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Part VII: The Din of a Battlefield

And we finish the first act of the game with a relatively short update, but not one short of happenings, that's for sure. The Glaivend Basin is just through here, near the Bors Ruins. Outbreak

Looks like we were too late. There's not too much going on in the Hyland camp, aside from Rangus here. There's not really anything to do but head to Landon's tent.

And Lucas?

Setting up an ambush on the right flank.

*begins to leave*

Come back here, Shepherd! You will be leading the charge front and center with the...

*ignores him*

Hey! Shepherd! Obey my orders! Have you forgotten that this is MY battlefield?!

What I have to do does not change... No matter whose battlefield it is! *leaves*

What can one brat like him even hope to accomplish?! Have the chancellors gone daft?! *turns toward his soldiers* Come! We're going too.

I will say that this is one sequence in Zestiria the X that plays out very substantially differently than what happens in the game. I don't think Sorey even crosses paths with Landon that much in the anime, though I would have to rewatch it to fully refresh my memory.

We're headed to the front our own way. Don't forget this monolith on the way out, though.

Like the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, it is dangerous to fight around here, just because enemies on Hard are powerful and you can pretty easily get mobbed if you get caught in the wrong environment or the wrong enemies, so I wouldn't recommend fighting too much around here. For the Axe Beaks...

Be on alert for the Axe Beak's jump attacks.

Even though it can't fly.

That's just embarrassing. Once you climb a small hill, you'll be presented by either going left to continue the story, or right to a large plateau with an Apple Gel, Holy Bottle, and a Saffron. I'm sure you can spare a moment for those. Shepherd's power

Yeah, the enemy will never notice Sorey.

The mercenaries' flank attack was a failure! Fall back to rejoin the main forces! Hurry, while there's still time!

What?!

*rushes toward the soldiers* You're just going to abandon Lucas' team?!

If we don't take advantage of their sacrifice, more troops are gonna die out there!

But they're still fighting out there!

Welcome to war, kid! *marches off with the other soldier* Let's go!

He's just doing a soldier's duty. It seems cruel, but you can't hold it against him.

Dang it!

All this killing... It's pointless!

The air is overflowing with people's anger and hatred.

That's why it feels hard to breathe. Battlefields are the cauldrons where malevolence is brewed.

There!

Going?

You bet! I'm counting on you guys!

Don't worry. I'll go easy on you.

So this is an interesting battle. Like with that battle in the royal council chambers earlier, you fight a huge swarm of weak human enemies. This time, though, there are waaaay more of them. I didn't do an exact count of the number of soldiers you have to KO, but it's pretty substantial. I guesstimate about 50. You might be suckered early on into thinking you can pretty much lock down the entire fight by just spamming Water!Sorey's basic combo, but soon enough, enough dudes will be on the field that there simply isn't enough lateral range to the arrow attacks to cover all of them, unless they're stupid and basically all bunch up in a line. Overall, don't sweat this fight, but if you're used to just punking on normal human enemies in these kinds of games, this fight may surprise you.

How could he do this much with just a sword?

*continues approaching*

A m-monster!

(Lucas) What's going on here?

The Shepherd?!

Step aside.

Archers!

*slashes the arrows out of the air*

This can't be...

(Lucas) Is this...the Shepherd's true power?

Lucas. Let's go.

Y-Yeah...

Say what you will, but these guys have certainly shown some remarkable discipline by not running in fear from the presence of a kid who is seemingly effortlessly destroying them.

Retreat, troops of Rolance!

The hell?! There's a voice in my head!

Who the hell are you?!

I won't ask again! Retreat!

I-It's a demon! Hyland has demons on their side!

Run! Runnn!

I'm really glad you're safe. *turns to leave*

Sorey, they'll understand someday.

That's right.

Thanks. Even if it is just a pat on the back.

Gonna cry?

Nope. We're not finished yet.

Indeed. We're just getting started here.

It's over.

Not yet. We still have to quell the hellions that were created here.

Sorey...

Well, I guess I'll stick with you just this once.

Thank you, Mikleo.

This update's solitary skit is prompted by approaching our old pal, the Dark Turtlez here. It's mostly a discussion about how war is malevolence's best friend, but we do get a neat tidbit from Lailah.

I mean, she's "told", meaning not swearing to it personally, but it is out there, isn't it? I'm guessing the implication is that Artorius took up the title of "Shepherd" in honor of his fallen mentor and friend, but those origins have been long, long lost by Sorey's time.

