Ep. 9

Summary

Source-backed · Version: v1 · Original

Riko and Reg enter the third layer, the Great Fault, a vertical shaft thousands of meters high. Following Ozen’s advice, they descend through tunnels and animal dens rather than exposing themselves on the open wall. A madokajack corners them inside the remains of an ancient ship, forcing Reg to use the Incinerator. The blast kills the predator but attracts the crimson splitjaw that Reg previously wounded. As the creature closes in, Reg succumbs to the weapon’s delayed shutdown and entrusts Riko with protecting him for two hours. Hungry and exhausted, Riko drags his inert body through the tunnels. A fruit-like scent lures her into the stomach of an amakagame, but she cuts her way out and escapes attacking neritantans. Her only route then climbs upward, triggering the third layer’s Curse. Severe nausea, vertigo, and hallucinations tempt her with visions of returning to Orth and reuniting with Lyza, yet she rejects a homecoming without Reg. He finally awakens, drives off the returning splitjaw with the Blaze Reap, and rejoins her. Both acknowledge that neither could have reached this point alone. Emerging from the Great Fault, they see the Goblets of Giants in the fourth layer below.