Part 13

Due to some scheduling issues, 39M's translation isn't done yet. But honestly, that's probably for the best since otherwise 39R would look like total shit next to it.

Also I want to do something with the chapter 40 preview, so no intermissions this chapter.

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Music: Bizarre Smile

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Music: Border of Regular and Irregular Days

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There's a lot of special effects this chapter. I was considering making animations of them, but nah.



Prepare yourselves, Wave 1. They should be coming out any moment now.



This map is super dense in bamboo. Not that it matters since everyone is flying.

Hey, what's goin on? I was trying to enjoy an evening drink here.

I spilled my miso soup too~.

So where's the enemy?!

Looks like they managed to set up an ambush right under our noses. We're surrounded!

The radar's gone crazy too. What's going on?!

...They're nonchalantly popping out one by one, just like Master said they would. Now I just have to wait for the shrine maiden to show herself...



In comes Reimu.

There!

So these are the guys playing pranks on us?!

Something's odd about this. Feral youkai like these would never be able to plan this kind of ambush.

The boss must still be hiding themselves!

Then I'll just have to go look for them-

Now!







Reisen lasers Reimu.

...?!

Reimu, are you okay?!

I'm fine, but...

Oh no, your gohei is broken in half!

...She blocked with her weapon at the last second. She's got good instincts. But that trick only works once. It's over.

This is bad! If that happens again-

Gotcha!



!

...Whatever am I going to do with you, Reimu? You can't panic like that in the middle of battle.

Yukari...!

Good job, Yukari! Is Reimu okay?

She's uninjured, but she won't be able to fight like this.

You'll have to sit this one out, Reimu.

Hey! It's not that bad-

Reimu, calm down and think before you speak. How exactly do you plan to fight without a weapon?

Well considering she only uses her gohei in her parry animation...

But...!

Thanks to that woman with the weird power, she got out of that alive, but the group's still lost its head. It's just a matter of time until they're forced to retreat.

Reisen goes into hiding again.

It's that youkai rabbit from the other day! So she was an enemy after all!

But what do we do? Reimu's down for the count...

Everyone, I know the enemy managed to trap us in an ambush. But we need to calm down and counterattack. Please!



This is a pretty boring chapter on Normal, and a slog on Lunatic.

Music: Open Human Cage



First thing I did was have Dai cast Cheer and let Mystia blast the entire party with Song of the Night Sparrow. Boom, instant level.

It's really easy to level up support characters.



After that was the Rally train, though this time I only cast it twice.



There are two enemy fronts, so I've split up into two groups.

In hindsight, these were probably not the best two groups to split into.



On Lunatic, rabbits reduce damage by a full 30%. Thankfully the effects don't stack, but that's already more than enough to make things take forever.

The next cutscene is on enemy phase two.

...Is Reimu really okay?

Yukari said she'd be, so I wouldn't worry about it. More importantly...

"Are we going to get out of this okay?", right? If they bothered setting up this elaborate ambush, we must be playing right into their han-



More enemy reinforcements. This wave is a mix of rabbits and kedama.

Huh...?!

Wait, there's more?!

Well, this is a pain. Without Yukari, we're not getting out of this without some broken bones.

I can't believe they got Reimu too...

No, we can't give in like this! That's just what the enemy wants!

You're right. We'll just have to do Reimu's part in her place!

Meanwhile, on the ship.

I never realized that sitting back and watching would be so frustrating...

Hey, Yukari! You're done with my new gear, right? Even if you're still fussing with them, they still work, right?

You wouldn't be planning to-

Hand 'em over! I'm heading out!

...It's hard to tell you this, but no. They're simply not ready yet. As they are now, it's far too dangerous to take them into actual combat.

You never know until you try!

Besides, when has the dangerous prototype machine ever actually failed to work properly?

I understand your feelings, but know your place. You are the Hakurei shrine maiden, a totally irreplaceable being. I cannot allow you to risk your life here.

...!

Music: Girl on the Tailwind of a Story



Man, at this rate Hatate is going to die of graze damage.



I left Yuyuko with some SP so she could cast Guard. Combined with Shield Defense, she should be able to tank just about everything now.

As you might recall, rabbits are packing both flavors of Support. Support Defend, combined with their danmaku field and the fact they always try to stand right next to each other, makes beating up rabbits a massive pain.




Fury is a nice shortcut since it ignores both Support Defend and the danmaku field, but I only have so many casts.



