Part 146: Episode CXL: King Solomon

Episode CXL: King Solomon



Holy shit. We're here... We're actually fucking here! It's the last sidequest of Shadow Hearts: Covenant... We're fucking DONE, baby! All that is left is one final trip to Gerome Valley to take on the super boss of the game. An astute reader (and the possibly insane person keeping track of this shit) might note that we have failed to gain Lucia and Kurando's ultimate armor sets... That's because they just went "FUCK IT!" and they're simply stuck in treasure chests in the final dungeon. Not even hard to obtain treasure chests or anything. They're just there. Lucia's last Tarot Card is also just thrown into the mix of trash loot on the way to the end of the game. There was too much shitposting to be done to properly give them appropriate areas to appear despite the many, many dungeons they could have just stuck that shit in earlier.

Oh well... let's get to the event at hand. The prerequisites of this are completing all of Solomon's Trials and Solomon's Key. So gaining every single Magic Crest in the game which also means doing all the sidequests basically since each of the bosses in them are a Crest. All in all, it's not that much of a pain in the ass. I had a much more difficult time having to level grind Halley in the first game because he had to go through a somewhat grueling solo Pit Fight gauntlet and I dumped him from the main team as soon as the game stopped forcing him on me. You just had to have your ultimate armor at the end of a Pit Fight arena, didn't you, kid?


Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God



For the upcoming battle, we want everyone we can to be equipped with a Crucifix and the odd one out to have as many defenses against Ring Abnormalities as we can. That's about it.



Yes, the very inconsistently named Key thing... We did that a few weeks back.
By overcoming the trials and solving the enigma, you've proven your worth. You're admitted to an audience with the king!
I'm gonna meet him? You mean... he's still alive?!
King Solomon's flesh no longer exists, but his spirit remains. He is ruler of the spirit world...
The spirit world? That sounds pretty cool.
It means he's a ghost, Yuri...
Huh? What?! No, I'm out now!



He might've been a great king, but Solomon was also known as an unbelievably cruel ruler. I don't know how much of what you're saying is true, but if this is the real King Solomon, I'd steer clear!
...It's not my place, or anyone else's to presume what the king is thinking...
He would prefer it not be talked about the allegations of his alleged tyranny or having too many horses, wives and gold. Entrapping genies to do his bidding and telling the lord to shove it and gaining His ire... This is not part of the trials...
It's simply my duty to take those who have shown their worth for an audience with the king. So, shall we go?
This sounds shady as hell, but...
Sure, let's go!







No, it's the same stupid place we have done all these trials in...
Well... How would I remember? I only came here the one time.
That sounds like a you and being useful for fights problem.
Bite me.



And I am the ruler of this world.





You're... King Solomon?
You're kidding?! Um... we're honored to be here...?!
<folds arms, taps foot, and looks unimpressed> What do you want with us? Why did you bring us here?
I was bored.
...Excuse me?
I was bored... You see, I've got this almighty power and all of eternity under my command. So I've been searching for eons for someone... anyone, who could equal my strength. And then you turned up.
That's it?!
You've gotta be kidding! We're just here for some old guy's entertainment?
This is stupider than even the last few guys and their motives were DUMB!
Well, you're here now! Don't complain! Okay, now I challenge you to a battle!



Come on, why not?! Think of it as doing him a favor! Let's just fight the guy and we can get out of here.
I just got reminded about the whole Kato thing... Also, y'all don't get alarmed if I transform into a devil man. I fought my dad in my mind yesterday and got an upgraded Fusion.
...When did that happen?
Remember when we all got that big mess of curry the other day and I crashed on the airship? Then.
And if you lose, you'll die.
<jumps back> What?! Y-you can't just slip something like that into the conversation!
This is a world of spirits. There is no flesh here. Defeat means losing your soul.
<clenches fist> We've really gotta get outta here!
I just had a whole character arc fortifying my flesh.
Don't remind us!
I request no context on that remark!
Um... sorry! I think we'll just leave now, if you don't mind!
No! No! And no!
So that's a no then?! I've got the worst of an old dog right now!
Hey, watch it with the "old" bit, kiddo!
Really?! You're going to get offended about saying old to the 3000 year old ghost wizard?
...I get to be offended about something.
This?!
Hmph!
Hehehe! I haven't felt this fired-up in 3000 years! This is the real thing, you understand?! No holding back!
<puts up his dukes> Yeah, give it your best shot!




Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe



This is the super boss of Shadow Hearts: Covenant -- Solomon. He... honestly, isn't very impressive. He has 9350 HP, making him the enemy with the second-largest HP pool in the game. They actually gave the final boss the largest health pool at the 9999 digit limit. And as with all the optional side content bosses, he is a Non-Elemental enemy.



Solomon is an enemy we are going to want to throw up an Arc-Barrier with immediately because his whole gimmick he has the highest tier, the Crest series of spells, of each element, and that is all he does. Except...





He has a unique Crest magic spell in the form of Melt Crest which inflicts non-elemental damage but will still fuck-up the party for close to or above 400 HP of damage, hits the entire party, and inflicts every ring status effect if unguarded. It's also one of the only attacks in the game that inflicts the Bind status which is just you lose a turn: the status. We need to immediately stop everything and get our shit back together because he uses this spell every other turn while cycling through the other Crest elemental spells in-between.









But to combat that we have Dark Seraphim Yuri who can just drop an orbital nuke on Solomon for 450-500 damage a turn.





And beyond that can pop off an orbital laser strike that steals enough HP to heal the entire party that we can tank the next non-Melt Crest turn to do a four-person combo to fuck up this old king of Israel pretty hard in-between the healing turns.





Ultimately the ghost of the biblical first king of Israel was defeated by the fursuit-clad founder of the Boy Scouts of America summoned by a wolf's ghost horde. That's a sentence I can type about a video game.


Music: Result ~ Victory





For our efforts, unlike The Man Festival, we get a mess of EXP, Cash, and Soul Energy...



We also gain a returning Accessory from Shadow Hearts 1 -- the Seven Eyed Mask. I have no idea what "Ramalish" is meant to be as the mask claimed to be Aztec in nature in the previous game. But it does provide +9 Physical and +10 Special Defense making it the best helmet equipment in the game.


Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God



You thought you could walk all over me?
I punched out a space god. And Rasputin. And a fused god of destruction smug jerk twice. You're a bad anime OVA villain, c'mon.






Ugh... My head's spinning again!
Welcome back, everyone! And good day, King Solomon!



Huh? That's his voice! But he said the loser would die!
True. You would've died if you lost. But I ordered Sarah to call me back immediately if I lost.
I didn't spend 3000 years as a spiritual nexus of power to die in an optional super boss fight.



<folds arms and taps foot>
Stop complaining! See what happens to my fleshless body in this world?! At least show a little sympathy!
I'm an option in an equipment screen now... Are you happy?!
It's the Devil Crest... No way! This is you?!
Exactly. It'll take me thousands of years to get back to my old form. I can't believe this has happened!
It's your own fault!
It's been a running theme with all the optional bosses so far!
At least accept responsibility for turning me into this! You'll have to let me travel with you for a while!





And so we obtain the final Magic Crest of the game -- Solomon. It takes 32 Domination Points to equip so most of a character's gauge and has only one spell at a whopping 160 MP but it is the strongest spell in the entire game, Solomon's Melt Crest. But, you know, that was the hardest enemy in the game so ehh...



D-don't pry into my affairs!
Oh, jeez! Enough already! You can come along! Just don't talk when you're with other people, okay? If we start talking to a piece of paper, people are gonna think we're weird!
You all ARE weird already.
You're part of the group, magic photographer princess...
Tch. I'm dignified!
You're wearing a parka and one of those fur Russian hats in the desert of Turkey.
You just don't understand fashion!
Hmm, I'll do my best. So, Sarah, take care of things while I'm away.
Of course. Take care. And please look after him. He's still the king, even though he's... like that!



And so we never fucking talk to Sarah again!



And... that is it! We... we finally fucking did it... We finished all of the sidequests of Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Christ, I might actually finish this cursed LP before I drop dead! All that remains is to tackle the final area. Asuka Stone Platform ~ The Vessel. It is all that remains. I hope Kato isn't too pissed it took a couple of months for the gang to show up to confront him being on his bullshit...



Technically the end of the arbitrary things I've been calling chapters to break up the LP so I can go back and reference things easier. The first game actually had chapters with titles... Crummy it didn't follow through to the sequel. Anyway, a limited supply here, but...



Monsters:



In the religious text, King Solomon was fucking around with entrapping demons and genies and pissed off god in the process. Little did he know he was doomed to be in Shadow Hearts 2.



Definitely gotten some work done since the veiny nightmare creature that magic nuked Shanghai.