The Empyrean Inn: Last Resort is the 16th chapter of Story Mode, taking place in the world of Ametsuchi. It takes place after the event of the Empyrean Inn.
Chapters[]
1: The Great Spider's Threads[]
Nerva observes the paradise of Ametsuchi falling apart as Itsurugi, Taketsumi, Mizuchi, Si Long, and Anisage each take their own actions. After absorbing Nexus's power, Nerva seeks to gain understanding of the power memories have over people to further her own goals. She notes Yuwan may appear and watches as the web of lies and deception in Ametsuchi unravels.
2: The Show Must Go On[]
The Great Spider continues rampaging across the inn and Taketsumi confronts it in anger at Itsurugi's apparent death and to protect the inn and its guests. Taketsumi starts his greatest hunting party yet and promises to Itsurugi to make Ametsuchi a true paradise.
3: Past and Future[]
Anisage and Mizuchi sense the Great Spider's rampage and decide to stop it after preventing Si Long from destroying all memories. After Anisage defeats a Sootspawn, both she and Mizuchi share what they learned from their recovered memories. After consoling each other on their tragic fates, Mizuchi asks Anisage how she keeps going despite all the hardships and she answers that she wants to go home to give her father a proper burial and that he will forever be with her in spirit. Inspired, Mizuchi decides to forgo her regrets and move forward as the two continue fighting past the SootSpawn. However, the two are ambushed by Saito.
4: The Company Man[]
Mizuchi tries to reason with Saito they have bigger problems with the Great Spider and Si Long rampaging, but he refuses to listen and attacks. Anisage tells Mizuchi to stop Si Long while she handles Saito and Mizuchi reluctantly leaves. Saito calmly reveals he was already planning on stopping Si Long, revealing he suspected that she and Mizuchi were the same person from different times. He then declares Anisage is a monster, something he has experience in killing them, but Anisage tells him he is wrong and fights him. He recalls his miserable life back in his own world and reveals he previously read Anisage's own bad memories. He offers her a chance to lose her memories and return to a peaceful life at the inn, but Anisage defies him, telling him he has forgotten his heart and unleashes a massive boost in mana to fight back, declaring her heart's power is the reason Saito cannot defeat her.
5: Living vs Surviving[]
Despite her increase in power, Saito takes control of the magic wards in Weaver's Hall to protect him and uses his experience fighting monsters to gain the upper hand. He then summons a Sootspawn and uses it at a shield, knowing Anisage won't risk destroying the memory shard inside. Despite the disadvantage, Anisage refuses to give up and realizes Saito's weakness.
Anisage manages to whittle down Saito's wards, but he grows angry at her continued defiance and begins beating her while condemning her a selfish child. Anisage fend him off, calling him a hypocrite for throwing a tantrum when he doesn't get his way and declares him a coward, pushing off all his accountability for his actions on his job because he is afraid of his past. She declares she knows how to live her own life, unlike Saito, and unleashes her full might. In the aftermath of the attack, Saito discovers that the attack wasn't meant for him, it was meant to distract him while Anisage took the memory shard from the Sootspawn, a shard that belongs to Saito. Anisage then uses the crystal to make Saito face his weakness: his own memories. The trauma from Saito's past cripples his and Anisage leaves him to face his memories as punishment for depriving others of theirs.
6: Turning the Tide[]
Mizuchi finds Si Long destorying hordes of Sootspawn and pleads with her to not destroy other's memories. Si Long refuses and attacks Mizuchi, disgusted by her past self, and declares that even though she knows everything about Mizuchi, the latter doesn't know anything about the former. She offers Mizuchi to let her destroy the memory shards and have Kunitsu Amechi erase their memories again so they can go back to being like sisters, but Mizuchi refuses to let others decide for her ever again. With Si Long unwilling to abandon her plan, Mizuchi is forced to fight her.
7: The Tetrad Dragon[]
Si Long easily overpowers Mizuchi with her greater experience. However, Mizuchi realizes that during Si Long's life, she never came to Ametsuchi when she still named Muzuchi, meaning Mizuchi has her own experiences Si Long doesn't know about and that the future where she becomes Si Long hasn't been decided. She battles Si Long with renewed strength.
