Part 42: Episode XXXIV: Luminous

Music: Relentless Advance



I’m shocked they actually let you get a Game Over in this fight. Let’s try this again for real this time. We’re now locked in pseudo-boss battle/playable cutscene against Sayagi with Setsuna.





All Sayagi does is continuously cast Lightning II every turn. That’s it. That’s her entire move set. Just spamming Lightning. And since she’s ancient, the ol’ ATB meter ain’t filling up like it used to. Setsuna could probably take two turns for every one Sayagi takes.





All Setsuna has to do is just cast Cure every third Lightning strike. Not even Cure II. Vanilla earliest healing spell we gain access to in the game Cure still heals 100 more HP than Setsuna’s max at the moment. Hell that still fills up Nidr’s HP to max and he’s the party’s tank that has fought in every battle since we’ve got him. Also, with a Momentum buff, Cure fills 66% of Setsuna’s ATB bar instantly. So it’s almost impossible to lose this fight unless you’re actively trying.



In case you’re wondering, despite her age, Sayagi is a spry old timer and is able to flawlessly evade or just completely no-sell all physical and magical attacks. It’s impossible to hit her with anything or deal any damage to speed along the process.



Nope. All there is to it is face-tanking eight Lightning II casts for a couple minutes and healing occasionally.

Music: ENDS



After surviving the eighth lightning cast, the battle abruptly ends. Setsuna has gained zero experience for discovering Lightning can and in fact will strike the same place multiple times... when that specific place is targeted by a mage.



And so with the power of about 300 MP of Light elemental spells dumped on her head, Setsuna powers up and...





...Immediately faceplants in the snow. By the way, the entire party was apparently just hiding behind nearby trees watching Setsuna get owned.

Setsuna picks herself up...


Music: A Moment of Respite



There was... a lot... of lightning... I hope it doesn’t return.
*nods* Mm. That much is to be expected, until you are accustomed to the spell. It simultaneously produces both a powerful, evil-repelling attack, and sacred healing energy.



And so we gain the Luminaire Tech for Setsuna. You might remember this spell name as Crono’s ultimate Tech and the strongest magic spell in Chrono Trigger. Also the mid-range Tech for Serge in Chrono Cross. Now Setsuna gets one of her own. Is it as good as its contemporaries? Well, we’ll need to go give it a test drive later... Yes, it’s fucking amazing.



Me neither...
I probably could have...
*groans*
What? I’m LITERALLY the only other person in this party that bothered to learn healing spells... Am I wrong?
Just... stop...
And I said I COULD, not that I WANT to. Congrats on surviving the human lightning rod act, Setsuna.
Thank you very much, Sayagi.
*nods* I have nothing left to teach. The rest is up to you... I shall be praying for your good fortune...
...And locking my door. Unless someone is, in fact, bleeding out and on death’s door, go find someone else to bug next time.





With that out of the way, we are now done with Gatherington for good. Back we go to the Magna Valley to hopefully sort out Julienne’s whole situation. Or explode her in the direction of the ruins gate so it gets a nice coating of royal blood spray. One of the two...



Although it is plot specific, Luminaire is a new spritnite in our inventory we can and ABSOLUTELY should immediately equip on Setsuna. Let’s give it a whirl on the way back to the ruins, eh? We’re also gonna want to throw a Gagnrath Support Spritnite on Setsuna.


New Music: Rare (This plays whenever there’s a rare owl monster in the second half of the game. It’s pretty great battle theme and you only ever hear it for like 20 seconds!)



So, remember how I’ve been saying our mages kind of sucked? Well that changes now. I mean, Kir still sucks. Even if you load him up with Support Spritnite to make tougher than a wet paper bag, he’s still got pitiful HP, he’s kind of slow, and he has zero in the way of healing. Unlike, Setsuna who is now awesome thanks to Luminaire.



So this bad boy deals Light elemental damage to all enemies. Quite a bit, in fact. To the ballpark of around 200+ damage. But that’s not all! It also heals the entire party for 300+ HP. That’s a pretty nice top-off. And if you happen to use Momentum to buff Luminaire?



Yeah, it just throws Auto-Revive on the entire party too. Fuck it! Why not? Really, the only downside to Luminaire is that it costs a hefty 46 MP a cast.



But, if we have Setsuna with the Gagnrath spritnite, as long as she kills a single enemy during a cast, the MP net loss is only 8 MP. If she kills more than one enemy? Welp. The entire party is probably fully healed and she regains all MP from the exchange. Not too shabby. But there is a bit more to Luminaire.





Luminaire is also a component in what is probably the best Triple Tech in the game: Grand Cross. We need Endir with his trusty Cyclone, Aeterna with Charge, and Setsuna with, of course, Luminaire. At 40 MP a pop for everyone it results in Grand Cross...



Grand Cross only targets a single enemy, but it has an AOE of roughly “fuck everyone in the tristate area” and hits everyone effected 9 times for damage that ignores any elemental resistances. Oh and the Momentum buffed version causes guaranteed critical damage on most of the hits.



If everyone involved has the Gagnrath spritnite (Combo Techs doll out MP rewards to everyone involved), this Tech in fact, has solved the entirety of trash mob battles for the rest of the game since it WILL kill everything in a single use and full restore everyone’s MP in the process. Even most Spritnite Eaten Monsters this will just absolutely melt them. That crystal headed gorilla thing we avoided the first time through? Yeah. Sent straight to another dimension instantly. It’s real good and INCREDIBLY broken with that MP on kills restoring spritnite set-up.


