424 At 1330 (So, almost the same time as the Enga/Hitsugi talk & the Kohri/Aru Xiera Talk)
A camp ship takes off for Earth, and it is your char that has escorted back Phaleg to Vegas. Even though it erroniously shows the camp ship heading to Japan. They didn't bother to animate the North South America side of the globe at all for a cinematic so they literally can't show this trip correctly.
She wouldn’t call it a reward but shall we fight before you leave? She claims that you seem frustrated. You prep a stance, but she says it was a joke, there’s a time and place for such things and this isn’t it. But Hitsugi…she’s got a determined expression now and seems completely different from last time. Not only her but others around her have very strong will that are very human like. While you can’t take credit for everything because you were there, they were able to make the determined expressions, which she thinks is wonderful. The strength of people’s will and the beauty of ehtir desires, why can’t he understand that? Even though people of today move forward with their own two hands –but she is interrupted by an earthquake and a guy staggers forward. He’s labeled as Earth Guide, but a green symbol appears on him as he calls for help.

He becomes an armor. Phaleg yells what’s he done? Is this the evolution he desires? Others appear and she has to open her eyes a bit. Phaleg then vanishes in her red dust. Now, you have to fight this guy who has become the winged armor. Phaleg calls out that you should fight these while she is fighting elsewhere.

At 1400
If you can defeat all of them, Phaleg will confirm all in her area are destroyed as well. She says with the work you did, she does look forward to fighting you at some point. She says you saw it for yourself, it’s Ardem’s doing, the result of forcing evolution upon a living being, they’re unable to adapt and are transformed into monsters. Forcing an undesired evolution, that’s nothing but blasphemy against the humans living today. There’s no time to prepare, she warns you "if she gets lost or can’t make the decision, you know what to do…right?" She opens her eyes as she glares at you over this, then does her super red dust powered jump and vanishes away.

Is This Murder?
No. The people are already dead when they are turned into the Anges. Es Anges-ing them kills them. It's the exact same thing as the infected dragonkin, they are literal zombies, just the cause is different. Ardem is murdering people to create the Es Anges and set them against you. So, your character is not murdering people here.

4/25 at 1000
You are meeting with the gang in Xiera’s room. This sets the scene as your character has obviously explained what was going on. Enga scowls about the bodies of EG members changing into those things? He doesn’t want to believe it but it is you who says they changed into a Phantom right before your eyes. Kohri says that sounds like the work of darkers. Xiera tells her that’s ironic when you consider that Darkers were also made from Photons.
Your report came at the exact time the amount of Ether on Earth was building up. Is the Earth itself producing it? It’s very unusual. Of course, more phantoms are appearing everywhere as well. We’re cooperating with EG other branches, Matoi & the Council 6. But, no one’s making a dent in the numbers, they’re increasing. Aru says the ether is screaming that it will be forcibly changed. What is covering everything with ether? What is trying to manifest? He is agitated.

This would be better to figure out if they bothered to make Ether more than just a cubic McGuffin here.
Did Mother bring Ether to Earth? Was it not there before her? It's 'like photon' in that it's the big 'do-anything' but how would it be coming out of the Earth if Mother only woke up 12 years ago literally, and only started her shenannigans at that time.

Kohri remembers what Phaleg said about ‘lack of god’ in a sepia memory. She speculates if it’s the Embodiment of God? She feels he acted like he was a god. Hitsugi considers this. Kohri tells her it was supposed to be a joke but…Enga continues for her with "To Guide the Earth, seek further evolution, and reform the world, then create it anew.” The fastest way for that guy to do that…that’d pretty much be an embodiment of the God of Genesis wouldn’t it? Kohri says no way, that’s legends and myths like a fairy tale, right? Then she manifests her floral outfit and sword, saying we’re already doing the stuff of legends.

So, this is interesting.
They are either a bunch of Athiests, or follow a different religion that they don't tell you about. As you know, all religions feel that any other religion that isn't that one is "wrong / stupid / myths / obviously totally untrue / needs to be killed or converted". It's interesting to spot Atheists in media because usually they are so taboo--that seeing sevreal just turn up casually is fun to see here. To stand there and call out the Bible as "A Fairy Tale" is actually pretty bold.

