The Battle of Cuent Central Plains
This sends you to a camp ship so you can prepare. However, it gives instructions…that don’t translate. It’s something to do with level scaling? You can buy stuff and prepare before you go, but you don’t earn buster points or any of the ‘buster stuff’ that’s usual (From when they thought the buster questing/bust medaling was going to be a huge fad—it’s basically a bit of its own separate mode, just fighting these siege castles). This tells you that it only has the big crystal at the end/no enemy drops, but the crystal never comes out because this is story mode. The win condition is to beat the castle.

After the camp ship, you go down to the battle tent (As you would in the online MPA area). The party indicator still says 8 people possible but it’s not because this is a solo story/so just initiate the countdown to go by yourself. The castle you get will be the gray one (not the black one) and the ‘scaling’ that was confusing is that all of the enemies are SUPER weak, likely around level 20 or so—but the buster towers are YOUR level, as are the buster piles. However, there are still the usual amount of them trying to kill the towers so you really have to be on your toes. It is highly likely to give a poor grade because this thing still…isn’t meant for 1 person. They’re basically jimmying it so that you CAN win (or are likely to win) through the level scaling.

This has zero dialogue or story to it.
You fight the enemies, the piles come out, break the barriers, fight the enemies, knock out the castle-middle, more enemies, go up the side stairs vs enemies then fight the castle's arms, one arm falls, climb it and hit the head to win. It's just like the online version but by yourself.

Battle at the Cuent Castle
This is a fighting quest with the same parameters as the Cuent Central Plains, so it starts you on the camp ship. The tent/etc. then it shows you the gray castle. You basically do just the same thing as before. This time though, when you have to go ‘to the barriers at the sides of the castle’ as directed by Xiera, there may only be enemies on one side. (Left or right) Only by defeating enemies will the cage/bars lower there to let you go up, so if you don’t see any right away where ever you are, just go to the other side and enemies will come out. *May be random.

Lutz’s Final Words
It shows the map where you defeated the devil castle, and he refused to surrender so he ran into the interior of the Cuent actual castle, and inside the battle the fate of the nation will be decided by Lutz, Luther & Harriet who persued him in there.
He denies it’s happening (him losing) as he staggers into the throne room. He says it couldn’t have all been defeated at the hands of man. Everyone else rushes in, and Harriet says there’s no escape, he claims killing everyone in the room will make him the victor here. He pulls a rose out of…somewhere and either it shoots or he throws it at everyone who has rushed in.

This causes an actual fair bit of destruction, as everyone flings themselves out of the way (barely). It topples a large stone column, makes sand rain down from the mortars/roof, fells part of a wall and shocks everyone with the destructive power of Ephemera. Xiera is shocked so Luther tells her it’s a power when used as a catalyst, this is why everyone agreed to study it. She tells him to not act cool about it…but Lutz is rose-zapping again until Harriet gets up and smashes his rose. He goes to attack her again but Luther blasts him with a blue…hand power, knocking off his crown. He tells Lutz to not use violence against his sister and approaches with the magic hand held out.

Since when did Luther get 'the magic hands'?
What does he have there? It's not a technic, and he has sworn off Epemera, and this has literally never come up before.

Lutz, now fallen, claims he did it all for the nation, yelling at Harriet & Luther for messing it up. Luther asks him what part of the plan was charity or good will for the nation? Harriet tells him the nation and it’s people don’t desire war, it was the Guardian from the legend that provided us with assistance to stop you. Sword Maiden Alisa now appears, she walks in to see uncle Lutz on the floor because he’s still knocked down. He tells her to destroy everyone here so we can have peace. She says no, neither her strength nor sword are here. He tells her she’s betraying him, asking her "who took her in anyway?" She argues angrily that justice isn’t on his side so he has to surrender.  (This is the first of ‘took her in’ that anyone ever heard) She asks him to make amends, join us and use his power for the sake of the people. He questions that and hates it. Knowledge and power exist for a singular purpose, the land and the world as an offering, ephemera exists for that reason only.

