Template:Sideicon Template:Images Template:Organization The Sworn Six of Paladia originally the Sworn Eight of Paladia are the main antagonists for a majority of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Season One. A powerful group of six mysterious individuals fully clad in armor, working to achieve revenge, they seek the destruction of the crystals enshrined throughout the world of Lapis.
Once inhabitants of the world of Paladia and servants of Aldore during the war against Hess and the Eight Sages, they share the name of Veritas (ヴェリアス, Veriasu?, lit. Vellious), and each controls a particular element which they are titled after. The group is thus also collectively known simply as The Veritas. There were originally eight members, but the original group incurred in losses due to defection or death. Furthermore the identity of those under the armors has changed over time.
They are the game's equivalent of the Four Fiends.
Story
Background
The Sworn Six of Paladia, originally known as the Sworn Eight of Paladia, were once a group of inhabitants in the world of Paladia. As Hess wanted to declare independence from Paladia and create a new nation with visionary magicks as its cornerstone, Aldore opposed Hess which became the origin of the war that divided the world into two beliefs with the Sworn Eight remaining loyal to Aldore becoming the lieutenants of the Aldore faction. Although they followed Aldore, the group was not content with the war and reluctantly kept fighting while killing many people which did not bode well for them. While initially the weaker faction, Hess managed to form a group of eight individuals known as Hess' Eight Sages which would become the faction's main force, allowing them to stand in opposition to the Sworn Eight.
At some point when the war raged, Veritas of the Waters although a skilled combatant could not stomach the cruelties of war and began to despair as she killed others. Not wanting her heart to break apart at further murder, she decided to utilize a special technique that allowed her to hypnotise herself and create a desired, cruel and ruthless persona, suited for war. Flame pleaded with Waters to stop as he would convince their leaders to let her go. However she refused to let anybody else bear the sins of war so she decided to bear them herself, creating an homicidal warrior.
As the war progressed both sides began to incur in heavy losses which became worse as time passed. Thus the first Veritas of the Dark decided to enact a bold plan to end the war quick so as to prevent further bloodshed, which involved sealing the Sages inside Crystals so that Hess' faction would be left without strength, giving Aldore a significant advantage over Hess. However the Sworn Eight would then force the leaders of the Aldore faction to negotiate Hess' independence, threatening to side with Hess should they attempt any further use of force on the faction, thus using the leverage of turning the war results around to coerce them into resolving the conflict peacefully.
Nearing the time for the final confrontation Raegen met with both Veritas of the Light and Veritas of the Bolt. He asked them what they would do after the war ended. Light was puzzled by the question. Raegen elaborated he wanted to journey around the world after Hess achieves the long desired independence, wishing to witness the ensuing events closeby. Light who held feelings for him, decided she would join him wherever he went.
Before enacting the plan Veritas of the Frost would due to his own reckless approach, disobey Raegen's orders and march on his own. Although the Darklord tried to stop him, Frost responded he try to do so with force, causing Raegen to let the Frostlord go as he did not want to risk unnecessary injuries before their grand, final battle.
Although the Sworn Eight lost Veritas of the Frost in battle, they nonetheless succeeded in their plan of sealing the Sages in Crystals so as to force negotiations, but unexpectedly for them, Aldore began to fear the Sworn Eight's power and betrayed them, causing the piece of land where the Sworn Eight, the Eight Sages sealed in Crystal, and several people from Paladia to be transported into the world of Lapis through an interdimensional Gate.
The Sworn Eight, bitter at their leader's betrayal wanted revenge, but were unable to due to being in a different world with nearly immortal bodies as a result of Aldore's technology. The soldiers of both factions began to forsake the war while settling with the people of Lapis. The Sworn Eight stuck together as a group while also living with the people of Lapis. Although their feelings changed, their hatred was still latent.
At some point 100 years ago, both Veritas of the Light and Sakura stumbled upon the Magic Library which they discovered was originally from Paladia. While checking the books the sisters found one that held knowledge of the Gates and discovered that the magic utilized to transport them to Lapis was still active. Realizing that the Gate accumulated magic and needed to open once every 100 years in order to prevent it from running amok, the Sworn Eight had finally found a way to return to their world and the flames of revenge were lit once more.
In order to return to their world the Sworn Eight had to destroy the Crystals that served as a seal. If they succeeded the landmass that was transported, would return to Paladia. Light consulted with the others and Veritas of the Flame, Waters, Earth and Heavens, all agreed they should destroy the Crystals to return to their land. Light went to meet her sister and Raegen. However both of them realizing they had changed no longer desired revenge, much less at the cost of innocent lives as the massive landmass transportation had fatal side-effects on the overall geography, wiping many civilians during the merging process. Light pleaded with Raegen to reconsider even threatening to attack him, but he told her that she was free to attack her but that he would pursue his dream of journeying around the world. Discarding their armors both Raegen and Sakura left the group, causing the remaining members of the Sworn Eight to reform under the leadership of a new Veritas of the Dark as the Sworn Six of Paladia. However none of the other members except for Light knew the truth of his identity, believing him to be Raegen all along.
The Sworn Six thus began their machinations, looking for the Crystals while constructing the airship, the Invincible, that would allow them to pass through the Gate without harm. At some later point Light met with Raegen on a raining day. She told him that their plans were progressing smoothly and tried to convince him to rejoin them. Raegen refused since his journey was not over. Light protested, knowing that Raegen had started a family of his own. Raegen reaffirmed that living as a normal human was the greatest journey he could ask for.
Light tried to return him by force but the talk was interrupted by Sophia, Raegen's wife. Sophia begged Light to let them live in peace. Light took the chance and threatened to kill her if Raegen did not rejoin them. Sophia pleaded Raegen to not let such a threat sway him and to stay true to his resolve. Raegen agreed and rejected joining back. Light pushed Sophia aside and Raegen and Light fought, however Raegen without his armor was no match for Light who attempted to blast him, but unexpectedly Sophia took the blow for him, which shocked both combatants. Raegen took the dying Sophia back to his home, with Light horrified at what she had done. Raegen returned to his home and was met by a young Rain, revealing to him that his mother was dead, while cryptically telling him that he, Raegen had killed her. Raegen then left to never be seen again.
