Part 23: Update XXIII - The Grand Finale

Update XXIII - The Grand Finale



So, this is it. The big reception for Malthur, and we've got front row seats.



If the ritual at Rabenstein succeeded, we'd see Lythia standing there next to Wahnfried. I'm not going to beat myself up to get pictures of that.

And... where is he? Don't tell me that he got tired of waiting and left again?
No, master, but he seems to be suspicious. Can't blame him with the reputation that precedes him.
You can tell him that he'll only find friends and admirers within these walls.
I'll do that, master.



And then he comes stomping down the hall, with sound effects included.



Oh god. You know, if you need some Visine, I think the stores are still open...



You seem to be the leader of these sycophants and brown-nosers. Then you can probably tell me what the deal with this contingent is.



I'm sorry that you don't seem to like it, Sir Malthur.
Be assured that this is all just to convince you of the sincerity of my intentions and my deep reverence for you.



I've been wandering over the surface of this earth for so many generations now that I've stopped counting the years.
Yet I can't remember ever having been at a feast dedicated to me where I liked the guest list.
You're doing me wrong, Sir Malthur. I really tried to assemble only the worst scum around me.
Villains, monsters and mass murderers from all over the world - all willing to commit the worst atrocities just to receive your blessing.

Suddenly, a sound!

What was that?



And shazam, it's Ritz!

Ah, everything went just like I planned! I didn't arrive a second too late!
Is that your jester? Or what's this joke doing here?
Malthur, I beg you! Don't listen to this rattrap! He belongs to the most dastardly creatures of this wor-
Umm... actually, I wanted to say: He's a servant of good! Some sort of paladin in disguise, if you know what I mean...
In that case it's the best disguised paladin I've ever seen.
Don't believe a single word that pale upstart says, my lord! They're planning to trick you! Wahnfried is acting out of purely selfish reasons! I, on the other hand, would sacrifice every bone, every tendon that still remains, just for the sake of your dear father - the Dark God! To prove my willingness and my capabilities, allow me to give you a taste of my art.
Go right ahead. I like magic tricks.



Wow, this guy is really fixated, isn't he?

Damn! Wasn't fully developed after all!

And Ritz hops out of the room.

The gate guard will take care of him...

The sounds of a stabbing are heard.

Said so!



Now that we've gotten rid of this disturbance, allow me to prove my unconditional loyalty to you.

And here's where the divergence comes in - everything from here on only happens when the ritual at Rabenstein succeeded.

Even your wife Lythia, who has waited for centuries for you, is here to welcome you!
My dear husband! You seem bitter and tired. What happened to you in all those years you spent wandering alone?
Don't you dare claim to be my wife! I just came from Rabenstein and I believe I understand what happened there.
Even if I would approve of the method with which a part of Lythia survived the centuries, you're still not the same woman!
Too many souls have settled in your beautiful body!
And how did you... did all of you... spend the lonesome nights? How could an unrestrained creature like you keep itself under control for all those years?
Dear! You're talking of adultery! How could you?
You're right! I'm only making a guess here! But I have capabilities to test those guesses!

Then Malthur stomps up to Lythia, snatches her and raises her up by her throat as she screams.

Why are you resisting if you have nothing to hide?
You're hurting me!
It'll hurt even more if you think you can close your mind from me for longer!

Some black magic shit happens, more screams.

YOU PIG! LET ME GO!
Finally, you're showing your true face!

More magic, more screams, and finally, she drops to the ground, dead.

As I suspected. This harlot was open to every single man that crossed her path.
In a few hundred years, quite a lot comes together.

Oh, snap. Fucker's not messing around here. This is where the divergence ends and we're back to the stuff that actually happened in my run. This bit establishes the fact that Malthur has some sort of mind reading ability, and that's going to be relevant later.

What is it that makes you so bitter and suspicious? Tell me. I'm your friend!
MY FRIEND? LIAR! With the followers of the Dark God, there are no friends!
Everybody is out for his own advantage! THAT is the way of the Dark God!
But I would gladly tell you how I became the man I am today...



As I surveyed the battlefield after the battle at Rabenstein I understood that my Dark Father had forsaken me! He had born me that I may roam the world eternally and raise the number of his followers! He probably felt betrayed when I had the audacity to follow the desires of any human: To take a wife and build a home for us...
My view swept over the blood-soaked ground, over hundreds of victims - victims whose deaths I was responsible for!



And we get a spooky picture that doesn't really mean anything in the bigger picture, but hey, it's atmospheric.

Back then I wasn't capable of questioning my actions... that realization only came to me over the decades. I fled out into the world. Betrayed by my own father, without a goal, without a duty, without friends...
...

