Colonia Artifact Lab

It's the penultimate day!

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Gazzok is a man I first met in Selray. He told me many stories of his travels in the forest and would have continued until Zora tickled him to sleep. I would lose my memories a few days later. Shortly after we arrived in Highland, I'd see him again. Gazzok is actually from the Primal Lands but got swept to Casnan a few decades ago and has been living as a hermit since then. I broughthim up now because he was waiting for us outside the lab. He got lost wandering the forest. But he's an excellent blacksmith, so I finally upgraded a weapon. I can freeze people a lot! We told him how to reach the Roo's Nest, and he'd be hanging out with Remnos next we saw him.

But before him was an immortal entity. We could beat up on it all we wanted, but there was no way to put it down. Until I used that sword. When the demon door slumped down, I stuck the sword the Grand Roo gave me into its neck. It worked!

Inside the Colonia Artifact Lab were weird science experiments. Blobs of goo, grim reapers, and other monsters with an indescribable form. A handful of worms needed the magic sword to be dealt with, but most could be felled with traditional means. The interior was lined with cold steel. Its path webbed in a confusing manner, made worse by various broken walls. We needed to make use of the Dwarf's Bracelet to navigate through air ducts.

Early on, the group would hear a scream. Chasing towards the source would take us to Leeza. We had hoped to see her in here, but this wasn't the best time. She was thrown off of Sol, and the machine was acting weird. It didn't obey its master and seemed to be panicking. And then it spoke. Lezza didn't know Sol could speak. It returned to the skies, and we wondered what to do with Lezza. She wanted to find Sol, and we needed to reach ...something. Calilica suggested Lezza come along, which made the most sense. We weren't gonna just leave her here.

After passing through broken science equipment and returning outside, we saw the still panicking Sol before an alter. It still spoke, and it wondered who it was and why it was here. And then it went berserk. It started to attack us, which meant we had to destroy it. The battle felt similar to the one in Danan, but we've grown much stronger since then. And the Muddled Galbalon's madness didn't let it fight well. We brought it to its knees and then wounded its arms. After a few go throughs, Sol stopped. We didn't break it, but a light began to appear between it and Lezza. A man appeared before us!

King Lafance!? His soul was stuck in Sol because it sought someone strong and related, namely his great granddaughter, Leeza. He woke up at the same time evil Eldeel did. Lafance told us more about his friend from 800 years ago. The Mask of the Moon was created to stop the "black winged" entity was the important bit for now. Lafance pointed out the altar behind him and told us to place the mask fragments there. He could magically fix them and return the magic it needed. And on that note, we planned to save Eldeel. Separately, we returned to Elduke.

Leeza and Sol got there just after us, and Lafance was already waiting. Before we entered the Temple of the Sun, we planned how to stop Eldeel. I don't know if we made a good plan, but we knew we'd have to beat him up. Everyone agreed that I should be the one to don the Mask of the Moon. It seemed like a big deal to everyone, so I did. Inside was Eldeel.

Things were said, but none of them were important. Words didn't matter, so the battle began. It was oddly not exciting. He put on the Mask of the Sun and started throwing various elemental spells at us: fireballs, water bubbles, lightning. For a god, his armor seemed pretty bad. Eventually, he just kinda stood there. What's with the MoS users opening themselves to attack? We wailed on him and dropped him. His mask fell off, and he changed forms again. Our Eldeel regained his senses. He quickly asked for the Mask of the Moon and remarked that he should have made it look better. With his mind intact, he'd tell us the truth.

The black Eldeel was not a separate entity. It was actually his own doubt. Eldeel wondered if accessing the Acasiac Records to guide man was a good idea. That unease resulted in a god who wanted man to evolve in a different manner. While humans could be guided to be better, we can "evolve" faster through hard times. Floods, earthquakes, fires, and pestilences all make strong men and women at the expense of the weak.

A laugh rung out. Gruda came back and had the Mask of the Sun. He was upset that evil Eldeel wasn't truly in favor of wonton destruction. Eldeel didn't even use the power of the mask in our fight. Gruda wants the end of Mick Foley, even if he has to fight alone. The Darklings leader put on the Mask of the Sun and dove into the sphere behind us: the gateway to the Isis, the home of the Acasiac Records. If we wanted to stop him, we'd need to follow.

Eldeel would open the path, Leeza would stay behind with him, and Lafance would guide us. The seven of us entered an immaculate room with three walkways before us. Lefance told us how to reach the records. We'd need to defeat three guardians to create a teleporter to the top. After discussing the inconsistencies that Eldeel must have made and how his divine powers fixed them, we released none of it matters. We had more pressing matters and were running out of time.

...to be continued

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I did all the quests, explored all the forest, got several achievements, and even found the missing chests and resource points (on my older save). There is nothing more I can do on this save (besides killing the superboss). I once thought Ys IV was mid, but I've fallen n love with the franchise all over again because of it.