Part 27: Danmaku Chugfest

I'll be restarting the two week schedule, if you're curious about how updates are going to be like from now on.

------



Since it looks like the fairies are going to be mainstays, I gave each of the Three Fairies two pips in MP and Weapons. Reimu also got her final mobility upgrade just in case, and Marisa and Alice both grabbed a weapons upgrade.



Marisa's accuracy issues mostly ended with MoF, so I switch her to Danmaku Power level 2 (and probably Hard Worker in the future so she gets Strike faster). Meanwhile Alice equips Danmaku Brains to match.



I waffled between getting Unfocused Movement and MP Save for Meiling, but since I might not get Koa every chapter I decided to go with the latter.



And equipment is shuffled around as needed. Normally from here on out Reimu would be sticking with Kanako's Blessing and the Oshirasama, but no dice here.

------


Music: Secret Mission

Full Text

------

Hokuto handled the bulk of the mission dialogue.



Music: For the Gensokyo of Tomorrow

It's been a while since I linked the generic player phase theme. It's going to change soon, so I may as well give it one last moment in the sun.



So, what are we doing here again?

Umm, we were playing with danmaku, and then...

Ooh, maybe something about the danmaku's power sent us into the future?

Whoa, what's all the fuss about?

I'm not sure. A bunch of fairies came out of nowhere and gathered here. They don't seem to be plotting anything, from what I see. What is this about?

I don't see any youkai around. Maybe it's just a prank... Ooh, this is a perfect chance to vent off some steam!

It's not my usual way of venting, but beating up some fairies sounds like some fun party entertainment!



This is a breather chapter, so my unit selection doesn't mean that much.

As soon as the chapter starts,



Reinforcements spawn in.

Witness the full wrath of autumn!

Huh? You're going to fight too, Hina?

I wouldn't want to let our party get ruined. I can chase off a few fairies.

You're more friendly than I thought. If I'd known that, I would've gone easier on you back on the mountain.

I'm pretty sure we've always been friendly...

Well, the other gods are doing their part. Are you two just going to twiddle your thumbs?

I see no reason for us to step in for mere fairies. You can entertain us with your skills while we drink.

You just don't wanna get up.

In that case, I could step in instead... Urgh...

I told you to not to force yourself. Come on, turn around.

S-Sorry...

Sanae's a lightweight, huh?

She's just not used to drinking. She's only tasted the foam from beer.

Momiji, get Sanae somewhere where she can lie down, if you could.

Hey, that's my bedroll! Don't use that without asking!

Not the most dependable group, are they? We'll have to handle this one ourselves.

Yeah, let's finish this up before we sober up!




This chapter is exactly what it looks like it is. You just beat everyone up.



Oh and yes, this huge cask of booze regenerates MP.



Normally I have Reimu solo the top half of the screen, but I guess this time I'll just split Marisa and Alice up.



It's easier to have enemies come to you than the other way around, so everyone just groups up around Support Defenders.

Well except Hina, anyways. She has Support Defend because it's in-character but she reaaaaally shouldn't be getting hit.

Music: Flap & Frappe & Flapper



One turn of clean up later (or if you killed 12 enemies on player phase),



some Evil Eyes and Doofy Ghosts join the fray.

Now we've got wild evil eyes popping up!

Wild ones? I thought those were Elly and Kurumi's familiars.

Yes, there shouldn't be any in Gensokyo except for the ones we summon.

Kurumi, was it you?!

Waah, I'm sorry, Elly! They weren't doing what I said, so I ditched them on the mountain! And now it looks like they've multiplied...

Whoa, does that count as an invasive species getting into Gensokyo?

Why would they be gathering at the shrine, though? Something's fishy about this.

Who cares? Just exterminate them and be done with it.



One more turn (or 18 total enemies) and some crows pop up too.

Oh, hey. It's some crows from the mountain.

Maybe that means they want our food!

It's always unpleasant when crows hover around waiting for people to throw out scraps of food.

You're thinking of regular crows. I don't think youkai crows would do that.



And one more turn (or if you hit a total kill count of 22 somewhere during player phase), and some grimoires of all things show up.

Now there's even more. Hey, those are...!

The grimoires we saw at the Great Library!

Marisa, what have you done this time?!

Whoa, don't pin this one on me. Maybe Patchouli summoned them?

No, I haven't done anything, and they don't act without orders.

This is too much to chalk up to coincidence at this point. Something's going on!

Yeah, I sense a strange presence. We need to locate it.

Hey, Kanako, could this be what I think it is?

Yes, it seems we have someone with an interesting power lurking about.



Just like last chapter, I fed a bunch of kills to the Three Fairies. They're all about caught up to the average level now.



Cirno starts complaining next enemy phase. Or when there are only two enemies left (aka 26 enemies killed total) on the player phase, which is much sillier.

They're all small fry, but it's just exhausting dealing with them one after another.

That strange presence is getting more noticeable. Is this an incident?

You're as clever as I thought.



Yukari gaps in. This was supposed to be an animation, but I forgot to record it.

Sorry to interrupt all the lovely revelry.

