stone tablet. He explained that the ‘beautiful sacrifice of a noble life' had to refer to the sacrifice of a Flora – a superior race – and that, in particular, it had to refer to the sacrifice of a Flora knight. He noted that they couldn't return empty-handed, nor could they hide the God-King's madness forever, adding that it must have been discovered that both Edvar and Yuel had disappeared from the capital. He then told them that they needed to decide between them which of them should be sacrificed for the sake of the God-King. Immediately, Edvar and Yuel opened their wings and began to duel with their swords. As they locked blades, Edvar noted that Yuel – as one who had gained the God-King's favor at such a young age – would be perfect for the role of a ‘noble sacrifice', though Yuel immediately retorted that Edvar would be a better fit, as he had been born into an old, noble family which had served the God-King faithfully for countless years.

However, Edvar claimed that he hadn't earned any of it, as he had simply been born into that life. He also noted that a noble knight would never point their blade towards their junior like he was doing, adding that even a Transcendent wouldn't accept his life as a sacrifice. Dropping the pretense, Yuel admitted honestly that she had young siblings at home who would starve to death if she were to be killed, to which Edvar also replied that he had a wife and children who would die without him. Suddenly, the two stopped fighting as they heard the sound of intruders outside the sanctum. Aaron ordered them to lay down their swords for now while they investigated the intruders, as it wouldn't do for them to find the God-King. Outside the sanctuary, the knights discovered that several Verdant Flora had gathered at the outskirts after following the words of an unknown source, which had told them that the God-King was in Sefirot. The knights also learned that the Verdant Flora had come to side with the High Flora in order to regain their magic. Believing that they could sacrifice the Verdant Flora to summon the Transcendent, Edvar and Yuel began to attack them. As they began retreating, the Verdant Flora came to believe that the information about the God-King being at Sefirot must have been false information meant to lead them into a trap, as there was no way that the God-King would come to such a desolate place.

Suddenly, however, they stopped as Aaron and the God-King appeared before them. Aaron then told them that the God-King whom they were seeking was standing right before them. Upon sensing the Verdant Flora's mana, the God-King immediately began to drain their power, resulting in their deaths. Aaron then disappeared, leaving the God-King to go on a rampage alone, resulting in the death of Yuel. Meanwhile, Edvar set the garden on fire in order to hide any evidence that he had come to Sefirot, intending to desert his post so that he would not be sacrificed. Just as he began to set fire to the garden, however, Asha – who had escaped from her prison – discovered what Edvar was doing and attempted to stop him. However, Edvar merely struck Asha hard and caused her to fall to the ground. Though he wondered how Asha had managed to escape, he decided that it didn't matter, as she had simply saved him the effort of searching for her. He then opened his wings and prepared to unleash a flame spell to burn down the garden. Though injured from Edvar's blow, Asha begged him not to destroy the garden, as Sefirot was the sanctum for the Transcendent of Life. However, Edvar noted that there was no Transcendent in the sanctum, which made it completely meaningless. He then added how preposterous it was that the Transcendent of Life should demand a life to be sacrifice, believing that the entire place should just disappear. Though Asha begged him not to, Edvar used his magic to set the garden on fire, reducing all the plants to ashes. Asha then passed out, with Edvar leaving her to die in the fire.

A Noble Life

Edvar then attempted to flee the sanctum, but found that the exit – and the entire sanctum – had been blocked off. However, he then recalled that there was an emergency exit near the altar and rushed to find it. There, he was shocked to find that the door to the altar was ajar, and that there was strange light pouring from it, causing him to wonder whether the Transcendent of Life had been summoned from to the sacrifice of a noble life. He then entered the altar, where he was surprised to find that there was no one inside, and that the light had also vanished. He wondered whether there truly was no Transcendent of Life after all, though he noted that even if the Transcendent were to appear, it would be impossible to restore the God-King to his former state. Suddenly, he turned to find Darmoor emerging from the shadows. He expressed his surprise that the prince had managed to survive, to which Darmoor asked him whether he was disappointed, since Edvar had wanted him dead. Edvar began stammering that he could never wish for such a thing, and that he was relieved to find the prince safe. He then asked Darmoor where he had been, to which Darmoor explained that he had been confirming something.

At Edvar's confusion, Darmoor told him that he had been confirming what determined a noble life, as he had been curious to see whether there were any lives noble enough to be considered special by the Transcendent of Life. However, he revealed that in the end, there were no noble lives, as everyone – Edvar, Yuel, and the Verdant Flora – had valued their own lives over everything else when it had mattered most, with none of them having the necessary resolve to truly sacrifice their entire lives for something. A confused Edvar noted that it was natural for a living being to value their own life, to which Darmoor replied that though that was true, that was not the kind of being that he wanted. With his eyes glowing orange, he disdainfully noted that none of them had the right the summon the Transcendent of Life. At his words, Edvar slowly realized the truth and asked Darmoor whether he was the Transcendent of Life. He then asked when Darmoor had become the Transcendent in the first place. Darmoor revealed that when the balance of life was broken, the Transcendent of Life would appear. He explained that he had already become the Transcendent of Life by the time that the war had started, though he then clarified that it was actually when the war had begun. Edvar realized that the war had begun because of the God-King's madness, which made him wonder whether Darmoor had inflicted the illness upon his father.

Darmoor noted that he had hoped to see something different upon becoming the Transcendent of Life, though he was ultimately wrong. He revealed that the arrogant High Flora, and the Verdant Flora who claimed to be different, were all ultimately the same. He then unleashed his Transcendent powers in a golden glow, fatally wounding Edvar. As Edvar begged to be spared, Darmoor replied that most lives had no value, and that Edvar's life was amongst them. He then sardonically thanked Edvar for his hard work and wished him pleasant dreams before finishing him off. The next morning, as the sun arose, a mortally wounded Asha awoke to the sight of the garden in ruins. Asha was shocked to see her life's work - which she considered to be her entire worth - had been reduced to ashes, noting that she had no purpose without the garden. Refusing to let it disappear, she recalled the words upon the stone tablet about how the beautiful sacrifice of a noble life could draw the Transcendent's gaze.

