Flynn: The highest-security bunker? I have been to the other two, but... do I have clearance for this one?
Bishamonten: Oh hoh... how easily thou forgettest my gift to thou. I would advise trying it out.
Flynn: Yes... the third-level ID card... How did you come across this, Sir Bishamonten?
Bishamonten: We Devas have acted in defense of the lands of the East for thousands of years... how could we not assist this country in its darkest hour?
Koga Saburo:' The seven of us may have been the only ones outright called "National Defense Divinites," but many other gods of the land worked to defend it. Sir Mikazuchi and Sir Okuninushi, for instance.
The third and last bunker at Kasumigaseki is built into the eastern wall. You will need to top ID card to enter, which is only available from the Neutral-exclusive Tokyo Cosmos quest; as such, THIS particular Fiend is exclusive to the Neutral Path.
Head inside to find that the bunker is very small - just one large room with three doors to the left, right, and one straight ahead. There's a trick, though: you cannot open the doors if you do not have at least 100 STRENGTH, MAGIC, and LUCK each. the STR and MAG doors lead to the Plasma Sword and Gun respectively, the best weapons in the game!
Ares: Whoah there! I know these weapons! These are the sidearms bequeathed to only the very best members of the Counter Demon Force. My master has weapons just like these. They may even be his, for all I know!
Flynn: Your old master... was in the Counter Demon Force?
Ares: Sure, I was stuck in that Gauntlet, wasn't I? Where did you think those Gauntlets came from? I used to protect a country called Greece; unfortunately, when God's Wrath his 25 years ago that was one of the first places to go. I ended up taking contracts, and ultimately got summoned by a guy from the CDF. Where could he be now...?
Persephone: ...
Head to the central, LUCK door. If you're phenomenally lucky (and, not to brag or anything, but I got it on the first try), there will spawn...
=BOSS: RED RIDER=
Level 87. Repel Fire, Weak Ice, Null Light, Null Dark
BB Gun sadly not included. Red Rider is many players' pick for the most difficult non-DLC boss in the game, but in my opinion if you know what to do he can be easier than Matador and Beelezebub. red Rider is different from the other Fiends in that he can use his Almighty-spam at any time, and yes, it's Antichton. As such, he'll be debuffing you a lot, so always keep Dekunda on-hand. This is another battle where debuffing him is far more important than buffing yourself. His preferred element is Fire. Another move that he uses often is Maragidyne, and like White Rider's Thunder Reign, this can be easily turned against him by bringing along a Fire-drainer, which will cost him all five of his press turns. To this end, I brought...
Surt: WHAT!? Who calleth upon me, the Lord of Muspellheimr? I shall not be awakened until Ragnarok!
Flynn: Yeah? Tell that to him.
Surt: The Red Rider? Eh heh heh, this changes EVERYTHING! I had always wondered who would win between the two of us!
Make sure you have Salvation, Dekunda, and Debilitate on at least someone, and Glacial Blast on everyone. One thing that can be said about this Fiend is that with copious amounts of Glacial Blast it's very easy to maximize Press Turns and Smirks.
Python: In this universe, you won this battle. Three universes over, your skull was crushed beneath the heels of the red horse. Five and three-quarters universes below that one, we all decided to resolve our differences over tea.
Demonee-ho:' What are you hee-yammering about, old lady? Stick to the battle, ho!
Python is one of the best Ice users in the game, and Demonee-ho, as he nulls Fire and learns an excellent Ice move, is always a good choice. Red Rider's prize is particularly helpful - a ten-pack of each Incense! I know some players "camp" him as a way of boosting their stats very quickly.
David: Red Rider, the most honorable of our number - born of all those who met their ends on the battlefield. That was the best fight I've ever seen him in! Not just because you won; you're the first to last more than thirty seconds! But don't celebrate just yet. There is an area of Tokyo where great human misery has coalesced into yet another member of my kin. That is the Tennozu Shelter!
Flynn: We have to stop it before it hurts the people there!
Take the Terminal to Tennozu. This Fiend uses the exact same mechanics as Matador: that is, you must step exactly on the small grate at the center. This Fiend took me the longest to actually find, I think because I kept missing said grate. Eventually, though...
=BOSS: BLACK RIDER=
Level 88. Weak Fire, Drain Ice, Null Light, Null Dark
I'm not going to lie; in terms of odds of actually killing you this boss is a joke. He is, however, excessively annoying because, in keeping with his status as the embodiment of Famine, he's packing Wastrel Beam, and indeed spends all five of his first-round turns using it; needless to say, this'll cripple your pocketbook. His preferred element is Ice and his weakness is Fire.
Amaterasu: Aim straight, young Samurai! Let us burn this beast that has caused my city to wither!
