Beyond the Beyond: Update 100: The Abyssal Gate (The Abyss)

[ladyabaxa]

Beyond the Beyond: Update 100: The Abyssal Gate (The Abyss)

Last time on "these kids are always getting turned around" the team had to retrieve the last of Arawn's tablets because they need it to open the supposedly only door to the Abyss. Why they can't take the Vicious One Express Elevator is anyone's guess. There was a bit of trouble but that's all behind the team. Now they can get to opening that door!

Back on the island that civilization forgot the team is about to teleport back to Quamdar.

Where's the battleship? I mean, that is how Dagoot got here, right?
Who knows.
Didn't see it as we were landing.

Meanwhile, with the power of the set generator...

...those left to handle the battleship have some time on their hands.

How long are you going to keep staring at the horizon?
(3) I'm waiting to see if that flying thing takes off.
(2) Are we supposed to shoot it if it does?
(3) Sir Dagoot said our cannons won't reach.
And when is he coming back? We've been waiting for hours.
(3) I dunno. Had to take care of something.
(1) If the flying thing does take off should we, yah know, go check on him?
(2) He'll be back. It's Sir Dagoot. What could stop him?

Over in Quamdar I offload the Poisoned Fang for a nice 8,250 gold. That opens up another inventory slot for Finn and eliminates the temptation to put up with cursing Domino for a little more attack power (spoiler alert: it's never worth it!). As for that Source of Magic and Source of Vitality, I haven't decided what to do with either of them except to say I'm holding off on a decision for as long as possible.

Or to put this a little more bluntly I'll wait until I've decided which characters are going to face the final boss before using them.

Oh yeah and there's Percy right where we parked him. Thanks for not wandering off! Before the team goes in search of the plot, however, let's get a look at their stats.

First up is Finn. At less than 4k experience to level 15 these stats will change slightly by the end of this update but not enough to make me wait. He's about the same as he was. Finn attacks with that sword of his. That's his primary job duty.

Annie's also about the same as she was but her Attack and Defense have lagged behind compared to Finn. On the other hand she's still a speed demon and she's the only team member to have filled in all eight spell slots available thanks to picking up Resurrect. I don't expect she'll learn the remaining ranks of her Heal and Healing Rain spells before the game's over.

Percy continues to be a relatively unlucky son of a gun but aside from his lagging Defense I can't say I'm upset with his stats. For a character recruitable so late in the game, who shows up at such low level, he's not doing bad. Remember that the stats for the rest of the team are inflated by permanent boosters. Without those the gap would be negligible.

Samson's started to drop behind in levels thanks to being out of the active team. His attack power might seem low but that's entirely because he hasn't upgraded his weapon in so long. He's still using a Tempest Axe and has 152 attack power compared to, say, Percy who has a Mithril Sword and 153 attack power. I hate to lose the Speed boost from the Tempest Axe but depending on how the final party make-up shakes out I could upgrade his axe and swap the Tempest Ring to him.

I don't really know what to say about Edward. He's finally starting to get a decent amount of MP. Fire 3 is still his main workhorse spell but he doesn't really have anything for single targets. I suppose Attack level 2 qualifies but as we shall see later in this update that very spell can be a double-edged sword. Alas Silence and Confusion just aren't all that useful. If I absolutely have to silence anything I'll just use the Silence Orb that Finn's carrying around.

Tont has accumulated more max MP but I doubt he'll get anywhere near 100 before the game's up. Like Edward he really doesn't have a spell for single targets and he hasn't picked up the second level of Attack either. When it comes to tearing into groups though he's still quite effective. At this point I'd say that only Finn's Steiner spell can compete. It is worthy competition though. Dousing enemies in dragon's fire puts quite a dent in life bars.

Domino's not doing so well on health but there's precious little I can do about that. He's also slow which is another thing I can't remedy. Other than that he's doing fine. Ultimately I tend to treat him like Finn: both start attacking and rarely stop. That's their job. I wish I could say his Slow and Confusion spells are helpful but... no. He's never cast either of them.

Finally we have Lorele who has, with some prodding, become quite the tanky monk. Her attack power and Speed aren't so great though and obviously at only half the max MP that Annie's walking around with she can't keep up in healing for nearly as long. I'm still using her as a reserve healer tossing out Healing Rains between battles. I suppose if she ever picks up Defense level 2 she might have something else to spend her MP on but, honestly, the main threat at this point comes from magic spam hitting the entire party.

Outside the safety of Quamdar random encounters come frequently as expected. Given the fact that they're heading towards the Abyss, where they'll need all the strength they can muster, this is genuinely annoying.

GET OUT OF OUR WAY!

Annie's critical hits do bring a smile to my face. This 77 damage critical is instantly fatal to the unfortunate demon who happens to be in her war path.

