I awoke to the sounds of battle. That should have had me on alert, but it didn't, my head being filled with fluff, forcing my thoughts to not be quite so sharp. Instead, they bounced around as I tried to push the large bird bodies off me, literally digging my way out of the pile, which shifted just enough to say they were deliberately holding me down, making me groan a bit, as they proved quite heavy.
Luckily, when I started to make it more difficult to keep me down, they scattered. In fact doing it so quickly enough that I dropped half a meter to the ground, causing me to groan a little as I rose up, the fluff in my head fading away. A bit too quick just to be from the pain, which made me realize that my befuddlement was likely something caused by the birds, as I got to my feet, and looked towards the place the fight was going on.
Blinking away sleep, I saw Naofumi and Raphtalia standing at the edge of an open spot in the ruins, their eyes locked on something, and following their gaze, I saw Filo and Fitoria locked in combat…well okay, it was mostly Filo trying to get a good hit in on Fitoria, who dodged and countered, but nowhere near as hard as she could have, given Filo wasn't reduced to a pile of feathers in seconds, making me think I might be dreaming as I approached cautiously.
The two were, fortunately for Filo, in their human forms, which allowed them a relatively equal measure of physical combat ability. If they'd been in their filolial forms, large as Filo was in comparison to the normal ones, she'd barely come up to Fitoria's ankle. Still, even without the height advantage, Fitoria was certainly still the one in control, moving her hands, and summoning bursts of wind from her palms.
Following them, my eyes suddenly locked on Princess Melty, standing up, because she was currently trapped in flowing rings of water magic that looked very, very sharp, making me wonder what the heck was going on, until I glanced back at Raphtalia and Naofumi, who were both shouting things towards the two combatants that I wasn't able to hear from where I was, but I could see their faces.
Raphtalia looked concerned, her face was set with worry, and had she been alone, I would have expected her to leap into the fray, or perhaps to at least go to the Princess and try to free her. She had Naofumi standing beside her, however, and while he didn't require the same level of protection I did from my party, she was his 'Sword' and would probably refuse to leave his side without an order.
Naofumi…looked almost like a sports fan watching their team play a game they knew they'd lose, but was excited for anyway. He was smiling, and his eyes were shining with delight every time Filo dodged around Fitoria's slower than normal attacks. His voice SOUNDED quite concerned, but none of that made it to his face, as he directed his feathered daughter around, giving her tips and such.
It was only then that I decided to use (Insight) to check and see what was going on with everyone, and finding that Melty was currently in a (Water Blade Prison), which had a damage of several hundred per second if she tried to pass through the spinning rings, which were described as being able to cut steel, probably explaining why no one had bothered to go near them, if they'd tried anything else.
However, other than a small hit to HP, she was perfectly fine. That led me to look towards the other two, finding that neither Raphtalia nor Naofumi had any effects or damage on them, which meant they were staying out of the fight for other reasons. For Filo…well she was damaged, but not by as much as she should have been. Heck, she'd avoided most of the attacks sent her way, which only as I watched her move was I realizing how odd that was, given Fitoria's Movement score was several times all of Filo's stats combined.
A quick glance at the Filolial Queen's sheet brought me up to speed, however. She wasn't equipped with the Carriage right now, having only her base stats, and even then, she was obviously not putting her all into this fight. She WANTED Filo to win, which made sense. This had nothing to do with beating her, this was all about seeing if Filo would keep fighting in the face of an opponent who was simply her superior in every way.
Considering she'd thrown herself against the T-Rex several times last night, and played bait for it during the whole fight as the thing had it out for her for some reason, I felt this was probably unnecessary, but I also wasn't a giant chicken monster thing, so who was I to judge? Regardless, Fitoria seemed to grow bored with just batting Filo around, and raised her hands to the sky, creating a barrier that shimmered in the air between herself, her hostage, and the would-be rescuer.
Filo, without missing a beat, leapt into the air, and came down, her fingers, covered with iron nail things I hadn't noticed before, shone with magical light, enough that for a brief instant, they were slightly brighter than the sun. Her status effects also had 'Focused' in them, which gave her a power boost…and then several more times, as apparently she was stacking 'Focused', which multiplied her power many times over.
For a moment, a fraction of a second, Filo was stronger than Fitoria by sheer force of will, and the barrier between them shattered like glass, allowing Filo to fall right towards her. Fitoria, with a smile on her face, reequipped the Vassal Carriage, ending the fight by catching Filo's attack with a finger, and then tossing her down onto the ground, before floating back up to where Princess Melty was still trapped, and with a wave of her hand, releasing her.
"You have proven yourself, Young Filo, to my satisfaction," she declared, and Filo, who looked like she was getting up to fight, despite how much pain she was obviously in, smiled at the compliment. Luckily, before she could fall over, Naofumi rushed to her side, catching her in his arms, as I walked out of where I'd been watching, causing Raphtalia to stare at me, for a moment, before brandishing her blade towards Fitoria.
"I was beginning to wonder if she already killed you or something," she said, making me start a bit, as I was unaware that was ever a thing to be worried about, but I shrugged.
"She had her children keeping me asleep, apparently. I woke up only a bit ago. Still, it seems I missed quite the morning. Would anyone care to fill me in?" I asked, and she actually smirked at me, as Naofumi, Melty, and Filo joined us, while still looking towards Fitoria who looked…completely passive. If she regretted putting Filo through her paces and threatening/holding Melty hostage, it didn't show at all on her face.
"Bow Hero, you must hear this proclamation as well, but given your…build I believe you called it, I took efforts to keep you from being allowed to boost Filo before her testing was done, so listen well to my words," she said, sounding very 'Royal' in her tone, and getting a rise out of me, as I didn't like being ordered around anymore than Naofumi. Still, I also wasn't quite so belligerent about it either, as Fitoria had done nothing yet to cause me to distrust her, so I just listened.
