The sound of the air being shoved aside by the wings of their dragon had become something normal. The cold air was still something Motoyasu disliked. He was glad that the dragon was warm but that didn't help his face or his hands which were freezing.
Still, the way that Malty was holding onto him was a fair exchange. They had both taken off their armour so he could feel her pressing against his back. Motoyasu smiled, glad that this useless trip had at least one upside. It was bad luck that Lesty and Elena were on another dragon.
He took a deep breath and glanced at the other dragons and their riders. There were about half a dozen high-level dragons, each with two high-level knights, who were moving alongside them. They had been travelling for more than five hours and were only about halfway to their goal. Motoyasu found it stupid to go to the territory of this Lady Roma. He was more than enough to protect Malty anywhere. The old king seemed to think that some NPC's could stop a Hero. It was stupid. If Adrian wanted to make his way to Malty to hurt her again he would tear through almost everyone.
If Motoyasu hadn't already been over-levelled for the first Wave he would have pushed the issue for a bit. He shrugged it off and figured that he could treat this as a vacation. Malty would realize soon that there was nothing to worry about. Then, they could start adventuring again. Plus, he had only seen the area around the Castle Town until now it would be sweet to check out the rest of the world.
Motoyasu tilted his body a bit and smiled as Malty tightened her grip on him. He looked downwards and felt a laugh bubble out. Other worlds were the best!
The trees below him passing by were so strange. Nothing like using a normal plane where you couldn't see much. This felt so much faster, so much more real. It was amazing. For more than an hour, he watched the world pass by below him. Every tree, monster and landmark looked new when he saw it from the sky. He turned to Malty and pointed out all the amazing things he saw. They couldn't speak, not with the wind stealing their voice, but Malty was as excited as he was and smiled at him.
He loved her for it. Motoyasu knew that this must have been normal for her. He saw her expression fade whenever he was about to turn away from her, but she was still willing to share in his joy.
Then the dragon started to slow down. It took a moment to notice but they were approaching a small clearing. His dragon followed the lead of the others and landed with a jarring crash.
Motoyasu winced as they landed. His body was pretty sore, staying in the same position for this long wasn't easy even with his stats. Then he realized how bad the condition of his girls must be. He jumped off the dragon and offered Malty a hand. She smiled and accepted his help. The Spear Hero gently placed her on the ground, bracing her when she stumbled.
"Thank you, Sir Motoyasu," she said, kissing him on the cheek afterwards, "We must be here-"
Her words cut off and her expression flattened as she realized that they were still in a forest. The princess turned towards the Knight Captain and stomped towards her. She didn't glance at him but Motoyasu saw the fury building and decided that she was fine. It would be best if he helped Elena and Lesty.
Motoyasu darted towards the other girls in his party. A surge of disappointment rose when he saw that both of them had already gotten off the dragon. It vanished a second later. It was good to be able to speak to them. It had been a long time since he had spent this much time without being able to speak to them.
"Girls," he said, concern taking root as he saw their hair in disarray, "are you both okay? Any trouble?"
Elena smiled but it was Lesty who answered, "Of course!" she said, "Please don't worry about us Sir Motoyasu,"
Motoyasu nodded. Feeling relieved and a little guilty. They were brave. Dealing with this nasty mess because Adrian was a bastard who thought it was okay to rape and ravage this world. Game or not, that was wrong. Then again it sort of made sense. Motoyasu had found it odd that there were four Heroes. Now he saw it, Itsuki was gone. Adrian had killed or kidnapped him. Naofumi had killed a nobleman and was on the run. Adrian was scum who was ten times worse than Naofumi. Motoyasu was the only one left.
From Four to One. This whole mess was inevitable.
Itsuki had been the youngest so he was the one who lost first. And the other two weren't Heroes in the first place. Naofumi was the obvious one while Adrian was the final boss of this arc.
Motoyasu moved so that he could wrap his arms around their shoulders and gave them both a hug. "I'm glad you're okay," he said. "Do you know where we are? I'm guessing we aren't at Roma's place right?"
Elena squirmed a bit, shy, but nodded. "We're still at least a couple of hours away," she said, before shaking her head and turning to look at the docile dragon eating some meat. "I can't believe that we're already so close. This trip takes days. Those are some impressive dragons."
