(FLYNN returns to the present a bit jet-lagged. He shakes his head and then sees MASTEMA in front of him)
Flynn: Where have you been?
Mastema: I had some... arrangements to make at Midtown. In the meantime I had Sraosha send you those quests. Were they to your liking?
Flynn: They were... cathartic, yes. Arrangements, you say?
Mastema: Well, I can't see this city as needing the Ashura-kai anymore once the Firmament is released...
Yaso Magatsuhi: YASO MAGATSUHI!
Mastema: I hope Aniel and Kazfiel were not any trouble. Of all your angelic companions they seemed the most... resistant to their contract with you.
Flynn: Perfect little, well, angels! That reminds me, with the Four dead, does that make you the ranking angel?
Mastema: As far as I know. There was one above myself but below them in rank, but I know not where he- Oh, spoke too soon.
(SUDDENLY, EXPLOSION)
Orias: Guah! Great Lucifer that's bright!
Flynn: ...what is it?
Mastema: Oh dear. The Lord's messenger and most loyal servant, METATRON. I don't suppose he'll ever let me hear the end of it...
Metatron: BE NOT AFRAID, MASTEMA. I SEEKETH A CONTRACT WITH THIS HUMAN, FOR IN HIS ARMOR DWELLS THE GREATEST WISDOM IN THIS OR ANY OTHER WORLD: THE GREAT SAGE MIDO!
Flynn: Mido? The AI that runs the fusion system?
Metatron: A MACHINE HE IS NOW, BUT HIS MIND IS THAT OF A GREAT THINKER AND MAGICIAN OF YORE. I SEEK AN AUDIENCE WITH HIM!
Up until now I've totally forgot to mention Mido! Probably because he's mostly aesthetic and has little impact on the plot, but he's the AI that runs the Demon Fusion program in the Gauntlet. He's delightfully hammy and one of the funniest characters in the game, and at the very end of the game, you can do a quest for him. He wants to meet the Angel Metatron, who is believed to be an ascended human, to complete his data on angels; just make Metatron and talk to him; you do not lose Metatron by doing this.
Flynn: I feel I should make a few more demons. Just a sec...
(FLYNN fiddles with his Gauntlet)
Flynn: Ah ha!
Huang Di: Ooh hooh hooh... a little child, well, you are my summoner, I take it.
Flynn: I'm not a child
Huang Di: When you get to be my age, everyone is a chi- oh. Hello Chi You.
Chi You: HUANG DIIIIIIIIIIII! GET OVER HERE AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAAAAAAAAAAN! THIS. MEANS. WAAAAAAAAAAAR!
Ongyo-ki: This one over here is giving me an odd sensation. I believe you humans call it "creeped out."
Alilat: Yiiiiiiiiiii...
Mot: Kwoooooooh...
Beelzebub: Crap, it's MOT! ...Can YOU take him again, Sis?
Anat: Men...
Vishnu: Ah hah hah, bask in my glory! Young one, I see you have already summoned my beloved wife and son...
Lakshmi: Well met, Lord Vishnu. This one is as powerful as they say. They even say... no, we KNOW he's one of THOSE...
Vishnu: Is he, now?
Susano-O: Gnal hal hal... I see my family's beaten me to the punch, too! C'mere, Kushinada!
Kushinada-hime: Mmmm... buzz off, Orochi.
Orochi: I'll get you next time, Gadget...
Omoikane: Bluh huh huh huh, Susano-O... back to vandalize my lawn again? I thought I told you never to come back to Takaamagahara!
Susano-O: Still bitter about that after 8000 years, eh?
Flynn: Many of these demons seem to know each other. They have families just like we do. For them, for Tokyo, For Mikado... Lucifer, let's end this...
(FLYNN passes through the double doors to meet his destiny)
Vidofnir: 'Er er erhhhh!
Dis: Yes, now might be a good time to crow...
Odin: NO. Ragnarok is not NOW. I can tell these things...
White Rider: Klah klah klah... he is right, this is not the end...
Queen Mab: Eee hee hee, let's see if that indecisive middle path he took can bring him victory...
Nebiros: J-just because it's a path no one considered does not make it indecisive...
Dantalian: Oh, how odd. No matter how I crunch the numbers, the odds of Young Master Flynn's survival... never become zero...
Oumitsunu: ...DID!
Flynn enters the dark room to find Walter awaiting him.
Flynn: Walter! Thank God, you have to come back with me! If you come with, I feel we can end this without a fight and... Walter?
Like Jimenez before him, Walter likes that Flynn made it as far as he did and regrets having to use his newly-awakened full power, but, alas, also like Jimenez, he reasons that he has come too far and given too much to the cause to back down now. He begins to mutate in an agonizing-looking way, until he ceases to be anything resembling human. A hideous demon stands before Flynn and his party: the Dark Lord Lucifer! (By the way, it turned out Hikaru was Lucifer, if you were wondering where she went. She ate Walter alive to restore him/herself to full power. This is only explained on the Chaos path)
=FINAL BOSS: LUCIFER=
Level 99. Null Light, Null Dark
Of the game's two final bosses Lucifer is the "Warrior;" dispensing with the parlor tricks and light shows Merkabah used, he elects to simply beat you to death, and is nothing if not good at it. He's one of the most challenging bosses in the game, in my opinion surpassing Merkabah, Uriel, Raphael, and four-sevenths of the Fiends, but is weaker than Beelzebub, Michael, Gabriel, Matador, Pale Rider, and Trumpeter. He's also weaker than Mem Aleph, though, so people coming from SJ may find him a bit anticlimactic.
