Part 28: Find the Vanishing Point

Prayer



So, what is it that the Goetite gives us in the end?



You're probably not at all surprised by this. It was right by a guy who teased it, its name was virtually identical to what gave us Search A...



Guess we're almost outta here, huh? It's all ridin' on you.
This material fusion equipment can make all kindsa stuff, but it can't make Mom's meat pies...
...Say, Tadano.
I hear tell there's all sortsa booby traps in Eridanus. You havin' any trouble out there?
That's what we make them Sub Apps for, ya know.
I'll fix ya up anything ya want! We're for y'all! Anythin' to help get back to Earth!

Or, in other words, use Medic! The game hands you it for minimal effort for a reason.



But anyway, yeah, with the Forma Search B we can now find Silver Forma! This generally just lets us find upgraded versions of Sector specific Forma...



But Antlia has this thing. 1 of them isn't enough to do anything with though; we need 3.



Each Sector only adds a tiny handful of new Forma with this, but they're potentially worth our time to deal with.



Bootes also has a unique Core, but this one is Magic huh? Hmm..



It's also the only one that gave me this. Rising Cores are a bit different, in that they CAN appear in every Sector but this one is the only one that spawned.



In terms of upgrades on old Forma, two is the most we'll find in any given Sector right now.



But they seem to each have a unique Core that is named after a stat. Odd, that one...



So, if you discount the Rising Core, each sector gives 2 or 3 new Forma and I use the word "new" generously.



In practice, it's just the one. If this pattern holds out, then we should be able to find a Luck Core in Eridanus. Or maybe there isn't one of those just out of spite. Who knows.



Anyway, we got some new stuff so let's see what we can get out of it.

Oh, it's just this. Chakra Pots are all we can get with one Rising Core, since its 1 of those and 3 Chakra Cores. Totally worth it, considering what it does.

We need more Rising Cores or way more of the stat cores before they'll even appear as mystery items.

A Land Controlling Roads



Not gonna worry about that for now, though. We have stuff to do in Eridanus and hopefully we can find a thing for progress now.

We can also find the basic Defense forma with the Search B so that's something.



The normal area around here had a bunch of empty dead-ends past hidden doors. I'm sure they'll have at least something we can use. It'd be a weird and dumb area otherwise!



The hidden door inside the sanctum at least gives us this.



And while it sure is a rare forma, it gives us a different message. Hmm...



The material detection pattern is unlike anything else we've seen.
Can you bring that forma to the device?
We may be able to get it online. Let's test it out.



We'll do that in a bit. First, we need to make sure that there's nothing else around.... here...

There still isn't. Huh, how about that.



Oh and Irving has NOTHING to say about the Asteria Stone at all. Not even a comment about him being unable to use it.



But hey now we can make Agilao Stones for the low-low price of AC Eridite II x1 and Genma Jar x2 (Tlaloc). Yeah, uh, I'm probably not going to bother!



We couldn't do anything with the DF right now, but maybe we'll be able to get something out of the AT. We'll see later.



Oh and if you do loop around with the normal area being active, this is just an empty dead-end as well. At least this one makes marginally more sense...?

Malevolence and Benevolence



Nothing else to do right now, so let's go back to Zelenin.

Let me see it!



......



Let's try it, Hitonari!
It's the same size as the recessed area... This could be it.

> Zelenin inserted the Asteria Stone.



And I was right--it IS a teleportation device! We can finally make some progress!
Let's go and see what's out there.



Wow, that was a very short teleport, huh...

But this teleportation device... Why was it set there?
To test any infiltrators...?
Well, at any rate, I'll go and report the device to Arthur.
The rest of the crew should be informed so they can use it too.
All right, Hitonari. Good luck with the investigation.

A Land Controlling Roads



So, immediately after stepping through the teleporter we come to a branch in the path. Judging from the map, and our relative location on 2F, south just brings us to a shortcut back to the hub so this teleporter ahead is progress.





And this one's already on...

In The Master's Name



...Aaah! A demon!?



Begone.

> The demon is guarding the teleporter...



