Ｆｉｎａｌ　Ｆａｎｔａｓｙ　Ｖ

Cid is standing on deck by the railing.

He leaves.

The queen is on the second floor of the inn, surrounded by soldiers.

And Cid is moping upstairs in the pub.

It seems a shame to leave him like that, but he's completely unresponsive. Fortunately, one of the patrons downstairs mentions some information that might come in handy.

Be sure to learn Aqua Breath from a Dorm Chimera in the desert on the way here.

The scholars here are running around as though in a panic.

Upstairs are a recovery pot, more scholars, and an old book on a table.

And considering how these things always go, guess where Mid is...

On the roof are two more scholars, a furnace, and some books.

The books aren't very interesting, though one is possessed and attacks.

Anyway, on to that basement. It's dark and creepy, and many of the bookcases move. Boo. Battles here occurs as series of book pages (possible opponents are Page 32, Page 64, Page 128, and Page 256).

Page 128 has an Ether to steal, and the others have some interesting rare steals if you can manage to nab them—Green Beret on Page 32, Silver-Rimmed Glasses on Page 64, and Shinobi Garb on Page 256.

Be careful of your levels here. Page 64 can cast Level 5 Death, which will wipe you out if every character has a level that is a multiple of 5. However, this is a good time to learn it if your characters are not all the same level (someone MUST actually be HIT to learn Blue Magic, so you can't have everyone at a safe level).

Farther into the basement is a stubborn bookshelf that refuses to let the party pass.

But never fear! Past an apparent dead end in the previous room is a passage leading to a suspicious book.

With a red flash, the book bursts into flame.

Unsurprisingly, Ifrit specializes in fire attacks. Summoning Shiva works well, but casting Blizzara works better. Sword Magic Blizzara is another good choice. Physical attacks seem to work better than magical overall. Oddly, he's vulnerable to paralysis, so you can summon Remora or use a Whip to give him fewer chances to attack. Steal a Phoenix Tail if you like.

Remember that obnoxious bookshelf? Now when it gets in the way, there's a red flash accompanied by flaming noises.

This time, the shelf wisely gets out of the way.

Before long, there's a save point, and you know what that means... A bit later, the party sees someone in a dead-end room.

Books hop out and attack the party. You can steal Dark Matter if you're lucky, but usually you just get a Lucky Mallet. Byblos is weak against fire, so summon Ifrit, cast Fira, and enchant Fira for good damage. Watch out for its Whirlwind Slash attack. It occasionally uses Magic Hammer for your Blue Mages to learn, but not very frequently, and it may miss on top of that. Byblos also likes to use Protect to boost its defense, and Drain when low on HP. If you're feeling cheap, give everyone Blue Magic and cast Death Claw until it hits to reduce the poor boss to single-digit health, with paralysis on top of that.

Either way, it drops a Protect Drink.

The person apparently hasn't noticed anything, and looks startled when spoken to.

That's Butz, then Lenna (by elimination), then Galuf (definitely), then Faris (probably).

Mid seems unaffected by their lack of enthusiasm.

He opens a passage in the wall. Back upstairs, a scholar is shocked off a ladder when the bookcase in front of him opens and Mid walks out.

The scholars crowd around him. The party walks out of the bookcase too.

Mid looks surprised.

He places a book on the nearby table.

Mid rushes out of the room.

The party follows. The scholars in the entry room are still running around madly.

Cid hasn't moved since we last saw him. Mid isn't here yet.

Everyone, even Cid, looks toward the stairs. Mid enters.

Without another word, Mid walks over to Cid and starts hitting him repeatedly.

Mid stops hitting him and just looks upset.

Cid and Mid nod to each other.

It's in that village we saw a glimpse of back during the events at the Wind Temple, remember? No? Well anyway, it's south of a desert and surrounded by mountains.

Cid nods.

Mid puts the book on the table.

They nod to each other, then to the party, which nods back. Mid picks up the book and leaves with Cid, who stops just before the stairs for another exchange of nods.

