Part 70: You are hardly qualified to feel pity for me

Welcome back. Last time, we stormed the castle! On our way, we took down Amalthea (fun), Dunan (very fun), and then Lorence killed us. Welp.



I had thought you would prove more of a challenge...
H-how... How can be so much stronger than during the tournament?
He was probably holding back deliberately... He might be as strong as Master Cassius...
Grandmother.... I... I’m sorry...

---

Wait, wait, wait. Mulligan!
Mulligan?
Mulligan.





Right. Mulligan. Lorence is Trails’ version of one of Falcom’s favorite things - the boss fight you can win or lose. Since the game progresses either way, Falcom takes the opportunity to raise the difficulty far above anything else the game has to offer. So let’s see what he’s got:



Zero Storm does mediocre damage to what’s either a large area of effect, or everyone. It’s not very damaging, because its real purpose it to impede all casting. As such, he won’t use it unless someone is trying to cast.



Silver Thorn is an enemy only spell which deals decent damage to a medium sized radius and causes Confuse. We’re all nullifying Confuse, because if you’re not, Silver Thorn will make you murder each other. And that’s not cool.



Although he never used it when I fought him, he can also use another enemy only spell: Anti-Sept Zero, which mutes everyone (except for Lorence himself, of course. That wouldn’t help him at all.)



Demon Flames is by far and away the crown jewel of his offensive repertoire, and the real reason he’s so damn hard. Not only does it do just under 1000 damage to a large area, but it also inflicts Faint on anyone who isn’t nullifying it, taking them out of the fight for several turns. Now, as you may have noticed, we’re now at three status ailments and only two accessory slots. While the Grail Locket takes care of that for one unit, for the rest? Hard decisions must be made. Confuse is absolutely crippling, so make sure to nullify it. I chose Mute for reasons I could surely justify as being strategic in ways you could hardly comprehend (if you gave me a while), but in truth I just forgot Faint could be blocked so...



He’s got yet another enemy only spell: Earth Guard Mk. II. Earth Guard Mk. II is an upgraded version of Earth Guard, nullifying the next two attacks Lorence receives. Lorence is fast as hell, so unlike when he would cast Earth Guard in the tournament, Earth Guard Mk. II is anything but a net gain of turns for us. Instead, it can basically shut down our offense. Well, that’s not entirely true. It shuts down our offense when you combine it with this:



Tearal, which restores around 2000 HP to Lorence (or, relatively speaking, a third of his health.) When it comes to Lorence, the real battle isn’t surviving, it’s surviving and actually doing any god damn permanent damage in the process. If you don’t have the Gladiator Belt and the Grail Locket, you almost certainly won’t win. Having the Mystic Staff really helps, which is why I’m super glad Estelle won the vote way back when.

Anyway, how do we win this? Like so many difficult fights in well-designed RPGs, the battle is in many ways won before it even begins.







First of all, we need to nullify Mute and Confuse. The necessary accessories can be purchased from Payton (even after you’ve begun the castle assault, just go back to the airship to talk to him), and so we put them on Schera and Kloe. The Grail Locket just so happens to open up an accessory slot on one of our units, letting us equip the Gladiator Belt. Barrage is your major source of damage for the fight, so put it on Estelle.



Now, one thing you may have noticed, is that outside of Demon Flames, Lorence doesn’t do that much damage. This is because Lorence follows the ninja style of fighting; hit often, not hard. And then sometimes hit hard. He’s incredibly fast, and so the real danger comes from a relentless assault of Silver Thorns mixed in with Zero Storms to stop any attempts at healing, followed by a Demon Flames which kills or cripples a part of your team.

Furthermore, he also uses his fantastic speed to frequently instantly cast Tearal and Earth Guard Mk. II, stymying your offense. The solution is simple: Gotta go fast! Give everyone Action 2, to help counteract his speed advantage, as well as make it more likely that you’ll get a chance to impede his casting (all three of our party members can impede via their crafts.). Otherwise, Estelle really only need one thing - offense. She gets Attack 3 for extra damage and Strike for potential criticals and then a bunch of other less important stuff to round her arsenal off.



