Inven Global

※ Spoilers ahead: Contains major plot twists and ending details up to the main story and 'GINGERBREAD HOUSE' side story of Goddess of Victory: NIKKE

Humanity's strongest force, the Goddess Squad, was powerful. However, a single squad could not end the war on its own. Humanity needed more Goddesses of Victory. Thus, the 2nd-generation Grimms Models, 'OLD TALES,' were born. They were Nikkes engineered with even more advanced technology to follow in Goddess's footsteps.

The member roster was equally impressive: 'Cinderella,' boasting overwhelming firepower; 'Red Shoes,' specialized in close-quarters combat; 'Little Mermaid,' who uses Compelling Voice; and 'Hansel' and 'Gretel,' who operate massive armaments together as a pair. Little Mermaid is the same person players know today as 'Siren.' Joining them was 'Abe,' the researcher who created them.

Abe was also a Nikke—someone who voluntarily underwent conversion to continue her research. Though foul-mouthed, her love for the Nikkes she created was genuinely deep. What began as a relationship between a researcher and her creations soon grew into something closer to a mother and her daughters.

Among them, Cinderella admired Goddess. She longed to become a beautiful hero just like them. Eventually, she was selected for the operation to defeat the Queen alongside Goddess. She was on the verge of stepping onto the stage of her dreams—yet what awaited Cinderella was not a place among the Goddesses of Victory.

Right before deployment, corruption struck Cinderella. Her very first targets were her fellow OLD TALES members. She shattered her comrades' bodies and ultimately severed the head of Abe, who had come to reclaim her. The Nikke created as humanity's hope had transformed into the worst disaster: the Heretic 'Anachiro.'

Cinderella remained trapped inside her own body. She could only watch helplessly as her comrades fell and her guns were pointed at the Goddess Squad she so admired. Corruption dug deep into her mind, distorting her judgment by whispering that killing humanity was helping Goddess. Even her desire to become a beautiful hero was twisted into a weapon to harm her companions.

Anachiro obstructed Goddess's Queen eradication operation, ultimately forcing humanity to retreat into the Ark. Later, it was the returned Red Hood and the Goddess Squad who brought down Anachiro as she threatened the Ark. For Goddess, it was a victory over a formidable foe, but for Cinderella, the meaning was devastating. She had blocked the path of those she most admired and wounded them. That alone shattered Cinderella's heart.

And Cinderella's tragedy did not end there. The culprit who corrupted Cinderella was someone else entirely—and a member of her own squad, no less: her teammate, Red Shoes.

Red Shoes believed that if humanity and Raptures became one, the war would end. The problem lay in her method: if humanity could not defeat the Raptures, they should simply submit to them. Using Nikkes as an intermediate step was the 'harmony' Red Shoes envisioned.

To achieve this, Red Shoes modified the existing corruption code. By implanting her personality data, she made Nikkes think from the Raptures' perspective and used Nikkes as test subjects. When her research hit a wall, she implanted the modified code into Raptures and released them, allowing the Raptures to evolve it further. As her final test subject, she chose the powerful Grimms Model, Cinderella. Maintenance right before deployment turned into time spent transforming her teammate into a new Heretic.

After being defeated by Goddess and becoming an experimental subject, Cinderella broke free from corruption through Unchained. Rescued by the surviving Abe, she reunited with her teammates. However, Red Shoes showed no remorse even while confessing to her crimes. Calling Cinderella 'Anachiro,' she boasted about her research achievements. Cinderella shot Red Shoes' core and severed her legs, which continued to attack autonomously even after death.

Arriving late at the scene, her teammates misunderstood that Cinderella had been corrupted once again, branding her a traitor who shot her fellow member Red Shoes. Here, Cinderella completely broke down. Having become a monster even in the home she had finally returned to, Cinderella fled and tried to take her own life. That was when Abe came for her once more. Even when everyone turned their backs, to Abe, Cinderella was still a Goddess of Victory.

“

Let's do it! Let's rewrite it. I'll watch from the best seat right next to you.

