Zenith

In the remakes of Dragon Quest III from the Super Famicom and Gameboy Color, Zenith is a bonus dungeon that can be reached after completing the game. It is possible that this might be Zenithia from another time, as it alludes to it by name and general structure, but various details are different.

Location

Zenith is reached by stepping into the light of the stained glass windows at the Dragon Queen's palace in the normal world, although this only occurs if the player has already defeated Zoma and seen the ending, earning the "Roto" title on their save file on the loading screen.

The heroes will find themselves on a floating island surrounded by thick clouds. On this island is a deep cave, containing many rooms resembling those seen previously. Many fierce monsters populate this dungeon, including an alternate form of Baramos known as Baramevils. The final room of the dungeon is a monster arena, where the heroes fight inside the ring (unless they choose to walk past the enemy rather than fighting him).

After the dungeon the heroes find themselves in a castle, with four human-looking occupants including a human king. The King will tell them about God Dragon, or Divinegon, who lives atop a large tower above the castle. There is also a small house that the heroes pass through between the castle and the tower, where an old man stirs a large pot; he explains that this is a special medicine he's cooking. Whether the heroes decide to taste the medicine or not does not seem to affect gameplay, though it burns the hero's mouth to try.

The tower has even fiercer enemies, including a number of Ramias that attack the heroes and can cast Disperse to expel party members back to the pub in Aliahan. It also contains the most powerful weapon in the game, the Wrecking Flail. Upon reaching the top of the tower, there is an altar, above which resides Divinegon, a long green serpentine dragon resembling Shenlong of the Dragon Ball series. He challenges the heroes to a duel, and if they can defeat him within a certain number of turns (35 for the first, 25 for the second, and 15 for any later wishes) they will be granted a wish. These wishes include a new pachisi track, a personality-changing naughty book, and the revival of a certain character. In the gameboy version there is also a wish to receive certain unique monster medals, needed (along with the other medals, which are rare drop items from various monsters) in order to enter that version's second bonus dungeon.

Connections to other Dragon Quest games

Whether Divinegon is related to Master Dragon, whether the castle and tower are related to Zenithia (or Baron's Tower), and if so, when this takes place in relation to Dragon Quest IV, V, or VI is unclear. Dragon Quest VI, however, also features a human king of Zenithia, which may or may not be related.

The island seen at the beginning of the Zenith area, and the cave of familiar rooms within, also bears a physical resemblance to the first bonus dungeon in Dragon Warrior VII, which the heroes of that game travel through to meet God.