#update screaming

We begin with Azul monologuing about how dark and cold Tartarus is before he notices Riddle isn’t next to him and he panics before seeing that Riddle is already descending down the stairs. Excellent start hfdshfgsdlhkgsdlk

After a bit of arguing they try the elevator. Ortho appears and presents them with their first trial, the game that Riddle struggled with before. Both Azul and Ortho tease him about it, and Riddle quickly gets angry and threatens to blow open the door with magic.

Very excellent start.

Azul offers to play the game instead. He suffers the instant game over, Ortho lowers the difficulty for him, same deal as the other two elevator game sessions.

After the two exit the elevator, Riddle charges on ahead, leaving Azul behind to chase after him. Azul tells him to proceed more cautiously, since they have no experience fighting phantoms yet, but Riddle say that Azul is being too cowardly and that the manual for emergency situations doesn’t say to be scared of the enemy. Azul is shocked by how overly stubborn and focused on the rules Riddle is, and he even wishes he went with Leona instead. Lmaoooooo maybe this really would have gone more smoothly if the pairs for groups 2 & 3 were Azul + Leona and Riddle + Jamil.

Anyway, soon after that they encounter phantoms and Riddle tells Azul to get down behind him before combat breaks out. Afterwards, Azul questions Riddle as to why he told him to get down when they’re both capable 2nd year dorm leaders. Riddle’s reasoning is that he is the stronger one and the “leader” of the group, so it’s reasonable for him to be in the front.

With that, they enter the first asylum. The game Ortho sets out for them is the same as for the Pomefiore group (get ID card from a phantom), so he probably intended to give the same challenges to each group but just changed it up for Leona & Jamil since Leona provoked him.

Before opening the 1st cage, Azul proposes he check the Phantom’s reaction by knocking on the door.

*knock knock*

* B A N G ! ! *

*instant fear and regret*

They fight the phantom anyway. Azul complains some more under his breath about Riddle’s aggressiveness, the two move on to the next cage, then Azul complains more loudly about Riddle’s explosive approach to opening the cages.

Blah blah blah more complaints, another cage, they find the key and leave.

Azul: ... As expected of a honors student who’s head of his class. Can you keep going forward while protecting an under performing student?

Azul: It’s quite considerate of you.

Riddle: Don’t be sarcastic. I never said that you were under performing.

Azul: It’s true. After all, I haven’t been able to beat you in any of my classes since we started school.

Riddle: ... Huh? You were trying to beat me?

Azul: ... Is that something I shouldn’t do?

Riddle: No. It’s just, I was a bit surprised since I didn’t expect it.

Azul: Well, well... You make me look quite foolish.

Azul: So I, hovering between 2nd and 10th place, could surely never be a rival?

Riddle: Yes. Because if you're going to compete with me for the top spot, you’re too busy.

Azul: Huh?

Riddle: You’re not just managing Mostro Lounge, you're engaged in other active investments as well, right?

Riddle: I also heard that you’re continuing your “consultations” on the down low...

Riddle: and on breaks you often go outside school grounds in the name of market research, according to Jade.

Riddle: Furthermore, I looked at your handmade “test prep notes” that I confiscated from a student from my dorm...

Riddle: Covering questions from other grade levels surely took a lot of time away from your own study time.

Riddle: If you only focused on your own studies, you would likely be able to get full points on tests.

Riddle: But in reality, much of that time and ability was spent on analysis and strategies for other people to be able to get high scores.

Riddle: However...

Riddle: You want to beat my grades, the grades of someone who has been spending my time studying and honing my own magic for as long as I can remember?

Riddle: “You make me look quite foolish,” don’t you.

Okay this translation took a while but. I had to. Just look at this conversation. As an Octavinelle fan I am legally required to love this conversation.

After a bit more talk that I’m not gonna translate cause I’ve done more than enough of that, they get attacked by a phantom. Afterwards, Azul gets angry at how Riddle keeps trying to protect him like he’s useless luggage. Here, outside of NRC, in an emergency situation, things like “dorm leaders” and “top of the class student” don’t matter, and he is DONE taking orders from Riddle when they are equals. Then he runs off to the next asylum. Jeez...

So, Azul surprises Ortho by showing up to the next asylum by himself. However, Riddle catches up quickly and hooo boy okay I’m translating again. These two got me in a real chokehold here.

Riddle: Azul!! Stop! If you don’t stop it’s off with your head!

Azul: Hm. If you can do it, do it!

Azul: Even if my magic was sealed away, unlike you I have confidence in my arm strength.

Riddle: Urk... Are you trying to say that I’m weak!?

Azul: It’s the truth, isn’t it.

Azul: Ah, but if you head butted me with that stone head of yours that’s packed so tightly that it’s harder than a diamond...  (”stone head” refers to a stubborn person)

Azul: You might be able to K.O. me in one hit!

Riddle: UGIIIIIiii!!

Ortho interrupts their argument to introduce the 3rd challenge. Like with the Pomefiore group, there’s a female voice calling for help from inside a cage. However, this one seems more coherent and she’s speaking more quietly since there is apparently a sleeping phantom in the same cage.

Azul tries to think of a plan that’ll work quicker than just popping open cages at random and vanquishing phantoms, but Riddle just goes forward with the usual strategy. They continue with this strategy, arguing all the way, until they find the cage with the researcher. The researcher is an actual human, wow. it’s the phantom that was supposed to be in there too that isn’t a phantom, it’s a suit of powered armor like the Charon soldiers have.

After getting the ID card and leaving, the duo comment on how overly hot it is. It turns out to be the fault of this guy, the fire phantom “Phantom Titans Magma”

Not as cool as the ice one. This one’s attack animations are a pretty lame little shuffle forward.

They run to the hanger, where Azul uses ice magic to try and keep the door from melting while Riddle searches for the Thunder Spear. Riddle is shocked by the size and power of the spear once he finds it, and after he turns it on he feels like its strength is going to blow him away. He can’t handle by himself, so he has to call for Azul to lift it alongside him.

Leona seems to be the only one who wielded the spear by himself and had the other person directly distracting the Titan. Just how strong is he?

Anyway, the Titan is yeeted, and then the two lose their hats for some reason?

Did they get blown off or something? Okay anyway Riddle proceeds to be super happy and excited that they beat an Original Phantom, and he and Azul have a high five while laughing with relief. awwwww adorable. And then when the spear starts talking about the battery level they both awkwardly cough and pretend like nothing happened. AAAAAAA ADORABLE!!!!

Like the others, they have a rest in the hanger, meaning Riddle actually sleeps and Azul stays awake and just watches Riddle for 3 hours I guess lmao.

We start off in the Isle of Lamentation, which was revealed to be in the middle of the ocean at the end of the last update.

Rook admires the sights for a bit before Idia tells him off for acting like an excitable tourist in the middle of a serious situation. Rook then asks about the condition of the overblot gang, and Idia confirms that they were safe. Rook is glad, since he had always been worried about the “life or death situation” that Vil is in that he came to save him from.

He then passes Vil’s skin care products to the Shroud bros.

SDKLGLKGLKHLHGSDLGSDSLHGSG OKAY at least Rook did this now instead of interrupting his eventual reunion with Vil by immediately shoving beauty products at Vil’s face.

So yeah, Idia is just Done with this weird French man going on about how important it is that Vil maintain his beauty.

Idia: Wait... You don’t have any other business here? Was it seriously just that?

Rook: Oui! :D

Poor Idia lmaoooooo

Now that Idia has confirmed why Rook and Epel are here, he asks the prefect what their goal is, with the dialogue options being “I came to take back my dorm mate” and “I came to talk to Grim”.

Idia makes fun of the prefect and says that unlike them, he’s a busy guy with no time to play friends with others. Ortho then asks if he should just send them back to Night Raven College, but Idia calls Ortho over for a private discussion where he says that if they’re sent back before the Lethe River is ready, it’ll be troublesome since they’ll tell the teachers and other students all about what’s going on. Therefore, they should detain them in the Isle until their research on the overblot gang (or “the problem children” as Idia calls them) is done, which would also allow them to investigate how they found STYX’s base.

Ortho goes to coral Rook and the gang up. Rook asks if they can see Vil, and Ortho says they can only do that once the research is done. After another reminder about the skin care products from Rook, Idia takes his leave on this Batmobile looking "chariot”.

Alright, who in STYX is the edgelord who designed this? What is this even supposed to be?

We get some lore from Ortho; apparently, most of the residents of the Isle of Lamentation live in residential areas on the outer wall of the Isle, which is called “Oceanus”. Same name as the river that encircle the whole world according to Greek mythology. Furthermore, the Isle of Lamentation is able to maintain weather, seasons, trees, etc. and look near the same any place on land due to their cutting edge engineering.

Rook comments that the architecture seems inspired by that of the country of heroes (too lazy to search for what the canon English translation for that is). According to Ortho, the Isle of Lamentation and the country of heroes used to be one and the same, and this “old town” part of the Isle that they’re in has buildings remaining from that time. Epel then asks about the big while pillar in the middle of the Isle... Wow, when did they actually become tourists here? Really feel like they’re treating this situation too lightly lol. Anyway, Ortho’s answer is that it’s the entrance to the Isle of Lamentation, it’s called the “Oceanus Hole”, and it’s STYX’s base.

Ortho: At the bottom of the pillar, many Phantoms are buried.

Ortho: They’re all frozen in ice and fast asleep right now, but...

Ortho: It’s best not to get close out of curiosity when you’re not prepared.

Ortho: You don’t want to become like me.

