Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Mein carefully peeped around behind every single trunk of the trees she hid behind. A little bit from her right, Raphtalia is doing the same. Possibly trying to copy her surrogate mother's action. From her left, Naofumi is giving her a rather exasperated look. "Isn't that excessive, Mein? We are moving slower than a snail."
"Maybe? But I'd rather be slow and get caught up by our pursuers from behind than being caught by griffins above us." The princess shoots Naofumi a sharp glare while doing the 'shush' gesture like the mask worn by Faubley unspeakables. She peeks her eyes through the gap between the leaves in the crown she's hiding under. Above them in the sky, the griffins nesting on the mountain range had come out in full force. "An arrogant fool like Consevatie might throw us back in the dungeon again to have us publicly humiliated and executed for what we did back in Balafon. Which means we can still be rescued by someone else like what Lord Notches did, as unlikely as it is to happen again... but the griffins will tear us apart right here if we are found by them."
Raphtalia begins to tremble uncontrollably to Mein's right. The princess isn't sure if the hypothetical death she described had scared her surrogate daughter. Or she is reminded by whatever unspeakable trauma Consevatie The Younger must have subjected her to while she was under his dubious 'care'. Regardless, she pulls Raphtalia into a tight embrace to hopefully calm her.
In the distance, the cloud of griffins look more like a swarm of wasps (the normal sized ones, not the human sized one they saw near the city of Trumpet) out like their nest got destroyed. And for a good reason. They likely found their king passed out in their territory, with much of the land destroyed during Waerjak's fight with Fitoria, and the in-fight between the Unspeakable agents before it. Even if the avatar of Alaya erased the memory of the griffin king, they still knew something that's stronger than their ancient king is lurking in the mountain range. Or maybe they heard Waerjak's battle cry during his brief fight with Fitoria and think they are under invasion from Alaya's avatar and her filorial flock. Either way, the griffins have a good reason to be on such high alert.
Speaking of the earthbound demi-god and her speaker friend. They didn't deposit Mein's little group right back onto the site of battle where King Waerjak's unconscious form might still be at. That would have no doubt been a death sentence to their little group: One hero without his weapon, another with a broken one, and three common level adventurers without their class-up (one of them still unconscious) is nowhere near powerful enough to survive a full assault against a fully mobilized griffin kingdom. It's arguable if a full party of max leveled prestige range (level 100) adventurers would survive against such a near endless war of attrition.
And that's about all the good things the princess had to say about Fitoria and Metatron. Because the two demi-gods still left them by themselves in the same mountain range where the battle took place. Maybe she's being a bit too hard on Fitoria and Metatron. Perhaps whatever portal they opened to Yggdrasil can only be manifested within a certain range and they already did their best to keep them away from the warpath of the griffins. But considering their current situation (still being chased by the Three Heroes' Church, and now having a griffin kingdom above their head looking for them), Mein isn't in a charitable mood.
Chapter 121: Our Salvation
A sudden shuffling sound coming from their northwest makes everyone tense. Mein quickly pulls Naofumi down, and they shrink themselves into the shrub to their right. She looks back, and sees Sir Oersted is also kneeling behind them in the bush. Firo's pale golden hair is barely visible over his shoulder. The princess can only hope she doesn't wake up in the most inopportune time like Yukari did a few days ago. She'd have prayed to the Chief God too, except now she knows that the gods actually hate her and would most likely make her life even more miserable if she did.
Two figures emerge from the treeline not too long after, both of them females. The one in the front walks with her back straight, as if she's merely taking a leisure afternoon stroll in a garden rather than a thick mountain forest with a kingdom full of agitated griffins above her head. Her short, pale gray hair is messy, the longest strand only reaches the bottom of her chin. She wears the kind of long sleeved, exotic looking cloth favored by Quo'Tenlo nobility and ministers with one pretty big modification. Most Q'ten Lo clothing worn by their upper class tend to focus on covering their own body, as they consider the act of showing their skin to lack modesty that only a poor, filthy commoner would do. Yet, the woman's clothes are missing a large portion of fabric that completely exposes her shoulder, upper chest and her... assets Mein doesn't like this one already.
Her companion by comparison looks much more reasonable. In the much more reasonable way she walks with a slight bend of her body, and sticks to the shadow between trees. And in her much more modest way she dresses to pass for a wealthy female Melromarc citizen who decided that she wants to pursue a more adventurous life. In fact, the only thing that makes her look somewhat ridiculous is the large scythe she is carrying in her arm.
The princess tries to guess their story. A pair of wealthy, rich girls who decided to try adventuring on their own, perhaps? If that's the case, they picked the wrong place... and clearly the worst time to have their first trip into adventurous life. Griffin's Spine is an area that's extremely life threatening even for adventurers at the pinnacle of common level range at the best of times. Now the griffin kingdom is more or less ready for war, a pair of amateur adventurers would be walking into their deaths.
