On day 72 of my Final Fantasy marathon, I left off outside Exdeath Castle. Today, I am headed for Big Bridge.

Big Bridge

We walk to Big Bridge, which has no chests or items. We battle several groups of monsters as we make our way across the bridge.

We encounter Gilgamesh again and battle him until he runs away again. This time, he tries to fake us out, saying he is overwhelmed while he buffs himself and then resumes the fight, but the end is the same.

We reach Krile on the bridge just before Castle Exdeath emits a giant barrier. We run from it, but get caught up and tossed into a new location.

Gloceana

Galuf recognizes the area as Gloceana, which he describes as the “back of beyond” and crawling with monsters. Rand apologizes to Galuf, saying we came to help, but Galuf ended up having to help us.

Galuf says he meant it when he told us not to come, but it’s still good to see us again. Gloceana is on the far western tip of a continent to the north of where we started.

We walk until we find the town of Regole. It has no chests or items.

Regole

We restock our supplies and upgrade our weapons, armor, and spells before resting at the inn in Regole. Galuf and Rand wake in the middle of the night.

Rand goes looking for Galuf and finds him in the pub. Rand apologizes to Galuf again. Galuf says if we hadn’t showed up, Exdeath’s barrier would have destroyed them all.

He asks why we came here knowing we could never return. Rand says no particular reason.

Galuf thanks Rand. We leave the town and keep walking until we reach a castle.

Kuza, the Sealed Castle

The castle has no chests or items, but it does contain an object that we can’t seem to interact with yet and a bunch of sealed weapons.

Galuf says he thought the twelve sealed weapons were just a legend. We can’t seem to do anything here yet, so I leave the castle and keep walking.

Moogle Forest

We walk into a forest area that has no chests or items and encounter a moogle. He falls into a hole in the ground.

We decide we should help it and jump into the hole. We land in an underground waterway.

Underground Waterway

I still have PTSD from the underground waterway in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, but I proceed anyway. It has two chests and no items.

We discover the moogle being menaced by a Tyrannosaur. This enemy has some powerful attacks, and manages to KO Rand and Galuf.

However, I defeat it by healing with Faris and using Lenna’s Fira spell. Lenna talks the Moogle into approaching.

It motions for us to follow and leaves the cave and walks to a spot in the woods to the north. We exit the cave and follow it.

Moogle Village

We find the Moogle Village hidden in the woods. It has seven chests and no items.

We enter the village and the moogles all run. We chase one around the village, until it finally stops and signals for us to follow it into a tree.

The tree contains five chests that the moogle indicates we can take as thanks for helping it. One of the chests contains the Dancing Dagger, which I give to Galuf.

After we leave the tree, the moogle begins talking excitedly. The scene shifts to Krile talking to another moogle.

The moogle tells Krile that her grandpa is in the moogle village, which it learned because moogles can communicate telepathically. However, the village is a long way off and the wind drake is too tired to fly.

The wind drake tells Krile it has just enough energy for one more trip, so she flies out to the moogle village. The moogles are all very excited.

Krile lands in the village and the wind drake flies us all back to the castle. Krile takes the wind drake back to its roost to rest.

King Galuf

Galuf consults with his men, who tell him Exdeath hasn’t made any moves since he put the barrier up, but his monsters have wiped out Galuf’s troops. Rand is shocked to learn that Galuf is a king.

The Castle of Bal has three chests and one item. One area of the castle is inaccessible.

We find the Teleport spell in a chest. We find Krile at the wind drake’s roost.

She tells us the wind drake is dying, because he was wounded and flew when he shouldn’t have. Faris asks if there is any way to save him.

Lenna says we need dragon grass, but she’s not sure if it even exists in this world. Faris says that back home, wind drakes always nest near dragon grass.

If we go to where drakes roost, we should find some. Galuf tells us our best bet is Drakenvale, the valley of the wind drakes.

However, no one who has entered has ever returned. Rand says that we will be the first. Galuf tells us that Drakenvale is to the north of the castle past Quelb, the werewolf town.

Krile asks about the monsters outside and Galuf assures her that we can handle them. We find an Angel Robe in another chest.

When we go to leave the castle, the soldiers tell us Exdeath’s monsters are waiting outside. Galuf orders them to seal the castle behind us.

An Abductor attacks as we attempt to leave. We defeat it easily.

Quelb

We walk north to Quelb and find the town locked up tight, except for one house. It has no chests or items.

