AOE spells, Ranged attack, generally high magical power, and the use of a Cover space and Rudol Gem to buff up his average defense, as well as the spirits under his command being able to take a lethal hit for him makes him a tricky opponent. Of course, he has nothing on the next boss, but that will come later.
Chapter 4-E-4: Finished.
Mordecai, Stefan, & Aran: Spent their time hunting the outer spirits who warped in as reinforcements. They ran around all over the place, Stefan and Mordecai making great use of Parity to take down spirits on Cover spaces, although they got attacked from afar by the spirits, so they had to stay on Wardwood when they got the chance. They helped whittle down the number of spirits so that there weren't any guarding Sephiran and thus he could be defeated without any spirits taking the bullet for him.
Ike, Mist, Jill, Soren, & Laura: Charged down to the area around Sephiran, Laura acting as backup damage and healing while the other four focused on taking out the spirits guarding Sephiran. They picked away at them bit by bit, forcing outer spirits to warp over to Lehran to guard him and stopping them from attacking anyone. This cycle continued until there were no spirits on the field around Sephiran on the start of the next player phase, and everyone save Mist teamed up to finish him off.
Sephiran: Once the party opened the path to defeating him, they made quick work of him, although it was a close fight. Ike started off, hitting him twice and getting blasted, then followed Jill with the Brave Lance doing the same, and finally Soren and Laura struck him with their own spells respectively, Soren being shot for his troubles while Laura finished him off.
—- indicates a perspective switch.
Vs Sephiran: Ike readied his blade and stepped towards their foe, preparing to bring an end to this fight.
"I have to ask, Sephiran. What are you after? What's this all about?"
"Why do you wish to know? You would achieve nothing by learning my reasons. You would help no one. I lost faith in lesser beings, and desire an end to them. That's all."
"So why did you save me on that day?"
"May I ask you a favor, Ike? Tell me how you feel about it now. Can you bear recalling those horrific memories?"
"Yes... I'm fine, now. But I suppose at the time I wouldn't have been able to take it."
"All beings endure tragedies for as long as they continue to live. It has always been the case that suffering is unavoidable. And this grim reality plays out over and over, in every country, under every ruler... As long as there are beings who feel, they will feel pain."
"So what? We should all just give in and die? Put it behind you. Deal with it."
"Do not make light of this..."
"I'm not. Sephiran, I'm extremely grateful that you once helped me through a terrible time. But we have to accept that occasionally we all have to deal with hard times. I've had pain, I've had suffering, and I have gotten up and moved on. I don't try to forget what happened that day. I just accept it... And neither that or anything else will ever stop me."
"You are a strong man, Ike, son of Gawain. But not everyone is as strong as you..."
Ike slid to the right, bringing his blade down on the mans shoulder, hoping to prevent him from casting, but the magical forces of the rooms tiles, as well as a second, unknown force mitigated his strike. The blade only cut slightly into his shoulder, Sephiran making only the vaguest attempt at dodging the strike, as Ike pulled back and thrust Ragnell forward. Once again, the magical barriers softened the strike, but the sword pierced and made its way into his chest, the spade tip digging in halfway as Sephiran stepped back to prevent himself from being impaled. Ike, undaunted, continued his advance, and was preparing to finish off Sephiran, when he noticed a few small yellow spheres circling around him at the edge of his vision. Before he could register what they meant, they were upon him, and an enormous amount of force imploded inwards from the glyph around him, striking everywhere on his body with crushing force, bringing him to his knees as he attempted to regain his breath.
—-
Jill dove forward, driving her spear into the back of the mans head as his spell struck Ike. The protections around him stopped her spear from cutting very deep, but the strike got the attention of the skilled mage. He turned to face her, his face mostly impassive as he saw the anger she felt towards him.
"It's your fault what happened in Daein! Every pointless death in this war is on your head! Sephiran, Duke of Persis... History will remember you as the worst kind of man."
After her condemnation, however, his stoic mask bent and let a small, oddly smug grin pass over it as he responded.
"Everything. It's all been my fault. You should know one more thing, however. I also had a hand in the death of your father."
Her face twisted into the picture of hatred as those words left his lips, and she gave a tug on the reins of her wyvern, pulling him back in preparation for the next strike.
"...Die, monster!"
She dove forward, and her spear struck the magical protections around him as it tried to bury itself in his eye, but he stepped back and the spear only pricked his cheek, causing a light trickle of blood to begin to flow. In her rage, she didn't notice the spell he had cast, and she was crushed under it, she and her mount landing to recuperate from the blast.
—-
Soren locked eyes with the chancellor of Begnion as he turned to face him, and almost simultaneously they began casting their spells. As Soren unleashed Rexcalibur, he himself was surrounded by multiple spheres of light, which began circling around him. He watched his spell take its own effect, as Sephiran stood within the cyclone of ice shards, weaving around many of the flying projectiles, and minimizing the damage any unavoidable ones did, while Soren waited for the perfect timing. Once he found it, he jumped backwards as far as he could, the implosion of energy going off right in front of him, the blast itself still pushing upon him, but not dealing any critical damage.
—-
Just as Soren's spell came to a close, Laura finished the casting of hers, and after dodging the final piece of icy shrapnel, Sephiran turned and saw the enormous sphere of light falling upon him, preparing to finish him off. It seemed odd, but he appeared to have a somber grin on his face as he saw it, and she thought she heard him whisper as the spell struck...
"At last... I'm dying."
Up Next: The party stands before the mightiest foe they could possibly face, the Goddess Ashera herself, as they begin the final battle to save the petrified people of Tellius!
