Part 8: Curtain of History

Last time we encountered Dr. Thrill, and his Proto Gargantua sounded similar to what Victor was asking for. Let's go show him what we found.

: Ah, it seems that you managed to procure one of those. The object said to rest inside a Zoma, the "Dolly Kadmon." It is much like a lump of clay, waiting for the breath of life. With my advanced fusion techniques, I will be able to give life to it again and again. However, once you begin to play God, even I cannot tell you what will happen...

That sounds pretty fun, to be honest. Reappearing in Soul Hackers, Zoma are artificial demons that can be fused, un-fused, and re-fused as many times as you want.



You simply need to fuse the Dolly Kadmon with one or two other demons and, when you wish to have a Dolly Kadmon again, fuse it with a demon once again.

Zoma are special in that they will always be at Level 10 Loyalty, so there's no need to worry about raising their loyalty. They are also needed to fuse a special race of demons, which we'll eventually see.

We're not strapped for cash, but I think I'll go ahead and take another of Marie's requests.



: You came at a good time. I have a new job for you. That apartment building in Mt. Kasagi, "Kasagi Manor," seems to have turned into one of those spirit worlds. So I'd like you to exterminate the demon there.



>YES
NO

: Well, hurry over to Kasagi Manor.



So, back to Mt. Kasagi we go. Kasagi Manor is the large white building near the mountain.

DUNGEON 6 - KASAGI MANOR
New demons:
Archangel Yata no Kami Suiko Leanan Sidhe
Asp Nekomata Nisroc Dwarf
Inferno

BGM: Otherworld Dungeon 2



Turns out Atlus didn't want to spend the money making two different apartment tile sets, so Kasagi Manor looks exactly like Casa Inui. There are differences between the two, though.



Did I just experience a scene change from a 60's cartoon? What the hell was that?

Turns out, this is the first dungeon with everybody's favorite dungeon mechanic: warps! Hope you remember where the warp is, 'cause the map's not gonna tell you.

However, this dungeon was not satisfied with just one dumb gimmick.



Son of a bitch.

This dungeon hits you with a double whammy - warps and pits. However, the dungeon itself is extremely short and so isn't as irritating as it could be.



There's a plethora of new demons to see, including some I've already fused and a pair of familiar boss faces.



We also have Archangel, Inferno, and Asp. Asp was absent from other games until his reappearance in the DS game Devil Survivor 2.

After a bit of warping fun, I make it to the boss room.



VOICE: My photos are art!! I am an artist as a photographer!! But those idiots at Shinohara and Araki cannot see my genius!!






KASHIYAMA: Fools who do not understand art should simply die!!

Boss #8 - Kashiyama

VS Ghost Kashiyama and Haunt Enku (x6)
I will just say that this battle was not my best work, not by a long shot. I accidentally unequipped my gun beforehand...So the battle video is sped-up, because all in all this battle is boring.



So, Kashiyama comes with six level 27 Enku. They aren't weak to anything, so brute force is the way to get through. I used the Stinger I got earlier (similar to a mid-level electricity attack) to damage and stun a few of them, then slowly knocked them all off. The Enku themselves are more of an annoyance than a threat, able to use Fire Breath and the physical attack Scatter.



Kashiyama himself is weak to psionic. I had brought along my demon Maruts because he knows Psy, but unfortunately he got hit by Kashiyama's Photon Shot and was inflicted with Card. Other than Photon Shot, Kashiyama can use the electric moves Zio (single-target) and Mazio (multi-target). This ended up being another boring slugfest...



KASHIYAMA: I wanted to take more gorgeous photos...I am a genius photographer...

I quickly head back and get my ￥50,000 reward from Marie. Constantly rolling in dough... that's the life for me.

Now then, Redman said something about Azuma being on Mt. Kasagi. Guess we'll be heading back that way.



We came up here before to perform Rei's ritual, but now we'll actually be going into the forested area.

DUNGEON 7 - MT. KASAGI
New demons:
Torso Shaytan Ribhu Rastaman
Mandrake Sandman Ghoul

BGM: Otherworld Dungeon 2



Man, the mountain sure has changed. I hope Azuma didn't have to go through this...



