Apocalypse: so fun it's worth repeating - Let's play SMT III

[KalosKagathos]

*

Fine, so she felt a little...regretful that she was unable to maintain her composure around Kanji; someone who had previous been both a team-mate and a friend. But he - and his complete disregard for her many identical rejections - was equally to blame. He kept trying to talk with her, kept hanging around, and kept generally being a complete bother.

And now he was in the corridor outside the sewing room - as he was most lunchtimes, not that Naoto had been following him, in fact she had a perfectly good, non-Kanji-related reason for being there at that moment.

Probably.

Anyway, he was just standing there, staring through the window. Why didn't he go inside? If there was one thing that irritated Naoto, it was unanswered questions - or, more specifically, unanswered questions she barely understood to begin with. Such as the reasoning behind Kanji's crush. Or, for that matter, her sudden and distressing obsession with it.

Naoto stared dolefully down the corridor, wishing she understood.

"What are you...oh, just get out the way, would you?"

A third year girl - someone she'd seen Souji talking with, she thought? - shoved past her, shooting a glare on her way and muttering about idiot second years standing around in the middle of corridors. Naoto summoned up a suitably frosty glare in response. Unfortunately, the girl was already halfway through the drama room door - and Kanji Tatsumi was now turning away from the window, frowning at nothing in particular.

He looked up, and glare met frown - shortly before both dissolved into fierce blushes.

"Uh...h-hey, Naoto."

She swallowed hard, and nodded. "Tatsumi."

A good fifteen seconds passed. Naoto began to feel vaguely sick.

"Are you...going to sewing club?" she finally managed, in a voice about three times higher than she'd have preferred.

"Uh," responded Kanji.

Naoto didn't think that was much of an answer at all, and tried to convey this to Kanji via the medium of agitatedly tapping her foot against the wooden floor. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Kanji was now staring at a point roughly six inches above her head.

"Well," she said, "I hope you enjoy..." Enjoy what was a mystery. Stalking the sewing club? Ruining my composure? Naoto couldn't decided, and settled for, "...well, yes."

Then she spun on her heels, and strode away down the corridor before Kanji could respond.


*


Naoto intended to go straight to the police station after school and bury herself in work until she returned to her usual calm, collected self - even if it took three weeks. This plan was disrupted by Yukiko Amagi, who gently took hold of her arm outside the school gate and dragged her towards a tree.

"Rise told me," she whispered eagerly.

Naoto blinked. "Told you what?"

"That you finally know about Kanji's crush." Yukiko smiled then, as if there was a second part of that sentence that Naoto ought to know.

She didn't. "I fail to see how this is relevant."

Yukiko sighed, and brushed her hair out of her eyes. Long, smooth, dark, and perfectly set against her flawless skin. No wonder the Amagi challenge had claimed so many victims. There certainly wasn't a Shirogane challenge, Naoto decided; just a locker forever full of letters which she refused to read, all addressed to the mysterious Detective Prince.

"Kanji and I...we knew each other as children," Yukiko continued. "He's a good person, Naoto-kun, you know that by now." She paused. "And he liked you even back when he first joined the team."

Naoto frowned. "Yes. I know. Rise," she added, because that one word tended to explain so much.

Yukiko smiled again, then leaned closer. "If you'd seen his Shadow, then...well."

How Kanji's shadow related to Naoto - who had met him a grand total of twice prior to his kidnapping - was a mystery. But Yukiko's point wasn't, and it confirmed what Rise had told her earlier. Kanji had liked her as a boy. He hadn't changed his mind. Meaning he regarded her no differently - and thinking about it, hadn't treated her as such.

Naoto was painfully aware that he might be the only one.

"You certainly made an impression on him, put it that way," murmured Yukiko, still with a smile. The best response Naoto could manage was a dumb nod.

 

[KalosKagathos]

*

Only afterward did it register with Naoto that Yukiko had mentioned Rise. More specifically, her divulging certain details of Naoto's affairs - or not-affairs - apparently to anyone who would listen.

If she'd told Yukiko, who else had she told? This was a question Naoto repeated loudly and repeatedly when she cornered Rise behind the gym building the following morning.

"I don't see what the problem is," Rise had said, in the sort of sing-song voice Naoto would've found extremely irritating, if she hadn't been busy working out whether it was more appropriate to be mortified or furious.

Trying not to shout, Naoto explained that the problem should really be quite obvious, actually, unless Rise would like her own private business broadcast across the school?

Not that Naoto knew any of it, her powers of observation not extending to trivial gossip. But Rise didn't need to know that.

"C'mon, Naoto-kun. I only told Yukiko." Rise tilted her head. "Well, Chie too. She was there. And I told Ayane later. Math class was kinda boring. And I might've mentioned it to a couple of the girls during gym lessons, I think, maybe."

Naoto couldn't quite think of a response to that, and settled for a thin, strangled noise instead.

"Oh, don't make that face. Everybody knew Kanji liked you. Everybody." Rise shrugged. "Now they just know you know."

Meaning Kanji would soon know too, leaving Naoto in a completely impossible situation where she either continued to reject him - with Kanji now attaching a meaning to her behavior that she wasn't even sure she wanted - or talked things out in a reasonable manner. Which was about as likely an event as Rise Kujikawa keeping a secret for more than fifteen seconds.

"Please, Rise," Naoto asked, anger giving way to desperation, "please don't tell anyone else. I want nothing to do with--"

"Liar," said Rise cheerfully.

"I am serious!"

"Oh, I don't know why you're being so difficult about this. It's so obvious. You two would be great together." Rise winked, arms folded across her chest. "Kanji's a pretty good catch. Cleans and cooks and everything."

Naoto threw up her hands. "I do not need a housewife, Rise! Or a-a-a catch, of any sort!"

Rise didn't respond, and was now staring at a point somewhere past Naoto's left shoulder.

