Part 40: Chapter XXXIV - To master the flames, it gave him its soul
To master the flames, it gave him its soul
Previously:
Chapter XVIII: Good Luck, Rush Sykes. My country is in your hands.
*bird of prey shrieking from overhead*
This is… It seems I must request a task from you. That roar you hear is the call of this town’s protector, the Flame Guardian. I know not why, but it seems you are being summoned.
I am the Flame Guardian. I am the watcher of Vespalia, that which would lavish destruction upon Royotia. I have called you here to perform a task for me. To protect Royotia, will you destroy Vespalia? Our time grows short. Vespalia has struggled for lifetimes to break free from its seal. Soon it will succeed. Once the bird awakens, it will destroy all of Royotia. Vespalia is not only strong, but possesses incredible fortitude. It would take a miracle to defeat it. Nevertheless, we are not without recourse against it.
If there is to be any hope of destroying Vespalia, all nine Crimson Shards must be assembled. 
Sure, I'll go. I see. Then, go.
Here, I got all of them! Do I kick ass or what?! Undoubtedly, this is one of the Crimson Shards. I can sense the power throbbing within it.
Takshend, the shield of flame. This shield was forged with prayers to protect its bearer from harm. Even the strongest of blows will be softened by this shield of wings.
Vespe, the sword of flame. This blade is made from the talons of one split by the contrary emotions of anger and sorrow. Its bite is as harsh as the pain of those feelings.
Manrynell, the flame bangle. Fire is controlled only by fire itself. This bangle is made of a proud soul, pure as the flames' crimson light. You have collected the shield, sword, and bangle now. Thank you very much.
For the first time since the opening dungeon, I’m equipping Rush with something other than Katanas. This is actually completely optional – you don’t need to wear this stuff at all. But what the hell, I may as well get into the spirit of the thing.The sword’s stats are higher than my Samurai Katana’s, especially the ATK stat. The Shield gives me a 15 EVA chance to both Physical and Mystic attacks, which I guess is a percentage? Other than the items themselves, your reward is… a text dump. At least I found this on the wiki so I didn’t have to type it all in by hand.
Of the living, only I am left who knows this story. Long ago, in what would be eventually called Royotia, there were twin birds. One was called Vespalia, the other, Pivasalia. The twin birds were as old as the world itself, and the pair had fought for longer than memories existed. After an eternity, it seemed their conflict was to come to a conclusion. Vespalia was about to take Pivasalia's life... Through some stroke of luck, Pivasalia was saved by a young man passing by. Indebted to the youth, Pivasalia began to grant him wishes. He needed a weapon, so it gave up its talons. To shield the youth from fire, it gave its wings. To master the flames, it gave him its soul.
By shaving away at the life the man had saved, Pivasalia allowed him to destroy every obstacle in his path. Thus, the youth became the first ruler of that land, and named it Royotia. By that time, Pivasalia had given almost all it was to the man. Without the ability to even defend itself, it was confronted by Vespalia.
Pivasalia finally had regained its strength. At that instant, Vespalia's fangs ripped the man in two. Seeing this, Pivasalia felt a bottomless sorrow matched only by its endless rage. This strength let it seal Vespalia within the flames. However, the seal was not complete. There was still not power enough to completely seal Vespalia away. Knowing that far in the future, the seal would break, Pivasalia looked at the man's corpse and swore to dedicate itself to his town.
Thus, in preparation for what it knew must come, it plucked its feathers, cut its talons and transformed them all to small, red stones. That finished, the bird's spirit flew deep beneath the man's kingdom, to stand vigil over where Vespalia was sealed. And there the story ends.
By now, it seems no different from any other tale. Still, it pleases me that it could finally be told. Thank you. Once you are fully prepared, please let me know. You are the only thing standing between Royotia and certain destruction. Are you prepared to face Vespalia? You can alter Rush's equipment, or go back to town. Ready as I'll ever be... Understood. If that is what you decide, I will stand by you. Then, go!
Accepted quest: The Firey Revolt
- Boss Video: Vespalia
Mission: Defeat Vespalia!Music: Sliver of Hope
This looks like a Spiritlord type enemy. I’m not sure if it will follow the usual pattern and cast Curse on its first turn so I have everyone stand by.
Are you all right? Nope, it doesn’t cast Curse, instead it casts Grenade Impact. That is the highest level Invocation Art in the game. I think we only survived because of the Flame Defense bangle I equipped.It’ll take us a long time learn it, and even then we probably won’t see it much due to the amount of AP it needs (and it being overkill for trash mobs).
