Part 48: The End

The End


As per the last vote, Caris will be our canon ending.

"Mmmm..?"

"You alright?"

"Ryle! Is that you?"

"Looks like we are still in the Astral Realm."

"W-What about the others!?"

"I think they should be fine. Otherwise we wouldn't be here talking. I guess Fina used her power to send all of us here during that blast."

"Glad to hear that."

"But Fina can't make it by fighting CHAOS alone! Her Cosmos Eternal is not complete!"

"But what can we do? I don't think our attacks are of any use against CHAOS!"

"I'll help Fina to prepare Cosmos Eternal by delaying CHAOS as much as I can!"

"Ryle!?"

"I want you to take the others to a safer area!"

"But you'll get killed!"

"If we can't win this fight, CHAOS will destroy us sooner or later."

"....."

"Caris! You got that?"

"What makes you think that you can do this alone?!"

"I know it's out of my hands. But!"

"Hah~*sigh* Oh well! I'll go with you!"

"What?"

Come on, we played this game before and all know how it'll end.

"More numbers are better right? Not only that, you can't use magic! You need me!"

"But it's very risky!"

"I didn't say we will go on a suicide mission! We will fight to survive!!"

"You know we stand very little chance of winning!"

"But I won't let you go alone."

"As long as we work together, I'm sure we can make it."

"......I got it."

"Ryle! Don't forget our promise we made to each other back in Fina's home!!"

"Of course I do! We fight to win our own future!"

"Good! That's my boy!"

"We will win...and go home! Everyone's waiting for us!!"

"Ah! Back to Lavas!!"

And with a fade to black...



...we change to Fina's fight with CHAOS. With kinda hard to read text

"With the puny energy from 4 Demon lords, I don't have enough power to talk right..."

"It began to talk!?"

"And what do I have here right after my return? Confrontation with Sacred Dragon again!"

"(So it also has some intelligence.)"

"Fina Delstar...So you are the offspring of Flare Delstar..."

"(He just got powered up again!!)"

"Really resembles Flare."

"Unlike my mom, I'm born with the Dragon Gene. So I'm able to fully control my power even in the early stages!"

"Of course it would be an insult to almighty Sacred Dragon if I assumed you as weak as other humans."

"(Hm! Full of confidence eh?)"




"There must be a way to beat this guy! But I can't go on like this!"

"Hm! Fina. Done with the observation?"

"(I knew he would notice soon! That I'm using only 80% of my power.)"

"Then here we go! FULL POWER-!!"

Fina shouts a bit while the games does its usual flashing and rumbling. And that's it. Pretty anticlimactic and I don't even know if it has any real effect on Fina's stats

"(There's a Dimension Barrier around CHAOS! Most of my attacks will get bounced off easily. I better save my energy and gather atom particles fast!)"

Okay, here's something that you probably forgot about by now. When Flare fought CHAOS, she figured out that his barrier can't be overcome. Except for atoms that are so damn tiny that they slip through. So, she just uses atom particles for her attacks. And now Fina will do the same! No, don't ask me how that works.

"Now show me how much the power of the new Sacred Dragon is different from the old one!"

"I must win this!! Everyone's depending on me!"

"DIE Sacred Dragon!!"


As with other fights, the first few rounds are just a filler until things happen. But as Fina said before, her attacks also actually can't do shit right now. So doing buffs and heals is your only option for the next four or so turns. At this point, CHAOS will not use a lot of his attacks, but you already get to know one of his annoying moves.


He'll often use this at the start of his round, and it doesn't cost him an action. It doesn't do too much damage, but can become annoying if he follows with a strong group attack. Fina has a chance to block that attack though. Sometimes she'll use her teleport to stop it. No idea what the chance for that is though.

Anyway, let's skip to where things happen.



"(While CHAOS can use the barrier indefinitely, I can use Teleport only when it's necessary...My power will soon deplete if I keep going like this!)"



"WHAT!?"

"!?"

"Fina! You ok!?"

"Ryle!?"

"Hey Fina! It's me!"

"Caris too!? How did you come all the way here? The energy field should have kept you out!"

"Simple. Your Dimensional Field which allows us to be here, is made up of atom particles. And since you have become maximum battle mode, the field itself also got upgraded automatically."

Becoming maximum battle mode is my new favorite phrase

"Is that so?"