Undeterred, Naoto continued. "And if I ever require a matchmaking service, rest assured I will consult you immediately - but until then, stop interfering in any private business I might have with Ka--"

Her ranting was cut short by a sharp, sudden kick to the kneecap from a nervous-looking Rise. Naoto hit the grass with a thud, landing on her back and tilting back her head - offering a oddly-angled view of an upside-down Kanji Tatsumi, standing less than three feet away and looking bewildered.

"Uh. N-Naoto."

"Kanji," Naoto answered, still on her back and attempting to look nonplussed.

Somewhere near her feet, she heard Rise sigh.

Kanji frowned. At least, Naoto thought he did; inverted expressions were difficult to decode. "You, uh, okay?"

"Yes."

"Oh. S'good. You...need help?"

"No," said Naoto - and Rise's foot smacked hard against her ribs. "Ow!"

Kanji's eyes widened. "W-wait - you're hurt? Dammit, Naoto!"

Naoto tried to point out that she really wasn't, despite Rise's best efforts, she would just rather wait for this wretchedly awkward conversation to finish before she tried to scramble to her feet - but Kanji already had her in his arms and slung over one shoulder. In response, Naoto let out something that could only be described as a squeal.

"I'm takin' you to the nurse!" Kanji roared, oblivious to Naoto now using his back as a punching bag.

"Put. Me. Down!"

The request was pointless. Kanji took off across the schoolyard, away from the gym and back towards the main building, with Naoto still over his shoulder and pounding her fists against his back the entire way.

 

[KalosKagathos]

**

When Naoto stormed out of the medical office - very much fine, in no need of medical attention, and having thoroughly aggravated the school nurse - Kanji was waiting outside and staring sheepishly at the door.

"Uh. Naoto? You okay?"

Naoto kept her eyes on the opposite wall, viciously buttoning up her jacket but fumbling most of the way. Kanji's foot began tapping against the floor.

"I just figured, y'know. Lying on the ground." He paused and rubbed the back of his head. "You...you said 'ow'."

"Because Rise kicked me."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know that, okay?" Kanji snapped - then seemed to catch himself, and returned to the same awkward expression as before. "She spoke to me after. Said I probably...uh, overreacted."

"Yes," muttered Naoto, then turned and stalked down the corridor.

By first break, the gossip mill had informed most of the school that Kanji Tatsumi had carried the Detective Prince halfway across the grounds - and stretched the rumors to include him rescuing her from a pack of wild dogs, Naoto professing her eternal love and admiration, and both of them sharing a passionate clinch outside the medical office. Naoto responded by blushing furiously at her textbook throughout mathematics class and attempting to ignore the hushed voices from the back of the room.

Finally, she glanced up at Kanji - hoping that perhaps he was just as mortified as her - but his eyes were firmly on the teacher and his lips were moving. It took her a few moments to realize he was reading the words scrawled on the board.

Kanji Tatsumi was concentrating in class.

Faced with a paradox she couldn't resolve, Naoto returned to staring at her book and trying to remember what a minus sign meant.


**


The rumor passed quickly - largely because Rise, feeling guilty, created an elaborate new one involving Kou Ichijo, Daisuke Nagase and the entire Yasogami High basketball team. This didn't help Naoto, who was finding it increasingly difficult to both look at and talk with Kanji. It wasn't her fault. It was just very, very difficult to have a reasonable conversation with someone when they had feelings for you that you couldn't reciprocate. Because this was definitely a one-way crush.

As a result, Naoto avoided him to the point where it became slightly ridiculous. She would throw her books in her bag and leave school well before him; refuse to sit on the roof for lunch in case he might venture up; spend her breaks studying in the library (a plan abandoned when he inexplicably started showing up there too.)

She felt proud of herself - she wasn't leading Kanji on at all - until Rise pointed out that she'd seen Naoto walking through the shopping district every night for the past week and staring at Tatsumi Textiles every time.

"It was kinda like watching an owl," Rise chirped, standing next to her outside the tofu store. "I swore your head was gonna make a full circle."

"I was simply on my way back from the police station," Naoto pointed out.

Rise folded her arms and smirked. "You never walked back this way before."

Because it extended her transit time to and from the station by seventeen minutes, the rational part of Naoto's mind pointed out. The slightly more delusional part insisted the longer walk was for the good of her health. The temperamental section, meanwhile, told Rise to be quiet because she didn't know anything.

"Well, I know that Kanji-kun isn't at the store today." Rise tilted her head with an innocent expression. "Plus another little secret."

Naoto hated secrets. Most detectives did. "Secret what? What are you talking about, Rise?"

"Oh, you wouldn't want to know, Naoto-kun. Since you aren't interested in Kanji."

Naoto stuttered out something about 'informational purposes', and Rise grinned.

"He's being going down to the river every few days for a while now. Naoki saw him. He gives toys to a boy down there." She shrugged. "It sounds kinda weird...but cute as well, right?"

Cute was not a word Naoto had ever heard used to describe a six-foot tall, multiply pierced former delinquent. This demanded further investigation. "Do...do you think he might be there right now?"

 

[KalosKagathos]

*

The investigation had to be covert, of course. Detectives were good at that sort of thing. Naoto would observe Kanji undercover and determine exactly why he was giving away stuffed toys.

Rumor had it that he possessed a talent for sewing - something not unexpected, given his mother ran a textiles store - but she'd assumed the toys were made to be sold. She knew from experience that despite his temper, Kanji was much more thoughtful than he let on; this, however, was an unexpected development.

Still confused, Naoto contemplated the issue further as she crouched behind a bush at the edge of the floodplain footpath. Kanji was standing by the river below, clutching a cloth bag and holding it out to a small boy standing opposite. The boy pulled the bag open and reached inside. When he pulled back his hand, a giraffe clutched between his fingers, his face broke into a wide smile. Naoto couldn't quite hear the words, but the excitement in the child's voice was clear - and Kanji's hand instantly flew to the back of his head.

