After getting out of the cave, the heroes and the armies marched back to the ruined town where the greek temple was. There, Naofumi observed the mural on the wall.
"Does it say anything that could be useful?" said Marius.
"Something about Seven Eye seal, protect this world, the blue hourglass and paying the price by sealing the turtle... I can't really make out what else it says with some of the words missing." said Naofumi.
Marius turned in his head and watched the remaining forces resting in the temple. The knights were on the verge of losing their morale. Even their commanders seemed to loose all hope of victory. The vikings however gathered around Ulfric, all spoke in nordic tongue. What they discussed was unknown to anyone.
"What are we gonna do now?" said Raphtalia.
"Shield Hero. I think you need to see this, I daresay." said the Shadow. She led Naofumi and the others to a large room filled with lithographs scattered around the floor. "Perhaps these lithographs might tell us something, I daresay."
Naofumi picked up one of the lithographs of a turtle's head, "The mural on the wall left out too many important info. Let's hope they recorded the rest of the message on the lithographs."
"We'll look for and gather all of it that we can find." said Raphtalia.
"Yes. You go do that. That includes all of you."
"Marius, come one." said Filo, pulling Marius's cape with her beak, "I saw alot of them over there."
"Very well." and Marius followed Filo to look for more lithographs, while Raphtalia and Rishia look for more somewhere else.
The castle servants and some visitors were panicking after the order to evacuate was given, and knights running to their post to set up the defense. Running pass throught them, Hanzo led Melty to the throne room with a lantern on his hand.
"The exit is that way. What are we doing here?" said Melty.
"This way is faster." said Hanzo.
"What do you mean?"
Hanzo searched throught the walls behind the throne until he found a loose brick and proceeds to press it. A locking mechanism was heard and a secret door disguised as the wall opened to a dark stairway.
"Come one. There's no time."
"Was this always been here?"
"Well now you know. Now come one." Hanzo pulled Melty in and closed the door. He lighted the lantern to illuminated their path. "Stay behind me."
The two walked down the stairs with the lantern lighting their way.
"Wait! What about father? We can't leave him behind!"
"Looking for him will take too much time. Just hope his crazed wandering led him far away from the city."
"But, he's a royal too!"
"And not a very good one. You're safety is my only priority." Hanzo continued walking, knowing he might have irritated the princess.
Then, Princess Melty screamed and Hanzo quickly turned with is hand on his sheathed katana. The frightened princess wrapped her arms around Hanzo's waist. He looked up and saw a spider dangling on the wall.
"It's just a spider." said Hanzo, looking down on Melty, "Melty?"
Melty looked up, realized she was pressed against Hanzo and blushed. She immediately stepped backed and looked away, "J-just keep walking!"
Hanzo turned around and they both continued walking.
"I've found more." said Rishia, carrying a bunch of rolled lithographs.
"Good. Put it over there." said Naofumi.
As Rishia placed all of it on the floor near Naofumi, Filo and Marius returned with more lithographs on the filolial queen's back.
"Master! We found more!" said Filo.
Then Raphtalia came back with more lithographs, "I hope this is enough."
"That's all of it. Come one, help me search throught all of it. Anything that might have something to do with Spirit Turtle, you give it to me." said Naofumi.
"May I be of help, Shield Hero. An extra hand would be useful, I daresay." said the Shadow.
"Sure."
While they look throught the large pile of lithographs, Marius found one that got his attention. It was a painting of a warrior donning an armor of hoplite and knight combination. Beside him were two weapons. A spear, a trident and a bident. With the others too occupied Marius rolled the lithographs and put it in his satchel.
"Shield Hero! We have a problem!" one of the knights entered the room.
"What is it?" said Naofumi.
"The Spirit Turtle is approaching the capital city!"
"What?! Get everyone ready and head outside! We'll be moving for another attack!"
"Yes sir! On it!" the knight exited the room to informed his comrades.
Naofumi turned his attention to some lithographs he laid out on the floor..
"Time is of the essence. Have you figured it out yet, I daresay?" said the Shadow.
"I have but I'm not sure if this is gonna work." Naofumi pull out all of the potions and gave it to Raphtalia, Filo and Marius. "I need you three to go back to the heart."
"And what will you do?" said Marius.
"I will take Rishia and the armies to the head. I'm not sure if this plan's gonna work, but it's better than doing nothing and let more innocent lives perish."
"Master Naofumi? What are you planning to do?" said Raphtalia, sounding worried.
"I can only do it once. So I do need someone to drag me out once I finished."
