Part 76: Last of the God-Generals

Last time, we bested Asch, but had to leave him behind as he faced down a hoard of Oracle Knights to protect our rear. Let's press ever onward.

Music: Crimson Pride

I linked this music last update too, but let me do so again. From this point onward, this is the music for the final dungeon, and I absolutely love it. Favorite dungeon theme hands down in probably the entire Tales series. It emphasizes the grandeur of Hod, pumps you up, increases the tension, and conveys a sense of melancholy all at the same time. Or at least, I think so.





Up we go.

Skit: Don't Look Down

: “Whoa, look how far up we are... this is scary!”

: “This certainly is dangerous... Guy, is this also part of the replica Hod?”

: “No, this is probably part of the framework supporting the replica. I don't think it was intended for people to walk on...”

: “But we probably have to get through here to reach Van, right?”

: “From where we entered, we don't have much of a choice.”

: “Then we will just have to push on, even if we have to make a path ourselves.”

: “Hah hah! Yeah, exactly. But be careful... a single misstep could mean our lives.”



: “Whoa!”

: “The land is... being born.”

: “It seems the replication is still in progress.”

: “Hod... it's just like when I saw Mary's replica. I know it's a replica, but the feelings just come rushing out.”

: “That's a natural human emotion.”

: “...Guy, are you okay?”

: “...Yeah, I'm fine. I know my homeland lives on only in my memories now.”



Finally, the pillars take us down to the replica land proper.



And it is patrolled by some creepy enemies.

What Remains of the Past



: “What is it, Guy?”







: “It really is... it's the remains of my manor.”

: “Whaaaat?! Really?!”

: “This is a replica of Hod, I suppose it shouldn't be surprising...”



: “Would you rather not fight Master Van?”

: “It's not that. I never thought I'd be able to come back. It's a strange feeling.”

: “Yes. This is the first time I've ever been to my homeland.”

: “I can't bring myself to hate fomicry. I think it could actually do some wonderful things.”

: “That applies to everything. Any tool can be used for wonderful or foolish things.”



: “Luke... yeah, I think so, too. I think maybe Yulia didn't mean for the world to follow the Score exactly.”

: “But Yulia hid the Seventh Fonstone which has the Score of destruction written on it.”

: “People can't stay calm when faced with a Score foretelling their death...”

: “Yulia wanted us to overturn the Score...?”



: “What?”

: “I just remembered the first time I ever learned fonic hymns from Van. He said, 'Yulia wished for people to overturn the Score.'”

: “'Yulia loved the world. The fonic hymns are the pact that Yulia offered out of that love...'”

: “Van was trying to fulfill Yulia's will by rebuilding the world...”

: “But Lorelei doesn't approve of Van's intent. That's why it's remained dormant within him.”

: “I see... if the fonic hymns are the symbol of the trust between Yulia and Lorelei, then the melody of the fonic hymns may awaken Lorelei.”

: “Van was controlling Lorelei by force. But if Lorelei were to awaken, even Van would need to concentrate on Lorelei to prevent neural contamination.”

: “Leaving him vulnerable... he might also lose the ability to use Lorelei's power.”





: “Yeah, Tear! If the fonic hymns awaken Lorelei, we can use the Key to free it.”

: “But, I wonder if I can... I just now remembered the seventh one. I'm not sure if I have the melody, feelings, and lyrics correct...”

: “You've remembered all the other ones correctly so far. Don't worry. I know you can sing it.”



And with that, Tear has learned the Seventh Hymn. Note however that we don't actually get it for use in battle like the others. Still, it's a nice moment wrapped in an interesting revelation.

Skit: The Last Fonic Hymn

: “I'm glad you remembered the Seventh Fonic Hymn.”

: “Yes... I can't believe I ever forgot it.”

: “Van would always sing it to me... as a lullaby...”

: “Now you'll be able to sing the Grand Fonic Hymn.”

: “Together with the Key of Lorelei, we can awaken Lorelei.”

: “I will awaken Lorelei with the Grand Fonic Hymn.”

: “And I will draw Lorelei from Master Van into the Sword.”

: “Right! Then maybe we can fight evenly with him.”

: “Even so, we'll have to be careful. He is Van, after all.”

: “Yeah, I know. I know Master Van's strength better than anyone.”

: “Luke... let's free Lorelei. Together.”

: “Yeah.”

Let's go!