To be honest, Naoto had considered giving toys to a stranger - a child, at that - to be quite peculiar. But when Kanji handed the boy the bag and watched him run off, waving back at him as he left, it became clear this was a completely altruistic gesture.

Kanji, who'd tried to hide his talents as long as Naoto had known him, was putting time and effort into making toys simply to give them away.

A little stunned, she decided to return home and consider events further. This plan was disrupted when she stood up, turned to return to the footpath, and felt the ground - muddy and unstable from recent rain - gave way under her feet. Naoto had a moment or two to flail her arms around and fail to keep her hat from falling onto the grass, before she tumbled over the edge of the raised footpath and into the river.

This would have been distressing enough, but was complicated by two factors:
1. Kanji's sudden and unrepeatable cry of surprise
2. Naoto's inability to swim.

Flailing around in the water and wishing desperately that she was tall enough for her feet to touch the riverbed, Naoto tried hard not to drown.

"Naoto!" Kanji had already splashed into the river and was wading towards her. "Hold on!"

The really, really embarrassing part was that so far, the water barely reached the top of his chest. Maybe drowning would be for the best, Naoto thought - especially when Kanji grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder for the second time that week.

"Put me down!" It was mostly reflex this time.

Kanji just grunted and waded slowly back to shore, before half-laying, half-dropping Naoto onto the sand. He leaned over, hands pressed against his knees and trying to catch his breath. "What...why'd you...why'd you jump in the river?"

Struggling to think of a response that didn't involve her spying on him, Naoto stayed quiet.

"Naoto, seriously...I mean, can't you swim?"

This was another problem. There were few things Naoto Shirogane couldn't do. Or at least she tried to make it that way. Swimming, however, was an issue. Much like water in general.

She settled for a frown and an annoyed gasp - then said, "I-I was doing fine, thank you."

"Yeah, right! Doing fine at drowning."

"The w-water was less than...less than six feet deep!"

"And you're five feet!" Kanji snapped.

This was true, much as it annoyed Naoto. It was also true, she suddenly realized, that Kanji was now soaked to the skin from the shoulders down because he'd waded into a cold river just to pull her out.

Naoto tried and failed to ignore the heat creeping over her cheeks.

She jumped awkwardly to her feet, almost slipping on the mud, and ran a hand through her wet hair.

Kanji stared at her. His frustration had vanished. "Hey, m-maybe you need to rest, or--"

"Actually, I...I left my hat...it's up there, I need to go get it. Goodbye, Kanji," she added quickly, before running up the steps and trying not to trip over her waterlogged pants.

 

[KalosKagathos]

Update 15: Asakusa

First thing we do in Asakusa is drop by the local junk shop.

Two Magatama are on sale: Nirvana and Gehenna.

Nirvana voids Expel attacks, but is weak to Death. Skills it teaches are Anti-Expel, Void Expel (self-explanatory), Violet Flash (high Expel-based damage to a single target for 10 MP; a great deal, but doesn't fit our build) and Divine Shot (a physical skill with increased chances of a critical hit).

Gehenna drains Fire damage (first Magatama to offer something more than an immunity) at the cost of weakness to Ice. Teaches Void Fire, Fire Drain (no prizes for guessing the effect), Mana Gain (a passive 20% boost to the MP pool), Hellfire (moderate Fire damage to random targets) and Magma Axis (a weird one; deals Fire damage, the exact amount of which scales heavily with the Magic stat, to a single target and works like a physical skill in that it takes HP to cast).

We buy both. The prices are outrageous, but gotta catch 'em all.

Next stop: the Great Underpass of Ginza. Why are we going there?

Why is the warning text different from usual? No matter.

Will you stay here?

Yes.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Down we go.

What fearsome enemy are we going to face today?

Huh? False alarm, I guess.

Damn.

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

You actually managed to defeat one of us... Very impressive. But, I won't be as easy as the white knight.

Death be unto you, Demi-fiend!!

Like the White Rider, the Red Rider is capable of summoning reinforcements.

Powers hold the sixth rank in the divine hierarchy. They serve as devoted warrior of the heavenly host and keepers of knowledge.

The Rider can summon up to two Powers at the same time, and their main purpose is to cast Tarukaja, boosting his already considerable physical damage output even further. Needless to say, we can't let this happen.

Stone Bite is back to save the day once again.

This is Terrorblade, the main attack of the boss. Physical damage to random targets meaning multi-hit potential meaning death, unless you're buffed. Oh, and it can cause Panic, for extra fun. He has other attacks as well: his basic attack, Bolt Storm (heavy Electricity-based damage to random targets) and Wind Cutter (single target, severe Force damage). Still, Terrorblade is what you should watch out for.

What complicates things is that the Red Rider has Dekunda and will use it every time you debuff him. This is bad because our current selection of buffs is rather limited and includes Rakukaja and Makakaja only. 4 Rakukajas are enough to ensure that a Terrorblade won't kill anyone, but 2 Terroblades are enough, and with the Powers petrified the Rider gets 2 action points.

The smart thing to do would be to reload and fuse a demon with Sukukaja. With our evasion rate boosted, the Rider would be bound to miss at least someone whenever he attacked, and that would cost him 2 action points, allowing us to easily out-heal the damage he does. Instead we do the cocky thing.

We do what we did in the Dante fight and cast a Rakunda every turn to make him waste an AP on Dekunda each time he gets to act. This makes the battle excruciatingly long: the Hell Biker can't act (he learned an Attack All passive that turned his basic physical into an AoE; now all his attacks can shatter petrified Powers, and we want them "alive"), Baihu Rakundas, Daisoujou heals, Reggie does Focused attacks. With only one dedicated damage dealer - a dedicated damage dealer who, by the way, is vulnerable to Panic - the fight takes almost 30 turns.

