Part 125: Last Stretch reached?
Update 125
There is one more blue flame before this particular Sphere is done. Let's see what waits for us there.
Ominous! Again.
Oh. From a still living one (unless Tae has died offscreen, which I doubt).
"It has been some time since the last process of out meeting, Raidou. You are, in theory, an intelligent young man. So I'll tell you this... I never once cut corners in my everyday training as a Devil Summoner... But look at me now... Even I, Geirin, one of the Four Great Summoners of the Kuzunoha clan... I couldn't avoid the unfortunate disease that claimed my life. "
Well, yeah, eventually, but that does not mean one has to spend every waking moment in total despair fur to the inevitable ultimate end.
"I ask you as a fellow Devil Summoner, Raidou... No... Brian Blessed... You have no reason to hurry and invite the spark of your inevitable death, do you? This process of endangering yourself to challenge Shinado is, in theory, pointless, is it not?"
>A voice filled with anger can be heard from the Shinado mask...
Voice filled with anger: "This man's words... The words uttered for your future... Will you proceeed downward, ignoring the gravity of these words? "
Voice filled with anger: "Your actions... Your attempts to show your fellow Devil Summoner a future.... It seems you have naught but despair in your future. The embodiment of your heart's weakness is plain... As if in response to the troublesome actions you insist on performing! These actions of yours... Attempting to show people a future... Show me, Brian Blessed!"
This time, the battle is against a Psycho Apollyon. No fiends.
Yeah, there is not much to it. It is slightly harder but eh.
Megidolaon deals with all. If I don't want to show the boss fight, it simplifies everything so much.
"That's right... I forgot this tehory. The death that awaits us in our future is the end of our life... But... "
"That... is our strength as a people..."
Geirin decides to become ACTION GEIRIN, and kill his own Psycho Apollyon.
And then, sudenly Nagi appears.
Huh, I think that is the first time any sort of honorific has appeared. Maybe she thinks she is now in a Persona title?
NAGI_av"I ask that you watch mine... And see the strength of my passion in the future of Geirin Kuzunoha the 18th!"
I wonder if passing on the name needs to be authorized by the family/Yatagarasu or if the mentor can decide arbitrarily.
Or, if there was no direct succesor, one has to be appointed by consensus of the previous wielders of the name?
"Nagi... For one such as yourself who wields a short blade... Remember that thrusting is the wiser theory over slashing."
nagi_av"Master... Th-this is the first time you've given me combat advice.... "
"Thinking about it that way... The process of death wasn't so bad after all. You allowed me to formulate that theory... Allow me to thank you... My fellow Great Summoner... Brian Blessed..."
Shinado:"You who assume the mantle of "Raidou" and witness this spectacle... Brian Blessed... Your actions that give hope to others... They are the spark of the torment the people of this world suffer... I warn you again. If you take heed this time, I will still let you go free. Abandon the mantle of "Raidou"... Cease these fruitless actions... Cast away Raidou... Brian Blessed..."
And that's it for this Sphere.
Advancing!
And now, for starters, another blue flame.
Another living person, this time Narumi.
"You've done a hell of a job comingthis far. You really are something. Look, Raidou... No... This is really between you and me, isn't it? I-ve never called you this before... It's kinda embarrassing. Brian Blessed... We've been together for a while, but I've never talked about this before, have I...?"
Oh my.
What is Raidou's dream? Hm.
Maybe it is Peace? But this being Chaos Asshole Raidou, maybe not? Eh.
Yes. It is Peace?
Yes.
"So why don't you go after it? You know? I'm telling you this for your own good... Ditch your life as "Raidou" and go chase that dream, why don't you? You've come this far... You must get it by now, right? This world's so full of pain and suffering... You have your own dream... You only get one go around, you know. There's no time to lose... If you keep up this act as "Raidou", your dream might pass you by, y'know? Just toss it all... Throw away your life as "Raidou". What do you say, Brian Blessed? "
voice filled with anger: "Heed this man's words... He speaks not out of hostility... His words willl lead to your salvation... If you continue as "Raidou", your future will be destroyed. "
Damn, that is quite a... thing.
Okay, but considering that Raidou controls the VOICE, I doubt the Chariot is all that much dangerous.
Oh shut up, Shinado! You are worse than... Uh... I can think of massively whiny protagonists, but I am drawing a blank on massively whiny antagonists.
The Ophanim sure is goddamn creepy though.
Chariot?
Sure, yeah, shut up.
It kind of looks like the head has a lightbulb connector as a neck.
Hms.
Ophanim is immune to wind, Fire and electricity. Possibly also Ice, but I did not tst it.
Yeah, the Ophanim is kind of creepy.
But eventually he is broken.
He is now Error.
"But I never knew how stubborn you could be in a pinch. But now that I've seen your stubbornness... Y'know, that dream you told me about... Peace?, was it? I think you can make it come true. No, I'm positive. Don't give up, Brian Blessed..."
Shinado: "Brian Blessed... You resist even a god's salvation... But that does not change the fact that suffering follows all actions in this world... This is your final warning. Abandon the mantle of "Raidou"... Cease these fruitless actions... Cast away "Raidou"... Brian Blessed..."
And there it goes, the Sphere is now open for exploration.
And it is NOT a maze! Excellent! That is indeed a great advancement. Goddamn mazes.
Voice: "Shinado's power is too strong here; I cannot sustain my borrowed form. Raidou... You have fdone well coming this far. Beyond this point is the Sphere of God... You are getting close to the boundaries of the abyss. "
Voice: "You must be exhausted from all the battles up to this point... Feel free to use the bend if you want to return and prepare for the struggles to come. Raidou... We entrust our future to you as well... Good... Luck..."
Well, then this is the end of this area as well? Hms.
And there is that bend in spacetime. Excellent, that will make coming back here much easier.
Seriously, this is much, much better than the last dungeon in Digital Devil Saga 2.
And that means: CASE FILES!
Success! And that means that Case File 7 is now DONE.
Now let's see what is missing in case file 9
Forgot to take the screenshot, but we need seven of these.
A good place is the Catholic Church. Pop a demon with Finders Keepers, and that will work.
Yup. Repeat a couple of times (around 8 minutes total) and then BAM, 7 acquired.
Lame-ass reward, but eh, could be worse.
To get yet another Case File, we have to visit the restaurant.
Yes! That means that now another percentage point there can be filled.
Aw
10k is not really all that much by now, but it is decent enough.
Excellent.
And now this needs to be done. But right now it is not possible. A Cretan Goddess can be acquired by doing one of those "herb" quests. This time, the herbs are in the Akarana Corridor.
Instead, let's do another one, one that requires a 40 Strength Mada.
That will do just nicely.
But it seems that Mada can also be used to form everyone's favorite toilet demon! Which will help with the loyalty grinding, at least a little bit.
I don't know if that can be interpreted in non-gross ways, but eh. There it goes.
Afterwards, buying it again and so on and so forth, but this time no sidetracks or fusions before it.
And then, let's get yet another case file.
Well yeah, they were being summoned, OR manufactured.
Good plan, that.
Tsunatsugu: "Right now we're all trying to find out exactly where the trouble spots are located. But I'm afraid this is only going to get worse before it gets better... If anything new happens, I'll submit a new case file on the double!"
That cannot be a good thing.
Next: That case file!