Part 61: Update LVIII - Featuring: The Fourth True Dragon

Update LVIII - Featuring: The Fourth True Dragon

Music: Let's Get to Work!!


A Tokyo refugee by the name of Nene put this request in... Um... If I remember correctly, she's that daydreaming bookworm from before... It sounds like she's got her sights set on another niche title... Anyways, you'll need to ask the client herself for more details... Good luck...



Apologizing, apologizing, apologizing. The most tiring part of work is dealing with complaints... However, trust in our company will lessen if we don't handle them. My miniscule pay will grow even smaller... The thought of that makes my stomach hurt... Anyways, I'm going to leave this complaint to you, Unit 13... The refugees in the Eden Evac Ward will give you more info. Help me, Unit 13... You're my only hope.

At the very least, these two quests won't take long to deal with. We don't even need to leave Nodens for them!



Nene: I just finished reading “The Sound of the Surf”! It was so amazing! I couldn't stop crying when the protag rode off into the sunset on a whale... Oh, I'm sorry! I just can't help myself when it comes to books. Now then, about today's request... Please wait a moment!









Nice to meet you!

Vio: ...!? Nice... meet...

~

What did you say?

Vio: Um, I'm sorry... I can't speak... very loud...

~~

Nene: Hm, how do I put this...? She's pretty shy, but she's a really good person!

Vio: ...!

Nene: Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. So, Vio sorta fell for this cute guy from Eden we met in the Reference Room... But as you can see, she's super shy. It makes it pretty tough for her to get close to him. Though we did find out that he's an avid reader. He seems to really be interested in one particular book, but the librarian won't tell us which one. He hasn't shown up in the Reference Room for a while, either... If we can get that book, it would be a great starting point for them to get to know each other!

Vio: Um, please... help... me...





Asuka: You're looking for his favorite book...?

*nods*

Asuka: I'm sorry, it no longer exists... The book Rudy cared for most was his own work that he was looking to publish here in Tokyo... It was a report from when he went to investigate the forbidden land of Tokion in Eden. But due to the content, it was was [sic] caught during the ISDF censorship inspection. They prohibited it from being published, and Rudy tore up the manuscript in a fit of rage.



Did it really need to be censored?

Asuka: ...I don't know much about its contents. However, I heard that the findings within would have bridged the gap between Eden and this world.

Oh, so the ISDF doesn't want anyone to find out how the setting turns into Eden by 7D1.

The bastards.

~

I want to read it.

Asuka: You're interested in nonfiction, GEORGE!? I much prefer fiction and poetry to real world stories. There's much more magic to it.

~~

Asuka: Ah... I know! Before they prohibited it, the ISDF guys must have digitized Rudy's work! Their security can't be perfect given the chaotic state of things in this country. You might be able to access their data stores from a computer in the Development Room!



Don't mind me, just hacking into the fucking military to get my hands on a banned book, nbd.



System Message: ... ...... ......... You successfully accessed the ISDF database!



How bad is their security if GEORGE!, who saw his first computer like yesterday, can break in with ease?









Nene: Let's read it right away!





Nene: Vio, take this and go find Rudy! Having him teach you the Eden alphabet is the perfect chance to get intimate with him!

Vio: O-OK... I'll do... my best...!



I'll be rooting for you!

Vio: Thank... you...!

~

Can I read it when you're done?

Nene: This thing's pretty interesting, after all! We'll make a copy and give it to you, as long as Rudy's OK with it.

Don't get your hopes up. We will not be getting a copy of the Tokion report.

~~

Vio: Unit 13... This is... a thank... you...

You obtained 5,000 Az!

You obtained Argos Medal x1.

The Argos Medal is an accessory that gives +7 ATK/MAT and +5 SPD.

Nene: Alrighttt! Let's gooo! To the Eden Evac Ward!

Vio: ...!

Nene: Oh, sorry for yelling! I just can't help myself...





One down, one to go.

Lena: Haven't you noticed? It's far too hot! That box is supposed to make cold air, but it is only making hot air at the moment! I asked Sailas to fix it, but he's off sleeping somewhere. I think Jil's going to get a heat stroke! People are really going to die at this rate. Could you get someone important to come fix this?

