Quesada's Swan | Tales of Berseria - Part 112: The Abbey Strikes Back

Off to Titania!

First, I check out the Beast Quarter...the scenery of Southgand carried over here...

To get to this zone, we used a small raft from the Van Eltia...

After rescuing the Katz, I visit around other towns to see if I missed a few sidequests. I also play some rounds of Character Cards...

Now for the long trip back...

There's Bienfu talking to a sylphjay, sending him a message.

Magilou: "So it was you all along, Bienfu."

Magilou uses a detection arte and finds something in Bienfu.

Magilou: "There is a geas on you, interfering with our pact. Heh, well played Melchior." What a chessmaster Melchior is...

Magilou takes out the geas (pronounced "gesh") out of Bienfu...

Magilou: "Impressive. [Melchior] must have planned all of this, from the very moment you escaped me...even my imprisonment in Titania and my encounter with Velvet...all calculated down to the minute. Huh. Nice."

So Bienfu would've been treated worse by Melchior if he didn't spy on the crew...

And Magilou don't care about that. Magilou "doesn't care that she doesn't care."

Magilou dances and says in a singsong voice that she's been spying for the Abbey. Nope. It's Bienfu.

Velvet and Phi heard everything.

Magilou takes the heat for Bienfu's espionage. Velvet don't care, since she knew that Magilou was dodgy from the moment they met.

Velvet tells her to "fight for [the crew]."

Magilou: "You're good at this cruelty-that's-also-compassion thing, aren't you?"

Velvet has no time with her.

Magilou then gets serious. She asks Velvet a very abstract question.

Magilou: "What does it feel like to...hate? Does it torment you? Is it agony? Does the searing fire of hatred empower you to feel? Does it give your life meaning where there was none?"

We're almost close to the island...

And the Abbey's already inside.

Velvet: "If you want your answer, fight by my side. You'll see it the very moment I kill [the Shepherd]." Gulp...

She leaves.

Magilou: "In the face of doom, still the crow caws defiantly...you really know how to vex me..." The feeling's mutual, Magilou.

The ship goes around back.

Grim, Orthie, and Russ face off against the exorcists...

Grimoirh: "So you're using the forbidden artes? This has to be Melchior's doing..." If what she means by "forbidden artes" is fusion...that's probably it...

Velvet does a spinning leap at the exorcists!

The exorcists now label her as "The Lord of Calamity."

Velvet calls that "a melodramatic name."

The exorcists tell her to "face the enormity of [her] sins." Your dear Shepherd goes first.

The melodramatic exorcists pull out their malakhim, and fuse!

We face a Pugilist Praetor and a Longbow Praetor and the fight is on!

Eleanor, to no avail, tries to stop them!

Velvet pulls out her arm, but she's getting dizzier...

Phi stands in front of her!

Eleanor, in shock, looks at the praetors. They've collapsed as well...and they vanish!

Rokurou: "They destroyed themselves."
Magilou: "Just as I expected." How much do you know, Magilou?

Eleanor knows that the Abbey is weeding out their own numbers...

Velvet comes to and asks Grim where the therions are. They've gone.

Grim's still focusing on the book so far...she's almost done with it.

She tells the crew to get aboard the ship.

Magilou sarcastically reminds her she's not fighting them alone.

Velvet leaves, but her headache grows worse...her brother's comb drops to the floor.

Phi reminds her that she's not alone in this fight.

Phi: "I promise I'll protect you, Velvet." Awww...

Velvet: "You'll protect me...Long ago, Laphi said the same thing...but that sort of idealistic drivel will kill you. They won't change reality. Look at what happened with Laphi. Dead...murdered!" Oh my god.

Velvet: "And I...I couldn't protect him either...In the end, no matter how much he cared for me...my only brother, he...His life torn away from him..."

She faces Phi.

Velvet: "You worry about yourself, Laphicet. That's an order."

Oh, we're still giving orders at this point?

Velvet: "We have to keep Innominat out of the picture..."

Inside the prison now...

I turn back to the docks. Grim calls the Shepherd and Melchior "naughty" for messing with fusion.

The pirates curse the Abbey and give Eizen pep talks!

Dyle's injured. He tells us Kurogane has Kamoana and Medissa. But where's the prince and Griffin?

Skit: Bienfu apologizes for being Melchior's spy. Magilou knows what he's about to say. She's smiling and looking away.

Eleanor's in shock!

Rokurou compliments Melchior's cleverness.

Rokurou: "After all, a forest is the best place to hide a tree."
Phi: "Melchior used his artes to place orders on Bienfu that overrode Magilou's pact."

Melchior, you are one clever jerk...

