A century before, in Sablier, a forbidden portal was flung wide by a boy, Vincent, in his single-minded desire to protect his brother, Gilbert. And thus did that foolhardy desire lead to the corruption of that innocent boy's soul like a sweet poison... Now, as Gil, Oz, and Alice wander the ruins of the former capital, they are assaulted by illusions from the past. But how much of it is real? And how much of it illusion?

The incuse on Oz Vessalius's chest ticks onward, but the young heir to one of the four great dukedoms directs his gaze back, seeking the facts behind a centuries-old tragedy. Intent on examining the ruins of Sablier despite warnings to scare him away, Oz and his makeshift party of explorers wander through the remnants of the former capital in search of clues to shed light upon the consuming darkness of the past. But in the yawning void where the opulent city once stood, will Oz come face-to-face with the truth? Or will he find misery the only resident...?

The snow-white maiden encountered once upon a time in the depths of the Abyss by the clown christened the Red-Eyed Specter...who was she really? As there are two sides to every story, could it be there are two sides to the existence known as Alice? Duke Barma may have provided a sordid outline, but Break colors the tale with vivid swathes of bloody crimson as he opens up about his past. Will these tragic truths long secreted away isolate Break further from his allies once he has revealed them?

Once, following the tragedy of Sablier, Jack Vessalius made a valiant sacrifice to stop his best friend, Glen Baskerville, by allowing his body to anchor a set of seals by which Glen's soul was confined. But now these seals, long guarded by mages under the watchful gaze of Pandora, are being smashed one by one at the hands of the Crimson Shinigami, whose aim is to return their master to his once-whole state. And so, the fragile peace achieved over the last century begins to writhe, like a horror released from Pandora's forbidden box...

"What those people are looking at...isn't me." Though Oz's sudden appearance in the midst of Pandora wreaks havoc, the initially chilly reception to the prison-breaker runs more than warm when Jack Vessalius, hero of the tragedy of Sablier and the man from Alice's memories, manifests in Oz's body. Sensing Oz's resultant inner turmoil, Uncle Oscar drags Oz and company on a "mission" to Lutwidge Academy, where Oz's little sister, Ada, is a student. But some carefree fun and a tearful reunion ten years in the making is not all for which Oz must prepare himself: crimson-cloaked foes are lying in wait to torture him for answers about the events of a hundred years ago...

The air of celebration surrounding fifteen-year-old Oz Vessalius's coming-of-age ceremony quickly turns to horror when he is condemned for a sin about which he knows nothing. He is thrown into an eternal, inescapable prison known as the Abyss from which there is no escape. There, he meets a young girl named Alice, who is not what she seems. Now that the relentless cogs of fate have begun to turn, do they lead only to crushing despair for Oz, or is there some shred of hope for him to grasp on to?