Motoyasu nodded and opened his mouth before he heard Malty shout. "WHAT?-" the rest of the words were not clear but he could tell that she was furious. Motoyasu winced and started to jog towards her. Lesty and Elena followed. He congratulated himself over moving away from her before. Still, it was his duty to check up on her even if he was pretty sure that she was not in trouble.
It took him a second to see her tearing into the Knight Captain who listened to her without moving an inch. Malty was screaming at her without pause and the Captain stood there with his arms behind her back. He was standing with his back straight in a way that reminded Motoyasu of the army guys from home.
"-we will be leaving now." she said, her voice becoming clear as he neared, "Is. That. Clear?"
As she finished her sentence she glared at the Knight.
The Knight said nothing for several long seconds. "His Majesty's orders were clear," she said. "I am to do everything in my power to ensure your safety Princess and the dragons must rest. There is no other option. Please allow us an hour before we start again."
"You…" said Malty, her fury twisting into disbelief. Motoyasu winced as she started laying into her again. He felt a little bad for the Captain who was stuck between the Old King and Myne. It wasn't fair to the woman. Motoyasu walked up to Malty and placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
Malty jerked and immediately turned around, pushing his hand off and glaring at him. "Who-" she started before recognizing him and pausing. She spoke with a controlled tone. "Sir Motoyasu!" she said, "this man is risking our lives for dragons!"
Both the Captain and Malty looked to him and Motoyasu rubbed the back of his head as he took a step back. Malty was intense.
"So...why did we stop?" he asked the Captain. Malty glared and he corrected his tone. "Uhh...I mean, why are you wasting our time?!"
She nodded and then turned to the Captain who maintained her calm demeanour. "I apologize for the inconvenience Spear Hero but our mounts need some rest. We are the best aerial squadron but five hours of flight at maximum speed is strenuous. If we continue at this rate we will not be able to reach Roma Territory. The dragons will collapse."
That...made a lot of sense. The dragons had stamina limits. He should have seen that coming. Hadn't he been the one to think that they were nothing like planes?
"Excuses," she spat, "I expected better from the Royal Guard."
For the first time, Motoyasu saw the woman get a little angry. The emotion faded but the Captain was offended.
"I apologize, Princess," he said with a bow. Voice showing no sign of discontentment. "We will strive to do better.'
Malty snorted and stomped away. Motoyasu gave the woman an apologetic smile, for which he received a nod, and followed after her.
Beautiful and fierce, he thought as Malty strode towards Elena and Lesty. Her hair moved like a living flame.
Motoyasu bit into the juicy meat. Each bite was an explosion of flavour. It tasted wonderful but he could not enjoy it when his party was still so worried. He sighed. Motoyasu understood their fear and worry. It was natural, but they needed the energy as their dragons did.
"Myne," he said, drawing the attention of the girl who was sitting on a log right next to him. He offered her a bite of food, "Have a couple of bites. It's pretty tasty."
She planted a smile on her face and took a small piece before nibbling on it. Anger emerged as remembered who put them in this mess. He turned to see that his other party members were eating. They were pretty worried as well. The soldiers who were around the perimeter of the camp were observing the forest around them. Motoyasu had seen them swallow a stamina potion to keep running. Their devotion was touching but Motoyasu wasn't sure why they were so worried. The monsters in this forest weren't dangerous during the day.
He glanced at the Sun that was high up in the sky. They still had several hours until sunset. Motoyasu shrugged it off and continued to eat. Once he was done he stood up.
"Girls-" he started before one of the guards shouted.
"Incoming!" she said, "High Tier Mana Source."
The guards reacted as one. More than half their number started to run towards their mounts. The remaining four soldiers started to move towards Motoyasu and his party. They drew their weapons and studied the surroundings.
"Update," barked the Captain analyzing the area around them.
"Signature...lost," said the woman who had shouted first. Motoyasu saw all the knights flinch.
"On the dragons." said the Captain turning to Malty and Motoyasu.
Motoyasu smirked and twirled his spear. He transformed it mid-rotation into his best attack status boosted spear. "We'll be fine," he said, wondering what type of monster would freak out these guys. He remembered this forest pretty well. There were some pretty epic field bosses, but they only came out during the night.
The Knight grit his teeth. Motoyasu was about to reassure her when he heard a Knight scream out.
"Damn it," the Knight said, as he jumped off the dead dragon that had three swords embedded in it. One in the head and the other two were in the body.
A glance showed that all the dragons had swords stabbing them.
Motoyasu swallowed. This wasn't a raid boss or a monster.
