(All is silent in the heart of the Cosmic Egg. Tensions are high; some of the WEAKER DEMONS are chewing on their fingernails. NANASHI looks DAGDA right in the eye)
Nanashi: Fuck. You.
Melchom: That\'s my boy!
Huang Long: Hm. Seems we were right to put our trust in him.
Chernobog: Eh. What will be will be.
Thoth: Proud a\' you, kid!
Nanashi: Seriously? Destroy the world, the whole universe? What I\'ve been fighting to preserve this whole time? Stick that where the sun don\'t shine, old man. I didn\'t ask to be tethered to you. You\'ve been using me as a puppet this whole time - you MADE me free the Divine Powers, all so you could hijack their little plan for yourself! You care about nothing! Yeah, the world sucks sometimes, but that just makes me want to make it better, not burn everything down and restart from scratch. I accepted your deal so I could help Asahi and my city, and if you\'re going to take them from me, then just fuck off. It\'s not like you ever even helped me fight, either.
Yes, this is the final alignment choice - Peace or Anarchy. This is another scene where I sort of agree with the critics. Namely, unless you\'re the kind of gamer that enjoys \"evil routes,\" there\'s... no real reason not to go Peace. The only real way to maximize Anarchy points is to be a complete ass to everyone (Strange Journey Chaos has the same problem), and unfortunately for Dagda, I\'m just not that kind of gamer. It doesn\'t help that Dagda\'s arguments are pretty damn flimsy, and that Anarchy Boss Banter options are often counterproductive.
So now we\'ve chosen. Nanashi gets many congratulations from Danu and his friends, only...now he\'s violated his deal with Dagda. And if you recall, the price on Nanashi\'s end was his life. So now Dagda\'s exercising his right, to take it back!
(NANASHI abruptly drops to his knees, clutching his stomach. He heaves, and vomits blood!)
Parvati: Oh... oh dear, this isn\'t good.
BOSS: DEITY DAGDA
Level 84. Resist Fire/Ice/Elec/Wind, Weak Light
The equivalent boss fight on Anarchy is having to fight our former allies, but despite there being six opponents in that battle to one in this one? This battle is actually much harder. Dagda hits like a runaway steamroller - his magic stat is so high that a simple Energy Drain is equal in power to a dyne, if that gives you an idea. To make matters worse, he\'s draining about 500 HP from Nanashi per turn in addition to his normal attacks, and making the Demon Summoning Program go on the fritz, meaning Nanashi\'s demons will disobey him!
Nanashi: I\'m burning... I\'m dissolving from the inside out! BLUAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!
Azrael: What year is this? Is this White Castle?
Skadi: I want WAFFLES! LOTS OF TASTY WAFFLES WITH LOTS OF SYRUP!
Oumitsunu: 12345679BANANAMONKEYJOEFIFTYTHOUSANDTAPDANCINGHIPPOS!
Our goal here is to survive three turns. If we can due that, Danu steps in. She\'s been preparing a ritual to free Nanashi from Dagda - now that she has Inanna\'s power, she can create life! She channels all her energy into her staff, a magnificent Centic cross made of plants appears, and out comes... Dagda, again!?
Mithras: She did not just do what I think she did, did she!?
Fun-Ki: WHAT BITCH.
Yes, it seems Danu has created a second, more agreeable Dagda! In one of the game\'s more controversial scenes, she\'s decided to discard and replace her rebellious son. The fandom is... pretty split on whether this is a good thing or not. The amazing delivery of Dagda\'s VA really makes you feel for him here in spite of all he\'s done - he really sells the idea that his character feels his own mother sees him as trash.
Regardless, we now have a new Dagda to be our benefactor and can begin the fight in earnest. OG Dagda is still really, really hard. As mentioned, his Energy Drain hits with the potency of a tier three move, and he also has Megidolaon; imagine how much THAT hurts! He can also buff himself with Luster Candy, de-buff us with Debilitate, and use the Daze-inflicting Power Punch.
Morax: BWOOOOOH! YOU\'RE REALLY GOING TO FIGHT HIM AFTER WHAT HIS MOTHER DID?
Nanashi: Can\'t talk now, need to focus on not-dying!
At low health Dagda will begin pulling out his unique moves - lost Hit, which is a guaranteed chance of lost on our demons, and Denial, which forces a demon back to the stock (interestingly implying that the old Dagda still has some control over Nanashi\'s summoning program). Remember to buff and de-buff; you want that Megidolaon hurting as little as possible. Upon defeat, Dagda accepts his fate calmly - in fact, he\'s proud he could train a Godslayer stronger than himself.