Grandshelt
Veritas of the Dark is first seen at the Earth Shrine at the Earth Crystal. He's confronted by Rain and Lasswell, and says their ignorance is their sin and that he will end the world before. He defeats the duo easily and destroys the Crystal. He exits the shrine and destroys the heroes' airship, killing the crew. The destruction of the Crystal makes the monsters more malevolent and aggressive.
The Sworn Six later assault the Grandshelt Castle with an army of monsters. The two heroes encounter Veritas of the Dark after they rescue the King, where Veritas of the Dark is with his companions who are hooded at this time. As he prepares to strike both of them Fina imprisoned in Crystal appears from the castle's ground and shields them from Veritas's attack. Seeing the outcome, Veritas deems that their mission in Grandshelt is done, declares himself Veritas of the Dark of the Six Sworn of Paladia, and retreats.
Veritas of the Dark later appears alone in Lanzelt Ruins. He breaks a mysterious statue, calling it the vessel of Paladia. Veritas declares to himself that both ignorance and the world will soon end. Rain, Lasswell and Fina confront him, and while the trio at first bests him, Veritas unleashes his true power and easily defeats them. He notices that Fina has lost her memories, but pays it no mind as he's confident she will soon remember, and leaves.
At the Shrine of Decay the warriors come to face Dr. Lazarov, a scientist working for Veritas, and witness his inhumane research creating monsters out of humans. The mad scientist unleashes his latest creation on the warriors while he escapes.
Dirnado
Upon arriving in the continent of Dirnado, and accompanied by the engineer Lid, the party listens to a dwarf claim that a man named Veritas has been kidnapping his kin for an unknown purpose.
In the village of Ambel, the party encounters a dwarf being assaulted by a flying figure who reveals himself as Veritas of the Heavens, a user of wind magic. Veritas of the Heavens looks down on the party for being "earthly", saying the Earth should listen to the Heavens. Trying to save the dwarf the warriors confront him. Although they repel him, they are unable to defeat him, as their attacks barely had an effect. Veritas commends the warriors for being able to provide "some sport," saying they have already waited 700 years for their vengeance before leaving.
On the Mobreeze Airship Factory, the party tries to reach the Crystal of Wind before Veritas can, and have an encounter with Evan, Lid's brother who is under employment of Veritas. Evan is digging out an ancient airship known as the Invincible and building weapons for Veritas. Evan rejects his sister's pleas and sends a robot known as the Guardian to destroy them, but the warriors escape.
The party encounters Veritas of the Heavens at the end of Galebreak, having killed several guards. Veritas mocks them and disappears to the Wind Shrine. Lid joins the party upon learning they are set to defeat them.
Upon reaching the Wind Shrine the party walks a few steps from the entrance, but Rain senses Veritas of the Heavens nearby. Veritas ridicules the party, saying they took too long to notice, and that if it was Veritas of the Dark, he would have noticed his presence the moment he set foot on the shrine. He gives them one last chance to retreat before going after the Crystal. Both forces reach the Crystal room where they engage in combat, the party defeating Veritas and leaving him on the last of his strength. His mask shatters and reveals his identity as the first engineer to carry the title of Cid from fifteen generations ago. Using the last of his strength Veritas of the Heavens destroys the Wind Crystal causing the Shrine to collapse, with him rejoicing that with the destruction of the Crystal, the seal on the heart of the Invincible will break, making the airship operative again.
Heavens is weakened but retreats to the now functional Invincible where he finds Veritas of the Dark waiting on the deck. Heavens comments it was careless of him to let his identity be revealed, but Dark assures him that it won't matter since the party won't find the truth. They are interrupted by Veritas of the Waters who mocks Heavens for his carelessness, but says she will clean after his mess. Waters says she will put the treasure Dark found on Lanzelt Ruins to good use on her next scheme, and asks a witnessing Evan if he's fine with his sister dying for their objectives. Evan reaffirms she can do as she pleases and leaves. Waters is overjoyed she can use all her strength without reservation, but Evan is secretly worried.
Olderion
Veritas of the Waters attacks the region of Olderion where the Water Shrine is located, and under protection of the Water Priestess Luka. She fouls the pure waters of Olderion which repels monsters from the region, thus nullifying their protection and infesting the Aquapolis Olderion with monster attacks, and forcing the priestess out to Lake Dorr, the origin of the waters, to purify them. Veritas of the Waters plans to kill Luka and gain access to the Water Shrine, and thus uses the Sacred Ring of Paladia which she borrowed from Dark, and injures the revered Water God of Olderion, Leviathan. The injury on its neck causes its blood to foul the waters and drive the monster on Waters' control.
After the party encounters the Warden of the Waters and Olderion strategist Nichol, who is Luka's older brother, the group repels monster attacks at the Olderion capital. They travel with him and Luka to Lake Dorr to purify the waters, but and notify Nichol about the existence of the Sworn Six of Paladia. Nichol realizes the trap set by Veritas of the Waters. Upon reaching Lake Dorr, Veritas of the Waters emerges and attempts to kill Luka, but with her scheme already discovered she's ambushed by the party much to her annoyance.
The party defeats the minor monsters employed by Waters prompting her to summon Leviathan, leaving Nichol and Luka in shock that the Water God is obeying the masked assailant. Nichol recognizes the Sacred Ring of Paladia, which makes Waters praise Nichol for his knowledge, but cuts the admiration short before sending the Esper to kill them. The party battles Leviathan but are eventually cornered. Luka attempts to reach to Leviathan through her prays, but Waters uses the moment to attempt to kill her. Fina stands up and projects a barrier to shield Luka. Waters, annoyed at their opposition, performs a second attack, which shatters the barrier and knocks the party to the floor. She mocks Luka's prays as meaningless and commands the Esper to kill them. Leviathan regains control of its own self and attacks Waters instead who retreats.