Though she believed that her life was worth little, she noted that the Transcendent of Life was a benevolent god who treasured all life, which gave her hope that they would restore the garden. She then forced herself to crawl to the empty altar, where she was distraught to find that the Transcendent of Life still hadn't returned in the end. In her last moments, she prayed to the Transcendent – whom she called the only god that she knew – and begged them to restore the sanctuary in exchange for her miserable life. As Asha passed away, she heard Darmoor's voice distantly calling her name. In the ruins of Sefirot, Darmoor strode through the garden with his magnificent golden wings spread open. As he walked through the garden, his mere presence caused the burned plants all throughout the garden to spring back to life. Declaring that he had finally found it, Darmoor entered the altar and used his Transcendent powers to bring Asha back to life. As Asha awoke, she opened her eyes to find Darmoor standing over her, holding his hand out to her. As she reached out to take his hand, Asha asked him why he had saved her, to which Darmoor told her that it was because she was the sole life in his sanctum with value.

The Flora Civil War

Outbreak of War

Following the mission to Sefirot, Darmoor returned to the capital, where the Knights of the Einherjar remained split between their loyalties as the God-King's war of conquest drew near. Deeply disturbed by what they were being asked to do, many within the Knights of the Einherjar rallied behind Adelaide's words of dissent and pledged their loyalty to Darmoor, hoping that together, they could stop the God-King's senseless war before it could start. Meanwhile, the Verdant Flora came to learn that Darmoor planned to begin his father's war against the other races of Grandis. As the coup to overthrow the God-King raged on, the Verdant Flora rushed to the High Flora capital, only to find Darmoor standing over the body of what appeared to be his father. Darmoor immediately called for the guards, claiming that the Verdant Flora had murdered the God-King. With the Verdant Flora being framed for the God-King's murder, the High Flora immediately retaliated and attempted to wipe out the Verdant Flora, thus sparking the Flora Civil War. The bloody conflict lasted for hundreds of years, with great casualties on both sides.

A Plan for True Paradise

In order to reshape all life as he saw fit, Darmoor planned to create a true paradise, in which all but those he deemed worthy as noble lives would be purged. To bring about his goal, Darmoor intended to gather the power of higher beings - both Ancient Gods and Transcendents - hoping to use that power for his mission. Through unknown means, Darmoor was able to create special draining crystals - offshoots of the Godspheres once made by the elders of Grandis to create Adversaries. Unlike the Godspheres, however, the draining crystals were modeled to weakly imitate the power of the World Heart, the relic of the Overseers, which was capable of absorbing the power of higher beings. In addition, Darmoor also began reviving experiments from the age of the gods, with the High Flora conducting rituals to turn many conquered races into Specters for their army. With the supposed death of the God-King, Darmoor assumed command of the High Flora and used his position to further his own goal by launching his father's war of genocide against the other races. In this way, Darmoor manipulated the High Flora into carrying out his vision through claiming that he would create a utopia for their superior race, even as he secretly despised his own people. In order to recruit young High Flora for his war, Darmoor issued many propaganda speeches to motivate them to enlist and make up for the heavy losses sustained in the war. However, throughout the war, Darmoor continued to use the title of 'Prince', rather than crowning himself as the new God-King, even going so far as to disband the Knights of the Einherjar and forgoing a royal guard.

During this time, Darmoor summoned Baldrix, an ordinary knight who was not a member of the Knights of the Einherjar, as Baldrix was fiercely loyal only to Prince Darmoor, enough so that he refused to accept the position of Captain of the knighthood, instead dedicating himself exclusively to serving Darmoor. For unknown reasons, Baldrix was highly ridiculed and ostracized by the High Flora, with only Prince Darmoor believing in him. When Baldrix was summoned to the throne room, Darmoor claimed that Baldrix was special and acknowledged him for his strength and sense of self-sacrifice - traits that aligned with that of a noble life - for which he entrusted Baldrix with carrying out his grand plan to create a true paradise. To this end, Darmoor used his powers to rebirth Baldrix, destroying his physical body and transforming him into a magical entity made of blue flames that rode on the fiery steed Sleipnir. Reborn under Darmoor's command, Baldrix gained the power to freely wield the power of the Ancient Gods inside draining crystals.

Battle of Aboris

Towards the end of the war, Darmoor encountered the exiled Nova, Magnus, and recruited him to his side, tasking him with capturing the Nova capital of Heliseum. Meanwhile, the conflict between the High Flora and Verdant Flora reached its peak in a final battle at the Verdant Flora capital of Aboris, causing massive death on an immensely large scale. During this battle, Darmoor finally revealed that he had awakened as the new Transcendent of Life after hiding his abilities for centuries. Because of his deception, it was mistakenly believed by the rest of Grandis that the bloody battle of Aboris had broken the balance of life on Grandis, which had resulted in Darmoor's awakening. With his powers, Darmoor obliterated nearly every living being on the battlefield. He then approached the wounded God of the Verdant Flora, who had managed to survive Darmoor's attack, and sealed him inside the mytocrystal on the back of his hand. The surviving High Flora then successfully sacked Aboris, ending the war with the capture of the Verdant Flora capital and the near-total destruction of its people.