But at least Mystia is saving me SP that would have gone into Strike.



Terrain bonuses are still dropping my damage a bit, but the main problem here is that Shou is just not very strong. Even Fury can't do anything about that.



Another tactic to avoid Support Defend is to use a MAP.



Ultimate Buddhist doesn't ignore danmaku so it won't do that much damage, but hey, why no-

wait shit i switched to shizuha to cast attune oh god minoriko is the one with grit on

I can't fight any further, I need to retreat.

Welp.



Okay I should probably start giving a damn. Hatate's out of MP so I put her onto the ship, and with Shizuha down the most use Minoriko's going to be is renewing MP so I move her near my heavier hitters. Meanwhile, the three on the left are about to enter one hell of an enemy phase.



Surprisingly, Mystia only got attacked once. Most of the enemies focused their fire on Shou, who was weakened thanks to Ultimate Buddhist. She pulled through thanks to the Palanquin Ship's four levels of Support Defend though.



Momiji did pretty much the same thing to keep Youmu alive, since for some reason barely any enemies wanted to attack Cirno.



Youmu still had to dodge a 67% to make it through though.

Everyone's getting tired already, aren't they? Are you all right, Youmu?

Yes, but I have my hands full just defending myself!

Aren't you breathing a little heavily, Momiji?

You too, Aya. You haven't even had time to take out your camera, have you?

...They still haven't given up? Even with their leader taken out?

Fine, I'll just have to do this myself.



She's back!

I don't know who you people are, but stay out of our way.

Face it, you're exhausted. Do you think you can resist the madness of the moon in that state?!

She plans to attack us herself now...?!

Visionary Tuning!

Music: Descent - A Crisis Draws Near



Ack, what is this...?!

This horrible sensation! It's completely different from what she did earlier!

Painful, isn't it? The sharper your senses, the more it should hurt.

Just how many do you think have been driven mad by it?

Have we failed? We've been completely outmanuevered...!

Let's start with you!

Momiji gets blasted.

And you too!

And then Yuyuko. It's totally random who gets lasered, and it doesn't actually have any effect on their HP as far as I can tell.

Aah! Is everyone okay?!

Hey, isn't this looking kind of bad...? Yukari, just give me the gear already!

No. I already told you it's too dangerous. We can't afford to lose you.

Enough already!

You're always like this... You act like you're worried about me, but you're never thinking about me! Your mind's always off somewhere else, worrying about something else!

How about you take a step back and consider my feelings for once?!

...

Fine, if you're willing to go that far...

The key to handling your new equipment is to understand the true nature of a barrier. I need you to be especially cautious if it looks like you won't be able to withstand its power.

That's fine with me!

Back to Reisen now.

...I have nothing against you people, but...

The game proceeds to pick a random unit.



Reisen will static near them and summon more reinforcements.

This is what'll happen if you don't surrender immediately.

Hold on! I'm against animal abuse~!

We, too, are desperately fighting for our own survival. That's why I won't apologize. This is what you get for missing your chance to escape!

Hey, listen to me! Listen to my song!

Watch out, Mystia!



Music: Dream Balancer

!

The hero always shows up in the nick of time!

Reimu!

Wait, are those clothes the ones Yukari was making?

I yelled at her until she let me try them out. I'm not cut out for sitting on the sidelines.

Do you really think you can get through life with pure stubbornness, human?! So you threw together a spare set of gear? So what?! This is just going to end up the same as last time!

She's right, those are still being adjusted! They shouldn't be ready for battle!

Yeah? Well like I said, you never know until you try!

Reimu vanishes,


and reappears right next to Reisen!



She proceeds to pump Reisen full of needles, which also magically defeats all the reinforcements.

In the original version of the game, Reisen surrounded her selected unit with reinforcements. Reimu warped to the rescue and wiped out all of the rabbits with a MAP attack that she would proceed to never use again.

A-amazing!

Wh-What was that?! Did you just tear through space-time...?!

Yukari warps in too.

I never imagined she'd demonstrate such proficiency.

You're late, Yukari.

And here I thought I rushed.

Lady Yukari, why did you give her those weapons...?! They should be totally unusable without your adjustments!

I'm surprised too. I suppose I've underestimated her.

What's going on here? She's nothing like she was before.

Wh-whatever. You'll still have to get through all these rabbits!



Reisen flees back south and summons more reinforcements.

There's even more of them... It's all over!

Surely you've already heard enough from me, Reimu. You know what to do.

