Part 82: Not As Impressive As He Hoped

Let's see, we were about to enter the maze, but first, there was a request to see the current Affinities of the party members, so here it is in handy chart form:
As you can see, the numbers don't climb very fast. After a dozen or so fights on the Mikasa, Kurando gained one point with Blanca and that was it. I'll probably make another Affinity chart once we get to the end of the game.


Anyway, we follow the only path north from the Magimel Brothers to enter the maze.


Even though I've been calling it a maze, it really isn't. There are a couple of forking paths and that's it. I'm not even going to bother with a map. Right now, we're at the first fork. The red star on the torii gate to the right means that way is sealed, so we take the path to the left under the blue star.


Of course, there are monsters wandering around here. We've got Pera-pera, Gaki and Noh Masks.


After a short distance, the path forks again. The chest here has a Pure Root. There's also some sort of clay statue here.


Well, the right way is sealed, so I guess we're going to the left again.


The left path brings us to a dead end with a single chest. The Calming Charm is inside it.


We take it back to the fork with the statue and try it on the sealed gate. There's a flash of light and...





After a short trek back to the first fork, the charm works on this seal.


This brings us to another branch in the path, marked with a post this time. The chest here has a Strike Expand. Both paths lead to the same place, so we'll take the shorter way on the right.


A new split. This one is guarded by two clay statues.



Sakichi: If you don't want to get lost, all you need to do is pick one of us twins! He he he...


Well, the right path just loops a long way around and leads to the last fork, so we're going left.


Another dead end with a single chest. This one has the Dispelling Charm.



Sakichi: Oh, well done! More sinners to go stand trial before Yama! He he he...


So now we have to backtrack all the way to the place with the single creepy child statue guardian thing.




Partway up the long path, there's a spot where a short ledge leads down to the left.


It's hiding a chest with a Fifth Key.


At the Save Point, I heal up, arrange my Crests and switch out Yuri's Pedometer for a more useful accessory.


Going a few more steps up the path triggers a cutscene.



Ah haha haha he he he!
Huh?


I will NEVER get used to that face. Or voice.

I am Garan, oracle and guardian of the great Empire of Nippon.



Huh? What?
You, who would do harm to my country, you and Kawashima's little dog, Kurando, I'll send you all to Hell!


Everyone just kind of inches away from Garan while he's talking.

What's the matter? Are you so afraid that you cannot speak?



Haha hahaha! Ah haha haha hahaha ha ha-



Gross!



You'll pay for that! Fools!


Well, at least that shut him up. _{You may notice the "boss fight laser" is missing from the video. There was a weird audio glitch in the recording, so I had to re-record this scene from the Theater option in the start menu.}




In this fight, I've chosen Yuri, Karin, Kurando and Lucia (I haven't used her lately). Garan has two Pera-pera with him.


Garan is Dark, so Light spells like Tsukiyomi's are extra effective.


He also attacks pretty much exclusively with magic, so Barrier is a must-have for this fight.


The strategy here is pretty simple. I take out the Pera-pera first so they can't Combo up with Garan.


Then I start lining up the Combo Attacks.


Garan has a nasty trick where he'll steal all the MP from a character, but he usually only does it once during the fight. Except for this and a couple hiccups with missed rings, the fight goes smoothly.


We get Oracle Earrings and the Glasyalabolas Crest (Surge, Evil Summoning) for our trouble.




Garan throws a temper tantrum and teleports away. Oh well, I'm sure we'll never see him again!

Oh, you impudent pups! I'll let you go this time...



He was pretty tough! Old baby-head.
You shouldn't underestimate him.






Everything Garan made starts to fade away, replaced by the cemetery.



The Otherworld... It's disappearing.


Kurando notices something.


It's Naniwa and his daughter.




They seem to be alright. Once again, the incompetence of the villains works in our favor.

Master! Princess!
Huh?



Ha haha haha. I must really do something to thank you. You've saved me twice now!



Forgive me. It was my carelessness...
Nobody got hurt, so it's fine.
That's true.


Yoshiko walks over to a...oh.



What is it? So this is the grave, huh?
I guess so.





This is where my other daughter is buried.
So, you had another daughter?


The younger Yoshiko places something on her sister's grave.

This one is adopted. My real daughter, Yoshiko, was killed in Shanghai one year ago.





Yoshiko...Kawashima...? Lieutenant Colonel Kawashima?!


We get a couple flashes of Kawashima from the first game.


Ah, memories.


Although, Yuri was only present for one of these scenes, so I'm not sure where the other two are coming from.



You knew her?
I-I...
It seems that you and I are truly bound together by fate.



My beautiful daughter, dead in a foreign land over some ridiculous power struggle! It's my fault I didn't protect her. ...Thank you for coming today. I'm sure my daughter would be glad, too.



What kind of person was she? Did you know her very well?



Yeah, I knew her. She was very smart, and she was very brave.



I think that sometimes she might have pushed herself a little too hard.



But she was a good person.
Thank you.