— Abe, OLD TALES

Abe promised to rewrite the broken story together. If Cinderella were to stand on stage again, Abe would be the audience watching from the closest seat. In a fairy tale that almost ended with a monster, a new chapter was born.

Oswald confirmed Red Shoes' research and crimes, clearing the misunderstanding among her teammates. He reported OLD TALES as deceased and wiped their records, helping them escape the Central Government's pursuit. Now, Cinderella took another shot at the Queen eradication operation she had once ruined—not as someone's weapon, but to rewrite her own story.

Heading toward the Orbital Elevator, the group encountered a Rapture equipped with Red Shoes' legs. Red Shoes, who had wanted to become one with the Raptures, ultimately returned as one of their parts. The voice of corruption reached Cinderella once more, but this time she did not yield. Recalling Abe watching over her, she broke free from its control and defeated the Rapture.

However, the journey to reach the Queen was horrific. Under attack at the Orbital Elevator, the twins, Siren, and Abe fell one by one. Arriving at the space station alone, Cinderella landed a strike on the Queen, but the moment she felt certain of victory, she suffered a counterattack and was knocked out into space.

The Queen eradication failed. Even so, Cinderella still had one final shot remaining. She severed the connection between the space station and the Orbital Elevator, cutting off the Raptures' reinforcement route.

“

With this... I hope it's a happy ending...

— Cinderella, OLD TALES

Her family was scattered, and she too plunged back down to the surface. She did not reach the happy ending she had hoped for, but the light she fired to the very end bought humanity time to survive. It was an achievement won by Cinderella and OLD TALES in a place where no one would ever know. That Counters could be active in our present timeline was only made possible by Cinderella rising above her pain to deliver that decisive blow.

Having survived the fall, Abe set out to find Cinderella, keeping her promise that they would meet again. When she finally found her after five years, Cinderella's body was severely damaged. Abe began repairing Cinderella—a repair process that would take an excruciatingly long time.

Abe was not unscathed either. Damaged from the fall and compounded by the passage of time, her memories and knowledge began to crumble. She repeated a cycle of re-learning what she forgot, making repairs, and forgetting once more. When she ventured out to seek help, she was instead captured as a research subject, her body mutilated, and then discarded. The researcher who created the Nikkes to save humanity could no longer even remember who she was.

Thus, Abe became 'Grave,' the Nikke carrying a coffin. Even as everything eroded away, her sole purpose remained: to protect Cinderella and rewrite her story. What sustained her through a century of waiting was, in the end, that single promise.

And in the present day, after meeting the Commander and Counters, Grave's time begins moving again. In Main Story Chapter 32, when Cinderella awakens, Grave reveals her damaged face. She believed Cinderella would not recognize her, with both her face and voice altered. But what Cinderella saw was the heart that had protected her throughout all that long time.

“

You are still beautiful.

— Cinderella, Main Story Chapter 32

To the audience member who had promised a century ago to watch from the closest seat, Cinderella gave that answer. Standing against Behemoth, she returned to the side she chose. All that remained now was finding the scattered members of the OLD TALES squad—her family.

Let's turn back time briefly. Siren also survived the fall. After wandering in search of her family, Siren was washed out to sea and met 'Levi,' a Nikke covered in black fluid—the figure who would later become Leviathan of the Four Beasts.

Levi considered herself hideous and couldn't trust anyone who approached her. Yet Siren approached Levi without hesitation. She taught her how to control the black fluid and extended her hand, inviting her to head out into the outside world together. A Little Mermaid who lost her family and a Nikke who viewed herself as a monster became friends.

However, the giant Rapture 'Gluttony' appeared before them. Paralyzed by fear, Levi failed to help Siren, and Siren was swallowed by Gluttony. Losing the friend who had finally made her open her heart left Levi with profound guilt. Regret over abandoning Siren became a scar Leviathan could not escape, even long after becoming Leviathan.

Siren survived inside Gluttony's throat by forging a sanctuary out of liquid metal. She endured a staggering 70 years alone, longing for her family. Entering that solitude were Mori, Mihara, and Yuni. Siren helped them escape, but chose to stay behind to suppress the dangerous energy inside.

