The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

The final dungeon wasn’t exactly forgiving.

Most Japanese RPGs, when you raise the difficulty, just turn enemies into HP sponges—and in turn-based games, that’s even more noticeable than in action titles.

You hit once and then wait for your turn again, and every time you strike, the enemy definitely strikes back.

Of course, if you’ve built a character specialized in speed or evasion, it’s not a huge issue.

And for what it’s worth, I’ve played this game for a very long time. I could tell at a glance what type of element would work well just from looking at the enemy design.

In later titles, the balance was adjusted so that 100% evasion was impossible. Still, just because 100% wasn’t possible didn’t mean you ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) couldn’t get up to 80%.

“Oh!”

Claire—well, the Claire in the game—was out front, dodging nearly every magic attack being hurled her way, and the real Claire was visibly impressed.

I mean, calling it “based on” her probably wasn’t accurate. They were almost completely separate entities at this point.

Balanced characters often get flak for being mediocre at everything, but that just means with the right setup, they’re ready for anything.

Honestly, a 70% evasion rate was pushing it a bit—but with good luck, it was working.

[She dodged that?! lol]

[Anything over 50% is high, come on lolol] 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

[You think probabilities are just for show?]

Even in the chat, people were freaking out over Claire dodging magic over and over.

And even if she did die, it wouldn’t be a big problem. Charlotte was also in the party, and she was a balanced type too.

That didn’t mean they served the exact same role, though. Claire’s skills were all offensive, so she was the ideal pick when enemies were mixed with both magic and physical attacks. Plus, she had some decent self-buffs.

Charlotte, too, was fundamentally an offensive character, but one of her skills was an AoE heal. The healing output was a far cry from Mia’s, but still incredibly useful in emergencies.

She also had one of the Maramaros equipped—the ones that turned items into area effects.

So, in this party, as long as either Charlotte or Mia didn’t go down, the rest of us could basically get back up and keep fighting like zombies.

This installment’s final dungeon was the Imperial Capital itself.

As we approached the palace through the now-empty capital, enemies came pouring out more and more.

“But don’t those enemies look almost exactly like the ones we saw beneath the royal capital?”

“They do. All of them look like beasts possessed by something. Is the Holy Nation behind this too?”

“I believe so.”

“Then... what happened to Sylvia?”

Exactly.

This all started after Sylvia disappeared, so the only logical explanation was that she’d crossed over to the Holy Nation.

But... really?

Are they saying that that world’s Sylvia actually chose to side with the goddess?

“We’ll find out if we keep playing.”

That was all I could offer for now.

*

And then—

[Ahahahahaha!]

“......”

On the monitor, a character with a crazed grin swung her sword wildly, and the other four girls stared at the screen with stunned expressions.

Yeah, well.

I’d already seen this in the previous game, so I wasn’t surprised. But for the others, who knew Sophia only by her usual self, this was... understandable.

“Uh... so, Sophia?”

“At least the voice sounds like her.”

Claire murmured, and Alice responded calmly.

“...I kind of feel a strange connection.”

Claire added softly.

Yeah.

It makes sense. When you’re used to someone being so normal and human, and then you suddenly see them portrayed like a psychopath in some other media... of course it feels weird.

And the voice really was the same. Sure, the in-game voice was in Japanese, but to our ears it came through as translated.

[With the power granted by the Prophet, I shall strike down you unbelievers!]

“...Yeah.”

Thank god Sophia wasn’t here.

Or maybe I should have wished she were.

Behind Sophia’s head, a blue glow spread like a holy halo.

[That person is...]

Leo looked shaken as he stared at her.

[Why... I’m sure I’ve never met her before...]

He murmured to himself.

So the continuity between this and the previous game was real.

[Who is this so-called Prophet?]

Alice stepped forward, visibly furious.

[There is nothing to say to heretics and unbelievers.]

Sophia gave a crooked smile and leapt down from the altar.

[If you’re from the other world, then you’ve met Sophia too, haven’t you?]

“Yes, of course.”

Someone asked in chat, and I replied.

They probably didn’t actually believe me, but at least it meant our “concept” was working.

“She was just a normal girl, who had someone she liked.”

“Right. I was curious to see if things would work out for her after the final battle.”

Claire muttered.

“You were furious at the time though, weren’t you?”

“That’s because I thought she might end up with Leo instead of you. I wouldn’t care if Leo dated someone else. As long as she was a decent person.”

“So Sophia was a decent person.”

Alice grinned as she asked.

“Hm? Well, of course. If she’d been like this, I’d have protested.”

[What the hell happened to her, lol]

[Sophia without her chuunibyou...]

[I can’t even imagine it]

Yeah. Sophia used to be my least favorite character.

“She even fought by our side at the end.”

“She was kind and good...”

Even Charlotte and Mia chimed in, looking at Sophia’s character on screen.

Well, come to think of it, in the original, she was proud of her own strength. Maybe that’s what made her this way now—especially if she’d been chosen by the Prophet.

...And for some reason, I had a gut feeling that “the Prophet” in this game was probably Sylvia.

But I said nothing and just kept playing.

*

[Even if I fall... she will...]

Sophia muttered before losing consciousness.

Thankfully, this wasn’t one of those games where characters die casually. Otherwise, her death would’ve been a turning point in a grim, tragic story.

If I hadn’t known Sophia in Azerna, I might’ve even felt satisfied seeing her go down—but even in a fictional world, killing someone you actually know leaves a bad taste.

The room had gone quiet.

The graphics hadn’t improved much, but this series always had incredible music. The somber, chilling track in the background had the others sensing that a major story beat was coming.

And then—

[Sylvia!]

In the game, Alice cried out.

[Big Sister!?]

Claire followed.

High above, on the raised platform the party was staring up at—stood Sylvia.

But she looked completely different from usual.

She wore long flowing sleeves and robes that were clearly religious in design—exactly the kind of attire sacred figures in games like this always wore.

Of course, it was still a skirt underneath, with slits on both sides that left her legs visible—but still.

[You’ve come.]

[Sylvia, what the hell happened? Why are you here, in that outfit—]

Leo stepped forward and started to ask, then fell silent.

A relic had formed behind Sylvia’s head.

A massive gear.

It hovered behind her, glowing.

Rays of light shot out from it like a burst of night-time lens flare, just like the halo depictions in religious art.

A radiant blue halo.

Holy, yet ominous.

“Oh.”

I let out a rare sound of admiration.

“They definitely spent more money on this installment.”

[Probably because the motion was getting roasted last time, lolol]

[But the graphics are still mid...]

[If they keep growing at this rate, the sequel to the sequel to the sequel might look great]

“They should’ve done more scenes like this in the earlier games.”

[For real lol]

[They said they had no budget, lmao]

[Inch by inch we crawl forward. Maybe the sixth sequel will blow us away]

“So this series is going to keep going?”

I answered, but honestly, I thought it would.

I mean, if it didn’t, I’d actually be disappointed.