Gabriel: Eh?
(GABRIEL parries a strike from LILITH's talon with her blade-arm)
Lilith: So, little miss too-good-for-this-sinful-Earth finally shows her face. I'd actually thought you'd run away with your tail between your legs to lick your God's boots and plan your next move.
Gabriel: Oh please, you know as well as I do we both find this Flynn human utterly odd. Why would a Chosen cast his lot with the Filth? I doubt even you could answer that. But, you, personally... we have some unfinished business.
Incubus: Yee-haw, catfight!
Succubus: Place ya bets, place ya bets!
Mou-Ryo: Woo?
Yaso Magatsuhi: YASO MAGATSUHI!
Lilith: Heh heh... oh, whatever can you mean?
Gabriel: You know perfectly well what this is about. You and your snakes; you're the reason Paradise was damned in the first place! You talk like you have the moral high ground, but we both know that if you hadn't been there, we'd all be much better off!
Lilith: Excuse-mongering from the guilty side. What kind of logic is this? Your "God" permits his creations, who have the moral reasoning ability of children at that point I might add, to do anything but eat that one specific fruit. I may have given the push but it was inevitable the temptation would come sooner or laser. After all, why bother forbidding something unless you know it is likely to be done? And my gift was worth far more than yours: free will. The ability to make one's own choices. Your God would stamp out that ability. It is tantamount to brainwashing! It is oppression, is what it is!
Gabriel: Oppression? I was unaware that people in a state of perpetual happiness could be oppressed! This was humanity's default state; if they did not mind it, then it should very well have been none of your business, no? YOU made the change. YOU are the one who deviated from the original intent for humanity. Without you, humans could have lived their lives in eternal peace! A return to that state would benefit everyone in the long run!
Lilith: Peace? Peace at what price? And, pray tell, what kind of "lives" would they have led? What is life without choice, without free will?
Gabriel: What is free will worth if you have to suffer?
(At this, GABRIEL charges a burst of Ice, and LILITH a burst of thunder; suddenly, they are each tackled by a larger demon!)
Samael: 'Ssssu sssuuu ssuuu... ressssst now... my dear... we bothhhhhh know, that under the ssssame contract... we can do no lassssting harm to one another... wait for anothhhher day... sssuuu sssuuu...
Lilim: Tee hee, hi Daddy!
Seraph: Steady, Lady Gabriel. She's not worth the effort. Sir Flynn, on the other hand, is worth fighting for. This, you must trust us on.
Flynn: Yeesh! It's one of those huge angels from Purgatorium! A Seraph!
Seraph: You do not recognize us, Sir Flynn? We are Archangel, Principality, Power, Virtue, Dominion, Throne, Cherub. Together we are Seraph! It is through you we have reached this highest of levels! We are in your debt!
Seraph is awesome, as he usually is, but he requires an insanely well-hidden quest to unlock. You have to be after the Jonathan-Walter split, but before the alternate Tokyos, and you have to have taken Jonathan's side. This is easily the smallest, most arbitrary window for any quest in the game. Samael's pretty cool; he's the top Fallen after all, but in a bit we'll make something even better with him...
Flynn: All right. Everyone, I'm so sorry, but we have some more things to do. I've just received three new quests, two of them from the White!
Kresnik: Those foul beasts survived!? What is this world coming to?
Flynn: I know. It looks like we'll have to take these quests if we want answers, and they look, well, really hard, so we could do with some more reinforcements.
Barong: Does that mean what I think it means? Tarry not, we must do GOOD!
Rangda: Hweee hee hee, I think you mean eeeevil, you foolish beast.
Shiva: No, good is in this case correct.
Kali: EEEEEEEEE!
(KALI hugs SHIVA, who takes it without a scratch on him)
Kartikeya: Dad was always the only one who could take Mom's hugs without so much as flinching...
Vishnu: Ah, Lord Shiva. Well met.
Shiva: Lord Vishnu. It seems I have arrived rather late into this adventure...
Shiva is, as always, the top Fury, and is, as always, made from a fusion of Barong and Rangda. He's always a welcome addition to a party, even though his lower than usual MP means he won't be able to use his specialty, Anticthon, as effectively. One who can, however, is...
