Update 12: Second Kalpa
Will you light the Candelabrum of Dignity?
Yes.
Will you light the Candelabrum of Eternity?
Yes.
Two candelabra are required to unlock the Second Kalpa: Daisoujou's and Hell Biker's.
On the other side of the door are the entrance to the Kalpa proper and a hole connecting this place to the entrance to the Labyrinth. We won't have to go through the First Kalpa whenever we want to save. Hooray!
Aesthetically, the Second Kalpa does not share the clean look of the previous one, with walls having deteriorated. It's also a much more dangerous place: enemies with their levels in mid-40s aren't uncommon, and because of the Kalpa's architecture simply going back to where you started can be tricky.
The only way to proceed is through this hatch. The problem is that, unlike ladders, hatches can't be used to climb back up.
Soul: Everyone around here keeps arguing about Gaea and Messiah, whatever those are... Well, if you walk around, you'll see.
The B1 floor of the Second Kalpa is an obvious reference to the first two games and serves as a gathering place of the souls of adherents of the Order of Messiah and the Cult of Gaea, major factions in SMT I and II. Their involvement in the plot of Nocturne is mostly limited to the backstory, and one of the purposes of the Second Kalpa is to explain what it is. The Labyrinth of Amala in general does a solid job at tying Nocturne to the overall continuity and justifying the number III in the game's title.
Soul: Everyone, listen! The world has lost its power under the reign of god. Because of that, we are on the verge of destruction. But, there is no need for fear. The Gaea cult will ensure our survival! Together, we will resurrect the strength of the ancient world!
The soul is still preaching...
Soul: But, the Order of Messiah, brainwashed by a jealous god, won't allow us to do so. ...I'm telling you, they're the ones who should be oppressed, not us!
Soul: But, the Order of Messiah wouldn't accept that, and a conflict erupted. What we didn't realize was that our worst enemy was already among us.
Those were the souls of three Gaeans, telling their side of the story. The Cult revers a loose coalition of ancient deities, the worship of which was forcefully displaced by the Judeo-Christian tradition. Interestingly, Lucifer was shown to be these gods' unofficial leader of sorts in early games, but this has been downplayed in later games. Now the Devil is mostly seen around representatives of the Fallen, Vile and Tyrant clans that primarily consist of demons originating in Christian occultism and folk beliefs. The Cult holds extreme social Darwinist beliefs and aims to build a world that would constantly improve itself through inner struggle, ignoring self-destruction it might ultimately result in. In games with an alignment system, they represent the Chaos side.
Oh, and that last line about their worst enemy being among them? It will make sense at the end of the Kalpa.
Soul: We chased after the Gaea cult in order to prevent that. But, we were done in by that devil summoner... Hikawa is a dangerous man...
Soul: If you pray, god will protect you no matter what happens. And, you shall eventually join him in the afterlife... Now, let us pray.
Soul: Everything is his will... Everything changes at his will... You must leave this dreaded place and fulfill the part which you were originally intended for.
And that was the Order of Messiah. These guys are firm worshipers of YHVH whose ideal society is the Thousand Years Kingdom, a theocracy dedicated to Him that has no place for pesky pagans and atheists. They represent the Law alignment.
The third Messian's insistence on us leaving the place would be a relatively subtle hint regarding the identity of the Labyrinth's master, if it wasn't so bleedingly obvious already.
B1 introduces two new enemies. Green ghosts are called Phantoms. They have high HP, owing to them being level 42, and you really, really want to finish them off in a single turn because they have Last Resort, a suicide Almighty attack that reduces the entire party's HP by about two thirds and can easily lead to a TPK. Use Force or Expel spells (Phantoms are weak to them) and watch your health.
Then we have Black Ooze, and, uh, I don't think there's anything special about it. Nulls Death, resists physical, weak to Electricity and Expel.
Something to help us recover our Bead Chain supplies that took quite a hit during the Hell Biker fight.
And here's B1 in its full glory. Needless to say, this layout makes very little sense in an engine without fixed camera and looks like it belongs on graph paper. The ladder we're standing next to leads back to the Kalpa's entrance. "But how," you will ask me, "there weren't any ladders or doors up there".
Not normal doors, no.
One-sided doors that function like a door on one side and like a wall on the other one make a triumphant return in the Second Kalpa.
Let's go deeper. There are 6 ways leading from B1 to B2, and I will be showing all of them. First, let's try a ladder at the north-west.
Soul: It's cursed, y'know.
This leads us to a cursed corridor. Cursed zones are the scarier version of the red fog of damage: with each step you take the health of all summoned demons is halved, and Liftoma can't be used to negate the effect. Cursed zones disappear after a certain boss is defeated, but we're going to press on further right now because that's how we roll.
First thing to realize is that curse can't kill you by itself - only reduce you to 1 HP. Second thing to realize is that enemies encountered here most certainly can.
So what we do is summon the Pisaca, have it cast Estoma to reduce the encounter rate and try our luck.
Whoops.