That's okay, Bienfu, we still love you.

Eizen and the rest forgive Bienfu easily because they know he's been forced to do Melchior's bidding, and he doesn't take too kindly to people's controlling people's destinies...

Rokurou mentions the Bloodwings were also a step ahead of us.

He asks Bienfu what he gave away to the Abbey.

Mostly personal stuff from Eizen to Dyle.

Eizen apologizes to Eleanor for his suspicions. So does Bienfu.

Skit: Phi asks about fusion. If Eleanor were still with the Abbey, she would have been fusing as well. Character development yay!

She points out the logic on using fusions and the drawbacks...

The Abbey's now cornered, and this is their counterattack. This is one of the reasons why I called this part "The Abbey Strikes Back."

Rokurou, though, mentions an alternative thought: the Abbey's testing fusions on us, and they want nothing to do with the therions.

Eleanor's in shock again at the carelessness of life from the Abbey.

Rokurou: "A blade proves its true worth by making it through battle unbroken."

She knows that's a logical thought, but it's not a good one.

Magilou's implying Velvet doesn't have plenty of time left...

Velvet's now in killing mode...

There's Macrotian Wraiths, Gale Witches, Rigid Pythons, and more exorcist fusions invading to stop us!

Eizen: "First they rob the malakhim of their will and now their bodies too. Makes me sick."
Magilou: "...it fits their 'reason'. They want strength and no arte can squeeze strength from a malak like that one."

After some shopping from a Turtlez, I grab a Demon's Cleaver from a chest.

There's Kurogane, Kamoana, and Medissa!

Kurogane's still ashamed...

Kurogane: "I have lost face."
Magilou: "You don't have a face!"

Poor Kamoana...Medissa tries to comfort her.

Eleanor thanks Medissa for saving them.

Velvet orders them to escape to the south docks, and sail away if they find Prince Percival.

Kurogane hands Rokurou his finest masterpiece from the orichalcum: Stormquell.

Rokurou: "You actually did it!"
Kurogane: "I abandoned all desire and forged it with a clear mind. You will find no harder sword in all the world."
Rokurou: "Stormquell...made from orichalcum...I'll use it well, Kurogane."

We get Stormquell!

Skit: Phi's overjoyed at seeing such a magnificent blade! Rokurou's excited too!

Bienfu and Eleanor are in awe of Kurogane's fine handiwork.

Eizen: "The God Blade Stormhowl vs. the Orichalcum Stormquell. This will be something to see."
Magilou: "The gods alone know [how this will end]."
Rokurou: "The gods have nothing to do with it. Skill alone determines who lives and who dies."

We head deeper into the prison where we find the Prince and Griffin.

Prince Percival: "You did well to avoid the Shepherd and his forces." Coming from Prince Percival, that's the highest compliment ever.

Eleanor: "[The Shepherd] is here!?"
Prince: "He is."

Velvet's now wanting to go after him.

Eizen's being cautious at this point.

Magilou tells the Prince they're leaving him behind if Griffin heads for the ship first.

Now let's get out of here!

Phi asks Eizen if the Shepherd's going to fuse to take care of us...Eizen's not sure. I'm not sure what he will pull...

He probably won't since his reputation, according to Magilou, depends on him being alive.

But she points out that the risk might be lowered depending on how strong they are.

Rokurou thinks he will fuse with Innominat...oh boy...

Velvet knows he's going to fuse with Innominat. She's not going to underestimate him. He's going to use everything to finish off the Lord of Calamity.

Velvet: "Whether god or devil stands in his way, he won't be swayed. That's who he is." The Shepherd's lost all emotion to the point where he can be very powerful...

There's Benwick!

The Reaper's Curse rears its ugly head again as he tells us the exorcists have already gotten to the Van Eltia.

Eizen tells them to sail immediately!

Velvet stops.

Phi talks to her, happy that everyone's safe.

The exorcists come forth!

Velvet orders Benwick to leave her behind!

She's going to hold the fort from here!

Eizen: "Tch..." The crew joins her!

Eizen tells Benwick to set sail!

Benwick tells them not to die. We won't.

Velvet: "We're not going to die. We're going to kill."

We finish off the fused exorcists!

Velvet now decides to go to the front this time.

Rokurou: "To steal an Abbey ship, I take it."

Eleanor warns us the Abbey's over there, with the Shepherd leading the charge.

Velvet: "All the better."

Eizen: "If you want to die, do it alone."
Velvet: "I'm not asking you to come with me." Oh boy...personality-wise, she is like Korra, imo...

Then Prince Percival comes forth. He asks the crew to use him as a hostage.

Magilou: "Looks like this is our best and only bet."