PrinceWatercress plays Tougi Ou: King Colossus - Part 10 of 22

Our adventure now takes us to the Shrine of the Sword. Are we the one worthy of taking Orphus' blade?

Shrine of the Sword

Dungeon Map (by Vorpal86)

Shrine Map (by Vorpal86)

As soon as you enter the dungeon, you will keep hearing buzzsaws running every other second. If you run into them, they will hurt.

Some doors are blocked by face-shaped panels that spit projectiles that you'll have to destroy with your weapons. Thankfully, they do not respond once destroyed.

The Morning Star a flail, and it is more powerful than the Haken. It even has more range, so if you like flail weapons, pick this up!

The Charm Pendant is another "Other Item." Equipping it will increase your defense by ten.

If you see a brown chest shake, attack it. It's a mimic, and it will attack you if you get too close. At this point in the game, attack all brown chests with a crossbow before approaching them.

The flashing tiles will damage you if you walk into them.

The Diamond Ring will be useful later, so go get it.

In the area where you find the ring, be careful. There will be holes that drop you into a flashing tile-laden area that leads you back to the starting area.

The sword that you find in the dungeon area is just a sculpture; however, there is something written on it. "Put the Ruby of Fate in my hilt. Then the way shall open."

You'll eventually meet Zakkar again. When you talk to him, he will notice that you have matured since the last meeting, then ask if you are looking for the Diamond Ring. When he finds out you're not, he says that Lufelia's national relics have been held here for a long time, and one of them is the Diamond Ring. Unfortunately, he found a ruby, which turns out to be the Ruby of Fate. If you have the Diamond Ring, you'll be able to trade it for the Ruby of Fate.

With the Ruby of Fate, go back to the sword. Before you do, go north in the doorway leading up to Zakkar. You'll find a Shield Ring, which will be under "Other Items" as a step up from the Protect Ring and will increase your defense by 25.

By putting the Ruby of Fate in the hilt of the sword, you'll be able to enter the Shrine of the Sword itself.

The blue lizardmen are more powerful than the green ones and take a lot more abuse before they finally go down.

When you reach the shrine, there will be an old man standing in front of it. He will tell you that the Shrine of the Sword has not had a visitor in years, and asks if you have come to seek King Orphus' sword before telling you that the sword cannot be taken by anyone. Even if the sword accepts you, you will still have many ordeals to overcome as the sword holds an important destiny. Nevertheless, he will not dissuade you, and tells you that the pedestal holds a deadly trap and that the Spirit Stones will guide you. If you talk to him again when you're hurt, he'll be able to heal you.

There are three Silent Stones in all: white, blue and red. You'll need them to reach higher levels of the pyramid-like shrine. The white one will be found inside the shrine, but to find the red and blue ones, you'll have to explore the entire area around the shrine until you find the northern corners and find the chests there..

The statues act as gatekeepers to the upper levels, and you'll need the Silent Stones to use the statues as teleporters to more of the shrine.

The statues simply move around the outer perimeter and do not attack, making them easy to take down for some extra experience.

When you reach the top of the shrine, you'll find the Legendary Sword, and you'll be able to take the sword with ease and feel its power course through your veins. Unfortunately, the statue holding the sword in its head comes to life after you break the seal on the sword, and states that it has waited for the one who inherits the sword of "the most hated Orphus." Since that person is you, it decides to destroy for carrying on from where Orphus left off.

Equip a crossbow and keep your distance. Watch out for the fireballs as well as the slime jellies that land on the ground and move around, and shoot every time the boss is on the ground. This boss has invincibility frames, so wait for it to stop flashing before killing it again. When you beat the boss, it calls Orphus "Orphus the Berseker" and proclaims that Queen Desire must be notified immediately.

Go back to where you teleported onto the roof of the shrine from. You'll meet the old man from outside, who tells you that Orphus was not a berserker after all, and was in fact the only king that fought Desire in the end, meaning that Queen Desire is trying to rewrite history in her image to paint King Orphus as an enemy in history. The old man will then tell you to go to both Sirius and Kazard and learn the truth. 

You'll then return to Distaria Castle, where Princess Lina is waiting. When you meet Lina, she is happy that you survived, then asks for your forgiveness. Believe it or not, the trek to the Shrine of the Sword was also a trap, as they wanted to make sure you were the one with the power to continue King Orphus' mission. Since you pulled out the sword, you have confirmed that you are the one that Desire's forces must kill. Lina tells you not to return to the castle, as Desire will have you killed if you do. She tells you to go to Sirius Castle, as King Sirius is the only one who can help you now. She also hands you the Sirius Key, which allows you entry into the castle, before admitting that she was happy to have you at her side. Perhaps Lina isn't as evil as she first appeared to be...