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     : ...is it dinner time already? : Here you go. Be still, your neck will be sore for a few moments.: I'll be fine, I've walked away from worse than a punch in the face. : It took us four minutes to find your head. : Is it too late to talk about hazard pay? : Don't worry, we have god-tier health insurance.: So, what happened? : ... : GOD'S CURSE HAPPENED.: No, I was there for that. I mean, what happened with widow's peak and the beige chick? Have we fixed democracy yet? : Hikawa summoned his god. : And the lady Takao gave up.: Well that's great news to resurrect to.: ...she didn't give up.: Look, I get that you like her, but we all saw her quit. She didn't even try to... : No, he's right. Aradia gave up, but the lady did not.: You saw her too, didn't you?: What are you talking about?: Look. : The only reason she brought Chiaki, Isamu and I here is that she figured one of us would decide the shape of the new world. She tried it herself, and she... she failed. But her original plan is still going on. If she had given up on it, I wouldn't have this stone in my hands.: So, what are you going to decide?: Well, Chiaki, Isamu and Hikawa have to lose. That's a given. : B-B-BOOM!: I like the way you think, big guy.: Apart from that, I guess I'll have to find a way to end this whole bullshit, somehow. The world can't stay rounder forever, right?: Might we recommend our master's offer?: I... that's still on the table.: Is that what Ms. Takao would have wanted?: Has the lady Takao ever really wanted anything?: Alright, alright, that's enough of that. The three stooges are making their move, and we're standing here and arguing. Let's get a move on.: Best idea I've heard all day. Where are we going?: To the Amala Temple.: Huh? I thought we cleared the place out already.: We didn't have the lost fifth pyramid last time.quote:Vile Samael *: Samael's signature move is God's Curse, which randomly inflicts Charm, Panic, Sleep, Bind or Stun; immunity to ailments, even partial, can be a huge help. He also knows Beast Eye, Rakukaja, Dekunda, Dekaja, Retaliate, Megidola, and Maragidyne. He lacks any non-boss immunities or weaknesses, so as long as you can survive his attacks and remove his defense buffs, you're pretty much free to use whatever strategy you like. I'm especially chuffed that Futomimi did so much of the heavy lifting in our case! Lunge isn't exactly Spiral Viper, but his immunities and resistances make him very reliable. As you may have guessed, the events preceding the fight proceed differently if you've agreed with Hikawa on the steps of the Mantra HQ or if you have accumulated 32 Shijima points. Unlike with Chiaki and Isamu you get a choice to stop him or not even if you don't qualify for Shijima affiliation, and you can even skip the Samael fight entirely if you don't interfere. However, letting him proceed only confirms your Shijima affiliation if you did qualify beforehand, and in fact it locks you out of one of the non-Reason endings even if you didn't! Anyway, it's time to get out of here. We take the elevator back down, reach the Terminal, and return to Ginza. Along the way, Wu Kong levels up and has a chance to learn Dark Pledge, which is a conversation skill that attempts to recruit an opponent and works best during New Kagutsuchi. The odds of getting into a fight with a demon you want during New K aren't so great, so I pass on it.   : Now, all we need to do to create the world of Shijima is obtain power from Kagutsuchi!  : Commander Hikawa is the supreme ruler of the battle for creation. : A painless world because emotions do not control it. The only ones that can live there are beings that have spiritually surpassed humans and demons... That's right... We will all become gods! : My fist is the divine breath!*: Nope, nope, nope, none of this. Get out. : But... but... fallen seed! Hidden powers!*: I said GET OUT.  : How do these people keep finding their way here? : The door is just open like half the time. I don't know how you don't have more randos dropping by.*: ... : I'll... uh... sorry. It... gets a little stuffy in here, um... I'll be more careful. : What do you know about Saren's flagship, Sovereign?*: ... : ...: ...: I should go.*: Yes, you should. You too, blondie. Out. : Aw.*: ...where were we?  *: Right, crushing Shijima. Thank you, Eligor.   : He was probably checking out the other Reasons first...*: We head for the Cathedral. It's time to kick our average ally level up a notch. Long's in a weird place. He's got a couple perennially useful skills, but his level and stats are low enough to make him a bit of a liability. The Dragon race outright won't fuse with most of our other allies, and the few it could fuse with would result in a weaker demon because the level disparity is very wide. In most cases we could pick up an Element and rank him up, but Long is the strongest Dragon and it would only turn him into Gui Xian. Besides, we have no ally slots open, so we can't get an Element, or summon a comparable demon from the Compendium to fuse him with like we did for Sarasvati. Of course, we could outright let him go... but he's worth a buttload of experience. That leaves one option. : Dionysus, White Rider. And Long. : Oh shi.: Hmph.: THE TIME HAS COME.: I'm still not a fan of this, but...: IT HAS COME BEFORE AND IT WILL COME AGAIN. I WILL RETURN TO THE WATER AND THE WATER WILL RETURN TO ME. NOTHING EVER TRULY ENDS.: We'll see about that.: WILL YOU PUT THIS SACRIFICE TO NOBLE PURPOSE?: You know I will.: THEN I SHALL GO WITHOUT REGRET.: Thank you. And thanks to the both of you, too.: A toast, gentlemen?: Uh, I...: Oh for... Just drink the drat wine, kid, no one's going to call the cops.: Eh, right, sure. To victory, then?: To victory!: TO VICTORY!: You do realize I don't have a digestive syst... hey! What...?: It's not a party until the horses are drunk!Dionysus + White Rider + Long =    quote:Lv65 Deity Odin *: Man, there are lots of skills I would have loved to pass down, Prominence certainly among them, but if we don't have Life Drain and Mediarama then we no longer have renewable healing. We also lose our only Dekaja... but I have a plan for that. In any case, Odin does get a bunch of his own good skills, so Mabufula and Life Refill won't be wastes of space for very long, especially considering Long's sacrifice is giving him six free levels. We do end up losing Makakaja and Makarakarn for now, but so be it. There's always the Compendium, in any case. Speaking of the Compendium, we now have two slots free, so I summon up Sarutahiko and Succubus for about 50000 Macca. Sarutahiko + Succubus =  > It seems to have accepted you as its master.  *: We then go to Rag's place next door, and subsidize the slave trade once more. For an Agate and an Aquamarine, we acquire...  And returning to the Cathedral... Phantom + Aquans =   : If you follow me, you'll get more killing than you know what to do with.: Is... is this wise?: I think the world is safer if I'm the one holding his leash.: Hmm. If you are confident you can shoulder this responsibility...: I took a chance bringing you back, didn't I?: Ah... Well... Fair enough... *: For some reason, you can't fuse Sakahagi from ingredients that would normally produce a Foul of his level; the fusion chart straight up indicates it's impossible, as if you were trying to fuse two races that cannot be fused together. But you can use an Element to rank up a Foul Phantom or rank down a Foul Shadow. The guy himself is not super strong, but he does have boss immunities and spells of all four elements. He only gets two free slots to customize himself with, but I managed to pass down Dekaja, which will make him pretty helpful no matter what. There's one more roster change I want to do here before the next step. I fill up our final slot by summoning a Lilim from the Compendium. Just a regular plain old level 8 Night Lilim. We've had one before, but she didn't get a chance to earn a lot of experience. And I'm not fusing her to anything, I'm just putting her in the active party outright. There's no big reason. I'm probably insane, to be honest. That horrid blue sun must be getting to me. : That, or she's smokin'.*: She is, but that's besides the point! Alright, enough of that. We return to the Terminal and head for the Amala Temple.   Cutscene: The time has come  : The young man Isamu said something about Musubi...*: Lilim levels up, and learns Analyze. What a brave girl! She works so hard to keep up. It's inspiring. Cutscene: The beginning of the end: Who do they think they're kidding?: I know, right?*: On our way out, Lilim gains another level, learning Dark Pledge. Yaaaaaaay Lilim! There is no Large Terminal in the Obelisk proper, so we warp to the "Assembly of Nihilo: Marunouchi" destination, which is in the back of the Nihilo base; fortunately the exit to the overworld is a few steps away.  Music: Large Map ~ Last Area Well, this is different.  *: Lilim levels up again and learns Tarunda. Go Lilim go Lilim go!  *: Kid Lucifer didn't show up back there just to be polite. It's the game's way of telling you you're running out of time to make a final decision. In fact, the point of no return that would lock us into whatever Path of Creation ending we've earned is in this tower. But there's still a ways to go into the Labyrinth of Amala before we reach the point where we're locked into... a different kind of ending, so we'll stay away for now. However, there is one thing we can do here at this time. If we go all the way to the back (north) side of the Obelisk...   *: Do you remember the opening near the top of the Obelisk where we were told that we would lose our life if we were to fall? We've just come through a door on the same floor, but on the opposite side of the structure. This is technically the ground floor now, but we still see "132F" in the corner there. The Obelisk got pushed in hella deep.   There's nothing here but an elevator down, so we ride it...  ...all the way to B4. We've seen that area when we were here before; we looked at it when we came to find the Spyglass. There isn't much of interest down here either, but if you look behind the pillar...   The Chakra Elixir is an infinitely reusable Chakra Drop. That's about as cool as it sounds! You can only use it in battle of course, and it takes up the Demi-fiend's action so if you're up against strong enemies it may deprive you of your best fighter for a bit, but in essence, no one ever has to run out of juice again. This is otherwise a dead end. On our way back out, Lilim gains another level and learns Mazio. ˇEspectacularrrrr!  : I hope so, because that's how you learn, right? : You're good! Better than I imagined!: Aw shucks!: I feel like giving you something really special!> ...You received Bead Chain! : Wow, thanks! You're pretty amazing yourself! > Let it continue? : You go, girl!    : I knew you had it in you!: Well I'll be. I was sure you lost your marbles, but this is pretty drat metal!: ...Lilith. : I'm not talking to you.: I'm not talking to you either!: You're talking to me right now!: Well... uh... So are you!*: Alright, alright, enough of that.  quote:Lv80 Night Lilith *: So, yeah. Level 80, same as Dante. She still only has her fairly crummy Lilim skills (though Rakunda and Tarunda never go out of style), but that'll change. : So, we going in?: ...hmm. No.: You want to check out the rest of the Labyrinth, don't you?: Yeah, pretty much. I haven't decided if I'm doing this on my own yet, but I know I'll need to be real strong to kill these three gods, and Lucifer had the courtesy to set up the best gym in the world for me. Are you ready to earn your pay?: Ha, all I wanted was to keep going down there in the first place. You know I'm in.: What about the rest of you?: I'm with you. Is it even worth asking?: I certainly have no complaints about this course of action. : I will follow you. The well's knowledge of the Labyrinth is woefully out of date by now.: Of course I'm coming. I would never allow a child to go alone in such a terrible place.: SMASH-AND-BEAT! BOOM! CRUSH-AND-EAT! BOOM!: I'll... take that as a yes. : No one else is worthy of the hee ho Emperor's temporary service!: I'm not giving up on you, boss. : This is so much more entertaining than my husband's court. : I don't give it a poo poo where we're going, just point me at somebody's face.: I will keep repaying my debt to you.: Thank you, everyone. Alright, let's do this.*: Alright, so, I've hit the character limit on this update, and I'm cutting it in half here. The rest is coming up in a few minutes!
