Part 18: The Visible Path

Bam, only one month this time. Since there's almost zero interest in them, I've decided to give up on transcribing the original japanese dialogue. This has the upside of making my translations a lot faster, and the downside of... um. Man, now I'm kind of wondering why I bothered making those rough drafts in the first place.

Also Sanbondo released the final patch of FMW3, so go get v1.1.2.

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Music: Secret Mission!

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Music: Bizarre Smile

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Music: Border of Regular and Irregular Days

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The camera scrolls to the bottom of the waterfall.



It's so big... I didn't know water could move that fast.

Woah there, don't get caught in the flow.

Stop babbling nonsense and get going.

The group starts inching up.

...*yawn* I don't see a thing.

I know, right? I want to go home and get back to writing my article.

This is cool~. We're this close, but they don't notice us.

Mwahahahaha, praise me more!

You can only talk like this thanks to me though...


You don't look very spirited. Were you really on lookout?

What's that supposed to mean?!

This is supposed to be your job, anyways. Can we go home now?

No, not until you've completed your duty. That was the order of the great tengu.

That tengu with the big sword is the one we fought during the incident last summer.

She seems skilled. Let's stay calm and keep on moving.

They do.

Now then, could you tell me what you've seen in this are- huh?

What's with that puzzled face?

...Inubashiri, is something wrong?

Yes, I smell humans. Could it be the intruders?

Shoot, she literally sniffed us out!

Oh come on, why didn't you erase our smell too?!

What do you think we are, deodorant?!

Cut it out! Let's just hurry to the other side.

Throwing caution to the wind, the group starts to sprint.

How careless. You may as well be standing in plain sight!

Momiji takes a shot,


and hits the group dead on, dropping Sunny's field.



Usually this chapter's cost limit will let you bring in everyone but one person. Cirno, in this case.

Aaaah, she broke the effect!

Where did they- they just popped out of thin air!

I thought I'd find you'd sneaking around, Hakurei shrine maiden. I don't know what trick you used, but there's no escape from these eyes of mine!

Oh no...

This is bad, we've been caught in the middle of the enemy!

I can see that. No choice then, let's do this!


Alright, here we go. We're at what was well-known as a ridiculous difficulty spike in the source game.

Priority one...



is to get a secret conversation!

Hm? There's a cave hidden in the waterfall.

!

That's the Super Shogi Dojo. Approach it at your own risk!

...What?

Allow me to explain. As the name implies, Super Shogi is played on a larger board than the regular ki-

Keine, this isn't a good time for this...

Ah, you're right. I forgot the situation for a moment there. Storm the Shogi Dojo!

Sadly you do not actually steal Momiji's shogi board.



There are only two bombs on this map, and this kappa hiding at the bottom holds one. I usually have Reimu deal with both of these kappa while everyone else forms up.



Speaking of everyone else, since this is Marisa's route everybody but Reimu, Keine and technically Komachi are unupgraded. This isn't a problem on Normal, but... well, once again, there's a reason I chose to do Lunatic on Reimu's route.

Music: Trickster Girl



The three fairies make decent bait. Keine only has one Support Defend, so anything that alleviates enemy pressure is welcome.



At this point I remembered that I have Radar and Silence, so I rearranged the formation to account for them.



Reimu finishes off the kappa on enemy phase 2. You have no idea how surprised I was when she actually dodged four 35%'s in a row.

This kappa drops another Five-colored Shell, which is good because the game's not done with water yet!



Momiji and the rest of the tengu will start moving after turn 1. The main goal now is to clean up as many crows as possible so that when the two sides smash into each other there's less enemy attacks per turn.



Keine's Support Attack is a big help here, since even the fairies can get a kill with her help.



Meanwhile, Reimu starts taking the scenic route back.

Another scene plays on the third enemy phase.

There are so many tengu... can we really win...?

Nope, we're doomed~.

Hold it, if you give up it's over!

That's it! Reimu, see if you can use that device to contact Marisa's group. They should be nearby!

That transeever thing? Let me see... Marisa, can you hear me?

*static*

Hey, can you hear me?!

*static*

...No good, all I hear is a strange sound.

Tch, this is what we get for relying on something we know nothing about.

