Part 19: Stratum 3: Perdition Part 1

There is a seat of judgment deep within Besek where the Stealer of Souls holds court over the damned…
- excerpt, Legends of Besek, Vol III

Seat of Evil

We pushed on deeper into the darkness. There was a place there, vile beyond simple words. Reyna stopped us, certain this must be the right place.



We soon found he was right.

Video- “Perdition Part One with Commentary”

Click Here for Video with Commentary



Ally Team:
Velnor’s taking a seat for right now. We’re going to bring in a Zerda in his place, it’s a lot stronger and tougher than he is and we don’t need the buffs so much. I’ve also got Caer Lumen, Chiroptera, Thiefler, Heefler, and Acrida on deck in case I need any of them.

Enemy Team:
The enemy are more powerful than ever. We’ve got a high level Thiefler, three high level Armatus, two Lapis Sylph, and two Scytodida.



This Thiefler is tougher, stronger, and more evasive than any we’ve seen so far. It’s still going to go around stealing the contents of chests, though. We need to drop it like a bad habit pretty decisively if we want the awesome items in the chests on this map.



Here’s the big daddy of the Armatus family. It’s totally immune to Slash now as well as Wind, and it’s got a powerful attack that hits multiple enemies. We want to really go all out against it because Fears and Curses are seriously nasty status when such powerful Majin are out on the field.



Lapis Sylph is the premiere casting Majin. It’s resistant to everything but Light and Darkness, it’s got incredibly powerful Aero magic, it can heal, and it can Release other Majin. We need a powerful Combo or powerful Light or Dark magic to take this thing down.



Scytodida is a reskin of the Aranea we met earlier. It’s very similar to them in a lot of ways, just stronger. Light magic and Pierce attacks are our best bets. They hit even harder than Armatus so we do need to be careful about them.

Deployment:



We deploy our melee group up front with Zerda in a good position to shoot at the Thiefler in the way I know it’s going to go. Zerda has a lot of health and is very tough so I’m not too worried it’s going to die easily. The Armatus and Lapis Sylph are all very aggressive so there’s no point sitting around waiting for them.

Map:



I think so…
Nothing’s happening!
What do you want ME to do about it…?
Well, let’s clean up the Majin in this area.
Maybe we should just get rid of them all.
You sure?
We will be, once we kill them all.
Holy Atona, please guide and protect us.
Majin! You better watch out!
Izel shall be reborn!
Why’re they so excited…?
Rejoice! Rejoice! HAHAHA!

Thiefler’s very fast, so it’s already moving towards one of the chests. We Bleed it with Zerda immediately, which is a good start. We then push everyone up to try and catch it and meet the incoming Armatus and Lapis Sylph. The Armatus all push up, and the Lapis Sylphs buff themselves to be more resistant to Strikes. Thiefler’s able to dodge a second shot from Zerda, though it does bleed out afterwards.



Remember what?
They say that Doom Shade wanders in darkness…
And he only emerges if the Lapis Sylph is captured!
I hope you’ve got it right…

So yeah, Ashley’s version of this map has the secondary objective to capture one of the Lapis Sylphs. We can put it off for the end of the map, though, which is nice because it’ll let us get all of the items and capture a Scytodida once we’ve bound/killed both Lapis Sylphs. We get close enough now to engage the first Armatus as the Thiefler tries to finish its run for the first chest. It’s put itself in a very bad position, though…



He’s thinking of all the ways he can punish you!
I’d hate to disappoint him, but I’m not a criminal!

A Sacrasphere from Ashley takes the Thiefler almost down, and confuses the Armatus near it. The other two Armatus engage our party, while the third one does exactly what we’d like and kills the Thiefler. Losing some experience does sort of suck but the items are very worth it. We heal up, but now the Lapis Sylphs get in on the action. They hit both of our support groups with Aerosphere, doing terrible damage to everyone but Zerda and Bleeding Irina. Zerda stays on the right with Ashley, while Glynne goes over to support Ares on the left. Annoyingly, Ashley gets Cursed by an Armatus. The confused one continues to be helpful, hitting the right Lapis Sylph for some damage. The group on the right is in a great position for group damage spells, so Reyna hits them with a Pyrosphere. The left Lapis Sylph buffs his ally’s Strike resistance, but that comes at the cost of making him vulnerable to Pierce. We make him pay for this by Overkilling him with an Ares/Glynne combo, causing both to level without much interesting effect. I then throw out a Sacrasphere on the Armatus who are surrounding Ashley, Confusing the other as well. Annoying, though, this comes at a cost.