Chin up, pal! We'll figure something out!



Oh, shit. Note to self, do not fuck with Malthur. Also, how did that skeleton bleed grey?

For the first time in my life I lost my blinders and I saw the world the way it really is! And most of all, I learnt to despise the Dark God and his followers! I devoted my life to hunt these creatures!
Not that somebody would thank me for it! Humans still run and hide when they see me!
Still, I prefer that to an eternal life without reason and a goal!
And I think I came to the right place!





Oh god, shit's getting real.

And now to you, bloodsucker!



THIS IS OUR CHANCE! ATTACK!



Oh, wait, I actually need to do something? I was just glued to the screen during that scene. Anyway, this is just a basic fight - skeletons aren't as strong as vampires, so this isn't as hard as the previous four vampire fight.



WAHNFRIED'S GETTING AWAY!

Chief Knurrgahn kept his word! He and his men are keeping the vampires at bay!

So there's the bonus if we incited rebellion - Knurrgahn will keep us from having to fight the vampires. We then blitz across the throne room and after Wahnfried and completely bypass the second bonus - if we ran upstairs, Alvaro and his gang would have burst in and taken up the skeletons guarding the stairs, keeping us from having to fight them.



We then cut over to Wahnfried fucking with switches and Malthur hot on his heels.



So, you're giving up?
I never give up! I'm not done with you yet!
Then I'll show you what it means to serve the Dark God!

Wahnfried then walks onto the machine.

Your machines can't help you now!
That remains to be seen! You'll have to try it out if you want to get me!



Malthur accepts the invitation and steps up to choke a bitch.

I'll let you take part in the centuries of pain and loneliness that I have the Dark God to thank for! Open your mind!



Again, Malthur whips out this mind manipulation shit.

So? How do you feel? Better? Or worse?



Malthur keeps choking a bitch and mindfucking it...



...but Wahnfried is not impressed.

You want to impress me with THAT? Take a look into MY mind!



Suddenly, everything goes red...



...and we start taking a trip through Wahnfried's psyche as experienced by Malthur.



This basically comes out as a bunch of weird images...



...and some images I swear are from a Christopher Lee Dracula movie, but I'm like 0 and 4 when it comes to recognizing that shit, so who knows.



Malthur is stunned, Wahnfried backflips and floats like a badass that doesn't even give a fuck.

I've... I've never experienced anything like that before... you... you... you are...



Yes. I am EVIL!

That is it. In a game with great writing front to back, this is my personal favorite line out of the entire game. Flipping the avatar of evil, the son of the fucking Dark God, off and telling him "you thought you were evil? Fuck you, bitch, you ain't SHIT" just sums up Wahnfried perfectly to me. The only thing that's missing is glasses, and if I was in any way capable of image editing, I'd do it.

This is what I mean with "cliche in a good way". Wahnfried is completely irredeemably evil, but the way he revels in it is just delicious. It's a shame there couldn't have been a Wahnfried and Asgar superstar tagteam - that would have blown the roof off with all the self-centered evil delight.

Wahnfried then steps over to the second switch.

Time for you to resign, you pansy!

And as he flips the switch, Malthur rises up like Jannis Brauer twenty years ago.



And? How do you like it up there?
...pretty comfortable...
Is that so? No problem! I'll change that!



And he flips the third switch, having lightning come down on Malthur repeatedly.

It's time for me to leave. I'll have to leave you hanging.



We burst into the room after that and give chase.



This is the only possible exit! He must have fled to the clock tower!

But I don't want to deal with tough as nails platforming and medusa heads everywhere!

Then we might finally find out what he's been hiding up there!



We run through the door, which is now open, and eventually run into one of those big bats.



This battle. This fucking battle. This is annoying as shit. The bat swarms do absolutely nothing but lower your stats a lot, and they're flying enemies that can't be hit by regular attacks. Thankfully, Libra can still grill those fuckers with mass flames, and our overleveled state still makes dealing with them fairly easy.



We further pursue Wahnfried along the clock tower.

THERE HE IS!



Save spot? Spooky looking contraption? Coffin? Here we go, this is it.



Holy smokes! What is that?



This is the machine! This is the machine with which Wahnfried froze time!
Can you turn the machine off somehow, Dankwart?
Generally, it's still the same machine as before... I'll just need a bit of time.
Right now, though, I think it's more important to find out who this coffin belongs to...
Maybe that guy?



If you believe that it's mine, then you're wrong, Dengelbrack!



It belongs to your wife!
DORIA!
*shrieks*

YOU CAN'T HELP US IN THIS FIGHT, DANKWART! YOU DEAL WITH THE MACHINE!
And now to you, bloodsucker!



