In the time after apocalypse, man rebuilt himself in a crude fashion. Things returned to a primordial fashion, a medieval state of technology. But there were creatures, shades they were called. And a man who tried to save his daughter. But now the world has been saved from a disease called the black scrawl, and more book-kind have been discovered-including Grimour Rouge, a new gemstone champion of fire. But Noir has returned somehow, aided by a syndicate of dark people, and they seek to rule the world with a new discovery. This Gang of evil has finally unlocked the secrets of the past.
More powerful shades have been constructed from a substance the ancients call dark matter, the very material that brought about the doom of millions. Now the books and Nier must find the source of the creatures and discover the truth before history repeats itself.