WHAT HOLY SHIT THERE IT IS THERE IT IS OH MY GOD DID LITTLE ORTHO GET KILLED BY A PHANTOM THERE??? NO ORTHO DON’T JUST GO CHEERFUL AGAIN AND BRUSH IT OFF WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED

Of course Ortho does not take mercy on me and instead just leads everyone to a room where some NDA agreements are prepared. Ortho tells them how understanding their behavior was hard, but once he learned about Rook’s unique magic, he realized that Rook wanted to meet up with Vil so he could cast it on him and know what the test subjects’ location at all times.

ooooooooo that’s an expression. Alright I wasn’t expecting to ever find Ortho that interesting but this update is changing my mind, really excited for whatever other crumbs of backstory this update gives us. Oh my god I’m only 12 minutes into it, I’ve been pausing and typing so much. Might need to split this liveblog into multiple posts.

Rook and Epel then question Ortho about why the overblot gang had to be brought here in such a violent manner if STYX didn’t actually have bad intentions or mean to harm them. Ortho explains that STYX isn’t used to being able to talk calmly with overblot victims, so they defaulted to their usual method used to deal with the reason-less monsters that overblot usually leaves behind. They didn’t want to risk a worst case scenario of their condition not being as stable as they thought, and they were lucky that all of the overblotted people turned out okay.

After Rook reminisces that they really were lucky that Vil was safe, Ortho asks him again why he came, and Rook says he wanted to be able to say that he “did all that he could do”. The conversation ends there as Ortho informs them of meal times and what amenities they have access to and stuff before leaving them alone in the room.

Ortho: “Did all that I can do”, huh...

Ortho: What is it that Ortho (”I”) can do for Big Bro?

Okay that switch to using third person to refer to himself is concerning, to say the least.

The scene now changes to Ortho meeting Idia in the control room and asking how Test Subject F is doing. They’ve discovered that Grim’s capacity to accumulate blot is extraordinary, and his blot level reading keeps fluctuating between dangerous levels and near zero. The care they’ve given him in the healing room to treat his blot has done nothing.

Ortho: The blue fire coming from his ears... Since he’s a magical beast I thought it was a characteristic of his species, but,

Ortho: Could it be a manifestation of a curse, the same as you?

Dear god I’m still only 20 minutes in and the bombshells just keep on coming. Oh and Grim’s deal is also apparently the work of thousand year old magic. Great.

Idia: Yes. It's a curse that has been passed down in our family for generations to incinerate blot as soon as it accumulates...

Idia: For some people, it’s a “blessing” that for their whole life they won’t have to go wild, but...

Idia: From our ancestors’ point of view, it is a "curse" that was imposed on us so that we would never rebel again.

Ortho: The reason the Shroud family was ordered to be “The Isle of Lamentation’s Watchmen” for generations...

Ortho: The head of the first generation who was named “The First Phantom” and the Titans who accompanied them...

Ortho: It was because they incited a rebellion against the Jupiter family... right?

Idia: Yes. Then, they were completely crushed by the Jupiter family in the end...

Idia: And as a punishment, they were ordered to manage the prison “Tartarus” made to lock up the Phantoms

Idia: as well as the Phantom graveyard “The Underworld”.

Not too sure about this translation, but there’s the gist of it. Ugh translation is tiring, back to summary. Idia hate being handed this position and this curse, but the problem with the curse is that if it doesn’t have blot to incinerate, what’s it going to incinerate? His magic, that’s what. Like a “debuff that consumes his MP”. So Idia spends a bit complaining about it and also drops the lore tidbit that the time the curse is from is called “The Age of Gods.” Ortho tries to cheer him up, saying that as a genius he could definitely fix this situation if he tried, but Idia feels defeated by the fact that none of his ancestors could break the curse.

Idia: ... Anyway, there’s no way that you’ve forgotten.

Idia: What happened to “Ortho” when he tried to leave this place....

Ortho: That’s...

Idia: My fate has been decided since I was born.

Idia: There’s nothing I can do besides be together with the ghosts in this dark and depressing place for the rest of my life.

Idia: If by some chance we could abandon our roles,

Idia: If the phantoms sealed in “Tartarus” started pouring out above ground...

Idia: The world would return to the beginning (chaos).

Damn it why do they keep dropping interesting lines, let me watch without feeling the need to do line by line translation. Okay yes thank you STYX operator A for telling us the research is done and the Lethe river is ready and also there’s a problem. Oh boy.

Idia and Ortho now go to check in on the overblot gang. Leona and Jamil team up to roast the Isle of Lamentation’s cuisine. Riddle then starts shouting about not having tea. Azul then starts complaining about not being able to read the news. Behold the fall into insanity of Idia “I! AM! THE! BOSS! >:(” Shroud.

Oh Idia’s parents put him in charge cause they thought the overblot gang would relax if there was a familiar face there. So much for that dkhgklsfgsflg. While Idia’s doing this, his parents are off trying to get info from Crowley. Idia wishes he could be doing that instead, but Ortho’s happy that Idia’s finally brought friends home for the first time! :D awwwww my heart is so going to break if they ever show Ortho being really sad, he’s too precious to cry ;_;

The overblot gang interrupts Ortho and Idia’s heartwarming little talk with their demands and complaints again. Idia finally snaps and starts yelling in exasperation, but then the alarm suddenly goes off.

Sus? 👀

So basically it’s an announcement saying some test is about to start and everyone should take shelter and lock their doors and whatever to stay safe. Not an emergency, just some sort of standard procedure judging by Idia’s reaction.

Idia: ... Today is an A class Phantom test it seems. It will probably take a bit of time.

Oh they sort the Phantoms into different classes? Interesting. Anyway, the overblot gang is shocked that they now have to remain in this room for 2-3 hours.

Idia further explains that for the sake of data collection, they occasionally let out phantoms from Tartarus. Their defense system, the “Cerberos System,” protects them so the chance of trouble occurring is basically zero.

Here’s Tartarus. It houses 10,000 phantoms. Holy shit.

Alright it has taken me like 1.5-2 hours to get through 30 minutes of video. Why is this update so jampacked with stuff. I’m posting this and taking a break, see ya soon.

Alright so here is the exact moment where we left off. Idia has just informed them that STYX has been putting Phantoms in Tartarus since the Age of Gods, so,

Leona: Since the “Age of Gods”? Well then, on the contrary, 10 thousand Phantoms actually seems like a small number.

Idia reveals that the number is that small since Phantoms die/disappear as time passes. Ortho follows up with the info that Phantoms are divided into 12 groups based on their level of danger. Class A phantoms are quite dangerous, but again, no need to worry since the “Cerberos System” Idia made 6 years ago will protect them. The name of the system was taken directly from the guard dog of legend that lived in “the land of the dead”. Idia stops Ortho from continuing to praise the Cerberos System and tries to leave, but the overblot gang stops him in turn and demands stuff to use to help them kill time until the test is over.

Ortho: In the case that these people have to pass 3 hours in the same room together, the probability of a fight occurring is over 87%.

The solution to this that Ortho suggets: Games! :D

The first suggestion of the board game “Magical Life Game” gets shot down by Idia since they’d probably start fighting over it, so next Ortho suggests a non competitive computer game. awwwww I love Ortho just being like “bro you are going to play fun games with your schoolmates and make friends if it’s the last thing I do :)”

Idia doesn’t think they’d have interest in games, but the overblot gang shoots that down, except for Riddle. His mom thinks that games have a negative influence on academics, and he thinks the same. Cue Idia ranting and condescending to Riddle at max speed. Man how the hell does he talk that fast? lmao I love the screen slowly zooming in on Idia.

Anyway, Riddle agrees to game to prove Idia wrong. Ortho sets him up with an old game called “The Legend of Hades” or “The Legend of the Underworld” (冥界伝説).

Ortho: The player is the “ferryman” who transports souls to the land of the dead,

Ortho: and they must retrieve the souls scattered around the stage while heading towards the goal.

Ortho: This game is called the origin of side-scrollers.

Oh my god the player actually gets to play it, nice. Once that’s done, we get to see Ortho and Idia backseating Riddle as he plays. After Riddle game overs, Azul comments that “there’s things Riddle is bad at too,” so Riddle makes Azul have a go at it as well. Though this is Azul’s first time playing this specific game, Floyd has a bunch of video games so Azul has some gaming experience and he successfully clears stage 1 with no misses. (Please tell me that detail about Floyd will spawn a bunch of cute fanart of Octavinelle playing video games together please hgnhgnhgh)

Riddle then asks Ortho to put the game on the small monitor in the room so he can practice there and get better at the game. While Riddle and Azul are getting into it, the other remaining 3 overblot boys aren’t. Leona is annoyed at the noise, so of course the logical response from Ortho is to... recommend a different game to him, “Hydra’s Counterattack”.

This one is a party game that later also got released as a mobile game.

Leona is no match against Ortho’s enthusiasm and gets dragged into playing what’s basically whack-a-mole. He gets a pretty high score, and once he’s done, he asks why Ortho recommended this game to him.

Ortho: There’s a lot of videos of cats getting absorbed in “Hydra’s Counterattack” and pawing at it.

Ortho: Cat lovers uploaded a lot of videos of their cats pawing at their monitors with the tag #CatVSHydra.

Ortho: After that, researchers who saw the videos

Ortho: did experiments like, “Will lions also get absorbed in ‘Hydra’s Counterattack’”?

Ortho: The researchers confirmed that both lions and cats had an interest in the hydras that popped out,

Ortho: and they spent a long time pawing at the screen.

The exact wording of this translation is probably inaccurate, but yep.

RIP Leona’s dignity.

After that little conversation is over, Jamil suggests that Vil try playing something. Vil agrees, so Ortho recommends “Star Rogue ~The Path to Heroism~”

Idia does an impassioned summary of the story. Honestly, I don’t really care about it so I’m not gonna translate it, it just had something to do with Gaia and Chronos. After Idia is just met with blank stares and gets embarrassed, he finally just tells them that it’s a shooting game. Vil gets the controller, but before he starts playing,

Idia & Ortho: “Aim for faraway glory, and run towards it like a meteor!”

omg that’s so cute hgfdghghgfh

Man this is so chill. I really took my break at the exact moment it transitioned from sad lore dump to fluff huh.

