Part 72: The Long Arm of the Lugh

The Long Arm of the Lugh

Just got one new level to fuse demons for this time around, thankfully. And out of those 2, I'm only making one of 'em.



...Not this. I made Silky (Scathach & Gui Xian) purely to use as a fusion ingredient in the real guy. Never using Silky because she's basically Scathach-but-a-bit-worse.



Rather taking her and adding a Peri to make our Bifrons. This was needed to make one that's actually good at casting spells. Worth it too, since once he gets Fire Amp he is going to ruin dude's days.

(The other level 45 demon is a bad Avatar. I'll pass, thanks.)



Also opted to bring Jungo, Otome and Hinako up to level 45 too so they don't lag behind. In doing so, also grabbed a Heal Set Add-On. It's pretty self-explanatory and obvious what it's going to let you add.



Alright, so let's go save Io!



[Music: Elegy]

Oh... Hibiki. Um... I'm sorry.
It's okay.
Oh... Thanks...
......
Take it easy.
Oh...! I'm sorry... I'm...

You wait for Io to compose herself...



It's okay.
Mmm-hmm... Thanks...



The key to the Dragon Stream... It has to be resurrected, doesn't it...?
I mean... the barrier's gone and Mizar's still around. If we don't do something...
...I know. I know I have to do this. But...
But?



I'm so pathetic. I'm... the worst. Hibiki...
Anyone would feel that way.
Yeah... At least there's one upside. I'm sure anyone would be as scared as I am...



I... have to do this, right? It's just a death clip. It's possible I might not die.
I'm the only one who can handle this...
I'll protect you.



I'll do this... I'll act as the demon's medium to help all of you...!
I'm sure I can handle it. I won't let this kill me!
Um... thanks. I didn't think you'd come. I'm... really glad you did, though.

You say your farewells to Io before leaving...



Now that Io definitely isn't going to die when we do this, we'll dive into the fight, revive Lugh and have her live.

And the name of the event is weird sounding (because it's Gaellic) but relevant. Lamhfhada is one of the epithets for Lugh; it translates roughly to "long arm" and is in reference to Lugh's skill with spears (and slings, like the one he used to kill his grandfather).



...That doesn't look good.



[Music: Connected Hearts]

Yikes... Seriously? That black scar was the Void...? It's already reached Tokyo!
Mm... Yeah. It's the same as what we say in Fukuoka... just like Yamato said.
But this is the price for defeating Mizar... We all knew the risks going in!
She's right. We have a duty to perform here. All that's left is to wait for... Hm?



Oh... Hi, Hibiki. Um, sorry... I asked if they didn't mind waiting...
...And there you have it. We can't very well start anything without you, mm?
That's right! We're counting on you, boss.
Let's do this, Hibiki! It'll be okay... We won't let anything happen to Io!



Yeah... Even if we don't want the same things, I guess no one likes arguing with friends.
Mm. I sure don't. Everyone should get along.
Haha, in an ideal world, we would. But the Septentriones are still the way to Polaris.



...I'm not surprised. Well, I don't care either way.
I wonder how much longer this peace can last...
Um... Th-That aside, I'd at least like everyone to be nice for now...
She's right. C'mon, everyone! Let's go...!



Chief Hotsuin sent us the code to deactivate the seal. If we use this...
Fumi...! Are you ready?
Um... Wait. Hrnnnnnrgh...



You know what these are like by now, I'm sure. Usual "thing rises from a hatch and a phone turns it on/off" deal.

Hmmm... There. It's ready, Makoto.
All right...!
......
Now it's all up to you, Nitta.



[Music: Silence]

...I'm all right. Please... Go ahead.
...Very well. Okay, then...



Same as before. Little hatch, phone, etc. etc.



[Music: The Enigma Deepens]

Waaaah! What's this!? Hibiki, something just came out!
Something's odd.





Oh, no! Is it broken!?
Not exactly... Since the earth's infested with Void, he can't contain his own energy.



Okay, let's all work together and pick up the fragments of Lugh's power-- Hm!?

[Music: Countdown]



You didn't really think it'd be that easy, did you? We even get to keep fighting some new things.

Ah, power! I smell it, it's so strong! I'm going to take it all for myself!
Damn... Demons can detect Lugh's raw energy! We can't let them take it!



[Music: Battle of the Brave]



The "piece is lost" defeat requirement doesn't just mean a demon picks one of them up, thankfully. I'm sure on a fresh run you could grab all 3 before a demon but it'd be absurd and not worth the hassle.



For cracks, the new birds give up Zandyne (at last) and a random Nue inexplicably has Maziodyne. Not sure why, but hey at least now we can grab multi-target Dynes too.



Everyone who we don't field runs off to a different part of the park, which is the arbitrary reason we can't use literally everyone here.



