I can only imagine that the offensive will intensify the further we get in.
Personally I think we'll be fine, because we're great.
The Ikebukuro floor.
Ah, look. A tyrannosaurus.
Don't worry, Youka, we've got this one.
Well I should sure hope so!
They've got pathetic MDF, but Orochi's last hit just missed lethal, so Koron had to squeeze out the win.
Sorry, can we act like we've 'got' this?
Much better.
The on-field Dragons here are Mole Dragons, who have a chance to drop Sumie's ultimate gun. They're still dodgy and mean.
Here's a shot of Orochi dinging one because Koron keeps getting kills with Frostburn.
medicine.
There's two Bloom walls over here to prevent you from getting through on either side. However, this formation has a nasty trick to play on you—
Hey whoa whoa whoa wait wait wait
There's three Mole Dragons laying in wait behind the walls to ambush you.
Tah!
I paste this formation when only the first has jumped in.
You can see the other two back there now, see?
I take out the other Dinosaurus...
...and while it does involve running out of battle and running at a funny angle, you can skirt by the back two without having to actually kill them.
Orochi. Did you suspect that Nodens would do something of this nature?
Well, part of it was that. But I was also looking to the future. Like, millennia in the future.
To the two remaining belligerent True Dragons after Nodens?
Niara and Haze, yes. Haze is liable to spend a few millennia away preparing to take on this planet, considering its accomplishments, but Niara will be by as soon as he's reconstituted. There's a decent possibility they'll both attack at once.
Haze, the 6th True Dragon. As I recall, he has the ability to adapt to weapons and techniques he witnesses, yes?
Nothing makes him happier. But still, one thing I was worried about was actually you two, Aitelle and Emille.
Oh?
Well, moreso Emille. She'll be back eventually, but you two are fairly old, and... I don't think Nodens would attempt to manipulate humanity into obtaining a sample from me for the Dragon Chronicle to complete her plans. She might take it from you two.
Huh? But—
I'm no longer the 4th True Dragon, Tyrant. I am, personally, yes, but I'm the 7th True Dragon, VFD. The role of the '4th True Dragon' can be taken on by a successor just like VFD can—and Aitelle and Emille are informational beings that encompass raw sentiment. If those sentiments were to ever overtake their reason, their will, then they could easily become something like... the 4th True Dragon, Hypnos.
I... did not know.
Well, I imagine Emille never thought about it much, either. Part of what I'm doing is trying to make sure the war has a finite end in sight. So long as there's an end, a point at which the war will be won, I'm sure Emille's feelings won't be manipulated.
...You two have will. That's precious, and it's not something that should be manipulated. And Emille is a very good friend of mine—I made a promise to her, and I can't rightfully fulfill that promise until I've done what I need to.
The salvation of Dragonkind?
Yeah. If I can prove my ideals to Nodens, and destroy Niara and Haze—and Nodens, if it comes to it—then I'll have proven that what I represent can overtake the evolution they represent. There'll be a new path for us all to take. Humans, Lucier, Dragons, Hypnos, everyone.
Dragons need to exist, to create life—but they don't have to be the destroyers that Emille burns with hatred for. I want to save her, too. And you.
Ah, the ol' Ikebukuro spiral ramps.
You ever think how weird it is that this gravity well that created a labyrinth of train tracks in the sky over Ikebukuro is just something we're totally accustomed to?
All the time.
Technically speaking, just so you know, every time I've changed party I have had to run back in and out of the dungeon up to the point where I was. Thankfully, I don't have to rerun the triple Mole Dragons ever again, because they do respawn.
Jigowatt's stash... Why does he have a stash? It's a mystery...
Once again, we'll break you down!
Wanna go for a hat trick, do you?
I will sever that cannon of yours!
Probably the funniest thing about Jigowatt's return as the Illusory Charger is how, uh, barely buffed he is, like at all. The original version of Jigowatt was such a tank that his postgame refight has gained a grand total of 322 HP, putting him at 15,582. He's the fastest Imperial refight thus far, but he's also statistically the weakest, especially in terms of MDF, where he's a total of 34 points weaker than Trinitro was. Why? Shrug. Maybe they just wanted to make me happier after how much trouble I had with the Chapter 5 fight. His Ice weakness is now a more drastic 50%, too. He's still immune to four status ailments because fuck you, but... y'know.
Let's attempt to defeat it as quickly as possible.
It's fast!
Whoa, what's the response time on those cannons?
That hurt.
Hey, Orochi, what's with the new sword?
Later!
Begone.
Ugh! Everyone okay?
I'm still standing, at least.
Koron!
Ah, darn it.
Discharge moment
Fine, we'll do this the old-fashioned way.
There you are, Koron.
Ugh! I hate that.
Argh... oh, that hurt.
Koron!
