It seems all that commotion at the end of last episode was those angels harassing us getting good and stoned.
What’s that sound?!
Medusa… Word on the street was that you were dead.
Oh, I was…but now I’m back, and even more beautiful than before.
Now I am Medusa of the Divine Powers.
But I’m still an artist, and you’re the perfect subjects.
Damn Divine Powers…
Oh, are we really gonna have to fight? I don’t feel like it…
Yeah, I’m not touching that gross hag.
Wha?! You can’t just cut and run!
I’m going to report this to Lucifer.
Wait?! What am I supposed to do?!
You’ll figure it out.
Abe leaves, taking his demons with him.
Gee, it’s almost as if he’s untrustworthy! Who could have foreseen such a turn of events?
He’s got some sort of plan. He wouldn’t just leave us!
Did you not just see him walk right out of here? What’s with you Ashura-kai?
Save it for later, Asahi.
You and the others ready yourselves.
Oh, what a gallery this will be: all my perfect, new statues and the beautiful, new me!
Hmmm, how about one on your knees, hands covering your faces from your own sinfulness?
As for the expression… Your faces stricken with terror, I think, would be best!
Boss Battle!: Medusa 
Of the bosses we’ve had to face in battle so far, Medusa is probably the most famous overall. One of the gorgons, three daughters of the sea god Phorkys if you trust the poet Hesiod, Medusa is probably best known from her story as told by Ovid. This is the version wherein Medusa is a beautiful maiden who is cursed by Athena to be a horrendous snake-haired monster capable of turning people to stone after Poseidon rapes Medusa in one of Athena’s temples. The hero Perseus then goes on to slay Medusa, her head becoming a heraldic emblem upon the Aegis shield. Variations upon the tale include Poseidon and Medusa having a consensual relationshiop, Athena transforming Medusa out of jealousy with no involvement from Poseidon at all, or the gorgons being the always-hideous children of the “mother of monsters” Echidna. It’s also been suggested (most heavily by neopagan groups) that Medusa may be the monstrous Hellenization of an earlier goddess from one of the cultures of the region.
None of this background is really relevant to Medusa as presented here, unfortunately. She only speaks of her own beauty, exemplifying the deadly sin Vaingloria (vanity), and even then it’s not actually a direct reference to the original eight deadly sins as no other bosses correspond thusly. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a hot take about Medusa’s Doi retouch versus the original guest art she had in IV or just some shitty “ladies that aren’t conventionally attractive being vain is comedy gold, amirite?” writing. I’d say the latter is probably more likely.
While the Divine Powers may have leveled her up during their reincarnation, Medusa is actually weaker than she was in SMTIV. While there she drained Electricity and nullified both Light and Dark in her boss fight, she now only nullifies Electricity. In both games, however, her weakness stays one to Force.
Just betray your friends. It’s so easy.
Medusa’s also quite the chatty boss, having multiple conversations with you starting with this one at around 800 or so damage taken. Your three options are “Refuse”, “Agree”, and “Ignore Her”; the first one ups your Peace points slightly and increases your Assist Gauge, the second slightly ups Anarchy points and decreases it, and choosing to ignore her changes nothing.
Refuse.
No? Didn’t expect you would.
At least you’ll die looking at someone like me, someone that’s as beautiful as the sun.
I’ll kill you! I’ll slit your little throats and drink your blood!
She’s gone mad! Hide!
At around 1,700 damage taken (easy enough to do without even giving her a turn yet if you’re a smartass who came in with a bunch of Wind Breath demons and a near-full Assist Gauge like I did), she gives another little speech, this time without a dialogue choice.
Fine… I give up. I won’t turn you into statues. Trust me. Look into my eyes. My eyes will tell you the whole truth.
Glare at her?
Glance at her sideways?
Ignore her and attack?