Behold, the spoils of war (see what I did?). One more candelabrum, and we'll crack the Third Kalpa open.

Back to Asakusa.

Male Manikin: ...But, we'll clean it all up, because it's our city!

Translation: some parts of Asakusa are off limits for now and will only be opened with the magic of plot advancement.

...Oh! It's you! It's me, remember? Y'know, from the Underpass and the Prison... Me! ...I was thinking of opening a store here - making use of all my experience. It's a mess now, so it'll be a while before I'll be able to open up. But, I'll hook you up, so come on by after I open!

This is one of such areas.

Old Manikin: ...Whoa! It's you! Do you remember me? ...How've you been? Alright?

Yes.
Old Manikin: I see, I see! We're doing well living in Asakusa. This is all thanks to Futomimi's leadership. Futomimi is in our holy land of Mifunashiro. Go and see him.

Female Manikin: He's ruthless, tearing off the skins of other Manikins. He might be around here, so be careful!

We're told of two interesting individuals: Futomimi, who we're already familiar with, and a mysterious Manikin serial killer. Meeting both of them is our next objective.

There are two gates on the Asakusa main street that lead further into the city. Let's take the eastern one first.

We end up in the hallways of an abandoned building.

One new demon can be encountered here.

Yomotsu-Shikome are hags living in the Japanese netherworld who were sent by the butthurt Izanami after her fleeing husband.

Soul: But, looking at Tokyo as a whole, we see Nihilo taking over, and that's no laughing matter. Nihilo has no rival. Are we just going to sit here, watching Hikawa make his world of stillness?

Soul: What was it? The 'Nightmare System'?

Soul: She must have some guts.

Souls inhabiting this building recall major plot points if you talk to them.

Male? Manikin: Oh, it felt sooooo good!

This thread is now about SMA.

Last but not least, we have this boy.

Manikin kid: You wanna know what games humans used to play? I already beat this game... Well, you won't last a minute. It's over before it even starts. If you can win, I'll give you an insect-like thing. Okay! Why don't you try?

You're on!

BGM: Puzzle Boy. This one is a remix of the SMT I pre-ITZ world map music.

Manikin kid: If you have any questions, open up the menu and select Help. Are you ready? Then, let's start!

It's mini-game time. You have to lead the Pyro Jack you're controlling to a blue crystal by pushing blocks around. There are 20 stages in total and their difficulty ranges from easy to long-and-tedious-but-still-easy to actually-a-bit-hard. I don't like it one bit, but gotta catch 'em all.

An hour and a half later, all done. NOW WHERE'S OUR INSECT-LIKE THING?

Manikin kid: I guess that means you beat it, right? Ugh...... That's fine. You can have this insect-like thing.

You obtained the Magatama Geis.

Manikin kid: You can come again, you know. Well, I've beaten it anyway.

Geis is a great Magatama. It nulls Expel attacks, doesn't have any weaknesses, teaches healing spells, Tetraja and two passive recovery skills: Life Refill and, more importantly, Mana Refill.

There are two ways out of the building with the kid.

One leads to a Cache Cube with a Magic Mirror in it.

The other one brings us a level closer to Mifunashiro. There are two buildings here.

Let's try the northern one first.

Female Manikin: It'll be a while before you'll be able to get through here. Come back later.

Renovations are still ongoing here.

We have more luck in the western building.

It houses a small terminal...

...a Cache Cube with a bit of money...

Male Manikin: What happened to the human boy at the Mantra's jail? Did he escape? ...That hat bugs me.

...more reminding of past events...

...and another exit that leads us straight to our destination.

Mifunashiro.

Just as I foresaw, you have come to Asakusa. We are fated to meet again... Although, that is all I can say at this point.

:foreshadowing:

Everyone is doing their best to restore the city. This is the first city we Manikins have ever considered as our own, after all.

Though you may 'see' our land, you may not 'enter' it any further. This is the holy land of the Manikins, Mifunashiro. Beyond here is our motherland, where we were born... Even if we owe you our lives, I cannot allow you past here.

Now, I must return to my meditations. I have to foresee our new future. I need to find out what I need to do to create a world where Manikins can live in peace.............

Beware of a Manikin named Sakahagi. He's a traitor to our cause, having committed various atrocities. He's probably hiding out somewhere in Asakusa... He might cause you some trouble, but please understand that he is not one of us............. Now, I must be going...

Sakahagi is the name of the murderer we've already heard of. Time to meet him.

A large terminal here can be used to quickly warp back to Asakusa.

Let's try the western gates now.

They bring us to another abandoned building, but this one is different.

Blood on the walls sets it apart.

Male Manikin: It's Sa...Sakahagi... Th-That traitor, Sakahagi is going wild... up ahead...

Male Manikin: He's an evil Manikin...

Male Manikin: Shhh! Sakahagi'll find me! Go away!

Will you enter?

Yes.

Strange Manikin: Well, I'm not complaining. Now, I have this new skin to add to my collection......!!

Yes, that coat is indeed made of Manikin facial skin. Have I already mentioned that this game was rated A (all ages) in Japan?

Damn, you had me scared for a second... I thought those Manikins were back. They're pretty weak, all of them except this one guy that escaped from the Mantra... He's been giving me a headache recently. It would've made my life a lot easier if he'd been killed in Ikebukuro.

I've been collecting Magatsuhi... Eventually, I'll have enough power to dominate all demons. You're a demon; you know how it is. You're thirsty for some Magatsuhi yourself, aren't ya?

Not really.

Maybe we'll meet again, maybe not. We'll see. Just remember... I'm Sakahagi, the future ruler of the demons...

And so he leaves.

A dead body and two empty Cache Cubes are all that's left behind.

This ends our tour of Asakusa. Let's see if Hijiri made any progress.

About the Nightmare System... I've got good news.