The real-deal question is: Is Ardem & Phaleg really delusional, and latching onto the Bible to trump up their own origin story? Are they pretending to be Adam & Eve or Adam & Lillith? (Look up Lillith, she's pretty interesting but remember that all sorts of fun chapters and people got cut out of the Bible for odd reasons like Metaton / Metatron the only guy allowed to sit down in heaven because he writes.....but look up why his chapter got excluded)

We Have To Stop Ardem
What Do You Want To Do Enga?

If you say We Have To Stop Ardem (Because Enga will say that we have to stop Ardem..that option is forgone conclusion) Enga says that he doesn’t care if he’s trying to guide Earth, or evolution he won’t let him do whatever he wants. But he lacks the strength to do it by himself, even with Hitsugi and the others it wouldn’t be enough, so, please lend him your strength. They all bow at your character & Xiera. You nod at them. Xiera exclaims that the people of Earth do have a strong sense of responsibility, or maybe it’s morals? Of course, ARKS will cooperate because it’s goal is to exterminate darkers, protect and catalog planets too. Everyone is very happy with this.

The scene ends.

This one might as well have been a full labeled chapter all by itself. Very long, lots to learn & answers a few questions without bringing up loads more.

Quna’s Promise
In her usual area above the shops you meet Quna in her civilian disguise gear, which is black thigh high leggings, white skirt and cream tone green jacket with visor. She says that as Vice Commander in the Intelligence Department, she’s heard about what’s going on. As usual, it’s you who’s caught up in crazy stuff. But, you who are used to constant battle, Hitsugi and others never got to relax. She wants to surprise them! Do something to make them feel better! She spins in her hexagons, and puts on her concert gear to say that we should have a celebration to boost ARKS and Earth, to reward those wor worked hard with a new song! Hitsugi and the others would love it, right? You nod. She’s happy and will think up a song to bridge two worlds…but remember this is a secret a surprise! And a gift for you, who has been working hard for all of these years. Be sure to come and watch!
This is probably a good idea, and she means well. It's nicely in character. However, how many Earth people know about ARKS? This is never made clear.

Casra in: Big Trouble With Casra
You walk in as Casra was talking to Xiera. She filed a complaint about an earlier matter, which somehow caused Casra to barge right in. She says you’re just in time. (Yes just in time to interrupt him/them from arguing because starting arguments is exactly what he does as his job) He says he has zero intent of escalating the situation any further but anyway…the info alone seemed rather dull, thus as commander, he thought it was best to apologize and explain the details himself. By monitoring Aika and questioning the visitors from Earth, it was possible to investigate in secret. It was his sincerest intent to deal with this without hiding or withdrawing information from you. (Xiera) But it was not his intention to make her feel upset, and for that he’ll sincerely apologize.

Xiera says that even without such acts, she’d already sent the info relating to Hitsugi and the others to him, so why is he continuing the investigations? He says that it’s just as she says, the division received the information about Hitsugi and Enga. However, there was a section about Hitsugi that was concealed and unreadable…Xiera questions this. He says it has strong encryption, and that judging by the date it had visual data of daily life on Earth. Xiera thinks it over, then ‘aha’s in her own head in a thought bubble. (how rare! A thought bubble) She believes it was when she investigated the bath.

Casra believes that Encrypted intelligence data with no knowing who created it, makes the hypothetical situation of "had intel been exchanged between an enemy organization at that time, that’d be the time it happened, and it would be troubling." As part of the division, he couldn’t let it slide, so he did background investigation. But oh, Xiera, is something the matter now? You look tense did you figure it out? She flails, says no, stutters, and asks you to back her up. She’s turbo obvious here. This makes him ask you about it.

I don’t Know Anything…
How Typical Of You…

Another double bad choice! Morons not coming clean about something boring! Telling Casra THE TRUTH would shut him up.  Instead, both of these are clear lies or affronts at him which he doesn’t need. Just saying “We encrypted it because Hitsugi unexpectedly jumped in the tub” would clear him right out of the room.

