Part 47: The Crossroads

The Crossroads

Last time we reached the point of no return, so I got back out to make the final preparations. This includes some minor equip changes, but I mostly drugged the girls to make sure that they love Ryle enough to have all the endings unlocked.




There is nothing questionable about this


Well, it's time to face CHAOS and bring this game to an end...



"........Mm!"

"...!? What's wrong Sylph? Hilde? Flam? Gnome?"

"I can feel it...The awesome force..."

"Yeah...~"

"Unbelievable!"

"It's him alright!!"

"All of you can feel the presence of CHAOS?"

"I'm so scared~"

"!?"

"S-Something's moving! Don't you feel the vibration?"

"What the!?"

"I have a very bad feeling~"

"Damn! We couldn't stop it!!"

We kinda knew that already but please don't let that stop you from being dramatic.


And then everything goes bonkers, with the usual amount of flashing and shaking.






"!!"

"T-That...is..."

"It must be him! I can just tell!!"

"......!"

"The Lord of Mahzoks!!"

"CHAOS-!!"

"Just like we suspected, 4 Demonlords have resurrected CHAOS by becoming the sacrifice!!"

"He's so HUGE!"

"Mm! What an incredible force he's emitting! Can I really stop this guy?"



"!!! Everyone RUN!!!"

What? Why? I thought you're Anime Jesus and got this!


Ah damn, that sure looks like it's headed right into Ryle's face...






Great, where did we end up now?


The game wants to be coy here, but we already saw this person before. It's Fina's dad. Also, he died a long time ago so...

"Ouch!"

"Huh? Where is this place?"

"You are...Ryle Laster, right?"

"Uh? How do you know my name? And who are you?"

"Don't be afraid, I'm here to help you. My name is Rain."

"Rain? (Rain Delstar!? No, it can't be!)"

"I'm afraid your astral body was expelled from the Astral Realm by a very strong impact. And you end up here, in the gateway between your world and hell."

"Gateway to hell!? Am I dead then?"

"No you're still alive. Only your mind is staying here."

"Is there any way out? I must return as soon as possible!! It's very urgent!"

"You see the gate over there? That's the way out! But you have to defeat the guard!"

"Good! Simple and straight forward."

"I'll help you. The entire world is in danger, am I right?"

"How did you know?"

"I've been watching."

Please don't say that with your weird smile, anime ghost dad.

"You must hurry! If you stay here any longer, you will never return!"

"But why?"

"I have a wife and a daughter still living in your world. I ask you to help them. Please..."

"!! (It must be him!!)"

"Let's go!"

"Yes sir!"

Okay, let's recap what happened so far.

1.We faced CHAOS for like ten seconds
2.Got shot in the face
3.Woke up in Anime limbo
4.Became pals with Fina's ghost dad

This fucking game

I'll tell you in advance that this whole part is just a not so clever way to separate Ryle from the rest, and to give some kind of reason why you can choose between the different endings. I'll get back on that later, but Ryle wasn't the only one that got hit by the blast. Anyway, back on track we go.


At least Rain's appearance is a kinda neat callback to the first game. thenightsshadow told us about him being a playable and sorta unique party member in that game.


He's still a solid character in this game, but clearly meant to carry Ryle through the upcoming boss battle.


He also has a few unique pieces of gear, and just like with the other special members, you can't steal them from him.

The boss is really close to where we started, and so you probably won't even find out that there are randoms here. You'll face a few of the demons from the astral realm, and they can be kinda tough with only two characters. But this also allows me to easily grab Rain's animations.





Right, on to the boss!

Whoops, I got turned around.



"!! Something's coming!!"


So here's a thought, remember how the dragons are supposed to be friends with the humans? Well, by my count, we only saw two friendly ones, and the rest wanted to kill us

"Mm? So it was you who was emitting a strange wave. What is a live human doing here?"

"Damn! Another Dark Dragon?"

"Oh no! Not the Dark Dragon!! We have to defeat him fast! Before he calls for reinforcement!!"

"Roger! I can't die here before fighting CHAOS!!"

"That's the spirit!!"

"Challenging me...fools! I'll destroy your astral bodies so you're gone forever!!"

"He must return to his world! People are waiting for his help!!"


Velzar isn't that tough to be honest. Ryle's anti dragon stuff works okay here, and Rain's Ark Riser does a lot of damage. It's pretty much the usual routine of buffing, healing, and waiting for the cutscene that allows you to win.


We saw this heal skill on other bosses before, but now it's suddenly a big deal. Rain is convinced that we can't beat Velzar like this, which is bullshit because two Ark Risers chip away what the move healed.

But whatever, Rain has a trick up his sleeve that he really wants to use.

Iirc, thenightsshadow told us that Rain would learn moves during combat in the first game. And he basically does the same here. He takes one of his skills, alters it a bit, and then we can stop Velzar's healing magic.


Rain just takes one of his thunder spells, to make a loud noise that will break the dragons concentration, and then alters it with a mind effect or something to suit his current needs. Thanks, plot!





It also has an almost new animation.

The depress effect isn't guaranteed to stick on your first try, but the chance seems to be pretty high. After that, you just smack the dragon until it's over.




"Aren't you coming with me?"

"Don't worry. I'm a man of the past."

"!!"

"Just go! The reapers will come'n get you very soon!!"

"Flare and Fina...Please take care of them for me!"

"......I understand!"


Bye, Anime ghost dad!

"Flare, Fina... I want you to live happily in peace! I love you!"

"And Ryle...I'm glad to have met you although it was very brief. I believe you will lead the people to victory!"


And after a fade to black...

...we appear in another weird place.


"I've never thought that I would get help from Rain Delstar..."

"....Looks like I'm still in the Astral Realm. But I wonder where everyone is..."

"!! I can sense someone's out there!"

Of course you can, because this is the room where you select the ending of your choice!


If the girls love Ryle enough, they'll appear unconscious at the end of a path. Fina will always be here, and she looks ghostly because she didn't get knocked out by the blast that CHAOS shot at us earlier. She is actually fighting CHAOS right now. Waking up one of the girls, will then transition you into the last battle, and locks the ending you'll get. The individual thresholds aren't exactly known to me, but I think Orubia has the lowest, while Latyss has the highest. Oh, speaking of Latyss, see that empty sign in that last screen? That's where she's supposed to be.....Yep, I didn't drug her enough! I was off by a single point or something I think. So I curse a bit, and then reload my save, drug Latyss extra hard, and play back to this point.

The irony of Latyss being the one girl that gives me trouble in the very end is also not lost on me


There we go, now everyone's here. So, what ending will it be? Yes, this is a vote. Don't get me wrong, we all know that it's going to be Caris, but I want to use the other votes to kinda set an order for the other endings, you know? So choose the Anime girl of your dreams for one last time!