Adrian.
"Perimeter around the Princess," said the Captain without preamble.
Then, without warning from the sensors emerged Adrian. He appeared in front of them. A massive blade in hand with deep blue clothing with dragon-like designs on it. Motoyasu felt a chill run down his spine as his fury sparked. Malty was shivering at his appearance.
"Motoyasu," Adrian said, ignoring the others, "We have a great deal to talk about. Please ask your bodyguards to relax."
"Kill him!" screeched Malty, "Don't let him hurt me again!"
Motoyasu saw the knights form up around Malty. They oriented themselves to fight the Sword Hero. Motoyasu smiled and focused on the Meteor Spear, getting it ready to blast him with it. Adrian only looked annoyed by their behaviour. Motoyasu smirked as he realized how arrogant the guy was. Surrounded by a dozen high-level fighters and he was still cocky. Then, less than a second before the Meteor Spear was ready to use Adrian spoke.
"Observe," commanded the Sword Hero, pointing a blade towards them that started to glow.
"Move!" said the sensor, her voice terrified. Motoyasu got ready to counter the attack.
He never got a chance to move.
Adrian twisted the sword and aimed it towards the forest. There were a huge number of trees and a couple of dragon corpses but nothing else.
The massive golden beam of light that emerged reminded him of the beams from Mecha Anime. It swallowed the forest for miles on end. Adrian swept the beam across for a second.
A huge part of the forest was gone.
The beam had scoured the forest down to bedrock. The soil was gone, the ground was glowing and Motoyasu couldn't see any thing for kilometres.
As one they turned to see the Sword Hero who had a dozen swords floating above his head, each of them with the same glow. He stared Motoyasu dead in the eye.
"I wish to speak to the Spear Hero," he said, his voice cold, almost empty. "Please do not attack unless you wish for me to do the same."
Motoyasu stared at the devastation. His belief that Adrian must have had help in destroying the border felt stupid. He should have figured this out earlier. Adrian had hacked the Legendary Weapon. There was no other way this noob had gotten this strong this fast. That attack had been the high-level skill Sword Beam Ultima. Adrian shouldn't have had access to that until he was level 80!
He tossed aside his thoughts after Malty moved behind him, clutching him.
"Sir Motoyasu," she whispered, tears in her eyes "please stop him. No one else can.."
The Spear Hero threw aside his uncertainty. So what if Adrian had hacked the weapon? Motoyasu had a job to do. She didn't deserve to feel like this. No one did. Motoyasu moved in front of the knights that had been surrounding him and Malty.
Adrian looked exasperated.
"Adrian!" he said, projecting his voice, raising his spear with his skill at the ready, "you won't get away with-"
Six of the swords floating above Adrian's head launched another set of attacks. This time the Sword Hero moved it 360 degrees and the beam was much brighter. Motoyasu flinched at the bright light and covered his eyes.
As his vision cleared, Motoyasu took a long look at the destruction surrounding them. The entire forest was gone as far as he could see. It was like reality had missed a frame. One moment the forest was intact only a small sector removed. The next everything around them was gone without warning.
"Motoyasu," said Adrian, "I will say this only once: I did not rape Malty. She is lying to you so that she can manipulate you. Also, please remember that," he said waving his hand around the barren ground around them. "I can do hundreds of times without tiring. I'm not in the mood to bother with stupidity. We are going to speak. Is that understood?"
Motoyasu swallowed as he wondered if this was a losing event or an introduction type scene. Maybe he shouldn't fight until he was at a higher level. He turned to Malty who was frozen. Her expression one of absolute terror. A glance at his other party members and the Knights revealed the same emotion. Motoyasu felt respect rise as he noted that even after that display the Captain was still standing, sword in hand, ready to attack if needed. The other knights we're staring at the Sword Hero with a combination of awe and fear.
It made the Spear Hero realize how cowardly he was being. These people had nothing to help them fight. They were scared but were still willing to follow their orders. Who was he to even consider not fighting because there was a powerful tyrant in front of him?
Motoyasu nodded to himself and made sure to position Malty behind him. Adrian would need to go through him first.
"We have nothing to talk about," said Motoyasu, his spear pointed at Adrian. "You are a criminal."
Adrian closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Did you even hear what I said before? I am innocent. Malty lied to you about everything so that she could take the throne from her sister." he paused, stared at Malty, then Motoyasu and then exhaled. "you know what? Let's make this simple. Why do you believe her? What evidence has she shown you?"