A Badb Catha gets to move before we can. Naturally, they're the next Avian demon so they have Winged Flight.



We'll deal with them soon enough. Jungo could move a step closer to the Legion, pop Evil Wave and kill one of them now... but then the Legion would probably try and hit him.



Doesn't make much of a difference if you let that happen or not, but we'll get rid of the Legion anyway. Evil Bind just annoys me so I had Jungo Assassinate it for once.



It, uh, was kinda unnecessary really. Exactly 600 more damage than its max HP. Goddamn.



Of course, there's also 2 Mothmen who, being Wilders, will never not Devil Speed. Only really matters for one of them though.



Since Hibiki's currently chilling with Vidofnir, he gets to this piece before a Badb could.



Still have to manually pick it up which you might forget to I guess?



Might as well get rid of these things now. Mothman first since it plays more into Otome's strengths than Hinako's.



Like so. Endure doesn't matter that much when things drop to 1HP immediately.



The Nue goes next.



And by that I mean "Hinako uses Multi-Strike and everything dies." The Nue was only petrified so Mikazuchi punched it once.



The Mothman up top will basically never not get to this bit of Lugh's essence without some form of zany plan. There's not much of a problem if it does, so I didn't bother to try and come up with one.



All that happens is 3 escape panels turn up now. They're all near where our party is, so it scarcely matters. They won't even come close to being used.



This Badb has the Zandyne we're cracking. Naturally we want it.



Vidofnir might be objectively outclassed here, but it can still hurt Ym a fair bit. Not so much its bigger brother who resists Physicals AND has the defense boost but hey.



...Not like I really need it for anything combat related anyway, but Petra Eyes procing on it is an inconvenience. I can't swap it out for Chernabog now. Bleh.



Oh well, one Fire Dance later and everything dies anyway.



And this is why the escape panels make no difference. Mothman can't get past anyone who blocks its way, so even if it somehow survives it has to go the long way around now.



It could go through Otome but ahahahaha.



Did I say before that it's really annoying that regular demons have Shield All now?



Because it is annoying. It makes no functional difference but it drags things out longer.



Not to mention it gives us Shield penalties on our Macca bonuses.



Badb Cathas do have Winged Flight so having Hinako stood there doesn't block it in.



It just means she can punch it really hard immediately after it picks it up.



The Ixtabs survive, but Badb herself got petrified and then immediately broken. So, uh, yeah.



Doesn't really matter if they survive or not. Now we have all three pieces of Lugh's essence or power or whatever. Just need to kill the last Badb and we're done.



But oh no. This is as close to it as Jungo can get and he's the only one who gets to move before it suicides on Hibiki.

It just happens to be 5 spaces away so Jungo can't punch it to death!



Or, rather, that would be the case normally. Ym got Evil Flow so it doesn't matter any more.



This isn't a particularly stellar use of EF but it does save us time so whatever.



And just to really rub salt in the wound, take the time to destroy everything here. Ym drops a Fire Dance wiping out Silky, Bifrons Bufudynes the Badb on the left, and Jungo Jungos Power Hits the remaining Badb.



All in all, not too bad a fight. Even if you're not quite expecting a fight with a gimmick like this it's not really difficult.



Possibly annoying without some form of keeping up with the Badb's move range of 5 but that's a pretty big if.

[Music: Exploration]



Yeah... I think so. I'm glad we did.
...Yes. There were some unexpected hurdles, but there shouldn't be a problem.
Right, let's send Lugh's potential to Io's cell phone, then.



Okay! Everyone who has a piece of Lugh, take your phones out. You too, Io.
Uh... All right. So, what do I do...?
You don't have to do anything. We're sending Lugh's energy into your cell phone.



......Yes.
All right... Everyone, send your Lugh energy to Nitta's cell phone!

[Music: Silence]



Waaaah...!

[Music: Connected Hearts]



Oh... Y-Yes... I'm... okay...
How do you feel?



[Music: Over the Brink of Death]



'Course she is! We made sure to protect her, you know. Like we'd let her die!
Haha... Thank, everyone.
Ahh. Thank goodness. Can I let out this breath I've been holding now?



Oh. Ohhhhhhh.

That's... not good.

[Music: In the Devastated Town]

Hm, now that you mention it...!

Your phone is ringing...



Of course.
Hm... Well done. Preparations are complete on my end as well.



It's time we awakened the power of the Dragon Stream.



He said he likes me.
...You know, Hibiki, you shouldn't joke like that or people will take it seriously.
...Be at the TMG at 18:30.



I-It'll be fine! No matter what happens, we'll keep Io safe!
Th-Thanks... I'll be okay. You'll be there, after all...

[Music: Exploration]



Oh... Yes, of course...

