Fate/EXTRA Part #52 - Update XLVII

Part 52: Update XLVII - Shining star

Update XLVII - Shining star

Music: School I

Before we head to the Arena...

We should probably check in with Caster.

Music: Down to Dawn

C-Caster, I think you let something slip there.

The fox-tailed priestess dances around the room. This normally dreary room seems to be bathed in brilliant colors. ...Hold on a second. Did she just blurt out something incredibly important?!

Hoooooooo boy, Tamamo-no-Mae is... a rather Big Name in Japanese mythology.

And by 'big name' I mean she's considered one of the biggest, baddest evil youkai around.

Tamamo's legend starts in China as Daji, where she became the favored concubine of King Zhou and turned the place into a mess of orgies and tortures.

After toppling a dynasty and running away to India to avoid being executed for that whole affair, she changed her name to Lady Kayō, where she became a consort of King Kalmashapada, and decided the orgies were too gauche and instead engaged in more modern pastimes, like killing priests and eating kids.

She then went back to China, this time calling herself Bao Si, became the concubine of King You, and got him to get so much murder going that all his allies betrayed him.

Another toppled dynasty and escaped execution later, she finally fled to Japan, transformed herself into a baby, got adopted by a married couple and was named Misukume, then eventually got the name Tamamo-no-Mae after joining the imperial court and became, you guessed it, the favored consort of Emperor Toba.

She then got caught trying to curse the emperor to death in a bid to take over Japan, and was promptly hunted down and killed by 80,000 soldiers, at which point her spirit possessed a boulder, the sesshō seki, and made it so poisonous that anyone who got near it would instantly die.

Tamamo's legend finally ends with her spirit confessing all her sins to a wandering Buddhist monk, swearing to never again do wrong as her spirit is exorcised from the stone.

It wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to claim that Tamamo-no-Mae and her various legends are the reason nine tailed foxes in fiction tend to be Fairly Bad News.

Now, what does that mean with our Caster? Was her plea to the monk a lie, and has all this been an elaborate ruse to seduce, corrupt, and abandon us like she has before? Or were the legends completely false, and Tamamo never did any of those things? Well...

Update VII posted:

Huh? My true name? I'm far too insignificant for you to bother with my true name, Master! Please, just call me Caster.

Update XV posted:

I feel ripped apart to the core. There's Shinji's death. There's what Rin said. Rin's right. I know it's logical. But emotionally, I can't deal with it. Unable to let it pass unnoticed, my Servant talks to me.

Update XX posted:

[...]

Caster flees to the back of the room, flailing her arms. ...Could it be more psychological barrier than strategy that's leading her to conceal her true name...? Although we're only in the second round, my trust in her is already unshakable at this point. ...Seriously though, what in the world makes her think that I'd be disgusted by her true identity?

Update XXXVIII posted:

Update XLIV posted:

I think we can safely say that, at the very least, Tamamo got up to some shit, but honestly regrets her actions and is serious about changing her ways, so her devotion to Hakuno is sincere.

But at the same time, we should still keep an eye on her, because while she wants to atone...

Update VIII posted:

Update XXI posted:

I wish! My Master's so straitlaced that an atypical Heroic Spirit like me gets tied up in knots. I'll let you in on a little secret— not all of us Heroic Spirits were noble in life. That would be boring. Oh, and on that note, careful you don't get nailed from behind AGAIN.

You know, only wretched people think the people around them are wretched. And really, from behind...? That's the position pathetic cowards and hopeless weaklings attack from. Lucky for you my kindhearted Master would never exploit your weak spots with my subterfuge skills! ...Oops, it's a secret that I'm actually better at sneaky stuff.

Update XLVI posted:

How about you, my enemy? You must take some joy in bloodshed.

W-Well, I might have fun, but that doesn't mean I crave it!

...She still holds a tiiiiiiny bit of a sadistic streak, and would probably go overboard without someone to keep her in check. She swore to do no wrong, not do no harm, after all.

Wow, she even repeated herself...! But seriously, is this really okay? Also, I thought that when a Servant finally revealed their true name, it'd be a bit more...awe-inspiring. I mean, after all of the build-up leading to the big climax, shouldn't there be more fanfare, explosions...something?

Technically speaking, this scene is optional. I could have just ran into the Arena as soon as I got Tamamo back. It isn't even marked as a yellow chat!

