Part 65: Update LIX - Panic sonic roller coaster - VS Lancer

Update LIX - Panic sonic roller coaster - VS Lancer



Music: None


And I'm looking forward to getting out of this week!

A fight between friends is a rare bird here. Not often do combatants understand one another so well. I plan to watch your fight with great relish. Now, I'll be waiting on the first floor.

The priest leaves the room after uttering those macabre words. ...It goes without saying that I'll be guarding my life against someone who has guided and helped someone clueless like me. Okay, final preparation time. I'll go to the commissary first, then sort through information in my room.

Music: Down to Dawn




This round, the bulletin board was tampered with to show my name, but not my opponent's. After an escape from the unknown Master, I found residue of their magic in the mark their attack left on the school building. Right, and the source of that magic was...



A rune.

Right. Upon investigating the wall's damage the next day with Rani, we discovered the Servant used a rune. After that, I finally encountered my opponent on the second floor. They wore the guise of an effigy, but inside was a strong warrior. The enemy Servant's class was...



I thought it was Lancer.

Right, the Servant's attack pattern screamed Lancer. Additionally, from the power of the Servant's attacks, I felt they had to be a famous Heroic Spirit. In order to repel the effigy, Rani used a uniquely calibrated Firewall Bypass she had prepared earlier. From its effects, it seemed Rani knew the true name of the Servant, and the identity of the Master. She called the Noble Phantasm...



Spear of Rainbows and Unicorns.

Yeeeeah...no. As much as I wish that was the case, it's just... NOT TRUE! The Noble Phantasm's name, according to Rani, was...

Spear of Lucky Charms gets the same result.

Spear of Barbaric Impalement.

Right. Gae Bolg, Spear of Barbaric Impalement, is a cursed spear that always finds its mark. It belonged to a Celtic Heroic Spirit.





The great hero of Ireland— The Celtic child of light— Cu Chulainn. I had actually seen him once before, fighting as a Servant in the battle between two of my friends. His Master is Rin Tohsaka. Yes, Rin Tohsaka. That girl, who took pity on me time and time again, is now my opponent. But I— I will fight fiercely. The Coliseum doors beckon now.

Music: None


Level E just nets us his background info.






Alright, time to kill our friend.

Video: Week 6 Elimination Battle


Remember, the only way to leave the Coliseum is to win. If you are ready, I will open the gate.

Enter the Coliseum

The way to the Coliseum is now open, young Master. I wish you the best of luck and hope that you will return. Remember: It's kill or be killed.





Music: Duel - Prelude to Confrontation










Wonder if she's scared of us? But, considering how much she loves talking to you, something must be really wrong with her right now.



Give Rin the silent treatment.







Sometimes words only make things more painful. Right, Master?

The scene advances here, naturally.

~

Talk to Rin.



In a few hours, one of us won't even exist. What's the point of talking? ...But, if death is inevitable, then why does life matter in the first place... I don't have any better ideas of how to pass the time until we get there. All right, I'll play along. ... What do you want to talk about? The Holy Grail War? The end of the world?



The Holy Grail War.



I wonder if it could be that your entire view of the Holy Grail War is completely wrong...? ...While I agree the conditions are severe, I cannot say that they are unreasonable. Everything has its limits. The land, resources, reputation; even time itself is finite. Everyone has different goals, and the resources to fulfill them are limited, which leads to conflict. To have your wish granted, another's wish must be denied. ...That's the way of the world. The rules found here in the SE.RA.PH are simple compared to those that govern the real world. I mean, in the real world innocent bystanders are frequently victims of the fighting around them. Compared to that, the terms of the Holy Grail War are quite fair. I'd go as far to say moral... The motivations and consequences are made clear, and there are no innocents here.



Now, this might all sound a bit familiar, and there's a good reason for that!


Because, outside of one or two lines at the start, this is a complete repeat of Rin's lore dump last week.

Like, what the fuck! It isn't like getting that conversation was hard, since she was right by the 1F stairs and had a yellow box over her head and everything! Why even have this here!

And don't forget that conflict between individuals is not necessarily a bad thing. Understand your foe to win. Anticipate your opponent to win. Respect your opponent to win. These three things are what I consider to be the essence of the Grail War.

How this reality came to be the Holy Grail War, I honestly couldn't tell you. I personally think the system was created for the purpose of better understanding mankind.

