Where to Find the First Crimson Forest Bell in Phantom Blade Zero

Quick answer: The first Crimson Forest bell is a Crane Bell a short climb from where the region starts. Use Space to scale the pair of walls bearing scratched X marks, then stay on the trail and skirt the foliage-covered cliff.

How you arrive in the Crimson Forest

The Crimson Forest opens as soon as you leave the cave behind the Great Waterfall in Weeping Creek Valley. That cave takes you past the hanging chain, the Traversal Talisman shrine and a “Words in Blood” rock. Once you’re through, the game shows a “STEEL AND STEAM / END OF CHAPTER” card.

Steel and Steam End of Chapter card before the Crimson Forest in Phantom Blade Zero

A short flashback plays next, showing a plank bridge in a red forest and a robed figure. Afterward, you take control of Soul in a narrow canyon full of red leaves. Your health and medicine charges are fully restored on arrival.

Soul in the red-leaf canyon where the Crimson Forest starts in Phantom Blade Zero

Open the map to check where you are. It reads “CRIMSON FOREST” with “Map Completion : 0%”, and Steel and Steam is listed as completed in the quest list.

Crimson Forest map at 0 percent Map Completion in Phantom Blade Zero

Route to the Crimson Forest bell

Ledges block the route from the spawn point, so turn back. Look for a rock wall bearing a large scratched X and the “Space” prompt. Push forward while pressing Space to scale the wall.

First X-scratched rock wall with a Space prompt in the Crimson Forest in Phantom Blade Zero

At the top, look just beside it for a second X-scratched wall with its own “Space” prompt. Climb it the same way.

Second X-scratched rock wall with a Space prompt in the Crimson Forest in Phantom Blade Zero

From the top of the second wall, follow the trail as it continues up through the red leaves.

Trail through red leaves above the scratched walls in the Crimson Forest in Phantom Blade Zero

A leaf-covered cliff cuts off the route to the bell. Leave it unclimbed; face it, follow its base to the right, then swing left around the cliff until you reach the bell.

Leaf-covered cliff to go around on the way to the Crimson Forest bell in Phantom Blade Zero

Walk up to the Crane Bell. It hangs beside a crane statue on a plank platform decorated with blue flowers and red candles. Approaching it starts a cutscene with Illusion of Inanis, a ghostly white-haired woman in blue robes, who speaks with Soul. Press Space to advance each line of dialogue. The scene won’t move on by itself.

Illusion of Inanis beside the Crimson Forest Crane Bell in Phantom Blade Zero

After the cutscene finishes, return to the crane and press E when prompted to ring the bell.

E prompt at the crane of the Crimson Forest Crane Bell in Phantom Blade Zero

To confirm the bell is active, check the map. It now shows a bell icon labeled “CRIMSON FOREST”, and Map Completion rises from 0% to 1%.

Crimson Forest map with the bell icon at 1 percent Map Completion in Phantom Blade Zero

What the Crimson Forest Crane Bell unlocks

The bell now serves as the starting respawn and Traverse point in the Crimson Forest. As with the other bells, interacting with it opens a menu headed CRIMSON FOREST, with these entries:

Traverse
Upgrade Equipment
Train Abilities
Save
Leave

The CRIMSON FOREST bell menu with Traverse, Upgrade Equipment, Train Abilities, Save and Leave in Phantom Blade Zero

Upgrade Equipment is where you can spend the Solvent you collected in Steel and Steam. For example, upgrading the Sanguine Twin from Lv. 1 to Lv. 2 here costs 2 Twinned Metal, 1 Solvent and 990 Remnant Dust. That raises Damage from 200 to 220 and Guard Break from 100 to 110. The full process is covered in upgrading weapons, and more on this bell type is in Crane Bells.

Crimson Forest is one of the five hideout regions belonging to Quick Hand Zhang.

Illusion of Inanis quest starts at the bell

In the cutscene at the bell, Illusion of Inanis reassures Soul and asks how his heart is. She describes the Chord as her daughter’s vessel and explains that the Song of Annihilation was played, which turned the depths of the forest into an isolated illusion. Soul says the sound of weeping led him here and wonders whether the Chord is calling for help. She tells him she can remain a little longer in the illusion deep in the forest, and remarks that this Crane Bell feels somehow different.

After the scene, the quest ILLUSION OF INANIS is added with the objective “Search for the illusion of Inanis”. You can find it in the map’s quest list, marked in the Crimson Forest.

Illusion of Inanis quest notice at the Crimson Forest Crane Bell in Phantom Blade Zero