Update 92

Part 92: Whirlpools Inside

So once we're through here, it's on to the Skytower, huh?

Assuming no extra hurdles are thrown our way, yes. This would be Fomalhaut's seventh Imperial in the area, and he wouldn't be capable of resurrecting any more of Niara's Imperial Dragons, correct?

Yeah, that's... Yeah. Yeah, this is it. This is the last Imperial Dragon we'll have to handle.

Would you look at that? Seems we're almost through, then.

...Humanity's fate will be decided within the next few days. You're right.

You okay? You look a bit zoned out.

Fomalhaut's seventh Imperial. There was an impending finality in my heart that hadn't existed during our battle at Daiba. I wondered why that was—perhaps because at the time, rather than battling off a True Dragon, we believed ourselves to simply be fighting off a grand threat? Despite knowing that defeating Fomalhaut would once again free the planet from the Dragons, there was foreboding in my heart that hadn't existed for the battle at Daiba. But... no, I don't think I was afraid of the Imperial, or Fomalhaut himself. I was afraid of what came after.

There was all that false certainty in my heart during the battle at Daiba. Sure, there were questions, but those questions weren't truly important. Those were personal questions. At the time, I had a sense that everything was going to be okay if we simply fought hard enough. That sense was taken out from under me, well and truly shattered, only a few days later. Everything was so much bigger than I had expected, than I had allowed myself to know. I was aware, now. I was aware of how large the world of the Dragons truly was, how vast, how unending the terror, how unceasing the onslaught.

I felt it. I wasn't sure how, but I felt it. Humanity's fate would be decided within the next few days. No matter how the conflict with Fomalhaut was resolved, it would have grand implications for our planet—and it felt like I was staring into a bottomless abyss any time I thought about that feeling.

Let's just—go. Let's go.

...You okay?

Yeah. I'm fine.

The penultimate battleground, the Shuto Seaspire.

The Shuto Seaspire was one of Fomalhaut's most impressive monuments. Wrought of coral and asphalt, both drawn into the vortex of an aerial whirlpool, the sickly veins of his plague ran all across the upper reaches of this solidified tornado. Tendrils of it connected it to the ground as the expressways to the harbor were drawn up, forming another branch of Fomalhaut's cyclone. It felt almost mocking—as though he were inviting us into a palace he'd built himself.

I'll say. No sense of taste.

This path will lead you into an entryway near the top of the spire. Please be careful, everyone!

Gonna be a hell of a walk to even get in there.

Points for presentation.

We've successfully reached the perimeter.

...What's this? We're detecting multiple lifesigns. It's possible there may be survivors—please keep an eye out!

Looking over the edge would probably give many people vertigo. Within the Seaspire, broken-off pieces of highway and building floated aimlessly to and fro, hung in the air as though frozen in time mid-destruction. Along the inside wall, other small pieces of building created a tapestry of civilization, reduced to rubble and devoured by its new king.

Man.

Yeah.

Smilodons are unexciting bunguses who can inflict Bleed. Next!

Unfortunately, it seems our way in will no longer be reliable.

Ughhhh.

Let's take that path to the side we found earlier.

Crimson Fans can do AOE, inflict Confusion, and are weak to Ice. Wraiths are sturdier than you might expect physically and do ghost-type things.

Carnage Strike is still a good skill.

Snow Boars can hit the entire party and self-buff. They're fairly chunky physically. Also, that's a Doom Seed EX, which I roll a 20% Fab Fuel drop on and get a cool 900 SP from.

Loot sniffed.

puts them in the bag

Singing Frogs, what are you even doing here? You're level 41, guys.

Hey! Don't ignore us!

Today's flavor of dragons you have to lure into fights: Guys who are literally just under the platforms.

It's coming up!

I'll save you the preamble. Dracoprisms are pretty tough. They have the ability to inflict Burn, Bleed, and even instant death if they're feeling spicy. They're only weak to Aerial and have high magic defense. 3260 HP.

If you please!

Die!

I had a Motionless stocked.

It's attempting to induce internal bleeding!

Hexatonic inflicts a 33~40-damage Bleed on everyone. If it hits, it's 60%.

Wrong move.

Ah, everyone! Good news. I've gotten the magical defense aspect of my defense routines working again.

Oh, that is good news!

Almost got it!

Youka took the mace on her fist and caved it through the dragon's skull.

Now there's the GBH Special, baby.

Man I am really glad I'm not afraid of heights.

Man, walking on cars feels weird—

Right!

Alright, kiddo, we gotta go.

Grinning Girl: Whoa, Unit 13! You came to help me?

With that, the girl turned back to sitting by the edge of the hole.

Uhhh... what?

Just pull the string, kid.

Grinning Girl: No, really! I'm fine! You should look for other people if you're gonna rescue anyone.

Uhhh.

This is bad. If this is the result of the Imperial Dragon's interference, then forcibly removing people under its sway might cause serious damage to their psyche.

So, what, we're supposed to just leave this kid here?

No, we're supposed to go snap the Imperial's neck before anyone dies.

Well, that sucks.

There's two guys here, one under the platform and one over.

No matter how many of you come, I'll cut you down!

You guys aren't in perfect condition. Try and be careful, okay?

Ggghh.

Doesn't look like you're being very careful over there, Cap'n.

I'm fine. Focus on yourselves.

Fall!

Drink Blood is a move that Dracoprisms use on Bleeding targets to hit them and steal some HP.

Okay, maybe we should try and help them.

Yeah, that sounds good.

Ugh! Damn it!

Ow.

One moment.

Ignite Mode, engage!

Thanks, Richter.