Mid walks over and moves something on deck out from underfoot.

Cid walks out.

The party walks into the cabin as Cid and Mid continue working. Galuf drops back.

The screen blurs a few times.

The screen blurs again and fades out. Flashback to the pub with Cid and his bout of depression. We've seen this already.

Everyone, even Cid, looks toward the stairs. Mid enters.

Scene change to a different, unfamiliar flashback. Galuf stands alone on a castle roof, staring into the distance.

Okay, so you may be wondering where I got that crazy name from. Isn't it Cara, or Krile, or Kururu, or Krull, or Cthulu or something?

Not exactly.

Kururu is the direct romanization of クルル, but it's unweildy at best. In Japanese, it's normally a sound word (for spinning). It can be a type of door hinge or doorstop (枢 in kanji), though the word seems to be rather uncommon. The name dictionary I'm using also lists it as a possible female given name (written くるる, 枢, 輪廻, or 来瑠), but it seems to be highly uncommon as a name. Then again, maybe that's why they chose it.

Krile is the name used in the official translation of the PSX (and GBA?) version, but it's both unweildy and a poor representation of the Japanese name, which contains nothing even remotely resembling the long 'i' that spelling implies. It is, however, the spelling used on Japanese promotional material including their website for the game, so that lends it some degree of legitimacy despite being, quite frankly, awful.

I also came across a claim that she's named after the Kurile (usually Kuril) Islands between Japan and Russia, and while that's believable on the surface and also explains where "Krile" comes from, it runs into a problem. Despite the statement that the katakana rendering of "Kurile" is "ku ru ru", it's actually KURIRU (クリル), and the island chain is normally referred to as 千島列島 (Chishima Rettou, literally thousand-island chain) in Japanese anyway. "Kuril" wouldn't be bad, though.

Cara is the name used in RPGe's unofficial fan translation, and while it takes liberties with the original, it's arguably closer than "Krile" and definitely sounds more like a real name. A female name, even.

So, where's "Karulu" come from then? Actually... Ar Tonelico. The first village in the game is Karulu in the English version and クルル in the Japanese. It came to me as I was playing it that the English name looked a lot like a credible job of getting something manageable out of クルル, and after checking into it, it turns out I was right. It strikes me as adequately pronouncable while staying true to the original, and the 'a' and 'l' "soften" it just enough to be conceivable as a girl's name, if only barely. Light emphasis should be put on the second syllable, with the 'a' degenerating into a schwa sound pronounced roughly like the Japanese 'u'.

After looking at "Karulu", I was considering "Carol" too, but I think that's stretching the vowels a little too far (and "Carol" is normally キャロル in katakana anyway). It would still be my first choice if I were trying to create a marketable translation for general public consumption, though. I'm frankly amazed Square kept "Krile" for an English release, especially after some of the other name changes they've made...

Galuf turns around. A girl with blonde hair in a ponytail enters. She should look familiar, if you remeber what happened in the Ship Graveyard...

Back to the first flashback. Mid is hitting Cid repeatedly.

Back to the second flashback. Karulu is hitting Galuf repeatedly.

End flashbacks. We're back in the ship cabin.

More screen blurring.

Galuf nods, walks a few steps away, and hesitates before turning back around.

The others are understandably shocked.

Another flashback. Four men stand in a cave. One is Galuf, one is a werewolf (but not the one seen in Karnak), and another one may look familiar if you can remember Butz's flashback way back in Toole.

External view, spinning and panning out. It's a forested area, enclosed by mountains, that you may have seen between the Wind Temple and Toole. In the flashback, there are four large rocklike objects, one in each corner of the forest. In the present, one disappears with each crystal that shatters.

More screen blurring.

More screen blurring. Galuf collapses.

Fade out. Time lapse. The party returns to deck to find Cid and Mid snoring. Mid is unresponsive, but Cid wakes easily enough.

He stretches and wakes Mid.

Mid stretches, then hops up and down excitedly.

Cid and Mid walk onto the dock, which pulls away from the ship.

