Part 20: Mt. Chug-Chug

Music: The Mountain of No Return



Before we get started, let's check out our new party member!



Chuck's Personal Skill is Damage Up. The lower his HP, the more damage his attacks deal.



He's equipped with the Moon Medium, another support Medium.

Moon Medium

RFX/EVA Bonus: Increases RFX and EVA.

PS Observe: Provides more detailed information on enemies when using the Analyze command.
PS Status Lock: Makes the character invulnerable to all negative status effects.
PS Ley RFX Up: Adds a +25 bonus to RFX when the character is on a ley point.
PS Hex Cleaner: Cancels any negative status effects when moving into a HEX.
PS Ley EVA Up: Adds a +25 bonus to EVA when the character is on a ley point.

Dispel Arcana: Cancels all effects placed on the targex HEX.
Replace Arcana: Trade places with the occupants of the target HEX.
Gather Arcana: Gathers all allies or enemies into the same HEX. Targets one ally or enemy HEX.
Isolate Arcana: Characters in the target HEX are moved randomly.
Land Steal Arcana: Moves all status effects on the target HEX to the user's HEX.

Ley Change (25 FP): Changes the elements of all ley points in the following order: Water > Wind > Fire > Earth > Water
Invincible (50 FP): Adds Invincible status to the HEX until the next ally turn.
Intrude (75 FP): Allows for two consecutive actions.
Celesdue (100 FP): Adds All Stats Down status to all enemy HEXes.

For now, I leave the Moon Medium on Chuck and stick him in the party in Greg's place.



If we tried to come in here earlier, the Kobold wouldn't have attacked, so we wouldn't have found the key.



This room has three exits (two of which we can reach at the moment) and a very complicated looking minecart puzzle.




There are even platforms you can raise and lower with this crank.



There's a wall to be destroyed with a mine cart...but there's no mine cart in this room.

Oh well, I guess we'll have to try those other rooms.



This room has two chained chests, one of which can be opened by repeating the explosive crate trick from before. It contains a Lucky Card.



We can see the Sol Niger from here, but we can't reach it. It's just sitting there, taunting us.

When we approach the other exit to the mine cart room, the party begins to discuss Nightburn.



Well, I'd heard rumors, but I'd always thought they were just that - rumors.
But what about what that man we saved was saying... About Nightburn being a Veruni puppet, and throwing workers out to feed monsters...
...Yeah, I guess the rumors were true, after all. But I have to admit, I was a little suspicious of Nightburn myself. I had a friend who went to work for Nightburn, and that was the last I ever heard of him.
Did you ask Nightburn about him?
I can't. He's too important even for Golem Hunters to get an audience with him.
I wonder who Nightburn really is... Is he good, or bad, or...?
Well, we met him once, but I couldn't have really called him "good". Sorry, Dean, but...
No, that's okay. To be honest, I didn't think much of him either. Ever since we met him, I kinda lost interest in becoming a Golem Hunter.
So is he a bad person?
I...don't really know yet.
It's a tough question, isn't it... He did say he was doing it for the good of humanity, after all.
Perhaps he himself is uncertain. He seemed to be striving against something.
Striving, huh...
But if he is a Veruni puppet doing horrible things like this to humans, that's no excuse. If he is, then I'll defeat him myself!



A couple of rooms later, we come across this. When we step on this button, a gate on the far end of the room opens. But if we step on any of those yellow panels, the door shuts.



We just have to jump over them, it's not difficult. In the next room...



Gaunt Worker: H-help!
Imprisoned Farmer: Let us out of here! Please!
Oh no... The villagers have been shut in here so they can't escape...
This is horrible... They're bein' treated like prisoners.
Don't worry, we'll get you out! We'll find a way to open the door!



We can't get the door open from here, but we can use the Detector to see there's treasure to be had on the other side. Dean's just too polite to ask the prisoners to pass him the items through the bars, though.

We continue through a couple more uninteresting rooms, (collecting a Dragon Fossil and 2 Duplicators in the process.) and then...



Huh...?
Well, uh, I was just thinking about how you suddenly started crying back at Honeysday...
Hah hah, so that's what it was! Dean can't stand to see people cry, Carol. Especially not cute little girls!
C-cute...?! B-but...I'm not, um... cute or anything.
Rebecca! Don't say stupid stuff like that!
Hah hah, I'm sorry. But really, Carol, and you okay?
Uh, yes, I think so... I was just scared of, you know, being left alone... I didn't want to be thought of as unneeded...

I find this funny, because I almost never use her in battle. She is totally unneeded.

