Part 23
> The Ring of Charity shone brightly...
> The seal broke slightly...
and the south eastern door opened.
> The World of Greed
Those walls, floors and ceilings look
Kijo Arachne x3 appeared!
Datenshi Baphomet x2 and
Youjuu Black Widow x1 appeared!
On the bright side, the demons are starting to get more and more impressive. It wasn't too long ago that we were getting creamed by Pixies, after all.
I recruit a Baphomet.
Datenshi Baphomet
- Bufudyne, Hapilma, Medirama, Sabatma, 99 Needles, Absorb
Str 9, Int 10, Mag 15, Stm 10, Spd 7, Lck 4
Strangle, he doesn't look like a goat here. His SMT3 form is much more like the classic image. (He appears right in the beginning behind Hikawa.)Wikipedia posted:
Baphomet, as Levi's illustration suggests, has occasionally been portrayed as a synonym of Satan or a demon, a member of the hierarchy of Hell. Baphomet appears in that guise as a character in James Blish's The Day After Judgment. Levi's Baphomet is clearly the source of the later Tarot image of the Devil. The downward-pointing pentagram on its forehead is enlarged upon by Levi in his illustration of a goat's head arranged within such a pentagram, which he contrasts with the microcosmic man arranged within a similar but upright pentagram.
The symbol of the goat in the downward-pointed pentagram was adopted as the official symbol of the Church of Satan, and continues to be used amongst Satanists.
Anyway, Sabatma is interesting, in that it's the only way to summon demons without using the COMP. Can be handy since only the player can use the COMP, and summoning demons with it takes a turn. He also has the top level Bufu spell, healing magic, and the MP to use them.
After this, I accidentally recruited an Arachne, who I won't be using except for fusion.
Demon Worlder:
I'll tell you straight up: the more treasure you take, the stronger Che-Fei gets.
> You found a box. Will you open it?
Now, I know I'm just mad about collecting items, but I'm going to have to let this pass for now. I'll explain exactly why taking all the treasure here is a bad idea just a little bit later.
> You found a box. Will you open it?
Don't tempt me, game.
I went and took it anyway. It was a Soma, a great healing item.
Later...
> You found a box. Will you open it?
No game, I told you already, don't tempt me!
> Tammy received the Headhunter's Spoon.
Now look what you made me do. The Spoon is ridiculously powerful (as well as just plain ridiculous), but also Curses you. Curse means that we can't unequip it, and we'll take damage from it.
> You found a box. Will you open it?
Come on game, I'm trying my best here.
> Tammy received the Raiga Axe.
I'm not very good at this.
The Raiga Axe is about as strong as the cursed Spoon, and it doesn't curse you either.
The dungeon is packed full of comedy teleporters, trap doors and one-way doors; it's just as horrible as the World of Envy, but sans the dark rooms. They even throw in the disorientation panels from the World of Gluttony. Its symmetric patterns and long corridors set it apart from the other dungeons.
The demons are very strong, too, so we end up having to make a couple of trips out again, clinging to the last of our HP and MP.
Make no mistake, this is a dungeon that will chew up and spit out those who underestimate it.
After a couple of hours of stumbling through the maze, we come across a familiar feature of all the dungeons so far...
> A statue of the Demon Emperor is standing there.
Demon Emperor's Voice:
...It's quite rare for anyone to come this far...
Welcome to the World of Greed...
You must have suffered greatly to have trodden this far.
The countless battles you have won and your insatiable desire for victory are all for the sake of your endless greed.
However, your greed will be the end of you... here, in the World of Greed.
Weird, doesn't Hazama usually show up at the start of each dungeon? Maybe we're near the end now.
We carry on down the winding corridors, avoiding the treasure we come across. Along the way is a Lab, but thankfully Otsuki is nowhere to be found.
The party also recruits a few new demons:
Majuu Orthrus
Kerberos' retarded little brother. I guess I can use it for fusion or cannon fodder.
Wikipedia posted:
n Greek mythology, Orthrus (also called Orthros, Orthos, Orthus, Orth and Orphus) was a two-headed dog and a doublet of Cerberus, both whelped by the chthonic monster Echidne by Typhon. "Orthus has a phallic name that means 'Upright-erect' and is a herm-like figure; and as for his two heads, presumably one looked backward."
He was owned by the three-bodied Titan, Geryon. Orthrus and his master, Eurytion, were charged with guarding Geryon's herd of red cattle in the "sunset" land of Erytheia ("red one"), one of the islands of the Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. Heracles eventually slew Orthrus, Eurytion, and Geryon, before taking the red cattle to complete his tenth labor.
Orthrus was one among Echidna's fearsome brood listed in Hesiod, Theogony (306ff). He sired with her further chthonic monstrous creatures: the Chimera, the Sphinx (Iliad ix.664), the Lernaean Hydra, and even, Hesiod says, the Nemean lion.
Yama Succubus
To add a bit of
to the team. Again, I don't plan to use her.Wikipedia posted:
In Western medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi) is a demon who takes the form of a female to seduce men (especially monks) in dreams to have sexual intercourse. They draw energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death of the victim. From mythology and fantasy, Lilith and the Lilin (Jewish), Lilitu (Sumerian) and Rusalka (Slavic) are, in redactive Christian fables (folktales not part of official Christian theology), considered succubi.
Kijo Cailleach Bheur
Strong magic, but having only the mid-tier Bufu spells is a little disappointing. She might be useful in a pinch.
