Part 4: Arch Rivals (Part 1)

”The problem with being a strong Overlord is the rate at which one acquires enemies. Why, I can’t pick up my paper in the morning without three assassins attacking and someone I’ve never heard of declaring me their eternal rival!” – Overlord Titanos (assassinated)

Overlord Feinne on Makai Kingdom
Last time you guys resoundingly chose Babylon to wish for a new Netherworld for us.





So, before we do anything I’m going to talk about a new feature we have access to now that Chapter 2 has started: facilities. You know that Dog House, Shop, and Hospital we have lying around? We can use those in battle. We can bring them in, throw them around, hop people in and out, store items we’ve stolen, and so much more. We can invite up to three facilities, which don’t count against our POP. So let’s go into detail about how facilities work, as they’re seriously vital to playing this game right.

Creating Facilities:
In order to create a facility, we need to have someone Wish for it in the Sacred Tome. Two things about this. First, it costs an amount of mana based on the level of the character and the facility we want to create (as the facility will be created at their level). Second, you remember how Pram noted it’d be dangerous for a normal demon to Wish for a Netherworld? Well creating a new facility kills the character who is Wishing. It’s not all over for them, though, so don’t cry! Anyway the facilities we can create depend on the class of the wisher, there are some odd ones that only certain classes can create and we’ll see the ones that are useful later on probably.

Arranging Facilities:
We can fill up our facilities with items and characters while we’re in Zetta’s netherworld. This will let those characters start inside the facility rather than being invited normally be Zetta. The basic benefit of this is to extend range, since we can invite a facility then hop a character out, getting them farther out than Zetta could have. There are much greater uses for this than we’ll talk about now.

Inviting Facilities:
As noted, facilities are invited in by Zetta. There are a few differences, though, beyond what I noted above. See, facilities are big old buildings and when you drop them on something’s head it’s going to hurt. So unlike a character, you actually damage anything you drop a facility on. Unless it’s the Hospital, which heals them. Yeah I don’t even know.

Facility Effects:
When we’ve been in a facility, we get some bonus as a result. We get the effect of the most recent facility we’ve been in. To give some examples, the Dog House gives +10% stats, the Shop increases the money you gain from killing enemies, and the Hospital makes you regenerate health. The most inherently useful midgame facility, the Warehouse, actually gives no benefit. Once we pick one up in a few chapters you’ll see that it doesn’t need one, because it’s benefit is that it lets us win otherwise incredibly difficult maps in a single turn.

Fun Facility Games:
We’ve already got a few little tricks we can pull with facilities. The most obvious one is using them to relieve ourselves of some of the heavy crap we pick up in the field. We can send someone carrying a rock or something back into a facility and move the items into it. We can then jump them back out, and if they can reach an enemy they can even still attack. Facilities can also be thrown around just like anything else, and we’ll learn how that is so very helpful later.

Oh, and I did a bit of grinding in Micky’s levels because it’s always a good idea to prepare a bit before each chapter. I even unlocked a few upgraded versions of our current classes, though the mana costs for them are a bit steep at the moment.







I also have the ability to make the carrot and pumpkin men we saw in Micky’s levels. They’re really quite awful, though spending time as a Carrot is a great idea for any character we want to seriously use in the endgame because it’ll give them passive experience+%. I recruit a new Witch and Warrior (M) just in case, so say hello to our new recruits!





Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Someone was waiting for Zetta when he got to the new world.

Video- “Babylon’s Rest Area Intro”

Watch the Scene

???: I’ve been waiting for you, Zetta!



You!



He comes off like a know-it-all brat, but he is actually an Overlord
Heh, but even after 20,846 assassins, and 6,413 meaningless wars, he still hasn’t taken me down…



Spare the “what’s up” crap! I’m here to end you!
Not this again… How many times do I haveta kick your sorry ass?
Shut up! We’re tied, and you know it! …And, this time, you’re goin’ down!
Go home, kid. You can’t win. I’m the strongest freaking Overlord you’ll ever piss off.
The strongest? What’re you gonna do, bookworm? Give me a paper cut?
Hya… Hyaaha ha ha ha! Like I haven’t heard the book jokes a thousand times already.
You want some wrath, little boy? Then keep on talking… I’m doin’ just fine in the literary world.
You’re full of it! There’s no way you have that much power; you’re a freaking book!

If there’s one thing Zetta’s good at it’s bragging about how awesome he is.



Though he’s also good at then humiliating himself.



What the--!? I can’t move!
Aha…Haa! Hahahahaha! You idiot! Who’s the Overlord now, bitch!?
If your mana power’s so great, why can’t you get up, huh?
Ahaahahahahaha! This is hilarious! What would your disciple say if she saw you like this?
I don’t have a disciple! She’s dead to me!
Ohhh, how cold hearted, Master Zetta. Salome would cry if she heard you say that.
Shut up! It’s none of your business, anyway!
I suppose that’s true… Should we continue our business, then?
Forget it, I don’t need to prove anything. Even these guys could waste you at this point…

It’s probably a good thing Alex decided to just summon some cronies and leave, otherwise I guess I would have had to help Zetta.



Damn bastard… You’ll pay for this! But first… I gotta…
…get up.

Video- “Babylon’s Rest Area”

Watch the Battle

Okay, let’s talk about the map for a bit. We start out up against three Catsabers, who are fast but relatively weak, and a hut that contains two freakish demons that are pretty tough but fortunately are unarmed. One of the Catsabers holds the key, and when I kill it we get a themed area:





So, randomly when we open up new areas a themed one can be generated. The Power of Magic creates a map full of casters, for example. These areas are sometimes scripted in story maps, and sometimes just pop up out of nowhere to make things much easier or harder. We’ll see a few others in Chapter 2, like one that inflicts a status effect on the whole map. The Power of Magic is easily one of the scariest, because even low level casters can do enough damage to seriously threaten otherwise much stronger characters. I minimize my risk by just ending action when I’ve got the bonuses I want.

That’s it for this time. Next time we’ll see the rest of the chapter, which includes some really cool maps compared to the first.