Part 30: Chapter XXVIII: Legendary Battle

Whew, that was a doozy alright. Well, your supplies are probably tuckered out from all that fighting just now, so obviously we're headed back to town. It shouldn't be too much trouble crossing the Graccean overworld for the nth time, especially now that we have a god on our side.

Oh wait...Grey as Chaos doesn't get any new abilities. Remember, even if Chaos has taken over Grey's soul and awakened as the god of death, rebirth, and darkness, he's still in Grey's body. But, we've got a lot to see and do in town...



And how. Many of these events are all the characters in town who have either been in main scenes or bonus ones lamenting Jainus' death in short scenes, like the first one in this video with Ingrit and Jude. But, there's also some scenes between Gordon and Priscilla, and between the third generation heroines and Chaos. I'll cover the three here, because otherwise this would be a super short update. I mean, it's called "Legendary Battle" for a reason.



But I get ahead of myself. We also have a heaping helping of commissions to get out of the way. The first I've highlighted (all of these guys can be found in Etre Large Hollow), but you also have to kill 12 Master Skeletons, 9 Medusas, 9 Wraiths, 3 Behemoths, 12 Slayer Bees, and 12 Rune Masters. Rune Masters can be found in the areas of Iliya Forest leading up to where we fought Georg's demon, and Slayer Bees can be found in the areas of Dajlua leading to the Sansar Ruins. The others can be found in the new areas of the Dajlua Wetlands, battle points we had to clear to reach the ruins last update.

Finally, three money requests worth 1,200,000 Gold, and the Marfile Fruit. That's a lot, but we're richer for it. Except for the part where we lost over a million Gold. Oh well. Have a whole mess of scenes in town.



Do you despise me that much?

I know none of this is really your fault. I'm not stupid. But... My father is the worst, but everyone treats me like a child, just because I'm the youngest. Which is true, of course. Because I'm the youngest, it takes a bit more for me to keep up with everybody. I'll also admit to being a brat on occasion. And I frequently say things that I immediately regret. But I don't think it's fair to be treated as a kid just because of my age and impetuosity.

At least you know these things about yourself. So you only become involved when necessary, correct?

It's not that I want you to accept me. It's just that Grey was the only one who didn't treat me like a child... He always saw me as a -person-.

That is why you are so fond of him.

That's none of your business!

Are you sure of that? Remember that I am also Grey.

But you're nothing like him. And anyway, I think that Grey will return.



And the disappointment that comes when hope fails can easily crush one's spirit.

Even so... If you're not Grey, that means he has to be -somewhere-. It's still way too early for me to give up, right?

Are you somehow trying to find hope in despair?

No matter how hard it'll be to find, I'll do it. Even if it's only a fragment of a fragment, I'll still have hope. Of course, I'm going to need your help with this one.

Hmm... Understood. I will do whatever I can.



And Liel's affection goes up from seeing that scene. Let's see what Sofia has to say about recent developments.



Yes, actually... But what I truly regret is not being able to save Grey.

Save Grey...? Did you really believe that you could have saved him? Despite the fact that he wouldn't have been able to continue on as -Grey- whether he was sealed by Eva or by your magic?

Well, that is...

Regardless, Grey no longer exists in this world.

As you mentioned, neither the sealing performed by Eva nor what I was intending to do would have been enough to spare Grey from his fate. That is why I believe that how things are now is for the best. I am grateful for your existence. You have given me another chance to save Grey. For he continues to live on inside of you. I am not sure how to rescue him just yet, but I still have time to think. I will come up with a way to bring Grey back before it is too late. I will save him, no matter what it takes.

You are uncommonly resolute, daughter of elves.



But the ability to feel compassion isn't conducive to survival, is it...? Sometimes one's missteps can lead to unexpectedly great things, but that happens but rarely. In this case, a single mistake will bar this particular path to you forever. You will need to fight without hesitation, like the other soul that now dwells inside of me.

Yes, I will.



And now Sofia has fallen in love. Granted, she's been hot and bothered about Grey pretty much from the start, especially in that one scene where she and Grey were talking and she made clear, in no uncertain terms, she'd love to have sex with Grey.

But I think what I like about Sofia's development is that at the start, she was confusing her emotions with her sense of duty. She knew full well that the power of Chaos was only getting stronger and stronger within Grey, and she and Ordine knew that if left unchecked, there'd be no stopping the resurrection of Chaos, especially since Eva was with the team. But now that she's faced with the abject failure of her plans, she's beginning to see that getting close to Grey and helping him with his big problem are one in the same thing. Basically, at the start, she took things way too lightly, and didn't take Grey's big problem seriously. By traveling with him, she began to see exactly what pain he was going through, and especially with the events of the last update, found out this is a problem that can't be brute forced, especially since she obviously cannot defeat Chaos by herself.

