Part 68: Apoina Again

Before heading off, we make a quick stop in the graveyard to pick up Yuri's Max Light Fusion.


This fight isn't really any different from the others, a shadow monster with the same skills as the element it's protecting. The guardian this time is named Svarog.


This time I remembered to Gale myself first.


Then I kicked the snot out of him.



You got a Miserati Soul!!

Your Power of Light has been completely resurrected.






Now that we've got Miserati, we can go to Apoina Tower to find Nicolai. Oh, and here's the Warlock Earrings I picked up earlier.


Ominous.


Somewhere up there, Nicolai is waiting for us.


He doesn't seem to be as welcome here as last time. Not that it mattered.


Being a jerk, per usual?

Elliot, my brother-in-law, told me a long time ago... A tower in the Vatican holds all the anger and hatred of the world. And the vault at the top must never be opened.



They say all that evil and resentment would take root in people's hearts.
You mean everyone would start arguing?



Jeez, you don't have to call me names, you big meanie.


Through the door, and we're back in the familiar room with the NotPieta. There are different monsters here now: Emptiness, Lemures and Danters.


This time, the door on the left is unlocked.


It opens into a tiny room with a door leading outside.


There are two chests here in the fenced area. This one has the Belial Crest (Red Rave, Red Blaze).


The other chest has a Strike Expand.


Anyway, we run up through the tower to find that the teleporter is gone now.


However, in the alcove to the left, we find Ring Soul.



Sorry to keep you waiting! So today, I assume the role of Miyabi, playing the Ring Soul! I'm so nervous!


What he said.

My name's Ring Soul! I'm the will of the Judgment Ring-a-ling! The administrator of a diddly-widdly fate!
S-surely she doesn't really speak like that?! Does she...?
You can't hide from little meesie! I can see your future! Here! My present to you! And a kiss!

You got Attack Boost

T-thanks...
It's the power of the Judgment Ring! Yipee! Ha ha ha! Next time I see you, you little cutie, I'll give you more power! I'm gonna watch and make sure every one of you cuties is nice to Mr. Destiny! I had such a great time today! You're my best friends!
T-thank you, cutsie-pie!
...That's the kind of thing! That was my Miyabi. She talks real cute, huh? Right?
Y-yeah, sure!
Ha ha! Phew, I've been practicing that for ages. Every evening. I haven't done anything else. Oh, I'm so pleased you liked it! Maybe next time I could do my daughter, Aya?
...Oh, no! Don't worry! No, no...
No?! I don't mind, really. It'd be fun!
Okay...
Okay, then! Better get practicing! See you!




One that I hope we never meet. I don't think I could take any more of that cutsie-woo-woo talk.


Well, the teleporter may be gone, but the sealed door is now open. We'll just have to get to the top the long way.


Following the stairs up to the next floor leads to another locked door.


Since the way is blocked, let's check out the center area.



It looks like a machine for weighing things... But you need something to use as a counter-weight.


We don't have to go far to find what we need. There's a cell in each corner of the room, and each one has a weight. This one holds the Arsonist's Weight.


Thief's Weight.


Murderer's Weight.


Kidnapper's Weight.


So, what are we supposed to do with these things, anyway?


Hmm...


What we have here is a simple logic puzzle. I'll give you a minute to work it out.
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<cue Final Jeopardy music>
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da da da
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dadada da da
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da da da DA DA dada dadada
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Done?


The answer is to put on weights that equal 3 arsons, or 12 thefts, so we need the Arsonist's Weight and the Murderer's Weight. Pretty simple.




The scale swings back and forth for a bit, then comes to a rest, perfectly balanced.


Just as it does, the door swings open.

Sounds like a door opening behind...

Yes, thank you, I just said that.


Moving on, the next floor of the tower contains a lot of hanging cages and another puzzle.


There's a lever on the left side of this room and a staircase going up.


I'm not sure what "the pan" is. If it means "the gears" then, yes, it does that.


It's already set on the lower one, so let's flip the switch up.


One of the cages is lifted into the air...


...while another one drops. As you can see, there are two levels of pathways above the main floor. Both cages have stopped at the mid-level, with one of them conveniently bridging a gap. We can now climb the stars to the second level.


You can see the second level is just two paths forming a cross.


To the left, there's a chest with a Pure Extract. You can also see a lever straight ahead, but there's another gap in the path blocking the way to it.


Going right leads to the stairs to the top level of the room.


There's a chest hidden at the top. If you hug the outside wall going up, Yuri will bump right into it. It's got a Seal of the Soul.


There's another lever up here.


This one has to be moved to the lower position.




This drops the cage that was bridging the gap.




This lets us reach the lever in the middle.


This one has three positions, but it's just trying to be tricky. It needs to be all the way down.




This brings one cage all the way to the top to fill in a gap and drops another cage to the floor. Now, we could just run to the top and flip the lever again to leave, but we're going to check out the cage that just dropped down first.


It has a chest in it with the Paimon Crest (Evil Ray, Evil Born).


Then we just run all the way up to the top and flip the lever back up so we can cross the path. Ah, JRPGs. Dungeon too small? "Eh, just throw a couple of puzzles in there; that'll slow the bastards down."


Before leaving, there's a chest here with a Hit Area Expand.


We're done with this room and heading up the last staircase.


Through a set of doors...


And we're back to where the teleporter ended the first time through. Nicolai is just behind those doors.


Well, here goes nothing.