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[François]

*: Alright, let's try our luck. The four doors before us are one-way, so there's no coming back. There doesn't seem to be any indication whatsoever as to what awaits us behind any of them; the Mapper spell displays a similar row of four rooms each leading to a one-way door further north.

: Eeny meeny miny... oh never mind that, I'll just take the first one on the left. It's not like I can't afford to do this four times.

*: More rooms. We can move freely east and west, but north is always one-way. As if on cue, the New Moon rolls around and Mapper expires. When I try to consult the auto-map...



Well, dang. I'll just keep going north then. I just hope this isn't some sort of teleport maze.

There are random encounters, the same as in the rest of Destiny Land; I can talk most of them into giving me stuff. Most of the demons around here respond well to intimidation, but I've had more success with Giants by being friendly with them.

Oooh, Francois and Kei hit level 59, and Kei learns Megido, a non-elemental damage spell.

Eventually we reach a room that only has a north exit. We must be getting close to whatever is supposed to be found here.


: Well aren't you mommy's favorite little psychoanalyst. Now where's my prize?

*: We're teleported somewhere. Hmm.



Heyyyy, we're next to the entrance of this section. What the deuce?

I get back in, and the guy gives me his schpiel again. Let's try once more.


: Yeah, they do that.
: So, you've finally come to kill me, eh? Well take your best shot! I won't give up without a fight!
: Wait, what?

*: It's a fight against a single Gurr, and is therefore barely worthy of mention. What's going on here?

Again, we get teleported to next to the entrance. This is weird.

I go back in. There must be two spots I haven't been to yet. On my way to one of them, I recruit a Choronzon and a Giant.


: You are destined to become a messenger and bringer of that light. It is indeed that light in your soul that brought you to me.
: Wow. You should say that to the guy next door, m'am.

*: Warped back again. Once more unto the breach!


: Look, there is no way this can end well for you. Why don't we-

*: Another trivial fight, and we're teleported again. Hmm. Just to see if anything changes, I'll try to revisit one of the rooms. It costs me 5k every time, but I make that cash back in two encounters.


: For the love of whatever deity won't offend your personal beliefs, can anyone tell me what's going on in-

Rats.

*: This is going nowhere, literally. Hmm. Well, there's still a second floor here, maybe we'll get an explanation there.

...it's a long corridor that leads to a pitfall.

A pitfall that drops to the third floor.

: How... how did that even happen?
*: Don't look at me, man!

There's another corridor, leading to a room with a Luck Incense and a dead end with another pitfall. It takes us to the fourth floor, where we find another Luck Incense and another pitfall back the the third floor.

: WAAAAAAAALT!

*: The pattern repeats several times, flipping us between the second, third and fourth floor and occasionally offering us more Luck Incense. Eventually we start running into Kerberos and...


Lv51 Jaki Cyclops
Giant humanoid creatures from Greek mythology, notable for their single eye. According to some ancient writers, they were talented blacksmiths, but in general they're said to be brutish and frankly quite dumb. In Homer's Odyssey, Ulysses manages to trick the cyclops Polyphemus into believing his name was Nobody, so that when the cunning sailor blinded him, he would call on his kin for help saying that Nobody poked his eye out. Here they are very strong fighters, though their Intelligence, Magic and Luck are laughably bad. They know Rampage and a rather ineffective Maha-Zio.


: Yeah, it's pretty neat! You're into vintage stuff, I suppose?
: You just leave that here with me, and maybe I won't kill you...
: Ha! Hahaha! Good one!
: Heh, I can see that you're not willing to part with it. No big deal, then I'll just take it from you by force!



*: Kei takes out the mysterious Vetara with Mahanma, and the Sanni Yaka haven't been a threat in a long time.

: Man, and I was hoping you'd put up an actual fight too.

Lv46 Yuuki Vetara
Vetara are evil spirits from Hindu mythology, who haunt graveyards and manifest by possessing corpses. They sometimes said to come to the defense of villages in times of need, but by and large they are wicked creatures who delight in the chaos and misery they can inflict by manipulating the remains of the dead. They're decent fighters, and quite durable for their level, but they don't have much HP and their Magic is very low, making them vulnerable to spells. They know Death Touch, Venom Bite, and Paralysis Bite.



