Part 42: Stratum 3: Arbiter Part 1

IZEL! Whose voice is like thunder! IZEL! Whose gaze is like fire! IZEL! The darkness from the light and the light in the darkness!
- unknown attribution

The Searing Light

We pushed on to the deepest part of the Stratum.



And that’s when things got… interesting.

Video- “Arbiter Lead In”

Click For Video

(This place is beautiful… but something’s not right.)
Amaaaaaaaazing…!
This must be the sanctuary where Holy Atona resides!
H-Holy Atona must be here!
Levatte…? What’s wrong?
I… I’ve finally reached this place…
Hey, Levatte! Where are you going!?
“Those with light in their heart will be consumed by the darkness. Those with darkness will be consumed by the light.”
It’s a passage from an old Valdian scripture…
You’re saying this place is consuming Levatte…?
Not only him.
Even an unorthodox priest like me is overwhelmed by the majesty of this place.
Priests are always waiting for that moment when a miracle occurs.
To feel the power of the Goddess filling your entire body…
W-Wait a minute.
I thought the Valdian scriptures saw Besek as a sort of Hell!

Very interesting.



Levatte…?
What grand desire could be worth forging such bloodshed…?
This is bad… Levatte’s possessed.
Possessed? By who…?
What gives you the right to obliterate and destroy other life forms?
We didn’t have any other choice. It’s not like we enjoyed doing it.
I don’t know who you are…
But I thought that in Besek, only the strongest survive. Isn’t that the way of it?
If weaker creatures attack us, is it our fault if we defend ourselves?
YOU are the weaklings. That is why I granted your kind with the desire to band together for survival.
What are you talking about?
Listen, children…
You are not permitted to enter here.
I don’t know who you are, but we don’t need your permission!
Your actions will bring only pain and suffering…

With that, Levatte went back to normal.



Levatte, are you alright!?
I… I don’t know what happened. What was I doing…?
I don’t care who the hell that was… We’ll move on, no matter what!

We’ve come this far, we can’t let ourselves falter now.

Video- “Arbiter Part 1”

Click For Video with Commentary



Ally Team:
Standard team, we’ll be using them for the rest of the game. I do have some Majin ready as backups if I really need them now though.

Enemy Team:
We’re up against an entirely familiar group this time. There are two Unseelies, two of the Lapis Sylphs we saw in Doom Shade’s map, two Aquila, and a Zyr Phantasm. The Majin are roughly mirrored, we’ve got the Phantasm in the center and one of each Majin type on either side of it.

Deployment:



We deploy hard to the left. I could just as easily do the right, though. The important thing is that we do NOT want to push the middle, that Zyr Phantasm will have huge healing and magical support and we’ll likely get wiped out.

Tactical Objectives:
- Crush the Majin

Map:



You have no right to be here!
We don’t take orders from your kind!
May Holy Atona bless our swords with her might.
We shall vanquish all evil, in the name of Valdia!

We start out as always with buffing and motion towards the side we want to force. I’m already playing somewhat poorly even early on here, because I should be a lot more forward with my healers. We’ll see that come back to haunt me later.



Hahahahahaha! But that’s what makes you Falsin so amusing!
Wh-What are you talking about?
Falsin, do not interfere with our ritual!
I must save the Princess!
Her death is an honor!

The Unseelie and Aquila on this side have both moved into engagement range, so we’re going to have to start on both of them at once.



You’re too late… The ritual has already begun!
The rebirth of Izel is upon us!

Unseelie is in front so it’s going to be our first target. We do some serious damage to it with Olifen and Ares.



There’s no time to get into that right now.
Alright…

The Unseelie backs off and actually buffs itself instead of attacking, it’s a quirk of how their AI works. The lets us get started on the Aquila as well. We hit it so hard that it pulls back to the waiting Lapis Sylph for support. Olifen beats the Unseelie down to near death, but it gets healed by the Lapis Sylph. In the end this doesn’t matter, though, Olifen’s speed lets him get off another swing shortly after and Marie finishes the job with a Pyro III. Ares even levels up when we capture it.