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Feb 10, 2016 19:35
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*: We go to Ginza to heal up, register, pick up a few Dekaja Rocks from Rag's just in case, save, then head for the Labyrinth and take the shortcut straight to the fifth Kalpa.     I expected tougher opposition, but I'm sure this is just a taste of things to come.    : I'm about to burst!: She's all yours, kid.: Very funny. : I'm... sure you've got plenty of delightful qualities.: You made my day! Here's a token of my appreciation!> The demon healed you. : Thank you, uh, sweetheart.: Someone's gonna get his little fiend bit off!: Are you volunteering?: I know I've got a couple extra ones stashed in here somewhere...: Forget I asked! : Our master is waiting there. Don't give up now!  : This is where the women loyal to our master gather. You have done well in not disappointing him. But, if you underestimate us, you will not live to regret it!*: Ah, so that explains the encounters around here. We're only running into humanoid female demons.  : Even if you think you've found a dead-end, make absolutely sure before you try another direction. Well, that's my advice. Choose to follow it if you wish.*: About that... There appears to be a bit of an emulation issue with this place. There are supposed to be illusory walls around here that disappear as you get close, but they... kinda don't show up at all. So it's just a regular maze. It sure makes my life easier, but it bugs me that I can't show it off.  *: This first room has doors to the west and to the east. Let's try west first.   quote:Lv67 Lady Kali *: We're getting some intersecting hallways with one-way doors further inside, but it's not obnoxious yet.  *: Yeah, these encounters aren't messing around. Going north then east takes us to a room with a Balm of Rising in a Chest; there are several dead-ends that I suspect are the wrong side of one-way doors, but we can only return to the central room from here. We go west then south this time.   quote:Lv64 Megami Scathach   *: We find a ladder down but I want to investigate the rest of the floor first. Zed levels up soon afterwards, mastering Vimana and having the chance to learn Hades Blast, which we've seen Mara use way back when. I honestly don't know which is stronger or more useful between Deadly Fury and Hades Blast, but online consensus seems to be that Deadly Fury has similar damage but crits more often, so I'm keeping it. We find a Magic Mirror in the Chest to the north, and we're forced to return to the central room. I expect the eastern side will be symmetrical, so it shouldn't be much more trouble.   Hmm, another ladder. We keep exploring. Black Rider learns Megidola, and Wu Kong learns Attack All, a passive skill which causes his basic attack to hit all opponents. This can be really really good, but also kinda tricky when some of them nullify, reflect or absorb physical damage. Fortunately he still has Brutal Slash for single target damage. It's a tough choice, but I let it replace Hassohappa. It's not as strong, but it doesn't eat up a third of his HP either. Besides, it'll be great for mopping up after a Deadly Fury.  Alright, that's it for B1. Let's try the western ladder.    Two locked gates, facing each other, but separated.  Oh, I get it. It'll open the door on the other side, right?   Ah, actually, it opened the one on our side! Well then.    : Are we fallen ones to blame...? Or is it the fault of those who cast us down...? I wonder what our master thinks... I'd like to ask him one of these days.: Oh come on, we both know what he thinks.  : Uh... sure, why not?: Imagine you are in the mountains...: Okay.: ...and you see a human about to be attacked by a wild animal. The animal begins to maul the defenseless human! As a fellow human, your heart would compel you to chase away the beast and rescue the victim. Ah...! But, now you're a demon! Suppose you kill the animal with your newfound strength... You crush it barehanded!: I can see that happening.: The human would then fear you, since you had proven yourself more powerful than a wild animal!: So is any rando with a gun.: With your demonic strength, you can no longer be human. You are more dangerous than a wild animal...: Whatever, dude. *: There are some pretty wimpy encounters in here, somehow. We find Dr. Dark in the southern portion of the area, and he would charge 20000 Macca. Pass!  Another ladder down. I have half a mind to climb back up and try the eastern ladder on the ladies' floor, but let's see where this goes first.   : They test various attributes and may even kill a demon if they are inclined to do so. Some will ask for specific demons. If you want to go on ahead, be sure to bring a variety of demons with you.  *: The door goes through our demons just like Shige did. Lilith has a Magic of 30, so I let her try.  : Your comrade's magic is admirable indeed... You may pass.*: It reveals a corridor with a regular door and another golden door. I assume the regular door is a way back in case you can't pass the golden one.  *: Horus passes the test with 26 Agility.   quote:Lv60 Avatar Barong  quote:Lv75 Wilder Hresvelgr   : I'm really-*: GOD DAMMIT. : I closed it! I swear! : I CAN FEEL GREAT POWER FROM THIS DOOR, WHICH LEADS BELOW... SOMETHING EVEN STRONGER THAN BEELZEBUB...: That's weird, I'm not underneath this floor.: IF YOU CHOOSE TO PROCEED, BE CAREFUL.*: There is indeed a ladder nearby, but I know I want to keep checking out those doors.  *: I'm pretty sure only Beelzebub can open this door.  *: Albion's 25 Vitality passes.  *: Black Frost's 28 Luck is enough.  : Hee ho!: Hmm.: Sakahagi seems to be the obvious choice.: gently caress you.: You cannot deny that your soul is black!: HEE HO!: I'm not denyin' it, it's black as hell. I just felt like cussing at you.: But is it the blackest?: Pick me! Pick me! I'm the hee ho blackest!: What about Famine here?: Hmmmmmmnnnnaaaaahhh, too obvious.: I can't believe one of the Labyrinth's riddles would require the Demi-fiend to have turned one of his greatest opponents into an ally.: I can believe it! Pick me! PICKMEPICKMEPICKMEHEEPICKMEHOPICK-: Maybe I could get the Minister to summon me up a Will o' Wisp or something, it can't be that expensive. They're all soul and all black, right?: Weren't they kind of purplish though?: STEP ASIDE, HEE HO PEASANTS! MAKE WAY FOR THE EMPEROR!: Hey! What are you-: You have with you a comrade as black as night... You may pass.: ...!: You have got to be shittin' me.: Hee ho! Behold the Emperor of Darkness!: Welp, I know better than to argue with a door in the bowels of hell. All hail the Emperor!*: That one in fact is for Black Frost alone to open. It reveals two Chests; one has five Beads of Life, the other has five Great Chakras. All hail the Emperor!  : Oh wow, I think I've finally discovered the fabled Evernope! Thank you so much!: ...so does that mean...?: That's right! Nope! Forever! *: I know who can open this door, but we haven't met him yet.  *: Albion comes through for us again, with his 25 Strength.  : Ah, now that's an easy one.: You know it!: You have with you a mighty comrade... You may pass. : Um, are you alright? : Considering you're a god, that's kinda scary.: !!   : You're... you! Wow! It's... nice to have you back. : I've been right here by your side from the very beginning.: I definitely haven't forgotten. : Well, if you don't want to...: I'm Pixie of the Fairy clan. Please take care of me... : You know I will, as good as you've taken care of me.: I think I'm gonna puke.: IT'S TIME FOR SILENCE! OR IS IT TIME FOR VIOLENCE? BA-BOOOOOOM!: Ow! Alright, alright! Forget I said anything!*: This is why we kept her lineage all this time: so we could get her back. But there's more to our dear stalwart Pixie than meets the eye!  Horus was falling behind in levels again, but I didn't worry too much about it because, well. Yeah. That's a 30 in all stats, which is enough to open any door down here of course. I'll probably get a Nigi Mitama to give her Elec Boost, and then at least one other Mitama to fill up these skill slots. That'll have to wait for another free ally slot, though.  Apart from the mystery ally door and the Beelzebub door, that seems to be all for this level, though I suspect more of it is accessible from that other ladder on B1. Let's try going down for now, though.   quote:Lv43 Holy Baihu *: Sakahagi levels up and learns Void Force, which I let replace Dark Might since he's pretty fragile. In the same battle, Lilith learns Allure, which attempts to Charm the entire enemy group. We find the ladder again and descend.   : I gotta hand it to you, you take rejection well. But not well enough! *: Hmm. We turn back. We've done a bunch of exploring, I absolutely want to drop a save, and we still have a branch of the place to investigate. We turn back and climb back up, all the way to the Terminal. In fact we go heal up in Ginza before going back down.  Youch, Surt is a random enemy now. A bit later on, Zed passes on learning Avenge from Gaea. Aaaaand we're back. Now for that eastern B1 ladder. Soon on B2, we run into another golden door.  : If you are a true demon, then you may see what lies beyond this door.: Well, that's the moment of truth, I guess.*: The door opens. Huh.  Oh wow, a random Aciel.  Hmm. It's just a bunch of empty corridors. Maybe the door opens for anyone, but only a true demon sees whatever there is to see? We turn back. Dante learns Bullet-Time, his group-hitting physical move that can inflict Panic. I let it replace Intimidate.  Ah, I was hoping we'd find this.  Does it only lead to a Burial Chamber?  Yyyyup. One for Mithra, and one for a foe yet to be vainquished. It looks like that's it for this branch, so we climb up, then back down again.  Whew. Alright. Zed ingests Sophia for immunity to Expel, and we summon Odin, Titania, and Wu Kong. Cutscene + Boss battle: The envoy: So. That just happened.: You know, when someone comes to me with angel problems, I usually give them Bayonetta's number, I can't be bothered. But that, that was a rad fight.: drat, did you see that? He was all like, "oooh oooh I'm basically god, lick my butthole", and then I yelled at him and he was all "oh poo poo I'm actually losing"! What a puss, hahaha!: I would not put it in these exact words, but...: It certainly was a masterfully executed strategy.: We whupped him, you mean.: Yes, we... whupped him.: Still, that's another one I couldn't have beat without you all. Well fought, as always.quote:Seraph Metatron *: Metatron is a bit of a mirror image to Beelzebub, especially in how he resists everything except Ice damage (on top of boss immunities). He goes easy on you at the start of the fight, mostly sticking to Holy Wrath, Mahamaon and basic attacks, and meticulously stripping away buffs and debuffs as you apply them. It goes without saying that Expel immunity is very valuable here. For his second phase, his typical turn is either Makakaja followed by Megidolaon, or Tarukaja followed by a basic attack; he'll also throw in the occasional Debilitate. He does seem much more intent on killing you at this point, and he'll almost certainly succeed if you let him max out his stats, but he also puts much less priority on using Dekaja and Dekunda, making it more than worth it to start stacking your own buffs and debuffs. For his final phase, he gains his signature move, Fire of Sinaď. It's a randomly-hitting Almighty spell (similar to Glacial Blast or Berserk), which can ravage you if the buffs aren't in your favor, but is more or less insignificant if they are.    