Motoyasu snorted and glared at the piece of trash in front of him, "Don't lie. Why would you run if you hadn't committed a crime? If you were innocent then you would have stayed and proven it."
The Sword Hero raised an eyebrow, "Are you joking?" he asked, his tone incredulous. "Prove my innocence in a court controlled by her father. The same man who was the main conspirator behind the accusation? That would have gotten me killed."
"You liar," yelled Malty. "you disgraced me and then threw me aside. You threatened to hurt me and destroy Melromarc if I said anything. You even planned to rape Andrea-"
"SIlence," he said, punctuated by a sword launched at Malty barely missing her. Malty flinched and Adrian began to float, "This was pointless. Diplomacy was a terrible idea."
Motoyasu found himself taking a step back as Adrian vanished in the same way that he had appeared. He looked around and the Knights joined him.
"Circle Formation Alpha." said the Captain, his voice firm. "Track him now. Amalthea can you sense him?"
"No sir," she said, her eyes closed a look of absolute concentration on her face. "the Sword Hero's out of my range,"
For a long minute, nothing happened and Motoyasu started to relax. He turned to Malty and smiled at her. She looked puzzled but smiled back. Motoyasu wanted to laugh as he realized that the guy was a coward. For all that he was good at wrecking stuff, he was only willing to take advantage of the weak.
"That guy was all show," said Motoyasu, giving Malty a hug, feeling her relax, "he's nothing to worry about."
The captain stared at him, something like anger in her expression. "Spear Hero the Sword Hero did this," he said, his tone flat. indicating the devastation surrounding their small circle of undamaged terrain. "and he indicated that he was done being diplomatic. We must be cautious."
Motoyasu smiled and almost spoke before he felt pain bloom and the world spin. Pain worse than when Momiji and Ikuyo had gone mad. He collapsed and his agony multiplied. The scream that ripped from his throat was involuntary. He could feel the blood dripping down his back, between his shoulder blades and down his leg.
His knee and shoulders hurt.
"Malty…" he muttered and turned towards the princess only to see her with two swords embedded in her shoulder blades. His eyes widened and he tried to move, to get up but even the thought sent shocks of pain.
She was screaming. Her voice was like a chorus. No, he realized, it was an actual chorus. Everyone was down. He shifted his vision and had to blink at the unreal sight of all the Knights and his entire party pinned to the ground by glowing swords.
Then, they all began to squirm. The swords changed form, inflaming their wounds again before purple sparks emerged. The Knights tried to get up but the pain stopped them. Motoyasu looked at the three swords embedded in him. Two on his knees and another one on his right shoulder. His body was drenched in his blood and that of the others. The forest smell was getting overwhelmed by the telltale metallic scent of blood.
Still, he almost got up, and to his surprise, the pain was almost gone. He tried to crawl, to use his spear, but he couldn't think. Everything hurt again. His vision wavered. He moved one step forward, then two and then winced as his legs began to ache and his head started to spin. For a moment he wanted to stop, to let this go and wake up in a safe zone. It was so tempting.
Malty screamed and Motoyasu saw Adrian standing at her side, lifting her with one arm.
"Let her go," he said, his voice slurring. Motoyasu shook his head and then repeated his demand, gripping his spear, "Let her GO!"
Adrian Black has sent you a party invite. Do you accept?
"Accept the invite," he said, "and I will let her go...or choose not to and watch her suffer further. You have ten seconds to choose."
Motoyasu stared at the bastard. Hatred erupted. Any uncertainty about the Sword Hero was erased as the trash dragged Malty up like a toy. He glared at the man, not willing to use a skill when the bastard could vanish again or worse use Malty as a shield. He'd never consider a Hero doing something like that but it was clear that this guy was the Villain.
"Five seconds left." said a cold voice, amusement lacing his words, "Make your choice."
Motoyasu grit his teeth as tears filled his eyes. He looked at Malty, the brave Knights, who were collapsed and unconscious and the rest of his party. He winced at the thought of this bastard killing them, or worse. He hated the idea of giving in. Of letting this guy win. But while Motoyasu would survive he knew that none of the others would. That thought was more painful than anything else.
He accepted. An instant after he did, the pain flared in his shoulder again, the sword embedded in him changed form and the world turned black.
The last thing he saw was Malty and Adrian beginning to glow as the world wavered around them.
