Part 14: Master Mitra

Palace of Pleasure



Before we go deal with Mitra, there's still a few parts of the palace to check out first.



There's the entire rest of the 8th floor for starters, though that's kind of an obvious one.



Doesn't seem like it's going to be a particularly large area, since I can clearly see where the Unlock door by Mitra's room leads to.



Around the corner to the north of there, we find another Gate Search door we can't open. Great.



Then we've got a Vodyanik around the corner from there. Nothing past this guy though.

Why isn't the door here? I thought this was where the hidden door was supposed to be...
Ohhh, of course. I'm thinking of the floor below!

He's just here as a hint for how to find Mitra, basically. We've already done that though so we'll just head back south towards the elevator.



There was one sidepath I skipped, that leads to this guy.

Hm? What business hast thou here?
Ho, a human? Thou shalt meet thine end in this place...
Humans appear to be untroubled by fear.
'Tis why thou art capable of wracking a planet, I suppose.

> The demon is looking at your weapon.

I will admit this... thy blade is finely crafted, truly.
I ask thee: art thou strong?

Well, my Strength isn't exactly my highest stat. In fact right now it might be either 2nd lowest or tied at the bottom with Magic.

Yes.
Thou hath no small measure of confidence in thy skill... So be it.
Wilt thou tarry a while with me?
I have yet to introduce myself. I am called Halphas.



I have wanted for stimulus in these recent days; pure battle is lacking in grace for my tastes.
I thought to enjoy a hunt, the sport of a gentleman, but alas, I have no rival.
Wilt thou accept my challenge?
I accept.
Then I shall release the game.



Now, let us begin the hunt! We shall begin at one full moon and end at the next.
Prithee wait a while until the next full moon.
Ready... Begin!



When on this quest, a few new Enemy Searches just appear. This is the only one that's super obvious, since we passed here moments earlier.



Mamedanuki in this context are the first ES Demon we've seen that is not Unknown at first. It's also somewhat special, in that several appear in fixed locations throughout the palace.



We'll kill this one for its tissue and move immediately on. We'll deal with the actual quest, and Mamedanukis in general, later.



But during this, we'll head on down to the 5th floor from the lefthand side of the 6th.



It's a fairly simple and linear area, that has a couple doors we can't open. Also a Magic Incense. Increases Hitonari's Magic by 1 and fully restores HP and MP.

Specifically Hitonari's; you can't use an Incense on demons. We won't be using it for a while, if ever, though. If you care enough, you CAN get an infinite number of these eventually.



And whenever the moon cycle is complete, Halphas yells really loudly and we hear him from wherever we are. It doesn't teleport us back to him, though; that's all on us to deal with.



We'll do it later. Back on 5th, this guy is happy that the 2nd elevator is also functional. There's a lot of Bootes left to explore... but we can't get to any of it.



So instead, it's back to the 8th floor we go. No special extra prep for Mitra. He's not worth the effort.

In the Master's Name



But to point your blade at me, of all things...!
I was mistaken to show you mercy! The result proves what all my experiments have shown!



In every way, shape, and form, humans are pointless creatures!
Now that our efforts in reshaping you humans have failed..
We must reshape this entire world that we might inhabit it again!
I shall carve a reminder of this vow from your skull and wear it with pride!

Tyrant Mitra

Vehement Rage



Mitra... may in fact be easier than Morax was. He has a larger variety of moves but the only one that's anything resembling a threat isn't used unless the fight drags on and on.



But, well, he's weak to Wind and we have a lot of that. And Rakundas.



Attack-wise, Mitra is actually a Physical oriented demon in practice.



Rampage and Explosive Fist can be potent but aren't major threats, thankfully.



On paper, this is a terrifying thing to see. Mabufudyne is a pretty powerful move, and is kind of unusual to see at this stage. But, uh, Mitra's magic is kind of awful so...



While it does deal a relatively large amount of damage, it's still not a threat.



Much like with Morax, Mitra has a bit of a special ability unique to him (as a boss in particular). In fact, he has two but Waking Dream is the more common one to see by far.