However, this time there was someone who refused to leave Siren behind: 'Mori,' a Nikke with neither great power nor a remarkable background. Mori returned with the help of Mihara and Yuni, successfully rescuing Siren. Following the signal Siren sent out, Cinderella and Grave arrived as well. Thus, Siren reclaimed her family and welcomed Mori, her savior, as new family. The cast required to write a new story—a happy ending—began to gather.

Siren faltered and wandered, yet she had been protecting humanity as a Goddess of Victory all along. As revealed in 'EDEN SPEAR,' the veil of bubbles Siren created had obscured the Queen's vision for a long time. If Cinderella severed the path leading to the heavens, Siren blinded the eyes looking down from those heavens. In this way, the forgotten Nikkes were buying time for humanity.

The story with Levi continues in Main Story Chapters 41 and 42. Reunited, Siren accepts Leviathan, who was trapped in guilt. And when Gluttony swallows Siren once again, Leviathan does not run away. Achieving true gigantification, she rips open Gluttony's maw and rescues her friend. The Nikke who had abandoned her friend in 'MUDFISH' became the Nikke who saved her friend this time.

After their ocean voyage in 'WAVE TO YOU,' the group set out to find their last remaining family members, Hansel and Gretel. The twins were at the home of the Heretic 'Bernuia.' During the fall, Gretel was severely injured while protecting Hansel, and it was Bernuia who saved the two as they waited for Abe's return. Bernuia even sacrificed her own legs to save Gretel's life. Though she referred to them as slaves, that house was a haven that protected the twins.

This led to a past clash with Siren. Believing the twins were held captive by a Heretic, Siren attacked Bernuia; trying to stop it, Hansel failed to control the output of the armament she was operating alone. Bernuia shielded Siren, preventing a direct hit, but Siren fell off the cliff into the sea. That was how events led into 'MUDFISH.' And now, the returned Grave no longer even retained intact memories of their time together. To the twins, the question arose whether she had come to reunite with family, or simply needed weapons to fight the Queen.

Resolving that conflict was Mori. The twins cherished each other, yet misunderstood that the other hated them. Mori sensed that anxiety and helped them convey their true feelings. Grave, too, rather than regaining all her memories, expressed her relief simply that both were alive. The twins accepted Grave as she is now and agreed to fight together. Instead of restoring their past selves, they became a family once more in their changed forms. The weakest among them became the strength that rallied and reconnected the strongest.

Yet Mori does not leave with them. She chooses to stay by Bernuia's side to guard the home where everyone will return. Though she saw them off calmly, she burst into tears once her friends were out of sight. She wanted to go with them, and wished she were strong enough to do so. Though she was the weakest member in terms of combat power, it was Mori who reconnected their scattered hearts and left them a place to return to. Ahead of the final battle, OLD TALES thus becomes whole once more.

Red Shoes attempted to unite everyone by forcing them to submit to the Raptures. Yet what reunited the surviving OLD TALES was the desire to save one another. Abe never gave up on Cinderella, and Siren reached out to Levi and Mori. Those who received that kindness in turn rescued Siren and her family.

This 'GINGERBREAD HOUSE' chapter can be seen as OLD TALES' power-up ahead of the final battle with the Queen. It was a process of reclaiming their reason to fight, which is just as vital as maintaining their weapons. Comrades have gathered to challenge the Queen eradication operation that failed a hundred years ago, and they now have a home to return to once the battle ends.

“

An old tale should end in a happy ending.

— Grave, Main Story Chapter 32

Grave's wish as she awakened Cinderella now connects to the story of the entire reunited family. As all squads assemble for humanity's hope, OLD TALES advances toward the final battle against the Queen. Though their journey ended in separation a hundred years ago, this time they have comrades to fight beside and a home to return to.

As the text in the revealed D-6 countdown image states, it is time to write a new story: a story of defeating the Queen and returning together to the home where Mori waits. We look forward to OLD TALES finally writing the sentence 'and they lived happily ever after' at the end of their fairy tale this time around.