Vil does good at the game. The story reminds him of a movie he saw with his father, and Ortho confirms that that movie was based on the game. OHHH I just realized, isn’t this the game that was mentioned in the star gazers event? Nice callback. Idia and Ortho are sad about the game not getting a sequel, then,

Vil: If you like it that much, then why don’t you make a sequel?

Idia: Huh?

Leona: That’s right. If you have the wealth of the Shroud family, you can pay the creators and have them gather up again.

Idia: H, Huh~~~~~!? You don’t understand! You guys don’t understand at all!

Idia: I want the creators to make a sequel to that game “Star Rogue’ that was created with passion,

Idia: with emotions like “This is definitely interesting!” and “Let’s make sure the player has fun!”

Idia: A game made reluctantly because they were drawn in by an incentive has no value.

But Vil then clarifies that that’s not what he meant. Instead of gathering the original creators to make a sequel, he suggests that Idia himself make it. Even if Idia’s alone and the chances he can make the game are low, by giving up before he’s even started the chance of success is 0%.

Vil: The protagonist of “Star Rogue” started from zero and ended up as a hero. Aren’t I right?

Alright Vil really dealing out some actually good, motivational advice here. I’m guessing this is a part of how the chapter will include the “previous overblotter helps with the next one” trend?

We follow with a cute excited Ortho encouraging Idia that he can do it. Such a heartwarming scene, of course Riddle has to butt in all of a sudden to announce that he beat the last stage of ”The Legend of the Underworld” hgsflsdfDSGHSDJKGSJD HIM AND AZUL HAVE JUST BEEN PLAYING THAT ON THEIR OWN THIS WHOLE TIME! FANARTISTS PLEASE GET ON THIS I HAVE A NEED

After a little scene of Ortho repeating some of Vil’s advice to himself, the alarm suddenly blares and it is announced that the test has ended. Idia tells the lads to go to their individual rooms to wait until tomorrow at 8 AM, when they’ll be sent back to the school. However, as they leave, Idia stops Vil and asks to talk to him alone.

Idia informs Vil that Rook and Epel came... and has Ortho give Vil his skincare products.

Idia: I know, right? You would definitely have that reaction, right?

AWWWWWW W ORTHO DOING AN IMPRESSION OF ROOK IS ADORABLE. Alright that’s it where are the adoption papers Ortho is my son now

Vil: After I hug and kiss those children, I feel like slapping them across the face.

Yes that is the actual line, plug that bad boy into a translator if you can’t believe it either lmao. あの子たちを抱きしめてキスしたあと、ビンタしてやりたい気持ちよ.

Vil continues on for a bit about how he’s gonna lecture Epel and the prefect once they return to school before he notices something weird with one of his beauty lotions. It’s not his usual one, but a lotion with a “special good luck charm” (??? not sure on this translation) for special care use. He guesses Rook brought him this one instead because he might have been a bit roughed up from the fight with the Charon squad when he was abducted.

Anyway, Vil leaves, Idia is contacted by an operator

Uh holy shit my entire browser just crashed (!?) at a certain part and I lost my progress after this point. I don’t feel like translating the whole conversation with the operator again, so gist of it is the Lethe River is ready to use on everyone and also the operators have to adjust the Lethe for the fairies so they don’t accidentally delete stuff the fairies already know since they’re so long lived, and then Ortho is sad that everyone memories of STYX and the fun gaming times will be deleted, and Idia worries but Ortho brushes it off and goes into the hallway.

Ortho: So a zero doesn’t remain a zero, what is it that I can do...

*SUDDEN STATIC NOISE*

--- How about I tell you? ---

Ortho: !! Who’s there!?

--- ... Come. Come over here. ---

Ortho: ... This voice... It’s coming from Tartarus...?

Ortho: Could it be, a Phantom...!?

--- Don’t you want to know? What you can do... ---

Ortho: ... I want to know.

Ortho: No matter what, I want to change... the future.

--- If that’s so, come closer... descend and come here ---

(This is where it crashed, right after I added this image lmao.)

--- More, more... All the way to this deep place ---

--- To this dark, cold place at the bottom of the earth... ---

Ortho: This is...

*CREEPY CHILDREN LAUGHING SOUNDS*

Ortho: ... Are you, in there?

--- Yes. Always, since before you were born... ---

--- But, I wasn’t lonely. ---

--- It’s because I have many friends here. ---

Ortho: Fri... ends?

--- I, to you... Yes. ---

--- I want everyone in the world to become our friends. ---

--- If that happens,  ---

--- This cage (cell) would cease to exist ---

--- Big Bro would be able to be free! ---

Ortho: By “Big Bro,” you mean... Could you be...!

BRO TWST WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THESE CLIFF HANGERS AARRRGHHH WHY NO ORTHO WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ORTHO LET ME IN LET ME GO BACK WHAT WHAT THE FUCK

OH NO ORTHO SOUNDS DIFFERENT WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WHY IS HIS VOICE SO SOFT AND EMOTIONLESS NOW WHAT

Alright so he’s just informed them of the research being done and whatever but then

Ortho: Since you came to the Isle of Lamentation, I finally realized my reason for being born.

Ortho: I will work hard so that I can also say that I “did all that I can do“

Ortho: So a zero doesn’t remain a zero.

OH GOD WHY IS IS THIS ALL SO OMINOUS WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON

WHAT’S THAT RUMBLING SOUND AAAAAAAAAA

--- Now... First let’s put Cerberus to sleep. ---

Ortho: You cannot revoke this command. Would you like to execute it?

--- The time has come. Let’s go. The whole universe is waiting for us. ---

Ortho: Voice authentication complete. System all green. Executing program.

*SCREAMING AND MOANING SOUNDS*

--- Ah... I have been eagerly waiting for this day to come for an eternity. ---

--- If it’s us, we can surely change the future. ---

Ortho: So a zero doesn’t remain a zero...

--- I finally met you ---

Nice to meet you, Ortho (me)

.

.

.

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So, the first big mystery on my mind is the boss fight for this chapter.

My first theory is already explained in this post, so I won’t repeat it all. The gist of it is that Ortho will overblot due the influence of the voice he heard from Tartarus. If we assume that one of the Shroud bros will overblot, for Idia to overblot his curse would have to be broken + something worthy of an overblot would have to happen, so Ortho seems like the more likely option.

However, I don’t think we should assume that the boss fight will be against one of them. Given this chapter’s explosive beginning, all the new info/lore we’ve gotten, and all that stuff going on with Ortho, it feels like we’re entering the end game here. I think it’s definitely possible that the pattern with the overblots will be broken this chapter, especially since also we haven’t had any ink blot cut scenes happens.

Therefore, my next theory, one that I’ve had since this chapter was released, is that the tutorial battle against the big Grim monster actually takes place at the end of chapter 6. I originally theorized that Grim would be made to overblot as part of a STYX experiment, but now that we know that STYX is alright and Grim is actually affected by some ancient magic, my theory has changed. The 2 possibilities I now believe in are:

Grim’s current condition is already unstable and it’s only a matter of time before he overblots

The voice from Tartarus will push Grim over the edge as a part of their plans

If I remember correctly, Grim’s overblot form did have hints of dragon in it, so it’s likely that he’ll only overblot at the end of or after chapter 7, but it would be interesting if he overblotted before then.

Anyway, my final theory on this topic is that the boss fight for this chapter won’t be against a character we’ve already grown to know, but rather against the voice from Tartarus and their “friends”. This is kinda just a derivative of my first theory about Ortho, since there I thought that overblot Ortho would be caused and controlled by the voice. The difference here is that I think there’s a possibility that the group will have the opportunity to stop Ortho from helping the voice, so Ortho will rejoin our side and help us fight the voice. In that case, we would just fight the voice.

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That’s my thoughts so far on the overblot, so next up I wanna talk about this specific moment.

Nice to meet you, Ortho (me).

The obvious thing to be concerned about is the implication that the voice is the actual Ortho who died years ago, and our Ortho is a robotic recreation of him, so that’s why they’re greeting each other as “me”.

The thing I’m concerned about though, is that this looks very similar to the voiceline screen thing that shows up when you pull a new SSR. For reference, here’s the one for dorm Idia.

After comparing the animations for a bit, I think that the exact same smoke effect is used for both.

Assuming that this parallel was deliberately drawn, the reason I can think of for it is that the voice is being introduced as a new character. Not just a side character like Neige or Najma, but a character that we can pull from the gacha.

If we combine with this the theory that the voice is the actual Ortho, a relevant detail here is how our Ortho’s cards are named: Archetype Gear instead of School Uniform, Burst Gear instead of Ceremony Robes, Ignihyde Gear instead of Dorm Uniform, etc. It’s highly possible the differing names are just because these are literally different bodies that Ortho can use so they can’t call them clothes. However, it still creates a clear distinction between him and the rest of the main characters, perhaps hinting that he doesn’t belong. Furthermore, if the actual Ortho is indeed given cards, this naming scheme means that the card names of Dorm Uniform Ortho and such are free for him to take.

The problem with this theory is that so far, the voice / actual Ortho seems to be an antagonistic character. Furthermore, I don’t think he’s really mortal or a human anymore, and I don’t think NRC would accept some eldritch horror as a student. So, like with any other theory, we just have to wait and see what happens.

----------

Next up, Grim.

To summarize the info we have: he has a incredible capacity to endure blot, his levels of blot keep fluctuating wildly, STYX is unable to treat his blot, and there’s complex magic affecting him that is hundreds of years old and that STYX’s super computer can’t figure out.

From way before this chapter, we also know that Grim doesn’t remember his past and that he is strongly driven to attend NRC and become a great magician.

To me, it seems like his blot tolerance and his goal of becoming a powerful magician are connected. To utilize a strong tolerance for blot, you need to accumulate blot, and casting a ton of magic seems like the most well known path to achieving that. Therefore, assuming the blot tolerance is a deliberate effect of the magic cast on him, perhaps Grim’s ambition was implanted in him by whoever cast the magic. Now, who caused Grim to be like this?