Keep trying, maybe they didn't notice you contacting them!

Music: Reinforcements - Theme of the Detestable Youkai


_{Thanks for the translation, Hokuto.}

No way, more enemies from behind!

We're totally surrounded...

Aya, you're late!

Sorry, sorry. But good job finding the hidden shrine maiden.

We saw her last time too. What was her newspaper called again...

Bunbunmaru Newspaper. That's the name of the paper you all will be on the front page of tomorrow.

Bunbunmaru literally means "Sentence Sentence Period" so nobody has ever bothered trying to translate it.

If I'm going to be a headline, I'd like to have my pictures and real name censored.

Well that depends on your endurance. If you give me a good time, I'll write a nicer article for you.

She's making fun of us.

Well then, time to do my duty and beat up some humans.

Indeed. You'll be my next offering, Hakurei shrine maiden!



It's harder to not get the bonus.



Since she was unfocused, Mokou grabs most of the crows' attention. _{Of course Keine had to bail her out once.}



One of them noticed that Dai was open though.



If it weren't for the fact that Mokou has an extra life, watching her fight all four lesser tengu might have been nerve-wracking. As is, she took an unlucky hit from a crow tengu and came out the better for it thanks to Instinct Dodge.



Thankfully, Momiji goes for Luna.

Aya seemed nice, but this tengu is a little scary...

She's only like that during interviews. It'd probably be for the best if you never saw what was she's normally like.

Music: Observe, White Wolf!



Thanks to Defend and Guard, Luna took 25% damage. Running the math, it looks like Momiji was totally going to one-shot Luna otherwise.



It's at this point I remember I forgot to have Reimu cast Focus. Sure all these crows have sub 10% rates, but that's never stopped them before. And it makes fighting Aya a lot less risky; even Reimu can only get a 51% without any accuracy buffs.



Either way, she's got the south side covered.

You're as ridiculously fast as ever. Honestly, I can't even aim at you.

...But if I trust my instincts and fire wildly, I'll probably hit you!

...Attacking me instinctually? You're certainly going all out. Very well then, show me the power of the current Hakurei shrine maiden!





Wh-what do we do?! At this rate, we're done for!

...In the worst case scenario, we'll be annihilated. Keine, if that happens, run away by yourself.

Don't be ridiculous, I'd never do that! Reimu, have you gotten in contact with Marisa's group yet?

Whenever I try, I hear the same weird sound.

...You don't think Marisa's group ran away, do you?

Eh, what do you mean...?

It's Marisa, so maybe she got bored on the way here.

No way, that sounds like her but...

...Well, whatever. If we both went back, it wouldn't be that weird.

Wha- Reimu, are you saying what I think you're saying!?

Probably. Honestly, I don't really know why I even came here in the first place...

Mwaha, it's a nice feeling driving the shrine maiden to her limit. I wonder what the articles will be like?

"The Reporter Drove Back The Intruders By Herself!" I bet it'll be a huge hit. The papers will be flying off the presses, so show me your best moves!

...Tch! Look out behind you!

Eh!?

Music: Fantasy Maidens Appear!

This track only plays twice in the game, and only once on Reimu's route. A shame.



I have enough cost to deploy all of Marisa's group. Though lord knows I'd trade Kurumi for Cirno any day of the week.

We made it to the waterfall!

Finally. I swear, if we took one more break I was gonn-

Wait, is that-

Marisa?!

Reimu? Why are you here?

Well all sorts of things happened... but more importantly, it's good that you're here!

Marisa Kirisame?! What happened to the people we sent to intercept you?

We beat them up and dumped them in the river. Well, it was mostly Alice and her dolls.

If you thought that was enough to stop us, you clearly underestimated us.

...Well this throws a wrench in the plan. Neither force nor intellect came through alone, so we'll just have to play it smart and crush you between us!

This might be a Gundam SEED reference of sorts? Don't remember Kira's exact quote.

Hm. I wasn't expecting to meet up like this, but it looks like you're in quite the pinch.

Pretty much. Good thing a lifeboat came just in time.

It's not what we planned, but I suppose it's the best course of action.

Everyone seems to be doing well. I'm a little tired though...