Remember to walk your Demon's Pets on a daily basis! Or do like some unknown demon does and delegate that responsibility to an unlucky Undead Lector.

AAGH! It spat on me!
If I recall, they are venomous.
That would explain why I suddenly feel sick.

How the hell are Demon's Pets more dangerous than actual Demons? Seriously! The team mows Demons down but any group of Demon's Pets takes several rounds of nasty fighting. The fact that they're usually with enemies that I have to focus on first just gives them even more time to deal damage.

And I was worried my fire magic was becoming insufficient for our needs.
The floating pests are still hovering there.
No worries. Their bellies make wonderful targets.

I guess those furry wings are flammable! Not flammable enough...

Could you stop trying to claw my eyes out? Huh?
Umm, sis, your clubbing it over the head appears to have killed it.
I'm going to have anger problems before I know it, aren't I?
Is that a rhetorical question?
*sighs* I'm just... going to heal my other brother and try not to think about this.
I can work with that!

Eventually the team reaches the shrine. Eventually being the key word.

Inside are the priests still standing where they were previously.

Are they still under a spell?
It hasn't budged.
Neither have they and it's still creepy!
I think we have other things to worry about.

Just to their north, standing by the depression in the floor, is Yeon. Wait, what?

Hey! You're supposed to be...
Hi there kids! I've been waiting for you.
How are you still alive?
Gah Ha Ha. Thanks for the dip in the volcano.
A shame you didn't stay there.
What? You didn't really think that you defeated me, did you? I, the Underworld's Master Magician Yeon, am not defeated that easily. Unfortunately, your friend ended up living too.

There's Finn, as articulate as always in this game's script!

!!!
He must mean...
That's right!
What?! You mean Lord Kevins is still alive?

Yeon paces back and forth a bit in silence.

But how?
I don't have myself dangled over a volcano without having a back-up portal ready in case of disaster. That's how! A shame that human fool activated it. If he had just fallen a little farther away he'd be a crispy critter instead.
That's my dad you're talking about!
Well that explains why you were so happy to walk into my trap. Huh, funny... you don't look like him.
What happened to Kevins? Did you kill him?
Ge He He. That wimp is in the Underworld right now being treated pretty well... being tortured that is... Gah Ha Ha.
HOW CAN YOU BE SO GLIB ABOUT THIS?!
What do you want from us?
I heard Ramue sent you on a suicide mission and with Dagoot dead I figured you'd show up here sooner or later.
You already know of his death? Why do you cowards do nothing to help one another?
The law of the Underworld is that the weak shall perish. I know you humans don't understand. Oh well. I had to deliver the news anyway.
That's supposed to be good news?
I just told you your father's still kicking and you badger me about it?
You said it just so you can twist the knife in my back.
He's alive, Finn. Maybe we should be grateful for that and worry about the rest later.

Yeon steps forward.

You should listen to the little lady, kid. I'm sure your old man's got years in him left. But even if he is still alive, you guys will never see him again.
Oh and why is that?
Why? Because you've reached the end of your quest, feeble warriors!

The team steps forward with new confidence. Quite a quick change since their retreat from Dagoot!

That's what you think!

With that Yeon attacks. Unlike Dagoot his minions were hidden from view. I blame magic. Oh and he manages to ambush the team despite having stood in front of them in plain view during that entire conversation. Yeon and the Hydra Warrior both have high Speed though which probably explains that little quirk of the system.

Where did those monsters come from?
Unlike Ramue I have achieved mastery of the magic at my command.
He just summoned them, Finn.

Yes I did. Now let us commence!

Yeon opens the fight with a Thunder 2 spell. Not a bad choice.

Then the Hydra Warrior follows up with a Thunder 1 spell. Good thing the team has magic resistance!

Ow! Ow! Ow!
I'll second that.
You kids are sturdier than I expected. Good, good! I'd be upset if I didn't get a chance to show you how much magic I truly have!

Yeon doesn't just cast spells. He also attacks but his attack power is so low that even when the row factor isn't factored in he just sort of futiley scratches at the team.

Is that supposed to hurt?
Not really. I'm just sort of curious how tough one of Ramue's former playthings can be.
I was never her "plaything" you disgusting toad!
Hra Ha Ha! Now you even sound like her. Rubbed off on you a little too much, eh?
Try 'not at all.'

Yeon might be wimpy but the Hydra Warrior hits with significantly more force. Oh and for those paying attention it does get two turns per round.

Ahh! Not again! I thought I was done with you snaky things!

Thus did the first round of combat end.

That could have gone better.
I guess I should be grateful for these spells of mine.
We should all be grateful.
Even Yeon?
Sure.

