Absolute Balloon Sword (For Real)
Ranne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen.
Two main hostile factions appeared in the original game.
One was the Vampires of the New Kingdom. The other was the servants of the Evil God.
'Calamities exist as their own special category, but...'
Better to leave those out of the equation. They didn't belong to any clearly defined camp. Sometimes they were extensions of the two factions above; other times they had nothing to do with either, moving entirely on their own.
'The New Kingdom. The Cultists.'
Both were hostile factions, yet their goals couldn't have been more different.
The New Kingdom wanted war. Reduce inferior humans to livestock, dominate them, and ultimately stand at the top of the entire continent.
The Cultists were another matter entirely. What they wanted was the end of the world. To borrow from their scripture: <The Supreme Night shall be made manifest>.
The 'Supreme Night' referred to the Evil God they worshipped.
'The Cultists' goal is to manifest their god.'
They sought to bring the Evil God down upon the continent. Destroy the world, in other words. And they were lunatics who genuinely believed they would be saved through that very destruction.
Not the kind of people you could make sense of through normal logic,and not the kind you should try to.
'The only answer is to wipe them out entirely.'
His targets for today.
Come to think of it, this would be his first direct clash with the Cultist side. He'd run into Apostles often enough over the years, but actual Cultists? Never once.
'The Apostle of the Evil God. And the Cultists.'
Easy to assume they were the same thing, but they were completely different concepts. He'd actually written a clean breakdown post about this in his past life. He used to put up the occasional trivia piece.
[Title: Distinguishing Apostles from Cultists]
[Author: BugFindingGamer]
Hey everyone, BugFindingGamer here.
Today I found something interesting while reading through the RGM lore compendium, so I thought I'd share. Just a little fun fact.
Cultists. Apostles of the Evil God.
They seem similar, but there are differences.
According to the setting materials released two days ago, the two don't belong to the same category.
1. Cultists
-> Your standard Evil God worshippers.
-> Basically human.
2. Apostles of the Evil God
-> Apparently refers to otherworldly beings who have received the Evil God's blessing.
-> Definitely not human. If anything, they're closer to gods themselves.
-> Said to share a kind of symbiotic relationship with the Cultists.
3. How the two interact
-> First, the Cultist bastards offer up a sacrifice.
-> The Apostle hears the call and appears.
-> The Apostle grants a wish proportional to the sacrifice.
Pretty interesting, right?
I'd assumed that since they share the same first character in their names, they were all one big family eating from the same pot. Turns out it's closer to a contractual relationship.
Sort of like the demons and demon-worshippers dynamic in other games.
The main difference is that Apostles are said to have clouded reasoning. Rather than thinking and acting for themselves, they simply do whatever the sacrifice demands.
That's all from me.
If this was helpful, a like would be appreciated.
[Oh, an info post today?]
-> So where's the sick bug?
-> BugFindingGamer) None today.
-> HEY!!!!! I was waiting ALL DAY for that!!!!!
[So where's the bug]
-> When's the bug coming, seriously
-> Don't use lore posts as an excuse to slack on your actual job
-> BugFindingGamer) I literally posted one just four hours ago...
-> NOT ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[You've got no sense. An info post, really.]
-> BugFindingGamer) I knew you'd all react like this, so I did find one.
-> BugFindingGamer) It's a bug that tricks the system into mistaking the player for a Cultist, letting the user access Cultist-exclusive items.
-> BugFindingGamer) Using this bug, I confirmed that the [Apostle Interaction] mentioned above can be triggered from the player's side too. Dropped The Red Knight right on top of the Ranch, and it was having the time of its life.
-> ?????????
-> ????????
-> ?????
-> BugFindingGamer) Furube yura yura.
-> HEY!!!!! You should have posted that first!!!!
-> Why'd you find it and sit on it?!?!
-> Post it NOW!!!!!!!
[Wait, what the hell is that up there?]
-> Players can form a contract with an Apostle??
