The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV

SEN NO KISEKI The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II

WARNING

This summary contains spoilers for The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II

Act 2 - The Awakening Lions

The members of Class VII were reunited again. There was no time to celebrate, however, and they quickly set about discussing their next course of action.

The main topic was one posed by Prince Olivert: What did the members of Class VII intend to do from here on?

Rean took it upon himself to answer in his classmates' stead, stating their experience with the country's problems made them uniquely qualified to help.

Hearing this, the prince handed control of the Courageous to Class VII and announced he and Viscount Arseid were headed to western Erebonia to help with the war effort there.

Before they left, the viscount appointed Towa acting captain of the airship.

Towa suggested that they narrow down their goals to a more manageable 'what' and 'how.'

For the former, they decided their first order of business should be to take back Thors from the Noble Alliance. As for the 'how'...

...they would increase their numbers by finding their fellow students scattered across the country and bringing them aboard the ship.

Some time after settling on their new goal, they were contacted by Angelica out of the blue.

According to her, the Reinford Company had been occupied by her uncle, a member of the Noble Alliance.

What's more, they had also detained the company's chairman, Irina--Alisa's mother.

Hearing this, Class VII rushed to Roer, home of the company's headquarters, and met up with Angelica.

She had tried to convince her father to withdraw from the Noble Alliance, but to no avail.

Thus, she had decided to take matters into her own hands, resolving to rid Roer of the Noble Alliance, no matter what it took.

After convincing Angelica to let them help, Class VII's first order of business was to rescue Irina.

Fortunately, Angelica had already located her. She was being held on a train currently stopped within the Sachsen Iron Mine.

They managed to rescue her, then immediately returned to the RF building and proceeded to reclaim it from the troops stationed there.

One final battle awaited them--a duel between Angelica and her father. In the end, Angelica stood tall as the victor, bringing a close to the century's greatest family feud.

Accepting his defeat, Marquis Rogner announced his withdrawal from the war entirely.

As had become the norm, however, things would not proceed quite so smoothly.

Vulcan, a member of the Imperial Liberation Front, appeared in a gargantuan Soldat to challenge Rean.

While Vulcan's new model of Panzer Soldat proved a difficult foe, Rean was eventually able to best it.

However, the battle put a significant strain on the massive Soldat's systems, putting it at risk of self-destructing.

Having already decided this would be his final resting place, Vulcan let himself be taken by the explosion. Unable to save him, the tragic turn of events left a deep scar of regret on Rean's heart.

With the situation in Roer now under control, the group then set their sights on Erebonia's Spirit Shrines, in order to create a more powerful weapon for Valimar.

However, one day, they received devastating news from the 4th Armored Division.

Celdic had been set ablaze...

...under orders from none other than Duke Albarea himself.

Jusis attempted to leave the group to confront his father on his own. Before he could, however, they received word from Rufus.

He informed them that the Noble Alliance did not sanction the attack and would not come to the duke's aid, should Class VII wish to deal with the situation themselves.

Jusis was resolved to face his father, and so the group swiftly flew to Aurochs Fort in Bareahard.

Making it past the defenses and into the fortress, they faced their real challenge: an incredibly powerful Panzer Soldat stood in their way.

Its pilot was the Imperial Liberation Front's Scarlet, and much like Vulcan, she challenged Rean, hoping to find a resting place of her own.

As before, Rean proved triumphant, and in a further parallel to his last encounter with the ILF, the strain of the battle caused Scarlet's Soldat to begin to self-destruct.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Rean dashed in. With a single precise slash, he tore off the Soldat's cockpit and leapt away from the explosion.

Though her machine was in pieces, Scarlet herself was unscathed. Rean had saved her. His relief at seeing she was fine was cut short by a familiar voice.

It was Crow. He had come out of concern for his last remaining team member. Seeing she was safe, he left the group with some parting words of encouragement before flying off.

Class VII was able to successfully capture the fort and came face to face with Duke Albarea.After he realized his allies had abandoned him, he lost the will to go on and was arrested by his own son.

When this was announced, the soldiers still working under the duke retreated, effectively ending House Albarea's role in the war.

The Noble Alliance was shaken by the loss of yet another of the Four Great Houses. In a final gambit, they gathered a majority of their forces around Heimdallr.

In doing so, they loosened their grip on the rest of the country, however.

At long last, the time had come for Class VII to take back Trista.

After they drove back the remnants of the Noble Alliance troops still stationed in town, its residents gave their liberators a warm welcome home.

Amid cheers of support, Class VII headed to Thors Military Academy, intent on freeing the campus itself as well.

At the gates, they were greeted by the upper-class students placed in charge of the academy, led by Patrick.

Considering themselves Class VII's rivals, they wished to stake their pride and honor on one final battle.

After a fierce clash between the two groups of students, Class VII proved victorious.

Finally acknowledging Rean as an equal, Patrick and the other noble students joined them. With all the students of Thors under one banner, the academy now truly represented a third path for Erebonia.