A strand of long, brown hair escapes the second woman's hairpin and flows in front of her. She brushes it back, clearly looking annoyed as she tilts her face up. "Those damn griffins. They have been going at it all day long. Hey, Akitsu. What do you think's up with that?"
The name is definitely Q'ten Lo, so Mein wasn't wrong in her guess even if gray hair isn't their typical descent. The gray haired woman (a mage dressed as a harlot?), now named Akitsu, has her feet gradually drifting to a stop. She slowly turns her head and body to look at her companion before opening her mouth. Akitsu's voice carries the same airiness as her motion, reminding Mein a little of both Fitoria and Metatron. "They are griffins, Yomi."
Which doesn't explain anything. Yomi (now that she thinks about it, doesn't it also sound like a Q'ten Lo name?) clearly agrees with Mein, considering her first action was rolling her eyes. "Right, right. Why did I ask you? You might be a bigger sister, but Master Motoyasu clearly dropped you on your head when you were a chick."
They were raised by the Spear Hero? Mein couldn't tell since they look to be young adults instead of little children. And their clothes clearly hide the wings they would have on their back.
"How did you know?" Yomi's response to Akitsu's reply is the same one Mein would have in her place. The much more properly dressed adventurer takes her free hand, slaps her own face, and keeps her hand there for a few brief moments.
"She said Motoyasu's name. Could she be one of his birds?" Naofumi's voice whispers into Mein's ears. Both of them being monarch filorial birds newly raised by the Spear Hero taking human form would certainly fit their strange appearance, names, and amateurish mannerism. They would only be a couple of weeks old at most if they were raised by Motoyasu after the 3rd wave. Intelligence can not replace one's life experience, no matter how supposedly 'smart' the one in question is.
Which is the reason why Mein hesitate to immediately stand up and ask both Akitsu and Yomi for help. The help from two monarch filorials is great if they need to fight. It would be especially helpful if they need to run. But it would be no use if their lack of adventuring experience attracts the large force of the griffins. Using Firo as a base, two filorial monarchs are strong, but they can't fight off thousands of griffins coming at them. Their speed would also be severely affected by the thick forest, a problem the griffins don't suffer from thanks to their flight ability. Would the potential benefit outweigh the risk they would no doubt suffer?
"Who's there?!" Yomi suddenly turns on her heels while brandishing her weapon. The (supposed) filorial queen yelled louder than Mein would like her to. Akitsu didn't say anything besides her scythe wielding companion, but her blank face and unfocused eyes also point vaguely towards the bush they are hiding under. Well, it looks like the Spear Hero's (supposed) children made Mein's choice for her.
"You guys be quiet! We don't want to attract the griffins. I'll try to handle this on my own." The princess raises herself up from the bush, holding her hands up in a gesture of appeasement. Both Yomi and Akitsu are agitated and clearly know where they are hiding. Delaying the meeting would do nothing more than make them more nervous, and risk the chance of them doing something unwise (like launching an attack) on their hiding space that would lead to their discovery from the griffins. She tries to keep her voice as low as possible while still having it carry the sense of urgency. "Please be quiet, friends. The griffins are agitated because their king had a fight with Alaya's avatar and lost. You don't want to get their attention."
"Lady Fitoria fought a griffin king? Damn, I wish I were there to see it!" Yomi's eyes grow wider, her lips split open. The young filorial monarch has a hard time hiding her own giddiness despite how she's trying to keep her voice down after hearing the alarm raised by Mein. "What did she do to the little kitten bird? Did she pluck his feathers out one by one?"
"No. It's a pretty short battle. He shot some feathers at her like they were arrows, she turned them into dust. And then he tried to pounce on her while covered in lightning bolts, and she put him to sleep with a wave of her hand." The princess takes a step back, her heel bumping into Naofumi's armor. Mein decided to be careful with this Yomi character, considering the sadistic streak she's showing. Firo is already bad enough with her casual act of violence, the princess doesn't want to find out what damage a filorial queen can do when she is actively trying to cause pain. "You said something about the Spear Hero?"
"Yes. Master Motoyasu and his fellow heroes are all at Stormwind-" Akitsu didn't finish her sentence before she's elbowed in her chest by Yomi. If the older filorial monarch felt pain, she didn't show it. Yomi did manage to stop her from saying anything more, but it already told Mein enough things. The Spear Hero, the Sword Hero and the Bow Hero are all at Stormwind. Unless someone took all three cardinal heroes hostage (hypothetically, Iris' family could do it), it's going to be the safest place to be. Even safer than the city of Zeltbole since their plan of hiding in there relies on the Three Heroes' Church or whoever else wants them dead can't find them in a city full of mercenaries and sellswords.
