By the time I headed back into the living room, where Aqua and Megumin were freaking the fuck out, I found Kazuma who was already ready to head into the guild, while Darkness was somewhere I guess.
I still don't know why they were freaking out, guessing that it was from the destroyer, yeah no shit me, I decided to ask Kazuma about what it was.
"Hey, what's this destroyer they keep talking about, we never got a real explanation for it have we?" I asked, Kazuma turned towards me and just gave me even more vague news about it which is something heading towards us that destroys literally anything in front of it like the name suggests.
"We can't use explosion magic either since it has a barrier protecting it." Kazuma said, it was at this time that I had 2 decisions: I can either join the efforts to head to the guild and do something about the destroyer, or get the fuck out of dodge and start a new life in a new town…
I started contemplating whether or not to start a new life and meet actual normal people who can probably be my teammates, but because I have no knowledge of life outside the walls from the titans(1), I mean, because I've only been here for a couple of months, I won't know where to go in general…
It was at this time that Darkness came from wherever she was at with a set of armour I've never seen before. Compared to her normal armour, this one looked a lot bulkier and sturdier. It had a detachable shield, which I doubt she'll use whatsoever, and a chainmail cape that was over the top in general and not needed. Since she was the crusader of the group, I bet that this was something she couldn't run away from, maybe it was for the Masochistic pain or the 1% good nature she had in her personality, but regardless she was ready for the destroyer.
"What are you guys doing? Get ready, we're going to be late for the battle! Going by your nature, you two would definitely go to the guild right?" Darkness said to both me and Kazuma.
Hey, don't assume that about me. If I seem diligent for one reason or another, just know it's because I'm cleaning up your guys' mess. Kazuma I bet would probably just get the he-
"What are you two doing standing around?" Kazuma said towards Aqua and Megumin, hold on what's he doing, "After living in this mansion and town for so long are you really going to abandon it in a time of need? Come on! We're going to be late!" Kazuma said as he opened the front door and started to head to the guild…
Am I missing something here? Kazuma's not the type of person to do something out of the goodness of his heart, so what's different this time? And besides, you've been living in this mansion for like 2 days, 2 DAYS! What attachment do we have!?
Not having a choice now, I headed towards the guild with everyone else and by the time we got there, literally all the adventurers were wearing some type of heavy armour or had professional looking weapons. So shit was getting really Real.
Kazuma was greeted by Dust and his teammates when we got here, and I would have to talk to Linda about what the Destroyer was, how low our chances for survival was, and see if the guild needed anything from me.
By the time I found her, she was talking to all the staff informing them of the situation. I waited for her to be done before asking my questions, "Oh Tsukiyo! Thanks goodness you're here. We need all the help we can get at this point. Is there something you need from me?" She asked, I asked her my questions and got my answers, but it was a lot more than I could handle.
The Destroyer was a mobile fortress that had a barrier and destroyed everything. Anything in its way would be obliterated, period. Everyone here needed to help out regardless of level, and there were no requirements. Our chances for survival was literally 5%, so that was great to hear. At this point, everyone in the town should've already been evacuated, including those 3-5 miles near the town.
The only thing she needed from me was to listen to the discussion and listen to any plans that could either stop this thing or try to escape and get as far away from this place as possible.
Yeah, this was looking bad. If we failed to do anything to stop it from getting close to us and this town, then we might as well die trying to escape.
At this time, Linda told me to regroup with my team since she was about to hold the speech for everyone. She soon stood on top of a table and spoke in a clear and loud voice for everyone to hear:
"Alright! Thank you everyone for gathering here, we will now start the emergency quest to repel the destroyer. There is no restrictions and all levels are welcome to help. If we fail to repel the Destroyer, the guild will notify everyone by the broadcast, and if that does happen, please get to safety and evacuate as far away from the town as you possibly can. Before we start the briefing, is there anyone here who doesn't know what a destroyer is?"