*: A bit harder, but judicious application of Magic Shells and Maha-Bufu allowed us to come out on top.

Lv37 Jaryuu Wyrm
Basically, that's the Old English term for "dragon", though here it's really not the majestic modern fantasy dragon, but rather the bestial, ugly and evil medieval one. Their stats are not impressive by any means, though they are quite fast and probably would have made decent fighters had I met them when I was also level 37. They know Constrict and Bite.



: ...that's your third wave? These old critters, seriously? Well, whatever you say!

*: We've been slaying Manticores by the bucketload lately; the Rakshasa were surprisingly tough to kill but they barely hurt us.


: I suppose these terms are acceptable.
: But it looks like you killed all of my minions!
: ...whose fault is that, do you think?
: Fine, fine, take my magnetite!
: Pffft, whatever.

*: We get 10000 magnetite.



Yikes, that busted the magnetite counter, and the makka counter too for some reason. I hope that's just a visual thing.

Aaaaanyway. We keep going through another pitfall and end up before one final room, on the fourth floor.



Holy crap, she's frikking gigantic. Kaneda wants me to kill that?

Of course, if anyone's got a chance, I do. But still...

: Uh, hi!
: In ages long gone by, I gave birth to many creatures to test the worthiness of heroes.
*: She's not kidding. In Greek mythology, Echidna is called the mother of all monsters; she gave birth to Orthros, Kerberos, Ladon, the Lernean Hydra and the original Chimera, among many others. I'm almost surprised that I can't find any stories about someone hunting her down to make armor out of whatever her uterus is made of.
: I stay here, guarding Destiny Land with my life against those who would destroy us. You may not be aware of it, but those that worship YHVH, the God of Law, are scheming to impose their yoke on the entire world, conquering it totally. While they spit out venomous lies about wanting to save all of humanity, their true aim is to summon the God of Law to Earth so that he can conquer it. The Cathedral they are building by Tokyo Bay is being constructed for this very reason -- it is there that they will summon YHVH. If YHVH gets his way, comes to Earth and conquers it, humanity will suffer even more than it does now, oppressed under the tyranny of his iron fist. He is not satisfied with anything less than total submission -- mind, soul, and body -- and will make everyone swear an oath of loyalty to him in the name of "faith". They will become nothing more than mindless drones, in psychological slavery to him. The Thousand Year Kingdom is for those who submit themselves totally to the God of Law in this fashion, and for nobody else... Those who refuse will be killed or sent to Hell to be tortured for all eternity. That is the true nature of their plan. The God of Law originally came to power in ages past by turning any gods that opposed him, including myself, into demons... casting us into the Abyss, and having our worshippers slaughtered by his. Through his mad quest for power and total domination, the age where the ancient gods and humans lived in peace side by side was brough to an end. Is it right to allow such a tragedy to repeat itself?
: ...
: The Gaia Church believes that this cannot happen again. They worship the ancient gods and goddesses oppressed by the God of Law, and with our help, are trying to take over the Cathedral. I came here to Destiny Land to provide aid to them. In order to complete the Cathedral, the Mesians are sending laborers from Shinagawa. They make them work until they die, saying that those that do will go straight to God upon their death. The mastermind behind this plan is an angel in Shinagawa. The first step in stopping this madness is to kill that angel. Do you wish to hear my story again?
*: Lady, there's an owl I'd like you to meet.
: Err... no thanks m'am. I'm good.
: Will you undertake the task of defeating the angel in Shinagawa? Will you dedicate yourself to our cause?

*: Will we?

This is certainly a chance to shake off our current alignment and finally shift towards Neutral, or even towards Chaos maybe; conversely, I suppose refusing Echidna might seal our deal with Kaneda, since she sure as hell won't let us get out of here alive if she can help it. I'm fairly confident we can defeat her, if it comes to that.

So, what'll it be? Who dies next? The mother of all monsters, or the mystery angel?

