Echoes from a Sombre Empire
Last updated 2026-07-20
Echoes from a Sombre Empire is the sixth part of the Trailblaze Mission chapter Unraveled for Daybreak. It automatically begins after completing Simulacra and Simulation, or Even the Just.
Steps
- Fall into the unknown
- Meet with everyone who has scattered
- Ashveil... Ah, let's humor him for a bit
- Follow the voice within, and come before all: you, me, him, her, THEM, and it
- (Optional) Return to her, her, him, her and him
Gameplay Notes
- In the last step, the Trailblazer will walk towards Ego (?) regardless of the actual movement control direction.
Dialogue
Fall into the unknown
Mission DescriptionFall into the abyss. Fall to the planet's core. Fall into that vast secret.
No signal. No bearings. No identity. Nothing but an endless echo.
Tooltip for 18px|link=ⓘ Sequence 01Ashveil revealed his true name, La Mancha, and used the dark shadow from his severed arm to crush the King Pom-Pom mechatron. The Express crashed through the floor, pulling everyone into the deep darkness. "Now arriving at terminal station: Land of Sneering Gods."- (Cutscene begins)
-
- Alloy Mechatron: King Pom-Pom: With everyone, we'll be...
- Alloy Mechatron: King Pom-Pom: HAPPY!
- Alloy Mechatron: King Pom-Pom: Happy! Happy!
- Ashveil: I offer my blood to consume this vendetta. I offer my heart to shoot down this injustice.
- Ashveil: I, Lead Hunter La Mancha, call upon you in the name of the Star Hunt Oath!
- Ashveil: O Skybow, gaze upon this broken-legged wolf!
- Ashveil: And steer my hunt... towards victory!
- Alloy Mechatron: King Pom-Pom: Happy! Hahahaha, so happy!
- Alloy Mechatron: King Pom-Pom: Now arriving at terminal station: Land of Sneering Gods.
- Alloy Mechatron: King Pom-Pom: Welcome back into the god's embrace!
- Ashveil: Shh, quiet now...
- Ashveil: It's time for bed.
- (Cutscene ends)
- Sequence 02You woke up in an abandoned underground station with Himeko and March 7th. Himeko speculated that you had somehow fallen into a part of the "World in Canvas" for unknown reasons. You needed to regroup with everyone and get out of here as soon as possible.
- March 7th: Are we... still alive?
What... is this place?- ...Are we in purgatory?
- March 7th: Hey! Don't say things like that!
- Himeko: I remember the out-of-control Express taking us down and through an abandoned tunnel. Theoretically speaking, this should be a station deep underground.
- March 7th: But what's with all these ruined buildings and that weird space in the distance? Is this really an underground station? A place this big exists beneath Planarcadia?
- Himeko: Perhaps we're no longer in reality. We may have landed somewhere within the World in Canvas for unknown reasons.
- March 7th: Th—Then, can we still make it back?
- Himeko: We need to find everyone and get out of here as soon as possible.
- March 7th: Where's Mr. Ashveil and the others?
- (Unlock Achievement The Hellbound Express)
Meet with everyone who has scattered
- Sequence 03Blazeweaver and the other two rejoiced at their bodies' recovery. Cinderborne tried to plead for their companions, but Ashveil saw no need, since they were nothing but creatures that responded to happiness after being "surgically converted."
- (Approach Ashveil)
- Blazeweaver: ...We've been reborn? See, I knew we weren't like those Synwish Syndicate trash.
- Azurewing: You're right, Red! We're heroes! We are justice! We are the undying happiness!
- Ashveil: If you are justice, then forgive me for playing the necessary evil.
- Cinderborne: Everyone, please, this has to stop! If this goes on, you'll all...
- Dawnlance: Just smile! Embrace the everlasting bliss and true happiness.
- Cinderborne: I beg you... Please listen to me.
- Cinderborne: It's not too late. We can still go back to the Department of Aberration Defense with Miss Kuchiba and explain everything.
- Ashveil: It's no use. They are just creatures that can only react to joy now.
- Blazeweaver: All shall be blessed with happiness! All shall live forever! So smile, and laugh...
- Blazeweaver: And let our laughter infect all of Planarcadia.
- Cinderborne: My senior (Trailblazer), Mr. Ashveil... I'm begging you, please tell them that it's not too late...
- I'm sorry... I'm afraid it is.
- There's nothing I can do.
- I can't forgive them either.
- Ashveil: Move aside, Magnus.
- Cinderborne: Please just give me another minute! You know they're good people...
- Ashveil: It's best if you just move aside.
- Cinderborne: A true hero never abandons his friends!
