Part 23: Almost-stereotypical determination and pluck

MUSIC: Silence

In contrast with that one dinner conversation in Liligue that had three different dialogue branches getting juggled around, this one has exactly one, and it's really repetitive. I've cleaned it up a bit.



I guess they feel they need to blame someone.

Irina, Sandra... little Aira. These people are simply struggling... That doesn't make them evil or anything...

If you are suffering, you can be blinded to the needs of others...

Just who do they think is "bad," anyway? I'd say these knights who run around and scare people are the real problem.

I hope nothing terrible happens...

Well, we DO have you with us. I can't imagine those overly-holy knights will kill one of their own...



Valmar possesses even me...

I don't think Valmar can be defeated by anyone, not even those "holy" knights out there.

I cannot believe that nothing will happen. I am sure there will be trouble...

Something does SMELL awry... But I cannot confirm that it is related to the current situation.



Fade.







It's Valmar's Moon. It's so eerie... I wonder if it always stares down on us like that.

No use getting worked up about something you can't do anything about. Besides, we're pretty damn far enough away from it.

... I suppose ... but what about the presence of Valmar... inside of me?

... Oh, Millenia...

......

C'mon, lighten up. Millenia's not all that bad...



Who knows when... Millenia will do something like Gadan did - or worse? What if her purpose is to restore Valmar to life?

Again, we can't do anything about it. Right now, at least. But isn't this why we're going to the Cathedral?

"Valmar prepares a dwelling place within the souls of the wicked..."

I am sure that Millenia is the evil inside of me; she is the blackness in my soul!

Hey, don't let it get you down. What happened to your happy face?



I had a LOT of potential update titles to choose from, let me tell you.

Stop it, Ryudo! This is serious! Must you always be so... flippant?!

I- I was just trying to cheer you up... Blazes! Fine, fine. I GET IT...

As expected of the Wings of Valmar, it is difficult to visit injury upon Millenia. You, on the other hand...

MUSIC: Silence



Look, you're not giving me a choice here. You can keep crying about Valmar this and Valmar that, or we can settle this now.

You calmed down yet? Hey, what's gotten into you?

What happened to the almost-stereotypical determination and pluck that I know so well? What's wrong, Elena?

you just threatened her with a KNIFE what do you bloody well think is wr



What!?

What's wrong, Ryudo? Do it quickly! I'm a little... scared... so please, make it as painless as you are able.

Do- don't be STUPID!

That's Selene talking, not you!

...?

My job is to get you to the Cathedral. If you want any extras, hire someone else. ... Just stop your brooding and get to bed!

...

Elena goes to her room to sleep.



there are no words

... Argh, guess I ought to get to bed myself...

Fade.


























































Don't... This is MY soul, dammit! Stay the HELL out of it!

Stop it! Please, just stop... Don't make me remember... please...

... I want to forget... let me forget...



Damn! Why do they keep haunting me? I was almost able to forget...

Doesn't sound like a very sweet dream.

I know! That was the... dream they saw!

We regain control, but we can't leave.

That's odd... Can't shake the feeling that I'm still being watched...

I'm fairly sure there's nobody hiding in the room with Ryudo, so the only other place to check is the w





It was... that THING!

It flies away with a shrill sound.

The cause of the nightmares...? If so, this village's curse... Dammit!



Yes, Ryudo. Are you okay?

Grr... That cursed dream... What was its purpose?

Ask that... thing! It's been causing these damn nightmares!

What do you mean by "that thing"...?

Elena runs into the room.

Ryudo! What is happening?

Elena! You alright!? Listen, the source of the nightmares was right there!



Unused update title #2. This one revealed a bit too much to actually use.

If that was the cause, then the others...

It cannot be... Miss Irina...

Oh, blazes! Let's check on her! Hurry!



This one also flies away, having completed its mission.

Damn, we're too late! It already got her...

Ryudo, I'll follow it! Try to keep up!

Dammit, it's those things! They're behind this! We must follow!

Before we do, let's double check on Irina.



Mareg! How is she?!

Her condition is just as the others in the village who have fallen.