You must have been through some lonely times, Carol... I feel like I can understand what you have been through.
I guess when you've been alone for too long, you just stop thinking things can get any better... I remember when my parents always ignored me, I kept thinking it would be better to just run away from home... That way at least I wouldn't have to be afraid of being ignored agian. So that's what I did, but now... I guess it's that fear of loneliness that keeps me looking for the Professor.
Carol...
It really has been tought for you, hasn't it...
... I know! Carol, want to be my sister?



Wh...what do you mean?!
Y-yeah, Dean! I know how you hate to see girls cry and all, but that's not something you just throw on somebody!
It's not...? I, well, I just wanted to help Carol feel a little less uncomfortable...

I just wanted to make her more comfortable by offering to be her brother! That wouldn't make someone uncomfortable, right?

Heh... You sure are interestin'.
So is that how you get the girls' attention? Maybe I ought to take lessons from you.
Hey, stop that! That's not what I meant! Right, Carol?
Dean...
Carol...? Why do you have such a dreamy look on your face...?
I guess you can't underestimate the power of naivete...



I finally found a mine cart!



There's no track switching to be done here, you just need to push the mine cart and it goes along the track and stops in a nearby elevator.



The elevator moves us up a floor, to a room we haven't seen before.



First we need to push the mine cart, which makes it travel along the track and stop on a platform which can be raised by a nearby crank.



It breaks through a barricade and comes to a stop on the other side of the fence.



Over here, we can adjust the track so when we push the mine cart again, it breaks through the second barricade.

The chest contains a King's Crown, which is a great badge for Dean. Unfortunately, I forgot to equip it to Dean while I was in here. The King's Crown makes your first attack in battle a critical hit.



After we move the track and push the mine cart through the second barricade, it stops on the other raised platform, which we can now lower.



Pushing the mine cart from here puts it in another elevator.



And now we're back in Area 02. We push the mine cart onto the rising platform and work the crank.



It moves around the entire room, and...



Alright! ...So we just went through this entire dungeon for the purpose of breaking a single barricade, didn't we?



No time to feel like we wasted our time now, we've got a miniboss!



Chaos looks pretty tough, but he's really not much of a threat.



He can use Hi-Blast and Hi-Crush though, which can cause some serious damage. It's easy enough to recover with Hi-Heal though.



As is usually the case with minibosses, he goes down quickly with a combination of Sonic Vision and Hi-Blast from the earth ley point.



...All we can do is keep going forward.
But Nightburn may be waiting for us. Let's proceed carefully.
Nightburn...
He may be crazy, but you saw back at the TV studio just how strong he can be. He's the first wall you'll have to get over, Dean.
Yeah. I didn't have a chance against him back then... But I can't run away! However strong he may be, I'll deal with him head-on!
Admiration eventually becomes a goal, and goals are eventually reached. Dean...it is time for you to overcome your former admiration. You must win, Dean!
I will! Nothing can stop me!




The Power Shot cartridge fires small rockets, which can destroy large boulders and open chained chests. There's also a door back here by the chest, which leads to...



Finally, the Sol Niger! Now that we can turn encounters off, I ran back through the whole dungeon and opened all the chained chests. I found a Gella Card, a Princess Saber, (ARM Part for Avril) 5 Potion Berries, an Arctic Blade, a Lock-On Beat (ARM Part for Rebecca) and 10,000 gella.



I also found another one of those crystals. We still can't do anything with these, though.

After all that backtracking, I run back to the Sol Niger and continue deeper into the dungeon.



This room works the same way as the room from before, we can't touch the yellow panels or the exit will be shut off.



Before long, we make it back to the room with the cages.



Music: rebel assault



Quick, get out of here!
Worker: Thanks! I can't tell you how grateful I am!
Farmer: I won't forget this!
Hurry! Before they find you!
Farmer from Honeysday: Aren't you... Chuck?!



Kent: Yeah, barely... I came here on Nightburn's orders, and they've been working me day and night. I'd half given up hope of ever getting out of here. But to be saved by you, Chuck... Thanks!
Thank goodness... ...No, right now the important thing is to escape! We can celebrate later!
Kent: Yeah. Don't you die either, Chuck!
...
If you want to cry, go ahead!
...Nah, I'll save that for later. Right now, we've got to help the people in here!
Yeah. ... So I did the right thing after all. These people really did want to be freed...
Or did they?

