All right, let's get back to Cold Steel IV Finale!
Let's see what the Empyreal Fortress has in store for us. The aesthetics here are definitely quite good. We reach an area with three branching paths, and I'm fully expecting us to go split party here, but I am pleasantly surprised to see we're all sticking together! At the end of the first pathway, Lechter and Claire are waiting for us. Ash and Altina insist on being included for this fight. Lechter and Claire talk about how we beat the odds and maybe it was fate, but Millium's all like nah it's because we have determination. They both feel like they're helpless before the power of the curse. Musse wonders why they'd go along with this when their role is to be a tragic sacrifice to the Great Twilight.
Lechter says that's their final role. The Knights of Blood and Iron are the link from this fortress to the war below, and they tell us we'll have to go all out to beat them. But then Rean's like pfffft we don't even need everyone in our group to beat you. Altina insists that Lechter and Claire can't beat their determination because they're so focused on their past mistakes while Class VII looks to the future. Man, even in Lechter's S-Craft he does the walkaway wave. Let it go, man!
After the battle, the party isn't even winded, while both Claire and Lechter are on their knees. I'm impressed! They're both ready to commit seppuku as the price of their failure, but Rean and company were apparently anticipating this outcome and act accordingly. He urges them to see this through to the end because Erebonia is going to need them both once the Great Twilight is over. Lechter tells us that Cedric and Shirley are up next. They wish us luck before collapsing. I wonder if this plays out any differently if you skip out on Claire's invitation from earlier.
When we return to the central garden, Sara decides this is the best spot to set up camp, and so we summon the Divine Knights and Panzer Soldats to be on standby. It's nice that you can quick jump to each section here, which is unusual for a dungeon. We also get a chance to chat with everyone before moving on, which is nice. Ash asks the pertinent question of who thought it was a good idea to pick Lechter as a student council president. Altina admits she feels a little responsible for the current situation because she was the one who brought Cedric to the Vermillion Knight. Fie talks about how she thinks Shirley has been holding back, and Rean says she doesn't resemble the stories Randy has told him about her. Fie says that Rixia knocked Shirley down a peg, so I guess that's more Azure spoilers! I guess this means we'll probably have Kurt and Fie as mandatory members for their boss battle.
