Part 42: Loose Ends

Heiss is waiting for us directly ahead, but there are still a few loose ends to tie up.



First we head to Gafka and the Scrolls. There are still two more moves for us to learn from Bergas.

Music: The Red Locus



Changing with him a few times, then spamming Musou makes short work of Bergas, getting us Wind God Strike, which hits all enemies three times and moves them to the center space. It compliments Musou well.



The Omnipedia is Gafka's final skill book, and it's the only difficult fight.

Boss: Bergas



On his first turn, Bergas will use Qi Charge.



On his second turn, he'll use Uncomparable, which killed me every single time he got it off.



The trick is to change with him once, Turn Break him one more time, and kill him with a three hit combo. I beat him by equipping attack-up equipment and using Musou, Musou, Qigong Wave.



You have proven your mastery of this skill.
Gafka learned Cosmos.
Hm... It seems that you've mastered all the hidden arts. You did well to hold up as you did through all the training. I am proud.
It's all thanks to your tutelage. I thank you, Master, for all the training you have given me. I will be sure to embrace your lessons and make them my foundation for the future.
Carry on the Gutral's pride and beliefs with you and go forth without hesitation. Do this, and a path will surely open for you.

Cosmos raises the entire party's crit rate.



Our next destination is A New Battle, back in the Standard History. You may remember this was when we had to fight in a tournament with just Stocke and Aht. There are two more opponents here, but we weren't strong enough to fight them before.



"So your next bout shall be against a monster from the Abyssia Forest! Now, draw your weapon!"

Music: The Edge of Green



You can see why we couldn't beat him before. He mostly uses this two hit attack for 300+ damage (total), but sometimes he'll try to poison you.



Luckily, he's a big target (2x2), so you can easily push him into two traps at a time, draining his HP fast.



Obtained Gold Emblem
Obtained Pieti Edge
"Your final battle awaits. Wait here while I prepare your greatest opponent."

The Pieti Edge is a great sword with a big magic boost.



Fight
Don't Fight



"But now you must face the strongest monster that I know to exist. Defeat it, and become a legend of Cygnus!"



A goddamn spider.



We aren't really a high enough level to fight this thing properly, but that's okay. He only attacks one target at a time, so there's a simple method to defeating him.



First we poison him.



Then we burn through all of Stocke's MP and our Holy/Divine Waters reviving each other, hitting him whenever a someone's turn comes up while no one is dead. It's a long and tedious fight, but it beats grinding.

Music: Dreams Showed by a Cloud of Dust



"Watching you has made me realize that martial arts has boundaries beyond my comprehension. I'm glad to have met a man like you."

Obtained Platinum Emblem
Obtained Moirae Manteau

The Moirae Manteau is a Stocke-only cape with a moderate boost to defense and magic defense.

Now that we've finished the tournament, we have the means to complete yet another sidequest.



Are you Gadeff?
Gadeff: I have failed to introduce myself, I apologize. Indeed, I am Gadeff.
I would like to hire you as a soldier of Alistel.
Gadeff: I see. If you ask this of me, then I can hardly refuse.
(It seems much easier to recruit Gadeff in this timeline...)
Gadeff: What? Is something troubling you?
...No, it's nothing. Thanks.
Gadeff: I will take my leave of Cygnus. I will fight alongside you when you choose to go.
(Hopefully the Gadeff on the other side will join Alistel now as well...)



We jump back to Demigod, and work our way backwards through that hideously bad dungeon. This is the fastest way to get to Alistel during this time period, because the alternative is starting before the assault on Granorg and repeating that entire sequence.

Music: Machinist Kingdom



"We're no longer accepting volunteers anymore, considering the current state of affairs... Oh, but Gadeff joined the army a while back. Thank you. Allow me to repay you for that.
Obtained 8000G
"What will become of Alistel?"

That's it, we're done with the recruitment sidequests. There is one more sidequest to finish in here. Remember the old man who asked us to find his friend when we went into the Underground Lab, and when we found him I was too lazy to backtrack back out?



"He called me his only friend... He remembered."
Old man. You wouldn't be...
"That's right. I, too, was a test subject for the Gauntlet. We both had no families, and we became friends during the test process. But during the day of the final experiment, Serro sabotaged my Gauntlet. As you can imagine, my experiment failed, and Serro's succeeded. That is why I am a free man now... ...And all it cost me was my right arm and my only friend. ......... ...I apologize. Here is a reward for your efforts. Take it, please."
Obtained Medibranch
"Young Lions, you have saved Serro. You have my gratitude. Thank you."

Believe it or not, we've only got one more sidequest to finish up, and then we'll be done. It's a doozy of a quest, though.