~

The end of the world?

The world is headed toward collapse. ...I 'm not speaking right away, of course. It's not like there's some immediate threat. There was a global catastrophe thirty years ago, but it actually helped stabilize the population. However, with the massive loss of life, all progress came to a crashing halt. Now there is no war, no famine, no poverty. But there is no advancement, only stasis. New discoveries, scientific breakthroughs, even space travel have all come to a standstill. Mankind has yet to even explore the moon. History itself has somehow been corrupted. Since the near-extinction of mankind, human society has stagnated, like water in a marsh. The Harway family wants to keep the status quo, as it is easier to maintain than change. That may work in the short term, but resource scarcity and environmental decay isn't far off. Like walking down an incline, it's only really noticeable if you look ahead instead of at your feet. And if the incline was endless and there was no hope at the end, would you keep going? I don't hold to that fatalistic view. That's why I'm here; to fight against a hopeless future. To defeat the short-sighted plutocrats who'd allow the world to rot away— Namely, the Harways. ...Oh. I'm not saying that I should win because of my desire to save the world. The value of a person's wish isn't determined by its grandeur or its intent. Everyone has their own reasons for entering. I just thought I'd share mine with you.

And again, this is a complete copy paste!

~~





You were pathetic. I was kinda hoping you'd disappear before you got hurt.



If only one of us can reach the Holy Grail, I'll slice you out of my way.

The scene advances.

~

Let's not talk about that stuff.

...? Then what do you want to talk about?



Dreams.



Haha, answer the question. It's just a way to pass time, right?

My goal is to defeat the Harways... ...Huh? Should it be something more personal? ...I don't know what kind of answer will satisfy you. I've lived a life of bloodshed, not girly dreams.



I'm not from the Middle East, I'm just there for work. I'd like to go home and finally relax. When humanity's thriving again, I'd like to be able to enjoy some peace and quiet of my own.



My real body is in a secret military base in old ruins out in the desert. Completely vulnerable to air raid— You didn't even realize we're not in Japan? Ah right, those pesky memory problems of yours. Well, the school reproduced here is Japanese, so I can see where you could get confused. ...I'm the age that I'd have to go to school if I were in Japan. Hnmn. I hadn't considered that.

Yeah. School sounds fun.

~

Love.







Why don't you start by telling them all about the parade of suitors you've had, Master?

Wh-What trenches?! You mean the virtual war I've been waging from that junk shop since forever? When exactly was I supposed to find the time to sit down and get all friendly with a boy?!

Yawn! In other words... You have no love life.

Ergh... Damn it, I walked right into that!

Cu...



You! Those men are all veterans of long military service! They treat me with dignity and respect! ...Well, I suppose it would be nice to have someone who didn't treat me like a princess...



So, you don't hold these adoring men at arm's reach, they're all paragons of masculine restraint? ...Hmm? What about this girl here? Seems you've let her penetrate your shield of defense. Is it your first time? The first time you've let someone the same age as you into your inner circle?



And if I am? One of you will be dead after this.

...F-fine.

But...I think that if we'd met in the real world, you and I probably would have become friends.

~

School.



Sorry to disappoint, but I've never been to anything like school.



Outside Harway jurisdiction, there's just not many places that have functional schools, you see.

You know, the more I hear about life on Earth, the more I'm glad we're on the Moon.



I regret that I broke through the illusion so fast, even though I had to for the Holy Grail War. But, it's not like it was real. It was just a pale copy of what real school life would be like.

~~





In that light, fighting against you is a rough prospect. On the other hand, I'm glad we were paired. I'd prefer to watch you disappear with my own eyes, rather than you vanish in a battle I'll never see.

If there's any deeper meaning in one of us killing the other, we'll realize it at the end. So that's why I intend to cut you down swiftly and without mercy.









The doors open and a dimly lit pathway appears. I take a step forward— The fight begins now.

Music: Duel - Friend Turned Foe ( You should definitely listen to this. )














The Holy Grail War will be over soon. Am I crazy for thinking that I don't want it ending just yet...?













Ha! Not even a dog would eat someone like you.

Cu comes into the fight with just over 30K HP and starts off with his Noble Phantasm lit.



Red Bough Wheel adds an MP Drain to his Breaks.