The confused Armatus kills our Bound one. Even worse, the Sylphs are starting to throw some healing around now. In the end it doesn’t matter too much, as we drag the murderous Armatus down and he ends up just as Bound as his comrade was.



I still don’t know how you know so much about Doom Shade.
I came prepared…

We throw some more firepower on the last Armatus and get the Bound one captured. Lapis Sylphs are continuing to heal and the formerly confused Armatus has come to its senses, so it’s starting to look like time to deal with the Sylphs. The first is Overkilled by a good old fashioned Combo. The Armatus actually manages to get to and attack Yuri, but miraculously she survives the blow. Irina nearly kills the second Lapis Sylph with a Light Attack. The turn order ends up not working out on getting a Combo on the second Sylph, so I hit it in the back with a Blade Dance and once again miss Overkilling it by a few points. This isn’t a problem, though, because Ashley only needs to capture one of them. In other stories we’d have to just reset now.



Die, Izel!
You’re the one who’s going to scream!

It’s ironic that he taunted us because I Overkill him with a Punishment right after that. At that point Zerda’s almost going to go away anyway, so I Return it and summon Thiefler. My plan is to send Thiefler after the right chest and send my party left while keeping someone at the Lapis Sylph so I can end the map whenever I want. Reyna levels up from the capture on the Armatus, again not gaining anything incredibly exciting. Ashley also levels up from healing herself as she approaches the left Scytodida, again nothing really exciting.



Glynne, calm down! We can’t get impatient!
I-I know that!

So now we get our items. When you see the Jerkin leather armor and Clergy cloth armor you’re probably not impressed, as they’re both pretty bad. But it’s the skills they bring that are priceless. The Jerkin carries the skill Regenerate, which gives a permanent effect similar to Salva. That’s going to go on Ashley’s armor, like, yesterday. The Clergy robe has Cast Speed II, which reduces the time it takes for a character’s next action after they cast a spell. Both of these are really great and we’re going to use some trickery to get them to Thage for her story later on because they’re both awesome for her. Anyway, we push on to the first Scytodida with Ashley. She tries to Fracture it but is dodged the first time. As the rest of the party advances to assist, she lands the Fracture.



Here is where I should have landed one more attack of any kind on this thing before I tried to Overkill it. Even Fractured I’m not quite able to Overkill it from that much health. The other one advances as well, and eventually I am able to Overkill it.



Maybe Doom Shade knows something…?
It can’t be a good thing, if the Pope wants it.

We capture the Scytodida, so now we’re just waiting on Ashley’s turn to capture the Sylph with a Led action.



Ashley, please don’t push yourself, okay?
I know, but I have to do this! For me!

And then we capture it, finishing the map.

Battle Result:

Levels:
Ashley 24->25
Glynne 18->19
Reyna 16->17
Ares 17->18

Majin:
Armatus Lv. 18 x 2
Lapis Sylph Lv. 19 x 1
Scytodida Lv. 20 x 1

Gold:
6100

Sure enough, things got crazy when we captured a Lapis Sylph.



Ashley!? What’s going on!?
The energy here! It’s getting to her!
I expect nothing less from Izel…

And we were thrust into combat with the Stealer of Souls…



Izel! Merge with me and become one with my flesh!
Sorry, but I won’t let that happen!
Doom Shade, tell me how to break this curse on me!
Izel, removing that curse would be useless to you.
Your destiny has other plans for you!
I don’t care what you think! Answer me!
And how do you plan on removing it…?
Submit to me, or you will suffer for eternity!
That’s enough! Be quiet!
Awaken, Izel! Awaken!
SHUT UP!