Butz nods and takes the helm.

Now that it's working again, the steamship functions much like Faris's pirate ship did when Syldra was towing it around. The only important difference, other than the different section of ocean accessible, is that random encounters will occur while at sea. Be prepared.

Three more of the locations marked on the World Map are now reachable, one in the northwest, one in the southwest, and one in the southeast. A fourth location, just northwest of the Wind Temple, may appear accessible on the map, but is actually surrounded by mountains and out of reach.

If you're feeling lucky at sea, the コルベット monster has a Trident as a rare steal. But be careful about using it; it's a thunder weapon, which works great on most sea monsters, but the Thunder Anemone absorbs the element. Of course, only the Normal class can use spears at this point anyway...

Let's start with the northwestern town. If you like sheep, this is the village for you. Otherwise, you're probably more interested in information and supplies. The magic shop sells Time Magic, but nothing new. The armor shop is interesting, though...

Quite useful, so naturally all three are quite expensive, selling for 50,000 gil each. They also all have high defense and magic defense, especially the Angel's Ring.

A girl mentions something of possible interest.

Circling around a ring of flowers causes the ground in the middle to open up, revealing a surprised frog. It hops off into the forest, but...

Well, that fills the annoying hole in the Black Magic list. Anyway, there's also a cranky sheep that gets crankier when taunted, and kicks the party over the fence. There's a random minstrel here.

Answer positively, and...

An old man on the way out says:

And finally, an old woman in town mentions:

So head east into the forest, and there's a good chance of fighting this odd character. His name is Ramuh, and he tends to use thunder attacks. Casting the Timespace spell Mute will void many of his attacks, just note that this will also keep you from using magic, and that some of his thunder attacks will still work. He'll waste turns casting spells that do nothing, though. Death Claw also works on him if you're feeling particularly nasty. Upon defeat, he speaks.

Note that the dialog is identical whether or not anyone actually summoned Ifrit during the battle. It's not a bad way to inflict damage, though.

Ramuh drops the item Ramuh, which makes thundering noises and adds the Ramuh summon to the spell list when used.

Okay, on to the southwestern town. No sheep here, but the magic shop is again of little interest, stocking only White Magic you should already have. The weapon and armor shops have new equipment, but skip the Silver Bows (you can steal them easily enough soon). The pub is the main point of interest here, though. There's another piano to play (almost competent this time), adventurers talking about the nearby cave, and even a dancer who breaks the fourth wall! After inviting the current party leader and a random spectator to dance with her....

Your character throws in an extra wave (or is it a hair-toss?) on the end of the music too.

Be careful if you're going to the cave. It mostly contains Nut Eaters (the weak squirrels from the beginning of the game), but there are occasional Skull Eaters. These things are brutal and nearly impossible to kill despite their single HP, because they have a ridiculously high defense power (and magic defense). Don't try casting spells either... that just makes them mad. If you're lucky, any you encounter will simply run away, but if not... Well, it's not like they're invincible (not quite, anyway). !Terrain might kill one depending on what you get, but if you prefer something more certain, bring a few people with !Control and have it kill itself with its special attack. Ha. Take that. I also highly recommend putting everyone in the back row (to lower damage taken) and having the Thief's Alertness ability (to avoid being attacked from behind) and the Ninja's Preemptive Attack ability (to increase your chances of acting first). Or you could just flee, but where's the fun in that?

The Nut Eater formations give 3 ABP, and the Skull Eaters give 5 ABP whether they run or die. Not a bad place to level up jobs, if you don't mind the risk involved.

Make it past the monsters and traps to get a Shuriken, a Tent, and a Shock Whip. There's also a wall you can climb to get outside, but there's no apparent point to doing so. Don't worry, there will be later... much later... Incidentally, leaving the cave past the tricks and traps is far easier than entering.

And finally, the southeastern town, on a crescent-shaped island.

If you're interested in Silver Bows, steal them from the Crescent monsters outside the town. Easy and free, a winning combination. The same monsters may also drop Death Sickles for your Berserkers.