Third is this one, at around 2,300 damage taken. Since this is Medusa, you can probably surmise that glaring straight at her is a horribly bad idea, as she automatically inflicts Bind on you. You can choose to just straight-up ignore her, but that gives you a slight amount of Anarchy points and gives her a free Tarukaja. The answer you’re gonna want is “Glance at her sideways”.
That look… That’s the same look that last little bastard gave me!
Stop it! Don’t look at me like that!
Medusa is agitated and drops her guard.
This is effectively a free Dekunda, so no reason not to take the opportunity.
After already putting her in the red, Medusa finally gets to have a turn, featuring three red press turns for her to utilize, and show off her moves. The first is Tathlum Shot, which we’ve already seen. Medium Gun damage, one target, no big deal.
She’s also got Zionga for her Medium one-target skill needs.
Rapid Needle is kind of superfluous, since she has not one but two better Gun skills, but it’s here anyway.
Medusa’s most dangerous attack overall is her unique one, Snake’s Fangs. This attack deals heavy Gun damage two or three times to random targets. It also has a chance of inflicting Bind.
In addition to her damaging skills, Medusa can also cast Marin Karin, but she apparently had no desire to in the two extra runs I did just to try to bait her into doing so.
I resurrected for nothing! I became so beautiful… Gaaaah…
Gaaaaah!
Unfortunately for Medusa, her 3,000 HP is nothing in the face of the unrelenting Force. She’s also capable of being Dazed, which is the great equalizer for a lot of these early bosses if you can’t just smash through their weakness. You can also equip Hallelujah if you end up having a problem with Snake’s Fangs and Marin Karin putting your party members out of commission. Don’t expect the game’s bosses to be that charitable forever.
Who gets off turning people to stone? Psycho.
Sorry… I know I wasn’t much help…
No worries. We made it, didn’t we?
Hmph, “wasn’t much help”? You might as well not have been here!
Okay, you’re the last person I want to hear that from.
So what now, Hallelujah? Will you stick with us?
If you’re okay with it, yeah. I’d like to come along with you.
Dagda appears before the group.
That boy is a spy for the Ashura-kai.
A demon?! Wait, are you…?
That’s Dagda.
He’s kinda like Navarre… He’s haunting Nanashi.
Oh… I see, okay.
But never mind that – what’s he mean? Why’s he calling you a spy?
Yeah… The thing is the Ashura-kai has a responsibility to protect Tokyo.
So keeping an eye on you to make sure you don’t endanger Tokyo is part of our job…
You make it sound like we’re up to something!
As with previous character attainment choices, allowing Hallelujah to stay nets you a decent amount of Peace points, while kicking him to the curb will net you Anarchy points. If you try to abandon him, though, Asahi will just guilt trip you into taking him anyway (in spite of just being cross with him a few seconds ago), so you’re getting him either way.
Bring him along.
Okay, if that’s what you want.
Really? You won’t regret this… Sorry…and, uh, thanks.
What a joke.
Let’s just hope the hand you shake in friendship doesn’t wind up choking the life from you.
Looks like I’m coming along, then.
You don’t mind, right?
Hallelujah shoots you a friendly smile.
Well, all that’s left is to drop this thing off to the Hunter Association.
Let’s go, Nanashi!
Courtesy of the convenient Terminal up at the top of the Sky Tower, we can immediately shuttle over to any city with a Hunter bar and deliver the sensor, netting the party 21,581 experience points and 25,000 macca.
With that task completed, all there is left to do is go to sleep once more.
And, of course, sleep means another dream vision.
Someone’s calling you Akira.
When you respond, you hear Akira’s voice.
Geez, Skins. Don’t scare me like that.
Sorry I ruined your nap, just making sure you don’t get yourself killed.
You can’t be too careful up here. Never know when an angel will show up.
Thanks for the reminder, Skins.
Just look at all those scars, and each one’s a badge of glory.
And each one hurt like hell.
So what’s going on?
Not a whole lot to report.