Kloe gets her requisite Action 2 quartz, and her requisite three Water Quartz, which doesn’t leave her much room. This brings us to another essential for the fight: Cast 2. With Cast 2, you can nearly instantly cast a lot of the time, preventing Lorence from impeding you and greatly increasing your survivability (and offense, since Kloe’s best source of damage is Blue Impact.) EP 3 is thrown in for some extra time elements, for reasons you’ll see soon.



Schera’s orbment line up should be obvious from what I’ve said: Action 2, Cast 2, x3 Wind quartz for her locked slots, and EP 3.



Anyway, let’s get to the fight itself. First things first: Clock Up EX. It’s a speed boost of 50%, which works out to a 175% or 180% increase (depending on the increase being additive or multiplicative) total. With Cast 2, Kloe should be able to cast this instantly or nearly instantly, meaning we’ve suddenly evaporated Lorence’s speed advantage. Unfortunately, Schera's orbment being divided into two lines, as well as her locks, made it so I couldn’t hit the requisites for Clock Up EX with what I had on hand.

Since Kloe’s only going to be casting this fight, it’s a good idea to move her well out of theway, to avoid her being hit by Demon Flames.



From here, we’ve mostly won. Use your S-Breaks on turn bonuses for maximum benefits. Lorence’s greatest weakness is his low max HP (he still only has 6000, which is the same as when we fought him in the tournament with three other soldiers as back up), so the Mystic Staff + Barrage + Gladiator Belt is a winning combination.



Pictured is the ideal scenario for when Lorence casts. He begins casting...



And Schera impedes. He begins casting again...



And Estelle impedes.





And then he finally finishes casting, but so does Kloe, and so he’s only healed a net 600 or so HP when you factor in the damage dealt when impeding.



It’s not all fun and games, like when Lorence uses Demon Flames, then immediately gets another turn and kills Estelle, but we still have some full revive items. So take that, Lorence.

Eventually, I see an opening, and I take it.





Get fucked, Lorence.

It’s a hard fight, but it’s honestly my favorite in the game. It requires you to strategize on a level that no other fight in the game does, and Lorence’s bag of tricks makes for a really fun and tense fight. Being set to Silver Will doesn’t hurt, either. It’s also a pretty well done example of the “damned if you win, damned if you don’t” type boss fight. Lorence’s low HP relative to the rest of his stats combined with his excellent offense sell the impression that you’re not so much winning as surviving, which is how it should be.

Furthermore, the reward (extra BP), is meaningless unless you’re already in a position to win the fight (losing some BP doesn’t matter unless you’re going for max, in which case you have the Gladiator Belt/Grail Locket.) So there’s a reward, but if you’re unable to win, you’re likely not missing out.





*huff* *huff*
You were holding back in the finals, weren't you?! We should never have even stood a chance!
I-I'm impressed we beat this monster...
I... I can't believe it...
Estelle Bright... I apologize for treating you as an unworthy opponent. Perhaps one day you may reach your father's level...
Wha...?
However...that day has yet to arrive.







The after image effect Lorence has when he moves is pretty cool looking, so I’ve included a GIF.





They are not mortally wounded, I assure you.
...
Your eyes betray much... You are so young...yet you have endured such hardships already...
...
Your Majesty, you are hardly qualified to feel pity for me.









It's almost time. I will return Her Majesty to you, just as you wished.
Huh...?!
If you wish to stop the colonel, you had best hurry below. You near the point of no return. However, you may be able to put the spread of needless damage in check...
Below...? You cannot mean beneath there...?
Heh... However unpleasant you may find it, I was certain that you would understand the significance. You can show them the way.
And now, I bid you adieu.



