Part 58: Rudrasajujya

Rudrasajujya



Hibiki got to level 36 thanks to Kama, so we'll take advantage of that to make one new demon. Hitokotonusi (Tonatiuh & Pendragon) being that one. There is another level 36 demon, but it's a really bad Dragon so I'll skip it for now.



Besides, we only need Hitokotonusi to manage to make things way easier. Let's go get us our God of Destruction now, shall we?

[Music: Exploration]





"Killer whale style"?
What, you don't know? It's the catchphrase of Nagoya's mascot.
D-Don't know that one... C'mon, let's get this Shiva thing over with...
Right. Chief Hotsuin gave me the code to release Shiva's seal.





Wahh, that thing again...!
I'm sending the code to the terminal. I don't know what's going to happen... Watch out.







Waaaah... What the--?
......!
Look at that! The surface of the pond...

[Music: Silence]



Huh...? It stopped... Didn't it work?





Be careful, everyone! I feel like something big's about to happen...



[Music: A Moment of Rest]

...Huh? Nothing happened.
...Looks like it was a dud. Twice in a row...? Is Shiva a comedian or something?

[Music: Silence]



Hibiki, that's your phone.

[Music: Connected Hearts]



I've confirmed the formation of a spiritual energy field. It seems the equipment's active.
Yes.
Hm... Good. Tell Kujou to start dancing.



Got it.
Ha... I'd expect nothing less. I'll be praying for your safety.



[Music: Heroes Have No Fear]

Time to fly.
Fly...? I'm not a swan. Oh, well, just you watch!

[Music: Silence] (if actually using the links, just pause it)



Oh, I see. ...Hey, what!?
That's a traditional Japanese dance...

[Music: Heroes Have No Fear] (continues from before)

Will it work on Shiva?
With what I know now... I can't say whether that dance will work on Shiva... Hmm!?

[Music: Silence]



Sh-Should I keep dancing...?
I-I don't know... But I think it's working! Keep going, Hinako!

[Music: Countdown]



And then some demons warp in.

For the umpteen billionth time.

...What the heck? Demons!? Aw, it's not Shiva!?
Heh... So that's how you want to play.



......! ...Hibiki!
Let's go!
Okay...!
Waaaawawawawahhh! Why does it always end up like this!?

[Music: Shiva]

...What?

okay fine

[Music: Desperate Situation]



Shiva's fight is much easier and more straightforward than Kama's by far. We just have to beat up a whole bunch of demons we've already seen while letting Hinako do her thing. As an NPC.



Daichi's subbing in here since he's the best option at the moment. Keita has more Strength but less Agility, so it evens out... but that involves using Keita.

Marin Karin's the only thing we can crack so whatever.



The actual fight itself is also a lot easier on the whole.



Like, there's not particularly many enemies, there's no real chance of them to even touch Hinako.



Their chances of getting through to try are basically stacked in our favour too just to rub it in. None of the demons are new, and they don't hurt us all that much on the whole either.



At a few points in the fight, we get a message like this as the screen shakes a little. It's not timed or anything; it's just a "you killed a few demons? Okay, cool."



Now for Jungo to do Wacky Shenanigans.



Hitokotonusi's a good fit even without the "being a Kishin" thing, it seems.



But hey, Jungo has a Beast and a Kishin in his party. This lets him do something kinda silly.



Oh, before that we get another Release add-on. This is the one I was thinking of before that lets us do crazy things later. Release Command just applies to stuff like Bufudyne or Mediarama or something.

This applies to things like Null Fire or Ares Aid. Much more fun to be had with this one. Naturally, you can't use this to immediately learn things that are greyed out at first.



But anyway, Beast and Kishin. Jungo could run around the map in crazy time with this combo if need be. He can move to a demon, fight it, move to another demon, fight that and then move again. If it was possible to add a Fiend to that to add another move-fight-move, Fiends might be worth a damn just to zip around the map without a care.



As is, this still has fancy uses here. Jungo can run out, slaughter two teams effortlessly and then head back to protect Hinako if need be.



Of course, now that three demon teams are wiped out a new one spawns in.