Trumpeter: Kloh kloh kloh... I sense another world where the Trumpets shall soon sound! Let us away, then!
Finally, we really need one more demon for this next boss, who is...
Raphael: Wh-what is this!? Who dares summon the Healer, the Medicine of God! Eh, You! I have been contracted by mere Filth? This will not do, this will not do at-
Flynn: Sorry, can't hear you, accepting the quest.
This first quest is "Ancient One of the Sun," perhaps the single most difficult quest in the game. It is a DLC quest, and is a request from the White. Accepting it will transport Flynn to their realm once again...
Flynn: As much as i'd like to run them through right here, let's see what they have to say...
The White simply cannot see how Flynn retained hope after his trip to Blasted Tokyo, and so have decided to send him into the future of that world to show the futility of the Lawful cause.
Flynn: Well, actually, I already see the Lawful cause kind of sucks and- whoaaaah!
Flynn is dropped into a Blasted Tokyo that seems even more dead than last time. Quickly, Akira's men come upon him, and hustle him to... Pluto castle?
Izanami: I don't like this... not at all...
Akira explains that Kiyoharu once again prayed for a savior, as the denizens of Blasted Tokyo are in even worse shape than last time. Upon Pluto's destruction, what seems to be a new avatar of God, the Ancient of Days, appeared to finish the job Pluto couldn't. It's already destroyed the underground shelters, forcing the people to relocate to Pluto Castle, and it's on its way fast.
Flynn: Not good, not good at all. Everything we fought for will go to waste if it gets here. We'll just have to fight it then, won't we?
Raphael: What for?
Flynn: Huh?
Raphael: This Ancient of Days is an avatar of the Lord, is it not? Then our decision is already made. we must not resist it, for the Lord's wish is always the highest good. If He intended these people to die, I say let them die.
Mastema: *chuckle*
Raphael: What do you think is so funny?
Mastema: You. Do you actually listen to yourself sometimes? At one moment you proclaim yourself the Healer, the Medicine of God, and in the next you damn an entire city to perish at the hands of some abomination that claims to be our Lord. You really, honestly think that makes sense? Pshaw. I'm the father of deception, my dear Raphael, I can tell when someone is lying to themselves. The truth is, you are God's Medicine. The Lord fashioned you to heal, not harm, that is your role. It's pathetic, really. Watching you go from descending from heaven, out of the goodness of your heart, to help bling men see to... this mess? Can you honestly tell me you like it? Can you honestly tell me you truly think you're pleasing the Lord? Can you honestly tell me these people right here, right now are any less deserving of your skills as a healer than those you aided all those millennia ago? If there's one thing I hate more than the forces of Hell, it's the forces of Heaven in denial about themselves. You were designed for a purpose. So was everyone. Everyone, angel, devil, or human, has a meaning to their life. So GET OUT THERE AND PLEASE THE LORD BY DOING SOME HEALING ALREADY!
Raphael: ...you'd better not be wrong about this, Mastema...
Head outside to confront the Ancient of Days. Strangely, Burroughs is totally unable to analyze it, unlike any demon you've seen thus far; it seems to be made of material Not of This Earth. Fortunately, it decides to fight you of its own accord. Seriously, get ready for pain.
=ULTIMATE BOSS: ANCIENT OF DAYS=
Level 95. Weak Elec, Weak Force, Null Light, Null Dark
Two weaknesses. No resistances. And still, in my opinion, the single hardest boss in the game. This is due to a frankly ridiculous luck factor in this battle, which I shall explain momentarily. See, what the game doesn't tell you is that if you strike either of those two big, gaping weaknesses, the Ancient will promptly use his first turn to heal himself to full. This sort of move is bad enough when bosses with pathetic HP like Captain Jack use it, but the Ancient has over 17,000 hit points. So mess up once and you can pretty much reset the entire battle.
