Warning: Contains Spoilers for untranslated LN volumes.


Chapter 68: So this is how it ends

"That was so cool!" Keel rushed over to one of my clones. "You kept kicking him higher into the air then sent him slamming down. It was awesome!"

"Calm down Keel. That was a simple display of superiority."

"Superiority? Ha! I'm still the one with the Spirit Tortoise's energy." Kyo was back on his feet and seemed to have recovered from all his injuries. He also had a ball of energy in one hand. It floated up and condensed to the point that it was basically a magic black hole powerful enough that it managed to tear a hole in space itself. Using gravity to do the job of Spatial Magic, maybe he isn't as big of an idiot as he appears. "Thanks for the fu-"

"No!" Keel tackled Kyo, knocking him away from his new exit.

"Get off me you little brat." Kyo kicked Keel off of him and started to stand up.

I personally walked over and lifted Kyo up by the collar. "You know, I have to admit that that was a rather clever use of gravitational force. So how about I show you what a true master can do with Gravity Magic." Kyo struggled and tried to attack me with the pages of his book, but such things are useless against the Abyss.

Three of my clones came to surround Kyo as we cast the magic simultaneously. ""The darkness of the abyss extends beyond all limits. There is no mercy for a villain such as you. Suffer for all eternity as you fall into infinite darkness. [Nether Burst]!""

Screams of pain were the last sounds Kyo made.

"Now to be sure." I changed to the Soul Eater Shield and used its ability to allow me to see souls. He stored his soul in the book? As cocky as he was he still knew that he needed a contingency. And why is there some sort of ghost weasel in here? Now that Kyo was dead the book started moving towards the spatial tear on its own. Keel tried to cut it off but one of my clones beat him to it, grabbed it, and held it against my shield to trigger the counter. As expected, it was able to specifically target the book, destroying the soul within. But what happened next was of far more concern. The book shook within my clone's hand before slipping out of its grasp and slamming into its chest effectively pushing it towards the tear in space at high speed. Unfortunately Keel was still between the clone and the tear so he get dragged along too, until they both vanished in the rift just before it closed and I lost all connection to the clone. This happened within the space of a second, followed by a second for everyone to realize what just happened.

"KEEL!" Raphtalia ran to where the tear had been moments before and fell to her knees. I considered what happened. The mostly likely possibility is that without Kyo manipulating the Spirit Tortoise's energy, there was nothing to keep the tear open. Then I noticed that Raphtalia had started to cry. This was the second time since I trained her and both were due to the loss of dear friends.

I placed my hand on Raphtalia's shoulder. "Raphtalia, I'm sorry but there was nothing you could do. Even I wasn't able to react to the book's sudden movement."

"I know, but Keel…"

"We'll get him." L'Arc stepped forward. "Kyo was trying to escape so he should be back in our world. We'll make sure the kid is safe and if possible we'll bring him back; we at least owe you that much for what Kyo did."

Glass joined him. "I agree. Though I doubt he has much to worry about as he went through with a piece of Abyssgate."

"The Abyss can only exist in one world at a time; any clones in a different world than this Lord disappear almost instantly. In this case the connection was severed when the tear closed."

"Oh… That's…" L'Arc seemed to be checking something in his status magic. "We have a few weeks before we get called to a wave in our world. Luckily we know a guy who can find just about anything, so it won't take long to find him. Think he can hold out that long?"

"I trained him myself. Even if he was dropped in a dragon's nest I don't doubt he would manage to survive."

"If you're that confident he has nothing to worry about. As for the terms of our alliance; I see no reason to start fighting if your world is going to be sealed off from the waves. However, I do have to wonder who awakened a second guardian beast and for what reason." (Glass)

Motoyasu stopped punching holes in Ren's crystal prison to respond. "If I had to guess, I'd say that was probably Itsuki. He wasn't very happy that I told Endou and the queen that the Spirit Tortoise was about to wake up. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to solo it because the weapons it gives are stronger."

Glass looked at me. "I'm starting to agree with your assessment about this world's summoned heroes."

With Kyo vanquished there was no longer a need for the Lord and I returned to my normal state, after which I found a corner I could curl up in as I was forced to accept what I had done. Abyssgate Barrage? Seriously?

"God, where are you going?"

"Oh no you don't." Talia grabbed my arm. "I'm not letting you sink into self-pity after what just happened."

"Umm… what's going on with him?" (L'Arc)

"Master Kousuke's just embarrassed about how awesome he was."

They spent several minutes trying to make sure I didn't "sink into despair." Therese in particular was quite aggressive in her attempts to prevent it. I will never speak of what she did to the day I die, and I hope those who witnessed it would find it to awkward to talk about. But one thing I will acknowledge is that L'Arc was extremely jealous because of it. Which is brings up some concerns about his relationship with Therese.