[McDohl]

Working people to death is a bad thing, even in the post-Cyberpocalypse. 

Punch that 'angel' in the nose!

[Brentai]

"Both" would be my ideal vote, but you're gonna have to pick some sort of order here.  I'd like to hear the (oddly unnamed?) angel's spiel before killing anything though.  Which I suppose means you're going to have to barge in to his house under the pretext of killing him.

Plus Echidna's been the first Chaos being we've met who's any sort of reasonable, even though she's probably lying right through her fangs.  And she's kind of smokin' for a gigantic snakebitch whose vagina has seen more horrific monsters pass through it than... well than Friday's.

So yeah, say "yes" and let's hope our mystery angel doesn't get his white robes in a bunch about it.  If he does that'll just prove he's kind of a disposable righteous fuckwad anyway.

[Pacobird]

Yankee needs to start listening when we tell him to go home.


Really, this LP is making me appreciate Devil Survivor a bit more (if it were even possible for me to appreciate that game more than I aready do) in that it at least tries to present the angels/Amane's path as slightly less evil than becoming the King of Hell and destroying the world.

[François]

As much as I resent the demons for the cascade of horrors they've inflicted upon us, I must admit that the idea of the Mesians exterminating everyone who doesn't agree with them fails to sit well with me.

: Fine. If things are as bad as you say, then they're the bigger threat. I'll get answers out of that angel, even if I have to beat them out of him.
: You will!? You'll do it!?
: Yeah. Yeah, I'll do it.
: Ah, thank you! I knew I was not mistaken in choosing you for this task! I'm counting on you.

She better behave while I'm gone, else I'm coming back for her. Hell, I might come back for her anyway.

*: There's still a branch of the Destiny Land upper floors I haven't explored yet, so I'll finish it before I leave. Fortunately the "pitfalls" seem to work both ways.

...hey, the makka/magnetite counter has unborked itself. That's a relief. Magnetite appears to be capped at 99999, but I guess the event with the demon summoner didn't check that cap. My current party eats up 11-12 magnetite per step, so it didn't take me too long to fall back under the limit.

Anyway. We find some more Luck Incense, which I actually give to Kei. I might start doing that with other Incenses now, because Francois' stats are getting ridiculously high. None of them are at the hard cap of 40, but I have to account for equipment bonuses if I don't want incense and levels to go to waste in the future.

...alright, that's all the chests. We Toraport back to the Terminal. Now we could go to Shinagawa straight away, but I remember that I still haven't checked out the upper floors of Ueno. I thought Destiny Land was a sidequest area; I certainly didn't expect to find Echidna there. So yeah, I warp back to Ueno and find the up staircase again.


: I can't just sit here and let the Mesians do whatever they damn well please!
: That's the spirit! Finally someone besides me is going to take action!


: To keep undesirables out, there are traps set all around that will damage anyone who isn't aligned with Chaos.
: Well, thanks for the advance warning!

Never leave home without your amulets, is what I always say!


: To either build -- or take over -- something of that size would require massive amounts of energy. Where are they going to get it all from?

The last people I met who had any significant reserves of energy were the Red Count and the Black Baron. I hope the Mesians aren't getting theirs the same way.

*: Huh. A Nataku drops a Headhunter Spoon. That's just bizarre. It's 120/25, hits once, and can be used by anyone. It's also cursed. I don't know what the curse does, but I don't think I want to find out.

The second floor has a couple of annoying teleporters, but that's no big deal. We find a sealed door and a staircase to the third floor.

Gah, more frikking teleporters. Getting around is becoming pretty irritating.




: So you're Francois, eh? You've become quite famous, you know.
: It's getting to be a bother, really. You have no idea how hard it is to go from point A to point B with all the demons trying to get my autograph. Fortunately I can charge them whatever I want.
: I've heard plenty of rumors about you... You're creating quite a stir, you know.
: Good! I mean to do nothing else!
: Francois, welcome... or so I would like to say, but I can see that you don't have what it takes to be allowed in here. Until you truly believe in our philosophy, I will have to ask you to leave.

