Black Matrix Zero Part 6: Equal to Four Sephiroths

Something I noticed that I forgot to mention yesterday: Syria has two pair of white wings, and if you look at Yohane's next to hers they are decidedly gray. I'm sure this is significant and stuff. That big hole in the middle of the floor is going to dictate the flow of the battle, and I start by letting the first wave come to me. Levels here are 7-8, so it's more the numbers than the power that'll potentially screw us up.

But the final tally is not bad! The cardinal had a nasty group-attack spell I didn't hit capture for in time, but otherwise we came through pretty well. Everyone's Level 7 now, and Cain and Zion get up to 8, and we won an item called the Bottle of Blood, which seems to restore BP. And we're back in Cipher Punk, where I upgrade everyone's weapons and a little bit of armor, which costs me every cent I've got. Beetle Bailey is now talking in a stream of periods, and as I occasionally mention, this is wonderful if you've ever seen Victor Borge's Phonetic Punctuation routine.

A training battle proves the effectiveness of our new kit, so it's back to the story! We seem to be wandering off in pairs: Lilith with Syria, Luca with Zion, etc. Then Stei asks Cain a question about Luca and Zion, and I'm given a choice. I guess I'll go with Luca again.

We're now in a back alley playing sneaky music, so I guess we chose who to follow. Stei argues with Cain about something or other, and Yohane's there too.

Then Luca's killing another dude. Luca, look: once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three is a bad habit. We need to get you some help. Maybe we can wean you off of murder! Cut you down to one a week, then a couple maimings a week, and before you know it, you'll only be rolling drunks for pocket change and leaving them mostly undamaged! Zion tries to explain all this to her while restraining her, but she gets away as Cain and company show up...

...just in time for this woman to see them and pin the murder on them. Oh boy. For this little soiree, we only get five people. Luckily two of them are my Level 8s. So let's go!

Oh good, it's one of these. We'll have to fight our way up the levels and take everyone out while they have the advantages that the higher elevation affords them. Also? The guards are levels 9-10. This is what I get for trusting someone because she looks good in a hat.

Damn. The cops up top were smart enough to form up around their leader. That took some time to chew through. One thing I have learned, though, is that the game is flexible about actions: you can move and attack, attack and use magic, or move and use magic. Handy to know. We ultimately win, and discover that Yohane's Luminacros spell is much stronger now, in that it occasionally hits for double-digits! We get a lot of EXP, but I only spend enough to bring the 7s up to 8. I want the whole party around before I spend the rest.


Luca and Cain have a heart-to-heart, but I think she may have torn the heart on her side of the discussion out of that guy back there. At any rate, no harm, no foul, just a dead NPC, and it's not like they're actually people.

Then this guy shows up. I don''t think he's going to be the friendly sort.