Eclair cleared her throat. "Sir Motoyasu, I realize that freeing the sword hero is important, but should you not focus on ending the Spirit Tortoise while there are no other monsters attacking us?"

"Oh yeah, with everything that just happened I kinda forgot about that." Motoyasu turned towards the crystal core. "Alright girls help me out here." Once again the girls of his party cast spells to become a combo skill with him. Even Rishia helped out. It was quite a powerful blast and after enduring for a second, the core shattered. However something else seemed to have something to say about it.

78

It seemed as if something was flowing from the 8 to the 7. The shattered pieces of the Spirit Tortoise's core came back together and the indicator shown returned to its previous state. Then the room started to shake and a loud roar was heard. The Spirit Tortoise woke up.

"Ahhh! Sir Motoyasu, what's happening?" Harlot and the other girls clung to Motoyasu as the room tilted from side to side, likely a sign that the Spirit Tortoise was getting back on its feet to continue its march.

"I don't know. None of this ever happened in Emerald Online."

"Master Endou what do we do?"

"I think we wait."

"What are you talking about Endou? We need to kill this thing."

"The shield hero is obviously a coward."

"Don't you dare talk about god like that!" Therese was about ready to burn Harlot to a crisp.

"You don't get it, do you? The guardian beast that woke up during the fight with Kyo just shared energy with the Spirit Tortoise, allowing it to regenerate. That means you would have to kill both of them at the same time or they will stay alive until they are able to put up the barrier."

"Is that really how it works?" Motoyasu asked L'Arc.

"No idea. We never had more than one active at the same time, but it would explain what just happened."

"Then I'll go out and fight the Phoenix, then when it's time, Endou, you take out the core."

"Why would I do that?"

"What? You just said we had to kill them at the same time."

"I also already told you that I just want them to make the barrier so I can go home. Besides, your plan is missing a lot of details."

"Like what?"

"How are you even going to find the Phoenix?"

He thought for a moment before responding. "The queen could help."

"The same queen that is currently inside this monster than just woke up and is likely being swarmed with familiars as we speak?"

"Uh…" Motoyasu bolted for the stairs, followed by Freon and Eclair. Interestingly Harlot, Elena, and… the third girl in his party stayed behind.

"Shouldn't you three be following your precious spear hero?" (Talia)

"It's better that we cheer him on from here." (Harlot)

"And would the two of you agree with that opinion?" (Seb)

"Of course, princess Malty is always right." (Girl 3)

"I'd rather stay alive, and the best way to do that right now is to stay close to the shield hero." (Elena)

"So you're just lazy and want god to protect you."

"At least she's honest." L'Arc started to laugh. "Now let's see what we can do about this guy." L'Arc finished breaking the crystal holding Ren and laid him down on the ground.

I cast some healing magic on Ren just to make sure he was ok, but the energy drain probably meant he would be unconscious for a while. I also sent a clone to follow Motoyasu, it caught up just as he was blasting his way into the heart chamber. As expected it was regenerating quite quickly now.

POV: Clone

The hole Motoyasu made barely lasted long enough for the four of us to get through and then there was the swarm of monsters created by the heart to deal with. Of course Motoyasu decided to try destroying the heart, but that didn't last long and they just ran to find the queen. The lack of bodies would indicate that the queen had taken my advice and returned to the central chamber, I doubt the monsters killed them and removed the bodies without leaving any evidence. Somehow Freon convinced Motoyasu to do the smart thing and they climbed on her back while he fired skills at the muscles blocking the path. After that it didn't take long to get back to the central chamber where the queen and army were maintaining a defense against some familiars.

They helped kill the familiars before talking to the queen. It took a bit for Motoyasu to explain the situation and tell her why the Spirit Tortoise was moving again. After which the queen seemed mortified. The only thing they could do was hope that Itsuki pulled off a miracle and killed the Phoenix, then they would have Motoyasu kill the Spirit Tortoise before it can revive it. Since Motoyasu knew where to attack to get to the core, the queen asked him if he could use his spear to send people back to the capitol so she could get the word out. As it turned out, something about the Spirit Tortoise was blocking teleport skills. Something that my main body checked as well.

It took the queen asking about the rest of Motoyasu's party to make him realize that he left them behind. Then he nearly ran back to look for them, but Freon told him that they never left the core room. They then worked to do anything they could to slow the Spirit Tortoise's movements. Motoyasu tried blasting its head off again, but it was back up and moving before he could even make it back to the cave entrance. Then they tried resealing the heart, which broke free of the seal when complete and regenerated through it now that it had its head intact. The end result was the deaths of most of the soldiers and mages that they had with them. Afterwards they gave up and sealed part of one of the tunnels so they would only have to worry about monsters coming from one side.

