Part 73: Friday's Partings (Relations)

Friday's Partings (Relations)

Mostly for show here, but let's fuse a few things just to get it out of the way.



Badb Catha (Nue + Take-Mikazuchi) is kind of a given, really. An update on Vidofnir but with Multi-Strike added helps keep her competitive.

Passives are basically forced to be Null Force and Curse, though. Ordinarily weak to those so getting rid of them ASAP is pretty handy.



Kresnik (Nue + Badb Catha) comes next, and he's infinitely easier to get here than in Devil Survivor 1 when a sidequest was needed to unlock him. Here? Just get a high enough level and he's yours.

No weaknesses, so can put whatever in the passive slots for once. Opted to add Pierce so his absurd Strength doesn't get hindered by things that resist it. Plus I'm pretty sure he's our earliest form of Null Phys so that helps too.



And lastly, we'll make Hariti (Scathach + Bifrons) since we can thanks to Otome. Ordinarily a very punchy demon for a Femme, I opted to work with her initial moves (Maziodyne + Elec Amp) rather than her initial stat spread. The Ma-dyne and Amp would be wasted otherwise.

Null Force because normally weak to Force, of course, and Mana Stream to keep casting for longer.



All right, that's that done. Let's focus on important stuff: chatting with Nicaeaman, and then some other people.



[Music: In the Devastated Town]

Hey, have you heard? I guess people from JP's are gathering in Osaka...
I heard some guy named Ronaldo Kuriki was going to go up against them.



A man you've seen before is watching the people...

[Music: The Anguished One]

The will of the species is coming together... Is this mankind's nature, too?



Yeah.
Haha...I see. So you understand already.



Just as those two say, if Polaris rebuilds the world, there will be stability.
Under one unified will, man will be separated from the pain of his fallen nature.
But... Will that be a satisfying existence?
No.



Even then, do you still wish for freedom?
Yes.
...!
I see... So humanity's potential has grown far larger than I had thought...

The man seems surprised...

The time to make a decision draws ever closer. I will await your answer.

The man vanishes, leaving behind only his mysterious words...



I'd say this might come in handy some day, but I'm not sure I can say that in good conscience.



For now let's not worry about that and instead go see what's up with Otome.

[Music: In the Devastated Town]



......
What's wrong?
Oh, Hibiki? Sorry, I was just spacing out.
The Septentriones have caused us to have a lot more patients... I'm so busy now.
I get home so late every night, Koharu is worried about me.



Demons are on the rise, and the black scar in Fukuoka is spreading...
I need to get a grip on myself.



As Otome opens her phone, a JP's member bounds in through the entrance.

[Music: Countdown]



Get him to the ER immediately!

Otome glances at her phone...

Hibiki, can you please explain what happened to Koharu? She'll be worried...
Of course!
Thank you... You're always helping me.

Otome hands you her phone and runs out of the room...

You answer the phone...

[Music: Connected Hearts]



Wait, you're not Mom...

You explain why Otome couldn't be there to talk...

Okay... I understand.
U-Um... Mom's not hurt, is she? If she's not, then I'll be okay...

Koharu is obviously concerned about Otome, but she hangs up...

[Music: Exploration]



Let's go see what Fumi's up to now. I'm sure it'll be reasonable and not at all dangerous.



There's actually two different versions of this scene, but I have no idea what determines which one you see. It's not a Jungo alive or not thing, since both can be done regardless.

Hey, Hibiki. We're about to begin the final experiment.
After this, I'll have all the data I need. Then, I'll be able to complete my research!

[Music: A Moment of Rest]

Mhm... The last experiment. It's kind of sad...



Well, then, Jungo. You know the drill.
Mhm. I'll do my best.
Aaaaaaaand it's on.

The machine steadily grows louder and louder...

Excellent. A beautiful pattern, as always...



Hm...?

[Music: Countdown]



And around here's where the scene diverges. Also the screen shakes. A lot.

Wait, what's that? Weird.
...!



Something is amiss. Jungo seems to be in pain...

...!
Wh-What is this...? The machine's out of control... I thought it was repaired...
No way... This can't be possible!
Stop the machine!



Turn it off!
...! All right...! Hang in there, Jungo!
...!? I can't shut it off manually...!? Then...!

[Music: Silence]



Is it off now...? Are we good to go?
Oh, right... Jungo!
Mhm...

[Music: Elegy]

He's alive... Good. Um, are you all right?



Oh... That's... good. You seem to be all right.
I'm really sorry. That was totally beyond my predictions of what might happen.
Don't worry. I'm okay. Let's try it one more time...
Mm...
Don't do it.
Yeah... Let's not. This app isn't something humans can control, anyway...



...Who are you and what did you do with Fumi?

......
...Sorry, just leave me alone. I need some time to concentrate.
Mhm...

Jungo leaves... Fumi is quiet...

