Aqua lands in the Ebon Forest and finds Azure Hallowshield, the Martial Champion of the Elven Kingdom, who has just turned into a monstrous Argus to protect her princess. After healing her wounds, Aqua witnesses Azure’s grief over the capture of Princess Sheira and agrees to help her track her down. They link up with Laura, a mercenary from the Golden Rose gang—who are caught in their boss’s betrayal—and infiltrate the human-supremacist kingdom of Red Dawn. There, they discover the horrifying truth: the enemy uses fragments of time and extensive brainwashing to turn elves into hollow slaves. They launch a desperate rescue mission.

Aqua and Azure track the princess to a hidden lab only to be ambushed by the First Disciple of Mind, Rolan. He easily overpowers them, killing Azure and Laura in a brutal display of strength. Just as he is about to take Aqua, she reveals her true power. She summons the World Soul of her old home, a phoenix, and unleashes the Phoenix Fire, an incarnation of rebirth. Aqua descends into the broken mindscape of Princess Sheira, finding her soul chained and broken by a giant shard of time. Instead of simply removing it, Aqua merges the shard with her own power, turning Sheira into a fledgling goddess. She revives Azure and Laura, dragging the entire group out of the city as its bell towers begin to toll.

Back in the elven capital, Lira, the Spymaster and a hidden agent of Red Dawn, is scheming to poison the queen and have Azure executed. As she attempts to use mind control on Azure, the Goddess of Misfortune, Laleyn, intervenes to protect her champion. However, this intervention is a failure, as Aqua is ready and waiting. Lira frames Azure for betrayal and kidnaps her, but Soleah, the Queen, has been laying a trap of her own. During the council meeting, Aqua reveals herself in full, god-like splendor. She transforms Lira into a snake, breaks her body, and imprisons her soul in a gemstone to be studied, exposing the entire corrupt council.

Aqua, Azure, and the newly divine princess Sheira enroll at the Onost Academy. Their entrance exams cause a sensation as they casually break all magical records. They befriend Avaros el Lux, a noble who is on the path to rediscovering Aether conversion, and are monitored by Hikari, a mysterious and impossibly powerful Blessed Child of the sun god. As Azure tries to confess her feelings to Aqua, they are interrupted. Aqua reveals that Hikari is a walking beacon of divine power, forcing her to choose between trusting the academy life and hunting down the divine threat.