Facing the Transcendents

Having won the war, Darmoor sacked Aboris and turned it into the new High Flora capital. Crowing himself as the new God-King, Darmoor ruled from the God-King Temple inside the new Aboris Royal Palace alongside his Apostles. As the new God-King, Darmoor reformed the Knights of the Einherjar, though the new order of knights were nothing more than elite soldiers, rather than knights who adhered to the old code of chivalry. Darmoor then made Baldrix the Captain of the Knights of the Einherjar, with Veronica as Baldrix's adjutant. Shortly after, Darmoor invaded the Chronica Sanctuary and attempted to convince Chronica, the Transcendent of Time, to join him. When they were unable to come to a resolution, Darmoor stole Chronica's powers and sealed both them and the Chronica Sanctuary in a prison dimension. However, using the stolen powers of another Transcendent severely damaged Darmoor and resulted in several Interdimensional Portals appearing across Grandis. Around this time, it was also said that Darmoor had faced Aeona, who had been wandering across Grandis in an attempt to escape the will of the world.

During the battle of Aboris, Magnus - on Darmoor's orders - sacked the Nova capital city of Heliseum and bested the former Kaiser in combat. Severely injured from the battle, Magnus returned to Darmoor, who used his powers to heal Magnus' wounds. However, this resulted in Magnus' lifespan shortening, for which Darmoor ordered Magnus to use one of the Interdimensional Portals on Grandis to travel to Maple World in order to regain his lifespan. Severely damaged from using Chronica's powers, Darmoor chose to seclude himself in Aboris and spent many decades recovering from the damage. During this time, the High Flora army continued carrying out Darmoor's plan to remake all life in his image. Though the Nova continued resisting, many Nova scholars remained misinformed about Darmoor, believing that he had blamed the Verdant Flora for their disrespect for life, which had resulted in him awakening as the Transcendent of Life.

From the Shadows

Decades later, Darmoor slowly began recovering from his weakness. In order to prepare for the grand plan, Darmoor began sending the High Flora on various missions across Grandis:

Invasion of Pantheon

In Heliseum, Magnus continued attempting to claim the power of the Outrigger, a holy relic created by the Ancient Gods of the Nova. On Darmoor's orders, Magnus used a corrupt faction of Nova priests to steal the sacred stones, which had been imbued with a portion of the Outrigger's power by the Nova during the fall of Heliseum. During this time, one sacred stone fused together with a Nova girl named Tear, transforming her into a superstar named Angelic Buster. At the same time, a boy named Kyle awakened as the new Kaiser, and together, they helped the Nova army repel Magnus's Specter invasion of Pantheon and recover the sacred stone stolen by Magnus's minions.

Shadowdealer Alliance

Under Darmoor's command, the High Flora began using a corrupt faction of Shadowdealers under the command of Mr. Hazard, who sold powerful weapons to the Central Army, such as the Vision Bomb. In Savage Terminal, Mr. Hazard attempted to seize control of the local branch of the Shadowdealers while developing a superweapon called the Heliogene Device. However, Mr. Hazard's plot was foiled by Cadena, the lost Nova princess who had joined the Savage Terminal Shadowdealers. Despite Mr. Hazard's arrest, however, his allies in other corrupt branches continued selling dangerous weapons to the High Flora.

End of the Verdant Flora

Around this time, a Verdant Flora named Darius betrayed his people by making a deal with the High Flora, surrendering the location of the Verdant Flora's hidden Sanctuary in exchange for regaining his natural Flora magic. With Darius's help, the High Flora sent the Specter army to wipe out the Verdant Flora and seize the Elder Crystal, an powerful mytocrystal created by the God of the Verdant Flora. However, the Elder Crystal fused with a Verdant Flora named Illium, who inherited the God of the Verdant Flora's power. Despite Darius's attempts to take the Elder Crystal, Illium was able to protect the Elder Crystal and strengthen it with the God of the Verdant Flora's power scattered throughout Maple World. After Darius was defeated by Illium, the High Flora reported his failure to Darmoor, who simply replied: "The meaningless struggle of immature life... what a pathetic existence..."

Mission to Verdel

Under the command of the Apostle Limbo, the High Flora launched an operation to seize the bioenergy of Verdel after their initial failure centuries ago during the Flora Civil War. Limbo dispatched his adjutant, Albaire, who confronted Ark, a High Flora officer who had turned against his people during the first operation in Verdel. Despite Ark's interference, the High Flora succeeded in harvesting Verdel's bioenergy, though it yielded only a small amount. Nevertheless, Limbo was pleased to know that Ark was still alive, as he hoped to use Ark's status as a partial Specter to further his own goal in reaching the Source.

The Four Perils

Eons after the Ancient War, a contaminated researcher of Odium named Kaling was found by Darmoor, who appeared before her after one of her Four Perils, Qiongqi, wiped out several private investigators of Cheong-woon Valley who had taken Kaling under her wing. In the wake of their death, Kaling's emotions buried from her contamination began to resurface until Darmoor recruited her as one of his Apostles, claiming that he needed her talents to create a new Adversary for him. Hearing that Darmoor needed her to fulfill her hardwired purpose from the Adversary experiments caused the contamination to regain its hold over Kaling, who became an Apostle and sought to complete her experiment by gathering the Four Perils and fusing them with a Vessel and a Godsphere to create an extremely powerful Adversary. After capturing Qiongqi, Kaling became the head of the Investigation Broker Bureau in Cheong-woon Valley, utilizing its resources to locate and capture Taowu. Kaling then continued searching for Hundun, the strongest of the Four Perils, as well as Taotie. Eventually, Kaling discovered that Taotie had been sealed inside Hoyoung, an Anima disciple of the great sage Master Tai Yu. Kaling continued pursuing Hoyoung until Taotie had regained his full strength, after which she attempted to seize him from Hoyoung. However, Kaling's attempts were foiled by Master Tai Yu, forcing her to abandon Taotie. Because of her failure, Darmoor deemed Kaling a liability and secretly decided to sacrifice her in order to free several contaminated elders of Grandis, whom Darmoor owed a debt for unknown reasons.

