Part 28: PART TWENTY-SEVEN: TWO AND A HALF TOWERS

Well, whatever disease I've got just refuses to go away. As such, this took way too long and probably isn't even all that funny.

However, it DOES mean we're really freaking close to done, here.






PART TWENTY-SEVEN: TWO AND A HALF TOWERS



When we last left off, we were on a harsh, unfamiar alien landscape. Which I guess isn't much different from Motavia and Dezolis in that regard.



And since all the vehicles work regardless of where you are, I may as well use 'em all. Digger, away!



Hey, to the southeast there's a tower! But there's also a path to the west. Hmm...



Le Roof's summer cottage?



This tower is making me angry!



: Who dares to enter The Anger Tower...Begone!



: O...kay?



Landrover time! Thankfully Demi isn't here to see this.



Heh heh heh.



Alright, back to that first tower we saw.



The towers on Rykros are really pretty simple. There's a few floors and a boss at the top, along with some easy treasure.



In fact, there's something to the left, right here in the lobby!



Full again? What the fuck?



Had to fly all the way back to Motavia. Stupid inventory limits.



Right, we're back! Stairs are to the right.



And apparently the forces of darkness have just been hanging out, waiting for us to return. Huh.



And there's more. I bet Seals would work well on these guys, were it not for the fact that every single one I fought died before taking a turn.



Anyway, here's the second floor.



And another easy Star Dew, too. How did this stuff get up here while being made in Meese?



We'll take that staircase later. For now, head up and spiral back to another stairway instead.



And then this one.





Leading to these! The Guard Armor goes on Wren, while I put the Guard Mail on Chaz because he gets hit a lot more than Rika does.



Alright, back to that previous staircase.



Going down nets you...



A Guard Robe for Rune. I'm starting to think that Guard is short for Guardian or somesuch, what with all this Protector stuff Le Roof was saying.



Going north from the stairs leads to...stairs.



Which also lead to stairs.

BOSS FIGHT: SA-LEWS (Gamevee Viddler)



: That's a really big guy.



: Rar! We are to be fighting you!



: Piss off!

:


Yeah, if you notice, that beam technically would've torn a hole right through our party based on where they're standing on the stairs.



: Oh? So you are the people sent here by Le Roof. Go ahead, try and defeat me. Prove that you've got the qualifications to be Protectors!

: I'm sure the string of Dark Force corpses we've left behind hardly mean anything.



Welcome to Sa-Lews.



He likes to do shit like this, Tandle, and even goddamn Legeon.



Causing me to do this. Sa-Lews, and the other boss on this planet, specialize in taking 1 damage from most of Rune's techs and skills. However, Legeon and Tandle still work quite nicely on them.



This too.



And this.



And this. The fight is really pretty straightfoward. Just hit him a lot, heal when needed, and eventually...



Problem solved!



: But...but you just dissolved! What's going on?

: Go, take these objects which are the proof you've met and passed me.





Hey, treasure boxes!





Okay, so now we have fashionable jewelry. That goes on the head slot. Huh. Anyway, the Algo ring is for Chaz. The Rykros ring is unequippable.



: I wonder if the next trial will be more of a puzzler? Like, a test of intelligence instead of a test of brute force?

: But if it's too hard, I can still hit it with my sword, right?

: I'd complain about that being your answer to everything if it wasn't working so damn well.



: HEEEEEEE-UHL!



The next tower is to the northwest.



: Oh, darn. I was hoping for Intelligence Tower.

: Look, let's not complain about getting trials I can easily overcome!



The Strength Tower is very pink. They are very secure in their manhood over here.



Now that we're loaded with Sol-Dews, Moon-Dews aren't all that great, but there's still a free one to the left of the stairway. Take the stairs now.



Next to the stairs is a hallway and another staircase. Go up to the next floor for now.



And from here, straight down to another flight.



Boy, this place is exciting.



Oh, hey, there's something fun! I'm not really sure why I haven't run into any Hakenleft/Bladeright parties so far this playthrough, but here's what happens when they fuse together: Twinarms! It's like the whole Lifedeleter scenario; technically dangerous, but pathetically HP'd.



To the right is the last Rod in the game, which casts Sar when used as an item. Really can't argue with that. Still, Rune is gonna keep holding those shields of his.



To the north is a Guard Claw, the strongest claw around. Unfortunately it doesn't have the Silver Tusk's anti-evil attribute, and it doesn't have the Genocyclaw's instant death ability. Probably a good idea to swap that last one out for a boss fight or something, though.



Back to the second floor; it's time to head south.



Along the way is a fork with another Guard Claw. Still not gonna use it, though.



Oh boy! Stairs! More ascending excitment abounds!



More Moon-Dew. Can't spare any Sol's for the saviours of all Algo, Rykros...ians?



Unfortunately, nothing else happens here until I reach the top.



Ho-hum.

BOSS FIGHT: DE-VARS (Gamevee Viddler)
(There's something wrong with this video that I can't fix at this point. It'll probably be obvious. Just...uh...try to ignore it, I guess?)



Not a one of those guys attacked me in the tower, of course.



: Ha ha, hee hee! Lightning bolts from me!

: God, don't talk like that.



: Oh, shit! Rocket fists!

: Defeated we be! Ho ho, hee hee!



: ...

: Welp, let's go get our asses handed to us.

: I suggest we do no such thing.

: We don't really have any other choice, bud.

: Verily.

: Besides, that doesn't look all that hard to dodge.



: They come and they come, but they're all sissies. I've been getting kind of bored! If you have passed Le Roof's scrutiny, then try and take me if you can!