"You didn't even know about that? It's part of your powers~"

"Well, I didn't expect the field could get boosted like this."

"Little fishes have stumbled into the wrong pond?"

"Who did you call "little fish"!? How rude~"

"...AH, CHAOS can talk!?"

I like how Caris' first reaction is to yell at the mega demon that kills everything

"It's regaining its former power with every minute! And even began to talk!"

"Now it can talk!?"

"Fina! Hurry up!! Just focus on gathering enough atom particles!"

"Even with the field protection, you can't fight with CHAOS now! It's just too dangerous!! So far not a single shot actually harmed this guy! I can't penetrate its Dimension Barrier."

"Don't worry, let me handle it! I already got plans."

"Now I'm really worried~"

"We will combine the atom particles with our most powerful skills."

"HEY-!! Then what's the point of saving them if you gonna just waste all of em~"

"What other options we got? Any brilliant ideas?"

"Mm~"

"Then just do as I say!"

"Alrighty! Here we go! Atom particles discharge!!"

Okay, let's talk about this. As I understand it, Fina just shot out all the atoms she collected so far, so that they'll fuse with Ryle and Caris. Both of them get new moves from this, but Fina is back to zero. So....why? Isn't she supposed to be Anime Jesus and fight this thing? Now her pals fight it while she's stuck being a cleric for them. She isn't even collecting more atoms or doing something special now. Like, I know how it'll end, but that whole thing makes no sense. Even with the ending in mind.

Anyway, now the fight is actually real. Caris and Ryle got new moves that use atom particles and can hurt CHAOS, while Fina keeps them alive. I'll show those moves in a moment, but let me explain the CHAOS fight first. He has 200000 Hp. Yes. That is a fact. Each time you'll chip off a quarter, a few lines will trigger. You really can't know this, but the game has operated on the principle that getting bosses to talk during fights accomplishes something. So if you understood that, you'll know that you're getting somewhere. That's a huge amount of Hp though, and it takes for fucking ever to chew through it. At least the new moves help you there, because they do something in the range of 4000-8000 points of damage.

Let's check em out!





This is also a new form of attack, because it hits multiple times in a row. First it hits with a strike, then follows with a shockwave and repeats that once. So you get four hits, which mostly amounts to something between 3000 and 4000 damage after it's done. While having those new moves is nice, you also need to press the space bar to advance after each hit, which adds even more time to this already long fight.






This attack only hits once, but reliably scores over 4000 damage. So there is actually no reason to use Ryle's other attack, because the damage of it is much more variable.






This move hits three times in a row, and the damage per hit is very variable. The last one usually does a good number though, and it clocks in between 7000 and 8000 damage.

Edit: Caris actually also gets two new attacks, but I forgot to use the other one. Whoops.


Well, with our attacks out of the way, let's talk about what CHAOS does to us. Aside from the dark damage spam at the start of most rounds, he has a couple of strong group attacks, the dreaded curse force that tanks your stats and defences, a double hit melee attack and a group curse that can trigger different effects like berserk, shaky or sleep. On top of that, he also has a few specials.








That's cool, right? Well, at least your party members have like a 50/50 shot to die or live. Fina is safe from it though, since her dying means game over.




This effect just makes afflicted people lose a turn.

So, in conclusion this fight is super long and kinda tough. It's not too bad though, if you let Fina heal or fix people every turn. The lines during the fight are also the usual boss banter, so let's skip that and jump to where I finally managed to chew through all the 200000 hit points.



"!!"

"Flare once repelled my Omega Cluster with the Teleport....But not THIS TIME! Because the Omega Cluster I'm about to use...contains ALL MY POWER-!!"

"NO!! We can't block and not even dodge THAT kind of blast!"

"N-No way! You gotta be kiddin!!"

"Omega Cluster!!"

"Finish you ALL!! OMEGA CLUSTER-!!!"


CHAOS just shoots a big fuck-off blast at everyone.



"FINALLY! No more Sacred Dragon or those humans to oppose CHAOS!! I shall dominate and destroy their world!"


Oh no, what a surprise!

"!? W-What!? This...voice!!"


The energy cloud just kinda fades away and collapses into Fina.

"Teleport! I just sent off the energy from your Omega Cluster!!"

"Someone like you makes the same mistake twice...how odd?"