Si Long is angered by Mizuchi's resistance and Mizuchi denounces Si Long's arrogance and pride a mask to hide her pain and fear from her past. As the two continue to fight, Mizuchi declares that she is not Si Long and the latter is still following the flow of the world. She tells Si Long she can still create a new path in life and find true happiness and avoid repeating her mistakes which she knows Si Long regrets. Si Long still refuses to stop and the two clash with their strongest attacks that leaves them both injured. Si Long recognizes Mizuchi used an attack she never had before and Mizuchi explains that she developed it in order to out speed Anisage, something Si Long never had to do. She tells Si Long that she will continue creating her own path by returning to her world and asks Si Long to come with her, so the latter can right her wrongs and leave her regrets behind. Si Long finally concedes and the two reconcile before Mizuchi leaves to stop the Great Spider's rampage.
8: Tangled Threads[]
After winning their respective battles, Mizuchi and Anisage regroup. Mizuchi notes that despite Saito's fear of it, the Great Spider was not that different from other Sootspawn. Suddenly, they hear the Great Spider roar in pain and wonder who could inflict such damage on the creature. Meanwhile, Taktsumi continues battling the Great Spider and soon kills it. However, Kunitsu arrives and condemns Taketsumi, revealing the spider extracted energy from the stolen memories to power the inn's luxuries, with the Sootspawn being created from unusable memories. Taketsumi reveals he suspected the Great Spider's role and has a plan before killing Kunitsu and taking the memory shards he carried. He then travels to Weaver's Hall where he finds a suffering Saito, who was in on his plan, and declares he will get rid of every bad memory so Ametsuchi will be a true paradise forever. Taketsumi gloats at how he destroyed hundreds of memory shards to weaken Ametsuchi's power and erased the memories of any who learned about their plan in order to lure out the Great Spider to kill it and Kunitsu in order to take over as Ametsuchi's leader. However, Saito reveals Si Long, Mizuchi, and Anisage still have their memories and pose a threat. Both Taketsumi and Saito are revealed to be connected to Nerva.
9: Overflowing Memories[]
Mizuchi and Ansiage learn of Taketsumi's victory over the Great Spider and Mizuchi wonders where the shards the Great Spider had inside its body went. An earthquake rocks the inn and the two follow a light to Weaver's Hall. There, they discover that dozens of people are remembering their bad memories from the previous flash. Suddenly, Maisha appears and attacks the two in order to please Nerva, whom she senses is close. She reveals that Nerva will soon destroy the world and is eager to aid her goal of destruction.
10: Purgation's Shadow[]
Saito reveal to Taketsumi that Maisha is a servant of Nerva and is fighting Mizuchi and Anisage and that their battle will buy them time to for Taketsumi to complete a transformation he is going under. Taketsumi declares that once his plan is finished, he will make Amestuchi an eternal paradise. Maisha proves to powerful for Anisage and Mizuchi to handle, but Si Long arrives to aid them. When even Si Long's power isn't enough, the three team up to take on Maisha.
The three overwhelm Maisha and defeat her with a combined attack. They question Maisha on who she is and why she attacked them, but she only answers that she serves Nerva at any cost. Before leaving with the others, Anisage tells Maisha she wishes she could be back with her loved ones in her own world. Maisha ponders Anisage's words before collapsing.
11: Beyond Memory's Void[]
The group finds Saito, still reeling from getting his memories back, who reveals Taketsumi has become the new Great Spider. A transformed Taketsumi arrives and reveals his plan to erase all painful memories in Ametsuchi as well as admitting he returned all memories to buy time for his transformation. He explains that he disliked that Ametsuchi's previous management under Kunitsu, which allowed some memories to escape, so he usurped him and became the new deity to remove all bad memories and replace them with happy ones from the inn. He strips the three of their memories, leaving them to believe they are back to being guests at the inn. He does the same for the entire inn and everyone returns to living in ignorance, except this time Taketsumi sacrifices people to take all their memories for power, something the guests are happy to accept. Taketsumi rejoices in finally achieving paradise where no one knows any hardships and plans to expand the inn to bring in even more people. However a voice tells Taketsumi he remembers who he really is and that he wants revenge. Taketsumi doesn't recognize the voice because he wiped his own memories and the voice reveals itself as a grown Itsurugi, who declares he has finally found him.