If it's all the same to you, Domino I'll continue to be pissed at him.

Yeon might have opened with Thunder 2 but he actually has lightning magic up to level 3. For some reason his AI prefers Thunder 2. Thunder 3 causes a series of lightning bolts to sweep across the battlefield.

It also deals a decent amount of damage which gets halved down to 15 per team member.

Some sort of barrier? You came prepared!
Says the guy who was hiding monsters when we got here!

You know what? Two can play that game. Steiner!
So there's your dragon friend. I was wondering what happened to it.

RAWR!
I can't say I like being set on fire though.
Well I don't like being hit with lightning.

Seeing as Yeon has minions with him, one of them already proving to be annoying, the team begins the AE spam to wipe them out. Royal Guards are magic resistant but the Hydra Warrior probably doesn't get along with Pyrohydras judging by how badly scorched Steiner leaves it. Amazingly enough it has so much max health that the 87 damage dealt isn't fatal.

Then Edward follows up with an Ice 3 spell which only deals 23 damage but is enough to finish the hydra off. I guess it and the golem resist ice - because I needed even more reasons to ignore Edward's ice spells.

As the second round ends it comes down to just Yeon.

So much for the hired help.

Well I wasn't really counting on them anyway.
More lightning?
You could just die already. Then I wouldn't have to keep casting this.
No thanks.

Remember how I said a moment ago that Yeon's AI prefers Thunder 2? Yeah, I don't get it either. Now once the damage is halved thanks to resistance the difference between the two spells is barely worth noting. It's mostly "the principle of the thing" that makes me shake my head at this.

Yeon's got another trick up his sleeve. There's a small chance each round that he'll opt to cast Confuse 2. I say small chance because I had to run this battle half a dozen times and this action only showed up twice in all those rounds. Fortunately this spell only lands on Lorele. It could be worse. Finn could be the one confused.

Confused on who to attack. I know his normal state is that of generic confusion.

Finn then unleashes a non-boosted critical hit on Yeon. Edward meanwhile has begun to cast Attack level 2. His turn just hasn't come up yet. This hit for 66 damage seems impressive on the surface but compared to what he was doing to Dagoot in the last update it pales in comparison.

Then Lorele attacks Yeon. Yes, even though she was just hit with a confusion effect. Just like those times Edward used it on enemies the spell doesn't actually do anything until the following round. Lorele goes dead last in turn order so this critical hit from her does get the attack power boost from Edward's spell.

It's a little depressing comparing her 46 damage boosted crit to Finn's 66 damage non-boosted crit.

Back at our regularly scheduled programming, here is Yeon actually being smart and using the highest rank of his Thunder spell. (As if I'd just have one screenshot of what is a pretty awesome spell animation.)

Edward why don't you have that spell?
I have had my hands full with other matters.
Ooooh! Look at the birdies flying about!
We should be worried about Lorele, right?

There's nothing we can do but wait for the enchantment to fade away, Finn.

Oh look, Edward does more damage in melee than Yeon! I honestly never thought I'd write that about a boss in this game.

Then Lorele punches Annie for pretty much the cleric's entire life bar.

BAD BIRDIE!
AAAAHHHH!
Edward I know you're all smart about magic and stuff so could you please think of some way to speed up that "wearing off thing" you just mentioned? Ya know, before someone gets their head punched off?

You haven't learned such arts? What a pity.
Isn't attacking the person temporarily on your side a tactical blunder?
Oh that? I just love hearing you kids yelp with pain and befuddled minds are so apt to leave themselves open to attack.

Why yes the AI will attack team members afflicted with confusion.

Alas being whacked over the head by Yeon's wand does nothing to alleviate Lorele's confusion. Beyond the Beyond isn't one of those games. I can't say I'm heartbroken about that fact. If hitting confused characters could knock them out of it then the spell would be even less useful and it's already extremely niche.

The astute might wonder why I didn't bother confusing Dagoot or Yeon's minions and that's because it just isn't worth the time and mana cost. Said minions, as we have seen, are split into separate groups which means they have to be targeted separately. The spell can fail (a likely result against high end monsters) and even when it does work the confused monsters don't tend to contribute much damage. At this point in the game I prefer to spam AE spells that damage the boss and wipe out the minions.

Worry not! The next turn Finn gets punched by our wayward monk and groggied. I'd be mad if this wasn't hilarious! (Go Lorele!) Yeon Thunder 2ed the group again, if you're wondering how Finn's health managed to drop far enough for this to work.

Seconds later Lorele recovers her senses.

Ugh, what happened?
You beat the snot out of us.

Oh yes you did and it was so lovely to watch!