He glows red, and he creates a floor symbol (A magic seal/sign circle) by banging his flaming fists on the floor. The castle begins to crumble, with bricks and rubble falling everywhere for everyone to dodge. The world must stay broken and he must destroy history, everyone’s coming with him now! He rages and flames as the castle crumbles and rubble falls everywhere. Xiera panics as all falling things block the exits. Finally, enough rubble falls that it hits him and presumably he dies in it because it’s all bricks and stone.

Alisa calls out “Transient Wings Come Forth, exit!”
She stabs her sword into the ground and suddenly everyone is teleported outside the castle, safely into the fields near some foothills.  Harriet says magic like this doesn’t exist. Luther says it’s an ancient spell passed down to only sword maidens. She wasn’t sure it’d work, but the sword answered her call this time. She puts it back and thinks about it. Fairy Xiera asks if you saw it? You shake your head no, she didn’t see anything either though…so even as an ARKS the tech can’t teleport instantly without preparing first. Maybe it’s what Alma used, what Alma said was ‘magic’.

An earthquake disrupts her speculation, though. It’s not really an earthquake however…because even though the castle is very far away at this point, it’s collapsing is causing the ground to shake. (Really, it wasn’t that big a place--it should not be able to do that 1 mile+ away.) Luther says the throne becomes his tomb because he went mad with Ephemera, as the castle collapses amidst a cloud of dust in the distance.

So this is the first we hear of “Took In Alisa”
Who would have to take in a ‘poor orphan’ or whatever when it’s a sword maiden? That makes no sense. Everybody knows who the maiden-producing families are, no family would ever ditch a possible maiden candidate/female child. It doesn’t make sense that anyone would have to ‘take her in’.

The Maiden-Sword obviously works to protect the Maiden even when no red dragons are to be seen anywhere, but that makes sense and fits in, so fine.
It drawing on Alma’s so-called magic is also fine because this place is “historical” and if Alma could do stuff of course it’s going to throw her teleporting spice into the recipe for fantasy-land.
Lutz killing himself is a surprise, but fine. (HE was the prisoner of ephemera in the chapter title)
It’s suuuper obvious that his “the world is my sacrifice” is directly the words of PD coming out of his mouth. Makes sense.

In all, a just fine chapter in total.
No bonkers plots, no 100s of questions no one will ever answer. Everyone behaving how they ought to.

The World Cataclysm: Cuent Royal Outskirts area
Varuna rushes in, bows, and Harriet asks him if there was any sign of Lutz left at the old castle. Everyone is in the tent now. He says no one could confirm, but we’re sure he was caught in the collapse. (They don't have bulldozers to move the entire collapsed castle off him, he was on the ground floor and the thing looked about 5 stories high or so) Harriet looks sad but…she turns to Alisa (who would be sad also/it was her relative) she says she’s fine, she was prepared to face the facts because it was clear he wasn’t the same man during his final moments. Luther crosses his arms and thinks, wondering was he merely insane?
It seemed as if he was under the influence of something greater. Harriet asks him what he means by? He’s not sure but he knows that if this wasn’t a larger issue than just 1 man going crazy with Ephemera…the actual Savior/Guardian of legend wouldn’t have appeared. It’s not this nations problem, it’s probably a cataclysm that’ll involve the entire world…isn’t that right, Guardian?

He asks your character and you can nod, but that’s it, and the scene ends.

Good!
They’re making him very smart here! He picked up on it that Lutz was mouth-piecing for PD, even though he doesn’t know PD exists & pulled the info from ‘super special person wouldn’t show up to counter 1 crazy man’, and put it together. Now…this is good character writing.

A New King: In the Neo Cuent Royal Capital
A map shows you that the false king fell and so did the old castle. Because of the confusion, of the collapse a new capital was established in an adjacent city. Everything was going smoothly except for who should rule over the repairs.  But, who would replace the king? There was someone to meet the requirements……but she was refusing.

Harriet is begging Luther to take her place at the throne, it’s too soon for her, she agitates. He says it’s common knowledge that he’s ineligible to succeed, there’s trouble if you don’t accept. Without a successor people will fall into confusion, so she’s got to take charge. She ‘but-buts’ him

You’ll Be OK
Perhaps Luther Should After All

If you encourage her with You’ll Be OK, She says you’re encouraging but..., Xiera flies in asking if she’s too young or it’s too early for her? Luther explains there’s no such thing as too early or too late for the throne, it’s whether one is worthy of it. In Es-ARS to the east, the head of the nation is a child. And in the west Divine Queen of Epic took the throne at 12. (So, that country is called Epic) Age doesn’t matter, what matters if they’re prepared to give everything to the country. He’s not prepared to do that, and has no intention to do so, because of that, and his self-indulgent magical experimentation, he was stripped of his right to succession. What ACTUALLY probably matters is that the 'king' is backed up by a good set of advisors when they're young like that--or even when they're older.