Music: Beyond the Wilderness



We've already learned all of Stocke's, Aht's, and Eruca's quest skills, but there's one more thing the Master has for us.



Vainqueur: Not even my disciples have come this far. I have nothing more to teach you. ...Well, that's what I'd like to say, but there is one more thing you can do! I, Master Vainqueur, will personally fight you! Consider it a final exam, if you will. Of course, this fight is to the death. One must be prepared for death at any moment. Leave no regrets behind! Now I know that you've all got the destiny of the world on your shoulders... So will you rise to the challenge?

I'm ready.
Not now.

Vainqueur: You may not gain anything by doing this. Only you can be the judge of what this means to you. Are you still willing?

Of course.
I've changed my mind.

Vainqueur: Great!
Vainqueur: Then I will begin your last test. Are you prepared?

Jesus Christ, just fight me already.
Hold on.

Vainqueur: All right. However, you'll need to face the land itself! Defeat the lord of the land used as the hiding place for generations of masters!

Boss: Master's House
Music: The Edge of Green



Fucking spiders.



Well shit.

I'm sure someone better at video games than I am could finish this quest in their 40's, but I can't, so it's time to grind!

...

Much, much later...



After spending awhile fighting those goddamn crystals in the Royal Hall, we finally get to a viable level for this boss.

Honestly, this fight in particular is really easy, I beat it in one combo. I'm sure I could have done it without grinding if I tried a little harder.



Vainqueur: I am happy, Stocke. I feel as though I've met a worthy opponent.

Music: Impending Crisis



There's a flash of light to the right, and...





Vainqueur: Very well. Let us start. Master Vainqueur is ready!

Boss: Vainqueur
Music: The Edge of Green



This is the real reason I grinded up to level 60 (give or take), the Master is a ridiculously difficult boss.



This is his basic attack. He has another attack called Magic Spell, but it deals about the same damage and they both hit your magic defense, so there's not much reason to distinguish between the two.

One small blessing is that his attacks only hit one person at a time. With four of him, if he could hit your entire party in a single turn this would be impossible.



Another skill he has is Power Down, which does hit the entire party. It just lowers your physical attack though, so it's just a wasted turn, since we'll be exclusively attacking with spells.



They also cast Sleep. Sleep will completely ruin you, so it's best to come into this battle with three sleep-resistant accessories on every party member. Of course, even though I did this he still managed to put me to sleep.



An important part of this battle is Eruca's Divine Light, which is a buff that nullifies the next two attacks on the target. It's a good idea to put this on everyone, but Aht and Eruca should be the priority since they die so easily.



Another important strategy is to use Aht's Lunatic, which raises the entire party's magic defense. Since the Master only attacks with magic, your magic defense is the only stat that matters in this battle.



Once you've got your buffs up, it's time to start attacking. There are two ways you can go about this: trying to kill them all at once, or taking them one at a time. Taking them out one at a time is slower, but it's easier, since the difficult part of the battle is the sheer number of attacks you have to deal with. Even though there are only four of them, they'll normally get five or six attacks in a row because of their huge speed stats, and in one of my failures they got fourteen attacks in a row.



Once you've killed a couple of them, trying to take the rest out all at once is a lot less risky. Of course, you can never let your guard down in this battle, you could easily die at any time.



After a dozen game overs (probably only three or four, honestly), we finally defeat the Master.



No drops, no EXP, no gold. Great.

Music: To the Future that Awaits Ahead



Vainqueur: I would expect nothing less from the one with the White Chronicle. Even against the impending doom, you have taken up the White Chronicle to defy your fate... Perhaps you can change this world's destiny, as well as that which is sure to follow... Hm...?

Music: The Melody Connecting the World



The Historica... It's shining...
Vainqueur: The Historica is trying to gain more power, reacting to its owner's strength... Stocke... Would you lend me the Historica blade? I can make this sword remember its true strength...

Hand it over
Don't hand it over

All right. You can have it.
Vainqueur: Okay. Wait for a bit, and I'll release its power.



Vainqueur: There, it's done. This is the true Historica! Here you go.
Obtained True Historica
Vainqueur: Take the mystical blade in your right hand, and the Book of Flux in your left. You will have the power to save history that has been lost time and time again. Go back to your land. You have the glory of having bested the Master.

The True Historica gives a great boost to attack, a moderate boost to magic (less than the Pieti Edge), and a bonus 5 points of speed. It's a pretty decent sword, all things considered, but its low magic stat is a real shame.



And that's it. We've completed 223 of 236 events. The last 13 will be unlocked between now and the credits.

Tune in next time, when we finally face Heiss.