You all leave, concerned about Io...



So now we have absolutely nothing to do until 18:30. That said, before we finish up here we'll do this scene with Daichi. It's technically optional but it's important enough that we'll be doing it anyway.



Don't burst a blood vessel.



Rock, dude.
That's that rhyming slang, huh? I get the joke, but give me a break...
*sigh* Well, it's not like I was grunting at nothing.
See, it's about that scar. I've been thinking about it.

[Music: The Enigma Deepens]

Daichi points to the scar left by the Void's advance...

I mean... what is that? We've been told it's an "absolute void," but what's that mean?
Seriously?



I get that it's a bunch of nothing, but what's happening past the scar?
That reminds me... Um, Io said something about this...



At this point, Fumi starts to creep up behind Daichi.

I remember that.
Yeah. It was too hard for me to understand completely.
Anyway, so if the world is just made of information and matter is all piled up...



No.
Nope, none at all. It's an absolute void. You do know what "absolute" means...?

[Music: Exploration]



Man, Daichi's lucky that wall's there otherwise he might've fallen into the Void. What a way to go...

Er... around?
So, what were you talking about? I saw you grunting like an idiot for a while.
Wh-- Shut up! You don't need to call me an idiot!
It's about the Void.



U-Umm... I think I've at least heard of it before...?
So, no then. Concepts are the general summations of meaning.



...I give up. Philosophy gives me a headache.
What a sad case. I wish I could understand your brain. Maybe you understood, Hibiki?
I get it.



But back on subject, a concept is basically the definition of a thing's existence.
The "information" and "matter" you were talking about it more or less related to that.
With the scar, though, it's like the concept itself has been erased. Do you see now?
Ah, I see.
I feel sick. My head hurts. I think I'm gonna die from being so dumb. How can you understand all this...?



Even an idiot like you uses computers and phones, right?
Quit calling me an idiot... O-Of course I do...
If there's data you don't need, like emails of you cheating on your girl, you delete it, no?
Uhhhh... Yeah...





Shut up. I don't care about that. Anyway, it's the same principle.
Everything the scar touches has been clearly and utterly erased.
...Ughhh, it's no use. My brain's fried.
Hey. If you don't stop that nonsense, I'll stick your head in there and erase it too.



Then maybe I could get a little smarter...
Edit it, hm? I like that. Anything that can be deleted can be rewritten.
That's it!
...Huh?

[Music: Connected Hearts]



What? Huh? What's going on? C'mon, tell me!
It's Polaris.
So you figured it out. Keep it a secret from the Chief, will you?
Wh... Huh? Wh-What're you talking about!?
He plans to edit it.
Edit... Oh!
You mean... the way Yamato's going to bring about his merit system...
He'll edit the world.

[Music: Crumbling Routine]

Oh, okay...! Then if what Fumi said just now is true...



And that weird guy said so too! He said Yamato is gonna use Polaris to create a new world.
Does that mean he's going to edit the world itself like you would a computer file!?
Yeah.



S-Seriously...? Is rewriting the world even allowed...?
Oh, hey, Fumi... Can I ask you something a little weird?
How should I know the answer to that until you tell me what it is you're asking?
Oh, well... um... don't laugh, okay?
Hahaha.
Y-You're laughing and I haven't even said anything! But it's about what you just said...
If the world is basically the same as data on a phone or a computer...



There might be.
Oh... Y-You think it might be true? Actually...

[Music: Connected Hearts]

Remember when you talked to that weird guy about Nicaea?
He said the death clips weren't predictions, right?
Yeah.
So now that I think about it... Maybe this is what he meant.



I was thinking that what he said might not be impossible.



I see.
What, how'd you understand that!? I've never heard of it! Explanation please, Fumi...!?
Ugh, if you insist. Hmm...
One way of thinking holds that all the concepts that make up the world, past and future...



The word "akasha" is Sanskrit for "space," referring to the size of the medium...
That's where it gets the name "akashic record."
Oh... So, um, in that case...



Ahhh... you're catching on. That would be the case. Though we only have that man's word.
If we were to extrapolate outward based on that theory...

[Music: Crumbling Routine]



Wow...!
Haha, the keeper of the akashic record... We may have bitten off more than we can chew.
Can we beat it?
Hm? Why fight it?



The Chief's a smart man. He knows man could never win against such an entity.



So, yeah. That's how Yamato and/or Ronaldo are going to have Polaris change the world to their ideals.



We'll worry about that when we get there, though. For now, we have a ton of spare time to burn through. No more plot beats happen at all until we have to go to the Government Metropolital building 4 in-game hours from now. That leaves us with 8 events to kill... one of which is going to be Dera-Deka's meeting so we'll drop that to 7.

That's a lot of events to do. Who do we spend them with?