The way I see it, at the start, she was a deluded Li Ra-Lua. She was all caught up in wanting to play the heroine to the point she didn't really understand the gravity of the situation. Now that we're all tangled up in divine power struggles, she's finally understood that sense of duty alone won't save the world. She needs to marry the ideas of wanting to save the world and Grey with the fact she obviously has feelings for him if she wants to set things right and return Grey's soul to Grey's body. Her sense of obligation is all well and good, but she's finally accepted that her emotions are an essential part of why she's with the team in the first place and why she should be so dedicated to Grey.

But now, let's have a chat with Mervina. I'm sure she has a lot to say to her patron god.



Do whatever you wish.

Why did you create us... I mean the syrium, in the first place? Were you really so desperate to match Lenion?

...

To be honest, I will always hold a grudge against you. Because of you, we syrium can no longer live in the light of the sun. Although I am not saying I miss the sun all that much. Others deny us the right to even exist merely because of our race. Do you have any idea what it's like to be shunned like that?

What would you have me do? Do you wish me to apologize?

Never! Even if you meant it, your apology would do nothing to change things. I guess I just wanted to let you know this: the world can be changed. In fact, just by changing that little bit of it around you, those changes will spread throughout the world.

That is exactly what Schwarz used to say, is it not?

After the death of Danaos, I was totally alone, with no one I could turn to. But then Fiona said she needed a friend who would live as long as her.



It is incredibly bizarre when you think about it. My first friend would be one such as her. At first, I thought that it was just fate being ironic. But... It turned out to be so easy to do. By changing a little bit of what was around me, the world changed in kind. I learned that lesson then. So, despite my earlier anger... I must tell you how grateful I am that you created us syrium.

This town is such an anomaly, don't you think? So many different races all living together in harmony. If only the entire world were like this place...

Do not tell me that is how it was supposed to be. But that is the way we are going to make it. That is why we need your power. And Grey's, too, of course.

Not everything you hope for will come to be, but nothing will ever change unless you make an effort to do so. So be sure that you act. And believe both in Grey and yourself.

I know. I would not be here otherwise. Now then, my beloved creator; care for a drink?



And now, much like it did in the previous two generations, it all comes back to Aegisthus. Before I left, I upgraded my running team with new stuff. Sofia gets a Rune Staff, from one of the Medusas I've killed, Eva gets a Silent Cross, the best Scythe we can get right now, and Grey gets Genbu's Gauntlet, especially since we will run into but one enemy weak to Light, and the trade-off in power just isn't worth it.

Summerill awaits in the deepest part of the Calicai Volcano, sealed away by Lenion for his crime of waging war against the gods of light and nearly destroying the world. And we have to wake him up. I doubt he's going to be very happy to see us. But first, the guardian elders all decide to have a little powwow about this latest turn of events. First time we've seen Fyuren or Gnade since the first generation. Judgment of the elders



But this is not the time for this to be happening.

Regardless, the seal has been broken and Chaos has been revived.

That is the reality of the situation.

Given all that has occurred we have no choice but to fulfill the duties given to us. As guardians, it is time to embrace our fate.

It seems that we should have slain them while we had the chance...

Slay them? Do you wish to destroy the world?

We could re-establish the seal, or possibly... Never mind, there is no time to do such a thing.

Also, do you really think things would go as planned?

I do not know... Even if things went as the gods had wished, who could say that everything would go well?

The gods of light entrusted us guardians to manage their affairs here and left for their own world.

And in the end, there are no true alternatives left to us. We can only do what we are able.

We cannot afford to throw away the lives of the young.



Perhaps... If we can somehow put an end to all of this, then our roles will no longer be necessary.

And so guardians will no longer be needed... But whether that comes about is not for us to decide.

Everything is now entirely up to them.

For now, we must watch over them, for their will is that of the gods. And it is the gods who have decided what is to be...

Now, let us wait here until they have made their choices, and return...



So it's all up to us, huh? Suits me just fine. Glad to know Jule's still batting for us. Regardless, time to head into the volcanic trenches. There's two routes open to us. We can either head along the main route to where Summerill's seal is, or we could take a little detour past Global Conflagration, where we fought Danaos, to find a special item.



