Part 36: Chapter 16x: The Pinnacle of Light
Chapter 16x: The Pinnacle of Light
...the outskirts of Aquleia. The Tower of the Saint was a place of worship for Saint Elimine, one of the Eight Heroes. In the tower lay various holy relics relating to her.
However, the sacred tower was under the control of Bishop Windam, who had rebelled against the Elimine Church by Roartz's orders...
Then what will happen to me, who turned against the Church?
Sir, Lord Roartz's message is that he 'doesn't want to waste time dealing with useless bishops who cannot even tame the Elimine Church.' This is all because that damned Yodel got in my way... Well, yes... But even if you tell me about it... ...All right, fine... This is our last mission. If we are to die, then the Lycia Alliance Army will be going down with us! Prepare the Heavenly Arrows! B-But Bishop Windam! If we use those, they may hit our allies as well! Quiet! I do the ordering around here! ...I shall show them...hahaha...!Bullshit they will.
It sounds like Roartz is a little incredulous that the church in what is essentially a JRPG world dares to not be evil or be used for evil.
Saint Elimine's weapon, the Aureola spell book, lies here.
Lord Douglas, thank you for helping us when we were your enemies just a while earlier. You do not have to thank me. The king ordered me to help you. Do not worry about it. ... Besides, you are the saviors of Etruria. It is an honor to be able to fight along your side. Lord Douglas...
It's showtime. Best to bring those with resistance, because this chapter isn't very friendly to the have-nots. The sage in green has a Silence staff, the ones in red have Bolting, both corner bishops have Purge and Physic staves, and the boss has Berserk. And there are going to be reinforcements with more Purge tomes and Silence staves.
This map (though not the exact enemies in it), like several others in this game, is rehashed and reused, although not in FE7; it makes appearances as optional content in FE8 and FE11. I totally knew that before it was pointed out in the FE11 thread.
Douglas has joined us for real, giving him the second most inconvenient joining time, and he brings a Silver Axe and Lance to the table. He, Roy, Saul, Oujay, and Echidna are taking the left side, while Ray, Hugh, Lugh, Fir, and Rutger are taking the right. But first, we have some business to attend to.
Ray is still a little slow, but sweet christ Lugh.
At the end of every turn, a "randomly" selected column will get blasted by an arrow, and every unit hit will take 10 damage. The soldier from before is completely full of shit, as it will never pick a column that enemies are in unless the enemies are set to move. Check the enemies' initial positions on the chapter map - there's a 90% chance that those columns are safe spots.
It’s like IntSys flips a coin every time they put in a map gimmick to determine whether or not the AI will cheat like a motherfucker or gleefully march its units into the trap.
And we're off to an auspicious start.
Competence! A good sign of things to come.
Even Douglas gets to pretend to be useful.
The silence asshole begins his dark work.
Fortunately both Ray and Lugh are capable of healing now.
I still don’t know how to react to the sight of druids wielding staves. Is he, like, using dark magic to levitate the heal staff or what?
Hugh lives to see another day. Bolting assholes teaming up on individual units can get really nasty really quick.
Goddammit Oujay how did you miss him twice you are the worst hero
Hugh picks up an alright level on the far side. I was kind of surprised the cavalier attacked him instead of Ray, considering Hugh has higher defense.
Goddammit. Silence staff!
With both Ray and Lugh out of commission, Fir and Rutger pick up the slack on the front lines. Hugh assists as best he can, which really isn't much.
One Bolting asshole done.
Oh my, what's this?
With the exception of Skill, she's basically kicking Rutger's ass across the board.
Have I mentioned I never stopped believing lately?
Purge asshole #1 has a rather substantial range, so Saul is pretty much going to be going it alone from here.
Hugh is not making a particularly convincing case for himself. I'm only letting it slide right now since he's the only one even capable of casting magic on the right side.
Bitch, please.
I don't even care that your Silence Staff is already broken, go fuck yourself.
And you! Purge and Silence! Get the fuck out.
All of you! Everything shall be destroyed!
AhahahahaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ye who sew the seeds of your own destruction shall know no mercy!
What was that? Did someone just say “everything shall be destroyed”? Because I think I heard someone say “everything shall be destroyed”.
So first thing is to get the fuck out of Rutger's range.
Saul blocks the bishop in and begins wearing him down.
Windam is a little obnoxious. His magic score means he has a huge range with that Berserk staff, and he's very likely to land when he tries it. Also notable in that he has much higher defense than resistance for some reason.
Rutger, I admire your enthusiasm, but please put the Killing Edge down. You have an Iron Sword for a reason.
Well, if you insist.
Silly Bolting asshole, you can't even hurt him.
Purge Asshole: Dead.
Look, there's having fun with Berserk, and there's writing a deathwish. You're pretty firmly in the latter category now.
A knight tries his luck against Rutger. It doesn't go so well.
A meh level, but that's all the Purge assholes gone.
Piss off, Bolting asshole.
All siege-tome users gone.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!
And that's a wrap.
Windam has successfully managed to get all of his troops murdered by our berserk units.
Every couple turns it throws another bishop in one of the corners, but they're pretty inconsequential.
Jesus Christ are you FUCKING kidding me?
OK, so the odds were a bit improbable, but this is a minor annoyance at this point.
Hugh rushes over to deal with our troublesome friend, and Lalum helps.
Anyway, time to start on Windam. Our mages are actually the best choice for dealing with him, considering he attacks with magic and has lower resistance, but Fir gets us started.
Following a round with Lugh and Ray, Hugh is in position to take the kill. Unfortunately, he misses. Windam isn't so lucky on the enemy phase.
Yeah...Sorry Hugh, but I don't think you're getting a Guiding Ring.
Lord Douglas, is this...? Yes, this is it. This is the Pinnacle of Light, the Aureola spell book, Saint Elimine's weapon. May we use it? The king told you to use anything in the tower that you might find useful. And the Elimine Church is on our side as well. If we still have trouble, then I can negotiate with them. All right. Thank you, Lord Douglas.
...Is it that we must attack Bern as well after Etruria? ...Did someone inform you? No. ...But I knew that it would happen eventually. ...We cannot leave Bern running around freely any longer. I know that it will be hard to see your nation invaded, but... ...Roy, I will give this to you. What is this?
What!? In the south of Bern lies a temple called the Temple of Seals. In it lies the sword that our founder, Hartmut, used. Is it...one of the Divine Weapons? I believe so. It was a sword made to slay the Dark Dragon, the leader of the Dragons during the Scouring. However, it held power so immense that it was sealed away after the war. The Fire Emblem is the key to break its seal. The key... My brother...is trying to force the world into submission through power. That is not forgivable, no matter what the reason. ... To stop him, all we can do is defeat the Dragon at his side. Princess Guinevere...
...betrayed her nation. No... I shall be hated all my life as a traitor. Roy, promise me one thing. When we invade Bern, promise me that you will not harm the civilians... I promise. Please trust me. ...Thank you.
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Level 8 General
Axes - A, Lances - A, Affinity - Thunder
HP: 46 (60%)
Strength: 19 (30%)
Skill: 13 (30%)
Speed: 8 (30%)
Luck: 11 (20%)
Defense: 20 (30%)
Resistance: 5 (5%)
Con: 17
Woo, prepromotes.
Okay, so he's not that bad. If you're looking for a general and haven't been raising Bors or Barth, he's pretty serviceable. Really slow, and I wouldn't let him anywhere near mages, but he'll get the job done. That said, there is still the rather notable problem that this game is rivaled only by FE4 and 5 in terms of shitting on knights, and Douglas is not magically immune to this design. If you're not already using a knight, you're probably not going to at this point.