The Catastrophes that strike Terra leave Originium behind wherever they pass, and anyone who stays near that ore too long contracts Oripathy and becomes Infected. In the incident where the Infected organization Reunion burned Ursus's city of Chernobog, Rhodes Island barely managed to pull out and return.

But Amiya's face is shadowed since her return. The memory of watching people she could have saved vanish before her eyes, unable to do anything but watch, won't let her go.

And out in the wastes beyond Lungmen, a nomadic city that broke off from Chernobog is discovered. This frozen, abandoned city is the next stage.

1. Free Hugs

Kal'tsit examines Amiya's returned hand. There's no scratch or discoloration on the ring, which is a relief, but she warns Amiya to take care of herself, since no one knows what might happen next.

Back in her room, Amiya forces herself to act fine. She says she's used to this by now, that she shouldn't burden others with it. But eventually her true feelings slip out.

The people we could have saved... disappearing right before our eyes... Is all we can do just watch?

— Amiya

It feels like she could reach them if she just stretched her hand out a little further. Amiya says it's really too much for her right now, and asks to be left alone for a while.

Kal'tsit quietly asks the Doctor for a favor. She worries that Amiya's shell is too hard, and that one day it will shatter under too much pressure. If that happens, she asks the Doctor to help her even a little.

She adds one more request: if Amiya gets caught up in a fierce battle, check the state of her ring right after it ends, and report immediately if there's any change at all. She says she can't tell the Doctor the reason yet.

Meanwhile, in the abandoned city, the scouting team begins to move — Blacksteel's sniper Meteorite, the quiet frost-wielder Frostleaf, and the timid rookie Jessica.

Their mission is to search for survivors and investigate the true state of the city. But they've been ordered to contact Kal'tsit immediately and retreat if anything related to Reunion turns up. They were told it wouldn't be a dangerous mission — but that promise doesn't last long.

2. Walking in the Rain

Before the Penguin Logistics and Blacksteel members step away for a while, they all worry about the exhausted Amiya. Texas says calmly that life goes on no matter what happens, and tells her to take care of herself.

Left alone, Amiya heads for the slums on the outskirts of Lungmen, thinking she might be able to help there. There, she meets a child picking up a phonograph.

The child has gathered a pile of broken phonographs and records. Even though they've never heard them play, they say they'll fix them someday and let others listen. Then, without hesitation, the child reveals they're Infected.

Amiya laughs softly and says she is too. Infected or not, the fact that this is a good child doesn't change. She shares everything she has with the hungry child.

After the child leaves, Amiya stands alone and asks herself — if even a child like that doesn't know how things will end, what can she possibly do?

In the rain, an inner voice pushes her to the edge. It says all that awaits the Infected is hunger, persecution, and death; that she can do nothing, and will eventually be swallowed by rage.

Amiya pushes back. She insists Rhodes Island is becoming a source of strength for the Infected, that everyone is working toward the same goal. She must never be swallowed by despair, she tells herself, and holds on to the promise she made to that child.

Just then, she spots a familiar figure from behind — someone receiving a handmade doll from a little girl.

That person was none other than Ch'en. Amiya sees a look in her eyes she's never seen before.

Ch'en pushes Amiya away, saying this has nothing to do with her. Amiya keeps thinking to herself that she's never seen Captain Ch'en look like that before.

3. Artificial Cooling

The scouting team in the abandoned city runs into something strange. The weather hasn't changed, but the walls are absorbing heat, dropping the surrounding temperature sharply. Frostleaf recalls a legend he once heard back at the barracks.

During their third skirmish with Reunion, they find black Originium embedded in a corner of a wall — the ore from which an ice pattern spreads visibly, the source of the cold.

Frostleaf continues the legend. In northwestern Ursus, there was once an Infected guerrilla unit that opposed the government, and among them were monsters like iron towers and a squad that was like the cold itself. Wherever they passed, he says, nothing was left but frozen corpses and lifeless clearings.

Right — I'm saying those guys might be the ones from that legend... The legendary 'Snow Demon Squad.'

— Frostleaf

Meanwhile in Lungmen, Amiya reports the scouting team's findings to Ch'en. Hearing that Reunion is planning an attack on Lungmen and has already secured an infiltration route, Ch'en scoffs, saying they must think little of the Guard Department.

Amiya suggests that the Guard Department and Rhodes Island run a joint operation to wipe out Reunion inside Lungmen first. But Ch'en's answer is firm.