No sooner does the party walk into town but an old man panics.

He runs off, leaving Butz looking confused until the ground starts shaking violently.

All buildings are locked at the moment, and all the people outside are too panicked for conversation. Just go check on the boat already.

And we see the ship sink into a vortex at the opening in the crescent of the island. The old man by the entrance is less than sympathetic.

At least the town's calmed down now. The magic shop is another bust, with familiar Black Magic, but at least the weapon shop has some new items. Harps and elemental bows. Huh. A minstrel's house in the southeast has another piano (the fifth one, and sounding pretty good now except that sour note at the end), and the minstrel himself is helpful too.

However, their piano skill is not yet adequate to trigger any new songs. Other townspeople offer general combat advice...

...notes on the island...

...and even clues to getting off.

A flying chocobo... sounds useful. The party heads to the forest to investigate.

There is a chocobo here, and it does seem to be an odd color. Not exactly black, more of a dark purple, but still, hardly the usual yellow.

The chocobo runs around like crazy. Try guessing where it's going to go. The Thief Dash ability helps too.

The bird lifts off, but soon falls back down, crashing into a large tree. Lenna and Galuf check on Butz while Faris goes for the chocobo. Butz gets up.

Faris circles behind the chocobo and gives it a couple of hard slaps. Two crystal shards pop out.

Butz takes the shards.

Everyone hops on the chocobo. It does a little dance, then lifts off, staying in the air this time. As described, the black chocobo can land in any forest, and only in forest. It can also fly over moutains, but not the highest mountains. This poses no real obstacle to getting anywhere, as such mountains can always be detoured around, though they can still be annoying. In any case, the black chocobo can reach anything the steamship can (with a few exceptions, mostly small empty islands with no forest), and some things it can't...

...like that village northwest of the Wind Temple. The magic shop sells Esuna (and only Esuna) in case you missed it in Karnak Castle. Nearly everyone here knows Butz, and the innkeeper lets the party stay free of charge.

Transition to nighttime. Butz is out of bed. Faris wakes up and notices. Transition to outside. Butz stands by a tall gravestone. Faris approaches.

Butz steps up to the grave and does something.

Faris seems lost in thought. Butz tries to... comfort her, I guess? But Faris will have none of that.

And everyone wakes up normally in the morning. One of the older women in the village remarks on Butz's old house.

The minstrel is friendly enough.

Butz finds a music box. It seems to bring back memories, since a flashback starts. Young Butz is in bed, with a woman next to him, and a man sitting at the table who has appeared in two previous flashbacks. Butz rolls over, and the woman quietly walks away and over to the table.

Incidentally, Butz's bed is the only one in the house. Did his parents sleep on the floor, or did they all share one bed?

He looks down for a bit before responding.

What sort of fits is unclear, but it must be some sort of recurring ailment.

She walks off the screen. Dorgan backs away, then walks over to Butz's bedside.

Dorgan turns around.

No response. He steps forward, looking alarmed.

The screen pans to show Stella collapsed on the floor. Fade to black as Dorgan rushes to her side.

Return to the present. The minstrel liked the music box, at least.

Out in the village is a scholar who used to know Butz as a child.

Pixelize into another flashback, this one outdoors in the village.

Young Butz runs behind a tall building and climbs onto the roof, ducking behind the chimney.

Young Butz waits. And waits. And waits. Night falls. Young Butz walks around a little, then slips and slides to the edge of the roof, dangling off the edge.

Pixelize back to the present.

The item shop has another pleasant surprise.

All items here are half price. Unfortunately, that doesn't apply to the weapon and armor shops upstairs, but the weapons shop does sell some useful items for the Ninja that haven't been available in any other stores.

Remember how Cid said to come here if anything happened? No? ...well anyway. Cid and Mid come out to greet the party upon their arrival.

The party looks astonished.

Lenna nods, and the party sets out.

As expected, the flowing sand prevents entry, ejecting intruders back to the entrance.

