Part 36: Yahweh's Angels

So, today the very first thing we're going to do is give the Pyro Jack $50,000 for one Impel Stone. This one stone is going to be put through its paces before we're done here.



Anyway, let's go back to the EGG and talk to this guy.

Well, y-you're not going back in! I'm w-w-warning you! 'Cause inside... Inside, there's...!



And, hell, while we're here, we might as well talk to the others and all.

Varin was correct... but in a way, also mistaken.



I created friends using the images of people who I knew and cared about. They told me to erase everyone when I created the Junkyard... But, I couldn't do it. I'm sorry Heat... I'm sorry Argilla... ...everyone... It's cruel, isn't it...? You can blame me...



It might have started out like dat, but now we're just ourselves, ja? Heat and Argilla chose deir own paths... Just like us.
I can't believe you were modeled after such a sleaze bag... But, Sera was just a kid then -- well, she's still a kid, right? It just proves that you can't trust adults...



Right inside, by the elevator there's this guy just off to the side a little. Johnny and the man freaking out in front of said elevator are gone, though.



Let's see what his deal is, shall we?



Serph, if there's a chance she's involved, we cannot ignore it. Will you allow me to interrogate him?
Okay, it's up to you.
This should be a good warm-up for my bet against Cielo.



N-Nothing... I just stopped by... R-Really, that's all! I don't... I don't know a-anything!
If you're trying to protect yourself, there is no point.
Wh-What...!?
The world ends in the morning. If you're hiding something, now is the time to spit it out.



Hm... Your logic is contradictory. You claimed to have just stopped by, but then you said that your orders brought you here. Did you not?



...Sure, I came here because the Director ordered it... But, I was told to wait here! It doesn't change the fact that I don't know anything!
What is it you're waiting for?
How am I supposed to know!?



The researchers inside are your friends, are they not? Why won't you help them?
Psh... No way!



Hmph... There is a flaw in your story. You were ordered to wait here, and claim not to know what happened inside, but in fact do you realize that you essentially told us you'd gone inside the EGG?



...Very careless.
...Shit.



Wait... What?
Tell me what Jenna wanted you to do here.
You know the Director's name... How are you two related?
She's... an old friend.
I see... There's something... you should know.



Their minds have eroded to a point where they don't remember anything about this world. ...They're going to destroy us all. The Director knew this -- that's why they were sealed in the first place. She's... different from before. Lately, it feels like there's darkness all around her. Please... Defeat the angels, if you can.
Where are they?
I was in such a hurry to get out of there, I'm not sure...



Or in other words: there is one inside still, somewhere.

And by "somewhere" I mean right at the end, because obviously, right? Just gotta run all the way back there first. Well, let's get moving.



First though, unlocked a new Esoteric mantra almost immediately. It's not really worth the hassle; Level Gift just makes it more likely than you get a random event from the person with it when they level up. Really not worth wasting a slot on.



Also now the layout is a mix of the two from before. It has the aesthetics, damage areas and shut off segments as before... but we can run around freely like normal now. The warp points are gone which makes things nicer.



We're gonna skip way, way ahead to near the end of the EGG Facility already. At the start of B12 there's this room we just skipped past last time.



It lets us pick up two Medical Gears which is pretty damned amazing. Let's be real, te Graven Image is more than sufficient right now, but free Medical Gears is nice all the same.



Over to the east of the life terminal, there's the one room I sorta shouldn't have skipped over before.



It's not gotten anything major in it, but a new ring is not something to ignore either. This one just makes it so the wearer gets more HP back when healed. On its own, its meh but
there's still a reason to get it.



And right by the end of the dungeon, everyone gets +3 Magic for good measure.

Inside the room where we fought Abaddon...

Epic Battle ~ Prelude



These stone dolls... I have seen them before. Yes, we took the betrayers and turned them to stone. No, this is not the same. I thirst... I must find a way to rid myself of this thirst!

Optional Boss: Herald Uriel
The game calls it "Light" but its still Daitenshi (Archangel) which is almost always translated as "Herald." I'm inclined to call "Light" an error, because there IS an actual translation error with a later one...

Hunting ~ Betrayal
There's no Betrayal here, but we sure as shit are goin' huntin'!



Being an angel and all, Uriel is quite inclined to cast (Ma)Hamaon fairly often but also not really.



He IS the angel of fire and all, so he's weak to ice. Ugh.



He can cast Agidyne, but basically never does. So instead he prioritises Ziodyne as his main attack. Which he does not resist at all.



Naturally, he drains Fire but also voids Earth and resists Physicals. That's it.



So, the big thing with the angels here is that they reference SMT2. Very, very heavily.

I will cast you down to hell!