Izanami: A-amaterasu!
Amaterasu: Indeed, mother. I have decided to join this battle personally. I took good care of the living while you guarded the dead, but outside forces have demanded I act, and so I shall!
Amaterasu is quite good, packing Trisagion and Debilitate. As for Black Rider, the only other two moves he really uses with any regularity are Glacial Blast, which you can protect against, and Energy Drain, which still does only a tiny amount of damage. The reward for beating him is pretty lackluster too: just 300,000 macca and three Death Masks worth 10,000 each; depending on how much Macca you brought with you, that may not even be enough to make up for all he beamed away.
David: Black Rider... spawned from all those who have fallen prey to destitution. I'll confess he did not seem to be on his best form today. You have two more to go. The first is in the demon city, Minami Sunamachi!
Get yourself over to Minami Sunamachi then! This Fiend's exact location is... a bit difficult to describe. He spawns at about the western border of the first set of buildings you come to. No specific square; anywhere along the line is fine.
=BOSS: PALE RIDER=
Level 89. Resist Ice, Weak Elec, Repel Force, Null Light, Null Dark
Pale Rider is probably the third most difficult battle, or at least he was to me. Remember Matador's Crushing Wave/Energy Drain combo and how annoying it was? Why not try a version that hits the entire party on for size! This is the Pandemic Bomb/Death's Door combo, which was almost certainly designed by Super-Satan. Pandemic Bomb makes the entire party Sick, while Death's Door reduces all Sick party members' HP to One. For some reason, he always seems to use this as his last two moves out of five (thus giving you time to cast Salvation), but some times you get really unlucky and he'll cast it mid-battle then follow it up with a Megidolaon. Game Over.
Flynn: How are we supposed to fight this thing!? It's Death itself, isn't it?
???: The same way you've fought everything else so far, young warrior - perseverance and hope. And me being immune to this phantom's powers can't hurt!
Flynn: That voice! Sir Gurr?
Garuda: Not anymore! I am now as I was born - Garuda, mount to Lord Vishnu himself, and more importantly to the situation at hand, one of demonkind's greatest Wind mages. Never think you have only brought hope to humans!
Apsu: Greetingsyoung... oneIam... LordApsutheprimordial... freshwaterletusgo... fighthisabomination!
Apsu and Garuda null Force, and Garuda's packing Amrita and Luster Candy. Pale Rider's preferred element is Wind, and you can fight him back with Thunder. Thankfully I had more Elec users than when I fought Matador this time. Remember, always Salvation yourself and sooner or later, he should fall. The reward foe beating him is a crapton of experience and some Heavy Grimoires.
David: Pale Rider... he who smites the land with pestilence and disease. Though we are all Death, he is by far the most successful of our kind.
Jueyuan: Hang on, I thought that was another guy in charge of pestilence?
David: No it wasn't.
Peallaidh: Yeah... it was the white guy, wasn't it? You never said anything about him getting' ill with the illness.
David: That's because he never did.
Peallaidh: Duuude, my teacher lied to me...
David: ...right. You final target is one closer to home. You may recall the X-shaped pathway in Kiccigiorgi forest. There is an eerie presence there that can only be my eldest cousin.
Flynn: Come to think of it, I did feel... strange whenever I passed through that pathway. Well, off we go.
Despite what you might think, the final Fiend is not actually at the center of the X, he's at the ambush spot slightly northwest of it. If you can find the ambush spot, you'll find his spawn point.
=BOSS: TRUMPETER=
Level 91. Weak Gun, Resist Fire, Resist Ice, Resist Elec, Resist Force, Null Light, Null Dark
Trumpeter is probably the second most difficult in my experience. He has only four moves: his basic attack, Mahamaon, Mamudoon, and his almighty-spam move, Great Logos (Big Bang from SJ). His preferred elements, naturally, are Light and Dark. As you might expect, he specializes in taking down as many of your party in one shot as possible, and that's why it's important to get full buffs and debuffs, in, and then switch out any demons that do not null Light and Dark in for ones that do. Yes, really. This is because once he's debuffed down, Great Logos is much less dangerous than Mahamaon and Mamudoon. Apart from that, there's no real strategy. Heal every turn, and pile on Riot Guns and Myriad Arrows.
David: Ah hah hah! What a fantastic show! The plucky young human triumphing against the Clan of Death!? Never in all my eternal years! I think I shall compose an opera about this! And their promise is keeps as well. Check your Gauntlet, young Samurai.
Flynn: So it is. The Fiends are now ready to be made my allies whenever I shall call upon them. And I may need them soon. For while Merkabah has fallen, one architect of the current catastrophe still remains. My friends... we have a date with the Lord of Darkness!
To be continued...
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