The Nightmare System's inside it, along with all the Magatsuhi that's been collected. In other words, we've found Nihilo's current headquarters. ...The system is probably being operated by that woman they call the Maiden. I have no idea how it works, but we know it's dangerous.

However, if no one does anything, Hikawa will take over the world for sure.

You must stop the Nightmare System inside the Obelisk, and return the flow of Magatsuhi in the Vortex World back to normal. Use the secondary entrance to Nihilo's old headquarters to reach the Obelisk. That entrance is locked right now, but I can take care of it. With this terminal, it'll be a piece of cake. The Obelisk looks pretty tall, and who knows what kind of demons are gonna be there. We don't know what kind of power this so-called Maiden has, either. It's not gonna be easy, that's for sure... But, I know you can do it.

As you remember, the old headquarters are located near Ginza.

The secondary entrance is on the other side of the bridge located near the Harumi warehouse.

Pretty.

Soul: The security here is super-tight.

This is a warning to low-level character who can accidentally wander in here. Powers and Archangels are commonly encountered on this side of the bridge.

A Succubus hides inside a Cache Cube near the Tokyo Tower. She can instantly kill all sleeping characters with Eternal Rest, so immunity to Mind is nice to have. We get a Ruby for winning the fight.

This is the secondary entrance Hijiri spoke of. Further north is a tunnel that leads to the Diet Building, the game's penultimate dungeon, but it can't be accessed for now.

No switch puzzles this time. An elevator located here connects with the True Core floor directly.

The lights are off, but we have Lightoma to help us out.

Much better. This is another Nihilo warehouse. The goodies inside include a Tetraja Rock, a Bead and a Medicine. Two Cache Cubes are trapped and damage the party. Randomly encountered guards include Incubi, Succubi and Disir.

Eventually, we come across the True Core again, except this time we're facing it from another side.

As the auto-map helpfully shows, the Core can be used to access the previously unexplored eastern side of the complex.

On the other side is an extremely long corridor. Thankfully, random encounters are disabled here.

Another elevator is at the end of it, allowing us to return to the surface.

This is the third and final entrance the old Nihilo headquarters have. The Obelisk is right outside.

A main terminal is here, so we don't have to crawl through the tunnel of boredom every time we want to get here.

And here we are, right next to the Obelisk. Let's explore around before we enter it, though.

Junk.

I wish the money found in Cache Cubes scaled with the difficulty setting, like the Magatama prices do.

Junk.

Soul: His name was Lord Masakado Taira. He's probably watching over us, even now...

This, on the other hand, is interesting, especially if you remember Masakado from SMT II. There's no way to interact with the grave now, but remember it.

This is all for today. The next update (which will be done in two weeks, as the next week is choke full of end-term tests) will cover the Obelisk in its hugenormous entirety.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Update appears!

fanfic

:dizzy:

Geis is a great Magatama. It nulls Expel attacks, doesn't have any weaknesses, teaches healing spells, Tetraja and two passive recovery skills: Life Refill and, more importantly, Mana Refill.

But that minigame is annoying.

Pretty.

Yup, the overland views in Nocturne are pure *love*.

 

[spekkio]

Another page already?
How did you do that...

Well, NVM, great update as always.

:clap:

 

[Crooked Bee]

It looks like the lengthier an update, the fewer comments it gets. Redding is teh hard, truly.

This substanceless comment is meant as a bump bringing this thread closer to the next page in order for it to be fanfic spam-free from now on.

 

[spekkio]

It's my fav LP on 'Dex ATM, too bad that it's a waeboo byllshit gaem with popamole trial and error gameplay, so (almost) nobody cares.
If only it has more boobs...

 

[Crooked Bee]

+1 for this being the bestest LP
-1 for nobody cares. There's a lot of closeted weaboos on the 'dex, there're just too afraid to, uhm, come out of the closet if you know what I mean.

 

[Azira]

+1 for more boobs

 

[lightbane]

Sorry, I was late to comment.


Awesome as always, strange that psychopath guy doesn't attack you (yet).

[Intelligence] Does that mean he will be a future boss?

 

[KalosKagathos]

-1 for nobody cares. There's a lot of closeted weaboos on the 'dex, there're just too afraid to, uhm, come out of the closet if you know what I mean.

The thread currently has the average of slightly more than 42 views per post. Nowhere near as impressive as the Sengoku Rance LP's average of almost 140 views per post, but people do read this thread.

[Intelligence] Does that mean he will be a future boss?

Yeah, in about 4-5 updates.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Bump.

Will there be an update before the end of 2010? Or only after?
(In other words: when exactly is "in two weeks"? )

 

[KalosKagathos]

I'm thinking of giving you all a New Year present and updating on Friday evening.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Yay!

 

[KalosKagathos]

Hermes. Hera. Colossus. Heracles. Athene. Posidon. Momus. Hermagoras. Zeus. Aphrodite. Apollo. Timocles. Damis

1. Herm. Wherefore thus brooding, Zeus? wherefore apart,
And palely pacing, as Earth's sages use?
Let me thy counsel know, thy cares partake;
And find thy comfort in a faithful fool.

Ath. Cronides, lord of lords, and all our sire,
I clasp thy knees; grant thou what I require;
A boon the lightning-eyed Tritonia asks:
Speak, rend the veil thy secret thought that masks;
Reveal what care thy mind within thee gnaws,
Blanches thy cheek, and this deep moaning draws.

Zeus. Speech hath no utterance of surpassing fear,
Tragedy holds no misery or woe,
But our divinest essence soon shall taste.

Ath. Alas, how dire a prelude to thy tale!

Zeus. O brood maleficent, teemed from Earth's dark womb! And thou, Prometheus, how hast thou wrought me woe!

Ath. Possess us; are not we thine own familiars?

Zeus. With a whirr and a crash
Let the levin-bolt dash—
Ah, whither?