So, what can this asshole do? Lots and lots of unpleasant things. For one, he has two Almightry moves, Stigmatic Gleam and Damnation. These hurt about as much as a Megidolaon and inflict Brand and Poison respectively. Yes, Brand is back with a vengeance. Also hurtful is Spirit Focus. You know how Concentrtate doubles the power of the next magic attack a demon uses? Spirit Focus triples it. If you see this move, then what's almost certainly coming next is either Maragidyne or Mabufudyne, depending, I think, on which your party is weaker to overall. This is where Shiva comes in. Being that he drains Fire and has no weakness to Ice, he's excellent at making the Ancient waste his press turns. Also, but buff buff and debuff debuff debuff, but don't be stupid like I was and go above or below three shots. You'll see why in a bit.
So, how do you kill this thing? Well, you can always attack with things he's not weak or resistant to, but with a boss this deadly you want to kill it fast, and the best way to do that is to gain press turns by hitting his weakness. This is where Raphael comes in. Remember his Stigmata Strike move? Well, that's on your side now, and causes Brand on anything it hits. The Ancient is not immune to this, and that's the key in this battle. If you can Brand him you'll be freely able to attack his weakness, and what's more, he'll waste a press turn healing nothing with Diarahan on his round. Thing is, though, Brand, like any status ailment, has a random cool down time. Sometimes it'll wear off at the beginning of his turn and he'll get to Diarahan anyway. As such, it's best to reapply the Brand every time Raphael gets a press turn. But like I said, the luck factor is absurdly, infuriatingly high.
Raphael: If you're wrong about this, Mastema...
Mastema: I shall see to it that it's only my head, I assure you.
This boss will not engage in banter with you. Instead, he'll talk to Kiyoharu, and deliver the poor guy a hope-crushing speech about how the "old" humanity is no longer needed and the "new" humanity is moving in. With all his optimism gone, Kiyoharu makes a strange proclamation: "Kenji was right."
Flynn: Kenji? The King of Tokyo? This world had a Kenji too? Huh. OH! I think I get it now...
Once this exchange is over, the Ancient Turns Red and starts using a new move, Silent Prayer. If you're stupid, like I was, and both buffed and debuffed to 3, you're in for a world of hurt. Silent Prayer is a move your demons can get but that I haven't talked about, mostly because it's one of those moved that's next to useless on your side, but deadly in the hands of the AI. What it does is reset all stat modifiers to zero, so for you it's only better than Dekaja/Dekunda if the foe focuses on both buffing and rebuffing. Which, given that you typically do that, means it's just stupid broken to an enemy.
As long as you don't trigger Silent Prayer, though, fight the same battle that you did in the first phase. Branding, as always, is key. Deadly Wind is probably the best spell to his his weakness with. Eventually, after what is sure to be a grueling battle full of resets, he will fall. Winning nets you a White Pillar, the Ancient's Medium; with this Mido can call him at any time.
Shiva: The destroyer takes apart the Creator... I wonder what Brahma would say to that?
A voice rings out from above, possibly what remains of the Ancient or even God Himself! The voice claims that it was only trying to make a better world for its new humanity, and that they and the old model can never live in peace. Then, dozens and dozens of cocoons, just like the ones at Shene Duque, descend from the sky. Genesis has begun. Akira acknowledges the voice's words, but still wishes to make peace with the new humanity. Thus he strides off to the cocoons to face his fate, whatever that may be, as Flynn is pulled back to the present
Flynn: Akira... I feel so guilty leaving him like that. Whatever the "new humanity" is, it might kill him or worse for all I know!
Python: Death? Highly unlikely, for that one, at least. Now, the one ten universes down and three to the right...
Flynn: And I have a feeling I know what this other quest is, too.
This next quest is "The Eternal Youth," also petitioned by the White. This time, they decide to take Flynn into the future of Infernal Tokyo, to show that there, too, no hope remains.
Flynn: Well, let's get cracking then...
First, a few more demons. Remember when I said Samael can be used for something even better? Well, if you're coming from SJ, you should know what Samael, Metatron, and Hachiman makes...
Demiurge: FWAAAAAAAAASH! FEAST THINE EYES, LUCKY SUMMONER, FOR THOU HAST INDEED CALLED ONE OF THE VERY NAMES OF GOD.
Asmodeus: Another Name? Can we trust it?
Minotaur: You've learned surprisingly little, haven't you. With this Son of Aquila at the leash, any demon can be trusted!
