The Four Horsemen

Remember Sion? His mantras are really bad.

We're in the Danam town of Lib. Sion had just won the Tower of the Valiant tournament, but he was taken to heaven shortly afterward. We're supposed to be looking for a way to save mankind, but there's nothing in the castle libraries. As we leave the town to look for anything, the Ark flies overhead. We can't see where it lands, but the Sigmund Glacier is nearby. There's nothing here, but the glacier houses something that Surt wants. It's sealed, so why are we here? With nowhere to look, we decide to ride the space train. Ramylith decides to run off on his own to check the time, which doesn't make sense since we're just gonna follow him.

When we return to town, a castle guard tells us Surt is on Ram's throne. We charge into the throne room, and Surt is there. Sion finally shows some personality and prepares to strike down his enemy. Surt killed Huey and Rostam on day one. Tule convinces Sion to relax. Without the Jade, the Norse fire giant is no threat. We're still fired up, but we let Surt speak. All Surt wanted to do was restore his race to its former glory, but he knows that won't happen anymore. He proceeds to tell us about a way that might save us, though. It involves finding a sword. We have to do something across four dungeons in heaven, and we opt to listen to our rival. As we leave the castle, something odd happens. Voices tell us the netherworld has been opened, and it says confusing things about the Four Horsemen. I think it involves the stuff Surt told us. And I'm guessing Riza went to hell. Head to the train station, and we'll start flying around the heavens. Ram will not be joining us.

The ride comes to an early stop, though. In those caves I told Surlent to avoid is a large rock man. Bhadra hits hard and is weak to lightning for some reason. Stay in the back row, and it's not that hard. While we're in the area, let's visit the clock tower. It's an annoyingly long dungeon with boring encounters. It's also quite mazelike, making this the most RPG dungeon thus far. I don't think that's a compliment. At the tip is another horseman, Manju. The wind defense mantra, Tounateem, is mandatory. Manju spams wind spells forever, and he really doesn't like you. He's weak to lightning, but a Soft/Powerup strategy works well, especially with Tule needing to heal. Eventually, his tactics change. At half HP, he starts to debuff us. Before the battle, Manju wondered where Ram was. That's a very good question...

At this point, you flip a switch to start a clock that'll run the rest of the game. Apparently, it signals the end of the world. Tule didn't want me to pull it, nor did I. Sadly, it won't matter. As we leave, we see Dune and Cid in the tower. We chase after them, but they get away. It seems they have the Arc, even though only giants can control it.

In order to properly do whatever it is we're doing, we need a sword. There's a village en route to stock up on your items in. Sion sees the north continent be purified, so I guess Riza will be doing that in a few days. Located in Graham's Tomb is his sword. Surlent came here, but I don't remember why. Is this the Ruins of Rhule? The layout is the same, with the same trigger floor panels. Guarding the sword is Marcia. He's a pure physical attacker, so cheat and find a defense boosting spell. Soft/Powerup and wail away. Next up is the village of mermaids. Word has it, the upcoming dungeon is filled with wind mobs, so prepare. I did, but I'll do the Ruins of Fret...

... tomorrow!

I'm so far behind on my mantra knowledge that I'm just gonna cheat and use a guide. There's a lot of tedious stuff here, man.