The Empyreal Fortress is the final stage of the Empire's curse, and the narration says the true nature of the white spires was clear to those who have ties to the church. They were nearly identical to the Salt Pale, which is what I was thinking of when Bardias mentioned the North Ambrian Disaster. I remember that report from Trails in the Sky the 3rd because of how utterly creepy it was (and also because of how Weissmann died). However, these things are merely remnants of the original, and they don't turn everything around them to salt, thankfully. They're linked to the fortress somehow, and there's also a multi-layered barrier around it.
The Courageous II got a message from George, explaining to them what Alberich had just said earlier. Although it pre-dated the Great Collapse, it had been hidden away in a space-time distortion that was caused by the Great One's creation. The Gnomes have apparently been working on the thing in secret for the last thousand plus years trying to connect it to the Salt Pales and set the stage for the Rivalries. What makes this thing ideal for that anyway? That isn't explained.
We all decide to spend our last night before war partying it up at Mishelam for some reason. Roselia, Emma, Vita, Gaius, and Thomas all combined their powers to create a barrier around it. I guess this is the moment of truth where Rean will have to choose his one true love. Before that, we review Operation Shining Steel, which seems to be a plan to destroy all the Salt Pales in hopes it'll let us access the fortress, which seems as good a plan as any! They think if they can take control of the Rivalries before the Great Twilight reaches its climax, they can derail Osborne's plans. Musse thinks they'll welcome Rean inside since they need him to finish the Rivalries.
The Liberl team and the SSS each volunteer to take out a Salt Pale to clear the way for us. The Stahlritter also throw their hat into the ring, and Xeno and Leo decide to team up with them. Angelica and Sharon also volunteer for duty, and Roselia and George opt to lend them a hand. Not to be outdone, Aurelia apparently volunteers to solo the last one. She says Bardias will be in charge of the first day of the war since it'll mostly be scouting and strategy anyway, but they expect all eight fronts to erupt into full-scale war on the second day. Oh, looks like Vita, Victor, and Toval will be helping Aurelia, too. Will I have to control all of these groups, or will it just be done via cutscene?
All of those people are gathered at Mishelam, with one final surprise in store as Cassius decides to drop in as well. Sure enough, all the dudes say Rean's got some confessin' and committin' to do before the night's over. We get the next section's title: Eventide - Night of Promises. Much like the end of CS3, I've got five tickets to use, and who I can invite depends on what attraction I decide to use them on.