Normally I wouldn't let some pissant little high priest talk to me like that, but this is not the time to make a scene, especially since Echidna believes I'm here to help her out.

*: Well, it looks like we're done here. I warp directly to Shinagawa. I don't know where our quarry is, but maybe Kaneda can hook us up. Before I go find him though, I hit the convenient Jakyou Mansion here. I got lots of demons with a level way lower than mine, so it's time to upgrade.

As nice as Tamamo's physical reflection is, she hasn't been doing much damage herself for a long time, and her MP is far too low for her spells to be consistently useful. So...

Tamamo + Senri = Manticore

Giant + Choronzon + Kerberos =

Lv54 Jaryuu Serpent
The word "serpent" and its synonyms shows up about as often as you'd think in mythologies around the world; most notable in our culture is the serpent of Biblical Genesis, the physical form taken by Satan to tempt Adam and Eve with forbidden knowledge. However, given its appearance here, and its classification as a Jaryuu, I think it's a good bet that this is a sea serpent, your basic giant sea monster that sailors have been afraid of since men first put a hollowed out log in the water. They're decent fighters-types, if not entirely remarkable. They know Constrict, Rampage and Tail, which are all very powerful abilities unfortunately hampered by the fact that you don't get to choose which one gets used.

Troll + Serpent + Manticore = Zochoten

And nope, I can't summon Zochoten after all. I have the level, but not the alignment. That said, I'm keeping him around anyway, because Kishin are hard to come by and I may want to fuse him even if I can't go back to Neutral. Plus, I like how Pascal ended up as part of a Heavenly King.

Unfortunately, I find myself shorthanded. My minions are Zochoten, Dominion, Atlas, Gnome and Ongkot; if I absolutely wanted a full party, I'd have to summon Gnome, which wouldn't be the smartest idea. That said, I'm about to search Shinagawa anyway, so I'll just shangai a Loa or whatever else I can find here to fill in my ranks.

Ha, I dropped by the Junks store to sell my extra crap, and the guy gave me 10 makka for the Headhunter Spoon.

Alright, enough dilly-dallying, we got to see a man about an angel. The trip to the third floor is mostly uneventful; I do recruit a Loa, and also a Werewolf, just because.


: I heard bad things about your people, Kaneda. And I'm afraid I can't take you on your word anymore, not the way you are now. I had to come see for myself.



: Alright, that's quite enough using us to do your dirty work! Show yourself!
: Ah!... That voice is...


: I am Tenshi Haniel, servant and messenger to God himself! For your unremorseful heresy, there can be only one punishment! I shall throw you into the flames of Hell myself!
: Ha! You're out of luck! The gatekeepers of Hell all work for me!



*: Haniel is very fast, knows Maha-Zionga and can hit four times, and that could be pretty scary, but all my people have good physical defense to begin with so he can't one-shot anyone, and Ongkot can boost our defense enough that Kei can Me-Dia away the damage we take. He uses lightning so I don't want to risk using Zionga on him, and I fused my frost damage caster away, so I have to duke it out fairly this time.

Fortunately we don't need any tricks. The Fuujin-Ken shows its power again, and Ongkot's Taru-Kaja allows everyone to hit for decent damage. Loa deals the final blow, and we earn 40k EXP for our trouble, dinging us up two levels.

Lv? Tenshi Haniel
Haniel seems unique so far, in that he is a Tenshi with a name; I would have expected him to be a Seraph, but it turns out he's counted among the Dominions, which is pretty funny because I have one of his colleagues on my squad right now. In any case, I can't find much in the way of details, but apparently he's from ancient Jewish lore and may or may not be a part of the Seven Archangels listed in the non-canonical Book of Enoch.


: Some saviors you guys are. Can't even defend yourselves from a kid with a computer.
: You are abusing your power, using it to bring wicked ends!
: You're one to talk! I've been to the jails in Ikebukuro, I've seen all the fanatics there who stole and murdered because you let them believe that's what your God wants!
: Continue on this path, and you will only bring about your own destruction...
: Pfft. If your boss wants a showdown, he knows where to find me. I'll be waiting.

