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Update 41: The Innocent Devil's Song



So, Magda, I really have to know: What's a confession scene from a man like Kaelin like?
Oh well let me tell you. Do you remember Masato's true love ending? Prince-sama?
Uh, a-duh.
Yes, now imagine that, but several million times more surreal.
...He didn't start babbling about how great he is before confessing, right? That's kinda the vibe I'm getting here.
He was drunk, so, mercifully, no. I was simply helping him back to the inn after he'd been drunk for several hours off of two shots of V.S.O.P. Brastaad.
Um... Can't drink, so, uh, no real frame of reference here.
It's the kind of light liquor that every pompous jerkbag drinks. Anyway, he got very drunk after two shots of it, and as I was about to drop him off in his room, he just...suddenly confessed. "Flower of my eye, pearl of my hair! I love you more than I love myself! I burn with the desire to feel your companionship!"
Woooooow... You remember all of that exactly?
Oh, come now, you surely remember every silly thing Raven (probably) said during his confession.
Touché. So the drunkenness made him drop his smugness?
I suppose that's one way of looking at it.
Okay, when I write My Family Made Me Think I Was A Vampire for Fifteen Years, But When It Turned Out I Actually Was A Vampire, Boys Started Flocking To Me From Every Angle!!, I'm gonna...just use that. All of it.




I bought Iseria an Answerer.

That's a cool boss.



I also forged it with a Silver Ingot to bring it up to level 3.



I'm going to start this update not with 27F, but by taking care of some loose-quest-ends.
You've arrived before the room you heard about in the bar. From within, you can clearly sense four murderous auras far stronger than anything else in the stratum. If you're prepared to defeat them all in one go, there's no reason to hesitate. Open the door and confront the scorpions.



So these are Massacre Outlaws. For whatever reason, their models are actually different from the scorpions from way back in S2--their stingers are different.




Massacre Outlaw

HP: 9062
STR: 125
INT: 73
VIT: 76
WIS: 74
AGI: 78
LUC: 127

Skills:
Damage Resistances:
75% 75% 100%
125% 125% 125%

Disable Resistances:
50% 75% 75% 50% 50% 50% 75%
0% 0%
25% 50% 25%

Here are their stats.

An interesting sub-species of the Tunnel-Visioned Predators. Perhaps the stinger merits further study...




Now imagine that four more times.


After enduring a steady stream of relentless attacks, the scorpion finally falls to the ground and stops moving. You confirm that there are no others remaining. You've successfully defeated the scorpions! With this, you've ensured the safety of the other animals on this floor, as well as the people visiting it. All that remains is to report your success at the bar.




I also properly took care of Edgar's Crystal Dragon request this time.


You're back, huh? That was a hell of a fight.
If you say so.
Heh, sorry, I was watching the whole time. So, you probably guessed by now, but that story about the rare crystal was a load of horseshit. I just wanted to see what you were really capable of for myself. Now that I've seen it, I can really feel it in my bones: your true strength. Now, of course, that's not what I actually wanted, but we can talk about that later. It'll be another combat request, and you took down a damned dragon in under ten actions, so you're probably pretty tired. Take a load off. ...Sorry for pulling the wool on you. I am actually paying you, though. Melina's got it. Nice work.









Welcome back. I see you safely completed the job. Can we assume it's all thanks to the warning I gave before you left? Kidding, kidding. I know you'd take this seriously no matter what I'd said. Thanks for everything you've done for us, really. Now, I suppose you'll want your reward. Here you go. Good work.



Obtained Formaldehyde.











Hmm, so Edgar was testing you? That's odd. Why would he go out of his way to do that? Normally he'd cut right to the chase. And is he really going to make a request later? He'd have to do it here, but I haven't heard anything yet. Although this isn't the first time Edgar's been reluctant to talk about something. Oh well. If he doesn't want to talk yet then that's that. But I expect you to be back when he finally does put up this request of his. You have an obligation to see this through to the end. Now, here's your reward. Good work.



Obtained 5 Amrita IIs.