It's just a Ghoul. Let's upgrade it into a Cripsy Dead...

Fool... Did you not... hear what I said...?





Begone. Do not... cause trouble...
I will let none pass... who do not have permission...



I can't pick him up on Enemy Search either... It seems he's here on someone else's orders.
We may abe to leave this teleportation device be for the moment...
Let's keep looking around for areas we haven't searched yet.

A Land Controlling Roads



Alright, fine. I guess we need to head on somewhere else after all then. We can't get past the Ghoul because it's a plot barrier and thus we can't just kick its ass.



Even though it IS a Ghoul. And the game gave us that choice and then went "nuh-uh."



Anyway, aside from the shortcut back to the odd central hub like place, there are... stairs up to the... 3rd floor...?



And it's a white room-esque area but with an open sky. Huh, how about that.

Also there's a healing spot right by the stairs for some reason I don't understand.



This floor is big and open, and there's a door over on the left that we can find at least.



It has a guy in it.

We Four Devas have come in response to the restoration of a world full of energy.
If you as well desirest energy within...



Even should thy goals diverge from our own...
......
First, thou must defeat me.
However, pure battle will avail thee little. There are rules thou shalt observe.



Skills, specifically. Items are understandably fine, because that's a lot to expect someone to just toss out arbitrarily for a sidequest.

Lay these demons aside when thou wouldst challenge me.
As well, thou canst not summon new demons in the midst of our combat.
If thou dost accept these terms, let us begin.
Wilt thou train?
Yes.
When you art prepared, returned thou to me.

When he says recovery and resurrection, he means EVERYTHING that can be described in those terms. Even if its illogical and makes no sense. Oh one of your demons by default has Posumudi and you didn't bother to Source it off? Try again, loser.

One quick party shuffle to ensure that he doesn't lolnope later...



Then let us begin thy trial!

Kishin Zouchouten

Vehement Rage
haha are you serious game oh you are thats depressing



So, Zouchouten is... a colossal joke, to put it nicely.



He's weak to Ice. Which means Frost Cannon time!

...He resists Phys and reflects Fire. Normally resists Expel and Curse but here he's immune for obvious reasons.



Does a bunch of basic Physical attacks. He might - MIGHT - cast like Agidyne at some point maybe? I'unno, he dies too fast for me to notice or care. If he does, well, that's what Frost Ace is for anyway.



Gives awful EXP and far, far below acceptable Macca. The ES Forma here sells for quadruple that. Zouchouten please stop being terrible??

Oh and he is unlocked from this, if you're ever going to use him. His Source gives Fire Amp so it's honestly worth it for getting that as early as you can at least. The next opportunity isn't until level 46, so...

End

A Land Controlling Roads



Not bad.

The fuck do you mean "not bad"?

But I can tell that thou art not satisfied.
Keep up thy training that thou might amass more power.



This seems like a random reward, but it's a rare forma. We're not taking it back to Irving just yet, though.



Anyway, this loser trashed we'll take on the second De-- oh. I guess we won't. Because we can't. Fine. Be that way.



The floor is kind of mirrored, so there's a hidden door over on the right as well.



A heavenly king on one side and an angel on the other? Hmm. Nope, this doesn't seem symbolic of anything at all to me.

I am Kazfiel. Forgive the brevity of my introduction; it is truly a pleasure to meet you.
We have infiltrated this land and are moving to reclaim a world of order.
I see that you, too, are conducting an investigation here.
May both of our journeys be blessed.
......

> The angel is thinking.



We are looking for strong men, in body and in mind.
Why not test your strength against me?
Should you win, you shall earn greater power...
But a simple battle is unworthy of us. We shall fight under special rules.



Okay, now THIS one is meaner than "no healing spells!" Fortunately, I have just the setup in mind...

Needlessly to say, switching demons during battle is prohibited.
If you assent to these conditions, then let us have a match.
Will you undergo my trial?
Then please prepare yourself and then talk to me again.

This is just a question of "can you math" while also being an implicit hard level cap on what you can bring. After a while, you're limiting yourself to one demon but I can bring 3 and technically one of them is unnecessary for this.



