Part 17: Battlefield

"Uhh... Francis? Tell me something... Am I cracking under the pressure? An ice cave in Antarctica, sure, but... Am I really seeing this right?"
There are responses there. I failed to capture them. I am sorry.
In this case, we assure Jimenez that he is not being nuts about this.



"... I tell you, the Schwarzwelt's just full of surprises."





MacCleary: "It's hard to believe... It was really true"
"Huh? What was?"
MacCleary: "The drones they sent in before us sent back photos of this same battlefield... It seemed so strange that we all assumed it was a mistake. None of us imagined they could be real... What should we make of this?"
"We're dealing with demons here. There's no telling what they might be thinking. Is this their way of declaring war on humanity, or are they just making fun of us? Either way... We gotta get out of here. I feel like I'm taking my life in my hands every time I follow that damn Arthur thing's orders. "




As it can be seen here, the new environment is a wartorn battlefield.
Youtube Link
Also on Viddler.




And a couple of fresh new recognized enemies, Onmoraki gets its weaknesses revealed, and Sandman is now talkative.



Enemy formas also appear in the middle of the field as well.



The field even has AIRPLANES dropping bombs on the field. Illusions? Real airplanes being piloted by humanoid things? Or airplane-shaped demons?




The bombs are barely visible in this screenshot. But they are there.

Let's see what the Sandman's got to say.

Sandman: "Good opportunity, though! I always wanted to hear what a real live human'd sound like. Look at you, talkin' to a demon! You're pullin' off a miracle here, sonny."




Clearly, the Sandman in this game has the "old man" personality type. I think I like it better than the insane/incomprehensible/annoying to transcribe version.




Sandman: "You've made an old man very happy, my boy. This is the best thing that's happened since I got here. "


That made the demon happy, and thus more likely to initiate a negotiation/be open to negotiation. It doesn't always work though.

Sandman: "I guess thatmeans bringin' stuff back from the past and givin' it new life?"




Like here. Not ONE of those works. Yes, I did save the state. Checked all three. They all piss him off for some reason.



Sandman: "That's humanity for you nowadays... By all accounts, a race headed straight to destructio. Land sakes, my boy, we sure don't get along. How disappointin'... This boring stuff is hard on an old man's patience. Maybe I'll go home and have some tea..."




Both attempts to converse with the encountered things in this particular battle ended up in failure, Onmoraki just plain REFUSING to even start the dialog. Asshole.




But meanwhile, this happened. A Source!
What is a source?


Well, let's find out!


Crystallized data, eh? That means "Fusion shit". You can now make demons inherit the abilities of ANOTHER demon. It is very convenient, though if you end up wasting one, it's always a shame.
We'll see that when it is fusion time.



ANOTHER one becomes recognizable. And it happens to be a Law thing.




The Tangata Manu is right.
Once the source has ben acquired, the demon is safe to be fused or deleted if it is no longer useful.






Getting careless with unknowns can have nasty repercusions, especially when revives are quite expensive, and Revival Beads are so far pretty scarce. Medicine also running out. Not good.



Both the left and right forks are battlefields, let's see what is behind the center door. More ice cave? Something else?




Or course not. It is more goddamn battlefield, and more new demons to chat with.

Let's see what Melchom has to say.
Well that is pretty close to that illustration.








Melchom: "Very well, then. I can't let a golden opportunity to speak with a human pass me by. Well then... Excuse me for sounding trite, but let's begin with that most basic of questions:"




Technically, the first is the most adequate at the moment, since this is an exploratory expedition to find the rare forma detected by Arthur.


Melchom: "You're armed to the teeth, and you claim to be a simple researcher? Admit it... Haven't you actually come to slaughter us? "




And that without the need of the relax spray.


Melchom: "From my observations, humans do seem to work their fingers to the bone. I wouldn't call my own kind lazy, but your diligence is surprising."




Melchom: "Hm... In my view, humans are essentially foolish... lesser beings, if you will. But their diligence in quickly forming a civilization is a definite mark in their favor. Though it does seem a shame they didn't put that civilization to better use..."




Since he ended up in a good mood, negotiations are possible. Recruiting is out of the question, though. He is level 7 and York is underlevelled.



An item would be best.


And we get a silly purse. Oh well. I wanted a goddamn bead, but so far that has eluded York's grasp.



Like that.



And here we have another annoying gimmick: One-way doors. Could be worse. At least it is not a teleport.
kill me now. Before E is reached. Kill me.




Strike Team: "Oh.. . Sorry about that. I was just wondering what demons you're using. Have your demons gotten stronger? They may be demons, but they grow more and more as they fight. Looks like us humans are the ones getting left behind, evolutionarily speaking. Hahaha..."




Strike Team: "Anyway, go ahead and power your demons up all you can. They're working for you, you know. Make sure you get some Demon Sources out of 'em, too. Oh, sorry... I shouldn't be talking so much in the middle of a battlefield, huh? I'll send over some notes to make up for it. Though I got these from someone else, too... Hahaha. "




Well, to be honest, the quest would be IMPOSSIBLE without exploiting them to begin with.




Afterwards, Onmoraki itself started a dialog. And then decided he wanted in on the team. Make up your mind, goddamn Chicken thing!







About time.