- Ashveil: If I try to kill them now, will you stop me? Or will you turn a blind eye?
- (Stop Ashveil)
- Ashveil: I get where you're coming from, but they've made their choices, and so have I.
- Ashveil: After all, are they really better off like this?
- See it through to the end.
- Ashveil: ...
- Ashveil: A tribute of life unto death, and a debt paid in blood.
Tooltip for 18px|link=ⓘ Sequence 04Ashveil consumed the three Daybreak Warriors in shadows, exacting revenge for the Synwish Syndicate. Ashveil asked Cinderborne to remember everything that had happened today. Should Cinderborne wish to take revenge on him, Ashveil would not stand in his way.- Ashveil: The Synwish Syndicate... A gang that once ruled the streets of Dovebrook, they sparked massive turf wars that left many with grievous injuries, and racked up charges for robbery, extortion, and a whole laundry list of other crimes.
- Ashveil: Polwave and Caustide... They were far from saints. Any good deeds they did in their lifetimes were just like a few pretty soap bubbles floating up from a stagnant pool of filth.
- Blazeweaver: That's why we brought them down! They, and this whole world, have now become happier!
- Ashveil: Yes, they may have had sins to atone for, but that doesn't justify your murdering them as if they were just toys.
- Echo of the Past: Thank you for your aid. I am the Blazeweaver Warrior, captain of the Daybreak Squadron. May I— Hey, where are you going?
- Dawnlance: Play? We're not playing. Everyone's just laughing along happily, hahahaha!
- Echo of the Past: Mr. Detective, do you know about the Galaxy Rangers? I heard they are a group of righteous heroes roaming the universe. In that sense... are we the city's Rangers?
- Echo of the Past: Ah, Mr. Ashveil! Could you do us a favor...
- Blazeweaver: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH—
- Ashveil: This familiar scent... Ah, I see.
- Cinderborne: Wh—What have you done...
- Ashveil: Remember what happened today, Magnus. You may seek revenge anytime. I won't stop you.
- The shadows withdrew beneath Ashveil's feet like a receding tide, leaving Cinderborne standing alone in the wake of the darkness. As the gloom dispersed, it utterly subsumed his three companions, along with the shadows that tethered them to it, vanishing them without a trace.
Ashveil... Ah, let's humor him for a bit
- (Talk to Cinderborne, optional)
- Cinderborne: ...
- Gray... Are you okay?
- Cinderborne: Wh—What have we done...
- (Talk to Kuchiba, optional)
- Kuchiba: And so concludes the New Herald of Death case.
- Kuchiba: But without evidence or testimony... how am I going to write the closing statement for this report?
- So did the Daybreak Squadron really do it?
- Kuchiba: No one but Ashveil will ever know.
- Kuchiba: But I choose to believe him. His "shadow"... only bares its fangs at those drenched in sin.
- Kuchiba: I don't know how he came upon such power, but it did help the Department of Aberration Defense crack several hard cases.
- Sequence 05Ashveil's true identity was that of the retired head of the Galaxy Rangers, La Mancha. He asked you to take out the chip Pearl gave you, a locator. At the same time, you heard a voice calling out to you.
- (Talk to Ashveil)
- Ashveil: Glad to see that you're all made of tough stuff. I was just fretting over failing my chaperone duties.
- Himeko: La Mancha, leader of the Galaxy Rangers... I've heard about you, but only in legends past.
- Ashveil: Then you're well-informed, Nameless. I'd expected the name to be long forgotten by now. So much for turning over a new leaf...
- What was that power you used just now?
- Ashveil: A power for grown-ups only.
- Ashveil: It's best that you don't ask about it, seek it, or get involved with it unless you're forced to, like I was.
- Do you know Boothill and Rappa?
- Ashveil: ...
- Ashveil: You mean... the esteemed Silvergun Shura and Dazzling Ninja Hero!?
- Ashveil: Of course not. I retired a long time ago. Out of the Rangers I know who are still alive, one sees me as a traitor, the other as prey.
- Ashveil: Just so we're clear, I want you all to forget the name you just heard. Right here and now, in this world called Planarcadia, I am just Detective "Ashveil."
- Ashveil: Instead of obsessing over my identity or pitying the three dead criminals, I advise you to work on a way out of this place first. I've long heard rumors about unsavory things hidden deep beneath the arcadia. It's strange how the people here can sleep so soundly.
- Kuchiba: The train broadcast called this place the "Land of Sneering Gods"... I don't think I've ever seen this station on a map.
- March 7th: Are we... going to be trapped here forever?
