Part 121: Those who Bravely Fight

Entry 112a: Those who Bravely Fight

The party entered the Dark Aurora in pursuit of Airy, hoping to stop the completion of her master's plan to eat the worlds. After a drawn out battle, Airy was killed by her master, who decided to have a pre-victory celebration by beating up the party in space. The party responded by punching him the nose, when:



In a flash of light, DeRosso appears alongside the four heroes.

Lord DeRosso! What are--

You've opened a crack in the Beast's core--the source of his immortality!

His core?

As long as it exists, he will regenerate without end... I've come now to stop it!

But how?

You will split it open, and I'll fuse together with it, containing it.

We've reached the time for the angel's plan.



I know a tragic-yet-noble sacrifice is right up Vampire Man's alley, but is it really necessary?

Strike with all your might the moment the Beast ceases his regeneration!

But what'll happen to you!?

This role demands an immortal. The sage and I have argued the matter for eighteen hundred tedious years.

How did Yulyana know about this plan if he was clueless about Ouroboros, by the by? Speaking of, the Angel seems pretty informed about Ouroboros. Is our Agnès not the first version to meet this world-eating dragon?



DeRosso, however, is not taking questions at this time. He's resigned to his fate. Actually, he seems pretty stoked about it.

...Right!

Ringabel, I ask your assistance. Contain the Beast while I take possession of it.

Understood.

Tiz, you must protect Agnès.

Tiz nods.



It's not every day you get to speak to your motivating force for the past thousand years, give or take.

...

Thank you.

Ah, I nearly forgot.



Ah ha! So by saying these words in the infernal realm before merging with an unkillable dragon god, DeRosso apparently transcended time and space to make himself immortal back in the past of all worlds!


...No, really, that's all the explanation we get.

Now then, let us begin!

Hmph. I'm getting sentimental in my old age. The rest is in your hands, sage!

DeRosso leaps into the air...



...to have his big heroic moment.



But if the core makes Ouroboros immortal and we cracked the core, doesn't it stand to reason we could break it altogether?



We were able to damage the core just by ourselves. With Yulyana and DeRosso helping, plus the other 21 Eternian asterisk-users throwing some punches...



Okay, well, too late now.



With DeRosso snugly in place, it's time for next phase of the fight.



This time, Ouroboros can't use Total Regeneration.

You are a formidable meal.

In response, he takes a more offensive tack.



He now has two new moves: Demonic Touch and Celestial Touch.



Demonic Touch reduces BP, but is nullified by Stillness. Celestial Touch buffs himself. Nothing too outstanding.



Once he's halfway down, he realizes this victory battle has gotten out of hand.



His plan was originally to consume the worlds to give him the strength to overtake the Celestial Realm.



But thanks to our strength, he's having to start in on that plan early just to get the party off his back.



After charging up a spell, an energy chain of ouroboroses surrounds him...



Before flying off towards an unassuming version of Luxendarc.



The party sees all this from their asteroid in space because again, the infernal realm apparently transcends time and space.



We can only helplessly watch as the ouroboros saps the planet's energy, tearing it apart...



...before taking the energy back to the dragon.



How can Ouroboros's power destroy a planet so easily yet struggle against our four plucky heroes? Maybe it's best to think of it as a mosquito versus a human versus a whale.



The human can take down a whale, but the human will also struggle to kill the mosquito. And if that mosquito has malaria, it can take down the human.



At least that's the theory I'm gonna go with since Ouroboros's tiny fists have trouble hitting us.



If you have any investment in the world, it's pretty grim: an entire world destroyed within seconds.



This would probably be more effective if the world's occupants hadn't hindered us at nearly every turn.



Or if we'd gotten to spend more time focusing on the fun adventure aspect rather than wasting time in repeated cutscenes.



The alternate Luxendarc's energy is absorbed by Ouroboros.



With a single tentacle, I have devoured one of the worlds that Airy linked to this one!

Ahhh... I am fully restored, as an entire world meets its end! Rrah ha ha ha ha haah!

It is not enough...

He starts up the world-eating ritual again. And once again, we're forced to watch.



So far, everything the party's dealt with has been on a more personal scale.



It's only now, in the final battle itself, we're moving to something involving the destruction of the multiverse.



We were trying to rescue Norende from a hole in the ground, and somehow we happened to end up here traversing space and time.



The party's role in this good ending has been to go along for the ride the whole time, ignoring any doubt about their mission. The masterminds here were the Angel, Yulyana, DeRosso, even Braev. Not us.

The power that courses through me now will see you eradicated forever! Just as two worlds now will never return! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Airy strung together some ten thousand worlds... When will the world you call your own be destroyed?

The longer you defy me, the greater those odds become! Let us test your luck!

Having the heroes save the day because they can punch evil in the face, not because they understand what's going on, isn't uncommon in JRPGs.

But it sure would've been nice to have the party's adventures make some change -- to the Eternians, to the world, to themselves -- that would've better prepared them for Ouroboros, rather than him just showing up to wreck stuff in the 11th hour.

If the Eternian storylines had dealt more with the main party's evolved interactions over the course of the worlds, or had more of a conclusion than "let's fight forever!", there'd be no issue of wasted time, because it would've been a fun journey, at least. If the Eternian storylines had more to do with Ouroboros, that would've been great, too. But in the end, even Braev was ignorant of Ouroboros's existence and the true extent of his plan. It would've been more entertaining, and it would've provided the investment in the plot that the one-note villain Ouroboros doesn't provide.



Ouroboros's 3rd phase centers around one new attack based off the world destructions we've just witnessed.