When Linda asked that, couple of people raised their hands, Kazuma included. She would soon tell us what the destroyer was but in more detailed form:
She started to explain what it was with the same words she used when I asked, but the more she went into details, the more she made it sound literally unbeatable. It had advanced magic to fight it against the Demon King's army in the shape of a spider, was lighter than it seemed, and way faster than a horse.
Since it had a barrier protecting it at all times from an advanced magic core, magic attacks were useless and because it was made of metal, arrows were useless too. We had catapults and other siege weapons, but because of the speed of the Destroyer, it was hard to anticipate for distance and boulder speed. The same type of equipment was on top of the fortress to counter anything heading towards it from the air being controlled by golems who were stationed there.
The reason for it's AWOL behavior is because the director inside the fortress is giving it orders to rampage the world. It will kill man or monster, go through any type of terrain, and any encounters from any town are given the order to get away from it, even if it means abandoning town and rebuilding.
It was the worst situation to deal with, but everyone considered this a "Natural Catastrophe."
"As we speak the fortress is heading towards us, so any plan or suggestion is helpful at this point." Linda said, after a couple of minutes of thinking, one person raised their hand and gave a suggestion of digging a giant hole and having it fall inside.
"This was already attempted, a certain place had gathered a lot of 'Elemental Masters' and used their powers to summon spirits to dig a giant hole in the ground and seal it with boulders. It worked for the most part, but the boulders were too late and the destroyer jumped out easily and wiped out the town..." Linda answered, The guild was still silent, and morale was low.
Another person asked about how the Demon King handles this, Linda answered with the fact that the Demon King's castle had a stronger barrier protecting it from the Destroyer, they aren't bothered enough to deal with the destroyer.
"Any other suggestions?" Linda said, no one was raising their hands and was just looking at each other.
As time went on, more ideas came to mind and all of them got shot down. Mounting the Destroyer? Nope, too fast to set up. Build a wall to block the destroyer (not trying to meme, that's an actual line in the LN but instead of a wall it's a barricade), nope uses logic and moves around. Magic and air attacks are not an option, and all attacks were fast.
We were thoroughly screwed. As much as I didn't want to admit it, running away seems like the only real option.
I sat down on a booth next to me, held my head, and thought to myself while blocking out all noises.
This is an impossible situation. If something was indestructible from the outside, then killing it from the inside should be the better solution, but we can't get near it or try and mount it. Our equipment is outdated, and useless because of the barrier, and it's too fast for any spells or projectiles. Making traps take too long, barricades are a waste of time, and nothing could hurt it.
We need more time for a better plan, but we don't have the privilege of time right now.
Aren't you forgetting something?
I don't think so, but a this point any plan is useless in some way or another…
Am I really gonna have to spell it out for you?
Spell what out?
The Yamato, use the Yamato!
How's that gonna work? I don't have experience to use it against the something fast and protected by a barrier.
You don't, But I do...
What are you planning?
Let me take control for a while and have me destroy the barrier. I have more experience with speed, combat, and usability with the Yamato. The Yamato can cut through anything, including the fabric of time itself. (2)
"Even if that destroys the barrier, we won't' have enough firepower to put it down…" I accidentally said out loud.
Linda seemed to heard this and turn her head towards me and ask, "Destroy the barrier? You can destroy the Barrier!?" She said in a voice that still had hope in it, everyone had their attention towards me…
Shit...I T R I G G E R E D a flag that might bite me in the ass.
"I might be able to destroy the barrier, but there's no guarantee that it'll work." I said, but that itself was enough to help make a plan that might be able to take down the Destroyer.
"Please Tsukiyo, tell us. It doesn't matter how far fetched it is. Any Plan is better than no plan." Linda said in a serious voice. I guess I don't have a choice.
"Ok. As of right now, I possess an ability that allows me to unleash my inner demon and get access to a powerful sword capable of cutting anything, including the fabric of time itself. There are only 2 problems. There is another person inside my arm only capable of pulling off something like that and the form I take will last about 5 minutes before my Mana depletes completely. I won't need to be close to the destroyer for him to pull it off, so I can stay at a distance and maybe take out the barrier. I haven't done this before, but this all depends on his ability and Mana usage…" After I was done speaking, it seemed that this was enough to get everyone cheering for some kind of plausible plan that could work or fail in less than 10 seconds.