The Drakas Insurrection

Years ago, the Apostle Ypsilon wiped out the hidden Black Nova village, home to the Black Nova cult that had once gained the power of Malice from the Ancient God Satiras. Ypsilon then captured two Black Nova children - Luska and Kain - and used them to create a mercenary company called the Drakas. With his ability to extract abstract concepts, Ypsilon - disguising himself as a psychiatrist named Dr. Y - extracted the Malice out of Kain and armed the Drakas with Malice Stones, gathering his forces by extracting the memory of its members and holding those memories hostage to ensure compliance. However, Kain's attempt to find his memories resulted in the truth about their memories coming to light, resulting in an insurrection that severely crippled the organization. Nevertheless, Ypsilon was able to save Luska by extracting the damage which would have led to her death, after which he extracted her memories in order to continue using her Malice.

Mutant in Erimos

In his public guise, Ypsilon served as the Lord of Erimos as a God of the High Flora. During this time, two girls - Khali and Rasha - came to serve as Ypsilon Zealots, serving Ypsilon loyally until they discovered that Ypsilon was secretly extracting the life force of Erimos's enemies. During Khali and Rasha's crisis of faith, it was discovered that a mutant - a commoner born with magic - existed somewhere in Erimos. Though Ypsilon killed Rasha, believing her to be the mutant, it was later discovered that Khali was the mutant, after which Khali managed to flee the city and travel to Maple World. Later on, however, Khali and Kain discovered that Ypsilon and Dr. Y were one and the same, causing them to believe that Ypsilon was gathering enough power to challenge Darmoor and become the new God-King.

Lord of the Snowy Mountains

In the snowy mountain territory of Grandis, the lord of the snowy mountains was killed in a ritual Syaman duel by their blood relative, a woman named Reina, who sought to seize command of the territory after the lord's refusal to expand their territory led to many feeling discontent over being trapped in their icy home. Following the old lord's death, Reina became the new lord of the snowy mountains and inherited the lord's caste rank as God of the High Flora. Following this, Reina's power was recognized by Darmoor, who made her one of his Apostle.

Skirmish in Vallora

During a routine inspection to the free city of Vallora, a High Flora officer named Lotusha engaged in an altercation with a rabbit Anima named Ren, who had murdered his older brother years ago. After Ren defeated him and fled to Maple World, Lotusha agreed to undergo experimentation to become a Specter in Darmoor's army.

Attack on High Mountain

Under Darmoor's command, the Apostle Havoc attacked High Mountain, the homeland of the Celestial race descended from the Sun God Mitra. Havoc's attack wiped out nearly all the Celestials, with the exception of Seren, Roland, and Gilmore. While Seren brought Mitra's relic, the Holy Sword Azor, to Cernium, Roland lost his faith in Mitra and joined the Ebonstar heretics to erase all traces of the gods from Grandis. Meanwhile, Gilmore - hoping to regain his Celestial powers lost after Mitra's sealing - underwent Specter experiments to become a special Specter capable of tricking the holy relics into awakening. Following the attack on High Mountain, Darmoor loosened the three seals on Tynos, the Ancient God of calamity, whom Mitra had sealed beneath High Mountain. Darmoor then injected the seals with a special crystal that amplified Tynos's abilities in preparation of defeating Mitra when the Sun God finally returned.

Infiltrating Cernium

Some years before the battle of Tenebris, Darmoor disguised himself as a High Flora turncoat named Aaron and traveled to the holy city of Cernium. After gaining the trust of Prince Carlisle, Darmoor became the librarian of Cernium and began sorting through countless ancient writings. However, Darmoor was able to continue ruling from Aboris while also posing as Aaron in Cernium. In Cernium, Darmoor began meticulously cataloguing and transcribing countless ancient records about the Ancient Gods and their powers in preparation for their awakening.

Siege of Heliseum

With the help of the Maple Alliance, the Nova launched an operation to retake Heliseum from Magnus. The Alliance and the Nova were able to defeat Magnus, who disappeared alongside the Outrigger after Darmoor used a portal to pull both him and the relic away, allowing the Nova to regain their capital.

Attack on Fox Valley

On Darmoor's orders, an unknown Apostle used a draining crystal to attack Vulpes and the fox Anima under the protection of the Fox God. Though the Apostle attempted to drown the Anima by creating a devastating storm, the Fox God was able to repel the Apostle and recover the draining crystal, allowing her to determine their identity.

Taking Gob's Power

Some years before the battle of Tenebris, an Ancient God named Gob left his dimensional hideout in order to return a screw that would help his friend, the Ancient God Archelon recover his dormant memories. On his way back to his hideout, Darmoor found Gob and stole most of his powers, with Gob barely fleeing with his life.

Angler Company Alliance

Soon after the battle of Black Heaven, Darmoor discovered that the Angler Company - a fearsome arms-dealer corporation - still existed in the shadows after a cataclysmic explosion had wiped out HQ. Darmoor arranged a meeting with the Angler Father and revealed to him that a new Adversary had been created in the wake of Black Heaven. Darmoor explained that he intended to destroy the Adversary's Seal Stone, which would lead them to Odium to take the World Heart. Hoping to enter Odium and take the research needed to become an Adversary himself, the Angler family became business partners with Darmoor and offered their advanced weaponry to the High Flora in exchange for his support in achieving their goals.

The Arcane River

After the Black Mage created the Arcane River, Kaling began conducting experiments on Yum Yum Island to create an Adversary for Darmoor, fusing together the Erdas of powerful Maple World monsters and using contaminated button Godspheres to complete them. However, all of Kaling's attempts were met with failure, causing her to abandon her research. Soon after, Darmoor dispatched Melange to serve as a spy within the Alliance's advance guard into the Arcane River. There, Melange was able to obtain a book from Will, which detailed the Black Mage's prophecies and goals. After the Black Mage's death, Melange returned to Darmoor and reported that he had successfully recovered the book and detected the Genesis Crux - the "seed of the new world". Darmoor then ordered Melange to find both the Genesis Crux and Aeona, whose power had been taken by the Black Mage to create a new world before his death, claiming that all would be "there".

