Chapter 64: Motoyasu VS Spirit Tortoise
The next day it was reported that Ren crossed the east border and that Itsuki's party had gone missing. According to the shadow that was watching them, Itsuki used his transport skill and they don't know where he went to. Motoyasu was called in, but he didn't know where Itsuki might have gone to or even why. The best idea he could come up with was that Itsuki knew of some special event that only happened while the Spirit Tortoise was awake.
The idea that Itsuki still thought events worked like in a game caused my clone to laugh, which then led to the queen informing Motoyasu about my choice not to fight against the Spirit Tortoise. He then got mad at me and tried to scold my clone about the same things Eclair had and I countered by explaining that it was a legitimate option and why I was choosing to remain neutral in this. In truth they should be grateful that I didn't choose to keep them incapacitated until the Spirit Tortoise had done its job.
My party stayed at the village for two more days. I took the time to craft some more accessories, much to Therese's delight. Elder Sensei was also curious about how I had learned to use energy to improve the quality. We also trained when we could and fought off the bat's when they attacked. I could see their full names now, but I still find it odd that I had to learn about the Spirit Tortoise before it would appear as part of their name. It was just after an attack that it happened. There was a sound similar to the one that occurs when a wave starts but distinctly different, and it was accompanied by a shockwave that felt like space itself was shaking. The wave countdown came into my vision and I saw it was frozen with two days left and a blue hourglass with the number 7 appeared next to it. Just in case, I checked the help menu, but it was as useless as expected. Therese didn't know anything about the blue hourglass, but she did confirm that it felt the same as when the guardian beasts of her world woke up.
POV: Clone
The queen was rather shaken up by the initial shockwave, but recovered quickly and asked if it was the Spirit Tortoise. It was an obvious assumption and I relayed what Therese said about it. Shortly after, Motoyasu arrived with his party and Eclair, who had gone with him after leaving my group. He mentioned how there was supposed to be a blue hourglass in the town where the Spirit Tortoise was sealed and that he thought that was why it appeared that way in the heroes' status magic. Afterwards the only thing stopping him from charging off to face the Spirit Tortoise himself was the idea that Ren might do the smart thing and set up a portal location to bring him over. Unfortunately a report came in that evening that Ren was seen leading his party into battle against it. Strangely we hadn't heard from the shadow that was supposed to be watching him. The information came from people running away from the Spirit Tortoise that managed to make it to other towns. Luckily there was a device in Faubrey that could tell that he was still alive, but since he hadn't managed to defeat the Spirit Tortoise and hadn't come back, there was no telling what happened to him.
After learning that Ren wouldn't be coming back, the queen set out with Motoyasu and a number of knights to meet up with the army formed in coalition with several neighboring countries. I went along to observe, so my party and main body stayed where they were. I second clone was created to wait at the castle incase Ren or Itsuki returned later. It took two days to meet up with the army and in that time 5 large cities, two castles, and several forts had been wiped out by the Spirit Tortoise as well as the armies of the nations it passed through. I can only imagine how many more would have been destroyed by now if it was based on something capable of faster movement. Its path also indicated that it was specifically targeting large population centers. Then again, if familiars grew out of all the people it killed, it could wipe out most of the towns and villages without even going near. The queen had requested assistance from the seven star heroes, but they were apparently going to need several more days to arrive.
The Spirit Tortoise finally came into view and just as the queen had said; it literally carried a mountain range on its back. It looked like there was a cloud of black surrounding it, but it was actually a swarm of the bat-like familiars. Of course Motoyasu then made a remark about how it looked smaller on his computer. The queen tried to tell Motoyasu about a plan to enter its body and attack the heart, but he decided to just attack it head on. Even Harlot tried to get him to stop and listen to the queen, but he was already running off to attack. Then Freon convinced him to rider her since she was fast enough to avoid the familiars. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to convince him to cooperate, the queen organized the mages to cover him the best they could with long range attack spells.
"Think he'll be able to do it?"
The queen did her best to keep her composure at my "sudden appearance" and several shadows moved to stand between us. It seems they don't trust me anymore.
"He is stronger than the sword hero, so he at least has a chance, but I would feel better about it if he had at least listened to how the heroes of the past sealed it away."
"I doubt the game he played did anything as complicated as sealing it. Odds are he thinks he just needs to deal enough damage and it will die. Huh? Actually… It could be that the past heroes knew it might be needed in the future and that's why they sealed it instead of killing it."
"Are you saying that you believe that even the heroes of the past wanted the Spirit Tortoise to succeed?"
"Not at all. Fitoria specifically said that they hoped the future heroes would chose to save the people. But they could have been smart enough to keep it around to give us the choice or maybe it's because they figured that if we couldn't defeat it then we wouldn't be able to protect the world without it. Whatever the reason, they chose to seal it rather than kill it, and, unlike Motoyasu, I would like to know how."
The queen glared at me with some level of contempt before answering. "It is said that they led a group of mages inside and cast ritual magic to seal its heart. We were able to uncover the ritual necessary and gathered enough mages to perform it, but if the spear hero refuses to listen and you refuse to help it isn't likely to do us much good."
"What do you think are the odds that Ren went in to destroy the heart?"
"I believe that would be wishful thinking. None of the reports we've received mention him trying to enter the Spirit Tortoise, only him attacking it." The queen turned back to look as Motoyasu made his approach.
Why would they show up now? And who is that they are talking too? It can't be coincidence that they would come to the same village my party is staying at, can it?