POV: Main

"I'm not saying they don't deserve it, but is it really necessary to freeze and gag them?" L'Arc questioned our method of keeping Harlot and girl 3 quiet after several minutes of their complaining. Elena was allowed to stay unrestrained on the condition that she not help the other two or do anything stupid.

"It's the only way that works. Besides, it's not like they would do anything constructive."

"I'd be happy to slit their throats, if you prefer. After all, we won't be in this world much longer anyways, so there isn't much reason to hold back." Talia sadistically smiled at Harlot, whose face paled.

"Or if you have some rope, we could use that instead of the ice. As long as it keeps them from doing anything stupid."

"Unfortunately I do not. What about paralysis skills?"

"We can try those when the ice melts."

Over the next several days we lived off the meat of the neo guardians, cooked very well, and bioplant fruit. It was a bit of a surprise to see that it could grow down here, but some of the spores of the original were parasitic, so I guess it isn't too much of a stretch for it to grow out of a giant monster. Motoyasu did eventually come for his girls, but they actually voted to stay in the core room until the barrier went up or the phoenix went down and Motoyasu could kill the Spirit Tortoise. Unfortunately it wasn't feasible to bring the queen and the remaining army guys down here since it would be safer for them to stay where they were than try to get past the heart, and they were also living off the well cooked meat of familiars. I also tried to figure out what the ghost weasel really was, but to no avail. All I know is that it kept trying to cling to me until I swatted it with my shield, at which point it disappeared.

"So, how long until they are able to put up the barrier?"

"Not planning on killing it anymore, Motoyasu?"

"Hey, if I have a chance I will, but at this point I doubt it will happen before the beasts have enough souls, so how long do you think it will be before they can do it?"

"The hourglass projection is more than 95% full; a few more big cities should do it." I had my clone watch the hourglass and while there was almost always a small trickle of sand entering, there were also times when a large amount would flow in. I assume those times were indications of a large population center being wiped out. And due to how much it was filled when we got here compared to now, I also assume it is a combined total with the Phoenix. "Would you really stop them when they are this close to completing their task?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Do the math, a lot of people die in each wave, but if only the population of another city needs to be sacrificed to keep that from happening, it would end up saving more."

"If we do our jobs they won't have to die."

"Except we haven't. Most of the time we've been in this world I've spent getting stronger, training allies and making enough money to be properly equipped, I assume you three at least did some of that between getting praised as heroes. But we only ever participated in the waves that hit Melromarc and the one on Cal Mira. How many waves do you think went without us in that time?"

"I don't know. If there is one for every hourglass… a lot. Ok, I see your point. But there is a big difference between sacrificing people and failing to save them."

"Dead is dead, better they not die in vain."

"You know, kiddo, it takes a seriously cold heart to be able to think in those terms. How would you feel if the ones being sacrificed were your friends and family?"

"Then I would do everything in my power to prevent it. There is a vast difference in the value one places on a friend and that of a stranger. As they say, one death is a tragedy, a thousand is a statistic."

"Do they seriously say that where you're from?"

"Yes they do, but the planet's population is measured in the billions, so a thousand people is a comparatively smaller than it would be here."

"Unfortunately it's the same in the world I'm from," Motoyasu agreed with me. "Though I still don't agree with intentionally letting people die."

"Even if you don't agree, that won't change the fact that right now killing the beasts would result in more people dying to the waves than would need to be sacrificed to end them."

A few hours later the hourglass was filled. The core of the Spirit Tortoise was shining brighter than ever and everything seemed to be dissolving into light particles.

"What's happening, Sir Motoyasu?" Harlot couldn't resist clinging to him. She had agreed not to complain or insult anyone if we stopped immobilizing and gagging her, but I sort of wish we left her paralyzed.

With the Spirit Tortoise disappearing, be began to freefall. I projected shields under most of us, and Freon used wind magic to soften the impact of Motoyasu and his girls when they hit the ground. It seemed we really were near the bottom since the fall wasn't more than a couple dozen meters. Once my skills ended I used gravity magic to control our decent. The queen and surviving army guys, weren't quite as lucky. They were significantly higher up, so Freon and Blake created some tornados to break their fall. Half of them puked afterwards. As I looked up at where the Spirit Tortoise had been, I saw a large hourglass full of blue sand. A wave of energy came out of it and covered everything like a dome.

The world has been saved.

The world has been saved? What happens now? How do I get the shield to send me home? Can I bring my party with me? As these questions raced through my mind as my vision started to get blurry. The next thing I knew I felt like I was floating in what could be described as a void and there were a dozen sparkly balls of like in front of me. Four of them had colors similar to the jewels of the four cardinal weapons, the others were uniform except for four being duller than the rest. Then a young demi-human girl appeared. And then she tackle hugged me.