Of course. I'll clean up both this incident and any youkai who gets in my way.

So get ready, because I'm going to show you the Hakurei shrine maiden's true power!





Reisen will head right for me, so it's better to spend my time cleaning up enemies.



Oh hey, look who's out on her own for once.

Music: Sage, Please Guide Me



You are probably only going to see Quadruple Barrier twice this entire LP.



Momiji lasted much longer than I expected her to thanks to Parry going off, but literally every enemy was attacking her so she got shot down. God damn it Cirno you are awful bait.

Anyway, Reimu. Her upgrade doesn't actually have a name, and the most the game's script has to say about the matter is that she's now "Reimu R". I like to differentiate her from her previous form, though, so I usually just call her Reimu HWS.

What's the HWS?



An upgrade to the Nu Gundam. Look, if she's going to make Nu Gundam jokes in her battle quotes, I may as well follow suit.
_{I guess Hi-Reimu would have worked too, but that sounds dumb.}

...Oh, so that's how it works. I think I'm getting the hang of this.

It's like the weapons themselves are telling me how I should attack.

All I have to do is take her down again, and the rest should definitely retreat this time... Everyone, focus your attacks on her!

If you want a fight, then bring it on!

Music: Dream Balancer (ver. Game)

The regular version of Dream Balancer has a much better intro than the full one. Nothing says main character like having the title theme play every time you do something!



Ascension Kick was swapped out for Dimensional Rift. It's no longer a Solid attack, so it can't be parried. Not that I have any idea how you'd parry a teleport kick to the back.



Reimu apparently learned how to do a hadoken movement too because the Homing Amulets are now Hakurei Amulets,



and the Yin-Yang Orbs supersized into the Yin-Yang Demon God Orb.
_{get it, "heavy" weapons system}



The right side is about done, so I have Yukari warp Reimu to help get her to the left.

I can't fight on an empty stomach... I'm going back first.

She couldn't quite make it in time even with Aya casting Accel on her though, so Rumia died. Goodbye Daunt.



It took a while for the momentum to finally shift my way. Stupid rabbits make everything take much longer than it really should.



And then there are these jerks all the way up here who keep sniping everyone. I sent Reimu and Sanae/Suika after them.



Speaking of Reimu, Persuasion Needle changed into Sealing Needle. Kind of late, since Reimu originally had those for MoF, but at least she got them!



Also I can't believe I forgot that Reisen's field nullifies Strike. Should have blown the last of Youmu's SP on Focus instead!

I've caught you, rabbit!

This one's got a sword!

...? Did her spirit just drop for a moment there?

No matter, I'll just charge in!

(...This is bad. I have bad memories of swords...!)

Music: feel eyes on you



For the second chapter in a row Youmu's use comes down to dropping Infinite Kalpas on a boss.

Anyway a fairy attacks Reimu from far away enough to use Hakurei Danmaku Barrier. That name sound familiar?

Hey, if I can move this well, maybe I could pull off that spell...

Oh? That looks familiar.

I never really thought it fit you, Yukari. It's too straightforward.

This is my take on your danmaku!

...Is that so? If I can see you accomplish that much, then making your new equipment will have been worthwhile.

So show me. Show me the Hakurei shrine maiden's grand Danmaku Barrier.



It's not really Evil-Sealing Circle's upgrade, but the animation references IN's Omnidirectional Demon-Binding Circle, which was.

I don't like people who are mean to my friends!

...I haven't seen this type of fairy in the bamboo thicket before. I doubt she's a threat, but I should never let my guard down, right?



Reisen is a long ranged character, so Youmu is actually pretty safe standing right next to her.



The chapter's reaching its final phases, so I start moving people to Reisen.

How dare you... do whatever it is you did!

Beasts are among the simplest of youkai. You're no match for me.

Hey, aren't you a rabbit youkai too~?

(...I am, aren't I? Or at least that's how they would classify me here.)



Who continues to snipe my weaker units.



This jerk is the last thing standing between me and the bonus. Once it goes down, Reisen is toast.

You surprised me earlier, with that strange technique of yours. I wasn't quite able to figure out how it worked, but...

It's science; you'd never understand it. A classical youkai like you is too primitive to even know where to begin.

...Science, hm? That should be enough of a hint for me.



Nope.

Also that kedama suicided on Reimu, it's go time.



Minoriko drops my sole bomb,



and everyone starts firing away. This is the part where I'm supposed to have Shizuha and Yukari spam Attune but welp.