Although Leviathan is freed from her command the damage done to the pure waters requires Luka to sink to the bottom of the lake to purify it, a process that can take years. Luka shares a portion of her power with Fina to enable to party to undo the barrier on the Water Shrine.
Back at Olderion, Veritas of the Waters reassumes her attack on the city, using the Sacred Ring of Paladia to flood most of the city. The party encounters her and Fina rushes to attack Waters, but is pushed away. Nichol explains to Rain that the ring boosts magical strength, but Fina stands up once more claiming she has regained part of her memories and that she remembers the ring. Fina clashes with Waters and seemingly nullifies the power of the ring. Fina recovers her memories along with a personality change. Waters, furious at her intermission, decides to finish Fina, but her attacks do not have an effect as Fina awakens as a warrior of Hess and drives Waters into a corner forcing her to retreat. Unbeknown to her, Fina can sense Waters' presence so the party decides to pursue her.
With the help of Pirate Captain Mercedes, the party finds Waters in the Ghost Ship where Fina mocks Waters' ineptitude to hide. Furious and surprised, Waters fights back but the party defeats her. A curious Rain touches the ring causing his arm to glow, which makes Waters realize of who Rain truly is, and that she is to report to Dark.
Using Luka's borrowed powers they enter the Water Shrine. However, Waters assaults the residence with monsters, causing Elle to separate from the party to protect the Water Crystal. Waters is revealed to have been hiding on Elle's shadow. Waters pushes Elle aside and breaks the Crystal. Waters tries to set in motion her other plan to await the rest of the party and ambush them. However, Elle gathers every ounce of his remaining strength, amplified by his lover Arsha's amulet, and fights Waters.
Although Waters deals fatal wounds to the young warrior, she realizes that Elle's true goal was to buy time for the party to reach the Crystal chamber. Furious that her ambush plan has been ruined, Waters fights with all her strength for a final time, but is eventually defeated and forced to flee. Following Waters' defeat, Fina uses the remainder of Luka's power on the crystal shards to reverse the damage done by Waters, reverting to her previous self while Elle succumbs to his wounds.
After Veritas of the Waters is defeated, Veritas of the Dark wanders on a road surrounded by cherry blossoms until his path suddenly disappears before him. An unidentified woman appears behind him and calls him "Raegen", recognizing his armor. He asks if she's prepared to die but she tries to convince "Raegen" that he should forget his revenge against Paladia, and that "he" decided to live in peace with his lover 700 years ago. Dark denies these allegations. The woman realizes she mistook Dark for somebody else, but is confident that he cannot defeat her. Dark reveals he has the Sacred Ring with him and unleashes an attack, but the woman vanishes before it can land. Dark is positive he will kill her the next time they meet.
Zoldaad
Atop the Invincible, Dark is visited by Veritas of the Flame who asks Dark if he's thinking about Rain. He tries to change the subject by stating that Flame was supposed to go to the Fire Shrine. Flame assures Dark he's on his way, but that he will likely have to face and kill Rain. Dark consents that Rain has it coming for interfering and that he should burn in Flame's hellfire. Flame leaves satisfied with Dark's approval, but tells him that he knows what Dark's face must look like beneath his mask before departing. Dark is left to collect his thoughts and believes that Rain cannot defeat Flame with his current strength, and regrets not being able to fight Rain once more before being able to depart to his true home world.
At the Volcanic Grounds Rain and his party meet Veritas of the Flame who is on his way to the Fire Shrine. Rain demands him to stop as he seeks to end the armored man on the spot. Flame injures Rain and Lasswell, mocking their weakness. Lasswell stands up to him and Flame recognizes his sword as Purple Lightning. Lasswell is surprised that he knows about his sword, and Flame reveals that he crafted it and theorizes that "that man" must have given it to Lasswell. Flames leaves since he does not want to waste time with weaklings, saying that if Lasswell could master the true power of his sword he wouldn't be losing.
The party with the guidance of Jake breaks through several facilities of the Zoldaad Empire until reaching the Fire Shrine. They encounter Veritas of the Flame who rebuffs them for being too weak to fight him. Lasswell decides to face Veritas of the Flame alone by unleashing the true power of Purple Lightning. Lasswell draws the full power of the blade and injures Flame creating an opening for the party to attack him.
Although successful in beating Flame, the battle takes a toll on Lasswell who had been heavily injured, which he kept a secret. Apologizing to Rain for not being able to fight him, Veritas of the Dark appears and heals both Lasswell and Flame, restoring them to full power. Veritas of the Dark mocks Flame for the state he is in, and tell him to wipe the smile out of his face. For the first time in 700 years Flame had a battle he could truly enjoy, as Purple Lightning unleashed its power, and this was the reason Dark saved Lasswell. Dark consents that he felt it a waste to leave such a promising warrior to die, and that he came because he felt the strength of Purple Lightning. Dark claims both Rain and Lasswell are now prepared enough to face them and the parties do battle. Rain and Lasswell defeat the Veritas, leaving them weakened, and Dark realizes they will be in trouble if they do not take Rain's group more seriously. He promises to return as they aren't done with their plans.
In the meantime Dr. Lazarov snatches the Invincible from them along Evan who is under his brainwashing, to use it as an instrument for war in order to create corpses to continues his dastardly experiments on immortality while manipulating Emperor Sozhe for his purposes. The theft of the Invincible does not sit well for the group so Veritas of the Heavens goes to the Invincible in order to retrieve it. He appears before the party after Lazarov lays injured following their battle. Lazarov pleads with his "comrade" to save him. However the mad scientist is given a swift refutal from Heavens as he makes it clear that they have no allies other than themselves as they seek to meet their objectives through their own strength. Lazarov then questions his arrival and Heavens responds that they thought of Lazarov as a "buzzing fly" but his act of theft for his selfish goals was more insolence than they could tolerate and kills him.