You're Infected. If you go on another mission in the slums, it will only cause more chaos.

— Ch'en

4. Don't Be Afraid

At that moment, an urgent transmission comes in from Jessica. She's spotted a Reunion leader inside the abandoned city — no, two of them.

Somewhere in the ruins, two Reunion commanders sit facing each other — the boy Mephisto, who lost his limbs to a bombing, and W, who's needling him. They cackle that their target has taken the bait, and since a big fish has been hooked, today they'll play nice.

The hidden scouting team is soon discovered. Mephisto releases his subordinates, saying it's impossible to hide from him. He tells them to eat the appetizer before the main dish arrives.

The scouting team barely manages to take down their enemies, but the defeated Reunion soldiers rise again. Mephisto's staff glows, reviving the dead and drawing in even more reinforcements — and he says he hasn't even lifted a finger yet.

Just then, Frostleaf senses cold approaching, and says the truly terrifying ones have arrived. He has Meteorite fire at the western building to draw attention, then retreats with Jessica.

While fleeing, Frostleaf sends a desperate transmission to Amiya.

Listen carefully, Amiya. ...You must not come here. This abandoned city is...

— Frostleaf

5. Bureaucracy

The transmission cuts off there. One by one, the other scouting teams report retreating and then go silent. In the control room, Kal'tsit sharply asks Ch'en just how long Lungmen intends to keep up this pointless stubbornness.

Amiya formally requests that the Guard Department cooperate with Rhodes Island's rescue mission. If they refuse, she says, Rhodes Island will move on its own.

But Ch'en's answer is unexpected. Of course the Guard Department intends to go too, she says — only their goal isn't rescue, but thoroughly eliminating Reunion. She makes clear they'll lend what strength they can, within limits.

My apologies. I have my own duty to carry out.

— Ch'en

Kal'tsit sends a rescue team to support the other scouting teams, but the location where Meteorite's group is stranded is too deep to reach. In the end, that most dangerous place can only be left to Amiya.

6. Ignorance Breeds Wonder

Entering the abandoned city with Ch'en and Hoshiguma, Amiya shows her skill as a Calamity Messenger. Using observation data, she determines that this city moved this far before a Catastrophe destroyed it.

But in front of an area with a heavy concentration of Originium, Ch'en suddenly freezes. She sees something, and without a word, dashes off alone.

The shadow looked like it might have been Talulah. Neither Hoshiguma nor Amiya can be certain, but one thing is clear — they have to chase after Ch'en. At that moment, Reunion troops and exploding Originium creatures block their path.

Even after the fight ends, there's no sign of Ch'en, not even a shadow. Hoshiguma tries to push in herself, but Amiya stops her. Beyond this point, Originium has taken root, and anyone healthy who goes in too deep risks contracting Oripathy.

Hoshiguma laughs, saying it's cute how hard tiny Amiya is trying to persuade her, and sets the Guard Department up as Rhodes Island's shield. She'll hold the entrance, she says, and leave the Infected problem to the Infected experts.

Go on ahead — I'll leave Ch'en to you. Just make sure you bring her back safe.

— Hoshiguma

Around that time at Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit examines the rescued scouting team. Swollen skin, dropped body temperature, and necrotic tissue — all of it frostbite. Whatever this cold really is, it does this to people.

7. Mutual Benefit

Deep in the abandoned city, Amiya meets Ch'en again. Having taken down countless Reunion soldiers alone, Ch'en apologizes for the first time, saying she let her emotions get the better of her.

Asked whether the shadow she saw earlier was Talulah, Ch'en holds back, saying it was probably a mistake. The mission comes first right now, she says — if she doesn't lead, the Guard Department can't properly conduct the investigation either.

Amiya reaffirms Rhodes Island's policy. Protecting Lungmen is part of the mission, she says, but the most important reason they came here is to rescue their comrades.

Rhodes Island never abandons a single comrade.

— Amiya

Ch'en only says she'll lead her unit and join up later, then leaves alone, saying she doesn't need an escort. Amiya realizes once again that Rhodes Island must fight this alone — but there's no time to dwell on it, so she moves forward.

8. Stress Response

Following the smell of burning, Amiya reunites with the wounded Frostleaf. He tells her that Meteorite and Jessica are still in the plaza, and that the longer this drags on, the worse it gets.

