- Now apprised of the situation, Nahbdeen is eager to take action.
- As Nahbdeen resolves to instruct the people to seek shelter, you offer to investigate Khadga, where the fiend that arose from the Bhaflau remnants is believed to be. Grateful for the help, the Radiant commander suggests that you speak with the quarry workers at the Giantsgall Grounds, which is situated at Khadga's base. Apparently, a man named Qetanur is likely to know one of the paths to the summit.
- According to Qetanur, a rockslide may have rendered the primary path nigh impassable. Thankfully, one of his fellow quarry workers, Sramul, is said to climb like a langur, and may know an alternate route.
- Though initially reluctant to send you headlong into danger, Sramul shows you an alternate trail that leads to the mountaintop. And so you begin your climb to ascertain who or what has made its nest atop Khadga.
- At the summit of Khadga, you come face-to-face with the archfiend of fire, Rubicante. While the coming battle promises to be difficult, you can but hope that victory will bring you one step closer to uncovering Golbez's scheme.
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- ※Mount Ordeals can be accessed via the Duty Finder.
- Rubicante rains fire upon you and your comrades, but his flame soon flickers and fails. Battered and beaten, the archfiend offers to tell you his lord's grand design, confident that the knowledge will not change the outcome.
- Golbez is intent on invading the Source, that the denizens of the void may be granted true death and return to the Lifestream. The revelation rattles Zero, who chastises the archfiend for his methods in pursuit of release. For pride and honor, Rubicante then reveals where Golbez and Azdaja may be found: on the moon of the Thirteenth.
- Though she understands Rubicante's motivations, it remains to be seen if Golbez is driven by a similar hunger. Indeed, with his dying breath, Rubicante suggested that his lord harbors a desire all his own... Regardless, Zero believes there is a better way forward, a future she hopes to one day see made reality.
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Confound it. We were so concerned with the explosion that we failed to recognize that the threat had not yet passed!
We must alert command at once and instruct the people to seek shelter.
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What will you say?
| Is there a way to the top of Khadga?
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I'll go and see if the fiend is indeed there.
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What? You mean to go there to investigate!?
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But there is no telling what manner of enemy this may be!
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Then again...you are more than capable of defending yourself... As you wish. We will leave this in your hands.
The Giantsgall Grounds are situated at the base of Khadga. I myself am not familiar with the mountain paths, but the quarry workers are bound to know many.
Qetanur, for instance─he has worked there the longest. Go well, my friend, and may the Sisters keep you. |
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If someone can tell you how to scale Khadga, it will be Qetanur. Seek him out at the Giantsgall Grounds.
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You want to climb Khadga!? You couldn't have chosen a worse time...
There was an earthquake earlier, and it triggered a rockslide. I'm afraid the main path to the summit may be blocked.
But if you're determined to go, then I suggest you speak with Sramul. He climbs like a langur, and might know some other way up, if not the gentlest.
If you commit to climbing Khadga, take care not to slip. Most routes were treacherous before, and I don't dare to imagine how they are now. |
How to reach the top of Khadga!? After what has happened, that should be the last place anyone sane would want to be...
But yes, I am familiar with another route that should still be passable. I was once afraid of heights, you see, and used it to build up my courage.
Though I cannot say I have the courage to brave it under these conditions! I'll take you to where the route starts, but no further, all right? |
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I thank you for your offer of help. I pray the Sisters speed your way to the summit─and keep you safe from whatever you find there.
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System
Proceed to Khadga?
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 Voiced cutscene start.
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Hello? Can you hear me?
We were too late. The vault has been destroyed, the alchemical furnace with it.
This was their true objective─to deny us entry into the void.
Cagnazzo and Azdaja's eye were a diversion.
A means to detain us in Garlemald while they went to work here.
To reduce the vault to rubble... That which you hunt is no ordinary foe. Have care.
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Such an exquisite sight... A canvas of vibrant colors. As was our world too, once...
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What will you say?
| One of Golbez's champions, I presume.
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Are you the one who destroyed the treasure vault?
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I am. Rubicante, the archfiend of fire.