"This could work, but it's also like you said, we won't have enough firepower to take it down…" Linda said, this would have brought down the mood, but someone suggested something that could work…
"What if we use the screw loose one…" Someone said, when other people heard this, it started to trend and was encouraged.
"Yeah, what if we use the screw loose…" "The screw loose is our savior!" "Where is screwy girl?"
"I'll gladly prove you all wrong if you guys keep doing that…" Megumin scowled as she was officially referred as 'The one with the screw loose' or 'Screwy Girl'. I felt like terrorist loli still fits better than screwy girl.
"Even if I managed to get one good shot in it might not be able to finish it off…" She said as her voice grew lower and lower by the time she finished her sentence.
"Yeah, that's what I was saying earlier. We only have the one shot from Megumin, and that might not be enough…" I said as I laid back down on my seat.
"S-Sorry I'm late! I'm the owner of the magic item shop, and technically still an adventurer so Please let me help out too…" Wiz said as came into the Taverna and was panting from being out of breath.
I know she's a Demon Boss and all, but what can she do in a situation like this?
While I was thinking negatively by myself, everyone else on the other hand…
"It's the impoverished shop owner!" " The shop owner is here!" "Thank you for helping me out in my dreams…"
Ok, I'm definitely missing something here.
I asked around to get the bigger picture here, and apparently the shop owner who has a lot of bombs and other "useful" items was once a powerful archwizard before retiring and suddenly setting up shop here. But because her stuff was useless and expensive no one bought her stuff, so they only come to her just for HER.
Wiz went up to Linda who was greeted by her and told her the plan that we had for the moment.
"Hmm, I guess it'd be better for Megumin to aim for the legs, I know explosion magic too so I can aim for the other side amd immobilize it together. I think this should work in theory…" Wiz said, we had no other plans than this one so it was better than leaving the town in general and have it be destroyed just to rebuild it.
"Alright this is all we have for now, so let me repeat this:" Linda said as she repeated the plan, "First Tsukiyo will destroy the barrier with his demon abilities. After that, Wiz and Screw...I mean, Megumin will aim their explosive magic towards the fortress' legs to immobilize it. As a precaution, we will still set up barricades and traps if it doesn't work, along with that any heavy weapon users will be on standby to attack the legs to deal any finishing damage to it. The creator of the fortress is still inside, so we have arrow and rope to fire at the fortress for when we invade it. Any Questions?" She asked in a serious tone.
After the conference was over, all the adventurers left the Tavern and got straight to work on barricades and setting up traps. Some townsfolk that weren't evacuated yet decided to help out with the construction, and by the afternoon we were just about ready to have the mobile fortress come for us.
Way down the road, far away from everyone else who was preparing traps and barricades for the destroyer, was Darkness with her sword dug into the ground staring into the open space with a serious expression on her face.
Me and Kazuma would try, and probably fail, to convince Darkness to come back to the barricades instead of getting squashed.
"Ok, look Darkness. You're defense is really strong I know that from the experience with the Dullahan, but this is going waaay too far, even for you. You do know that you might get caught in the crossfire when Wiz and Megumin unleash their spell right? Even if their explosion fail to stop it, you're going to die if you stay here. Let go of your fetish this time, and just be patient, ok?" Kazuma said as he tried to persuade the stubborn Crusader. She didn't listen to him since she didn't move one inch from where she was.
She stayed quiet for a while before replying with "You guys...Do you think I'm that type of person who'll just let their desire take over in a life or death situation? I know I act like this once in awhile, so I can understand from where you're coming from, But as a Crusader, I can't let this go…" She said in a serious voice
"I mean everything you said just now is actually is the least normal thing you've said the entire day so yeah, also we don't think you're the type of person to let the fetish get in the way, We KNOW you're that type of person…" I said as I just shot down her cool mood she was trying to go for...