But, if you say I Don’t Know Anything…he says that’s that then. But now he’s got to be leaving, there’s an increase of work you see…He figured out the culprit behind the crude concealment of intel and it would be bad to not clean it up afterwards. It could be something that could change how we view Earth! This aggravates Xiera further and she says she understands Mr. Casra. He says while she may be excellent (at her job), she’s no good at negotiations. Please mingle with others and perhaps someday, she could become capable of teasing him. He then apologizes to you for wasting your time, and will go.

Xiera shouts as he’s gone "ugh this guy, what’s with him! Someday, oh someday she’ll get the last laugh!"

The scene ends.

The issue is that she got an accidental ‘nude’.
She didn’t mean to get it, she didn’t really want it, but if you can’t erase it…what to do?
So, she’s trying to protect Hitsugi from like…literally a whole division worth of folks seeing her hop in the tub. This is moral on Xiera’s part, especially if the footage is somehow un-delete-able.  But not telling Casra what it is will only further encourage him to break the encryption off of it. However, you can kind of tell that he’s moral enough that once he does see it and realizes what it is, he’ll re-encrypt it and then just not bring it up to anybody. Casra is a rare, competent character that isn't stupid or perverted.

Blackmail Fun  Zone:
Your character is what they call "Complicit" here, in the footage.
Because you didn't actively try to STOP Xiera from recording the Hitsugi Tub footage you are complicit in the wrong-doing. You knew it was wrong but didn't stop her.

Sara is Over Protective
Sara & Matoi are chatting in the lobby when you walk up. She asks if you’re ok, hears Earth situation is serious, and apologizes for not helping more. Sara says it’s fine, leave it to you, and the problem would only grow larger if more ARKS get involved. That said, we’ve got to borrow Matoi, there’s a bunch of work here that needs done. Matoi says she’d rather work the front lines than paperwork. Sara understands but nope…she’s got to take a break. Matoi argues sadly that she’s a Guardian, she’s supposed to have free range.
Sara counters her with it is true but even before your char woke up, Matoi was out there fighting the DF scourge. Philia was anxious about you so do try helping with other duties to show her you’re really taking it easy. Matoi gloomily says she understands. Sara gloats a bit that it’s good she accepts it, Maria & Xiao the people close to her are a bunch of idiots who do what they please, so it’ll be nice to have help for a change.

How Is Maria Doing?
What Is Xiao Up To?

If you ask What Is Xiao Up To? She says who knows, she’s even curious about it because he doesn’t even show up when Xiera brings up a disturbance. Maybe he’s processing too much info? She should have known this would happen, the second Maria became Commander of the General Affairs Dept and she was named the vice…Matoi asks her if she’s having fun? Sara asks what’s the point if you can’t enjoy it? If the Cmdr. Wasn’t willing to interfere, then that would mean she could decide on her own will. Now, if a problem arises she can blame the commander! She’ll then begin to understand the hardships she’s been put through! Matoi frets at this, asking don’t you think that’s a little…
But sara says that issues like that won’t happen as long as she properly helps out. Matoi frets, with ‘not this again!’ They then bicker about it more & the scene ends.

A bit of blackmail from Sara here.
She threatens Matoi if she doesn’t help good enough and something goes wrong, she can blame Maria for it unjustly…and thus confesses that she will. She's excited to be able to blame Maria for things. Matoi is very ‘good person’ conscious so some innocent person getting the blame makes the situation worse and Sara knows how to threaten her to keep her doing what she wants.

This whole section is just here to further explain the Matoi Shoe Horn and why she and the other characters are magically ‘never around’ so we can focus on the high school antics of Earth. It’s nice that it gets an explanation as to why the characters you were following/cared about got thrown onto the side-lines but it doesn’t make it super great that they were…thrown onto the side lines for this whole wacky-town plot.
Maybe…maybe it’s not a good plot to put into the story if you have to throw out all the characters from the story and focus only on other randomly jammed in ones instead.