-> BugFindingGamer) The item setup is a bit brutal, but yeah, it's doable. Though giving orders like "attack the Cultists" doesn't work. It can apparently tell when it's dealing with the same side.
-> ??? Wait, so it works against Vampires? Sic an Apostle on the New Kingdom?
-> You can drop a tactical Apostle nuke on the New Kingdom??
-> The Furube yura yura is actually real??
-> BugFindingGamer) Will post soon.
-> I knew I could count on him! This guy is a god!
-> BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG! BFG!
"Ahem."
Today's prey: Cultists. More specifically, the branch that had been conspiring with Professor Glynbert.
Glynbert had played informant, but in the end he was just following orders.
'The Lacquer Night... that was their plan too.'
Passing Glynbert the unidentified substance, arranging for the Student Hunting Grounds to be sealed off, manifesting The Red Knight at that location. All of it had been orchestrated by the Cultists.
And this wasn't just about what had happened this time. Most of the incidents that would blow up later had the Cultists behind them too.
'The nearest one... next month, they'll crash the White Knight into the midterms.'
The White Knight. An Apostle of the Evil God,and one of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse, the most prominent Apostles of the bunch. Roughly the same tier as The Red Knight he'd already dealt with. Beyond those two, the four were rounded out by a Black Knight and a Blue Knight.
'If the White Knight shows up during the exams, things get complicated.'
The Apostle who commanded plagues. The White Knight's manifestation, above all else, had to be stopped.
So he'd move first, before they had the chance.
'I'll have to tear the whole branch apart. Keep them from meddling with the Academy for a good while.'
He thought about it.
'Deal with the White Knight situation while I'm at it.'
Best case: secure the White Knight's [Demise] outright. That would make the ultimate Furube yura yura possible. Not even the Cultists would be able to lift a finger against it.
Deep in thought, he walked on, the blue status window flickering open again and again.
Ding!
[Chain Quest]
-Title: Finish What You Started?
-Objective: Wipe out the Cultist branch that conspired with Professor Glynbert. Rescue the civilians captured as research subjects.
-Failure Penalty: None
-Reward: A clue regarding ■■■
[Time Limit: 6 hours 03 minutes 39 seconds]
This quest was simple.
Raise hell.
Secure the captured civilians.
Get the White Knight's Demise.
(If possible.)
"Shall we head in?"
"Yes, let's."
He and Carmilla had already arrived at their destination. Sneaking out of the Academy without getting caught,he'd done it enough times to have the rhythm down now.
The distance this time had been especially long, so he'd had to chain multiple map-clip bugs together in sequence. What waited at the end was a temple, set deep in a mountain valley, crouching in the shadows.
A Barrier ringed the perimeter, but with the map-clip available, nothing could stop them.
"Your Highness... no. Lady Manre."
"What is it. Deputy Commander Garulik."
"There is a saying. The only good Cultist is a dead one."
"Bury them all, then? All but the captives."
"Precisely."
The two of them stood at the temple entrance. A thin, cold smile spread at his lips.
"Let's go."
Two troublemakers. Both the strongest around.
Grand Inquisitors Garulik and Manre, moving out.
***
Exactly one hour after entering the temple.
Short as it was, the inside had been reduced to a wreck. On the surface, a remote mountain temple. In reality, a Cultist research base,a place where people were kidnapped, subjected to every kind of human experimentation imaginable, and killed.
"Haah..."
A place that should have been soaked with the screams and sobs of countless victims. Where lives that ended unjustly couldn't even have their names mourned. The acrid stench of blood and chemical reagents rose from the floors.
Dark mana seeped through the walls.
But something was different today.
"Aaaaagh!"
"Please, please spare me... gkh!"
"Shit, headquarters! Call headquarters! Get us backup, now!"
"The, the line's dead! Aaaagh!"
Today, the screaming was coming from the other direction.
Not from the iron cages holding the test subjects. From beyond them, deep inside the research rooms.
Screaming.
Panic.
Chaos.