"Wait, you don't mean-"
"... Yes."
"What if this plan of yours failed?" said Marius.
"Then all of you must help with the army's retreat."
"You can't! There must be another way!" said Raphtalia.
"We can't stay here longer trying to figure out another plan." Naofumi put his hand on Raphtalia's shoulder, "Many more will die if we don't do something. You understand that, right?"
"But-"
"You have to keep fighting, even without me. Besides, you still have Filo and Marius with you."
"I... I understand..."
"We'll stand by you, Raphtalia. We'll finish this together." said Marius.
"That's right." said Filo.
"Now the problem is getting back to that heart." said Naofumi.
"Leave that to me. I prepared something just incase we need to reach the heart again, I daresay." said the Shadow.
"Thank you. I'll leave those three in your care."
"Are we done talking?" said Marius.
"Alright. Go take out the heart."
"Let's go!"
Raphtalia, Marius and Shadow climbed on Filo and she sprinted throught the town and back to the cave.
A small tremor rumbled the dark hallway of the secret passage, with dust and small debris falling from the ceiling.
"We must hurry!" Hanzo grabbed Melty's hand and he dragged her throught the hallway.
They ran until they reached a round circular chamber with three statues. One is a knight with chainmail and steel plating armor holding a greatsword, another wearing scaled armor and armed with a bow, and the last one lacked armor with only animal fur and a spear on his hand. All three facing the same spot on the wall.
"Who were they?" said Melty.
"They were the first of The Order. Richard of England, Amgalan of the Mongols and Bafana of the Zulus."
"I never heard of those kingdoms."
"They were not of this world. They came from another world... My world." Hanzo walked to the wall the statues were facing and pressed one of the bricks, opening another secret door, "And even in death, they still guide The Order."
They then felt another tremor shaking the chamber. The two continued throught the darkness, leaving the chamber of the old warriors as they make their way to the exit. They soon found a ray of light at the very end.
"We're almost there." said Hanzo.
At the end, they found a staircase leading to a metal door. They walked up the stairs and Hanzo removed the metal rod that held the door shut and opened it. They were greeted with the sight of an alleyway and sounds of an ongoing evacuation from the distance.
They walked to the streets and found the citizens with their packed belonging and knight guards guiding them. Hanzo looked around and saw a mounted knight.
"You there!" Hanzo called the knight, "I need your horse!"
"What for?" said the knight.
"I need to get Princess Melty far away from here for safety."
The knight then noticed the princess standing beside Hanzo, "Your highness. My apologies. Please, take my horse."
After the knight got off the horse, Hanzo lifted Melty and placed her on the animal before he mounted. They galloped throught the crowd, almost hitting the people.
"Slow down! You're gonna hit someone!" said Melty.
"We don't have time for that! Move away!"
"Hanzo!"
In the dark cave were the blue hourglass was found, a filolial queen and her three passenger teleported from a flash of light.
"This will be our point of escape as long as I can keep the teleportation spell running. You three need to go after the heart, and once you're done return here, I daresay." said the Shadow.
"Right." said Raphtalia, "Let's go, Filo."
With the Shadow staying behind, the three make their way to the heart. After reaching there, Raphtalia and Marius jumped off of Filo and they all prepared themselves. The heart saw them with its large eye and fired its laser at them. Raphtalia and Marius jumped to the side while Filo jumped up. She then dashed towards the heart and slashed its arteries, spewing blood on the ground. But despite the powerful attack, the arteries regenerated.
"We can't do anything if it kept healing its wounds." said Raphtalia.
"No, we can't... Unless..." said Marius.
"Unless what?"
"Are you familiar with the Twelve Labors of Heracles?"
"... No, I don't."
"Just keep attacking. I will distract it."
Raphtalia charged in and attacked the heart with Filo. The eyes of the heart prepared to fire its laser at them when a spear struck it from the side before disappearing back to Marius's hand. It turned its gazed at the Masked Hero and saw him spreading his arms, taunting it. The heart fired its laser again, and Marius quickly ran as the heart tried to direct its laser at him.
The attack from Raphtalia and Filo had done enough damage to the heart that it stopped its attack on Marius as the arteries around it have been reduced to scraps of flesh and its blooshot eyes struggled to open.
"We did all we can. So what now?" said Raphtalia.
"Stand back." Marius released the flames after he bottled it up during the rear defense.
As the heart regenerated, Marius raised his spear and summoned a strong lightning from the sky, piercing throught the shell and struck the spear. With the spear charged, Marius aimed at the heart and threw the spear. After the lightning spear hit the heart, it unleashed a powerful electric shock that burned the exposed wound.