Heavens proceeds to congratulate the party on defeating Dark and Flame which was no easy feat. Rain then asks if he wants the same treatment but Lid intercedes and asks the man behind the man, the engineer Cid on why he would seek to destroy the Crystals. Heavens responds by asking the party why Crystals exist in the world, and unless they can find the answer by themselves they are not worthy of answers. He proceeds to explain some details of his life, that for 700 years he has felt a strong desire for revenge but that he's specially fond of his time engineering with the Dwarves. He continues to say that when he saw the Enterprise Airship used by the party be able to match the Invincible in speed, that he felt joy at how much the technology that he originally worked on has progressed and asks Lid to deliver his praise to her brother Evan, which Lid complies to. Subsequently Heavens claims the time for chat has ended and using his powers over wind, expels the party from the Invincible. Although Rain watches in horror, Lid reassures him confident that Heavens won't be using the Invincible in the same genocidal manner as Lazarov.
In a different land Dark, Flame and Heavens meet to talk. Dark asks Heavens if he fought Rain and his party, but he responds he didn't as his goal was to retrieve the Invincible and nothing else. Flame berates Heavens for his lack of guts stating that if he knew he was going to back out he would have gone so as to settle the score with them. Dark stops Flame and asks him what victory truly is, and if all they do is play with Rain and his friend, they will drift apart from their true goal. Flame agrees that he's getting to passionate. Dark then has Flame look around claiming that their close to finishing as they observe a set of land crack before them.
Mysidia
Meanwhile in a raining plains, Veritas of the Earth and Light discuss their plans. Earth asks Light if "him" can be sensed. Light assures that it can, and that "they" seem to have hidden the Crystal long ago, and that it was unexpected that another reunion with "them" would be most unfortunate. Earth warns Light that it matters not who she is, but if she gets moved by "foolish emotions" Earth will kill her. Light in turn responds that she discarded all her emotions except hatred and asks back at Earth if he's capable of keeping his cool when it comes down to Fina. Earth responds that said issue is of no concern and that he's fully dedicated to their greater goal. The two then march towards Mysidia.
Both Earth and Light ambush the party at the Nameless Ruins where the Crystal of Light resides. Sakura greets both of them, but is given a swift strike by Light who demonstrates a level power greater than Sakura remembers. Light chastises Sakura as a traitor and that she shall make her pay for having abandoned the armor and their ranks by making her suffer. The party try to help but Earth uses a quaking attack that pushes them outside the Crystal Chamber. Outside Earth confronts Fina and asks her if she remembers him but Fina does not. Outraged he claims he will make her remember and Fina accepts on the challenge, but Earth believes her unworthy of fighting him directly as she's not a warrior of Hess in her current state so he uses his shield to summon a Demon Wall instead while he escapes.
The party defeats the Demon Wall and reaches the chamber. Earth berates Fina and he is now convinced that she has become weaker and is not the same "Demon of Hess" as she was before, and asks if siding with a pack of humans is what made her weak. He then demands her to return to her old form for his sake and begins storing power. Thinking of it as an attack the party tries to interfere but Light uses her powers to temporarily blind them, giving Earth the chance to transfer a part of his powers onto Fina, causing her to revert into Dark Fina.
Dark Fina questions Earth into what has he done, and he finds it unsatisfactory that her question is the first she has to say to him after 700 years. He continues to say that she knows perfectly well what he wants and she wants too, to which answers to fight to the death. Sakura does not want to risk Fina being destroyed so she seizes the chance to teleport away with the party believing it better for them to survive and protect the last Crystal. Earth is discontent with Sakura's choice of fleeing while forsaking the Crystal, but Light does not care as she is confident they will find the last Crystal regardless and proceeds to destroy the Light Crystal. Earth rejoices knowing the promised day is nigh.
As the resurrection of Dark Fina has caused the other Fina to disappear into the former's mind with the risk of vanishing for good, the party goes to the Magic Library in order to save her and go Dark Fina's memories in order to find the source of what endangers Fina and prevent her destruction. Delving into her memories the party learns more about the war between Aldore and Hess and eventually meet the original members of the Veritas, traveling together. While traveling in the memory world, they are forced to fight the Dark Fina of that world as she believes them to be allies of Aldore.
They succeed in defeating her and the Veritas of the Earth of that world attempts to strike her down but Rain pleads with Earth to try to reach a peaceful approach instead of trying to kill each other for differing beliefs and claims Dark would not have stood up for slaughter. Earth enraged at Rain for his suggestion and claiming he doesn't know about the war or his own feelings for Fina and that he sees things differently from Dark. Earth takes on the challenge and attempts to fight him, but is defeated by the party.
The party is forced to leave Fina's Psyche as the Library is being attacked by monsters summoned by Light who makes her appearance. Rain tries to plead with Light saying they were witness of the events 700 years ago and that the Veritas were good people at heart, and asks what made her carry on so much hatred. Light then recognizes Rain as Raegen's son, and elaborates that he betrayed their homeworld and also hurt her feelings, cursing Rain's mother Sophia as being the cause. Rain tries to ask what she means but filled with rage she proceeds to assault them along with a pack of Kaiser Behemoths.
The party is able to defeat her and her armor falls down revealing Light to be Sakura's sister. Light however is disgusted at her and considers it to be no such family bond with a traitor. Light tries to attack but she is too injured and her attack is easily blocked by Sakura who tells her enraged sister to give up. Light scoffs at her wounds as insignificant compared to the humiliation she has had to endure, she then summons her armor back and stands up for more fighting. Rain asks why she knows his mother, and Light reveals that his father Raegen took on the mantle of Veritas of the Dark once and betrayed their cause and that Rain's mother was to blame. The revelation leaves the party flabbergasted, as they faced Dark who was loyal to the Veritas' goal making them realize that another individual is using the moniker of Dark. Light decides that they have no need to know and begins to unleash the magical power she has been concentrating. Dark Fina attempts to deal with it but she's unable to use any power, so Sakura takes action instead as Light unleashes a powerful magical explosion.
