Part 32: Jungo Torii ~ Prestissimo

Jungo Torii ~ Prestissimo



Before we do anything else, I looked over my demons and realised I could make a Power that was usable. It's the second Divine demon, so of course I want it for its racial skill but I also wanted one that was good in combat. Problem was, I didn't realise I had any way to do that because it's more physical oriented (of course it is; this level area is dominated by physical demons). Looking again, I noticed I could make a good one by combining two things we made before: Ogun and Nozuchi.



I also made an Orcus (Tenong Cut + Sarasvati in this case) that resists everything but Physicals which is pretty okay. I considered actually bringing him along for a while but decided against it in the end; I'm more interested in getting Brutal Hit anyway. It deals physical damage based on the user's HP like Berserk. Unlike Berserk, however, its damage output is controllable.



Lastly, I combined a Gozuki I made off-camera and a Sarasvati to make this worthless piece of shit. Hamsa's Avian so that's already a point against it in my books but I was gonna pair it with Orcus to offset the -1 move penalty.

Which is all well and good in theory, but Hamsa sucks. Like its default stats are all awful except that 15 Agility. None of its offensive stats are above 9 by default which at this point is ridiculously awful. Even then it comes solely with Magic skills... and has 6 points in Magic. I don't even know. At least it adds Mazan to the fusion pool I guess.



Let's go do something more productive now and see what Airi's up to.

[Music: Exploration]





Ah... Hibiki!? Um... Well...
Oh... Right! I-I wonder where Fumi is. We have to hurry and look for her...!

Airi seems flustered...

What were you looking at?
N-Nothing...
......



That why, it's like... I'm not...
I-I'm just resting. Just a little tired, is all. Don't act like my mom or anything!
Sorry.
Y-You don't have to apologize... I mean, I'm glad you came to Nagoya...
Oh, yeah, I wanted to ask. It's not that important, though...
Is Tokyo... Is it as bad as it is here because of the earthquake?
Yeah.
...I see. I'd heard all of Japan was pretty much in shambles...
Hard to believe... It's all messed up. Society... Everything...



Why?
Oh... n-no...! I'm just talking to myself! It's nothing! Seriously!

Airi runs away with a foul look on her face...



For someone so bizarrely bad, Airi's stage 1 bonus is so bizarrely good. It's the first one that grants 2 elemental resistances at once, and the only one available so far to do so at that.

It is not, however, the first one that puts someone at 2 elemental resistances. An important distinction. You'll see what I mean much, much later.



For now, we have the matter of Jungo's life to worry about. We'll get the event out of the way now if nothing else; this is what lets us save him, but even by doing it we still don't have to save him.





And, man, Airi got here fast.

Hey... Hey! Please, will you just listen!?
Hmm... No. This is mine. I need to get home and put it together.
W-Wait! It's important!



Oh, hey...!
What's the matter?
Oh... Hibiki! Hear me out!



Could you paint me any worse? I put money in the register. I'm a gentleman, after all.
If you're a gentleman, fork it over! We need that for something important, and--



Goddammit, Airi. You got robbed by a goon!

The ideal computer...!? The world's going to hell and that's what you care about!?
Pff...! It's precisely because of the state of the world that I care!
Some demon will kill me sooner or later. Knowing that, I'm going to do what I love...!
What's so wrong with that!?



What...!? Sh-Shut up! What do you know!
Besides, the memory would want it this way. Yes, I'm certain of it!
...What? That makes zero sense.
The memory would want it? Then what difference does it make if we use it!?
You...? Oh, no, that will never do. It wants to be used by an expert like me...
Grrr... You've got it wrong! A lady at JP's named Fumi's gonna use it, not me!



Wait... The TV Tower...!?
D-Don't tell me this "Fumi" is the lady in the cheongsam!?
Oh, you've seen her? I guess her clothes do tend to stick out. Anyway, she's--

[Music: Silence]



...What?

[Music: A Moment of Rest]

That stylish, sophisticated, high-end machine easily surpasses my ideal setup...!
...Okaaay.
So this memory will be used for that machine... It's a greater honor than I deserve!