We haven’t made any progress in a while with those Angels of Death coming down…
Sounds like we don’t have much chance at making it out of here.
Skins nods gravely.
And we finally make it out, see the sun, and now we’ve got angels trying to kill us.
Kind of makes you want to call it quits.
Don’t even kid about that.
Don’t worry, it’s not going to happen.
After this, there’s a crackle of static, the vision moving a bit further on.
We can’t hold 'em off forever, Skins.
…
Tell everyone to pull back to the second stratum.
Everyone, retreat!
Damnit!
More static, more moments in time slip by to yet another part of the vision.
Throughout SMTIV, Gabriel appears to the people of Mikado as a nun calling herself Sister Gabby.
It is the Lord’s will that we purge this land of the unworthy.
Those who have not been chosen by our Lord shall not set foot here.
But the Lord is merciful, and has deigned to give you a chance.
A chance…?
As humans, you are made in the image of the Lord.
and so, the Lord has permitted you to live under the sun.
Really?
However…
How mysterious. Shame our VisionTube has to give out before we got to the juicy part.
Get up. Get up! Get up get up get up!
You finally awake? It’s a real pain getting you out of bed, you know that?
Got another quest, check it out.
Looks like we need to escort a bunch of Samurai to Kasumigaseki.
Can’t imagine why they need us to do this.
Asahi doesn’t seem too happy about the assignment.
Says here the Samurai are in Ueno right now.
Guess we better go meet them.
One trip through the Terminal later and we can see that, yep, there’s the marker. Time to pick up some Samurai specops.
The warriors immediately stand out due to the garb, and not just in the “they’re not from Tokyo” sense. While most Samurai have beige clothing with navy blue overcoats like we saw on Walter and Jonathan’s bodies, this crew is wearing solemn white and gray outfits with a cross emblazoned on their tabards.
They somewhat bring to mind these guys, the Messians of Shin Megami Tensei I and II; presumably intentionally, given how frequently IV and Apocalypse call back to the early games in the series.
Oh? Are these motley gadabouts more, what did they call them? “Hunters”?
It seems the people of Tokyo tend to be dawdlers.
Alarming, yes. But not unexpected.
The man gusts out an exaggerated sigh.
Gaston?! It can’t be! When did you become a Samurai?!
Gaston! My own flesh and blood, my dear little brother! Can you see me? Do you hear my voice?!
Your what now?
Stunned awe, while appreciated, is hardly a civil greeting, wouldn’t you say?
Looks like the man can’t see Navarre.
Oh… He can’t see me… It’s for the best…
Uh, you guys the hotshot Samurai sent by Merkabah?
Indeed. I am Captain Gaston.
I am captain of the Crusaders who were dispatched by Lord Merkabah.
Gaston points at you.
With the serpent dead, we shall take Flynn and return him to Mikado for Lord Merkabah’s judgment!
You’re really going to do all that by yourselves?
Absolutely. All the people of Tokyo need to do is stand back.
Wow… You’re pretty sure of yourself…
Without a doubt. I am Gaston the Magnificent, after all!
Insert your Beauty and the Beast jokes here, because I know you have them stored up by now.
…The Magnificent?
And as the captain of the Crusaders, I am the most elite of the elite of the elite!
Wow, Gaston – do all those elites mean you’re even tougher than Flynn?
To whom do you think you’re speaking, child? I will be addressed as “Sir” Gaston.
…Right.
Sir Gaston, then.
Silence! Have you forgotten your place? Or are you simply testing my patience for mutinous subordinates?
The Samurai grimaces but keeps silent.
Now’s as good a time as ever. I have a speech prepared!
Once, Flynn may have been the most promising of the Samurai.
But that was before even I was a Samurai. And that time is long past.
I have surpassed Flynn and received the blessing of Lord Merkabah!
Behold, the spear of Michael, bestowed upon me by Lord Merkabah himself!
