Part 48: Meeting Lord Tento

Update 48




Clearly Raidou gaining levels is never a bad thing, no sir. Generally, that is true in most games, so it being a positive here is no surprise.



Directly next to that Dragon Cave, there is a silly little treasure thing.



Not exactly the most awesome treasure ever, but it'll do.



GOing down the other way leads to a nifty little event.




Dahn and a random Fukoshi are chatting with the freak... thing. And another thing. Yes.
Things.





"Itr's him! Dahn, why is he together with you!?"




"Who's the fellow in the mask, standing next to Hat Man..?"
""





WHAT THE CHRIST.


"That tune again... I've heard it before."



"Huh? You want me to kill Raidou?
You know what? Nix to that. I don't take orders from nobody. 'Sides, I'm the one who brought Raidou here."




"Raidou... The man in the hat... He's what I brought you here to show you. Feast your eyes, Raidou... Take a good, long look."









On hindsight, Raidou probably could, but guess what, that gives a bunch of Law points.




Ominous masked figure: "You... darelook down onme...? I... Iama... god!"




"Ain't my fault, anyways. Don't blame me... You're just unlucky. You'd better go and apologize to... Lord Tento."




... And Akane is going to marry Lord Tento.

Suddenly, it is less Siren-like, but worse.


"'Cause, see... They're all Lord Tento."


"'Monsters'? I'd take that back, Nagi, if'n you don't want to be cursed by the 'gods'... Now c'mon, Raidou... There's one or two more things I wanted you to see. Consider it a formal invitation... Might as well accept, right? Less'n you're scared."





Welp.



Ominous masked man: "Y-you will... pay!"



"Lord Tento... Contrary to all our theories... He was a race of monsters living beneath Tsukigata Village!?"
"Brian. I'm as disturbed as anyone else by these Tento kooks, but... There's something else on my mind. It's about that children's song... Well, I'll just jot it down in my notebook. But be sure to take a look when you have time. "




"We'd better follow Dahn... But don't let your guard down."


Notebook time!

"According to Akijiro, chief of the 8th Fukoshi Clan, Dahn's one of the strongest his clan's got. But his objection to the Marriage ritual and theft of the luck locusts has earned him a traitor jacket."




"Councilman Narita was sheltering her here from Dahn, who's trying to prevent the Marriage Ritual."




"Could the deformed figure (Lord Tento) have something to do with the Tsukigata children's song?"




"Akijiro says the Marriage Ritual is a 'marriage to god', and it seems to be important for the Tsukigata clan. So why's Dahn, scion of the Tsukigata Clan, trying to stop it from happening?"




"After a certain accident, their removal was forbidden, but it seems Dahn took a few out anyway. Pieces of an insect cae with the Tento Crest, belonging to one Goro Tatsumi, were found at Mannen-Cho. Narumi thinks the luck locusts Dahn took from Tsukigata Village must have been brought into the Capital."




"Narumi thinks thatr since Dahn can't attack the Tento Lords, becoming King Abaddon is a way to stop the Ritual. In myth 'Abaddon' is a fallen angel from the pit of despair, as well as the king of locusts."




"It seems Akijiro isn't keen on discussing the Tento with outsiders. He's also not keen on us entering the Centipede Road at the Tento Woods. Do I smell a connection?"




Immediately after getting out of the conversation and going back to the Dragon CAVE, THIS happens. When this happens, it means that there is a goddamn fiend going to appear.


Oh boy! A nonscripted Fiend!





>"Their chance for appearing is determined by Raidou's luck. Fiends are powerful, so carefully decide whether you want to fight or negotiate to escape."

When they appear, they will either fight you, or ask you for tribute to escape. Their tribute includes killing your demons. It is possible to murderize them at rather low levels, but it is a fangerous gamble. If the encounter is near to a Dragon Cave, if you are lucky, you will be able to save the game in one, and then you can retry the fightr as many times as you need. If you are unlucky, it will be FAR AWAY from a Dragon Cave or a Nakisawame, or anything and you will be screwed.




White Rider is slightly less horrid than in Strange Journey.






When this happens, he will make a effect happen.



It can be bad (mostly), but it can also have decent or good effects.



With the presence of Locusts, one can also do a beneficial roulette.


Like this.




White Rider is weak against Ice, so bringing any demon with a bufu spell is reccomended. No Bufu? Well, he takes a bunch of damage from any other magic, but you'll run out of mag, fast.




He also gets angry rather easily.





And then he does this.



THAT is with a block. Yeah. Not good.




White Rider: "A conquerer is coming..."





Ippon Datara has the right idea. Not as seriously as in Demon's Souls, but underestimating a Fiend is a losing proposition.



Well they already did that!



Countering a bad fortune is always reccomended.