Music: The King’s Valley



So yeah. Setsuna is a pretty solid party member now. Will Kir get a similar late game usefulness redemption? I’m going to go ahead and spoil this one for you:

No.



Back on task, it looks like Cornelius and the knighthood of two are out poking the crazed Julienne with a stick and asking her politely to please calm down. Let’s see if the third time’s the charm with fixing Julienne’s mean case of the blood riot.



Grrrrrrrgg...
I’LLLLLLL RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIPPPPP YOUR TAAAAAAINT OFFFF ANDDDD WEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAR IT AAAAASSSSS AAAAAA HAT!
My word...
Everyone, please get back.

Setsuna heads to the front.



*nods* When I give the signal, please remove the spell that’s binding her.
V-very well...


Music: Faith



Setsuna powers up the cutscene version of Luminaire. Takes a bit longer to warm up the engines out in the cold like this, you see...





So did we have a part in this plan or...?
I... don’t think so...
*shrug*
...
Just checking...



As soon as Julienne is free, she briefly charges up her Super Meter and lunges for Setsuna in a blood rage.



But Setsuna has this handled and blasts Julienne in the face with Luminaire at a decisive moment. Cornelius looks on from the sidelines with a look of “the fuck is all this about?!”





And... faceplants for everyone involved. Julienne almost certainly has a severe concussion from rocketing twelve feet in the air headfirst into a thick layer of ice below.



I’m... OK... I probably... shouldn’t have... cast that while standing on... ice. Owowowow!
Lady Julienne! Please be strong!
...W-why... does my entire... head... feel like... it’s been smashed... into the ground...?
You... just slammed your head incredibly hard into the ground, m’lady...

Julienne sits up...



*briefly shakes head in a daze*
*looks around* C-Cornelius... I see... So you all...
If you want to thank someone, thank Setsuna. She’s the one who saved you.
I see...
*looks down* Is she... OK...?
*groans* I’m fine... J-just give me... a... a second... Owww...

Setsuna slowly gets back to her feet...



Thank you, Setsuna...
*cheers* All right! She’s back! Hooray! She’s back... Our Lady Julienne... Her Highness has returned!
*cheers* Hooray!
Three cheers for the princess!
Buck-Toothed Young Knight owes me 100G. He bet against her ever returning! Drinks are on me!
*cheers* Hooray!
*turns and scolds knights* Come, all of you! I understand how you feel, but please quieten down!
*turns to Julienne* Does the monster blood seem to have left your body now, Your Highness?
Most likely... it has not left entirely... But I shall no longer let it rule me... I can control it with my own strength... I know that much.
Do you remember anything?



*looks down* A feeling of intense loneliness... and of rage towards others... These emotions took control of my mind, spurring me on towards destruction. Whether they were my own emotions, or the result of some other influence, I do not know.
Yeah I meant more li—
At the same time, far away in the distance... I could hear... a voice...
*looks up* Yes, a voice... a sad voice... I know not if it was the voice of a man or a monster, but the sorrow behind it tore at my heart... Each time I heard it, it seemed to eat away at my soul... And I was unable to fight back...
No, Lady Julienne... You have fought bravely. This old man knows it well, as do all the knights.
*stretches arms* I thought that my duty to restore my homeland was the only thing that kept me going...
You were wrong.
But really, there was something else. Yadda yadda. Power of friendship. So, do you know anything about this gate...?
*turns to knights* It is just as Endir says... I was wrong. It is you, the knighthood, who truly keep me going... You, and all the people of the village who believe in me...
*nods*
S-so... the gate? Could you...
Endir, just let them finish.
*sigh*
*nods* I apologize for having worried all of you so... I know it is a lot to ask... but will you continue to lend me your support?
Our hearts are with you, Your Highness. They always have been, and always shall be. There are none among us who have lost even an ounce of faith in you!
Except Buck-Toothed Young Knight. That jerk.
Thank you, Cornelius... I intend to see this journey through so that our homeland may finally be restored... Together with my saviors, I shall see the Last Lands for myself... I shall learn the truth behind the old kingdom!
Yeah... About that...
*points at gate* Do you know how the hell to open this thing? There’s an airship or a rad spritnite or... something in there to help us fly.
*looks at gate* Oh, certainly.
*sighs* Figures. So what mystic cavern do we have to spelunk into to find the ke—Wait... really? You can open it?
It will take but a moment.
...Huh. Alright, then.



Julienne approaches the gate, pulls out her lance and starts getting’ things done.


Music: Last of the Blood



Julienne raises her lance higher...









And... ta-da! Turns out the ruins were an old Fallout Vault this entire time. Who’d a thunk it?



So our only hope of getting across the Vanished Land is inside here...
Maybe... An ancient trebuchet...
...
*turns back to party* Let us enter.



And with that, Julienne rejoins the party. And while the gates to ancient ruins we’ve been after for... well... just duration of this chapter... are finally open, the chapter itself draws to a close. Tune in next time for some tomb raiding and the search for a missing Water Chip. Or something along those lines.






Video: Luminaire and Grand Cross Demo