The Secret of the Waterfall

After discovering that Bifrost elder Weiss has been colluding with the Geysir Empire, Strider Nox's party — joined by fellow rangers Sven Dinawoo and Lucas Cole — pursues Weiss to Tara Valley. Tracking his trail there, they arrive near the village of Jadis, home to the Valtan, and head in to search for clues. The villagers mention that Weiss is about to leave on a long journey, so the party sets out to find him at once — unnoticed, a young Valtan boy secretly eavesdrops on their conversation.

Weiss, fleeing toward the Empire, is caught by Sven — but just as Sven moves to arrest him for treason, a mysterious swordsman blocks his way, and Weiss escapes in the chaos. With nothing to show for their efforts, Strider and Lucas regroup and head to Reindeer Forest, where Sven is still searching.

On the way there, Strider and Lucas discover Sven under attack by the same mysterious man, and step in to save him. Overwhelmed by their combined assault, the man unleashes his true power — but chides them for being willing to leave a comrade behind, and the two let him go rather than abandon the wounded Sven. As they treat him, Sven reveals that Weiss is nearby; Strider asks Lucas to look after Sven and pursues Weiss alone. The trail soon goes cold, though, and Strider has no choice but to return to Jadis Village, worried about Sven.

With the help of the young Valtan boy, Nin, Weiss slips his pursuers and finds a hiding place: a cave behind a waterfall, a secret known only to Nin. There, Weiss stumbles onto the Statue of the God of Destruction.

Back at Jadis, Strider checks on Sven's condition, and the two deduce that the mysterious man came to take Weiss to the Empire — Strider sets off once more to find him. After thanking Nin and parting ways, the mysterious man reappears before Weiss: his name is Sangir. He rebukes Weiss and moves to hold him accountable, but Weiss offers a trade — the statue's location, in exchange for his life.

Strider and Lucas, arriving at the waterfall cave later than the others, blame themselves for possibly being too late — and they are. Searching near the falls, they find Weiss's corpse. Believing it to be Sangir's work, they decide to report the situation to Duke Moselle and return to Bifrost.

In a parallel thread, having narrowly escaped the Empire's relentless pursuit, Gishne and Robin finally arrive at Bifrost. As Gishne looks at Robin, whining that the cold doesn't suit her and demanding to be taken somewhere warm and safe, he can only sigh.

This is the other shoe dropping from Chapter 2's unrest: the disappearances traced back then to Tara Valley and the Sulfur Cavern lead here to a traitor sitting on Bifrost's own ruling council. Weiss's betrayal ends in his own death by the chapter's close — Sangir gets the statue's location out of him and kills him anyway, information Sangir is still acting on when G.S crosses paths with him at the Underground Palace in Chapter 16. Weiss's betrayal is also the indirect lead-in to Grand Duke Moselle's assassination in Chapters 15–16.