It's a shame it had to turn out this way.

Oh well.

Time to get back to Destiny Land and see exactly how grateful Echidna is going to be.

*: Wait a minute... Lessee...



Ah-ha! See what I did there?

Excellent.

[spoiler]If you didn't notice, yeah, that's Zochoten in my active party. We is Neutrals ag'in, ma![/spoiler]

Before I go, I return to the Jakyou Mansion. Now that I'm level 61...

Gnome + Dominion =

Lv61 Tenshi Throne
Thrones form the third order of God's angelic forces. They are the conduit of God's will; what He decides, they make known to angels and to the rest of the universe. In some traditions they are also called the Ophanim, and are literally the living wheels under the throne of God, or are even the throne itself. They are spectacular fighters, with immense HP and MP, unusually high Luck, and excellent, well-rounded stats otherwise. They know Me-Diarahan, Estma (prevents random encounters with demons of a lower level than you until the next full moon) and Ricarm, all incredibly valuable spells.

That is sexy; she's got almost as much HP as Francois, and almost as much MP as Kei. Of course she comes with a CP of 42, but that's not a problem for us. The next (and final) step up the Tenshi ladder is the badass Cherub we saw a long time ago when I was explaining rank-down fusion. It's not for a while yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

We transmit back to Destiny Land. It's kind of a long way to Echidna, but Throne's Estma is gonna make that so much more pleasant!

...in fact I don't even run into any random encounters at all. This is GLORIOUS.

: Honey, I'm hooooo~ome!
: I heard that you successfully disposed of the Tenshi Haniel. Good job!
: Aw, it ain't no thing!
: Well then, our next order of business is the Cathedral itself. The Gaians are just about ready to undertake their plan to invade and conquer it. Francois, will you lend your strength to the invasion effort?

*: And here's another undoubtedly crucial choice. We become card-carrying members of the Gaian Church and help lead their assault on the last bastion of pure human resistance, or we cut off the head of the snake-lady right here and now.

Of course I have an idea of how's it's gonna turn out, but hey, who knows, maybe the boards are going to receive an influx of satanists or wiccans or who knows what else before my next update.

[LaserBeing]

The difficulty is knowing just where on the Neutral spectrum we are. Is killing Echidna just going to tip us right back into Lawful or did killing Haniel give us enough of a buffer to soak up some more demon slaying?

I still think aiming for Neutral as much as possible is the way to go, it adds an extra bit of tension that committing fully to either side wouldn't have. But ultimately I'd rather not become the enemy of all humanity...

[Brentai]

It took a little longer than usual but we've inevitably reached that point where I tell the single-axis alignment system to go suck a dick.

Were this a stand-alone decision I'd know the answer without even thinking.  Help take out the douchiest bunch of humans who ever douched up a douche, or murder the only really reasonable being left in this backwards-ass world who incidentally I would love to make a few legendary monsters with if you get my meaning?

Problem is, serving Echidna like a happy little consort puts us in with her wayward children, who to a T need to get the hell back to Hell.  Baby Mama is pretty lacking in her nurturing skills, honestly.  Also, let's not forget, one of those fuckers ate Francois' mother, which... what would that make him, anyway?

Fuck it, I'm pretty transparent about my inclinations.  I vote we keep trying to get into the giant snake's pants.

...

Or whatever.

[Classic]

AN alignment update would be good.

[Pacobird]

Appropos of nothing, has it ever been explicitly confirmed that the SMT games are an allegory for Japan's relationship with the rest of the world?

[François]

AN alignment update would be good.

Err, we had been Law for a long time from when we gave the Soul Incense to Kei, but killing Haniel just got us back to Neutral. I'm not sure if there's more I could tell you.

Appropos of nothing, has it ever been explicitly confirmed that the SMT games are an allegory for Japan's relationship with the rest of the world?

Not that I know of, but that's certainly a conclusion one could reach, going from this game in particular. That said, I doubt it's the case for SMTIII, or not to the same extent anyway; at its heart, Nocturne is really more of a personal story about flawed people finding out who they are and what they want from life. Though I suppose it can be read in many other ways.