Music Stops



Is he insane?!



Did he drop into the lake?
But the water's undisturbed... Just who is this guy...?



I am unharmed, Klaudia. He never laid a hand on me.
But more importantly...







Thank Aidios you're all right!
You, too... Since Colonel Richard and Lieutenant Lorence weren't in the castle, I started to worry.
The red helmet guy was here just a minute ago...
What?!
He jumped over that handrail and, well, who knows...

He’s hanging on to the guardrail, hoping to god we don’t hang around too long

He's some kind of monster, all right.
I... I see...
Praise Aidios for keeping you safe...
Joshua...



Well met, Lieutenant Schwarz.
Indeed, I owe all of you a debt of gratitude.
You are far too kind, Your Majesty.
We're just glad to be of help.
I don't think this is over yet, though.
We've dealt with the Special Ops inside the castle, but I'm afraid there are bad tidings... Army reinforcements from every province are on their way to Grancel. From the sounds of it, the Intelligence Division is somehow maintaining control.
I see...
Time is short, my Liege. I must ask that you board the I.D. ship and escape at once.
No... That I cannot do.
The situation has grown more dire. Colonel Richard must be stopped, whatever the cost.
Wh-what do you mean, Your Majesty?







Aureole... Why does that sound so familiar...?
It's one of the Septillions, the seven treasures that Aidios gave the ancients...
The legend says that it has the power to control nature itself.
Oh, yeah. Professor Alba told us about it. But I thought that was just some silly story that was passed down through the church...

That he did, although I wouldn't blame you for not remembering. It was back when we first met him, a good 50 some updates ago. All he had to say though was that it's a relic of the ancient civilization, and that it might be somewhere in Liberl.

...
Huh...?
Hrm... So it does exist? And it lies somewhere within Liberl.
According to an old legend of the royal family...
[The Shining Ring shall bring catastrophe, condemning the sons and daughters of men to eternal purgatory. It has been sealed within the threshold of dusk, that human life should persist...]
[Condemning the sons and daughters of men to eternal purgatory]...?
Well, that's not a little ominous.
These words have been passed down in the royal family as a warning. Perhaps this [Shining Ring] truly was so dangerous that the royal family's ancestors sealed it away. Also, there was that massive orbal reaction that was detected beneath the city... If one takes both of these into account...
This Shining Ring must be sealed away underneath Grancel. It makes sense.
Yes...and I believe that the colonel has reached the same conclusion. There remain no details of what, exactly, the Shining Ring is... ...but I believe there will be grave danger for all, should it be restored. It could be a disaster on par with the Great Collapse of legend.
N-no...
Incredible...
E-excuse me, Your Majesty! Lieutenant Lorence told us to go underground... ...but what did that really mean?
There is a mysterious room within Grancel Castle... ...where nothing, not even a grain of rice, has been kept in generations. Forbidden since long ago...
Oh...
You mean the Treasury?!





There are signs that someone came through here recently... and frequently, at that.
That's not all... The tracks also suggest that someone brought in something very heavy.
I hold the key to this room, but there is a spare. It's likely that's what was used to gain entry.
It would seem that we must investigate.











Where'd it come from?!
Perhaps it's a piece of Colonel Richard's new construction... In which case, it probably goes down to where this [Shining Ring] is sealed away.
Yes...
And that may have been the true goal behind the coup, from the very beginning. They could never have built such a thing without occupying the castle.
That's crazy...
Hm... It's definitely a possibility.
In any given country, a royal sanctuary is generally regarded as inviolate. To break that trust would require quite an...aggressive plan.
Regardless, we'll probably need to use this to get underground. Let's test it to see if it works.







What is it?
It's locked with some type of orbal energy. It looks like it won't work unless we can find some special type of quartz to put in it.
What?!
No... We've come so far...
I'm going to go put the screws to one of those Special Ops soldiers. One of them might have the key!
Yes, that sounds wisest.





