Part 33: Episode XXVIII: In Which We Reach the End
Episode XXVIII: In Which We Reach the EndVerse 7: The Ghosts - Music: Plains of Pity
So it's time to fly back to the District of Shining Life from the beginning of the chapter and do things properly now that we have Manah back in the band. Note that Manah will contribute FUCK ALL to the rest of this chapter. Indeed, she straight up vanishes from a few cutscenes she's so unimportant. But hey, Nowe has a thing for evil, red eyed blondes so rescuing just had to be done.
The way back to the district is, of course, absolutely filled with airships patrolling the skies. Where are they all coming from at this point? We just massacred everyone in the Knights of the Seal's HQ. All that should be left of the knights are only Gismor, Seere, and a few knights stuck patrolling the ass end of nowhere due to getting caught making fun of Gismor for getting beaten up by the dragon boy.
So, we're going to fight ghosts now to make up for that discrepancy in reinforcements. Sure, why not?
Ghosts can shit out purple glowing skulls to put a force field over Legna, locking him in place while the main ghost lobs its sickle around like a boomerang. Well, at least we know from where General Gismor learned that sword fighting technique. That or they both just stole it from playing one too many Star Wars video games.
In any case, the ghosts can block any fireballs shot at them by twirling their sickles around creating a shield. However, they cannot attack unless they throw said sickle. And when they do as much, their only available strategy is to kind of float there and go "wooo!" at the attacking fire breathing dragon. This is kind of a large strategy oversight on their part...
Four dead ghosts later...
Right, then. Busting all the ghosts flying over the district will allow Legna to safely land and the proper assault on the district to begin. I wonder if Nowe's plan is to bum rush the gate and kill everything between him and the district...
Verse 8: The Sacrifice - Music: Breakthrough
Aww yeah. Accurate armchair general guesses up in this war plan. The KotS have all buggered off this time around, leaving only a horde of low level goblins to guard the district's gate. Strange...
A handful of dead goblins later...
"I guess it's not just the knights that are after us."
"Manah? Are you alright?"
"Yes... I'm-I'm fine. Let's keep moving."
"Alright... Ladies first!" "..." "Not really the proper time for being the gentleman, kiddo..."
"...?"
"Sacrifice a life in each room, and the door to the dais opens. Nice story, isn't it?"
The district dungeon is filled to the rafters with goblins and ogres (how do they even FIT?!) down twisting, narrow, and very brown corridors. Verdelet must be spinning in his grave with all this sub-human scum desecrating these halls. As Urick mentioned, we need to navigate to three rooms in the labyrinth and perform sacrifices in order to open the gate to the district key.
The first room locks shut and demands a sacrifice of life force to its chambers. It has to be somebody besides Urick to get drained of power.
As such, Manah or Nowe must just stand around in a locked room for 30 seconds while their energy slowly ticks away. No enemies. No puzzle. Just standing in an empty room for half a minute taking damage. Gameplay!
The second room demands a ton of blood to be spilled. It just so happens that a bunch of goblin tribesmen are hanging out in this chamber. Since they don't count as people, the party is free to butcher the lot of them to activate the second key. Very heroic.
"Death is terrifying. Nothing lies beyond death."
"Umm...okay. Where'd you hear all that?" "Oh. It's in the pamphlet they give you when you first get assigned to this place. I'm paraphrasing it a bit. The original text was written by the former hierarch. So just add a few dozen 'doom!' and 'the end is nigh' variations to spice it up and you'll get the gist of it." "Ah. I see. So did you used to be on guard duty for this district or something?" "..." "...Is he honestly still clueless about where I'm heading with all this?"
<rolls eyes and shrugs>
The final chamber demands battling with ghosts. I guess these unlucky saps are cursed with getting double-sacrificed. These are actually Ghost Heavy Knights. They are...functionally just heavy knights but Manah gets a buff against them instead of Nowe. And with heavy strikes, their armor can be shattered unleashing a spirit ball that can be struck down to insta-kill them. Not much to talk about beyond that.
When all three sacrifices have been offered up to the district, the gates to the Life Dais creak open and the party can progress into the penultimate district key's chamber...
Verse 9: The Showdown
Click to view cutscene
Stupid shitty ass flowers! The HELL am I supposed to do with these things to break this seal?!
"It's him! It's the one-eyed man." Oh terrific. You chucklefucks again... Hey...wait. Didn't I kill you already, tinhead...?
"But why!?"
"You're the missing lieutenant, and guardian to the key of the District of Shining Life. Isn't that so, Urick?" "Well, damn it all. I wanted to tell you myself."
"Well, it really wasn't too difficult to deduce."
"WHAT?!" "...For most people, at least." "Listen, kid. I'm not so nice after all." "..."
"During the attack on the seal three years ago, I was defeated by Caim. General Oror saved me. I left him to die, and ran away." "You were there, too!?" "No, I was out getting a turkey sub while my district was being assaulted by a crazed swordsman slaughtering hundreds of knights like they were nothing... Of COURSE I was there... Gods!"
So yeah... Urick has a pact with THE GRIM REAPER and his pact price was...losing the ability to die... That is uhh... Probably the least negative 'price' I have ever heard of before... Unfortunately, it turns out Urick had an emo death wish the entire time, despite being fairly upbeat up until the last hour of the game.
And it finally clicks with Nowe that this is sort of a suicide mission for Urick. You can just see the gears straining to come up with a solution to this new dilemma. Manah, on the other hand, seems to give two shits about having to kill Urick.
Music: Fate (Hey! Go listen to this! It's one of the best tracks in the game!)
"When the reaper is in my body, that's when I can truly die. You get it, Nowe? I'm counting on you. Don't miss it." "No! No! I don't want you to die!" "Yeah well...maybe you should have thought about that before going on your little quest here. A bit late to turn back now, eh kiddo?"
Ah... So that's why this shit didn't work last time I was here... I KNEW stomping on these dumbass flowers was a waste of my time... Never was into gardening. But killing... There's something I excel at... Let's see ya try to resurrect without a head...
<snort> Oh, that's rich... I've shat out things that have looked tougher than you, junior. But hey, if you wanna be notch 314 on my belt today, then be my guest... "Urgh... Nowe, fighting Caim is...not going to solve anything... Like at all here... I'm still kind of bound to the key. Not reversible whatsoever. No loopholes..." "I must win!" "Oh...just gonna ignore the problem...? Alright, that's cool I guess..."
That right? Lemme try a bit more of that sign language I'd been working on...
NOBODY TELLS...
...ME TO...
...STOP KILLING! "ARRRGHHHH!"
...and that's 314. Now then... I think there is a little shit roaming around here that's long overdue for paying up for that whole 'eye for an eye' policy... "..."
"AAAAAHHHH!"
Ah yeah. That felt good... Great, really! That savings bond of murder idea Angelus had was totally worth it. Alright, one more for the road and I can get out of this fruity dump. Try to stay dead this time, eh?
<BARF>
And that's a wrap! Alright...now I just gotta figure out where the hell that last stupid seal is hidden. Ah well... Hmm... I bet if I track down that Seere runt, I can beat it out of him. Oh hey, new sword for the armory! Score!
Welp, it was a less than fun ride. Until next time...
The District of Shining Life Cutscene
Music: Fate (Really, go listen to it!)
Urick and the Grim Reaper Poster - Aww look. The Reaper is offering him roses for their pact. How sweet.