Convergence

Following the Black Mage's death, the absence of Transcendents in Maple World caused the dimensional boundaries between Maple World and Grandis to grow paper thin. Soon after, Grendel the Really Old shattered the dimensional seal between the two worlds, causing the two dimensions to fully converge into one. As a result of this convergence, the dormant Ancient Gods slowly began reawakening from their seals. With the Ancient Gods returning, Darmoor sought to carry out his plan to take their power. In order to weaken the gods, Darmoor cast a magical aura across Western Grandis, which limited the power of beings above a certain threshold. Darmoor then tasked his Apostles and their forces with stealing the power of the Ancient Gods with the draining crystals that he had created centuries ago. During one such operation, a High Flora officer named Avril infiltrated Identisk Island, where she discovered that the Ancient God of Identisk had left his divine blessings upon the island. However, Avril found that these blessings were extremely weak, for which she took their power directly, believing that she did not even need a crystal for it. Unbeknownst to Avril, however, Enki, the god of Identisk, had allowed her to steal the weakened blessings to hide his existence and ensure that the island would not be targeted again.

Battle of Cernium

Meeting the Adversary

Soon after the convergence of Maple World and Grandis, Darmoor ordered the Apostle Havoc to attack the holy city of Cernium before disappearing from Aboris altogether as he took on his guise of Aaron full-time in anticipation of the Adversary's arrival. After the Alliance arrived, Carlisle asked them for help in finding the Chosen One of Mitra the Sun God, for which the Adversary and Edea were sent to meet with Aaron in the library. At the library, Edea and the Adversary encountered Aaron, and Edea immediately moved to attack, recognizing him as a High Flora. A knight arrived to assess the situation, and Edea yelled for him to arrest Aaron, who asked her to calm down, explaining that not all High Flora were monsters. To prove his point, he manifested his wings, which they were shocked to find had been torn to shreds. He explained that he hated the High Flora just as much as the Nova did, and though he had attempted to tear his wings off out of disgust, they would nevertheless grow back. Though Edea was still wary, she admitted that she had overreacted. Aaron told her that he was used to it and suspected that Carlisle had failed to mention it as a joke. He surmised that they had come searching for information about the Chosen One and asked why they were interested. The Adversary told him that they were trying to find out more about Mitra in order to enlist his aid. Aaron was intrigued that anyone would seek to form an alliance with the divine and realized that they were the Adversary. He told them that he had heard that they were planning to fight Gerand Darmoor, even if it meant plunging all of Grandis into war. Upon learning that they had made up their mind, he told them that he shouldn't be surprised, as they had already vanquished one Transcendent. Satisfied with their answer, he agreed to help them in their research and suggested that they start with the ancient writings about Azor. However, he warned them that the section that held the writings was haunted by ghosts. The Adversary fought through the ghosts and collected the relevant writings before bringing them back to Edea and Aaron.

Edea found that the prophecies all hit the same major points, but the details were impossible to pinpoint. However, all the writings agreed that Azor had always been wielded by a Celestial. Aaron explained that Celestials were demigods who had joined Mitra when he had descended from the heavens. After the defeat of the Ancient Gods, the Celestials had lost their powers and had been trapped on Grandis ever since. Edea mentioned that she had heard that High Mountain, the home of the Celestials, had fallen some time ago and asked what had happened to the Celestials after that. Aaron explained that the surviving Celestials had scattered and gone into hiding, and with the exception of Seren, they were rarely seen anymore. With so much information to process, Edea decided to focus on Azor's reaction to the Adversary wielding it. The Adversary explained that it had been extremely hostile, to which Edea noted that since Transcendents were akin to gods, it was possible that Mitra was angry with the Adversary for having killed a fellow godlike being. However, Aaron disagreed and explained that his understanding was that the Adversary carried the power of the Seal Stone. He then revealed that the Seal Stone had been created by the will of the world in order to seal away the Ancient Gods, and so it was more likely that Mitra had shown hostility towards the Adversary because they held the same power that had sealed him away.

Both Edea and the Adversary were shocked to learn about the origin of the Seal Stones. Edea then realized that if the Order of Mitra learned that the Alliance's champion wielded the same power that had sealed away their god, any hope of a partnership between the Alliance and Cernium would be lost, and so she asked Aaron to keep it to himself. She added that they would also need to be particularly cautious around Seren, who may threaten far worse than exile if she were to learn about it. Just then, Seren herself arrived and told Aaron that she had come regarding her earlier request. She then noticed Edea and the Adversary and told them that she wanted to apologize for earlier. She explained that Carlisle had claimed that they were trying to find the Chosen One and added that though they were outsiders, the Order would be grateful for any help in finding the Chosen One after it had searched in futility for so long. In order to aid their search, Seren told them that she had recently learned that High Mountain had continued to hand-pick the Chosen One, long after Azor had lost its light in the Ancient War, and so she had come to see Aaron for any information regarding it. After fighting through the library ghosts, the Adversary collected more writings on the Chosen One. They learned that the Order would carefully select every recipient of Azor, as each was a paragon of the Holy Knights devoted to their faith. Believing that the return of the Ancient Gods would allow them to recover Azor's light, the Order would give a special emblem to the Chosen One. In the writings, they also learned about a second, less ornate emblem, which Seren recognized as an emblem for the Templars of Mitra, revealing that she had one herself. She believed that there had to be other survivors of High Mountain, and that one of them must possess the emblem of the Chosen One. Edea pointed out that it would be difficult to find such a survivor, especially if they didn't want to be found, but Seren remained hopeful that the Chosen One wouldn't stray too far from Azor.