"But that's impossible!! This time I put so much energy into the Omega Cluster, there's no way you can..."

"But we did it! You Omega Cluster is no longer a threat to us!!"

"But how!? How were you able to warp out that much energy!?"

"Like you said, with my Teleport I can't handle something as big as your Omega Cluster. But I was able to move some of it."

"!??"

"Omega Cluster, besides its massive energy also consists of a large body of atom particles. So I just borrowed those atom particles from Omega Cluster thanks to you "

Of course she did. Of fucking course

"Atom particles!? but how can you..? !! You mean....!"

"See I have been waiting for you to use Omega Cluster."

"Now...it's MY turn!!"

"Listen to my prayer. The source of all the energy in this universe, grant me the power!!"


Fina starts glowing...


...and goes full saiyajin.




"...!? This must be Flare's...!!"

"C O S M O S"

"ETERNAL-!!"







"As you already know...My Cosmos Eternal is entirely made of atom particles. And it's the only spell which can penetrate your barrier and destroy you for good."

"Arrrrr! Beaten by the humans AGAIN!!!"

"Remember what my mom said? "Because we are humans"..."

"!!"

"We might be weak as individuals, but we can support each other and unite our strength! And there's no way for me to pull out Cosmos Eternal alone!!"

"All the people in our world gave me the strength to protect them! And the forces of this universe responded to my plea."



"Fina..."

"Way to go girl!!"

"CHAOS....as long as you don't understand that, you can never win against a Sacred Dragon."







"Sleep FOREVER! Demon lord CHAOS..."


And then he just crumbles into pixels.




"Not so early Ryle! We must evacuate from here before the shock wave comes!!"

"!! Ok! Everyone still should be there!"

"I got it! I just located everyone!! Here we go!"







"Where is CHAOS!?"

"I used Cosmos Eternal to defeat the Demon lord."

"So everything is finally over?"

"I...hope so."

"What do you mean?"

"CHAOS is a part of the universe and the force to drive our world. So we can't destroy it completely."

"Yes. The CHAOS we just fought is merely a part of a greater being which was materialized in this dimension. And because it was brought up by our negative emotional energy, it could come back."

"But our part is done now. Next time, it's up to the next generation."

"How long will it go on like this? This vicious cycle..."

"It'll be alright. I'm sure of it..."

"Of course! We humans have lived on so far."

"Sessha also has faith in human potentials."

"Anyway, we can finally get some rest!"

"..right."

"Now, what are we going to do?"

"Well, let's go back to Lavas! Things will get busy starting from tomorrow."

"What else do we have to do?"

"Since CHAOS is gone, we better report the news to each kingdom!"

"But I'm just SO tired~ Can I skip this one?"

"Aren't you gonna claim the fame and REWARD?"

"Reward!? *Cha-ching*"

"(Wow! Fast recovery~)"

"Maybe I can just claim a very small amount to pay the student loan from Mage Academy~"

"How big will the reward be?"

"It must be huge amount of gold, because we just saved the entire world."

"Maybe I could buy a town and live like a local aristocrat."

"N-Nobles...!?"

"Hey Caris! Stop drooling over the gold that you haven't got yet."

"Don't forget we pretty much ruined Factoria Castle while fighting with the Mahzoks. It won't be enough to pay for the repair jobs."

"GREAT~*sigh*"

"(Maybe Caris ought to be a banker instead of a paladin...)"

"That means, all we gonna get is some fancy award ceremony and some honorary badges...that's it?"

"That's probably it. We didn't start our mission for gold you know."

"Dear Ryle. Then what's on your mind?"

"Oh no~ You gonna turn me in for a reward!!"

"Of course NOT!"

"I just want to return my status and rights as the Factorian prince."

"Ryle..."

"Are you gonna just throw away your title?"

"I see. Ryle hates to live among nobles...he just wants to be himself right now."

"What about Hayami? You got any future plans?"

"Sessha..."

"Her duty is over, and so is our contract."

".....*lowers face*"

"Eh!? She's gonna leave us?"

"Because she was ordered by Lord Zestrum to escort me when I had the title of prince. Once I return the title, no more contract and thus no reason to stay with us."

"But I don't want her to leave~"

"I don't know...It's not something we can force her to do."

"She's right. There's nothing I can do about it."

"But it's so sudden. We've been together for so long..."