Enga, Hitsugi & Kohri in: The Origins of Their Weapons
In Xieras room, as you walk in, she says you’re in time for her to ask about Embodied Weapons. She remembers that Hitsugi’s weapon was based on Japanese Mythology. She says her knowledge was limited, but this new sword  was formed after Kohri broke the first one. This eggs on Hitsugi to get out the magic sword. Aru marvels at it, in its fancy white sheath. Next, she embodies her red fancy floral outfit which and says "And her clothes came to match it."

Moving on, Xiera says that Kohri’s sword has a cursed aura. Now, Kohri is in her magic blue clothes and has Gram out. However, she has to hold it very awkwardly because it is gigantic. If you read the hand guard it spells out “Gramr” in what’s clearly an English serif font. Where did this come from? It's clearly part of the weapon design, so Kohri thought up that it should have a word cut into it? Also, why is the word Gramr with an "R" on the end when nobody says the name with the "R". Did she spell it wrong? Is it supposed to be 'olde-english'? Odd. Hitsugi pesters her, saying that to think she’d use the cursed sword Gram as her embodied weapon…it’s totally something she’d do. Xiera asks about a curse, what’s the story there?

Hitsugi says that it’s an item that brings forth clamaity to the wielder, and everyone around them, but was also famous for slaying dragons. (and looking positively wacky being probably 7 feet long with a super long handle, about 3 feet or so across at the ‘base’ having 2 spider web designs in it, plus a 3D central rod that looked like something turned on a lathe, and fins completely everywhere) Kohri explains that when she had this impulse to just…destroy everything…she looks guilty about this. Hitsugi reassures her that she enjoys these kinds of obscure stories instead of JP mythology. Enga is surprised that they could even embody such things at all. He knows they’re easier to think of…but he can’t imagine pulling weapons out from mythology and folklore.

So, Kohri asks him what his wep is based on. Phantom bullet, (Remember, it's just a plain black, simple small enough looking AK-47-alike automatic gun) it was due to him thinking of how hard it’d be to haul around a gun, because in Japan there’s all kinds of laws regarding fire arms. (It's true, there's a lot of paperwork for guns so they're far less common than other areas like the USA, and there is likely no 'open carry' either.) So, wouldn’t you agree it’d be easier to carry this around? Hitsugi narrows her eyes at him, so he asks if there’s a problem. Kohri accuses him of lacking a sense of romance. Hitsugi backs him up, saying it fits his needs. Enga just says to leave him alone.

Xiera concludes embodied weps vary on the person. In other words, by carefully studding these weapons you’re able to accurately guess a person’s hobbies and personality. But maybe hidden desires too? Hitsugi thinks it’s right, she was unaware of Kohri’s need for destruction. Kohri yells and flais, calling it a complete misunderstanding.

Kohri's is indeed fitting.
She was mind controlled by Ophiel and deliberately made crazy and miserable. Of course that would be her first selection 'destroy all' and 'darkness/curses' because that's what state of mind she had. However, the sword itself is probably easier for her to manifest than making up something completely new, so she can still rely on it.
Hitsugi's two are fitting:
She's a mythology buff so wanting a magic sword from a book to save you is natural.
Having it break makes it 'untrustworthy' so you wouldn't embody it again, you'd pick another similar one.
Enga's Gun:
It's as boring as he is, but it's likely origin isn't with him, it's with Earth Guide. He was probably told what to try to embody by the EGs, as it's revealed that they ALL have similar guns or handguns. He probably trained on manifesting guns alone but won't admit to it here. It IS fitting for him and he does have a good hair trigger.

.

Armageddon Incarnate
This quest warns you of an autosave at the start. And you are more likely to need it than on others.