Hera. A truce to your passion, Zeus. We have not these good people's gift for farce or recitation; we have not swallowed Euripides whole, and cannot play up to you.

 

[KalosKagathos]

2. Do you suppose we do not know how to account for your annoyance?

Zeus. Thou knowst not; else thy waitings had been loud.

Hera. Don't tell me; it's a love affair; that's what's the matter with you. However, you won't have any 'wailings' from me; I am too much hardened to neglect. I suppose you have discovered some new Danae or Semele or Europa whose charms are troubling you; and so you are meditating a transformation into a bull or satyr, or a descent through the roof into your beloved's bosom as a shower of gold; all the symptoms—your groans and your tears and your white face—point to love and nothing else.

Zeus. Happy ignorance, that sees not what perils now forbid love and such toys!

Hera. Is your name Zeus, or not? and, if so, what else can possibly annoy you but love?

 

[KalosKagathos]

3. Zeus. Hera, our condition is most precarious; it is touch- and-go, as they call it, whether we are still to enjoy reverence and honour from the earth, or be utterly neglected and become of no account.

Hera. Has Earth produced a new brood of giants? Have the Titans broken their chains, overpowered their guards, and taken up arms against us once more?

Zeus. Nay, fear not that; Hell threatens not the Gods.

Hera. What can the matter be, then? To hear you, one might think it was Polus or Aristodemus, not Zeus; and why, pray, if something of that sort is not bothering you?

 

[KalosKagathos]

Update 16: The Obelisk

Here we are. This place is kinda high. There are almost 150 floors in it, technically speaking, but the vast majority of them is phantom floors that are skipped with the help of elevator rides. Still, it's one of the longest dungeons yet.

Soul: This is the closest you'll ever get to Kagutsuchi, in all of Tokyo.

Soul: She is collecting Magatsuhi with her powers...

Predictably, we'll have to climb the entire thing if we want to meet the important person.

The first floor has the first of many small terminals found inside the Obelisk. Note that small terminals are the only kind of terminals found here, so if you use them to teleport to a town for healing of fusion, you'll have to redo a lot of progress. This is the first dungeon where being able to recover MP on your own is an absolute must.

Most demons guarding the lower floors are familiar to you: Arahabaki, Disir, Karasu Tengu, Eligors.

We have a sort of newcomer as well. I say "sort of" because this is the demon that Hikawa summoned back at the very beginning of the game.

Baphomet. A pagan deity that was first mentioned in 12th century. Most famously, the Templars were accused of worshiping him during their trial. However, it appears that the cult of Baphomet initially was little more than a fairy tale and existed only in the documents of the inquisition, as the name is merely a corruption of "Muhammad". Eliphas Levi, a 19th century French occultist, re-introduced Baphomet, this time as a demon, and the being has been associated with Satanism ever since.

Other than a Cache Cube with a Dis-Mute inside, nothing of interest remains on the first floor. Let's ascend using this elevator.

It's floor 15 already. See, I told you it would be quick. This floor has 3 more elevators, all of them leading up.

The eastern elevator brings us to a Mystical Chest on F18. A gem's inside.

The western elevator leads, uh, nowhere in particular. It's the other side of a gap near the Mystical Chest we just opened, but nothing is here. No Cubes, no Chests, no traps, no Fiends, nothing.

As we approach the southern elevator, a short cut-scene triggers.

Cold-sounding woman: Just as Lord Hikawa predicted... It seems a rat has wandered in!

Arrogant-sounding woman: I assume you are here for that woman, but we three sisters are guarding the Obelisk... We are not like that useless Ose.

Cruel-sounding woman: Well, if you can get to us in the first place.

Cold-sounding woman: Now... Come!

That laughter at the end was a bit over-the-top, wasn't it? But who were they, anyway? The answer lies in the heart of battle slightly higher.

The southern elevator connects to 24F. The souls you can see are the only notable things about this section of the Obelisk.

Soul: As long as they're here, you won't be able to catch even a glimpse of the Maiden.

The women are the Fates from the Greek mythology who take care of the thread of life that each person has. By the way, shouldn't it be "Moirai", not "Moirae"? This isn't Latin.

Soul: You must control the flow of time. ...What does that mean? You will soon find out...

Color us intrigued.

Up we go again.

Soul: But, if you take too much time, the floor will crumble beneath you. ...A malevolent device, fitting of the Moirae Sisters.

Spheres like this one are the Obelisk's main attraction. What do they do? Read on.

Will you touch it?

Yes.

When you touch a sphere, everything goes blue, the Kagutsuchi phase is set to new, and glowing squares appear on the platforms linked to the sphere. Time does not pass on its own, but when you step on a platform, time is advanced in accordance with the number of squares on the platform. Pillars blocking the way also have squares on them. When the Kagutsuchi phase matches the number on a pillar, the pillar sinks, allowing passage. Failing to proceed further before the next new Kagutsuchi flips the platforms and causes you to fall down a floor or two. The only penalty is having to climb a staircase again.

As far as RPG puzzles go, these are actually pretty neat. I like them much more than the Pyro Jack arcade machine from the previous update. They're kinda easy, unfortunately, but the idea is solid.

This one is obvious.

First step on the right platform, then on the left one, then it's done.

Everything goes back to normal when you leave the platforms connected to the sphere.

Shortly after the puzzle there are a Cache Cube with 2 Chakra Drops in it and the next elevator.

The elevator brings us up 8 more floors. Not much to tell about this section. Enemies are getting tougher; Succubi and Beriths can now be encountered.

Soul: You saw all that Magatsuhi being stored at the bottom, right?

A soul shares a rather useless bit of trivia regarding the Obelisk's inner workings.

Another small terminal.

Some goodies are spread around the Cache Cubes in the area: 4 Life Stones, 1 Sacred Water and 1 Dekaja Rock. Nothing more left to see here, so we're moving along.