Huh?
It can't be...!
Oh... Professor Russell?
Queen Alicia, it has been quite some time. I'm glad to see Estelle and Joshua are doing well.
H-hold up... Professor, what are you doing here? I thought the Intelligence Division was after you in Zeiss...
And on top of that, HOW did you get here...?





Girl’s Voice: B-but, Agate...



Tita?!
I knew it...
Estelle! Joshua!



Thank goodness... I was hoping I'd get to see you again... We heard at the guild that you two were fighting at the castle.
I'm so glad you're all right!
Tita...
Thank you for being so concerned.
It's good to see you well, Agate. But...what are you doing in the royal city?
Well, we hid out for a bit, but then we happened upon a cargo freighter bound for Grancel... And I figured, [What the hell?] The best place to hide is in plain sight, after all. Once we got the lowdown from Elnan, we came straight to the castle. Oh, right... Got something for you from him.



We can’t go back to Grancel, so all of our quests get auto-reported. It doesn’t matter for us, but it can move up ranks and get you swag if you haven’t reached Max BP.

I-is this okay? I mean, we haven't reported in.
Looks like he got filled in on the general gist of things from a Guardsman messenger.
So, what brings your amateur asses here? Me, I figured we could at least beat up the remaining Special Ops guys...





It's been a while, Agate. Thank you for your efforts at the lighthouse.
Kloe, right? What's a student doing in a place like this?
It seems my granddaughter is in your debt. Which means that I also owe you my thanks.
Don't worry about it. S'all part of the job. So, what's up, granny? You work in the castle? Did these numbskulls rope you into helping them?

Oh Agate. You’re just the worst



Y-you barbarian!
Do you realize to whom you're speaking!? You stand in the presence of Queen Alicia of Liberl!
Huh...? Y-you know, she does look sorta familiar...
*sigh* You really should loosen that bandanna of yours, boy. It's obviously squeezing your brain too tight.
Say that again, old man!
Q-Queen?! S-so that means...this lady would have to be...
Her Majesty's granddaughter, Princess Klaudia. We call her Kloe, though.
Kloe, meet the professor's granddaughter, Tita. She's like our little sister.
I see... It's a pleasure to meet you, Tita.
I'd be happy if you'd also call me Kloe.
Y-yes, ma'am... I, I, I mean Kloe.
Awwww... What a little cutie pie.
My name's Scherazard. I'm Joshua and Estelle's mentor. You can just call me Schera.
O-okay, Schera...
And you can call me Uncle Olivier...
You shaddup.

Man, having the entire party together is so much fun

Anyway, this elevator seems to be giving you some trouble. What seems to be the problem, and what in Aidios' name is going on here?
Well...

Joshua briefly relayed the gist of Colonel Richard's plan and told the professor about the [Shining Ring,] a.k.a. the Aureole.

Oh, come on... This is some kinda joke, right? You're not serious.
I can't believe such a thing would be buried here...
Hrm... So it's happened, just as I was afraid of.
So if we use this elevator, we can get where we need to go?
Yes...but it has a special lock. Made of quartz, apparently...
Ahh, that. Let me have a look at it.



You can't undo the lock unless you insert the card that's embedded with the identical quartz.

The professor produced a small cable and slid it into the card slot.

However, this is an early model, without any type of failsafe. So, if you feed it just the right amount of orbal energy...



If you can’t see it, the display on the control panel starting doing colors.

Woohoo! Nice going, Prof!
I'm impressed.
Ha ha... Why am I not surprised?
Now, shall we descend?





Royal Guardsman: A division of the regular army has arrived at Grancel's main gate! It looks like they're being led by an officer of the Intelligence Division!

What?!

Royal Guardsman: And three military patrol ships are approaching from the lake! Y-your orders, ma'am?!

