At the abandoned site of Charlock, perched upon the high peak overlooking the world on which the castle was built, the Hero took in the sights of Alefgard-- puzzled.
Come, take thy rightful place at my side!
Do so, and I will grant unto thee dominion over half this world!
He could remember it plainly. He’d entered the demon’s lair, whereupon he’d sought to tempt Alef into abandoning faith in humanity. The two had engaged in a deathly, earth-shaking duel...
...and in the end, he’d held aloft the Orb of Light, just as the great Erdrick had done, and liberated the world.
Why does the land look this way...?
The world was in a sorry state. Galenholm was in merciless tundra, Kol was in blistering desert, Rimuldar was in dark swamp, and Cantlin was surrounded by broken ruins. All places looking as if-- they were in the midst of repair...
Just across the way, Tantegel Castle, and its nearby town... No; a surrounding town, now. Something had changed. Something was wrong. Surely, though, mankind’s capital could tell him what was amiss.
Taking the Rainbow Drop firm in hand, Alef crouched down low, before sailing off in a flying leap over the ocean channel, his body cast in a prism of colors as the Rainbow Drop cast its course through the sky towards the Tantegel’s in-progress city...
...unbeknownst to him, at the hand of one of his family.