The third, and final, Forbidden Tome. Since there's only one dead party member at the moment who is not in my party, Forbidden Tome 3 allows you return Jainus to the world of gameplay, but not the world of the plot. As for the enemies in the new areas of Calicai, you'll find Light and Dark Spirits, Hardened Dragons, King Slimes, Sargatanases, and Mahakalas, a palette swap of the Ravana. You can also find Lichs if you fail to kill the Mahakala's fast enough.

As for skills, I'm going with a pretty breezy approach. Mervina, for example, has Hati level 3, and Sofia and Eva have Raging Storm level 3, as well as Eva having Aerial level 2, along with everyone but Mervina having a level 3 Arc-En-Ciel. This is a very magic-oriented team, but I'd advise against a team having a lot of Light or Darkness skills.



After a few battle points, we arrive at an event. Twisted ambition

*Pant* *Pant* Agh! Urg...

If you surrender now, the pain you feel will soon turn to pleasure. Trust me; you'll be better for it.

Although the text box is saying Mobius is talking, I'm pretty sure he's not in his old body yet, not without the Bracelet of the Covenant. And hey, when we make the exchange of the Bracelet for Fiona, Mobius will still have his Faz disguise on. It's the same reason I'm using Grey's mugshot for Chaos speaking now.



I am no longer Fastie. However, I'm still okay with you calling me that. My existence as -Fastie- was much the same as Chaos'. Yes, just as Chaos was Weiss, Schwarz, and Grey.

And if you haven't made the connection yet, that's why Schwarz's personality was so different from Weiss', and Grey's so different from Schwarz's. They were all the same being, just manifested in different ways. Just as Chaos said, they all had the same soul, but none of them could truly be called Chaos.

Grey is... Eva is...

I'd expect nothing less from a high elf, putting others before yourself. How truly compassionate. Grey is no longer of this world. Though it is strange to speak of one who was never here as being gone. As for Eva, she is still alive, but she is no more than an empty shell. Amusing, isn't it? She stubbornly clings to life while claiming to be an Agent of the God, all the while ignoring the truth and wallowing in delusions and lies. There's another thing you might find interesting. They embraced the memories I gave them to the point that their roles of master and slave reversed. And here's another bit of trivia for you. Eva was nothing more than a toy, a soulless doll, given to Chaos. In the end, everything went rather well... And just thinking about those two is always good for a chuckle. Make no mistake, this was a masterpiece of deception!



Weiss trusted you. No matter what she was told, Eva endured everything for the sake of the world. Schwarz figured it out in the end and was able to embrace his destiny. Grey was... Grey was... Ah! Aaaaaagh! *Pant* *Pant*

Once again, I must say what magnificent creatures you high elves are. Especially considering the power that Lenion gave your race when he created you. You should be honored that I have chosen you to provide me with a new body. Think of it; you will be given the gift of immortality as the body of a god.

I won't...let you...! Urk! Aagh!

I look forward to seeing how long you will be able to hold out. Once the last of your life has been poured into the -Yumas Vessel- below you, I will take your body. But if they manage to bring me the Bracelet of the Covenant before that happens, you'll be saved. I always fulfill my promises, even the ones I make to lowly humans. In any case there is still time left to them, and you. I advise you to enjoy it while you still can. *Chuckle* Fuahahahahahaha!

Grey...

We...should probably hurry up. Right after you see that scene, you can go to where Summerill's seal is, at a place called Sign of Debauchery. Of course, I'm bringing in Chaos (though it's certainly not required), as well as three roses of the battlefield: Sofia, Mervina, and Eva. The time for an audience with Summerill has come. The Greatest Enemy



Awaken Summerill.

I have serious doubts that you will be able to break a seal that Lenion himself has created.

The seal that Lenion has placed here is insignificant. Just as he was less than insignificant in Lenion's eyes. Entombed in the ground, his arms and legs trapped, he is unable to even crawl like a worm. And like a worm, his existence is less than meaningless to the gods.

Though he cannot break the seal, another with the power and the will to do so may accomplish it.

That is correct. As for that Danaos person mentioned before; he would have been able to break the seal as well.

...



...Nnrn!











Lord Chaos... You have returned unharmed. I have waited long for this moment to come. You have my thanks for removing the seal that bound me.

So we meet again... Mm, but it must be humiliating to Summerill, if he knew the specifics of the seal. Lenion couldn't even be bothered to bring his A-game to imprisoning him, opting for a half-assed deal designed to humiliate him as much as possible.

Spare me the false gratitude. Summerill, I will have you relinquish the Bracelet of the Covenant to me.

Do you mean to say that you broke the seal and freed me for that purpose alone? Surely, you jest. The Bracelet of the Covenant is mine. To give it to you would the same as giving you my life. Lord Chaos, though it is you who asks this of me, I cannot comply.