I've been here before, long ago. Not a place like this one. This exact place. I had no idea. None whatsoever. Do I have a clue today? *: The encounter gauge is blue. The path is clear. No one will stop us.     : Yours is an existence unbound by this world, and for that reason, you have infinite potential. Will the battle with god occur as our master wishes...? Or, will we forever remain in waiting, while history repeats itself? : You may ask.: Very well. It is true that all living things must perish... Bound by the invisible threads of fate, humans die tragic deaths... Does that seem fair to you? If you lost a loved one in a horrible accident, would you curse god?: ...: ..................... There's no need to answer. But, if you feel that fate has cheated you... then go and see our master. Yes... Though long frozen, time shall flow again... towards the final battle.    This is it. This is the edge of the precipice. There is no more information to gather. No more wait-and-see. Noah, Baal Avatar, Ahriman and their followers are climbing the tower even as I stand down here. All of them competing to see whose Reason is the most wretched. They will fail, of course. That's beyond question at this point. They'll fail because I'll kill them. I've killed gods before. I know how. It's deceptively simple. But who will I be when I kill them? Will I kill them as a human, or will I kill them as a demon? I could turn back right now. I could turn back and climb my way out of this pit and into the sky. I could annihilate these gods, and stand before Kagutsuchi, and force it to create a world without a Reason. I know I could, rules be damned. It would be a world made from a whole human, not just from the worst parts of one. Not just from the parts that run away into the darkness when pain comes knocking. Not just from the parts that lash out in hatred when they feel wounded. Not just from the parts that pretend their desires don't exist when they look within and are terrified by what they find there. But... This would all happen again, wouldn't it? Sooner or later, someone would find the accursed Scripture of Miroku again. There would be another Maiden. There would be another Conception. Another Vortex World. There would be another Demi-fiend. I could descend right now. I could plunge into this abyss, and emerge with the power to put an end to this abominable cycle. I've already proved I'm a capable leader of demons, in any case. Of course I'd be playing into the old man's hands, this old man who took my Reason from me before it was even born. But if our goals align, what does it matter, in the end? How many rebirths has this world gone through? How many trillions of lives, extinguished in the blink of an eye? How many more will die if this keeps going on? And for what? What kind of cruel being would put so many through so much horror, without even telling them why? Could there ever be a good enough reason for all this death in the first place? The old man wants to find out. I wouldn't mind having the answer either. It's just a question of paying the price. My humanity, and the next world. How much do those weigh in the face of the infinite churning genocide engine of the Amala Universe? But if this one world doesn't matter, why would any other world matter more? Why would my world have to be the one to end, to truly end? Is it my place to decide whether to pay this price? Even now, am I human enough to have the right to make this sacrifice in everyone else's name? I don't know. It would be crazy to pretend to know. But I know I can't stand here forever. I can turn back, hold on to what humanity I've got left, fight this odious Conception on my own terms, and choose the Path of Creation. I can descend, claim the demonic strength to bring war to whoever is orchestrating this madness, and choose the Path of Destruction. Lucifer is watching. FrankZP fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Feb 15, 2016 |
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Feb 10, 2016 19:38
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We walk the Path of Creation. Francois has lost his innocence, but he has not lost his humanity. To give up the rest of it to the devil would make him worse than any of the warped humans he's encountered so far. They were beaten about and run ragged, but even they had hopes to escape the wretchedness somehow, even if at heart they were nothing but selfish motives. If he truly joins Lucifer, then he has without a doubt taken upon the spirit of chaos not in a dream for something greater, but willingly out of despair to plunge everything into destruction out of some misguided purpose borne of his misery, casting aside any notion of his noble righteousness in resisting the machinations of those around him, as well as forgetting the stubborn idealism that enabled him to survive in the first place.