Anticipating their next move Earth would await the party at the Magi Training Grounds while wondering why Dark Fina would ever side with Hess despite the fact they could understand each other so well before after fighting so many times together in a more peaceful era. Mages of Mysidia would surround Earth demanding to know his identity and declaring that only mages of Mysidia are allowed in the Training Ground, but Earth makes his intentions of killing them clear and the Mages prepare to assault him. Earth tells them that they are welcome to attack him in group and if they manage to amaze him, he will let them live, but if they fail to entertain him he will kill them all. The mages bombard him with multiple Thunder-elemental Spells, but Earth kills them all effortlessly, off-screen.
The party reaches the Training Grounds and seeing the destruction around realize Earth was responsible. The man in question appears in person and asks Dark Fina to join their side. Dark Fina initially rejects the proposal, but Earth further tries to convince her, saying that if it was her, the Sworn Six would welcome her since they have an enemy in common. Dark Fina praises the offer as being generous but rejects it once more while looking at Rain and telling Earth she prefers to be with the "man she has fallen for" leaving everybody in awe. While the party asks whatever she means with her comments, Nichol suggests they retreat as they would be in serious trouble if Light were to appear as well and they retreat. Earth allows them to escape knowing where they will be anyway.
In order to once more enter Fina's Psyche to save Fina from disappearing, Sakura guides the party through the Mysidia Tower. Since the tower is brimming with magical power, Sakura is able to restore her lost strength and enact the spell to allow the party to enter Fina's mind while Sakura protects her bodies.
In the memory world, Rain rejoin with Earth, Light and Water. Rain and the party is initially uncomfortable with finding Earth due to their previous encounter with Earth wanting to settle the score. However Light calms things down saying Earth didn't hold grudges and despite his aggressive attitude, was in fact worried that he may have caused something bad to the party. Nichol notices Water who introduces herself. Lasswell worried about Nichol talks to him, but Nichol knowing what Lasswell means, tell him he can keep his composure and knows that the Waters they see now is not the same enemy that terrorized his country. They are soon joined by Dark who once more makes clear he senses a deeper connection with Rain. The groups then join forces once more as they fight their final battles against Hess' forces.
After a battle, the Sakura of the memory world as Veritas of the Bolt approaches the party, praising their skills. Jake notices that the individual in front of them is Sakura, making her to question how they know their name and deduces that it was due to her sister. They are joined by Dark who shares the sad news that their comrade Frost fell in combat, leaving Sakura surprised that he would be defeated. Dark further elaborates that the recent battles have taken too many casualties from both sides and that they should finish things soon. Rain asks Dark how he plans to end the war and Dark reveals his bold plan to subdue Hess' forces and then force the Aldore faction leaders to negotiate. Impressed by Dark's character, Rain decides to give him his full support and wants to be a part of the plan. Dark rejoices and shares with Rain a crystal to perform the deed.
As they continue to fight, Veritas of the Flame notices Lasswell blade to be similar to the Purple Lightning he forged. He praises the blade as well Lasswell skill, who in turn tries to stand up to Flame's expectations. Meanwhile Heavens notices Lid's odd comments about the world changing, not knowing what she means. Lid tries to evade the question saying it is complicated and that he, Cid, is an inspiration for her and her brother, leaving Heavens confused as to how she knows his name.
Finally during the party encounters the Dark Fina of the memory world once more, and they fight and defeat Dark Fina again. Rain tries to convince her to stop fighting, but she refuses, stating she can still fight and will continue. Rain then responds to Dark Fina that if she wants to fight, he will fight her as much as she wants until she calms down and the two duel. Rain questions Dark Fina on her motives, and she says that she fights out of her pride as a warrior, and returns the question back to Rain who knows not how to respond. She chastises them, saying that he's obviously fighting to protect something and further criticizes him as not knowing what he wants to protect. Rain, however, protests saying he has many things to protect which makes answering difficult, but that above everything he wants to protect a single girl and defeats Dark Fina.
Lying defeated she ridicules his motives but acknowledging they are more sincere than anything else. Rain then asks if he can seal her in Crystal so as to enact Dark's plan to force a peaceful end to the war. Dark Fina responds that she cannot oppose him so he's free to do as he wants, but demands to know the name of the girl he wants to protect. He responds that her name is "Fina" and seals Dark Fina into the Crystal. Sakura then tells the party that they succeeded in restoring Fina back, causing them to celebrate.
After their victory, the party meets with the remainder of the Sworn Eight who congratulates the party for their job, rejoyced that their plan can now begin. However their happiness is cut short when they see the land they are and the surrounds are lifting from the earth and begin to float, promting the party answers from Dark. The armored knight is confused but then realizes much to their shock that Aldore must be plotting something. Lid then notices lights on the sky and realizes that eight, giant Crystals are falling. Before the party can see what happens next they are returned into the real world by Sakura.
In the real world the party sees that Fina is back, but they soon notice that Dark Fina is also present at the same time, leaving the party speechless. Rain asks Sakura what happened, and she is unsure and surmises that something she failed to predict happened so as to cause the separation of the two Finas. Before long they are interrupted by Light and Earth. Sakura asks how they knew they would be here, and Light answers that it was easy, knowing the Top of the Mysidia Tower was the only place with enough magic to allow Sakura to use the magic to enter Fina's Psyche. Earth walks forward and once more asks Dark Fina about her motives of why she sides with Hess despite the fact the two of them knew each other so well as warriors, and that as true warriors they should be fighting alongside each other.