There is a possibility it was Grim himself, but personally I can’t see him as the sort of wise, scheming character that he would have to be pre-amnesia to do that. The next possibility is Crowley, but he seemed too clueless and willing to throw Grim out of NRC for this to be his doing. The already introduced character that I think is most likely to be behind this is Ambrose. There’s a lot of mystery behind him and he seems like he’ll have a bigger role in the plot in the future. However, him being involved like this still seems too far fetched for me. Therefore, I think the most likely answer is that some not yet introduced character is who cast the magic on Grim. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have enough pieces of the puzzle to figure out what’s going on yet.

----------

The episode opens up with Idia in his room at STYX. He says that the research on the overblot gang is all done, but they plan on continuing to research Grim. He also reveals that it was the Land of Dawning’s government that anonymously and rather suspiciously requested for them to investigate the NRC students. What’s also suspicious is so many NRC students overblotting in such a short span of time, but there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about their individual overblots or the Island of Sages. After some thinking, Idia realizes that there’s a possibility of someone artificially triggering overblots.. but he then immediately dismisses it as unrealistic. I’m getting foreshadowing vibes here though, oh no.

Idia goes on to explain that there are many connections between the cause and manifestation of an overblot.

Idia: And the trigger that sets off the emotional explosion is the "heart," which is the most difficult to illuminate and the most impossible to quantify.

Idia: Only the heart... Even if you think you can control it, you can’t.

Idia: Anyway, if it were possible to control overblot artificially, Styx would’ve been disbanded long ago.

Idia: Ha... Why do humans come with such a troublesome thing as a “heart” as standard equipment?

Mood.

Idia then gets a message from Muscle Red and remembers he promised to do an event with him.

lmao I love Lilia as Muscle Red doing a deep voice.

So apparently Idia and Lilia/Muscle Red have been gaming buddies for 2 years now. And... oh my god are they actually having an emotional moment over video games right now. Wow okay so they’re like best friends I guess

Idia: However... Muscle Red sometimes calls himself an “old man”, but how old is he IRL?

Idia: He’s always calm, so he’s probably older, but... Some otakus call themselves old men even when they’re young.

I soooo wanna see Idia’s reactions if he ever finds out that Muscle Red is actually Lilia and that Lilia is a centuries old dad.

Idia and Lilia log out after promising to do the event together next week, then the scene cuts to Lilia’s room. He’s also sad that he doesn’t have time to game with Idia today, but he’s busy with the situation at NRC. Silver and Sebek then enter the room with the news that Malleus is suddenly no where to be seen in the dorm.

Sebek had been patrolling the dorm relentlessly out of worry that Malleus would also get attacked, and he was the one who discovered that Malleus isn’t in his room. Lilia then reminds him that STYX is not their enemy, so Sebek shouldn’t stress himself out over this so much. Malleus probably just went out on a nightly walk. After Lilia sends the 2 off to bed, he teleports to Ramshackle Dorm and, as expected, encounters Malleus there.

Malleus explains that he came here to be alone due to Sebek stopping by his room every 10 minutes. Lilia notes that Ramshackle has been Malleus’s secret base since he came to NRC.

Malleus: That’s right. But that has not been the case since the child of man appeared...

...

Malleus: When they settled down here, at first I thought it was a shame.

Malleus: I like ruins. Ivy crawling on crumbling walls, wind creeping in through broken windows...

Malleus: The isolated, quiet atmosphere of places that have been completely forgotten calms me.

Malleus: It’s like we are not the only ones left behind by history.

Lilia: ...

Malleus: But... Why?

Malleus: Since they have disappeared, when I walk around this place which has lost its liveliness...

Malleus: I feel an unpleasant sensation like rose thorns scraping against my skin.

Malleus: Even though this place should have returned to the ruins which drew my interest...

Lilia: Malleus...

Lilia: ... Malleus. Take a look up there.

Malleus: ... There’s a giant hole in the ceiling.

Lilia: No, beyond that. Take a look at the sky.

Lilia: The stars are lined up in the most beautiful way.

Lilia: The alignment of the stars in a straight line like that has been considered a good omen since ancient times, and today is the first time in 18 years...

Lilia: No, I guess it’s been 100 years... It’s probably been 300 years?

Lilia: Anyway, it’s a first in a long time sort of thing.

Malleus: Hmm... In essence, it’s something that the children of man will not see more than once, correct?

Lilia: Yes. But... In your long life, you will see this same alignment of stars many times.

Malleus: ...

Lilia: By the next time the stars align, the world will surely have gone through a major transformation.

Lilia: You must accept that. Do you understand?

Malleus: I understand. That is the reason I enrolled at this school.

Lilia: You see, Malleus. Don't erase and forget the pain you felt in this place today.

Lilia: This pain is something you must not lose for a long time to come.

Malleus: ... I will record it in my heart.

Lilia: Good boy.

Lilia: Come, let us pray to that star so that everyone can safely return to their daily lives today.

Malleus: Yes, Lilia.

Lilia: ...

Lilia: I have also wished upon that star countless times... This may be the last.

Malleus: ... Huh?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DIASOMNIA RELEVANCE IN THE MAIN STORY FINALLY I CAN FEEL IT THE TIME OF DIASOMNIA BEING UNDERAPPRECIATED WILL SOON COME TO AN END but also uhhhh LILIA WHAT DOES THAT LAST LINE MEAN?????

Alright alright moving on, the episode ends there and the next one begins back in Idia’s room. An operator messages him that the Lethe River is fully charged, and everything is ready for the “flood” to proceed. However, the power suddenly cuts out. Idia can’t contact anyone, the door’s locked, and the emergency power isn’t getting turned on. Idia tries the emergency device to open the door but he struggles cause his skinny nerd arms are too weak lol. When he finally gets it open and runs into the corridor, he finds he also can’t contact Ortho.

An announcement comes on warning about blot levels rising. Idia tries to command the Cerberus system to get stuff ready in case something’s wrong with Tartarus or whatever, but it doesn’t work. Idia runs to the control room, where the other operators are freaking about Cerberus not working and communications with the outside being blocked.

oh hello there girl operator let’s go

Apparently the the Cerberus system’s settings can only be changed if someone has biometrics for the Shroud family. The “the voice is Ortho” theory getting even more credibility here.

Speaking of Ortho, a slightly transparent Ortho suddenly appears. Idia is relieved and says that they have to revive the Cerberus system, but Ortho refuses.

Ortho: I’ve thought a lot. About what I should do so that a zero doesn’t remain a zero.

Ortho: “Doing the things that I can do,” what that means...

Idia: Ortho? What are you saying!? Now isn’t the time for that!

Ortho: And then, I finally came up with an optimal solution just now.

Ortho: Since amending the scenario (future) is difficult, just erase everything once and start to write from beginning.

Ortho: Isn't it the same with programs?

Oh dear god Ortho honey what are you doing

Ortho: I can reset this bug-filled world and big bro can be reborn!

ORTHO NO! Have you never played a pokemon game??? Trying to recreate the world never goes right!

Idia then becomes worried that Ortho’s AI has been bugged.

Ortho: This isn’t a bug, big bro. This is my “will”.

Idia: That’s wrong. You are.. The you of now is an autonomous AI-equipped magical humanoid made to resemble my “little brother”.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THERE IT IS! THERE IT IS!!!!!

Idia: What you think is a “will” is all a program...!

Ortho: That’s right. I am indeed a manufactured existence.... But, don’t you know?

Ortho: The big bro who created me is a prodigy of magical engineering called a “heretical genius“.

Ortho: Therefore, I can exceed my robot form... exceed my programming!

Then more alarms sound. Ortho has started hacking into the main server of STYX. Firewall “Aigis” isn’t functioning. All systems get put under Ortho’s control. We’re only 18 minutes in dear god how long is this liveblog going to be.

Ortho breaches severs “Clotho”, “Lachesis”, and “Atropos”. Idia and the operators can’t do anything against Ortho.

Ortho now is not the time to make a game reference ksgkgkgm h

Anyway Ortho’s goal is to destroy Tartarus and cover the world in blot, so that they, with their blot incinerating curse, will become the bosses of the new world and live like normal people with friends. Uh buddy I’m pretty sure your family won’t be able to have a normal life even then. I’m pretty sure no one will be able to have a normal life then.

Wait hold up Ortho just said “Onii-chan,” not “Onii-san” like he usually does. Idia thinks something is up with that, remembers that the Cerberus systems needs Shroud family biometrics, then comes to a conclusion. (from now on all the “big bros” are onii-chan, not onii-san)

Idia: R, real, ly...? You are, really... Ortho?

Ortho: Yes... It’s “me”, big bro. I was put to sleep by that guard dog.

As he says that, Ortho fades away. Idia runs down into the depths of the facility, where one of those bat mobile looking hover bikes appears.

--- Get on, big bro ---

We go here where moaning and groaning sounds are still coming from whatever this is.

Idia: The gate of the “underworld”, it’s open...

Idia: ... Ortho, are you there?

--- Yes. I’m here, big bro. ---

--- Since that day, I’ve always seen dreams of the day we would meet again. ---

--- This time we'll go far away together. ---

--- But, I’m sorry. ---

--- It looks like going outside will take a bit of time. ---

--- It’s because, compared to the old days, I’ve become a lot bigger. ---

Idia: ... Leave it to your big bro.

More moaning and groaning noises happen, and then...

OH SHIT INK SPLATTER SCENE OH IT’S GOING ALL THE WAY

WHAT IS THIS

WAIT HOLD ON IS THIS MAYBE THE BACK OF HTE FLOATING SKULL THING IDIA HAS?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA IT IS WHAT IS GOING ON HOW AND WHO IS GOING TO OVERBLOT??

Aannnnddd of course we now scene change to Grim in his room at the moment of the initial blackout. ohhhhhhhh this anticipation is gonna kill me. He yells for Idia and Ortho, but

UHHHH WHAT’S THAT FOG???? WHY DID HIS FACE SUDDENLY GO BLANK???