Origins of the Seal Stone

As they continued researching more about the Chosen One, Aaron warned Edea not to use lightning attacks on the ghosts, as one spark could burn down the whole library and destroy the priceless ancient writings and artifacts. Soon after, Aaron decided to help them research holy relics and explained that he would begin by explaining the creation of the holy relics. He told them that, according to his research, all that mortals considered to be supernatural, from the Overseers to the Ancient Gods to the Transcendents, were a form of higher being that existed outside the physical limitations of the universe. Because of this, mortals were unable to truly harm them, which was why, since ancient times, it had been said that only gods had the power to challenge other gods. Edea realized that it meant that in order to fight a god, one either needed to be a god themselves or use something containing their power, such as how the Adversary had used the Seal Stone to kill the Black Mage. Aaron confirmed her words and explained that the Seal Stone was imbued with the power of higher beings, and that it was now a proven threat to the very existence of the divine. Edea then realized that if the holy relics had been created to fight higher beings, just like the Seal Stone, the way that they both operate would be similar, which made her wonder whether learning more about the Seal Stones would provide clues about Azor. Aaron pointed the Adversary to the section with more information about the Seal Stones and asked if they had been able to obtain several overdue books that he had requested, explaining that they ought to hold onto the books in order to glean more information from them. He told them that individually, they were glimpses into the origins of things, but taken together, they told a story about how those who didn't understand the past were doomed to repeat its mistakes.

The Adversary then fought past the ghosts and obtained the documents on the Seal Stones, which they brought back to Aaron and Edea. They then read how, to defend against the Ancient Gods' chaos, the will of the world had created weapons known as the Godspheres. The Godspheres had then fused with beings called the ‘noble ones', whose confrontation with the gods had begun the Ancient War. From the document, Edea concluded that the relic's power went to whomever the people deemed worthy to wield it, which explained why the Chosen One needed the Order's approval to take possession of Azor. She then noted that Seren already had the support of all three Orders of Mitra, Spisa, and Nerota, which meant that she satisfied the condition of Azor requiring the people's faith to wield. She also realized that there was now a very concrete reason behind the idea of a noble hero saving the world, which was so often romanticized in stories. Just as she wondered what Seren would do if she learned about the truth, Seren herself arrived at the library. Seren told them that she wanted to help find the Chosen One, as she felt that it was unfair to leave all the work to the Alliance. She then noticed that Edea looked unwell, to which Edea explained that she had been possessed by the library ghosts, and that the holy water which she had drunk was still taking some time to take effect. Edea added that she hadn't been able to use her lightning spells on the ghosts, which would have burned down the library otherwise. Seren then asked Aaron about the magical fire extinguisher, which could put out fires without using water. Aaron told her that it was meant as a last resort, as the device worked by removing all the oxygen in the area, which would kill anyone still trapped inside. The four of them then searched the library for more information on the Chosen One and found a book that contained a prophecy, “When the scattered lights unite, the sun's radiance shall descend from the heavens”, along with the same phrase that Roland had mentioned was written on Azor, “Alvationsay inway Andhay”, as well as a line that said, “The Chosen One will be revealed for all to worship. Only then will the people find their salvation.”

The Chosen One

Some time later, Havoc revealed that he had captured the true Chosen One, and Aaron's research determined that Chief Knight Gilmore, her old commanding officer, was the Chosen One whom they were to rescue, which shocked Seren. After the failed attempt to rescue Gilmore, the Adversary recalled what Aaron had said about how the overdue library books collectively told a story about how those who didn't understand the past were doomed to repeat its mistakes. The Adversary began looking through the books and found that the first book spoke about how the Order of Mitra had undergone many divisions and reformations. The second described how ‘dawn', ‘noon', and ‘sunset' were the only three words that remained to mark the position of the sun. The final spoke of how Mitra possessed many facets, from being tranquil and quiet, to righteous and benevolent, to wrathful in the face of injustice. Just as they reached an epiphany, Aaron arrived and saw that by the look on the Adversary's face, they had reached the same conclusion that he had. He explained that after centuries of the people not hearing Mitra's voice, they had gradually forgotten the very origin of their beliefs. Just then, Edea arrived and greeted Aaron, explaining that she wanted to ask him to come to Maple World with them, as he wouldn't be safe in Cernium after Gilmore took possession of Azor. Hawkeye interrupted and asked him to first finish what he had been explaining. Aaron asked them to recall the sun and its place in the sky at dawn, noon, and sunset. He explained that ancient worshippers had believed that the sun brought hope at dawn, justice at noon, and flaming passion at sunset. After the Ancient Gods had disappeared, the followers of Mitra had split into three factions, each worshipping the sun's three different aspects. Over the centuries, those followers had lost sight of the truth and had forgotten that Mitra, Spisa, and Nerota were all facets of the same god.

The Glory Guard was shocked, as the revelation meant that all the holy wars and sacrifices had been part of an ultimately meaningless conflict. Checky also realized that Gilmore was wrong, as there were no non-believers in Cernium if all the different faiths ultimately worshipped Mitra. Aaron agreed, but he reminded them that a single seed of doubt could crumble the entire foundation of one's faith, just as it had done to Seren. Edea realized that the other sects would never accept it, as doing so would force them to acknowledge that every terrible deed that they had ever committed in the name of their god had been unjustified. However, it also meant that the Chosen One had been selected long ago, as the criteria for being chosen were that they needed to be worthy of the power, as well as to have the support of all three Orders, meaning that Gilmore was unworthy of awakening Azor without their full support. Edea then rushed to check on something, just as several Alliance soldiers warned that they needed to leave soon. Edea asked them to go on without her, as she would be back after confirming something that she had realized, and told Aaron that her offer to bring him to Maple World still stood. Aaron thanked her, but declined, as he wished to continue watching over the library. Though he knew that Edea wanted them to go on ahead, Hawkeye told the group that they couldn't go without her and decided that in her place, the Adversary should take up command.