A group of werewolves surrounds us as we attempt to leave the only unlocked house in the town. Galuf claims they are our allies.

A werewolf named Kelger enters and greets Galuf. He is one of the Dawn Warriors. Kelger asks who we are and Galuf tells him.

When Kelger finds out we came from the world where they sealed up Exdeath, he thinks we must be in league with him. He challenges Rand to a duel.

Kelger uses his lupin attack, but Rand thwarts it, using a trick he says his father taught him. Kelger asks his father’s name and Rand tells him “Dorgann.”

Kelger and Galuf are both shocked. They tell Rand his father was one of the Dawn Warriors.

Rand realizes this means his father was from Galuf’s planet. Galuf explains.

Dorgann

The Dawn Warriors followed Exdeath to our world and knocked him out but couldn’t destroy him. They decided they would have to seal him away on our planet.

Dorgann objected, saying they couldn’t just seal a demon from their planet on our world. Exdeath begins to revive and Kelger says they have no choice and must seal Exdeath away.

Dorgann starts to walk away, but Galuf tells him the seal won’t work unless all of their hearts are united. Dorgann relents, and helps them seal Exdeath away.

However, he decided to stay behind to watch over Exdeath’s seal. Kelger asks how Dorgann is doing and Rand tells him he got sick and died three years ago.

Kelger tells Rand that he will grant him any request he asks. He instructs his men to unlock the gate to Drakenvale.

I purchase some spell and equipment upgrades in the town and learn the Requiem song from one of the werewolves. We leave through the gate.

Drakenvale

Darkenvale has six chests and one item. We encounter a golem being attacked by two dragons.

We save him from the dragons and he joins us. We gain the ability to summon the golem.

I find the Bone Mail in a pile of bones on the ground. I get the Hypno Crown from a chest and equip it on Lenna.

I also get the Wind Slash. We find what looks like dragon grass, but turns out to be a monster called a Dragon Pod.

The Dragon Pod has quite a lot of HP, but is weak to Bio. The battle is moderately long, but we get the win.

We get the dragon grass. I temporarily change Lenna to a Time Mage so I can use teleport to warp off the mountain.

Wind Drake

We walk back to the castle, but the soldiers won’t let us through the gates. Galuf sneaks us in through the moat.

We find that Krile is sick in bed. She tells us that Ghido is calling.

Galuf tells us Ghido is a sage who has lived for over seven hundred years. He prophesied that the crystals would break.

Galuf thinks Ghido may know a way to defeat Exdeath. He lives on an island to the northeast of Drakenvale, but we’ll need the wind drake to get there.

We take the dragon grass to the wind drake but he doesn’t want to eat it. Lenna eats some to show him it is safe, even though it is poisonous for humans.

The wind drake eats the grass and gets better, but Lenna collapses. Krile shows up and has Lenna drink a potion that heals her.

Everyone lectures Lenna about doing reckless things and then Krile collapses. Galuf tells her to go rest. We hop on the wind drake and head for the island.

Sage Ghido

Shortly after we land on the island, there is an earthquake and the island starts to sink. We escape on the wind drake.

Exdeath gloats over his handywork. We return to the castle and learn that King Xezat of Surgate is sending his fleet to attack Exdeath.

Surgate Castle

We fly to Surgate Castle, but the king is already gone. There are two chests and one item in the castle.

We learn the Swift Song from a book. We get the float spell from a chest.

Xezat’s Fleet

We fly over to Xezat’s Fleet and land on his ship. Galuf introduces Rand as Dorgann’s son and the other party members as royalty from another world.

Xezat claims he has found a way into the castle and tells us to go below deck to rest. We do, but are rudely awakened by monsters attacking the ship.

We return to the deck and join the battle. After some easy battles, we encounter Gilgamesh again.

This time, he summons his friend Enkidu, who has the ability to heal the party. We take out Enkidu and then battle Gilgamesh.

When we defeat him, he jumps into the water and tries to pull us in with him. We catch hold of the ship and hang on until the wind drake saves us.

We go back below deck and Xezat tells us to help him with a box. We push it open to reveal the entrance to a submarine.

Barrier Tower

We board the sub and Xezat tells us that the fleet was just a decoy. The real plan is to reach one of the barrier towers by submarine.

We sail to the tower and Xezat blows a hole in the wall that we enter through. He says he will take care of the generator downstairs.

He tells us to go upstairs and destroy the antennae. He gives us some whisperweed so we can communicate with him.

