The Let's Play Archive

Shining in the Darkness

by vilkacis

Part 10: Part 10

Well then, time to be revenge for my horrible failure last time. Today shall be different, I swear it on my father's grave!

...wait, he's not dead yet. Never mind.



The best thing that happened to me all day? Pyra learning Heal 2. Fucking finally.

Around this point, Milo starts really wanting to be able to use his offensive spells, and since Pyra has the Hexwhip, she currently has very little use for hers. Fire 3 does perhaps a little more damage than the whip, but the whip is strong enough.

Milo, on the other hand, doesn't get the same awesome weapons. Therefore, it may be a good idea to give him the Firestaff, but that isn't going to last forever, either.



The Sentinels are back, but there is little point in fighting them - they don't give out anywhere near enough points or money to be worth the trouble.



The door here is indeed a one-way thing. Oh well, if this goes as planned, I'm never coming this way again, so fuck you, one-way door!



It's a nice view.



And it leaves us rather healthier than we were on the last visit.




Here's Blast 3. Following up the Hexwhip with this kills all four Salamanders without giving them time to act. It costs 8 MP. That's probably less than I would have had to spend on healing if they had hit me with that firebreath attack.



oh god what



WHAT



...yeah, I don't know what the hell. It's the first time I see this happen. Hopefully the saves I have will work on another version of the game if this one decides to do more weird things later.



...I just can't escape these things, Can I...?



Or these.

...I don't even have the strength to rage any more.





...



Here, I have some more weird luck and grab a holy water off an enemy. It removes Curse, meaning it's completely worthless - as an item. As vendor trash, however...



...yeah.



Pyra continues to be awesome, levels up Freeze.



And here's a thing.



A thing we've already carried around for some time, thanks to my really weird luck.

Okay, make Pyra learning Heal 2 the second best thing that happened today. You can never have too many firestaves.



ia ia cthulhu fhtagn



Nice thing about these, though, they can be put to sleep, and after that you can just poke them until they fall over.



Here's a nice large open area, but there's nothing interesting in it. We continue down the path, and...



GODDAMMIT PYRA.



Sue takes bloody revenge, but the damage is done.



Pyra's EXP will forevermore lag behind the rest of the party.



I'm sort of willing to overlook that for the treasure in here, though.




What's more, I feel it's blessed with power. It might have other uses.



It's not as strong as the mighty mithril, but it does protect from fire.



Milo gets the mithril armour and is now set for life. There is no more powerful armour in this game that he can use. You're welcome, Milo.



Dream on. If you're not guarding a treasure chest, you're not worth my time.

...Or my hit points.



The next one does guard a treasure chest...



...with this in it.





And here, let's try this one last time-





khsfdhsdfsd




Oh, you thought just because I was done with the Sentinels, things would be easier now?




Hahahahahaha.



Note: this fucker survives this attack.

The reward for finally killing it is 600 EXP and 300 GP.

...I think I'm gonna cry.



Make that, "I think I'm gonna die".



That happens somewhere around here.



We're this close to the exit.

...I'm making a run for it.



There is a golden fountain here that would be very interesting if we had a certain thing and if we weren't almost dead and oh shit oh shit oh shit



oh shit oh shit oh shit



shitshitshitshitshitshitshit



run faster milo you little bitch



oh



holy shit



holy fucking shit



Hey, we haven't seen this guy in a while.


If you wish, I can bring SUE back to life.
In return, I would like to ask for a contribution of 500 gold pieces.

(Yes.)
There, SUE is ready to adventure again!

Pyra gets the same treatment, at the same price.



But there's no rest for us. Having reached the third floor of the Labyrinth, we've unlocked the next plot event.

Video: Xern the Elder and the return of Dark Sol.

The story he told us... Well, it's best you hear it from him.

I don't think I've ever heard good news after a delivery like that.

At this point, all the people we recognize in this room all say "SUE, listen well to the words of Xern." so we'll just have to do that.



WHAT.

...don't just drop these things on me like that!

XERN: His lust for power led him to the dark reaches of the Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth was built by the Ancients to serve a two-fold purpose.
To seal in the Darkness, and to raise a champion should the need arise.
I believe that Melvyl seeks to unleash the forces of Darkness.


Well that would make sense given that his name is DARK sol I mean I don't think he intends to become the Shining Knight with a name like that it just wouldn't

XERN: Here. Take the two halves of this mystic MEDALLION.

MILO receives an item: MEDALLION


And yes, it is awesome.

XERN: The MEDALLION can be used with any gold fountain within the Labyrinth.
One half of the MEDALLION is to be cast into the waters of the fountain.
Using the other half will instantly return you to that fountain.
To use the MEDALLION with another gold fountain, get the other half back.
Good luck and may the MEDALLION assist you in your quest.


The long and the short of it is: use Medallion in front of gold fountain to set a warp point. Use Medallion again to return to that point. Search the fountain to delete the warp point, enabling you to set it in another location.