Dark Fina then explains that at the beginning of the war, Hess' faction was evidently the weaker of the two, a fact known by everyone, and that she joined precisely because being the weaker faction, it would allow her to fight stronger opponents as her pride as a warrior demanded. This causes Earth to realize he was wrong all along about Dark Fina and that it wasn't she who lost her way but himself. Dark Fina reprimands him on his broken tone and responds that he knows what they want. Earth responds that a fight to the death and understanding her message, he accepts Dark Fina's proposition for a duel. Dark Fina tells the party to let her settle her issues with Earth alone while they deal with Light and the two battles ensue.
Light takes on the challenge seeking to hear Rain and Sakura's screams as they die. As the battles rage, Light chastises both Sakura and Rain and in turn Raegen as cowards who feel no real conviction. Sakura protests that while they were betrayed, human nature is not such that is to be guided by hatred, but Light refuses this notion. The fight drags longer and Light is weakened. However she calls Lid a fool for thinking they have won, and asks whether they believe they are the only ones who can wield the power of Visions. She then unleashes her full power and summons Aldore Soldiers to assist her. The party makes another push and defeat her. At the same time Dark Fina is able to defeat Earth, who asks Dark Fina if during all this time and now that they were able to have a battle with no regrets if he was a worthy opponent. Dark Fina tells him she was happy to have Earth as an enemy, causing him to rejoice, feeling he wanted to hear that since 700 years ago.
Sakura tries to convince her elder sister to desist from fighting saying she's done. Light scoffs at this, replying she will be done when their revenge against Aldore is complete. The party is shocked and does not understand why she would seek revenge against her leader, but Rain deduces that the Crystals they saw falling in the memory world was an attack perpetrated by Aldore against the Sworn Eight. Dark then appears and praises Rain for getting closer to the truth, with the party surprised at his appearance.
Dark tells both Light and Earth to lay down as they are not meant to fall here. Both agree and Dark teleports them away. Dark says the time for Rain to learn the full truth is approaching, and further comments that when they achieve their goal, Rain, the people he loves, the places he lived in, and everything he holds dear will be destroyed. Rain however stands up to Dark claiming he won't allow him to do that. Dark then says the time for their final battle is coming soon and he teleports away. Lasswell worried about Rain tries to talk to him, but Rain reassures Lasswell that it doesn't matter who Dark is as they have come to far now and vows to defeat his enemy.
Gronoa
As the party travels in Gronoa in the Miasma Pass, the party is ambushed by Light. Angered at her sister, she summons Visions and attempts to assault the party. However she is soundly defeated while cursing Rain's power as being that of Raegen and mutters how long will Raegen continue to make her suffer before falling from a cliff. She however, survives as a result of her nearly-immortal body. As it begins to rain she begins to remember the day of her previous encounter with Raegen and then begins to think how her sister and the man she loved, all left her side leaving her alone and wondered where she went wrong. Realizing she has nothing but her revenge to keep her moving, she reassumes her agenda.
In Underworld Gaberada, Dark Fina senses the Dark Elf and warns the rest of the party of his erratic nature. Knowing he may approach the Dark Crystal, the party races to prevent the Sage from destroying the last Crystal. Sakura begins to wonder how the Dark Elf may have changed after his imprisonment.
The Party manages to find and witness the Dark Elf opening a path for himself with his destructive magic and continue to race against him, with Sakura's fears confirmed that the Dark Elf has changed for the worse as a result of being sealed for so long.
The party manage to face the creature in Desolate Landing. Although they believed he was defeated the Dark Elf unleashes the magic he was storing and blasts the party, resuming his quest for the Crystal. Veritas of the Light contemplates the scene and considers herself lucky to have this chance to kill them and attempts to kill Rain first. Sakura begs her sister to kill her instead and Light desists not feeling any thrill from killing weakened opponents and going after the Dark Elf, not wanting to let him destroy the Crystal to have the pleasure to do so herself. Sakura voices her worries knowing she will die but Light reaffirms that won't happen as she already "died" twice, once when Aldore betrayed her and again when Sakura left her side.
Light catches up to the Dark Elf and duels him but is defeated, the Dark Elf once more restarting his rampage. The party finds Light, injured and she begs Sakura to kill her. Her sister refuses to do such a thing and Light in turn, provokes Rain into killing her by revealing she killed her mother Sophia. Rain is shocked and Light continues to urge him to kill her by stabbing her in the heart where her immortality won't work. Rain however decides against revenge and is grateful to Light for the truth now relieved that his father did not truly kill his mother as he cryptically implied once. Light is puzzled and further insists that Rain kills her but he refuses, believing they should settle the score in a more adequate setting. He continues to elaborate that the first time he saw the Sworn Six, he believed them to be murderers but as he got to know them, he saw their human traits. Rain leaves stating he won't fight them out of anger, as he understands their motives but does not approve their actions. Light threatens to blast him from the back and Rain tells her she's free to do so, mirroring the words Raegen once told her. Light is left unable to act muttering to herself that she could not do such a thing to him or to Raegen.
The party catches up to the Dark Elf and once more a battle ensues. The party is victorious but the Dark Elf attempts to blast them again. Nichol suggests they use their Magic in conjunction to cancel the Dark Elf's power, however his opponent's attack is stronger as he's also using his own life energy to power it up and blasts the party. The Dark Elf still alive attempts to target Rain with the party unable to move. The Dark Elf attacks but Light intercepts the strike and blasts the Dark Elf with an attack of her own, killing the deranged Sage for good. Rain is grateful to Light for saving him, with her replying that she did so in order to settle the score properly. Rain asks her why his father rejoined the group he was supposed to have left but she insisted in not revealing the truth until their final battle and departs.
At the Invincible, Flame approaches Dark saying that only one Crystal remains and sharing his regrets that their companion Frost is lost and would not be able to join them for their final battle. Dark questions whether the Frostlord truly died as neither his remains or his armor were ever found so he's confident he is alive somewhere.
