Holy Diver/Stage 3 Dokugake Tairiku

Dokugake Tairiku (毒苔大陸)
1: The first enemies that you encounter here appear at the top of the steps. Three burrowing lizards will pop out of the ground, shooting projectiles at you at the top of the jump. Stand on the step below and shoot rapidly to take them out quickly. You'll have to repeat the experience at the next ledge, where it's a bit too high to shoot the lizards without jumping. In addition, a whirling blade enemy will bounce over the ledge in an effort to slice you. Fire up and the blade, and then squat in the corner waiting for the lizards to jump to the left so you can remove them. More blade will come at you from both directions, so be prepared to take them out.

Another trio of lizards pop out just before the first pool of lava. Hop over the small first pool (taking out any spinning blades that might be bouncing around in them first) and prepare to use Blizzard. Not only will it turn the lava into safer ice, but it will also freeze the small one-eyed insects that are otherwise invulnerable to your attack. With everything frozen, you can safely enter the next room. Keep Blizzard ready to go. 2: Cast Blizzard almost as soon as you enter this area. It will free more of the one-eyed insects that infest this area, and stop the eyes from shedding tears that roll down the branches which you must now climb. On your way up, you'll encounter two eyes. If you defeat the first one, it will drop a red potion. If you defeat the second, it will drop a blue potion. Cast Blizzard again before collecting the blue potion if necessary. If you're quick enough, you can actually collect both potions before the first Blizzard wears off. Then head through the door at the top.

3: You begin at the top of this column which is occupied by more invulnerable insects. You may wish to cast Blizzard again if you don't want to deal with them, but the speed at which you begin to drop should make it difficult for them to keep up with you. There's an exit along the middle of the right side, but to reach it, you need the ability to jump higher. You'll find the item which gives you that ability at the bottom of the room: the jump boots. Collect them, and you'll instantly notice that you can jump significantly higher. Use them to propel you into the opening on the right.



4: The game's difficult takes a serious turn here. You've seen the bats before, but the floating fish enemies are new, and dangerous. From far away, they're not much of a threat, they spit out smaller fish which drop to the ground and travel until they collide with something. After a while, however, they rush toward you in an effort to collide with you, for a full bar's worth of your health meter. This is when they are at their most dangerous. As soon as they begin to fly towards you, simply move back a bit, turn around, and shoot them. If you have magic points to spare, the Breaker spell can be very useful in removing them quickly. But you need the ability to fire Breaker at just the right height, or the spell will miss the fish, and you will have wasted 10 magic points. Either way, there are several bats along the ceiling, and you will encounter three orange fish along the way. Take them out patiently to ensure your survival through this dangerous corridor.







Boss:Carnivorous Plants


You'll enter into a grassy room, and the door will close behind you.

The fight will appear right away. There are two large pink plant-like enemies that move vertically across the screen. You can see the top of the one on the right, so don't move over there. Stand in the middle, and wait for the one on the left to fly from the top to the bottom of the screen. It will fire out a worm enemy that can be destroyed, so turn and kill it. The two large enemies are your target, and can be damaged at any time, but focus your attacks on the ones that appear at the bottom.

Remember to always kill the worms right away, otherwise you'll be overrun by them (they don't die unless you kill them). Stand close to the bosses when they appear on the ground, because they fire projectiles left and right but not near to them.

Once you kill both of them, the walls and background will disintegrate and your new spell, overdrive, will appear. Grab it to move on to the fourth level.