This now, is enough to convince her, so she concentrates as he tells her “But, Harriet has that level of resolve.” So now, she can say “In the name of the king, Harriet Lean Rein Cuent do hereby proclaim her ascension to the throne.” She asks you to guide and support us on the path we must follow. The scene ends.

After Cuent at: Neo Cuent Royal Capital
Varuna and Harriet appear in the empty throne room which has the smallish throne still there (this is a new castle but it looks fairly like the old one because (probably) this country has quite similar arcitecture all over it) He says there’s no issues taking over the Cuentian army. There were a few deserters who turned into mercs and bandits but they’re only a few. Harriet tells you that there are still some Devil Castles left, they’re persisting even after their summoner (Lutz) perished. They’ll not just vanish on their own so we have to continue destroying them. She says it’s a burden to you but she will formally request your assistance.

Leave It To Me
It’s No Easy Task On Your Own

If you reassure her with Leave It To Me she’d gladly help if she could use buster towers…so Luther appears and replaces Varuna, telling her that we’re searching for anyone else who can use the towers, but we’ve found no one….although that’s what he suspected. To destroy the DC created with Ephemera, one needs power equal to that amount of Ephemera. But you, a Guardian can use the towers without the aid of Ephemera, your power is already rivaling that of the Castles. Xiera appears to criticize him, telling him she doesn’t like the way he said that.

He doesn’t mean to imply anything by it, he’s just staing the facts so if you perceive anything more in what he said then that reflects more on you than I….She’s disappointed by this phrase, telling him he’s got a comeback for everything, why don’t you try giving your char a little thanks once in a while. He shows his appreciation by not doubting a single part of your experience, so is that not to your liking, fairy? She gets cross, and just says ‘enough’ and goes away.

What exactly is her problem here?
He said “The Guardian has as much power as the castles but doesn’t use Ephemera”
So what? Why is this offensive? Isn’t NOT using Ephemera really GOOD?  Wouldn’t he NOT want to find anyone who could use so much of it that Lutz did that you’d actually be able to get buster towers out of them? Because then it would be a crazy or dying person. Then, of course “If you suspect me then ur the suspicious one also ur mom” is a typical ‘intellectual type’ comeback, so very in-character for him, however “he appreciates Xiera by not doubting her experiences”? What is that? What does that mean? He shows her he appreciates her by not accusing her of lying about her daily activities? This whole exchange is of dubious sense.

Now, Varuna, Xiera, Harriet and also Alisa appear. Varuna tells them that regarding those who follow Lutz, we’ve been carrying out checks to try and determine their reasons for doing so, but have not yet found anything particularly concerning. Most of them welcomed Harriet’s coronation. Alisa explains that Uncle viewed everything by his own exacting standards, making unreasonable demands so people resented him. Xiera takes this to mean everyone is accepting Harriet?
Harriet doubts that’s the only reason, because in the end it became a battle for the throne, so they’re probably simply following the winner. Cuent’s not monolithic, Lutz wasn’t the only one benefitting from Ephimera. The people may pretend to follow us, but will secretly be waiting to sabotage all this. So, we remain vigilant. She thanks them for reporting, and the scene ends.

A little problem creeps in vs Lutz here:
Was he good or bad? You'll see him refered to as "the kind uncle who really helped the king" and now here "he had unreasonable demands". So which was it? It's confusing because they don't specify WHEN he was like that or not. You can have him be mr. niceguy but then also 'unreasonable ruler' at the same time.

Obligations of Royalty
Now, in a town square looking place that you haven’t seen before, there are regular people from Cuent. This area has a fountain, a circle shaped plaza, and gray buildings with blue roofs. You can see a big building in the background. They are fond of square and round turret shapes atop their buildings with conical roofs (always blue) The regular people wear dull colored clothes and have dull brown shades for their hair. They also have pointed ears, as does everyone here. (So, everyone appears newman-based) They ask what brings Harriet here?