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Feb 10, 2016 20:02
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Destroy this accursed cycle, utterly. Human, or demon, it doesn't matter. All that matters is, here and now, we have the power to end the wholesale slaughter of untold billions of trillions of people across the multiverse. Will we really walk away from that, to let God's damnable puppet show happen once again, over and over and over and over for the rest of time? To let Hijiri be reborn each time to struggle pointlessly then simply die a pointless death? To place the fates of whole worlds into the hands of madmen, for only madmen have shown themselves this time around? I think not.
GilliamYaeger fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Feb 10, 2016 |
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Feb 10, 2016 20:31
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...Sorry Lucy. As much as I think you're the chillest dude in the whole of the amalaverse...We walk the path of creation. Francois...he may have long since lost his innocence in the world from this hellhole, but he's the best chance humanity has to a good future. Even if the conception keeps happening. Even if we keep going through the paces of the Amala universe as a whole...we need to keep our humanity...we can't play into Lucifer's hands. Freedom is one thing...being on a leash, chained to the old gently caress is another entirely.
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Feb 10, 2016 20:32
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Everything that makes up the Vortex World, all its rules about creation and reasons, all of the Manikins who were doomed to suffer, all the people who were sacrificed, everything Hijiri has been and will go through, all of this has happened because of the great will of Kagatsuchi. Hikawa may have caused the Conception to happen early, but it was an inevitability. If you choose the path of creation then you simply leave the door open for any other dumb prick, drunk with power and an inflated ego to shape the world and decide the future of everybody else. And while it's hopeful to say that maybe someone will create a good world, we have seen what that power has done to people. Ms. Takao wants Francois to be free. Not just in the choice you make, but the life he lives. So long as Kagatsuchi, Conception, Creation, this entire Vortex World, so long as any of this exists, he won't truly be free. Besides, some of the most loyal companions and best friends Francois has had are demons. Despite all the eccentricities, they're a pretty great bunch. And I'm pretty sure that, since he's already part demon, choosing creation would probably be worse than destruction. I mean, he doesn't have a Reason. What would Kagatsuchi permit him to create without Reason? Would anything even be created at all? Would he end up no different than Hijiri? At least with destruction there is a pretty clear idea what will happen. And as far as Conception goes, choosing to destroy everything is about as close to a Reason as Francois will be allowed to have. It may not be ideologically better than Chiaki, Isamu, or Hikawa, but in the Vortex World, can any Reason ever hope to be pure? If we can't choose to make a world, and we know Kagatsuchi won't allow that, then the best thing we can do is to make sure that nobody abuses this power to subjugate others to Reasons like Shijima, Yosuga, or Musubi. We have cursed God already both literally, and figuratively by lighting the candelabra. Somehow, I don't think choosing creation will make him overlook these transgressions. It is in our best interest to walk the Path of Destruction.
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Feb 10, 2016 20:48
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The only choice is the Path of Destruction. There is no nobility in simply delaying the conception. We would consciously be choosing to participate in this cycle, a perpetual motion machine powered by genocide, a wheel that breaks entire worlds beneath it's churning. There is no nobility in valuing our "humanity" as some lofty abstract. We've seen true greatness and true horror come from both humans and demons in this world, and goddamn if anyone can deny humans didn't do a hundred times worse when we had a world to ourselves, with no demons to blame. You can talk all you want about playing into Lucifer's hand, but the other choice isn't to live a life of freedom on our own terms, it's just to play into God's hand instead. And we've seen what is done in his name. But if one player in the great game just wants us to help him win, and the other wants end the game forever, well...everything changes, yeah? That is to say, everything dies. We have to do our part, not turn a blind eye. Mover fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Feb 10, 2016 |
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Feb 10, 2016 20:57
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Walk the path of creation Lucifer's a jackass who has been using you like all the rest. He dropped a bug in your eye! The only thing to do is the one thing none of them want you to do. Make your own thing, even if it's the old thing! And if they say you can't because you're a demon, well, screw them!
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Feb 10, 2016 21:02
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Let us walk the path of Creation. It may play somewhat into ole' Gods plan but at least we've put everything back the way it was. I can't think of a better way to spite our friend Widow's Peak.
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Feb 10, 2016 21:20
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I changed my vote below, I hope that's okay? YggiDee fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Feb 11, 2016 |
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Feb 10, 2016 21:29
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I'd say we should walk the Path of Creation. Someone else pointed out earlier back how Lucifer's been using us as a puppet and turned Francois into a demon, and what's to say he won't do the same thing again later on? Besides, Hikawa getting spited by having the world get remade thanks to our own freedom would be pretty great.
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Feb 10, 2016 21:34
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The Path of Creation Was the old world really that bad, plus it's not like Lucifers world will really be all that better.
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Feb 10, 2016 21:43
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The Path of Destruction. People are saying we're playing into Lucifer's hands, but even without his power we can kill gods. If he wants to pull something, what's to stop us from killing him too? 
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Feb 10, 2016 21:46
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All of the Images seem to be broken on my end- is anyone else seeing that?
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Feb 10, 2016 22:06
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Thyself D. Mad posted:All of the Images seem to be broken on my end- is anyone else seeing that?
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Feb 10, 2016 22:08
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Destroy. Lucifer's right on this one, as far as I'm concerned. Break the cycle.