It combines a full heal with a heavy damage attack every turn.

Ha ha ha! Another world has been annihilated!

And every time he uses it, he destroys another world.



The damage is blockable with Stillness, and in this case, it's best to just never let Stillness fall.

Heh heh heh, yet another world gone forever. How does it feel to fail, young warriors of light?

You might be wondering how the party deals damage if Stillness is always up. The answer is: they don't have to.



Because this is actually a gimmick battle. The only requirement is lasting three turns -- three casts of Armageddon.

No! Stop!



There is but one way for you to save those worlds. Lay down your weapons and bow before me. Offer yourselves willingly.

Only then shall the remaining worlds be spared. Ha ha ha!

...stop...this...

It's hard not to wonder how much better the game could've been if its back half kept up the pace of its front half.



It could've had everything from small scenes like Artemia delivering a message via arrow to Edea's forehead, rather than being relayed afterwards, or the raid on Starkfort being shown rather than implied, to larger plotlines like the Eternians finding out about Ouroboros.



Instead, the latter half of the game was on constant fast-forward, forgetting that a good story is about the journey at least as much as the destination, and that a good journey helps make the destination worthwhile.



At this point, in a further effort to get the player riled up, Ouroboros begins destroying the worlds of the Miis you've gathered as friends.

It's not working right here because I don't have enough friends.



It's a neat gimmick to use the game's online features to make it more personal, but something about it leaves a bad taste.



Surprise! Hope you don't mind seeing any friends and family you've shared Bravely Default with getting obliterated!



It ends up coming across as a cheap way to get an emotional response, almost as though the developers assumed they'd have to go meta to get an emotional reaction out of the player.

Slay me if you will, but you must stop!

Agnès...

...

Agnès...

Heh heh heh... Ha ha ha ha ha... Given up at last, eh? Rrrah ha ha ha! Very well, then. I commend you insects to the void!

Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out.



Raise the pendant to the heavens and arise!

What?

No, it is over. The more we resist, the more worlds are destroyed. We can fight no longer!

Know that you are not alone. Know that none of you are alone.

Tiz turns away from the others.



Reach out to your counterparts who dwell beyond this realm! Convey your hopes unto them!

Our hopes...

On yet another world...



Oh god! Not Pal-bot!



On Pal-bot's world, we find a team very much like our own, but with small differences. For example, did they take Grandship into space?

Patience, Tiz. Communication with other worlds or no, this takes time.

But we're being held hostage as leverage against ourselves in another world.

All the more reason we need to keep this world safe!

Agnès's right! Are we ready, Ringabel!?

Luckily, they somehow seem to know exactly what's going on with our party.



They also know exactly how to deal with Ouroboros.

Ready, soldiers!? Let no harm come to the Lady Vestal and her allies!

We leave them to figure that out, moving on to another world...



Where Ouroboros's magic ouroboros is already being assaulted by Grandship's cannonfire.





Don't worry about me. Agnès?

Ngh! It's recovery is too swift! Are you ready yet, Tiz?

Almost... Just a little longer...

Wait a second. How many versions of the party are still alive? Did Airy use a different vestal to awaken the crystal in some worlds?



How did the party end up together, though, Ringabel included, without Airy?

Why are--!?

Yulyana teleports in.



Did our party just get dumped with the least-helpful versions of everybody?

Sage!

Alright, here goes! Blaze bright!

Anyway, on to the real important thing: Apparently Tiz now has celestial powers, which he announces with a special attack name.



So he can now generate power like a Dragon Ball character!



Then he shoots a space laser kamehameha!



and it destroys the multiverse-devouring god's tentacle! Pyaaaaoooooow!!



Then the world is safe from Ouroboros! Yay~!



By the time we catch up with Amigo-bot's planet, they've already gotten things under control.



...I couldn't have done it without you and Agnès.

And we wouldn't have lasted without Ringabel's aid.

The thanks shouldn't stop here. Don't forget them.

It's not explained exactly what the others are doing to help aside from praying and Agnès's channeling the pendant.



Anyway, Alternis is here too. Which means

Uh.

...Alternis!

The Sky Knights will handle things from here! You four do what you must, quickly!

Understood! Agnès, that's our cue!

Let's go!

Apparently not only did the Alternis to Ringabel switch happen several times, it did so without Airy killing everyone?



Good news, everyone! Friend-bot also successfully staved off world destruction!



This version also has both Ringabel and Alternis, along with an extended cast presumably far, far more competent than anyone we encountered throughout our game.

Agnès, everyone ready?

On your signal, Tiz.

Alright, let's begin.

Listen, everyone! The us from another world are in terrible danger! They're sacrificing their lives to save our world and countless others!

But our world is safe for now, thanks to your efforts!

It's time to raise a cry that will reach their world, where they've laid down their arms to spare us!

Tell them they are free to fight. That our world has been spared!

*nod*

Thank you... Thank you, everyone.

It is time! Share this prayer with me, one and all!



Agnès's prayer lifts up into the heavens...



...and one by one, the other surviving worlds follow suit.

We're going to defeat the main villain of Bravely Default with Thoughts and Prayers.

Unlike acclaimed cult-classic JRPG Earthbound, however, it's just going to be via cutscene, not gameplay. It's not like Bravely Default has an interactive method of having the player pray that could have been cleverly reused here or anything.

Nope, we're just going to passively watch as Agnès's pendant fills with light to defeat--



Defeat...

Wait.

What?

--

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Main Scenario:
All Eternity
Tentacles of Doom