12. For Whom the Blade Falls[]
A flashback reveals that when Itsurugi recovered his memory shard, he discovered that when he first came to the Ametsuchi, he saw Taketsumi attacking Forsaken. Taketsumi explains he is not killing them, but wiping their memories, and he wiped Itsurugi's own memories to gain him as an ally upon seeing his potential. When Itsurugi was critically wounded by Taketsumi, he survived and crawled through the Cataract, which was actually under a spell that made it looked damaged to those who were missing memories to fool them into thinking it was dangerous. Since Itsurugi had recovered his memories, the gate's spell failed, and he saw it was in perfect condition as he passed through back to his home world. There, he discovers he is healed, though the sensation of Taktsumi's killing blow is still there, and that was sent back to the very moment before he was taken to Ametsuchi. When he hears the villagers trying to find him to sell him off and runs off, having lost any attachment to his old village. As he runs, the memories of Ametsuchi and Taketsumi betrayal him haunt him and he resolves to return to Ametsuchi and learn the truth. He practiced the fighting techniques Taketsumi taught him relentlessly while growing up into an adult. He traversed worlds, searching for the way back to Ametsuchi, going through several near-death experiences, until he finally found a lead back: Yuwan Gilfrei
13. A Vengeful Inheritance[]
Yuwan introduces himself and explains he learned about Itsurugi from the traces of his previous pull to Ametsuchi and that he has the power to travel worlds and send Itsurugi back to Ametsuchi. Itsurugi is distrustful of Yuwan and demands proof of his claims. Yuwan senses Itsurugi is similar to him and gives proof with a display of his power, earning Itsurugi's trust. Itsurgui tells Yuwan about his experience in Ametsuchi and Yuwan reveals Nerva is behind the events at Ametsuchi and explains his history with the keepers. Despite the obsurdity of Yuwan's tale, Itsurugi senses his conviction is real and Yuwan explains the Nerva is keeping them out to avoid having her experiment disturbed. While searching for Ametsuchi, Yuwan found Itsurugi and he explains that she is toying with everyone inside from the shadows through a vessel, planning to commence her Purgation. Itsurugi realizes that Taketsumi must be the vessel and Yuwan gives him two options: abandon his search for Ametsuchi for good and move on with his life or risk his life to try and go to Ametsuchi. Yuwan explains he can't get into Ametsuchi because of Nerva's power, but Itsurugi might be able to because he was summoned there before. Itsurugi accepts Yuwan's offer to return to Ametsuchi without hesitation, declaring he will take care of his own business there not Yuwan's, but Yuwan is satisfied that Itsurugi's mere presence will disrupt Nerva's scheme. Yuwan gives Itsurugi the power to cross worlds and the former explains the time in Ametsuchi moves differently than in other worlds, so not as much time has passed since he left, but Itsurugi is undeterred and travels back to Ametsuchi with Yuwan telling him he considers him and ally.
14. Better Left Forgotten[]
Itsurugi confronts Taketsumi, who is in disbelief at seeing the latter grown up. Though Taketsumi is happy to see Itsurugi, the latter feels the exact opposite and reveals he remembers what Taketsumi did to him. Angered that memories are still disrupting Ametsuchi, Taketsumi attacks. During the fight, Taketsumi reveals that Ametuschi previously brought in guests to heal themselves, and restored taken memories when they left, but he was disgusted that people would be sent back to their old lives and believed Kunitsu gave false hope and happiness by letting them return instead of keeping them in Ametsuchi. He shows Itsurugi the memory wiped guests happiness and offers to let Itsurugi lose his memories so he can join them, but Itsurugi rejects the offer. Taketsumi explains Ametsuchi only lets those with painful memories and believes Itsurugi is still haunted by his, but Itsurugi declares he came back to hear the truth about why Taketsumi tried to kill him. Taketsumi is unable to remember the reason because he took away his own memories, but after some searching, deduces he was trying to erase Itsurugi's memories again, but failed because of the difficulty of removing specific memories before his transformation and accidentally killed him instead. Itsurugi is angered and demands to know why Taketsumi tried to fight him in the first place and the latter answers that he couldn't let Itsurugi reveal his plan and tries to alter Itsurugi's memories, but Itsurugi resists his power. Taketsumi explains Nerva gave him the power of Serenity which can create and rewrite memories and begs Itsurugi not to hurt the guests by returning their memories and go back to being his brother. Itsurugi reveals he wanted to be like Taketsumi, and when they previously fought, they fought as equals, and that memory is why he returned, and he refuses to forget it. He declares he will not let Taketsumi have his way and attacks.
