Legend of Legaia - Part 14 - Death Do Us Part

 

ah yes, Voz Forest recolor

Welcome back to more Legend of Legaia.  Last time, we explored the kingdom of Ratayu in hopes of finding the Genesis Tree, and have found that it is placed on Mt. Letona.  Today, we are going to climb said mountain and free the people of Ratayu from the mist’s grasp!

 

As we climb up Mt. Letona, our Ra-seru friends confirm that a Genesis Tree is closeby, perhaps at the summit.  But something seems off about the energy it’s emitting, according to them.  Our heroes can only hope that the tree is safe as they head upwards.

But before that, we got some new monsters here, so let’s check them out.

that seru looks wheel silly :P

 

Hell’s Rat is much like the Kabuki Rat we’ve encountered before.  It can also steal from your inventory, so take it down before it tries to run away.  Mushura is a new seru and a new elemental type as well: earth.  This oversized wheel isn’t too dangerous to deal with, so just hit it with your best moves.  Remember to equip an Ivory Book if you’re trying to capture it.

these frogs open up their mouths like a trashcan

 

We still got some more palette swaps here, such as this Frog King.  We’ve faced a version of this before, you know how to deal with it.  Just be careful of its upgraded Toxic Tongue though, as it can inflict toxic on a party member.  Lip King is much like the other Lippians you’ve faced before.  Its Kiss of Death is just as annoying as usual, but Noa can usually outspeed this monster.  Otherwise, just hit it with whatever you can.

Mt. Letona has a bit of branching pathways before the summit, but they do have some treasure for you to pick up.

 

In the first fork on the road, head left to find 2 chests containing a Wisdom Ring (raises intelligence by 20%) and a Magic Leaf.   

 

By heading north, there’s a cave entrance, and another passage to the right.  Go through the cave and follow the winding path to find a Guardian Water. 

 

If we head to the right outside from the cave, we can follow the path and find another chest along the way containing a Power Ring (raises strength by 20%).

The path will lead you to another cave.  A straightforward maze is in here.  If you take the path leading downwards, it’ll take you to an area containing an Incense and a Healing Bloom.

I was lazy and didn't screencap the cave maze, so have Vahn looking at those chests

 

To progress through the maze, keep taking the north path.  The following path should take you next to a save point (don’t forget to grab the Wisdom Water and Healing Fruit along the way).

save your game

 

Save your game and head back to rest up, if necessary – we’ve got a boss coming up.

We head outside and find we’ve reached the summit of Mt. Letona.  The Genesis Tree must be nearby!  

Darn, Reno must've casted Pyramid on the Genesis Tree

 

Our heroes climb upwards, and indeed they find the tree… but there is some kind of barrier preventing our heroes from approaching it.  Noa tries to touch it, but is immediately knocked back from the shock.  There seems to be nothing we can do to reach the tree.

Before we head any further, there’s a chest in one corner of here containing a Magic Fruit.  Be sure to pick that up!

With no way to revive the Genesis Tree, our only option seems to be to head back down, but as soon as we do that, we are quickly interrupted by an all too familiar voice.

 

It's Songi!  He returns to mock our heroes once again.  Gala realizes that it was Songi who’s responsible for putting up that barrier.  Songi insults Gala once again, and offers the party a deal: he will disable the barrier if our heroes can defeat him in a fight.

 

With that, Songi transforms, and the seru on his arm grows into a more grotesque form, as we enter a fight!

 

Songi has decided to take our entire party on, rather than a one-on-one fight from last time.  And let me tell you: you’re gonna need all the help you can get; Songi is much, much more powerful than the last time you’ve met him.  His regular attacks do a decent amount of damage (about 300 damage total), but sometimes he’ll add a Hyper attack in his string of attacks, doing a bit more damage.

ouchie ouch

 

The main concern with him is his Hyper Lightning attack, which can do about 800 damage to one party member!  A terrifyingly strong attack that can catch you off guard if not prepared.  Hyper Lightning is elec elemental, so a Madlight Jewel is recommended to bring for this fight, should you find the attack hard to survive.
I say that, but again: I forgot to equip one…

Some good news though: all of Songi’s attacks are only single-target, so the damage won’t be so widespread.  However, Songi has a ton of HP, so this fight can drag on quite a bit.  Songi himself is dark elemental.  Unfortunately, we don’t have any light based attacks at this point, so we’re just gonna have to hit him hard the old fashioned way.  Spirit up, hit with your best combos, and heal when necessary.

An interesting note I wanna add: spamming hyper arts may not necessarily do optimal damage.  For example: in this battle here, I used Noa’s Vulture Blade followed by Sonic Javelin and Blizzard Bash.  However, I managed to deal more damage with Tempest Break followed by Rushing Gale.  Granted, those 2 regular arts are really strong as is, but experiment with different moves!  See what works and see what doesn’t.

 

But with enough damage done, Songi gives, and expresses to the party how glad he is to see our heroes get stronger.  He honors his word and lifts the barrier around the Genesis Tree (which is a bit surprising, might I add; didn’t expect Songi to be a man of his word).  He tells our heroes to grow stronger, and runs off.