I have genuinely run out of useful things for Alexis to learn, so I had him level up Rapier Mastery.


Iseria's Chain levels really don't matter since I'm just gonna adjust them as necessary for a given fight.


I had Gram max out Ice Peck to give her better encounter-clearing capability.


I'm barely gonna ever have Dosen use Area Herb, but I might as well have it maxed out for emergencies.


Magda's close to maxing out Dark Smoke.



With all that taken care of, let's go back to outer space.

(Floor subtitle: The light of heaven illuminates all)


A teleporter right at the start makes me nervous. Let's check out the rest of the starting area first.




Innocent Devil

HP: 1816
STR: 103
INT: 104
VIT: 108
WIS: 117
AGI: 110
LUC: 153

Skills:
Drops:
Damage Resistances:
150% 150% 150%
75% 75% 75%

Disable Resistances:
100% 100% 100% 50% 0% 50% 50%
150% 50%
0% 100% 50%

Innocent Devils fucking suck because they have access to panic, firstly. That would be bad enough, but then they also make panicked party members hit harder, and can make themselves irritating to kill.


Bah.

I'll crush your skulls between my thighs, mongrels!

Great, just what I needed, the person with the best sword in the game getting panicked.

Oh my, she wasn't kidding...


Outer space's only big enough for my flying animal, thank you very much.




If you have a three-person front row, Innocent Devils can make battles go bad very quickly.



Food point here gives Moon Apples.



Alright, alright, I can't put it off any longer, let's get going.


Huh. This teleporter's at the southern edge of the floor. I wonder where it's gonna take me.


I see that the Labyrinth just couldn't give me a break.

Oh. I see.

Yeah, uh, the 6th Stratum is not fully linear. There are several times in it where you will be teleported back to previous floors to explore further.


All in favor of, from now on, checking where we will end up after a teleport before we walk into it, say "aye."
Aye.

This is not one of those times, though. All this does is send us back to about halfway through 26F. Thanks, Atlus.


Let's not do that.



Okay, let's go this way now.


Three ways to approach this teleporter. Going in from the top will...send us back to where we came from.



Let's do thisaway.




Oh.



Okay, only one way forward, then.


Three heads and still nowhere near the dog Greg is.


Grim Dog

HP: 3295
STR: 138
INT: 92
VIT: 131
WIS: 134
AGI: 123
LUC: 109

Skills:
Drops:
Damage Resistances:
100% 50% 100%
50% 150% 50%

Disable Resistances:
50% 50% 100% 50% 100% 100% 0%
50% 100%
150% 0% 100%

I hope you were ready for the next extremely mean gimmick, because now we've got an enemy that deals heavy physical damage and any party members that are killed by it cannot be revived for the rest of the battle.

Blinding a three-headed monster completely is harder than you'd think.



If Gram seems like she took a lot of damage, do keep in mind that she, uh...doesn't have any actual armor on. I'm trying to get as much STR out of her as possible.





I forgot to use Dosen's skill point.




Bweeoom.


Two teleporters and a door that, spoilers, goes to a goddamn empty 3x3 room.



Let's go with this one.


What did I say earlier?
Alexis, if you berate us for not doing that when you didn't either, you're going to get a nice serving of Poison Smoke for lunch.
How many times have you threatened people with that and not followed through on it? I'm not particularly threatened by that.
...Tch.





Okay, Ragnar, look before you leap.


*screaming internally*

Perhaps it's for the best that I insisted to Sasha that she take a break and let me explore for now...
You think her patience would've been worn out by these irritating teleporters?
Oh, it would've been worn out the instant we got sent back to the previous...floor...
Thinkin' we might need some new terminology soon.
Ooh, ooh, how about "sectors?"
I'm in no mood to argue over words, so sure.




I normally try to trim out the minutiae of dungeon exploration, but if I didn't show every single teleporter, I imagine things would get very confusing, very quickly.



We've still got plenty of floor left, folks.

We needed to use a teleporter...to go behind the teleporter...to teleport forward.
Whatever idiots designed these telporters didn't really think them through, apparently.