Motoyasu's assault was a rather interesting sight to see, even if my focus was split elsewhere. The bat-like familiars fired their heat vision at them, but Freon was able to weave around them and came out unscathed. Eventually they made it close enough that the Spirit Tortoise decided to drop yetis to stop them, but they keep avoiding them and Motoyasu began attacking its head with ranged skills. At the same time the army's mages case powerful AoE attack spells to eliminate large numbers of the flying familiars and lessen the number of attacks Freon needed to avoid.
This is bad, this is very very bad.
Even from far away, I could tell that Motoyasu's attacks were damaging the Spirit Tortoise, but I had my doubts about whether he would be able to deal a decisive blow with only ranged attacks, especially with what I just learned. At first the Spirit Tortoise tried stepping on them, but Freon was still too fast for it. Next it created some sort of magic circle in front of itself and it seemed like Freon's movements were slowed significantly. That ended when Motoyasu fired off what I assume to be one of his stronger attacks and scored a hit on its left eye. Then a light rose up in the Spirt Tortoise's throat. The massive creature let out a lightning breath attack truly worthy of a world defending kaiju. I doubt Freon would have been able to avoid it had she not been running to the same side that it could no longer see from. After the attack ended, Motoyasu somehow managed to unleash a powerful beam-like attack of his own that went through the Spirt Tortoise's neck and likely its spinal cord. The head then dropped and the part of the neck that managed to keep it connected tore, leaving it completely headless. After that, the beast collapsed with an impact that could be felt for miles.
Even though the master fell, the familiars continued to fight. The soldiers moved to fight the familiars on the ground while the mages continued to eliminate the ones in the air. Motoyasu also took out some of them as he and Freon made their way back towards the army's main encampment. Luckily the queen had enough time to compose herself after witnessing him kill it almost singlehandedly. Though, the army could claim to have helped by reducing the number of familiars and clearing his line of fire, so they aren't likely to lose confidence from this.
I swapped places with my main body in order to mark the location for the shield's portal skill, then swapped back.
"Sir Endou, would you please explain what is happening? That black mist has appeared around you twice now."
"That isn't what you should be worried about. I'll explain after Motoyasu gets back and I have my full party here."
"Your full party…? Why would you come now that the fighting is won?"
In that moment, Keel, Blake, Elder Sensei, and Rishia appeared next to us.
"I just learned that there is a lot more going on than we thought."
"Why can you never take things seriously and give a straight answer from the start?" (Eclair)
"I don't like having to repeat long explanations. And I assure you, I am taking this very seriously."
As Motoyasu made it back to the camp he was held up by people cheering for him and celebrating. The girls he left behind also took the opportunity to get close and congratulate him. It took him far longer than it should have to reach the queen and he had a rather serious look on his face.
"Congratulations on defeating the Spirit Tortoise, Sir Kitamura." (Queen)
"Yeah, I was pretty awesome out there. But something strange happened." (Motoyasu)
"Strange how?" The queen glanced at Keel and Blake, probably assuming it has to do with why I brought them over.
"Well I didn't get any experience from killing it."
"Could it be that the sword or bow heroes are close by and the legendary weapons are interfering?"
"No, if that were the case I wouldn't get any experience from the familiars, but they gave just as much as before."
"Don't worry about it Sir Motoyasu. You managed to defeat that monster singlehandedly and protected everyone from its rampage." Harlot appeared by his side to stroke his ego, and based on the pride he showed on his face, it seemed to be working. I guess Freon wasn't able to fix everything about him.
"Of course I couldn't have done it without all you girls cheering me on, and Freon keeping me out of harm's way so I could attack." He hugged Freon, who had returned to her human form as soon as Motoyasu got off of her.
"Cheering?" (Queen)
"No one was cheering until after it fell. Most of us thought you were being a reckless fool for charging off without a plan." (Eclair)
"Don't be silly we always cheer for Sir Motoya- Ahhh! Alright we weren't cheering, only watching." I guess Harlot forgot that she couldn't lie, since her slave crest went off.
"Yeah… She mostly just complained that you were going alone with Freon and claimed the army should have gone in first to clear out the familiars."
"Endou! How did, no. When did you get here? And your party too? I thought you were staying out of it."
"First, this is the same clone that's been with you all since leaving the capitol. You didn't really expect that I wouldn't be watching something like this, did you? Second, my main body will be here with the rest of my party in about 25 minutes. And in regards to your observation of it not giving any experience, have you noticed that the blue hourglass is still there?"
"What?" Motoyasu looked like he was staring into space, but he was probably checking it for himself. "Oh hell. You're right."
Sigh. It's things like this that makes me question what qualifications were used for summoning us to this world. I can blame my being here in Kouki, but the other three are just morons who want to bask in their own glory.
"There is also the matter of the familiars still being alive. Killing the Spirit Tortoise should have put an end to them, but nothing has happened. Putting all that together, do you really think it is dead?"
"Well it doesn't have a head anymore, so yeah, I'd assume it's dead. And if it isn't, why would you say anything? Aren't you rooting for it?"
"I was, but I recently learned some things that you are going to want to hear. It isn't good news."
AN: Remember this Motoyasu has more upgrade methods than when he took it on in canon. Endou's main body's side of things will be shown in the next chapter.
Spazzer13: The waves don't happen when the guardian beasts are active and it would be extremely difficult to direct them towards monster populations while avoiding humans.
Setokayba2n: You don't just "send" the Spirit Tortoise to another country, it is attracted to large populations of people/monsters.