Yukari Yakumo!

You finally show yourself. You're the reason for all these waves of youkai, aren't you?

Hardly. What reason would I have to do that?

Appearing out of nowhere is your whole gimmick.

I'm waiting for my shower of adulation.

All right, if you have nothing to do with this, what are you here for?

An old acquaintance of mine seems to be here, so I came to survey the situation. This is her way of killing time. If you don't stop her, this sort of ruckus will become part of your daily lives.

So, you know who's doing this?

Of course. Here, allow me to make her visible to you.

The screen flashes white...

Music: No Need for a Million Demons, Just One is an Army


and the last enemy reinforcement appears.

!

Uh, who are you?! When did you get here?!

I've been here the whole time. You guys just didn't notice me.

Uh, I'm afraid to ask, but looking at your horns... Did we just win the world's worst lottery?

That's a good way to put it. That's an oni, said to be the most powerful youkai in all of Gensokyo, and hostile to humans!

Whoa, did you just say oni?!

That's impossible! There shouldn't be any oni left in Gensokyo!

Yes, they left Youkai Mountain long ago, and no one knows where they went. But Suika, I never thought I'd see you again.

Oh, if it isn't Aya the speed demon! Looks like you're doing fine.

I'm honored you remember me.

So, what's a youkai big shot doing throwing youkai at us?

Isn't it obvious? I'm having fun. What's better than a bustling party with rivers of sake and flashy danmaku? Can't you make it more exciting?

Exciting? What kind of jerk does this for her own amusement?

I don't care if you're an oni or not. If you're the mastermind, we just have to beat you!

That's what I was waiting to hear! Here's where the real fun starts. But first I'll have to see if you're even worth fighting!



It's a good thing Marisa just learned Valor, otherwise this might have been iffy with a team of fairies.

Meeting an oni is like winning the world's worst lottery.

Sounds like you know what you're in for.

I used to do youkai extermination, long ago. I'd ruthlessly exterminate any youkai that crossed my path. Even an oni would laugh at how pathetic I was, playing demon like that.



For now I need to set up a formation, so I bait Suika near my close range attackers with low HP units.



Suika's a fairly typical Super, but her Small size kind of brings her down. She'll fix that problem herself later though. Of note is that she's actually on the ground, because she has a B in Sky.

Suika's generic danmaku field increases enemy hit rates by 15%, which can be a problem if any grunts are still alive.

I never thought I'd come across a real oni. Where did you all disappear to? I've heard all sorts of rumors, like a country of oni, or maybe Hell.

You meet an oni and that's the first thing you say? You're pretty single-minded. A lot of work went into this party, so let's make it livelier!



A couple of turns of stalling later,



and the setup is complete.

You're pretty good for someone so tiny. I'm not gonna let you take my place as the strongest though!

I like your spirit, but I don't have time to play with small fry.



Suika's size should make her as annoying to hit as Suwako, but I've got plenty of Support Attackers with Strike.



I even have Shizuha, who has the all-essential Attune spirit. This thing casts Strike on other units!

You're a misfortune god, right? I don't see your type hanging out with humans very often.

I can't deny that. If I wasn't here with a friend I probably wouldn't have come.

Humans avoid you, huh? Even though they can only live in peace thanks to you. That's so like them. Humans just can't accept the bad things in life.



To ensure I get the bonus, I have Hina leave Suika at critical HP. Mokou proceeds to finish her off enemy phase.

What's wrong? It's okay to hit me at full strength, you know.

This is an oni's power? I think we're in over our heads!

Of course, they're the world's strongest kidnappers. You can't exterminate them with normal methods. In the past, they used to have specialists for that, but...

Now that art has been lost. How do we deal with this?

This isn't even a fight. Are you throwing in the towel already? If you are, then I'm gonna gather even more youkai and you'll have a pandemonium of 'em knocking on your door every day.

I can't believe humans are facing the threat of the oni again!

So what? They're still youkai. Nothing to be afraid of.

Oh hoh, you'd talk big against an oni?

Of course I do. Youkai extermination is my job. I can beat you, no problem!

Ahaha! I wasn't expecting to find any humans willing to face me head-on. Let the missing power of the oni, the power to gather, be ingrained into your bodies!
_{Kind of sad Suika's original response was dropped, but I guess they had to fit in the spellcard name.}


First I forgot to get a picture of the spell ring on the Normal playthrough, then I screwed up and killed Suika before I could save and get Fraps going. All I have is this picture of the spell ring from my Lunatic playthrough.

If it helps, it's not a particularly interesting animation. A big caricature of Suika forms. That's it.



Missing Power bumps Suika's size to LL. This makes her harder to damage, but at least I don't need to worry about hit rates anymore.

Fighting while drunk... you must be using the drunken fist!

What's that?

It's a style that gets stronger the more you've had to drink. Aren't you doing something like that?

I wouldn't know, I'm never sober.



It also ramps the hell out of her damage; Suika got a crit here and did a fatal 3910 to Meiling. And that was with Guard cast.

Guh, I can't hold out any longer...!

And then I spammed S-Formation.

