Shin Megami Tensei II

Part 19

Eighteenth Update

First, recruited a Sudama.

Then, fused it to get a Nue.

Then fused that Nue to get a Gyuki.

Wikipedia posted:

The ushi-oni, or gyūki (牛鬼, "ox ogre"?), is a creature which appears in the folklore of Japan. There are various kinds of ushi-oni, all of them some sort of monster with a horned, bovine head.

Perhaps the most famous ushi-oni appears as a protective symbol in the Ushi-oni-matsuri, which is held in late July in Uwajima of Ehime Prefecture. Something like the dragon dancers at a Chinese New Year celebration, this ushi-oni is represented with a huge, multiple-person costume with a cloth body and a carved, painted head held upon a pole. It has a sword for a tail, and is thought to drive away evil spirits.

Another well-known ushi-oni is a massive, brutal sea-monster which lives off the coast of Shimane Prefecture and other places in Western Japan and attacks fishermen. It is often depicted with a spider- or crab-like body. This ushi-oni seems to be connected to another monster called the nure-onna, who sometimes appears before an ushi-oni attack and tricks the victim into holding her child, which then becomes stuck to the person's hands and grows heavier in order to hinder escape.

Yet another ushi-oni is depicted as a statue on the grounds of the Negoroji temple in Wakayama Prefecture. It is a bipedal monster with huge tusks, spurred wrists, and membranes like a flying squirrel. A sign nearby explains that this creature terrorized the area about four-hundred years ago, and was slain by a skilled archer by the name of Yamada Kurando Takakiyo (山田蔵人高清. He dedicated its horns to the temple, and they can still be seen to this day. [1]

Ushi-oni are also mentioned in Sei Shōnagon's tenth-century diary The Pillow Book, and in the Taiheiki of the fourteenth century.

It is evident that it is a similar design to the Tsuchigumo, so I am posting the artwork for that one.

And with that new minion, I advanced.

Ah, access to new areas. That's rather nice.

It's always good to have a good stock of curing items. One never knows when one's healing demonthing is going to get petrified or paralized.

Going down.

Ah, a change of decoration.

Oh what the hell.

And with that, another battle starts.

Click me!

Hooray! Another pillar acquired!

Notice: This was opened at Full Moon.
Did not feel in the mood to check what was the correct phase.

Map.

OUT AT LAST!

A couple of things here.

First that shrine thingie.

I am sure that that will be significant and/or important later.

Time to go inside the big structure.

First code used.

And there is a Healing Garage inside!

And a Gaia Church! With another corrupt priest.

An Archangel!

Wikipedia posted:

Archangels are superior or higher-ranking angels.[1] Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Islam, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. In Biblical Christianity, the only archangel ever clearly named as being of the order is Michael.

The word archangel derives from the Greek αρχάγγελος archangelos = αρχ- arch- ("first, primary, chief") and άγγελος angelos ("messenger").

They are annoyingly strong, and like to heal themselves.
And to oen shot the minions with their Expel spells. And they are asshats that refuse to join the Messiah.

Angels on the other hand...

They are servile and join Aleph without much trouble.

Second code used.

Yay, more money.

A Jakyou Manor. That's convenient.

This is the only good part of this godforsaken dungeon. The great amount of stat increasing items. Just for that, this place is awesome.

On the other hand, it is BORING, BIG and convoluted. I hate it.

Also, recruited a Nightmare.

And after exploring most of it, one meets this:

And with that, she teleports the group one space to the north.

But since the exploration is not yet done...

Ah.Mag. Always useful.

Last code used.

Map of the damned area.

And Nadja does not let me fight this thing

But that doesn't prevent me from getting his art and stuff. It is JANUS.

Wikipedia posted:

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. His most apparent remnants in modern culture are his namesakes, the month of January and the caretaker of doors and halls: Janitor.