Battle in New York 2024

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Enemy Layout

Fatal Battle 1/1	30,664 "The Tale of Genji"	320,825 Murasaki Shikibu	14,960 "The Diary of Lady Murasaki"
		450,438 Murasaki Shikibu

[5][High Difficulty] The Librarian's Job AP - 1

Drops	Caster Monument x1
Rewards	Crystallized Lore x1

Boss Statistics

Note: Only Murasaki Shikibu needs to be defeated to complete this encounter. However, the book mobs greatly increase her Damage Resist and provide other effects, and the encounter can be made easier by defeating them first.

"The Diary of Lady Murasaki"
	HP	14,960
	LVL	70
	Class	Caster
	NP Bar
	NP Type	N/A (No NP)
	Actions	0 per turn (Murasaki always gets 3)
	Traits	Heaven

Passive 1		Book Return: Upon death effect [Permanent, Unremovable] - Apply Ignore Invincible to Murasaki Shikibu (1 turn). Increase ATK for Murasaki Shikiby by 100% (1 turn). Apply delayed debuff on all enemies (1 turn): Decrease Critical Star Drop Rate by 50% at the end of the turn (1 turn).
Passive 2		While on the field, restore Murasaki Shikibu's HP by 15,000 at the end of each turn. [Permanent, Unremovable]
Passive 3		When 4 turns pass, inflict Stun on a random enemy (3 turns). Inflict Death upon self. [Demerit]

Murasaki Shikibu
	HP	320,825
	LVL	90
	HP	450,438
	LVL	90
	Class	Caster
	NP Bar
	NP Type	AoE
	Actions	Always 3 per turn
	Traits	Humanoid, Servant, Female, Weak to Enuma Elish, Neutral Good

Special Skill		Check Out "The Diary of Lady Murasaki": Starting on turn 2, may summon another [The Diary of Lady Murasaki] if existing one is defeated. This will subsequently summon another [The Tale of Genji] to the field.
Break		"Will You...Tell Me What You Thought?": Increase own HP Recovery Amount by 100%. [Permanent, Unremovable]
Skill 1		Great Poet's Poem A: Decrease DEF for all enemies (3 turns). Apply Special Attack [Demonic] for all allies (3 turns).
Skill 2		Curse (Poem) D+: Chance to inflict NP Seal to one enemy (1 turn). Increase own NP Gauge by 1. Increase own NP Strength (3 turns).
Skill 3		The Diary of Lady Murasaki B: Apply Damage Cut to all allies (3 times, 3 turns). Apply Debuff Immune for all allies (1 time, 3 turns). Increase Buff Removal Resist for all allies by 100% (1 time, 3 turns).
NP		Tale of Genji, Aoi, Evil Spirit C: Deal damage to all enemies. Inflict Nullify Buff to all enemies (1 turn). Deal additional Special Attack damage to [Demonic] enemies.

"The Tale of Genji"
	HP	30,664
	LVL	70
	Class	Caster
	NP Bar
	NP Type	N/A (No NP)
	Actions	0 per turn (Murasaki always gets 3)
	Traits	Heaven

Passive 1		Book Return: Upon death effect [Permanent, Unremovable] - increase NP Gauge of Murasaki Shikibu by 3, and inflict a debuff on all Female enemies (1 turn): Apply Charm (1 turn) at the end of the turn.
Passive 2		While on the field, increase Damage Resist to all attacks for Murasaki Shikibu by 80%. [Permanent, Unremovable]
Passive 3		When 4 turns pass, apply Nullify Buff to all enemies (3 turns). Inflict Death upon self. [Demerit]

Overview

This encounter is unchanged from the original Challenge Quest.
The famed writer and poet Murasaki Shikibu stands as the final challenge of 2021’s Valentine, and is there a more fitting scenario to fight a librarian than to have her surrounded with her beloved books? Shikibu herself comes with two health bars (containing around 320k and 450k health respectively) with a Break effect of increasing her own HP Recovery Amount by 100%. Accompanying her are two of her works, the Murasaki Shikibu Diary and Genji Monogatari, who do not attack; instead, Shikibu has the maximum amount of 3 actions available to her from the very start.
The two low-health Caster class mobs provide advantages to Shikibu while they are on the field, with the Diary restoring 15,000 HP to Shikibu each turn, while Genji Monogatari reduces the damage she takes by 80%.
Upon being defeated, the books will activate unique on-death effects. The Diary grants a one-turn Ignore Invincible and 100% Attack Up on Shikibu herself, as well as applying a delayed Critical Star Drop Rate on all frontline Servants. Genji Monogatari, meanwhile, charges Shikibu’s NP gauge by 3 bars and applies a delayed one-turn Charm on all female Servants.
Even if the books are left alone, they will automatically be defeated after 4 turns have passed, with Diary applying Stun on a random party member and Monogatari applying a Buff Block on all frontline Servants upon their deaths (in addition to their on-death effects). Furthermore, Shikibu is able to resummon both books were they to be defeated.
With the aforementioned gimmicks, the greatest threat comes in the form of Shikibu’s AoE NP, buffed with Ignore Invincible and Attack Up buffs from the Murasaki Shikibu Diary’s on-death effect. This can be avoided by using Stun or NP Seal on Shikibu on the turn the Diary is killed.
The books’ low health mean that they can be eliminated by minimally-buffed AoE NPs, allowing Masters to focus offensive buffs on the primary, single-target damage dealer who would take care of Shikibu’s health pool.

Team Recommendations

Single-target Rider damage dealers are the best options to deal with Shikibu, particularly with the presence of two welfares in this category: Sakata Kintoki (Rider) and Sakamoto Ryouma. Other options such as Ozymandias can also be used, or Quetzalcoatl, as well as Servants from the Berserker and Alter-Ego classes, especially those with the capability to perform back-to-back NPs (e.g. Mysterious Heroine X (Alter)).
A secondary, AoE damage dealer is recommended to kill off the books in an efficient manner. Servants of any class may be used, as long as they have the capability to unleash a NP quickly (i.e. those with NP Charge skills). Notable options include Arash, Achilles and Astolfo, as well as Rider of the Resistance and Francis Drake.
It is also possible to use high-rarity AoE damage dealers (such as Xiang Yu or Ivan the Terrible) as the primary damage dealer, using their NP to wipe out the books while relying on command card criticals to deplete Shikibu’s health pool.
Damage supports (Scathach-Skadi, Merlin, Tamamo no Mae, Zhuge Liang) should be employed to buff the primary damage dealer’s NP damage, potentially allowing Shikibu’s health bars to be one shotted.
Masters without the means to quickly burst down the stage may also use multiple Servants of the first two categories instead. Lower rarity options such as Medusa and Alexander will shine in this stage, as their NPs are capable of killing the books without external buffs, and their low cost allows them to be equipped with higher Starting NP CEs.
The Chaldea Combat Uniform Mystic Code is particularly recommended thanks to the Stun on its second skill, providing a free get-out-of-jail card against Shikibu’s Ignore Invincible.

Video Links

Note that these videos are not affiliated with GamePress, but showcase some lineups that are effective in clearing the final challenge. These can serve as a good reference for how to rotate skills during this quest or simply to have a look at the encounter before diving in.