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A monster in flesh, yet in spirit I remain a man. A prisoner of the past.
Such tears I wept when Darkness consumed the world. Until Lord Golbez came and spoke of salvation.
Thus do I walk proudly at his side, to see his dream fulfilled.
Your heart is pure. For benevolent cause you seek the dragon.
But I cannot allow you to have it─cannot allow you to interfere. If you would continue, then there is but one recourse.
I shall await you at the summit. Come, mortal! Come and weigh your righteousness against mine! |
| Voiced cutscene end.
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I can show you where my route to the top of Khadga begins, but you'll have to head up there on your own. Some may call me a coward, but they will not call me a fool.
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| Voiced cutscene start.
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It seems I was a step too slow.
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To defeat all of us archfiends... You are strong indeed.
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What will you say?
| What is it that Golbez seeks?
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Why do you fight? What is it that you wish to save?
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(- Rubicante -)
You would know my lord's true purpose?
Very well. The knowledge will not change the outcome. Listen, then, and learn how all began...
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(- Rubicante -)
You would know your enemy's heart?
Very well. It bleeds more than you can ever understand, but I will speak, and you will listen, and learn how all began...
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THE ECHO BEGINS
How long has it been since the world was undone...
Since Light and life gave way to Darkness and undeath. Since we were reduced to beasts befouled, squabbling over what scant aether remains...
But you are different. You remember who you were, and the paradise for which you fought.
That world will never be ours again. But we need not suffer in this purgatory of death and rebirth forever.
Join me, and together we shall seek the promised land! |
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There is no hope─no freedom from the wheel. You speak a fantasy.
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I speak truth. The Ascians' revelation. There are other worlds than this. Ours is but one of fourteen.
There is no greater proof than the whispers we hear─born of a neighboring reality.
A reality to which we may journey if we can but break down the barrier that divides us. |
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You meant it, then? We will take this world as our own?
Gahahaha! Count me in!
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In return for your strength, I offer you opportunity to pursue your own ends in service to a greater cause...
A glorious kingdom of Light, wherein all may know death's sweet embrace!
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THE ECHO ENDS
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...And thus did we begin our great work.
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You intend to forsake the Thirteenth and conquer the Source?
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Just so. Our home is a lost cause, our only choice to begin anew.
In this world, where we may reclaim our mortality.
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You served Golbez of your own volition...
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As atonement for my failures. I tried to be a hero. Tried to stop the war...but I could not.
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So in turn you wage another?
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A means to a final end. The wheel of depravity must be broken.
Even the most exalted succumb. We eat and eat and deepen the stain upon our souls, until only the hunger remains. Is this to be our fate for all eternity?
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...I don't know. About this and a great many things.
But I do know that it's wrong to damn another to save yourself.
Not everything need be a trade. This I learned from the people of this world.
Even without a contract, without any expectation of personal gain, they labor for one another.
I didn't understand it at first─and perhaps I still don't. But if I'm to achieve something, I'd rather do it their way. Else I am already a hunger-maddened beast. |
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Perhaps we have indeed surrendered to the hunger after a fashion.
Make for our moon. There you will find both Lord Golbez and your dragon.
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What will you say?
| Why are you telling us this?
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Are you betraying Golbez?
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(- Rubicante -)
To be so viciously slandered... Pride demands I prove by virtue at the last.
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(- Rubicante -)
Never. Our triumph is at hand, and the knowledge will avail you naught.
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And perhaps your own will resonate with his...and draw forth that singular jewel which abides deep within his heart.
A desire which lies beyond his quest to free us from our purgatory. A desire...all his own...
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| Voiced cutscene end.
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My inquiries delayed me. I'm not accustomed to conversation.
But I'm glad I arrived in time to speak with Rubicante...
As much as I understand his motives, I believe there's a better way─yours.
The future you strive for is one I wish to see.
And I want to know why I feel this way. Why this fire burns in my breast. |
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Acquisition
Closest Aetheryte: The Great Work (Landmark)
Requirements
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Description
Objectives
Unlocks Quests
