As they prepared to leave, a warning echoed through the city, indicating that invaders were approaching the plains of Lisithea, on the road to Lottrengarth. Soldiers from the city of Lisithea formed a vanguard near Lisithea, with the aim of delaying the arrival of the Galèsian Barbarians in the city. The peaceful scenery instantly turned into chaos, and the FIDELIUS knights would face yet another challenge on their journey.

“Kyaaahh—!” Rudra was in his quarters, taking care of his things, when he heard screams coming from the room above, so he decided to run as quickly as possible.

"Screams…!"

“And that voice is from–”

In Arianna's quarters, there were three hooded individuals, who called themselves inquisitors, and planned to execute the Lisithean family. The housekeeper had had her left arm amputated by the advance of one of the inquisitors who had targeted Arianna.

“E-E-E-E-Elianne!”

“run away…… miss Arianna…”

Arianna was so scared and scared that she could barely move her legs. The housekeeper Elianne's blood formed a giant puddle on the floor, surrounding Arianna's feet, leaving her deeply traumatized, not knowing what to do.

“S-S-Stay Away! Don’t come near us!”

His words were not enough to stop the advance of the inquisitors who were preparing to complete their objectives.

“I said– don’t come!”

Arianna found herself cornered in the corner of the room, with Elianne in her arms, almost lifeless due to so much blood loss.

“…”

One of the inquisitors pulls her by the hair and takes out a cleaver, and presses it against her neck. his sadistic and tormented expression left Arianna increasingly hopeless and terrified.

“Don’t worry; maiden… it will be painless.”

"THUD!" – The door opens with great intensity.

Rudra enters the room with his blade drawn and fights the inquisitors to save Arianna and her housekeeper.

"Who are you!?"

Rudra soon struck with his blade, killing one of the inquisitors. The second inquisitor attacked Rudra, whose back was unprotected, but Rudra pulled his sword from the dead man's body and blocked the inquisitor's dagger.

“What the–”

Then, Rudra drops his sword, and knocks the inquisitor to the ground. The third and the one holding Arianna felt oppressed by the actions of Rudra, who had finished off his companions.

“N-it can’t be…”

“You, you are–”

“Hurghh! I don’t care who you are..!”

“Get lost!”

The inquisitor who was holding the cleaver drops Arianna on the ground, and decides to confront Rudra face to face in an irrational attack, the knight takes his arm and knocks him to the ground, leaving him semi unconscious.

Rudra throws him on the ground coldly and starts questioning him, threatening him to break his fingers one by one.

"Who are you?"

The inquisitor remains silent, without speaking a single word. Then, Rudra breaks his pinky, making him scream in pain incessantly.

“Arrgh–”

"What it was? the cat ate your tongue?"

“Hmm…”

“I'll ask again... who are you? Who sent them here?”

“Hurgggh– I won’t tell you anything–”

Rudra breaks another finger on his right hand. The inquisitor writhes in pain again, while Rudra continues to question him, until there are no sound fingers left on his hand.

“Hurghhh…. hurghhh….”

Arianna watched in astonishment, the torture method the knight used, without moving.

“Shh–” the inquisitor had bitten his own tongue.

…

The golden-eyed Knight was frustrated at not being able to extract a single piece of information from the inquisitor. Looking at the inquisitor's jaw, he noticed a viscous greenish substance dripping from his mouth.

“…”

“Ma'lahadd's herb… he poisoned himself.”

“An excellent anti-cheating mechanism”.

Arianna had noticed a coat of arms on the dead inquisitor's blanket, which she recognized at a glance.

“That emblem…”

Then, Rudra turned his gaze back to the maiden Arianna and her housekeeper.

“Miss Arianna, we have to go.”

“But– Elianne… what will become of her?”

“the maid can barely breathe, and is on the verge of death. It will be a dead weight for us–”

"Do not say that!"

Arianna was irritated by Rudra's statement regarding her housekeeper's condition.

“Elianne is important to me, to us”

“We can’t leave her here to rot–”

Suddenly, Arianna feels a slight tug on her dress. It was Elianne, his housekeeper.

“Huff… miss… leave me here… and do as the knight tells you… huff…”

“Don’t talk– You are very weak…”

Elianne's almost lifeless eyes filled Arianna's mind with sadness, completely changing her firm expression.

“it was… huff… a great pleasure… serving you while I was alive…”

“see how it is… now…”

Elianne turned her gaze to Rudra.

“knight… huff… take care of my lady… make this mission… worthwhile…”

Rudra silently nodded at housekeeper Elianne's words

“thank you very much… for everything… my lady…”

“…”

And there Elianne had sighed for the last time. Arianna was filled with sadness, seeing the person who cared for her, leave in such a way. Silence had fallen in the room due to Arianna's mourning for her housekeeper.

“Miss Arianna, we have to leave.”

“Everyone is waiting for us.”

Arianna nods to Rudra's statement, and stands up to him. Both leave the blood-stained room and wander through the corridors, towards the main Hall.

…

“Fshhh–!” – Sound of a strong stab.

“What– blehh–”

Dallbert spat blood uninterruptedly as he remained standing still.

“Ferdinand… what does it mean–”

The dagger is withdrawn from his back abruptly, leaving an exposed wound on his back.