Alright, alright, if you insist.
Consumes 20% less energy.
And that's that.
We got up and quickly applied first aid.
To answer your question, this is Ame-no-Ohabari. I decided that the original form of the True Dragonslayer was a bit clunky, so I worked on shaping it into a form that was more practically usable.
I like it. Real sleek.
I'm pulling it out to make certain it still works right. It certainly seems to be!
Richter, are you okay?
I am very glad that that is the last time I'm going to have to experience those.
Our next segment, the Metro Ruins, will be done with Orochi, Mio, and Richter.
Let's see. We've defeated four Imperial Dragons thus far, so we have Jabberwock, Insomnia, and Tiamat remaining, yes?
Right.
I certainly hope that Jabberwock doesn't attempt to destabilize the ground again.
Well, it'll probably want to beat us up too much to think about that.
Is it even legal for me to bring all of this stuff back? I mean... Look at all this stuff!
Ah, royal artifacts of various civilizations. That there is a Kigurumian royal cloak.
Never mind. Apparently it's historically relevant.
I wonder. I recognize it's quite the dangerous place, but if such objects as these could be created, perhaps we could find records of the civilizations destroyed by the Dragons.
We did lose a lot. Who knows how many nations got destroyed?
We shouldn't simply leave those peoples to be forgotten. At the very least, in the future, we should attempt to obtain records of them, to remember how they lived.
The Bloom wall Dragon here is Granderodons, doing their gungly stuff as they've ever been.
Unfortunately Defense Beat doesn't work on the crashing rocks because, you know, out-of-turn actions, but it goes alright.
There's only the two walls, though, and it's actually possible to get through here ignoring both of them. Weird.
Anyway, here's an Attack Beat + Motionless + Attack Booster Mate in 16 hitting a Granderodon that was asleep. Lol
...Past Kinu, did you ignore all of the on-field Dragons in this area? Shame on you! This is a Let's Play! Here, okay, let me go do the work for you.
Okay, they use the Snatch model, but this one's called 'Blood Orc', which is really funny. I guess this dude was whose shape was snatched. Whoa. Anyway, they drop Youka's ultimate weapon.
At the time of the destruction of Atlantis came Hunters, the same as in the modern era. They unified the fragmented nations by virtue of their rare strength. The princess who had suddenly become a queen offered them patronage, aid, encouragement... she offered them love.
I didn't know any of them, but I think I know what you mean. I mean, I'm pretty sure at least one of them was, uh, within her age bracket.
I bet she was lonely. Under all that stress all of a sudden... couldn't have been easy.
Who the hell is this? Aitelle, who is this?
I... could offer theories, but I am unsure.
Y'know, this kinda reminds me of back on Iorys, having you here.
Mm?
You know what I mean, right, Orochi? How after we passed your test, we went to space to escort Archon—er, Iod.
Oh, yes. I understand what you mean. The journey into space to bring the strongest of Iorys to Earth.
Hey, random question, what was that thing at the end? The, uh, the space... thing.
...
What... WAS the space thing? I'm not sure what the space thing was. I mean, it certainly wasn't one of mine.
Sorry sorry sorry I just realized you had Imperials. Like that just connected for me.
Oh, haha! Yes, I did.
What were your Imperials like, Orochi?
Let's see. Well, there was Crystron. Crystron was the one Mio and her friends fought in the fourth Stratum of the Labyrinth, with the crystal-based landscape. Which—well, its wings were rather particular for its prismatic abilities, but it was an actual dragon, for you, Koron.
Hmmm... There was Gustav, another dragon, I think, though its structure was a bit different. Gustav's habitat was where the Undead King took over—that is, it was the Imperial that was reanimated by him later.
Oh, the guy with all the blinding fog and the explosions!
Oh, good, you remember. Then there was Hippogryph, which was... a hippogryph, and that was the last one that was still alive by the time Mio arrived, but...
Hm.
Actually, Koron will get mad at me if I go any further, because one of my Imperials was named directly counter to her classification.
What?
...There was a dragon named Wyrm.
Go kill this stupid thing already.
It's Jabberwock! This is a return to form—he has a whopping 255 in both defensive stats, which is the second-highest defensive spread in the entire game that isn't a Bloom or Doom Seed's 999s. (Shield Dragon Vs later have 255 PDF, but lower MDF by a large margin.) He's got 15,708 HP and takes half damage from Fire, Ice, and Lightning, too... which he did before, but, y'know. He's pretty sturdy, but Jabberwock's offensive abilities aren't too strong—he's got high damage, but low MAT for Burning Breath. I fuck around a little in this fight.
...is this the first time Reactor Cheer has happened? It's one of Richter's Auto Skills, it restores HP and MP to a character who activates a React skill.
Thanks, Richter.
What's the point of that? They haven't even hit you yet.