Broken Half



: ...Heh, I didn't expect it to come to this.

: “You're the last!”



: “Can you hear me, replica...?”



































: “Heh... looks like I had... a little trouble...”



: “The rest is... up to you.”

























: …





: “Look out! It's a trap!”

: “Natalia, we have to run!”

: “I... I...”

: “Natalia!”

: “Grr... we won't make it!”

: “Damn it, not like this!”

: Asch! Help me!





: “Hyperresonance... no, second-order hyperresonance? Impossible!”

: “What was that power?”

: “I-I don't know... but the moment I thought about Asch, something in me just... it was like when I destroyed Akzeriuth...”



: “A second-order hyperresonance... you've got to be joking.”





: “Sync!”

: “Even with Yulia's divine protection, power like that could harm Van. You have two choices. Hand over the Key and join Van, or die.”

: “I choose neither! I'm freeing Lorelei. And to do that, I will defeat Master Van... and you.”

: “Sync, you're a replica, just like Ion! Why are you helping a project like this?!”

: “I'm not like him. You know that. Ion.. the seventh Ion was a naïve child. He believed the Score was merely one possible choice of futures. But in the end, he couldn't oppose the Score. Fon Master Ion will die, that was the planet's memory. Your Ion died like a dog.”



: “No, it's the truth. But Van's plan will destroy Lorelei itself, and with it the Seventh Fonon. The Score will truly vanish.”

: “Do you really hate the Score that much?”

: “I was born because the Score dictated that Fon Master Ion would die. You already know that I was thrown away once.”

: “That's why you hate the Score? Because you were thrown away?”



: “If the Score hadn't existed, I wouldn't have been stuck with this pathetic life!”

: “...Are you saying you've gained nothing since you were born?”

: “Not a thing. I'm empty. But it doesn't matter. I don't care who it was, as long as they would erase the Score – the Seventh Fonon!”





: “Let's test it. You, or the empty me. Let's see which side this world wants to survive.”

Boss Battle: Sync





: “So, how is it fighting someone who looks just like Ion?”

: "Shut up! You're nothing compared to him!"

: "You might look the same but you are not Ion!"

: "You didn't want to live on as the Fon Master's replacement, did you?"

: "Haha...Are you trying to tell me that I am who I am? I told you, I am nothing! My existence means nothing!"

: "Sync, that's not true! You don't really believe that, do you?"

: "For someone who thinks they mean nothing, you sure like to fight for your life."

: "You should be a little more honest with yourself before you die."

: "You'll not change me! I stand resolved! I'm tired of this world! Everyone can die along with it!"



Sync is, as he was before, not an opponent to be messed with. He's fast as hell, hits as hard as Largo on a good day, and can cast some deadly artes. I'm sticking with the general format and maining Guy for this one. Yeah Guy isn't really Sync's foil, but fuck it, I have to show this off sometime, don't I?



Luckily, Sync gives me a very early opportunity to show off why he shouldn't mess with us.















: ”Never fight a battle you can't win.”



Yeah. Brilliant Overlord is Guy's second mystic arte, and it's a doozy. Guy charges up, and unleashes a barrage of shockwave slices. Then because that's not enough, he charges up harder and unleashes a faster barrage of shockwave slices. The accumulated energy pools around his opponent, exploding for even more damage once he sheaths his sword. It's pretty cool.

Like the others, Brilliant Overlord has a laundry list of requirements. New Game Plus. Must have the Jewel of Gardios equipped. Must have used Final Cross at least 200 times. Additionally, Guy has to be below 10% of his health, which is indicated by his health number turning red. Also Brilliant Overlord cannot be part of a combo: final cross has to be used in overlimit as the first move.

Yeah, five fucking requirements that all have to be met for Guy to pull this off. Somebody thought this was a good idea, and somebody needs to be shot.



Even with Guy in his perfected state, Sync is a damn tough fight. When he's not casting high level artes into my healers, he's interrupting my combos with a gut punch followed by an arcane arte that drains for half my health, minimum.



Of course, each time I fight one of these, my list of available mystic artes goes up.





Sync also has his full array of mystic artes to bring to bear. Also note his harrowing gale mystic arte gut in, which shows him rocking a pretty sweet tattoo. Did he get that himself, or do all the Ion's have that? Because now I'm just imagining our Ion with tattoos, and the image doesn't fit.