Were these quests meant to pop next chapter or something? Because Sailas and Jil are currently at Preloma.

Oh, and by 'someone important'...



Lena means the president of the company.

OK OK★ I can use my presidential power to get right on that! You're going to help too, right, Unit 13? Can you report this to Julietta? She's in charge of maintenance. Oops, I mean... he★



The air conditioning's broken in the Eden Evac Ward? *sigh* So it finally happened... That floor used to be a storage room, so it's only got a crappy little air conditioner. If we're going to repair it, we'll need the piping diagram. Can you go look for it in the Warehouse? Can't Sailas just fix it? It is the Eden Evac Ward, after all. Though I bet he won't move an inch if something doesn't pique his interest. I suppose excelling in your field brings its own problems... *sigh*





Yes, yes... I think we can just substitute in some other parts we have lying around... I'll send an engineer over at once. It shouldn't take him any more than half an hour or so.

~

I took care of it this time, but I'm gonna chew Sailas out later. Those who don't work don't eat! A scientist's job is to serve the public!



Lena: Ahhhhh... This is like paradise! I'm so happy I could die~! Thank you so so much~! Here, this is a token of my appreciation!

You obtained 5,000 Az!

You obtained Burn Cut x1.



There, we're finally done with side quests and can go deal with Hypnos.

But first...



I need to make a small change.



For what I have in mind, I specifically need Aiden to sub in for Vivian.



I also make sure to give everyone immunity or resistance to Paralysis and Confusion.



Music: UE77 Tokyo


I'm sure Yuma's just fine after stalling Hypnos for so long.

Music: Preloma - Ruined Scholar City




_{pay no mind to Vivian being in this shot, I actually did this before all the sidequesting}

As you know, we need to get both the Dragonslayer and the Hypnos specimen. Our enemy is a True Dragon... If you hesitate, even a tiny bit, it will strike you down. Make sure your mind is made up, Unit 13.





I'll be praying for your safety!









Music: Endless Attack Cycle


This is it... Hypnos.





Ah, there you are, Unit 13. My apologies, but you won't have the chance to participate here.

Grahhh!







Oh damn, he actually got the Dragonslayer.













Music: Stops


Holy shit, Aytel's alive!



...For another five minutes!







Wh-What is...!?

Is that... Aytel...?



Music: Ignith of the Final Attack (code：VFD Ver)


M-My sister...

Aytel... Why...?

Let us stop this... Let us leave this planet... The dragon hunters... will handle the rest...

Aytel... No... I... must... kill...



I cannot...



...







Music: Stops




Music: Ignith of the Final Attack (code：VFD Ver)


Hey, Unit 13! What's going on over there!? The nu... drago... gnal... wa... abnor... Please...



Please... spond! Pl... res...!









True Dragons are the absolute peak of evolutionary progress. When a matured species is unified under one will... They will evolve into the most supreme of organisms... True Dragons... Emel... Aytel... They wandered for tens of thousands of years... Their hatred... and their love... were nothing but steps on the path to becoming a True Dragon...



Poor Yuma, even the actual True Dragons don't pay any attention to him.



The hatred burning in my core will soon consume all life on Earth... However, if you are truly the dragon hunter, you should be able to destroy that hatred...





No, I'll have time to think about that later! For now I have to— Urgh!



Poor Yuma, taken out of the fight at the last possible moment yet again.



You took a direct hit at very short range! Please, just leave this to Unit 13!

...!

Sailas... Commander Emel is not coming back... is she?

Jil...



I must make a request of you as well. Please... Do what you can to save Commander Emel!



I'll finish this quickly!



~

I will defeat the True Dragon!

That is acceptable. It is time for you to show your worth as the dragon hunter.

~~









Video: VS Hypnos
Music: Ignith of the Final Attack feat. riya(eufonius) ( You should absolutely listen to this. )






Right off the bat, Hypnos is a sizable step up from Haze, coming in with 13K LF (compared to Haze's 7K), 217 ATK/MAT, 151 DEF/MDF, and 80 SPD.



She's also the hardest boss in the game.

Why?



Because unlike every other boss in the game, Hypnos punishes blind aggression.

Therefore, I have to use an actual plan that goes beyond just pointing GEORGE! at the enemy.



