Part 119: Back to the retina-searing place.

Update 119

First things first, and that first thing is to use the foxtail on Gouto.


"... I surrender. You win. You can play with me and the foxtail to your heart's content. If this is what it takes for you to relieve the stress of the case, I'm happy to oblige..."


So there, foxtail use: Success.

Now, to get back to Neutral again...


"Well, I understand. It's every young man's dream... You're being true to your nature, so who am I to deny you? I'll just pretend I never saw you here, Brian."




Hell yes.


I bet he does.



Aw, no pets allowed inside the bathhouse? Gouto wanted to be there as well.



Not apparent since it is a still image, but Raidou's monopoly piece is swaying back and forth, neither going clockwise or counterclockwise. Success there as well.



So now it is just a question of going forward for a while. Yes.


Easy and fast travel thanks to a dragon. Certainly another improvement over the first Raidou title.



OH GOD MY EYES WHY.




After some fiddling with the settings, a good quality for the captures is acquired, sure Raidou's black clothes look like a washed up gray, but the text and colors are more or less defined and THE DUNGEON DOES NOT BURN MY RETINAS ANYMORE. So there, that particular setting makes me happy for the moment.



Background details in the menus are visible as well. Eh.



And the map is pretty clear as well. Could be worse.



It is kind of funny to see that Mara's conversation skill is the sweet talk.




At long last, advancing through the goddamn dungeon again.



How nice, a save spot just there. Convenient. Even with the disconnected floors and dragon jaws everywhere, this is a less horrible place than the last floor in DDS2.
Seriously, how the hell that managed to be more painful than entire sectors in Strange Journey?



Oh, joy. Darkness.




Vishnu to the rescue. Appropriate skill, I guess.



Inari spirit: "To the rear is the Sphere of Revelation, and to the right is the Sphere of Symmetry. If you return to the front, you will reach the sphere of Surrender. But the path to Revelation and Symmetry will not open unless you save the villager's heart. Be careful, and good luck..."




Rangdas spawn here. One of them was recruited, both for fusion fodder, and loyalty grinding. Hooray.



The villager to be saved is in this little alcove.



Shinado-masked old man: "We'll live life in the shadows 'til we die... In a village covered in smoke..."
"You're right... Facin' the ground, starin' at Lord Tento, we don't see the sun up above. I was out to change all that, too... And look how it came out... Sad, ain't it?"





And there it goes, Shinado's hypnotic mask is dissolved on this dude as well.



Old man: "Hey, Dahn... You know anythin' about this?"






Oh, depressive inaction and maybe nihilism? Eh.





Well, it seems we need to go to that particular Sphere as soon as possible!



Old Tsukigata Man: "Hm? Ain't yew that guest from the Capital the chief had over? What happened? Last thing ah knew, ah was at the meetin'. We all talked it over and decided... A-Ah ain't the one to blame here!"




They certainly took Shinado's words seriously.




Welp. On the other hand, he let himself be killed.


Oh boy.


"To think the peace we got today would actually lead to such an awful end... The Tsukigata family... the 8th Fukoshi Clan... we been a clan of ninja since feudal days. Our bread 'n butter was assassination jobs from the country's higher-ups. That all worked out dandy when we were always at war, but now that we got this peace... "




They could always have gone into preventing secret organizations hellbent on controlling man's fate from fulfilling those plans, also using non-biological weapons.
Why yes, it is fairly obvious what game series I've been playing when I should have been updating this thread, isn't it?
 I should have probably also acquired the Ubisoft pack that was on sale on Steam for completionism's sake, I guess. 




I dunno.




Yet another level up.



Seems to me that this pathway is slightly different from the others.


But this is not the sphere the Shinado masked Raidou doppelganger went to. Hm.



Does not matter since a new level of loyalty has been acquired!



Oh. Huh. Yeah. Certainly different. I wonder how the blond dude would react to Raidou's new official title.



There's a dog! Let's see what the dog has to say in this sphere.



Oh god damn it.



At least it leads to some decent treasure.



Even if a lot of demons are giving rubies. Or were. After all the case file that required 8 of them was transgressed with finesse.




No way to advance through there, it seems. So, to the Symmetry Sphere next.



BUT FIRST: Fusion.


Susano with those skills seems like a good deal.



Especially since THAT was acquired at last.
So now after his loyalty is maxed out, he needs to become base materials for other demon fusions. Along with Growth and the Joy.



Because since it was made from two freshly acquired materials, he ain't got shit.



How convenient, Mara becomes Lilith. Of course, even if Lilith had been acquired before with a good set of skills, getting a new one is good in this case for loyalty grinding.



Not bad, but it lacks Wind Cutter. And Cursed Emission. Eh.



Stay classy, Mara. Stay classy.




Eventually, Mara shall become Asura as well.