*: In Shinagawa, we learned of Echidna, a leader of the forces of Chaos who is supposedly planning to attack the Cathedral. She's supposed to be somewhere in the east of Tokyo... but we don't seem to have a way to go any further east than Ginza. All that's left to do is to go to Ueno to the north, through Ikebukuro, which is northwest.
I exit Ginza the same way I did when I wanted to go to Shinagawa, but take the west branch of the underground crossroads this time. We meet Tetsuo again, and he says exactly the same things he did when we ran into him here before, challenge and all.
Behind him is a staircase taking us one floor up to a small square floor with Sawobaks, Hobgoblins, Lilim and Dwarves. I get yet another Sonic Blade, and find another way up, to a long winding tunnel with an exit to the outside.
Zoshigaya is just southeast of Ikebukuro, so I must be close. To put things in relation, we're quite a way due north of Shinjuku, and far to the west of Ueno.
: I appreciate your concern, but I just bumped off two Heavenly Kings. To be honest, I'm feeling seven flavors of badass right now. I can take care of myself.
: I didn't want to have to be forced to take you in myself... *sigh* Oh well, there's no sense worrying about it now.
: What are you talking about?
: ...Come on, it's time for you to be judged.
: What the hell, Tetsuo? Are you actually working for the idiots in charge around here?
So he's changed too. Bah!
*: We're instantly taken to a building of some description.
: That your new boss? Dammit Tetsuo, Kaneda's the freaking Messiah now! And you're a random toady? What happened to you?
: Here, accused of maliciously manipulating demons, the trial of Francois -- in other words, you -- will be held. Be sure to mind your manners around Lord Yama!
: Look, I don't want to make you look bad in front of your beloved demon overlords, but you have to know that if I have to make a scene and bust out of there, I will.
: That's weird, I expected more kangaroos. Or, more Juujin Werekangaroos maybe.
: Francois, you cannot deny that you have been using a demon summoning program to summon, control, and bind demons to your will. The evidence is plain as day.
: How perceptive of you. I'm only wearing it on my arm all the time.
: Doing so is in flagrant disregard to the contract signed between demons and humans since time immemorial.
: Fffffwhat? I didn't sign anything.
: Furthermore, not only do you flagrantly use demons to do your bidding... but you cast your lot with the side of Law, that wishes to destroy demonkind!? Forcing your demons to work toward the undoing of their own race?!
: Okay, that one's just a misunderstanding. You see, I only helped a neighbor of mine -- nice girl, you'd like her -- to escape-
: Outrageous!! I sentence you to death, your execution to be carried out at sunrise! Get this miscreant out of my sight!
: Your Honor, I would like to appea- hey! HEY! Hands off the merchandise, buddy!
Dang.
: You get to live until tomorrow morning.
: Hey, that's my line!
Bah! Fie! Bah!
*: Okay, so. A small cell on a fourth floor. In Ikebukuro, presumably.
: This isn't my first cell. I'll think of something.
*: The cell is three squares: the empty center, the bars, and the end where Kei is. Every time I enter Kei's square, she says something different.
: What should we do...
: Hmm. WWKD?
: Huh?
: What Would Kaneda Do?
: ...
: Don't just sit there, help me think of something!
: Dammit, I can't seem to come up with plans that don't revolve around a goon coming in to gloat at us.
: Eh? Someone's here!
*: Checking out the bars again, the gate slides open.
: Had I known it was because you would sell me out, I might have watched my back a little more carefully!
: Look, I owe you one, so I'll let you out of here. But whatever you do, DON'T go to Ueno. Listen to me this time!
: Seriously, what happened to you? You used to be cool, but now you're all licking the Man's boots. Or, err, the Demon's boots. Whatever.
Well, okay, it's a stupid question. Worm happened to him, clearly. He leaves without a word.
Bah!
*: We run into some Chulruks, Turdaks and Sanni Yakas right away, but I talk them into paying me. Looks like we're busting out of here after all.
Lv40 Touki Mezuki
This inverted centaur is Gozuki's colleague, also making sure sinners stay in the Hindu underworld. A strong and quick fighter with Zionga, Suku-Kaja and Critical, but very low Magic.*: I manage to recruit one. I wonder if it'll make anything interesting if I fuse it with Gozuki.
Lv43 Chirei Sarutahiko
Sarutahiko is a powerful Shinto god, notably the patron of martial arts. He once was the ruler of the earth gods; when the heaven gods (led by Amaterasu) invaded his realm, he was convinced to give it up by none other than Ame-no-Uzume, whom he later married. He's kind of a cleric-type, a decent fighter with acceptable Magic and the very useful Maha-Agion, Diarahan and Mahanma.*: I recruit one of them as well.
