Part 43: Chapter XXXVI - I will protect Athlum with my life!

I will protect Athlum with my life! _-OR- The Nest of Eagles


The latter two videos in this update are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED VIEWING!

(The first one is not that important, the second one is pretty cool and well worth watching, and the third one is essential viewing.)


- Video: To the Nest of Eagles


To continue, we need to go to Athlum Castle.




Sir, the Conqueror’s forces and the Duke of Qubine’s guard have met at the Nest of Eagles. And it seems Celapaleis is taking quite a beating.




Torgal, Blocter; We’d better hurry to assist them.




Pagus, Emma; you and Rush stay here and keep watch over Athlum.
*nods*
…




Lord David, if I may speak: The Conqueror raised an army and attacked Celapaleis without giving us a second thought. Our enemy’s strength and impudence are clear, as are the consequences of this battle. If Celapaleis falls, Athlum will be next. If even one extra man could increase your chances, you should take him.
Emma…




Take the others. I will protect Athlum with my life!




…Understood. Take good care of her.
Yes, my Lord.




Come on then: all forces, to arms!
Yeah! Yes, my Lord!




Emma has left the party.

This was the actual reason why I wanted votes on a new party leader. Emma is temporarily out of the party for this battle, so someone needed to lead in her place. By popular vote, it is going to be Caedmon.

The Celapaleis forces are being heavily battered by the Conqueror's army. At this rate it's only a matter of time before they invade the city. Rush, we must head to the Nest of Eagles with all haste!
While we were in Nagapur, the Conqueror's army advanced all the way to Celapaleis... Unbelivable. To think, they dominated so easily... The Conqueror seems rightly named. If we take this lightly, we'll be destroyed along with Celapaleis. We'll need to keep our wits about us.
What kind of monsters are the Conqueror's army made of!? Sneaking around behind our backs - what, they've never heard of sportsmanship? C'mon, Rush, we gotta hurry to the Nest of Eagles and show those cowards what real men are made of!
Hmph. To be certain, at first I only thought you a silly, sheltered hayseed, but you've really grown a lot. I admit I'm a bit impressed. That said, don't get too full of yourself, Rush.
The Conqueror's supremacy on the battlefield has been more than proven. At this rate, it is only a matter of time before Celapaleis falls. We cannot allow that to happen! All forces - to the Nest of Eagles!




Let’s head out. Take this time to re-stock your herbs, and if you had Emma leading a union, do NOT forget to re-make it. With Emma removed, her entire union was dispanded so everyone in it is on the bench.




I’ve decided to keep Violet in Rush’s union (so Rush can learn Rejuvenating Water), and Gabriel has been shuffled off to Caedmon’s. With Emma gone, I’m short another combat unit, so Rhagoh comes off the bench again to fill in the hole in Rush’s Troop.

This means that Rush’s Troop has no one who can revive. Instead of moving Gabriel, I should have moved Torgal.




Nest of Eagles – A ravine that provides protection for Celapaleis, it is said that an eagle once built a nest here to guard the town from invaders.

This next video is not essential, but recommended because there are some very rare and impressive arts shown in it.


- Battlefield Video: The Nest of Eagles


Music: Clash of Opposites





We start out one full turn’s march from any of the enemies. Roeas is here, as is the big guy we saw in Chapter 19. His name is Castanea. He doesn’t talk much. The Conqueror’s army has done a number on the Celapaleian forces – there’s only the one squad still fighting.

A number of people the first time may have had trouble with this battle, but I know a trick that can trivialize it. But that’ll wait until a bonus video. I’m fighting this one legit.









Two additional enemy unions join the battle as the first turn begins.




Oh no, he has moved the Morale bar slightly to the left.




I shall claim the reward!
Nice…this one looks loaded!






Well the little guys aren’t any tougher than what we’re used to at least.








This shouldn’t be too much of a bother, as they don’t really use Mystics except to heal, and they have lots of Herb healing.




Gabriel lands an impressive Shield Bash and takes the enemy out in one hit.




What’s this?






Uh…








Stand your ground!

That was pretty impressive.

Watch our flank!




That union had ¾ of the total units which can revive people.






More join the fray.




Rush has no choice but to match closer to the battle. David will go revive Caedmon.




Nothing happened this turn except David reviving Caedmon’s union.




Dave! End it with the Gae Bolg!

I actually thought about not using the Gae Bolg here, because it means less Art XP for other units… but I’m here to put on a show, and this is the best show in town, so yeah, let’s do this. Let’s show them the true might of Athlum!






Gae Bolg, I call upon thee!








Three unions wiped out instantly. Look how far that moved the morale meter.


Hurry and circle beside them!




And Roeas is knocked into critical.






Here I go!






Roeas isn’t dead, but she’s had to flee the field of battle.




Just Castanea left.






Uh-oh. When either Roeas or Castanea falls, the other one gets Overdrive: They gain 4 additional actions per deadlocking union. Overdrive is one of the nastiest things an enemy can have active. In this situation, Castanea should have been killed first, as he’s a bit more threatening than Roeas.




It’s a good thing that he’s also nearly dead, because here he goes…












It’s amazing Caedmon’s union is still standing. I have personally seen cases where an Overdrive enemy kills an union with 9999 health in one go, although that case was facing an extremely tough optional enemy.




Thanks for the support, Celapaleis. But I don’t like the looks of that “???” art.




You like baseball?
























That happened.






That helps. Pagus’s Revitalize gets David’s union back up to full.




Damnit…




I order David to revive and Caedmon to self-heal, leaving the guest union to keep the boss occupied.






Luckily, the Overdrive was only for one turn.








That hurt, but we survived.






