Chasing a Madman

I had some work I needed to do first tonight, so I had a very late start. And then I got the ability to sail around the world, so not much happened when I finally got to play. As a matter of fact, so little happened that I'm gonna combine two days into one!

I figured the way through the central pass! There's a scene about Sandra's past when we rest at the summit. She got in a fight with her parents because they didn't want her to be a sailor. She runs away and climbs to the point we're currently at, finding a wounded man at the top. Despite saying she won't help him, we cut to Sandra, hiding the guy with a dumb name in her family's shed. There's some lovey-dovey stuff going on, but we jump ahead to a bright light over the cliff where they met. This scene happens after a quiet Sandra stands before a blank gravemarker. She wakes up the party in her nightmare, and we descend down the mountain.

Throng's field skill can let us bypass jail bars, and I fought an optional boss, Lockdown. After that, I went to Camdren, met back up with Sandra's crew, and set sail across the globe!

I got a few extra items from Signey Town and radiated a few mobs I missed before. I then went back to the Igloo to get an accessory that lowers MP usage by 50%!

And then I called it a night!

But then it was a new day, yes it was!

There's a river north of Colrain. Follow it to its mouth, and you'll see the name of a cave I'm not gonna try to pronounce. Enter it, go through it, and you'll come to the world map. But it's an area we couldn't get to before. Ignore the Abyss since there's nothing there, and keep walking. In time, you'll see a massive fortress.

Our party will scout the area, and it gives them the heeby jeebies. But they still go to find a way in. The only way is locked, but Throng can use his field skill on a nearby window to get past the bars. He'll be alone, but he can walk around to open the door. Try not to fight too often since he's kinda bad.

Once we're all back together, we continue through the fortress. I'm pretty sure everything we have to kill are the Judgement Faction zombie soldiers we've been beating up on for most of the game. Every now and then, the screen will flash. It's minimal at first, but then we reach a strange door. Something triggers in Xero to go through, and he sees something that looks familiar. Confused, he places the Future Stone to his head.

The vision he sees is of him and Asera in the room. Asera is plotting away at a keyboard while Xero waits for something. Soon, Slash and Garin enter, warning us that a band of marauders is coming for them. However, they have all three time stones. Garin gives them to Asera, who tries to science them. Alas, he cannot. In an effort to buy him time, Slash and Garin go to fight the approaching mobs. A slightly bearded Xero is told to stay back to seal the door. Despite the sacrifice, Asera can't accomplish the goal to launch whatever is before us "back to when Barclyss launched" whatever it was that triggered the end of the world. The mob breaks through the door and kills Asera. Xero tries to escape by climbing to the roof, but they get to him anyway. He pleads to wake up from this bad dream...

We return to the present, and Xero tells everyone this is where he dies. Wanting to leave this place, they do. But we're still here to kill Barclyss, so that search continues.

After more walking, we see a group of civilians enter a meeting hall. Judgement Faction soldiers are on either side of them, and Kail is introducing the new members to Barclyss. The newbies think their goals are dumb, so Barclyss, himself, steps up. He informs them that his goal is the opposite of their current existence. For eons, life has only been possible because of an individual's survival ability. But no more! Under Barclyss, the need for survival will end. The only way to accomplish this is to end all life. This causes the audience to panic. As a preamble to the ceremony, Kail brings out Captain Farrell. He says that Farrell is a traitor and will be killed here.

Despite Slash's demands, Xero runs in. Our hero challenges Barclyss to a duel in the hopes of saving Farrell, and he accepts. Sadly, it means nothing as Barclyss kills Farrell before the duel. The duel that never happens...

Glarefrost troops have caught up to us with their cannons. Sandra's crew is also in on this, somehow. Kail asks if they should send the troops, but the general takes this himself.

He stands out on a balcony and waits. Glarefrost and Duran take their shots, and all hit him directly. When the smoke clears, though, he's just fine. His psy shield protected him, but judgeing by the scorch marks, you'd think the keep would have suffered some damage. But that's not important. The undamaged Barclyss jumps into the battle! Like something out of an anime fight scene, Barclyss teleports around and beheads his enemies with ease. Swings of his sword send shockwaves forward, decimating cannons, Sandra's ship, and soldiers alike. While he stands on the battlefield, Enda begins to feel an immense pain. The souls of Barclyss' victims shine on the blood stained sand before turning into Judgement Faction members. Slash uses this as the time to escape.

Xero wants to stay, feeling sorrow for Farrell, but something calls to him in another room. Inside are three Judgement Faction members. We kill two, but the third waves their hands, and a kaleidoscope of colors appears before Xero. It's his mom's special skill... Dumbfounded, Xero can do nothing. Slash enters the room, pushes the boy aside, and kills the zombie. Xero jumps on him, just like he did at the start of the game. Slash eventually gains the upper hand but is unphased by the assault. He drags Xero out to the rest of the group. After a quick scene of terror, we plan to head south to the Tren capitol.

Along the way, we need to pass the Saltwater Tunnel. It's filled with sea monsters that drop a very important crafting item, so farm them. Nothing is too bad, but watch out for Finnys. Get the chests, and make your way through the annoying underwater parts that make you walk so slow. What was the point of it?! There's a boss at the end who goes through phases of sexism. If he glares at the men on your team, don't let the boys attack. The counter will murder them. And the same for the girls.

We'll walk out of the tunnel and come to the world map. We're on the otherside of the bridge we saw near the prison, but it's still out. To the southeast of that is Teyton. We enter the town, and a woman drawing water screams. She points at Burns, remarks that he's back, and runs away. So it looks like our silent monk I haven't used gets some time to shine...

...tomorrow!

I beat the boss at the Wellspring, too. The summon you get from Lockdown is amazing!