Thoth: Heh heh, my homeland, the dadblamed control center of the entire Schwartzwelt! I must say it's nice ter see it again. You humans've been calling it "Eridanus," right? I kinda like that. Now, I have a pal here who prophesied a great destiny for this young'un, Drake, and entrusted him with the most powerful weapon in all these dimensions. Called him 'equal to the Lord of the Heavens,' and if I know my friend, he wasn't joking! The Lord of the Heavens... come to think of it, what DID happen to that guy, now? I haven't felt his energy in a VERY long time...
Welcome to Sector Eridanus, the hardest, and, in my opinion, most fun, level in the entire game. This is very much a "final exam" sort of level, with all the gimmicks from the previous ones coming back with a vengeance. Fitting for the last level in the game, right? At least, I hope it is...
Drake: All the other sectors focused on the worst aspects of Earth. This one's based around the best ones. Is this how the demons plan to change the planet if they take over? If I didn't have a mission, I'd say this wouldn't be a bad place to settle down. Grow old.
Basilisk: Well, except for the endless mazes.
Sui-ki: Yeah, and the trap floors.
Bai Zuzhen: And don't forget the endless secret passageways that'll trap you here forever!
Voivre: Yeah, Bai! And all the teleporters, too!
Dantalian: And my personal favorite, that wonderful, all-encompassing darkness...
I've generally stopped actively recruiting at this point since you're at that place where fusion can get you anything better than in the wild, but as you can see that didn't stop a few Eridanus residents from inviting themselves over. Dantalian is physically frail, but he has the powerful Magarula spell (fourth-tier wind move) and can charge it, so he can pack a punch when he wants to. Voivre and Bai Suzhen, generally found together, are fire and ice mages. Basilisk can inflict the Stone status ailment, which takes anything it makes contact with out of the fight, permanently. Yes, this can happen to your character. Also around here is the exceptionally-sturdy Titan, which has no weaknesses, and the Gun specialist, Toufei.
You can find a Thoth around here, who will give you various quests to retrieve his books for him from other demons. Pass all of them and you'll be awarded the most powerful Neutral-aligned weapon in the game.
This first section is structured like a hedge maze which you basically just have to try everything to get out of. At the end, Zelenin calls Drake saying she's found something: an old, offline teleporter that's missing the piece that turns it on. So, yes, it's fetchquest time.
Dantalian: You say that like it is a chore to do favors for a lady. Most uncouth...
This is where it gets tricky. Getting out of this part of the level requires getting two rare Forma, both of which are entirely possible to miss. The first is off a corridor right near Zelenin; take this one back to the lab to upgrade your Forma Search app. Now you can find the second one. It's behind a hidden door. In a Sanctum. That is itself behind a hidden door. See what I meant by "final exam?" This is found by searching for hidden doors on the upper level.
Oni: Dat thing's shiny.
Azumi: Dadblamed it is; watch where yer pointin' that thing, Drake, some of the folks in yer DEMONICA have sensitive eyes!
The shiny thing is taken back to Zelenin, where, as she guessed, it unlocks the teleporter.
Naga: How convenient.
This, then gives you access to the Evil Tower of Ominousness in the center of the sector. The place that controls the entire Schwartzwelt.
Drake: So close and yet so far. The Vanishing Point is on the top floor of this tower.
Lorelei: ...it's covered in screens...
Halphas: Oh ho ho, screens showing everything wrong with humanity, at that. This must be how the rulers here keep tabs on their targets. Curious...
On the third floor of the tower, there's a couple things you can do. Behind hidden doors are a Zouchoten and a Kazfiel who will offer to train you; defeating them grants the right to fuse them and points toward Chaos and Law respectively. Do take note of the other teleporter on the second floor, too, which is blocked by a Ghoul.
Drake: Oh no, this was...
On the top floor of the spire, the Vanishing Point is within range... but unfortunately blocked by a higher level gate.
Drake: Call from Arthur, let's see...
Horkos: Abort the mission? That's not BUONO!
What's gotten into Arthur? What could be more important than finding the Vanishing Point? Do Dantalian's heads ever argue with each other? Stay tuned to find out!
