Part 32: Chapter 25R: A Winter for Young Maidens

It's actually pretty useful to have movement boosting items for this chapter. Unfortunately this isn't a carry over save so I don't have the Tengu's Clogs Remilia dropped, and I didn't beat Aya so no dice there either.



But I have a billion PP so I can just picked up Unfocused Movement.

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Music: Secret Mission!

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So they're chasing me? What persistent humans.

Hold up, what's going on?

She's a burglar! I found her skulking in the storeroom!

Someone tried to rob me?! Don't tell me you took something valuable?

Don't worry, I was just looking for food. My poor little baby rats will go hungry if I don't find something soon.

You're pretty bold for a rat. But you won't fool me with an obvious lie like that.

I admit it, I was careless. I must've gotten too excited after picking up a reading with a high rarity value.

What do you mean by that?



...!?

An oni? Well, this is a surprise. Maybe you're the source of that rare reading I picked up?

Oh, you're going to fight with us?

Just this once. Drinking by yourself is no fun.

I have a lot of experience exterminating mice, but do you think you can handle it, Sanae?

Absolutely. I'm going to make this my youkai extermination debut. Lady Yasaka, Lady Moriya, please watch over me. Your humble servant is going to show you a splendid battle.

Oh, good luck with that. I'll be going now.



Nazrin books it.

Wait, you're just gonna run?!

Obviously. What kind of burglar would stop running just because you asked nicely?



Just like Sakuya in chapter 3, Nazrin's goal is the top right corner. Just gonna say this now though, there's no way I can reach there before her.

She's trying to flee off that way.

I suppose we just have to catch her before she gets there then?

I guess the irony is lost on Sakuya.

Simple enough. Let's get this party started!





If you were wondering, yes, the map's a winter version of 4M.



The main reason this chapter exists is to go over Sanae's Faith system. The characters themselves explain it, but there's no point in translating that when I can just explain it.

Basically whenever Sanae does an action, be it killing an enemy, dodging, or even just moving, she gains a certain amount of Faith. At each 10% interval her attacks get stronger (and cost more MP), her attributes are buffed, and her moveset unlocks at certain milestones. At 10% she can use Moses Miracle, at 20% her barrier activates, and at 30% she can use Summon Takeminakata. The only way for the faith gauge to decrease is if Sanae does absolutely nothing that turn, or by using her finishers; the faith percentage you need to reach to use them is how much they cost.

I used to have a list of the exact numbers for all of this, but I seem to have lost it. Main thing to note is that most faith gains are really small, so if you want Sanae to hit max faith you'll have to work for it.

Oh and fun fact: if you hack the faith gauge to over 100%, the game will accept it and continue to increase Sanae's attack. The gauge itself will even fill in more, which can look really silly at like 1000%.



Sanae still has Miracle, but she can't use it just yet. Along with its regular effect, it also boosts the faith gauge by 20%.



I'm supposed to get the bonus by having Suika pop Missing Power (which turns her size to LL for one turn) then attack from point blank, but no point bothering with Reimu this buffed up.

Now that I think about it, I guess I'm Sanae's senior as far as being a shrine maiden goes. I guess I'll have to act like it too then. This is a pretty good place to show her what I can do!





Reimu actually missed the first time, so I just reloaded the chapter. Which was really silly of me since Reimu could easily one shot any of the nearby crows, and because I forgot to rearrange Reimu and Sakuya's setup again. This bit me in the ass later.

Alright, time to do some pre-drinking warm ups.

Look you drunk, we're in the middle of a danmaku battle. Could you be serious for once?

You can say that, but it's no fun playing with small fry like that.

Hey! I'll be going easy on you, so feel free to give me all you got!



As you've no doubt come to expect, Suika and Sanae are useless here without upgrades.



But even Sakuya won't do that hot because on Lunatic these Kedamas have absolutely jacked accuracy modifiers. This wouldn't be an issue if I had Support Defenders so I could counter on enemy phase, but I don't.