Cid and Mid arrive.

Answer yes to continue, or no to prepare first.

They ring their bells, and the sandworm attacks.

Three holes appear in the battle, with the sandworm sticking out of one of them. It periodically switches holes during the battle. Don't attack a hole, or it will counter with Gravity.

I have no idea why Mid makes that comment about multitarget magic earlier, unless he means ugly for the sandworm. The only reason not to cast against all is to avoid diluting the spell's effect. The script for the holes only has a "counter physical" effect, which does not react to any pure spells (the commands affected are Items, Battle, Kick, Gather, Steal, Mug, Wyrmblade, Jump, Throw, Sword Slap, Coin Toss, Animals, Aim, Wild Strike, Call, Examine, Fathom, Release, Mix, Terrain, and Dance)

The quickest, easiest, and most ruthless way to end the battle is with the Blue Magic Aqua Breath. It has 800% power against desert creatures. The sandworm is a desert creature. You're guaranteed a one-hit kill at level 11 and up, and will usually get one even as low as level 6. Overkill, much?

They hop up and down a few times.

They nod.

The way is now clear to enter the desert and continue south. There's a large pyramid in the midst of the sands, but even if you manage to reach it, there's nothing to do there at the moment.

The placement of this town may look vaguely familiar...

Nothing remarkable here, just ordinary ruined buildings.

Lenna nods to Butz, who nods back. As they explore the town, the party spots a familiar figure scurrying around.

After following several times, the party finally corners him in one of the ruined buildings.

Lenna and Faris exchange glances. The party advances, but the floor collapses beneath them. King Tycoon walks forward and gazes into the pit.

The party lands somewhere below. The ruins here are more intact, though parts of the floor are missing. Galuf lands in a different room from the others. Lenna and Faris are the first to get up.

And they embrace, or as close as the character sprites allow.

Galuf gets up, shakes his head clear, and explores the room, but finds no way out. Butz finally gets up.

They all look downcast. Galuf stands against the wall with his hand raised, as though trying to listen through it.

Galuf looks stunned. He starts pounding the wall, but to no avail. Looking around, he spots a hole in the floor, hops in, works his way across what looks like machinery underneath, and leaps out in front of the rest of the party, startling them.

Now reunited, the party resumes exploring. In the next room they find a large platform that begins glowing when the step on it.

And with that, the party is magically transported...

...halfway across the world to Crescent Island, going by the panning view of the world map. The destination room looks just like the one they just left, but it starts shaking violently as soon as they arrive.

The party rushes out of the room, which falls apart behind them, and collapses. Fade out.

The black chocobo lands in the forest where Butz and the others found it. Cid and Mid get off.

The scene shifts back to the party.

The area looks similar to the one they recently left, with the same distinctive look and machinery running here and there.

A nearby set of rooms offers a place to rest, and an uncooperative switch.

In the flowers...

In the papers...

Butz looks annoyed. Lenna reaches for him.

A frog jumps out of one of the pots, then bumps into a bookcase and knocks a book to the floor.

Either set of directions leads to the switch that started all this. Pulling on it opens a small room nearby, containing two Shuriken and the Minimum spell, which fills that annoying hole in the White Magic list.

It's also possible to skip the whole runaround. When prompted to push the switch, answer no, and you'll be prompted to pull the switch instead, opening the room without following the clues.

A locked door and another switch block further progress. This one doesn't have any silly diversions, but the room does start shaking when it's pressed.

The shaking extends above ground, to where Cid and Mid stand by the black chocobo. A hole opens in the ground, and the two of them fall in. The black chocobo peers into the hole, looking confused.

Back underground, the door opens, with no other apparent complications. The path continues to what appears to be a dock, complete with a ship.

You can go back inside the ship now, in case you missed anything.

The dock continues to another ship. This one looks a bit odd.

And just then, a familiar duo falls from above and lands on the ship.

Cid looks around as they talk. He appears to be overwhelmed.

Mid nods. Cid disappears below deck.