The 6th Stratum's skybox is very pretty, isn't it?

I wonder how trees grow out here.




Onwards but not upwards.


This teleporter would just set me back, so...



It's kind of lucky that these teleporters always put us on a walkable surface, isn't it?



I'm starting to run out of things to say.


Going from this way is just gonna send us back.




Oh, joy, a variation on the teleporters.




Orange teleporters send you 10 tiles in the direction you walk into them from.

...Is that thing responsible for that weird noise a second ago?
Beg pardon, but what weird noise?
It sounded like "UMDEMUM!"
Not quite how I'd sound it out, but close enough.

Mancubi--excuse me, Oppressive Bull-Demons, do not directly aggro on the party. Instead, they will stand will when you are not on the same column or row as them, and when you are, they will take one step towards you.



I hope you enjoyed that glimpse of the mancubus, because it's gone now.


Sweet, sweet shortcuts.



What better time to go back and save?

Arc Lafena (+127 ATK, +116 MATK, STR Up 3, Silver x4) is made from 1 Three-Headed Canine Tooth (Grim Dog normal). Costs 85000 en, sells for 34000 en.

Laundry Pole (+153 ATK, +94 MATK, VIT Up 3, Silver x4) is made from 2 Three-Headed Canine Teeth (Grim Dog normal). Costs 139000 en, sells for 55600 en.

Demon-Hunting Scythe (+129 ATK, +129 MATK, VIT Up 3, Silver x4) is made from 1 Pointy Imp Wing (Innocent Devil normal) and 1 Tripod Cedar (6th Stratum Chop 2). Costs 90000 en, sells for 36000 en.

Kastenbrust (+63 DEF, +63 MDEF) is made from 1 Pointy Imp Wing (Innocent Devil normal). Costs 64000 en, sells for 25600 en.

Comet Ornament (Immunity to instant death) is made from 5 Fallen Stardusts (Stardust normal). Costs 30000 en, sells for 12000 en.

Formaldehyde (Gives all drops for all enemies killed on turn of use) is made from 1 Confused Red Gem (Innocent Devil conditional). Costs 4000 en, sells for 1600 en.



Obtained 1 Ambrosia naturally, and 1 Ambrosia from Alexis.
27F, D5 Take Point



Please don't ask why this is already mapped out.

Why is this already mapped out?

Because I tried to take on the mancubus before this and died horribly.




Also don't ask why I did that.

Because there is none.


You've got so much room here that getting the mancubus out of your way is not hard at all.



You can tell that we're making progress, because we're being sent into empty parts of the map.


Aw, c'mon.




Fuck that noise, I'm not interested in going through new teleporters right now, let's go through this one.


Obtained 60000 en.


I'm gonna start posting pictures of really rude encounter formations from now on, just so you can get an idea of the fun I have.



Well, that was certainly a diversion.



No real choice but to go through the green teleporter.

They toss you a whopping 20 tiles in the direction you step into them from, by the way.


This fucking asshole teleporter'll send you basically just in front of the first teleporter to 27F.

So, uh, don't take it.



Do take this one, though.



And then take this one because you have to.

Still feels unfair that Falz isn't the only falcon in this place.




Oh jesus christ I'm overwhelmed by choice here



Get me outta there



Huh. New area.


Obtained Divine Orb.

Divine Orbs increase the holder's TP by 150.


...Aw no.



goddammit



I went back to town to save because getting sent that far back annoyed me. I fully forged Iseria's Answerer.



Frankly, I'm glad Marina never experienced this.




What the fuck was the point of the green teleporter on 26F if the only way out of that area sends me here anyway?!



Okay, let's make some actual progress again.


I dunno why but I find the top screen viewport here a bit neato.


Here's what the full area here looks like.


...Oops.


Good thing the Escape command exists.



And away we go.


Ho hum.





If you felt like it, you could just...walk up to the mancubus, escape from it, and then head right for the teleporter, negating the puzzle completely.


