Part 19

40R starts the same way 40M does.

Wow, what a view!

I guess even the Bamboo Forest of the Lost can have some nice scenery.

It'd be a perfect view of the moon, if only the moon wasn't totally faking it. Maybe if I broke it in half, the real one would pop out?

Whoa there, Suika. When you say it, it doesn't sound like a joke.

Any ambushes around here, Akyu?

No, no particular readings of-

The radar goes nuts.

!

Is that an enemy attack alarm?!

Yes! We've got a large group of readings closing in! Everyone, please sortie and prepare for a danmaku battle!

Coming at us head-on? That takes guts. I'll give them a personal greeting!



My initial formation will be meaningless so I went with the default.

What's going on? Did something bad happen?!

With the way people were rushing out, I was afraid of a fire...

Reimu, I heard something about danmaku battle positions?

Yeah, they're coming straight for us!

Music: Midnight Star Storm



Phew, we can finally see the sky...

Wait a minute! That's Marisa!

Reimu?! You're here too?

I wasn't expecting to run into you here... That sure is a big group, for a bunch of people who never bothered showing up at the shrine.

Yeah, well, I wasn't expecting to find you going around investigating incidents in the Palanquin Ship either.

Could I take a minute to point out Yukari and Yuyuko right there with them?

Not to mention Ran and Suika. That group's got some serious contenders!

Oh stop, you're making me blush!

Tee hee. They're flattering you, Yukari~.

Oh, but didn't you hear your name too?

I can see you're all investigating this incident as well. It's good to see all of the usual crew together and safe.

Yeah, well, it's the usual crew plus... Hey, they're gone. Where'd they go?





My, my. Now there's a face I haven't seen in a long time.

I see Sanae with them. Good, she was with Reimu.

You people...?!

Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako! I didn't realize you'd left the mountain!

Heya, Sanae. Looks like you're having a grand old time.

...I'm relieved to see you're safe. We meant to set out as well, but you left before we could.

O-oh, I see... I'm very sorry.

More importantly, look at that youkai with the umbrella!

...I never thought I'd run into you here. Yuuka Kazami, together with humans?

I can see you haven't changed at all, Yukari Yakumo.

Not to mention Mima! I heard Marisa ran into you before, but this is still a shock.

Ahh, Reimu. It's nice to see an old familiar face. Since when did you start working alongside youkai?

How do you get that out of any of this? They're just tagging along and following me.

I didn't see you all at the shrine. I've been wondering what you were up to.

The dialogue from here is the same as on Marisa's side, with only one difference:







Alright, so personally speaking I think 40R is way harder than 40M. Sure there's no Yukari to deal with, but Marisa's team trumps her bullshit with some serious fucking bullshit. And it's even worse on Lunatic, where everyone deploys danmaku, casts spirits, and even have appropriate skills.



In fact, chapter 40R is so ridiculous on Lunatic that Sanbondo threw the player a bone and set Marisa's AI to rush the player right away. I hear Reimu doesn't do the same on 40M, but either way if you don't want to bother you can just focus on the other protagonist and skip the entire thing.

I'm going to get the bonus at the very least, but killing everyone is just not happening. I'm not even sure if it's actually possible without ludicrous amounts of stat doping.



Border Team stonewalls any unit in this chapter that doesn't have Fury. Marisa doesn't, so she's effectively harmless.

Though she'll burn through her SP like crazy on Strikes and Valors so it's still pretty important to keep Yukari's HP up.



Look at this mess.

Marisa: No special effect, but her evasion penalty is a staggering -60%.
Nitori: Enemy units take 30% less damage.
Hina: All enemy attacks are critical hits. (Pain Flow)
Prismrivers: All allied units in the range of her field at the start of a turn lose 6 Power.
Three Fairies: All enemy units within 5 tiles of Sunny can not be attacked.
Lily: Enemy units regain 40% of their maximum HP at the beginning of the turn.
Wriggle: +20% to enemy Evasion rates.
Yuuka: All enemy attacks will do graze damage.

Nitori's used to dunk every allied unit in range underwater like in 20M. Since there isn't any water on the map, that had the side effect of preventing any of my units from moving until Nitori was dead. Needless to say I'm glad they patched that out!



Border and Tengu Teams will be drawing the enemy's attention here,



while the rest of the team forms up down here. You'll see why later.

