Etna's Secret

We start off tonight with Etna telling Flonne a story the angel doesn't fully understand. Etna said she kicked someone "right there," but the innocent Flonne doesn't know what that means. Eventually, though, the two notice a picture, an embarrassing picture. It's an embarrassing picture of Laharl! The girls (women? They're over 1000 years old, but they don't seem adult to me) burst out laughing as they didn't know he was into that. The Prince comes in and gets immediately humiliated. On the back of the picture is a message telling him to come to Jotenheim to participate in an Overlord challenge. We make off to another frozen landscape!

Stage one has us fighting nine imps. It wouldn't be hard, except every square has three Geo Crystals affecting it. One is defense up 50%, and a second is attack down 50%. I don't think poison is affected by either of those, so don't expect to win a long, drawn out, boring battle. To further ruin that plan, the third Geo Crystal has the effect Ally Damage 20%, so all of our characters will lose 20% of their HP every turn. Destroy the 20% one first by throwing a character or two over to it. Head for the next closest Crystal to it (Attack), and take out any imps you can along the way. Everyone will come at you here, regardless of proximity.

Stage Two happens after a strange ambush. Several hobbits show up and say kind words of encouragement. It turns out, this is one of Laharl's weaknesses. Every time they speak, Laharl shudders in pain. Flonne almost takes him out when she says her favorite word, "Eternal Love," as though she didn't just see the boy cry. Laharl's stats are, apparently, lower for the next set of battles, but I hardly saw anything. If they were, it's unfortunate as this battle was pretty hard. The hobbits around the spawn point aren't hard, but those gunners in the back will kill ya. There's also a ninja who has high evasion, so good luck. Bring range, Prinny Barrage, and Etna. That's all I know. Afterwards, we see a scene with Lamington speaking to the unknown voice again. The two discuss, presumably, what's happening to Laharl and co., and the unknown voice doesn't think this event will hinder their plan. He will aid in some way, though.
Stage Three is an odd one. To set the scene, we're beset upon by gigantically busted women (succubus) and catgirls whose attire makes Etna look like someone you'd introduce to your grandma. As luck would have it, gigantic boobs are another weakness for Laharl. "Coincidentally, flat-chested women like [Etna and Flonne] have no effect." The two sarcastically apologize for being flat but are, as you should guess, upset at the slight. Rage subsides as a vampire, complete with a Transylvanian accent, teleports into the scene. After some back and forth, it's revealed that this is the voice Etna was talking to in chapter one, Maderas. Maderas was an old vessel of the King, but he was exiled when he stole Black Pretzels, the King's favorite snack. He's been using Etna as a spy and was the reason Laharl slept for two years. She tried to kill him and has been gaining intel about the Prince ever since. All of this is so Maderas can become Overlord. To do so, he stole Etna's memories and has been using them as a carrot to manipulate her. However, because he's evil, he says the game is up and tells his sexy bodied assassins to kill Etna as well. The battle here makes no sense. The entire battlefield is affected by an Invincible Geo Crystal. To remove the effect, throw it onto the green square. While you throw a character over to it, the mobs will attack your character. But we're still invincible. Try to set up your characters so that three tanks guard your weaker characters near the spawn point. There's a three pronged fork nearby that's perfect for this. Throw the mobs out of the way to gather again and hope your furthest character (Laharl) can survive. Once everything was set up, I only lost one character because Xander is so, so, very fragile. The succubi can drain health, so focus them if you can. Alternatively, get two characters to the Crystal and have one throw the Crystal off the red squares when your team attacks. The other can throw it back on when you're done.
The Final Stage happens after Maderas uses all of the Prince's weaknesses at once. Suddenly, Mid-boss shows up and gives an over poetic strategy to overcome them. To make it short, close you're eyes and ears. I don't know he'd fight under those conditions, but it works. While he's deafened, Etna reveals she's been using the Prince as bait to get her memories back and revenge on the vampire! Laharl hears this somehow and quips in. She promises Maderas he'll pee his pants whenever he thinks of her after this, and the battle begins.

The battle music is great, but it's way too short! Anyway, take out the scantly clad women, who should be pretty easy to deal with. Because the battlefield is so narrow, Maderas, at the back, has to go a long way to reach us. That gives us time to kill the Ice Golem. Try not to stand in a line near him, or else you'll get Golem Cannoned. Ultimately, Maderas himself is pretty simple. Try not to get your healer killed, and she should be able to heal off any of his physical damage. His special move can be a problem, and I didn't get the attack targeters because the battlefield is so odd. I know it's ranged, though, so get as close to him as you can.

When the snow stops flying, Maderas begs for his life. He pathetically gives Etna her memories back and flatters his way to forgiveness. He then joins the party. Just as Laharl goes to tell off Etna for all the things she did to him, he suddenly says how great she is! That go-getter attitude is really welcome in Hell, it seems. He promises to make her Overlord if he can't fulfill his duties or dies, and Etna says she will. Flonne is slightly confused but decides that this must be how demons show love.

And that's how the chapter ends...Mid-boss totally doesn't say anything else, and no one totally forgot about him. Was he even there?

The next chapter skit has baby 1st grader Etna talking about her future career options. At least until she says all the boys will be her slaves! I wonder what episode six of Evolutionary Magical Girl Etna, "Curse you, Flonne!," will be about?

There's another ending here. If we killed 100 allies, we get the option to kill Maderas too. Etna becomes the hero, apparently. Also, is Mid-boss a friend of Lamington? What's the connection between the two, or is there something more here? How does the artist formerly known as Dark Adonis keep being in places he shouldn't?