They find Meteorite's group, but something's wrong with Jessica. She's frozen, gripped by trauma from something she saw.

Amiya makes up her mind. She asks Frostleaf to have Jessica grip her wrist tightly, then uses the ability she's kept hidden — taking on and sharing what Jessica saw.

An overwhelming sorrow washes over her. When Jessica comes to and sobs an apology, Amiya quietly stays by her side.

We're here now. You're not alone. We'll always be by your side.

— Amiya

Amiya understands all too well that feeling of wanting to run but being unable to move your feet, wanting to scream but having no voice come out — she's been through the same thing herself. Jessica finally manages to stand.

When Frostleaf asks what that power just now was, Amiya only asks him to keep it a secret from Dr. Kal'tsit.

9. Cutting to the Bone

Mephisto appears again to mock the scouting team, saying he has something to show them. He casually describes what he did to the residents who fled the city.

As revenge for Ursus's persecution, he says, he turned the captured residents into a single monument — one meant to show that the Infected's fate ends only in miserable death. Then he orders the tower set alight.

Mephisto reveals his reasoning. If a tenth of them writhe in the agony of death, he says, the remaining nine-tenths will tremble in fear — and that's the best way to minimize damage.

The Doctor tries to cover Amiya's eyes, but she asks him to lower his hand. Their wrongdoing, she says, is something she has to face head-on eventually.

Amiya tells herself the frightened, weak person she once was is gone now — she's seen countless horrific tragedies. Even so, she vows she must not look away, that she can't back down yet.

10. A Candle in the Wind

Frostleaf cuts through a shield with a blade of cold and charges at Mephisto, saying anyone who mocks life like that doesn't deserve to keep his own. But at that instant, his legs freeze solid.

Mephisto introduces the true star of the show — the princess of the Snow Demons, Frostnova.

Before Frostnova, who drains the heat from the entire area, even the cold-wielding Frostleaf freezes up, saying he's never seen anyone with a lower body temperature than himself. He shouts for Amiya to take everyone and run.

Amiya refuses. She won't abandon Frostleaf and run, she says — she won't abandon a single comrade. She takes on the job of holding back the enemy's movements herself, and leaves Frostleaf's rescue to Meteorite.

As Frostnova chants a spell like a lullaby, black crystals fall to the ground, freezing everything they touch. Amiya catches the moment the cold wavers and realizes Frostnova is using Originium buried by her soldiers to generate the cold.

Once the buried Originium is destroyed, fog rises, and Meteorite uses the opening to rush to Frostleaf, shouting at him not to play the hero — did he really think she was stupid enough to leave him behind?

Frostleaf stays calm, asking if saving several lives with one child's life isn't more worthwhile. Meteorite warns him she won't let it slide if he pulls a stunt like that again, then hauls him up onto her back and retreats.

Amiya orders the snipers to destroy Reunion's monument entirely. Using the fog thickened by the explosion as cover, Rhodes Island barely manages to break away from the plaza.

As Amiya leaves, Frostnova murmurs that it's a good look in her eyes — definitely the eyes of a warrior. Then she offers a brief apology. Perhaps even this cold-blooded princess has her own reasons.

In the plaza after Rhodes Island withdraws, Frostnova is left alone, coughing. Someone beside her warns that her own body must be starting to fail as well, but she says she doesn't need to be told, and tries to pursue Rhodes Island anyway — if she deals with them all, she says, she can head to Lungmen.

Epilogue — Lungmen Is in Danger

As she retreats, Amiya receives an urgent transmission from Ch'en. A voice, barely audible through the static, delivers the worst possible news.

Reunion has seized the Guard Department's key strongholds, and is forcing open a path from the slums to the outskirts of Lungmen — all while Amiya was pinned down in the frozen, abandoned city.

Amiya... Lungmen... is in danger.

— Ch'en

It was all a trap. While W drew the attention of Lungmen and Rhodes Island and lured them into the abandoned city, Faust and Crownslayer had already brought down Lungmen's key points. Mephisto laughs, saying he'll paint every road leading to Lungmen from here with their enemies' blood.

Beside him, the silent leader of Reunion finally makes her declaration — that she will burn this rotten city to ash.

Amiya, who once felt she could almost reach out and touch salvation yet save no one, kept her vow in this frozen city not to abandon a single comrade. But as the price for that, while their eyes were held fast, the true Catastrophe was already turning toward Lungmen. And a name that had stayed silent for so long had just begun to move.