Part 84: Stratum 3: Arbiter Part 1

Possibly the greatest heresy of the age was the belief that even the ‘angels’ of Valdia’s Church were mere Majin.
- excerpt, Legend Cycles of the Ancients

Heaven

We reached the doorway to the deepest portion of Besek today.



If this is supposed to be the afterlife, they can keep it.

Video- “Arbiter Lead In”

Click For Video

Woooaaah, this place is amaaaaazing…
It kinda sends shivers down my spine, though… just a little.
But it’s beautiful…
…
Are you okay, Rondemion?
Yeah. How are you feeling?
I’m okay!
D told me the librum would protect me!
I see.
Rondemion, what’s wrong?
It’s nothing.
Eriel, you should get back.
M-M-Majin…!?
(I guess this is supposed to be Heaven…)
(I never feel welcome in places like this…)

Too many Majin around.

Video- “Arbiter Part 1”

Click For Video with Commentary



Ally Team:
We’ve got our mercenary team reunited now. We won’t be summoning any more Majin except as replacements. Rondemion is now armed with the best Greatsword in the game and it hits unbelievably hard.

Enemy Team:
We’re up against a small but solid group of Majin, there’s a Zyr Phantasm in the middle and an Aquila, Lapis Sylph, and Unseelie on each side. The Majin will support each other quite a lot, but we have a serious raw power edge thanks to Rondemion’s massive hits.

Deployment:



We deploy to the flank. Going down the middle will just get us slaughtered.

Tactical Objectives:
- Just kill everything

Map:



I suppose this is intended as another deadly trial.
Tch, we’ll see.
We may never know the meaning behind these trials…
For it is impossible for us to understand this place.
I don’t WANT to understand this place.

We start out with a push towards the left flank. We want to be far out of the middle by the time something on the right might start diffusing in that way.



We’ll see.
Your Princess will be sacrificed for Izel!

We just buff up and keep the group together. If we split up we’ll die apart, because these Majin bring a combination of scary physical power and scary magical power.



But it’s still Besek.
Misleading scenery obscures its true nature.

We give the Unseelie a brutal slash from Rondemion, which takes it down pretty low right off the bat.



This is our domain, Falsin!
For now, but soon you shall call the Netherworld home.

We then pierce the Unseelie with the Count’s rapier, which even lands the Slow effect it can cause. The Aquila behind it heals it up, so we throw more heat at it. Then the game does something really dick. It turns out when you cure a Slow effect, it resets your next action to your original speed. This lets is slip past our lines and kill Vivian in a single hit. I don’t need to put up with shit like that, though, so I start setting up a Combo against it while also Fracturing its buddy with Alexei. Unseelie pays for its actions thanks to a Combo from the Count and Rondemion, and since the Lapis Sylph is coming now I need to see the Aquila off as well.



Hahahahahahaha! You are the one about to die!
Disgusting Falsin! We have you now!

If by ‘have’ they mean they’re going to die brutally he’s right. Aquila falls to a Combo from Rondemion and Alexei, and we start pouring towards the Lapis Slyph. It dies an unexpected death to a crit from Rondemion after a Sacra II from Yuri, it would suck if I had to capture them for an objective of course but since I don’t I’m not so concerned. Now I go for Zyr Phantasm. The big concern is that I’ll probably attract the other Lapis Sylph during the fight, so I need to hit it hard and fast. Since Rondemion can’t do much to it until it’s Combo time without killing it I take this opportunity to summon an Unseelie to back us up. After a bit of tender love from the party I get it low and get a Combo on it that sends it packing, and I quickly get it captured because the Lapis Sylph is coming and would absolutely Release it. Now we just need to beat down the remaining Majin.



Again…?
Ah, but Besek is gracing us with fresh entertainment…
You’re the only one who finds this amusing.

The Majin hold out pretty well for a while, but the beginning of the end comes when the Unseelie dies to a Counter from the Count, who levels up. This lets us get the Aquila surrounded, killed, and captured, and at that point Lapis Sylph is doomed and falls to Nena’s Scars of Dis. Map over.

Battle Result:

Levels:
Duphaston 20->21
Alexei 19->20

Majin:
Zyr Phantasm Lv 20 x 1
Lapis Sylph Lv 19 x 1
Unseelie Lv 19 x 1
Aquila Lv 18 x 2

Gold:
5700

And if this was supposed to be Heaven, there’s only one guardian that makes sense.



Don’t be hasty. We don’t want to get killed, now do we?
Tch… I need no lessons from you.
Are you the ones who have summoned me?

Angels, demons, whatever.





You should never have come here, Falsin.
Prepare to be judged for your treacherous ways!
You first.
Hm, Luxaphel the Archangel…
Why does a Majin share a name with one of our saints?
I do not answer questions from ignorant Falsin.
Why do you hunt Majin and continue through Besek?
I’m here to destroy the one called Morpheus.
Do you even realize your sins?
Slaying Majin is not murder, not when they hunt humans.
Defending yourself is never a sin.
Humans are beneath us in the world’s hierarchy.
We’ll see about that.
You refuse to accept the truth?
YOUR truth? Yes.
Blasphemer! You will repent!

I’ll cut down anything that is in my way.
- unknown