Okay, thanks...
Ha ha... My memory, serving as the blood and bones of that system...
It's a thrill to be alive! Thank you! All of you!
Yes... Maybe I can donate more parts to her! Wait right there!

The man happily leaves...

What's his deal?

[Music: Silence]

A kindred spirit!
Wh... What!? Here you think you know a person... Don't surprise me like that.

[Music: Exploration]



I feel bad for that guy, but I'm gonna go deliver this to Fumi.
Hope this speeds things up a bit. Alright, see you later!

Airi runs off...



Now we gotta wait for her to contact us so hopefully we'll find out where Jungo and Daichi are.

I'll poke around and try to feel out the situation in Nagoya so maybe you guys should do the same where you are and I'll see you later okay?



Now that we know we can save Jungo in the not-too-distant future, we have a bit of time to kill before that can happen. Not putting this one to a vote though; Nicaea Mystery sounds all sortsa important so let's check it out while we can spare the time.



[Music: Silence]



If that's so... Wait, but then again...
What is it?
Hm? Oh, sorry, sorry. I was just wondering something...

[Music: The Enigma Deepens]



I've wondered that too.
You see? Well, not like we can make educated guesses.
Even Makoto said she didn't know. It's a real puzzler...



Oh yeah, we're not just here alone with Joe.

Hahaha, good point! It still bothered me, though. I can't stop wondering...



All 4 members of the current party are here. Jungo and/or Daichi wouldn't be in this scene if we left it 'til later so it makes no difference when you do it.

Yeah.
Mmm-hmm... That website was distributing the summoning app too, right?
Hmm... We don't know why it was made in the first place.
No, we don't... I can't really think of any reason why.
Hmm... Guess we can't figure it out yet after all.
Why not look at the site?



[Music: Connected Hearts]

Oh... why not ask Fumi? She might be able to figure something out.
Yeah, maybe so. She was messing with machines back at the 'valgate and TV Tower.
Yep. She's really smart, too. I think if anyone would know about this stuff, it's her.
I agree.



Sure, yeah, sounds good. I was actually thinking the same thing.
That girl fixed out phone problem in a jiffy, and that's pretty impressive.
A website has to have a server running it that's connected to the Internet somewhere, right?
There was some stuff we couldn't figure out on our own, but with Fumi here...
Couldn't we get her to look into some of this stuff?



Mmm-hmm... Um, well, if we have time, why don't we go see her?
Alrighty then! Let's get to it!

You leave the area...

[Music: Exploration]



Who's it from...?



Think Jungo's there.

Still busy working on Nagoya branch. This one's all yours.



It's from Fumi.
Oh yeah? Does that mean she's figured out where Daichi is!? That's great!
Thank goodness... Let's make sure we're prepared before we go rescue Daichi.
Good call. Forarmed is forewarned, after all. We should all watch ourselves.
It's the other way.
Yeah... it's "forwarned is forearmed."
Hm... Is it? Meh, either way. It's time we got going!

For what its worth, if you don't get this call at this moment then Jungo will die and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can still do Memory Search, but you get nothing from it any more; the dude's taken the memory and is looooong gone.



We have it, though, so we can save him or we can leave him high and dry. Let's see what we do...

quote:

Survives 90% (133)
Dies 10% (15)

...Well, that's quite one-sided. Let's go!



[Music: Connected Hearts]



Ah! We're here! So this is where Daichi is...
Let's look for him.
Yeah... Oh, and we need to rescue Jungo, too.
Yup. But considering we don't know what's going on in there, what's the plan?



How about a pincer attack?
Ooh, nice idea. There do seem to be several entrances, so that might actually work.
Oh... in that case...! Sorry, but give me a second, okay?



You're going in back?



I... don't get it, but okay! The back's yours. We'll create a diversion out front.
Let's go rescue us some buddies!



[Music: Countdown]



Mhm... I guess I'm in a pinch now...



Airi...? What's going on?
What!? Isn't it obvious? I'm here to rescue you!
What the hell!? Are you all with JP's!?
Uh-oh... Looks like he's ready to fight. That means we have to be, too.





...I have to save the hostage. Let's go, Hibiki.
Wow, that's so cool! All right, count me in, too!

Great, so we're working on saving Daichi the old fashioned way.