The Arms of Light are 4 items that can only be used by a true knight.

KING: Now, more than ever, it is up to you to return me my daughter.

MINISTER: It's hard to believe that our hated enemy was actually one of us!

Nah, it's just hard to believe it wasn't the chancellor. That's usually how these things play out. Hell, I'd settle for a vizier -

...hold on a minute.

wikipedia, on vizier posted:

A vizier (Arabic: وزير‎ Persian: وزير) (sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir[1] and usually pronounced /vɪˈzɪər/ in English, though also sometimes pronounced /ˈvɪzjər/[2]) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government.[3][4] The word appears in the Quran.[5][6][7] By the time of Abbasids, the caliph's lieutenants were called viziers. The first officer of that name in the Turkish empire was Alaeddin Pasha.[8]

In modern usage, the term has been used in Western Asia for certain important officials. In all 22 Arab states and Iran, this word means minister.



...but the rules dictate that there may be only one traitor, so I guess he's off the hook. For now.



Vyrun knows a lot about things being right under his nose.

What I mean is that there's room for a lot of things under Vyrun's nose.

Because it is very large. And also very red.



Bullshit, Tristan. You're just as useless as the rest of them.

Sue and Pyra are still desperate to forget the whole "being dead" thing, so next destination, Boozeville.

Except-



-we still don't get any time to relax.

OLD VIK: The guy's over there. Sitting at the table.

Mrs. VIK: Step right in! There's somebody here to see you.

I'm sure he'll be perfectly civil.




All good villains are perfectly civil. That way it comes as a much greater surprise when they chew your face off.

MELVYL: Is something wrong? You seem...hostile?
Hmm.
I see you've found out about me.




~Thunderbolt and lightning,



very very f...~ no wait.

DARK SOL: Actually, it's more of an invitation.
Join me. Join with the Darkness and rule this land with me.


"Together, we shall rule the g-"

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT NO."


I could have shown you what it means to wield true power.

(You better believe he means it, too!)

DARK SOL: But I guess you'll have to find out the hard way.

(I dunno about that, personally I'd say the "hard way" would have been to fight  the final boss  right here and now and have no chance of victory because we're like half the level we need to be.)



DS bamfs out with some more pyrotechnics,



leaving Old Vik rather confused.

OLD VIK: I feel...funny. I remember a guy was here to see you.

Mrs. VIK: He's sitting over... that's strange?
He's gone.


Exit and enter, and the familiar faces are back.

OLD VIK: If it isn't SUE! Have you found the Princess yet?
I heard that the Court Wizard was behind it all!


Mrs. VIK: Hi! Remember that weird guy who was waiting for you?
Well, it seems he had something to do with that mess at the castle.


Yes. I blame him for everything. This nasty rash I got from the MP-sucking moss? His fault.

The blisters I got running around that fucking labyrinth all day, every day? His fault.

Global warming? His fault.



Mrs. Myst's accent is getting... interesting, I suppose. If she's some kind of redneck, I'm doing Pyra a favour taking her away from it all.



Hey, that actually looks normal! No rambling about "having his nerve". You're a good man, Mr. Brax.

(not you Milo)

(well okay you're pretty decent too I suppose)

(put down the firestaff)



EDWARD: I've been told that you are searching for the Princess.
I know much about the Labyrinth. Ask me, if you have any questions.


I think if Sue has any questions, they're along the lines of WHERE DOES IT FUCKING END and he can't tell us that because it would be a spoiler.

So we're not asking him anything.

DYAN: Edward is said to be well-versed in ancient lore.

That's basically what he just said.

What, lore about other things than the Labyrinth? Pfft, as if anyone cared.



Oh, and do you remember that worn robe we picked up?



Not only does it suck balls, making it pretty unlikely that you'd bother equipping it in the first place, but if you do?

You're cursed.

Tip: don't equip the worn robe.

But the worst part of all? Is the fact that if you take it to a store to sell,



the motherfucker offers you thirty bucks.

This has been the second worst treasure in the Labyrinth so far.


And, for our usual post-dungeon write-up:


Firesword (60 WF), Sun Armor (52 AF, resist fire), MADU (20 AF and 15 WF), Bronze Helm (14 WF)


Flail (WF 12, TWO HITS) or Great Axe (45 WF), Mithril Armor (68 AF), MADU (AF 20 and WF 15), Magic Hood (AF 18)


Empty hand (WF 0), Leather R...

...wait what.


Hexwhip (WF 60, GROUP, CURSED), Leather Robe (AF 20), Wood Shield (WF 20), Royal Tiara (AF 16)

So yeah, apparently Pyra's brush with death was enough to free her from the curse. I guess that's one way to cure yourself, but it's probably cheaper to just go with the uncurse option to begin with.

However, the Hexwhip is still quite awesome and I'm not giving it up. Sorry, Pyra, you'll be entangling yourself in that thing for some time yet.

Next: we do even worse on the third floor! Don't miss it.


...