Now if Yeon were smart he'd cast Confusion again. With five targets chances are good at least one team member would fail to resist. Instead he decides to annoy the group with a Thunder 1 spell. No, I have no idea what the AI's thinking with this move. With their magic resistance not even Thunder 3 would groggy anyone but would knock Lorele and Percy down to single digit VP.

Since Finn's groggied and I don't want to inadvertently end the battle without him getting any experience from it I opt to spend a round defending.

Ow. What did I miss?
*begins an incantation*
I had to say something didn't I?

There's nothing quite like recovering from groggy status just in time to get nuked again.

Would you stop trying to hit me? You're not even doing it right.
Umph!
I'm not sure he heard you. Maybe you should punch him a few more times.
Sounds like a plan.

Lorele might have lost out on attacking Yeon a couple of times thanks to that whole confusion deal but counterattacks help make up for it.

Then Finn puts Edward's magic to good use with a 112 damage critical hit. These never get boring!

You're not looking so good.
I admit I might have underestimated you kids.
Now he admits it! A little late on the uptake there, buddy.

Agreed.
AARGH!

Operation "Beat the crap out of Yeon" is going just fine! Lorele might not hit nearly as hard as Finn with her critical hits, even with Attack boosts fully in place, but she's helping. Yeon does know the Healing Rain 2 spell and will use it when his health gets low but with how much damage this team is cranking out it's kind of like trying to put out an inferno with a sprinkler.

DRAAAAAARRGH!
*labored breathing* Is - is that it?
He just fell down so I hope so.

With another crit from Finn, this one for 123 damage, Yeon runs out of health.

Two boss battles in two updates? What's this game coming to? Oh and Edward hits level 11 despite the lackluster experience award.

Having had the stuffing beaten out of him Yeon lies on the ground mortally wounded.

Ugh, I... Yeon, the Underworld's master magician Yeon... impossible. Defeated by mere humans... That can't be... ...

Then he dies.

And that makes two.
I wish I could say I'm relieved.
Do you think he was telling the truth about Kevins?
I hope not.
But he said the man you thought was your father is alive. That doesn't make you happy?
Alive just to be tortured? If it were me I'd prefer a quick death to a volcano.
And he's down in the Underworld. That's... kind of far away.

I'm not going to think about that right now. Shutat and Ramue are still out there somewhere.

Items > Finn > Final Tablet > Use

The Final Tablet fits nicely into the depression on the ground.

Once it's in place the tablet begins to glow. A beam of light shoots out to strike a relief above the sealed door.

The door to the Abyss opens! Access to the game's long-telegraphed final dungeon has been gained.

Are we going in?
I don't think Finn's quite ready.
I'm fine.
Your hands are shaking.
I...
It's okay. Maybe now that the gate's open Shutat will make an appearance.
Right... maybe we won't have to go in.
Do you really believe that, Finn?
Not for a moment but I guess we shouldn't go charging in without being prepared.

On the way out I notice that the two priests who were standing by the entrance have suddenly vanished.

As the team ponders where the pair could have wandered off to two Undead Lectors and an Undead Knight decide to start some trouble.

Said goal of starting trouble succeeds with a flaming blast of holy power. Alas though it ends with a group of undead getting beaten back into the grave.

As soon as the battle ends the two priests spontaneously reappear where they were before. They have nothing new to say unfortunately. Did a bug strike them from existence? Probably.

 

-- BONUS CONTENT --

Yeon

A general with magic powers and a peculiar physical appearance. He also reports directly to Shutat. Although he is rumored to have greater magic powers than Ramue, his reputation in Bandore is not favorable.

 

Describing Yeon as having "a peculiar physical appearance" is definitely downplaying how he looks nothing like a typical human. The game never clarifies if he's another species or if his form is the result of magic but just like the other Vicious Ones he stands out. He's huge so maybe he's an ogre or a giant? Or possibly related to them? If one looks closely at his concept art his earrings are barely visible. Since the manual is entirely in grayscale there's no coloration to distinguish features. Without that his earrings blend in with his ears and clothes. As for the doohickey in his offhand, well, I guess it's supposed to be an orb? He reminds me of Geshp from Shining Force 2.

There's one of Geshp's battle sprites blown up 200% (yay blurring!) and there are definite design similarities between these two. Both have green skin. Both are heavily into magic. Both carry orbs. Geshp's clothing is a bit more sophisticated though and what this sprite doesn't reveal is the fact that he has two batlike wings wrapped around his shoulders. He's a high ranking leader in Zeon's Devil Army and he looks the part. His Beyond the Beyond counterpart makes me think more along the lines of a bayou/hillbilly mage who genuinely doesn't care about appearances.

 

Next time on Beyond the Beyond - with the gate open and the path cleared the team must prepare for the descent.

Update Ninety-nine | Index | Update One hundred and one