Part 13

Update number TWELVE.

To the Virtuals it is, then!

Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah.



...
Again?





Woohoo! Now Aleph can see the demons' stats and whatnot! Hooray! On the other hand, a memory increase would have been awesomer.
Oh well, it is free software, can't complain about that.


Trying again.


Oh boy, this guys are BASTARDS.

Wikipedia posted:

Jiraiya (児雷也 - literally "young thunder"), the title character of the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語, "The tale of the gallant Jiraiya"), is a ninja who uses shapeshifting magic to morph into a gigantic toad. The heir of a powerful clan in Kyūshū of the same name, Jiraiya fell in love with Tsunade, a beautiful young princess who masters snail magic. His arch-enemy was his one-time follower, Orochimaru, who mastered in snake magic.

... Snail magic?


It is so far the hardest enemy that has been encountered. And he comes in GROUPS.
Bastard.


Stats!
Due to it being a virtual demon/Gaian asshat, it cannot be recruited... Yet.


Map of the first level.

BOSS: GAGISON.
Click me

Can't find information about Gagison/Gagyson, and the Megaten wiki is down. Oh well.


As you can see, the Gagison is EASIER than the goddamn frog ninja.


Neeext.


Map!

HANNYA!
Click me for a boss fight!

Wikipedia posted:

Hannya (般若 ) is a popular Japanese nō theatre mask design, representing a jealous female demon. It possesses two sharp bull-like horns, glaring eyes, and a leering mouth split from ear to ear.

Notice that Hannya and Hariti share the same character design. Thus, Hariti could be considered a palette swap. Or something like that.


Stats!


Neeext.


Map of neeext :P

And the boss is...
A JIraiya! What the hell? A single jiraiya? In a place where they appear in groups of 3? What the hell, Virtuals.
Click for lame boss fight


Next!


A JACK FROST!
Aww, isn't he adorable?

Wikipedia posted:

Jack Frost is an elfish creature who personifies crisp, cold, winter weather; a variant of Father Winter (AKA Old Man Winter). He is a figure some believe to have originated in Viking folklore.

He is said to leave frosty crystal patterns on windows on cold mornings. Those who believe in Viking folklore roots state that the English derived the name Jack Frost from the Norse character names, Jokul ("icicle") and Frosti ("frost"). Another theory is that he is a much more recent import into Anglo-Saxon culture from a Russian fairy tale. In the Finnish epos Kalevala Canto number 30, translated from Finnish into English by Keith Bosley, Jack Frost is the son of Blast, "Pakkanen Puhurin Poika" (see Finnish Kalevala). Other tales in Russia represent frost as Father Frost, a smith who binds water and earth together with heavy chains. In Germany however, it is an old woman who causes it to snow by shaking white feathers out of her bed.

Here shown in a Sonic-ish pose.


Stats.

Forgot to take a pic of the map. Nothing is lost for it was boring.
BOSS: ONMYOJI. Forgot to take a pic of his stats. Oh well.
CLICK ME!

Wikipedia posted:

Onmyōji (陰陽師 "Yin-Yang master"?) (also on'yōji) was one of the classifications of civil servants belonging to the Bureau of Onmyō in ancient Japan's ritsuryo system. People with this title were professional practitioners of onmyōdō.

Onmyōji were specialists in magic and divination. Their court responsibilities ranged from tasks such as keeping track of the calendar, to mystical duties such as divination and protection of the capital from evil spirits. They could divine auspicious or harmful influences in the earth, and were instrumental in the moving of capitals. It is said that an onmyōji could also summon and control shikigami.

Famous onmyōji include Kamo no Yasunori and Abe no Seimei (921–1005). After Seimei's death the emperor had a shrine erected at his home in Kyoto.

Onmyōji had political clout during the Heian period, but in later times when the imperial court fell into decline, their state patronage was lost completely. In modern day Japan onmyōji are defined as a type of Shinto priest, and although there are many that claim to be mediums and spiritualists, the onmyōji continues to be hallmark occult figure.

Okay, done with the Virtuals. Time to go out.


THERE ARE STAIRS.
STAAAAIRS.


Previously unvisited area of the 21st floor.