Then, here I come...

Herald Kazfiel

Vehement Rage
...Again? Really just give this out to anything these days, huh?



Okay, in all seriousness Kazfiel IS harder than Zouchouten, but that's setting a low bar.



He IS weak to Elec, but unless you have a good Magic demon (or Strength MC) there's not much point to capitalising on it. The Frost Shot from the cannon actually outdamages the Bolt Spray + Co-Op with this setup and since you've probably just thrown together random crap anyway...

Oh an he's immune to Wind, Expel and Curse. No other resistances.

Except ailments. At best, he's at a 50% rate for everything... except Bomb and Rage which we can't do so welp.



He'll spend some time attacking normally like a loser then actually sort of try and hurl Garudynes constantly. Don't be actually weak to Wind and you'll be fine.



He gives better EXP than Zouchouten, but no macca. We also don't unlock him from this, so I guess he's just usable right out the box. Weird.

End

A Land Controlling Roads



Y'know, I probably could've put more effort into demolishing him but this was already a re-recording done months after the original run for... reasons, so I just focused on getting it done rather than showing off.

...Yes, the same is true for Zouchouten. Dude is made of paper.

If you wish to ascend to even greater strength, continue past the hidden door.
Your potential is great. I have high expectations.



Because this floor is a mirror, we can't open that hidden door yet. Kazfiel being a big ol' lying liar. Who lies.

Which if you know anything about Kazfiel is actually pretty accurate. His name should end "biel" but thanks to Japanese quirks it ends "fiel" instead but either way it means "he who lies to God" after all!

Because Kazfiel is a fallen angel. The games never make him one and instead make him Biqa (his pre-fall version) but never call him that. Because reasons.



But we have two rare forma. Let's take them BOTH to Irving at once!



Because of this. They each give 3 of these; the Abacus gives Double Down, Hercules and Orion whereas the Paper Sheet gives Orpheus, Achilles and Theseus.

It's a weird pair because 5 of these make a set.

Double Down is good for skill change abuse and you get it not too long after you can realistically get a Mayahuel. This is ridiculous. I'll explain one of these days, I swear. It's just really long and not a lot of people probably care that much.


Orpheus is Magic;
Orion is Vitality;
Achilles is Agility;
Theseus is Luck.

The other 5 all give a potential 4th stat point to a demon. Except you can equip all of them at once (in lieu of any other SubApp) so you can theoretically get 3-8 stat points per level for a demon. It's... not really worth losing All Your SubApps for, but if there was a way around that it might be worth something.



Your world will soon be annihilated.
Your actions from this point on are futile.

Ah well, back into the sector we go. There's a door down here with a random Titan to talk to.



That door is an elevator that only leads to the... TOP floor? I sure hope that's where we'll find the Vanishing Point.

Malevolence and Benevolence





...What maze? Nothing has been particularly maze like, I wouldn't say.

So, you find the Vanishing Point?



Our objective may be near.
Another non-answer.



I hope you're right...
Anyway, be careful, Hitonari.

Right, so real quick before we do anything else here...



Got a couple demons to make. Dominion gives a source I really want for... reasons and is kind of decentish I guess? They have Megido at least which is something.



But Rakshasa. Whew boy, Rakshasa. His initial skills are awful (why does he have Agilao and two of the worst Phys skills???) but he's easy to make really good. No ailment resistances, mind.

And, yeah, his Poison basic attack is a neat surprise. It has a 10% chance too, which is cool.



Anyway, a thing you may have noticed but probably not from the alert about a powerful demon was a white line on the edge of the map. We have a section of this area mapped out already. Hmm...



See, you're all just finite. That's no match for the infinite power and eternal life of Ouroboros!

Hey, there's another Kin-Ki up here. And he tells us who the final boss is gonna be. The Master here is Ouroboros, huh? I can see that totally making some sense.



Anyway, there's no door on that wall, so it's either hidden or more likely around the back. This is a big ol' open area, after all and it wouldn't be THAT simple...