It's fairly weak, multi-target Almighty damage but what makes it worth caring about is that it has a ~60% chance of inflicting Strain. But, uh, it's Strain which is only a big deal if it hits something like Moh Shuvuu. Except we can cure it.



Light of Order is way more threatening, because it's just an instant kill. It cannot ever work on Hitonari (it only affects demons) but balances this out by being Almighty elemental and having a base 100% chance of working. Yikes.

Most things online claim it is only ever performed a non-specific number of turns after Waking Dream, and that he runs on a flat pattern whenever he's not doing that, but uh... no, that's wrong. He does only do Light of Order if he's already used Waking Dream, but there is no set number of turns he has to wait. It could be dozens, it could be immediate.

The End



Resistance wise, Mitra is also immune to Ice and that's basically it of note. You CAN reduce him to -4 in anything if you want. That's not something that upsets anyone right now.



EXP isn't too bad and the Chakra Pot is a nice drop as well. Full MP to a single target? Don't mind if I do.

End

Silence



These... broken creatures... without a future...
......





Rare Forma just like the Brass Horn from before. We'll be waiting a while to see what this gives us.



But this is what we were after. Later, Bootes!

Prayer



The energy mass you retrieved must be sent to analysis immediately.
Proceed directly to the command room.

Malevolence and Benevolence



Mission "Bootes Rosetta" is confirmed complete.
With the data extracted from the Roseta, we should be able to break through the quantum tunnel above.
Preparations for the plane shift are already underway.



And you say the quantum fields limiting traffic are unlcoked with certain information?
Which is held by demons... It's hard to believe, but we mustn't blink in the face of the truth.
The common factors between Morax's case and Mitra's case only support the theory.



It's unclear whether they created the sectors or occupied them after their creation...
Whichever it is, our goal is the same: we must take their Rosettas to move on to the next sector.



Those are the very demons we are fighting now.
The professor believed these life forms would appear as antipodes to human society.
The more burden humans place on the Earth by multiplying and consuming natural resources...
The more energy flows into the Schwarzwelt as a reaction.
This energy has an intelligence and a will, modeled after human behavior.
Of course, we can't rely solely on his theory for guidance...
Dr. Hammerschmidt never predicted that we would have to fight the demons, as we must continue to do.



Wasn't this Rosetta shit supposed to show us the way home!?
We're yanked around like a monkey on a string, and all we get in return is one lousy step forward!?
Arthur! Are you really looking for a way outta here!?

Jimenez, we went through this at the end of Antlia. It's not that easy...



Wh-What...!?
I am aware that the strike team is under a great deal of stress, but you must control yourself.
First Lieutenant Zelenin. You are on the monitor team, correct?
Observing the demons is closely tied to observing the Schwarzwelt.



Yes... I'm prepared. I'll do all that I can. Except one thing...



Too bad, sister... You're throwing a great way of making new friends down the tubes.
Well, to each his own.
Just don't get in our way, 'kay?
......



I'll gladly work with you, but not with demons.
I'm Zelenin. Nice to meet you.
Alright... Name's Jimenez. Nice meeting you.



Yes, I'm in the same situation. The Elve is still missing, after all.
I'd like to hope it's safe, but...



Just give the order and we'll go, Command!
Acknowledged. Thank you, Terry.
We will make the plane shift once all hands are ready.
All hands, please take positions to plane shift.



Later Bootes. We'll be back later, I'm sure...





Carina is technically a super-old constellation, being part of the Argo Navis - named after the ship that Jason and the Argonauts rode during the search for the Golden Fleece.



Carina itself is the Keel of a ship and became a separate constellation (along with Puppis (poopdeck) and Vela (sails)) in 1763. If that year sounds familiar, it certainly should. The Argo was broken up like this by none other than Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille who you may remember (but probably not) as the discoverer of Antlia.

Monitors, please begin your atmospheric surveys.



You'll be part of the mission from this sector forward, so best of luck to you.
Thank you. I'll do what I can to make myself useful.
Where should I start? Pinpointing the quantum tunnel's location, maybe?
Finding the next fresh hell is fine and all, but don't forget to look for our way home, okay?
I know it's important to explore and all, but I worry we're just getting ourselves in deeper.