Brigid: Rest in peace, my unhappy father. Though you\'re not truly gone - all manifestations of a god are that same god, after all. I mean, I\'ve been three people at once before...
Mitra\'s barrier has now completely faded, meaning Dagda (the new one) can now cancel the seal binding the souls to the Cosmic Egg. All those Shesha has devoured can now return to life, and that includes...
Nanashi: ASAHI!
Who for whatever reason appears right in front of us instead of at the place where she died like everyone else does. Everyone is, of course, overjoyed to see her, and Nanashi gives her her goggles back. Her experiences of the other side have also allowed her to Awaken, massively amping her healing abilities, and she can now see Navarre. The full party is now complete once again.
Nanashi: And in honor of my newfound allegiance to my pals, I think I\'ll give one of them a little present...
Samyaza: Syazazaza! How interesting! Summoned by the same boy who defeated me. How\'s my son?
Nanashi: Well, you can talk to him yourself - but first, we\'ve got to settle a score. Made a few more new friends to do that.
Kartikeya: Freakin\' sweet! Always did want to know how I\'d do against Lord Krishna himself!
Ganesha: Hail, Brother!
Parvati: KARY-WARTY-LOVEMUFFIN! Come here, give Mother a hug!
Kartikeya: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Tenkai: So, young one... you have chosen humanity... excellent. AND you disposed of my old tormentor, Tamagami, too?
Lakshmi: Whatever; I just want to give my idiot husband an earful...
Character notes: The ultimate head of the Grigori in Judaic extrabiblical lore. Samyaza led the group of \"watcher\" angels who lusted after human women. The angels seduced these women and impregnated them with the powerful Nephilim, for which God damned them. He is bar none, one of the most useful demons in the game. He has True Zandyne and True Ziodyne, both tier four skills, really high affinities to Elec and Wind, and the Almighty move Magic Torrent that hits up to eight times! I\'ll be keeping him until the end of the game, both due to his usefulness, and because what kind of dick fuses away his friend\'s dad anyway?
Personality notes: As per canon.
Character notes: The Hindu god of war, second son of Shiva and Parvati and younger brother of Ganesha. He was originally sextuplets, but Parvati hugged him so hard they were squished into one child. Mythology! His Vahana is a peacock, Paravani. H\'es a Gun specialist who gets perhaps the best skill in the game, Debilitate, which drops all enemy stats!
Personality notes: A tough-guy god who\'s absolutely terrified of his mother.
Character notes: A Japanese Buddhist saint; like many in the Famed race, he used to be a real person. He was an advisor to Shogun Tokugawa, and was the architect of the city of Edo. He lived to be over one hundred, and there are some noteworthy myths about him - one says he was actually Akechi Mitsuhide, murderer of Tokugawa\'s mentor Oda Nobunaga, who renounced his wicked ways and became a monk. Light and Phys specialist with Imposing Stance.
Personality notes: As per canon.
Character notes: The goddess of love, luck, and beauty in Hindu lore, the third of the Tridevi with Parvati and Sarasvati. She was born from the great ocean of milk that existed at the beginning of the world, and came out of it along with other... interesting things when the gods churned it. She became Vishnu\'s wife, mother to Kama, and an all around Really Big Deal. Wins and healing specialist.
Personality notes: Normally pleasant, but exasperated with her husband\'s recent stunts.
We pull the pillar in the door (pillar count: nine) and head into the central chamber of the Cosmic Egg to confront Krishna. He still has Flynn tied to a cross, and confirms that we\'ve cuttles his plan. The souls have returned to their bodies, and we\'ve killed Inanna and Mitra who were necessary to carry them to the new universe. Krishna is unperturbed, as he can just wait until the next full moon. He states that he was only trying to free the universe from the Creator God\'s yoke. He proceeds to explain that YHVH has apparently been pulling a millennia-long con on the universe: Lucifer was his creation, designed to be a perfect enemy to bolster the credibility of his own side!
Melchom/Belial/Nebiros/Samyaza/Lucifuge/Cherub/Azreael: WAIT WHAT!?
Nanashi: So that\'s what he meant when he died... I can\'t believe I\'m saying this, but... poor Lucifer, what a dupe...
Krishna release Flynn from the cross and tells us to behold the true form of a Godslayer. Krishna and Flynn\'s bodies disappear in a flash of light, to be replaced by a huge, formidable god.
Lakshmi: I hate it when he gets like this, I really do...
It\'s time for the final showdown with the guy that\'s been pulling all the strings!