How dirty of you to attack us from behind~.

All's fair in love and war. Don't blame me for trying to win.

You know, you've been making these excuses this whole time. It's not healthy to repress your guilt, you know~.

How condescending. Are you mocking me?!



This attack actually looks sort of funny when it misses.

Thank you for bullying Reimu for me.

You're that youkai with the weird power to tear space! Why are you deploying now? Don't tell me you're here for revenge...

Hardly. I just stepped out to show you my appreciation. Thanks to you, I was able to see Reimu make some huge steps forward in her training.

(Although that's both good and bad...)



And there's the second time. I actually use Quadruple Barrier a lot in FMW4 thanks to Full Power Mode, but here? Nope.

If Reimu can do it, I can too!

And suddenly you're all full of yourselves just because your friend showed up... You were supposed to scatter once I took her out of the fight!

Sorry, but you can't stop me now!

What, are you gonna give me some stupid speech about helping each other out? That stuff makes me sick!



Reisen's animation in this attack references the Gundam Exia's beam rifle pose. Remember that because it's going to be kind of relevant later!



Also I went too far.

I save scummed for a bit to see if it would be possible for Reimu to get the kill,



and it turns out that no, she can't. Even with maxed out weapons, WP level 7, 170 Power, Hermit Purple, and a critical, Reisen just barely survives. God damn it Reimu, this is why you need to be in a team with someone.

The reason I'm going through all this trouble is Reisen's drop. The H-Shooter boosts accuracy by a whopping 25%, which is really good.



I resorted to reloading until Dai or Mystia could land a weak hit. 32 resets later and Mystia did it.



And just to be absolutely sure I suicided Sanae to give Reimu that extra bit of damage.
_{aaaaah look at that finger}

Lady Yasaka, Lady Moriya, please forgive me...



But then she did less damage.

Is the revenge mechanic just bugged for this chapter since Reimu HWS is technically a new unit...?



Finally I just gave up on a flashy finish and reloaded until Chen landed her Support Attack.

I still need to pay you back for earlier!

Something's definitely different about this human...!

I needed that gohei! It's part of being a shrine maiden.

I'll sue you for damages! Reparations, donations, whatever. Or I'll take those ears of yours and call it even!

She's crazy! How can someone so crazy be so strong?!

Music: Sealing Charm, Blessed Light



Like all the best Reals, Reimu's finisher is a bunch of her weaker attacks chained together.



First some amulets,



then a Dimensional Rift,



followed by needles,



then a... tackle, okay, why not,



even more needles,



and finally a double Ascension Kick.

In the original version, Fantasy Seal -Blink- ended here if you didn't get a kill. You know, before she actually uses Fantasy Seal.
_{It also had a different sequence of attacks, but for the life of me I don't remember}



Here's the cut-in. At first I thought it was Reimu UFO's outfit (for reasons you shall see soon) but this design is totally original. Note the little apron thing down the front of the skirt; does that remind you of anyone else's design?
In you couldn't figure it out, it echoes Ran and Yukari's dress outfits.



The final blow is a bunch of Fantasy Seal orbs that leads to a variant of the original dynamic kill, but you're not seeing that. Check out the video I guess.

Anyway, finish it Che-



...



A reload later, Chen did it.





I can't believe how strong she is...!

You're just a youkai! Don't get cocky!

The entire course of the battle changed after Reimu showed up!

Now, let's capture her and find out where she's from. If we can learn where the mastermind is hiding, the investigation will practically already be over.

Yukari's pretty awesome, but even she won't hold back the sunrise forever.

Indeed, that would only increase our problems.

!

(So she's the one behind this long night... Master should be satisfied if I can escape with this new intel.)

Looks like you've stopped mouthing off. Have you resigned yourself to your fate?

Yes, I'll surrender quietly...

Of course not!

Reisen throws a flashbang.



Too bad! It's the master's special flashbang!

Just give up and stay out of our way. You'll regret it if you keep pushing into our territory.

Hey, you lost! Act like it!


If only we'd tied her up as soon as we won...!

But still, that whole attack was meticulously planned out. Sounds like she was taking orders from someone too.

Are they the bad guy this time?

Well, if they bothered setting up an ambush, there must be something deeper in the thicket. And if we keep following the rabbits, we'll know what it is.

Then everyone come back aboard. I'd like to check the ship for repairs.



The sad thing is, this isn't even the chapter I'll be reloading the most on.



Or the one with the most deaths.