Of all the damned times...!
Perhaps I should make an appearance, in order to persuade them...
Gr-Grandmother...!
I will go to the terrace on the roof and address the arriving forces. Lieutenant Schwarz, make your preparations.
B-but...what if you are attacked?!
I believe in them. Misguided though they are, they are still citizens of Liberl...
If they see me, and hear my voice, I do not believe that they will attack.
Your Majesty...



It is with boundless regret that I ask you to shoulder this burden...
Please, Your Majesty... You don't need to say anything else. We'll do whatever it takes to stop the colonel!
Please, leave this to us.











Since it’s hard to convey time in screenshots, I’m going to point out here that the elevator takes us really far down. The trip lasts around 15 seconds, all told.



Fading Light of the Sealed Land is one of my favorite tracks in the game. It’s suitably grandiose to set the stage for our descent into the ruins below, and it does a great job of setting the stage for some of the scenes within.









Wh-what the heck...?
They're ruins from the ancient Zemurian civilization...
As old as these appear, I don't get the feeling that this place is completely dead... It seems to function just like the equipment in the tetracyclic towers.
That ain't all that's moving. I get the feeling we've got some pretty nasty creatures around here, too.
W-wow...
The structures nearby look to be made of modern materials. I suppose Colonel Richard's had some construction going on...
I suspect you're right.
Building anything at this depth is rather impressive.
The ruins are even larger than I'd suspected... If we're not careful, we could get terribly lost.
Hmm...
It may be best if we split up. Two groups, one for scouting and one to stay on standby.
What do you mean?
Basically, we establish a base camp of sorts in a secure location.
That's the gist of it. The scouting party will find a way through, and the ones on standby will be available to switch out, as needed. Once the right path is found, everyone moves forward to establish a new base.
Makes sense to me.
In that case, I believe that our current location would be the best place to start from.
Estelle and Joshua, you'll be the ones to decide who's going to be on which team.



Wait, US?!
But...
You two are at the very heart of this operation. I doubt anyone will object.
I agree.
As do I.
I-I'll follow your lead...
Bah... Like I have a choice? I'm in.
Heh... I have faith in you to make the right choices.
Sounds fine to me.
Joshua...? What do we do?
No need to think about it too hard. If things get tough, we can always turn back and switch people out.
Oh... Well, then...



And we’re finally here. It’s time to put an end to Colonel Richard’s ambitions, and you can’t crush ambitions without a group of four. So we need two buddies to come with us.

Please vote for who you’d like to see in the party. The winners will get some dialogue during the scenes to follow (although I’ll show off all the variants), and the chance to beat the crap out of Richard. A pretty good prize, all told. I’ve prepared a run-down on each character, although I can easily win with any party so vote however you like. (Note that I’ve unequipped all orbments, so we’re comparing raw stats.)

---

Schera:



Crafts:

Sylphen Whip: Attack a small group of enemies (20 CP)
Bind Whip: Attack a single enemy, impeding casting.(30 CP)
Heaven’s Kiss: Advance the turn of a medium group of allies. (20 CP)
Sadist Whip (S): Heavy damage to a single enemy. (100 CP)

Compared to the rest of our casting options, I’m not a huge fan of Schera. Although her stats are strong, her orbment is divided into two lines, and she’s forced to slot two Wind quartz, which is one of the weaker elements (or, perhaps more accurately, it’s not Time.) Our other casters, Olivier and Kloe, both have one line, and while Kloe has three Water locks she compensates by having Radiant Plash, which is more valuable as an S-Craft.

Greatest Weakness: Probably drunk right now.
Greatest Strength: That may actually improve her fighting.

Olivier:



Crafts:

Quick Draw: Attack a medium sized group of enemies. (20 CP)
Sniper Shot: Attack an enemy, impeding casting. (20 CP)
Happy Trigger: Heal 800HP to a medium sized group of allies. (20 CP; learned at level 32)
Howling Bullet (S): Deals heavy damage to a medium sized group of enemies. (100CP)

Olivier is probably the best caster. He’s got the stats, he’s got the ideal orbment line-up (one mirage lock and a single line, and you’ll have a mirage equipped anyway), and he’s actually got a decent load out of crafts. Happy Trigger is a good panic button for when you need healing, and you don’t have time for a spell to full cast. It also only restored 200 less HP then La Teara in exchange for being used instantly.