Mid looks around, then heads below deck. The part looks rather confused, but follows. Cid is inside in a room full of machinery like that in the ruins.

He walks off, looking around.

He keeps looking, and seems to find what he was searching for.

The ship starts shaking. Cid hops up and down with excitement.

Fade out. A hangar of some sort opens where the steamship sank, this ship rises to surface level, the propellors start spinning, and it lifts into the air! Everyone stands on deck.

The ship starts shaking with a jolt.

Boss time. It's quite weak to thunder, though, so use of appropriate magic and weapons like the Coral Sword, Trident, and Shock Whip should make short work of it. You can steal a Coral Sword if you like, and it drops an Ice Bow for your trouble.

Cid takes the wheel and lands.

Cid and Mid step off the ship. Butz works his way toward the helm, pausing along the way to speak the the others.

Wheeee, airship! It's a bit like the black chocobo, but lands on plains instead of forests. It also flies higher and faster, so even the tallest of mountains are no longer an obstacle, and it's never taken so little time to travel. Thanks to use of the system's Mode 7 abilities, the world even appears in a perspective view that offers vastly increased visibility. And just in case you missed the sea monsters, the airship can also land on water and sail around just like the steamship could. Incidentally, the black chocobo is still available, but the airship can get you essentially anywhere the bird can.

This trip is still entirely optional, and the contents of the visit still vary after a certain event later on...

A soldier stands watch at the castle gate. He spots Lenna.

The soldier opens the gates.

The chancellor is shocked to see Lenna, and so are the guards inside.

The chancellor and soldiers present show their agreement.

Fade out, and scene change to a sleeping room. Faris wakes and turns to Lenna.

The screen pans to another room. It's daylight, and a girl sits at a desk while an older woman paces nearby.

The woman walks closer.

Sarisa leaves the room. She then arrives in the sleeping room, where she places a small child in one of the beds.

She looks confused.

Sarisa runs over to the far side of the adjacent bed. The view pans back to the classroom, where Jenica is looking impatient.

Pan back to the bedroom. Sarisa has pushed the beds together, and is sleeping next to Lenna.

Return to the present.

Lenna nods, and the scene fades. Everyone gets up normally in the morning.

Sorry, Butz doesn't make a fool of himself any more. Everything else is as before, though.

Let's get back to the main plot now, shall we? Approach by land or by air, since it doesn't matter. The only difference is whether the backdrop is the airship or the ground.

There's a loud rumbling as the party approaches the town.

Making a mess of the ground, a large object that looks more like a massive fortress than a town lifts into the air, quickly rising beyond the reach of even the airship.

This area has no in-game name as far as I know.

As the party is about to leave the airship, Cid and Mid arrive.

Mid pulls out a book.

Galuf looks startled.

Lenna and Faris look at each other.

Cid pulls out another book.

Galuf looks excited.

Several nods go around, and Cid and Mid pack up their books.

Nothing's changed here. Upon arriving at the meteorite, Galuf moves to the side and reaches for something on the stone.

A doorway opens in the meteorite.

The meteorite contains what appears to be a warp tile like in the others, but it doesn't do anything. There's also a bluish crystalline stone in the back.

Galuf takes it.

As they're leaving, the screen goes dark.

A giant tortoise of some sort. It doesn't take much damage, but has low HP for a boss at this point in the game. Ice is its weakness, so take advantage of that. It drops a Turtle Shell, and you can steal a Protect Drink if you think it's worth the effort.

More concretely, attack with an Ice Bow, Blizzara-enchanted sword, or Blizzara or Shiva with an Ice Rod equipped. Breaking an Ice Rod on it will also deal quite a bit of damage, though it's a bit of a waste. And if you're feeling mean and have Level 5 Death, well... it's level 20. You know what to do. Otherwise, Time Magic Gravity and Blue Magic Missile will cut off large chunks of its health, assuming you can get them to hit. The creature has innate Shell status, which makes spells than can miss do so more often. If you're worried about its attacks, don't be. All it can do is plain physical damage, and while it sometimes attacks twice in one turn, that's frankly dull compared to earlier bosses. No magic, no group attacks, no status effects, no counterattacks, just boring physicals.