......

You decide to leave, too...

[Music: Exploration]



It's nice when these correspond with actual character growth. It just feels more meaningful.



Speaking of things that are meaningful, let's go see Joe next.



Hey, Hibiki. I forget, are you from Tokyo?
I'm an Earthling.
That sounds pretty epic. Are you going to be an astronaut? I've got a question for you.



Why?
Actually, I'm going to see my girlfriend, and I want to get her something to thank her.
What'd she do?



Here... Do you remember? We picked up souvenirs on the way from Osaka to Nagoya.
It's acts of kindness like that that make people happy, so I was thinking...
I should get something from Tokyo for my girlfriend in Nagoya...
Good idea.



Well... I'm going to go look anyway, even if I don't find anything.



It might get more difficult to get to see my girlfriend and give her things...
So, Mr. Tokyo, tell me a good Tokyo souvenir.
Wheat grass coffee.
I've never heard of that before! Sounds interesting.
All right, I'll get that. I can't go wrong with your recommendation!
I'll go look for it now... Wait.

Joe looks at his watch...



Running late?
Looks like. Normally she'd scold me, but these days she might get really worried...



Joe slowly walks away...



Well, now. This seems like an interesting event if only because Yamato's outside for a change.



...You. I didn't think I'd see you here.
It's not like you to be out.
Yes, it's been a long time since I was out in society.



...It seems to have been for naught, thought. I've been wasting my time.
Everyone is afraid, fleeing, waiting for danger to pass. ...Like small animals.



Hmph... What was I thinking? Someone like me... Hm?

A middle-aged man runs up to the two of you...



...Who are you?
We just made this! Would you like some? It tastes divine!



I don't have any customers, so I used the very last of my ingredients. It's my best work!
I do not need the hospitaility of the civilian population.
Just take it, already! Quit trying to be modest, kid! See ya!

The man forces a serving of takoyaki into Yamato's hand and leaves...



It's junk food.
"Junk food"... Conveniant and inexpensive. I have heard of such things.
In any case, I have no use for civilian foodstuffs.

Yamato glares down at the takoyaki with cold eyes...

Why aren't you eating it?
This? It's not exactly the most appetizing thing.

Yamato is indecisive...

Trust me, it's really good.
......
Very well. If you say so, I will try one, if only to broaden my horizons...

Yamato puts a piece of takoyaki in his mouth...

...Nothing but a civilian--
...?
...! Wh-What on Earth!?

[Music: Silence]



......
Well?

Yamato smiles slightly...

[Music: JPs -Geomagnetism Research Department-]

...You're a strange one, Hibiki.
You defy my predictions, you know this unknown world, and you constantly surprise me.
Heheh... I've never met anyone who so betrayed my expectations.



Yamato walks away...

[Music: Exploration]



See, this is what I mean by it being nice when these coincide with actual important stuff. Yamato ate some squid. Got a Fate level. Just seems so arbitrary and its a weird failing of the point system here.

It's still an improvement (over the original S.Link system from Persona 3/4), since there's at least some plot stuff mentioned in the scenes... sometimes.. but it still comes off as needing more finetuning.



Or something. Let's just go see Dera-Deka since he had a cunning plan for us.



H-Hey, kid... Haha... You came... Like you promised...

[Music: Elegy]

Dera-Deka appears to be seriously wounded...!



Are you all right?
What does it look like? I can't believe I messed up...
I used connections from my police days to get hold of a cell phone.



Maybe someone with no talent touched the summoning app...
The phone went berserk. A tone of demons came out, along with that really powerful one...
There was no way a lone man like me could fight them with my bare hands...
That's how I ended up like this... Nnngh!
Don't try to talk.
No... It's okay. Don't bother worrying about me.
Please, kid...! The demons... still out there... running wild...



And there's our optional... miniboss, I guess?

I'll do it.
Haha... Sorry. I knew you'd say that... I owe you one...!

[Music: Desperate Situation]



This map isn't too bad, and takes like a couple minutes at most to clear out.



It only has 3 enemy teams to contend with, and the miniboss is isolated. Picking a crack here was mildly difficult since both might have their uses but Hassohappa is more generally usable. Judgement is a Curse elemental spell that just halves a dude's HP. It might be useful sometime in the future, but I prefer Hassohappa. Admittedly I may be a tad biased.



The biggest problem here isn't really Jikokuten, oddly enough. He's got the Kishin's upgraded racial skill and seems like he can deal some real damage between an Amped Dyne and Hassohappa but he's really quite pathetic as our enemy.



For our first three turns, Dera-Deka has a quick line before we can move and stuff.



I'd say I feel sorry for this Aniel, but I'd be lying.



Kresnik's Multi-Strike actually looks unimpressive from the DPH, but the important part is how it is distributed above all else. It takes out the Silkies immediately, but that's not hard. It also leaves Aniel hurting enough that he gets wiped by a Fire Dance from Balor immediately afterwards.