Music: Observe, White Wolf!



Marisa was nice enough to get Momiji's Berserk running.



The Prismrivers serve mostly as a giant annoyance: Lunasa will spam Daunt like there's no tomorrow, and combined with their field it's pretty easy to end up with a net loss of Power per turn. Which was really bad back when Nitori was freezing everyone and Hina was ensuring every hit did massive damage, but thankfully that quagmire's gone.



One way to deal with Sunny's field is to get the enemies inside to come charging out. Dai and Mystia make nice targets.

Hey, you're just as small as me!

Small...? Well I guess I'm not tall, but...

But it's easier to play together when we're all the same height. It's nice to meet you, Wriggly.

It's Wriggle. Though "Wriggly" sounds kind of cute...

This conversation can play before Wriggle actually introduces herself.

Music: -Fleeting Flame- Firefly Soul



I usually spend some SP on Fury to speed up Nitori's death.



On the other side of the map, Wriggle is quickly smacked.

So these humans are strong too. Guess I'll go relax with the bugs now.


Ack, look at all those tengu...

It's a shame that fellow Youkai Mountain residents have to fight at all.

These things can happen when you're investigating incidents.

Wow, I didn't know that was a thing. Does that mean that I can pick on you and it doesn't count as workplace harassment?

Is that like the opposite of a friendly get-together?! Momiji, you'll go easy on me, right?

Sorry, I'm on Reimu's side right now. You do your best for Marisa's side, and I'll do mine.

Argh, desperate times call for desperate measures!

Music: Water-to-Air Super Youkai Warhead Nitori



Nitori got absurdly lucky here and didn't trigger Shield Defense. I had to reset since otherwise Momiji would die from further attacks.

Music: From the Bottom of the Valley and the River



Since she's the boss with the lowest health, she's also getting 6000 HP back a turn from Lily, Komachi, and Suwako's Trusts.

Music: A Sworn Friend's Bond



Not that it matters since I managed to get her to walk right into my big Support Attack formation.

I may have lost, but Marisa is definitely gonna win!

Music: The Snow White Angel of Spring (Rally)
_{I'm just dumping unused songs now.}



Non-Directional Laser is hilarious when it misses, because the entire animation still plays. All those explosions were just off I guess!

By turn 5, more danmaku fields have sprung up.

Meiling: Enemy units take 35% less damage.
Koakuma: Allied units lose 30 MP at the start of every turn.
Patchouli: -80% to enemy MP costs.
Sakuya: Sakuya will always trigger Counter. (Sakuya's World)
Elly: Allied units can not move.
Kanako: Allied units take 18% more damage. (Expanded Onbanshira)

Music: Misery Go Round



Anyway Hina did the exact same thing Nitori did, and suffered the exact same fate.

Good grief, you managed to fight through all of this misfortune.

Once I pass Turn 5, more enemy units start moving. Alice and Sakuya will happily pass right through Sunny's field to suicide on my Support formation,



and Border Team will try to shepherd Suwako and the Prismrivers to do the same.

Good grief, those two must love having enemies.

Marisa seemed to be picking a fight, and Reimu's always eager to take one up. Don't you find it difficult, being dragged around by those two?

I've been with them for a while now, so I'm used to it.

Oh, that reminds me, I had a pretty hard time waking Reimu up this morning. Has she never been much of a morning person?

I wouldn't know. Marisa's pretty intolerable in the morning too, but that's more a matter of her irregular sleeping habits.

Wait, if we keep chatting like this they'll both get mad at us.

Oh, you're right!

Music: Dancing Marionette



That's far enough, let's not get out of control.

I've admittedly never left Alice alive long enough to check, but I don't think Magic Team coordinates their attacks like Border Team does in 40M.

Good grief, I have to fight you two again?

Don't be all sulky about it, isn't playing around with the gods your job? As a shrine maiden, I mean.

You too Sanae. I don't mind if you help Reimu out here.

Huh? Me too?!

You want me to play with you now? Well, at least it's better than asking me to close up shop.

Double the gods, double the blessings, right? Fine, let's do this!

Music: Sealing Charm, Blessed Light



Incidentally, Lord Mishaguji's insane 9 panel range makes getting Reimu far away enough to get Suwako to start moving actually kind of annoying.



On the plus side I can have my main army essentially meet her halfway since they also need to draw Sakuya's attention.