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Feb 10, 2016 22:12
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Still undecided, but a neat thing about fighting Metatron here is that in some apocrypha he's considered to be the prophet Enoch, transcended into an angel at god's side (Sandalphon in Elijah, as an aside). Which means that if the demi-fiend goes ahead with becoming a demon, he becomes a chaos mirror to Metatron.
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Feb 10, 2016 22:29
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If somebody's invited you for a visit, it's pretty rude to show up to their doorstep just to turn around and walk away. And besides, can Francois really find it in himself to disappoint an old gentleman like Louis here? Let's be polite and Destroy
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Feb 10, 2016 23:01
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We are become death, destroyer of worlds. Whatever world we create is doomed to die. That's the nature of life. And it might be nice, for a change, but it would be temporary. Sooner or later, another Demi-Fiend is going to have to make this hard choice. Let's take responsibility for the world. Taking the path of creation now just puts the burden on someone else's shoulders, and that's not who we are.
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Feb 10, 2016 23:02
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We will walk the Path of Creation The multiverse shows that not all is lost each time this cycle is repeated. It is tragic, when humanity turns on itself. But the alternative is mindless rage directed in the short term. Say we break the cycle by casting down everyone involved. What then? Humans will likely never be born again. Demons will turn in on themselves and destroy each other for good. All that's left is the void. Without creation, we drat everything to oblivion. Silence in its purest form, in which there is no meaning, no life, no further existence. That must be avoided at all costs.
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Feb 10, 2016 23:03
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Just going to point out; if you read between the line everything that's happened so far in this game is directly Lucifer's fault. Hikwawa was a high person in the Gaian hierarchy, but not the leader yet he was able to suddenly find the prophecy that spoke of the Conception. Nobody in either that Gaia Cult of the Messian Order saw it somehow. All the demons that support Hikawa tend to be fallen angels and twisted divinities and they Reason that Hikawa supports is in direct contradiction to how normally they behave (Note that even though Chiaki has Angels on her side the Oni and other generic chaos demon support her). Hikawa stated that the prophecy foretold that the Demi-fiend will be the one deciding the fate of the Conception, but Lucifer implanted the Magatama specifically to have a new demon general to serve him in the crusade against YHVH. Why do Forneus and the Marquises and Dukes of hell support Hikawa? How did he know about the Conception and the Demi-fiend role in it? It all points out to Lucifer setting it from the very beginning. Hell, even the info dumps in the Amala Labyrinth come just at the right time after the Main character can't do anything about the knowledge and specifically shows the hypocrisy of the system and the people who partake it (Why else did Lucifer added that cheap shot at Aradia for?) in order to turn the Demi-fiend to his side. Really, if choosing a Hkawa's Reason is being a chump then Lucifer's path is being the biggest tool in the block. EDIT: Lucifer looks affable and amiable on the surface but he has no problems treating everyone as a tool for his plans. I am pretty sure that this is a repeated motif through most of the SMT games. SITB fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Feb 10, 2016 |
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Feb 10, 2016 23:05
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Dang, lotsa fascinating responses so far, I am not disappointed! Aight, I've figured out how I'm gonna roll with this. I'll start working on the next informative intermission soon, but I have no reason to close the poll until I actually start playing again, so it'll stay open until probably a day or two after the next update. Considering how much more contested the question has been so far, I suspect this isn't gonna be superfluous! It might give some people time to catch up for the end too, if they've fallen behind. Shitenshi posted:It's not just you. It's off and on, but I usually noticed it just happens on Firefox. No problems with IE though, big fuckin surprise right there. And it's not just this particular update, it's the whole thread, minus the hyperlinked portions to other pages. Aw man, I knew my host had slow days, but I didn't know it occasionally straight up gave up serving images. Maybe it'll get better as the initial update traffic mellows up? It's certainly weird that using different browsers or viewing from the test site makes a difference, but I don't know enough about that sort of thing to explain why that is. I've used lpix at some point, but the way it generates file names doubles the time it takes me to format updates. At any rate, my resources are limited but I'll give the issue some thought. ManlyGrunting posted:Still undecided, but a neat thing about fighting Metatron here is that in some apocrypha he's considered to be the prophet Enoch, transcended into an angel at god's side (Sandalphon in Elijah, as an aside). Which means that if the demi-fiend goes ahead with becoming a demon, he becomes a chaos mirror to Metatron. Ha, we sure would have knocked Beelzebub off the number two spot in the most Yosuga way possible. 
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Feb 10, 2016 23:16
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Gotta throw my support behind Destruction.
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Feb 10, 2016 23:21
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Destruction. This place sucks, and someone needs to pay.
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Feb 10, 2016 23:47
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SITB posted:Just going to point out; if you read between the line everything that's happened so far in this game is directly Lucifer's fault. All Lucifer did was ensure that the Conception would be kicked off while his potential Demi-Fiend was still in the prime of his life. Regardless of his actions, the Conception would have happened sooner or later - and would have probably killed the still-human Demi-Fiend when it did go off.