 

With nothing left between our heroes and the Genesis Tree, Vahn, Noa, and Gala head towards the tree and awaken it.  The radiant light dispels the mist from all of Ratayu.

OH MAN HERE WE GO AGAIN

 

However, awakening the Genesis Tree here won’t solve the problem in Vidna, as Gala states.  

 

 If we’re going to get rid of the mist there, we must stop the Mist Generator in Sebucus Islands.  There’s another gate in Ratayu to the west that may lead us to the generator, but we may need to ask Saryu once again for his help.  So for now, let’s head down the mountain.

 

Also: remember to teach Gala a new hyper art with the Thunder Book II you just got from defeating Songi.

Now… usually I’d stop right here.  We just beat a big boss, and we just revived the Genesis Tree.  Seems like a good place to stop, right?  Well… I feel this part would be a bit short if I stopped here, so let’s continue!

 

Our heroes return to Ratayu, but we’re not exactly given a hero parade like we have in other places.  It seems like the people have their own problem at hand.  Namely: something called the Seru Bride.

By talking to the people around here, it’s revealed that the kingdom of Ratayu has a custom going on.  A woman in the town is chosen to be a Seru Bride, and are taken to the castle.  However, those chosen to be Seru Brides never return.  There also seems to be talk about Juggernaut, a giant seru hidden deep underneath the castle, said to have taken the Seru Brides and absorbing their life.  Sounds like something out of Ookami… perhaps they took reference to the story of Orochi, I guess?

 

Another man here tells us about a different kind of seru: a Sim-Seru.  He describes it as a man-made seru, and it seems they were developing something like that somewhere in the Karisto Kingdom.

now we're starting to hit the 10K gold mark

 

There’s some new equipment for sale in the weapons shop, so do drop by there and buy whatever you can.  There’s also some new accessories in the item shop.

 

Chicken Safe raises defense when running away.  I don’t run from battles that often, so I don’t think I’ll find this accessory useful for me.  The Chicken Guard though is interesting: it prevents enemies from running away.  Having enemies run away from you sucks, as you lose out on the EXP and gold, so having this equipped sounds like a pretty nice thing to have.  It’s not high on my priority list, but if I got some spare cash, I’ll try getting this one.

Anyway, with the dire situation we got in this kingdom, why don’t we take a visit to the castle itself?  After all, Saryu did say he would give us the key to open the west gate if we rid the town of mist.

 

We explore the castle, and the people there are just as gloomy as they are in town.  The soldiers also seem to be acting rather off.

 

One lady here says that they have been brainwashed by Saryu.  Anyway, we finally speak with Saryu.  He thanks us for ridding Ratayu of the mist, but just asks us to leave.

 

No mention of the west gate!  This is very suspicious…

Well, let’s head back to the inn.  The atmosphere isn’t any better here, as we find that someone here is chosen as the next seru bride.

"This dress is also very uncomfortable"

 

We talk to her and she introduces herself as Eliza.  She will soon be taken by the soldiers and suffer the same fate as the others have.  Eliza has no say on the matter, as disobeying Saryu would put her family in danger.

 

Noa protests against this matter, and decides to take her place as the seru bride.  This is a dangerous decision to make… but Noa has proven herself to be a capable fighter, and should something go really wrong, Terra can notify Meta and Ozma of Noa’s situation.  Plus, this could be a good opportunity to see what’s going on in the castle.  So let’s have Noa go with this plan.  Once you’re prepared, talk to Eliza again to proceed with this plan.

 

Noa takes Eliza’s dress and disguises herself as the seru bride.  Soon after, soldiers from the castle arrive to take Noa away.  Eliza seems to regret this decision, as she offered someone else’s life in place of her own, but all Vahn and Gala can do now is to wait.  Meanwhile, the soldiers take the disguised Noa into the castle, past the guarded doors that we could never see past.

I don't like the looks of this place

okay I REALLY don't like the looks of this place

 

The corridors grow darker and darker, until they reach a giant room filled with clear tubes.  Noa looks to her shock another seru bride inside one tube, crying out in pain for help.  But before Noa can do anything, the soldiers shove her closer to their destination.

BAD TOUCH!  STRANGER DANGER!!

 

They reach the destination, in front of a gigantic seru.  This must be the Juggernaut the people were talking about.  The scientists look at Noa as they have found themselves a fine specimen (bad touch alert!).  But next to Noa is another seru bride.

 

Noa tries talking to her, but she barely responds.  Noa keeps trying to call out to her, but can only watch helplessly as a giant appendage raises itself over the bride, and sucks her inside.

Rated E for Everyone

 

The next thing she sees, she finds the seru bride reappearing in another clear tube, much like the bride she saw from before.

Can I just say how disturbing all of this is?  We’ve seen stories where hostages are taken away to be fed by some giant monster, but for this game to go through such lengths and actually show us what happens to the hostages?  That’s pretty messed up.  The way the brides call out for help, how they describe it as being painful, it was honestly really disturbing for me the first time I played this game.