...Wait, where's Io?



Oh, you.

I-I'm going over there now. Hold on, Daichi!

[Music: Challenge to the Fate]



So, after Jungo's surprise bout of competence before is this one going to be any harder?



Not really. Jungo's still gonna be awesome. Hardest part, really, was picking skills to crack. Media, Double Strike and Fortify are all on the same dude so I opted for Fortify since its an Auto-Skill. Blitzkrieg is also a new Auto so that's two easy picks.

Blitzkrieg increases the damage you deal. Doesn't matter what it is or how you hit it; your entire team now deals 25% more damage. Fortify, on the flip side, increases the entire team's defence by 25%. A nice little yin-yang thing they got going on there.



The other 2 skills aren't ideal, but they'll do. Grimoire was the easier of the two to pick, since it's very shortly going to be used to completely ruin people's day. Io's the best person to get Mabufu and that dude's entire team has it. The other multitarget spells are all over the place.



So, Jungo's capable of handling himself here just fine. Only reason he'd die without us is because there's like 6 dudes here and they'd all gang up on him. He kept his Lilim but replaced his Ubelluris with a Mahakala. Awakening makes his two demons that much more lethal, and since he has Fire Dance equipped for some reason it helps Jungo too. Those 2 guys in the middle are gonna wish they tried to target someone else.



Jungo might as well have the God Hand, because he's just that good at punching dudes. This guy might've survived right now, but he's not lasting very well where he is now.

God's Hand, as a skill, is not in this game. I know I'm disappointed too.



...Like so. He tried to immediately attack Jungo right back. It didn't end very well for him.



Fortunately, now we can get a fight too. This lady picked a fight with Airi, but Joe would be ideal; the skill he's cracking is on her after all.

[Music: Attack]



So Airi's team is focusing on the Ictinikes. Easy enough, even though Airi somehow got charmed by the Office Lady's Sexy Gaze.



Ogun comes at a time when Strength demons are basically all you can get from new guys and proves he's worth it. He just oneshot an Ictinike at max HP without needing a crit to do it.



Of course Jack's the best magic dude in the 20s so far, and he can pull his weight too. That Ice weakness helped, but he made his point loud and clear.



Having Ogun guard in the Extra Turn was for the best really; if he attacked instead of Jack here, then she might've been taken out.



Hibiki's fight isn't much harder in theory. Nekomatas having Paral Eyes is mildly inconvenient, but it only really affects Power anyway.



The pair of them also having +Paralyse is much more inconvenient since it can trigger at any moment.



Of course, this also doesn't matter since Sarasvati is immune and can Elec Dance like a pro.



As a result of this, she's able to singlehandedly wipe out the entire enemy team.



Fortify helps out Hibiki a fair bit, so he's using it for the rest of the fight at least.



And Joe very easily finishes off the Office Lady to grab Grimoire. Now I just need one more passive skill...



We can't get it for a while though, so instead let's worry about Jungo kicking a dude's ass pretty well. Yep, he sure is kicking a dude's ass.



Now this lady is a bit of a nuisance. She has 2 Bai Suzhens with her; now ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem. Just Fire Dance and you've already won. Airi doesn't have that, though.



Ogun does, but he got frozen solid. By the same Ice Dance that froze Airi immediately. Figures.



At least the Suzhen on the left hit Jack with an Ice Dance too. That lets him finish that one off at least.



Meanwhile, Io makes it to Daichi and is able to safely rescue him. This give him 2 Fate points while also having the added bonus of making it so he can be hit by the enemy NPCs now.

Are you all right, Daichi? Wait just a little...



Whew... I'm saved! Th-Thank you!
But I can't exactly fight like this... I'm just gonna follow right behind you!



Now we can try and escort Daichi to one of those two escape panels. We don't need to, though, but Io's too far away to be of help in the rest of the fight so she might as well.

Oh, the guy right by her?



He's pretty much boned. Poor guy doesn't stand a chance at the best of times.



And, of course, I popped Awakening first just to make it that much easier.



This had the added bonus of giving Ictinike access to Mow Down.

...We still kinda need that, actually. Doubly so at this point, since its after this that the lack of good physical skills is going to become an issue.