Then I shall take it from you.

Who are these creatures?

My companions.

This can't be! Lord Chaos, to think that you, a god, would mingle with the likes of humans... Perhaps you have been corrupted and befouled from being forced to live as one of them?

It is none of your concern.

Indeed, such things are -beneath- my concern. Much like your current agenda, as well as the agenda of the human vermin around you.

And what does that make you, who needed the power of us vermin to escape his imprisonment?

You, who are too ignorant to feel fear in this place. I will teach you the true meaning of terror here and now. However, do not expect to survive my tutelage.

Summerill, I will only give you this opportunity to obey one last time. Either give me the Bracelet of the Covenant, or die. Choose whichever option suits you best.



Do you think me fool enough to strike a bargain with you as you are now? If that is the case, then I believe that I will have to -correct- your way of thinking.

Seriously, just cut the crap and say that you're not going to hand it over.

You seem to be overly arrogant seeing how long you've been sealed away. Not to mention nauseating.

Cease your infernal whining, insects! I am speaking with Lord Chaos. And I am fully aware of what is transpiring right now. For example, I know that you allowed Lord Mobius to take half of your powers.

So you are determined to keep it for yourself, no matter what?

My apologies... But I do not see a reason to obey you in your current condition. If Lord Mobius were to ask this of me, it'd be a different matter altogether, however.

Oh I see how it is now. Yeah, another thing in the backstory that's worthy of noting is that Summerill and Mobius have always been in cahoots. Both are scheming to take over the world, and Mobius saw Summerill as a useful pawn. Mobius' original plan was to use Summerill to launch a war that would destroy the gods of light, and allow darkness to reign supreme. However, he needed to coax Chaos somehow into beginning the war, because he knew his power would not be enough to defeat Lenion and the gods of light. But, Chaos was uncooperative, seeing no reason to fight.

Of course, the war happened anyway, and nearly destroyed the world. How exactly he got Chaos to along, and what he was fighting for, is another matter entirely, and will be marked as a spoiler until we get around to it in the game. With the death of the gods of light, who revived the destroyed world, and the imprisonment of the gods of darkness, Summerill began to figure the end of the era of the gods was at hand, and began seeing himself as the only worthy successor of the gods. However, with Mobius walking the earth again, Summerill is right back in his spot of being Mobius' underling.

Summerill only respects power, and pretended to be in Chaos' service only because Chaos was the most powerful of the gods of darkness. Now that Chaos is no longer the most powerful, this is the result.

I see...

Since you obviously understand, I shall now end your miserable existence. Even though you are only half of what you were, with that power I... *Chuckle*

It looks like he has finally decided to show his true intentions.

I will erase you from existence.

For you to even dare to think about bringing harm to Lord Chaos... There is a limit to how much leeway a master must give his dog. It is now time that I send you to a place suitable to your standing. In fact, I will guarantee that you will like it there better than here. After all... I plan on sending you straight to the realm of the gods.

Don't get cocky, you pathetic little worms! I will devour you all along with Chaos! Not even a memory of you will remain!







The hated enemy of gods and men stands before us now on the field of battle. There is nothing more to talk about between us. Summerill is the toughest enemy, relative to the standing of your party, since Danaos. Not only are his magical and physical abilities far above us, but he has a lot of HP and defense, and he's backed up by two of his stygian knights, the Gurg.



The Gurg do have really sweet attack animations, where they phase in and out of sight while launching devastating physical and magical strikes, their strikes punctuated by blasts of darkness from their swords. Even though they're both Gurg, they are not the same enemy times two. The Gurg with the long sword focuses almost entirely on physical strikes, while the Gurg with the somewhat weird looking sword mostly uses magic. As for what you should look out for, the long sword Gurg has a physical counterattack, the other Gurg a magical one, and Summerill himself has a physical and magical one, the first foe since Danaos to have both.

The two knights have elemental resistances to Darkness and Light, while Summerill takes normal damage from Light, but absorbs Darkness. Of course, you'd have to be out of your mind to fight the King of Darkness with Darkness, right?



While they certainly are no pushovers, nor are easy to kill at all, your foes don't have as much health as you might think. And the physical attacker Gurg takes more damage than normal from magic, and his magical counterpart the opposite. Another thing in your favor is that none in this fight have healing magic. This attack was without Critical Break on, which I probably should have used instead of Genius. Block Magic is almost entirely useless. Summerill is a crazy effective mage and will annihilate you with magic pretty much no matter what.



