Salvation Lies Above

Salvation Lies Above is the Main Quest as well as associated achievement/trophy for the Zombies map Tag Der Toten in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

It involves Victis (Samuel J. Stuhlinger, Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Marlton Johnson and Russman) assisting Nikolai Belinski in constructing the Agarthan Device in order to banish the Multiverse, Element 115, Agartha and Doctor Monty into the Dark Aether. It requires players to "ascend from darkness" by creating The Way Through, which is used by Samantha Maxis and Eddie to escape into a new, un-corrupted universe.

Step 0 - Requirements

Salvation Lies Above requires at least two of the Hermit's challenge totems to be completed, as well as the flinger to the Golden Pack-a-Punch Machine being repaired, the Wunderwaffe DG-Scharfschütze, and Samantha's Music Box. The player must have also opened up each of the secret areas blocked off using the Dynamite.

Step 1 - Dials

"Amigos, I will get right to the point. You need the Agarthan Device. I know how to construct it. Help me, and I will let you have the device, once I am done with it."

— Hermit

After completing at least two of the Hermit's trials, the player can head back up to the top of the Lighthouse. The Hermit will then give them a pair of four colored dials. These dials must then be placed around the sides of the Artifact Storage room of the Tugarin ship where the Apothicon Blood rests. Once the dials are placed, the player must then enter the correct numbers into each dial. Note that each number for the dial is randomly generated each match. There are two ways to go about this - by either rotating the dial until a "ding" sound is heard, or finding the correct numbers for each dial. The locations of each number is as follows:

Blue Dial - Cargo Hold
Orange Dial - Forecastle
Purple Dial - Stern
Yellow Dial - Sun Deck

Step 2 - Acquiring the Vril Vessel

"You... you will help us... but first, we demand fealty... find us offerings three."

— Apothicon Blood

At this point, the Apothicon Blood will speak to the player, where it will demand that they help. But before this, the Blood requires three offerings. The Blood will tell the player where each offering is located. The locations of the offerings are as follows, in accordance with the Blood's hints.

Where one mysteries- Lighthouse Level 1 - Staircase step
Where preservation freezes- Main Deck - Life preserver
Where crows roost- Forecastle - Barrels
Where bounded slept- Forecastle - Shipping container
Where bread breaks- Gangway - Island counter-top
Where earth crumbles- Geological Processing - Conveyor belt
Where falls freeze- Cargo Hold - Water
Where feet slip- Ice Grotto - Ice slide
Where filth cleanses- Decontamination - Cart
Where fire sinks- Sunken Path - Lantern
Where helixes peak- Lighthouse Level 4 - Jars
Where lightning aims- Security Lobby - Bench
Where lines berth- Docks - Zipline
Where lungs close- Lagoon - Underwater cave
Where madness sleeps- Specimen Storage - Bed
Where mountains throw- Outer Walkway - Red pipe
Where north is found- Bridge - Compass
Where power ends- Human Infusion - Power Switch terminal
Where hidden burns- Hidden Path - Generator
Where thirst dawns- Stern - Crane

Once the three offerings are gathered, the Blood will then instruct the player to find the Seal of Duality. Once again, the Blood will give hints as to where it is located. They are as follows, in accordance to the Blood's hints.

Where humans suffer - Bulletin board in Specimen Storage
Inside a icy hall - Wooden board in Ice Grotto
Where Aether was gathered - Bulletin board in Geological Processing
Where cages hang - Framed map in Boathouse

When the player heads to the correct location, they must then melee and place a Dynamite bomb on it. They can then pick up the Vril Vessel.

After this, the player can head back to Artifact Storage and wait for the Apothicon Blood to begin floating. The Blood must then be shot repeatedly with any weapon until a smaller, yellow-orangeish orb appears and flies off into a random location in the map. When the smaller orb is found, the player must throw a Snowball at it to turn it blue, and then shoot it again to return it to Artifact Storage. The player must be careful while approaching the smaller orb, as getting too close can cause it to flee. Returning to Artifact Storage once again, the smaller orb must then be once again hit with a Snowball and shot to return it to the blood. Once this step is repeated a total of three times, the Seal of Duality can be picked up.

