Part 176: 12/7: The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth

Part 166: 12/7: The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth

It seems some of you were rather dismayed at Skull’s plan last update, particularly the whole bit about using Oracle as pedobait. Well, uh, good! More support for Shido!

Music: Ark



Let’s see… One of them is apparently at the slots, and the other doesn’t leave his room? Well, the map says there’s an entertainment hall up ahead. Maybe the slots are there?
Seeing for ourselves will likely be the quickest way to find out. Let us proceed onward.

And so, the Phantom Thieves leave the pool deck.



Running down more hallways~



Here’s another map. I don’t know why I’m even bothering to show these, there’s no way to make sense of them.



I guess that means there’s a Shido statue here too. How troublesome.
Hm… My ad-mice would be to pro-squeak cautiously.
……
Oracle, my ad-mice would be--
I believe she heard you the first time. Anyway, can we focus on the task at hand?

Further in, we are treated to another mousecapade and some bad puns.



The twist here is that the statues are no longer confined to rooms, but are now in hallways as well. It’s not a major change. Here, the thieves have to carefully navigate a series of hallways with Shadows emerging from them.



This is Barong. It’s weak to Curse and Wind and blocks Bless. It uses Electricity and can inflict Rage.



This is Kurama Tengu. It’s weak to Ice, reflects Wind, and uses Wind and Physical, as well as Masukunda.



Panther learns Diarahan to replace Diarama.



Oracle’s Subrecover HP EX automatically replaces Subrecover HP, upgrading it from 10% to 20%.



And here’s just the fucking exit because we have a lot of update left and the layout really isn’t that interesting.



Hm!? Look.



What the…?
That seems to be a Shadow too. Be careful, guys.
He looks way tougher than the other ones… You think they’re tightenin’ security?
It wouldn’t be surprising. We’ve taken down two targets, after all. Let’s proceed forward cautiously.

So, a new, stronger variant of Shadow.



These guys won’t hesitate to just fucking shoot the Phantom Thieves, though the bullets don’t seem to do anything.



That bird in the middle is Garuda. It’s weak to Gun, repels Bless, and uses Amped Wind and Masukukaja.



Skull learns Matarukaja to replace Tarukaja, an amazing skill that will make him a mainstay for boss fights. Not that the Phantom Thieves will be fighting any bosses, once Shido has them murdered! ...Oh, I’m bad at this!



Safe room time!



This is Forneus. It’s weak to Electricity, drains Ice and Blocks Psy, and uses Psy and ailments like Brainwash and Confuse.



But I suppose if he’s on this ship, Mr. Shido must accept him…






He looks super dangerous! I don’t wanna get involved, even if he’s just some old cognitive thing!
What’re you punks mumblin’ on about? I hear you’ve been makin’ quite a mess in here.
Eep… W-We’re totally not making a mess, we swear! Who are you anyway!?
Hmph! I’m the one askin’ questions around here. Now, drink some salt water and reflect on what you did. I’m leavin’ this to you, guys. I don’t got the time to waste on little punks like these.
Salt water!? Does that mean…



Look out, here they come!



These guys are weak to Bless and don’t have a ton of health, so they go down quick.



Fox learns High Counter to replace Counterstrike, upgrading his Physical repel rate from 15% to 20%.



That wasn’t funny, dammit! They were totally tryin’ to kill us!
Maybe because we caused a scene at both the restaurant and the pool. Somebody has to clean up the mess. Wait a second… “Clean up the mess?”
Ohhh, that’s why they call him the “cleaner”! It’s ‘cause he mops up any trouble that shows its face.

That’s right, the cleaner is not actually Akechi, weirdly enough. It’s just some random dude.

That should make him pretty easy to find though. We just gotta disturb the peace somehow.
But doing so would have an adverse effect on us finding the other letters of introduction. Let’s leave him for last and hurry over to the other two first.
In that case, our next target should be the TV station president in the entertainment hall ahead.
Let’s go, Joker.



First, though, Joker makes a quick stop to fuse.

Music: Aria of the Soul



Barong and Titania make Melchizedek, which incurs a 48960 yen penalty as it is above Joker’s level. At this point, I have made a decision to not fuse anything more than five levels above me so as to not completely destroy the game’s difficulty curve. Though Shido will surely make quick work of these thieves no matter what, hahaha!



Given that I’m now your new mask, I will protect your justice with the whole of my being.



Melchizedek is a Biblical figure known for wisdom, and sources like the Book of Genesis mention him as both a king and a priest. His in-game description is: “An angel of Gnosticism, governing over peace and righteousness. Though said to be the savior of the angels, he used to be a human, the king of Salem.”

Music: Ark




Not too much to brag about here.



Then the slot-loving TV station president should be here. Let us search the area for him.



Maybe we’ll find that TV station prez we heard about in here.
In that case, why don’t we try searching for him?



This place isn’t too big, so spotting him should be easy. Be careful if you find him though!

Music: Suspicion



He’s the president of a TV station, isn’t he?
He gives letters of introduction to executives of companies who are willing to sponsor his programs. That’s a difficult condition to meet…
Wanna just beat it out of him?




