"What the heck are these giant stag beetles?" I cried. "I hate bugs!"
"Goliaths," growled Sierra. "Morganthe's elite crack troops. They were crawling all over Zafaria like maggots on a corpse. Be careful."
These are Goliath Ravagers, which are Death-school and have XxXX HP. Not too tough for an Ice Wizard who is super-effective against them. (Sorry, getting back into the Pokemon anime. :p)
After dealing with those bugs, we entered another inner sanctum which was creepier than the first. It depicted a solar eclipse - no wonder this is dedicated to a "Black Sun!"
Just then I saw something below... it looked like an olyphant from Zafaria, only he was dressed in... a leisure suit and fedora?!?!
Sierra gasped and then hissed. "BELLOQ..."
"Fat chance, hose nose!" I said. "You're standing up against the Sword of Kings, buddy!"
"Well well, a strappy little wizard," chuckled the elephant-guy. "Well then, I'll make sure you are well remembered. Who knows? In a thousand years, students of Wizard City will be reading all about your failures." He snapped his fingers.
Sierra gulped. "Watch him, he's dangerous!"
"Heck, how dangerous can he---"
"be?" Note to self: HEED YOUR COMPANIONS. :(
We fought pretty hard but it looked hopeless...
And then a flash of lightning struck Belloq and charred his flesh and destroyed the big bug with him.
"What the..." I said, shocked. "Didja do that, Sierra?"
She shook her head. "No way, I don't do Storm. That's Grace's department."
First spoiler of Grace's Glowbug Squall, the most OP attack in the game. ;) However, despite how I made it out, this version of Belloq does NOT use his "I thought you cam to hurt me!" UBER-Ra in this fight. Katie just had the unlucky joy of dealing with Belloq at full power pips. :) He also has a Goliath Ravager as a mook, but that's no prob for a Life Wizard, who is super-effective against Belloq as well. Breathe easy, you'll fight this elephant one more time, and he'll use his cheat Ra.
"Hold your final spell!" cried Belloq.
"Why should we?" snarled Sierra. "The last time we let you live, but if you're with Morganthe..."
"Don't do it," hissed Sierra. "He's a slimy trickster, he'll haunt us later if we don't grab him."
"Yeah, but if he's telling the truth, we might learn more about Morgie's plan," I said. I sheathed my blade. "Okay, you have a deal. Spill it. What's the big Queen up to?"
"Morganthe is hunting for the Horn of Hurrican," said Belloq.
"The horn!" whispered Sierra in shock. "The horn from the Prophecy!"
"That explains everything," I said. I jerked my head back. "Go, I keep my word." I glared at Sierra warning her not to make any moves.
She sighed and shook her head, but lowered her weapon. "I'm warning you, this is going to bite us in the---"
"Thank you, wizards," chuckled Belloq, who ran out of the chamber.
"Look, Sierra," I said. "As much as I hate having to let that slimy fungus go, I kept my deals. I am sure we will meet again and stop him for good. For now, let's focus on finding out how Morgie's dregging up so many undead and see if we can intercept her in the other pyramids."
Sierra sighed.
I passed by a door with a stone skull lock. I pulled out a stone key and unlocked it, peeking in...
"Wait!" cried Sierra but the door sucked me in...
And I regret nothing. Nope, not even finding out this chamber was a prison for a very ticked-off Aztecosaur who was punished for some nasty crime by being cursed to guard it. ;_;
Yep, meet another Stone Skeleton Key Boss, Ixcax Cursedwing! She is Fire and has a few Death mooks, but she is VERY tough to beat. She cleanses all Feints cast on her and has many many nasty cheats which drop your accuracy into the gutter, so be careful!
Also, she drops cr**. I mean, a Level 80 Wand which only gives a normal pip?!? LAME! Grace did a bit better, getting a rare Thezinosaurus pet which is completely useless to her since she's not Fire. At least we knocked out another badge for the Skeleton Key category!
After pulling myself out of that mess, I saw something terrifying...
This casket looked to be something from Dragonspyre... the place where Sierra killed Malistaire. Was this Malistaire's coffin? Whoever was interred in it was ex-humed and I had a dark feeling that Morganthe had something to do with it and the icky purple goo pouring out of it.
I reunited with Sierra. "Where were you?" she cried. "I was worried sick!"
I kept my mouth shut. "Nothing but a dead chamber. Come on." I was not going to tell her about the coffin. I wanted that out of my mind. Little did I realize that that coffin was a very important clue to who was raising the dead. Spoiler: It wasn't Morgie.
We reported everything back to King Axaya Knifemoon.
"I do not know this Belloq person," he snorted. "Next time you meet him, hand him over to us!"
"We'd be glad too but we have no idea where he's fled," I sighed. We decided to check back with the mystic three to find out if they had any idea where Morgie could have headed next.
"Yeah, we got hot tips from an elephant," I laughed. We told him about our meeting with Belloq.
"Hmmm..." said Pacal, rubbing his chin. "This is grim news indeed. If this Belloq person was honest, Morganthe is scouring the Pyramids to find this Horn of Hurrican. I have never heard of this legend and I am quite knowledgeable in the history of our world. Still, we cannot disregard that."