Not a problem in this fight, though, because Jungo's the only pure physical dude here and he's holding his own perfectly fine. The Young Man survives slightly, but that's good. We want Jungo out of that middle area before we do anything else.



So, we have Joe use Apis to Switch places. This is the easiest way to do it, and we want Jungo in a safe area where he isn't most likely to get attacked soon.



Because now Joe takes out that Young Man with ease. And in doing so...



He triggers some reinforcements. Not powerful reinforcements, but Jungo's taken a beating at this point and probably wouldn't last through two more full teams.



And Airi takes out the lady in the bottom corner. We just have those two new guys to take out and we're done.



This in particular is why I wanted Jungo to be out of the way. We couldn't necessarily get someone in front of him in time to save him from this lady.



She's not particularly a major threat or anything. But then again, Hibiki and Joe are in good fighting shape. Jungo noticably isn't.



This other guy's even weaker and he willingly suicided on Hibiki. Oh well.



His funeral. He brought two Tenong Cuts to a fight this late, so he kinda deserved to job to a good team.



And that, as they say, is that.



Pretty decent amount of EXP too for what was a fairly simple fight.

[Music: Over the Brink of Death]



*gasp* I-I'm saved!
Are you okay?
N-No, I'm not okay... Look, I was tied up! It was not cool!
Wow, man. You must've really been scared, hahaha...
I-I wasn't scared! Okay, so I was. Incredibly scared.



Oh... Cool. Um, Io, is that...?
Oh! That's right! Stupid Jungo...!
Hm...? I do something wrong?
We saved your life.
U-Um, well...



If you all hadn't come... I'd be dead?
Well, assuming Nicaea is right about this stuff...

Jungo shakes his head as if dismissing the comment...

...Doesn't matter. Right or not, you came.



No problem.

Jungo smiles happily...

Thanks. I'm in your corner.



Oh... Hi, Fumi.
Hey there.



Seriously, you feeling okay, Fumi? You're not sick or anything?
No, I'm fine. I was under their control, but it's not like they experimented on me.
The question remains, though, what to do about the Nagoya branch. It's been overrun...
What are your plans now?
Um... We rescued Daichi, and Jungo's safe too... What should we do, Hibiki?
Let's take JP's back.
Uh...!? You're gonna help?
Huh... Good answer. You're a handy fellow to have around.
So... are we going to the Nagoya JP's office?
Well... I do owe them. I'm not keen on fighting, but I'll put that aside for now...



Cool, then it's decided. Well, once our leader gives the word.

Everyone looks at you...

Let's do this!
Mmm-hmm!
Yeah!
Sure...

You lead everyone out of the area...



Okay, sweet. Fumi and Jungo are both pretty good, albeit direct opposites of each other. Like, compare their stats and they're basically identical but Jungo puts points into Str/Vit whereas Fumi goes Mag/Agi. It's pretty nuts how directly opposite each other they are.

They also push the Best Characters count up to like 6, so there's that too.



We also get Jungo's Fate level 1 much like how we got Keita's when we saved him.



As per usual, though, Hibiki leveled up a bit from that previous fight so we got some new dudes to fuse. Mezuki here came from an Orcus and a Jack Frost. I gave it Anti-Ice to patch up its Ice weakness; not much else to say about it really. It's a Touki demon with a minor slant towards Magic which is weird (its 12 by default vs its 11 Strength) but whatever.

That really just serves to highlight how oddly Strength oriented this level area really is; a traditionally Strength demon had to have an extra point in Magic just as a token gesture to make it so you can have something that casts spells still.



I also grabbed a Garm from combining Ictinike and Mahakala. A relatively fast Strength oriented demo's a good fit for Multi-Hit if you ask me; its massive HP bolstered by its passive boost means its gonna hurt dudes with that Berserk too. Mow Down's just for crowd control.

Also seeing this dude makes me glad that the reinforcement lady from before didn't have one. That might've been an actual, real problem.



We're actually almost done with all of the plot in Nagoya now, if you can believe it. We'll deal with what little remains next time, and I guess hang out with some people. One of which, when she has an event available, WILL be Fumi.

The question, then, is who else?