Nice job.

There's another one coming in.

Babe. Water. Now.

Right. Right.

Ow!

There's number two!

Not anymore!

The abyss is beckoning you!

Nice work, team.

Sorry. I'm feeling a bit off my game right now.

That's worrying.

I'm fine. Don't worry.

Skipping Kid: Hey, look at me! I learned how to skip! Tra la la~

What's going on here?

Prayer beads? How'd these get here?

That's, uh. That's a Murakumo terminal, right?

How did that get here?

She didn't give us anything.

Nagi: Whom are you talking to? There's no one over there, you know.

Another Dracoprism down.

Blank Soldier: ...

Is it some kind of mental disturbance? Why hasn't anyone tried to run away?

I donno. I'm not seeing anything I recognize.

Oh, um! It seems that... 'NERD ROCK BAR' sign is a safe place to make a descent.

Thank you!

Oh, huh. We actually made it back around.

Let's tear through it!

I think we've finally found our last displaced Daiba dragon from the first game. Cornarodons have 3912 HP, and shockingly, are weak to Fire. Low magical defense, too.

You know how nice it is to finally see both DEF and MDF up off of Defense Booster? It's real nice.

It's going to bring in a hailstorm.

You cut that out.

Over here, shithead!

Well, I'm alright, at least.

Perish!

Think it mighta taken offense.

Argh!

Damn it.

You know it and maybe feel some way about it, delayed attacks.

There's nothing to fear! We can attack from a safe position.

Thanks!

Smooth moves, Richter.

Get outta here!

That's the first layer cleaned out. Good work, everyone.

We have 6 Dz, so we have enough for two more floor repairs real quick.

-------------------------

What, the dating room in the Lounge?

Who're you planning on asking up there, Izumi?

W-what? Nobody. I mean—I just thought it'd be nice to... have. Shut up.

Ehehe. Well, at any rate, the steward would like to say thank you again, Unit 13.

Huh. I guess there hasn't really been a ward for the building teams this time, has there?

Nope.

I've got an inspection to get to. Come see me when you've got a second.

Splendid Steward: I can only hope this will be of some use to you. And that you will return to us our lovely Tokyo, in the not-so-distant future, as well. That is to say—I hope for it, but I also fully believe in it.

Right. I guess the last time I used this was on the day we defeated Niara.

The Lounge level 2 has the same function as it did in the first game.

ahh, the cramped spaces floor. how i've missed you.

Kodachi: We haven't had much time to do you good yet, Unit 13, but when the world is free of Dragons, we'll have ample time to display our skill!

Kamiyama: D-developing goods is crucial, but so is the workplace. Don't you want to avoid costly errors? To research efficiently? It's all a part of developing quality goods.

You used to work out of the back of a van, didn't you?

Kamiyama: I h-had an alleyway, but then zoning laws kicked me out...

There's nobody else here at the moment.

First thing I did in the new digs was make you something useful. Here.

A set of kagura suzu, eh?

Weirder stuff's happened. I got our on-site exorcist to make sure it carried the necessary spiritual power and all that. ...Anyway, now that we've got this, we're gonna work full-bore over there to restore peace to the world. Don't know how helpful we'll be before the end of the war, but after that—

It's gonna be soon. We promise.

Yeah. I know. Good luck out there, Unit 13.

-------------------------------

I'm ready to blunt our falls. Is everyone ready to jump?

Hoo. Okay I'll live.

This is gonna feel really weird.

This is more disorienting than I expected it to be!

AAAAAA

Okay phew we're okay we're okay

Yes. We're alright. We've landed.

Wait. Over there.

There was a woman sitting in a field of the Black Bloom, seemingly unharmed.

Flower-loving Woman: Hee hee hee~ Wondrous, smiling flowers. Let's see how he feels about me today. He loves me... he loves me not... he loves me...~

There's something very fishy going on here! Miroku, let's analyze the environmental data in more detail.

What the hell is this?

I don't like it. Something's going on.

Shiki: Are treasure chests useful? I've been filling 'em all up around here. I mean, yeesh, there were sooo many. It was a hassle and a half, lemme tell you.

THIS GUY'S MY FAVORITE

Shiki: Wait, you haven't been opening them, have you?!

Watch me.

Seems our only way forward from here is to leap down.

Shiki: How dare you?! I was working really hard on that!

If you're not a Dragon trick of some kind you'll thank me for opening your chests later?

Of course a pile of floating debris wouldn't be convenient.

Really breaking out all the stops here.

How do we get over there?

I believe the 'NERD ROCK BAR' signs serve as something approaching a gravitational pull. If we find the other end of that one on the upper floor, we'll find it.

NERD ROCK BAR isn't even around here.

...What's happening?

I donno. It's just all error codes.

What's going on?

None of the environmental data is working properly. This really isn't the time... Kirino, a little help?

Yeah, you! Get over here!

This isn't good. If the environmental data itself isn't working properly, then if we were to be beset by a surprise attack of some sort—

Perhaps we should retreat to the Diet and attempt to discern the nature of the distortion there?

But, no. If those people are bewitched, and not some manner of illusion, that would place them in mortal peril.

Not to interrupt you Richter, I mean that is a very good thing to be thinking about, but we've got a Shiny Catraptor over here.

Heads up!

Oh, sorry!

Carrion Dragons are an upgrade to the previous Stabdragons. They're 20% weak to Ice, have 3912 HP and fairly even defenses, and their primary difference is that their Rolling Slash has been replaced by Burning Slash, which replaces the Paralysis rider for two new ones—Burn and Bleed. The Burn is a 20% damage penalty, so pretty nasty.