GRIM BABY NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT FALL FOR THE SMELL OH WHAT WAS THAT GROWL WHAT WAS THAT IMPACT SOUND AAAAAA

FFS TWST YOU GOTTA STOP SCENE CHANGING WHENVER SOMEHTING HAPPENS NO GRIM GRIM GRIm WHAT IS HAPPENIGN WITH OUR CAT SON

UGH OKAY So Vil hears an explosion (probably Grim) and then his anti-magic choker falls off. He discovers communications are cut and he can’t open the door, then he remembers the skin care products.

Vil: “Nothing is lost, nothing is feared. This shining crown is for me.“

Vil: “Fairest one of all”

Alright unique magic chant drop let’s go. He curses his skin lotion so anything that touches it disappears and melts away, then touches it to the door lock. Once he’s out, he notices the door on another room has been destroyed (probably by Grim). Vil ponders the oddity of the situation before going to retrieve the rest of the overblot gang.

After they’re all together, Leona & Azul note that there’s miasma everywhere with high levels of blot. The group decides they need to be cautious since whoever was in the exploded room might be running wild out here. To not be affected by the miasma, they all magically change into their dorm uniforms which have high resistances to magic. Awwwww I liked them all running around in their grey fashion disaster STYX clothes.

A Charon soldier suddenly appears that’s in “termination mode” and engages the gang in combat. Once the Charons are defeated, they discover that there aren’t people inside the armor. These Charon soldiers seem to be different from the ones that abducted them from NRC. Anyway, the gang decides to try and find the boss (Idia).

After some walking, Vil stops them because he forgot... his beauty lotion. UGH okay you Pomefiore bastard what’s going on now.

We then switch to Epel, Rook, and Yuu. After the obligatory assessing of the situation, Rook uses his unique magic.

I took 3 total screenshot of this cause I wasn’t sure when the sparklies would stop showing up lmao

Anyway, it seems Rook cast his unique magic on the skin care products. His magic’s true nature isn’t easily detectable, and it would likely be mistaken as part of the usual minor magic that is used on skincare products produced by magic users.

Moving on, Rook starts knocking around the door to try and find an emergency door opening device. He succeeds and they leave the room.

Rook and Epel ponder for a bit on how to enter but are quickly interrupted by a man screaming for help due to being attacked by Charon soldiers. They prepare to fight, but tons more Charon soldiers appear. So instead they try to run, but the elderly employee can’t run. Rook struggles to cast a protective wall around Yuu and the old man as the Charon soldiers charge up their attacks.

Epel: (Can I do nothing but watch yet again!?)

Charon A: Firing in 3, 2, 1...

Epel: (I’m useless! What did I come here for!?)

Epel: (I’m sick of not being able to do anything but watch!)

Rook: !? Epel’s magic is growing rapidly... This is-!

Yuu:  [We’re screwed!]  [To have it end like this, without returning to my world...]

Charon A: ... Firing!

Epel: I WON’T LET YOU!!!

And with the end of episode 6-57 we’re about at the half way point so I’m finally gonna switch to making post 2 of this liveblog. Ahhhhhh god this chapter, alrigh that’s it I think this is my favorite chapter now ghslkgdkfsdkfs keep those punches rolling Yana Toboso I am here for the ride

Alright so we left off with Epel about to awaken his unique magic! Oh this means now Ace might be the only one left without a unique magic, if Sebek turns out to have one during chapter 7. Dude better have something really cool up his sleeve once his time to awaken his unique magic comes.

Uh okay I thought we wouldn’t scene change there but we’re suddenly at the mirror in Ramshackle??? Okay okay it’s just a dream scene thing from Hercules alright. If it was Mickey or something I would’ve screamed there’s too much going on right now.

Alright so it seems Yuu got knocked unconscious or something and that’s why we were dreaming. We awaken to Epel and Rook. After being confused about how we’re alive, Rook asks us to look at...

OOOOOOOOOO CAUSE EPEL IS THE POISON APPLE!!!! SO HIS UNIQUE MAGIC WORKS LIKE THE POISON APPLE!!! AAAAAAAAA

We scene change back to a few minutes ago, the end of the previous episode.

Charon A: Firing!

Epel: I WON’T LET YOU!!!

...

Rook: !? This is...

*elderly employee encased in glass*

Rook: Yuu and that monsieur are covered in glass!?

Rook: No, that’s wrong, this is... A barrier (結界) being used as a powerful magic barrier (障壁)!  (Not sure what the practical difference is between these two words)

Rook: It looks like the beam attack didn’t hit those two, but they’re in a deep sleep.

Rook then tells Epel to encase all the Charon soldiers in glass and instructs him on how to focus and let the words come to his lips and whatever.

Epel: “Close your eyes, stop your breath...”

Epel: “Sleep Kiss (Deep Crimson Fruit)”

Ohhh I like the snowflake effect when he casts his magic. Also the name, I feel like Epel has always been like Snow White but opposite, and his magic being like a kiss that puts someone to sleep rather than awakening them is basically opposite to when Snow White got woken up with a kiss.

We go back to present time, an d AAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW VICTORY HUG FROM ROOK THAT’S SO ADORABLE!!! SO ADORABLE despite the fact that Epel is struggling to breath cause of Rook’s strength hflsfhfsdlksdlf

Awww and then Rook praising his unique magic’s possibilities. Okay, Rook may be creepy at times, but he is amazing at genuinely complimenting people. Bro I wish I was at good at words as he is.

The employee finally wakes up. He explains that the Charon power armor that attacked them were on autopilot mode, likely because of something bad happening to the Cerberus system. He advises the group to go back the way they came, find an emergency evacuation terminal, and escape the Isle to safety. However, Rook tells him they must get inside the HQ and help their schoolmates. The employee accepts their decision and gives them his ID card; though he’s just a regular employee who doesn’t have access to everywhere, it will at least let them get in the building. The employee then takes his leave.

As Rook’s group enters the building, we switch over to the overblot gang who are kind of lost. There’s a lot of corridors they can’t get through without an ID card, and they can’t destroy all these doors magically.

Azul: If only at least one staff member would show up,

Azul: We could squeeze... no, we could explain the situation and ask for directions from them.

GJKDSGDHJFGFGGF Azul I think you might have been spending too much time with Floyd

Right after Azul says that, the group hears a loud thud, then a STYX employee comes running at them calling for help. It seems your wish has been granted, Azul.

When you and the boys all spot a delicious opportunity to get someone to owe you a favor.

They beat up the Charons for the employee, but he notices that they are the test subjects and starts yelling at them to not come closer cause they’re monsters. Talk about rude.

Leona: Good grief. We’re just lost kids who don’t know our left from our right.

Leona: So just take us to the lost child center (control room) like I said, okay?

Vil: Where would such an uncongenial, pompous lost child be?

Once again wishing for Rook’s ability with words cause I think I understand what they’re saying but I am struggling so hard to translate this bit well into English.

The employee continues to resist because he doesn’t want to get closer to Tartarus. Since the Cerberus system was taken over, Phantoms are pouring out of the prisons. The employee makes to leave for an emergency evacuation terminal, so Jamil steps in. Once his offer of escorting the employee to the terminal gets his attention, time for ~ Snake Whisper ~. Bro why does he always say “Snake Whisper” like that. Are the dramatics required for the magic to work properly or what.

After getting the guy to open a door with his ID card,

Vil: This staff said “The Cerberus system was taken over.”

Vil: Can't we hear from him what that meant?

Jamil: Snake Whisper (my unique magic) can only take over and manipulate the consciousness of the target.

Jamil: Unlike Jade’s unique magic,

Jamil: It is difficult to pinpoint "only" the information I want from the target.

Jamil: Depending on how I do it, it may be possible to achieve similar results, but...

Leona: Hmm? Octavinelle’s vice dorm leader uses that kind of unique magic, huh. How frightening.

Jamil: Oh, excuse me... It just slipped out. He would likely not want this information to be spread around, so please do not tell this to anyone else.

The face of a man who definitely let that information slip on accident and is definitely very sorry about it, and the face of a man who will definitely take care not to spread that information around. I guess Jamil still holds a bit of resentment for Detective Jade exposing his scheme back in chapter 4 lmaooo.

Azul: Don’t worry, Leona.

Azul: For a competent mage such as you, Jade’s unique magic couldn’t possibly be a surprise.

Azul: (Ugh... Even though we’ve always been hiding it in case of an emergency!)

Azul: (You must have slipped up on purpose, Jamil.)

Jamil: (What? I don’t know what you’re talking about...)

Once again, the face of a man who definitely doesn’t know what Azul’s talking about.

Vil finally puts an end to their nonsense and the group continues onward. The scene changes to the control room, where the staff are all still panicking. The freezing system in Tartarus is being released, and 6 hours remain until it’s all gone and all the phantoms are awoken, even the original phantoms, the Titans. As the operators despair over not being able to match up to Ortho, Vil walks in telling them not to give up so easily.

Leona questions the employees about where Idia is, but before they can answer, Ortho (robot Ortho / ”oniisan” Ortho) appears and answers saying that Idia is with him. He says that they are in Tartarus’s deepest room, the Underworld.

Ortho: From now on, we plan on giving our “friends” trapped in Tartarus and the Underworld their freedom.

Vil: Friends in the Underworld... was it?

Ortho: Vil Schoenheit, you said it before.

Ortho: “If you decide from the start that it’s impossible and don’t take any action, the possibility will always remain zero.”

Ortho: Therefore, so that a zero doesn’t remain a zero...

Ortho: So that we can obtain the future that we desire, I took action!

Vil: What... do you mean?

Ortho: As long as Tartarus and the Underworld exist, we as the guards of the Island of Woe cannot leave this place.

Ortho: But if we destroy the existing world and rebuild a world where we coexist with phantoms...

Ortho: We can go anywhere! Right?