[Mothra]

I am with Brentai on this one. You've got the choice between flawed celestial order and the anarchy of a deity power void. I'm not saying Echidna is not pure evil, but she's been pretty forthcoming with her abyssal wombspawning business and at least with her we know where we stand.

The wages of sin are really cool monster summons and some slightly more interesting quests.

That said, they ate your mother.

[patito]

That was like, 30 years ago man, way to hold a grudge.

[Brentai]

[Classic]

Thanks to SAVESTATES, you could do a multi-ending run.

[LaserBeing]

don't do that. that's stupid

[Classic]

NO!
YOUR STUPID1

[Mothra]

Psycrow's School for Nefarious Space Villianry

[François]

The world has changed.

It did not break. Had it been broken, it could be fixed. But it merely... changed. As it was always meant to. There is nothing to it but looking forward, to the future.

And the future is full of demons. They're not going anywhere. As horrible as they may be, as some of them may be, we're going to have to share our world with them. Probably forever. And I'm not kidding anyone; if it wasn't for them, I'd have been killed a long time ago.

I'm not Gotou. I'm not Ozawa, or Lilith, or even Tetsuo.

But I'm beginning to see what they saw. To want what they wanted.

Maybe deep down, what they did was for the best. Not how they did it, certainly not, but...

: Kei, what do you...
: Francois...?
: No. Never mind. I can't put this on your shoulders.
: ...
: I know you've been raised by the Mesians, so I'll understand if you disagree with what I'm about to do.
: I said I'd follow wherever you went. I meant it.
: Thank you.

Deep breath.

I've been taking down tyrants and despots ever since this insanity started. I'm not about to stop. I haven't changed.

: Hell yeah. Point me at some Mesians and take cover. It's not gonna be pretty.
: Then it's settled. We'll build a bridge to get to the cathedral and invade at once. Head to the south to get there.
: Aye aye, ma'am!

*: Kei uses Toraest to take us outside. For the first time, our avatar is spinning counter-clockwise, and pretty damn fast too. We are seriously Chaos.

Might as well go the the main Gaia Temple in Ueno and see how the High Priest treats us now. And I think I'll run around and pick up some Chaos demons to see if I can fuse anything. Throne, Atlas and Ongkot are still with me at the moment, but their loyalty is only going to last until they die or I unsummon them.



Outside, I also notice something new: there's a bridge to the south now. That must be the way to the Cathedral. At least we won't have to search for it.

On the way to Ueno, a Basilisk drops Yatsuka's Sword (115/5, hits once, anyone can use it). I'll give it to Kei for a while, to see if it makes her more effective than Kuchinawa's Sword, though I doubt it. I also hire a Shuten-Doji, a Gorgon, a Marchocias and a Succubus (natch).

I went to Shinagawa to get a Raja Naga, and just for kicks I tried to enter the Mesia Church there. The priest just kicked me out, no bribes or nothing. Oh, and I sold all my Rosaries; I don't think I'm gonna have a use for those anymore.

Alright, with that Raja Naga, I have 11 minions. Let's hit the Mansion.

Werewolf + Succubus =

Lv54 Yuuki Lich
The idea of evil sorcerers who bring themselves to a sort of sentient undeath is not a recent invention, but the label of Lich has not been specifically applied to them before the AD&D Monster Manual came along. The word itself is Old English for "corpse", and even in modern German "liche" means the same. They are predictably spectacular spellcasters, with an incredibly high Intelligence, adequate Magic, massive HP, and surprisingly low MP. They don't have much Strength, but their basic attack does hit 3-4 targets. Their immense Magic Effect stat makes their Mudo-on (group instant death) a force to be reckoned with, and their Maha-Zio is nothing to scoff at. They also know Devil Sm(ile?), which I'll tell you about as soon as I figure out what it does.

