Part 33

We return to Pacalon to find that the drought has ended - Freeing Mitula has allowed her to bring rain to the region.



Hmm, we'll that's not exactly a good sign.


But I didn't think we would be saved by humans!

Not exactly the best thanks, but whatever. Let's go see what's up with the balding fatass moping by a statue in the throne room...


You are trustworthy solders, so... would you do me a favor? Please go to Moun with me.
What are you going to do there?
I believe there are survivors in Moun. I would like to save them.

How nice, after abandoning the people of Moun to die horribly, Harry would like to rescue the few that might still be alive.


Nigel, let's go together.
Alright. Thank you very much.

Since Harry has the key to the gates of Moun, we don't have much choice in the matter.

As we leave the castle, however...



Oh, hell. It's always something. Geshp appears in the middle of the town, blocking our exit.

Geshp!
So, you remember me.
What do you want?
I have plans for you. I'm very happy that you came out of the castle.
Why?
I have been waiting for Harry. Vicar Harry, you licked the gate of Moun, remember? My faithful soldiers can't enter Parmecia. Now, you will open it!
It's a trap! Harry, run!



As Harry turns to flee, Geshp blocks his escape with a pillar of flame.

Cameela! Cameeeeeela!
Cameela?! We met her in Pangoat Valley.



It just gets better and better, doesn't it?

Ah, Cameela. You're here. Get the key for me!
Geshp, you're as devious as usual.
That I am. Now, get the key!
Me?! Why?
Cameela!
I hate you! I won't help you. You want the key? You get it! You can use my army. See you later.



Oooh, dissension in the ranks! Cameela vanishes.

Cameela! Cameela!!
They're divided...
I don't need your help, Cameela! Come on, devils! Kill Nigel now!



Geshp summons a number of monsters to fight us.

Bye, Nigel.
You're not staying?
I'm good at using my brains, not my strength. I'll return by the time you're defeated.

Well if nothing else, we've learned a few things by Geshp and Cameela's little outburst:

1. The greater demons hate each other.
2. It looks like they're afraid to fight us themselves. Of course, why wouldn't they be? We just beat Zalbard. While he was considered the weakest, we've proven that they're not invincible.

But back to the task at hand:

Battle #31:



4 Harpy Queens, 3 Dark Knights, 3 Orc Lords, 2 Master Monks, a Dark Bishop, a Necromancer, and a Devil Soldier. The Harpy Queens are my biggest threat, but on the bright side, I don't have to deal with a quick-acting, double-attack-happy, large area-blasting greater demon this time.




The first strike goes to the enemy, but it's nothing major. Especially since Nigel's been getting 2-3 defense each level since his promotion.




Heal, shmeal. Ashley's well on her way to becoming a powerhouse.




On the other hand, every single time a Harpy Queen attacks, my stomach drops a little. They're nasty, and things are only going to get worse as we go on.




Well, that was a pleasant surprise, at least - Cluny strikes back with a counter critical!



Speaking of Critical...



Nigel's new Critical Sword is pretty awesome. In killing the harpy, he earned level 11 and learned Bolt 2.



Better safe than sorry - Ashley tosses a Heal 3 on Cluny.



Ron finishes off the dark knight, earning level 9.



Nice of the monk and orc to set themselves up for me.




At this point, Shaggy can out-damage Vincent vs. two targets, though he's not as MP-efficient.



Vincent can still clean up just fine, however - He kills the master monk.



And Cluny backstabs the orc, earning level 10.

I sent my flyers off to the right to pick off a few stragglers.




While he did respectable damage, it's time for Harvey's real purpose over there:




As a decoy.




Wolfy shows us that the wounded make excellent bait. Him dying was actually unintentional, but I can't argue with the results - The orc lord charged from the edge of his range.






Now that's what I like to see! Cherry left the orc with a single hitpoint to his name. She earned level 10 with style.




Yeowch! It's a good thing Harvey was there to take that hit - his sacrifice will allow Darin and Knox to triumph over there.



Oh, hell. So much for Cherry's damage.



Time to let Cluny test out Katon 2.



Impressive. Cluny can out-damage Vincent with spellcasting for now - but with his current MP, he can only do it once a battle.



Darin earns level 10 by skewering an orc.




And Nigel makes sure the one that killed Wolfy doesn't get healed again.




Bah, Knox should've been able to act before the knight. Oh, well, nothing he can't recover from.



Shaggy eliminates the monk, earning level 9.




Knox deals with his assailant easily enough.




Well, that stings a little.




Shaggy set the knight up, and Cluny knocked 'em down.



I think this harpy queen could tell that I was trying to inch Nigel just close enough to charge in and hit the last group with a 4-target Bolt 2. Instead, she just had to charge ahead and wreck it. Oh well, there's no risk of Nigel getting himself killed by a group pummeling this way.



Odd, this one was in range to hit Ron or Samwise physically, but she opted to use a Freeze 2. Good for me. Not for her.




Anyway, Cluny injured one of the harpies, but Ashley finished it off with a critical.




Aww, one HP away from a kill.




Well, that's no good.



Thankfully, Ron gets another turn before the wounded harpy does. He finishes it off.



Cluny doesn't have time to bleed - There's one last harpy approaching from the right, and I'd rather it go after him than Nigel, so I have Cluny attack the Dark Bishop from a vulnerable position in order to try to bait it...




Nigel acts before the harpy and goes after the Necromancer.




Whoops, looks like Cluny drew the Dark Soldier instead. Oh, well.



Ashley brings Nigel back to a safer amount of health.




I guess Knox drew in the harpy.



Vincent gets rid of the bishop before it can heal itself. He earned level 9.



And Cherry picked off the Necromancer.




I'm starting to wonder if Super gives enemies a higher critical percentage.



Apparently Ron makes harpies retarded - this one passed up a chance to kill Shaggy or put a serious hurt on Darin or Nigel in order to do a paltry 14 damage to Ron.




Darin and Ashley brought her down, earning level 12 for Ashley.




Yeesh. Oh well, at least she survived.



Finally, Shaggy ends the fight with one last summoning of Neptun. He earned level 10.



Next time: The last filler battle on Parmecia.


As a reminder, the re-vote for Layla will continue until I start on the next update - most likely sometime tomorrow afternoon.

OilSlick posted:

Out of curiousity, do enemies have a higher chance of critical/double attacks on higher difficulty? Because that fight with Zalbard wasn't even fair.

I think that later in the game, bosses have a higher chance to crit/double attack on every difficulty. However, I'm certainly starting to wonder if Super Difficulty also gives regular enemies a better chance to crit.