Flauros, a Great Duke of Hell. Can speak of past, present and future, but will lie without shame, unless forced to step into a magic triangle. Also capable of incinerating the summoner's enemies or freeing him from all temptations.
Level 68, which makes him a bit of challenge for a party at 1 HP.
Fear not, for the Pisaca knows Trafuri and we can just run away from these overleveled bastards. It's pretty expensive to cast, so make sure you have spare Chakra Drops before attempting this.
Abaddon, the angel of the bottomless pit. Only several vague mentions of him are present in the Bible, and they are open to interpretation: some scholars and theologists say he's a demon, others say he's an angel, and some think it's a place.
Regardless, he's level 69, so it's Trafuri time.
Tao Tie (or Taotie) is a strange one. The name is associated with a face-like motif found on ancient Chinese bronze ritual vases. It's not clear what the motif originally was meant to depict, but in time the name came to refer to a creature that manifested gluttony and greed.
Level 65 -> Trafuri.
Eventually we come to a ladder that leads to a small chamber.
Inside is an Efreet. Efreet are a type of Jinn, Allah's creatures born of fire and granted free will, much like humans.
Demon: I can't believe someone would really come all the way down here... You see, I made a bet with a buddy of mine. If someone actually made it this far down, I'd have to give that person a prize. Looks like I lost. Here, take this.
You obtained 250000 Macca.
No, that's not a typo. This is the reward for getting through this hell, and it will allow us to forget about money worries for a long, long time.
Demon: I like you. Come back later and I'll tell you something you might wanna know.
Time for a minor shopping spree.
We buy two Magatama we haven't bought before. If you remember, a reward for gathering all of them was promised by the clergy of the Cathedral of Shadows.
Let's try this ladder next.
A dead end. But, as we have learned, walls may not be what they seem. The secret of this particular wall will be revealed soon.
For now, four hatches located around the center of B1 remain to explore. We'll be going through them counter-clockwise, starting with the north-eastern hatch.
It leads to small room with a Shady Broker.
Shady Broker: ...I'll sell you something special. Interested? Here's what I'm selling... a demon that can heal anything. You'll be glad to have one around. With that well-rounded bosom, I think anyone would rise to heaven getting healed by her! I'm asking 30000 Macca. I know it's kinda high, but it's well worth the price... So, you want it?
Sounds useful. Also, sexy.
Alright, I'll buy it.
Shady Broker: Excellent choice!
You purchased a demon from the Shady Broker.
Dat bosom. In all honesty, this Nue is another great utility demon. Prayer recovers the entire party to full health and removes status effects, and Samrecarm resurrects a demon with full HP.
This is B2. Each of the hatches on B1 leads to one of the four small rooms, the doors to which can only be opened from the inside, so you
have to use the hatches if you want to grab the goodies inside. The dead end we found earlier turns out to be another one-sided door that can be used to return to B1. Two hatches on this floor lead to B3, but let's explore B2 first.
The north-western room has a Mystical Chest with an Agility Incense inside.
The south-western room has this guy.
This is Beiji Weng (or Hokuto Seikun), a Taoist deity and a judge of the afterlife.
Demon: What he had to say was very interesting. Do you want to hear it?
Sure, why not?
Demon: The man used black magic to summon me. This is what he said: "Kill the man I hate!" I asked, "Is that what humans do, kill those they hate?" He replied, "If you hate, you kill. That's the way we are." I admired those words. It's so demon-like... the true nature of humans.
At long last, the key to understanding RPGCodex.
The south-eastern room has this door, but it currently can't be opened. Time to check out B3.
Soul: If you're heading down below, you better be prepared. Once you're down there, it won't be easy coming back up.
First, the eastern hatch.
We end up in a maze. But hey, what trouble can a maze be in a game with an auto-map?
The inner walls aren't displayed. Fortunately, the old hug-the-left-wall trick works here.
New enemy: Mothman.
Nothing special about him whatsoever.
Let's try the eastern door.
A dead end?
Soul: Oh, come on now. That wall right there. Open your eyes and look!
Not quite.
If you look closely, you'll notice that a part of the wall is glowing slightly. It's easier to spot in motion, as the light's pattern is constantly shifting, but it's there. It's a fake wall.
A fake wall that hides a ladder.
A ladder that leads to a Cache Cube with a key inside. Now silver doors can be opened.
Behind the northern maze door two silver doors happen to be.
A Deathstone is on the other side of one of them.
A Burial Chamber is behind the other one, but we're yet to kill the bosses that are going to find their peace here.
A ladder is nearby, leading back to B2. Let's put the Deathstone we found to a good use.
To recruit Daisoujou you have to fuse a Night demon on any phase between 5/8 and Full Kagutsuchi. We fuse Datsue-Ba with Matador to get Kikuri-Hime. Kikuri-Hime is fused with an Apsaras obtained through the fusion of a Kodama and a High Pixie and nets us Daisoujou.
I am the Fiend Daisoujou. Allow me to hold your funeral...