Some new demons. Rastaman, Torso, and Ghoul fill our "gross demon" quota for now.



Some smaller demons - Mandrake, Sandman, Ribhu, and Shaytan. Sandman is another demon with SMTDS-exclusive coloring, though a similar color palette was used for its Devil Children design. I manage to get a Ribhu and Sandman to join me.



A shadowy entrance awaits us. What could be in there? There's infinite possibilities, all sorts of terrible creatures waiting to delight in our screams. And what of Professor Azuma? Perhaps he isn't as innocent as we think...



Juuuust kidding, it's Azuma's old mountain hut.



BGM: Conversation

AZUMA: Wh-Who is it!?



: ...A-All I ask is that you spare my life. I still have so much research left to do. P-Please...let me live...
: A-Are you that detective, Kuzunoha?! So you're alive. I can't believe it...thank goodness. When I heard you'd been killed, I hid myself here out of fear. I had asked you to be my bodyguard without telling you beforehand. I apologize for that.
: But when I heard about your murder, I thought that I'd be next, so I tried to escape. You must've gone to my house as I'd told you to, but I had already left, so I must apologize for that as well.



: But professor, if you'd stayed at your house you would've definitely been killed. Your house was completely destroyed by an explosion, leaving no trace.
: W-What!? Th-That house...had all of those...valuable documents in it...All that research, and I hadn't even archived it all...
: They were as important as my own life...Ah, my god...
: Well, if you'd been killed then you couldn't continue your research anyway...

In an eerie moment, the music cuts out.



: That's right!! Now I can tell you both. The truth I've learned from all these years of research!! If I'd died, the truth would have become lost to everybody, and all of my work would have been for nothing. All that I'd worked for, all that I'd done, just gone.

BGM: Situation

: Kuzunoha, Rei, please listen to me carefully. In the area now known as Hirasaki City, there was an ancient historical event that was unknown until now.
: In ancient Japan, under the unification of the Yamato dynasty, countries that were not under their control were faced with two choices. They could have survived by obeying the Yamato dynasty's mighty army without a fight. They also had the choice to revolt, fight until their last man perished, and be destroyed.



: In Hirasaki there was one small country who decided to fight. The country opened up to the continent, and had ties with China's Qin dynasty. Though their name is still unknown, the ancient country had the existence of magic. With their power they defeated the Yamato army. They had not only magic, but demons who fought alongside them. Even more surprisingly, they created their own demons.
: ...When I announced my research, "A Discussion of Ancient Japanese Civilization," people thought I'd lost my mind. If I went public with what I have just told you two, I suspect I'd be expelled from the academic community...



: Well, the army finally surrounded the country, and they met their end. The queen's only daughter, the princess, was taken captive. The princess was tortured and eventually cruelly executed.





: The princess's regret and anguish remained on this land as a ghost. In order to calm her spirit, they sealed her away. That's all I know so far.
: I attempted to investigate the seal, but I felt an immense danger. I'm at a loss about what to do. I've already been branded a heretic by scholars. I still don't understand it all...
: I'd written some notes about the seal, but I don't have them with me so I don't remember what they exactly said. They should be in between the pages of my book...it was probably returned to the library with the notes still in there.
: My book was so rejected that it's gone out of print, so it's hard to find. Even I don't have a copy. Actually, one of my students...Kumiko Hatano, I believe, said she'd checked it out of the library.

BGM: Conversation



: Why didn't you say so sooner!? They're definitely going to target Hatano next. Azuma, do you know where she lives?
: I believe she lives in a gated residential area in Hibarigaoka...
: Alright, let's head to Hibarigaoka.
: Kuzunoha, I'm going to remain in hiding here for the time being...

As a prize for listening to Azuma's spiel, we get to traverse back through the entire dungeon and back to the town map.

Perhaps Redman knows something?



: Magnum. It seems demons have been appearing in that luxury residential area, Hibarigaoka (sorry, is that how it's spelled?). It's gotten a bit serious, but I do wonder how such demons are showing up there in the first place. However, it's too scary to go and investigate it myself...
: Well, I'll message you again later. Sorry for cutting it short today.

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Next update: Greek and Romanian vampires, with your powers combined...!