Part 60: Chapter 24x: The Alter of Lopto - Part 2

Last time, we found the Kia staff and so made our way into the depths of a Lopto base, hoping to save Eyvel and kill Baldo, ending this side story one and for all. But first, we have to get through 24x. 24x sucks.


(Player Phase)

(Enemy Phase)



Let's see what we're up against.







Well that's nice. Meet enemy type number one for the map, Berserkers with Devil axes and Hammers. Since all Berserkers have Wrath, if you attack them and they hit you they'll oneshot all but the hardiest of units. Marty and Carion are probably our only units who can hope to eat a hit from them. So don't attack them. Either take them down on the counter, or attack at a range.

Also y'know, fuck you if you brought Generals.



We also exposed a tiny corner of the central most room of the map.



Sety goes in alone. Sending in Sety to smash difficult enemy formations is a cornerstone of the endgame of Thracia 776. It's what he does best.



We only expose this one enemy. Notice the +10 magic. The terrain he's on gives +10 magic to anyone standing on it, giving him greater then 20 magic (and as such, the ability to use status effects on anyone.) Better hope you have lots of Restore staffs, because they can take away your ability to use them.



Karin with Magic Swords.





On the other side, our forces can't even go anywhere if you don't have a door key or a thief. If you don't have door keys, have fun messing with units until you get a thief on the right side.



[Linoan: Lv. 13, Hp: 40, Str: 7, Mgc: 20, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 12, Bld: 6]





Shanam has a PCC of 0, so he can't crit on his second attack. He can also never have a crit chance greater then 25%. Don't worry, we still believe in you and your bling Shanam!



Meanwhile, Sety kills people. Lots of people. He gets hit once, which sucks, because now that he's poisoned he dies if he's hit by Hell.



Meanwhile, we get put through the status effect wringer. In total, there's a Berserk staff, a Sleep staff, and a Silence staff.



A bunch of Dark Mages rewarp in too. Pretty much every-turn, 4 Dark Mages with Rewarp, Hell, and Yotsmungand, will spawn in secluded corners of the map, and start clogging up the hallways with their soon to be corpses.



We cure some of our status effects (except for Homer, who stays silenced because we only had one Restore user near him, and un-berserkering Marty is much more important.)



Next, we cut our way through these chumps.





That'll do it.



Here are the two remaining status effect assholes, and Sety's ultimate goal.





Bad idea.



What's going on over there?



Well that's nice.

In the little secluded part of the map there, a Mercenerary with a Sleep Sword and a Sniper with a Poison bow spawn each turn. There are also two Dark Mages hanging out in there. With two warp staves each. So they can warp the reinforcements, letting them show up anywhere and everywhere, still capable of taking action. Good times.



Sety does his thing to them.



And that's the one with the Berserk staff gone.





uh...



What the fuck?

So, remember Warp Tiles? From 16B? I told you they'd be used in the most bullshit way imaginable, and here it is. Scattered around the map, there are a bunch of otherwise completely ordinary tiles that warp you to this little corner of the map here. Now, you can't escape this corner of the map without some kind of Warp staff. And the map's objective is to escape. And anybody who's left behind when Leaf escapes dies. See where I'm going with this?



Leaving Sara behind (She'll live on in our hearts ), we press forward like so. Galzus and Marita lead the charge, with Leaf and Nanna backing them up. This is one of the most powerful formations in the game, Galzus gets +40 avoid, while the slightly stronger Marita has to deal with only +30. Galzus has over 100 avoid. Sety has 82. Let that sink in.



In the death trap, Sara kills some enemies. Most importantly, she kills the two Dark Mages with Warp, preventing the asshole reinforcements from bothering us.



The Dark Mages reinforcements go after Sara, which amuses me, because she's bailing on the death trap next turn.





Sety finishes the status effect using Dark Mages, while Sara rewarps her way out of the death trap. Otherwise, we just move forward and heal up.



[Linoan: Lv. 13, Hp: 40, Str: 7, Mgc: 20, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 13, Bld: 6]





That little room to the side there is where 2 of the Dark Mages spawn from. If we want to stop them, we pretty much have to leave two units behind for 32 turns, so we're just going to ignore the room instead.