The most dangerous attack other than Victory of Fire is Rush, it does a SHITLOAD of damage, and it oneshotted the Lilim. Fortunately, by then he had very little health, and Ippon-Datara's elemental magic was more than sufficient to do the trick.






Rush is better avoided than blocked, but eh.




Success!




Clearly, I prioritize luck.



After beating the White Rider, this little maze is accessed.



God damnit. Those things are the most annoying barrier.




And then Raidou gets a definite title downgrade.



Carrying more demons BARELY makes up for it.





And to get to this one, you must go to the lowest part of that middle deviation, then go to the right. Hooray, invisible passages.
As annoying in this game as they were in FF6 (I think)
And in the Dragon Quests. Agh.




Going south gives access to...



Yet another new area.



Oh boy.





Black-masked Fukoshi: "But don't think yew've seen the last of the 8th Fukoshi Clan, y'hear?"





Black-masked Fukoshi: "What's it look like? I dunno about yew, but when I come to a well, it's to wet my whistle. An' I mean that. Us Fukoshi control the bugs by whistlin'. We can't let our lips get chapped or parched."




Black-masked Fukoshi: "Now what with yew bein' a city boy, pampered by the Yatagarasu... Yew sure yer prepared for this? Huh, Mr. Devil Summoner?"





Hms. That will likely be important in the future.


Black-masked Fukoshi: "Not the bottom floor, y'hear? The top one. Cross the bridge on the other side, got me?"



So, not this bridge, since that is going down, clearly.



And there is what appears to be a cell of some sort here. Hm, ominous.



Which shall be used in the next update.



Another black fukoshi, likely going in the right track, then.



Black-masked Fukoshi: "That's the kinda man I kin look up to! I'm rootin' for him, yew bet!"



Black-masked Fukoshi: "Oh yeah... Dahn asked me to tell yew the way. He's waitin' for yew up ahead. Says he got somethin' to show yew. Well? Go on now, boy... Heheh... Yew just take care now to make sure yer heart don't stop... Iain't got a mind to attack yew. 'Sides, Dahn says nix to that. So go on, Mr. Devil Summoner..."




That is certainly a more reassuring name than Centipede Road, I must say.



If a Gozuki is met with Mezuki as a party member, and one tries to negotiate, this happens.




Oh boy Ye Olde Englishe.




And now I am hungry for one.










The same also happens in the future if demons with certain relation ship are used in the same conversation (example: Ichimokuren and Triglav. What is the relation between them?  It's Russia's greatest Love Machine. Yes. 




Oooh.




Possible shortcut?



Why, yes.




Now that there is easy access to the Town, and from the Town to the Tento Sanctuary, there is no excuse to not fill up on some consumables.



Amd mpt sell this. It shall be used, yes.



While going back, a new level was gained.



And there they are.





Ominous masked man :"You... arequal... lyguilty! I'lleat.. you too!"



"Before long... I'll become King Abaddon."




Raidou Kuzunoha: Ace Mediator (or is that Geirin?)



"I'm still talkin' to these guys... Oh yeah, what was that you said before, Raidou? You didn't think you could be pals with 'em?"




"If you don't mind a li'l history lesson, back in the day, us folks in Tsukigata Village... We used to live side by side with the Tento clan under the blue sky. But the Tento, well... You've seen the way they look. Folks were scared, thought they were monsters... Wasn't long before they got chased outta the village and set up shop underground."




"And to this day, the Tento live under the village... Here in the Tento Sanctuary. They got a real think about bein' picked on. Guess they ain't ever gonna forgetr all that time ago... So they mind their business here in the Tento Sanctuary... But not these Old Ones. No, sir."
"Old ones...?"




"See, you got more'n one type of Tento Lord. There's the kind that ain't fond of the villagers... Those are the Old Ones, always playin' tricks on the folks above. Time was, they were called monsters and worse, livin' bad lives up in the Village. And now they call themselves the gods of Tsukigata. We been livin' under their thumbs for years."





On one hand, Raidou does get bossed around by the Yatagarasu. On the other hand, the Yatagarasu likely don't look like goddamn Kamen Rider knockoffs.



"Yeah... It's hard to understand where I'm comin' from less'n you're one of us. You're willin' to call a spade a spade. I like that. Better tha than suckin' up to me. But y'know what, 'Lord' Tento? Your time as a so-called god is nearly up! Once I become King Abaddon, you won't be so high and mighty, get it?"






Dahn's plan is likely not all that cunning. Or all that... Well thought, I am willing to bet.
He sure is boasting a lot, in front of the goddamn resident 'gods'.


I wonder if that is Raidou's "don't. Call me. Chicken" trigger. Maybe not. Raidou certainly seems more calm than Marty McFly.





Old One: "I-I won'tfor give you!"




And that also disappears.



Well duh.