She still didn't turn her head towards us, but I can tell I got her beat.
"But, if you want to do this, then go ahead. I have no right to decide what you do, so prove me wrong if you're really a Crusader…" I said as I turned my back and started to go back to the rest of the adventurers…
Kazuma ran up next to me and asked, "Are you sure you want to leave her out here when the Destroyer comes? She might actually die, you know?" He asking this in a cautious tone, I answered back, "In a situation like this, she's not the type to back down when all odds are stacked against her, she won't move from that spot. This time I'll trust her." I said as I didn't look back.
From here on out, it was now a do or die situation, and running away wasn't an option anymore.
By the time we got back to the barricades, everyone was set up and waiting for the destroyer. Megumin was trembling from the situation we were in, Aqua and Wiz were talking about something, and heavy weapon adventures were right next to us with their weapons in prime condition ready for when the time came.
"Attention All Adventurers, the mobile fortress is about to appear! All adventurers get your weapons ready, and remaining citizens please leave immediately! Prepare for battle!" Linda said using voice amplification magic.
On the horizon in the distance was a huge spider like figurehead towards us at a rapid pace, one thing was for sure, the size of the fortress was way bigger than we imagined. The sheer size and speed of it was very intimidating and was starting to freak out a couple of adventurers behind us.
Even I was starting to get scared of it as my heartrate started to climb.
Hey is this really gonna work!?
It's going to work, trust me!
As the fortress started to get nearer and nearer, some adventurers started to panic.
"Hey, this is too huge! It's impossible!" "It's much more terrifying than what I imagined!"
"H-h-hey Tsukiyo, this will work right!? This plan is going to work fine right!?" Aqua asked frantically from fear, I couldn't blame her since I was almost in the same state as she was…
"Don't worry Guys, Calm down. Even if we fail, no one will blame you. Don't think about this for too long, this is the only plan we have, failure is okay…" Wiz said in a calming tone. Although her business sucked, It helped knowing that we had some type of veteran adventurer with us.
"That goes for you too Megumin," Kazuma said to her as he had both hands on her shoulder to calm her down, "No one will blame you if we fail. Just do what you do best, that's all we ask for."
"R-r-right, I-i-i- try t-t-to do my b-b-b-best! Blast it into d-d-d-dust…" Megumin was still trembling as she heard his words…
"It's coming fast! --Everyone prepare for battle!" an adventurer said loudly.
That's our cue...
No need to remind me, still freaking out…
I turned on DT, closed my eyes, and concentrated on letting Vergil take control of my body for him to use the Yamato.
All the adventurers near me looked at me in awe as they saw the blue aura that covered the top half of my body. When I was done concentrating, I opened my eyes and saw my body in a 3rd person perspective. I was just over my right shoulder, but the spirit of Vergil's soul was less transparent and a bit more solid.
I looked ahead towards the field where destroyer was and was blown away from how much distance it covered from the couple of seconds I turned my head away.
Although it was hard to see from a distance, I could tell that it was getting close to Darkness so I, I mean, Vergil had to break the barrier soon.
"Tsukiyo! Now!" Kazuma gave me the signal as the fortress was at a good enough distance.
It was at this time that Vergil summoned the Yamato at lighting fast speed while holding the Yamato in a stance similar to what Jack frost did to cut off Kazuma head. Soon the Yamato started to glow dark blue with black energy engulfing around it, you could tell that the energy had enough killing force because the wind and ground around us started to get sucked in the Yamato.
"My Power will be absolute…"
When Vergil finished charging the Yamato, he let out a hyper quick slash towards the direction of the destroyer that barely revealed the blade. When the slash was finished, he sheathed the Yamato slowly, before quickly closing it letting out a small shine of blue as it closed. (A.k.a Judgement Cut, I don't have a reference vid for this, just look it up)
Looking at the Destroyer, the barrier would appear for a short moment before having it shatter entirely with a large whirlwind of slashes and cuts engulf the destroyer.
