Arumana no Kiseki/Stage 6

Part 1
Crashing through the wall with the mine cart has granted you access to the inner sanctum of the evil god. This place will test all of your grappling hook abilities, and then some. The Almana stone is close at hand, but you're going to have to steal it back, and the lair of the evil god is no easy place to traverse. Ledges turn into pitfalls, climbs force you to jump through walls. As difficult as it is, it is fairly linear until you are very deep into the map.

There is one thing in your favor; there are an abundance of Holy Crystals in this stage. You can collect 50 of them here, and that's good because you're going to need at least 32 of them. The Holy Crystals are indicated by the red circles on the map. Again, you only need 32, so don't go out of your way to collect more unless you really want to.


 * Point A:You begin in the lower left corner of the map, and you must climb all the way up to this point. When you reach it, be prepared to drop down a huge pit.  As you fall, stick to the left to collect health restoring Meat.  However, be prepared to return to the right side of the pit in order to collect ten more Holy Crystals if you have less than 32 of them by this time.  (If you fall down the pit to the left of Point A, you can also collect a Pendant.)
 * Point B:Making it up to the channel that leads to the second portion of this map is no easy task. It seems like many platforms that are needed to advance are missing.  In fact, the only way to reach the left side of the screen in order to climb further upward, you must shoot your grappling hook up at the column on your left, climb up, and jump through it as you reach the top.  Be prepared to shoot your hook at the platform overhead, or the far left wall in order to stop your fall.  Once you're safely on a platform, proceed normally to the next part of the map, but watch out for the flame jets.

Part 2
Once again, the final stage is very linear, so not many sections require much detail in order to make your way through it. Simply drop down the first section (and snag a 1-Up on your way), walk along the bottom, and climb up the right side. If you are desperate for more Holy Crystals, there are two to be found near the top, and one down the right side of the tunnel you pass (red circle c) along with an easy 1-Up just above it. There is a convenient piece of Meat located over the center just before you reach the top portion of the map.


 * Point C:Once you reach this location, you will have to utilize some advanced grappling hook skills in order to reach the entrance to the boss lair. From the ledge below point C, fire your grappling hook up and to the right, and jump at the last moment to hook the block over the right skull face.  Then turn around, and repeat the same process, only to the left, in order to reach the platform just to the right of the boss lair entrance.  Be sure to have 32 Holy Crystals before you enter the lair; there are a few scattered around the area to help you reach that number.

Boss: Dark Face
The giant face in this room represents the corporal form of the evil god coming to life through the power of the Almana stone, which is secured in the face's forehead. Two evil flames burn brightly from the eye sockets while lost and tortured souls trickle out from the face's mouth. These souls are your biggest threat as they appear in abundance and seem to fly every which way around the room, making them nearly impossible to avoid.

To defeat the boss, you must extinguish both flames that occupy the eye sockets. Normally, the Holy Crystal is a very weak weapon to use against a boss in this game, but due to the nature of the flying souls which whip around the room, it happens to be an excellent weapon since it not only harms the boss every time you use it, it also clears the room of these souls.

Once you arrive in the room, simply switch to the Holy Crystal weapon, and at a measured pace, use it over and over again. You don't want to fire to rapidly, or some of your crystals will have no effect and they will go to waste. Instead, fire them around once per second, or just before a wandering soul is about to hit you. If you use them properly, then you should defeat the boss after using 32 of them. At that point, the Almana stone will drop to the floor for you to collect, and you will witness the ending. At that point, the game will start over from Stage 1 at a higher level of difficulty.