Relic Maze

**Current Stage: Relic Maze**

*Previous Stage: Dragon Valley or Aqua Tunnel | Next Stage: Fortune Night*

Milla Basset

**Relic Maze** is the second stage for Lilac, Carol, and Milla in Freedom Planet.

In the story of Freedom Planet, Torque informs Lilac and Carol that the Kingdom Stone is going to be stolen, and asks the heroines to warn the guards at the Kingdom Stone's temple about the incoming attack. When Lilac and Carol get there, Neera and Gong, who command the Shang Tu forces guarding the temple, tell them that there is nothing to worry about. Suddenly Shang Mu troops and Red Scarves members launch an assault on the temple, and the guards are not able to stop them from making their way to the stone. Lilac and Carol go after them to stop to Stone from being stolen. Meanwhile, Milla sees Lilac and wants to meet her up close because she had never met a dragon before. At the end of the stage, a cave-in happens in the temple and Carol is stuck, but is rescued by Milla before she is crushed. Spade also gets away with the Kingdom Stone.

## Act 1

This act begins outside of the temple. The sun is starting to set, and the sky is orange. For the most part, this act is largely platforming focused, with only a few enemies to worry about. The big thing in this area is the moving conveyor platforms that activate upon the player's character standing on them or pressing a button. At the end, the player will see a fork in their path with doors above, below, and in front of them. The center door is blocked by two walls, both of which can be destroyed by going through the other doors and finding their respective triggers. The bottom door leads into a dark underground area. There are many weak enemies and hazards to avoid, and the player must progress by clinging onto switches that move around parts of the level to access new areas. When four buttons are pushed, the area will light up and one of the walls blocking the center door will be destroyed. The top door leads to an open area where the player must push buttons in order to move pieces of the level around. At the end, the character will run into the Eye Golem miniboss. While the player can defeat it by attacking its eye, it can be beaten faster by crushing it with the cube above it. No matter the method used, the other wall will be destroyed following its defeat.

When both of the walls are removed, the player can enter through the center door. If the player is controlling Lilac or Carol, then they must chase down a Shang Mu truck carrying a yellow jewel and fight against the Claw miniboss. The boss has two attacks: reaching out to grab the player and shooting a laser, both of which can be easily dodged. The boss can actually be skipped if playing as Lilac by dragon boosting to the right while below the truck, earning the player the "Claw Bypass" achievement. If the player picked Milla, however, then they do not fight the Claw boss. Instead, they end up in an underground area where they ride a minecart to get to Act 2 instead.

## Act 2

The second act of Relic Maze is totally different in appearance from the previous act. It takes place in an underground cave where mining operations appear to have been taking place before Shang Mu attacked. Enemies are tougher, and switches must be pulled in order to move through the level. Eventually the play will open a door that spends them two a room with three passageways, one of which leads right and the other two lead down. The path to the right is blocked off and must be cleared by activating buttons in the other two pathways. One pathway leads to a room in which the player must make their way downward towards a button. When the button is pressed, spikes will appear below the player and slowly move upward, forcing them to rush back to the top of the room. The other available pathway leads to a small room in which the player must fight the Bone Golem miniboss. The player can beat it by attacking the gem it its ribcage or back standing on its back and tricking it into attacking itself, the latter of which earns the player the "All Bone, No Brain" achievement. The player can then go through the blocked door and make their way to the stage boss.

## Stage Boss

The boss of this stage is the Mantalith, the guardian of the Kingdom Stone. The main target on the Mantalith is its arms. When both of them are destroyed, its eyes glow read and it's head becomes vulnerable. When the head is attacked, the arms reattach to the Mantalith. In order to beat the boss, the head must be attacked five times. At the beginning of the fight, the Mantalith can only attack the player by jumping around and slashing them, but as the fight progresses it begins to get more agressive. It digs into the ground and throws rubble to its sides, and throws its claws like boomerangs. The player can actually damage the arms before the fight starts, and knocking off both of them results in them getting the "Preemptive Strike I" achievement.

## Enemies

#### Regular Enemies

* **Extractor**: Extractors drill into the ground and fling chunks of dirt to their sides to hit the player. The drill itself also does damage. They do not actively target the player.
* **Fire Spitter**: Fire Spitters move along the ground slowly and randomly spew fire in the direction they are facing. They do not actively target the player.
* **Ganseki**: Gansekis roll around on the ground and break through destructible blocks. They are covered in spikes and rarely peak their heads out of their shells so that the player can attack them. They do not actively target the player.
* **Hopper MK I**: Hoppers jump around and launch bullets from their sides. They do not actively target the player.
* **Iris**: Irises fly all over the stage and through walls. The can position themselves above a player and bite into them with their teeth.
* **Sentinel**: Sentinels shoots four crystals diagonally. They do not actively target the player.
* **Slug**: Slugs move slowly and launch tiny blue orbs that explode when the player gets too close.

#### Minibosses

* **Eye Golem**: The Eye Golem moves from side to side and can attack directly below itself by spewing bouncy purple balls or above via a flamethrower. It can also be crushed using the block above it to kill it in one hit. It does not actively target the player.
* **Claw**: The Claw can grab onto the player and fling them to the side of the screen. It can also fire a slow moving laser in any direction.
* **Bone Golem**: The bone golem walks back and forth, pecking at the ground. It can be tricked into pecking itself to death if the player stands on it.