Loa + Ongkot = Aquans

Aquans + Marchocias =

Lv57 Datenshi Samael
Samael is an unusual figure in Judeo-Christian lore, in that it's not entirely clear whether he is good or evil. That may be due to his status as the Angel of Death. Some put him among God's faithful, a grim but glorious angel charged with doing Heaven's dirty work; others put him on the side of Satan, even to the point of accusing him of being the one to seduce Eve in the garden of Eden, and of being Lilith's consort, the father of the Lilim. He may or may not also be responsible for the sinister happenings in a certain little town on the fog-shrouded shores of Toluca Lake. Overall, he's a well-rounded fighter with considerable MP; he knows Mudo, Mudo-on, and Samaricarm.

Atlas + Throne =

Lv59 Yousei Cu Chulainn
Cu Chulainn is a warrior of Irish myth; he earned his name, meaning "Chulainn's hound", when he killed a blacksmith's guard dog in self-defense as a child and offered to take its place until it could be replaced. There's a lot to the guy, to the point where it seems to me that he's a sort of medieval Irish superhero. He is said to have single-handedly defeated the armies of an invading queen, and to occasionally lapse into a fearsome berserker rage. Here he's a fair fighter, with high Strength and balanced stats. He knows Mahanma, Taru-kaja and Makajama.

In other words:


I've got a lot more ranking up to do, but I'll need a Flamies and several Gnomes. I warp to Ikebukuro to get some Gozuki and Mezuki; while I do that, a Turdak drops the Present from Hades (90/15, always hits twice, only for Law males).

Gozuki + Mezuki = Gnome

Gnome + Cu Chulainn =
Lv51 Yousei Senko

Can't find much on these guys, but apparently Senko are high-ranking kitsune, the magical, shape-shifting fox spirits of Japanese legend. They're quick spellcasters with ridiculously high MP and mostly decent stats overall. Their low Strength is balanced by a multi-hit attack that I've seen target up to 4 enemies. They know Marin-karin, Maha-Zanma, and the mind-blowingly useful Tetra-karn (which reflects all physical attacks directed at the party for the rest of the round). Tetra-karn is especially cool because of Senko's high speed, usually ensuring that they can put it up before any opponents get to act.

Gnome + Raja Naga =

Lv46 Ryuu-ou Yurlungur
Yurlungur is a serpent deity from Australian Aboriginal folklore, presiding over rain and the life that water brings forth. It is said to once have been awakened from a deep sleep by the smell of a woman's menstrual blood, which it later ate, then regurgitated.
:
No further comment here! It's a very strong fighter for its level, with Venom Bite, Constrict, and Venom Breath.

Gnome + Yurlungur =

Lv53 Itzamu Na
A Maya deity, a sort of sacred lizard associated with the sun and creation. We'd probably know more about it if the Spaniards hadn't destroyed every bit of Mayan writing they could get their hands on. Thanks a lot, conquistadores, that was swell of you! In any case, here they are mighty brutes, extremely strong and quite durable. They know Fire Breath, Rampage, and Crush (which I don't know about at all).

Can't stop here. Ryuu-Ou are some of the most powerful Chaos creatures and I know I can get the strongest one right now.

Gozuki + Mezuki + Itzamu Na =

Lv61 Ryuu-Ou Pendragon
Meaning "head dragon", Pendragon is a name given to a few legendary British kings, most notably King Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon. That said, what we have here is apparently a more literal interpretation of the word: a huge-ass dragon. It's crazy strong, its basic attack always hits two targets, and it knows Bite, the group-hitting Tail attack, and Fire Breath.

Awwwww yeah.

Now I'm not sure how this happened. Between Lv53 Ryuu-ou Itzamu Na and Lv61 Ryuu-Ou Pendragon, there's supposed to be Lv57 Ryuu-ou Yamato-no-Orochi. I figured the triple fusion would let me skip the Gnome step, but it actually ranked up twice instead of once. Well, I'm not gonna complain about it!

For the next fusion, I'll need a Flamies. Time to pick up a couple of random Datenshi; I go to Shinjuku and get a Gamygyn and an Andras in the area outside Rag's place.

