Part 92: Take the Shield, Raise the Spear
Take The Shield, Raise The Spear
Day 8. Sunday. The Last Day. Let's kick Polaris' interstellar ass.
[Music: Exploration]
Yooo, Hibiki. Rise and shine!
I'm asleep.
Everyone's up and gathered in the command room already. You better get moving.
Ah... Good morning, Hibiki. Did you sleep well? Everyone's been waiting for you.
Good morning, Shining One. The time for your hard work to bear fruit is nigh.
Yeah. That's right. The time has come to defeat Polaris and create a new world.
The world's gonna be reset and it'll be a brand new beginning, right!?
Yep! A new world... with no one getting control over us. No more fears of being erased! Everything bad about the world will be gone. A new dawn...!
Mm, sounds like fun. Everything about this new world depends on man's possibilities, right?
Y-Yeah... But I'm sure we can do something about this! I mean, we've come this far, right? Let's make this the best world we can! R-Right, Hibiki? We'll be fine, yeah? We'll be okay.
Haha... all will be well. With the Shining One leading us, we need not worry.
Mm. You're right. I can give it my all as long as Hibiki is with us.
A-Alright, then... Let's do this, dammit! What's first on the list!?
Ronaldo and Yamato.
Chief Hotsuin and Ronaldo. I'd rather not fight them, but there's no avoiding it... No one I know has power or a will like theirs... We must be prepared before facing them.
Mmm... But what are they up to now? Probably still planning on fighting, I'd assume... Ughhh... I knew it. Dammit, those guys scare me! But we still gotta do this. That's the spirit.
You say your farewells to everyone before leaving...
We don't really have to do this scene yet, but we'll get it out of the way now because this update would be really short otherwise.
Uh, I mean it's worth doing now.
[Music: Crumbling Routine]
Are you thinking?
Hm? Oh, Hibiki. It's not a big deal. Well... Maybe it is! Haha...
I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around it.[Music: Connected Hearts]
It's spread this far. And I hear the Edogawa and Etou wards were swallowed into it... So? Well... I guess it doesn't matter at this point, but it's pretty close to where we are. It's not just Edogawa or Etou. The nothingness is expanding, and people are evacuating.
There aren't that many cities left standing anymore... Even then, the survivors are being attacked by demons... Everything's falling apart. ...Is this all because the barrier Yamato placed is gone now? We have to hurry.
But... We're gonna be okay, right? We've got you after all! ...Haha...!
So, the Last Day is a lot more straight-forward than all the others. It's basically just a boss rush with maps that are fun as hell.
I wonder what he's scheming... does he have a plan, luring us out like this?
I dunno. It doesn't feel like they've got anything up their sleeves...
Now's our chance!
...Indeed. They must realize that the end draws near. Ronaldo... so he's coming at us without any cheap tricks. Reckless as always...
...There's the Nagoya faction. With Ronaldo and the others...
[Music: Crumbling Routine]
You've come, Hibiki. So has everyone else... and the mystery man. I knew it! Are you confident? Ha... I'd ask you the same! You must realize that the world won't last much longer! Ronaldo, Akie...! You still don't understand? The cause of all this is Polaris! Can any peace Polaris creates be called true peace? ...Makoto. There's no knowing that unless we give it a try.
Haha... well, I agree with Clicky, too.
If society's weaknesses are solved, I don't mind what it takes. Even asking Polaris... I see... all right. Let's finish this, then...!
Yeah, bring it on! No matter which side wins, no hard feelings, okay? We'll take you on. A-All right... we've got to do this! We've come so far... Let's give it all we've got! ...Very well. They are the last of the Nagoya faction... Let's take care, Shining One.[Music: Challenge to the Fate]
This map can be hilariously easy if you just blast Ronaldo and Joe right away. In this case, though, we're not doing that. There's a couple neat skills to crack here!
Ronaldo isn't quite as threatening as you might expect in comparison to, say, Jungo on the previous day.
He's still pretty bad though. Reflects physicals, can double-Deathbound at random AND Endure+ is quite a pain with his team composition.
Joe plays the Strength-Agility build really well and can be quite a problem in general.
Thankfully his offensive stat is Magic and not Strength. This makes him a lot weaker than he would be were he competent. Biggest issue is in his demons, not Joe himself.
This guy... this is a random guy and I love him. He's the first person with the Magic Yin auto-skill. Magic Yin is to Magic what Rage Soul is to Strength.
I want it. By any means necessary.
Cracks here are very easy to decide. Mana Aid is our fourth and it gives us MP back at the end of a skirmish. This is the only map in the entire game you can get it on. Kind of.
There is a second place we can get it, but only in very specific circumstances.
Most of the dudes here aren't really an issue, honestly.
Some, like this guy, sort of have lite-versions of things that would be threatening normally.
But between the regular guy's lower stats, and ability to prepare for these properly now, Rage Soul+Attack All is a non-issue. Funny to see him crit himself though.