Music: Nightburn Acklund (: Appearance)



We met at the studio, didn't we? What are you doing here?
What does it look like?! Do you think you can get away with this?! Do you have any idea how much you're hurting the people of Honeysday?! You...you traitor! You're betraying all humanity!
Traitor? It seems you've misunderstood me. I would never do something like that. I'm only trying to get humans into important positions, such as the work here. The Veruni value mining sites such as this very highly, you know.
"Important"? Important enough to lock everybody up?! Don't be crazy!
I'm afraid it's not as simple as that. Mine excavation isn't exactly easy work, you know. In fact, that's one of the reasons the Veruni appreciate our work so much. But we can't take that for granted. If anyone was to run away, the mine as a whole would get a black mark. So I've given them secure quarters to avoid any chance of that happening.
Then what about that monster at the entrance?! I heard about you throwing useless workers out to feed it!
That's just to give them an incentive to work. You don't think I'd actually feed people to a monster, do you?
That's no incentive! That's intimidation! If you want to give them an incentive, there must be plenty of better ways!
Regrettably, I don't yet have the latitude to offer money or rank to good workers. You must realize that this mine itself is still only a model enterprise, and hasn't yet been formally accepted by the Veruni. So I'm forced to use less savory methods to achieve the same ends. It hurts me just as much as it seems to bother you.
...
So, have you finally understood my reasoning?
Yeah.. I've finally understood that you're crazy!
Hmph. So you've seen through my little illusion, have you?
Finally showin' your true colors, huh, Nightburn?!
Damn kids. I'd figured nobody in Honeysday had the guys to poke their noses in here, but I never thought I'd have to deal with a kid Drifter. But you realize, boy, you've only sent them to an early death.
What?! Are you gonna go hunt them down and kill them now?!
*BOOM*
Wh-what was that?!
Oh, just a little explosive surprise I left near the entrance for would-be escapers. I can't afford to let the secret of this mine out, so I set the bomb to silence any who threatened to tell. Though with that many of them, I expect a few will still manage to survive. I guess I'll have to give this place up after all.
I can't believe this... Is that all he thinks of humans?
Hmph. Humans are doomed to extinction by the TF System anyway. So better to make ourselves useful while we're alive, wouldn't you say?
I don't know about any TF System or whatever, but you have no right to play with human lives like that! You're no representative of humans... You're just a Veruni puppet!
That's some mouth you've got, boy. I'm just fine with being a Veruni puppet. At least I was able to become one - something scum like you could never dream of! Listen, boy. The Veruni aren't going to just sit around now that you've freed all those workers. The people of Honeysday will probably get the worst of it. By the time word of this gets around, you'll be hated by all humanity!
Maybe so, but that'll pass. I've started on my path - and I'm not gonna stop until humans are free from the Veruni!
Humans, free from the Veruni? Don't make me laugh, boy! There's no chance of that happening! Humans only exist to be ruled by the Veruni. Got that? Freeing humans from the Veruni... The very thought makes me sick!
Nightburn...I didn't want to hear that from you. Not from somebody who crossed the wall between Veruni and humans. I've spent my life looking up to you... I wanted to be a Golem Hunter because of you...!
You? Looked up to me? Hah hah hah! This is why the Veruni never lack for labor! All they need to gather slaves is a convenient fiction - Nightburn, the Golem Hunter!
How...how could you?! You're not even human...!
Damn straight. I threw that part of me away a long time ago! THAT'S how I got over the wall! What, you think a human could get into Veruni society? Not a chance!
Yeah, I do! And I'm gonna prove it! I'll get over that wall as a human - unlike you!
You, huh? You, who couldn't even touch me at the studio?
You'll be in for a nasty surprise if you think I haven't changed!
...Hmph. You sure talk big, boy. All right, then, show me how you've changed - and I'll show you just how wrong you are!

Boss: Nightburn Acklund
Music: Nightburn Acklund (: Battle)



Now we're up against Nightburn and two Veruni Infantrymen. There's no fire ley point, so we need to use Ley Change to create one.



Nightburn has a pretty strong physical attack. Combined with the Veruni who do about 500 damage with their attacks, it can be a problem.



Nightburn can also get Criticals. It doesn't look like a lot of damage, but Avril was defending here, so it does some serious damage.



He also has Blocker. Sometimes he'll just decide to negate physical attacks directed to his HEX.



He can also use Dual Impulse, which can do some serious damage.



It's not an easy battle, but he goes down soon enough with someone blasting at him from the fire ley point.



You too... Still Nightburn, I guess, no matter how rotten you've become.
Talking nasty, are we? Then prove yourself - in a duel!
You're on!
Dean!
Let him be. Dean's tryin' to overcome Nightburn. If he can't even accomplish that, he's got no hope of getting over the human-Veruni wall!
Nightburn!!



The Duel With Nightburn



It's time for a duel, Dean vs Nightburn, one on one! His stats have been significantly lowered so that Dean stands a chance against him. He has a pretty good ARM Part on him, but it's not worth putting the Luck Medium on Dean.



Dean starts by a fire ley point, so it's pretty easy to deal damage to him.



Of course, it's pretty easy for Nightburn to deal tons of damage to Dean as well, as he still has Dual Impulse.