No, not right Ortho. After everyone expresses their shock and Ortho shoves in some obligatory video game metaphors,

Vil: I can’t believe it... You intend on creating the world anew?

Vil: Something like that...

Vil: ... Fu, fufufu! Ahahahaha!

Vil: Not bad! I’ve reassessed you.

Ortho: Eh?

Vil: This is much healthier than deciding that its impossible before you’ve tried it and just squatting down and grumbling.

Vil: I will assist you brothers with your challenge.

Uhhhhhhhhh Vil seriously what in the hell are you doing

Riddle: Vil! What are you saying!?

Ortho: Really!? Then, you’ll become our comrade?

Vil: I will have to refuse that.

Ortho: Eh...

Vil: This is because, the same as you, I also have a nonnegotiable dream.

Vil: To become the most beautiful in the world... that is my dream.

Vil: It’s too bad, but right now I am halfway there. Being reset would greatly inconvenience me.

Vil: If your dream came true, I wouldn’t hesitate to try and become the best in the new world you create though.

Vil: Therefore...

Vil: I will use all of my might to shut down your plan.

Alright there we go. The rest of the overblot gang chimes in with their dreams that they need to realize. AZUL WORRYING ABOUT THE DAMAGE TO THE ECONOMY DSHFDSFHLSLFSDLJF SASUGA AZUL

After acknowledging that they’re enemies now, Ortho disappears and Charon soldiers flood into the room. The overblot gang are able to defend themselves well, but the sheer quantity of Charon soldiers drags the battle on and on. None of the employees can use magic and help, since having that capability would make them more susceptible to blot. Soon though, the lady keeping track of the Charon’s advance towards the control becomes confused as Charon soldiers outside suddenly start stopping in this tracks. Epel makes his entrance by finishing up the Charon soldiers about to enter the room with Sleep Kiss.

Yay, Pomefiore family reunited!

Once Rook finishes recounting how they got here, Yuu asks if Grim is present, and the overblot gang informs them that they didn’t even know Grim was here. However, Leona remembers smelling strong magic from the busted room back when the overblot gang just got out of their rooms, and he realizes that that is probably where Grim was. The others are surprised, since they didn’t think Grim had that sort of magical power, but an operator confirms that Grim was held in that room. Another operator shares all the stuff about ancient magic and weird blot levels that they discovered about Grim previously, then yet another operator checks the sensor logs and discovers that Grim went to Tartarus after busting out.

The whole NRC gang decides to go to Tartarus and the Underworld to find Grim and stop the Shroud brothers. An operator is against it since they’re just students and professionals are needed to handle the situation, but Leona points out that they don’t have the time to wait idly for help. Azul and Jamil also point out that since they have overblotted in the past, that is proof that they are powerful, accomplished mages. With the employees convinced, the gang makes to head out, but are stopped by a guy who gives them an ID card, a map, transceivers, and 3 key holders. The key holders are actually activation keys for anti-phantom weapons.

Operator B: Tartarus is a huge underground housing facility consisting of three towers

Operator B: with more dangerous phantoms being housed closer to the bottom layer.

Operator B: The most especially dangerous ones in the bottom layer, layer 12, are the 3 Titans.

Operator B: They are the Original Phantoms, sealed away in the Age of Gods.

Everyone else: !!!

Operator B: In the 6th layer of each tower of Tartarus, there is a hanger.

Operator B: In the hangers, there is what the founders of the Jupiter family used to seal away the Titans:

Operator B: the “Thunder Spears”. One is installed in each hanger.

Operator B: If you have those activation keys, you can take out the Thunder Spears from the hangers.

Operator B: In tower number 1, the earth phantom “Phantom Titans Earth”

Operator B: In tower number 2, the ice phantom “Phantom Titans Crystal”

Operator B: Finally, in tower number 3, the fire phantom “Phantom Titans Magma”

Ugh why did my browser crash again. Did Ortho do this? Fuck you Ortho. Alright fine I’ll retype everything even if it feels lame to retype my jokes and freaking out after the moment’s passed -_-

Thanks for the infodump, faceless Operator B. Gives us all this info and doesn’t even get a cool title like “Head Operator” or something. #JusticeForOperatorB

Anyway the group leaves and decides to split into 3 groups, one for each tower. (Tower 1: Vil, Rook, Epel, Yuu. Tower 2: Leona, Jamil. Tower 3: Riddle, Azul)

Before they leave, Rook wants to huddle in a circle like they’re a sports team or something.

AWWWWWWWW adorable

HDSKFDKLFFDHKS SDHFFHDS BUT NOW THEY’RE JUST STANDIGN IN SILENCE CAUSE THEY DON”T KNOW WHAT THEYRE SUPPSOED TO SAY

They leave it up to the player to say something.

[ Let’s make sure we all can return to school! ]

[ Night Raven fight!]

Someone with TWST JP installed please tell me if their reactions change based on what option you choose cause I will laugh so hard if the overblot gang minus Vil only gets pissed if you pick the bottom option.

Now we can’t end on a cute moment of course, so we go back to the gate to the Underworld. The “big bros” here are oniisan. UGH OKAY I WON’T PUT AN IMAGE OF THE FINAL SCENE HERE STOP CRASHING ON ME LET ME FINISH THIS

Ortho: Big bro! The Night Raven College students have started to move towards Tartarus.

Ortho: It looks like they really intend on blocking our plans.

Idia: Hah... Those problem children really do nothing but get in our way.

Ortho: Ahaha! Look! It seems like they’re splitting into 3 teams to conquer Tartarus!

Ortho: This is amazing! This is the “Night Raven Quest” I talked about with big bro!

Idia: There’s still some time before all of Tartarus’s ice melts and the door to the underworld opens...

Idia: Ortho, go play with them a little.

Ortho: Yes! I thought I wouldn’t be able to play games with everyeone again, so I’m happy.

--- This time, I’m the boss! Ahahahahaha!

Azul and Riddle prepare to set out from the hanger, with Azul offering to carry the Thunder Spear as Riddle’s underling, so as to leave Riddle free to protect him. Riddle is annoyed at Azul’s misunderstanding; what Riddle’s trying to protect is not Azul, but the rules. The transformation potion that Azul uses has to be specially prescribed and can be only dispensed by those with a certain license. Because of how drastically it alters the body, a lot of care must be taken in regards to treating injuries, so much so that medical treatment by unqualified people is forbidden. Therefore, if Azul got injured here, Riddle would have to violate the rules to help him.

Azul bursts out laughing at Riddle’s absurd reasoning for his behavior towards Azul this whole time. Then, after a phantom appears and is quickly taken care of, Riddle asks Azul if the potion’s effects can ever suddenly cut out. Azul says no. In the past, the time limit for this type of potion was 3 days, but thanks to advances in technology it has increased to 7-10 days. Floyd sometimes forgets to take the potion, so his fins and webbing will start appearing. AZUL IMITATING FLOYD IS SO CUTE FDHFHDFLHDSF-

Anyway, Riddle says that having to take the potion seems inconvenient. Azul agrees, but continues on to say that they’ve received support from an large organization dedicated to supporting merpeople who want to live on land, from stuff like teaching them how to live on land to footing the bill for the expensive transformation potions. When Azul first heard of this organization he was suspicious, but once he concluded that they don’t have anything shady going on he gladly submitted an application for them once he decided to go to NRC. Azul says that the organization’s goal seems to be to spread the wish of their founder, a mermaid princess who came to the Sunshine Lands long ago, for more merpeople to venture onto land. After a bit more conversation about history and that country relationship with merpeople, the duo reach the next asylum.

In the asylum, they find a researcher whose ID card was stolen by a small, beast-like phantom. Riddle wonders if it might be Grim, and the duo go to search for the ID card. While going through cages, Riddle proposes opening a package of food to see if it will lure Grim to them, but it just lures a phantom. So, once that’s taken care of, Azul eats the food instead.

why does he look so sad while munching on it shglhsglghgff

When they find a cage where the creature inside sounds like a cat sharpening its claws, Riddle says that there was one time that Grim sharpened his claws on a sofa in the Heartslabyul lounge, so Riddle offed his head. Once the cage is opened, it turns out that it is a phantom that stole the ID card.

After the duo continues on their way, Azul becomes exhausted from all the stairs so Riddle takes over carrying the spear. When Azul asks if he can handle both the spear and fights, Riddle reminds him of all the time he’s spent improving his own magic. Azul asks when he started honing his magic, and Riddle says at age 3. BRUH WHAT THE HELL I”M GONNA FIGHT RIDDLE’S MOM. Before entering NRC, Riddle attended a private school. In response to Azul asking if Riddle ever skipped a grade, Riddle said it wasn’t possible at that school, and his parents didn’t see a point in it anyway since the minimum age for becoming a doctor in the Queendom of Roses is age 24. However, Riddle is uncertain if he wants to become a doctor, since he has gained an interest in a pursuing a career related to the law.

Azul then advises him to just be greedy and get all the certifications he’s interested in, since it’d be a waste to just get one when he’s so talented. He also says that it’s convenient... no, reassuring for him to have qualified friends that he can rely on in emergencies. Riddle asks if they’re friends, since he isn’t very knowledgeable on the rules of friendship, but... And then a phantom ambushes them from above and Azul fucking yeets both himself and Riddle to the side of the screen to avoid it dsfllhgdlsfsd

After the fight, Riddle gets mad at Azul surprising him, and Azul apologizes for his octopus survival instincts kicking in and making him do something undignified. Riddle is puzzled by how used Azul seems to life-and-death situations and asks him how dangerous daily life under the sea is. Azul says that it is more dangerous than life on land, but with magic and knowledge of how to properly deal with the various threats down there it’s not that bad.

