In order to test the party's courage before entering King Drake's Netherworld, Astral, currently the most powerful party member at level 14, conjures up a new free dungeon for them to explore and kill things. The dungeon is deeper than the last one and houses more powerful enemies, but the crew is able to hack its way through with minimal casualties (one caused, annoyingly enough, by Dear Leader Steve of Squad 1* ).
A few of the floors in this particular dungeon have a "No vehicles" restriction...one which Zetta gets around by placing the LEX inside the warehouse, so that Satan can jump out and blast things when facilities are allowed to be brought in.
On the 10th floor, the team defeats a boss, a level 30 Wood Golem named Svenson, who had enough ATK power to split one or two party members in half with one blow, but cowered at the sight of Astral's awesome magic box and Dover's gatling pop gun.
Among the spoils, the party finds an experimental Makai Cannon, which Lucca believes would go best with Musashi, since its drill isn't getting much use at this point. There were also a bunch of assorted vehicle parts, which Bob used to outfit the LEX and boost its battle capabilities by at least 50 percent. Most of its power comes from a brand new Luxo steering wheel and a Battle OS, items that boost all of the machine's stats at the expense of some TEC loss.
New Effects Seen on this Battle Map:
- Producing Items: No enemies appear here. Instead, a few random items are laid about on the field.
- Energetic Power: Summons a Professor unit.
After the battle, Steve jumps from Fighter to Warrior, while Saga moves up in rank from Enlistee to Trooper, and decides to change her name to Vanessa (too many bad memories, she says). They're both slightly ticked that they'll have to gain their levels all over again, but Zetta states that they'll have better growth potential this way.
Happy Dungeon 2
3 level 10 Owls and a Level 15 Bluebird armed with a hammer control this area. One of the owls is preparing to invite some of its friends. The Hammer, when used by enemies (and only by enemies) has a nasty habit of draining levels on impact.
Io and Graz get to work on what Io does best...stealing everything that isn't nailed down (including a Dark Jewel, a Hyper Protein, a Crystal Orb, and some Wing Boots).
Three Red Idols emerge from a hut dropped by one of the Happy Dolls, but they don't do much except boost the defense of the dolls. Astral kills the hammer-wielding doll before it can harm the party. The other enemies are defeated with little trouble.
While this going on, Pram gets suspicious of King Drake dropping into the group without being invited. Drake, who seems to speak only in HAM, asserts that he's not doing anything unbecoming.
Down on the chilly surface of Drake's Netherworld, Zetta runs into Raiden again (with a flashback to their encounter in the Forbidden Library). Zetta is surprised that Raiden survived the implosion of all creation. He demands to know what Raiden is doing there, but Raiden disappears without saying anything. Zetta orders everyone to chase after him.
