Part 63: Instant Vortex - Medusa - Part 3

Medusa 3



"Career Lady"... Very lax dress code, clearly. Medusa's final stage is based on Orchid Words 3, which means, yep, Medusa is the only one of Tamamo's Legion who does not fight the Forces of Destruction. Unusual. Sector Traps are 3 Fires, and 2 Ice, but depending on how you play things, you may only need to worry about the Fires.


Medusa stage 3

In any case, this is the end. We will drive out that accursed Saber and get my Master's Mind back! Now, Rider. I shall gift you with the glory of being the first to charge into battle and triumph! Conquer the Roman territories! Defeat Saber and grace my hand with her Regalia!

That's all from Caster. Good luck.

Understood. I'll swat down the Roman tyrant and seize the Regalia.

After that you'll get the cutscene where Gawain invokes Numeral of the Saint. So, you'll have to deal with him in the usual way: throw him up against Lu Bu and sabotage the source of his power, four sunlit-Sectors. However, I elected to do things differently: I was gonna fight Gawain. My plan was to first build up my Moon Drive gauge, then fight him.

Now, you only really have to take over three Sectors, because Tamamo and Medusa have reversed places since the first go at this stage, and the fox wife will help you out by taking over the small Sector closest to Lu Bu / Gawain's slugfest, then proceed to go fight Cu Chulainn. Leave her to her own devices for a while; you've got bigger problems, no matter if you decide to fight Numeral Gawain or not.



Just visual confirmation you can Stone these guys.



Let the games begin. Not like this, however.



Now, super-powered enemies (Super Altera, Regalia Nero, Blood Fort Lu Bu, and Numeral Gawain), normally cannot be staggered in any way. I think the only way you can send them flying is to parry them. When you're in a situation like this, you'll want to spam your AoE attacks, like Medusa's Blood Fort. Obviously we want to maximize damage as much as possible, and Blood Fort has the least chance of missing him entirely.



Normally I really dislike the strategy of cheesing Servant fights by dash attacking enemies over and over again, but it's pretty much mandatory if you're foolish like me and fight these super enemies. The key to this is to remember to keep your distance while you're recovering, and keep an open avenue to escape no matter where you are. Gawain's attacks are absolutely brutal in close-quarters fighting. Forget about using special attacks entirely. Gawain won't flinch from them and he'll charge at you during your recovery period.



He can be Stoned, luckily, and Lu Bu can take a *ton* of damage, even in-Sector. He'll help you out pretty effectively, actually. Of course, for our purposes, it doesn't matter if he dies or not. Of course, this all would be a lot easier if there were three Noble Phantasm Circuits on the field.



Finally, we bag him. Of course, the real cheese way to fight him is to use one of the Mystic Codes that can give you up to three Moon Drive uses just by pressing the corresponding button, but I think you can only unlock them after completing a few stages on Very Hard. Point is, it's not an option I had while recording this. Your reward for defeating Numeral Gawain?

What...?! Sir Gawain?!

Who would've thought the Knight of the Sun could be defeated through brute force?! Impressive...!

You're damn right it is. The only tangible threat remaining on the field is helping Tamamo out (even though she has a ton of HP, even while fighting Cu during nearly my entire fight with Gawain), and even that's not really much of a problem.



Really, Cu's biggest problem is I fought him in a Sector that was triggered with a Trap that I couldn't counteract through normal means. I *probably* wouldn't have used a Moon Drive here if I had a choice.



And...that's pretty much it, for the rest of this stage. See you in Nero's throne room.



Reminder that the first thing Nero will always do is to charge forward and attack. Quickest way is just to dodge out of the way, but if you have a Moon Drive ready to go, you can activate it before she hits and just swat her away. I like the second one more.



Her AI in Regalia mode is pretty much dead-set on the rush attack, and she'll do that near constantly. To be fair, it's a good tactic. If she hits you with a charge, she'll use your stagger time to recover from the charge and dive bomb you, like what she's doing here.



And it hurts. It really hurts when she lands that combo on you.



Well, I figured when I decided to fight Numeral Gawain this would happen. Oh well, I had fun.








Medusa ending

Our armies were victorious against the villainous Saber. We obtained the Roman territories. We established a new empire with the Millennium Capital at the center. Peace dawned over SE.RA.PH. The curtain fell on the conflict all across the Moon, brought about by the clash of the two Regalia-wielding rulers. All of the AIs and NPCs were overjoyed. Well, of course they are, with all the fighting and confusion over with. And today, the flowers are blooming in the Millennium Capital. These cherry blossoms in all of their glory... No, not just the cherry blossoms, but also the blossoms brought about by the Master and beloved Servants... A pink flower of love will bloom...



This entire scene is pretty golden, both for the artwork (especially Tamamo's face there), and Chiwa Saito's voice acting constantly in the process of Tamamo losing her shit. It's pretty fantastic all around, really.

Or at least it was supposed to bloom!! Why are you here?! In MY Room, with MY Master, and doing that pink-colored love thing that I should be doing?! M-Ms. Rider?! What is the meaning of this! Explain, NOWWW! Oh, and why did the supposedly dead Archer and Assassin show up right after we beat the Saber army?! Why did they promptly attack me and seal me away with a Sessho-seki X?! Rider, you were supposed to be the vanguard!

I believe I can answer that. Sessho-seki is an actual thing. It's supposed to be the petrified corpse of Tamamo no Mae, and kills anyone who touches it. So when you think about it, Nameless and Li Shuwen were just making sure things were historically accurate.

...It's not a change of heart or a mutiny, if that's what you're wondering. My only goal from the start was to ensure the stability of SE.RA.PH. That is why I joined your forces. The forces you continued to lead as a merciless Queen. I had no loyalty for you. Not when I joined you, and not ever after.

N-No, I trusted you! We had so much in common! We're both famous beauties, robbed of the spotlight! You were my perfect sub-heroine!

...We have similar natures, yes. But any similarity stops there, Caster. All I ever planned was to work as one of your Servants through the end of the war, then bring you down when you least expected it. I took the chances you gave me to acquire other Servants as allies. Honestly, I never thought it would end this well. Also... Hakunon. I never expected any Master of yours could be so decent, but...that was another pleasant surprise. We might not have much in common, but we do have similar tastes. Your Master is brave and wise. Modest talent, but great potential. A treat to be with all around.

Oh you snake! You HORRID snake bitch! I can't believe some common serpent bit me like this! I will NEVER forgive you for this! You hear me! Not for trying to sink your poisonous fangs into my Husband- Hey! Don't touch my Husband's face!

My one disappointment is that, because I need the Regalia I took from Saber to neutralize Caster's Regaila... I can't use it to rewrite your contract to mine.

Oh, my... This is horrible, absolutely horrible... After all my hard work...! It's like this snake is skinning me alive! Change places with me! That's my place you're in right nowww!

I mean, it's generally bad form to trust snake characters. Then again, Tamamo may be too overly trusting, given she has Lu Bu on the payroll.

...I do feel a little bad for you, but you have to stay there until your poison as a demon fox has been removed. It won't be easy to break the contract between the two of you, but...don't worry. While you're stuck there like that, leave the role of a good wife to me. Now, Hakunon. Give me whatever order your heart desires. And I will do anything to make it come true...

Nooo!! What's WITH this ending?! Is there no end to this divine punishment...?!