Azul started learning magic at age 8. His grandmother and mother, who are mages, taught him the basics, but just enough that he could finish homework. Azul’s further self-study of magic actually didn’t start until middle school. After explaining that, Azul frantically asks Riddle to keep it a secret and he’s aware that he grew up spoiled. Riddle is just confused, but Azul plows on regretting the years he spent doing nothing useful with himself. However, Riddle says that if Azul had studied from a very young age like Riddle did, he likely wouldn’t have the ambition or vitality that he does now. They have some light banter about who will end up as top of the class by the time they graduate before arriving at the final asylum. AAAAAAAAA I love the character interactions in this update SO MUCH.

When they enter, it’s pitch black. Riddle goes to cast some magic to light up their vicinity, but Azul stops him since it might give away their location to enemies. Instead, they start searching for the security box in the dark, but Riddle cries out when he steps in some slippery liquid. Riddle decides to use magic to make his cape bigger and use it as a tent so he can cast light magic without lighting up the whole room. Once they can see, they identify the liquid as blot. There is also a belt on the floor, one used by STYX staff to hold their ID card. This one doesn’t have an ID card though. Riddle says they should search for the light switch, but Azul proposes that they search for the phantom who stole the ID card in the dark, since he’s used to the dark and they can more easily ambush enemies like this. Cue another 10 minutes of phantom fighting.

As soon as they find the ID card, the Titan starts banging on the entrance to the asylum. Like the other groups did, the duo hurriedly ready up the Thunder Spear and blast the Titan away. Afterwards, Riddle is exhausted from all the magical power he’s used so fa. They make their way to the next hanger, where they both immediately collapse in exhaustion. Azul reflects on how unbelievable it is that his board game club senpai would turn out to be like this. Riddle asks if it hurts Azul at all to have to fight against him, and Azul replies that sacrifices are necessary to achieve his dreams, so it doesn’t bother him much. He starts to explain his dreams, but he falls asleep on Riddle.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ADORABLE

Like the other groups, this part ends with them getting woken up by a loud noise at 30% battery for the Thunder Spear and rushing off to investigate. And with that, time to finally reach the underworld!

For episode 68, we go back to the Pomefiore group, who are here:

Leona, Riddle, and a STYX employee from the control room call VIl over the transceiver. The employee reports that the gate to the underworld has started to open and the concentration of blot is rising. The staff have regained control of some chariots, and they’ve sent one to each of the groups to help them move faster.

After they start using the chariots, the group sees something coming out of the gate. It’s.... IDIA!!!

BRUH HOLY SHIT I saw some of it from spoilery thumbnails but seeing it all animated is something else. OMG I LOVE THE TALKING ANIMATION WITH THE MASK.

He quickly rambles on about how amazing and powerful he feels now that he’s overblotted, then...

Game, Set, Match... Gate To The Underworld

WTF IS THAT HIS UNIQUE MAGIC? WHAT THE HELL UNIQUE MAGIC IS THAT???

OKAY HERE WE GO

THAT’S ORTHO!?!?!?!? HOLY SHIT

Apparently Ortho is connected to Idia and is acting as his phantom, so yay my theory about the overblot was at least partially right. Ortho explains that his friends in the underworld helped nurture his “curse” into a “blessing” which let him become big and strong by burning blot. Then... uh holy shit are these phantoms talking a part of him? Is his body made out of OTHER PHANTOMS??? As Rook and Vil also express their shock, Epel points out Ortho’s shoulder, and

WHAT THE FUCK GRIM IS BEING ASSIMILATED INTO THE BODY? BRUH HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK GIVE GRIM BACK

The staff trying to close the hatch start getting attacked by phantoms too alright let us fight!! Riddle commands Vil and Leona’s groups to go and help while he and Azul try and distract Idia and Ortho to buy them time.

We then scene change to Azul getting mad at Riddle for taking on the most dangerous job for themselves. Riddle tells Azul to take charge of steering the chariot since he doesn’t know how, and Azul gets even more upset cause he has no idea how either. It takes Ortho climbing up the walls of Tartarus for them to start acting.

Oh my god I love how freaky and alien-like the design looks. OH AND THE ANIMTIONS WITH ORTHO PUNCHING THEM OOOOOO AD THE CABLES CONNECTING IDIA AND ORTHO AND IDIA’S FALMES BRIEFLY TURNIGN ORANGE BEFORE SOME ATTACKS IT’S SO COOL

After the battle (gameplay wise) ends, Riddle and Azul use their Thunder Spear on Idia and Ortho. Ortho cries out in pain and woAH

oh my GOD THIS IS THE COOLEST FUCKING OVERBLOT DESIGN HANDS DOWN I LOVE THIS

WAIT RIDDLE WTF Did his hair all turn white from overexerting himself or something what the hell?!? And then he faints. Okay no, Idia explains that this is what happens when living humans come to close to the underworld... Which is now the kanji that Idia gives Ortho. Holy shit what does that mean, how powerful is Ortho now? Holy shit.

Azul quickly calls the other two groups to warn them about Ortho’s ability to suck your life energy and make you turn old before he takes Riddle and retreats on the chariot. The scene switches to Jamil and Leona, who have used their time to clear out the other phantoms. Ortho has now climbed up to them, so time for Jamil and Leona to have their go at the Shroud bros.

Okay thank god Leona’s not trying to use that thing by himself again lol

Ortho again cries out in pain. With their job done, Leona gets in touch with Vil and the control room to report in and banter with Vil a bit before he and Jamil retreat.

Next, we actually stay right there as Idia frantically checks to see if Ortho is okay. Ortho says he’s okay, but he can’t move as well as before. They’re frustrated about the Thunder Spears, but Ortho reassures Idia that they can’t lose as long as they’re together. The phantoms in Ortho’s body rejoice about being free soon and Grim moans about rocks before Idia and Ortho continue on their way.

Then we finally go back to the player and the Pomefiore trio. The staff have charged up their Thunder Spear to 80%. Rook tells them to make their way to a safe area, then Vil summarizes the situation and what they have to do. Rook asks the control room how progress on the Cerberos system is going, and the staff reports that all their attempts to get into it have been thwarted by Ortho. So the plan is for Vil’s group to beat the Shroud brothers and force Idia to do what they want.

Ortho then approaches, and Epel asks them to leave the handling of the chariot to him. Once they approach, Idia asks them if they’re trying to play hero, but Vil says that there are no heroes or villains here, just people on the same level trying to assert their will and achieve their dreams.

The one who will stand on the stage until the end... is me!

Then the battle starts and HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT FIRE ATTACK DAMNNNN I LOVE THAT!

At the end, warning screens pop up around Ortho and the Pomefiore trio launch the Thunder Spear while Ortho’s distracted. Then, I think Ortho falls down? And then Idia suddenly un-overblots okay yeah Ortho’s down for the count. His body starts falling apart, and the group quickly swoops down to rescue Grim. Grim also quickly breaks out of his weird blot trance. OUR BOY’S BACK YEAAAAAHHHHHH

Ortho laments not being able to become Idia’s hero before he finally starts falling for good. Wait oh shit Idia and Grim are still attach to Ortho so they’re falling too. VIl quickly goes to save them, leaving Rook and Epel behind to yell for him.

Before we can resolve that situation we gotta watch sad black and white Idia backstory dump. Okay I’m pretty sure someone’s translated this thing by now so I’m not gonna try. OH MY GOD BABY SHROUD BROS ACK mY HEART Wait “adventure” oh god I have a bad feeling about this OH NO OH NO OH GOD OH NO DID IDIA SEE ORTHO DIE??? OH GOD nOOOOO IDIA OH MY HEART also where the fuck are his parents why is it just employees here OH MY GOD THE ROBOT ORTHO AND IDIA GOING FORM LAUGHING AT HIS SUCCESS TO SOBBING I CAN’T HOLY SHIT

The flashback thing ends then and

hello what is this? twst. twst explain.

THIS IS LOOKING AWFULLY LIKE A FINAL GOODBYE AND I DO NOT LIKE IT. (cute toothy smile though)

ORTHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NO DON’T FADE AWAY WHAT IS HAPPENING NO

Idia wakes up now I guess and uh. what the hell is that voice. uh. Okay yeah no I saw the thumbnails, I can’t pretend I don’t already know.

lmao hello Vil. Having fun there?

He had to jump into the underworld to save Idia and Grim and NOOOOOO HE COULDN’T SAVE ORTHO.

I am glad though that Vil still thinks he’s beautiful even if he got old, yay character development!

Anyway, Idia admits his defeat and closes the underworld again using his unique magic. AAAAAAAAAA THAT SOFT FAREWELL TO ORTHO

They back their way back to fix up the Cerberos system and meet up with the Tower 2 & 3 groups. Vil has a bit of trouble walking cause his boots don’t fit very well now. Azul advises Vil to go to a doctor asap, and Riddle wakes up. However, Grim is unconscious now. Rook checks Grim’s breathing and heart rate, but notices something hard around his throat. Something is stuck in his throat and they have to hit his chest to get it out. After a few hits, Grim coughs out some rocks and wakes up. NOOOO DON’T CRY GRIM IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT EVERYTHING’S FINE YOU CAN COME BACK TO RAMSHACKLE!!!

The control room staff call in. Apparently the Lethe River program has been deleted by Ortho. Ortho really did a number on their system. The group gets on some chariots to go back to school. Bruh if Vil still gonna be like this when they get back to the school? I really wanna see people’s reactions.

Vil says he’ll see Idia back there, and Idia mildly panics cause everyone will still have their memories of the kidnapping stuff and he doesn’t think he can go back. However, Epel yells at him to take responsibility and fix the mess he caused, and the others all agree and pile on more responsibilities for him. He seems to relent... but as soon as the others are gone he starts ranting about how he definitely can’t go back cause how are the other students going to react when they still have their memories? The thought of the memories makes him stop and think about how everything’s going to work out now that they can’t rely on the Lethe River. He thinks about Ortho again and gets sad, before shaking it off and preparing to head back to STYX. However, he notices the stuff that Grim coughed up and is startled by what it is, since with it, he can...!