"You got that right," said Sierra. "Could you tell us how many Pyramids are in Azteca?"
"If Morganthe is searching the Pyramids in order," said Pacal. "She will be seeking out the Pyramid of the Storm Eye next. It is deep within Saltmeadow Swamp, but you will need to traverse Mangrove Marsh first, which is past the Serpent Gate nearby. However, the gate is closed right now. You will need to get permission from King Axaya Knifemoon to open the Serpent Gate."
"Of course," I murmured. "Well, he owes us a favor. Let's go see the king again."
King Axaya seemed to be expecting us.
"Yep," said Sierra. "But we need another favor from you. We need to go into the marsh."
"You wish to enter Mangrove Marsh?" gasped the King. "Are you mad? Mangrove Marsh is deadly and Saltmeadow Swamp more so."
"We need to visit the Pyramid of the Storm Eye, we think we can stop our enemies from entering it and nip all of this doom and gloom in the bud." I whipped my weapon around proudly.
"Hmmm... well then," he said. "I will give you access but on one condition. We sent a scouting party into the marsh to investigate the Hungry Dead there. However, they have yet to return. Talk to Toci Two Face, she was the one who organized the search party."
"We'll gladly seek out your expedition party," I said with confidence. "We're pretty good at rescuing Aztecosaurs."
Toci Two Face was the very dinosaur who had been guarding the entrance to the hot bathing pools.
"Well, first off," I said. "Thanks for keeping any men out of the pools. Unlike your kind, we prefer to not show off our modesty." I coughed. "Next, could you tell us about the scouting party who went into the Marsh? We're heading there."
"Indeed," said Toci, nodding. "I organized the party to investigate the Hungry Dead and see if we could reclaim the Tula Village, but they have not returned. I fear the worst."
"With undead, it's always best to worry," said Sierra. "We'll look out for any Aztecosaurs."
"The party included a few Wing Riders, Avians from Zultun Dock," said Toci. "Find Ah Tabai Skyrazor, he was the leader of the Wing Riders."
"We'll look for some parrots too," I said, grinning.
Turned out as soon as we entered the sweltering marsh, we ran into a parrot-man who accosted us.
"Yes," I said through my teeth, trying not to rip the feathers from this rude bird.
"We come from Axaya Knifemoon," said Sierra. She explained everything.
"Yes yes, we did help the Aztecosaurs, but sadly my own people disappeared in the tombs of the Hungry Dead nearby," said Ah Tabai. "If you can find them, alive or regrettably dead, I will be most grateful. You may have to fight a few Thunder Horn Ghouls, though."
*LE SIGH*
Thunder Horn Ghouls are the upgraded version of Thunder Horn Zombies - they are Death-school and have 50% more HP.
We found the Avians. Sadly, they were being prepped for dinner by another undead dino.
"Nope," I said. "You're the only one who is gonna suffer... wait, do undead suffer since they don't feel pain? Uh?"
Well, at least I know I feel pain! Ouch! :(
Another day, another boss.
"No problem," I said. "Just be careful about the ghouls on your way out."
"Great," I said. "Can you perhaps help us find the dinos? I mean, the scout party?"
"Yes, they are just down the path to Tula Village," said Ah Tabai. "Be careful, they might attack you, they are very blood-thirsty."
Uh, yeah... I should have seen that coming. :(
Unlike their undead counterparts, the Smoking Mirror Scouts are Storm-school and have 2950 HP.
"Well, you didn't give us an option," I laughed. "King Axaya wanted a report from you guys."
"I see," said Chief Techotl Redsmoke. "We were trying to reclaim Tula Village, but those dirty birds have taken it over. However, we do things properly, with a war challenge."
"What is it with you and your war challenges?" I groaned. "Look, if we make a war challenge for you, will you help us out?"
"We had a war challenge," said Techotl. "But those Hungry Dead stole it and dragged it into their tombs. If you can recover it for us, we'll be able to reclaim the village."
"No problem," I said.
Big problem. This was the second ghoul I had to deal with these days. :(
And the stupid lizard-brain could HEAL HIMSELF! NO FAIR! X(
If you haven't guessed that Mozar Turtle Hunter is Life-school just from him casting Regenerate, you shouldn't be playing this game. :p
Yeah, that's how it went down. ;)
"I am NOT cleaning this **** up," I said, taking a pair of tongs and yanking the War Challenge from the pool of undead ichor.
"Wait, is that ghoul ichor?"
"You clean it up," I choked.
Sierra groaned and cast a spell of fastidiousness on it. "Sheesh, and you call yourself a wizard?"
"I have standards!" I complained.
Techotl took up the war challenge and then gave it to us. "Well, I am impressed by your magical skills, Magicians. Mayhaps you can issue this war challenge to those Avians and allow us to reclaim our rightful village. I will tell you about the secret lever that will open the gate."
"All right, time to kick some bird butt," said Sierra, grinning at me.
It was time to take the fight to the birds...
[To be continued...]
I do admit I might have made some creative liberties at the beginning of the Marsh segment. Call me too lazy to recheck the dialogue. :p
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