Romancia/Part II: Defeat Dragon Vaides

Reminder: This walkthrough is specific to the Famicom version of the game. While some portions of it may apply to the MSX and NEC computer versions, not all of it will be the same.

Exploring Azoruba as a pig

• In order to get to the bottom of things, you're going to have to head even deeper into Azoruba. The problem is, there are so many monsters, that it's difficult to get through there without taking a lot of damage. But there's one state that you can be in where you won't take any damage at all: as a pig. So you're going to have to infiltrate Azoruba while keeping your Karma in tact. The fact is, you need to hang on to the 30 Karma Rings that you obtained for rescuing Princess Serena for a trip to heaven that you will be taking when you're done with your mission.
• Before you make your way back to Azoruba, do some prep work. You should have 30 Gold Coins, so use them to repair your shield. Don't forget about the secret room behind the visible one at the blacksmith's house—the hidden blacksmith will repair your shield for half the cost, allowing you to get to a full 30 Defense Points. Use up your money anyway that you have to, you'll eventually get more later. Then head to the church and collect another Rainbow Rod and cross the bridge to use it up.

Turned into a pig

• Back in Azoruba, you need to hang on to your Karma Rings, but you'll also want to save your Magic Points for some important steps coming up. You're going to have to dodge pigs as best as you can, and it isn't easy. One trick is to hop inside homes and quickly return outside. This clears the area of pigs for a short while. Fortunately, with 30 Defense Points, your shield will take the brunt of the attacks. Make your way all the way back to the castle and head inside. Don't kill any snails. As you pass by the king, he will turn you into a pig. Keep going past him into the dungeon.
• You must retrace your steps as you make your way back to the cell when Princess Serena was being held prisoner. Continue past it and you will pass through a door. You will now find yourself in a rather complicated maze. Every room in the maze looks the same, there is a path to the left and right, and a ladder leading up and down. However, just because the paths are present doesn't mean you can always take them. Furthermore, some of the ladder paths are one way only. If that weren't enough, if you descend down the wrong ladder, you could find yourself in a pig pit. If and when you do escape from the pig pit, you will be back at the start of the maze and have to retrace your steps all over again. The following map is a guide that should help you find your way through the maze. A pig represents a pit trap. The Medicine marks where you may purchase Medicine at the cost of 30 Gold Coins. The Staff represents a room where you may restore one Magic Point at the cost of 2 Gold Coins.

Maze rooms

Choose carefully

• When you reach the Goal, climb down the ladder and you will be in a room filled with Lava. At this point, you should activate the power of your blessed Robe. This will cost 3 Magic Points, but it will protect you from the harmful effects of the lava. You must zig-zag your way to the bottom of the room, starting by going to the right. By the time you reach the lowest level, the power of your Robe will wear off. Use it again as you finish up in this room, and drop down to the room below. You will enter another lava filled chamber, but your Robe should still be protecting you. Fall down and head to the left, and you'll exit through a hidden tunnel. You will now be standing outside of the castle with two doors. One door is the real entrance, and one leads to a pit trap. If you choose the wrong one, simply climb out of the pit trap and enter the other door.

The underground castle

• You will be standing on the left side of a long hallway. Lava pits line the floor, but they should be easy enough to jump over. Make special note of the dragon mask that you wander over, the very first of its kind that you've ever seen. You'll need to remember its location shortly. Continue right, and the path will split. The upper path contains three robed figures. If you pass in front of them, they will steal your money as well as your robe! The other path is a watery tunnel. Though you may lose a Life Point or two swimming through it, it's probably better than losing your Robe. Note that if you do lose your Robe, you can easily get it back in Romancia if you bring the Cross to the man who thinks you're the chosen one.

The correct choice is random

• On the other side of the water tunnel, the path with branch once more, with an upper route and a lower route. This part is unfortunate, but only one of these paths is correct, and the correct path is chosen randomly. If you guess wrong, you will end up in a pit. Climbing out of the pit will bring you back to the start of the hallway. You might then think that when you make it back to the branch, you simply have to choose the other path, but unfortunately the correct path is randomly chosen again, so you may be right or you may be wrong. There's nothing you can do, just keep trying until you guess the correct path.
• You will find yourself with a choice to make. A high platform is available to you, but only if you double jump, or use the Feather of Pegasus. Either way, it is much better to take the high road, as the low road will cause this tunnel to flood with lava, and you will regret that choice very quickly. On the other side, you will be presented with another choice to travel high or low. It actually doesn't matter which way you go, but as you pass through it, you will hear cries of "Help me!" when you pass each statue. These are the original warriors sent by the king to rescue Princess Serena. There is actually nothing that you can do for them besides pity them. Continue on to the right, and you will have one more physical hurdle, a wall that you must overcome and fall down the right side of.