- Himeko: Mr. Ashveil, despite being at such a bizarre location, you've been oddly confident and unconcerned over your safety since the very beginning.
- Himeko: Do you truly know nothing about this place?
- Ashveil: I'm afraid that's classified information.
- Ashveil: Besides, I'm simply doing what any professional private investigator would do: trust my employer.
- Ashveil: It's time to show us the trinket Pearl gave you, (Trailblazer).
- What?
- You mean... that thing?
- Ashveil: Come on... Didn't Pearl give you a chip? We're in good hands as long as she can track your location with that thing.
- (Trailblazer): (A tracking device... again.)
- ???: (Trailblazer)![Note 1]
- ???: (Trailblazer)![Note 1]
- ???: Come. This way. Come slowly.
- ???: Yes, at the end of this path. Come. I beckon you.
Follow the voice within, and come before all: you, me, him, her, THEM, and it
- Step DescriptionA hint of sweetness, a touch of wonder, the primal instinct for revelry roars within your heart.
It beckons you to dance, to sing, to the end of the void. It beckons you to come, to come, to come, to come here.
Hesitate not, despair not.
Come, come, come, come before me. Distill this wondrous instant into nectar, and share it with me.
- (Trailblazer): There's someone calling for me from some place deeper...
- Sequence 06You asked if anyone around heard that voice, but not only did you get no response, your companions had vanished without a trace. The voice kept beckoning you, coming from the end of the road.
- (Approach the others, optional)
- (Trailblazer): Did you hear that?
- ???: Come. Come to me.
- (Trailblazer): ...Where did everyone go?
- (Trailblazer): Where did everyone go?
- (Trailblazer): There's someone calling for me from some place deeper...
- (Go closer)
- ???: Hahaha. Hahahaha.
- ???: Over here. Keep going forward.
- ???: Come. Come here.
- ???: This way, (Trailblazer).[Note 1]
- Sequence 07Tempted by a mysterious voice, you wanted to press onward. Ashveil stopped you, however, warning that whatever slumbered in these depths was extremely dangerous and strangely familiar.
- Ego (?): Come. Embrace this wondrous world. Come to my side.
- Ego (?): You want to go further, deeper. Become one with me. The joy, the positive feedback... Sweet synaptic flickers on your cortex. Gentle. Wonderful.
- Ego (?): Listen. It's breathing, slumbering, whimpering, and grinning.
- Ego (?): Warm. Gentle. Warm. Gentle. Warm. And gentle.
- Ego (?): I am you, and you are me. Come. Embrace this primordial joy.
- Ego (?): Life, in exchange for a boarding pass on the Express toward the end.
- Ego (?): Become one with me. Become a part of me. Become mine...
- (Trailblazer): Let's go deeper! I want to go over there!
- Ego (?): Come. Come. Come. Come! Just like that, STEP FORWARD!
- Step forward.
- Step forward.
- Step forward.
- Ashveil: That's far enough, (Trailblazer).
- The detective appears at your side before you even notice, his cane blocking your path. Just like that, the whispers in your ear fall silent.
- Ashveil: My golden principle while working on cases in this world is to keep my curiosity in check and not get involved with matters beyond the case itself... especially things that already look considerably dangerous.
- Ashveil: However, the thing that slumbers in the deep here does look awfully familiar...
- Tooltip for 18px|link=ⓘ Sequence 08The scene in the abandoned station started to contract. Pearl used her Cornerstone ability to deconstruct the space, pulling you all back into her actual office.
- (Cutscene begins)
-
- Pearl: I come to appraise. I come to analyze. I come to render.
- Pearl: I weave the cosmos into brocade. Breathe soul into painted stones. Let the jewels of heaven rise as they will.
- Pearl: All for the Amber Lord.
- (Cutscene ends)
Trivia
- The name of this mission is a reference to Werner Herzog's documentary Echoes from a Sombre Empire.
Notes
Other Languages
| Language | Official Name |
|---|---|
| English | Echoes from a Sombre Empire |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 来自昏暗国度的回音 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 來自昏暗國度的回音 |
| Japanese | 昏き国より届く残響 |
| Korean | 어둠의 나라에서 온 메아리 |
| Spanish | Ecos de un reino en penumbras |
| French | Échos de l'empire lugubre |
| Russian | Отзвуки мрачной страны |
| Thai | เสียงสะท้อนจากแดนมืดมน |
| Vietnamese | Tiếng Vọng Đến Từ Vương Quốc U Tối |
| German | Echos aus einem düsteren Reich |
| Indonesian | Gema dari Negeri Kelam |
| Portuguese | Ecos de um Império Sombrio |
Change History
Released in Version 4.1
