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Chapter 12: The Waterways
All kinds of interesting things can be found in the sewers of Tairon. It's just a shame so many of these things want to kill you. A ninja just can't catch a break, can he?
Starting things off, we have a chest lying nearby with a Life of the Gods. Take it, then exit into a new area. It will be a little while before you're able to move on from here, but eventually a few fiends will emerge for you to slaughter. See that manhole they came out of? That's where we need to go.
Easy-to-kill bats will start to swarm you, so chop them up and use the nearby Dragon Statue to save the game. Proceed along to area B1. There isn't much of note here right now, so just give the fiends the good ol' choppity-chop and open the door to area B2. More enemies will have congregated around the stairs here - take them out and head down to reach another hallway. Looks like somebody was here before you, and thankfully, he managed to make a map before he kicked the bucket. Take it, then look around the area a bit. The wall to the west should have an opening in it, and that's where you want to proceed through. You'll be in area B3.
There are more enemies awaiting you here. You can almost always expect an enemy attack whenever you enter a room in the Aquaducts, so from now on, we won't bring it up again unless it's a particularly noteworthy fight. You'll be coming back here often, so take a minute to examine the layout, as well as save your game.
Search this area to find an elevator leading to area B4. There's a chest with a Jewel of the Demon Seal in it, so take that and use it as you see fit. If you go back up to B3, then ride the elevator down to B4 again, you'll have another 60-enemy challenge to look forward to against a swarm of giant bugs. The bugs aren't too hard to kill individually, but they will gang up like crazy on Ryu, and can easily overwhelm him if you aren't careful. If they start to latch onto you, mash the attack button as quickly as possible to force them off. Exterminate the lot of them for a Talisman of Rebirth.
Return to the Dragon Statue at B3, then proceed through the nearby double doors to the Hall of Balance. There's a Muramasa statue here you can use, but more importantly for now, there's a chest above it containing the Key of the Insect. You'll need to wall-run from closer to the entrance of the room to grab the ledge where the chest is sitting. Taken the key and return to B2 (you'll need to wall-run continuously to get back up there from B3). Open the Insect Door here and enter a new passageway. Head into the doors closest to you from where you entered.
The mini-boss here is a big electric water worm. The worm likes to stay just out of your reach most of the time, and if you enter the water to try and get close to it, you're in for quite a shock. You can chip away at its life at a comfortable distance using the Windmill Shuriken, but you'll still need to do most of your damage from melee strikes. Dodge the worm's projectile attacks with rolls and backflips (be careful no to flip into the water!). The worm will also try to get you with a lunging grab attack and a swinging body smash. Use well-timed jump evasion skills to avoid taking damage, then approach the worm's body and go to town with combos of your choice. Keep at it until the creature keels over.
You'll get an Art of the Inazuma scroll for your efforts. There's also a Golden Scarab located near the worm's hide-a-hole. Now, proceed along to re-emerge in a different part of the Hall of Balance. There are lots of valuables here, including another Golden Scarab and a key item, the Red Tablet of the Stream.
Jump down from here to the bottom of the room, then re-enter area B3. Save your game, then take the path leading westward to reach a door with an engraving of a woman on it. Enter the door, then use a continuous wall jump to climb to the top of the room. A Spirit of the Devils can be found here - take it and use it right away. Proceed along to reach a room with an open, steel-barred floor in the center. Another Golden Scarab awaits you here. After you pick it up, approach the pedestal and use the Red Tablet. After taking down the enemies that appear, you'll want to backtrack all the way back to B2. Make a left turn and go all the way to the end of the hall to another doorway. Open it and take the Water Statue inside.
It's back to B3 again, so drop on down and save your game once more. On the route to the Red Reservoir Room, there is a somewhat hard-to-notice passage in the right wall. Examine the wall thoroughly to find it, then proceed on through. Another dead ninja rests here - check the corpse to acquire some new literature. At the end of this passage is a doorway you can use the Water Statue on. Enter the door and then jump down the gap to the area below. There are lots of bats here, which provide a good opportunity for some health recovery. Another Muramasa statue is here, as is one more Golden Scarab. Head into the next cavern to reach the next mini-boss - two of the Electric Worms from before. The same strategy applies here, though with two of these guys going after you at once, you'll need to make sure you pay attention to what both of them are up to. Keep on your toes! After the fight, examine the holes the worms once occupied to discover another Golden Scarab and a Life of the Gods.
Now, enter the passage between the wormholes to another new area. Climb up to the top of the room, loot the treasures, and enter the next passageway to emerge in the Blue Tablet Room. Proceed along until you find the chest containing a Blue Tablet of the Stream. Backtrack to the room you entered after killing the worms. There's another passage from here you can take to a new area, which leads to another dead ninja carrying Incendiary Shurikens. Further along is a cracked wall, which you can break down however you like. You'll re-emerge in the room with the Muramasa statue. Backtrack all the way to the main part of B3, save your game, then jump back up to B2 and go through the Insect Door. Enter the door further down the hallway. Inside this room is another pedestal where you can use the Blue Tablet you just acquired. This will drain the water. Jump down and look around to room to find another Golden Scarab. Proceed through the doorway, but examine the hall carefully - there's another Life of the Gods close to here.
A new passageway has opened in the Hall of Balance now. Enter to find yourself in a very pretty new area. There's no time to admire the scenery, however, because you'll be thrown into the midst of another 60-fiend challenge! This one consists of the fiends you've been fighting regularly throughout this stage. Your reward for killing off 60 of these creatures is a Lives of the Thousand Gods.
To open the door leading out of here, do a strong jumping attack to flip the switch near the large statue. Before you head out, though, there's a hidden item you can find. Near the door where you entered this area are two pillars spaced very closely to each other. You can do a continuous wall-jump off of them to reach a ledge at the top with another Golden Scarab for you.
In the following room, there is a chest with a Life of the Gods you can get with a skillful, continuous wall-run technique. Continuing along, you'll reach the Underground Sanctuary. A room to the west contains an arrow supply point and still another Golden Scarab. You'll need to do a continuous wall-run to reach the top portion of this room. From there, equip the Strongbow and aim an arrow at the medallion at the other end of the room. This will allow you to wall-run across to another ledge. You'll need to do a few more jumps (and a well-timed swing) to reach the area where the Dragon Statue and Brand of Valor lie. The stage's final Golden Scarab also rests behind the save point. Save your game, hop down, and place the Brand of Valor into the floor to trigger your next major boss battle.