While preparing to defend the last Crystal from the Veritas, Sakura senses something is amiss and guides the party feeling this could concern the Sworn Six. At Duggle Village the armor of Veritas of the Frost that was worshipped as a God begins to move and freezes the villagers. Rain and his party find the Frostlord who claims he froze the people as he needed to "warm up" after sleeping for so long. Rain demands he releases the people but Frost refuses unless he can beat him. Further stating he won't bother with meaningless battles he forces the party to battle with each other in order to find who is the strongest. With the villagers hostage, the party has no choice but to comply to his demands.
The first battle is between Sakura and Rain with him serving as a judge. Sakura warns Rain to not hold back as otherwise Frost will notice and that she's curious about his strength. The two fight and Rain barely beats her, and Frost praises them both for their fight. Lasswell who witnessed the event wonders if they took it seriously as he thought they moved sluggish and begins to wonder if he has become too strong on his own.
The next battle is between Fina and Dark Fina. The latter tries to force a bet, that whoever loses should forget about Rain. The two fight and Dark Fina emerges victorious although Fina puts a decent fight. Dark Fina questions if that's all the effort she's gonna put for Rain and Fina replies that she's fine with how things currently stand like and that she does not at the moment need to pursue Rain actively. Dark Fina is happy with her answer and leaves.
The third match is between Nichol and Lasswell. Nichol makes it clear he knows about Lasswell's newfound strength and battle him but is soundly defeated by Lasswell who has become too strong. Nichol shares his knowledge with Jake who witnessed the fight. The fourth match is between Lid and Jake, with Jake taking the battle more seriously than ever as he is worried about his friends. Lid uses two Mechabos with her but is defeated by Jake.
As the battles rage the Sworn Six gather at Lazarov's laboratory where Dark explains that the equipment before them was a device invented by Lazarov in order to increase the life power of living beings. The group comments on the strength of Rain's party and that they will fail if they are not taken seriously. Dark encourages his comrades to enter in the capsules in order to further fortify their armors and grant themselves stronger power as they cannot fall before achieving their revenge.
With four combatants left Rain is forced to fight Dark Fina while Lasswell fights Jake. Rain barely manages to win against Dark Fina while Jake attempts to provoke Lasswell into using his true power both for his own sake and Rain's. Jake is also easily defeated and angrily criticizes Lasswell for his behaviour. Lasswell however remains conflicted with his own feelings.
Finally Lasswell and Rain fight in the last round. Rain easy defeats Lasswell who is holding himself back with Frost reaffirming his threat that he should fight seriously. Rain insists Lasswell fights seriously for the sake of the villagers. Lasswell's emotions reach his peak and he implodes and trounces Rain swiftly, leaving Lasswell confused as he only wanted to be at Rain's side and feels guilty about the current situation. Rain curses his own weakness at seeing his friend hurt by his own strength and draws forth his dormant power, accepting it as a part of himself at last. Rain convinces Lasswell to not hold back and that no matter if there is a gap in strength, Rain will catch up to him. Frost allows the battle to reassume and the two friends are able to fight with everything. They finish the battle with their signature technique, Tranquility with Rain emerging victorious. Lasswell praises Rain's strength and Rain encourages Lasswell to challenge him up at any time and the two friends make up.
Frost keeps his word and thaws out the villagers. Rain challenges Frost but the Veritas decides to settle it at the chamber of the Dark Crystal and departs. The group catches up to Frost who claims they were slow. He then issues a threat as he casts a spell on the Crystal, that they have five minutes to defeat him or the Crystal will be destroyed by a time bomb. Frost is confident that they cannot defeat him in despite of all the battles but the party protests and fight him. Frost is defeated after a tough battle. The five minutes pass but nothing happens and Frost reveals everything was a lie to motivate them. Before long the Sworn Six appear before them.
The party is able to sense that the Sworn Six have modified their armors granting them greater strength. Flame notices Frost behind the party, leaving the group surprised. Sakura expresses doubts about their odds at fighting seven Veritas at the same times and summons her Bolt armor to fight at full power. Earth invites Frost to rejoin them and that explanations can wait as the people in front of them are enemies. Frost teleports in front of them but surprisingly he joins with Rain's party. The Sworn Six demand an explanation at his betrayal and Frost states he's just where he belongs taking his helmet and revealing none other than Raegen behind the armor, leaving everyone flabbergasted.
The Sworn Six are in utter disbelief at what they see and are confused as to who the Darklord they follow is then. Rain questions Raegen's actions and he responds he had to leave in order to find the Frostlord's armor in order to fight the threat of his former comrades as he doubted his chances if he fought without aid. He further elaborates he forced the party to fight each other in order to improve their strength and test whether they were worthy allies. Lasswell attempts to question his adoptive father but Raegen decides to postpone answers until they deal with their current enemies, with both parties arming up for a final clash.
Flame tries to provoke the party into attacking and Rain responds to come himself if he dares. Raegen praises Rain for keeping its cool and not make the first move, and also praises Lasswell growth as he readies for Tranquility. The Waterlord behaves strangely and Nichol attempts to attack her only to be blocked by Flame. The cold broken, both parties engage in separate battles. Nichol who attempts to avenge his siblings seemingly gains an upperhand on Waters, strangely enough the Waterlord claims to not know neither Elle or Luka. Watching Waters in problem, Flame blasts Lasswell and Raegen with a Firaga and tackles Nichol. Waters seizes the chance to strike the unprotected Crystal but it is protected by a barrier placed by Raegen that will remain active so long as he's alive. Dark commands his companions to attack Raegen but the command line begins to waver when the Sworn Six demand the new Darklord to reveal his identity as they always believed they followed Raegen all along. Unexpectedly the land begins to shake and Sakura hypothesizes that a single Crystal is not enough to keep the Gate from opening, causing the land they are to begin transporting back to Paladia. Sakura and Raegen join forces to teleport everyone away but he distances himself from the group. The party, the Sworn Six and the Crystal are all transported to the Kingdom of Pharm.