Noa witnesses the horror that just ensued and like any other normal person, decides to “NOPE” out of here.  But she is stopped shortly by Saryu.

 

not even Noa's T-pose can stop Saryu's WRONG

Naturally, this corrupted ruler doesn’t want his brides running off from him, so he orders his soldiers to attack Noa.  Noa gets knocked out by their shock attack, and Saryu prepares her to Juggernaut.

 

Meanwhile, Vahn and Gala receive a message from their ra-serus – Noa is in danger!  So it’s time for the two to crash a wedding!  Vahn and Gala rush through the castle in order to rescue Noa.  But before you head further: equip an Ivory Book on one party member (or both if you have 2 of them).  As we head to the doors leading to the chamber Noa is in, we are stopped by 2 serus.  Active serus outside of the mist?  Not even Ratayu is safe!

good boy x2

 

Kemaro is a brand new seru we’ve encountered, and it’s another earth elemental.  It’s a bit stronger than the usual foes we’ve fought, but it doesn’t have a ton of HP.  I highly, HIGHLY recommend catching this seru at this point if you can; it will give you a huge advantage for a good portion of the game if you do get it.  Fortunately, I managed to get them for both Vahn and Gala! 😀

With the serus tamed, let’s head deeper into the castle.  We reach the pitch black chamber where Noa is being held.  Remember to replace your Ivory Books with a different accessory; we got another boss fight incoming.

GIGA DUNK

 

Our heroes reach Noa in the nick of time!  The giant tube is about to absorb Noa inside, but Gala leaps up and dunks his fist onto the tube, pushing it away.  With the help of Meta and Ozma, Vahn and Gala rejuvenate Noa, restoring her back to normal.

 

Looks like she was wearing the dress on top of her regular clothes… that must be uncomfortable to wear.  Noa thanks Vahn and Gala for coming to her rescue, but it’s cut short as Saryu cuts in, expressing how displeased he is with the sudden turn of events.

 

After expressing how he doesn’t like us, Saryu transforms into a more monstrous form, and attacks!

 

Van Saryu reveals himself, and we must stop him and his heinous Seru Bride plot!  Fortunately, Saryu isn’t too dangerous a boss, compared to Songi.  But with that said, he does have a few tricks up his sleeve.

Van Saryu will mostly do a regular combo attack.  The damage it does isn’t too frightening, so heal it off when necessary.  He also has another attack which he never used in this fight recording: earthquake.  From what I remember, it did moderate earth damage to everyone.  Earth Jewel is a good accessory to bring in this fight if you wanna mitigate that attack’s damage.

Van Saryu starts becoming a real threat when his HP starts getting low.  That’s when he starts to use Jugger Power, a move where he channels Juggernaut’s strength and buffs all of his stats.

 

The defense buff isn’t too much to worry about, but with increased speed, attack, and agility, his regular attacks suddenly become more of a concern.  He can even outspeed Noa at this state!

The usual spirit up and attack strategy works here.  I tried using Swordy here to get a debuff on its speed.  Turns out, it didn’t land!  And I also dealt a certain number of damage here.

uhhh

Uhh… that’s foreboding.  If you got Kemaro, now’s a good time to try out that new spell!  Kemaro will do an amazing amount of damage to this boss.

in my case it did about 1800 damage!

 

If you haven’t hit the 1000 damage threshold yet, this seru will help you do just that.  Van Saryu is dark elemental, so don’t think too hard on elemental affinities.  Just hit him with your best moves and eventually he’ll go down.

I like noa's expression here as the sim seru dies

 

Van Saryu is defeated, and we see his “hat” floating in front of us.  The Ra-Serus explain to our heroes that this hat was actually a Sim-Seru, and it has been controlling Saryu this whole time.  The Sim-seru shatters before our heroes, and Saryu regains his senses.

 

Having realized where he is and what’s happened, he immediately rushes over to the control panel and turns off the devilish machine.  Juggernaut lets out a terrifying roar as it descends underneath the platform, hopefully never to arise again.

 

Back at the throne, Saryu thanks our heroes once again, this time more sincere.  He explains that a man named Dohati gave Saryu that Sim-seru and unwittingly put it on.  Probably under a guise of a cool hat, I’d guess.  Under the control of the seru, his goal was to create as many Juggernauts as he could.  We saw how terrifying that one Juggernaut was, but could you imagine an army of them roaming the world?  That would be catastrophic.  Apparently, Saryu had already created one to completion during that time.  Perhaps that was the one that attacked Rim Elm at the beginning…?

 

Anyway, for saving Saryu and all of Ratayu, Saryu gives our heroes the West Ratayu Key, which will give us access to Dohati’s Castle, where the Mist Generator of Sebucus Islands rests.  Our journey in Sebucus Islands is finally reaching the end!

And with that, I think I will end things here.  We got a lot accomplished in this part!  But next time: we storm Dohati’s Castle and put a stop to the mist on the islands!