Stage 3-5: Pram the Seer
Another random dungeon, but the crew gets off easy this time. Each of the areas has only a single enemy guarding it. The first is a lonely medic who didn't have the good sense to pack a gun, and loses to Dover's gatling gun. Just to the south, a shadow emerges, which is surprisingly strong for this level (16, when the medic they just killed was level 10), and takes the combined efforts of Dover, Io and Kashiwa to subdue. The last foe is a Tin Doll, which is well-armored, but incredibly hard to steal from. It goes down easily, and Team Zetta goes home with a sizable bounty.
Male and female samurai are now available for generation, thanks to Steve, Meredith, Dover and Saga's hard work. These guys can wield Swords, Katanas, and Spears. Male Samurai can also use fishing poles (?), and females can wield hammers.
Steve summons forth a pair of samurai named Ryuunosuke and Miyako, and moves them into the hut with Astral, whom he thinks is starting to get lonely.
Stage 3-6: Pram's Star World
We're treated to different boss music this time around (instead of "I am a Boss!", we're listening to "Burning Fighting Spirit"). The enemies in this area are well-prepared for Zetta's crew, as a handful of armed soldiers await them. Steve and company take out the first group, but a team consisting of a blue Shadow (called a Follow) and a second-rank Walking Corn approach, casting powerful magic on the team. The remaining Tin Doll pierces the Shop with its drill, putting everyone inside out of commission. Miyako gets her first confirmed kill, but is taken out shortly thereafter when she is pumped full of holes by one of the Tin Dolls. The group tries to hold off the Corn before it gets too close to the Sacred Tome. Defeating it reveals the boss' lair up ahead.
"Hey, did you hear that, Licky?" says an elite soldier.
"Do you mean the sound of our men dying left and right?" says a woman in a black lab coat? "And stop calling me 'Licky', Miss Etranze. It's very demeaning."
"All right, 'Professor Licorice'...I'm sorry. How the hell is that supposed to sound any more dignified, anyway?"
A warning klaxon sounds near Professor Licorice's laboratory. "They're here!" Etranze mutters to herself. She fiddles with the controls on the giant tank that she's riding in. "I hope this Gear Metal LEX works as good as you said, Professor. Our Netherworld's survival depends on the success of this machine. All surviving units, move out and attack!"
Steve's party looks on in amazement as the tank, the professor and two Iron Guards come marching toward them.
"What the hell kinda of weapon is that?" Steve shouts.
"It looks like a...tank," says Nabiki. "I've heard of those, but I never thought I'd be seeing one up close like this."
"Hmph!" says Astral. "There's only one thing that needs to be done with weapons like this...destroy it!"
Etranze moves to the head of the pack, trying to find a place to get a good shot off. Steve and a few others charge the tank and try to break it down with their weapons.
"Stupid gnats!" Etranze groans. "The bullets from this Gear Metal LEX will swat you all!"
She fires off a few rounds, but they miss her attackers and explode nearly harmlessly on Astral's magic box.
"He didn't go down?" she shouts again. "Unbelievable!"
"Don't use that word in my presence unless you know what you're talking about," says Astral.
While she's distracted, Steve takes another swing at the LEX and destroys it.
"Heh...that tank doesn't look so tough now, does it?" he says.
Etranze picks herself up and points her rifle at Steve.
"Tch...I don't need that tank to defeat you," she says, grinning. "I'm much more capable with a rifle in my hands."
"Miss Etranze," Professor Licorice cuts in, "I told you that you should have let me drive that tank. I could have easily—"
"GIGA WIND!"*
Before Etranze can pull herself together, Astral holds up his box and unleashes a giant tornado that kills Etranze and the professor in one shot.
"As I thought...they were all talk."
After the team defeats the Iron Guards and prepares to celebrate their victory, Io and Meredith scour through Licorice's lab and uncover an unused Gear Metal LEX tank.
"It's still in good condition, too," he says. "Do you think we could use it as our own?"
Meredith climbs into the cockpit and tries to turn it on, but can't get it to work. "I'd like to," she says, "but there are so many damn switches and levers...I don't know which one of these turns it on."
After the battlefield is cleared, a mysterious green-haired person shows up, whom Zetta suspects is Alex. The person walks away without saying anything, but leaves a note behind that appears to be written from the Sacred Tome.
"Stupid Lord Zetta survived... Just like a cockroach, he simply refuses to die."
Zetta believes that Alex is the one who left the insulting note behind, and vows revenge. However, he notices that it's closer to the note that he found in the Tome when he went to raid the Forbidden Library, so whoever left the note for him there must also have been the one who rewrote the Sacred Tome. Could Alex have gotten to it before Zetta did?
Five Netherworlds left until Zetta's sulphur wash.