Swim quickly through the tunnels

• When you arrive in the next screen, be ready to activate your Feather of Pegasus and fly out of the hole before you touch the lava at the bottom. Further to the right, you will see a hole with water. Dive in. The water here is a little dirtier, and you will lose Life Points a little faster, but not at a terribly threatening rate. Pass through the top tunnel and surface as soon as you have a chance. Walk back to the left and double jump or fly to talk to the man waiting above. He will claim that he's misplaced a magic item. Put your inventory cursor on the Crystal of Foresight and talk to him again. He will tell you to search for the first Dragon Mask.

Be sure to collect the Dragon Slayer

• Turn around and dive back into the water. This time, take the middle tunnel all the way to the left, and hop out of the water. Jump over the little pool and continue left until you see a man. Talk to him, and he will bestow upon you the Dragon Slayer. Now you need to return to the first Dragon Mask. You can't double jump your way out of this hole so you must use the Feather of Pegasus to fly out. If you have no Magic Points left you will be stuck here and unable to proceed.

Examine the dragon mask

• You'll need to retrace your steps, back to the water entrance and back to the lava pit to the left. Use the Feather of Pegasus to fly back up to the screen above, and up and over the wall. Run back to the left past the statues crying for help, and don't forget to jump or fly back up to the high platform so you don't trigger the lava flow in the room. Pass back through the water tunnel if you don't want to sacrifice your Robe, and keep going left until you return to the first Dragon Mask that you saw. You'll need to activate the Feather one more time in order to fly up to it and examine it. Stand in front of it and push , and you will acquire the Pendant.
• The Pendant will warp you out of the castle, but before you use it, there's a location that you can examine and get 30 Gold Coins. Return to the right. If you lost your Robe, simply walk past the three men, but if you want to keep it, swim through the water tunnel, climb up and return to the left. You will see what looks like a statue in the wall. Stand in front of it and push continuously. Every time you do, you will find a coin until you have 30. Then use the Pendant to warp back to Azoruba.

Heaven and a Dragon

• Back outside in Azoruba, you must return to Romancia. As a pig, you have little to fear, so just make your way back to the left. It's time to go back to heaven, but before you do, make sure you collect another Soul from the graveyard so that you can return home. Then talk to the man on the cloud and you will turn from a pig into an angel. Dodge the attacks of the Wind and Sun gods one more time. Enter the gates of heaven, and talk to the man who restores your Magic Points. From there, talk to the man standing on the high cloud to the right. He will remove the curse on the Dragon Slayer so that you can actually use it. Once you have Magic and a blessed sword, use the Soul to return to normal and head back to earth.
• Now it's time to make your final preparations before returning to the castle in Azoruba. Assuming you have a full wallet of 30 coins, restore your Defense Points and Life Points as much as possible. If you don't have money, and would like some, you can get more, but you will have to sacrifice Karma Rings to do it. Since you theoretically have no more need to visit heaven, this shouldn't be a problem. Head to the home where you gave a sick patient Medicine (not the hospital). Walk to the bed of the patient and push . Every time you do, you will find a Gold Coin. But since you are stealing someone's savings, you will lose Karma. Use your ill-gotten gains as you see fit.
• Grab the Rainbow Rod once again, and grab a Medicine from the priest if he happens to have any left. Then cross the bridge and return to Azoruba. You are free to kill pigs if you like, as long as you don't plan on returning to heaven. You're goal is to return to the castle beneath the ground. You may think you have to return to the castle and go the long way around, but by a stroke of luck, you won't need to go through all that hassle. Since you used the pendant, the pit in the middle of Azoruba now actually serves as a short-cut back to the castle! So fall on through and pick the right door to enter.
• You'll have to repeat the process of traversing to the right. This time, you'll actually have to defend yourself against the enemies that approach you. Do your best to dispatch them before they hit you, as you will want to hang on to as many Defense Points and Life Points as possible. Pass through the water tunnel, and randomly pick the branch you want to pass through in hopes of reaching the next area. Remember to take the high path with the Dragon Mask to avoid triggering lava. This section will now be crawling with clones of you, and you will not be able to hit them. If you want, you can activate the Robe to avoid taking any damage from them.

The final boss: Dragon Vaides

• Fly over the wall, down to the screen below, over the lava pit, and into the water. Swim to the right to access the middle path, then back to the left until you can reach the lower path. That the low path all the way to the right and continue until you can climb out of the water (avoid the red square at all costs, it will reduce you to 1 Life Point.) Climb up the ladder and proceed all the way to the right. You will reach a wall with a Dragon Mask mounted on it. Activate the Dragon Slayer in your inventory and double jump or fly up to the mask. This will summon the final boss of the game: The Dragon Vaides!
• Vaides is much harder than any enemy you've ever faced. He flies back and forth, up and down in his room. While you may be tempted to strike him in the head, the fact is his only weak point is the last pod segment of his body. You must focus your attack so that you cleanly strike the last pod on his body. As you do, you will eventually wear the pod down until it falls off. Then you must repeat this process for all of the remaining pods on his body. Once he is down to nothing more than a head, you may strike the head to deal damage to him until he is defeated. Doing so will summon an angel that will return you immediately to the Castle of Romancia, where you will be treated to the ending and the credits. Congratulations!