Don't take the teleporter a bit up of me, it'll send you back to the previous mancubus puzzle.


Take the short one to actually solve the puzzle.


Or run into the stupid mancubus anyway.



Whatever.


...


...


Please just get me out of here.


oh no

that tile in front of me looks suspiciously damage-y

Please just get me out of here.
You arrive at an area with a different atmosphere than before. Archon quickly commands you to stop moving.


This is not the same as the earlier hazards. Toxins from across the cosmos seem to have coagulated here to cover our path, but I'm sure you no doubt have ways to counter this.
You nod in understanding at Archon's warning and prepare to proceed cautiously.




Okay, what lies down here?

Well, a shortcut, for one.



And an immediate teleport back up.

Let's just go back to town now.


Hello, masters! Do you desire dinner, a bath, or me?
...Oh, nevermind.
Eh?
I...might've heard that as "a bath with me."
I don't know whether it's because of those powerful muscles or your powerful personalities, but you guys aren't just ordinary neighborhood cats anymore. You guys are almost as impressive as The Deadly Antonio, He whose Pawpads Remain Unsullied Even After Battles of a Thousand Leagues of Cats!
I'm pretty sure it's because you keep scrubbing them.



Hmm, maybe, but on the other hand... Oh, it's Nameless!
Ceric, may I ask what you were mumbling about?
What was I mumbling about? Oh, just me wondering if I should head back to Zepharia to participate in the festival with all my buddies. I mean, call it a hunch, but I'm preeeeeetty sure by now they'd recognize me as an adult with all these crazy things you've sold me, but...mmm, nahhhh. Seeing your journey to the end is way more exciting!
...I feel quite touched by that, honestly.


So you're at the 28th floor now. I hear the sixth stratum is far crueler than the journey so far. Oh, right, I took a look at some of the monster bits you brought back. As we suspected, they're nothing like anything from the rest of the Labyrinth. I have to admit, my curiosity is making it difficult for me to just sit quietly in the bar and wait for news. Maybe I should try getting back into the adventuring business?



Hansuke please go away.


So, 28th floor. Tell me, oh mighty Nameless: are the battles finally getting to you?
Not so much the battles as the Labyrinth itself by this point.
Bwahahahahaha! What was I even expecting from you sixth stratum goofballs? I've seen for myself you've got nerves of steel. What in the world are you even coming around here for at this point? Just keep believing in yourselves, and break open a path.



Oh, hello, everyone. If you have some time to spare, would you mind trying some of this black tea?
Could go for a nice cup of tea after all that nonsense.
...It's strange, isn't it? When we sit down to chat like this, why, the members of the famous Nameless Guild look just like anyone else. You'd never think that this motley group were the Masters who reached the summit of Yggdrasil, fulfilled the legends, and then kept going even beyond that. ...But that's what makes you so amazing, and I'm sure it'll be no different once you've accomplished your goals in the sixth stratum.




Here are our quests for this floor.

Well, plus one extra. There's one quest that's unlocked when you finish Edgar's Crystal Dragon request.

For the supreme moment:
That one's from Edgar again. And as expected, he didn't tell me what it was about. So the rest is all up to you. Good luck.

I'll talk to Edgar in the next update, but this is a boss quest.

Invaders appear:
Thank the gods you're here! Something urgent is happening on the fifth stratum! All of a sudden these octopus-like monsters showed up from nowhere and invaded the stratum! So far they're only on the 25th floor, but for all we know they'll keep descending, maybe even all the way to the bottom. If that were to happen, Yggdrasil's ecosystem could be damaged beyond repair. So I want you guys to head to the 25th floor and stop them before that happen! I know this is a troublesome job, but please!

Eh, I'm sure that can wait.

The dragon sleeping in an ancient battlefield:
Oh, you're taking that one then? This one was a written request, and for whatever reason the client seems to have forgotten to write their name. Honestly, this is a bit troubling... Just who could they be? Anyway, the written note says to come to this area of the 12th floor.



That does it for now. Next time: Double Boss Jamboree!

the boss baby or something idfk