All of it soaked through the facility. Bodies of people who had tried to flee something and been cut down right where they stood. The dark red robes that marked their faith were stained a deeper shade of red.
"We're under attack!! Unidentified intruders have entered the facility!"
"What the hell?! How did they even get in?!"
"Everyone, grab the research materials!!"
"Aaaaargh!!"
Loud.
"They broke through the outer Barrier?! How on earth..."
"We're done!! Lab Two is already a total wipeout!!"
"Someone's coming from the other side too! God damn it, two of them, both in masks!"
They panicked. So he gave them another pile of bodies.
"Engage. Thorns."
Shhk!
One quiet command, and the Cultist members came apart in dozens of pieces.
"Gkk, gkk, gkk, gkk..."
Thud.
He pulled the scythe free, and whatever was left spilled out.
He walked the blood-soaked corridor without hurrying. Balloon Sword in one hand, scythe in the other.
"Ah... this is exhausting."
A slow breath.
The hallway behind him was drenched in the blood of the faithful. Quite a grim sight, but he didn't feel the slightest sympathy.
'Well... they're not much different from the New Kingdom Vampires I dealt with before.'
Where the New Kingdom Vampires had treated humans as livestock, these members treated them as lab rats. Evidence of that was everywhere.
Human eyeballs floating in specimen jars. Documents recording experiments that violated every ethical line imaginable. Inside the cages, things that could no longer be called human.
The more carefully he looked around, the less he hesitated.
'Now that I think about it... Alice was also from one of the Cultists' labs.'
Project Alice-02.
The name that girl had originally been given.
Truly unforgivable, in every sense.
"Shit! Die, you monster!"
"My, my. Choosing to fight instead of run."
"Who are you?! Intruder, identify yourself!"
"An RGM player."
(Meaning: a player of Ranne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen.)
Cult members rushed in from his blind spots.
He stepped lightly and blinked sideways.
Reappeared at their backs. Took their heads.
Shick!
"Engage. Hammer."
Crash!
Bodies that only stopped moving once they were completely pulverized. Saturated with dark mana as they were, a clean decapitation wasn't enough to put them down.
'At least they're the pen-pushing lab type. That's something...'
They weren't particularly strong. Unlike the encounter with Professor Glynbert, these were a level he could manage on his own without any trouble. A few tougher ones were sprinkled in, but he dealt with those through bug-assisted ambushes. No reason to face trash head-on when he didn't have to.
Only a head was left, but the lips were still moving. It had apparently finished casting, because a pitch-black spear launched straight at him.
Whoom!
"Absolute Balloon Sword."
Click.
Not a chance.
The pocket watch button depressed, and the world slowed. In the next instant, the Balloon Sword shot out like lightning and executed a Parrying.
Ting.
The spear veered wildly off course.
He drove the scythe home.
"Go to hell."
(Meaning: go to hell.)
Crash!
One by one, the Cultists were cleaned up. The emptied corridor held only him.
"...Done on this side."
Time to link up with Carmilla. He still had to free the civilians and apprehend the Director of this facility.
He adjusted his grip on the Balloon Sword, light and easy.
"Haah... not a moment's rest."
He exhaled and turned to step out of the corridor,and that's when a flash of light bleached his entire vision white.
Flash!
"...?!"
His first instinct was ambush, but he felt no presence at all. And the light wasn't coming from somewhere else. It was coming from his own hand.
From the Balloon Sword, specifically. His soft, squishy balloon sword, of all things.
He stood there with a question mark hanging over his head, and then the status window that opened in front of him explained everything.
Ding!
[Hidden Quest cleared!]
-Title: I'm Betting Everything on This Sword!
-Objective: Successfully execute Parrying 300 times with a single weapon.
[Through sheer, stunning persistence, you have met the conditions!]
-As a reward, a special option will be granted to this weapon.
"Wha."
What.
What is this.
What's happening all of a sudden.
Flash!
Even as he stood there baffled, the light kept pouring out of his Absolute Balloon Sword.
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