It's an Ikusa, so it might be threatening. Daichi has no Curse resistance, so let's have him deal with it.



Sadly, even with Mighty Hit+Crit Up, Daichi can't quite deal amazingly wacky numbers. His raw Strength just isn't good enough yet.

He doesn't reallly need it but hey it's there all the same.



Even if the bulk of the heavy lifting is done by Yuki Jyorou and Ikusa.



Speaking of Yuki, the enemy one was nice enough to double back and fight Hibiki. Kinda expected it to keep going anyway, but the AI isn't scripted to ignore everyone else where possible and beeline for Hinako.



...Is it really a surprise that this works out more in our advantage than theirs?



Granted, when the Wendigo immediately tries it afterwards its more of a problem. Don't want Hibiki to steal all the glory, so can't outright murder all of these. The leader Wendigo opting to Brutal Hit the Tonatiuh might make that harder if we Retaliate though.



Thankfully, that doesn't happen. Even more useful is that it opts to hit Hibiki in the extra turn. No chance of this going badly for us now.



Oh... demons! Everyone, protect Hinako!

The Cait Sith has 2 Suparnas so he can skip the pond. Thankfully it does not have Winged Flight.



He's not getting closer though, of course. Even with its Flight capabilities, Otome's going to be a bit of a blockade.



They're all weak to Electricity. Chaining Elec Dances make this a complete joke.



And since we're basically done, let's have Daichi pretend to have really mattered and finish things.



Well, his numbers are bigger than Hinako's would be. There's just less of them. I guess it sort of balances out.



And with this, we are done.



The token reinforcements mattered even less than usual this time. Not even sure why they bothered.



In a weird switch from the Kama fight, we get the same EXP but a fair few things level up this time. Sure, okay.

[Music: Silence]





......! What's this shaking!?
How about now...!? Shiva, come out!



Maybe Shiva doesn't care about traditional dancing...
...Do you hear applause? Where's that coming from?



Wh-What was that!?



[Music: The Enigma Deepens]



......! Shiva! I don't believe it!
Huh!? He really showed up! Wow!
Why did you call me? There must have been a reason. Tell me, and I will reward you.



Hahaha... You're a bold woman. That's good. I like that.





[Music: Silence]

Oh... He disappeared...?
H-Hey, is everything okay? Shiva's gone... Is he really going to help us!?
It'll be fine.

[Music: Over the Brink of Death]



Oh... Uh... Well, that's true, but...
...I don't have any proof, but one as powerful as Shiva has no reason to trick us.
I believe we can trust him.



We should get a call from Chief Hotsuin. There's some preparations to make.
All right. Then I guess we'll have to wait and be ready to go at any time.
Please, do that. Good job on that mission. You were a great help.

[Music: Exploration]

Since we only fused one thing before, we'll get some of our level 37 fusing out of the way now. "Some," because there's lots of level 37 demons.

We'll just get the most important two first.



Tonatiuh and Afanc finally give us our Botis. He can Ziodyne from the word go, and his initial Magic is rather close to his initial Strength. Boosting the two is not quite that simple, however, and getting a good punchy Botis is easier than one that can Ziodyne well.

Plus side is we can now distribute Ziodyne when fusing spellcasters like its delicious candy. So there's that.



Our other demon for the moment is Irish warrior Cu Chulainn (Hitokotonushi and Yuki Jyorou). Only weakness by default is Ice, and its the most punchiest thing we have. 31 Strength is basically the best we could get without Add-Ons but we don't have any to buff it further.

Oh well. Once it gets Pierce, he'll be basically unstoppable. Pierce ignores Strength, Nullification and Drain and just treats them like its neutral. Sadly, it does not cut through Reflect.



To prevent overloading on fusions, that's where we'll stop for now. There's still some to pick up, but we'll go see if we can go to Hakata first.



...Reconfirm Coordinate B. We'll head off the demons while the SDF evacuates.
Oh, it's Mako. Heyyy!
Hm...? Ah, it's you. What's the matter?
Are you busy?
Sorry. During the battle with Alioth, our forces will be spread too thin for defense.