"....."

"Come on! Stop crying. As if we are not gonna see each other forever. And Hayami is our friend, period! She can visit us anytime."

"Lady Fina..."

"Yes. She can come to Lavas anytime, we'll be there."

"We are all connected with a tight friendship, no matter how far we are apart..."

"......Yes indeed!"

"Hayami...Thanks for everything!"

"Please stop saying farewells. Sessha won't leave everyone."

"Ah, sorry...hehe! We will remain as friends all the time right?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"(So this is the true strength of humans...)"


fuuuuuuuuck

I didn't comment on anything during the ending, because I wanted you to see it uninterrupted. I think it's neat, but a little plain. Well, that short derail about Hayami was dumb, but I'll take such an ending over the usual philosophical discourse at the end of any Jrpg ever.


Oh wait, scratch that

However, as Fina warned before, there is no way to eliminate all the evil from this world...Then what can we do from now on? Time keeps going by, the world remains the same, and so do its people. It's only a matter of time before they have to face the same fate again...The true utopia. I wonder what kind of world that would be...? As long as the people don't realize what they really seek, the vicious cycle shall haunt them over and over again...

"And I'm determined to correct all of it! By creating a new world for us!"

Well, that wasn't too bad


I debated with myself if I should upload the credits, but decided against it because that's all they are. Just a scrolling text with some music in the background. Aside from Flare and RM2KFanBoy, there are a few probably long gone internet aliases in there. I don't think that the like five people that will click on it warrant me rendering and uploading the credits. Buuut, if you really, really want to see them, I'll throw em up as a bonus.



"6 months have passed since the last battle...Caris began to work as a peace maker for uniting all races and stopping any more conflicts. And I became her travel companion throughout her trip to various places in the world...mainly since my Warp skill comes in handy~ And after the report at Meldia, we took a little break at Rave Bridge, the trip has been under a very tight schedule."



"Hey man! I'm not a warp device!!"

"Oh, thanks to your lack of study in geology, we are already late for the next stop!"

"Arrrrrg! But you can't just force me to study these books for hours!!"

"Hours? Oh please~ You can't even last one minute in front of a book!!"

"Can't help it~"

"Why did I even think of counting on this guy in the first place?"

"I warned you at the beginning!"

"But come on, don't you have pride as a man? Giving up so easily?"

"I just can't! Ok? Whenever I try to read, the words start to dance inside my head!"

"Get serious! I mean it!!"

"!?"

"Even after we defeated CHAOS, it didn't just end there."

"We must make a happier world with less conflicts among kingdoms and different races! If not, we would give CHAOS another chance to return by providing it enough negative energy."

"Not only that, we need to resolve the issues between ourselves and elves...and more!"

"....."

"I think I told you before, about my dream of living in a peaceful world. Even after CHAOS is gone, I must continue fighting!"

"That's why I need your help!"

"I understand what you're saying. But I'm still not sure about the reason for me to come along."

"!?"

"Everyone has their own weak spots, and mine are the books. I can't fix it at least for the next couple of years..."

"...."

"How about recruiting someone good at gathering information? It would make our job much faster."

".... But that's not what I wanted!"

"Huh?"

"You were right on how to make the people happy in a more efficient way...Yes, we need more help..."

"Then why not?"

"But that won't fill the other MUCH more important part of my happiness!"

"Mm?"

"I promised to mom!! That I will live a happy life!"


God damn, Ryle. Please get it. The joke that you're too thick to realize that any of the girls are in love with you got old a while ago.

"!! You really mean it?"

"I'm not following you! What is it about?"

"Y-You...!"

"I HATE you! I HATE you!! How can you be so DUMB?"


This time you deserve it

"Waa~ Stop it! Put down the sword!! It's too dangerous!!"



"I already gave you so many clues and you still don't get it!! Bakka!!(fool)"

"(Ouch! What a power!!)"

"We travel together because I want YOU to be by my side!! Bakka! Bakka! Bakka!"





"AH!?"

"Oops!"

"Caris..."



".......... You know what? Why you...~ Why didn't you tell me so!?"



"You know I can't say that because of Shisho!"

He means Caris' father, jfyi.

"What?"

"I also realized our relationship for some time you know!"

"You see, I was just pretending to be an idiot because I fear your father."

"Then...tell me...your feelings. Dad is not here you know."