The woman criticizes the man for saying ‘Harriet’, you have to call her as the nation monarch. He says oh that’s right. (So, he’s still not proper) But Harriet doesn’t care, she lets them know she’s new, and so Harriet will be just fine. Kids now arrive, and ask her what is the Monarch? She tells them it’s the representative of all people in the nation. Are they great or amazing? She says no neither, they’re just like everyone, only they stand out more. The girl asks her if she likes to stand out. She gets embarrassed, but then says yes she does…but it’s embarrassing to do it on her own, would they be happy to support her? The kids are happy to, and other people call her name also, to support her.

*"Stand-Out" must be a word that has not an English exact equivelent here the concept they're likely going for is "they're just like everyone but they lead by example/stand out/take all the risk etc. upon themselves/are responsible for everybody/are the one with the most duties" , but you can't compile that into a word by itself.

Fairy Xiera appears to tell her that the people are flocking here, so they must idolize her. She wonders about this, telling her that Lutz and the former king placed burdens on the people to preserve the capital, so they’re excited to be free of that tyranny and she thinks they express their hopes regarding the way she is to govern them. Besides, she’s been visitng this city in secret when she was a child so she’s known to many of the folks here anyway. They know their monarch, so their minds are more at ease. They support us, so we have an obligation to respond to their troubles. That’s the first step in rebuilding the nation, it’s the duty of royals to make the people happy. But there’s another thing we must do if we want to regain the trust of the people: the aim toward what she & Luther have been working on which is to eliminate Ephemera.
The scene ends

A map tells you with Harriet as ruler peace was returning. But , Harriet wants more than to stabilize her own country so they prepared to make the move to destroy the flower of Ephemera.

In the throne room, Harriet calls for a summary of what we know of the neighboring nations, so Varuna, tell us. He shows a map of the continent

To the east is Es Ars, a land full of merchants who trade resources for profit. Their land is bountiful so they were always successful.  They developed “Arcane proliferation”, they can multiply their crops and others items with Epherma. It’s peaceful enough but they’re still using it so there has to be something sinister under the surface. (Ephemera always ends up turning everything/people who use it bad, so yes this is probably true here—it would be SO easy to get a nation addicted to the stuff & it’s endless profit potential. They’d absolutely go to war over not wanting to stop.)

Epic is west, it was an oasis in a desert type area, but they succeeded in refining a potion to control hearts and minds, its Ephemera no doubt.  What else about these guys? Tiny summary is too small.

North is Verunian empire, the warriors rule it, by passing on the kingship to the next strongest warrior. It’s full of barbarians who only care about fighting. They are a batch of barbarians and idiots who modified their body in strange ways, no doubt using Ephemera. (Even more than the merchants, endless strength from Ephemera would be addicting and they would absolutely go to war over not wanting to lose that.)

Then, We’re magic Cuent in the south, applying mana and nature to achieve great progress through magic, and the devil castle came of it but somebody leaked it and now all 4 nations have it. With the help of the Guardian, Cuent’s castles are being wiped out 1 by 1. But, each nation controls their own DCs, so they’re still standing at the borders. Luther says that with the castles in stalemate with each other, diplomatic relations between each nation have broken down entirely. We have no idea of the other nations’ state of affairs. Whenever anyone attempts to cross a border, the DC activates and repels them. But nobody’s been stupid enough to do that in a while.

A soldier appears behind them to report that a DC activated on our border with Verun, something’s coming our way for sure. Luther shakes his head, saying someone’s dumb enough to attempt it. Harriet suspects it’s an emissary from Verun, so we should hurry to the border.

The scene ends.

Good: some world-building and exposition They actually explained the other countries of the planet. It's not perfect but hopefully we can learn more as we go.