"You, Naofumi, and the other Two Heroes must learn to work together. It is only by your efforts that the assaults on this world might be blunted, and my own mission made easier," she began, and Naofumi scoffed.
"She's been on that all morning. That and how she had to be certain Filo's strength was not simply in her stats, but in her spirit," he explained, sounding like he didn't see the point with it, but the way he petted Filo's head in his arms said he was proud of her for showing up the Queen of Filolials for a single instant all the same.
"I don't believe our discussion last evening ever informed you of my mission, so allow me to elaborate," she said, motioning for me to come closer, which I did. I had to admit, I had opinions on how hard exactly Naofumi had tried to make us listen, but I would hold my own thoughts on that back, while Fitoria explained herself.
"You are aware that, when the Waves strike this world, they do so in every corner of it, disgorging monsters at a terrifying pace, such that only the strongest of nations can resist them, if even then," she began, and I nodded.
"But, if we kill the boss, those monsters are turned into fodder at best, as they don't have time to fully acclimate to this world. Heck, fast enough, and they die on their own, like some of the ones during the Chimera Wave," I admit, remembering that some of the undead back during that point had literally turned to dust when we'd beaten the boss.
"And what, praytell, do you think happens to the boss monsters in other regions?" she asked, and I…well, I sort of looked at her blankly as I considered that statement.
"The way the King explained it, it sounded like they die as well, once one of them is felled. Given your tone, I would guess otherwise though," I answered.
"Indeed, the bosses in the other regions remain, even if one of their number is felled and they are rendered far weaker than they were. Even reduced, however, they are no pushovers. Nations can still fall to them, and many innocent lives will be lost in the meantime," she explained bluntly, leaving me thinking that this whole setting sounded more and more stacked against us the longer I stayed here.
Together, we were stronger. It was only by a combined effort that the Soul Eater, and Glass, had been defeated. Any one of us on our own would have been stumped by the puzzle boss' condition. Heck, I was quite certain, even if he wouldn't admit it, that Naofumi wouldn't have even realized there was a puzzle, and would have simply dismissed the flying ship as some kind of set dressing, before going off to find the boss elsewhere.
Meanwhile, our strength was simply not equal to the task of winning most engagements on our own. Even with our parties, the Soul Eater was a tough fight, and if they only went up from there? This whole power curve seemed designed to overwhelm us, especially given how easy the Chimera had been. Oddly, not unlike the Test that Fitoria had just used on Filo, a contest that seemed insurmountable, but we were still given the tools to win, if we exhausted ourselves.
"My mission, given to me by the Hero who raised me, is to deal with the remnants left behind, ensuring the safety of as many as possible," she said, and that caused me to realize just how much work she probably put into this…and why her flock was so strong. After all, even with one hundred members, they were at least one tenth her natural strength each to give her the bonus they were.
"Okay, so given your stats, and the ability of the Carriage, I seriously doubt you're asking us to help you fight the bosses. And you're not offering to help us fight the bosses as they come, since we have to do that ourselves, right?" I ask, and she nods.
"My power, strong as it is, does not work when the Wave strikes this world, and thus, no matter where I am, it will take time to find the Wave's location, let alone the Boss, which you, as Heroes, are naturally drawn to," she explained, and I took a moment process that, before snapping my fingers.
"That's why the Vassal Weapons exist!" I shouted, and the rest of the party seemed taken aback by my outburst, as I almost felt like doing a giddy little dance. Smiling, I decided to explain.
"They're the cleanup crew. They allow eight individuals from this world to gain power like us, but if the only reason was to just be like, a backup or a leveling system storage, then there wouldn't be a point to them. But if we're fighting the big bad boss, we kill it, and the Vassal Weapons then deal with the leftovers, while we rest, recover, and then set out again," I say, and the others seem to take a while to process that, before Naofumi shrugs.
"It's not a perfect system, but yeah, I guess that makes sense. What was that about 'leveling system storage' though?" he asks, and I smirk at him.
"I'll explain later. Still, if she wants us to work together, I don't see why she needs to tell us to do it. Aren't we doing so already?" I ask, and Fitoria scoffs.
"You quarrel and bicker when together, even when the Waves are upon you. You waste time fighting amongst each other between Waves, rather than focusing on powering up, or trying to protect others. Naofumi has seen little in the way of support, and even now, were you not forced by circumstances together, I doubt either of you would be within kilometers of each other," she said, and I looked to Naofumi who looked at me, and we both sigh.
"She's not wrong. The whole false accusation thing, everything the Princess has put Motoyasu up to, and that whole 'duel' thing? I haven't exactly been welcomed amongst the group," he says, and I shrug.
"To be fair, it's not like you gave a lot to like either. I gave you some of the reward from the Chimera Wave after the duels cost us both a bit of money. You just stormed out afterwards without a word. And during that confrontation in the restaurant, while there's plenty of blame to go around, I still feel you confronted us in the worst way possible, and made, at best, a flawed case for your side," I said, and he scratched the back of his head.
"Can't deny I wasn't on my A-game, yeah. Still, we're getting better, and I don't doubt these 'circumstances' are already gonna change everything about our relationships, when we get back together," he admitted, and I couldn't argue.
"The pair of you would have no object to me transporting you directly to the other two Heroes, then?" she asked, and that brought both of us up short, as it was one thing to know we'd probably come out the other side of that confrontation as a closer knit group of…acquaintances bordering on friends hopefully. It was quite another to be thrust into the situation on a dime, but we had said we'd do it, so both Naofumi and I agreed, which made Fitoria smile in a way that was just this side of pleasant.