It also goes without saying that for Summerill's Original Skills, Terror Scream and Hell's Victim, you can turn out the lights on anyone in the blast radius.



First Gurg down. You really can't spare any expense when dealing with his underlings. You need them dead before they can fire off their Original Skills, and luckily I was able to pull this off in this fight for the most part.



Case in point: Dead End Storm. I think the long sword Gurg has a different second Original Skill, but I'm pretty sure they share Hellfire Slash as their level one Original Skill. That attack is only single-target, but say goodnight on the character being targeted.



And the second of his knights falls. Summerill must stand alone or not at all. I could have used Photon Raid to try and rare steal from both the Gurg and Summerill, but then Summy would have counterattacked Mervina twice, so...yeah, no dice. As a note, after that turn, he activated Overpower. I'm pretty sure this *significantly* improves the power of magical counterattacks. You'll get to see how much later in this fight.

But, he threw me a bone by not activating Hell's Victim this turn. I would have been in a much worse spot if he had.



Ragnarok, the move currently being used here, is kinda unique as a skill. It has a crazy high Break value (just slightly lower than Arc-En-Ciel's level 3 Break value at level 1), but level 3 can activated by having at team with someone at Void level 15, Darkness level 15, Light level 15, and any other element at level 15, the only spell in the game that has this honor. It looks much more impressive at level 2, but I can honestly say I've never seen a level 3 Ragnarok.



Hell's Victim looks nice, too. Summerill creates a whirlwind of absolute darkness around the blast radius.



Um, ouch. That's how much Overpower will do to you. Summerill only has about 20% of his HP left, but I made a mistake by attacking too much that last turn. What it allowed him to do is activate Last Power, which significantly improves at least his physical attack and defense. I don't *think* it affects his magical attack and defense, but I could very well be wrong.

Anyhow, this turn, I just BARELY killed him with a Soul Crush. Like, it was down to the pixel. But...



Those who only worship power will meet their demise by it. For your blasphemy, your life ends here.



Our legend begins now.



I am Summerill, the King of Darkness! The one who will bring destruction and despair to all. I am the only one fit to determine the fate of the world, not you miserable cowards!

Shut it, pissant.

Summerill, I have known all along that you were connected to Mobius in some fashion. But I chose to leave things as they were, thinking that it would not become an issue. Unfortunately, the result of my inaction was a war that brought the world to ruin. I truly regret that. If it was in my power to do so, I would go back in time and cast you into oblivion. However, no god has the power to change the past. At the very least, I can send you into oblivion now. So that another mistake like the one I made prior can never happen again.



I am the supreme ruler of the world! My will shall dominate all that is beneath me! I shall be reborn, and when I am I shall condemn you all to eternal darkness! You will spend forever in ceaseless torment, begging for a death that will never come. For I will never allow you that one small mercy! Hahahaha!

Disappear.



About what I would have expected from the demon king. He was a more than adequate opponent.

We just were the last people he should have picked a fight with. Well, mostly thanks to Chaos, here.



Stop. Do not touch that bracelet. Or do you wish to suffer the same fate as your father?



We will now go to where Mobius is waiting for us.



Good-bye...

The last piece of the puzzle is in place... There's just one scene in town when you head back, this time wrapping up Eva's character arc for the most part. Choose one's fate



What is it?

Um, there is nothing in particular I wanted to speak to you about, it's just that... I was just wondering if it would be all right for me to stay by your side, just like I did then...

I recall you enjoying being in my presence.

That is true. My mind is always at ease when I am with you. Although I did not have a -mind- back then, but that's how it felt to me.

You are different now. You do have a mind, and it is not here with me. When you look at me, you are trying to find remnants of Grey.

That is not true...

Do not worry. You are now free. Live your life in any way you choose.

...I have committed an unforgivable sin. Regardless of the fact I was given false memories, I took the lives of a person and his descendants. I have yet to find a way to atone for my actions. But if I am allowed...



Weiss never blamed me, not once. He accepted everything as his fate, no matter how outrageous my requests were. And Schwarz showed concern for me in his own -unique- way. And Grey... Grey is... I wanted to be with him...for as long as it was possible.

Do you ever wonder why we have no control over our minds despite the fact it is a part of us? I believe that things would be much easier if we could control our thoughts.

Even so... I want to try to fulfill their wishes. They risked their lives and fought for the sake of the world. I want to be there for them, and to devote myself to help make their dreams come true.

Then go on your way. The truth will be waiting up ahead, and... You will also find that which you seek.

Yes, it is time I go my own way now. Even if we never cross paths again... Or if we find ourselves on opposing sides someday...