Once he loses ~1500HP of his 3500, he adds a couple new skills to his repertoire. Judgement is the only interesting one though.



It's heavy Fire damage and a Rakunda rolled into one. Pretty much the single biggest reason why you don't want both Serph and Sera in this fight together.



Although if you watched the video, you won't see even half of this shit because Uriel is a gigantic fucking pushover. He gets obliterated in what is effectively three hits by Sera.

Anyway, the Karma is mediocre, the money isn't great, the drop is meh (+4 Vit gem) and... no AP? Weird that one.

End



Well, that's one down. Our next one is over at the processing dome. It's in the room where we collected the can after turning a dead slime into food for Kumbhanda.

Epic Battle ~ Prelude



Who... am I? I thirst... I must quench this thirst...

Optional Boss: Herald Raphael

Hunting ~ Betrayal



Raphael's already been more of a threat then Uriel ever could be, just by using something other than a spell. It hits everyone for middling physical damage and can inflict poison maybe. That's it.



His name makes him the angel of healing and helping the sick, so of course he inflicts one meh ailment and tries to hit you with force spells.



The force one is more important though, since that means he's weak to electricity.



Logically then, he uses Ziodyne himself. Because of course he bloody well does.



No... I'm Raphael... My duty is to build the Millennial Kingdom by God's authority! Witness the fury of the heavens!



Much like Uriel, he has 3500HP and once he loses ~1500 he adds a couple new skills. Again, Winged Fury is the only one that matters.



Heavy Force damage and a Sukunda rolled in one. Judgement was more threatening because it's possible to hit a weakness and makes itself hit harder.



Again, Raphael is a total jobber and we just obliterate him in basically no time at all. Same EXP/money as Uriel, but somehow an even worse gem drop (+4 Agility). Still no AP though.

End



Number three is over by Karma Tower. But first, since we're in the area we might as well get a little bit of extra information and all.



Argilla was a kind nurse, who treated me like a little sister. And... The chief doctor was very gentle. ...I loved him. But, it was all just a dream... That was just how I saw those people in my mind.



A lot of talented children went mad... ...and died. I remember this one really bright kid from South America or the Caribbean or something...



I think that sounds vaguely familiar, but I just can't think of what.

Epic Battle ~ Prelude



Anyway, our next opponent is up on the helipad.

Where is the savior? Where is the millenium? I thirst... I must quench this thirst!

Optional Boss: Herald Gabriel

Hunting ~ Betrayal



Gabriel is simultaneously the hardest and easiest of the three angels we've fought to date. She runs on a very, very strict pattern that is never deviated from. Tentarafoo is always her first move.



And it is from this that you will probably learn that, no, despite what the internet wants you to think, Cielo's weakness is NOT just Nerve (he even had Null Nerve equipped in this fight!).



Speaking of weaknesses, Gabriel's is Force. For what its worth, this is a Mind Charged Zanma after 3 Makakajas. Without Zandyne, it's just not worth the hassle.



Anyway, Gabriels third move is Silent Howl. We've seen that plenty by now though.



Next is Neural Shock, which IS Nerve elemental.

After that is a charm, then curse but she never gets that far.



I... I am Gabriel... My duty is to build the Millennial Kingdom according to God's will. May God bless us all...



Heavenly Smile is one of Gabriel's new moves in the second half of the fight. She breaks her pattern here, kind of, and opts instead to use ailments randomly.



Speaking of which, Heavenly Smile is the nastiest main new move of all 3 angels. It's almighty elemental and attempts to inflict Panic and Charm. Nothing else, but that's nasty enough with just that it sort of doesn't need anything else.



She normally follows it up with Tentarafoo (at least at first) but sometimes she does this instead. And this is infinitely the more dangerous option.



Because then she will do this. And this will actually kind of hurt.



Relatively, it's way tougher than everything else we've eaten to date. Even hitting Sera as hard as Judgment did.



..Admittedly, the Mind Charge helped but hey.



She also throws around instant death spells. And by spells I mean just this one.



For reference, she drains Elec and is immune to Earth. That's it. So, any non-Zio/Teradyne will just destroy her right and proper quick even if its not Zan.



Same old stuff as before, but the reward is actually better for once. The Star Sapphire is a very rare item because its straight up +5 to a random stat.

End

If we beat 600,000 points in the Cielo shmup minigame, we can get 2 of them. Apparently. Never done it myself and probably never will.



Speaking of which, let's go back to the Lokapala's base and...



Cap off the Mad Mart's rank. Actually quite surprised by how easy that was to do for once. It's normally not done until the final dungeon.



Anyway, this lets us get the Revival Orb. Which is hella expensive, oh my god. Gonna get that later, then.



