The Let's Play Archive

Shin Megami Tensei if

by satsu

Part 11





There's no point having our demons out here, since all they'll do is eat up all our magnetite. We return them to the computer for now. Nurse Kayama can't heal the dead Willy, so we'll have to just leave him in the computer for now, too.
Tammy heads up to the school's fire escape.



> Leave through the fire escape?



After leaving the school, Tammy comes to a strange room.


Reiko:
It's just like some kind of temple...
Making something like this is just like Hazama...


All the doors except the way back to the school are sealed tight. Tammy tries the small room in the middle...


> Room of the Seal
The Ring of Humility started shining...


The seal opens slightly...
And the seal on the western door was lifted.


We don't know what lies ahead, but we can't just sit and wait to die.


> The seal on the door to the World of Pride has been lifted.


> The World of Pride

Just by the entrance to the World of Pride is a healing spring staffed by a cheery elf.


Healing Elf: This is a healing spring!
It can do things like heal, revive and lift curses!

We can finally heal up our demons and revive Willy, so we do so, and continue exploring.
We run into some denizens of the Demon World, but after our experiences so far, we aren't afraid.



Demon Worlder:
The Demon Emperor is the ruler of this world.
This world is ruled under his great power and is split into the World of Pride, the World of Gluttony, the World of Sloth...


Demon Worlder:
Did you come from the other world too?
...Even since the Demon Emperor came, lots more people have been coming from the other side.


Shiki Zombie Girl x3 appeared!

It looks like not all of them have been as lucky as us. Tammy tries to talk to one of her fallen classmates, hoping that she can get through to whatever is left in the rotting body.


Zombie Girl:
ASOJfcfhadj fh aliuhf ceaEAOFJEFJa ... FIDAHJIEHFa./ RFQA .

> You can't talk to the Zombie Girl!
It looks like something's wrong with your computer.

WINDOWS!

Zombie Girl:
AGHJRIVTw mgakljs hwer$#QITVI$J mdalskjn....

> Something's definitely wrong.

Zombie Girl:
AEI$HVtc489t29! 8g KQ#$T 43 q8uyhfwanejvwmu....!!

> Zombie Girl suddenly attacked!

The Zombie Girls get a few free attacks in, during which time Tammy reboots her Arm Terminal. She tries making contact again.

Zombie Girl:
Hey, will you dance with me?

Tammy agrees.

Zombie Girl:
Heeehehehe!
Go, go!
...You've got no rhythm!

The Zombie Girl gets mad and enters battle mode. I guess we've got no choice... Rest in pieces.

The battle was tough, but it turns out Zombie Girls are highly flammable. However, Tammy is left paralysed and Reiko poisoned, forcing us to go through some grueling battles before we can get healed. Looks like we can't fend off demons with just sports equipment any more...



Demon Worlder:
There's a town just ahead. It used to be near the Room of the Seal, but the Demon Emperor moved it to where it is now.

Tammy presses on and finds some stairs up. She climbs the stairs, and finds herself in a small town within the dungeon.

The town, thankfully, has a few shops. In direct defiance of school regulations, Tammy and Reiko buy a couple of Desert Eagles and bullets. This should keep us in good stead. We're still a little weak defensively, though...



Guardian Old Man:
Want me to tell you about Guardians?
Death will not come to you who have come from the other world while you are here. When you would normally die, the soul of a unincarnated demon will enter your body. This demon's soul will save your body from death and grant you power. They are like your guardian angels - hence the name Guardian.
However, the Guardian is decided by your actions up until your death. Those who waste their lives and die worthlessly will only be possessed by worthless demons. Only those who make the most of their lives and do not fear death will receive the true power.


Demon Worlder:
I heard that if you come here during a crescent moon, a hot man will appear! That's why I've been waiting here all along! They say he gives cute girls he meets during the crescent moon wonderful presents!

Basically, we need to turn up at a 1/8 moon. This sounds promising... We stroll around the town, passing time.


During our walk, we discover a Jakyo Manor, where the resident tells us we can fuse demons together to produce stronger minions. However, we aren't strong enough to control the demons we can produce yet...

We search around some more, and find a room marked CB for Code Breaker.




