Part 93: Chapter Sixty Eight: Dead Space
Music: 23 – Nightmare000.png)
Welcome to hell. Hope you don't mind random encounters.
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After exiting the first level we come down to this section. This is where Infinity really begins to live up to its name, and some new enemies also begin to appear.
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These Zircon Shells seem to have no real gimmick other than high defence. Their attack strength is pitiful so they’re pretty much a non-threat.
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Magic Masters are far more lethal, able to cast Valhalla, Inferno and Blizzard. They often appear with Skeleton Knights.
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The treasure chest just barely visible to the left contains a Riot Staff, Lin’s second most powerful weapon. I nab it anyway even though I already have her most powerful weapon.
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The path splits here. Both lead deeper into the dungeon and ultimately end at the same place, but one is long with lots of treasure whereas the other is shorter but with less treasure. I’ll be taking the longer northern route but I’ll summarise the treasures available to the south as well.
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Going south and then west at the split leads to a small room with a treasure chest.
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The Holy Rapier is Tapeta’s second best weapon.
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The glowing orb set into the floor is inactive now, but will later act as a teleporter shortcut. And thank god for that, because this place is massive and absolute hell to navigate.
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The south eastern door leads to an empty room. Going north leads us around a winding path that eventually brings us to a treasure chest.
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The Draco Shield is Ryu’s ultimate shield.
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We can go north here for another chest.
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I immediately equip this on Ryu even though it provides less protection than the Life Armour because +30 points of Vigour is nothing to sneeze at. The Life Armour is handed over to Tapeta.
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Down at the bottom lies a Dragon Statue and a ladder leading further down. To the right of the statue lies a door leading to another empty room.
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Going north leads to another chest.
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The Dragon Blade gives a +5 bonus to every stat, but the Emperor Edge is 30 points stronger than it.
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A hole opens up to the right of the ladder if you try to move there.
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Deeper and deeper we go…
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This glowing orb will take us back to the one we first encountered. It serves as a useful shortcut. The door leads to the next area, whilst the northern path leads back up to the previous floors – in other words, the path we didn’t take earlier. Summary of the treasures therein:
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A worthless shield.
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A more useful Helm for Ryu. And that’s it. The other path is much shorter but also has much less treasure.
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It also has a healing fountain, which is nice.
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Enough of that, though. It’s time to meet the darkness head on.
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:…Huh? It’s so dark in here…
: Damn, I can’t see a thing…if only we had a lamp or a candle or something…033.png)
: Who is it? Who’s there?!034.png)
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: I haven’t been afraid of the dark for a long time. Now show yourself, coward!
: Not yet, I think. You’ll have to come a little closer first…037.png)
: Partner…I’ve got a bad feeling about this…: Just now? I’ve had a bad feeling since we entered this twisted place.038.png)
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: The only things that dwell in this place are demons. Why would a demon call me the Fated Child?: Because you are, little Ryu. You opened the gates of Infinity, just as our prophecies foretold. Our Fated Child, the one who has brought freedom to all demonkind. Since you did not answer my question, I will do so for you.040.png)
Music: Stealthy Shadow
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: You!!
: Now that you stand here before me, your purpose in our plans is complete. The world above shall belong to the Lord Deathevan. Destruction shall pour forth from the gate you have opened…043.png)
: D-d-don’t worry, partner! We’ve got your back!044.png)
A fight against Barbaroi ensues. However, it’s not a proper battle – the fight will end after the party has dealt around 1,000 damage to him.
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: The child who cowered in the cave now stands before me, sword at the ready! 046.png)
Here’s where things get interesting. Barbaroi offers to fight Ryu one-on-one, giving him the chance to settle matters from ten years ago. You can choose to go along with this and battle him with Ryu alone, or you can spurn the offer and dogpile Barbaroi with your entire team. It’s a decision between the easy way and the
way. Our choice in the matter is clear.:…Everyone, please stand aside. It’s stupid and cliché, but this is something I have to do myself. I’ll put an end to my nightmare of ten years ago here and now, and I’ll do it with my own power!047.png)
: Very well, child. See if you can strike down your nightmare with your own two hands!--
Music: A Crisis
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Obviously fighting Barbaroi solo is extremely dangerous. His basic attack hits for 70+ damage and he has a high counterattack rate. He also has a range of special attacks like Fire Breath to liven things up. On the other hand, choosing to go it alone restores Ryu’s AP and HP to full and means Barbaroi keeps all the damage he took from the previous battle. The best strategy is to spam Kaiser Dragon whilst using Wisdom Fruits to keep Ryu’s AP high and healing with Restoratives and Hardtacks whenever possible. Even so there’s still an amount of luck involved, particularly since Barbaroi begins hitting a lot harder once his HP falls below 50%.
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: We…thought we could destroy the Fated Child once he opened the gate and passed into our domain…but…it appears we underestimated you…050.png)
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This cryptic hint is something I’ll explain in a moment. Barbaroi will only say this if you beat him one-on-one. If you use the whole party he’ll just mock you and say that weaklings like you will never defeat Deathevan.
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:…It’s over. At last…my nightmares are ended.: Mine too. But it’s not finished just yet, right?: Right. Let’s go.056.png)
The next room contains a Dragon Statue and a healing fountain, as well as a teleporter. For now it’s important to switch in Sten and Lin.
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Go back into Barbaroi’s lair, take three steps down and strike the right hand wall with Lin’s staff. An invisible obstacle will crumble and allow you to pass into a new area.
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This chest can only be accessed with Sten – there’s an invisible grapple point he can use.
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The Life Brace is a precious accessory. It’s the only item in the game that can prevent Instant Death. I put it on Bosch, because the last thing you want is for your healer to die.
That’s it for this update. Next time we’ll finally confront Deathevan and finish things, once and for all.