Part 81: The Final Pillar

Li Hua's sacrifice was "successfully" finished last time, although it left us with a slightly pissed off Darwin. Therefore, we are in control of Marie now.



Let's just follow Darwin.



In fact, he is here in the library.























In fact, while we're here...



...there's some new stuff to read. First, a bit of info on Li Hua.


  CANDIDATE LI HUA

Born into the world as the fifth daughter of the Li family on Wŭjiān in the Central Kingdom. Rebelled at father's insistence that she join his martial arts school. Cut ties with birth family and joined the Brigade. Took part in Atsul campaign at 21. Returned to Wŭjiān the following year and gave birth to first son.

Sacrificed as a Pillar of the 1,685th Rite.




There's also another entry from Lessica's log that is now available to read. These are kind of confusing, because we are getting them one by one out of order, and some are clearly not even from this cycle, but what can you do.


  LESSICA'S LOG 2

In this rite, the first Pillar was the Nominator's "parent".

It seems that when humans become such "parents", they have a natural inclination to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their "child".

A "parent" is the one responsible for giving you life. If this "parent" is female, she is called "mother". If male, he is called "father".

I wonder if the Creator, who gave me life, would be considered my "father"?


Interesting, but we need to go talk to Piu-Piu now.









Ah, yet another reference to the first game...

Finally, Lessica...

























And with this, Darwin returns and we can proceed with the rite...



Let's have a chat.







Really...
If you have a chance, ask her to sing for you after everything is over.
...
Do you remember when we first met?
When we first met... We were really young, weren't we?
You were just a kid, but you were already living by yourself. I thought that was amazing. I asked you if you ever got lonely.
...All I remember is that you suddenly burst out crying.
What!? Did I really cry?
And you wouldn't stop! In the end, Orlando showed up and started chewing me out. It was terrible!
W-was it really?
(But how could I not cry? You answered me, "I'm used to it." It was the first time I'd ever heard anything so sad...)
I bet I know some embarrassing stories of you as a child...
...You really don't need to try that hard to remember them.

Alrighty, let's get moving.







So, basically, we need to do the same thing again, defeat a boss to create a Sopia Core. Not only that, but... well, you'll see. We have the same four locations available again, so let's start with the first one.



After a bit of walking...























And a bit more walking brings us to...



Yes, it's Firedrake. Sigh. In fact, the game is a bit lazy here--all four locations contain the same four bosses as last time, and also as before we only need to defeat one of them, while you can use others simply to gain EXP and SP if you wish.







He is still ridiculously weak to water element, so this is pretty easy.











And so, we have the Sopia Core. I won't bore you with the other three boss fights as they are the same as before and there is no dialogue or any kind of events on the way.

But having a Sopia Core means it's time for...




























Well, yes. It looks like, at least in theory, it's time to sacrifice Marie. Before we do that, though...



...there's yet another diary entry from Lessica to be read.


  LESSICA'S LOG 7

I exist only to help complete the Rite.

I use all of my power to ensure that the Rite is not interrupted and to give the human world peace.

This is the mission that I have been given.

That is the only reason that I learn about humans.


Well. In any case...











































Yes, we are thrust into a battle with Bachs's pet. But level 42 we should be able to handle, as our own characters are around there too. Let's see.



A good start...





Oh, I see. So that's how it's going to be? (Spoiler: not a real fight, you can't win)













This is Lessica, about to administer some sort of healing spell on Marie. However...



























It seems there is no way around this. Let's have one last talk to Piu-Piu as Marie...































And so...

























So the process is the same. Defeat one of the Horsemen bosses and then...



This time we are going to revisit the very first dungeon again.







The blocked path is now passable...









Eventually we come upon this, a panda on top of a pile of boxes.





Luckily, Marie is able to move boxes with her special skill...



And so we can fight the Panda Prince, again easily defeated.



Okay then, but what happens now?





Well, first a boss fight I suppose.













It's our good friend, the fourth horseman, Death.









We are a lot stronger now than last time, so this goes without significant issues.





























In this case, the plot continues automatically, and you don't even get a chance to rearrange your skills etc. before arriving in this chamber. Luckily it doesn't matter too much.

What happens next is better seen as video so please use the link below to watch the next cutscene, including the ensuing fight.

VIDEO: The Final Pillar (make sure to switch it to 720px HD for much better quality!)






As you've seen, this battle is quite easy, she just has some basic spells and nothing really of note.









































And here we are again, all alone (well, except Lessica).