A maid should be capable of tests of endurance. Is this your first time, Lady Elly?

Alright, begin the counterattack!



The strategy is fairly clear from here. While Reimu stalls Aya, my newly reunited army will clean up the main enemy force.

Incidentally, if Reimu had some WP in her I could actually switch the positions and have her solo the top half.



Momiji has two levels of Support Defend, which makes it hard to kill things next to her. Thankfully a Support Defend won't stop a Support Attack.



It'll take another turn for Meiling to get in range to help Keine redirect damage, but at least Marisa and Alice are in position to snipe her to kingdom come.



The enemy is so heavily outnumbered now that even with Momiji supporting like crazy they won't last long.



Her field increases the activation rate of Shield Defense though, which will make the Wolf tengu a little sturdier.

You've got good eyes and a strong nose. They must be why you've been given guard duty.

Correct. Are you intimidated?

Nah, nothing like that. I just get people thanks to my job. As for me, I guess you could say I've got an "eye" that's making sure I don't miss work.



All things considered Momiji doesn't hit that hard, so as long as you're not a fairy it's okay to tank a hit or two.

...By the way, I would like to ask you a question.

Hm? What're you being so formal for?

Why are you giving your all to protect the shrine? During an incident is one thing, but why are you helping me now?

Huh? I wouldn't really say I'm giving it my all but... well, why wouldn't I help a friend?

I don't remember making friends with you.

No hesitation at all!?

You idiot, what other shrine's as comfy as yours? Everyone likes your shrine, so of course we'd lend you a hand.

...I see. If that's the case, I think I understand now.

You do?

Yeah, I understand that I don't understand you people at all.

I've been thinking really hard about the shrine and faith but... sheesh, it's such a pain!

She's back to normal...

That's right, back to normal. I'll just do whatever I want!

Reimu's character development: fuck it, this character development thing is too hard.

Oooh~, Reimu's herself again.

Somehow, seeing her like that puts me at ease.

Now that your spirit's back, what do you plan to do?

Isn't it obvious? I'm going to hurry to Moriya shrine and finish things.

If you can't handle it, tough! I've got a grudge to settle!

That's the spirit. But you're the one who better not slow me down!



The rest of the lesser tengus should die this turn.



Rumia even picked up Fury just in time to ignore Momiji.



Komachi wasn't doing much else so I had her and Reimu smack down the last kappa.



Sunny and Star force Momiji to burn her Support Defends, and then Marisa and Alice spammed Proto Malice.



Presto. Momiji is now completely helpless. Aya is similarly stuck, as she and her helpers can't even touch Reimu.

Momiji Inubashiri! I should have known you'd stand in our way!

Indeed, I planned on confronting your group ever since I last saw you.

My first target is you. Let's see you match wits with my blade!



Momiji relies on her shield to tank. As long as the skill doesn't trigger, I can slice through her like butter.



Mokou is just 1 MP off from using her finisher, so I decide to take a risk and blow the rest of Sakuya's SP on Devote.

At first glance you seem defenseless... but that attitude. I don't think I should take you lightly.

Good intuition. This is how I fight. If you're careless, you'll get burned.



Okay...



Damn it, Momiji got a critical. Keine can't trigger Support Attack if the first attacker dies.



...Good going, Komachi? Keine picks up the slack this time at least.

...I see. So this won't be enough.

How can she be this confident even after being beaten?

Looks like she's got one heck of a grudge against us.

That's right, Marisa Kirisame. Because I lost to you last summer. I had to accept Aya's help...

I was too weak! That's why, in order to clear away my shame, I have returned with a brand new fang!

Be careful, she's going to use a spellcard!

Roar, Rock-Crushing Fang! Become the fang that carries my fighting spirit!

There's a pun here; the word Momiji uses for "carry" specifically refers to carrying a virus.




The animation for Rabies Bite are some vertical bars intersecting like a jaw. Its effect lets Momiji ignore all defensive abilities; barriers, support defend, you name it.

Look who's come out to play!

I've been waiting for this moment, Marisa Kirisame! Before you tricked Nitori, and now you've invaded the mountain... your recklessness is beyond help.

