The Last Remnant Part #86 - Chapter LXXVII

Part 86: Chapter LXXVII - Do you have a death wish?

Do you have a death wish? _-OR- Bloody Alice, Part 1

Music: Old Traditions, New Methods

We’ve got to return to Melphina for this next sidequest.

Because it’s Nora’s, she’s being placed into the party lead spot, displacing Kate. It’s clear by now that one battle isn’t going to be nearly enough to get her to learn Bewitch, let alone Cachexia.

Why the career change?

I used to get jobs from the folks at the Academy and even the Congress. I did a lot of work as a security guard for the Academy. No others could match the amount they were offering.

Nope!

From the moment I made my pledge with Marsha, I have given my all to the Order. Everything I have done, every action I have taken, has been to protect Melphina. Without my Knighthood, I fear I may become lost, knowing not what to do with my life. These thoughts haunt me endlessly of late.

This is a hint that we need to find one of these for Sheryl. But they only grow on Mt. Vackel, so she’ll have to wait. Let’s go see Nora in the bar.

Uh, yeah.

I don’t have a great history with them either. Since they’re already in disarray, I was planning on taking the opportunity to finish them off. Don’t ask me for any details, because you won’t get them. What happened is worse than anything you can imagine. No words can describe this pain.

So, what happened to you?

Do you have a death wish?

We’re taking down the Third Committee. No questions asked.

Alright.

We’ll fight on the Plain of Luhang. This should end it all. We leave now. Are you prepared?

Yes!

Let’s do this!

Accepted quest: The Ladies of Bloody Alice

The fact that this quest gives you a second chance to back out is a warning. If you don’t heed it, you get kicked right into battle. (I’m not entirely sure why she’s waiting in Melphina for a battle which is outside of Nagapur, but whatever.)

Music: Beat the Odds

- Battle Video: "The Ladies of Bloody Alice" - Attempt 1

First of all, fuck this battle. That’s a whopping FIVE boss unions. There are also two unions of Hypnos, and those are also a bit of a fuck you in their own right. But Jager is ready to summon Lob Omen, so we’ve got something going for us. As per my usual routine, I’ll have everyone pile on the weaker enemies to eliminate them.

Lob Omen: follow me!

Oh come now, walk it off!

Even the Hypnos are not fucking around. That really hurt!

Each of these boss unions can lay down significant hurt as well.

One Hypnos down, one to go. Note our full morale. That means we’re taking reduced damage from enemy attacks. Keep that in mind.

That’s not good…

Another Hypnos has joined to replace the one which died.

Ugh! I hate these half-baked mutant punks!

Eh, could be a decent warmup!

Let’s go Emmy, while everyone else tries to revive my dead guys. I have no choice, losing a third union is an auto-loss.

Physical attacks when a special move is incoming is a free dodge, which means a free counter. I’m taking all the free damage I can because this fight is horrible.

These guys just ate 40k damage to the face and aren’t even in critical.

And the mystic union gets ragdolled every which-way.

On the bright side, Emmy can use Hundred Flowers again?

Great, that helps.

Jager’s union gets double-flanked and Irina has her spine liquefied.

I think she was hit so hard she crossed a loading zone.

This helps with the morale a bit. I’d rather something help with the corpses piling up.

Yippie.

Wait here! I’m gonna go find my sister!

This isn’t looking so great. Four boss unions remain in healthy condition and I am half dead.

This smells of death spiral. Lob Omen goes down next.

Another hypnos is down.

…

More Hypnos arrive to replace the fallen ones.

This didn’t work at all. I need to reconsider my approach and my unions.

First, I dissolved Jager’s union so I could use its units to bolster the HP of my other unions. The Third Committee appear to favour bludgeon-type attacks, so I’m putting my units into a formation which enhances defense against it. That was wrong, by the way. Thunderclap does Maul-type damage. There isn’t a formation with resistance to maul-based attacks, so I should have used one which alleviates general physical damage. This is something I should have bothered to look up, but I didn’t.

Irina is being made a leader because her Omnistrike special activates at low health. So let’s try this again.

- Battle Video: "The Ladies of Bloody Alice" - Attempt 2

Let’s see how this goes. Nora will be standing by for a turn to build up AP.

Whyyy…

What an amazing flip that was, Jimma. What did the judges think?
9.0, 9.5, 10.0, 9.0, and 8.5 from the Melphinians!
Pretty impressive scores, I’d say!

Turn 1 sucked. Rush must revive, but I’ll have Nora try a Blackout. Her saving AP paid off immediately.

That seemed to go well. Okay, there are two left, but what threat could they -

Once again, hypnos come in to replace the ones which died.

I’ll make you remember the name Emma Honeywell!

Rush has to clear Emmy’s silence, Emmy will go revive Irina, and Nora’s Fellows will die because she is botched.

Useful! They also survive the silence without it affecting them, and Pagus restores them all to full.

This isn’t over yet!

Nice hit!

I am still going after the Hypnos first. What I didn’t know at the time was that in this battle, the Hypnos are just decoys. As long as there is a single Third Committee union alive, more Hypnos will join the battle (up to a total of 12 Hypnos unions. So attacking them at all is just counterproductive.

Rush also dodges the thunderclap which follows.

Quit that.

This flesh… may fail… but the soul… still burns…

Here comes a replacement Hypnos.

Too bad that doesn’t revive dead unions. And given the way that we’re spinning our wheels, I think this might be edging into Death Spiral territory. I’ll fast-forward a bit.