BOSS: DEITY VISHNU-FLYNN
Level 87. Null Light, Null Dark
How about a round of applause for the game\'s single hardest mandatory boss? He starts off with no weaknesses, two nulls, and a massively obnoxious attack pattern. He has three Press Turns per round, and he has three patters he\'ll cycle through every three rounds - first round, he will remove all your buffs with Dekaja. Next round, he\'ll remove all de-buffs on him with Dekunda. On his third round, he will focus only on attacking. As you can imagine, keeping up buffs is critical for a boss this hard, so what can you do? Well, you could alternate between buffs and rebuffs every other turn, but that\'s cumbersome. Or you could use the trick.
Tenkai: Come, Preserver. Fold before my fierce gaze!
The trick is this: he will only ever use Dekaja or Dekunda on his first turn of three. So, just use Imposing Stance to delete that turn entirely! He will never use them on any other turn, enabling us to keep our buffs up! Kartikeya is also a pretty essential demon here, owing to his possession of Debilitate.
Kartikeya: So sorry, Uncle Vishnu; gotta do this!
I hope I\'m not making this fight sound easy because it really, really isn\'t - even with the Imposing Stance trick there\'s a ton that can go wrong. Apart from the basic Zandyne and Ziodyne, all his attacks are tier four, and consist of Riot Gun, an Almighty move called Shine More that inflicts Daze, and the infamous Anticthon, which has actually been nerfed a bit in this one - the Debilitate effect only happens on a Smirk. Still tier-four Almighty damage to everyone; ow.
At the halfway point, Flynn starts to reassert himself from within Krishna. Call out to him to begin the battle\'s second phase, wherein Vishnu sprouts two more arms and gains... lightsabers for some reason. Now the mechanics of the battle change. Vishnu gains the attacks Light and Dark Nandaka, which are random hitting tier-four Light and Dark moves. They really hurt, but like Inanna\'s \"Raging\" moves, they make Vishnu weak to the opposite element.
Azrael: Ahahaha... I believe that\'s my cue!
Azrael\'s Blink of Death is very helpful for this battle, as it does heavy Dark damage and de-buffs defense, which is the most important de-buff. In this phase Vishnu would seem to use Dekaja and Dekunda and Shine More less often, and Anticthon more often, but that may just be random chance for all I know. The game tells you what h\'es now weak to, so be sure to keep track!
After what is sure to be a long, grueling battle, the Preserver falls. Krishna separates from Flynn, now mid-Villainous Breakdown. Isabeau tosses Masakado\'s Katana to Flynn, who uses it to land the final blow on Krishna, who dissolves into a cloud of green mist. After that, it\'s Nanashi\'s turn.
Nanashi: Goodbye and good riddance, Shesha!
Nanashi stabs the Heart of the Cosmic Egg with Ame-no-Murakumo, and the Egg, and the Divine Powers\' evil scheme, die. Everyone is, obviously, relieved that the great battle is finally over. Asahi, with her characteristic \"Let\'s go, Nanashi!\'\', takes Nanashi\'s hand and escorts him out of the Egg...
Shax: What ho, did we miss something here?
Hachiman: Indeed - it seems we have arrived at the battle\'s end. How shameful as a god of martiality...
Character notes: A Great Marquis of Hell, from the Goetia. He appears as a great stork and grants his summoner the ability to stoke their enemies blind, deaf, and dumb. As you can see from his art he evidently... collects eyes, ears, and tongues; lovely. He\'s an Ice and Wind user who gets our third pierce skill, Will of Wind.
Personality notes: An utterly posh demon gentleman.
Character notes: War god of Japan and patron of the Samurai. Hachiman is one of the most widely worshipped Japanese gods, second only to Inari, god of the harvest. He\'s said to be the deified Ojin, a former Emperor of Japan. Elec specialist.
Personality notes: Despite being a powerful god, has really low self esteem and is very concerned with his honor.
The following day, Flynn,accompanied by Isabeau, Nanashi\'s crew, Fujiwara and Skins, travels to the Masakado Stone to finally, finally unsheathe that katana. The great Guardian\'s voice rings out as he does so - there is no need to remove the dome covering Tokyo now. The Divine Powers crisis has caused all factions within Tokyo and Mikado to come together on their own, just as Akira had planned 25 years ago, or perhaps 1600. Thanks to Flynn, Nanashi, and of course the demons, Akira has achieved his goal - all people in Tokyo living together, under the same sun. Masakado departs as a burst of energy through the hole Shesha punched in the dome; for the first time in decades, the future in Tokyo looks literally, and figuratively, bright.