Ronaldo, in comparison, is threatening as all hell. Mostly annoying though.
[Music: Decisive Battle with a Sworn Friend]
Because of this. Shield All and Endure(+) is super annoying, especially when Ronaldo reflects Physicals and this Gucumatz somehow outsped my entire team.
In response, it got eviscerated. Ronaldo wasted his Extra Turn on healing basically nothing with a Mediarahan. Can't complain about that.
Mana Aid guy picked a fight with Fumi. He's gonna regret that, and I'm glad he did.
He has Barrier, which doesn't matter because Parvati can drop a Megido on his head.
So, yeah, even without a Tyrant having replenishing MP is now possible.
Ronaldo was lucky to survive once. He's pushing it now.
Between everyone having Almighty spells, and two-thirds being unpunchable, this was a fight Ronaldo was destined to lose.
Oh and I opted to equip Endure+ here. It's annoying when the AI uses it, because it slows things down, but since it affects the entire team Endure+ is worth actually using. Sometimes.
So, what makes Joe annoying? He has a Vile.
That it's a Vile in and of itself isn't the issue though. Rather, it's because he has a high chance of accidentally wiping himself out here and ending the fight very early. If he had even a Dragon, this wouldn't happen so quickly.
Thankfully, he didn't actually do that. Only just, though.
He did manage to wipe Tzitzimitl but that was a foregone conclusion.
Oh, and this guy's worthless. He has no Almighty attacks or anything. So I'm doing something silly and random here.
Using Recarmloss to revive Tzitzimitl to full HP and heal what little bit of HP Hibiki was missing.
Recarmloss is niche as hell, but situations like this are basically the only time its worth using.
And then the guy Deathbound's Hibiki and wipes himself out. Oh well.
This guy has Magic Yin. I'm not putting up with that shit at all.
So Yoshitsune's dropping a Multi-Strike right off the bat.
Magic Yin is so unbelievably good. It's going on Hibiki and not coming off again. Double MP costs for spells is a pretty minor issue at this point.
In a rarity, actually bothering to use Blood Treaty. This is more to help Titania heal up easier. It doesn't upgrade damage or anything but it does lead to great stuff like...
Using a Drain to hit for sub-280 damage...
And heal right back to full immediately. Ordiarily, this wouldn't even come close; love that Blood Treaty healing buff.
Beyond that, this fight is unmemorable and this lady gets obliterated.
...It's a good thing we've already got all the other cracks on the map.
Because Joe just knocked himself out.
An anti-climactic end to a map that didn't need to take this long, really.
Sort of tried to take out every enemy team, but one random lady got lucky enough to outlast it. So she just runs off at this point.
Functionally, this map is as easy as you make it. If you just blast Ronaldo and Joe immediately you can be done in no time at all. But that's boring and not interesting to see.
Get a decent chunk of bonus EXP for your trouble either way though.
[Music: In the Devastated Town]
Ngh... no, this can't be. Justice could never lose...! Untrue, Ronaldo Kuriki. There is no such thing as absolute justice, nor absolute evil. Ngh... don't talk like you know everything! Who the hell are you, anyway?
No... he's with ME.
What...!? Don't tell me... you convinced him to help you, Hibiki? It's all right, Ronaldo Kuriki. I agree with Shining One, and lend my strength. That was my decision. The blame lies on no one else.
Ngh... What a joke... And I thought... Ha. It seems I was a fool...
That's a great idea. Yes, right? It may not mean much to you, but Ronaldo has great potential.
That's right, Ronaldo. Come with us!
You want to defeat Polaris? What are you getting at...? This world as you know it will disappear. But the future will be what you make of it. How about it, Ronaldo Kuriki? It won't be exactly as you imagined, but will you try?
We're on the same team now. Hibiki...and the mystery man...it seems I've been defeated. I accept that. Ronaldo...! So then, you'll... Huh? Oh, right! We've got to stop fighting and create a new world together! Haha... Unfortunately, I'm not capable of that. I can't discard my ideals for you...![Music: Countdown]
...! Ronaldo Kuriki, you--
Um, right. So this is kind of unavoidable here. Ronaldo being Fate 1 does not relate to this happening at all.
[Music: Requiem]
...! No! Ronaldo, why!?
Haha... I'll become a star and watch over the world you create... Farewell, Hibiki... And thank you, my friend!
...! No... Ronaldo...
Ronaldo's death here is scripted to happen here. We couldn't have prevented this if we wanted to...
Dammit...! Dying's not going to accomplish anything!
That was his choice.
Ngh... You're right. That truly was a fitting end for Ronaldo... He gave his life for what he believed in. That is the only tribute I can make.
It is a mystery... When a man dies, all his memories and personality are lost. But... even in the face of that loss, some would rather die than change beliefs.
Now, there are still things left to do... Let us go, Shining One.