Taotie: Umm, hi... I'm Taotie. I'm from around here, I guess. Mister Drake recruited me last time, and now he's back to where he got me. Mother Tiamat's right beyond this door. I was kinda mad at Mister Drake for beating her, but then he used that Demon Fusion thing to make her again, so... I guess he's a good guy. I'm beginning to think we weren't all that right for barging into his home. When you think about it, they didn't know what they were doing would cause us to invade, so WE kinda threw the first punch...
Taotie is one of the demons on the Fornax bottom floor, which are different from those up above. He's easily the most annoying one, being the highest level, immune to Phys and Gun, and able to cause Bomb. Fortunately for you, the tradeoff is that he's weak to all magic. Catoblepas is another deadly customer, having a multi-target Stone move. Decarabia is frail, but he does have Megido, and Da Peng is pretty rare (I honestly ca't remember what he does). Thanks to Green Grass and Fusion, Tlaltecuhtli, Anzu, Catoblepas, and all three Sisters of Fate join the party!
Lachesis: What are you wearing!? Old bags like you shouldn't dress like that, it's embarrassing!
Tlaltecuhtli: Just because you're insecure about your looks doesn't mean you have to go after me for being confident in mine; step off, little girl.
Clotho: Oh! H-hello, everyone!
Atropos: This Sinclair Drake is not going to die here...
Catoblepas: Hrnfff!
I gave Catoblepas Ziodyne, too, which is necessary for what's up next. Also, remember when I mentioned Kaiwan? Well, the demon you can use him to make is the one and only King of the Faeries, Oberon! He may look like a little old man, but he's got Garudyne and Diarahan, so he should serve well in the battle to come. Also, since the Sisters' sources are so useful I ground them here, and when you fuse them together, something amazing happens... but we'll get to that later.
Now, Tiamat! The best advice I can give for Tiamat is "Keep calm and spam Ziodyne." If you panic, you'll die; if you go in without a strategy, you'll also die, as I learned painfully on my first playthrough of this boss. Her attacks are Bufudyne, Mother Earth which hits for wicked ice damage and also heals her 200 or so, Luster Candy (just chuck a Dekaja Stone if you see this), Great Flood which is a fairly strong Almighty move, and your friend and mine, Pure Blue. Don't worry, she doesn't spam it nearly as often as Jack does. She's weak to Thunder, so Ziodyne-based combos are how most of the damage will be done in this fight. Win and snatch that Exotic Matter.
Drake: One step closer to the end. Next sector was where...
The next sector is Grus, which seems to be a strange patchwork made up of bits of the other sectors. Grus is where the Old Game and the New Game Plus start to diverge, so there's something we need to do here first. Get the mission from Ame no Uzume in Eridanus to find Amaterasu, then find a Futotama hanging out of the first floor of Fornax; he gives up a mirror that allows one to see the unseen. Go right on back to the same room with Ame no Uzume, scan for a hidden door, then scan what looks like a Kinmamon in there. It's actually Amaterasu, who rewards Drake with the highest-level Gate Search. Now we can return to Grus.
Incubus: Say, can Gate Search get you into ladies' restrooms, by any chance? Nyuck nuck nyuck...
The first part of Grus looks like Antila, but completely frozen over; all the fire replaced with ice. There's not much to do here but go through the door here, which leads to a twisted version of Mitra's palace. Speaking of which... it's time to pimp our Demon Lords!
Morax: Moraxmon digivolve to...
Moloch: ...Molochmon!
Mitra: Mitramon digivolve to...
Mithras: ...Mithrasmon!
Horkos: Horkosmon BUONOvolve to...
Orcus: ...Orcusmon!
Asura: ASURAMON DIGIVOLVE TO...
Asherah: ...ASHERAHMON!
Hell yes. These four are, if anything, even more powerful as allies than enemies. Moloch has some of the best Phys skills in the game, Berserker God and the epic Madness Crush. Mithras doesn't have Light of Order but makes up for it with both the light and dark super-accurate One-Hit Kill spells. Orcus has Hades Blast, which is Wave of Death, but on your side this time. And Asherah can both heal and dish out the impossibly-broken Gun move Grand Tack! I gave Orcus that too with the Pabilsag source.
Down one of these passageways is a gate that can only be found with the Gate Search we just got. Beyond it is a forma that can be made into the highest-level Unlock App. This'll be very important later on. Down another passageway...
Drake: MASTEMA! Dammit, this was where it all ended.
Zelenin, who's apparently been tailing Drake, runs in and cries on Mastema's shoulder about the crew's decreasing morale. He rather creepily suggests a way to raise it.
Drake: DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! If you do, it's the end of everything. Don't ask me how I know this, I just do!
Thankfully, she doesn't.
So, naturally, what we need is another Diabolus ex Machina! Ryan, ex-Dragon to the late Captain Jack, calls and informs us that he's taken the liberty of murdering the crewmen sent to watch him. With that taken care of, he's started making demons again and kindly lets it slip that he's going to use them to kill us all. Arthur expresses interest in the method of "pacification" Mastema suggested.
Drake: Absolutely not! This was how it ended last time!
Unfortunately, the talking box outranks him. There was a Dominion parked on top of a sanctum portal here; he scoots now. Turn on the Phase Shifter and enter Chez Mastema.
Power: Classy.
Momunofu: Tacky
Both: I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!
There's a teleporter maze in here but it's not nearly as bad as the one in Eridanus. You can also talk to some angels around here for a bit of Character Development. When we arrive at Mastema's room, he claims that the voice of an angel can pacify aggressive humans. Unfortunately, he himself is so distant from humans that his will no longer work.
Naga: How convie-mmph!
So, the only option left is to turn a human into an angel.
Drake: Damn it. DAMN IT ALL! Why can't I bring myself to make new choices? No, I make one now. If she gets home... if they get home without me... that'd be worth it.
...
Drake: Mastema!
...
Drake: ...Take Me Instead!
Zelenin, Mastema, Pixie, Moloch, Kama, Metaron, Orcus, Mithras, Asherah, Seraph: *Split-Screen Reaction*
To be continued...
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