Dammit!! How could they get to her while I was here?!

Rage is rarely ever the best method of solving crisis. Even the wolf must sleep, Ryudo. You are not to blame.

Mareg is right, Ryudo. You cannot be held accountable for this.

Alright, let's get moving.





They fly into a nearby cave.

There are so many of them!

We have to follow them. Quickly!



Into that fissure!

And we all know what comes next. Let's be quick about it. I want to find out what the hell is going on here!

This fissure's actually been here the whole time, blocked off by Impassable Barrels, with a nearby save point suspiciously indicating that we might soon be stuck in town without access to an innkeeper. I don't know if that was intentional foreshadowing, though.

The fissure itself is its own little dungeon, but since caves are hard to make interesting, have a bestiary instead:





Twin Ogre
Difficulty:

HP: 2000 (from 680)
Attack: ~370 (4 hits)
Abilities: Throw Buddy (~450 damage, +1, Cancel)

They don't do anything particularly nasty, but they're fast and beefy enough to keep you on your toes. I mostly like their design - an ogre with a little turtle buddy that he uses to bash people's skulls in is neat as hell. Also, they throw it at you and it makes you so angry that your attack power goes up.

They also have a unique drop, the Ogre Helm, which gives +25 DEF but -5 MOV.



Hammerhead
Difficulty:

HP: 2300 (from 830)
Attack: ~390
Abilities: Giga Spread (~220 damage in a cone, )
Weak to , Resistant to
Concept Art: Here.

They have a really fast attack animation and a nasty AoE Paralysis, but much like the Ogres, they only come in packs of two. This makes it fairly unlikely that they'll manage to kill anyone despite our lack of Paralysis resistance.



You'll know you're done with the Fissure when you hit this spiral path, which is actually a huge fossilized shell. We'll find out in a later conversation that the area where Mirumu is situated used to be underwater a long time ago, hence all the giant seashells lying around. Pretty sweet.

Music: Silence.







Shocking.

As I had suspected, it has been broken...

Elena walks up to the yellow flower below the seal.

I have seen this flower before... Ah!



Eyeball Bat
Difficulty:

HP: 3500 (from 3000)
Attack: ~280
Abilities: Delta Burst (~600 damage, Cancel)

They're blindingly fast and their damage adds up quickly, but the big issue here is Delta Burst. It's a huge combo attack by all four of them, but it only takes the turn of one eyeball to start it. Killing one of them disables it entirely and makes the rest of the fight much easier, so that should be your top priority. You can stack Runner to get rid of the rest of their damage, but I like to use Snooze instead. They're not immune to it and the irony entertains me.

When defeated, they drop a new skillbook, but I'll cover that later.



No. These things are small change. Nothing like Gadan. The real money's somewhere else.

So they were like marionettes?

Perhaps... Their powers may be peculiar, but our true enemy would not meet defeat so easily.

It cannot be...

Dammit! Valmar must be somewhere! If we're not killing the source, we're just killing time.

There's nothing else here, so our heroes are forced to call it a night.





As the Seal of Granas is broken, I am afraid that it is so.

Elena enters.

Elena, how's Irina doing?

Not well... She will not wake at all. Just like Nicolas.



A few more people fell ill last night. And everyone who did not fall ill, they had nightmares again.

They're not the only ones. I've been having nightmares of my... the past. It's... not too cool, man. Not at all.

One last unused update title. If only we could all be winners.

I had one too. I saw my mother... die...

I dreamt of my village, of the demon-man who came in blood and fire... I dreamt of ruin...



There must be someone possessed by Valmar. The one controlling the flying eyeballs. Do you think it's... Aira?

That cannot be! She is such an innocent girl. Right?

Only the hearts of the wicked are open to Valmar! That girl has done nothing wrong!

A villager rushes into the inn.

Villager: The High Priestess Selene is conducting an investigation, so she has ordered everyone to meet in the Town Hall...

We ought to inform the High Priestess of the events of yesterday!

The villain is not of this village - not even a person! Let's go, Ryudo!

Yeah, before Selene decides to frame someone.