Shortly after, we find a town on the floor below at long last, meaning we no longer need to keep leaving the dungeon to heal.Wikipedia posted:
In Irish and Scottish mythology, the Cailleach (/kaːlʲəx/, Irish plural caillich, Gaelic plural cailleachan), also known as the Cailleach Bheur, is generally seen as a divine hag, a creator, and possibly an ancestral deity or deified ancestor. The word simply means 'old woman' in modern Scottish Gaelic, and has been applied to numerous mythological figures in both Scotland and Ireland.
Time to drop by the Jakyo to fuse some demons and hopefully stop getting our asses kicked!
First into the guts of the terrible machine are Vesta and Mizuchi, to yield...
Ryuujin Maya
-Diarahan, Medirama, Pozumdi, Paraladi, Petradi, Recarm
-Str 20, Int 8, Mag 10, Stm 14, Spd 6, Lck 11
I have no idea what that's supposed to be, but it looks like a big, strong... tree to me. It's decked out with phenomenal HP and a bunch of healing spells, like some kind of walking heal point. Too bad it has a disappointing total of MP, but on the bright side, it's pretty strong.Wikipedia posted:
In Hindu mythology, Maya, or Mayasura was a great ancient king of the Asura, Daitya and Rakshasa races upon earth. He was also the chief architect of the peoples of the netherworlds. His name is Sanskrit for "illusion": see Maya (illusion).
The rest of my options at the moment aren't too appealing, so I make a quick trip out and after a lot of failed conversations, recruit a Ryuuou Otohime to see if that improves the combinations I can fuse.
Ryuuou Otohime
-Jiodyne, Maha Jionga, Ricarm, Sexy Dance, Wall of Water
-Str 16, Int 10, Mag 12, Stm 12, Spd 10, Lck 7
I guess if fusion doesn't work out, she'd make a great all-rounder in the party. I might as well use her considering what a pain she was to recruit; you try negotiating with someone who considers themselves nobility to become your minion.Wikipedia posted:
Toyotama-hime (Japanese for "luminous jewel"), also known as Otohime, was a goddess in Japanese mythology, and the daughter of Ryūjin, the god of the sea. She married the hunter Hoori and gave birth to a son, who in turn produced Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan. After giving birth, she turned into a dragon and flew away.
Back at the Jakyo, I fuse together Buel and Arachne to make Youchou Nevan...
...a slightly underwhelming demon.
Wikipedia posted:
Nevan was a minor saint in Irish folklore. It means holy, or little saint. In Gaelic it is pronounced as NAO-vahn. In English it is commonly pronounced as "Nevin," but should be pronounced as Neven/NEH-vahn.
I then fuse Nevan with Succubus to create...
Youma Djinn
-Agidyne, Zandyne, Maha Zanma, Tarunda, Penpatra, Paraladi
-Str 12, Int 9, Mag 13, Stm 9, Spd 13, Lck 6
Now we're talking. This demon appears a lot in this dungeon, and is a serious force to be reckoned with. His stats are above-average, but he has the top-tier Agi and Zan spells under his belt, and he knows how to use them. It's about time I got some magic ass-kicking on my team that isn't Reiko.Wikipedia posted:
The jinn are said to be creatures with free will, made of smokeless fire by Allah (the literal translation being "subtle fire", i.e., a fire which does not give itself away through smoke), much in the same way humans were made of clay. In Islam, unlike in Christianity and Judaism, Satan or Iblees is believed to be the most powerful (Jinn were created before humans) of the Jinn race, called "Shaitan". (Jinn have free choice, and satan exploited this in front of God by refusing to bow to Adam when ordered to do so. See Shaitan). In the Qur'an, jinn are frequently mentioned and Sura 72 of the Qur'an named Al-Jinn is entirely about them. Another Sura (Al- Naas) mentions the Jinn in the last verse. In fact, it is mentioned in the Qur'an that Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both "humanity and the jinn."
This looks like the best I can get out fusion at the moment, and I reform my party accordingly. After upgrading items at the shops in town, we continue on.
Demon Worlder:
The World of Greed... the world where humans consumed by insatiable greed are punished for their sins. The Demon Emperor wishes to make those who obeyed their greed atone for their sins here.
Youjuu Chefei will attack them with a power even greater than their greed.
There are all of four exits out of the town, and it takes a bit of stumbling around before we can get on the right path.
Eventually, we come across a path with treasure every step of the way. Ignoring the treasure and pressing on, we come to the end of the corridor and a staircase up. Upstairs, we run into another winding corridor of treasure - 15 items, to be exact. Highly suspicious. We ignore it and keep moving forwards, finally reaching the last staircase up before the chamber of the boss - Chefei.
Chefei:
I can't draw any power from people like you who have no greed, yip!
I can't use my powers, yip...
Youjuu Chefei x1 appeared!
Hm, that's interesting. He's supposed to be the boss, but in this form we can take him out in a couple of turns.
Want to see what happens when you take all the treasure? Sure you do!
Chefei:
There is no way greedy humans like you can be saved. Receive your punishment!
oh god
In this state, we can barely put a scratch on him before we're overwhelmed.
Chefei has 8 different forms, in fact, depending on how much treasure you pick up earlier. I'd forgotten how exactly the gimmick worked, but it appears to only affect the last stretch of treasure, meaning I was actually free to plunder the rest of the dungeon this whole time.
There's a catch, too -- the treasure that affects Chefei's form vanishes once he's defeated, and some of it is incredibly good, like the Renki-no-Ken. The Renki-no-Ken is a very rare sword, and your introduction to Sword Fusions. There are a very small number of swords that can be fused with demons to make uber weapons, and they're all descended from this one. We're still getting our asses kicked, so we need all the help we can get.
We've got to give into Greed -- to some extent.
edit: corrected number of chests and forms of chefei