Nandi:
Namaste! I'm Mr Nandi from India! It's been so long since I've seen a familiar face. I'm so glad!
Why don't you play Code Breaker?
It's easy, you just have to guess the number and there's a hint.

Why not, we're killing time anyway.

Nandi:
One game costs one Metal Card.
Mr Nandi will enter a 3 digit number from 1-5, that'll be the answer.
You guess the number, and H, B will appear in the Judge column. H means hit: the number and position are correct. B means blow: the number is right, but the position is wrong. You win the big prize if you get all hits. I'll give you a hint if a number is there or not. Two circles means that number is there, one circle means that the number is there somewhere. X means the number isn't there.

We'll get a better prize depending on how fast we get it.



I don't want to slow things down right now, so I'll do it myself. But we'll come back here later and I'll ask you to pick the numbers then. We can get more Metal Cards easily.


See, it's not that hard.
We win an item that recovers most HP/MP. Could be useful later.


We spend some more time until the crescent moon. Along the way, we recruit a Knocker:

He specialises in utility magic mostly, and is a slight improvement over our current stock, but destined to be fusion fodder. Knockers are fickle spirits of the earth, and a bitch to recruit.

Man, this is taking for ever. This better be worth it.

Meanwhile, we fuse Knocker and Willy to create Youki Ihika...


...and fuse him with Pixie to create Fallen Angel Gagison, who boasts speed, strength and strong magic.

Eventually, it's finally 1/8 moon.


Demon World Man:
Why, young lady...
It must have been so hard for a girl to come all this way...
And you're such a pretty young thing, too... Well, then, I have something nice to give you.

> The Demon World Man gave pretty young Tammy the Iron Bunny Ears.

Despite being utterly ridiculous and rather demeaning, this is the best headgear we can get at the moment.

Anyway, that's enough of this area. We spend our spare cash on new equipment, and press on.



> There is a statue of the Demon Emperor.

Voice:
...Looks like the strays have come again.


Welcome to the World of Pride...
You are here because you vainly think that you can leave the Demon World by yourself. Thinking that you can do anything is the height of Pride! Know your powerlessness...!



Slightly disturbed by the apparition, we continue our exploration. We find some stairs up out of town, and back into demon-infested corridors...


Demon Worlder:
Fallen Angel Vine swore loyalty to the Demon Emperor, and has been trusted with handling the World of Pride. I hear he was given the Ring of Fasting as proof of the oath.

Wikipedia posted:

In demonology, Vine is an Earl and also a King of Hell, commanding 36 legions of demons. He can tell present, past and future, discover witches and hidden things, create storms and make the water rough by means of them, bring down walls and build towers.

This demon is portrayed as a lion holding a snake in his hand and riding a black horse.

During our journey, we run into the Demon World Man a couple more times, and as before, he hands out some nice armour. One item is the skimpy High Leg Armour, which provides both good protection and a nice view of the wearer's thighs. Tammy decides to keep the Kaiser Armour she bought from the shop.

Shortly after, we gain a new minion.



Yama "Kyaku"
Apparently a Nepalese demon, but I can't figure out the name. Slightly fragile, but it packs two useful spells in Bufu and Zan, and our first instant-death spell: Hama. Hama is effective against the undead, so no more hacking on Zombies for ages while Kyaku's around.


A couple of floor later, we come to large, foreboding room, and what is obviously the end of the dungeon. Tammy summons Jack Frost and Kyaku for extra support, and bravely enters the door.


Never mind the ZSNES bug
Vine:
I've been waiting for you brats!
The Demon Emperor ordered me to just treat you fairly... but it looks like I could crush you with just a wave of my hand! Bwaahahaha!


Datenshi Vine x1 appeared!

The battle is seriously tough, lasting several turns. Jack Frost boosts the party's defences with Taru Kaja, but Vine still has some very powerful spells: Zionga, which is potentially strong enough to OHKO a party member, and Maha Zionga, a party-wide version of the same that can take 3/4s off everyone's HP. However, by using our strongest attacks and magic attacks boosted by Kyaku's Maka Kaja spell, we eventually prevail!


Tammy received the Ring of Fasting.

Now we've got to backtrack out of this place. Time to take the opportunity to strengthen Tammy and Reiko a bit more, as well as fuse some good demons.