Cid and Mid again arrive as the party is about to leave the airship. Everyone regroups on deck, and Galuf produces the adamantite.

Cid and Mid take the adamantite and head below deck while the others leave the ship. Fade out, scene change to Cid and Mid working frantically in the airship's machinery room. Fade out again, scene change to the sleeping room. Butz leaps out of bed.

Cid and Mid walk in behind Butz.

Butz looks astonished.

The others wake up. Cid raises an arm.

...but the dialog claims Mid speaks, but the style sounds more like Cid, but... well whatever, the information's fine regardless.

Cid and Mid exchange glances and look downcast.

He pulls out a book, and the party gathers around.

Cid picks up the book, and the party leaves for the airship.

The airship can now fly higher, as described, and the flying town has a number of gun emplacements, also as described. Some (it seems to be random) are flame guns and are a quick way to learn Flame Emmision, but easy enough to beat. The others are rocket guns and more problematic since their Rocket Punch causes Charm status. There's an easy way around it, though: Berserk everyone by any means available, and they become immune to Charm. Once that's taken care of, the rocket guns are pushovers, since all their attacks inflict percentile damage, meaning they can't actually kill anyone themselves. The rocket guns are also an opportunity to learn Missile.

Back away from the city at any time to return to normal altitude, a good way to recover and resupply as needed. Also note that the Thief's Dash ability works here.

Once all four gun emplacements are destroyed, the scene shifts to the airship deck.

With a rumbling, part of the city opens to reveal another, larger cannon.

The massive Sol Cannon and its two Launchers count as a boss. Battle opens with the following message:

Joy. In any case, kill the Launchers immediately. Left alone, they'll attack with rockets that remove 1/2 current HP and inflict Aging status, which you really don't want to have to deal with. Level 5 Death will eliminate them easily, but they'll also self-destruct if damaged with under 10,000 HP, and since each starts at only 10,800 that means all you have to inflict is a measly 800 damage plus one more hit. The Sol Cannon will also finish itself (and the Launchers, if they're still present) off once hit when below 10,000 HP, but since it starts at 22,500 HP, that's going to take quite a bit more effort.

And let's not forget that spread wave cannon either! Further messages follow as the battle continues...

For the remainder of the battle, the wave cannon will continue to recharge and fire, with fewer preparation steps after the first time. Fortunately, the Sol Cannon can't do anything else, but the wave cannon hits everyone for heavy magic damage and inflicts HP Leak status, which is more than enough to keep healers busy. You did bring healers, right? You win a Dark Matter and two High Potions upon victory.

There's no real quick and easy with this one. The Minstrel's !Hide command may come in handy for defense. For offense, the Coral Sword, Trident (if using Normal class), Lightning Bow, and Shock Whip are all helpful, as are Ramuh and Thundara boosted with a Thunder Rod, and Ninjas can throw Raijin no Jutsu. If you have money to spare, buy extra Thunder Rods and break them on it for heavy damage, but that really isn't necessary unless you're playing a low-level game. Speaking of which, low-level gamers should note that you'll get 10 exp from this battle, like it or not.

In order, that's Butz (duh), Galuf, and Faris speaking.

This is possibly the best time to go loot the basement in Worus Castle. Refer to the end of world 1 section for details, but in short, a team of Berserkers is surprisingly effective. Equip someone with Alertness and have !White Magic handy to heal between fights.

The architecture should look familiar by now. The Thief's Secret Passages ability is useful in some rooms here, and you'll want the Geomancer's Pitfall Evasion in a room full of both treasure chests and hidden pitfalls. And do make sure not to miss any treasures, since this is your only chance to get them.