There are a couple of difficult monster-in-a-box encounters. The first one yields the Blood Sword.

Faris becomes the first party member to master a job. I switch her to the Samurai job and give her the White Magic Lv. 6 ability.

We get a gold hairpin from the other monster-in-a-box fight. We reach the antenna and signal Xezat to cut the power.

He does so and tells us to destroy the antenna, but a powerful enemy called Atomos attacks. This enemy casts the comet spell, which can KO multiple party members.

It also sucks dead party members towards itself and warps them to another dimension. It takes me several attempts to win this one.

I finally do so by allowing it to drag my weakest party member, while the others beat up on it, aided by Faris’ new Zeninage ability, which does 3k damage. We get some dark matter as a prize.

We tell Xezat we destroyed the antenna. The generator room begins to explode. Xezat tells Galuf to make his escape.

Lenna says the wind drake can fly us out. Galuf tells Xezat we are coming to get him, but he tells us not to come down, but to wait for him in the sub instead.

Galuf refuses to leave Xezat behind. Rand tells Faris and Lenna to go on ahead. Rand then stays behind to prevent Galuf from going after Xezat.

Xezat says he knew the risks and couldn’t send someone else to risk their life. He adds that the crystals have chosen four new warriors and they must be the ones to fight Exdeath.

The generator room explodes. Galuf finally gives in and gets on the wind drake. He tells the others to take him to the sub.

Back on the sub

Galuf waits for Xezat to show up until eventually accepting that Xezat didn’t survive. Faris tells Rand that we could use the sub to go find Ghido.

Ghido’s Cave

We sail to Ghido’s Cave, which has no chests or items. We discover a turtle that turns out to be Ghido.

Ghido tells us that Exdeath is after something in the Great Forest of Moore west of Surgate. The sentient forest is Exdeath’s birthplace.

A tree in the forest has been used to seal away evil spirits for years. However, 500 years ago, the concentration of malevolence turned the tree into Exdeath. Ghido kept Exdeath sealed away for 500 years.

The seal broke 30 years ago and the Dawn Warriors sealed him away again. However, no seal is permanent.

Ghido says we must destroy Exdeath this time. Ghido gives us the Guardian Branch, which he says will allow us to enter the forest.

Moore

The forest is surrounded by mountains, so we have to use the sub to sail under them and then emerge in a pond next to the town of Moore. It has no chests and one item.

I upgrade my equipment and spells while I’m there. We then walk into the forest.

Forest of Moore

The forest has twelve chests and no items. The Guardian Branch opens a path so we can enter the forest.

We find a Morning Star in a chest. Eventually, Exdeath sets the forest on fire. A Moogle pops out of the ground and then jumps in a hole.

We follow him and hide underground until the flames go away. We emerge into the burned forest.

We get the Flame Shield from a chest, which goes to Lenna. Rand gets the Flametongue.

Galuf masters the thief job and I switch him to Chemist and give him the Artful Dodger ability. We find the Guardian Tree and use the branch to enter.

Guardian Tree

Inside the tree, four unknown entities attack. The first three go down without too much of a problem, but the fourth is wailing away on us, so I finish it off with Zeninage.

Exdeath shows up and praises us for our efficient work. He thanks us for destroying the seals for him.

The entities turn into the four crystals that had bound Exdeath. He claims their power and uses them to attack the party.

Exdeath

Krile senses her grandpa is in trouble. The moogle tells her we are in the Forest of Moore. She flies there on the wind drake.

Krile uses her magic to knock out Exdeath, but he doesn’t stay down long. He attacks Krile and she calls out for her grandpa.

Galuf gets up and fights his way to Exdeath, shattering one of the crystals in the process. Galuf confronts Exdeath and no matter what Exdeath throws against him, he won’t die.

Eventually, Galuf wins the fight. Exdeath collects the remaining three crystals and disappears.

Galuf is mortally wounded. We gather around him and attempt to save him, but it doesn’t work.

Galuf tells us we must destroy Exdeath and then dies. Krile hear’s Galuf calling her and leaves the tree.

Galuf tells her the Guardian Tree is lending him its power so he can speak to her. He tells Krile he will give her his strength so she can fight with Rand and the others.

She resists, but eventually agrees and accepts Galuf’s abilities. He tells her that Exdeath is trying to destroy the crystals.

She tells the rest of the group we must hurry to Exdeath’s castle. We all hop on the wind drake. I save the game and quit for the night.