This has been a fairly long detour, and I'd much like to settle the score with Alvis and his goons, now that Trabant is dead and we have no real need to stay here much longer.
Musar and his men defeated, the party gathers around Luthecia and Corple begins training by healing everyone, having bought a heal staff from the town shop. As this all transpires, I also use the remaining time (I'm presently at turn 30) to get some more pairings made. Lakche/Johalva and Shanan/Patty are already finished, Serlis somehow ended up paired with Lana, though that isn't exactly bad, and the other pairs being made are Aless/Leen, Arthur/Fee, Scathach/Tinny, Faval/Altenna, Julia/Sety, and Leaf/Nanna. As this goes on, Leen speaks with Corple, where they don't recognize each other, but do share the similarity of being born in Darna, and this gives Corple +1 luck.
After 50 turns pass, Aless/Leen, Leaf/Nanna, and Arthur/Fee are finished, and the other sets have gained some points, so I move on to deciding how to take over Grutia. Before that, Corple travels (with Leen's help), all the way north towards the villages, preparing to collect a lot of money since he has the Valkyrie and numerous other expensive staffs to manage. He receives 22000 gold, and a barrier ring (likely to be pawned to someone who needs it), and then he and Leen head right back down. '
Soon enough, everyone is marching south towards Grutia, planning to find some way to take on Judah with his Fenrir tome, as well as the enormous wall of Ballisticians waiting behind him. First things first, the most dangerous one there is obviously Judah and his Fenrir, so he must be dealt with first. Lana silences him, and Serlis runs out, alongside Leen. The three of them draw fire, but all shots save two towards Serlis are dodged. Serlis runs closer, with Altenna and Fee nearby, and the three of them are danced for by Leen. Altenna and Fee team up and take down Judah (Fee reaching level 20 from the fight), and Serlis captures the castle, forcibly removing the ballistae from the battle.
Serlis asks Levin if Arion still wishes to fight, and Levin says that while they've sent many messengers asking for a truce, he won't listen. Levin notes that it appears to be a matter of pride that keeps him in this fight, and Serlis angrily questions why Arion would be so stubborn, especially if he knows what he's putting Altenna through.
The party all heads towards the castle, preparing to stop whatever Arion aims to do.
Arion prepares to deploy the "Three headed Dragon" assault, now that we have taken Grutia, and he sends three sets of wyvern knights out, while a fourth enormous battalion waits near Thracia, Arion leading it.
I see your angle Arion, attack my undefended castles while we strike at you. Clever little trick you have there. Nanna returns Fee and Altenna to Mease, replacing Delmud as its guards, while Lana warps Lester back to Kapathogia, with more assistance on the way. Everyone who aims to take on Arion directly heads forth, and those who will be warped await their transport at Grutia. Lana warps Sety to Luthecia, that appearing to be the target of one of the groups, and after begin danced for, warps Oifaye to Kapathogia, providing Lester with some assistance.
Fee promotes to Falcon Knight, earning some sweet stat boosts, and the ability to use staffs, which she exercises by purchasing a mend staff in preparation for assisting Altenna in the coming fight. Altenna takes control of guarding the castle proper, and the remainder of the party at Grutia begins heading towards Thracia castle. Before doing so, however, those defending the castles from the Three Headed Dragon must first finish their battles, to prevent any focus lost in the final confrontation.
As the castle guardians face the incoming swarm, Julia speaks with Serlis, and she mentions a feeling of fear, that they shall be separated somehow, never to meet again. Serlis assures her that he will protect her, and notes that all of the travel has likely exhausted her. Once they are done, he mentions they will be resting in the free city of Miletos, and offers to take her shopping to cheer her up. This brightens her up a bit, and she decides to use the Magic Shield spell on Serlis, which gives him +3 resilience.
Altenna is eventually forced to resort to the Gae Bolg in order to take on the foes, their numbers allowing them to chip away at her slowly. Fee uses the opening to enter the battle and start wrecking some face herself. Sadly, this is short lived, as Fee gets wounded badly by the captain, and Altenna cuts her a path back into the castle to rest and heal. Sety meanwhile utterly destroys every foe on the first turn, and Lester and Oifaye slowly but surely defeat their foes.
Once all of the enemies are slain, Altenna promotes herself, and Lester runs to Mease to do the same, both of them having reached level 20, while Sety, Oifaye, and Fee all head south, towards the main party, as they steel themselves for the confrontation with Arion's own soldiers. Altenna promotes to Wyvern Lord, gaining okay bonuses, the pursuit skill, and an A rank in swords, which I make a bit of use of by purchasing a steel sword for her to use. Lester promotes to Bow Knight (so he went from archer knight to bow knight... kind of a boring transition), and he gains some good bonuses, no skills, and no weapon levels. Kinda boring all around, really, but at least he's gonna kick some more ass now. I was sort of hoping for pursuit though...
Ah well, now begins the long walk to the main army. As they travel, I take a look at Arion's men, and am not exactly heartened by what I see. The frontline is a group of sleep sword wielders, no doubt meant to cripple us so the others, wielding slim lances for evasion and efficiency, can mop us up. This isn't even counting Arion, an already terrifying foe armed with the Gungnir, a ferocious spear which boosts strength, speed, and defense by ten, and the pursuit, adept, and nihil skills, meaning he's going to be using that speed boost, and no one can use combat skills against him. The one saving grace is that none of them has a ranged option, so my archers and mages can deal heavy damage fairly safely. Once Fee, Lester, Oifaye, and Altenna rejoin the group, everyone forms up, and the party advances, preparing to draw out Arion's army for one final clash. Arion rouses his wyvern riders for a final charge, and the battle begins.
The fight opens well, with Fee and Sety taking on a few of the frontliners and taking very little damage, but the real fight has yet to begin. Lester opens with a mostly luck based attempt on Arion using his brave bow, and Arion notes that we apparently haven't noticed the "Lance of the Heavens" within his grasp. Lester misses, and backs off, and I decide that the only one who can match someone like Arion in single combat at the moment is Sety, and thus have him equip the Holsety and face him down. Sety finishes him, also claiming his Miracle Bracelet (which is gonna be pawned off to someone who needs it more), and just as with Ishtar, Julius warps in, and saves Arion at the last minute.
A few more fights later, and the wyverns are finally dealt with, leaving only the capture of Thracia left. Before that, Corple uses his Fortify staff to heal any wounds among the party, and Serlis then seizes the castle.
Serlis asks if Arion really just disappeared, and Levin confirms this, someone having seen Prince Julius appear and take off with him. After discussing the oddity of Serlis's relation with Julius, Levin notes that due to his relation to Dierdre, Julius can make masterful use of teleportation staves, such as Return and Recover, which is what he uses to heal and whisk away the wounded fighters. Levin then notes that, in spite of this, Julius's real power comes from Dark Lord Loptous...
See you all next time, as we prepare to take the fight to Grandbell.