Oh... Of course. I didn't even think of that...
That's all right... You all need to focus on Alioth. This is a JP's matter.



About Fukuoka?
Yeah. The other JP's people won't play ball, but... she'll probably at least hear us out.
Hm...? What is it? If there's something you'd like to say...
We want to go to Fukuoka.



Um... Something's bothering us, and... we'd like to go to Fukuoka...
Yeah, the Fukuoa Terminal's already reactivated. All we need is its code...

[Music: Silence]

...I see. Fumi.



Huh...!?
Are you hiding something?

[Music: Dark Clouds]

...I can't talk about that. It's just too dangerous.
That's ridiculous! It's pretty low to say it's too dangerous without explaining why!
I don't disagree. But I still can't give you the code.
We saw the black scar.



It's not just Hibiki... We've all seen the photo.
......
Makoto, please tell us the truth. We don't like being lied to...

[Music: Connected Hearts]



I believed in you.
You did, did you... I'm sorry, Kuze...
That's our Mako! So just give us the codes to Fukuoka and we'll--



Huh...? But you just said...



So...?
I'll accompany you to Fukuoka. ...It really is dangerous.
Whoa... You're really coming with us? That's going above and beyond...!
Ughhh... Shut up, stupid! Um, so I guess you weren't kidding about it being dangerous?



Makoto leaves...

[Music: Exploration]



That makes no sense at all! Hibiki pulling out that photo sealed the deal!
Huh...? Who said that?



Grrr...! That's over the line! You brainless, hopeless, idiot Hina!

Airi and Hinako continue their bickering...



Yeah.

You leave as quietly as you can...



We don't have an alternative option here either. Might as well just dive straight into this and get it out of the way now.

[Music: Silence]



[Music: Connected Hearts]

You're late. We're ready to go. Shall we head out...?
Let's go.
Good. We'll have to use a Terminal to reach Fukuoka. Come on...

[Music: The Enigma Deepens]



Basically every named character is here, yeah. Keita's poking out behind the portrait. The only people not here are Ronaldo, Yamato, Otome and The Anguished One.



Err, Yamato, Otome and The Anguished One.

Let me warn you about one thing.



Is it that dangerous?
...Are you afraid now? Yes, it's extremely dangerous. Please, don't forget.
...Let's go.



[Music: Crumbling Routine]



Th-This is Fukukoa...? No...!
What the hell...!? What's with that black stuff!? It's just like in the photo...!
You're right... Most of the city's gone!
......
Hey... Makoto! What the hell is this!? What's going on!?



What happens then?



What does that mean!? C'mon, make sense! What's going on!?
Shijima... Please calm down. You're far from the only one who wants to scream...
Have you checked it out?
...You mean what's beyond the scar? Yes, several times.





Ah... N... No...
Then...! Wait, does that mean...?
The only barriers left are... Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Sapporo...
...Are all the other cities...!?
Have they disappeared?
......



I'm sorry... but this is everything I know.
Who would know more?
What? What do you mean?
Ohhh, you're right. Even if Mako doesn't know, maybe someone else would.



...I can't comment on that. Do as you will.
Oh... But there's something we have to take care of first. Right, Hibiki...?
Yeah.



Right. But once that's taken care of, we've gotta go ask him.



Pff, it's not that we're tough. It's that you're a wimp.
We'll grill him about this, believe you me. But Alioth is first, or it's all pointless.
Mmm-hmm... Then we have to do this.
Let's go, Hibiki. We're not gonna let this happen to anyone else...
Damn right.
Yeah...!

You leave Fukuoka with everyone through the Terminal...

[Music: Exploration]



...Well, we've got a bit of an opening on our plate now. Guess it could've come at a worse time...

[Video: Otome Yanagiya]



[Music: Countdown]



Not sure why we need to step in here. Anguished One's right there and--



[Video: End]

[Music: Crumbling Routine]



You should head to this video's setting at once.



Thankfully, saving Otome is the easiest one to date.

...Y'know if we do it. Which we might not; since we saved Joe before, we still get a choice here.

Namely does Otome live or die?