“My brother… why?”

“…”

“you discovered… you discovered the secret.”

“I swear..!”Not you..!”

“I DIDN’T WISH IT WAS YOU, BROTHER!!”

Ferdinand screamed hysterically, while making absurd statements to Dallbert, who was sneaking towards the door.

“They would kill me if they knew the plans were discovered!”

“I didn’t want you to get involved in this damn story!”

“You and our nephews, Edgar and Arianna were supposed to be safe!!”

“But then this letter came–! THAT DAMN LETTER FROM MAGNUSSON!!!”

Dallbert was perplexed by the betrayal he had suffered, losing more and more blood on the ground.

"my brother…"

Dallbert had died in that room, stabbed in the back by his own brother, who betrayed him all the time. Leaving his brother's body to rot in his office, he took the letters and burned them next to the office, erasing all traces.

…

Rudra and Arianna had arrived at the stairs of the main hall of Dallbert's palace, meeting the knights and Leslie, already prepared to leave.

“Thank heavens… You’re okay…” sighed Lloyd, relieved by Arianna and Rudra’s arrival.

“What happens–”

“We don’t have time, this place has been invaded by inquisitors.” Rudra responded quickly, interrupting Edgar's speech.

“Alright, Obelisk, take us to the hatches!”

“Affirmative, Hawk.”

Leslie and his party were guided by the Obelisk to the hatches that led away from the road to Lottrengarth. On the way, Leslie questioned Rudra about what he had stated earlier.

“Rudra, you said there were inquisitors in the palace, is it true?”

“Yes, they entered through Arianna’s bedroom window” Rudra answers Leslie’s question.

“Where is Lord Dallbert?” asked Rudra.

“...unfortunately, Lord Dallbert, together with his brother Ferdinand, decided to stay and coordinate the vanguard.”

“my father… no!” – Arianna was perplexed by the news.

The group walked up and down the staircases that shaped Lisithea's secret passage, the Rohd'nes Tunnel. Obelisk had lit a torch to better illuminate the path.

“that coat of arms…” said Arianna.

"Hmm?"

“I remember that coat of arms somewhere… when I was younger.”

“The coat of arms on the inquisitor’s cloak?” asked Rudra.

“yes… I already saw him, on a solstice, when I was very young. my uncle held a leather book with him printed on the cover.”

“if I’m not mistaken, the name was the coat of arms of Eras…”

“The symbol of the secret society of the Union of Aleonia.” Edgar replied.

“So they know where we are running. They’ve been watching us this whole time…!” said Obelisk, frustrated with the revelations.

“We have to pick up the pace as soon as possible!” Leslie said, worried about possible approaches.

The entire group began to move faster to reach the hatch that connects to the outside of the city of Lisithea. Halfway there, Arianna's feet began to throb from running.

“arghh– my heel..!”

“Cousin, are you okay?” asked Edgar, worried about his cousin Arianna.

“I am… but I don’t know if I can walk like this–”

Then, Rudra crouches down and asks Arianna to stand on his back so he can carry her.

“Come on, I’ll take you.”

"No! I can– arghhh–”

Arianna struggled to show that she was able to continue the journey, but she was too weak to walk due to the previous events.

“R-right…”

“ Spif’nnaer..! (Damn…!)” – whispered Arianna.

And so, Arianna climbed onto Rudra's back, and everyone was able to resume their journey to the outer hatch.

“Edgar, what ' Coat of Ages' is this?” asked Bart, curious about this craftsman.

“...The coat of arms of Eras. The symbol of Aleonia's reconquest of its lands. A union of landowners, who had common ideals, was formed to reconquer the lands taken by the Rùbarians, those who colonized Aleonia.”

“However, this society was made private by the main court of the capital, and all the other regions of Aleonia became hostages of this society, making them swear on the blood of their families. Artas, Bonnofal left the company. Nostruvitch and Engüllehardt are the only ones who are still part of this society.”

“Apparently, with our recent discovery of the goals of this society, we have become targets of the empire, and possibly, will be judged as traitors to the country.”

“All because of power…” said Arianna, frustrated with the situation.

A while had passed since the long walk through the tunnel when they finally reached the hatch. Obelisk tried to turn the wheel that kept the hatch closed, but it was stuck.

“It’s– stuck..!”

“Each one holds one side” declared Augustus.

So Augustus, Gael, Bart and Humbert forced the hatch wheel to give way and turn. At first they put a lot of effort into it, but it started to spin.

“That– okay! Spinning–!”

"More strength!"

Using all their effort, they managed to open the hatch, arriving outside the city. You could hear the sound of the war that had broken out there.

“Lisithea… my land…” Arianna looked at the great walls that supported the protection of the city.

“I'm sorry... we don't have time for regrets, Cousin. We have to go." replied Edgar.

“Where can we go?” Alyfir asked.

“...The only road that can guide us back to the bunker safely is through Nollander.” replied Obelisk.

“Okay, then let’s go for Nollander.” declared Leslie

Obelisk knew a region where they could walk until they found horses so they could cross the route. So, they all set off along the Nollander road, which leads to the border between Livero and Hault, the safest way back to the bunker.