Greatest Strength: Fantastic.
Greatest Weakness: Perhaps too fantastic?

Agate:



Crafts:

Wild Rage: Restored 50CP in exchange for reducing HP by 30% of your current HP.
Flame Smash: Attacks a small group of enemies. (20 CP)
Draguna Edge: Attacks enemies in a line, ignoring defense and impeding casting. (20 CP)
Spiral Edge: Attacks a single enemy, delaying it’s next turn. (20 CP)
Beat Down (S): Attacks a single enemy for heavy damage. (100 CP)
Final Break (S): Attacks a medium sized group of enemies for heavy damage. (100 CP)

Agate and Zane are our choices as far as heavy hitters go, and either one’s a fine choice. Agate focuses on offense, with a variety of crafts designed to let him attack in different ways with different effects. Wild Rage is a pretty fun craft to mess around with, letting him use frequent S-Crafts without use of the Gladiator Belt.

Greatest Weakness: Basically the worst person.
Greatest Strength: It’ll be dangerous, he might die!

Kloe:



Crafts:

Impede: Attacks an enemy and reduce their defense and strength. (20 CP)
Encroach: Attacks an enemy and impedes their casting. (20 CP)
Radiant Plash (S): Restores HP and revives enemies in a medium range. Raises defense if used at 200CP. (100 CP)

Kloe’s orbment layout is slightly worse than Olivier’s, with three Water locks. For this reason, her S-Craft is easily the most compelling reason to use her. Radiant Plash is basically an emergency second chance, as it’ll bring a team on the brink of death back to their feet. Equip her with the Gladiator Belt and unless Kloe dies herself, you’re basically immortal. (Of course, Kloe is pretty squishy, so if anybody is going to die it might just be her.)

Greatest Weakness: Her grounded personality makes coming up with pithy remarks about her difficult, unless I talk about her falcon.
Greatest Strength: That falcon is pretty cool, let’s be fair.

Tita:



Crafts:

Smoke Cannon: Attacks and blinds a medium sized group of enemies. (20 CP)
Vital Cannon: Heals 500 HP to a group of allies. (20 CP)
Cannon Impulse (S): Heavy damage to a medium sized group of enemies. (100 CP)

Tita is, to be perfectly frank, bad. She’s by far the least durable party member, and doesn't really make up for it any way, with average stats otherwise. Her only asset is her ability to attack a group with her default attacks, and honestly, that ability isn't that useful anymore. Using Crafts and Arts to deal area damage is going to be more efficient than relying on her.

Greatest Weakness: It would be incredibly irresponsible of us to bring her into ancient, dangerous, unexplored ruins, and I’m surprised Russell is even letting us.
Greatest Strength: On the other hand, she does have a cannon that changes into a Gatling Gun.

Zane:



Crafts:

Taunt: Makes a medium sized group of enemies more likely to attack Zane. (20 CP)
Distend: Raise Strength and Defense by 30%. (20 CP)
Composure: Restore 800HP and cure any status effects. (20 CP)
Smite: Attacks a single target and inflicts confuse. (20 CP)
Disable (S): Attacks a single target for heavy damage. (100 CP)
Aural Blast: Attacks a medium sized group of enemies for heavy damage. (100 CP)

Zane is Agate’s defensively inclined counterpart. They have fairly similar stats, but Zane trades Agate’s offensively minded crafts for a variety of support crafts. Like I said, either is a fine choice.

Greatest Weakness: Terrible taste in women. Amalthea? Seriously?
Greatest Strength: Can apparently psychically punch people.