Part 30: Stratum 2: Serenity Part 1

The greatest mystery of Besek is the truth behind the so-called ‘Eternal Poison’ said to be deep within it. No two sources agree as to what form the Poison takes or what it does precisely, but it surely is an item of extreme power.
- excerpt, Legends of Besek, Vol I

Big Damned Heroes



I’m concerned Levatte and Marie might be more concerned about finding some stupid treasure than the Princess.

Video- “Serenity Lead In”

Click for Video

Ma’am, it’s about the Princess.
We’ve come to Besek under the assumption that Her Majesty was brought here against her will.
But her reaction tells a different story. Not one that I expected at all.
You’re right. She didn’t want anything to do with us. Well, didn’t want anything to do with the Boss, at least.
Do you think she really meant it?
Hmmm. I guess there’s the possibility she was under someone’s control…
Ma’am, I’m wondering if… Her Majesty might be after the Eternal Poison…
Levatte, what do you know about the Eternal Poison?
…!
Let me rephrase that…
What does the CHURCH know about the Eternal Poison?
W-Well… That is…
Hey, Marie…

I don’t have a problem with them having some other objective if we have time, but our first priority will always be her.



What’re you two talking about?
Commander, w-we were discussing strategies to find and recover Her Majesty at all cost…
No, we were actually sharing information about the Eternal Poison.
*groan * Not again…
I told you that the Princess is our highest priority. Everything else comes after.
…
Do I make myself clear, Marie?
Yeah, perfectly clear. I won’t bring it up again…
But…
Yes?
Nothing…
…
Olifen…
You’ve gone on missions with Marie before, right?
You should treat her a little nicer.
What are you talking about? I’ve never been on a mission with Marie.
Marie said she’d fought alongside you before…
…?

I’m not sure when that would have been, and the Majin came before I could think it through.

Video- “Serenity Part 1”

Click For Video with Commentary



Ally Team:
I’ve got Ares and I want to use her, because having three melee fighters is really helpful. I need to ditch someone and I end up going with Vivian, because I’m still thinking Stein might be helpful. I again end up sort of regretting it because Stein is slow and has a terrible range.

Enemy Team:
We’ve got a much more balanced mix of Majin than we had in the first step of Forest this time. There’s two each of Gladelash, Velox, Acrida, and a higher level Cursed Soul.



Cursed Soul gains Dark Attack and two levels in this map. Its elemental properties are very similar to what they used to be, and it works pretty much the same way. We hit it and then burn it the hell down. Just don’t use Dark attacks or Pierce attacks on it, they’re not going to be very effective.

Deployment:



We deploy in a pretty standard sort of arrangement, our melee group is up front with our casters behind. We’ve got three now, so we can block off our fragile characters much more effectively.

Tactical Objectives:
-Capture an Acrida
-Chests

Map:



I’ll feast on your soul!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Is that so?
Falsin, how dare you bring that librum here!
Hand it over!
Never!
Then diiiiiiiiiiiiiie!

We start out by pushing our melee group straight ahead. We want to keep them together so we can hit them with a group magic defense buff. Annoyingly, Logue gets hit by a Bleed from a Velox to the left and takes even more damage when the near Acrida casts on him. We heal him up and get him cured, and Levatte ends up leveling up.



Levatte doesn’t get much here, and he’s not even particularly close to a Class Change. It’s annoying but there’s nothing to do but try and get him levels wherever I can.



Y-You should… l-l-let me eaaaat you…
You must find me quite enticing, don’t you…?
I like f-fat and r-ripe and s-s-savory Falsin…
Hey! Who’re you calling fat!? I’ll make you regret that!

I love that little conversation. Anyway, Levatte’s about to provide us with some important information.



So what?
They always stay close to their master Majin.
They say if you capture one, her master might come out…
We might learn something if we t-t-t-try that…

We’ve already hit the Velox with an Aero II, and Olifen runs over and chops it with another solid hit. Meanwhile I’ve moved Ares into a position to be shot by Velox, because hey free experience.



He hasn’t gone crazy, but…
Mind your own business before you get us all killed!
Wh-What’s wrong with you!? Don’t snap at me!
If YOU go crazy, you can be sure I won’t care…!

Velox is the first to go down after catching a bad case of ‘dying after being set on fire’, a tragic condition that seems to be afflicting a lot of Majin in Besek recently. Acrida’s making a nuisance of itself and I’m really getting sick of it so it’s next on the chopping block.



(The deeper we go… The stronger the Majin’s hold…)
Logue…?

We smash the Acrida for a bunch of damage and Stein manages to justify his existence for once by Freezing it, which will let us shatter it like an icicle once Logue’s turn comes up again. Now get ready for possibly the awesomest Majin taunting there will ever be.



Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!
Who wants to eat Falsin!? Who wants to kill Falsin!?
MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
*whimper *
(I-I must fight to stay alive… I must obtain it…)

I love the image of the Majin getting together to get pumped up before they attack like some kind of football game or something. Gladelash advances to hit Logue, which is fine because we have Marie.



Answer me, you filthy Majin!
We don’t answer Falsin! We KILL Falsin!
That’s the rule here!!! HEHEHEHEHEHE!

Olifen heads over to capture the Velox, and Ares softens up the Gladelash. Marie finishes it off, gaining a level out of the effort.



Logue’s turn comes up again, and now it’s time to take the first Acrida down. To be safe I use his Dusk Strike, and do horrific damage, easily Overkilling it. Olifen charges at the last Gladelash, doing massive damage with a sword slash. Then, things start to go all wrong. Acrida does exactly what Acrida did in the second step of Desert to Ashley, and Fears Olifen with a Malus I. This sucks because nobody but Olifen in this party can cure Mental status right now. Still, Marie’s in good position to burn the second Gladelash as well, and I do.



Logue!!!
Bloo--!? Ugh… Wh-What was I…!?

Even worse, Olifen gets Bled as well by the second Velox. I hit the first Cursed Soul with some magic from Marie, I want to get it down a bit before it engages. I also start pulling Olifen back to our lines to be healed and get his Bleed cured.



Y-You mean… m-me?
Will you scream for me when I tear your limbs off?
N-Nooo! D-Don’t come near me!

Cursed Soul comes in and hits Logue, but I’m concerned Logue will kill it if he attacks. Ares swings instead, which takes it down into range for Marie to finish the job. Velox has broken into our lines and is shooting at Stein, though this isn’t a real problem because it doesn’t do that much. Acrida’s mostly run out of spells, thankfully.



If you’ve got time to pray, you’ve got time to fight!
Don’t tell me what to do!

Cursed Soul goes down to yet another spell from Marie, and Irina levels up removing Olifen’s Bleed. No real news from this level, and we already know what sorts of skills she gets. Now it’s time to get started on the damned Velox and Acrida. We start dragging it down, including getting our melee characters into good positions to attack them. Olifen’s Fear finally wears off, and we take Acrida down pretty low with a single swing.



It’s making me nervous… Where’s it coming from!?
Calm down, Ma’am!

Velox is somewhat vulnerable to Darkness, and I throw out a Malus II at it to weaken it. It works very well, so well I’m already preparing to finish it off with a second one. I set up Ares and Logue to Combo down the Acrida, I want Olifen to get the chest while they finish it off. When they do, Logue levels up and gets his Class Change.



Consumed barely won. He gets Strike Evade this level, and what we can’t see is that he now moves one more square and can equip Spears. He now threatens a pretty wide range, which is nice. The chest ironically has a Greatsword, which he could have equipped if we’d gone Enlightened. Velox gets dropped by a second Malus II, and Stein levels up capturing it. Now all we’ve got to do is engage the last Cursed Soul, get the chest, and then capture an Acrida to finish the map. Cursed Soul takes some magical heat and then goes down to a Combo from Ares and Olifen, getting Ares a much-needed level. Even better, Marie levels up from a throw-away buff, getting her Class Change as well.



Marie gets Pyrosphere this level, which gives us a long-range area version of Pyro II. It’s more much needed firepower and lets her be even more brutal than before. Her INT stat is crazy high now and will only get higher as we go on. The other chest has a Staff with Cura II on it, which is going on Levatte as soon as possible. Now we just need to capture an Acrida and the map will end.

Battle Result:

Levels:
Olifen 12->13
Logue 11->12
Marie 11->13
Levatte 9->10
Stein 7->8
Irina 6->7
Ares 7->8

Majin:
Acrida Lv 11 x 1
Cursed Soul Lv 10 x 2
Velox Lv 9 x 2
Gladelash Lv 8 x 2

As Levatte predicted, capturing one of those Acrida Majin drew out their master.



Ugh…!
What’s wrong with you two!?
Boss… It’s coming!!!
Who was it that awakened me?

Kaelrunis was just the first powerful Majin, it seemed, and I’m sure this Manti Gigas won’t end up being the last.



Foolish Falsin… What could you want from me?
You have nothing we could possibly want, Majin!
Now that I am alert, I crave bloodshed!
Hmph! You can watch your own blood flow from your wounds!
Ha! You are not capable of such an act!

No way were we going to lose to some big cockroach, though.
- operation record, Commander Olifen