The Verunian Visitor
The map shows that there’s a devil castle on the border with Verun, which seems to have a mountain range right near by. Everyone hurries to the border, (It says—but this doesn’t seem so, as only 2 people appear here) which is in the north. Someone was fighting the castle already. A single person, fought it for some time, when your char & fairy Xiera arrives. A girl with light green hair and purple eyes is stabbing up skeletons with dual blades. An orc tries to smash her with a hammer but she jumps on it and stabs it in the head. She says she "can’t afford to give up now", activates a red glowing skill, and throws herself at the wall barrier to super-strike it with her double blades. She’s shocked that with her strength mustered, she can’t break through it. (You can guess at this point that either Verun doesn’t know you need towers, or she struck out on her own without learning the fact that the wall is essentially invincible to anything except for a buster tower for plot reasons) The castle, being under attack, spawns out some Rock Golems (a mini-boss style large monster) to get her. She actually frets a little at this, but your character appears to shoot them down with a gunslash.
(Which is laughable, because all of the Demon-type enemies have about a gazillion hit points and are notorious for taking ages to kill with regular weapons, so knocking these down with a couple of shots is a bit flaky)

This shocks the green-hair, and Xiera tells her to talk later, when she asks who you are, because ‘leave it to us and retreat’. She apologizes…and actually does leave it up to you. You nod, and she backs up. The scene ends.

This obviously has 'building up a badass' for the plot & then Green Hair acts reasonably and doesn't get salty when she recognizes that her attack won't get thru the magic barrier but maybe yours will.

The castle is defeated off-screen.

Demanding the Salvation of Verun
The castle is defeated, so she will re approach. She claims that you are the legend or the power of the Guardian. Harriet rides up on a dinosaur.

(Notice how they never call these anything—it’s annoying. They are a 2 legger dinosaur that’s mostly grayish. They have 3 finger hands on their human sized arms. They’re taller than a human/normal person, but not by much. They have saddles on their backs, and small red spikes on their tails. They prooooobably have antlers (forward pointing, multi pronged) because they are the same color as the short tail spikes. They are always (it seems) dressed up in helmets which have long back pointing white, straight horns, sometimes adorned with metal rings/straps. It would be useful to know what these are/are called. These have blue eyes.

Harriet asks her if she’s heard of ‘this person’.
She says it’s the savior of Cuent, the stories have reached her there. Her name is Melphonsina. This startles your character so much that it gets shocked. She asks if there’s a problem with her name. Her hair is about a little longer than shoulder length. It is indeed the same pale frosty green as Melphonsia’s hair. She has 1 spike shoulder guard, 1 fur shoulder guard, a half hairy/fur bra thing with the other half being an ‘armor bikini’. She has hip armor on both sides, a fur bordered skirt & ‘loin cloth’ shaped black leather over it. Her eyes are purple.
Remember: You NEVER really got to see REAL Melphonsina in the GAME. You see her in the Anime, but the game never shows you the real deal/it's hazy flashbacks and everything from Melrondia because she's dead before the game starts & she could never be saved by "time shenannigans" because Gettemhart HAD to turn into Elder-Falz to set up the fall of Luther and her demise was the key to that.

It’s Nothing
Is That Your Actual Name?

If you try to find out more (because it is obviously not nothing) you can ask Is That Your Actual Name? (Remember, she messed with her name before) That’s right it’s not an alias. Her name really is Melphonsina. Xiera thinks she’s telling the truth, but we can worry about it later. You nod at Xiera. Luther pats his dinosaur on the neck, and asks her what’s a Verun citizen doing here battling a devil castle like a fool?

Rude much you goon? Stop trying to alienate people who break castles/or have the will to/or are at least trying to help others stamp out Ephemera. She nods at him and says it’s the Guardian, please bring your salvation to Verun, we’re on the brink of destruction.

So, she doesn’t actually take affront at Luther’s rudeness, which is nice…ignoring him in favor of your character which would actually help her.
The scene ends.

This is interesting!
A different take on the character who died. Remember: this is Melphonsina, NOT Melrondia (the sister who lived—but stole the name of the original dead girl at the behest of abusive Gettemhart.) Now, we may get to see a little bit of the personality of this character who was only ever glimpsed in flashbacks. She’s bold, a good fighter, and is also dressed boldly. However, she doesn’t get fired up easily (retreating when told, ignoring insults meant to inflame her) so all seems pretty well. 
Will we get to see Melrondia?
Will Gettemhart also appear?
Will anyone be maladjusted? (Remember, Melphonsina was never maladjusted—she just died—and Gettem was never a fabulous person but he only went off the deep end after she died.) These are the kind of fun questions you WANT to ask in a story, it’s nice to get them again after all the stupid of Earth.

