Difference between revisions of "Main Quest:Chapter 7"

Some time after dealing with the [[Tycoons]]' invasion, the [[Summoners]] go through their daily routine at their Safehouse. After chastising {{Transient icon|Kengo}} for swiping a snack he had purchased, {{Transient icon|Ryota}} heads out to meet with the [[Missionaries]] while Kengo heads out to give {{Transient icon|Claude}} the bill for helping maintain the Safehouse. However, the group (minus {{Transient icon|Hanuman}}, who is scouting the area for any threats to their Portal) becomes concerned when they notice that Shiro has failed to show up yet again. After Hanuman reports that the APP users who would regularly be in the area have mysteriously disappeared, the Protagonist leaves him to guard the Safehouse while they go to the dorms to check on Shiro.

Upon arriving at Shiro's room, the Protagonist is shocked to see Shiro staring at his Sacred Artifact as if he were in a trance. Realizing Shiro has likely been possessed by Yog-Sothoth's memories, the Protagonist tries to get their guild mate under control, but he warps away before they can do anything. Searching the room for clues, they find a note left by Shiro directing them to someone named {{Transient icon|Azathoth}}, an apparent denizen of the same world Yog-Sothoth came from, and a series of random numbers. Figuring this Azathoth might have some way of undoing whatever Yog-Sothoth did to Shiro, the Protagonist returns to the Safehouse to discuss what to do with Hanuman. After attempting to contact Kengo, Ryota, and {{Transient icon|Tsathoggua}} falls through and summoning {{Transient icon|Lil' Salomon}} proves ineffective as well, the Protagonist attempts to use the APP's tracking feature to see if Shiro is still in the area. However, they become immediately suspicious when the APP reveals that Hanuman is nowhere near the Safohouse despite apparently being inside of it.

Flashback. As the Berserkers standing within the APP continues to deteriorate, {{Transient icon|Macan}} and {{Transient icon|Snow}} attempt to hold off an attack by a group of Shadows lead by {{Transient icon|Surtr}}. However, Snow is concerned about how long they'll hold out due to the fact that their enemies chose to attack on a day where the majority of their guild had the day off and apparently have an airtight knowledge of their base's infrastructure. As Macan attempts to hold off Surtr and the Shadows, Snow retreats to Claude's office to report on the weakened state of their guild. Lamenting that his attempt to form an alliance with the [[Wisemen]] and shore up their defenses could not proceed fast enough to outmaneuver the attack, Claude resigns himself to allowing {{Transient icon|Garmr}} to escape into Tokyo with a warning to their allies about what happened while the remnants of the Berserkers still there attempt to hold out for as long as possible. However, as Snow attempts to shore up his strength with Macan, whose Sacred Artifact is weak to fire based attacks, he is intercepted by Azathoth and trapped in an inverted reality as Surtr uses his flames to overtax Macan's Sacred Artifact.

With the two immediate threats taken care of, {{Transient icon|Babalon}} makes her way into Claude's office to make him concede defeat. When Babalon begins mocking him for being forced by his mother to become the top of the food chain, Claude angrily interjects, demanding she tell him what her intentions are, to which she casually responds to wanting to make a Tokyo where she can watch over the forgotten and unloved as her own children, immobilizing him with a paralytic liquid in order to make him watch as her plans proceed forward as the APP sends out a notice stating that the Berserkers and their Portals have been taken over by Babalon's guild, the [[Genociders]]. Babalon then heads to an underground area of the Colosseum, where she instructs Azathoth to use his power to create more Shadows through a Gate Claude apparently built his guild's main Portal around so they can eliminate the other major guilds from the inside out.

Narration begins, revealing the truth behind Shuichi's Sacred Artifact. Narration reveals that, while several guilds have had theories as to what Shuichi's Clay Tablet actually does, in truth Shuichi had purposefully hidden the fact that it sucks up any worthwhile knowledge around it, even its owner's memories, and stores and transcribes them at its leisure, effectively making it the first book. Shuichi had been using this power in conjunction with Duo, whose Sacred Artifact can create worlds based on the information supplied to him by Shuichi, to further the Wisemen's standing within the APP and strengthen Shuichi's goal of making his brother the sole winner of the Game.

Cut to Jinbocho. After receiving word from an informant that the chaos the Shadows have caused has spread to Aoyama and the [[Missionaries]], Shuichi meets up with Toji and the Protagonist, though Toji is hesitant to deal with him after he helped manipulate Tokyo's governing body into believing that there was nothing dangerous about the APP. However, Shuichi is uninterested in Toji's taunts as he is more focused on explaining why Shiro left the Protagonist his phone number: Shiro knew that, despite his own misgivings about trusting the Wisemen, Shuichi would be their best source of knowledge should anything happen to him. This works out well for Shuichi as he feels that, since both the Wisemen and the Summoners have been crippled in the recent chaos, an alliance is the best way for both Guilds to survive. However, the Protagonist, who trust their own guild's inner circle more than someone whom they know wants something out of this, refuses point blank. Before Shuichi can attempt to state his case, the Protagonist is contacted by Moritaka, who informs him of Garmr's arrival at Shinjuku Academy and the Shadows swarming the area. Moritaka pleads with the Protagonist to allow him to join their Guild, but Garmr intercedes, begging the Protagonist to liberate the Berserkers from their current situation before passing out from the pain.