2028 4/25 at 1130

In a creepy ruin, everyone marvels that this ruins type area was under the EG HQ all along and nearly nobody knew. You, Kohri, Enga & Hitsugi are all walking through the ruin. Kohri thinks that this looks like it's heading to the center of the Earth. These ruins are all new, (As in, never-before-seen in the game) there are toppled sandstone color stone blocks with symbols on them, many stairs, and high ceilings. It appears to be a very wide (like 2 lane road width) 'staircase' with large landings that goes down around the centeral large square pillar. The only path is downward. Everything is basically cubic, there’s no curves in the architecture. It is eerie and dark. However, there IS light there, but it comes from basically nothing. It’s just light enough to see in there “Because it Is”. Sure, some of the top blocks to some of the square pillars glow a little aqua but…it wouldn’t light the place. Xiera says it's deep underground, but how far is unknown. Kohri says that school said the center of the earth is really hot, will we be ok?

It's Not A Place You Can Just Go To
If You're Scared, You Can Go Home

Well, isn't choice 2 rude then. But, #1 is true, everything gets all liquid and hot/bad once you get a certain depth, like liquid mud nastiness, that's why the Russia Bore Hole had to quit, it would just goop back in over the drill bits and ruin the hole. (you can look up the story of the hole & even see the cap pictured online, it's actually pretty interesting to do) It's like digging into watery sand at the beach, you get down a certain amount, and can't go further because of the laws of physics vs hot rocks vs pressure. If you say It's Not Just A Place You Can Go To, Kohri feels she can't return home even if she gets cold feet, but is reassured by your statement that you can't accidentally get in there. This is here to illustrate they’re just high-schoolers who don’t know about all science & etc. they’re basically kids asking kid-questions.

She is disrupted by a Es Anges trio coming up some stairs, Enga explains them (that they were live EG members) he tells them to stand back, he & you will deal with it. (He means to spare them the problematic notion of killing things that used to be people) Then, he materializes his army suit. (Kind of high tech gray camo body suit/bulletproof vest looking thing with a camo pattern torn up…shawl? Mini cape?) Hitsugi though, approaches them, asking if anyone else can hear them suffering endlessly even though they're not people. Kohri thinks they're pleading to be saved. Hitsugi appears her sword, Kohri agrees to share the burden and does the same, if only to save the hearts, if not the whole people. Enga just says 'oh you two'. "Just you wait Ardem, I'll kick your ass no matter what." But the Anges rush everyone.

If you can defeat them, (they’re not boosted like the Vegas Courtyard ones) you can progress further down. Now, you’ll get some Es opsis & Es Anges. Es Opsis are quite odd, they are larger than human (but not by much) JUST heads. They have pinkish purple ‘hair’, and 2 pairs of wings. One pair grows low out of the back where the base of the neck would be, the other on the upper back of the head. The lower wings propel / fly the head, while the upper generally cover the face. The upper wings open to launch their attack. These also have halos that float over them once they are attacked.

So what are these then?
Did they also used to be people? How would someone turn into just a head? No one explains these.

They wonder how many are affected? Can't worry now, only to stop that fool.
How far down does it go? Kohri feels cold, or is it just the shivers because the place is spooky? No one can decide, so they talk as you all descend.  

2028 4/25 At 1200
Passing all that and going further down, you get to another landing, and Ophiel Herbert cubes in. Hitsugi yells his name at him. He says Ardem is ahead, and he's instructed not to let anyone through, that's it, any questions? Hitsugi does have one, which is that he betrayed Mother & helped Ardem, so just what's he trying to accomplish? Betrayed he feels is a rude word...he claims he didn't betray her, and he's not serving  Ardem either. (really?) Supporting those who'd guide the stagnant Earth to the next evolution, that's his only goal. He felt the guidance of evolution through Mother, but now he feels it with Ardem, so that's all there is to it. And if you were to show him a greater one than that, then he'd join with you instead.

Enga accuses him of spouting off about 'evolution' like a religion, so he argues it's for the future of Earth, but Ophiel sees that Enga has no desire to understand. Ophiel says everyone is like that, ignoring the situation and never looking to the future. Daily repetitive power struggles, never thinking back on who sacrificed for it. Corruption too. He paces. Even with these hands, this tech, even if you save one life, thousands vanish in the next instant. Everyone repeats their mistakes over and over, it's a disease that can't be healed, that rots the world. It's too late, no more treatment, no choice but to remove the affected areas.

