For this mission, Ciel wants Zero to investigate the ruins of the lost civilization of Notus. This area is completely forbidden from anyone, even Neo Arcadians, so it must hold an important secret, one that Elpizo has been hunting.
Elpizo Gone Mad
As soon as Zero transfers to the Forest of Notus, he discovers Elpizo is already there, with the Baby Elves, Crea and Prea. Elpizo gives Zero a cheery greeting and asks if he's looking for him, but Zero skips the formalities and demands that he return to the base immediately, wondering what he plans to do on his own. That's when Elpizo says something that's shows he's gone out of his right mind...
Elpizo suddenly reveals his secret; he's looking for an object that will make him invincible. After seeing the Baby Elves, he learned it was none other than the terrifyingly powerful Dark Elf. Out of pure excitement of his plan, he goes on, saying the he knows the Dark Elf can't be a myth. He believes the key to unlock it seal is around the forest, and confidently challenges Zero to beat him to it, rushing out of sight.
Ciel notices Zero has found Elpizo. Deeply concerned, she requests Zero to take care of him, and the mission begins...
Getting Through the Forest
The Forest of Notus is nearly identical to the Forest of Dysis. However, it lacks the obscene degree of traps to get through. It's almost completely linear, and has many, yet challenging Cyber-Elves in hiding, along with an aformentioned Sub Tank somewhere.
As you begin going deeper into the forest, you'll find many Saranets buzzing around to annoy you like before. There is also a new enemy, Caterpull, slinking around in the trees, similar in appearance to the Pokemon Caterpie. This enemy is puny and practically harmless, and you can only suffer contact damage. In spite of this, the Buster isn't very good at hitting them. Stick to the Z-Saber here.
The real annoyance is when they fall from the foliage above. When leaves start falling from above, a Caterpull is about to drop down. You'll lose this warning if you burn the foliage with the Fire Chip, but you can memorize where they drop from. Defeat 5 for File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.PNG Cyber-Elf Kelon, the frog Animal Elf. This elf will slow down the speed you slide down walls, giving you more time to react to danger below.
Burn the foliage where the first tree is, and you'll uncover a hidden area of platforms. You'll get some E-Crystals and be able to reach a Cyber-Elf Box, holdingFile:MMZ Hacker Elf Icon.PNG Cyber-Elf Iterex. There is also a second hidden path on the right of the first tree with more E-Crystals and Life Energy.
After passing the first group of Caterpulls, you'll encounter another new enemy, the Shurubon. Like the Up-n-downs of the Classic series, they fly up and down pits and serve as an obstacle. Just blast one to get by, before another takes its place. Destroy 6 for File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.PNG Cyber-Elf Birhang.
Keep going forward, and you'll find the Molegules are also present in this forest as well. Make sure to get rid of each one you see so they can't tunnel under you.
Shurubons are also prevalent in groups further on. Take it easy as you go past so you don't mess up the timing destroying them and get two tricker ones in their place.
When you get past the large amount of enemies in the forest, you'll encounter a repeat of the Chain Rod-aided swinging on surveilance cameras. The first pit just has a couple Pantheon Warriors and a Z-Panel, not a death drop. You can still make it over by swinging on the first camera, dropping a little forward, and quickly hooking onto the next.
The second canyon requires a little less effort. You can swing over on the camera, or try to jump over to the other side and wall-jump back up.
An Elf in a High Place
Along with this, the mother-of-all annoying Cyber-Elves lurks in hiding here. For the sake of keeping a good rank, do not attempt to get it in-mission. As you may have noticed, there are many other cameras hovering around. When you get up the second canyon, try to dash-jump over onto the top of the one above nearby. It will require a lot of practice to get the timing right. Your best bet is to dash right at the very edge to make it. From here, dash-jump across the cameras to the left, or use the Chain Rod on the ones above to cross over to them.
Eventually, you'll get to the last camera. From here, you must dash jump off, and you'll be in range of a Cyber-Elf Box on a camera high above. Try and clip the box, not the camera, with the Chain Rod from a upward diagonal angle, to bust it open. If you got the impeccable timing just right, you'll succeed, and you can wait for the elf to come down to you. The other method requires sacrifice of a bee-type Animal Elf. It may bust it open for you if you hang from the camera there.
If you really lucked out, you can obtain File:MMZ Hacker Elf Icon.PNG Cyber-Elf Hafmarmn. This Elf can instantly half the HP of any boss in the game. It requires far more effort to get this Elf beyond any other in the game, so cross your fingers before trying to get it.
The Ruins of Notus
This should already look familiar to you. On the other side of the canyons lies the ruins section of the forest. This area isn't much to fear beside enemies in bad places, and the occasional risk of spikes. The only enemies that await are Pantheon Hammers and a few stray Securipiders.
Right before you enter, there is a deceiving step in front of you. If you run all the way to the end instead of jumping up, you'll drop into a secret passage and discover a Cyber Elf Box, with File:MMZ Nurse Elf Icon.PNG Cyber-Elf Mappie inside, one of the four Cyber-Elves that adds four more bars of health to your HP. A few hard-to-get rewards await above the entrance, too.
The first section of the ruins has a few blocks like the kind you would pull on with the Chain Rod, but these are destructible instead. There are few hidden rewards, but also enemies, where these blocks hide paths above and below.
Another Cyber-Elf awaits further in the ruins, but you'll need to be more crafty to snag this one. Down in the lower corridor of the ruins should be a moveable block. Near it, wall-jump up a little ways. You should catch sight of the Elf, but this one's out of reach. You need to pull the block with the Chain Rod so you can hook onto the uppermost corner of this wall with Rod, using the height boost of the block. Pull up on the Rod and wall-jump up to find a secret passage. Inside, you can claim File:MMZ Nurse Elf Icon.PNG Cyber-Elf Mitick . There's also a second way, a path above that leads to the Elf, but has spikes to cross. It requires a careful jump or proper Chain Rod swing to cross properly, but isn't worth the trouble.