From what I can tell, De-Vars is the physical counterpart to the Sa-Lews fight. However, they both play out almost exactly the same.



Mostly he just launches his arms at the whole party.



In fact, that's the only damn thing he did in the screenshot format. So here's a picture of Wren playing with his ultimate weapon. Very, very satisfying.



Yaaaaay.



: Aaah! He did it again! Why are you still whole?!

: You're better than I thought. That's comforting.

: Thanks!

: Mostly I just mean that I'm surprised you can even hold a weapon at all, ya little weenie.

:

: Go ahead and take these objects. They are the proof you need.



And then, poof, he's gone.



Yay!



What the fuck I just emptied the damn thing half an hour ago!



You know what? Having a shitty Efess just isn't worth it. Sod off!



...when the hell did I get another Trimate? Away it goes.

Anyway, Wren gets the Palma Ring, being a remnant of that planet's legacy, I assume. Rika gets the Motavia Ring as she was produced there, I assume. And Rune gets the Dezolis Ring for...not ever being in the Mansion on Dezolis?

As mentioned before, Chaz has the Algo ring, since he's the main character and is the Champion of the universe or whatever. That just leaves us with the Rykros Ring. What could this mean?



: Le Rooooof! You home?



: Yeah, that's still impressive.

: Ah, Protectors, you have carried out your mission well. You have proven yourselves, and I can enlighten you with the secret of Algo's genesis. Many billions of years ago... a spiritual life form split into two lesser beings, who eventually began to fight...



: a victor. The winner banished the enemy spiritual life form to another dimension.



: one The Profound Darkness.

: I see, 'Light' and 'Darkness'...

: I do find it amusing that the side who won got to call themselves 'the Great Light.' But do go on.

: The Great Light feared the resurrection of The Profound Darkness and placed a seal over the dimensional portal...

: A seal?

: That's right...a gigantic seal of three planets on one fixed star...

: That can't be...



: The Algo solar system. The Great Light also distributed Protectors of the seal between three tribes -- the Parmanians, Motavians, and Dezolisians. But there were fluctuations in the strength of the seal. Once every thousand years, its power would weaken drastically. As a warning of this phenomenon The Great Light created Rykros, which returns to Algo once every thousand years, and myself, Le Roof.

: But what use is an invisible planet as a warning?

: Holy shit, you actually beat me to the punch. Good job, kid.

: The Great Light knew that, through the generations, the Protectors would forget their mission. So Rykros was designed to break its silence when the seal's final moment came...to remind the Protectors of the mission they were born to do.

: Except an old green guy had to tell us about it and we had to come find you. Good job, there.

: The seal's final moment? What do you mean by final moment?



: animosity and the need for revenge. And once every thousand years, when the strength of the seal weakens, the most intense part of the* The Profound Darkness' hate-filled spirit is able to break through the portal and come to Algo in physical form. Wherein it would proceed to almost sorta kinda interfere with things by making small groups of people turn evil.

: So that's what Dark Force was!

: Every time, a courageous person would defeat Dark Force and bring about a brief period of peace by expelling it. Thankfully this allowed me and the guys to keep our vacation plans. But The Profound Darkness is patient, and finally it destroyed the planet of Parma in battle.

: I wouldn't call a small ship falling on it 'battle.'

: That means part of the seal is gone!

: That's right. And now, a thousand years later, The Profound Darkness is trying to break completely free at last.

: The seal's final moment... Are you saying that it's happening now?

: Maybe.

: Maybe?

: The Darkness will once again wield it's frightning power of rock, and completely break the seal, or...

: Or what?

: Someone will conquer The Darkness and render the seal meaningless.

: Someone like us.

: Protectors, listen carefully...If The Darkness escapes, the seal, that is, the Algo solar system, will certainly be destroyed. The only way to prevent this is to go to The Darkness, enter its dimension, and destroy it. As long as you have those Rings of the Stars, you should be able to withstand the largest part of the power of The Darkness. So the time has come. Obey the will of The Great Light and attack The Profound Darkness. This is the very mission that you, as Protectors have been born to.





: I've been listening patiently and you keep talking about this mission!

: That is generally how conversation works, is it not?



: And anyway, where is this Great Light now? What's it doing?

: The Great Light is no longer present in this galaxy. It has gone far away...

: You're telling me, he hands down missions and he goes off somewhere? Give me a break! Missions, 'Protectors,' who the heck cares? It has nothing to do with us! No way am I going to fight for someone like that!







: Chaz Ashley...You have set foot on Rykros...You must hurry...whatever path you choose...



: Rune...

: What is it, Chaz?



: Oh, great...

: When Alys died, you explained things to me...and Rika tried to lift my spirits...but in truth, I really didn't understand! I could only see that the person who'd taught me everything had died. I would have sacrificed anything, even my life, for the peaceful repose of Alys' soul. But gradually, I found out that there are people who depend on me to fight.



: But! I can't have the fate of all Algo rest on my shoulders! Moreover, this fighting is a mission handed down from The Great Light! If we have to dance to its tune, we're no different than Zio!

: Hmm... I can't blame you for thinking that way, despite it's obvious lack of acknowledgement that we're all gonna die if you don't, but... Chaz, there's someone I want you to meet. Let's go to the Esper Mansion. The answer lies there!



: Assuming nobody has ransacked my personal shit while I've been out.

: This whole trip has been wholly unnerving. So much data needs to be added to Zelan's data...





NEXT TIME ON PHANTASY STAR 4

Legendary swords that never existed before today, and explosions!





: That went well.

: We're all doomed, aren't we?

: Fuck yeah, brah! End of the world kegger at my house! Woo!

: ...death would be a sweet release at this point.