Matador: What's that sound? Oh hoh hoh, it sounds like a chariot! Let the games begin and- urggghhh even I find that disturbing...
Kikuri-hime: Goodness gracious me! Someone please, hide the children!
Mara: Aww, what's wrong? You babies never seen an old-time stud before?
Mamedanuki: Well smack my ass and call me Georgie-Porgie; President Mara! How's it been?
Mara: Still gettin' it, so it can't be any better, right?
Mamedanuki, Mishaguji: Eyyo!
Demiurge and Mara are the best two non-DLC demons in the game (the top Vile and Tyrant respectively), and I want everyone I can get for this next boss. When you arrive at Infernal Tokyo, you'll see the place is in even more ruins that it was before. As before, Akira comes across Flynn's party, and tells them that the damage was done by a demon from Venus called Sanat Kumara, who's apparently testing some sort of experiment on the unfortunate populace of Infernal Tokyo. The demon is, of course, at the Yamato Perpetual Reactor.
Dakini: Hnff, this place smells worse than when I left it! I don't mind coming home again, but dear GOD the atmosphere...
At the Reactor, you'll find once again that you cannot analyze the demon, but also once again, he'll reveal himself to you. Unlike the cold, robotic Ancient, Sanat actually has kind of a fun personality, as he's basically a nutty scientist who sees humanity as his guinea pigs. he's not evil, just misguided, but he's tearing up Tokyo so he's gotta go down!
=ULTIMATE BOSS: SANAT=
Level 95. Null Phys, Weak Gun, Null Fire, Null Ice, Null Elec, Null Force, Null Light, Null Dark
As you can see, the game really wants to make you think you should attack him with Gun, but like the Ancient and his weaknesses, this is another trap. If you attack him with Gun he will immediately switch to using nothing but his strongest attack, Gaea Rage, which in addition to being a nasty hit of Almighty, can cause Lost, leaving you with a dead-weight party very quick. Thus, it's best to, in the first phase of the battle, concentrate on buffing, debuffing, and Almighty.
He has some other attacks too, obviously. One is Dark Energy, the Phys/Gun answer to Spirit Focus, tripling the power of those moves. He has Myriad Arraows and Javelin Rain to go with that, and, as you might expect, a Dark Enegy'd Javelin Rain can easily take you out in one shot. His final unique move is Deadly Fury, a Heavy Phys attack that can inflict Panic. Mara learns Repel Phys, and drains gun naturally, making him an ideal choice for this boss.
Mara: Hyeck hyeck hyeck, still got it! Still BONE-HARD!'
Vouivre: Eew...
With half his health gone, Sanat will ask a Boss Banter question, insisting that he's trying to preps are for "the true war" against "the dispensation of the universe." The correct response, oddly enough, is to say you have no idea what he's talking about, which will rejuvenate Flynn.
Sanat now Turns Red and phase two of the fight begins. Here, he'll begin using Gaea Rage whenever he feels like it, so feel free to pull out all the stops yourself and go to town on him with Riot Gun, Myriad Arrows, and any other Gun move you can think of. This battle, being essentially a massive slugfest, is significantly easier than the Ancient's fight, fittingly for a creature of pure Chaos. just try not to get stuck with a dead weight party and he should soon fall just fine.
Incidentally, Sanat is a character that has spawned several interesting fan theories. One notes that one of the mythological Sanat's titles was Ancient of Days, meaning that the ultimate heads of Law and Chaos are, in effect, the Western and Eastern interpretations of the same guy. Another theory is that Sanat is in fact the fully matured Demi-fiend; his resistances and move set are very similar to the Demi-fiend Bonus Boss battle in Digital Devil Saga, and his title, "Chaos" or "Chaos King," is the same title granted to a 100% Completion Demi-fiend in his own game. At the very least, it's probably a reference.
Anyway, Akira's people think he killed the monster even though he was just as spineless as ever, and he finally earns their respect as they carry him away on their shoulders. Flynn is taken to meet the White, who ask him why he continues pursuing hope in what they see as lost causes.
Flynn: As they say in Tokyo: piss off.
To be concluded...
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