When you think oni, you think Setsubun! You eat as many beans as your age.

Oh? So does a fairy like you actually know how old you are?

Um, no... When it's Setsubun I usually just eat whatever. Like seaweed.


An oni? Nowadays, no one ever talks about them except on Setsubun. And we just put on masks and throw beans.

Sounds fun. Mind if I join in next time?

Of course you ca- wait, a real oni at Setsubun...?!


So you were that strange presence from before. It was like you were everywhere, but also nowhere...

That's pretty much right. The more I spread out, the weaker my presence, and the more I gather together the stronger I get. The total never changes though.

Each one did about 1000. Thank god for those weapon upgrades.

Oh, it's one of the Aki sisters. Seeing you again brings back memories. But....

What?

Have you gained weight?

No I haven't!



Minoriko has Grit, so even without weapon upgrades she can contribute by setting off Support Attacks.

Hmm? There's the scent of a youkai I've never smelled before on your clothes.

Is that so? Well, my mistress is a vampire. I believe those are considered a kind of oni?

The japanese name for vampires literally translates to "blood sucking oni".

I dunno what kind of person your mistress is, but it takes real guts to call yourself an oni.

You may be an oni, but the mistress is both an oni and a devil. That makes her better than you.



Ahahahah I was expecting Sakuya to die there but nope, Private Square.



Hina's initial PS, Collect Misfortune, inflicts a debuff on the enemy she hits.

It's been a while since I met an oni. I bet you've missed that giant barrel.

Sure did. We used to use it for drinking contests. You haven't changed a bit. Still doing your duty?

Of course. We're popular among humans. So as long as the seasons keep changing, I'll keep doing it.



The next time that enemy gets hit, it'll be a critical.

I'd have recorded the full animation of the Super Aki Sisters Kick, but I'm saving that for later.





At this point, I'd normally just bomb then nuke Suika into the ground with the protagonist. But I found out that Suika gives you a reward if you beat her without bombs, so might as well get it.

How morbid, a shinigami. Could you stop ruining the mood of my party?

I get what you mean. But even the thought of doing my job while surrounded by such great sake feels sacrilegious. How about we liven this up instead? It can't hurt to give our audience a good show.

Oh? I take that back, I think I like you.

I kind of thought I'd be suiciding Komachi when I had her attack, but I forgot her size is Large. So LL doesn't do as much to her. Especially with a distance penalty.

She still took 5500 damage and almost died though.



Anyway, Marisa blows all of her SP on Gain, Valor and Alert, throws on Danmaku Power level 2, and Master Sparks Suika's face off. Alice is there too as insurance.

So I'm up against a youkai big shot, huh? This is gonna be good.

Should an ordinary human really be so bold?

I guess you wouldn't know, but lately Gensokyo's gotten something called the Spellcard Rules. If we use those, anybody can fight as equals.

Huh, I heard people talking about them but didn't think they'd be something like that... Sounds nice. It's been a long time since I've had a match with a human, so you better make this fun!

Music: The Moment Dreams Reach the Stars


I just imagine Alice sighing off to the side.



Boom. Marisa scores another levels out of this and learns Speedstar.

Hey, not bad! That was a good fight.

I wasn't expecting her to grow gigantic. I can't let her beat me!

So, what next? Will you split into miniature bodies? Or grow even bigger?

Both of those sound like fun, but I think I'm good for today.

Oh, are you done so soon? I'm not impressed.

But you guys have some amazing sake back there! If I keep fighting, you'll drink it all up!

You noticed our sake? I guess nobody beats an oni when it comes to drinking.

Is she planning to just join the party like nothing happened?

Oh, well, if you run low on sake, I'll pour you some from my gourd, okay?

What gourd?

This one. It's a special oni invention, a gourd that's always full of sake. Since you put up a good fight, I'll lend you some.

You do actually get some Junmai Sake after the battle, which fully heals HP.

Wow, free unlimited sake? How can I say no?

I think, just this once, we can accept a youkai's gift at face value.

Great! See you later, humans! Why don't we make it a drinking contest next time?



Suika drops an Oni's Horn (HP +1200, Armor +120) and a Nameless Bone (sets Land terrain rank to A).





RIP Meiling.



Oh and since I deployed Minoriko (and she had her default PS, Harvest, equipped), I get a Sweet Potato at the end of the mission.

------

I'm here to wake you up like always, Aya.

Oh, Momiji, good timing. The Bunbunmaru's manuscript still isn't done yet, so could you lend me a hand?

...I'll have to refuse. Writing's not my strong point, we'd be done by tomorrow morning at the earliest.

Is that so? I guess I'll have to scatter these pictures of your sleeping face around Youkai Mountain then.

P-please, wait! When did you take something like that?!

...Fine, I'll help you out. What do you want me to do?

That's the spirit! Okay, I'll leave proofreading and the toning to you then.

Hm? Isn't this just a comic?

It is. Don't tell me you've never seen a four panel comic before. It's called Little Miss Aya, and not to toot my own horn but it's getting pretty popular.

I see. Hmm, it has a second half... hey, what is this?!

What did Momiji find?