Step 3 - Acquiring the Elemental Shard

Once the player has both the Seal of Duality and Samantha's Music Box, they must head to the Sunken Path and place the Device on a camp-fire, and then throw a Music Box onto the fire, turning it blue. An audio piece can then be heard near the fire where Primis and Ultimis discuss the Kronorium and the fate of Samantha. After the piece is done, the player can then pick the Seal back up.

The player must return to the Hermit atop the Lighthouse, where he will give them Soapstones. One of the Soapstones can be placed at the Boathouse trap and heated by turning the trap on. The other Soapstone can be frozen by being placed at the Decontamination trap and frozen by turning the trap on. Without going into any water, the player can head to Human Infusion, where the Soapstones can be placed in the control panel. A fuse in the middle of the control panel will now be obtainable, and must be placed in the power panel at Lighthouse Station next to the metal door. Unfortunately, the fuse will need to be charged. To do this, the player must shoot a red battery dangling off of the electric towers near Facility Entrance and Loading Platform. After shooting the battery, the player must kill three Electrified Zombies near three generators found around the map. The generators are located as follows:

Lighthouse Station - Upper platform, near barrel
Lighthouse Approach - Near MX9 wallbuy
Boathouse - Near the trap

Once this is done, the fuse at Lighthouse Station will be charged, allowing the player to open the metal door and collect the Elemental Shard.

Step 4 - Completing the Agarthan Device

"The Duality has been resolved... Arkeon... Kareon... Asteon..."

— Apothicon Blood

The player must then head back to Artifact Storage and repeat the process of shooting the Blood and smaller orbs, as well as placing the Seal of Duality at the Sunken Path campfire and throwing a Music Box on it. The player must collect the Seal of Duality again and give it to the Hermit at the top of the Lighthouse via his pulley. A lockdown event will begin, which the player must survive before the Seal can be re-acquired. After this, the player must head to each of the Pack-a-Punch locations at Beach, Lagoon, Sunken Path and Boathouse (the Lighthouse's light beam will indicate which Pack-a-Punch Machine must be done), place the Seal inside the Pack-a-Punch and charge it by killing zombies nearby. The smaller orbs step must then be redone one final time (although it will stay in Artifact Storage this time), as well as the campfire step. During this process, the Apothicon Blood is fully merged with the Agarthan Device, resolving the Duality between the Light (Keepers) and Dark (Apothicons) and merging the two back into the same species in the Aether.

Stuhlinger: "Richtofen, if this is it, I-"

Richtofen: "I know, Sammy. I found you mildly amusing too."

— Stuhlinger and Richtofen during the final phase of escorting the Seal of Duality.

The map, transformed during the escort step.

With the Seal of Duality, the player must head to the Golden Pack-a-Punch Machine and place it into the machine, killing zombies to charge it. Once it is fully charged, the Seal will leave the machine and form a red ethereal shield that the player must stay inside to avoid taking damage. The Seal will then float to Human Infusion, and the player must escort it as it does so. The entire map will have been transformed due to the Seal transforming all Element 115 in the area, causing the water to become lava. The player must avoid the lava to avoid being damaged as well. At certain points, the Seal will stop and can only continue once the player has charged it by killing zombies. Once the Seal heads to Human Infusion, the red shield will begin to shrink. The player must survive until the shield shrinks completely, completing the process. The Agarthan Device can now be picked up and given to the Hermit atop the Lighthouse. The Agarthan Device will open a portal and send the Hermit - now revealed to be Pablo Marinus, to The Great War. The Agarthan Device will then float back to the ground to the Forecastle which can be picked up, triggering the ending cinematic.

Step 5 - The Way Through

After the ending cinematic is complete, there is a final playable segment. Controlling Samantha Maxis and young Edward Richtofen, the player must walk out of the Dark Aether into a new universe as the Ultimis and Primis crew can be heard discussing what they'd like to do in life once their mission is complete. As they walk into the light holding hands, the screen will flash white, marking the end of the Aether Story.

Trivia

The name of the quest is a reference to the message on the wall of Nacht der Untoten stating "Salvation Lies Above".
- Furthermore, the description for the achievement/trophy is most likely also a reference to another message on the wall in Nacht stating "Ascend From Darkness".