A Familiar Warrior: With Melphonsina
At the Verunian Frontier area, clearly Gettemhart is punching wolves until he gets mad enough and rips one’s face in half by pulling the jaws open. He calls them small-fry as he pants and awaits more foes. A wolf murders a man who wants to defend the town (and the children there-in) which causes a cowardly man to try to run away. Others also want to run because no matter how many they kill, more wolves spawn from red glows about 6 or so ft. up in the air in front of them. Gettemhart yells at them for what’s behind us, the town. He calls out no regrets and more wolves spawn and attack him. But, Melphonsina knocks them out while Xiera says it’s another close shave at this battle.

The wolves have weak points in their lower jaw.
They are monster wolves, probably conceived of how the ‘traditional fairy-tale bad guys’ like the Ogres and skeleton warriors are. This person is clearly Gettemhart, he’s got the tattoo on the side of his face, uses knuckle weapon, and a scar across his nose. He’s mostly shirtless, with a big gray fur collar. He’s likely meant to be barbarian style.

Gettem demands of “Sina” (his old nickname for her, remember) who are they. She says its allies, and Xiera is shocked to see this version of him, who’s name it spells on the screen. She asks if there’s something wrong with his name too, as their backup fidgets in the background. Xiera denies it, but it’s not convincing. She says to talk another time, lets get rid of what’s in front of us. You nod at her, and more wolves spawn from red glows in mid-air.

This ends the scene.

Point of interest:
Can Melphonsina be prevented from dying in this world?
Will Gettem be portrayed as his better (pre death) self?
Will Melrondia show up at all or will she just magically not exist because she was the unfortunate catalyst for bad events? It would be interesting if this chapter revolves around the heroes making Melrondia/Melphonsina to live thru the whole thing so Gettem can continue to be normal.

Story Buster Quest Battle of Verun Frontier
Another plot free Devil Castle fight, this one with the excuse of helping Melphonsina. It’s the same as the others before it, nothing happens other than you fight the castle normally. Beating it won’t give the crystal.

The Doomed Nation
After the Verun Frontier mission Xiera confirms that the castles have spread everywhere just like what Luther said. Gettemhart & Melphonsina stand and skeptically watch you while Xiera talks. He wants to know who you are. Xiera gets mad at his ‘who the hell’, calling him out for that we rushed here to help fight the castle, so please appreciate. He counters with that he didn’t ask for help. Melphonsina yells him for this, saying he’s always this way.

Xiera, to derail bickering, asks what’s going on, so he says obviously it’s war. Xiera wants to know vs which nation, but he yells that it’s vs everything around us. The weak will die and the strong prevail, that’s the way of Verun. So, if you want to understand the situation, follow him. You do, and end up in a mini tent camp looking village. Melphonsina explains this is where survivors gather. A random guy comes up to the group to thank Gettemhart about before. He frowns on him saying he stood like a frightened sheep and has now become another mouth to feed. The guy actually brushes him off though with a joke that he’s never at a loss for words, and leaves.

This is interesting, someone brushing him off? And he doesn’t rage? Instead, he says we have to dip into tomorrow’s food supply but it’s like this everywhere. A dirty face child comes up shocked if Gettemhart is still alive. So he asks what’s the matter for not thanking him for protecting. The random kid counters that he never asked him to protect him. (Unknowingly, he recycles Gettem’s own line here let’s see if he likes his own sauce) Xiera sasses him with “oh doesn’t he remind you of someone” (Good for her, he’s too salty for his own good) He glares her till she says don’t get mad at me because it’s true.

They go away when a Sad Girl appears to ask Melphonsina where’s daddy? He left to protect the villiage so where’s he at. Gettem appears behind them to shake his head…the SadGirl doesn’t see it , but you can take it to mean the guy died. Melphonsina tells her that he’s gone a long way from here to protect everyone. The girl says she understands that he won’t come home. The boy tells her to not cry as he’s the same as her now, he’ll grow up strong enough to defeat the emperor. Girl frets that what if he kills you too. He says to bet on it that he won’t lose.
Gettem will argue with like ...13 year old kids in this instance, saying don’t make him laugh, he’ll be the one to crush the damned emperor. So focus on staying alive and getting out of here. They nod and go away. Mel returns saying that they both are forever indebted to this village. We want to protect it but the Devil Castles make it a never ending struggle. With this one destroyed we should be ok for now. Gettem feels the only way to end it is to destroy the Emperor. He’ll destroy the DCs, the Demonic Soldiers (meaning the enemies), and the Emperor too to end the country itself. He turns and leaves….