15. Taketsumi and Itsurugi[]
Itsurugi fights against Taketsumi using the very fighting techniques the latter taught him. Taketsumi tries to alter Itsurugi's memories again, but Itsurugi resists. Taketsumi is frustrated by Itsurugi's rejection, claiming that the memories he creates are just as real as the original, but Itsurugi declares that no matter how real Taketsumi tries to make his memories, they will still be fake. As they clash, Itsurugi tells Taketsumi that he showed him the truth about his old life, what true happiness is, and told him to follow what he thinks is right, something he is still doing. Taketsumi claims Itsurugi is trying to destroy his paradise, but Itsurugi points out the "paradise" is solely what he wants. Taketsumi reaches the ends of his patience with Itsurugi and declares he will destroy him then erase all memory of him. He seemingly destroys Itsurugi, but the latter escapes the attack and reveals that he was never scared of being killed, but of not being good enough for Taketsumi. Even when he was nearly killed, he thought of how he fought Taketsumi as an equal and was mourned as his friend and it made him happy. He explains that if he let Taketsumi remove his memories, it wouldn't be the real him, only figment of imagination. He counterattacks, yelling at Taketsumi to see the real him, the person he created, and that he can't force his happiness on others. He now faces Taketsumi on equal ground and has never been happier. Taketsumi attacks again to end Itsurugi's life and protect his "paradise."
Itsurugi's attacks inflict heavy damage on Taketsumi, something the latter can't believe is possible. Itsurugi explains that Taketsumi's removal of his own memories have stripped him of his experience in battle and how to fight, taking everything that made him strong, while Itsurugi has mastered everything Taketsumi taught him. Itsurugi defeats Taketsumi with his Spider's Dirge technique, Taketsumi's own technique, and destroys the power of the Great Spider he obtained. The memories Taketsumi stole are freed and, furious that everything he has worked for has been undone, Taketsumi attacks Itsurugi. He shouts his frustration about how Itsurugi's curiosity is the source of their unhappiness, but Itsurugi explains that he has long grown up and the two clash blades. Taketsumi loses the clash and is mortally wounded and as he dies, he asks Itsurugi why he failed and why he couldn't save everyone. Itsurugi answers that other people can only live their lives and decide what gives them happiness, pointing out how many had refused Taketsumi idea of paradise, and that it was never Taketsumi's place to steal memories or his responsibility to make everyone happy. He tells Taketsumi he only needed to find his own happiness. As he dies, Taketsumi realizes he can't remember his own happiness and admits he is impressed by Itsurugi, who promises never to forget him.
16. As One Journey Ends[]
With Taketsumi's defeat, the memories of the guests of the inn are restored and all traces of the Great Spider's power vanish from Ametsuchi. Kunitsu, revived by having his power released from Taketsumi, thanks Itsurugi for saving them all, but Itsurugi doubts his actions were the right thing to do. MIzuchi assures him that he did the right thing, explaining that under Taketsumi's power, nothing felt real, and Anisage and even Si Long gives her appreciation. Anisage wonders why Taketsumi couldn't take Itsurugi's memories and Kunitsu explains that the power of the Great Spider's power was meant to take painful memories before slowly reintroducing them, but Itsurugi didn't consider his experiences in life painful, so the power couldn't work. He explains Itsurugi was the second to arrive in Ametsuchi without losing memories, the first being Taketsumi. Itsurugi asks the others what they plan to do and Si Long, Mizuchi, and Anisage explain they will return to their own worlds and find happiness. Kunitsu escorts them to the Cataract and Anisage leaves to make her father's grave while Si Long and Mizuchi leave to change their fates. Kunitsu prepares to help the other guests prepare to return home and admits Taketsumi's plan has made him doubt his own actions. He believed that he could help heal others, but wonders if he was only bringing false hope, but Itsurugi assures him that despite everything he did, he only did what he thought was right. He then explains that there are beings like Nerva who want to take advantage of kind people like Kunitsu and Taketsumi, who was manipulated by Nerva and was corrupted by her, and vows to hunt the keeper down across worlds with the power Yuwan gave him. He shouts to the heavens that Nerva has been making enemies and that they will bring her to justice before leaving on his journey. Kunitsu hopes that all who visited Ametsuchi find happiness and that the memories they made there will be as precious as any others.