Oh dear, I'm still holding those cups from earlier. It'd be a little too avant-garde to bring back broken goods, so I'd best be careful as I fight.



Pretty much the best I can do is rely on outranging the grunts. Sanae and Suika are going to get a lot of mileage out of Sakuya's Support Attack.

Huh? The actual victory requirement? Eh, Reimu can handle it.

(So now even I'm participating in danmaku battles. I feel like I've grown much more accustomed to Gensokyo. Bit by bit, I'm falling for this land's charms...)

Music: Brand New Wind



While Suika can at least take a hit (especially if she casts Guard), Sanae can't dodge or tank anything. She's utterly useless.



The main annoyance with this chapter is dealing with all the danmaku in the way.



Thankfully, enemies are more than happy to suicide themselves on Reimu.



Even five levels of Instinct Dodge, Focus, and ignoring evasion penalties can't zero out kedama hit rates. RIP Sanae.

I still need more training...



Suika starts landed because she has a B rank in Air. I had her fly anyways mostly because why not.



Reimu finished cleaning up all the grunts by the next player phase. That gives me two turns to stop Nazrin.

Alright then, you're not getting away!

So you made it to me. Figures that ordinary methods wouldn't cut it.

What, you seriously still think you can escape?

You're a very rare opponent. I guess I must have unconsciously stayed behind to watch.

And you're quite composed for a rat. Well, let's begin the extermination.

Yeah, it's cold out here. I don't want to spend any more time than I have to on a problem this small.

First you say you'll exterminate me, then you call me a small problem. You're awfully rude for humans. Sorry, but if you don't take mice seriously... you'll die.

Music: A Simple Family Unaffected by Rust



Even Reimu can't force Nazrin to flee in one hit,



but Nazrin's AI has her prioritize attacking over fleeing, mostly so you don't get screwed over. It's a nice gesture on Sanbondo's part.

Oh, it's that human from before. Boring.

I am not!

Oh, please don't take that the wrong way. I came here to find some a meal. By the way, my mice tell me you're a treasure to.

Is that so? Well, I am a human treasure.

No, not like that. My mice do like the taste of human flesh. They say that cheese just can't compare to certain other red foods.

After surviving that, it's just a matter of running up and dropping Fantasy Seal. Unfortunately, Reimu's out of SP so the best hit rate she can get is 58%. I guess I used more SP than I should have getting here.

I'm not feeling very lucky and don't want to redo this chapter, so I dropped a save here. Thank god I decided I could do that for Lunatic runs.



I reset for a bit fishing for a critical (here's where my early reload screwed me over; I forgot to reequip Youkai Buster) before I eventually realized it didn't matter. Reimu just had to drop another Fantasy Seal next turn.

Whoops. I'd expect as much from an oni, but even these humans are better than I expected.

You're pretty slippery for someone so lazy. Give me your best shot.

That was the plan. Here, have a taste of my best danmaku!

Reimu, she's coming!

Alright, this is what I've been waiting fo-



Nazrin rushes to the other side of the map.

Wait, what?

Did you really think I'd go for a fair fight that I probably couldn't win? Thanks for letting me get away.

Hey! Get back here! Our fight isn't over yet!

I'm not interested in that sort of thing, so let's just say you won. Well then, take care not to catch cold.

Nazrin leaves.

She, she got away. She even said she'd fight you fair and square...

She fooled us with her little act. We should have expected a rat to be sneaky.

Well, I guess that's just another way to survive. Anyway, if we're done here, how about we take a break back inside?





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Music: Border of Regular and Irregular Days

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Clearing this chapter gets me some of Sakuya's Tea. Kind of annoying Reimu gets this seven chapters after Marisa, but at least she gets it.


Music: What's the Strategy?

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Ayaya, you've stopped playing. Thanks for your hard work.

As for me, I'll relax by giving Momiji some momimomimomimomi~.

Gyaaaah, that tickles! Aya, st-stop!

...

...

I guess I should have known this policy change was impossible.

That's why I told you not to say anything...