Anyway, you know how this song and dance goes by now. I freerun around a lot and lay into him when he's got his guard down. Life bottles a plenty. This video was way shorter than the Legretta one (only about four minutes) but that's because I didn't dick around with Tear the one damage wonder.

A Final Farewell







Again, if you look closely you're notice that they've created an entirely new model just to show Sync with his shirt all tattered. I don't know if this was supposed to happen in the battle as he took damage, but it doesn't. It is a nice touch though, especially since he's only on the screen for maybe 5 seconds before vanishing.



: “Don't let them get to you. We're doing the same for ours. Right?”

: “Yeah... Asch, too...”



: “Natalia... I'm sorry. If I'd stayed with him...”

: …



: “Ow! What was that for?!”

: “Your actions have been a nuisance to us all... and to Asch.”

: “To Asch...?”

: “Asch fought so Luke could kill Van, even if that wasn't his original intention. What you did interfered with that.”

: “...I'm sorry.”

: “You're free to care about Asch, but you must not forget what you came here to do.”

: “Yes... you're right. I'm truly sorry. I'm not the only one who's suffering. Anise and Guy both lost people dear to them. And Tear must...”

: “Exactly.”



: “Jade, you called that a second-order hyperresonance, right?”

Guy has this great moment where everybody is all silent after Jade lays into Natalia, and he awkwardly rubs his head trying to think of something to break the silence. It doesn't convey well in screenshot, but I love it.

: “Yes, but the theory behind second-order hyperresonance hasn't yet been established. It's said that when two hyperresonances interact, they neutralize the effects of all fonons.”

: “...I don't know what this power is. But if it is second-order hyperresonance, then it was Asch who gave it to me, right? He and I are the only ones who can cause a hyperresonance.”

: “Yes. Asch is inside you. Asch accepted you and gave you his power.”

: “...Yeah. I've got to put up a fight worthy of him. Guys, lend me your strength.”



I think this moment is supposed to be symbolic, but instead I always read it as Luke having been fiddling with the thing ever since he got it, and just figured out how to get the Jewel in there.

At any rate, we have even more reason to press on now. Godspeed Asch, we won't let your sacrifice go to waste.

Skit: Sync, you idiot...

: …..

: “Anise...”

: “Tear? Wh-what? You don't have to look so worried. I'm doing fine... just fine...”

: “Anise... it's okay.”

: “...Sync... you idiot... looking just like Ion... sounding just like him... but being so twisted...”

: …..

: “I hate you! I didn't want to see Ion die anymore! You went on about being so lonely and empty... and then you went and died...!”

: “It's okay Anise... you can cry.”

: “...Sync, you idiot!!”



Skit: Asch

: “Asch... how could you die like that...? I just... never thought you would... die.”

: “Asch... I wish I could have seen you one more time...”

: “Yeah, the rest of us never did see him on Eldrant.”

: “Luke. I know this is a painful question, but... how did Asch die?”

: “...Surrounded by Oracle soldiers, with swords thrust through his body...”

: “...Asch!”

: “Did you feel anything after that?”

: “...Now that you mention it... there was a feeling like something warm falling onto me...”

: “...Did you feel anything leave you?”

: “Huh? Well, when Asch died I felt a little weak, but other than that...”

: “I see...”

: “What was that about, Jade?”

: “...Nothing... nothing at all...”

Have connected the dots yet?



This is the final area of this dungeon: Hod Castle. It's very short – only 3 rooms – unless you want to do the optional sidequest. Even then though it's quite brief. I'll run through it.



Shooting a nearby gem with Mieu fire will net you this baby. The Grandioz is the best capacity core in the game, barring one that can be stolen from a certain super secret boss we haven't fought yet. This will come in handy very soon.



This here is the crux of the puzzle we'll be solving. It requires every Mieu upgrade to pull off correct. Still, there's some prep work.



In the second room are these pillars with ladders on them. Mieu attack them all to the ground.



Now here's where things get weird. See that fonstone in the upper right? If we use a fonstone of opposite element (in this case light, since it's a dark fonstone) it will rotate the room. How do we get those fonstones?



From the enemies in the room, but not like you'd think. If you defeat the enemies with the last blow being a light based fonic arte, you get a light fonstone. If you defeat them with a dark arte, you get a dark fonstone.

Where does it tell you this? Nowhere!

We grab one of each.



This rotates the room, and also the other two rooms.