"Eek!"

"....."

"(Hey I'm not prepared...~ Why do I have to say it here!?)"

"I can't wait any more! And who knows when you gonna tell me after today?"

"You better say it NOW!! Or else we are through! Over!!"

"Man, you're pushing it!"

"Let me make this clear. I MEAN IT!!"

"You are so selfish!"

"I don't want us to end like this! Arguing meaninglessly...."


Oh shit! He's gonna do it

"Caris....I...."

"...*heart pounding*"



"Huh?"

"That voice!! D-Daddy!?"

"Caris-!! I don't mind if you continue to travel around, but NO marriage without my consent!!!"

"Yikes!! BAD timing!"

"Only one thing we can do now!"

"When you can't win~"

"We RETREAT-!!!"



"Wait Caris!!"

"Wow!! Can Shisho run faster than us?"

"It must be over his limits!!"

"But he doesn't look that tired at all!!"

"Come on Ryle!! Hurry up!"

"You're...actually enjoying THIS!?"

"Bingo!"

"I can't believe this!!"

"Obstacles always add more spice to it! Romance that is!!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAIIIIT!!!"





"Despite that gruesome marathon, Caris got busy with another trip the next morning~ Since I found out what her real "motive" was, I had no choice but to stick with her journey. Probably for the rest of our life...that is."

"And the book digging too~"



"Come on, no more long face. I'm sure we can go through together...Up to page 145 until midnight "

Well, that was Caris' ending. I think it's cute, and fits her character and her previous relation with Ryle. That's really all I can say about it, but you Anime-likers can weigh in on it too if you want.

Oh, and there is still something else to see!




"Me? I'm the author of the game FLARE~"

Of course you are! I don't even wonder anymore at this point.

"Why the cow outfit? Well because I was born in the year of the BULL! You now have cleared Caris' ending. Allow me to explain a little of her background story and early setting."

"Since she was the first character I worked with and also the longest, her moves and personality are the most original as well. And her graphics, I had to redraw more than 30 times~ I only had Raining Cluster and Heat Ray for her at first. The rest were added later. By the way, there are 2 hidden moves for Caris. If you haven't found them yet, it's not too late! One is somewhere in the big library! The other one may got something to do with the Sword Tomb?"

It's cool, we got both of them. Also, it's very much too late right now, but thanks anyway.

"Caris had a mother named Ellis. She had beautiful blue hair just like Caris. Her father Brad used to be in the 36th cavalry of the Meldian knights. Her parents met during the war and fell in love. Later Ellis gave birth to Caris. Her family lived in Meldia until Ellis passed away from a terminal disease when Caris was four. Caris pretty much acts like her father, Brad. Maybe because she understood Brad's constant efforts to make up for her mother's love. So she began to bully a couple of kids after she moved to Lavas Ville, and guess who her first victim was...?"

"She may appear to be a very strong willed rogue, but sometimes she shows her tender side. Especially when Ryle was near death in the Dannyon Mine. Also the night event at Southern Cray City shows her weak side. She also likes to lecture Ryle like an older sister~ So how do you rate her?"


I suspect that every answer gives you a slightly different reply, but I'm not mad enough to check it.

"Maybe because she understands the pain and suffering of others and is willing to help them. That's the true strength of the human heart!"

"I really appreciate your time to read this far! THANK YOU very much! If you felt at least a tiny bit of affection for Caris during the gameplay, as a game maker, I would be happy and proud of my work. REALLY! Please also try some of the other girls endings if you haven't~ And last, I owe myself to all those who put their time and effort into making this game and its promotion. THANK YOU ALL!"

I think it's pretty neat that Flare gave us a little insight at the end. The cow joke isn't doing it for me, but hey, at least it's in line with some other jokes that have been made in this game.




There is also mooing in the background. You may not get why, but the joke is that Flare is arrrghhh make it end already




And there we are! The end! Get the fuck out and never return to this wacky Anime land!







Oh right, the Lp actually isn't over at this point. Well, thanks anyway for sticking around! It has been a long and exhausting ride, but we're almost done. Or done, if you only wanted to see Caris' ending. I envy the lucky bastards that can just jump ship and carry on with their lives now....But I digress. Next up are the other endings, that I'll obviously present in a much more condensed manner because a lot of things will overlap before the epilogue.