Again: Kiddies
No one understands (or at least lets on that they do) because they are in Highschool what Opheil is really upset about here. Yes he’s crazy. But what he MEANS is that as a surgeon/doctor, it’s his job to save lives and heal the sick with high tech and doctor skill. However, for every person he saves, he sees in the news ‘thousands more die’ of whatever because he couldn’t get to them. This obviously eats away at him, it would anybody. But he can’t divorce himself of “I do what I can to make the world better” vs. “I’m in constant agitation because I can’t save everyone.”
He’s also shouting about ‘doomed to repeat history if you don’t learn it’, and yes, there is that too going on. What he’s after is seeing what “better” thing Ardem can make people into so that they won’t do bad things or get sick/injured anymore and die of ‘stuff’. Of course, high school people can’t be expected to think along lines that other people do, especially experienced or jaded surgeons like this one.  

Enga laughs and asks “old man, aren't you a little old to be pushing your despair onto others? “Excessively smart people are always spinning their wheels making extreme arguments in any direction.”, says Hitsugi. He tells Ophiel he's got no excuse, this is no different than a childish temper tantrum, 'nothing is going my way so I pretend it never happened'. Stop the repetitive talk, and step aside, we're after an even bigger child with a god complex. He draws on him. Ophiel says he expected it, and creates a huuuuge cube over the whole large room. Kohri claims it's field expansion, his ability. He glares, and says Kohri's felt it before, it's connected to his will. He makes cubes and scalpels appear, but you block all of them with a double saber as they shoot at Kohri. It's quite intense, there are many, and this is actually quite a feat to watch.

He repeats his title again, as Apostle of water, as he gestures at his gloves. He then materializes a Mother symbol, and you will have to battle him. He says that we, as long as we are people will now repeat another conflict. North American branch of the Earth Guide Ophiel Herbert. Let’s start the procedure.

This is a VERY mobile battle.
As you’ve seen of him earlier, he’ll materialize scalpels and shoot them at you from the edges/upper of the room. He can fire faded blue homing shots at you, as well as generally deflect the NPCs up-close attacks. His real angle is being able to generally ignore the NPCs swarming him and keep the pressure on your character. Despite having no apparent shielding, he's really resistant to bullets for some reason. He only has 1 target point, so using phantom/bits on him doesn't do much. Pets will bother him, but he also won't focus on those either, he knows it's the character controlling the pet. (Most monsters get the 'hate value' up onto the pet, he does not)
As the fight progresses he also creates rectangles which explode if run into. These are literally everywhere, up, down, edges and all. You're not going to bouncer jump them away or fancy mechgun. They also absorb bullets/can't be shot through so they basically clog the arena. Then, if you stand still for even a second or two…he’ll be able to get a rectangle upon you (materializes over you) and this will crush and do some quite decent damage to you. He’s also not easily distracted by the other characters, and because the room is his own turf (literally) there’s nothing at all in it to use against him. The room isn't that big either, so even though he doesn't run he can keep the battle pressure on the team constantly.

He will chat during the fight but you can’t understand him. He will say “yo soy”, and fire off magic. He always says yo soy (Spanish 'I am' but must have some other meaning because he's sure not speaking Spanish/it's a sound-alike) The fight will go on for quite some time because he's got a ton and a half of HP. Oddly, he's more difficult to defeat than Mother (human-look Mother) simply because of the nature of his attacks.

At 1300 if you can beat him...
Knock enough hp out of him, and he'll be staggared. He tells you "Brilliant, but your victory nolonger has any meaning. All the while you were in the field, I already accomplished my mission." Enga guesses this was a stall. It was! To let him reach godhood, just as he intended---

However, before he can finish, he is interrupted by one wall of his cube (the upper one) breaking. It's Phaleg , she comes in, disses his cube as lack of willpower because it opened with a knock, and generally astonishes him. He says impossible! To break it through force? She touches his other cube wall, cracking it, and says it’s a thin field, and weak, just like his human nature.
He calls her a demon. Phaleg looks to your group, and says don’t just stand there dumbfounded, go on ahead. Hitsugi asks if she’s sure, but she taunts her with that She could kill Ardem instead…if she likes. But, there’s something else she wants to do right now. She wants to teach this fool who was despairing over humanity the greatness of humanity, a re-education if you will. Opheil glares her down, Hitsugi agrees to go, and your party rushes off as soon as Phaleg harms his other field (the one facing the down stairs).