Pharm
Upon landing on Pharm, a clash occurs within the party as Nichol is full-bent on achieving revenge against the Waterlord. Sakura senses Earth nearby and the party go to chase him as Nichol has the intention to interrogate him. Earth faces the party with the new powers of his armor and puts a difficult fight but is ultimately defeated. Nichol cruelly kicks the Earthlord and demands to know Waters' location but Earth cannot answer, making Nichol to attempt to to kill him but Rain and Dark Fina force him to stand down. Sakura feels another member of the Sworn Six but cannot tell who it is. Nichol goes in hot pursuit forcing the party to follow after him. Earth is grateful to Dark Fina for interfering claiming it was unexpected. Dark Fina in turn responds she did so to have somebody to fight. Earth tells Rain and Dark Fina to not worry about him and go after Nichol. Following their departure, as the Earthlord drew too much power from his armor, he begins to die with no regrets as he was able to fight Dark Fina one last time. His body crumbles in a flash of light, making him the first to fall.
Traveling further into the Mossy Woods the party finds Heavens. Lid asks Cid why he taught the Dwarves airship engineering if he sought to destroy the world. Cid explains he had to leave his wife and daughter behind during the final battle and the grief of being separated from them during the betrayal, filled his heart, knowing that neither of them were immortal as him. Lid shares her dream with him and Jake steps forward to support her. Heavens decides to run in order to conserve his power but is caught up and defeated. Lid then tells the weakened Cid to look at the sky as she and her brother will fill the sky with airships to blow his sorrow away. As the party leaves, Cid is satisfied, believing Lid to what he envisions his daughter to have been like. Looking at the sky one final time, he crumbles, becoming the second to fall.
Upon reaching the Town of Sian, the party meets with Sakura's former student Ayaka who witnessed the Crystal flying. Not long after a member of a expedition party, Goken, returns injured by a "monster in blue armor". Nichol rushes with Sakura entrusting the town's safety to Ayaka. At the investigation site, the party finds several wounded men and the nearby Waterlord in excruciating pain. Flame appears and pleads the party to let her go as she's unable to fight, as she lays tormented by her actions, the two teleport away. The party catches after them and Flame decides to buy time for her to escape. He reveals the truth behind her self-hypnosis and decides to stand up to the party to defend his comrade. The Flamelord proves a strong opponent but is trounced. Flame praises the party for their strength while both Rain and Lasswell commend the Flamelord for fighting without malice but only out of chivalry. As he exhausted his power, the Flamelord vanishes thanking the party for allowing him to feel alive once more and becomes the third member to fall.
The nearby Waterlord used hypnosis again and ambushes Nichol before running away prompting another chase. The party finds Waters in Lake Ryusei. Nichol questions the Waterlord intention to lure him there. She cruelly responds that the place is similar to Lake Dorr where she had attacked them before. She continues that she will kill Nichol like she did with Elle and toss his corpse in the lake to mirror Luka's situation. An angered Nichol confronts her, stating she knows about her traps, but she retorts that with her newfound power she needs no traps, making Nichol wonder what she's up to. The Waterlord is eventually defeated and urges Nichol to kill her. Nichol stops and calls her out on her act, knowing she's pretending to be hypnotized as she would fight with malice and dirty tactics, of which she used neither. Waters attempts to self-hypnotise once more in order to make it easier for Nichol to kill her, and he recognizes her technique as the forbidden art from his family. Waters then reveals he bore a child once, subsequently making her the first Water Priestess and Nichol's long ancestor. Realizing this, Nichol knowing the Waterlord has small time left as the repeated hypnosis have taken their toll, as his "revenge" he has the former Paladian swear to serve and help others for what remains of her life. Waters in turn swears to never become her other persona and do as Nichol requested. She subsequently teleports, making her the fourth member to fall.
While the battles unfold, Raegen fights his replacement. During the battle Raegen feigns weakness only to quickly assault the Darklord and leave him weakened. He attempts to discover his impostor's identity but the Lightlord interferes, desperate to prevent the truth from leaking. The two battle and Raegen manages to gain the upperhand and defeats her. However the Darklord's power increases through his desire to protect Light and defeats Raegen. The Darklord takes Citra with him in order to destroy the last Crystal which is no longer protected by the barrier. The party joins with Raegen and they pursue the remaining members of the Sworn Six.
The party faces the Darklord at the Forgotten Walls. Dark, Rain and Lasswell exchange their excitement about fighting each other after everything they've went through. Without regrets and holding nothing back both parties battle. The Darklord proves a strong foe but is defeated at last. As he lays weakened Light removes his helmet to treat to his wounds, revealed the Darklord to be a Vision of Raegen during the war of Paladia, created by Citra as a replacement for her unrequited love, although the true Raegen takes her feelings kindly. Before the party can celebrate the Dark Crystal is destroyed, while Dark Fina detects the presence of two of the sages, Sol and Behemoth K who were the ones responsible. Sol claims that life is unsightly and blasts the party with a Holy spell. The Darklord and Citra are isolated as the former shielded the latter from the attack. Citra lies in tears at the Vision for keeping his "promise" to travel together. She begins calling him Raegen but the Behemoth appears and destroys the Darklord who takes the Sage's attack, making him the fifth to fall. Citra cries out in desperation.
Members
- Veritas of the Dark (Leader)
- Veritas of the Heavens
- Veritas of the Waters
- Veritas of the Flame
- Veritas of the Earth
- Veritas of the Light
- Veritas of the Frost (status unknown)
- Veritas of the Bolt (defected)
Musical themes
Template:Listen "End is Nigh" is the eighteenth track of the second disc of the game's soundtrack and plays at several intervals although it is more commonly associated with Veritas of the Dark. It is composed by Noriyasu Agematsu and Nobuo Uematsu. The track is mostly played through organ and features a rather deep and terrifying tone.
Etymology
Palladia is the plural form of palladium. Palladium is Latin for "safeguard".
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