I used TROY:Ice for fun, since the damage on TROY procs have fallen off so hard.



Daphne Mezereum is the reason I put Paralysis and Confusion gear on everyone, as it inflicts both to the entire party with a 40% chance, and the Paralysis itself has a 50% chance to eat your move. If this connects, say goodbye to your action economy.



And I can't really afford that when she can two shot anyone not named GEORGE!.



Mage's Consent doesn't boost proc rates, but eh.



I need to kill a turn setting up Bomb Scatter anyways.



You might be thinking that I'm going to use Earthquake.



You are wrong. My plan needs more bombs, and I won't have time to Reload if I blow them all here.





While Thomas moves to apply Volcano.



And Aiden does his thing.



A 0.7x ATK modifier from Volcano's Burn.



7x200 damage for 1400.



Much better.



Unlike Nyala who used True Dragon Meteor if you don't break his buffs, or Haze who was on a strict timer, Hypnos uses her ultimate attack at specific health breakpoints. Pushing her below 90% is her first trigger.





Which gives me just enough time to really put the screws to her.



A 0.8x ATK modifier from Deafening Roar.



And a 0.6x ATK modifier from lostpower.exe.



With all those stacked, Hypnos is now dealing literal chip damage.



This is her telegraph move, which also restores 6% of her LF.

Fun fact: Due to how the game parses skill names, this move is literally called 'her sword to gather hateful energy.'

You might be thinking that this is a good sign to defend.



Again, you'd be wrong.







Because with all those debuffs on her, Solitary Sword does nothing.

Normally, it's a terrifying attack with 13 hits, with each hit having a 20% chance to inflict Bleed and a 15% chance to inflict Skill Seal, but I just turned it into literal scratch damage.

This is the entire reason I used this party in particular, to utterly clown on Hypnos.

The hardest boss in the game, everyone.



Oh, and since GEORGE! is a baller who dodged 13 chances of Skill Seal and Bleed, he can still retaliate with Earthquake.

Like, the odds of that happening are 1/150, less than a single percent, and GEORGE! pulled it off like it was nothing.



For more fun, Opal's support effect means that I don't even have to worry about the Skill Seal!





lostpower still completely neuters madstrife.





Notice how she took three actions? That means one of them was another her sword to gather hateful energy. Her second LF threshold was at 70%, with the final being at 40%.

This is why blindly attacking can get dicey, pushing her past multiple gates at once will make her happily spam Solitary Sword in quick succession, leaving you on the back foot until she's finished. And god help you if she lands a Daphne Mezereum just before you hit a breakpoint and leaves you completely unable to respond.



Thomas manages to reapply Volcano with no boosters on. Good job, Thomas!



GEORGE! has to *gasp* actually reload!



Deafening Roar may have fallen off, but what's left should still keep Solitary Sword harmless.



Yep. Sadly GEORGE! doesn't manage to avoid Skill Seal twice.



lol



I'm fairly sure Hypnos is below 40%, so I reapply my debuffs.





...oh no



Looks like you all get to see what Solitary Sword should actually do!



Burn and Hack got purged, but normal debuffs stay on so it'll get a bit blunted.





Without debuffs on, Solitary Sword would deal somewhere in the ballpark of 150 damage to the entire party unguarded.

Hypnos is terrifying if you don't know just how good buffs and debuffs are.



Oh, and she still has her second action to finish off any survivors with.

Decuple Blades is her last attack, with a 20% chance of Instant Death. Her first two Solitary Swords have her follow up with a normal attack, but she'll always use it after her third.



Yuno's tapped out, so I have to patch myself up by hand.





That would probably one shot Thomas and Aiden.



Oh no, she knows who the actual threat here is.







Aiden tries a blind Hack and fails.







Aaaaaaand there's the instant death.



Thomas tries to stick Volcano and fails.



The problem with Hypnos is that once you lose the momentum, she can make it very hard to get it back.



But the thing is? I'm not in any real danger of losing here.



In any other game, staying stuck on recovery like this would eventually lead to you burning through all your items, at which point you just get worn away.

But here in VFD?



A turn spent healing is a turn spent building Unison.



















Music: Finish Them Off


And it turns out not much can survive a 9 on 1.

Next time: Disrespecting the game even harder than I already am.