Lv43 Youma Ongkot
A monkey prince from Thai folklore, cousin to the more famous Hanuman. He's fast and decently strong, but his other stats are not very good. He does have Maha-Zanma, Raku-kaja and Taru-kaja though, with lots of MP to cast them with.*: And that's a third recruit, just to pacify them.
Wow. I don't even know what to say to that. Plus it's probably true.
: Yeah, God wants nothing more than a bunch of dead followers. You do that.
: I only wish that I could have looked upon the Cathedral in all its glory before I died...
*: If I had a mirror nearby, I could see what a man looks like when he's glad he doesn't have to fight a couple of Tamamo.
So this is the floor; it must be the top, since there are no up stairs. The Mapper spell tells me there's something in the middle, but it must be accessed from another floor. Just out of curiosity I try Kei's Toraport and Toraest, but they don't work. I guess it's so we don't warp out of jail. I wonder if they'd work on other floors. Anyway, onward to 3F!
At first I'm surprised to see him here, but he wrote the program I got in trouble for using, so it makes sense.
: The head of this place, Yama, is judging and sentencing all sorts of people.
: Yeah, I had gathered that.
: The judgement is indeed fair...
:
: ...but it is based on the ethical standards of Chaos, so if you don't hold the same values, you could be in real trouble.
: When in Rome, watch slaves kill each other, I guess.
: If you ever need help from me, feel free to come back and see me.
*: Steven heals us and offers to save our game. Huh!: If you defeat Nio, you should be able to get out of prison.
: Alright then, he's as good as dead. See you later!
: I follow you so far.
: What's the matter with stealing a little to do so?
:
*: The encounter rate feels more irritating than usual, but fortunately I've befriended the tougher demons around and I can reliably intimidate the others. Man am I glad I've invested in Intelligence!
: You know, I'm beginning to understand why the Gaian courts are so overzealous.
: I was captured, but God will surely bless me for fulfilling his will!
: I was right, and I'm not afraid to admit it!
*: I don't find down stairs, but this time there's a path to the inner area.
: And that's why you will die.
*: Nio's a hard-hitter and targets two people at once, but a few rounds of Taru-nda remedy to that. He can use Sibabu, but as long as Kei doesn't get Bound then it's not a problem. The guy's got high defense though, so I replace Gozuki with Hobgoblin to accelerate things.
...we get enough EXP to level both Francois and Kei three times; Kei learns Ricarm. Sweet! By this point, Francois has almost 600 HP and is easily the hardest single-target hitter in the party.: If I was a demon, I'd want myself.
Lv? Kishin Nio
Nio are incarnations of a Buddhist protector deity, said to have traveled with and protected Buddha himself. If you see two statues of massive musclebound angry guys at the entrance of a Buddhist temple, they're probably Nio.*: I go back to Steven to heal up... but he's already gone. Huh!
The central area has up and down stairs, and an elevator going from 1F to 4F. I'm in good shape still, I can check out the rest of the top floor.
: They say that's it's been like that there for a long time. One person I met said that there used to be a "planetarium" and an "aquarium" there... but what are those things? I've never even heard of them before.
As pleasant it is to think of the apocalypse in terms of what survived, it's best not to linger too much on what didn't.
*: There's nothing else in 4F. Oh well. The second floor it is, then.
Teleportation spells are still no good.
Well, we find Luck, Magic and Stamina Incense, and are ambushed by a single Hobgoblin. Not bad! There are still lots of encouters, but with the exception of the odd overconfident Chulruk or Turdak, I don't actually have to fight anything. Heck, walking around here is downright profitable; I break the 400000 Makka and 70000 Magnetite marks, and random Gozuki and Mezuki give me several Agirao and Jionga Stones.
Hmm...
Heh, if might makes right, then I'm King Right. I'm gonna make my appeal yet.
: Look, you people got a thing or two to learn about due process. Allow me to enlighten you.
: Such insolence cannot be tolerated! I will destroy you myself!
*: Yama does nothing but strike a couple of targets per turn for over 120 damage each. He's immune to lightning, but Kei's fast enough to Diarahan anyone who gets close to death. Hobgob buffs and Tamamo debuffs, as usual.
Overall it's a brutal slugfest, but we outlast him, earning two more levels' worth of EXP, almost three. I have a feeling that if I had been just a little less strong, he would have wiped the floor with me.
...oh man, that must have been, like, super Lawful. Hmm. I wish I had thought of that before I murdered the guy.Lv? Tenma Yama
There are a couple fairly different versions of this guy floating around Eastern mythologies, but this is definitely the Japanese one. He is the judge of the dead, deciding whether the souls of the recently deceased can become honored ancestors or are sent directly to a hellish afterlife without passing Go or collecting 200 Makka. He's also Gozuki and Mezuki's boss.
Tenma are mighty Light-Chaos gods, known for being especially strict, inflexible, and even sometimes aggressive and violent; one might associate them with retribution, righteous vengeance, or necessary destruction.