Soon after, Aaron learned from a court knight that Edea had gone missing, and that she had asked him to use the fire extinguisher after ten minutes, which had long since passed. Though Aaron wanted to use the extinguisher before the library burned down, he decided to go after Edea, as removing all the oxygen from the room with the extinguisher would kill her. Soon after, the Adversary arrived at the library and worked with Aaron to find Edea, who told them that she needed to speak with Seren in the chamber of the holy sword. However, she warned the Adversary to keep their distance once they arrived, as the activated sword would channel Mitra's consciousness, and since the Ancient Gods were hostile towards Adversaries, it would likely turn on them. As the Adversary headed off, Aaron told Edea that he had translated the inscription on Azor, “Alvationsay inway Andhay”, and had learned that it didn't mean “Salvation is in Cernium”. Instead, it meant “Salvation is in your own hands”, as it was the people who imposed blind faith, not the gods. After Edea left, Aaron attempted to activate the fire extinguisher, but he found that the fire had broken it, meaning that it was too late to save the library. He then noted to himself that the damage to the library was so extensive that only a god could undo it now.

A few days after Seren defeated Havoc and won the battle, the Adversary met with Carlisle in the ruins of the palace, where he told them that the Order of Mitra was to formally anoint Seren as the Chosen One in order to give the people hope before the rebuilding efforts began. He told them that Edea was in the library, likely apologizing to Aaron, as Aaron could have activated the fire extinguisher and saved the library if she hadn't been trapped inside. In the library, Edea profusely apologized to Aaron for all the knowledge that had been lost, but Aaron told her not to apologize, as it was nothing compared to all the lives that they had saved. After Edea left, Aaron's eyes began glowing red as he used the power of time stolen from Chronica to restore the burned library. Some time later, Aaron arrived at the palace and approached Seren, who was being formally anointed. Aaron congratulated Seren and asked if she had heard the voice of Mitra since becoming the Chosen One. Seren told him that she hadn't had that honor yet, to which Aaron offered to show her how. Aaron then whispered something in Seren's ear, causing her to suddenly be consumed with divine energy as Mitra himself possessed Seren's body. The audience was shocked at the devastating power that emanated from Seren, from whom Mitra declared, “The wrath of the sun is upon you,” exactly as he had done in the Adversary's vision when they had attempted to wield Azor. Seren then turned to face the Adversary, within whom Mitra recognized the power of the Seal Stone, and the two engaged in a fierce battle. The shockwave of their battle wounded everyone in the audience, and the Adversary barely managed to win by shattering Azor. Seren, having regained her senses, was shocked at the destruction of the holy sword, just as Aaron approached the wounded Adversary. To everyone's shock, he extracted the Seal Stone from the Adversary and told them that he had warned that it would only bring death, after which he shattered it. As he walked away, Edea asked who he really was, to which Aaron, his eyes glowing red, replied, “I am the one who tires of the folly of lesser lifeforms,” thus revealing himself as Gerand Darmoor before leaving Cernium and returning to Aboris.

The Path to Odium

Several months after the battle of Cernium, Darmoor tasked the Angler Company with leading the Adversary to Odium. In Hotel Arcus, Senya Angler attempted to seize control of the ancient relics beneath the hotel, though her attempts were thwarted by the Alliance. Following this, Nicky Angler led the Alliance through Karote, a self-building tower created ages ago by his father in order to reach Odium. Though the Adversary had lost their Seal Stone, Guardian Kalos recognized them as a true Vessel and allowed them to enter Odium, though Nicky seized control of Kalos and attempted to use him to defeat the Adversary. After Nicky's defeat, however, the Adversary was rescued from the collapsing tower by Cosim, Nicky and Senya's brother who had turned against his family.

The Power of Time Awakens

Soon after, Chronica's power began resurfacing in the Arcus desert, causing the Alliance to investigate. In the hidden village of Evernia, the Alliance worked with the villagers for the Twilight Eve Festival, which would result in Chronica's resurrection after the Transcendent of Time and their sanctuary had been sealed away in a prison dimension by Darmoor. During this time, Darmoor dispatched the Apostle Ressa and Melange to investigate the resurging power of time, where they discovered that a young boy named Kael appeared to have ties to Chronica, and that he was quite dangerous, leading them to retreat from the area.

Finding the World Heart

Following the mission to Karote, the Angler Company launched an invasion to take control of Odium. In order to learn the secret of the laboratory, the Adversary and the Alliance traveled to Odium with Cosim's help, where they worked with Master Tai Yu to enter the heart of Odium. During this time, Darmoor dispatched Kaling to assist the Angler Company, though he secretly intended to sacrifice her after her failure to recover the Four Perils. In the heart of Odium, Kaling discovered that Hundun had been fused with the World Heart and used to power Odium for ages. Despite Kaling's efforts, however, the Adversary managed to take the World Heart from Hundun, after which Tai Yu brought them to Shangri-La so that they could speak with the elders of Grandis and restore its power.

Following the invasion of Odium, Kaling met with Gerand Darmoor and explained everything that had happened at the laboratory. Darmoor summarized her report and noted that the Godsphere had fallen into the hands of the incomplete Adversary, and that all that was left was the lifeless husk of a Peril. He added that with the Godsphere missing and the Peril incomplete, they would never complete a Vessel with such a paltry prize. He explained that it wasn't simply a matter of power, as they had enough to fill it. However, he told Kaling that without the Godsphere, their efforts would all be in vain. He noted that Kaling had reported that the Adversary was headed for the realm of the sages, adding that it was quite convenient, as he had a debt to repay the elders. He told Kaling that as she had a long history with the elders, he would give her a chance to settle her grudge with them. He added that she wouldn't need to worry about getting into Shangri-La, as the barrier would open from the inside. He then turned to Hundun's corpse, which Kaling had brought from Odium, and noted that as Hundun hadn't been born with life, there would be no rest for him in his end, which he added was quite pitiful. Darmoor then used his powers to resurrect Hundun for Kaling, who then thought to herself that no one would be able to stand in her way anymore. She vowed to complete her experiment and, recalling her meeting with the Adversary, reaffirmed what she had once told them - that once she had something in her sights, she would never let it go.