Three new fields have gone up:

Suwako: All allied units lose 20 SP at the start of every turn. ()
Kurumi: No special effect, but a noticeable -45% evasion penalty.
Mima: Ranged attacks do 80% less damage.

Music: Trickster Girl



I considered moving further away so I could set up the Three Fairy's death too, but Elly's effect stopped that plan in its tracks. So I beat up Sakuya while I waited for Elly to get in range.

That was excellent exercise. I'll go prepare some tea now, so please wait.

Music: Luna crescente



Ci-Cirno... Kyaaaaaah!

Suwako used the lull to snipe Dai. She was basically out of SP and I have Mysterious Song as a backup, though, so no harm done.

Music: Your Sparkling Sound



*sobs* I don't want to lose in front of Yuuka!

Elly is promptly cut to pieces next turn,



earning me the Lunatic bonus of killing five named units.

Now would be a really good time to drop everything and murder Marisa, but I want to at least reach a hopeless scenario first.



So I just have to wait out one last turn of Suwako's bullshit Fury'd Lord Mishagujis,



and then I can dump almost everyone on the ship and head south.

Music: A Certain Misfortune God's Song



Oh come on, how far away do I have to be?



As a tangent, see Kurumi here? She's a cheating jerk.



With a staggering 280 Mobility (for comparison Reimu has 205) and a S rank in the Sky on top of that, she's a complete pain in the ass for basically zero reason besides "fuck you".



Anyway Suwako finally moved south.

Music: Shiny Transblue



This means I can have the ship run up and smack her with an anchor,



then bum rush everyone out of the ship to murder her ASAP. I even blow a Hermit Purple on her to help chip through her gargantuan HP total.

Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako. I see you were with Marisa's group.

And you were with Sanae. I appreciate you looking after her.

Sanae sought us out, actually. Her dedication never ceases to amaze me.

But her reach is more than her grasp. She ended up making us stop on the road to eat lunch.

Sorry about that. She's only human. She doesn't have the stamina you two do.

At least I can stop worrying now and enjoy the danmaku battle for what it is.

Good point. I haven't seen your danmaku in ages. Let's get a firsthand look!

Music: With an Eternally Innocent Heart



Seriously, she has 63,000 HP. That's 10,000 more than Kanako!

My apologies, I'll just be a burden like this.

I end up having to wait another enemy phase, so Shou died.



Also everyone loses 20 SP which means no more Strikes.

Looks like you're really getting along with them, Sanae.

You too, Lady Suwako. You've come to join the investigation.

Please forgive me for rushing out without saying anything.

Eh, you're still young. You've gotta make the most of it. More importantly, we've got something like a festival going on, so play with me. Play with all your might.

Huh? By "play" do you mean...?

C'mon, you should know this by now! Playing with a god means danmaku! You've been so busy with all your other work lately. Even gods get lonely, you know.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this.

Understood. I'm looking forward to it too.

Music: Careless Though it's Spring



A ridiculous amount of save scumming later and the deed is finally done.



Cue even more save scumming to take down Kurumi.

I guess I'll go look for a nice place to watch Yuuka from.



11 bosses to go and only a few characters have any SP left at all.



I blew a bunch of turns getting the ship to just far away enough from Sunny that she dropped her field. Now I can repeat what I did against Suwako and rush the ship forward to deploy my entire army.



You know, if Marisa's field wasn't slowing me down. I think if I still had a Tailwind left I could do it, but I don't so the point is moot. The vast majority of my characters can't reach the Three Fairies, so there's no way I can take out their 37,000 HP in one turn.

And even if I somehow could, I have to deal with:



Meiling's fuck-off high defenses (~35k HP, 160 Defense [fun fact: the bosses in chapter 40 keep any stat boosts you might have given them], 2300 Armor, Berserk 7, both the Guard skill and spirit, and a -35% damage field),



Patchouli sniping me while I try and take out Meiling,



Mima's complete bullshit (~57k HP, you can effectively only damage her with Melee attacks if you're out of SP for Fury, absurd damage, absurd Hit/Evade rates, and Sense and Fury just for that extra fuck you),



The Revenge of Chapter 10: Bullshit Harder (68k HP, something like an 80% Double Image chance and Shield Defense on top, and a MAP just for kicks),



and Kanako (58k HP), who is almost as tanky as Meiling but hits much harder.