In his iconography, the archangel Michael typically wields a spear or sword, usually being readied to impale the traitorous Lucifer. Lucifer is often depicted as a dragon and both he and dragons are sometimes called foul/winged serpents. Wink wink, nudge nudge, get the idea now?
I expect this little excursion will be enough to make my magnificence clear.
Yeah, he’s definitely Navarre’s brother. They’re exactly the same.
What did you just say?
Uh… You’re Navarre’s brother, right I was just saying you two have a lot in common –
I have no brother!
I cannot accept that the same blood runs through our veins.
Hallelujah managed to slam facefirst right into an awkward situation, there.
Gaston…
Heh, Merkabah’s controlling those morons from Mikado by convincing them they’re chosen people.
What a shame, worshiping a god like that.
Can’t wait to see how things shake out between you and these Samurai.
You, puny Hunter. Hurry up and take us to Kasumigaseki.
Unlike you, I am extremely busy.
Dude, I don’t think I can ever get along with him…
Okay, cut the chatter. Time to saddle up.
Guess not all Samurai are as nice as Flynn and Miss Isabeau… What a bummer.
Gaston is the highest level party member we have at the moment, but he’s also the most one-note. He starts out with two Physical skills: Spear of Michael is Medium Physical damage to one foe, while Michael’s Strike is the same to all foes. His other three learnable skills at this point are also Physical. The main value he has at this point is that, like our Ame-no-habakiri, the Spear of Michael ignores Shesha’s resistance to Physical.
Oh, and sometimes he’ll steal your Press Turns. How kind of him.
Since Kasumigaseki has no Terminal, we have to walk the not-that-long way to it ourselves.
Once we’re there, Gaston stops to give a backhanded compliment and our quest is fulfilled. 7,867 experience and 10,000 macca isn’t much compared to what we’ve been doing, but every little bit counts.
Now that you’ve led the way through the easy part, I will lead the Crusaders to our inevitable victory.
You may return to hiding underground and avoiding the serpent.
Gaston and the other Crusaders pile into the elevator and descend into the shelter.
Says the dude literally going underground right now.
Uh, I think he’s too busy to understand irony.
Moving right along. What’s next?
Pretty sure we’re done here.
Your smartphones receive a new message.
How’s that for timing? Let’s see…
Looks like the Shesha Radar’s complete.
We can head on down to the fourth level and grab it from Professor Matsuda.
One elevator ride later…
You obtain the Shesha Radar.
You attach the Shesha Radar to your smartphone.
This radar will let you know where Shesha is going to appear.
It looks like the radar says Shesha is…in Shibuya.
Follow the radar and go clobber Shesha.
So, we’re going to need like a special weapon to beat Shesha, right?
Kind of like that spear Gaston had?
…He’s gotta come, too, doesn’t he…?
Maybe not. We do have Ame-no-habakiri. That’ll probably do the job.
Besides, I’m sure Gaston’s got his own thing going on.
Fair enough… Let’s go to Shibuya without him.
If only things were so easy. As soon as you move towards the exit of Kasumigaseki, he spots you.
You turn around to see Gaston standing there.
Hey, it’s Gast… Err… Sir Gaston…
How fortunate for you. I would like to invite you to join me. You know where the great serpent is, yes?
What happened to your buddies?
Buddies? The Crusaders? I’ve made a strategic decision to act separately from them.
As their captain, I couldn’t burden them with this. I alone am enough to defeat Shesha.
I am unfamiliar with this word “ditch” you use and will not acknowledge it.
R-right. It was a good plan.
Now, lead me to Shesha so that I may defeat the serpent.
Then I shall rescue Flynn. Remember: the plan is for me to do all the work and for you to not get in my way.
Boy I hate this guy…
Just focus on the fact that he’s an ally.
We’re going to need all the help we can get to take down that slithering shithead.
Nozomi’s correct. And next time, we will indeed be trekking to fight that slithering shithead, for real this time.