Take care of yourself! Luckily I had Emma standing by to heal.
Nothing exciting happened this turn. Emma took 504 damage, but that was it. Not much.
I’d rather get more art XP than do an Omnistrike.
Here’s what David’s union is scheduled to do.
Earthrender is a horizontal slash with one of the weapons, which leads into a leaping vertical slash with the other.
That “little bit” of damage Emma took was enough to kill her. If she had been at full health, she would have barely survived Grenade Impact.
Oh yeah, that’s right. Wind Shear IV also can trigger Blackout.
Mystic Arts area attacks are great for hitting multiple unions, but they’re not so good on single targets, and most of the tough enemies are single targets. Still, this does a lot more damage than a critical chain of regular mystic attacks.
This is just the cherry on top.Music: Struggle Eternal
Turn 4 was mostly spent reviving and healing. Vespalia built up some AP with Mana Well, so a Grenade Impact is likely soon.
Stay strong! Loki describes a beautiful arc through the air. I think a change in strategy might be in order.
Things aren’t going too badly for us, though. I just have to try and keep everyone alive.
I’ll try and stall for time with Emma by having her defend.
Stand your ground! That worked.
Rush brings back David’s union and heals him with Revitalize, Gabriel heals Rush’s union up.
And now, a series of poor decisions: I decide to have Rush’s union cast Confuse from long range, which is terribly dumb because Grenade Impact is the real threat, and it is a Mystic art unaffected by Confuse’s Paralyze, I have David stand by to heal, and I have Emma continue to defend, even though her health is not good right now.
Young… Master… Violet did heal, but it didn’t help. Thankfully, David’s union came in on the same turn and immediately revived her. For the next turn, I finally decided to have the Flame Resistant Union be the one tanking the Fire Boss.
Don’t let me down, Gabriel. (It did 800 damage. He let me down.)
Stop slacking!
That one seems like it would have been neutralized by Paralyze, but bosses usually recover from ailments at the end of the turn, so it already wore off.
Okay, don’t let me down, Violet.
That was good. Emma is going to go next, so we’ll be at 2522 HP before the Grenade Impact happens. Pull it together!
Be careful! Ha ha, that was so close.
I think that maybe I should have used that Omnistrike after all. I underestimated this fight. Rush will be tanking, everyone else healing themselves.
Speak of the devil… actually, since all my unions are at full HP again, I may as well go for the art XP.
BOOM! And that is how we do THAT! learned 
Revitalize II! learned 
Vivification Herb III!
learned 
Nimble Knee Splitter III! learned:
Thunderclap II!
- Restore III!
My job here is complete as well. For your help, please take this. Obtained Pivasalia! Pivasalia - A red stone similar to the Emeth Tag. Flames dance inside the stone. Completed quest: The Firey Revolt For all that stuff - 10 quests in the making, our only reward is a stone in memoriam of what we’ve done, and the knowledge that we’ve saved a town from destruction.
Yeah, but the guardian lady left. The guardian disappeared as well? Ahh.... She, too, will forever have our thanks."
Vespalia's been purged. Royotia is competely safe! The girl seemed really happy about that before she went off somewhere. Next time: I’ve been putting off looking for upgrade materials for some time, but I think it’s overdue, so I’ll be doing that. Most of it will be off-screen of course, but I think there will be enough material for an update, and some videos showing off the new party members in action. After that, it’s Nagapur!New Arts Summary
learned Revitalize II! learned Vivification Herb III! learned Nimble Knee Splitter III! learned:- Thunderclap II!
- Restore III!
Boss: Vespalia
That’s it, we’re finally done with the longest continuous chain of sidequests in the game. Back to the main plot at last.
Vote: Who should lead a fourth combat union?
Right now, our party looks like this, but soon stuff will happen, party size upgrades, so it's probably a good time to look into getting a fourth combat union. And we'll need someone to lead that union. Don’t worry about who will be in it, I’ll take care of that, just tell me who you want to lead it.
- Torgal (Quad-wielding Sovani) - Blocter (One-Handed/Power Grip Yama) - Baulson (Two-Handed Yama) - Caedmon (Dual Two-Handed Sovani) - Gabriel (One-Handed Mitra) - Violet (Two-Handed Mitra)Next Time: viii: Arcanas (Plus bonus party member action!)
Next Time: Auf wiener schnitzel, Nagapur!