8 more floors covered in an instant. Incubi spawn here in addition to previously encountered demons.

The area is pretty underwhelming in terms of Cache Cubes: 1 Bead is all we get.

To sweeten the pill, there's another small terminal here.

More interestingly, we have our second puzzle.

This one has two pillars: the left one requires full Kagutsuchi and leads to an elevator, the right one requires half Kagutsuchi and leads to a Mystical Chest.

We go after the Mystical Chest first, obviously. The solution is

Spoiler

to go round all four platforms clock-wise, starting with the bottom-left one, then step on the one with two squares.

Our prize is a Great Chakra; full MP recovery to all demons in the party.

We reset the puzzle.

The solution to the other pillar is

Spoiler

1+3+4=8.

The only way to go is up.

Floor 60.

Soul: The world of stillness is near...

Soul: Do you hear it? The screaming of a woman, coming from above? ...It's creepy!

OK, so we climbed all the way up to the 70th floor. On the other side of a gap before us are several platforms. One has an elevator leading further, one has a soul with little useful to say, one has a Mystical chest, the rest are empty. How do you reach them?

Back down on the 60F there are 5 red cubes (not visible in the screenshot; sorry) that can move along those column thingies you can see in the screenshots and bring you to the other side. One connects to the soul, one - to the elevator, two - to the Chest. There's supposed to be a certain pattern to the way the cubes move that will allow you to guess which is which, but I never bothered to figure it out and just did it through trial and error.

Let's try the middle cube.

This one brings us to the Mystical Chest.

More Soma can never be a bad thing. Two more red cubes are attached to this platform. Both of them connect to the side of the gap we originally started on.

Now the second cube from the left.

This is the one that leads to the elevator. Screw that soul, we've got Maidens to rescue.

The skies are still far away.

Only 7 floors covered? Underwhelming.

Pazuzu starts spawning on this floor.

In the Assyrian mythology, Pazuzu is the ruler of the southwestern wind, a bringer of famine and drought.

Regardless, two red cubes are awaiting us.

First, the left one.

It leads to a niche with a small terminal and...

...a Cathedral of Shadows, believe it or not. We won't fuse anything here, however. We don't have any good fusion fodder with us, and summoning it would eat money I'd very much like to keep for buying new Magatama. The Hard difficulty can be a bitch like that.

The other cube bring us to another puzzle.

This one also has two pillars.

Spoiler

2+0+3+0+2+1+4=12

Behind it are two more red cubes. One leads to this Cache Cube, the other leads to nothing.

Let's try the left pillar now.

Spoiler

2+0+3+0+3=8

Behind it is a red cube leading to yet another puzzle.

Two pillars per sphere has become standard.

Spoiler

3+0+3+0+3+0+3=12

Yay, a free stats boost.

Spoiler

3+1+3+1=8

Here we have a red cube that allows to freely travel between this point and the previous small terminal, and an elevator.

Floor 90. We're making good progress.

Soul: You never know... To him, even the Maiden may just be...

Life Stones stopped being impressive loot a long time ago, game.

Floor 97. Hang on, guys, we're almost there.

Onkot (or Ongkot) is a cousin of Hanuman, the legendary ape king from Ramayana.

Phantoms who haunted us so much in the Second Kalpa make a very unwelcome return. Last Resort can still ruin your day, so keep Tornado ready.

Healing is available on the 99F. Not that we need it, thanks to Mana Refill.

Soul: But, no one who has gone looking for it has ever come back alive... Go upstairs if you have business with the Maiden.

I smell a side quest. Let's rob the Nihilo treasury.

The elevator brings us down to floor 85. What's this dire protection measure the soul spoke of?

It's another puzzle.

This one can be a bit tricky due to 3 possible starting points and the way the platforms are connected, but it's still pretty easy to figure out.

Spoiler

1+2+1+2+1+2+3=12

This elevator goes all the way to the bottom.

The B2 floor, the location of the Nihilo's most priceless treasures. This is gonna be good.

What?

What.

Your party took damage.

WHAT?!

Much better.

The Spyglass allows Reggie to use Analyze for free, forever.

This frees a skill slot and allows us to replace Analyze with something useful, like Tetraja. You can also sell it for 75000 Macca, if my memory serves me right.

Back to floor 85.

Spoiler

2+3+2+1=8

Nowhere near as great as the Spyglass, but every little bit helps.

This concludes raiding the treasury.

Floor 114. The fight you've been waiting for is drawing closer.

Soul: Clotho is the 'spinner'... Um, what was Lachesis? Atropos is the 'inevitable'... Hmmm... One spins the thread, the last one cuts it... What goes in the middle?

Soul: I hope you enjoy being tortured to death...

The last small terminal in this place.

Get ready.

The final puzzle of the Obelisk.

This one's different. Each Fate guards a pillar. To clear the way, you have to fight all 3 in one go. Let's start with the right pillar.

Spoiler

1+0+3=4

Clotho's easy. She has her basic attack, some healing spells and Marin Karin for charming your demons. Mahama is also a part of her arsenal, so be sure to equip an Expel-nulling Magatama.

After she takes around 2000 damage, she escapes.

Our next stop is the full Kagutsuchi pillar.

Spoiler

4+0+1+0+1+2=4

Lachesis: Your thread is reaching its end!

Lachesis is even easier than Clotho. She can set up both Tetrakarn and Makarakarn, limiting your attack options, buff herself and debuff you, but her basic physical is her only attack, and she rarely bothers to use it.

Like Clotho, she runs away eventually.

Last pillar left.

Spoiler

8+1+2+1=12

Atropos: Your fate is already sealed!

Like her sisters, Atropos is oddly specialized: she's a pure damage dealer. If I'm not mistaken, she knows spells of all 4 basic elements, but as she doesn't have any support spells, her combat effectiveness can be reduced to nothing in a matter of several turns.

You can probably see where this is going, can't you?

