5-2: Waves of the Starless Sea
WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA
| 5-2: WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA | |||
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| General | |||
| Layer & Part | WRATH /// SECOND | ||
| Challenge | Don't fight the Ferryman. | ||
| Music | "He is the Light in My Darkness" | ||
| Tip of the Day | |||
Sliding onto water will cause one to skip across its surface.
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| Collectables | |||
 4 Soul Orbs 1 Blood Orb Florp
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| Enemies | |||
 1 Filth 4 Strays 1 Schisms 12 Soldiers 1 Stalker 1 Ferryman 2 Drones 4 Streetcleaners 3 Sentries 3 Malicious Faces 2 Cerberi 5 Idols 3 Virtues
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| Rank Requirements | |||
| Rank | Time | Kills | Style |
| S | 04:30 | 37 | 10,000 |
| A | 05:00 | 33 | 8,500 |
| B | 06:00 | 25 | 6,000 |
| C | 08:20 | 15 | 2,500 |
| Levels | |||
| Previous | Next | ||
| 5-1 | 5-3 | ||
5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4 5-S
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5-2: WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA is the second level of Wrath, set in the thunderous storm and raging waves of the Ocean Styx, and introduces the Idol and stars the Ferryman as the main boss of the level.
The music used for the leadup to and the Ferryman's boss fight is "He is the Light in My Darkness", and has no music playing otherwise.
Level
Start
Upon entering the level, the player starts off on a stone bridge, next to a colossal stone cliff stretching into the sky. Around it lies the dark gloomy sea of the Ocean Styx, filled with millions of souls. Falling into the water deals 20 damage to the player and bounces them upwards, giving them a chance to return to solid ground. Enemies that fall into the water are killed instantly, granting the + Crushed style bonus to the player due to the souls crushing them.
In front of the entrance lies a dilapidated boardwalk and small islets creating a path across the water. Moving across the first bridge spawns a wave of two Drones, a Schism, and a Sentry.
The path forward leads to a small stone island, where a Malicious Face, a Stalker, and another Sentry appear in front of the player.
Entrance Ramp
Connected to the rock is a wooden deck arranged into a square-shaped set of platforms, with a ramp leading up to a cabin. Moving towards the cabin spawns in three Soldiers and a Virtue, with a Malicious Face appearing after the Virtue is killed.
Living Quarters
Heading through into the cabin leads into a small dim room with a fireplace and a staircase to a room above. Entering into the cabin brings the first introduction to the Idol: small, stationary demons that bless an enemy with a protective shield, making them impervious to damage.
A single Filth spawns and becomes blessed by the Idol, requiring the player to head up the stairs to break the Idol in order to kill the Filth. Approaching the Idol triggers a prompt on how to destroy them:
Punching the Idol with the 
Feedbacker, 
Knuckleblaster, the primary fire of the 
Impact Hammer, or ground slamming onto it causes them to shatter with a large explosion of blood, sending the player flying back with a shockwave. The Filth from earlier will no longer be invulnerable and can be easily killed.
Inside the room with the Idol, the player can find a desk with a book for the player to read, with a painting of a Ferryman above it:
EXCERPT FROM FERRYMAN'S DIARY
Some calamity has struck the mortal world. What once The River Styx has now grown to an unfathomable ocean. A million weeping souls pouring in each day that the shores can barely contain. A tearful tide spilling over at each end, bow to stern, crying for mercy, begging for safe passage. But not all souls can pay and these old hands can only take so many coins.
Then one day, the current shifted. Wave after wave for minutes on end of millions, billions, as though the throat of the world was cut wide and the head wrenched back to speed the pour. I didn't have time to react. The weariness from my ceaseless work claimed me and I slipped beneath the roiling sea, into the depths of the Ocean Styx, my fate sealed by the crushing masses of endless bodies.
Suddenly, there was a light as brilliant as the Lord himself, ushering me from the darkness with mighty arms that held me with such compassion and warmth as I had never known:
"Be not afraid, sinner. Your devotion to God shows goodness in you; plentiful indeed.The heart is willing but the body must rest, lest you squander one of the Lord's creations."
His gentle words eased the pain and mended my wounds. My face wet with tears of relief, my words muffled by the weight of my duty. I could only lay in reverence, carried in the embrace of majesty.
Radiant is Gabriel, for he is the light in my darkness.
Moving forward through a dim hallway, the player enters a large room lined with bookshelves and candles, with a stone statue of 
Gabriel at the far end of the room. Two Idols sit protected in large glass casings within the center.
Heading to the end of the room spawns a Malicious Face, a blessed Streetcleaner, and four Soldiers. Killing the remaining enemies causes the glass case on the first Idol to open up, allowing the player to break them and kill the Streetcleaner.
Killing the Streetcleaner causes a blessed Virtue to spawn in, along with causing two Cerberi to awaken from their posts. Killing the two Cerberi then unlocks the second Idol's case, letting the player break them and kill the Virtue to open the door leading outside the cabin.
Broken Pier
Heading through the door afterwards leads to a room with a 
Blue Skull Key. Picking it up opens to the outside onto a wreck of wooden walkways, with a red and blue pedestal on the far side of the entrance. Moving forward causes four Strays and two Soldiers to spawn on the broken platforms.