Marius then raised his empty hand and called upon more lightning to burn the heart even more, until it was reduced to charred flesh and it fell off from its hanging charred muscle. The lightning attack stopped, and after exhausting all of its powers, the flames on Marius dispersed and he collapsed to his knees.
"I... Really hate... Doing that... Again..." said Marius.
"Marius! Marius, are you okay!" said Raphtalia.
"Stamina potion... Do you have it?"
Raphtalia took one of the potion Naofumi gave to her, took the cork out then handed it to Marius.
"We need to get out of here. Can you stand?"
After the potion recovered Marius's stamina, he slowly got up and summoned the spear back to his hand. Then, a strong tremor shook the cave. They quickly rode Filo and she ran back to the Shadow. After they arrived at the meeting point, they noticed the Blue Hourglass has disappeared.
"Hey, what happened to the-"
"There's no time! We have to escape!" the Shadow interrupted Raphtalia.
She teleported them outside near the entrance to the cave. The tremor grew more and more stronger, followed by a stronger sudden quake that caused them to fell to the ground. Soon, the tremor stopped, and they looked around their surrounding that was ravaged by the earthquake.
"Did we won... Is it over?" said Filo.
"I don't know." said Marius.
They then heard loud cheering of the armies from the distance. They moved up and saw the city right infront of the turtle's carcass. They looked down and saw the turtle's head was gone, leaving only the bleeding neck.
"Master Naofumi's plan worked." Raphtalia sighed in relief.
At the far distance on an open field, the citizens cheered after their home was saved.
"They did it..." Melty said, almost on the verge of tears.
"It's over. Let's go back." said Hanzo. He walked up to the princess and lended his hand.
"If I knew they would stopped the turtle before it could destroy the castle, we won't be in this much trouble." Melty wiped a single tear on the corner of her eye.
Naofumi slowly opened his eyes and realized he was in the royal clinic like last time. And just like last time, he used the Blood Sacrifice and it took its toll on his body. He looked around and saw Filo leaning on him next to Melty, both were asleep. And sitting on a chair next to his bed was Raphtalia also fell asleep waiting for him, and Rishia sleeping on a roll bed.
"Feeling well, Shield Hero?"
A voice startled Naofumi. He looked at his side and saw Hanzo leaning on a wall.
"Hanzo?" said Naofumi.
"It's been awhile."
"Master?" Filo woke up, "Master!", she hugged Naofumi and her movement woke Melty up.
Her loud voice woke up both Raphtalia and Rishia.
"Master Naofumi! You woke up!" said Raphtalia.
"Yeah, I must have you all worried." said Naofumi.
"Of course I was worried! Why would you used that curse again?!"
"Hey, I don't really have any choice you know. Speaking of which, that turtle's dead right?"
"Yes. It won't be a huge problem now."
"What a relief." Naofumi laid down, knowing it was all over, "Anyway, what's Melty doing here?"
"Hey! I heard they were bringing you here, so of course I come over!" said Melty.
"Alright, alright. You can go back to your castle now."
"Is that how you treat someone who came to visit you?!"
"Oh, and call the queen. I have loads of questions for her majesty."
Without saying a single word, Melty stormed out. But not without turning around and stuck her tongue out at Naofumi.
"I guess I'll thank all of you on her behalf." Hanzo walked up to the front of Naofumi's bed and bowed, "Thank you, Shield Hero. For saving us."
"You're welcome?" said Naofumi.
"Now I must take my leave. I have a princess to look after." Hanzo then headed towards the exit and started calling out to the princess.
"Hey, where's Marius?"
"He was here for awhile. But then he decided to joined the armies recovering the fallen soldiers." said Raphtalia, "He sounded very different when he left."
Carrying a slain soldier on his shoulder, Marius gently put the corpse down on the ground. He looked at the lifeless face of a man he never knew. His eyes were slightly open and Marius closed them. The soldier lost both of his arms and legs from the familiar attacks. He looked around and saw more corpses being laid on the ground. Not a single of them were intact. Headless, only a torso left, ripped in half. What would the family of these soldier feel after seeing their sons, fathers, husbands and brothers in a horrifying state?
And not just the knights, even the vikings were not spared from the gruesome fate. The vikings carried their slain brothers and sisters down from the carcass, as they ready to bring them back to their home on the north. Marius got up, turned around and entered the cave along with several of the knights, looking for more casualties.