So, leaving off where we stopped in the 1st part, Idia welcomes the lads to STYX... and then immediately questions why they don’t seem surprised that he’s here. The lads explain that they already discussed Idia’s connection to STYX, then they get angry and threaten him. I really like Leona’s little growl at the end of what he says, but it quickly gets overshadowed by Idia’s voice actor really going supervillain once Idia reasserts his control

“I’m the boss”

Seriously bro how does your voice even do that? I can feel Idia rapidly creeping up my favorites list.

The boys are surprised too and Vil agrees to follow along with Idia’s orders before we go back to the scene in Crowley’s office where the guys there are discussing Idia’s connection to the Isle of Lamentation. Malleus drops the name アイドネ (Aidone) Shroud, maybe meant to be like Aidoneus, one of the many alternative names of Hades. This person is apparently Idia’s late grandmother, the mother of his father. She used to be the head of STYX, which has existed for like a century or more.

According to Lilia & Malleus, in the past, magicians were called sorcerers and witches, and the connection between magic and blot was unknown. Overblots were known as a sudden disasters. The Jupiter family’s ancestors were the ones who brought peace to the people by sealing oveblot in the Isle of Lamentation, and the Shroud family’s ancestors became the guards who would keep overblot from being unleashed on the world ever again. Even as things changed and attitudes about magic changed though, the research into blot continued and STYX was formed. yay lore

anyway look at this Jade face. angy lad :)

So after some more not-that-interesting discussion, everyone goes back to their dorms since they don’t have a means of getting to the Isle of Lamentation to save the lads yet. Ruggie and Rook run into Jack who just found out about what happened. oop... Hold up, excuse me, Rook’s nickname for Jack is Monsieur Tough Guy???? Really? Seriously?

After briefing Jack on who got kidnapped and whatever, Ruggie sends him and the Prefect to the infirmary to check on what’s going on there. There, Jack finds Crewel managing the massive amount of students there. Epel is also there looking after Deuce and Ace, who are still unconscious. Crewel blames the damage on the rundown, cramped space of Ramshackle making it hard to fight without debris raining down on you too. We get a nice heartwarming discussion with Jack reassuring Epel that even their strong dorm leaders have faced failures before, so instead of being all gloomy about failing to protect their friends they have to keep going.

Jack, Epel, and the player leave the infirmary. Since Ramshackle is all destroyed, Epel invites the player to stay at Pomefiore for the time being. Before Epel can enter the mirror to go back though, Rook suddenly runs in and pushes him out of the way while shouting “non!”.  The fuck?

ROOK’S GOING TO THE ISLE OF LAMENTATION? Alright okay I see I guess he’s launching a rescue mission cause he’s really concerned about Vil’s wellbeing right?

NO HE’S JUST REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT VIL’S SKIN’S WELLBEING. BRO THE GUY CAN SURVIVE WITHOUT HIS SKINCARE PRODUCTS WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHO CARES IF HE GETS A PIMPLE WE’VE GOT BIGGER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT!!! ah. he left.

ALRIGHT IT’S TIME TO CHASE THAT KOMAEDA CHARACTER FRENCH BOY DOWN

But not before we get to briefly see The Mouse, who wants to come and help us but can’t. okay ANYWAY (hwow I use that word a lot), very fun watching a furious Epel yell and chase Rook through the skies and launch fireballs at him.

Finally Rook lands and makes us a fire and some tea since we just left to chase him through the cold night in our not-very-warm school uniforms. Rook says he didn’t want to wrap anyone up in this, which, terrible job there man, but now he will let us go along with him. Oh. We’re not gonna go back and get some backup? Really gonna be 3 high schoolers storming a  top secret base of a shady organization? bruh.

Yay Vargas Camp 2 (Pomefiore version). Oooooooo now we get to solve the mystery of how Rook knew where to go, and what his unique magic is!

“My unique magic allows me to identify the location of someone that I cast magic on.”

The name of his unique magic is 「果てまで届く弓矢」, “a bow and arrow that reaches to the end”. Kinda cool, but then the English is literally just “I See You”. Congratulations on winning the award for lamest unique magic name.

Rook explains that he cast his unique magic on one of the Charon guys during the attack, so that’s how he knows where to go. Then we get to see a fancy map! yay lore. wtf are these country names though

It’s kinda cool that when he uses his magic an arrow flying sound effect plays. Alright so to get over there, apparently some person in Rook’s family in the past was really into traveling and had vacation homes in every country.

Man, Rook really stealing the spotlight here. I feel sorry for everyone who despises him, gonna have to put up with him for a long while if they wanna keep up with the story. We switch over to what’s going on at STYX now though!

LMAOOOOOOOOO looking good vil. “noooooo how could you not give me any skincare products I’m a world-class modeeellllllllll” lmaoooo cry harder buddy boy

also look at this great expression to pause on as Idia was just starting to talk

Okay back to business. The choker thing everyone’s wearing acts as both a magic suppressant and as a way to collect data on their vitals and stuff. Now we’re gonna watch an introduction movie for STYX. Oooooo nice animation. Yeah yeah “to protect the peaceful lives of magicians” great thing to say to some magicians you just kidnapped.

So after the movie ends and Idia makes a joke that doesn’t go over well, we get an explanation to the “Phantom” thing. That’s the name of the big entity thing that appears behind people when they overblot and uses the blot from their negative emotions as an energy source. If the overblot isn’t stopped, the person will eventually run out of energy to give to the Phantom and their body will vanish, leaving only the super juiced up monster behind.

As we already know, you gotta have a lot of magical power to be able to accumulate enough blot to overblot, and those with that sort of power usually have the self discipline to keep that from happening, which is why 5 people in the same place overbloting in such a short span of time caught STYX’s attention.

Now we get an interesting little scene where Leona asks Idia if he informed STYX about them and Idia remains silent before Ortho butts in to say that info’s classified, hmmmm not suspicious at all /s. Ortho also explains that STYX is researching how to use blot as a source of energy, and this research could help the lads to never overblot again, aka “LET US STUDY YOU OR ELSE. Now sign this NDA.”

Oh what STYX is gonna finish their research on them in 24 hours and also they promise not to hurt them? Okay why do I feel even more uneasy knowing that. LMAO 1 HOUR LATER STILL READING EVERY INCH OF THE NDA DOCUMENT. okay okay they signed now, time for a... battle simulator. Yep yep of course, as predicted. First up are Riddle, Azul, and Vil, and so Jamil and Leona just gotta wait.

Oh apparently STYX is drugging Grim or something to keep him asleep. Why.

LOOK AT THESE DUDES HAHAHA SPOT THE MAIN CHARACTER

Okay so the battle simulation is in VR.

them. It looks like the battle does actually restrict you to these guys instead of letting you use your own cards... That’s cool I think, idk I don’t play the game.

After that 1st test, the 2nd one abruptly places them in the school cafeteria in their school uniforms. oh god I got a bad feeling about this. Simulations of Jade, Rook, and Trey then appear and greet them. OH GOD I GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS.

YEP YEP YEP HELLO THERE scorpio power couple GUYS. TIME TO FORCE THE TEST SUBJECTS TO FIGHT THEIR OWN FRIENDS AND WATCH THE HAVOC IT WRECKS ON THEIR MENTAL STATES FOR THE SAKE OF ~SCIENCE~. Idia are you into this research or not I really can’t tell whether it’s his excitement or his desire to do the gacha event that’s a lie.

Alright blah blah blah Ortho and Idia talking about the lads’ strengths and weaknesses in battle. Except apparently Vil is super good and skilled at both offense and defense despite not especially having combat training. bro wtf why, stop making Vil overpowered it’s so hard to like him if the narrative keeps praising him like it’s forcing me to like him.

Yay now we switch scenes and we get to watch Jamil and Leona make awkward conversation with each other! Oh now we get something even better, analysis time with Leona! NO ORTHO DON’T COME IN LET HIM TALK ugh alright battle simulation time again.

They also get the friend betrayal simulation, but Leona immediately realizes what’s happening and just starts attacking as Ruggie’s talking about a report for alchemy class lmao. Idia’s so confused about why they accumulated so much less blot than the other 3 by the end of the simulation.

WTF is this “healing room” Ortho is talking about, the test subjects are sleeping in there? Did you do the same thing to them as yall did to Grim? Okay I’m actually kinda digging Ortho and Idia’s analysis, I better see some RPG style fanart of the overblot gang based on the RPG classes the Shroud bros assigned them.

OH OH OH LORE!!! STYX HAS A TECHNOLOGY TO MESS WITH MEMORIES BASED ON THE LETHE RIVER IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY!!!... i am afraid.

our boy is here. Oh no he remembers attacking the player, oh no he remembers the 1st years trying to save him,

OOF

OH MY FUCKING GOD YOU CAN’T JUST CUT TO ROOK AND EPEL FLYING THROUGH THE SKY AS ROOK WAXES POETRY ABOUT THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER AFTER THAT AAAAAAA

NO YOU CANNOT MAKE EVERYTHING OKAY WITH MORE ROOK BACKSTORY CRUMBS... but I will take them. Alright woah he has 2 older siblings and 3 younger siblings. Cool.

The Rook crew has reached the place where the STYX base should be, but it’s just open ocean. Then we cut back to STYX, where Idia notes that just 12 of the agreed upon 24 hours are left, and then immediately sirens start blaring and one of the staff notifies Idia that they’re being attacked. The base apparently has an invisibility shield, which explains the appearance of just ocean.

“BONJOUR! Everyone from the Isle of Lamentation. I am the beauty seeking, beauty serving, known as Le chasseur d'amour, Rook Hunt!!”

Yes what a great way to start out your secret research lab invasion. “I want to eliminate him, but do not eliminate him!” IDIA SDHGLSGHLSDGLHSDLGK

Oh alright the Rook crew is going to get purposefully captured so they can infiltrate from inside. Yeah great I was wondering how they would beat the Charon squad; they just won’t.

awwwwww Ortho’s imitation of Rook is really cute. Oh Idia’s gut instinct really just be like