She says she’s normal but has trained over her ‘slightly longer’ lifespan of all the years. Phaleg Ives, MC apostle of fire, the pinnacle of human potential. The fists, the legs, the entire body is the result of human potential that he doesn’t believe in, she trusts he’ll savor the expiernce. But, he flails and runs away instead.

Why does Ophiel not cube out?
Phaleg is not and was never 'normal'. She can claim "She is totally human" till she turns blue and she never will be.
It's not surprising that if anyone could break into the cube it's her.

This puts your party  in the next area.

An Es Santorus will appear by itself. Hitsugi says its def. different.
It IS different, in that it is boosted in HP and ATK well above normal ones of these you'd find in the field. An Es Santorus is essentially a suit of armor for a literal centaur. It even has a horse-hair tail! There are the large white bendy 'feather' wings on the back of the human torso part. The only thing it is missing is the head. The suit of armor is empty / hollow. Where the head would be is the top of a large metal Morganstern. (Means Morning Star) This is a type of mace where it isn’t on a chain. The top of it has a small gold angel wing ornamentation. They will draw this upward (it floats) out of the neck hole and then wield it in one hand. *It should be noted that Lucifer also means ‘morning star’ , this is highly unlikely to NOT be a coincidence of some kind. These guys are big. Probably 7 foot or so at the shoulder of the horse part.
Of course, they’re fairly fast, being…half horse. However, they have quite a compliment of attacks. Of course, there’s swinging the mace, but it is also magical. They can:

Use the mace to shoot a powerful beam of light in a line across any room
Use the mace to summon tracking lightening bolts from the sky
Do…something to create a gravity well on themselves (draw you to) and then shatter something to do harm
Become invisible…but the mace isn’t invisible so you can still see where they are
Shoot out many bolts of…light…onto circle-targets they place on the ground. However, the catch is that you can’t be between the enemy AND the target or you’ll get hit…but you’ll never know which Santorus cast the circles so this makes that attack particularly difficult to avoid…there’s like 5 or 6 targets per casting too, so never knowing where to stand to avoid the bolts it rough.
Any bolt or attack can add confuse status because they are light-based attacks

At 1330
Even further down the large ruins path stair case, there are 2 more Es Santorus & more Es Anges. Korhi laughs saying we’re so popular. (Remember that her laughing means she's stressed and feeling very in-trouble and bad) Hitsugi asks what should we do. Enga says the ones behind will catch up, if we don’t keep going forward. His best course of action would be to stay behind but that would leave only the rest to go after Ardem. He looks genuinely upset about this choice, which is unusal for him.

But 30% sexy guy…what to do?
It’s Och and Phul! They summon their book & demon who defeat ES enemies who are behind (Above) everyone.

However, an Es Anges from the stairs below tries to attack Kohri but here comes Aratron!

Enga is shocked! Och says "of course, as if I’d let me and Phul die in a pitiful way!" Phul though spills the beans with that they’d of died for sure if Phaleg didn’t come help. (Remember, they were defeated on the moon by you & Enga, and so were attempting to commit suicide together in a moonquake which would break the moon-dome they were under and let out all the air to kill them.)
Aratron confirms we’re all working toward the same goal, so we’ll offer aid in the name of justice. Och claims she’s not here to help anyone, just to avenge Mother. Phul reminds her that the injuries aren’t all healed yet, so we’re only 50% ok. Och comes back at her that Laplace and Maxwells do her fighting for her, so her own condition doesn’t matter. Aratron says no need to act tough, regardless of who does it, the result is the same, value the result instead of the process. (Not always true but...) Och glowers at him, saying she knows. Och then downgrades Enga to 10% sexy guy, that’s it, so hurry up and go!

