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Endure This! Run! Part 4: Rebels Without a Clue

When we last left our heroes, Rush was surprised to discover that David trusted him with an important job as part of his initiation into his Athlum crew. Unfortunately, busting up that slavery ring yielded no information about Irina, though Rush did discover that his crew can come back from the dead as long as one union is still alive. So David turns Rush towards his second task.

And so we are off to Robelia Castle (or the ruins thereof). David has no clue if Irina will be there, but Rush decides to go anyways, as it's slightly better than his previous strategy of running into the middle of a battlefield. This time around, Pagus tags along with a couple random soldiers to make sure Rush doesn't wimp out.

Also, Rush now has magic powers. Apparently anyone can have them thanks to the power of this orb, but it won't really be mentioned again except as a plot device here.

Rush: B-but I've never actually used mystic arts before! I didn't even know it was possible until you gave me that orb! How does it work?

Pagus: Just follow my lead boy, and think of righteous fury as you swing your weapon in the enemy's direction!

Rush: Sorry, I just thought of murdering random wildlife. What were you saying?

Pagus: Y'know what? Let's just move on.

Considering the various monsters we have to fight through here, I'm wondering why any "unsavory" types would even bother meeting here. Wouldn't they have to fight the same monsters just to get to their meeting spot? I guess that's a common question about RPGs though.

Someone left their engraved Slayer stone just sitting out here in a treasure chest! Rush starts trying to sing the chorus to Raining Blood before Pagus smacks him with a cane.

Turns out said stone unlocks this door. Maybe these rebels are smarter than we thought, holding their Slayer fanclub meeting in this ruined castle.

Some more wildlife slaughtering later, and we ascend the stairs to "???"

You'll see that whenever you are about to enter a previously unexplored area within a dungeon.

This world's version of a "Chimera" is a giant-scorpion-tentacle-multi-stinger-bone-monster-thing. But Chimera is easier to say.

Also shown above: Rush knows how to mix some "restorative herbs" to keep his party alive. Rush apparently learns the Herbal Arts from Blocter after his trip through the Gaslin Caves. Somehow tossing an herb to one individual heals the entire Union for that amount. And what is our reward from the treasure chest/Remnant that these chimera were guarding?

A pair of greaves, increasing our speed by 3%. That's nice for a starter accessory, I guess...

Alternatively, you can just skip fighting the chimeras entirely, but obviously it was their fault for being in the way of treasure and/or Irina. Rush is just having too much fun being able to shock random animals with a magical lightning bolt. And he's the hero, folks!

Preacher: I say unto you, do not be tempted by the false salvation of the Remnants!

Preacher: Look around this world, and what do you see? Remnants making our god-fearin' normal people, frog-people, shrimp-people and four-armed cat-people into lazy, shiftless slobs! Remnants destroying the purity of our hearts and souls! Remnants enslaving the minds of our sons and daughters!

Preacher: And can you believe that David Nassau? That fancy boy, flauntin' his Remnants to all the world? Thinking he owns the town? What makes him and his Remnant-lovin' ways better than any one of you? Can I get an Amen? Can I get a Hallelujah?

Rush and Pagus are unsure how to react to this discovery.

Preacher: Look over there! The apostate sends his unholy servants to drive us out of our sacred sanctuary! They hate us for we do not bow down to their false Remnant-loving god!

Pagus: I am sorry. I did not realize that Lord David was shoving a Remnant through your rectum and into your colon every day, because there is nothing forcing you to use a Remnant if you do not wish to use one.

Preacher: Look at how the hellspawn of a walking frog thinks he can tempt you to the Remnant Devil with his LIES! Do not be swayed, remain strong and resolute in your faith, and you will be SAVED!

Pagus: You people do not seriously believe this man, do you? You realize he's just trying to start a cult to enrich himself by appealing to your diminshed sense of self-worth and telling you to blame your troubles on Remnants instead of things you can control?

The preacher and some of his followers start unsheathing their weapons from hammerspace. Apparently, Pagus was mistaken to use an appeal to reason on stupid anti-Remnant fanatics.

Pagus: Well, at least now we can claim self-defense.

Rush: Wait, you mean I can--

Pagus: Yes, you can start using lightning bolts on people with weapons.

Rush: YAY!

Pagus: So, here's a test, Rush. What's your strategy for defeating an enemy with slightly superior numbers that seeks to flank us?

Rush: How about we stay on our toes? Wait for them to come to us and then strike back in self-defense?

Pagus: That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard in the history of dumb ideas, even when compared to what that preacher was spouting mere seconds ago. Just help me smash their flanks, and we'll narrow our enemy's number down to one.

And so the battle is joined. Rush, Pagus and their two random soldier friends manage to break the flanks of the Anti-Remnant Activists. However, the preacher gets a lucky shot in and kills Pagus.

Rush's comrade stabs through the preacher's hamstring, causing him to bend over backwards like a rag doll...well, that and the unnecessary physics from the Unreal 3 engine. Seriously, you can't control how they hit the other guy, why even bother having it? I guess "cuz it looks cool" is the answer. If you're playing the XBOX 360 version and you haven't gotten sick and tired of the loading times and awful slowdowns, I congratulate you for coming this far. Because they will only get worse.

Point is, preacher-man is dead.

Pagus comes back to life. Rush is a little less freaked out this time, but still kind of nervous. He tries to shake off the willies by asking for clues about Irina. Luckily, she was too smart to have joined a cult as retarded as this one. However, none of them have seen her, and a few are anal about answering his inquiry.

Rush decides he doesn't want to bother with these idiots anymore, and heads back to the castle with Pagus. The rest of the cultists would soon be eaten by the feral beasts roaming the castle ruins, having seen their strongest and most competent fighters killed at the hands of Athlumian forces.

Next time on Endure This! Run!

• Politics!
• Rush gains a new ability!
• A wild antagonist appears!

Cutscenes!

• The Anti-Remnant Activists

Bonus Content!

Profile of Pagus:

One of Athlum's Four Generals. Master of intelligence gathering, he's also quite the history buff.

Pagus comes from a race of bipedal frog-people named Qsiti. All of them are incredibly small and talk slowly in staggered speech that makes it seem like their vocal chords never quite fully developed. Having said that, Qsiti warriors come in different flavors: Some are great magicians, others are nasty little melee fighters. They might only be able to carry tiny weapons, but they can wield those weapons with surprising ferocity.

Pagus tilts more towards the magic side of things. Much later in the story he can learn a Unique Art called "Megalore" which acts damages all enemies on the battlefield. For now though, he's the know-it-all of the group. There's also another art he learns much later called "Daisy Chain" which targets one Union for massive damage, but I know you duders are too mature to start snickering when I print the phrase "Daisy Chain" here, right?

As usual, tell me how much you love and/or hate this ER/LP/walkthrough/whatever in the comments.