Meh, if we're complaining now I'd like to speak with your god. Aren't they the cause of all of this? Newcomers should follow the rules. You mountain youkai should know a thing or two about that.

...An outsider like you has no basis to insult us! I've sharpened my fangs in wait for this day... my body will savor this taste!



Unfortunately for her, it's a 1-2 range attack. And I have a bunch of long range finishers.

One thing led to another, and now you stand before us as Sanae Kochiya's underling.

...What are you trying to say?

When we met at the Misty Lake, I wouldn't have expected you two to collaborate so easily. Somehow, I doubt your relationship is very comfortable.

...I follow my orders. I would never take a stand against the mountain.

Now cease your excessive interference and quietly leave!



Hmm. I thought my light bending had no weaknesses, but then you found me by my smell... Ah, I know. If I carry something that smells good, won't that cancel it out!?

...So are you saying you smell bad?



A bunch.

You're light on your feet... so you're more than just a sturdy gate.

I have to do my best in order to protect my allies. Fighting spirit alone won't provide cover.

...So you're prepared at all times to work with someone else. I can understand that way of thinking.



I was hoping Meiling and Sakuya could finish the job, but alas.

I guess I'll just have Rumia do it.

You all look the same when you come out in groups like this.

We are all the same species, but somehow hearing that annoys me. What about you? Aren't any of your friends the same speci-

What do you mean? I'm aaaall by myself~.





Guh, why!? How could I have lost again...!?

Do you see now? A beast's fangs will never break through my gate!

...Heh. You were showing off until now, but you were struggling the entire time, weren't you? Momiji, fall back and leave them to me.

What!? I can still fight!

Don't be ridiculous, you've done more than enough. Let me clean up your leftovers.

...Understood. If you're that confident, I'll leave them to you.

Momiji retreats.

We, we beat her...

The fight's gone out of her... well in any case, looks like we're out of that pinch we were in.

It's all thanks to Marisa's group. Let's keep this up, we've already turned the tables!



Momiji drops an Oni's Fang, which may or may not be your first one if you didn't beat Flandre in the japanese version.



With the midboss out of the way, Reimu starts leading Aya north.

And then I left my game running for three hours while I went to a club meeting. I was seriously expecting the game to crash, but nope!

Here is the rule of thumb for VS Aya:



if you don't have Strike, or the SP to use Strike, you're useless.

Ayaya, a shinigami... don't tell me a tengu will die soon?

No, no, I'm off work. I'm just an escort right now.

How confusing. Everything you do is ominous, so could you please leave?

Music: Black-Winged Wind God



...probably useless.



At this point the only characters with Strike left are Komachi, Meiling and Reimu, so everyone else has to stack as many accuracy buffs as they possibly can and cross their fingers. Luna should be at the center of the formation.

I guess I can't look down on a fairy's range of activity if you made it to a place like this.

U-uh, thank you very much. Are you going to get angry now?

Well, if you were doing this by yourselves I'd probably look the other way... but if you're here as intruders, that's a different story. I'll blow you off the mountain, so just quietly go home.

Having Focus also really helps.

It looks like you use fire. Guess that makes me a bad matchup for you.

Oh?

Yup, I have the ability to manipulate wind. Extinguishing fire is child's play. My squalls will tear off your wings of fire!



As Mokou demonstrates.

Hmm, is that all you've got?

Tch, she just won't stay still...

Oh for crying out loud. All we wanted to do was head to the mountain's shrine, but people just keep getting in our way.

Speaking of that, is it true that you people and the mountain shrine don't really get along?

You could say that. They tried to take over the mountain, they keep giving us all sorts of orders... well, needless to say the tengu aren't exactly happy with them.

...So there's an even larger gap between the mountain and the shrine than we thought.

Well of course, things get awkward when newcomers don't respect seniority.

Then let us through. I told you before, we don't have any business with the tengu.

I'd like to, but no can do. The tengu patrol won't stand for it if I let you through that easily.

You tengu are a huge pain.

Belonging to a group means that sometimes, you don't get to have your way.

Now, I'll go easy on you, so come at me with all your might!

I love it when I can just copy the MoF translation. Usually Sanbondo takes some steps to slightly edit the dialogue.