Anyway, what can he do? He signature move in his first form is Evil Shine, a profoundly nasty Almighty move that can inflict Panic. He's not as big on the status ailments as Merkabah is, and Panic is probably the "least bad" ailment in the game, but still, this attack hurts. You can rebuff him if you want, but, as usual, if you go below two debuffs he will cast Dekunda on himself. I'm not sure if he can do Dekaja also, but probably. Next up, he can use many of the most annoying endgame multi-strike moves you've encountered, such as Hades Blast and Glacial Blast, but his particular favorite seems to be Myriad Arrows. He uses these moves in order to strike at your weaknesses when you least expect it, but you can turn this to your advantage as well. Bring along demons that Drain Gun, Phys, or Ice, and see some very nasty attacks turned into free healing for you or added damage to him. Vishnu in particular is great for this; the top Deity (could he be anything else?), he Nulls Phys and Repels Gun, saving my hide many times in this battle. One of the easiest and most fitting combinations to make him is Lakshmi and Xi Wangmu.
Vishnu: See how your arrows turn before me, Lucifer? That is my power; the power of over a billion of my people lost to your and the Angels' war! You shall not see the end of this day, Lucifer!
Lucifer, finally, will engage in Boss Banter with you. With half his health gone, he will ask you the same question Merkabah did: why are you even bothering to fight him?
Flynn: For Tokyo and Mikado, for my friends and my demons... for everyone who doesn't want someone else to arbitrarily decide if they live or die!
Choosing correctly here will fully heal Flynn. As for how best to damage Lucifer, just go all out. He has no weaknesses or resistances, so your options are "whatever hits the hardest." Charged Berserker God and Riot Gun, Glacial Blast, Antichthon, Desperate Hit... all these and more will be of great use to you. Eventually, the great demon lord will fall...
Flynn: Is that it...? Is it o... ver?
...and promptly get right back up again! The creepy bulge you may have noticed on his left arm suddenly bursts, revealing a hideous, deformed fetus-looking creature that looks to be in constant pain. It's wearing a blue scarf...
Flynn: Wh-wha-? I'm going to be ill... What is that th- Oh God. Oh holy Hell. That scarf! THAT'S WALTER!
Lilith: Walter... my Child of Carnage... you didn't have to go that far, Master, I sort of liked that kid...
Lucifer's done with the pleasantries. He's through being the honorable Lucifer you're used to; now he just wants you to die. This, his second form, looks a whole lot scarier than the first, but in turn I find it slightly easier. Like Mem Aleph in her Empty form, he gains two new attacks in this form. First, we have Kingly One, which is this game's answer to Mem Aleph's namesake "Mem Aleph" move in that it causes any demon it strikes to return to the stock. This is an annoyance at worst; there's no real reason you can't just summon it back. His second is much more troubling: MORNINGSTAR. Lucifer's signature and namesake move, this causes any demon it strikes to have its HP halved. I'm not sure if this is better or worse than Fallen Grace; it typically does less damage, but it hits the entire party. Yes of course it's Almighty.
Flynn: Guhh... he's very strong... can he ever be defeated?
???: Of course he can; you beat me, didn't you?
Flynn: That voice...
Yamato Takeru: Scourge upon these sacred lands... be judged by YAMATO-TAKERU-NO-MIKOTO!
Hellz yeah! Yamato-Takeru is an excellent late-game Jack-of-All-Stats demon, with excellent Phys, Wind, and whatever other kinds of moves you give him through Fusion. He's a worthy addition to any party.
Now back to Lucifer. He'll use the same moves he always has apart from the previous two, but he seems to use Evil Shine much more often; it's nothing that can't be negated with cast of Salvation, but it still means that for this portion of the fight you can't rely on Repellers and Drainers as much. Halfway through the fight, he will cast at Flynn an "evil and overbearing stare;" the correct response here is to "Stare back calmly."
Flynn: Walter, you're trying to be evil now. As long as I've known you, I just don't buy it; sorry.
Fight Lucifer as you did the previous form. Any type of attack is available to you, and I find Berserker God and Riot Gun work especially well.
Yamato Takeru: You are a worthy adversary, Great Demon, but this country's defenses are stronger than you think! As long as I stand, YOU WILL NEVER TAKE HUMANITY!
(YAMATO TAKERU punches straight through LUCIFER!)
And with that, he falls. As he crumbles away, he, very much like Merkabah, goes on about how humanity needs him and his devils to survive. He'll be back before long...
Flynn: And I have a feeling I or someone like me will be waiting for him, I really do...
Nebiros: Flynn! You're alive! This way! The castle is crumbling!
Alice: Eeeeeee! Lucy went boom!
Flynn: Just a sec.
(FLYNN grabs the blue bandanna off the floor)
Lucifer Palace fades away, leaving only the Yamato Perpetual Reactor. Head outside to savor your well-deserved victory.
Matador: What a fantastic show! Is it me or does it look sunnier already?
Minotaur: I hope we did you proud, Kid...
Isabeau then calls! With the aid of Hope (yeah, remember him?) she was able to marshal the Samurai to evacuate the entire population of Mikado. Some is the Kingdom's luminaries are waiting at Cafe Florida.
Flynn: Not just yet. First I have a few last promises I need to keep...
To be continued...
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