Phul says something smart, which is using the right people at the right time, your char understands right, her ability is perfect for stalling time. While you could break it, it’s an ability that no one else has. Aratron is irritated that he won’t get to see you avenge Mother, but he’s content with being a thorn in the side here. Enga is regretful, and sad…he says ‘don’t die’. Och says same to ya. Everyone runs off down the stairs. Phul claims she has triggered a ‘death flag’. Och asks what that means (A good question) Aratron claims it doesn’t matter, we’re here to hold off monsters and that’s it. To not let justice be done here is a disgrace to humanity that would make Mother sad. But, it seems they can’t wait any longer. As here comes 6 Es Anges of various types. Och says they’re rushing, Phul are you ready? Phul is Apostle of Moon, Och is Apostle of Sun, Aratron is Apostle of Earth and they’ll ensure Mother’s feelings aren’t abandoned, they summon their demons and weapons and prepare for the fight.

It seems Och hasn’t learned any lesson on being a better person, as here she’s all bluster, leering, glaring and gritting out her words angrily. She’s angry and will sass everyone still. (Remember, Och & Phul were just such huuuuuge outcast mega-nerds at their school that literally everyone hated them, supposedly including their own family/if they had one/s. But ‘being rotten’ doesn’t win you any friends, and it looks like Mother never told them being nice to others and not sassing at them all the time is an ok way to get people to at least not hate you on sight.
The problem here goes again is that they’re poorly developed characters that you’re supposed to be worried about here. You don’t KNOW why they were suicidal, you don’t even know if they have a family. You just know they’re standoffish with a minor propensity for arrogance and big words. There was never enough background given to them to help you to care or even know about their motivations other than “Mother was the first to be nice to us so we fight for her”.

Racing on into the next area, you’ll of course run into more Es Anges.
But the real fight is a not very large (of course it gets walled off invisibly) room with 2 Es Santorus and (endless?) Es Anges spawning. The goal is to kill the Santorus, but the Anges are actually really super at getting in the way of bullets, pets, and technics.

Racing on into the next area, you’ll of course run into more Es Anges.
But the real fight is a not very large (of course it gets walled off invisibly) room with 2 Es Santorus and (endless?) Es Anges spawning. The goal is to kill the Santorus, but the Anges are actually really super at getting in the way of bullets, pets, and technics. The code is to kill the santorus, but even when it ends you have to wipe out any remaining Anges.
IS this one arguably the hardest fight in the entire chapter?
Yes, even harder than all the bosses that have come before?
Maybe even more difficult than the end boss? Depending on what class you choose, it’s a real possibility! Hope you have enough Anti & Sol Atomizers to cancel light confuse status!
 The endless Anges absorbing your hits (Sword/bullet,tech) the ability of the gravity control to pull you out of jumps/hovers (that gunners use) and when an Anges falls on the ground it becomes a physical object that you can’t strike/shoot but can trip over.
The short of it: This fight is obnoxious to everyone.

Questions raised:
Why does Ophiel not cube out?
Clearly he can cube to just about anywhere, Phaleg can't prevent him from it, and he'll die if he stays with her.
How do you turn 1 ordinary person into a huge hollow suit of armor centaur?
There isn't enough matter in 1 human to do it. But that plot hole is tiny compared to...
How did Phaleg get to the moon?
Did Xiera move her there in secret? Phaleg can't teleport & nobody would even know to help her.
Och & Phul are right, their abilities are super to go against grunty monsters like these without brains. Just put them in a magic cube and leave it alone and you'll win.
You could kind of figure Aratron would have been able to beat the ESCA Darkers, so it's not a huge shock to see him here, Och & Phul are more of a surprise to see because they were actively trying to die of being dramatic high schoolers. It's not a surprise Phaleg would save them, because they are all Mother Cluster, and Phaleg obvoiusly cares about 'humans' and one would hope she's old enough to understand high school / teen mentalities. (But given the track record of this stupid episode of nobody ever understanding anyone unless they're scream-explained 6 different ways....)