With the help of six traitorous elders of Shangri-La, Kaling was able to enter the realm of the sages, where she fused together with her three Perils in order to take the World Heart from the Adversary. However, the Adversary was able to defeat Kaling, after which the World Heart immediately absorbed Darmoor's Transcendent powers inside Kaling, causing her and the three Perils to scatter into ashes. Just as Darmoor had anticipated, Kaling's death allowed a small portion of the World Heart's power to return, prompting the Adversary to undergo a mission to collect the power of the gods and complete the World Heart. In the aftermath of the battle, the six traitorous elders were able to escape Shangri-La, capturing two of the Four Symbols that protected them: Baekyeon and Ara. They then met with Darmoor and offered their service to him, promising to help him with his Adversary research in exchange for destroying the Overseers' hold upon them.

Attacks on Maple World and Grandis

Arteria Invasion

Following the events of Odium and Shangri-La, Darmoor ordered his Apostles to launch coordinated attacks all throughout Grandis in order to steal the powers of the awakening Ancient Gods. Upon learning from Ypsilon that Empress Cygnus was a Transcendent-in-waiting and Shinsoo was an Ancient God, Darmoor also dispatched Reina to invade Maple World and take the powers of both Cygnus and Shinsoo, giving her a draining crystal containing the power of a god. Following the attacks across Maple World and Grandis, the Apostles gathered the power of countless gods - as well as Cygnus's Transcendent powers - inside draining crystals.

Invasion of Carcion

Following the attack on Maple World, Limbo was dispatched to Carcion in order to take the power of Keira, the Ancient God of Carcion. However, Darmoor - anticipating Limbo's failure - dispatched Havoc to rescue him after he was defeated by the Adversary. After Havoc and Limbo returned from their mission to Carcion, they finished giving their report to Darmoor at the Aboris Royal Palace. Darmoor was interested to know that the Adversary had managed to consciously use the World Heart, to which Havoc added that the Adversary had also made a mess of Limbo. Alarmed by how Darmoor would take it, Limbo began fearfully stammering that he hadn't planned on it, swearing that it wouldn't happen ever again. However, Darmoor cut Limbo off and assured him that he wasn't disappointed in him. He then explained that it was time, noting that he could hear the prayers meant for the false gods. He then ordered the Apostles to bring them to him, declaring that he would bring forth a true paradise. From his throne, Darmoor held up a draining crystal, with many others floating throughout the room, filled with the power of countless other gods.

Mission to Tallahart

In the ancient city of Tallahart, Baldrix led the Knights of the Einherjar to take the power of Tallahart's gods. There, however, Baldrix encountered the Adversary and discovered that the World Heart was being completed far sooner than expected. Because of this, Baldrix allowed the Adversary to take the power of Tallahart's gods to accelerate the World Heart's completion. Shortly after the battle, Baldrix reported to Darmoor that the Adversary's condition as a Vessel had grown faster than anticipated, and that Darmoor's goals would be realized if the World Heart were to be completed. Darmoor then thanked Baldrix for his hard work before preparing to begin the great culling to purge the unworthy from his paradise.

Morning Star Banquet

With the World Heart nearing completion, Darmoor tasked Ressa with relaying his mission to the other Apostles at the Morning Star Banquet, a New Year's celebration at the God-King's imperial villa. Though Darmoor himself never appeared at the banquets, all the Apostles who were not away on missions had gathered at the villa, where Ressa gave them their next orders to prepare for the great culling. During the Morning Star Banquet, Asha - brought to Aboris from Sefirot - tended the gardens of the banquet, having gained dark power from Darmoor.

Trivia

• Gerand Darmoor shares many similarities with the Black Mage: both are evil Transcendents of their respective worlds, both have stolen their world's Transcendent of Time's powers, both seek to remake the world in their image (though this was merely a ruse on the Black Mage's part), and both have had Magnus serve them. Whether or not this is coincidental is unknown.

• His leitmotif/theme BGM is OverlordOfLife.
• Whereas the Black Mage is best known for saying "The ultimate light can only be found in the ultimate darkness", Darmoor is best known for saying "The meaningless struggle of immature life... What a pathetic existence..."
  • This phrase has had several modifications across different regions and storylines.
  • In Illium's storyline in GMS, Darmoor says, "The struggles of life can sometimes be difficult to see...". However, the GMS Cernium storyline has Darmoor say, "I am the one who tires... of the folly of lesser lifeforms."
  • In MSEA, while Darmoor has the same line as KMS in Illium's storyline, the Cernium storyline has him say, "You immature creatures struggling with such futility. How pathetic!"

Gallery

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  "Aaron" NPC sprite
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  Alternate "Aaron" NPC sprite
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  "Aaron" NPC sprite (Grand Athenaeum)
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  Darmoor seen in Ark's storyline
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  Darmoor and his apostles (Ark's storyline)
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  Darmoor seen in Limina storyline
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  Prototype Art of "Aaron"/
  Theologian Aaron: "They say that you plan to fight, even if it means plunging all of Grandis into war."
  (Lit. (MSEA) "Do you intend to fight as well? Even when you know how much blood that will shed...")
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron"
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron"
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron"
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron"
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron" (Grand Athenaeum)
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron" (Grand Athenaeum)
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron" (Grand Athenaeum)
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron" (Grand Athenaeum)
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  NPC Portrait of "Aaron" (Grand Athenaeum)
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  NPC Portrait of Gerand Darmoor

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  Darmoor and Draining Crystals (Carcion)
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  Maple on the Scene - Full Moon Goblin Night Market / Gerand Darmoor (A wisher of Grandis' conquest): I bought a Full Moon Face Chair from Seop's (Boutique Store), and my body glowing like this.
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  Maple on the Scene - Full Moon Goblin Night Market / Gerand Darmoor (A wisher of Grandis' conquest): I'll buy Moniroid next time~

Videos

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TMS: The Owner of the Holy Sword

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新シナリオ解説動画#3

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