And of course while I attempt to beat all of these bosses the Prismrivers (who I probably should have killed before moving to the Three Fairies) would be constantly debuffing my Power, Marisa would be running interference, and Lily White would be tossing heals. Speaking of Lily, if she dies before (I think) the Three Fairies and the Prismrivers?

And then Marisa's group gets pumped like Reimu's did when Dai died. Not that it matters this late into the fight.

To be fair 40M Lunatic has some ridiculous bullshit too (Suika in particular is a nightmare), but I dunno. 40R just has more in my opinion.

Well I guess I won't run out of shrine maidens to fight anytime soon!

...But you wouldn't have been my first choice. You're kind of bland, next to Reimu.

Couldn't we say the same about you? Although you do seem a bit different from before...

You got that right. Let me show you my real magic!

Music: Midnight Star Storm



Anyway I'm just gonna beat up Marisa now.



Just have to set up a formation first.



Thanks to Mystia I'm not facing outright impossible odds, and my tanks can all take a hit so there's no threat of death. I just need to save scum until everything works out.



Turn 24 will be the last one. Behold, my secret weapon!



SP restoration items on Shizuha.

I only get just enough for one Attune,



but Ran is going to make that one Strike count.

Long time no see, Youmu. You're with your master today?

Yes, just as I was hoping for. With Lady Yuyuko by my side, I can't help but want to give this my all.

You too, Marisa. Weren't you going to show your old master how far you've come?

I used to think that, but I don't really care anymore.

My magic is for me!



Right after Youmu manages to hit Marisa anyway.

Not bad. I gotta hand it to you, Reimu.

Heheh. That's the difference between you and me, Marisa.

She's as quick-witted as ever... No, even moreso. She's fundamentally different from ordinary humans. I've known that for a while, though.

Yeah, I know that better than anyone! But what do I care? I do things my way!

...Yes, of course. You did say you'd stick to your own magic.

Why don't you show me that resolve once more?

I'll show you as many times as it takes!

In that case, would you like to share your usual fireworks with us again? You'll bore me to tears if you don't show off at least one new technique.

If magic was that easy to do, being a magician would be a walk in the park. But my Hakkero lets me bump it up a notch!

Enough with the preamble. If you're bringing it, then bring it!

That's the idea. Back me up, partner!

Here goes! Danmaku is power!





This animation's from a different run.



Master Spark's effect (-35% from final evade rate, can't move through the edges of the fan shape) isn't anything special. More annoying is that's it's a MAP. That the actual Marisa doesn't have. Because reasons.



Anyway she's not gonna get a chance to use it because Rumia and Hatate immediately debuff the shit out of her.



Everyone proceeds to beat the snot out of her.



Especially Ran.



Ran did like 20k total across three attacks.



How disappointing. Please allow me to withdraw.

Too bad I had to suicide her.



I would have liked to finish this chapter with Fantasy Seal -Blink- or Hakurei Danmaku Barrier, but after that trip on the ship Reimu just doesn't have the Power.



Just as Reimu dropped her route exclusive item, Marisa drops some Scarlet Metal.

Argh, you got me!

You did okay, I guess. You've got more oomph in you now.

That means we win, right?

Which means you guys get to do what we say.

No way, that was all just pre-battle banter!

That's what you get for talking about stealing our ship.

So, what do we do? Make them clean the bathhouse?

I think the deck and the Buddha statue could use a good scrubbing.

Bah, fine! Do whatever you want with me!

Could you say that again, with more frustration? Once more, with feeling.

Let's take a group photo with Marisa's group in the back~.

This is gathering some bad vibes...

For now, I'd just like to sit down with everyone and talk.

The conversation's the same as 40M after that.



Even this won't be the chapter I reset the most on.



------

Oh hey, you stopped playing. Good job.

Anyway, time for a drin-

I've found you, Suika!

Huh? Aren't you that devil who's always around?

That's right, I'm a devil. Though my Devil Level's not very high... Anyway, I want you to gather some devil power for me!

Er, what? Will getting some make your level go up or something?

I think so. So come on, let's go!

Well, okay then. Here goes... Gather, devil power!

Yaaaaay, you did it! If I have this much...

The screen flashes white.

My devil level will go up, and I'll become a Koakuma!

What is this, Pokémon?!