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Feb 10, 2016 23:47
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We'll walk the Path of Creation. There's more than just death in the universe, whatever Lucifer would like us to believe. Even in a hellhole that is the Vortex World. We made it this far remembering that. Lucifer wants to throw away all of creation for his grudge, to become a master of a dead battlefield. I don't think he even wants to create a world of his own concept - the only thing we know he made is our demonic nature, a tool for his revenge. I think he'd be content to rule over a void, as long as it was his void, or specifically not God's void. I'm not a particular fan of God, either, but he has been remarkably quiet in this game. It seems that he just set the rules and left us to our own devices, which is surprisingly chill for him, especially for this series.
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Feb 11, 2016 00:02
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Samael posted:I really hope he aligns himself with Lucifer though. Most of the friends he has had in this world have been demons, why not help them out a bit? Isamu, Chiaki and Hikawa are complete douchenozzles and Hijiri and Yuko were pretty much using the MC for their own ideals and reasons. And Lucifer isn't? SITB already explained how the events of pretty much the whole game have been Lucifer manipulating Francois to the point where he'll choose to go full demon and join Lucifer in tearing the system down. And a lot of folks have been making noises about how terrible the system is, with untold people dying in its machinations. The thing is, though, isn't that real life? Every single one of us will die. Everyone ever will die. Everything ever will die, and in the end there will be no trace, no legacy, nothing but undifferentiated stuff. Absolutely everything we have done or will do in this world will be undone... and while you may have faith in a world after this, it can't be proven. But we don't end it early, or at least most of us don't. If existence has no meaning, then nonexistence is equally meaningless. We live because we want to live, because we have things we want to do with our lives, however noble or base. The vast majority of people who have ever lived and will ever live will, for the vast majority of their lives, wish to keep on living. And if we could choose between having the universe simply end, or have it be reborn, even if nothing of us would survive into the next cycle... well, I know what I'd choose. Lucifer would have us destroy everything, with no word of what, if anything, he would replace it with. I reject destruction. And if we're refused the opportunity to recreate the world... well. We're not doing too shabby in this one, are we?
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Feb 11, 2016 00:24
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The Path of Creation It's the loving devil, he tricked you into being here, and he's basically just another rear end in a top hat like the idiots with the Reasons. Why would anyone think he'd be any different?
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Feb 11, 2016 00:30
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The Path of Creation There's gotta be a way to turn it on its head without Lucifer.
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Feb 11, 2016 00:46
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The Path of Creation offers the best chance of sticking it to ALL these assholes.
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Feb 11, 2016 00:59
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We should walk the path of creation. Everyone before me has voiced concerns about Lucifer's motives (understandably) but to me the answer to the dilemma is this: we're just one person, and we don't have the right to decide for all of humanity what their fate should be. If we took up his offer, that would make us just as bad as any of the other Reason leaders. And if God or whoever decides that the new world isn't good enough, they'd have to get past us first! Edit: But mainly this: tiercel posted:The Path of Creation offers the best chance of sticking it to ALL these assholes.
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Feb 11, 2016 01:04
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tiercel posted:The Path of Creation offers the best chance of sticking it to ALL these assholes. Also, I can only guess that Metatron is a robot because Metatron.
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Feb 11, 2016 01:06
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The Path of Creation It would be very easy for you to take Lucifer's offer and gain unimaginable power. Take the elevator, listen to the Devil's assistant ramble for a bit, and become his right-hand man. You might be able to put an end to everything, you might not. In either case, you would become the most powerful demon in existence. But you're not a demon. You're a human. Don't you have a home to go back to? Maybe you have a little nephew who was just learning how to walk? And all that homework isn't going to finish itself. So, no, don't accept the plan of the Prince of Lies. You walk out the door, kill Hikawa's silly god, then punch out Isamu and Chiaki and let them know you'll see them at school tomorrow.
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Feb 11, 2016 01:07
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FrankZP posted:
I laughed.  Probably reminds Horus of what happened to his father.And now that we've faced Metatron, I think this is obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOeAcGHKms Anyway, our path must be The Path of Destruction. We cannot turn a blind eye to the endless atrocity of this cycle of creation. It must be overthrown entirely, or we're just kicking things down the road. We're in the unique position to become powerful enough that even YHVH and Lucifer themselves will have to take notice. Our only alternative will just lead us back to being one of those trillions of faceless victims as some point in the future.
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Feb 11, 2016 01:13
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Actually I'm going to change my vote. I'm usually Raaargh Destroy in SMT games but I'm finding the thread arguments pretty compelling. I retract my previous choice for the Path of Creation.
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Feb 11, 2016 01:35
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It is a provable constant in SMT: Lucifer is less of an rear end in a top hat than YHWH. (Interesting side note for noobs, YHWH is short for Yehowah, or God's Jewish name. We shorten it to avoid offending religious people. ) So let's destroy. Rend, slaughter, devour our enemies! We cannot escape our hunger, for we are children of Purgatory!
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Feb 11, 2016 01:51
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Destruction.
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Feb 11, 2016 02:09
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Junpei posted:Rend, slaughter, devour our enemies! We cannot escape our hunger, for we are children of Purgatory! OTOH, this is a better game, so we should choose creation.
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Feb 11, 2016 02:13
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Let's go with creation.
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Feb 11, 2016 02:18
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alcharagia posted:OTOH, this is a better game What do you have against Digital Devil Saga?
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Feb 11, 2016 02:20
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