Part 10: Cecil Pushes Death Off a Mountain

Chapter 10 - Cecil Pushes Death Off a Mountain





It's (finally) time to climb Mt. Ordeals.



Cecil has this badass sword of darkness that can kill powerful foes in one hit. So what better way to downplay its effectiveness and drive home the story than filling the mountan with the undead?

Cecil, the badass dark knight who can fell giant birds with a single blade stroke, has to rely on two five-year-olds to make it through this mountain. This is how the game uses its gameplay to demonstrate the dark side failing Cecil against true evil, in this case represented by skeletons and giant snake ladies.

With Cecil's damage output being weakened, it can be a little tough relying on two fragile mages to get through here, especially with the strong enemies on this mountain.



The second stage of this mountain is the third station. I don't know much about mountains, so alright.





Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit




The second, and rarer, Twin spell is Comet, which is a weaker version of Meteor. I'll take it.



As a bonus, Palom picks up Fire2, which is a godsend for an undead-infested area.




After climbing a bit, we randomly meet Tellah on this monster-infested mountain.




You seek for Meteo as well?
He knows of Meteo. That means...
Hey, man! You are Tellah, right?
Watch your mouth! Call him Master Tellah!






And I'm Palom. So you are Tellah! You are famous in Mysidia too!

So the feeble old man who's forgotten most of his spells? Kind of a living legend.





We were attacked by Leviatan on our way to Baron.
Oh! No!
And Rosa was captured by Golbez.



That must be his girl friend!
HUSH!

The twins will have little asides throughout the conversation, which are actually kinda cute and funny. They're semi-comic relief at this point.



I've been seeking the magic of legend, Meteo. I felt a strong power from this mountain.
Meteo is too dangerous! You are too old... Ooops...
Yes, I'm old. But no matter the price, I must avenge my daughter!

And so we begin Tellah's main story arc, one that is actually pretty interesting. Tellah at this point is solely about getting revenge for the death of his daughter, to the point where he has no regard for his own life. Of course, to be fair, he doesn't really have anything to lose considering his only family is gone and he's already very old, but it still seems reckless to just go full-force into revenge mode. It's certainly not Cecil's primary motivation.




Be quiet! It's no place for kids.
Why did you come here, Cecil?
I came here to be a Paladin. My Dark Sword cannot defeat Golbez...
Who is Golbez?
You don't know!? He's controlling Baron!





Having more magic power certainly can't hurt at this point.



Tellah has the same spells as before, though he picked up some Gaea gear from Mysidia apparently. He still has a limited MP poll, and his Black Magic pales compared to Palom's Fire2, but at least he has a buttload of HP which makes the old man a rather tanky mage for this point of the game.




I just wish he were more useful.



Palom! Stop it!
Not me!

At the top of the mountain, we start hearing hissing sounds. Palom's such a prankster!



There it goes!
It's not me!



Watch out! I feel something evil!
I'm glad...glad indeed...to slay you all...
Who is it!?








Now! Meal time for my monsters!






Milon is the boss of this mountain, and he brings some Ghasts with him.




The good news is that Cecil's blade does a good job hurting Milon.




Milon counters every attack targeted on him with Lit-1, which does decent damage but isn't a huge threat if you heal occasionally.



Unfortunately, Flare isn't enough to wipe the Ghasts out.





The Ghasts will cast Drain on Milon's behest, but Drain is a shitty spell that is never worth the effort. In case you're wondering, Porom has Blink cast on her, thus her varying positions.




If you feel compelled to solo the game as Cecil, you could just throw healing items at the undead.




This dealt as much damage as the Twins' Flare. Palom is a beast with Black Magic.




Just don't bother with healing magic on Milon. He's not really that undead.





Milon is pretty beefy, but he's pretty managable overall.



So I thought of something. What if instead of using a sword, Cecil tried attacking the undead with his fists?




Eh.



I think now's as good a place as any to end the update.






















Or it could turn out Milon's death didn't take, and now we have a surprise second boss battle.






Meet Milon Z. This can be a nasty surprise for players, since you may not heal after the first fight and he'll trap you with a back attack. Considering how many times I've played this game, I saw it coming.

This is also the first appearance of the always-awesome Dreadful Fight piece. This is the moment you'll realize shit is getting real.

Fall flat into the deep ravine!





Milon Z hits hard, but his attacks can also poison a character, which can be inconvenient.



Milon Z is undead, though Cecil's blade still works fine on him.




Palom's already close to hitting quadruple digits. Make no mistakes about it, Palom is a fucking awesome black mage.




Milon Z being undead means healing hurts him now. You're still better off roasting him with Palom's Fire2, though.




...Already? I really didn't expect it to end this quickly. I only roasted him with Fire2 twice, plus a heal and a couple sword swipes. That's pretty disappointing.






Lesson: The best way to kill the undead is to push them off a mountain.



Next time, we investigate this rock that looks like a piece of road and watch the most memorable scene from the game. I'd recommend reading, at least if my hiatus hasn't scared you off already.