Placing the Blue Skull onto its pedestal causse the screen to start shaking as a massive ferry starts rising out of the water, before emerging fully onto the surface. The player can then head either directly to the ship with methods such as Rocket Riding or explosive boosting, or alternatively find the Red Skull located in another cabin to the right of the main one.
Heading inside lies a small, empty room with a set of stairs leading up to the 
Red Skull Key sitting on a pedestal to the far end of the room. Walking up to it causes it to lock with a glass panel, before a blessed Virtue spawns in. Approaching the Idol at the bottom floor blessing the Virtue spawns three Streetcleaners, and heading back towards the Virtue spawns three Soldiers and a Sentry. Killing all the enemies reopens the casing around the Red Skull, and taking it opens the window directly in front of it leading outside.
Placing the Red Skull on its pedestal causes a series of wooden platforms to rise out of the water next to the ship, allowing the player to jump up to make it on board.
The Ferry
Moving onto the ship, the player is directed to the bow of the ship to the left of the player.
Heading to the bow of the ship lies the Ferryman, sitting upon the railing above the exit gate. An Idol lies within the middle of the deck, blessing the Ferryman. Breaking the Idol causes the Ferryman to drop down into the arena and surrounds the ship's bow in a barrier to prevent the player from escaping before starting the boss fight.
The Ferryman is an incredibly fast, agile, and deadly foe, and can combo an inexperienced player to death extremely quickly. Their moveset consists of combos with fast swings and cuts, each with its own cues and parry opportunities for the player to react to accordingly. If the player is aggressive, they try and stay away, and if the player backs off, they quickly chase and try to cut the player off. However, if the player is in an unreachable location or remains away from the Ferryman for long enough, they briefly stop in place to cast a blue beam that slowly tracks the player's position, before summoning a large, explosive lightning bolt from the sky. The lightning bolt can be struck with a 
Coin from the 
Marksman Revolver, sending it back into the Ferryman to deal heavy damage while awarding the + Ride the Lightning style bonus.
Once their first health bar is depleted, the Ferryman summons another Idol and jump up to the roof of the ship, where they continuously summon bolts of lightning to smite the player. Once the player heads onto the ship's roof and breaks the second Idol, the Ferryman summons another barrier around the roof, starting their second phase in a much smaller arena than before.
After defeating the Ferryman, the exit gate on the bow opens, allowing the player to finish the level.
Challenge
For this level's challenge, the player needs to use the 
Marksman Revolver to toss a coin to the Ferryman without having broken its Idol. The Ferryman catches the coin in their hand, and then allows the player entry into their ferry, opening the exit gate after a short animation. However, if the player breaks the Idol at any time, including during and after the animation, the Ferryman instantly becomes aggressive and undoes the challenge.
Secrets
| #1 |  Soul Orb - Found by sliding across the water to the lighthouse far in the distance, at the back side of the building.
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| #2 | Soul Orb - Underneath the planks connecting the Entrance Ramp to the cabin, contained inside a small crate.
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| #3 | Soul Orb - Atop the roof of the cabin, between the two large rooms.
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| #4 | Soul Orb - Found by falling through a gap on the roof of the left side of the cabin. The gap reveals a secret room with the orb and a door boarded up by a breakable wooden plank.
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| #5 | Blood Orb - Found by walking to the right of the stern of the Ferryman's ship, visible on the back deck.
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Lighthouse
In addition to containing the first Soul Orb, the player can find a pair of skeletons sitting near the wall of the building next to the lighthouse. Approaching them triggers a short message.
Jakito
A hidden secret can be found at the start of the level at the top of the large stone tower the player exits from. To make it there, the player is recommended to perform a Slam Storage, then by either Explosive Boosting, Ultraboosting, or Rocket Riding, the player can make it to a ledge to regain ground and make it up to the top of the tower. Reaching it leads to a cage holding a large plush-like figure resembling the developer Hakita. This cage does not appear if the player has activated cheats. Approaching it causes a message to appear:
POWER TO ESCAPE.
In front of the cage lies a pedestal that the player can place an item onto. If the player brings an inadequate item, such as a Skull Key, it says this:
The correct item can be found on the ship, requiring the Blue Skull to be collected first to make it appear. Then, by heading up into the left smokestack of the ship, the player finds a small gray hamster sitting on a straw nest. The name of the hamster is Florp, referencing an in-joke within the ULTRAKILL community. Bringing Florp up to the cage and placing it onto the pedestal causes it to explode into a shower of blood and the cage to break apart, releasing Jakito:
Jakito then fades away from its original position within the cage and appears behind the ferry in the distance, now gargantuan in size before gaining a glowing purple aura. A harsh, defening drone gradually plays as the screen starts to shake and slowly brightens. After the screen turns completely white, the game closes itself.
Gallery
Jakito's sprite.
Render of the ferry's bell. Renders by Victoria.
Render of the model for the unfinished Idols in the cabin.
Trivia
- The title of the level is a reference to the album Waves of the Random Sea by Natural Snow Buildings, and "Starless" from the album Red by King Crimson.
- The two skeletons found near the lighthouse and the line displayed when the player approaches them are a reference to the 2019 film The Lighthouse.
- Jakito's design was drawn by Salad and is a reference to bootleg "Fumo" plushies, originating from the Touhou Project game series. This can be seen from his unusual proportions, small head, and outstretched limbs.