With nothing else to do, we heal, move forward, and have Sety rejoin the group.





God damn it.





More Berserkers die.

And so, we continue to press onward...



Fuck



We have 7 rescue charges. If you go down Path B, you'll have 9 total if you never use any. Better hope you don't hit too many warp tiles



Here's our formation for the time being.



[Marita: Lv. 17, Hp: 52, Str: 20, Mgc: 16, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 18, Bld: 8] God damn she has really good magic doesn't she? I should throw some magic swords her way, she's be good with them.



And her sword broke. Look out for that.



A bunch of Dark Mages start rewarping in, clogging the corridors.



Remember how I said you shouldn't attack Berserkers? I forgot.



Thankfully, even with Shanam's shit luck I don't take the hit.



[Linoan: Lv. 14, Hp: 41, Str: 7, Mgc: 20, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 13, Bld: 6]







You are just the worst, aren't you Shanam? The way our units are positioned, none of the Dark Mages have to attack at melee range, so we don't clear any out. Makua takes a hit too, but from Yotsmungand.



And the hallway just gets more and more congested.



That's a little better.



Woo empty level



Marita: Lv. 19, Hp: 53, Str: 20, Mgc: 16, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 19, Bld: 8] Woo great level



Well this isn't tedious.



[Marita: Lv. 20, Hp: 54, Str: 20, Mgc: 16, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 19, Bld: 8]



I'm bad at picking units to target, and so we can't take down anyone else.



We mostly get attacked at range, but Karin gets to have some fun with her Fire Sword.



Almost through.



[Shanam: Lv. 3, Hp: 47, Str: 20, Mgc: 2, Skl: 14, Spd: 19, Luk: 3, Def: 20, Bld: 6]



Fucking finally. Let's just have the rest of our units catch up.



UGH



Back to the group Makua.





While we free Eyvel, we make a formation in case some surprise enemies come out of nowhere.



Fuck this





[Linoan: Lv. 15, Hp: 42, Str: 7, Mgc: 20, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 13, Bld: 6]



---





......
Eyvel! It's me, Leaf. Don't you recognize me?
...Lord...Leaf... ...Leaf... !! Lord Leaf! What are you doing here? You must escape...
No, Eyvel... It's all right.
All right? But the arena... ...Wait... Where am I?
Eyvel...you've recovered. Thank goodness...
Lord Leaf...what have I been...
Sorry, but we don't have time to be talking now. We're fighting to liberate Manster, no, to liberate Thracia from the Empire. We need your help, Eyvel!
Of course... But will you tell me what happened after the battle is over?
Of course, Eyvel. I have a lot of things to tell you...

Alternatively, we can recruit her with Marita.

......
Mother! Can you hear me? Mother!
.....
Mother! Don't you recognize me?
......
Mother... I'm sorry... I...I...
...Marita... Why are you crying...?
Huh? ...Mother?
Good...you're the Marita I know. Come, we have to escape... ...Wait... Where am I?
Mother! Thank goodness...
Marita, where are we? What am I doing here?
Mother... You were turned to stone by Reidric.
To stone? And... Where is Reidric?
Reidric is gone...we just defeated him. But the Lopto Church still has its grip on Manster... Please, Mother! We need your help.
Of course... You must have been worried about me. I'm sorry, Marita...
Mother...

---



Eyvel joins us again. She's terrible now. Absolutely terrible. Since this is an escape mission, we have to escort her through the map.



Well fuck. Off to an auspicious start with that.





I'm almost out of Rescue staffs, and annoyed with hauling my whole army with me, so I'm just going to take Galzus, Marita, Leaf, Nanna, Sara and Lara to clear the left wing of the map.















Lara starts opening the chests. We get a Power ring, a Shield ring, and a Knight's Proof. Damn it Fire Emblem, promotion items are not helpful in the penultimate chapter of the game.



We've actually killed every threat on the map. All that's left is to get our units into the center chamber and out with hitting too many warp tiles.



Which might not be easy.



Fuck this god damn chapter.

There goes my last rescue staff.



Sety can rewarp, so he's going to lead a convoy out of the map. The character behind him will move onto the space he stepped on, and so forth, letting everyone get out safely.

