Trama

Vittoria: A medieval kingdom banished deep underground a thousand years ago, brought down by the hubris of its ruler upon the slaying of a god. Lost and forgotten, a new kingdom was built upon the empty hills that mark its grave -- but its ruins are still populated by the vengeful, twisted spirits of its once-proud people, and whosoever falls into these depths is most certainly doomed to suffer a torturous demise at their hands. Bounty hunter Ares, however, is not quite so willing to accept this fate. In this reimagining of a golden-era classic, Ares must work his way up to freedom through over 40 floors of unimaginable danger while his archrival, Dela - a powerful sorceress who fell into the ruins with him - is hot on his tail.

A long time ago, lived a kingdom named Vittoria. (Bythol in the original PC98 port and Berimya in the SNES port) The kingdom lived in peace and harmony with a large tower that pierced the skies, and was ruled by the king, Bistalle. (Berebus in the SNES port) Bistalle was once a worthy king, though one day he sat and thought to himself: "What if...Vittoria can be made an even greater nation..."

It was at this moment that Bistalle had fallen into majestic folly. He ordered his minstrels to seek for documents hidden in the tower, which had been guarded by a dragon whom gave the kingdom its everlasting peace. The stolen documents contained the instructions on how to obtain the formidable dragon that the dragon bore; Bistalle intended to take this power for himself. His arrogance plagued him further, and the lord of Vittoria led a march to the tower, every single one of his solders standing close behind him with their spears and shields. When Bistalle approached his destination and confronted the dragon, the dragon spoke back to the king.

"Corrupted tyrant, I shall grant you the power you seek, but it will take a form befitting of your blackened heart..."

Moments later, Vittoria collapsed. It sunk deep beneath the depths of the underworld, and Bistalle transformed into an unholy monster as his land was cursed to be forever purged of existence and remain a folktale.

Since then, 1,000 years have passed...

A young swordsman named Ares Toraernos (Varik in the SNES port) wanders his way in a new town. Working as a bounty hunter by trade, Ares is recognized as a force to be reckoned with, some even labeling him as the greatest swordsman in the land. After overhearing a conversation from a couple of stragglers in a nearby tavern about a large sinkhole that was rumored to have welcomed those to find treasure, Ares sets out to investigate out of pure curiosity, but this curiosity leads to him bumping into a persistent nemesis of his. Dela Delon (Alexis in the SNES port), a youthful and sorceress who was undoubtedly beautiful and seductive, has been chasing after Ares for 5 years in hopes of catching him as revenge after she falsely accused him of slaying her father and teacher, Balcan. Dela corners Ares at the sinkhole abruptly and confronts him once again. Dela believes she has come prepared for Ares this time, and summons a fireball from her staff; Ares watches in shock as he dodges the flames and feels the ground suddenly dissipate under his feet. Before he knows it, he falls down into the sinkhole, down, down, down, into the abyss.

Waking up, Ares is surprised he has survived a fall of nearly thousands of feet. He grips his sword and shield which have thankfully not landed too far from his body, and stands. The tower still stands majestically, now piercing the surface instead of the sky. Ares composes himself, makes his way back to the surface, encounters Dela numerous times along the way as he slays the monsters that challenge his wrath, and learns more of his surroundings as he interacts with the small population of shopkeepers scattered throughout the underground ruins. When Ares approaches the climax of his quest, he meets Dela one last time, and rescues her from a monster, a surprising reaction from the swordsman to the sorceress. Dela coughs, she stands, and decides to allow Ares to walk just a tad bit longer with his head. After finally escaping, Dela tracks Ares down at the surface and finalizes the ceasefire, and Ares continues on with his life as a swordsman...