Ultima: The Terror of Exodus (Manga)

Ultima: The Terror of Exodus (ウルティマ ～ エクソダスの恐怖 Uruteima ~ Ekusodasu no Kyoufu) is an Ultima-inspired manga created by artist Seiji Tanaka which loosely retells the events of Ultima III. It was published on August 15, 1988 by JICC and originally sold for 880¥ (about $7.00)

Synopsis
When the dark god of evil, Exodus, arises once more in the realm of Sosaria, it resurrects the evil magicians Mondain and Minax and with their aide threatens to plunge the land into eternal darkness. Its up to the four chosen "Dragon Warriors" of prophecy to defeat it: Genji, a futuristic space explorer; Aida, a peaceful, animal-loving cleric; Lennon, a paranoid and often disgruntled bard; and Bigelow, a mechanized robot with a capacity for human emotion.

Protagonists

 * Genji: a plucky young space pilot from Earth's future
 * Aida: an empathic cleric with a love of the natural world
 * Lennon: a morose and pessimistic bard
 * Bigelow: a giant robot capable of human feeling

Antagonists

 * Exodus: the great god of evil which has lain sealed for centuries
 * Mondain: an evil magician; resurrected by Exodus to serve it
 * Minax: an evil sorceress with power over time; resurrected by Exodus to serve it

Other Characters from Ultima

 * Lord British: the munificent and wise king of Sosaria
 * The Great Earth Serpent: the guardian spirit of the Sosarian planet

Other Characters Unique to the Manga

 * Nagaraja: a strange disfigured mystic living in Dawn
 * Sattava: the head of the Lycaeum and father to Aida.

Plot Summary
During a festival celebrating the two-hundredth anniversary of Sosaria's founding, the head of the Lycaeum, Sattava, recognizes a dangerous looming conjunction of the worlds two moons, Trammel and Felucca. Realizing that it foretells the reawakening of a great evil, he sends his daughter, Aida to warn Lord British, entrusting her to the care of a bard known as Lennon. As she leaves, hordes of daemons appear both at the Lycaeum and in the capital city of Britain, killing Sattava and terrorizing the populace.

Elsewhere, a space pilot from Earth's future, Genji, is mysteriously transported to Sosaria when a venture onto a previously unexplored asteroid results in him finding a magical teleportative gate. Once there, he encounters Aida and Lennon, as they flee the attack on Britain. In the midst of the melee, a mechanized robot, Bigelow enters the fray, saving the lives of the three humans.

After the battle, the four protagonists are brought before Lord British, who had used his psychic abilities to summon Genji and Bigelow to the realm. He explains to them that Exodus, a God of destruction, was sealed away centuries ago - but that the spirit which holds him within the planet may soon lose its ability to bind him. He charges the four heroes, who match the description of the great "Dragon Warriors" of prophecy, to seek out the Four Seals and to defeat Exodus that he might not consume the world. Overcome by the exertion of the summoning, the king then collapses, entering a death-like trance as the spiritual energy of his body replenishes.

Seeking more information of the "seals," the party journeys toward Yew, in the hopes of using its moongate to travel quickly to Devil Guard and to thereafter seek out the hidden city of Dawn. En route, they encounter a stampede of animals, running from the daemonic horde. Aida, a natural empath, manages to calm the creatures and they ride them into Yew, where the heroes are warmly welcomed by the city's acolytes. Just as the druids of the city have begun to summon the moongate, however, the daemons, assisted by Minax, siege the city. Sheltering themselves in the Circle of Light, the Yewen order just barely manages to teleport the party away as the enemy breeches their protective barrier and begins to massacre all within.

In the abandoned settlement of Devil's Guard, the four heroes attempt to seek out the next gate, shocked by what they have just witnessed. In the midst of the ruins, they are confronted by Minax, who uses her powers to separate the party and hurl them through space and time. Aida, using her natural psychic abilities, manages to locate the thread of time which includes Genji's life and calls out to him - creating distant memories of her throughout his childhood and youth. She eventually manages to find the current iteration of Genji and reunites with him, finding Lennon and Bigelow soon after. The four then return to Minax. His power now augmented by his bond with Aida, Genji manages to slay the enchantress, breaking the magical jewel on her forehead that holds the key to her power at the behest of a mysterious voice.

Following the voice, the heroes are transported to Dawn, where they find the decrepit and disfigured mystic, Nagaraja. He bestows upon the four visions of their future selves, and of Exodus, before drawing their attention to the strange dragon-shaped marks which have appeared on each of their bodies. Telling them that these symbols are indicative of their awakening to their true power, Nagaraja sends them to the lost world of Ambrosia, instructing them to seek out the power of the seals there.

In Ambrosia, they are attacked by Mondain, who, like Minax, had been resurrected by Exodus' power. While Genji engages him, the rest of the party searches for a way to unlock the mysterious seals, only to witness Genji's mark transform into a magical spirit dragon which assists him in driving back the magician. As the archaic building in which they are fighting crumbles around them, the orb-shaped artifact which holds all four seals is revealed, and the heroes receive the mystic powers reserved for them. As Genji attains his seal, it takes the form of a glowing sword, and with it he cuts off Mondain's left arm before the wizard flees through an opening moongate. The party follows as Ambrosia is ripped apart by the magical forces at play and the onslaught of Mondain's troops.

Later, after saving a small band of refugees from the daemonic army, the newly empowered Dragon Warriors arrive near the entrance to the Isle of Fire. Here, Lennon uses his seal, a Silver Horn, to shatter the "Devil's Doors" which bar access to the island. When the group is confronted by the Crimson Serpent which guards the isle, Bigelow hangs back to fight it, seemingly sacrificing himself as he allows the others to continue onward. As the lunar conjunction begins and the remaining heroes press onward, it is revealed that Exodus seeks to subdue the very spirit of the Sosarian planet, the Great Earth Serpent, and to bend it to its evil will that it break the magical bindings which keep it sealed. Possessing the body of Mondain, the spirit of Exodus finds an outlet into the world and seeks to inhabit its true body.As it begins its resurrection, great upheavals wrack the world, enveloping it in swarms of monsters and destruction.

As the world begins to rend itself apart, Aida implores the holy Earth Serpent to hear her prayers and to turn against Exodus. When she is nearly killed by the rising tide of devastation, Genji, overcome with emotion and anger, begins to emit a blinding white light, which spreads to Aida, as well as to Lennon and the grievously injured Bigelow outside. As the true power of the Dragon Warriors at last meets the re-arisen Exodus, the world is stripped of all life - leaving it a barren wasteland.

Miraculously, however, life reasserts itself over Sosaria, and verdant forests and glades bloom and flourish across it within a matter of minutes. The four warriors awaken in a mysterious garden, all dressed in gleaming white togas as they too are reborn. (Bigelow has been transformed into a human man.) Happy at their reunion, the four of them walk away to go look upon the renewed Sosaria, now free of Exodus' evil.