---



Get ready for a lot of text. Also a plot twist.




Lord Leaf... I can't believe it's only been a year since that incident. You've grown so much... You've become a fine lord and leader.
It's all thanks to you, Eyvel. The three years I spent in Fiana were the best of my life. I had so much fun playing, and sometimes fighting with the other young villagers... And you scolded me a lot, but I appreciated it. Finn was my father, you were my mother, Nanna and Mareeta were my sisters... And I had friends like Othin and Halvan... I always wished that those days would last forever. You were my mother, Eyvel... You gave me the warmth that I had long forgotten.
That day... You and Lady Nanna came to Fiana, with Finn lying injured on his horse. Lady Nanna begged me to save her father with her eyes full of tears.



You said it was a keepsake of your mother...I remember wondering about the hardships that such a young boy had been through. Lord Leaf, I have no memory of my youth. A little over ten years ago, I was rescued by the villagers after washing up on the coast of Ith. Who am I? Was I married? Did I have any children? I have no way of knowing. But when I saw you two, I sensed that something similar had happened to me in my past. And from that day on, I vowed to raise you as my children. However...I never guessed that you were the prince of Lenster...



Looking at her, I would cry and wish, 'If only I had a mother like her...' But you raised and loved us all equally... I cannot thank you enough, Eyvel.
Lady Nanna... You are the princess of Nodion. The proud blood of the Holy Knight Hezul is running in your veins. Be strong, and live your life with Lord Leaf. And I'm sure your mother is alive... If we were able to see each other again, I'm sure you can do the same with your mother...



Dagda, I truly am grateful to you. Being able to protect Fiana, and even living up to this day... I could never have done it without you. Thank you, Dagda...
Wh...What are you talking about... I-I was just...





My little sister and I... It's like we were raised by you. I came this far to rescue you...and to thank you for all that you've done."
Havan... I see I've worried you, too. Let's return to Fianna after this war. I'm sure Patricia will be anxious to see you...



I guess even a geezer like him is better than not having one at all...
That's right, Othin. You're still better off compared to Havan. Take care of your father when you return to Fianna.



Mother! I, I...
It's all right... Everything is going to be all right, Marita...

Who are you...?



Thank you... Thank you for taking care of my daughter.
Then... You're Marita's...
That's right... Her mother died soon after her birth, but after that I took her along on my travels. And then one day... Just when I let her out of my sight a few seconds, a slave trader snatched her away from me..
At one of the slave markets in Conote, I saw a little girl chained up and being sold. In my anger, I murdered all of the guards and slave traders... When I freed the girl and asked her name, she told me it was Marita. She said she was with her father, so I looked around with her, but I wasn't able to find him.
No...it was my responsibility. Trying to travel with a small child was a foolish decision to begin with. Marita was happy living with you. I might sound a little demanding, but... Would you take care of her from now on as well...?
Yes, of course. Marita is my daughter now... I wouldn't give her back to you even if you asked.
I see... Once this battle ends, I'll be going off on my travels once more. I doubt we'll ever meet again.
Galzus... I have just one thing to ask of you.
What is it? I'll be happy to do anything that I can...
Would you stop by Fianna Village just once a year? That's all I ask...
...... Yes... I will.



Eyvel... ...I wasn't going to tell you this, but after hearing your conversation with Lord Leaf, I can't keep it inside any longer. I know someone who looks very much like you...
Like me...? Are you sure, Fin?
Yes... Back when I was fighting alongside Lord Cuan, there was a beautiful warrior in Lord Sigurd's army. As she stood there with her long blonde hair flowing in the wind, her sheer beauty reminded me a goddess. She was the heir to the Jungby family, who had inherited the holy bow, the Ichival. Her name was...Brigid...

... You mean she could use Ichival the entire god damn time

Brigid... Are you trying to say that I am that person?
Yes...
I never knew you were such a romantic, Fin... If I was indeed a descendant of the Holy Warriors, I would have markings somewhere on my body. But alas, I don't. You have the wrong person, Fin. My name is Eyvel...a traveling mercenary...

---

Current Resets: 47 49 (Forgot the god damn Kia my second try. First time I just got fucked over by a 6% hit chance.)

Next Time on Thracia 776: The Final Battle