Pagus, the tiny general with the wimpy physical attack took out the giant Castanea. You gotta love it.






class changed to Legendary Ranger!
learned Wind Shear II!
Loot: 14675 G


The battle is won, Celapaleis is saved!


WATCH THIS ESSENTIAL VIDEO!

- Video: Courage and Honor






It’s a peaceful, sunny day.




But something’s wrong. Emma can sense it.






Stand ready!






BOOM

Huh?

BOOM

What’s goin’ on?
I don’t know!


BOOM!



Part of Athlum’s main gate explodes in a spray of wood.




Music: Unrelenting Advance


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED LISTENING




That door is at least 20 feet high and 1 foot thick.






The Conqueror threw it with enough momentum that it took five seconds to land. Think about that for a minute.






That has got to be the bravest guard I’ve ever seen.




GAAAAAHHH!!








He’s a monster!
Help me!




Evacuate quickly! NOW!




What is he doing here?
_{ohgodohgodohgod}
Get back!

That guard would rather be elsewhere, and Emma grants him his wish.






Of course. It’s obvious what the Conqueror wants here.




Emma kisses her glove as a prayer for good luck.






The Conqueror is in no hurry. He never is. He’s carrying the guard’s body by the head. I get the impression that he cared so little about that man that he forgot he was still carrying him.















And so begins the Battle of Athlum.




The Conqueror is holding his stolen sword one-handed and is still forcing Emma down.




His blows can shatter the street (but oddly not the sword).




A high kick, blocked.





Emma is forced back.




No anger. No hate. Not even irritation. No emotion at all.




He casually dodges blows aimed at his head.




His parry knocks Emma’s sword from her grip.








So close, but also so far.




The Conqueror circles Emma, a snake preparing to strike.






The serpent strikes when Emma is at her most distracted – but she was expecting that.






The Conqueror could have stabbed her when both her hands and blade were out of position, but he didn’t. He doesn’t even seem to be seriously trying to kill her. She’s just in his way.




This is not even remotely a contest and she knows it.








But still she tries.








Slowly, step, by step, the Conqueror continues to advance in spite of Emma trying every move she knows.






Emma tries an unorthodox parry + handstand into kick. It’s just as ineffective as everything else.




This parry knocks Emma down. It would be wrong to say the Conqueror is toying with her, because that implies that he enjoys it. The Conqueror simply doesn’t care.




Emma tries a grapple of her own.







The Conqueror misses a swipe as Emma rolls behind him. Finally, an opening.






She doesn’t waste it.




But takes a hard hit to the chest for her effort.






The Conqueror realizes something is different.




So he can bleed like any other man.






No one has ever even scratched him before.






They’re almost at the Valeria Heart. Emma is running out of room to back away.




I think Emma has made him mad.




Yep, he’s definitely ticked off now.




No more fooling.




This is not another one of the idle parries that the Conqueror has been doing all fight.

AAH-UH!!






Her right arm is broken. It’s almost over now.




He means to finish her.






Emma’s right arm may be useless now…




…But she can swordfight well with both arms.










And he’s got super-fast reflexes too? That’s just not fair.




No more sword. No more time.






Something’s missing here, but I can’t seem to figure out what.




Block THIS.








I don’t have the words or emoticons sufficient for this level of




The Valeria Heart… did it…?




It missed.






The Conqueror punches Emma in the gut. And he can punch through doors.






He tosses her away like so much trash.








Wait, what’s that?




The… Tablet…




The Valeria Heart’s surface becomes covered in runes.




No… the Valeria Heart itself becomes the runes.








The Tablet has transformed the Valeria Heart into a Talisman. It’s now a much more convenient size, and more convenient to use.






Bastard… why do you…




Goodbye, Emma. You will be missed.




New Arts Summary

class changed to Legendary Ranger!
learned Wind Shear II!

One thing which was mentioned fairly early on was that the Valeria Heart was bound. The game never says who it was bound to, but there’s a fan theory that it was bound to Emma. I think I agree.

Emma, and her father before her, have loyally served Athlum for decades. If she was bound to the Valeria Heart, that would be why she, of all the generals, would be the most well-suited to remaining behind in Athlum.

Until this LP, I had assumed that it was the Conqueror who tried to use the Valeria heart to kill Emma. But thinking about it, that’s pretty silly. The Conqueror, for all his power, doesn’t do flashy things like that, he doesn’t need to. He already had Emma at his mercy and a simple sword swipe would have finished her.




Also, the Valeria Heart landed behind the Conqueror, not in front of him, as it would have if he was trying to kill Emma with it.

And more importantly, going frame-by-frame, it seems clear that the Conqueror was not the one who made it move. He was paying attention to Emma. She knew what was happening before he was. She was diving out of the way and he was reacting to it with surprise.

I think that the Valeria Heart moved at Emma’s desperate command or wish. It missed, but I don’t think that Emma had ever used it before (and it’s not great for hitting a man-sized target anyway). Remnants that powerful are not easy things to use for most people. Emma might have failed to hit the Conqueror with the Valeria Heart, but that doesn’t make the attempt any less awesome.

Another plausible alternative is that the Valeria Heart moved on its own (which suggests it was trying to protect Emma, which also supports the idea that it is... it was bound to her). What do you think?


In the character roster, I listed Emma as getting Hexes at BR 45. That’s not true. I was trying to hide the fact that Emma didn’t get any more new arts after Potions at BR 32.

Also, despite this having 2.5 times the normal number of screenshots, I didn’t want to split this update into two chapters to avoid everyone guessing that Emma was going to die days before I posted the second half.



To the Nest of Eagles
Battlefield: The Nest of Eagles
Courage and Honor


Discussion Question: …


Next Time: …He’ll reign as the new God Emperor.