No! A thousand times, NO! Leave such vain and insecure displays to a Saber or an Archer! Tamamo is a sweet, kind-hearted Heroic Spirit who gleefully embraces her role as an iconoclast! For a girl in love, such a shameful display would be like wearing a Brazilian bikini on a first date!

With that, Ca— I mean, Tamamo-no-Mae climbs up onto a desk and strikes a heroic pose, finger pointed at me. Her enthusiasm is probably representative of every Servant when they reveal their true name, but as she's having so much fun, I figure why point that out? It'd be...complicated...to explain exactly why I think this.

Are you okay, Master? Everything went exactly as Tamamo thought it would. I mean, there was no way that I could contain my feelings of gratitude towards my dear Master, and I couldn't stand the impersonal formality of being called Caster even one second longer... But those weren't the only reasons. I have to take our current foe seriously. And continuing to hide my name seemed like a waste of effort.

Her smile confirms my suspicions. Now that I know her name, I can see her entire life unfold in my mind. Tamamo-no-Mae. The fox spirit that was said to be the catalyst for a rebellion within the Imperial court. That is her true name.

And with that, we finally get another level in Tamamo's Matrix!

But I am maturing just as you are, my dear Master, and am preparing to show you my trump card. All that's left to do now is prepare for battle. The real fight against that dark cloud of doom starts NOW!

Tamamo's enthusiasm has me so pumped up that my hands clench into fists of their own accord. ...She's right. Our battle with Julius has now truly begun. We don't have much time left, but when we next meet, we will get the better of him—

Level 2 holds her True Name, a Key Word, and two Skills.

Red Lily of the Killing Stone of Nasu posted:

This skill involves the use of the infamous Killing Stone of Nasu. After her death, Tamamo-no-Mae's spirit began to haunt the area around this stone and also imbued it with a terrible curse that killed any creature that came near it.

Originally located in the Nasu highlands of Tochigi Prefecture, the stone was shattered by a virtuous monk by the name of Gennou who then scattered the pieces across three places in Japan. It is believed that the shards of the rock evolved into fox spirits known in Japanese as kitsune and inukami. The legends go on to say that these newly-born spirits were bound as familiars by wizards powerful enough to establish contracts with the divine.

Maleficium (EX) posted:

The sacred rituals of the Dakini goddesses. The rituals confer the abilities to perform such actions as foretell the time and place of one's death and manipulate the hearts and minds of both men and women. Due to a number of very harsh lessons impressed upon her in her past, Tamamo-no-Mae no longer makes use of her still formidable skills in these areas.

Transformation (A) posted:

This refers to the abilities of either changing ones appearance or borrowing the physical form of another. As a kitsune, or fox spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae is able to alter her appearance and even species at will. However, due to a traumatizing event in a past incarnation that resulted in her death and temporary damnation, she rarely, if ever, uses this ability.

Character Background posted:

In the final years of the Heian period, there was a beautiful courtesan in service to the Emperor Toba known as Tamamo-no-Mae. Born Misukume, she first entered the court as a servant at the age of 18, but quickly became a well-respected lady and a favorite of the emperor himself due to her incredible beauty and the depth of her intelligence.

While the stories become somewhat murky on this point, the most widely accepted theory is that an itinerant fortune teller visiting Emperor Toba's court discovered Tamamo-no-Mae's true identity as a nine-tailed fox spirit. Tamamo-no-Mae was denounced as the cause of the emperor's lingering illness and was driven out of the palace and onto the plains of Nasu, where she was killed trying to defend herself against an army of 80,000 soldiers sent by the emperor. While no one knows exactly what happened to her afterwards, it is believed that she was transformed into the legendary killing stone.

Alright, off to the Arena.

Music: Fourth Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor

We're three days into the week and we can finally explore the area.

Riiiiiiiight after we deal with Julius.

Music: Fear

*Chuckle* Let's see if we can make Mr. Doom and Gloom even frownier!

Tamamo revealing her True Name adds in new voice lines in the Arena.

For both field travel, and in battle.

The Phobia-types we saw yesterday are, fittingly enough considering the past few days, Necrophobias.

I stop off to get this chest I skipped over last time.

Luxury equals love. And I love valuable things!

It isn't much.

The Inspire-type is called a Punishment.

The true punishment here is having to play Fate/Extra.

Oh, and there's a hidden path right here that you can use to skip right to the end during yesterday's exploration.

