Part I: Suffering contains episodes 1 through 6
Story[]
The Gohma attempt to seize the Brahmastra, which is defended by a massive fleet led by all eight Generals. Hoping to intimidate Vlitra, the Commander of the Generals, Deus, orders the Brahmastra fired. Incomplete and underpowered, the beam instead awakens Vlitra from its slumber prematurely. Asura breaks off from the fighting and engages Vlitra, subduing it alone. The other Generals are shocked, but quickly take credit and declare a final victory over Vlitra.
The next day, Asura is summoned to the Emperor’s palace as all of Trastrium celebrates. Thinking he is to be commended, Asura enters the throne room and instead finds Strada murdered. The palace guard confront Asura, who flees home to protect his family as word of his “treachery” spreads.
Asura returns to his raided residence and comes across his wife Durga, mortally wounded. With her dying breath, Durga makes Asura promise to save Mithra, who has been captured and transported to the Karma Fortress. Distraught, Asura flies up to the Karma Fortress and finds the other Generals holding Mithra hostage. Asura attempts to take Mithra back from them, but is severely weakened from his fight with Vlitra and becomes incapacitated by Deus. Asura asks for Deus’ motive as he is held over the side of the Brahmastra.
According to Deus, Emperor Strada refused to take the radical steps needed to end the war, as it would be unpopular with the public. Fearing he would not see victory in his lifetime, Deus murdered Strada as part of a coup d’état against the Empire. Deus has no desire to be crowned Emperor himself, but still needs Asura as a scapegoat to deflect suspicion and Mithra to harness mantra more effectively. He casts down Asura, who swears vengeance as he falls back down to Gaea and dies.
Asura’s soul awakens dangling from a pillar in Naraka, a barren realm of the afterlife ruled by a mysterious figure known only as the Golden Spider. Suffering from amnesia, he begins to ascend the pillar as the Golden Spider hints about Asura’s past and what the mortal world has become in his absence. Fueled by his unexplainable anger, Asura breaks out of Naraka and inhabits his body, freeing it after 12,000 years in a massive explosion from beneath the surface. Asura wanders Gaea, which has turned into a vast wasteland with blood red skies and frequent lightning storms. Asura comes across a human village amidst the ruins that is under attack by Gohma. While Asura rescues the villagers, a capital ship descends to the village and deploys Trastrium warriors led by Wyzen, once a fellow General.
Wyzen explains that the Eight Guardian Generals disbanded after the coup, becoming the self proclaimed Seven Deities. Corrupted by power but still fighting the Gohma, the Seven Deities have seized control of Trastrium and oppressed the other demigods. Humans have been devolved back into Bronze Age tribes, systematically harvested in order to convert their souls into a more powerful form of mantra. This mantra is meant in theory for the Brahmastra, but is often taken by the Deities to magnify their power and prolong the War of Creation even further. Asura has been vilified among the demigods, and is now known as The Fallen. Infuriated, Asura duels Wyzen. Wyzen transforms several times, eventually tapping into the Brahmastra’s mantra reactor and becoming a titanic being. As he is about to be crushed under one of Wyzen’s fingers, Asura recalls his entire past. The subsequent release of wrath is so great that it obliterates Wyzen and shatters Asura’s arms, knocking him unconscious.
Upon awakening, Asura is confronted by Yasha, his former brother-in-law, who tells him to move on and to forget about Mithra. Asura refuses and fights Yasha despite the loss of his arms. Though he manages to damage Yasha's mask, he is ultimately overwhelmed and cleaved in half by one of Yasha's energy blasts.
Episodes[]
- Episode 1: The Coming of a New Dawn
- Episode 2: Betrayal and Vengeance
- Episode 3: Hell on Gaea
- Episode 4: Old Friends, New Enemies
- Episode 5: Hollow Victory
- Episode 6: Confessions of a Mask