17. "Inertia"[]
Nerva observes the actions of the heroes of Ametsuchi and notes that the fate of Ametsuchi was changed by Itsurugi. She contemplates the failure of Taketsumi to keep Ametsuchi in a state of ignorant bliss but sees it as a chance to collect more data for her experiments. She realizes Yuwan played a part in Taketsumi's defeat and notes his influence wherever he goes, even recruiting a group that led to the defeat of Nexus. She looks forward to seeing what actions he takes next.
Special Matches[]
5. Shadowcraft[]
At the start of the Player's turn, the spell card, Clear Resolve, is added to their hand if they do not already have a copy of the card currently in their hand. Clear Resolve costs 1 Play Point and has the following effect: Banish a follower that costs X from your hand. X equals the number of shadows you have. Put a random follower from your deck to your hand. At the end of the opponent's turn, summon a copy of the banished monster and activate its Last Words effect.
6. Dragoncraft[]
At the start of the opponent's turn, the spell card, Tidal Wave, is added to their hand if they do not already have a copy of the card currently in their hand. Tidal Wave costs 2 Play Points and has the following effects: Deal 3 damage to all enemy followers. Restore 3 defense to all allies. Gain 3 empty Play Point orbs. Then, if you have less than 10 Play Point orbs, give your leader the following effect: At the start of your next turn, lose 3 Play Point orbs, then remove this effect (this effect is not stackable).
At the start of the Player's turn, the spell card, Tidal Surge, is added to their hand if they do not already have a copy of the card currently in their hand. Tidal Surge costs 1 Play Point and has the following effects: Activate X of the following effects in order (up to 9 effects). X equals the number of other different cards you've played this turn.
- Deal 1 damage to all enemy followers. Subtract 1 from the costs of all cards in your hand.
- Restore 1 defense to all allies. Draw a card
- Give your leader the following effect until the end of the turn: Allied Followers, Spells, and Amulets deal +1 damage and restore +1 defense.
10. Multiple Classes[]
At the start of the Player's turn, the spell card, Clear Resolve, is added to their hand if they do not already have a copy of the card currently in their hand. Clear Resolve costs 1 Play Point and has the following effect: Banish a follower that costs X from your hand. X equals the number of shadows you have. Put a random follower from your deck to your hand. At the end of the opponent's turn, summon a copy of the banished monster and activate its Last Words effect.
At the end of the opponent's first turn, the cards Analyzing Artifact, Ancient Artifact, and Paradigm Shift are added to their hand.
15: Bloodcraft[]
At the start of the Player's turn, the spell card, Spider's Dirge, is added to their hand if they do not already have a copy of the card currently in their hand. Spider's Dirge costs 0 Play Points and has the following effects: Discard a card from your hand. Remove all effects on the allied follower that has been in play the longest, except changes to its attack or defense, and give it +0/+X. Until the end of the turn, give it Rush, Bane, Drain, the ability to attack 4 times per turn, and the following effect: Whenever this follower attacks and destroys an enemy follower, if this follower is not destroyed, reduce the enemy leader's maximum defense by 3. X equals the original cost of the discarded card.
The opponent starts out with a maximum health of 40 and 3 play points. At the start of their turn a random cost 1 follower with the festive trait from any class is put into play. Starting from the 3rd turn, an additional random cost 2 follower from with the festive trait from any class is put into play and all allied followers gain +1/+1 and Drain. Starting from their 5th turn an additional follower with the festive trait from any class is put into play. At the start of the 7th turn the opponent's deck is replaced with a new one made up of 5 copies of Eccentric Archdemon and 5 copies of Bloodsoaked Archdemon.