So Mel will explain he’s not honest with himself and he’s gruff and hard to understand but what he really wants is peace for the land. Xiera tries to clarify if this is a civil war? Did anyone try to overthrow emperor before? She says of course, but his power overwhelms all. He is stronger than anyone, but his only desire is to fight a strong opponent and nothing else matters. He cares not for struggle, survival, people, or ruin. Xiera wonders why do only meaningless fights.

The Emperor is a Tyrant
We Can’t Let This Stand

Both of them are sssorta the same thing, so if you choose We Can’t Let This Stand Xiera will agree. And…Ephemera is here too, so darker influence is working in this nation also. The scene ends.

The next scene starts with a map & a voiceover: Schlegger and Elmir listen to a report on the Devil Castle at the Verunian capital.
 In a throne room, Schlegger, an old man in black and red armor drinks from a cup and sits on his throne. He has reddish orange eyes, a wrinkled face and looks tired. He has large, ornate shoulder spikes as part of his armor. He has a gray mustache. This is the infamous Emperor of Verun. He sits in his empty throne room that has only 2 furnishings: the actual throne and a little end-table/side-table on which his wine bottle and wine glass sit.

Elmir appears to say ‘they’re here: the devil castle defeaters.
Schlegger has gray hair, probably a trench coat or cape & wildly pointy red/black armor. He wears knee high metal boots with pointed upturned toes. He has a headband under his hair that is black...but has sort of uneven wing things sticking up out of the sides? Is it a crown of sorts?  Schlegger seems old/tired so his power must be hidden somehow. The throne room is mostly black brick, appointed with purple and silver banners and long carpet. It much resembles Lutz’s throne room but darker in theme.

Elmir is interesting in that he looks way too young to be the guy’s brother. He has pale purple hair and wears a black top hat. He could maybe be 20 years younger than the Emperor so…? Elmir wears a red/black/silver coat with super big shoulder…wings, carries a decorative cane, and has a ruffle collar. He is trying to look dapper. He does not fit in with everyone else from Verun that we have seen so far: he is not dressed up like count wacky-evil or a fur/armor barbarian. He has either a tattoo of a red teardrop under one eye, or its makeup. His purple hair in front is tipped in red & his pupil is red too, while the eye is pale purple. He probably also has either red eyelashes or tons of red makeup around his visible eye. He always appears to be sneering. 

He confirms that spreading the rumors was the right move after all, people will line up soon enough under the simple banner to rally behind. Pitting the demon soldiers against DCs has lost its luster so I hope the new guests will entertain. Schlegger asks how strong are they, especially the Guardian? He explains that if you devour them now, you’d spoil all the fun. Let them swim a little longer or the meal will have no flavor. Schlegger accuses him of ordering the Emperor around and being high and mighty. (But Elmir doesn't do anything about this) This causes him to sit back in his chair and say do as you wish. Elmir smiles and says he’s an introduction to prepare as he walks out of the throne room.

Schlegger, now alone, will talk to himself asking how much power the Guardian has, and he can hardly contain his anticipation for the future pleasure that awaits him. Spread the war as far as you see fit, the nation, the people, the ephemera, everything in the world becomes our sacrifice. He seems to laugh, but no sound comes out. The scene ends.

So Schlegger is no doubt Ephemera posessed by now, it'd have been first thing on his list.
Why were they making demon soldiers to fight against devil castles? Those are always on the same side?
If Schlegger is so powerful, why doesn't he run himself up against a DC from another country? Those are suppsoed to be "unbeatable"...so wouldn't that attract him?
What is the power of Schlegger?
What's Elmir's deal? Why is he this foppish guy in barbarian land? Why's he not look related?
As with all introductions, questions like these are normal, let's hope we actually get some answers, too.