Artist: Kozaki Yusuke
The eighth Book of the game, starting from December 2022. After mending relations between Askr and Embla since Book VI, an official peace treaty is interrupted by Embla's rogue factions invading Askr, but the strange behaviors of the Embla soldiers hints a False Flag Operation, as a part of a bigger scheme: the assassination of the royal leaders of Askr and Embla. Læraðr, ruler of Yggdrasill, the Realm of the World-Tree, orders his daughter Ratatoskr, one of the members of the Healing Hand, to assassinate Alfonse, but she bumbles it when she actually meets face-to-face with him and decides to join up with the Order of Heroes to find out why a normally life-saving organization is now ordered to take lives.
- Beneath Suspicion: The count leading the imperial guard was not considered by the Order of Heroes as an assassin to take the life of the emperor of Embla in Chapter 4 because the title of imperial guard is passed down by a single family through generations and is a prestigious title in Embla, the count being stubborn about not wanting help from the outside to guard the emperor, confident that the emperor is well guarded enough, and is known that the imperial guard holds the emperor above their own families. However, Chapter 5 potentially has the assassin actually be Níðhöggr, due to her being able to walk in and incapacitate Veronica's guards with ease, making her likely being to frame the count for the emperor's assassination attempt.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: The count leading the imperial guard manages to attack and inflict a mortal wound on the emperor of Embla without difficulty in Chapter 4 because he was Beneath Suspicion by the Order of Heroes. It is possibly Subverted, however, with the reveal that Níðhöggr was able to knock out Veronica's guard with ease in Chapter 5, making her very likely to frame the count for the emperor's assassination attempt.
- Boss-Only Level: Chapter 1 Part 5 features only one enemy: Ratatoskr herself. In comparison, the only other part that has one enemy is Preface Part 1, the very first battle players are introduced in.
- Call-Back: There are references to Book VI, such as Askr being born from Yggdrasill when they visited the realm and peace mending between Askr and Embla after the Book's events.
- False Flag Operation:
- Læraðr has taken control of some Embla soldiers to invade Askr as a way to interrupt the official peace treaty between Askr and Embla after a strained relationship in the past, and has anticipated that it will be strained again when Askr accuses Embla and Embla denies ordering the attack. However, the Order of Heroes has already figured out that they serve another master from the fact that any rebellious noble in Embla needs to not have it trace back to them in order to avoid retribution from Princess Veronica.
- In Chapter 4, as a desperate attempt to increase security on the emperor of Embla to prevent an assassination, Anna orders the use of weapons taken from the fallen soldiers of Yggdrasill to attack the royal villa the emperor of Embla is current at as a way to cover that they themselves are responsible. However, while this succeeded in increasing security, an assassination attempt was still successful on the emperor via possible Bodyguard Betrayal.
- Knockout Gas: How Níðhöggr was able to get to Veronica without the guards protecting her in Chapter 5, and how possibly she was able to frame the captain of the imperial guard for the emperor's assassination attempt in Chapter 4.
- I Know You Know I Know: In Chapter 3, after knowing that Ratatoskr has information about the Order of Heroes and that she was sent by the Order of Heroes to gather information, Hræsvelgr told Ratatoskr to inform the Order of Heroes that she will be assassinating Alfonse soon so that they would shore up their defenses, but Alfonse did not take the bait and instead would do something else, knowing that her family are withholding information from Ratatoskr and that going on the defensive means that Ratatoskr would betray the trust of her family, which later has him go alone to meet up with Princess Veronica covertly in the dark of night. However, Hræsvelgr would later catch him alone and would nearly assassinate him had he not signal that he was in danger to the Order of Heroes and hastily intervene, but Alfonse knew that he would be pursued because he intentionally told his route to Ratatoskr so that she would tell the truth to Hræsvelgr where he is as a way to have to have Ratatoskr gain the trust of her family again long enough to have the Order of Heroes can cripple the Yggdrasill forces when they get the upper hand.
- Invisible to Normals: The gates to Yggdrasill, which are also its roots, normally scattered in many places and are always on the move, are only seen and be used by those given special permissions by Læraðr, the ruler of Yggdrasill. This presents a problem for the Order of Heroes as they cannot confront Læraðr and only can gather information by proxy through Ratatoskr.
- Magic A Is Magic A: The gates of Yggdrasill are noted by Alfonse to be very similar to the gates that the Askr royal family opens to other worlds, so to close off the largest gates at the largest roots of Yggdrasill he asks Veronica, who has the power to close gates that the royal family of Askr, to close that gate off with her royal family power in Chapter 6, heavily limiting the deployment of the Yggdrasill forces.
- Save the Villain: At the end Chapter 2, Ratatoskr asks the Order of Heroes to save her older sisters Hræsvelgr and Níðhöggr, as after they succeed in their assassination missions they are ordered to killed themselves, whom have Undying Loyalty to their father Læraðr and will do as he asks no matter what.