Thanks to the movement penalty being decreased because of Kresnik, Hibiki actually gets his second turn immediately after this one.



This gives the opportunity to switch Kresnik out for Ym next. We can't Evil Flow because of this but there's no need to anyway.



After all, even the regular 2 attack range is more than enough to fight Jikokuten without fear of a counterattack.

[Music: Shudder]



Which is pretty saddening in a way. Jikokuten wishes he could pose even a meagre threat to us, but his weakness to Fire leaves him very dead immediately.



After all, Ym and Balor both have Fire Dance.



We just roasted one of the Four Heavenly Kings alive and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.



The sole remaining Aniel did get to move beforehand, but he couldn't get close enough to us to matter.



So we'll take him out and be done with this.



Man, this is without a weakness OR his Amp yet. Bifrons' Agidynes are going to reign firey hell very soon.



So, yeah. Not much to this one. We took all of like one hit, because I got a bit silly at the end. Didn't even really scratch our guys.



Compared to previous optional fights, this one is supremely underwhelming. It's not even an "it has to be easy because you gotta run Hibii solo!" thing. Jikokuten is just thrown out there so straight it's boring in a way.

[Music: In the Devastated Town]



Hey, kid... Can you do one last thing for me?
Okay.
Ha... haha. I'm sorry to keep asking things of you, but...



I don't want you to ever tell her... that I died... Okay?
To her... I died a year ago. I mean, think about it...



I promise, man-to-man.
Haha... Yes, a man-to-man promise... You get it.
I'm counting on you... to survive... for the world...

[Music: Silence]

I had a line ready for if I ever died on the job, but I forgot what it was...



[Music: Requiem]



You leave the area in respectful silence...

Goodbye, Dera-Deka...








[Music: Exploration]



Small silver lining is that we can do what he wanted and use Jikokuten now. Gotta wait til, uh, level 57 but that's fine. We'll get there eventually.



Going to see Airi next seems like the most fitting thing to do, so we'll do that.

Oh...! Wh-What? You're here again?
What are you looking at?
Ugh... You're so annoying. What's with you?

Airi looks away...

...See that concert hall over there?

[Music: In the Devastated Town]



What competition?
...It was a piano competition. One run by the city.
But that was a long time ago. I don't do that... Not anymore. I quit.



It's funny, really... how much of a waste of time all that was.
Why did you give up?
Huh? Oh... It's more like I realized... there was no point in continuing.
A life of music costs a lot of money... Lessons, conservatories...



Anyway, who cares about stuff like playing the paino?
What Yamato said is more important. We need to think about his system and Polaris.



Oh, Makoto... Nothing, really.
I see. If you're just chatting, you should go somewhere else.
You shouldn't stay here long. There's a good chance of demons, and rioters, too.
Demons...? I-I'm fine. I can beat them.



I'm not saying you have to leave now, but... Please.
......

Makoto walks away.



This is Nagoya! I can go anywhere I want! She's so gung-ho about everything!
She's living her dream job, so she can be super pumped, but I don't care!

Airi walks away with a disgruntled look on her face...

[Music: Exploration]



For a rare change, Daichi managed to (by the skin of his teeth) accrue just enough votes to get a scene for once. And I do mean just enough. He was one vote off being doubled by Otome.



Hey, Hibiki. Can I ask you something?
What about?
Well... You're the only one I can talk to about this stuff.

[Music: In the Devastated Town]



...Of all the scenes to not get updated as the plot advances, this one sticks out quite a fair bit. We already know all this. The scar is the Void used by Polaris to end the world. But the scene isn't changed to reflect this for whatever reason.

And what can we do against somebody who can make that!?
Honestly... What do you think about it?
It's exciting.
R-Really!? I guess you're a lot more energetic than you look...



It's just the whole feeling I get... It's like... there's nothing we can do about it...





Hm...? Makoto? What's up?
Well... I came to check on you. I was worried about you.
You were?

[Music: Connected Hearts]

...You looked the most shocked when I showed you the black scar...
Perhaps it was just my imagination...
Well... It's shocking, but...



It's difficult to say.



N-No no no no! That's impossible! I mean...
A-Ask someone else to do it! I pass! I walk away!
......
Don't be so scared.



...I'm sorry. I know that we adults aren't as dependable as we should be.
Oh, uh...
Please, don't dwell on it too much. Goodbye.

Makoto walks away...



I mean, I'm just a high school kid! I should be scared! Right?
Yeah.



We can't do anything about that black scar...!
See ya, Hibiki. Thanks for listening... Hahaha...

Daichi walks away...



No, this isn't the result of putting the scene off or anything. Come 18:30 this event pops up and we're immediately railroaded into it. It's unavoidable like that.

So, let's save Io for real!