There you are again, Orochi.
Thanks, Richter.
Mio!
Yeesh, this guy's sturdy.
The relatively low MAT on Mio usually isn't a big deal, but it does mean she's at an offensive disadvantage against this turbo chunko man here.
Thanks!
Ooogh.
That's not helping.
This is Draw Whirl, the better version of Draw Spin. This is like, DEFINITELY the only time I ever use this.
Some medical aid courtesy of your local magical nekomimi.
Strike me as many times as you want, it won't matter!
This ought to help you, Mio.
Oh thanks
Tah!
What was the point of unsheathing and resheathing your sword like that?
Hm. I thought I might try it, but it might be better to just stick with this.
More medical aid courtesy of your local magical nekomimi.
Oh phew, I don't feel as bad this time.
I mean I'm still on fire, that hurts, but.
Ugh, damn it. My hand's on the fritz again.
Nyah nyah, missed me!
You should be alright now.
Right. Richter, have I ever mentioned how much I appreciate your garbage collection?
You have.
That's right! It's Berserk Pitch! I just inflicted Blind on this goofball!
Hehehe. Can't see too well? Seeing red, maybe?
Another one, Orochi!
Got it!
Orochi's React had run out. I turn it back on. Richter gets his, too.
Man. That breath just does not seem like it hurts that much.
Well, it does hurt. But you're right.
Ow!
Alright, time to go on the offensive proper!
Ten-chi Tachi! Fall!
Richter, if you'd like to attempt to hack it, go right ahead.
Argh!
Richter has the Status and Kingsguards on, by the way.
Well, I tried.
Let's keep that garbage collected!
Are you alright? Good, you don't seem too injured.
It is quite a large creature. It's heavy.
I could use some water, if that's alright.
...
Perhaps I should return to running support.
Think you made him mad by teasing him, Mio.
He should live with it. Plenty of people do.
There you go, champ. Feeling any better?
Much, thanks.
Alright.
Ugh!
Her ability to keep up with it is impressive.
Mate in 16!
Ooooh, he felt that one. Hear that roar?
yeah i can we're also right here
You've really gotta learn a few more combos, Jabberwock. You're wasting your potential.
I'll destroy you soon enough.
Auuuuugh! Ow!
I know we're kinda past the era of everyone hitting Richter for no reason, but it still feels bad, y'know?
Fine, if that's how you want to play it!
Woohoo! Go, Richter!
She's queen of the night, and she's queen of the ring, too!
Dark Countess Mio Akaneno returns for the rematch, burning hot with FEVER!
Goodnight!
There we are, everyone.
Orochi!
Bring home the money, honey!
...Er, one moment.
Okay, that time it worked.
Gyres and gimbles to wake you up.
Hawawawawa look at this pile of loot!!! Whoa!!!!!
The Delusion Field is a frightening thing.
And Round 2 ends with the challenger going home in a body bag again!
...Yaaaaaaaay. Peace, peace.
Aitelle threw up some peace signs.
Neko has told me that this is among the accepted celebration gestures.
It's great, Aitelle.
Look at all this money! What am I gonna buy with it? Am I Waji's entire retirement fund?
Next time, Mio, Youka, and Richter in the Seaspire area.
----------------------------
So did Kirino and Richter ever figure out that whole thing?
Well, they're living together again, and nominally they're dating, at the very least.
Look, between those two, a lot of the time a date is just a day at work.
Man, I've never really gotten guys, y'know? Like obviously everyone's different but there's these guys that you just go, guys, about.
Well, romantic inclinations aside, Kirino's been watching even more toku lately than he already did. I think he might want to give himself a rocket punch, or something.
What, like become a superhero? Like a cyborg superhero?
I wouldn't put it past him.
That sounds hilarious. I think he should do it. Oh, right, speaking of guys! Listen. You know what I wanna hear about.
I know, I know. Taichi and Charlotte, right?
I mean, it's Taichi. You tell me he's dating a kung-fu maid boy and you expect me not to wanna hear everything?
Unit 10's been doing great in general. Charlotte fit right in, and he and Taichi are a terror out there.
Does Charlotte, like, load the bombs into the Comet Spear, going all, "Oh, yes, Master, of course, Master, I'll load your bombs, Master"?
Charlotte's not that overbearing about it.
Youka actually did agree to coach Charlotte, but only on the condition that instead of taking the taking hits part of Fudoji-ka, he implement his first aid skills instead. She said she didn't want him to get hurt too bad.
Shichiro keeps saying they should come up with a new name for his style because of it. What was the last one?
"Fudoji-ka, Divine Hands Style!"
Right, right, that was it.
So is Taichi into guys?
He likes Charlotte, and that's all I can really tell you.
Okay, okay. One more question about Unit 10. How do you play Catch Monsters?
