Our next destination is a place called the San Blanc Shore. Its overworld icon is of a forest, despite the fact that it’s apparently a beach. Lazy designers are lazy. I can’t think of anything else to do, so I guess I’ll just go in. The chapter name is revealed: Lion’s Pride. Guess that means we’ll be seeing Leon again?
First thing we see is Heath telling the group that there’s a gate on the coast that leads to San Riese. To get there, we have to go through. If we try to go by boat, they’ll see us and sink the boat. Also, very few people are allowed to go there right now, since they’re preparing for the Holy Eclipse.
All of a sudden, Vivi says she smells blood and sweat. She thinks there might be a fight going on nearby, so Alph says we should go check it out. The menu pops up. I can talk to Kai, Vivi, or Heath. Kai wants Alph to talk to Heath about how he was feeling after the incident in town. Heath says he had no choice but to fight. Alph thanks him for asking Kai to look out for them. Lucia says that Alph has a charmed life. No one he believes in has ever betrayed him. He should be glad about that.
Talking to Vivi leads some interesting results. Apparently, Priel smells like a monster. Theo doesn’t see why, but Lucia says that Priel was created by Zehaal to serve him. Mavi seems interested, asking if she means that monsters were also created by the god. It seems to make sense to them. He created the monsters to hunt the Witches down. If humans were killed in the process, that just gave him more power. Cecille says that Priel is much stronger than any ordinary monster. Heath just says what we already know. No need to repeat it.
That said, I save and advance the story.
First thing we see is…yup, Andre and Leon. Apparently, Andre is the keeper of the gates that lead to San Reise. They exchange trash talk (including a Princess Bride reference) before the rest of the group shows up to help him out. Andre is accompanied by the Crow Knights and the “Blackhearts,” a group of knights “whose thirst for blood puts feral beasts to shame.” Lovely.
Alph, Leon, and Heath are required. Heath is level 40. Leon is level 36, about the same as he was when we left him. Along with them, I bring in Mavi, Saki, Claire, Lucia, and Kai.
I start the battle by saving, since I don’t remember this being easy. Then again, I don’t remember it being difficult, either, so it’s really just a precautionary measure.
The map is basically just a rectangle, with us on one side (and Leon in the front) and the enemies on the other. Said enemies are five “Kung Fu’s,” (recolored monks), two “Bishops,” and Andre. Two healers? I’ll have to be careful. I’ll try and take them out as quickly as I can. Saki goes first. She levels to 40 after using one of her weak ranged attacks on a monk. The others follow, moving closer to the enemy units.
This is my first time using Heath since the beginning of the game, so I check to see what kinds of skills he has. In terms of magic, he still has the same lightning stuff. I don’t remember if he had Drang (five-square lightning spell) before, but he has it now. As for skills, he has four now. First one just damages, second is a single-target attack, third is a weak physical attack that covers an area, and the last is a defense buff. I have him use the defense buff when he gets his turn.
Oh wow, Andre wasn’t kidding about how strong these guys are. They do almost 200 damage to Mavi and Saki, and that’s WITH the defense buff.
I have Alph try and attack three guys in a row, but I accidently hit Mavi as well. She dies. X_x For that matter, I was stupid and didn’t bring in anyone who can revive. That, and I’m out of feathers. Crappppp. Guess I’ll just have to manage without her.
I have also just learned that Heath’s magic sucks. Oh, and Saki just died too. Leon did level to 37, though.
One monk down. Make that two, actually. And Kai is now level 38. He learns a new skill. One more monk dies. Heath levels to 41.
Andre uses his 3-charge flash drive, and slaughters Alph. Then Kai dies. Maybe saving was a good thing…
Claire levels to 40 after killing a bishop. She learns a new spell. Andre is almost dead, but there’s still one bishop alive, so he might get healed. Actually, scratch that, Leon killed her.
Heath almost dies (2 HP left) but lives to take out Andre. There are only two monks left now. This shouldn’t be too hard.
Looks like Claire’s new spell is that healing spell. She takes out two monks at once to win me the battle.
I get 7200 Rico and four Vitae. I intermission with Leon.
After that, Andre tells us right before he dies that the resurrection ritual has already begun. We’d better get there quickly, then. Everyone’s glad to see him again. He’s really surprised to see Cecille, though. No time for an explanation. He doesn’t care, though. Nicolai busts in, and the two of them learn a synergy called Rival Strike. Laaaame.
Heath says that Leon should hold onto the Regulus Heart. He agrees. Strangely enough, he’s able to pull it out of the scabbard. Remember how Andre couldn’t? Well, turns out it’s not rusty at all. Awesome music plays (the theme of the game, in fact), while we are told that the sword picked Leon as its wielder. He gets a pointless class change to “sword master.”
Alph comments that the gate is now unguarded. Judging by how it looked on the map, the gate is some kind of portal. Time to go through!
Intermission time. Leon asks what Alph’s favorite food is. My options are “I like fish,” “This isn’t about women?” and “I like steak.” As tempted as I am to choose the middle option, I choose the second. You know, because steak sounds MANLIER than fish. Leon will probably like it better if I say that. He does, and starts talking about what it’s best with. Leon, you’re making me hungry… Kopin was pulled out to sea on his vacation. Today is his third day drifting. His body has absorbed a lot of water and grown bigger.
My destination is on another map, so I can’t tell if there are battles on the way. Probably not, though.
Since the chapter has ended, that’s all for now. Just five more chapters to go, guys! I don’t remember any of them except for the last two. Second to last is challenging, and the last one is very difficult. Hopefully I’ll be able to do better this time. Point is, though, we’re approaching the end of the game. I’ll try and finish up as soon as possible. Expect at least one entry, maybe two, in the next three or four days. As always, thank you for reading, and please keep an eye out for updates.
