Alright, now that the coast is clear, i decide to check out the area before entering the palace. I see one of those silly lizards from afar:
But apparently there's not even a goodie down there. Before returning to the roof, take a closer, just in case something useful is visible from this side (i assume i'll reach this area from the palace later):
Not seeing anything of interest, i finally enter the palace, where not only is there a Sculptor's Idol, but there's even a treasure chest with one of those Gourd Seeds inside:
After picking everything up and unlocking the check point, i see a samuari coming down, who looks exactly like the guy who helped me with the bandit boss in the Hirata Estate memory:
Before actually starting this area, i decide to take him on to see what he can do. He is actually pretty strong, with a perilous trust that took some time getting used to. I killed him several times in a row to make sure i understood how they work, and then it's time to move on. A little further, i come across a walkway with several patrols, two samurai and some old hag:
I kill one of the samurai with a stealth kill, and go see if i can talk to the old hag, but instead she screams and starts cowering in fear, and all hell breaks lose as the samurai in the next room go beserk and start breaking shit to get to me:
Since i'm not about to start killing old women, i decide to flee and reset the whole thing. Doing my best to avoid the granny this time, i try to get a full picture of what's up ahead:
Looks like a fucking nightmare. Out of a whim, i go back to town to get that extra healing potion, i may need it here. When i come back, i make a very pleasant discovery after killing the first patrol, those samurai drop Divine Confetti!
And they are not even that hard to farm since you can just take them out in stealth mode. The time to get my revenge on that butt blasting bastard is getting near!
So after managing to give the slip to the old granny, i find one of the patrols who decided to stop to look at the view. Bad call buddy:
I whip out those ceramic things, and see if i can split the two in the room, but i don't think it's gonna work. Best way is propably just to rush to the one sitting down, get a deathblow than deal with the other in open combat and hope to kill him without alerting the whole building:
It was a great plan except i miss a deflection on that perilous attack and get my ass handed to me lol:
Instead of resurrecting on the spot i decide to do it over. Honor demands it. On my return, i succeed. Fuck yeah:
This of course does alert the granny, who doesn't stop whimpering. I try to leave for a bit, hoping she'll stop, but it doesn't work. I got outside and i almost get raped by those nimble sorts again. On one of the rooms with the samurai i see i can rope my way up the ceiling. I try to go there but nothing, she keeps sobbering and the battle music is stuck on a loop, so i'm forced to take her out in the end. Watching Wolf take out an old granny with a brutal sword trust is just hilarious, so much i had to come back right now to take a shot because the first time i didn't get it right lol:
From the front is even more hilarious:
Talk about overkill dude.
Anyway, to return to the progress narrative. I now make it up the ceiling, where i see another problem:
I kill the first guard with a deathblow but once i get down there to kill the other guy two samurai get alerted and start making their way to my position, where i decide to just bolt out of there:
I decide to be a faggot, and wait for them to clear, then go for the guy that's left. I kill him, but the two guards show up and i have to leave again:
BTW, yes, i went to spend my sens just in case i got creamed here, heh. Wise decision it seems, since i decide to try to kill both of them at once, to dire results:
So i reset it and go at it again. Fuck it, i'm getting some Divine Confetti out of this so it's not an issue. I try to see if i can alert the guys from the window, but apparently the guy is blind as he never turns red, just stands there like an idiot with a confused expression in his face:
His name must be Major Asshole or something. Now i'm at a loss of what to do. I go kill the two samurai in the room next to this one again, where i get into a little reprieve, once i start to look more closely at an interesting looking wall:
Not fooling me twice now game, fuck you:
Ho my, what do we have here:
Ho yeah, loot baby:
Lmao, nice try hiding another nugget behind those partitions:
Alright, now it's time to try to clear that damn room. Same tactic, i kill Major Asshole with a deathblow, then bolt out. As soon as they calm down, i throw one of those ceramic things at the blue guy, and make an attempt at another deathblow, which actually fails, but i manage to kill the guy in what must have been a world record:
Behind me, another granny starts screaming. I take her out without a fuss this time (which is where i see the face stab but didn't think of taking a shot then as i didn't think was going to be that hilarious) and rush to the door. As expected, the two samurai start making it inside the room, but a little later than expected. I think they must have been on patrol. I got time to open the door at the very last second and bolt out of there once again, this time from the front:
I run as fast as i can all the way around and manage to surprise one of them from the ceiling which i kill with yet another stealth deathblow:
And then dispatch the other one in open combat:
Hail to the king baby:
Before making my way up, i get the brilliant idea of checking out a shaft in the middle of the main staircase:
Since fortune favours the bold, i take the plunge, and succeed in exterminating the whole room:
On one side, i find two openings, both of which lead to that pond i spotted earlier and beyond:
Beautiful armors, this whole place makes me wish somebody did an Ancient Japan version of Kingdom Come: Deliverance:
Loot is nice, i find a Prosthetic Tool and some shit for a status effect i haven't encountered yet:
So now it's time to go back up, but to my dismay, there's no actual way. The path is blocked and i'm forced to port back to the last Sculptor's Idol. Fuck me lmao. Of course, with the door open is now much easier to go through that room and i finally make it to another Remnant memory:
It appears Lady Emma is explaining to the Divine Heir his powers of resurrection:
From the way this whole conversation is going, it's clear the kid had no idea about the Dragon blood and his effects, and that Lady Emma herself, or perhaps the teachers she often speaks about, may have been involved in the creation of this Rejuvening Waters, and at the very least she must have been involved in telling Genchiro about this as i doubt that he, as a warrior, would have had any knowledge of it:
This is one smart kid though, as this kind of power has nothing holy about it for sure:
I make my way up, where to my dismay i see there's a Sculptor's Idol. Damn it if only i had come here first i'd saved myself another run at those samurai guys.
At last, i reach the top, where i find myself face to face with a full fledged samurai master:
Can a mere shinobi overcome this challenge?
)