Code currently unknown.


God damnit! I am the messiah! Let me pass!
Jedi mind tricks are useless against these guys.

The whole floor is rather boring, no one here except for those guards... And this pair of rooms.

Hell yes!






Booo, no free samples.


Oooh, interesting.



And it suddenly turns into a store!

But goddamn, why is everything expensive? Not a discount for your very own messiah? Bah, damn you all.


Some good items to be acquired, though.


Map of the 21st floor.

Time to go out!

Enormously huge tower.


The exit to Holytown!



Some treasure. Weak, but eh, it'll save a copuple of MP points in the long run, probably.


What's this?



It's a new game thing!
And easily exploitable due to Savestates, too!


Blah blah blah, more instructions.

Time to check the game itself.

Easily abused, won two of the best thingies. Bwaha.


Coil of somesuch. Better than the previous weapon. Hits several times. It kicks ass.


More treasure.


And they let Aleph pass. WHEE.




OUT AT LAST!

And the very moment that Aleph sets a foot out of the fetid tunnel that connected the Holytown area with the Center, he is attacked by a foul apparition that is quite nasty and horrible. Weak, but nasty and horrible.

A HAG!

Wikipedia posted:

A hag (or crone) is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as Hansel and Gretel.[1] Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as the Morrígan or Badbh, who are seen as neither wholly beneficent nor malevolent.[2][3] The term appears in Middle English, and might be short for hægtesse, an Old English term for witch.

Truly, a horrifying creature.


Blue. Oh so very blue.


A Bicorn!
Wikipedia gives Maths stuffs, so I shall quote the SMT3 Demonic Compendium.

Demonic Compendium posted:

An evil creature that looks like a horse with two curving horns. It is said to be the opposite of a Chichevache.

What the hell is a Chichevache?

Wikipedia posted:

Chichevache is a mythological European monster fabled to feed on "good women".

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, this human-faced cow is perpetually starved to skin and bone due to the scarcity of obedient and faithful wives. The Bicorne or Bycorne, a counterpart to the Chichevache that fed on obedient and kind husbands, was reputedly fat and plump because of the plentiful supply of such men.

Chaucer may have borrowed the French word chichifache (thin face) to coin chichevache (thin or meagre cow).[1] D. Laing Purves notes that "The origin of the fable was French; but Lydgate has a ballad on the subject. 'Chichevache' literally means 'niggardly' or 'greedy cow.'"[2]

Here is the paragraph where the word appears in The Canterbury Tales:
"O noble wives, full of high prudence,
Let no humility your tongues nail:
Nor let no clerk have cause or diligence
To write of you a story of such marvail,
As of Griselda patient and kind,
Lest Chichevache you swallow in her entrail.

A Wendigo!

Wikipedia posted:

The Wendigo (also Windigo, Windago, Windiga, Witiko, and numerous other variants)[1] is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans, appearing in Algonquian mythology. Humans who indulged in cannibalism were at particular risk, and the legend appears to reinforce this practice as taboo.

Windigo Psychosis is a culture-bound disorder which involves an intense craving for human flesh and the fear that one will turn into a cannibal. This once occurred frequently among Algonquian Indian cultures, though has declined with the Native American urbanization.

Recently the Wendigo has also become a horror entity of contemporary literature and film, much like the vampire, werewolf, or zombie, although these fictional depictions often bear little resemblance to the original mythology.

God damnit, the Monster had no name! NO NAAAAME!




Hm. A building, time to investigate!


Drat.
All 3 doors are frozen. Oh well.

Suddenly, a demon appears:


God damnit!

Fortunately, Empusa knows the Poison removal spell.


Video of the epic battle against the BASILISK.
BASILIIIIIISK!

Wikipedia posted:

In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk (from the Greek βασιλίσκος basiliskos, a little king, in Latin Regulus) is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power of causing death by a single glance. According to the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk is a small snake that is so venomous that it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal.

Basilisk is also the name of a genus of small lizards, (family Corytophanidae). The Green Basilisk, also called plumed basilisk, is often called the "Jesus lizard" for its ability to run across the surface of water.

Nothing more to do in this area.


Next update: THIS area.