The way's open.

It is the last elevator like this you'll see in this update. Promise.

Two red cubes on this floor. The closest to us leads to the top.

Naturally, we'll take the other one first.

Floor 135. It has two Mystical Chests on it: one with a Balm of Rising and one with a Bead Chain.

Baihu reaches level 47 and learns Bufudyne. He doesn't evolve, but we still have a solid demon on our hands: support spells, Stone Bite and Focus for boss killing, Ice attacks for random encounters.

There's another red cube on this floor, which connects to floor 132.

The only thing of note here is this door, which leads to...

Wow. I wonder why it's here.

Enough goofing around. Back to the 140F.

Will you go up?

Yes.

Lachesis: Measure!
Atropos: And snip your fate!!

That was actually pretty cool, in a cheesy way.

This is one of my favorite boss fights in the game, as it's the closest thing Nocturne has to fighting a rival party. The reason the Sisters' skillsets were so narrow is that they were almost meant to fight as a group. They follow the same Press Turn rule your party does: each Fate provides an action point to the common pool, and if one goes down, the group's overall fighting ability goes down.

With this in mind, the plan is simple. First, we Rakukaja to the max to protect the party from Atropos' offensive spells. Daisoujou's Dekunda and Hell Biker's Hell Exhaust are used to negate Lachesis' support spells. Second, we focus fire on Clotho, as she can heal the other two and remove our debuffs. Once she's down, we set up all debuffs, and the victory is sealed at that point. Lachesis dies next to remove the annoyance factor of Tetrakarn and Makarakarn, and Atropos follows shortly.

There's a similar fight down the road, but we may miss it, depending on our treatment of one of the Reasons.

Djed nulls Curse, gives a +6 boost to Magic and teaches all buffs and Dekaja. As Reggie's debuffs are about to be outclassed by Debilitate, we'll be respecing him slightly using this Magatama.

Will you ascend?

Yes.

Brace yourself for a cut scene storm.

Is it just me, or does it look like he's Force Choking her?

The soaring symbol of Hikawa's power goes dark and stops working once a woman is removed from the control room. Oh, Japan.

BGM: Rescue

I don't know why, but I had a feeling that you'd come and save me. It's funny... I told you that I'd be your strength, and you ended up helping me instead.

How can I control the world, when I can't even take control of my own life...? As the Maiden, I just do Hikawa's bidding. "I would like you to become the pillar of the new world." That's what he told me. In the end, I was nothing but a tool for collecting Magatsuhi...

The world is about to be reborn, but as it stands now, the new world is going to be a far cry from what I had hoped for. I dreamed of an ideal world where people were grateful to be alive...

People said they wanted peace, but they continued to act selfishly, accepting no personal responsibility for the world's problems. Nobody realized it, but they were not really happy. They were simply lazy. No one had the desire to compete or become strong. And there was no need to, either. That's why I thought... that we'd eventually lose our power and fade away.

She was drawn here by the power of Magatsuhi. She will surely teach me the Reason for creation...

BGM: Lord Aladia, Advent - The Engrish in this track's name is physically painful.

Sorry for the poor quality, but that's the only concept art-ish picture I could find for possessed Yuko. Another thing: when she gets in this state, her upper body starts shaking slowly. It doesn't show well in screenshots, so I thought I'd let you know.

Under the light of liberty, your wrongs shall be forgiven. I am Aradia. I have come from the far reaches of Amala. It is my duty to bestow freedom. Ask, and you shall be set free.

But I thought Shadows thrived only in the absence of Light.

Pursue the way of creation! You yourself are a world too. Do not obey others; do what you believe is right.

You can now employ 2 additional demons.

The second and final party size upgrade.

This woman will soon recover her lost power. She will set forth on the path of creation, and I will guide her. Go, and see the world with your own eyes. From there will your creation begin...

With that, Aradia teleports away while still inside Yuko's body.

More familiar faces appear suddenly.

This can only mean trouble, my little master.

My little master has given me permission to enlighten you. Listen closely to what I am about to tell you.

War will erupt amongst those who spread their Reason in hopes of shaping the new world. As a demon, you are forbidden to conceive your own Reason... Which Reason will you side with? Which Reason will you oppose? Will the Reason you choose persevere, or fail?

My only wish is that you do not disappoint my little master with a dull ending...

The best part of the game starts here. Next update: Famine and the Third Kalpa.

And happy winter holidays, everyone.

 

[lightbane]

Well, she begged for a god to come and help her, and indeed, he came

*Notices the last pic*

 

[Crooked Bee]

Puzzles are indeed good in that area.

P.S. Funny you chose Lucian for the bump, of all things. Been reading "The Passing of Peregrinus" today. You must be a Classics student or something.
Anyway, . And a happy New Year to you, too!

 

[KalosKagathos]

P.S. Funny you chose Lucian for the bump, of all things. Been reading "The Passing of Peregrinus" today. You must be a Classics student or something.

Religious studies. We read Lucian as a part of the history of freethinkery course.

Since I have no life, another update will appear in several hours.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Religious studies. We read Lucian as a part of the history of freethinkery course.

"History of freethinkery" sounds swell, yay.

Since I have no life, another update will appear in several hours.

 

[KalosKagathos]

4. Zeus. My dear, a discussion somehow arose yesterday between Timocles the Stoic and Damis the Epicurean; there was a numerous and respectable audience (which particularly annoyed me), and they had an argument on the subject of Providence. Damis questioned the existence of the Gods, and utterly denied their interest in or government of events, while Timocles, good man, did his best to champion our cause. A great crowd gathered round; but no conclusion was reached. They broke up with an understanding that the inquiry should be completed another day; and now they are all agog to see which will win and prove his case. You all see how parlous and precarious is our position, depending on a single mortal. These are the alternatives for us: to be dismissed as mere empty names, or (if Timocles prevails) to enjoy our customary honours.