Welcome back. Today, we're going to (almost) finish this area up. In fact, by the end of this update all that'll be left of Tetyth is the boss. So, let's head on over to area 4-7: Mizel Bridge.
The first screen is nothing special, containing a treasure chest with an Estoc, an Elfin Bow, or a Flame Whip. Since none of these are worth getting (our normal Estoc is fine for now, the Elfin Bow is obsolete, and the Flame Whip is a whip), we move on.
The next screen contains the Sage and Fool, who assault us with their usual lines about how we're bullies/heartless demon murderers. They then begin calling us out on semi-imagined slights (Sage claims that Cierra's clothes are "lewd" whilst wearing far less herself, for instance). Soon enough, the situation degrades into a fight, more or less because the Red Sage is an idiot.
The Red Sage is weak to ice, just as the Fool was weak to fire. Fortunately, she's also weak to lightning, which deals with the problem of having discarded all my ice-based weaponry. I bring the Cross Lance, Burning Sun, Einherjar, and the Tempest Bow (for use by Fia). The Sage has imp minions instead of hammer guys, and her Break Out is Nightmare Waltz, a significant upgrade from the Fool's Illusion Waltz that does lightning damage. However, even when two hits from the Tempest Bow miss outright, it still does over 1000 damage, leaving her significantly crippled, though I screwed up the S-rank by using Disaresta too early.
After the fight, the Fool suggests surrendering, which the Sage counters by claiming we'll brutally murder their friends if the do. Naturally, the party is rather offended by this assumption, and through their counter-argument, we learn that the Sage and Fool were told that Sprites are heartless creatures of pure evil.
I'm then given the chance to either spare them, or murder them in cold blood. The latter option carries no penalties (in fact, you get three times the points for it), but I'd also be proving them right and, more importantly, murdering two misguided kids over this.
It should come as no surprise that I spare them (gaining a global affection boost). I mean, they didn't mean any harm (even if they did end up destroying thousands of years of history, seriously destabilizing the local biosphere, and denying future archeologists much information that could be gained about ancient Tetythian culture).
With their apology (and 1000 points), I head onward to stage 4-8: Flaybell Cathedral.
This place contains the fourth Accursed as you might expect, but I'm not covering that today. Instead, I'm going to visit the secret area for chapter 4, which contains arguably one of the more amusing scenes in the game (but I'll be skipping it because it would deny me some bonus affection).
The first thing I do is head to the third screen of the area (cutting down a mage and her elemental buddies along the way). Here, I examine some angel statues off to the side. This reveals that Tetyth was supposedly built by twelve angels, and the statues are supposed to honour them. The statues lack wings, and Cierra claims that this is because the angels were exiled from Asgard. Anyway, examining the statues again causes Ein to remark that the forehead of one of them is shining.
Now that I'm done that, I move back one screen, where I examine the statues. Since I've spent fewer than 120 turns getting here, I can jump onto one of them by way of timing minigame. This sends me to area 4-9: Cathedral Library.
The first three screens of this area involve the party climbing up one of the angel statues. I'm given the opportunity to examine them, but doing so would cause global affection drops due to generic "Ein's a pervert" nonsense.
This area is kinda infamous for that sort of thing.
Anyway, after climbing to the third screen, I examine the angel statue, and because I examined the one a screen after the jump twice and ignored the previous chances to examine it, I'm able to receive the gem in its forehead. After gaining the Angel Gem (and its 3000 points), I can give it to one of the girls for a quick affection boost. I don't think I have to explain that I'm giving this thing to Cierra (and by this point I think we're in the clear to get her ending).
I then proceed to jump off the statue, landing on a giant bookshelf. Since we're right next to a big open book, I look at it. Unfortunately, the book is too big to carry, but we can bring a single page with us. As such, each of the girls chooses a page and Ein has to decide which one to take.
- Lina chooses a page with lots of pictures on it.
- Cierra chooses a page with a magic circle on it.
- Fia chooses one that's full of writing of some sort.
- Serene chooses a page with very little written on it.
I can choose any of those, or have Ein choose (continuing the "joke" from before, he chooses a page with a naked lady on it). Note that Cierra, Fia, and Ein all choose pages that, when taken back to Claude, will get me a magic scroll. As such, you should choose Ein's if you're going for Lina or Serene. As it stands, though, we're still going for Cierra's ending, so I take her page.
One Ripped Page and 2000 points later, we're on our way. The next screen contains some harpies who are easily cut down, courtesy of Fia and Lina. It does not, however, contain anything else of note. As such, I move onward. I need to complete a button mashing sequence to do it, but it's a relatively easy one.
The next screen contains some giant books I can examine. Now, I'm not going to swell for too long on the size of the books here, but it simply must be mentioned: just how is anyone supposed to read these things?
Anyway, the shelf contains the Book of Valdes, which is supposedly the foundation of magic itself. Fia mentions that it has a "forbidden" chapter, refusing to elaborate because Sting didn't think to explain that. Of course, it's too big to take with us. There is, however, a piece of paper in it that we can take with us. After getting Serene to pull it out, we are the proud owners of the Valdes Scripture (3000 points), which...unlocks the high score list.
You know, I'd expect a lot more from a note found in the book that forms the basis for all magic, which according to the inventory screen is an account of Ragnarok. Oh well.
Anyway, I then leave, and I'm back at the cathedral. Next time, I'll crush the next Accursed and finish up here.
