Part 45: The Heart of the World

Intruder



An alarm begins to sound

: “Wh-what's that?!”

: “An intruder!”

: “Don't tell me it's Van?!”

: “They really don't want us to stop the core.”

: “I wonder why...”

: “So do I, but right now, we've got an intruder to worry about. What do we do?”

: “We don't have any choice. We'll get rid of them after we breach the core.”

: “Even without this, we barely have enough time!”



Descent



It's hard to make out, but you can barely see the Tartarus near the bottom right.

















Glimmer of Truth



: “So it would seem.”

: “That thing we saw for just a second there...”

: “What is it, Guy? I did see something flash right before we dove into the core.”

: “...I vaguely remember seeing it when I was a kid in Hod. If I could just...”

: “We'll worry about that later. The preparations here are done. Let's get out.”





: “I erased it for you.”



: “So you were the intruder.”

: “I won't let you get away. You're going to drown in the sludge here. Die!”

This a very special boss fight, as in order to show something off I've upped the difficulty to Very Hard. It's got nothing on wdarkk's thread or Chaos, but it certainly makes the battle more tense!

Also, please take note that the below link is to a different video due to editing issues. Be careful not to miss it if you're following along in the main video!

Boss Battle: Sync



: “I'll make the Tartarus your grave!”

: “No way!”

: “We will live to return to the surface!”

: “Yeah! You get back!”

: “You're struggling for nothing. I won't lose to you!”

: “You might very well die here yourself! Withdraw now!”

: “Persistent, aren't we? Perhaps you'd rather we all die together?”

: “Not a bad idea. So hurry up and die!”

: “Hey, shut up! We aren't dying!”

: “Yeah, I'll pass on the mutual suicide thing. I'll die on my own terms, thanks.”

: “Fine! You'll all die here, anyway!”



As you can see from the numbers, Sync doesn't fuck around. He's more than capable of dropping even tanky Luke in only a 3-4 hit combo.



Luckily, Sync is only a man... a man sized man. So he's quite easily stunnable.



Of course, that doesn't stop him from blocking all the time and countering with that fucking 360 degree kick of his. It sends everybody flying back for massive damage.



He also has some brutal altered artes that will rock you.



Granted, they're pretty neat to look at.



Once you get him to about half health, the kiddie gloves come off.













It's hard to explain just how fast Sync hits you here. It's insane. If you've played Vesperia, Tyson's mystic arte is almost exactly this but slower.





Followed by a massive gut punch. Harrowing Gale is pretty much just a straight insta-kill against whoever it hits.



Of course, I have mystic artes too.



Now, this is why I'm playing on very hard mode. Once you get Sync under ¼ health, he busts out his SECOND mystic arte.



Hey!





Yeah, I thought so! That's Ion's thing! How the fuck is Sync doing that?!



At any rate, Akashic Torment is the nuke you know it to be, and it oneshots anybody who dares to cross it.



Did I mention yet that Sync has way too much fucking HP?



Still, it's a straight up slugfest and I have two melee fighters and Jade to stunlock the bitch.



And he's down!



Eat shit.

Legacy of the Fon Master



: “H-hey...”







: “Wait! What do you mean, 'also'?!”

: “...I'm Fon Master Ion's seventh replica – the final one.”



: “You're a replica?!”

: “No way... Ion...”

: “I'm sorry Anise. It's only been about two years since I was born.”

: “Two years... that's when I became one of your Guardians... wait, was Arietta reassigned because you didn't have any memories of the past?”

: “Yes. The original Ion was sick. Near death. But there was no successor, so Mohs and Van used fomicry.”



: “Don't call yourself that...”

: “That's what I am. My powers were weak, so I was cast alive into the mouth of the Mt. Zaleho volcano. A replica that can't serve as a replacement is nothing more than garbage...”

: “Don't say that! We may be replicas, but we're still living beings!”

: “I'm not interested in the naïve babblings of a replica who has people who need him.”

: “Don't talk like that. Escape from here with us! You and I are the same!”







: “I'm only alive so Van can use me. In the end, only those of us who are useful are kept alive out of pity...”





: “I'm not crying.”

: “But... those tears.”



: “It's like losing a brother...”

: “I guess I was sad... this is the first time I've ever cried. I understand now. All this time, I had it wrong...”



: “But Sync erased the fonic glyph.”

: “I'll draw it again. But a circle of this scale will require significant concentration. Luke, Tear, please assist me.”

One terribly controlled minigame later...

Lorelei



: “Yes, now let's get to the Albiore-”





: “Asch...? No... this voice is...”



: “Set me free from the prison of this eternal cycle...”





: “Luke, my isofon. I can finally speak with you.”

: “Tear? No... you're not Tear...”



: “The aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon! Its existence was hypothetical, but...”

: “I am the Seventh Fonon itself. And you, Luke. Your fonon frequency is the same as mine. You and the other you are both my perfect isofons.”



: “Right now, something enormous is absorbing my power. It is shaking the core, and causing the Sephiroth to go out of control. Your actions have quieted the core and stabilized the Sephiroth, but as long as I am trapped here...”





: “Tear!”



: “...I'm fine. I just feel a little dizzy... what happened?”

: “It's dangerous here. We should get to the Albiore now.”



: “Tear, are you feeling okay?”

: “Yes... I feel fine now.”

: “I'm still worried. Your body was suddenly taken over by Lorelei. You should have a doctor examine you, just in case.”

: “I bet we could get a thorough examination in Belkend.”

: “...I hope the Oracle Knights aren't there.”

: “I'm sure at this point even Duke Fabre has cut ties with Van.”

That jackass? Anything's possible, I guess.

: “We can find out if we ask the governor.”

: “Let's go! I'm worried about Tear!”

: “O-okay, okay.”

And we'll stop it here for now. Sorry for the short update, but this one and the last one were really one update split into two so I didn't bombard you with so much stuff all at once.

Next Time: The return of overworld map dungeons.

Synopsis:

We paid a great price, but were finally able to arrive at the core.

But when we got there, we found that Sync had made his way aboard. He
must've snuck on while we were being delayed. Dammit! I won't let the God-
Generals get in the way!

We defeated Sync, but then the mask he always wears fell off, and I
couldn't believe what I saw: Sync and Ion had the same face. Sync, and even
Ion, were replicas of the original Fon Master Ion, who had died two years
ago. Arietta had be reassigned from her post with the Fon Master Guardians,
and Anise added in her stead, so that the switch wouldn't be noticed.

Sync said that he was nothing more than a discarded defect, mere trash,
and threw himself into the core. Those were his final words.

Sync...do you really think so? Are replicas only trash if they're not
useful as replacements for someone else?

...I don't have time to sit around pondering that right now. We have to
escape from the core as soon as we can. Sync erased the fonic circle we
needed to escape, so we have to recreate it as soon as we can, or we'll die
here.

We managed to recreate the fonic glyph. But just as we were about to
escape, Tear's consciousness was taken over--by Lorelei, the collective
consciousness of the Seventh Fonon. Lorelei said that its power was being
absorbed by something enormous, and that was causing the Sephiroth to go out
of control.

But Lorelei disappeared in the middle of talking to us. We escaped from
the core, not knowing what it was Lorelei was trying to tell us.

At least we made it out alive, but I'm worried about Tear. Lorelei's
taking control of her may have had side effects, so we decided to have her
undergo a thorough examination in Belkend.