With the room rotated, we can use the ladder pillars we flipped earlier to reach this section and hit a switch with Mieu Wing, opening another door.



The door takes us to the top half of the fonstone. Using a dark stone here, we flip the room in the other direction.



In the first room, we can go over and move these two reflector panels to face one another. Why?



That's why. See them over there on the wall? That's where we just were. Now we can shoot Mieu Fire 2 at them, which will reflect it up into the switches.



That's not enough, though. Both switches are tripped. To finish this puzzle, you have to use mieu wing to block the fire before it hits the second switch.



All that to open a door. Hope it's worth it.



Resting Place





: “It's beautiful...”

: “It appears to be someone's grave.”

: “Whose?”

: “Yulia's.”



: “Van brought me here once as a kid. He told me the Fende family had secretly protected Yulia's grave for generations.”

: “Then Yulia passed away in Hod?”

: “I never knew... that's...”

: “But who's been taking care of all this? These flowers and everything?”

: “Yes, it certainly has been maintained well.”



: “But he hates the Score, doesn't he? Wouldn't he hate Yulia, too?”

: “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

: “Van taught me Yulia's fonic hymns. He said we were to lead the world as Yulia's descendants... I doubt he would have done that if he hated Yulia.”

: “More than the Score itself, Van may hate the masses that blindly follow it.”

: “...Perhaps.”

: “I don't know what Master Van thinks of Yulia, but he and Tear are both her descendants, right? That's more than enough reason to offer her flowers.”



Skit: Yulia's Thoughts and Feelings

: “I wonder what Yulia thinks of this situation...”

: “She's probably grieving... or at least, I hope she is.”

: “I sure don't want to imagine Yulia taking Van's side.”

: “Don't worry. Lorelei isn't cooperating with Master Van, and Yulia made a pact with Lorelei. I'm sure she wouldn't do anything to upset Lorelei.”

: “Yeah. Yulia, please lend us your strength...”

: “Please...”

I'm kind of mad they hid this sequence behind a puzzle with so many obscure mechanics and extraneous requirements. It's a touching little scene that also goes a long way to really fleshing out just how complex of a character Van really is.

At any rate, we'll pause here for now. We've basically bumped up against the end point of the plot, but we have about two updates worth of sidequests to wrap up. We'll try to get on that fast.

Next Time: Catalyst of Power

Synopsis:

As we proceeded through Eldrant in search of Master Van, we came across
the former mansion of Count Gardios. We started talking about the Score, and
all of a sudden Tear recalled the Seventh Fonic Hymn, which she had never
been able to remember before. She said Master Van had sung it to her as a
lullaby when she was little. She still doesn't understand its meaning or
symbolism well enough to use it as a real fonic hymn. But now that she's
remembered it, she's able to use the Grand Fonic Hymn, which could reawaken
Lorelei within Master Van's body.

We've gained a new weapon for our battle. This should give us another
advantage in fighting Master Van. Let's hurry and find him.
Further on, I suddenly got the headache that comes with Asch's channel,
and I saw Asch--no, I saw the world through Asch's eyes.

Asch's body was covered with injuries from fighting the Oracle soldiers,
and yet he kept on battling. And just as it looked like he had taken care of
them all, he relaxed for an instant, and in that instant an Oracle soldier
ran him through with a sword. Even so, Asch pulled together the last of his
strength, defeated the soldier, and called to me... "The rest is up to you."
Then I felt something warm flow into me. It was Asch...the same feeling I had
when we lowered the Outer Lands, when we neutralized the miasma. So I knew
exactly what had happened.
Asch had died...

Natalia was immobilized by the shock. And with the worst timing, we were
caught in a fonic trap, and were about to be destroyed by it.

That instant, I felt power flow out of me, and it neutralized the trap.

The power I used, the power Asch probably gave me, is called "second-order
hyperresonance." Sync appeared before us and called it that.

Sync attacked us, cursing his own birth. He had joined Master Van to help
destroy the Score which had led to his being born.

We defeated Sync.
Was he really empty, like he said? Or did he simply think he wanted to be
empty? We can't ask him anymore, but I wish I could have heard his answer.

Jade scolded Natalia for succumbing to shock at Asch's death, and she
finally realized just how dangerous her actions had been. And she said to me
that Asch was inside me. Even though she could have said that I should have
died instead, and I wouldn't have been able to respond... I'm sorry, Natalia.