Part 41: Smoke and Mirrors

"When I imagined the Mana Holy Land, I definitely didn't think it would be lousy with Rabites."

"I think I have an answer for that."




Behold, Kevin's second technique for this form. It's pretty much a flurry of punches followed by a Flash Kick (think Guile from Street Fighter II). It is awesome.



"Uh… I think it's stuck…"



"C'mon, it's just stuck in a branch. It can't be that hard!"

"It could be a stone or something if you were really unlucky."



"Sword… I did it!"




"The faerie has been taken by an evil hand. Please, save her…"



"I'm afraid I can't bring Karl back to life. That is impossible."

"…The power of Mana is dying… The Tree will wither soon, and I will be gone."

"I can't do anything for you… but I will give you this final gift."

"My heroes… Kevin, Carlie, Angela… Let the Mana guide you…"

"Wait!"



"I was expecting something a lot more than a drum from the Mana Goddess."

"Obviously it's a magic drum. What other kind would we get?"



"and assassinated our leader, the Dragon Emperor. Now there's no reason to fight…"

"Even Koren fell helplessly before the enemy. I, too, will soon disappear."

"I owe my life to the Dragon Emperor… his magic revived me after I was killed…"



"I had no idea Koren was such a pushover."

"And who the hell was the Darkshine Knight?"

"This is not getting us any closer to the faerie."



"He sacrificed himself to summon the Mana Stone of Darkness from the underworld."

"After that, we planned to revive him with the Sword of Mana, and merge both worlds together…"

"But an unexpected adversary appeared, eliminated the Dark Princes's remains…"

"… and sealed his soul into eternal darkness. Not even the Sword can help him now."

"Unexpected adversary? Like…who?"



"but I can't imagine what any world would be like without my Dark Prince…"

"…and I will not allow his death to be stained by this never-ending disgrace!"



"Goodbye… the Dark Prince was my everything…"

"….."

"I'm with you. Completely."

"If only we could convince the rest of our enemies to off themselves and their allies."



"So sorry, my dear boy, but I'm afraid I can't do that!"

"If you'd like the faerie back, come visit us in the Beast Kingdom. The King awaits!"

"And do bring the Sword with you! Well, until then, ta-ta!"

"Grr… you…!"



"Ah, don'tcha see? They waited for Carlie's friend to pull out the Sword…"

"Dammit, I knew that was a good plan! We should have gone with it!"

"So what do we do? It's definitely a trap…"

"We have to save faerie… We can't run away…"




The first time you use the Wind Drum and call Flammie never gets old, no matter how many times you do it.



Going here is actually pretty exciting, since it's one of the places where the story is actually different.



The Beast Kingdom is a major step up in difficulty from earlier areas, which is probably related to the fact that the enemies are three levels above us at this point. Despite that, however, it's not impossible to beat them with this party.




The offensively oriented beastmen can do upwards of 200 damage in a single attack, which can spell death for our more fragile party members. Healing by the silver wolves is an added annoyance. The area is also packed to the gills.. I gained about 2 levels just trying to get through here.



For some mysterious reason the enemies lose 3 levels as you get closer to the center of the castle. It's a welcome change, considering how easy it is to burn through MP in here. There are almost certainly gold statues around, but I didn't run across any.



In some ways, it's a pretty simple design. There are a couple of different ways to get here, and a few dead ends.



"This seems a bit different… what happened here?"

"I happened. C'mon, we're pretty close to the throne room."



"Now, if you'll be so kind as to hand over the Sword, we'll let the faerie go!"

"Heath!!"

"Do stand back, little one! It's for your own good!"



"…"




"I beg your pardon! Once I obtain the Sword, you'll see!"

"Now… the Sword, or the faerie's life! What shall it be?"

"You really have to ask?"

"Umm.. yes? If it were me, I'd let the fluttery little thing die."

"Faerie, please."



"Wait… it's getting heavier!? Ugh… I can't hold on…"




"Uhh… Heath…"

"Yes, sir."




"Death is the only true state of perfection. It ends all physical and mental suffering…"

"We seek to bring our perfection to all forms of life."



"What!?"

"We will now commence the third phase."

"Indeed!"

"Again, what!? You never told us what the first two phases were, and you aren't being really clear on what the third is."

"Either way, the final step is profit!"



"So many spirits to feast upon! I can hardly contain my excitement! Hehehehe!"

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you all! I look forward to your deaths! Ta-ta!"

"As far as omnicidal maniacs are concerned, he's probably the most polite one."



"Oh, you're alive? It's not your fault, but… what are we going to do about the God-Beasts?"



"Just close your eyes…"




"Yep, it's confirmed. We're pretty well screwed."

"The God-Beasts have revived! Each one controls a different element…"

"If they combine their powers, we'll never be able to stop them!"

"Soo…?"



"Oh. Kill them all, then. At least it's something we're good at."

"Before we do that, there's an overdue ass-kicking up those stairs…"



"My son… such anger, but without discipline."

"Open your senses… observe your surroundings before making your move."

"What!?"

"….."

"You really remind me of your mother at times like this. She was beautiful, but good Goddess was she stupid."

"Huh?"




"The wolf pup's death was an illusion. The dark magic was responsible…"

"…yet you buried it anyway. You were quick to judge, as always. I later unearthed it myself."

"…"

"So you buried your dog alive?"

"I thought he was dead!"



"Say nothing. This was undoubtedly for the better."

"You were weak, Kevin, ever since childhood… perhaps because you lacked your mother's care…"



"WHAT!?"

"I swear, I must have told her a thousand times not to eat spotted cap mushrooms in the forest…"

"No, you asshole, why did you tell me she left!?"

"At this point I'm just surprised he didn't tell you she went to live on a nice farm in the country."

"Quite."

"It was part of my plan to build up your anger."

"Anger is a powerful tool… With it, you can overcome almost any weakness."

"Our race was once weak. We had no home… we suffered at the hands of the cowardly humans."

"Under my leadership, our anger has become our strength. We are now an independent nation."



"…but the one thing I can never forgive is weakness."

"Now you, Kevin, are also on your way to independence. Show me your strength."

"You must defeat Deathjester and his cohorts!"

"I can't decide if he's a really good dad or a really bad dad."

"He does get extra points for digging up Karl."



"Your will is strong… but you cannot defeat me yet. Now, go!"

"Fight for what you believe in, Kevin."