Potion Berries are very necessary to survive this battle.



Unfortunately, Nightburn can heal himself as well.



After a few Heavy Crushes and a Sonic Vision or two, Nightburn goes down.

Especially not...a kid like this... You...you just might...

Cutscene: The Fallen Idol
Music: Nightburn Acklund (ver. Farewell)



Nightburn: Not bad...boy!
Dean: Don't call me "boy"! My name is Dean!
Nightburn: So what do you think of your hero now, boy? The Nightburn that used to be your idol, he's a fake. The real thing can't even stand up to a kid like you. I'm an act, a facade. People see me on TV with the Veruni, they think there's somebody looking out for them. But behind the scenes, it's business as usual.
Dean: ...
Nightburn: Used to be just like you, boy. Used to think I could get over the wall... I swore I'd prove that humans and Veruni could live together. Take a good look - this is how I ended up. And if you continue to follow in my footsteps, then this is how you will end up, too! Can you honestly look at me and tell me you still dream of overcoming that wall?
Dean: No, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna dream.
Nightburn: ...What did you say?
Chuck: Dean! Don't tell me you're giving up?! Come on, you can't let him scare you off like that! What happened to all that stuff you said about resolving myself? Now you're just gonna back off and run?!
Dean: All I said was that I'm not gonna dream anymore. There's no dreaming involved - just doing. I'm gonna do it, no matter what the cost! I'm not gonna stop and I'm not gonna give up! Not until I'm over the wall!
Nightburn: ... Hah hah hah hah hah... Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!



Dean: -!



Nightburn: If you had said that you were going to turn and run away, I never would've let you walk out of here.

He points at the ceiling and fires his pistol.

Nightburn: The Veruni won't take this lying down. You sure you're ready for that?
Dean: Of course! I'm not gonna let them stop me!
Nightburn: ... Listen, boy. You told me that you wanted to go over that wall that divides us, right? But if you want to help the people around you, you're on the wrong track.
Dean: What? What are you saying?!
Nightburn: Keep listening, kid. If you've over that wall, does it help anybody else? No, of course not! If you really want to help, you've got to break the whole thing down, so everyone can cross!
Dean: ...You mean, break down the whole wall, instead of-?
Nightburn: Exactly. That's the only way humans will ever be able to break free from the Veruni. There's not much you can do if you're alone on the other side. So tear all of it down, and we'll pick up the pieces together.
Dean: Nightburn... You're right. That's what I've got to do. I'll take everyone to the other side with me!
Nightburn: Hah, I'm counting on you, boy...no, Dean! This belongs to you now. Go on, take it.



Nightburn: That'll earn you free passage on the trains. For what you're about to do, you're gonna need it.

It has Nightburn's name and picture on it. There's no way that'll work, anyone would think it's counterfeit!

Dean: Thanks, Nightburn, I owe you one. ...But hey, what about you? You could've done this all yourself. I don't understand... What happened to you? Why let the Veruni just use you like that?
Nightburn: There was once a woman...a long time ago. With her, I knew that I could've accomplished anything at all. But...she died. This planet wouldn't accept her. Without her, I just couldn't find the... I couldn't find the strength...the strength to do anything on my own. That experience showed me how helpless a man can be when he's all alone. But you... I know that you're different, Dean. You're got friends to back you up. You're not alone here. Am I right?
Dean: ...Yeah. I don't have to do this alone. And besi-

The cave starts to shake violently, and rocks fall from the ceiling.

Rebecca: -! It's collapsing!
Nightburn: Must've been the blast... Guess we dug a little too quick there. Never thought it would come down so soon, though...
Greg: Let's move it, Dean! C'mon!




Carol: Aah! Dean, look out!




Dean is pushed to the ground, and a huge boulder lands behind him.

Dean: -?!

Music: One Day I'll Have to Let You Go



Nightburn: Urrrrgh! Get outta here, boy!
Greg: Dean! C'mon!
Dean: But what about Nightburn?!
Nightburn: Forget me and GO!



Nightburn: I know you can do this, Dean! Don't you dare disappoint me!
Dean: Nightburn! I'm never gonna forget you! I promise!!



No really, it has Nightburn's face on it. How is this going to get us on any trains?

We can get Dean's thoughts on what just happened if we go to a nearby save point and pick the Hint option.



...No! My hero wouldn't die from a mere mine collapse! I know I'll see him again - right, Nightburn?!

Just keep telling yourself that, Dean.

Also, if we go back into the mine, we can get the items out of the jail cells now. They're Hi-Devastate, Hi-Break, and a Revive Fruit.

The Art of Wild Arms



I would have posted a picture of Nightburn, but there isn't a single picture of him in the art book.