Tengu's Fall Wind isn't that much of a threat, it just drops your evasion rates by 20%.



Much more important is the fact that it's not her only spell. Aya is the first boss in this game to have more than one spellcard, which can be a bad surprise if you were in the habit of chaining finishers as soon as you hit the spell.



Marisa and Alice's friendship + Silence + Magic Thruster + focused accuracy buff + Master Spark's innate +35% to accuracy = a 99% hit rate. For reference, that means Marisa has a base hit rate of 19%.

You seem pretty confident in your speed. How about we have a match?

Oho, between a human and a crow tengu? Don't tell me you think you can match me.

Won't know till I try. I'll crush that long nose of yours!



Marisa nailed the spark, but Alice fudged the follow up.

Tch, such speed... there's no way I can surround you.

Were you trying to stop my movement with those dolls of yours?

It's a contest to see who will be caught in whose pace. Here we go, Shanghai!



But second time's the charm.



And Komachi and Meiling finish her off.

Hey, you're better than I thought.

She's flown around so much, but she's not even tired...

Well then the plan's obvious. We catch her, we win.

Oh my, you girls think you can keep up with me?

Speed alone won't win a danmaku match.

...Your arrogance is amusing. I suppose I should have expected this from the people trying to pick a fight with a god.

It's been a long time since I've shown my full speed. Everything in Gensokyo bows to the march of the tengu!




Illusionary Dominance pumps Aya's mobility by 40 and her move by 2. Now nobody can hit her without Strike,



assuming you don't just bomb through it.

Hey, hey, hey, hey! Didn't you see the sign? "No matter what time you come, entry to the mountain is prohibited!"

I didn't see any funny sign like that. Besides, my goal is the mountain, so I can't head back just yet.

Is that so? Well, this is the mountain.

I mean the mountain's... top?

...Oh whatever. Whatever your reason is, let me teach you why you can't pass!

This whole conversation's a reference to Sakuya's Scarlet Weather Rhapsody route. Though not gonna lie, at first I thought it was a reference to Saku Saku Tei's "Visiting Maid and Everyone" so I copied its translation.



Sakuya was the only person in this battle with a hit rate higher than 50%, yet all three attacks landed.

Aren't you the gatekeeper of that scarlet mansion?

Oh, so you know about the Scarlet Devil Mansion?

I've been planning on covering it. Could I schedule an appointment?

Sorry, but that's not really up to me... though the mistress would probably be fine with it.



Meiling sets the stage,



and Reimu seals the deal.

Guh, so this is my limit...

Alright! It's been a while since I've had such a nice youkai extermination.

I knew I'd have to take you seriously, but you were even stronger than I expected. At this rate, maybe you could match that pain of a god.

Then will you let us through? Even the kappa dislike the shrine, so I don't see the need for you to protect them.

...Kappa? What did the kappa say about that shrine?

They don't know much about it, so they're suspicious of it. Nobody is allowed on the grounds, so there's no way to learn about it either.

(Hmm. So even the lesser youkai feel that way...)

(...)

Anyway, we beat you, so how about you show us the way to that god?

Alright.

Huh!?

I-is that okay?! I thought you were trying to send us back earlier.

I can't tell you much about it, but I can tell you how to get there. Head around that mountain trail, and keep on going. You'll hit Moriya shrine.

...What a joke. She's probably trying to trick us.

Well it was just a whim, but you can think whatever you want. Now, do your best~.

Aya zooms away.

I think it every time we meet, but she's a shrewd one.

Yeah. What's she planning, telling us how to get to Moriya shrine?

We can worry about that later. We have to leave before any more enemies come.



Since I had Dai cast Cheer, this was enough to get Reimu two levels and the Fury spirit. Aya also drops a Tengu Feather, which boosts Move by 2. Really handy on Meiling or Keine!



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Elly, I want to be a magical girl!

Eh? Have you been reading weird books again?

Yup! Magical Girl Kurumi is an elementary school student who hails from a magical country.

Huh. But if you want to be a magical girl, you'll need two things. The first is a magical transformation staff. The second is a mascot.

Ummm, for the staff I can use this dustpan I found over there... is this an okay mascot?

...You're ninety years old!!

I guess it'll work.