Black Matrix Zero Part 9: Silly Hats For Everyone!

Wherever Luca and Zion are, they're arguing again. Probably about how much murder, precisely, is Too Much. Wherever they are, Luca spots Matia, then is knocked out...

After which this dude pontificates about something, perhaps literally. Then Cain bursts in and has to be restrained by Yohane, who I'm increasingly sure is not dead at all. Then the conversation works its way around to You-Know-What-Dammit-Japan.

...that's the guy that somebody was talking to earlier! Lilith, I think. (Was talking to him, that's not his name. I think.) I'll call him Anime Harry Potter until proven wrong.
Then Veil shows up and Exal has to help restrain Cain.

Then there's a flash of light, the wings come out, and all sorts of shit is about to go down. Starting, I hope, with Veil.

But no, he's replaced by a member of an angelic marching band. Sigh. Another Jenova Clone. Good news though? Yohane's safe, sound, and... a level lower than everybody else here. Crap.

More fighting in churches, but this is a much nicer church than our usual fare. Level spread's 10-12 now. Looks like Veil left. See Jenova Clone, above.

See how Lilith is over there isolated from the rest of the group? Two of the enemy archers here have a weird-ass skill that lets them swap places with a target. But hey, sucks to be the guy who decided he wanted to be between Cain, Exal, and Stei. But I just discovered a new spell for Lilith: Astral, a buff that ups some stats or other on an ally by 25%.

In the end, a pretty good haul! Just enough to get everyone in the current party up to level 11, Yohane included. After the battle, Luca and Zion show back up, presumably after their long talk about murder and the acceptable threshold thereof. Buzzword alert: Incest, Matia, Megiddo. Cain tries to go after Matia, but another pope guy stops him. Back to battle! This time we've got Luca and Zion back, who are two levels down and with one grade of weapons down from the rest of the party. Oh well.

Level spread this time is 10-13. Some exciting new silly hats on some of the angels, one of whom looks even sillier because he's wearing what looks like a purple plaid cap and has six wings. I hope his last words are something like "Why did I have to die looking like this?" Results are about the same as the last battle, which gets Luca and Zion back up to speed and a couple other people to 12.

And here's Trap Card Shin, looking smarmy as ever. However, Cain scares the shit out of him, and he starts blathering about the devil. (Specifically, "Maoh," or "Demon King.") He bolts. Then his parents/accomplices/whatthehellever ambush a couple of guards.

Okay, definitive proof: Sgt. Maid's name is Caldia, and she is Stei's sister.

And here's Aragi again, giggling about something. May I kill him now? No, just more talking: Stei and Caldia talk about Kirota, who I'm betting is Anime Harry Potter. Aragi and Cain talk about Incest and Megiddo. I'd like to see an RPG where they skip the actual dialogue and just give you dialogue that reads  "Blah blah blah (Keyword) blah (Boss Name) blah (Location)." ...huh, that's what I'm technically getting now. Just unintentionally.