It was at this time that Kazuma gave the signal for Megumin and Wiz to cast their explosion magic to stop the destroyer.
"Wiz now! Megumin! If you're not some kind of fake wizard who could get out exploded by Wiz then go all out and take out its legs, unless you can't do that!" Kazuma antagonized as he snapped Megumin out if her fear into rage.
The two of them casted their explosion at the same time, and the effect was devastating. Even If the destroyer was at a distance, you could still feel the vibrations and explosive intensity at full force.
When the dust around was gone and we could get an actual sight of the destroyer, we saw it on the ground and not moving. Somehow, we managed to get a destroyer, something made from advanced magic and metal, to be immobilized and not move anymore.
I take back what I said a couple of months ago when I said that Megumin's explosion are sort of nukes. THIS feeling, the vibration and intensity of two explosions at one time, THIS is Hiroshima…
The glow around my body was starting to dim at a quick pace, and when it fully dimmed, my vision went black before opening my eyes again to see that I'm back in my body. Even though the Yamato was successful, I was out of breath and on my knees.
Since I was completely out, I might have to sit this situation out. I mean, I'm not complaining about this, this is a pretty good situation to be in 'cause that means I don't have to go into the fortress and get myself killed, so hey: Win, Win Situation…
As I was on my knees out of mana, smiling to myself internally, Linda handed me a small flask. "I don't need any booze right now, but thanks for offering…" I always wondered what the booze tasted like in here since I staff members weren't allowed some while in shift, since it was medieval times I can only guess that it tasted pretty bad…
"Now not the time for jokes Tsukiyo, it's a bottle of Mana recovery. You said that your "form" drains mana right? Well, we need all personal out there in the field in a situation like this. This Bottle will only recover about 25% of your mana, your body will have to regenerate the rest by itself." She told me, Sigh just when I thought I was able to lay back and let other people do the rest of the work, I took the flask that Linda handed me and drank it.
huh, reminds me of sprite…
The destroyer wasn't moving for a while and most of us were staring at it intently taking caution for any sudden movements or counters it might take, but for the moment it just did nothing. In a situation like this, we should probably set up camps and have people watch it for anything unusual. We should be able to regroup and think up a more thorough plan for when-
"Holy shit! We did it! Let's go back to the Tavern and get shitfaced drunk! Yeah! I thought that something with a scary name like the 'Mobile Fortress Destroyer' would be a lot more difficult to bring down, I guess was wrong!" Aqua shouted in joy and arrogance, it was at this time that the ground started to shake, and a mechanical voice came out from the destroyer saying "ERROR, ERROR, MELTDOWN IMMINENT. PLEASE EVACUATE THE DESTROYER."
You Son of a Bitch! Why did you have to trigger a flag right now of all times! Now we're probably gonna have to deal with more bullshit than we need to deal with. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SCREW US!
Told you we should've killed her...
(Ok, just a small note about the upload rate, I'm think I might have to go for one chapter per week because of college and the amount of work and art projects being given to me. I don't know how many people still read this despite having almost 45 bookmarks, thanks btw, but sorry for going 1 chap per week, you'll get 2 chapters if there was a cancelled class or holiday day, so yeah. This week and next week might be an exception because labor day...
Also to the people who commented about not wanting to ship Tsukiyo and Darkness, I give you this: Sorry, not sorry.
Hearing people not like the ship is actually funny to me for some reason...
Also thanks to the one person who actually supports the ship even if he/she doesn't like it, not sure why you guys don't like the ship but I guess I'll hear what some people have to say about it via review so that'll be fun…
P.S: if you got the notification saying I posted Chapter 91021, just know that it was a failed attempted at puting Chapter 9(plus symbol)10=21 as a chapter title..)
Reference:
1 - Attack on Titans (You know this already, but I'm just putting it in for those who don't know)
2 - - http/devilmaycry./wiki/Yamato -