Not getting much luck thus far, but there's an outer ring apparently and that item container is something we can see briefly while turning in this one spot. You might fleetingly notice it, get annoyed and move on. 'Swhat I did.



No doors, hidden or otherwise, round the back... but we did get some Defense II out of it so it's not all bad.



Not seeing any doors at all, here. Hidden, locked or normal. Just more new forma, sort of. Can't really complain but...

Malevolence and Benevolence



> But you can see no spot that leads to the other side...



I'm linked with your Demonica and I see you've detected an intense energy pattern!
The Vanishing Point must be ahead!



Now we can go back home!
Way to go, Hitonari! You got me pumped for the mission again!
One last push and we're through!



Huh...? You can't get past there?
Oh, don't worry about that! We're on our way to help!
If we all look around, I'm sure we can find the Vanishing Point!
I'll get in touch with Arthur!
He'll be able to assess whether that's the Vanishing Point or not!



The phenomenon you have detected is most likely the Vanishing Point.



Uhhh....

Silence

What...!? Arthur, what's going on!?
Attention, all crew.



Fear



Wait, what? Why?!

What!? NOW!? What's going on?
What is this emergency!? I demand an explanation!



This mission is urgent. Further briefing will be provided upon your return to the ship.
Crewman Hitonari, I have examined the equipment of all the Red Sprite's crew.



There is no reason to maintain a presence there now.
All crew, return to the ship.
What could be so urgent that it might affect our escape...?
Hey! Hey!! What am I supposed to do, just grin and bear it! Huh!?

A Land Controlling Roads



Sure enough, it's a hidden door we can't open yet. Great.

Well, just out of spite we'll stick around a bit longer and see what we missed. There's that ring around the edge here, that we oughta be able to get to.



There's a hidden door on the right of the lift, but we can't open THAT ONE either.



But there's one over to the left that we can!



...Oh. It leads to a healing spot, a terminal and nothing else. Fine, have it your way, Arthur.

Malevolence and Benevolence



Prepare the plane shift to begin our new mission.
But we're so close to escaping... Where are we going, Arthur?



Its origin, a large object moving within the sector, is currently stationary.
Judging from its size, it may be a large ship.
A... large ship?
Is that the energy signature you were talking about on the comm!?

Fear



Could it be the Gigantic...?
They're alive!?
But why Carina...? Were you able to get in touch with them?



But we haven't gotten a response. Could be it's not reaching them.
...It's not a ghost ship, is it?
*sigh* If we'd just hauled ass outta here earlier, we wouldn't have had to deal with this...



Given this situation, I have decided to make investigating the signal from Carina our priority.
The Schwarzwelt Joint Project concurs with this assessment.
We're back to investigating now!? Why!?
I'll tell you what we need to do is get the hell outta here!
The man said there's no response!



B-But... what if there are some survivors...?
You'd just leave them stranged in the Schwarzwelt!?



I agree with Arthur.
...Pretty easy to be so self-righteous now that you know we can escape, huh?
Why we gotta stick our heads back into the lion's mouth?
Not my idea of a good time...



Shouldn't you be thinking about their feelings?
Wow, what a nice thing to say. Now look me in the eye and tell me it's what you really think.



Jimenez! Enough!
...Yeah, yeah,I'll go. Better that than stick around here to argue some more.



Why, you...! Rrrrgh!
I realize everyone will have their own opinion, but please remain calm and rational.



Remain cautious as you carry out the mission.
Now begin preparing for the plane shift to Carina.



Don't know why they bother with this scene here. It's not even really padding. It's just so... pointless.

Malevolence and Benevolence





That's around the helipad, near where we started the Cu Chulainn quest.

We've hailed them, but there's no response.
I highly doubt they wouldn't be able to pick up our signal from here...



I am issuing a new official mission, designated "Signal Investigation."
At present, our only method is to get within viewing distance.
What, they can't drop us a note? They running into trouble?



Let's stay alert. This could be the work of demons...
First Lieutenant Zelenin is correct. You should be prepared for any situation.
Do not let your assumptions lead you astray.
I look forward to the successful completion of your mission.