A few enemies here are notable. !Control a せんぷうまじん to add the ever-useful White Wind to your Blue Magic collection. Thieves may be able to pilfer a Lamia's Tiara from a Lamia, but it's a rare steal so you're more likely to get a Maiden's Kiss. Control one of them to learn 1000 Needles. The Hydra deeper into the ruins (not to be confused with the Hyudra) has a Killer Bow for a rare steal (and no common steal, so you can keep trying for it), and will also cast Level 4 Graviga upon dying, which means a chance to learn it (but also lots of damage) if anyone is at a level multiple of 4.

Deep in the ruins, the party finds King Tycoon. Maybe. He seems to be acting rather oddly.

And the nearby Archaeo Avis attacks. It actually has five forms, changing from one to the next after taking sufficient damage. The first four forms transition seamlessly between each other, with the only indications of a change being a different set of attacks and different elemental properties. The varying elements make this a poor time to use Black Magic. Non-elemental physical attacks are probably the way to go.

Note that, as usual, all these form changes are done via reaction scripts, so finishing off any form with anything that prevents reactions (such as a counterattack) will bypass the form changing and end the battle immediately.

After the fourth form is beaten, it appears to die, then comes back as the fifth form.

And now it's time for your Blue Mage to humiliate it with Level 5 Death (the fifth form is level 20). Failing that, keep hitting it with anything non-elemental you have, since it's now immune to fire, ice, thunder, wind, and earth.

Um. He shoves the party aside and proceeds further in.

In the next room, the king stands before the crystal, and the music is... rather less than cheerful. He turns around slowly.

The king leaps down from the platform. Butz and Galuf exchange glances, but Lenna and Faris cut them off before they can take action.

They refuse. The king draws nearer.

That gets their attention. Lenna and Faris turn around, then retreat to join Butz and Galuf. But just then, there's another one of those rumblings, and everyone starts looking around. And yet another meteorite falls from the sky, striking the ruins (judging by the way the party is knocked to the ground and tossed around a bit). A nearby wall blasts open, and Karulu rushes inside and hits the king with something shiny. He's knocked away and falls to the ground. Butz and Galuf get up and shake their heads rapidly as if to clear them. Karulu hops up and down excitedly.

She rushes to his side.

Galuf takes a step away, looking confused, scratches his head a few times, then appears to have a revelation and casts off the floating '?' bubble.

Karulu runs around him excitedly and hops a few more times.

Faris and Lenna get up and immediately go to check on the king.

The king stands, looking a bit unsteady.

And while that's surely touching, the screen darkens, and Butz takes a closer look at the crystal.

And the crystal shatters, leaving four shard behind. Meanwhile, halfway across the world, there's a big scary light show where the seal had been. A sparkle rises from the forest and shortly thereafter lands on the crystal platform.

Exdeath materializes from the sparkle. He wears what appears to be dark heavy armor from head to toe, with a dramatic evil cape for good measure.

Exdeath raises his arms, and the crystal shards begin moving. After circling the other six with increasing speed, they arrange themselves some distance away in a semicircle.

Butz takes a step toward Exdeath.

But energy rises from the shards and blasts him back.

Exdeath warps himself away. King Tycoon steps forward.

The king raises an arm, and there's an answering glow.

With a rumbling and a red glow, the shards do some more zapping, knocking everyone back and to the ground. The king gets up and advances again, but the shards just zap him back down.

He advances again, and this time the shards close in and circle around him. He does something, and the shards fall harmlessly to the ground, but he also collapses.

Faris nods, Lenna just looks downcast.

Butz nods.

But he's gone. The shards sparkle and converge on Lenna.

Anyone remember what was keeping this thing in the air? So no one should be surprised when...

...the ruins start violently shuddering.

Okay, so Butz can be a bit slow on the uptake at times...

Galuf too, I guess... and now I have to wonder if the others weren't expecting it either, but simply declined to open their mouths and remove all doubt.

Lenna hesitates as the others leave, but Faris goes back for her.

They rush out through the ruins, as explosions and arcing electricity wreak havoc on the machinery. At the airship, Faris takes the wheel.

The airship flies out of the exploding ruins, which continue to fall.