Flamies + Samael =

Lv60 Datenshi Abaddon
In Revelations, Abaddon is the archangel whose duty it is to control access to the pits of Hell, and who releases Satan during the Apocalypse in order to allow him to wreak havok upon what's left of mankind at the time. Biblically, he's completely obedient to God, but in some occult traditions, he's actually a terrible demon himself; his name does mean "place of destruction". He's strong and has okay stats overall, but he's most remarkable for his three breath attacks, including the spectacularly rare Ice Breath. He's tricky to use because of how random he is, but free elemental damage (and Freeze status) is hard to pass up, especially if you pay attention to enemy weaknesses.

Not the strongest Datenshi, but the next is level 63, and I'm only 61.

And then, just to free up some slots...

Gorgon + Turdak = Nataku

Shouten-Doji + Nataku = Atlas

Succubus + Atlas = Legion

Kind of a waste, but these "ingredients" are not hard to come by, and I want to know what Legion's "Road to" skill does. Plus, Akuryou are quite rare, and maybe I can fuse it into something interesting later.

Finally, I liked Samael so much I ranked up another Marchocias, and I picked up a Succubus and a Gorgon. Whew! It took me a while, but I finally put together one mean-ass Chaos squad.

My current line-up:
-Zochoten (summoned)
-Abaddon (summoned)
-Senko (summoned)
-Pendragon (summoned)
-Legion
-Gorgon (not so hot, but she has my only Me-Diarahan)
-Lich
-Samael
-Succubus (she can rank up to a Vampire in three levels)

Ususally, I'd rather have more empty slots before heading into a new area, but this is gonna be Law HQ and I'm under no illusions that I'll find anything to recruit there.

Alright, now we go to Ueno.

Heh, on our way up, a Nataku and a Ni Chalong insisted on joining us for free. I guess they want a piece of the action.


: Hmph. I suppose he'll be happy to see we're on the same side again.

*: Then the guy he repeats the same "you don't believe in our philosophy yet" line. And I endured the freaking teleports in here for that?

Oh well. I warp to the Terminal in Destiny Land, heal up, and save. Let's head across that bridge.



Huh. This is definitely not original Tokyo landscape.



Daaaaang.


Lv50 Majuu Griffon
In medieval legend, the griffin is a cross between a lion and an eagle, therefore made from the king of animals and the king of birds. It's usually said to be a noble creature, majestic, loyal, and honorable; accordingly, it's often seen on heraldry. It's a fast fighter-type, like most bird creatures seem to be, but its skills are nothing to write home about: Claw, Bite, and a weak Maha-Zan.


Lv53 Kyouchou Hresvelgr
A giant in Norse mythology, taking the form of an eagle. He sits at one end of the world, and the flapping of his wings causes wind all over the land. His Speed is almost maxed out, but the rest of his stats are frankly terrible for its level. It knows Bite, Flap-Wing, and Ice Breath.



This island just screams Law. It's pretty, though. I'm kind of sorry I'm here to mess it up.

...

Bah, what am I talking about? It was built by slaves in honor of the asshole who triggered the nuclear apocalypse. It needs to go.

*: The only entrance is the yellow building to the north.



Wow.

*: Next time, we raid the Cathedral! I know there wasn't much going on in this update, but basically remaking my entire party took me a lot more time than I expected, and I don't think I have a whole dungeon in me right now.

Oh, and, regarding a possible multi-ending run... well... I dunno. I've thought about it, but it feels like it'd cheapen the impact of our decisions here. Hell, as much as I love Nocturne, I've only ever completed it once (though that playthrough was really quite complete), because I so loved the ending I got that I don't think I could stand to get another. I barely even want to know what the others are. It is like A Perfect Thing.

That said, I'm not ruling it out! I do have a Terminal save right before our first encounter with Echidna. Maybe I'll take a break once I'm done and then get back to it. I really haven't decided yet. Don't get your hopes up, but... maybe!

[Classic]

The Neutral path is worth taking because... [spoiler]imagine you also have to fight all of the chaos forces as well as the hordes of angels you're going to fight[/spoiler]

[R^2]

I'm used to thinking of Abaddon as a King, since the most recent SMT game I played was Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon. I guess everybody has to start somewhere.

Pendragon looks like a pretty nice addition to the party.