It also opens up our third and last special box. Too expensive and time consuming to grind the shite ring it gives us right now, but...



Even without that, they're worth buying up anyway. The best results we could get, by far. All Data is available from them (still not the best way to grab that though), best healing and even Somas.



Max rank also lets us get the last two SP rings which we'll buy right away. Now we've gotten every ring we can get from here, save for the last box one.

We can also buy like two new bullets but ahahahaha nah.



Good business means doing whatever it takes to support your customers. I'm sure my husband would agree.



But anyway, our real reason for coming here is to head to the Occupied Sector.



This is where our final optional boss is waiting, out on the Surface area about halfway through. There's no point coming here until Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel are beaten though...

Epic Battle ~ Prelude



Also this is why we never get AP from the first three.



We are not like this twisted black sun...
But, as we have arrived here, it's our duty to establish a thousand-year kingdom.



Repent of your sins!

Optional Boss: Herald Michael (et al)

Hunting ~ Betrayal



So, this fight is a bit tedious but also really fun. It starts off against Uriel who is completely identical to when we last fought him in every way.



I will cast you down to hell!

Same level (35 for all the nothing that means), same health, same skills, resistances... the works.



So, we'll just blitz the first three while taking advantage of their existance to prep for Michael.



Sadly, we fight the angels all on their own. Nothing as cool as fighting 3 at once a la Nocturne.

Enough! I'll show you the glory of God's design! Lord, give me strength!

^ dialogue what we accidentally skipped ^



Witness the fury of the heavens!



And next up is Gabriel who, like the others, is completely identical to before. Right down to the same pattern and everything.



Though this is not our world, I cannot forsake Michael and the others.



May God bless us all...



But she too falls in no time. And then we get Michael.



Michael has 5,000HP and no weakness (fucking finally). Unfortunately aside from the requisite boss resistances, his only resistance is... being immune to Electric. That's it.

It also makes Bufu/Zandyne really stupid good in this fight. Either one decimates 3/4ths of these guys (and one gal).



I shall avenge their deaths!



Michael is the first dude that actually does something if you buff to +3 or debuff him to -3. He responds to either by opening with a Rage.



He then straight up dispells them on the spot. He won't touch either Dekunda or Dekaja if you push them to +/-2 though. At least he tries?



He can then do either Mind or Power Charge. Which one is, I believe, completely random.



Mind is preferable though, because he follows that with Megidolaon.



It hits harder than Gabriel's did, sure, but that's still preferable. Power Charge gets followed by a Ragnarok.

Yeah.



Whenever he's not getting pissed the fuck off, he just uses a Heavy random phys skill rarely.



He also can cast the ST Dynes. Like, all of 'em. This fact is why you might consider switching Gale out for Serph at this point; that way he can only potentially hit one weakness so its easy to cover.



Meh, not bothering here. Serph is not setup for this fight at all and we might as well put this Impel Stone to good use right now. This is the "canonical" use of that one we bought right at the start, for what its worth.



Michael's main "element" in isolation is Physical, so Enervate to cripple that right away.



Much like the others, Michael changes things up after losing some health. In this case, it's after 2,000. He drops the Dynes now and replaces them with...



The random medium damage spells. This is technically more effctive, but in some ways its a step back.



Spare them not your divine judgement... Die, false messiah!

He also adds his unique powerful skill when he hits... critical HP. Welp.



Omnipotence sounds big and threatening and amazing, doesn't it? Like it's going to be pretty potent Almighty damage or something.



Pfffft, nah. It's Mega Physical damage and nothing else. He'll also add Bloodbath at this stage, so Attack Mirrors/Phys Repel ruin him at the end.



And so, that's that. Get a meh amount of Karma for what we just did, a wonderful amount of money though and the Gospel. Gospel is the third best bullet in the game and we can actually get two of 'em. One from this and another one later.

This is also where we get AP from all this. And it's a surprisingly low amount for the three four archangels.

End



Their remaining data returns to the Sun and becomes one with God.



Michael's our first "real" optional boss and the first that gives us a new Mantra for our troubles too.



Unrelatedly, we also got Esoteric 8 and Null Sleep is just as good as before. With the ring that draws attacks to the wearer, we can put it to a bit better use this time around. At least in theory.

Not as good as it sounds in practice though.



Anyway, Dragonslayer costs $1.5million; its description is a goddamn lie, because it contains NO skills Michael had or could ever use; one comes close but our version is straight up better. Sadly, we need the mantra with Samarecarm to even see what it contains (but spoiler alert its Fire of Sinai and a really good Phys skill).

Regardless! Next time: we'll be going to the airport. Let's commandeer us an airplane.