It's time for the big fight.



This is a puzzle boss, actually. If you'll notice, we don't actually fight Wahnfried in this battle, he's busy chilling in the back, occasionally throwing a spell at a party member (usually Grandy, occasionally Dankwart from my experience). The main problem is Doria, who, just like Sylvia, is invincible and will wail on us like crazy. Capable of double attacks, black magic and magic that attacks the entire party, she can seriously dish out the pain. Thankfully, there's no reason to attack her (of course, if you don't know that...), so the entire party can just guard and after Tarius has played the Hymn to the Night, the magic isn't that big a threat. The regular attacks can still sting, but that's what we loaded up on healing items for.

Did I say the entire party can guard? Well, that's not quite right. Dankwart has something else to do - he can't actually attack in this fight, and instead, all his skills are replaced with all sorts of things he can do to the machine. This is fairly complicated to sketch out, but it comes down to two solutions: Either Dankwart shuts the machine off, or he destroys it. I'm just going to go down the path I went:

First of all, we need to make some light, because otherwise, you can't do shit.

Dankwart turns on the lantern.
Ah, finally I can see a bit more...

Now, let's look around.

Dankwart tries to get an overview of the situation...
Hmm... I see a cover fastened with screws. I presume that the mechanism running the machine is behind that. Furthermore, there are a few tools here, presumably to repair the machine... a screwdriver and a sledgehammer.

Screwdriver? Screws? Let's get on that.

Dankwart grabs the old screwdriver.
Alright, I've got it! Wait a second... that's one of my old tools!
Grandy! This screwdriver was blessed by a priest! Could you use this?
Thanks for the offer, but I think you're going to need it more than we do!

Next, let's turn the screw - but in what direction (yes, the game makes a distinction)... counter-clockwise is right.

Dankwart turns the screws...
The screws are loosening!

Let's repeat that.

Dankwart turns the screws...
The cover is off!
You scum! You're better than I thought!
Time for you to meet your maker, bloodsucker!
We're not that far just yet, pal! I prefer the retreat for now!
...and while I'm at it, I'll take your daughter with me!
WHAT? She exists? She's alive?
Strange, isn't it? Downright paradox - she exists even though their parents never got the opportunity to procreate in this timeline!
But that makes her even more interesting for my plans!
You dog, you... if you lay one finger on her...
Dearest Doria, I'll have to leave you now... please keep this scum away from me for a while longer.
I have always ENJOYED the years you served me!
You'll pay for that!
Farewell - my carriage is waiting!

And then Wahnfried transforms into a bat and gets the fuck out of Dodge, but we're still stuck with Doria. Now that we opened up the machine, let's look around a bit more.

Dankwart tries to get an overview of the situation...
Good grief, there's a whole mess of cables in there... cogs turning, and there's this vial filled with some green liquid...

Well, maybe we can just start messing around with the screwdriver and deactivate it that way?

Dankwart starts messing around in the machine with the screwdriver...
This stuff in the vial seems highly explosive! I have to be careful...
I'm making good progress, friends! Hold out a bit longer!

Let's repeat that.

Dankwart starts messing around in the machine with the screwdriver...
I'm making good progress, friends! Hold out a bit longer! Don't give up, we're almost there!

We repeat that again (which just does the same thing) and then again...

Dankwart starts messing around in the machine with the screwdriver...
I'm making good progress, friends!
Whoops!

Then shit blows up.

THE MACHINE IS DISABLED, FRIENDS! WE'VE DONE IT!




And as the machine is deactivated, the moon finally moves away from the sun...



...the clock tower finally continues ticking...



DORIA!

...and Doria FUCKING EXPLODES from exposure to the sun. Jesus, definitely a step up from just burning.



However, exposure to sun isn't enough to take vampires out in this world, and she still returns to the coffin.

What are you standing here like stuffed dummies? Wahnfried has your daughter!
But Dankwart... your wife...
You can't help her anymore! I have to deal with that myself!

Then we hear a baby crying.

That's her! I recognize her voice!
Do I have to kick you that you get going?

Grandy and Libra leg it, but Tarius still stays behind. Dankwart walks up to him and...

Boo!


And then Tarius runs as well, leaving Dankwart alone in the tower.

And now to us, my dear...



He walks over and opens the coffin.

Would you look at that, my hands are still all oily from that stupid machine. You always hated it when I forgot to wash them...
...before dinner...

You've barely changed. Maybe got a bit more pale. But I, I've gotten old.
You wouldn't believe how much I've missed you, all those years in solitude...

Would you look at that, I've still got the tools from the machine with me, the scatterbrain I am. The hammer and the screwdriver...
...the blessed screwdriver...



A scream is heard.