: Look. I kill self-important douchebags. It's what I do. You can't possibly have brought me here expecting something else to happen.
: ...So I guess this means Yama wasn't so tough after all... Hmm, this looks even worse for us than I expected! I'd better get out there and make myself even stronger if I'm gonna survive.
: Yeah, you could take your chances and do that. Or, you could-
: See ya!
: -come... with... Whatever, dude. Whatever.
Let's get out of here.
*: Oh hey, I just got four encounters in a row in the same square. That's new.
Anyway. I take the elevator to the ground floor.
: ...but nobody's been up there to either confirm or deny the report. It's rumored that there's an expert in demon fusion imprisoned up there.
: Oooh, sounds like someone I gotta meet.
Hmm. I wonder if it might be a Heavenly King.
: Makes me feel better knowing we're protected... but I sure wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley!
I don't have the heart to tell him I might have to kick the guy's ass.
*: Oh hey, a Jakyou Mansion! Lessee...
Gozuki + Mezuki =
Lv30 Seirei Gnome
The gnome, at its origins, is a concept of an earth elemental, introduced in 16th century alchemy. The word was later appropriated by folklore and fairy tales into more or less a synonym for "goblin". By now they're not much use in a fight, but they are the first of the four high-grade Seirei, required to rank up the stronger demon families.Not technically the special fusion I expected, but now I know where to get an easy Gnome! I decline getting this one now though, because I don't exactly need it at the moment.
Werewolf + Sarutahiko =
Lv46 Yousei Troll
Originally an insulting name for mythological Norse giants (otherwise called the Jotun), the wordhas evolved into the multitude of usages we know today, though it generally designates large, dim-witted ogre-types. Here they are acceptable fighters with very high defense, but they are most remarkable for their relatively high MP. They know Bufula, Maha-Bufu, and Diarahan.Troll's not as strong as Werewolf, but he's tougher, more resistant to magic, and he's my first source of ice damage in a long, long time. Plus it's nice to have someone who can back-up Kei on the healing front. Diarahan always heals up to the maximum, so the Magic Power stat is a non-issue.
*: Oh hey, new junk store owner. He sells one-shot offense items. The only things kinda worth looking at are Dragon ATMs and Hiko-bari (poison needles that have a chance to kill one target), and I don't really need either.
: Err...
: Shhh!
: Right.
: Evildoers and Mesians alike are all sentenced to death.
: Yes please!
*: The guy sells Pauza P50s, but the main attractions are the Explosive Gun (80/10, hits 2-8 times) and the Golden Gun (95/30, hits 3-6 times). Both can be equipped by anyone, so it's a long overdue upgrade for Kei. I buy her the Golden Gun for the extra punch, and get Francois an Explosive Gun for the additional targets.
On the ammo side, we can get Plutonium Shells again, or Magic Shells, which... can cause... Charm. Oh my. If the hit percentage is even remotely decent, this could be borderline overpowered. I just have to try them.
: So you're saying that Yama didn't have what it takes either?
: ...!
: Ha!
*: Nice! Let's see...
For Francois:
-Circlet of Knowledge (15/11, +2 Intelligence)
-Hakuma's Armor (40/17, +2 Stamina)
-Musha Greaves (14/6, +2 Speed)
For Kei:
-Circlet of Knowledge
-Powered Suit (20/20, +2 to all stats)
The Powered Suit has lower defense than Kei's old Crimson Armor, and much lower defense than the Panzer Suit I can buy here, but it gives her even higher Evasion, and the +2 to all stats is kind of a big deal; that's 12 levels' worth of points. Francois could get one too, but since he's the frontline guy I'd rather give him the huge defense boost of Hakuma's Armor. He's kind of a brick by now; if Tamamo didn't reflect physical damage, I'd put him in front of everyone.
All in all, this shopping spree leaves me with a little under 300000 Makka.
I find a Terminal and a Gaia Temple nearby.
...according to the save screen, the place where I last saved with Steven actually was Sugamo Prison! I didn't see anyone who knew about fusion... Hmm.I finally get to see the light of day again.
*: I think my blue icon is spinning clockwise a little faster now; I probably am getting more and more Lawful. But I didn't kill Yama because he was Chaos-aligned, I killed him because he was an asshole!
Oh well.
At this point I think I might as well embrace my alignment for now, in terms of the minions I summon. It'd really free up some options at the Mansion for sure, and I'm sure I'd find a way to help some non-douchebag Gaians sooner or later...
And hey, if there aren't any non-douchebag Gaians, then fuck 'em.
Well, I'm calling this an update for now. Next time, I'll explore the Ikebukuro neighborhood, and maybe check the Prison again to make sure I didn't miss that fusion specialist I've heard about.
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Topic: Let's play Shin Megami Tensei! (Read 79902 times)