For real? But…
I’ll allow it. You’ve got this, Noir.




A letter of introduction? But you’re so obviously a child.
I am Haru Okumura, daughter of the president of Okumura Foods. I believe we sponsored you as well.
Oh, you’re her? It’s true that I’m quite indebted to President Okumura. He funded us extremely well, after all. However, it looks like he got a little carried away. My condolences.



Regarding his exploiting management… Mr. Shido asked me to defend him as much as I could. I even threw some extra security his way, but there were limits to what I could do. The damage almost reached up to Mr. Shido himself. President Okumura had to be cut off.



It seems he didn’t just cast him off his ship, but also used him to trap the Phantom Thieves. Bravo, Mr. Shido. Truly a nasty maneuver.
Won’t you please give me a letter of recommendation? Once our company recovers, I will arrange for us to cooperate with you in a sponsorship role.
You’re the daughter of the late president. Do you really have the authority to do that? Your employees probably resent you… ...Well, that’s not important. I’m in your father’s debt, after all. I can repay some kindness to his daughter.



But my, your father truly was a fool.



He could’ve lived a life of luxury if only he’d done what he was told.

Music: Tension



Our ratings shot up ‘cause of that!



The TV Station President laughs hysterically.



Uh-oh, Noir’s getting pissed! They’ll never find the bodies!




Hm? That’s just business.



You’re so cute you might just get good ratings.

Hands off, motherfucker.

The man laughs once more.






What are you talking about? She’s got this handled.





Shadow TV President

Music: Keeper of Lust



This fight is actually rather devious, so I’ll walk through it step-by-step.



The leader will start by using Reverse Rub to inflict Rage on one of its allies. The Phantom Thieves are probably going to want to take out this ally immediately for a few reasons, one of which being that it takes much more damage while enraged.



The other ally will be able to use Mediarama to heal on its own turn, as well.



Another reason to take out the enraged foe quickly? Well…



Oh fuck. Hey, Skull, you mind?







Ow.

While the Phantom Thieves are capable of tanking hits for their leader with their Protect skill, it’s enough to reduce them to 1 HP immediately, so they need to watch out.



The leader can also use Swift Strike.



And one more time.





It hurts… to breathe...
Thanks, girl!

Once the enraged enemy is dealt with, the rest is rather simple. Both of the remaining foes go down without much in the way of effort.



Mona learns Mediarahan to replace Mediarama, letting him heal the entire party fully.



Noir also learns One-shot Kill, an amazing Gun skill that deals Severe damage with a high crit chance. She replaces Amrita Drop with it.



And that’s three down for the Phantom Thieves. Ball’s in their corner at this point, I have to admit.

Music: Suspicion



I assume as part of the media, you have knowledge about quite a few important topics. We will not take your life, as a long as you share the knowledge that you’ve kept from the public.

Pff, empty threats! Shido would say that and mean it!

Remember that Kaneshiro guy? The one from the mafia who ended up on the news a while back? Well, the money he was gathering all went to Shido-san.
Shido and Kaneshiro were connected…?
Indeed. As well as that old man Madarame. His counterfeit business along with Kaneshiro’s mafia aided Shido-san quite a lot financially.



Whaaaaaaaaat? That’s duuuuuuuumb!

I understand now…
Hey, you were forcin’ the news to be about Akechi and Shido all the time, right? I’m sick of ‘em! ...Wait, this guy’s not a real person. Tellin’ him ain’t gonna do shit for us.

Skull, finally showing some insight.



Music: Desire



Akechi-kun, did you… anticipate this curious turn of events?
Oh, certainly not to this extent… But it is important to note that he was the mastermind behind the recent commotion. Getting captured must have wounded his pride irreparably. Such things happen often to insurgent leaders.
According to the police, the whereabouts of the other members are still currently unknown. Considering they no longer require testimony from the leader, the investigation will be hard to--
May I butt in for a second?






The audience applauds.




No wonder they call you an ace detective of justice! What passion! How about we use this opportunity to poll the audience? Those who believe the detective of justice will annihilate the Phantom Thieves, press your buttons now!






...Oh, but I do have to study for my college entrance exams. I might not be able to promise that…

The audience laughs.





I devoted myself to my studies, acted as an honor student, and made my name as an ace detective. And thanks to the Nav app and the Persona bestowed upon me by the gods… I managed to dispose of any who got in my way. Though it took me some time to finally do so…




I think if it were me, I would’ve collapsed from the shock.




Perhaps my mind was worked up due to the major task I had untertaken…




The audience laughs.




See? Even Akechi-kun’s face has stiffened up.

Akechi sweats.

A-Ah, sorry about that.



The audience laughs uproariously at Akechi’s “joke.” Fuckin’ sycophants. Speaking of which, I’d like to get some feedback on a campaign ad I’ve been working on. Please watch this and tell me your thoughts but also I worked very hard on this so pls no flames:

Shido’s Great Campaign Ad!

I tried looking up some other campaign ads for reference but they were all very racist, so I had to improvise. I think I did a pretty good job!