As a support demon, Daisoujou is unmatched. After gaining several levels he'll have both Expel- and Death-based AoE instant kill spells, a Mind-based AoE and the best healing spell in the game. The day we part with him will be a sad day indeed.
Is it just me, or does he look kinda like Pete Hines in that screenshot?
Next, the western hatch on B2. The curious thing about the maze on B3 is that it's split in two halves. The north-eastern one is accessed through the eastern hatch, but you'll have to use the western hatch if you want to reach the south-western half.
Delicious.
The southern door on B3 brings us to a dead end. The ladder on the other side leads to the Third Kalpa, but we'll have to find another way to reach it.
The western door leads to a Burial Chamber with the graves of Kaiwan and Ose in it...
...and a ladder to B2.
Another Deathstone is up the ladder.
As is a fake wall leading back to the Beiji Weng room. That's pretty much it for this Kalpa. The silver door in the south-eastern room leads to the Third Kalpa.
But let's return to the First Kalpa. If you remember, a silver door was there as well.
You used the Moon Key.
Inside are...
...a one-shot item that can be used to set up Tetrakarn...
...a Deathstone...
...and the Black Visor. Wait, what?
Curious. Let's try it.
Will you put on the Black Visor?
Yes.
You recall the battle against Forneus...
What sorcery is this? Whatever, he's a complete pushover now.
It's a time attack mode! But wait, let me try again.
Much better. The red number signifies that we managed to meet the target number of turns. Meet it for all Burial Chamber rematches, and you'll be able to get an extra Action Point, but only in New Game Plus. One thing to note is that it's mostly a late-game entertainment: the target number tends to be incredibly low, and it's very difficult to reach it without being able to spam Focused Freikugels or Deadly Furies. Another thing to note is that the counter doesn't keep track of turns per se: it counts Action Points spent.
Back to the silver door on the B2 floor of the Second Kalpa.
A hatch is behind it.
We end up behind that wall on B3.
Let's take this ladder...
...and done!
Will you look through it?
Yes.
...By the way, did you not encounter a large number of souls in this realm?
Even after drifting to the farthest reaches of Amala, they still cannot let go of the past.
...a man by the name of Hikawa. He is the one who led your world to destruction. You stand here as the result of his acts in the former world.
...about his past, and what caused the Conception.
This is where it all started. They were a group who absorbed all forms of doctrine, for they believed they could discover the truth from chaos. But even within that cult, he was regarded as a heretic.
He firmly believed that the ideal cannot be found in reality, that it could only be brought about by one's own hand. And ultimately, he reached beyond the scope of mankind and plotted the creation of the world.
His plot became reality... when he uncovered the Scripture of Miroku, buried deep within the cult's library.
That doesn't really look like reconstruction to me.
and learned of the Conception... the fated destruction of the world.
You see... For creation to be possible after the Conception, certain preparations were necessary.
...and a bloody act of carnage ensued.
Some members of the Gaea cult were against him, and the Order of Messiah tried to stop him, but... he eliminated both threats at once, with the power of his demons.
just as foretold in the Prophecy of Miroku... No, just as he planned after unraveling the prophecy. The Assembly of Nihilo was created at that time as well, to aid him in creation.
The Conception occurred as he planned, and now creation will follow.
What I like about these interludes is that the old gentleman, despite remaining silent, does show a surprising amount of personality. As you make progress through the Labyrinth, he grows more and more agitated, starts twirling his cane and doing other things. Like closing his eyes and holding his breath whenever critical words are spoken.
We have faith in you, and will continue to watch you.
Third Kalpa, here we come.
Demon: There needeth not be reason to hide it... About that... I understand thy joy! I cannot suppress mine own. As another friend to drink mead with, I shall tell thee something interesting. If thou takest purple Macca in succession, thine earning shall be even more. Try and strikest anything you can. I have become rich that way! Hahahaha!
Poor, innocent fourth wall. Trying to give the player tips in-character is rarely a good idea.
Jump in?
Yes.
You feel a terrifying presence in the air...
The moment you stepped into this Labyrinth, the wheel of fate began to spin...
But, we serve the fallen angel in order to rise above that fate. You wish for the same thing, do you not?
We, the four knights of death, have what thou seekest. Thine they shall be, if thou canst triumph over us.
You have conquered a number of deaths to reach here. Whether it be you, or one of us... it is our master's wish that one Fiend survives this battle over the candelabra.
So much for the "They were stolen!" story.
And when his wish comes true... he shall make the decision to lead his army to the final battle. Do you have the resolve to face us in battle? Even if it may cost you what is left of your humanity?
My mind's made up.
...Then, show us the strength that our master stakes our fate on. We, the four knights of death, shall await you in the Vortex World.
And so we made it to the big leagues. The next four Fiends we're going to face are the Horsemen of ITZ. Defeating three of them is required to enter the Third Kalpa.
In the next update, we're going to resume our search for Futomimi, the leader of the Maninkins.