We get our first level of the week off a Necrophobia.

There are two paths past where we ended yesterday, so let's take the left one first.

Master, we can take that with us with a clear conscience.

It leads to a chest.

And a small dead end.

The other path leads to a second split.

One path leads to Julius.

So I'm obligated to ignore him and clear out the other path first.

He who cries over a penny, cries over a penny... What does that even mean?

The transparent walls make this really awkward.

The confrontation starts the moment I enter the room.

This has gone beyond ignorance. I'll happily crush your imbecilic exuberance underfoot.

...Yes. We would be in trouble if you couldn't handle yourself in the sixth round. Do as you please.

I will make three strikes in this fight. If you can hit me within that time, you win. Decent terms, right?

Music: Duel - Unauthorized Battle

This fight is special.

Really special.

Assassin is set to use Wait for moves 1, 2, and 6.

He'll then pop an attack buff on move 3.

Then automatically counter you on move 4.

Followed by another buff on move 5.

Notice how Focused Chi doesn't add any buffs to his status bar. It does something, but that something doesn't come up during this duel, so he's just killing time.

He'll then do the exact same thing for the next two turns. Just as Assassin promised, he'll only attack three times.

The solution?

Just pop a Skill over his counter, as Skills beat the move triangle.

Hakuno also gets fancier Code Cast animations with stronger Mystic Codes

Then do the same thing for turn 3.

And done.

Music: Fear

...

We managed to survive. Julius's Servant was true to his word and only struck back at intervals. But I could easily imagine that if one of those strikes made a direct hit, it could be fatal.

Caster evaded her opponent nicely, but the uncertainty of where the attacks would fall exhausted her. If not for the system's limitations, we would have been obliterated.

I would prefer to continue in a more appropriate venue. Until then, build your strength for me.

And with that, they leave.

After expressing anticipation for our future battle, the Servant disappears. Julius glances our way, then follows suit.

Yeah, Julius's Servant possesses the really convenient ability to make himself invisible. Unless we identify and eliminate it, we might as well consider victory out of reach. There are three days left of the preparation period. In that time, I have to demystify his technique—

Music: Fourth Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor

Okay, now we can freely explore.

Julius was almost certainly blocking the Trigger, so let's go the other way.

We find Taiga's request.

And that Nephilim we've been seeing.

That red chest better be worth it.

As an extra kick in the pants, every week has a new flavor of Nephilim, so you always go in with minimal info.

It still dies.

Our reward?

Power.

POWER.

POWER.

See, up to this point, the only source of Servant MP restoration we've had is Tamamo's Spirit Theft. The problem with Spirit Theft is that it:

A) Requires one of her moves to set up,
B) Is utterly dependent on how many Guards the enemy wants to throw your way, otherwise you have to throw out a Curse to open a free action, and
C) Now has to compete with Bestial Sky.

But this? mp_heal(16);? This is utterly unconditional. I pop it, I trade 30 Master MP for ~60 Servant MP, end of discussion. As long as I don't need to heal Tamamo, I can throw this out every turn and drastically increase how long it takes for her to run out of steam. And as a double whammy, being able to freely sling spells means the odds of me taking a hit in the first place drop like a rock, letting me spam mp_heal as much as I want!

But wait, it gets better! While I can't restore Servant MP with items, I can top off Master MP! So if Hakuno runs dry in the middle of a fight, I can toss one of the many Master MP restores in my inventory. And wouldn't you know it, those became buyable just this week!

Last week was the hump Tamamo had to get over, as once you get this Mystic Code her power skyrockets.

Tamamo's dominance over the rest of the Holy Grail War assured, I double back and take the path Julius was guarding.

Look at those MP counts. Even if I didn't use items or Spirit Theft, I'd have to burn 900 Servant MP to fully run dry! And every 30 MP Hakuno gets from leveling up instantly becomes an extra 60 for Tamamo!

Suffice to say, there's exactly one Mystic Code in the game that will replace the Staff of Fortitude, and spoiler alert: it'll be the upgraded version of it.

And there's the Trigger.

Now, mp_heal still has one minor drawback. Namely that I only get two Curses worth of MP back every turn, so Tamamo will slowly run dry over the course of a long fight.

Granted, regular enemies will never last long enough for that to matter, and a Level E Matrix gives around three revealed moves every turn on bosses, so that's still ten full turns before I have to worry about it, even before factoring in Spirit Theft.