Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean Speed Run ~Segment 18~ speedrun

Segment 18. To start, I go ahead and grab the FLASH ARMOR and SHADOW SUIT, perhaps unnecessarily. I then deal with the last group of enemies and pick up a very valuable AQUA AURA 1 and equip it right away. There are six of these aura cards in total, one for every element, and they can only be acquired in this segment. They are special because on a defensive turn if you select this card it disrupts and ends the enemies attack. They can be used no sooner than the third card in a combo and the previous card must be of the same element as the aura.
Skip the dialogue of the King almost being killed and let's go straight to the IRON BEETLE V battle, perhaps my most monumental accomplishment of luck. This monstrous tank has 1700 HP and is weak to water 40% and light 30%. This opponent is tough to deal with because after a certain amount of damage is bestowed upon him, he uses SELF-REPAIR and restores all 1700 of his hit points. He can only use this once per shuffle, but it makes for a long battle. It's also worth noting that Lyude now joins my group and will be fighting in this battle. Xelha and only Xelha checks up on the king after he is wounded. The battle will always consist of Kalas, Gibari, and Lyude no matter how I arrange my party. Since I can't access Lyude's equipment until after the fight, he uses a lot of stupid cards, oh well.
Ready...duel! I start on a defensive turn and burn off some GRAPES and a CAMERA. First to attack is Lyude. He has some nice combo opportunities with several cards carrying two spirit numbers and equally nice attacking strength. I take my time and start with a solid two pair for 153 damage. Kalas plays for maximum damage and a nice two pair for 234. He lands an ICE DAGGER for good water damage and let's not forget that even a weak attribute such as dark has neutral damage that can still be effective. Afterwards, a beautiful four card straight from Gibari with a water bonus for 238 occurs. The Iron Beetle V doesn't use self-repair, so I know that it should come up immediately following my turn.
Lyude is up next, and his hand is garbage. I use a SHADOW CORNET and burn off his ESCAPE Magnus he brought with him. Yes, I now have two of those, which is awesome. Lyude equals 48 damage and I'm not happy. With Kalas I should have gone to 6, 5, 4, 3 combo, but I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't because looked what popped up, SACRED SPRING. I manage a two pair combo and damage of 349. Gibari's hand is crap, but I suspected I had done enough damage for the SELF-REPAIR to trigger on the next turn, and I was right. It worked perfect; both Lyude and Gibari had super-fast turns.
Lyude now Concertos for 81. Kalas's next attack is magnificent. With a weakness to light the Iron Beetle has to eat a RAY OF TRUTH and another spirit finisher, my favorite SHINING SERAPH for 285. Gibari does well with a finisher and 183. On my next defensive turn, we see how defense auras works. It stops the attack dead in its tracks. Again, Lyude has crap, so I burn two cards for no damage. I see the end of the fight in sight and am amazed when I see Kalas pull another random spirit finisher, and again; it's SACRED SPRING. Even with the two flame swords it's 289 HP of pain. Gibari makes the beetle eat a two pair worth 142. I have plenty of time to plan Lyude's next attack, and it ends up being a two pair with OVERTURE for 180. A completely broken attack from Kalas, 97. Gibari doubles up on the voice attacks for a measly 29. Gibari then takes a beating from the Iron Beetle. I'm glad I healed him with MILK earlier. Finally, a get the photo and do 31 damage at the same time. Then the coolest thing happens; I get another random spirit finisher. This was the first and only time I have ever got four in one fight. More specifically, that's four out of six attacks. To my knowledge, I have never even had three in one fight, ever. It was pretty cool and had me excited to lock in this segment. Oh yeah, DEMONS OF DARKNESS for 199. Then Gibari shuffled, dammit. Gibari gets attacked. Lyude scrambles for 139 and I probably could have ended it there if I chose my cards better. Kalas shuffles, ouch. Now it's Gibari's turn, and if he doesn't kill the beetle, I'll have to endure another long attack and Gibari could possibly die. I won't be feeling so great about keeping the segment if that happens, but it works out and Gibari literally deals damage of 126 and kills the beetle.
The beetle repaired after 1022 of damage. 850 is probably the number, or half of the beetle's life. I finish at 1781 damage. Gibari only needed 45 to kill the boss. I want to save right away, and it sucks having to page through dialogue when I'm all tense and stuff. I hit the church and level up; amazingly, I don't choke and make a bad button press. Save it.