Lands of Lore Part 57: I Still Hate Manthas

I step through the pit, and we end up landing in the southeastern part of the Floor 2 map. I quickly take off and close a door behind the party as I go to avoid a rear attack. From there we continue forward without incident until we get to the row of three doors. The one on the far right is closed at this point, but the one on the other side is open and enemies can freely enter the room, so we’ll have to be ready to fight. I open the door and go inside, where we’re immediately confronted by a Death Disk. I haven’t removed our breastplates because I want the extra protection for fighting Manthas, so Death Disks are a real threat. I immediately kill this one with a Guardian Orb, and then turn my attention to a Mantha that come in to attack. I shut the door behind us to avoid any surprises, then try to fight using conventional attacks at first. The Mantha won’t die, though, and right behind is another Mantha plus a Death Disk! With that kind of opposition, I decide to pull out the big guns and use an Ace of Oblivion, wiping out our opponents in one go. Another Mantha comes in, much to my surprise, but he’s easily dispatched-he apparently took some damage from the Mists of Doom spell. Now that the coast is clear, I shut the door and rest.
Unfortunately, when I reopen the door two more Manthas are in the hall waiting for us! I quickly back into our room and engage them using standard attacks. Soon they’re gone, and after another rest I head out and advance towards Richard. We’re intercepted by individual Manthas on three separate occasions, but we defeat each one without too much trouble. Soon enough we’re back in Richard’s room and can try to cure him. The first step is dispelling the shadow tainting Richard’s shroud, and the secret to doing so is four small stands around the room. One of them has a spotlight shining on it, and the four figurines we’ve been collecting act as light focusers. We’re supposed to start by putting the Cobra figurine on the stand with the light shining on it; doing so causes the light beam to be aimed at a second stand across the room. We then need to put the Humanoid figurine on this second stand, which causes the beam to be directed to a third stand. This third stand needs the Dragon figurine, and the Unicorn figurine goes on the last one. Thus positioned, the light beam goes in a circle, filling the room with bright light and eventually shattering the figurines, but not before dispelling the shadow on Richard’s shroud. Now that the shroud is its normal blue color again, we need to apply the four keys used by the Council when the shroud was made. I apply the four keys from Dawn, Nathaniel, Geron and Paulson to their respective four corners, causing the shroud to disappear. We now just need to administer the Elixir to Richard, and when I do he slowly wakes up. We did it!
The cutscene continues as Richard realizes he’s in Cimmeria and asks us about Scotia. We admit she’s still active and dangerous, and he gives us his ring. Called the Shard of Truth, it works with the Ruby of Truth to neutralize the Nether Mask. This is why fighting Scotia earlier was a bad idea-if we don’t have the Shard, Scotia will turn into an invincible creature during the fight and it’ll be unwinnable. But with the Shard plus the Ruby, collectively called the Whole Truth, we’ll be able to prevent Scotia from shapeshifting and force her to fight in her real body, which we should be able to defeat. Unfortunately, Richard’s too weak from his ordeal to join us, so he’ll stay in place and just defend himself. We give him the Halberd Widow, and the cutscene ends. We now have the Shard of Truth ring in our inventory, and I take the Ruby of Truth from Baccata and merge it with the Shard to create the Whole Truth. We’re now properly equipped to do battle with Scotia, but first we have to get back to Floor 3, and with Manthas on patrol that won’t be an easy task.
We get off to a good start and dispatch a lone Mantha who intercepts us on the way, but the real challenge comes near the portal room. Two Manthas attack from opposite sides, and I’m forced to scramble somewhat when Mists of Doom 2 doesn’t kill the first one. Michael and Baccata both end up KO’ed, but Paulson is able to use a Guardian Orb to kill the one in front of us and we rush to the safety of our old room. Paulson revives Baccata, who revives Michael, and after a rest we head out to continue fighting. We’re forced back into the room for another rest at first, but on our second attempt we kill him with an Ace of Oblivion. Unfortunately, another Mantha comes in to fight us, and while we win it’s a tough scrape that forces us to rest again. From there, I head out and we face two more Manthas right in front of the portal room. They’re defeated without much trouble, though, and once we go through the teleporter we’re home free. There’s no resistance in this area, and I simply head back up the staircase to Floor 3. The final showdown is about to begin.