"Oh shield hero, I'm so glad I could finally meet you." What? "My name's Rifana. You probably didn't notice, but I've been watching over Raphtalia ever since I died. Thanks for bringing my body back to the village by the way."

Body… the skeleton? "So you're Talia's dead friend?"

"That's one way to put it. It turns out that my soul was capable of holding itself together for a while after I died. Then you hit me with your shield and I sorta got sucked into it. So now I get to act as the medium of communication for you and the shield spirit. Right now I'm supposed to inform you of your options for helping to save the world. The shield spirit would also like to thank you for your help as you were something of a last second find as a candidate when the one he selected rejected the summons." Why is she so excited about me, but acts like the spirit in the shield is just an annoyance?

"It's not like I was willing to come. Now about the rewards, is going home an option?"

"Yes, one option is to go back to your world to take care of any unfinished business before returning, another is to go back to your world permanently, in which case you may have a few wishes granted, but they're limited by the spirits' ability to influence causality. There is also the choice to remain in this world as a hero. I suggest the last one."

"Just send me back to the moment I left, and if possible allow my party to come with me." I aimed my demand at the spirit that I assumed was from my shield.

"Hmmm… Creating a past for them all to fit in your world would be beyond the spirits' ability. If you really want that only two would be able to go with you."

"Don't screw with my past! Just send us to the moment I was summoned to this world so we can continue where I was taken from."

"Umm… That would be easier to accomplish, but wouldn't it be hard for them to live in a new world when no one there knows them?"

"I have that part covered. It's not like going to other worlds is an uncommon occurrence for me."

"I know you said that, but is it really that simple?"

"Simpler than you would think. Most of the people I talk to on a regular basis know about other worlds and summonings, so it would be easy enough to explain them. And the language barrier can be covered with artifacts. So skip the part about changing the past and just send us back to my world. Oh and if possible, make sure Keel is safe until L'Arc and Glass find him."

"That shouldn't be a problem. But are you sure that's what you want?" She looked sad. I don't know what this girl's deal was, but I'm pretty sure I'm better off not knowing.

"Yes."

"Alright then. Your request shall be granted." Rifana pouted as she mumbled the shield spirit's words.

The world went white again and when I opened my eyes I was back in the royal library.

"What the? Who are all of you?" Kouki looked around at my party members as if they just appeared out of thin air, which is probably what it looked like.

"This seems similar to the royal library in Melromarc, but how did we get here?" Seb looked around.

"Master Endou, what's going on?"

"Did that book summon you here?" Kouki moved onto what he probably thought was the obvious answer since he didn't see anyone disappear when the book lit up.

"No. It summoned me to another world where I spent four months fighting to save it because you throw a damned book at me!" I punched the idiot hero in the gut. I've been waiting to do that for a while.

"Sorry. But who are they?"

"These happen to be the people I met and trust that wanted to come with me when I was finally able to return. Now, we need to go see Hajime. I don't remember why it is that he asked me to get you, but I have a lot to talk to him about involving other worlds."


AN: And thus end's Abyssgate's adventure in the Shield Hero universe. Well, maybe. I know I previously said that clones can't leave the world Endou is in, but having a vassal weapon with one does give a bit of leeway, as does how Rifana interprets that request to keep Keel safe. Basically there is room for a spin-off/sequel in the other world. That said, it will be a while before I get to it, assuming I ever do. There are several other stories I have idea's for, including both one-shots and long-term. I will post an epilogue to show how I expect things to turn out for the various characters and possibly some scenes of how Endou would react in situations that happen later in the novels, maybe even that Hajime vs Medea fight that some people have been anticipating.

About 7=8: It is something that happened in one of the loops of the reprise WN and I assume LN, but i don't know since the translated volumes haven't gotten that far. Of course the Spirit Tortoise's core wasn't a thing in the WN so I am just guessing about how that would work with it. And yes, it happened because Ren and Itsuki were being stupid. But hey, now you all know where Itsuki went when he disappeared. I actually kept track of the portal locations he had and it is entirely possible for him to have kept the spot at the west border saved, so he could just port his party over and go through the giant hole in the wall that the church left.

About Rifana: That stuff about her soul surviving is canon. I was going to have Ost do the talking for the shield, but then I thought about how Endou would be able to see Rifana when he took out Kyo's soul and the idea that she would get absorbed by him trying to get rid of her seemed funny. And since the WN never explains how the spirits normally ask the heroes to make their choice, I went with the way that was actually shown.

I'm not entirely certain, but I think this might be the only shield hero fic where the world was saved, not counting the ones that take place after it was already saved.