Normally Tamamo would be terrified by this, but at this point the odds of any enemy landing a non-Skill attack are pretty much zero.



Idiot, I said six is enough! If you're taking it easy, I'm gonna fine you!

If you recall the fight we saw between Rin and Rani during the route split, Rin would time her Code Casts to line up with Cu's Skills, and it holds true here.





Shit.





An unavoidable chance of stun is always a nasty thing to deal with, and Cu will always follow up call_gandor(64); with Hammering Assault to go for Paralysis. If the stun lands, then he'll have an easy time setting up Paralysis to cost you even more moves next turn.



See?





Next turn brings out their other combo. call_fortune(128); is another unavoidable hit that comes with a Luck debuff.





While Median Lance has the same animation as Hammering Assault, but loses the Paralysis chance for more damage.



Okay! Don't show 'em any mercy!

And that's their NP line.



Here we go.









That would have dealt 1700 damage unblocked, which would have been enough to kill Caster from full. On top of that, Gae Bolg has a chance of inflicting Instant Death. Guarding drops the odds, Aphotic Cave even moreso, but every time he uses it there's a chance the game decides you don't get to survive and you get to restart the fight.

All in all, Rin and Cu have the best synergy amongst all the Masters we've seen. Gandor opens up a free hit for Cu to exploit, and debuffing Luck boosts the odds for the stun, the paralysis, and the instant death to land.



Calm down, Lancer. They were lucky, that's all.



The stun fails.



And so does Cu.



Like you had to ask! Let's go, Lancer! Time to turn this around!



Next turn knocks Cu under four digits.



But hitting critical HP adds in a rude trick.



Cu will use one Skill on move 1, as normal.



But follow up with his other on move 3.



He also gets one final Skill at critical.





Ath nGabla gives Cu a sizable Strength and Defense buff, and will never naturally wear off. The wing symbol is a mystery for now.



However, setting up a buff gives me time to set up.







This is total overkill, but why not do it again!







Haha, japed. The wing symbol is an auto-revive, bringing Cu back with 8% HP on death. Thankfully, he isn't able to reapply it, so he won't last long.



Cu tries to use his NP one more time, but he won't last long enough to use it.



However, this time he's using both his Skills plus his NP, which is actually a fun little bit of tying together lore and gameplay! Gae Bolg has always been noted as being extremely mana-efficient, so it makes sense that he can throw everything into a single turn.



How???



There, much better.



There's no getting back up from this one.



Music: Goodbye




Suffice to say, her tone of voice was a little more casual than I expected from someone about to die.





She speaks with no trace of regret. I suppose she's gracious enough to accept defeat if she gave it her all.





That reminds me... I've always told you to have a reason to fight.



So, what are you now? Someone who knows what they want? Or, someone who's still looking?



I know what I'm about.

This is the only real option here.



*Phew* The last thing I'd want is to affect your upcoming battles.



I've been ready to die since I entered the Holy Grail War , but...





As long as someone defeats Leo, the Harways' plan to rule the earth will be significantly delayed.

There were only ever a few Masters whose power I had faith in, but for some reason, I know you can do it.



...Oh. Maybe I lost because I knew I could rely on someone else to attain my objective. If you stop caring about winning for even a second, you're done. I guess I screwed up.



Farewell, Cu Chulainn.

...I just noticed, he only got to speak in, like, two scenes.



And Rin's Command Seals flare out? I honestly thought that happening with Julius implied that he was using them to buff his desperate escape attempts, but I guess we're just doing this now?

While she speaks, Rin is gradually disintegrating. Rin's Servant fades out of existence without any final words. She's about to follow him without a fuss.





I can't say I love them, but seeing a happy kid always brings a smile to my face.



Dramatic irony! Hakuno's stuck on the moon for life!



Farewell, Rin Tohsaka.

Hold tight for a bit, okay? We'll send Leo down after you soon enough.

With a smile more gentle than I'd ever seen her give, a smile I'll never forget, she fades away. —She fought to change the world, and now she's gone.



As for me, I'm one step closer to the Holy Grail. When I obliterate the final enemy and reach the Holy Grail, what should I do...?



Music: School III










The Sri Maha Bodhi is the tree where the Buddha gained enlightenment, which... is a bit of an out there thing to point out on a Celtic Servant's page?




Next time: We're still not done with Week 6.