After the skit, there are a few treasures scattered around, but the most important is in a corner near the Turtlez, an Azure Blue sword for Sorey. Bit more stylish than his current one. For the final enemy type here, Savage Wolves...

Leave them alone and they'll just call for more.

She's not lying. Besides being faster than normal wolves, once they get low on HP, they have the potential of retreating from you, howling, and calling in buddies. As long as you stagger or defeat them before that, though, you can stop them from doing so.

Sidestepping an attack by ending armatization is definitely the classiest way to avoid damage.

The moment of triumph

What?! He's still at it!

Exterminate them! Don't let a single one escape!

General! The battle is already over!

The Shepherd. As naive as you'd expect. The more rats we crush as they scurry away, the fewer they'll have in our next battle.

Surely that isn't necessary!

It doesn't seem like there's any use trying to reason with him.

It was thanks to you, Shepherd, that we were able to pull off such a rout. Show us a little more pride! *cackles*

Tch. You better not forget the promise you made to release Alisha.

He's vile even by human standards.

The way things are here, it won't make a difference no matter how many hellions we purify.

I agree. We should get far away from here until things settle down.

...Fine.

But when we try to do that... An overwhelming world

This domain... It's like none I've ever felt before.

You're not kidding...

Such intense malevolence... It can't be!

I have a feeling... It can.

What...is this?

Sorey! There's only one person in existence who could have this powerful and evil of a domain!

You don't mean... The Lord of Calamity?

It looks like the humans are starting to lose their minds.

*stands up* We have to stop this! *runs off*

Wait!

No! We don't yet have the strength to face this threat!

I'm aware. I'll run if things turn bad. Your lives are on the line, too.

Yeah, that's typical.

Indeed... Well, nothing's gonna stop Sorey now, so let's just follow him. Pride goeth...

*knocked back*

Sorey!

No!

So, Shepherd. You insist on jeopardizing my glorious victory, do you? How utterly foolish! Now stand up! The chancellors may think you useful to the kingdom... But I expect they'll reconsider once I deliver to them your severed head!

Don't do it! He's already completely transformed into a hellion!

Too late.

You're really going to fight him in that condition?!

*stands up* Everyone... Stand with me!

Welcome to the final boss battle of the first act, General Landon. Sure didn't take him long to be an actual enemy, did it? He has a pretty wide variety of attacks, unleashing new ones and benching old ones as he gets lower on health. His primary attack early on is a wide-swinging 2-hit combo that seems to be basically impossible to avoid by dodging left or right. Unlike in Berseria, you can't usually sidestep "into" a weapon, so that whole thing makes more sense here. Sorey's normal, non-elemental attacks will open up Power Combos, so it's usually a better idea to fight non-armatized here. Fire!Sorey also works pretty well if you prefer a longer health bar and more powerful attacks

Landon's Hidden Arte is Body Press, which is a big fat belly-flop onto the field. I tried many times, but this one seems very hard to sidestep off of.

Well, don't mind if I do.

Yes, it doesn't actually kill him, or "purify" him if we're being specific, but never say no to free damage.

When he's very low on health, he'll add in Super Headbutt, which, as you might expect, causes him to crouch down, then fly across the field, attempting to ram into you. It'll go about halfway across the field, but he won't use it at range like this. Once he starts using Super Headbutt, he'll use Body Press much less frequently, thankfully.

The malevolence isn't disappearing?!

It's no use. The strength of his domain is far greater than that of my powers of purification.

So we need to remove the source, huh?

Good luck. There's no way you expel the lord of THIS domain.

We have to.

It's dangerous!

Lailah! Please! If we don't, this battle will never end!

... It looks like the heart of the malevolence is on the top of that hill.

Sorry.

Save the apology. This isn't where any of us plan on dying.

Yeah, Mikleo... That's the spirit!

So are we going, or what?

Right!

We are, for better or worse... The normal Rolance soldiers are different enemies, technically, so you'll have to get into a couple fights if you plan on clearing out the monster book.

There's a good chance of that, yes. The hellionized Rolance soldiers, constiting of lancers and swordsmen, are all hardier than their human counterparts from earlier this update, but still not particularly threatening.

There are a few goodies you can find while passing through the Rolance camp, including a Chamomile up on a ridge, an Apple Gel in the camp itself, and a monolith in the far corner of the camp.