Now we’re in a good position not just to go for the Aquila but also for the Lapis Sylph, who has a Striking Art buff and is therefore vulnerable to Pierce. We stab it with Logue and then start getting in position to dish out a Combo on it. Annoyingly it gets to act first and hits both of them with an Aerosphere, Bleeding them. Even worse, I don’t notice how close the other Lapis Sylph is getting to us. We smash the Lapis Slyph with a Combo, but Logue’s not looking so well. I foolishly cure the Bleed with Yuri’s turn, not realizing nobody else can get in position to heal Logue.



To add insult to injury, the Lapis Sylph’s Aerosphere doesn’t just kill Logue, it also kills the Bound Lapis Sylph as well. I actually almost just started the map over in disgust here but I decided revenge was an even better idea. Marie starts the revenge process by killing the Aquila. We then rush Ares and Olifen up to the Lapis Sylph, leaving it at decently low health but not quite low enough for it to heal itself.



You are failures… Now, you will face divine punishment!
“Divine”…!? Who’s being arrogant now!?

The Sylph tries to flee to the other side of the Zyr Phantasm, but when the Phantasm casts on us it also moves out of the way, and a quick Combo brings the Lapis Sylph low. Now I’ve got the Phantasm, an Unseelie, and an Aquila to deal with.



Just what are they trying to do…!?
Hehehe. We shall rule you all! Total domination!

Marie’s now my best strike attacker, so she’s going to get started on the Zyr Phantasm. We scoop up the Sylph and then reposition our melee to meet the incoming Aquila and Unseelie.



Just die already!
No, you are the one about to die! Yes, you!

Now our goal is to wear the Majin down so that we can capture them. Zyr Phantasm is probably going to be our first target, because we need Marie to deal with it. While we’re keeping our front line healed up, Levatte manages to level up.



Levatte gets an all-new spell, Magus Wall. This buff makes a target immune to a single spell, which is pretty cool. He also finally has S rank Light power, which is great. We continue on trading blows with the Majin and healing back up afterwards for a bit.



It’s the presence of the Majin who possessed Levatte.
Even the Boss can sense it now… It must be very close.
Stay alert, everyone.

We finally get Zyr Phantasm to a health level where we can be confident it can be overkilled, and Olifen and Marie Combo it down. Both of them level up when we do this. There’s not much to report for Olifen, but Marie’s another story.



Marie’s advanced to S rank in Dark magic with this level, which is pretty awesome and timely because we’re going to need that quite soon. Now that we’ve got Marie free again, the rest of this map is going to go quite fast. After a bit more weakening we burn the Unseelie to the ground, and then the Aquila falls to a quick chop from Olifen.

Battle Results:

Levels:
Olifen 22->23
Marie 24->25
Levatte 16->17
Ares 15->16

Majin:
Lapis Sylph Lv 19 x 1
Unseelie Lv 19 x 2
Zyr Phantasm Lv 20 x 1

Gold:
6600

And that’s when it came.



The time has come to repent for your sins!
Ughhh!!!
Gahhh!!!
Wh-What is this!?

We thought we were prepared for any horrors that could come through that gate. That no demon, no monster, could surprise us.



I am Luxaphel!
By summoning me here, you have sealed your own fates!

But we never expected to be fighting an angel.



It… It can’t be…!
That’s the Archangel, first disciple of Holy Atona…
How can there be a Majin with the same name!?
Foolish Falsin, you still don’t understand.
Behold the truth! Kneel to your master and repent!
It can’t be… No, it can’t be!
Not only have you sinned against the Goddess Izel…
You have defiled this holy ground with your deeds.
Wh-What?
I shall return your souls to the light!

This thing thought we were weak, pathetic, it said so earlier. It was time to prove just how wrong it was.
- operation record, Commander Olifen