Crewman Jimenez. My neural network contains no unnecessary functions such as faith.
I am programmed only to provide guidance based on the information collected.
Geez Louise, man, you don't have to argue every smartass remark!
Maybe you don't have faith, but you sure know how to take offense like a flesh-and-blood human. Christ...



I kind of have to agree here.

Wha--!?



Um, how about if I save time and send the feed right to your viewscreen... Take a look at this.



Fear



Brightly-lit stores and shelves full of products!?



Can anyone tell me why there's a shopping mall in an alternate dimension in Antarctica!?
Look at the variety of stuff on display... It gives me the creeps.
This shopping mall... This was in the pictures the drones sent, too.
We all assumed it was a mistake, but... here it is. Direct-feed images from the Schwarzwelt...

So this makes 3/4ths of the things we saw in the intro match perfectly. And everytime people are surprised. You'd think by this point, they wouldn't be.



The atmospheric conditions are fine, anyway. We shouldn't have any trouble operating outside.
So this sector shows signs of the human world, too...
Looks like Dr. Hammerschmidt's theories were correct once more.
He posited a causal relationship between the Schwarzwelt and human behavior.



Well, us goons on the strike team might not know much about your theories...
But it's looking to me like the demons built the Schwarzwelt as a way of studying their enemy.
Still... this place is nuts. Lots of good stuff here, though!
Hope I don't end up maxing out my card's limit.



Arthur, we have radar contact at 4 o'clock!
It's a giant ship!
A giant ship!? Is it one of ours!?
Acknowledged. Please attempt to establish contact.
Roger that! Transmission sent!
The Blue Jet's been scrapped, and the Elve was attacked by demons...



......
That's a good guess, but...
Hmmm? That's strange...
Arthur, the ship's still unidentified and I'm not getting much of an answer.



The Elve!? You're sure about this!?
Oh, thank goodness it's still intact!

...If the Elve is here, how did Zelenin get into the middle of Bootes?

This is indeed a stroke of luck.
However, our inability to contact them suggests a high probability that they are having difficulties.
Hey, Kato... You said there was a "strange response"? What's that mean, exactly?



It doesn't seem that way...
They are answering our signal, but it's not a proper response.
Could be that the Elve's Command Unit is malfunctioning.
The Elve was attacked by demons, and its present signal cannoy be confirmed as that of the crew.



It would be premature at this stage to launch a rescue mission.
No... You'd abandon them?
Our course of action should be based on the Elve's usefulness.
Let us consider the situation from this perspective.
The Elve's radio is functional. We may assume that the ship is also in working condition.
From there, we can anticipate that other equipment onboard is also viable.
By equipment, you mean the graviton radio, yes?
That is correct.
If we retrieve the Elve's graviton radio, it may become possible to communicate with Earth.





Now you're talking!
There can be no guarantees, but it will improve our chances significantly.
The likelihood is strong enough that it is worth issuing an official directive.



Hopefully there will also be survivors onboard to rescue...
I understand your concerns, First Lieutenant Zelenin.
However, it would be best if you proceed as part of the team.
I am assigning you to observe this sector.
Select a support crew and investigate on site.
Understood.
As a point of interest...
We have used the Rosetta Manifold from Mitra to enhance the Demon Summoning Program.



Strike force team, prepare to receive the patch.
Heyyy, looks like we can beef ourselves up even more, Tadano.





...Hey! What are you doing summoning demons inside teh ship!?
Stop that! Stop it right now!
Don't be so uptight. You gotta keep in touch with your underlings, y'know?
It's 'cause him and me are so tight that he fights for me... See?
...Buga!



You guys are such sticklers for the rules...
Oh well. C'mon back, Bugaboo.
Buga! Boo!



You say you want to escape, but you're making nice with demons... An odd contradiction, I'd say.
Hey, how about I carry out the missions, and you worry about your end, all right?



I look forward to the successful completion of your mission.

We'll get to that eventually, but it doesn't seem too important.

So, we're going to head back to Bootes to finish up a whole buncha sidequests. And optional bosses. But mainly sidequests.