"Right, right. So yeah... you two can go back to whatever you were doing before we interrupted you. We'll just hide here for a little bit longer till the griffins go away, if you don't mind..." The princess begins to slowly lower herself back into the bush. It might be a wasted effort to pass her own group as harmless adventurers now, but Mein decided to have one last try. Yomi and Aktisu's interaction from before, and their interaction with Mein now makes the alarm ring louder than a church bell. A newly born child (no matter how... developed her body is) who got dropped on her head, and a younger child who is sadistically violent aren't the kind of companions she wants to travel with in such a precarious time and situation.
Mein didn't even lower her legs fully back into the foliage when one of her wrists was suddenly seized by Yomi's free hand. Yomi's iron grip is slowly crushing her joint, and the filorial queen's narrowing eyes both tell the princess the real threat behind a thinly veiled smile. "Why would a common adventurer care about the Spear Hero's whereabouts, I wonder? Could it be that maybe you are paid off by the Three Heroes' Church to gather information about Master Motoyasu. Or maybe you directly work for those fuckers?"
Mein has a lot of excuses in her head to explain why a supposed 'common adventurer' would want to know the whereabouts of a summoned hero. But it's also clear that Yomi isn't interested in hearing any of them. In fact, the filorial queen looks like she's simply trying to find an excuse to torture someone (which in Mein's unfortunate case, that someone is herself) for fun. As the force around her wrist increases, she hears the sound of people rising up from the bush behind her. Followed by Naofumi's voice. "Release Mein! We aren't working for the Three Heroes' Church. We are running away from them!"
An annoyed scoff on Yomi's face is slowly replaced by that of a recognition. Mein suddenly feels the force around her arm disappear. The princess narrows her eyes, and sees Yomi now kneeling a few steps back in front of her. Her head low on the ground, her long brown hair draped on the ground like a large blanket. Akitsu is also on her knees, but she keeps her body straight instead of bent over. The princess can't blame the older (by how much, she doesn't know) filorial queen since Akitsu wasn't the one who harmed her and threatened her with bodily torture. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you immediately, Master Shield Hero. Master Motoyasu had tasked my siblings to patrol around Griffin's Spine looking for you."
"Let me guess. Iris shows you some portraits of Master Naofumi painted from his images taken from memory crystals? I wasn't included in them?" Mein takes a step back, and tries to message the feeling back into her abused wrist back with her good hand.
"No. Most of the images recorded into the memory crystals focused only on Master Shield Hero. Not his companions." Mein isn't sure how she feels about Yomi's reply. Surely by this point, her 'good friend, and childhood playmate' Iris had informed everyone who 'Mein of Samphor' really was. It wouldn't have been that hard to find a portrait, or some memory record about Melromarc's first born princess, and pass them onto the people searching for Naofumi. It might even have been an honest mistake where she overlooked a 'minor' detail while preparing for an open war against the Three Heroes' Church.
The first princess can't help but wonder if there's additional meaning behind such an act of omission when it comes from someone of Iris' intelligence. If she dies during the conflict, it would leave Melty as the only legitimate heir to the Melromarc dynasty. Someone Iris had a prolonged period of influence over. Does Iris have some more ambitious prospects after all, hoping to act like Father did during Mother's earlier reign when she was still inexperienced at ruling an entire kingdom? While the title would no doubt pass onto the Spear Hero if both Mother and Father had some unfortunate accident, Spear Hero Motoyasu is also someone incapable of leading a parade. So the actual managing a kingdom part would naturally get delegated to his first wife, and her extended family.
"If you really are who you said you were. Help us get back to Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki." Naofumi's reply back to Yomi and Akitsu brings Mein out of her mind. Of course, the Shield Hero is once again right. It's pointless to wonder about a hypothetical scheme that might or might not have existed. Not when their lives are threatened by countless griffins, and pursuers from the Three Heroes' Church.
"As you wish, Master Shield Hero." Yomi and Akitsu both stand up. With a puff and a small cloud of dust, both of them take the form of their large, stout looking birds. Their elaborate dresses and coats turned into harnesses and saddles. Yomi's weapon now hangs by her side tied up by a strap on her harness. Akitsu's bird form has pure, single coloured light gray feathers all over like the hair of her human. Yomi on the other hand has mostly dull, white feathers mixed with light brown indicating that not only was she younger than Akitsu, she is also a mixed garden breed like Firo. Despite their supposed seniority and breed difference, Yomi is the one who spoke up once again. "Get on us, Master Shield Hero and companions. We'll take you to Stormwind as fast as our legs can run."
"No." Mein gives a second brief glance towards the direction the birds came from before promptly shooting down their suggestion. "You two are too big for this forest. You'll end up causing such a mess, all the griffins will be attracted to us immediately. And even if you two can outrun them, we might get dragged down from your backs by a stray branch or some fallen logs. Running full speed on your back is too dangerous."
"That's right. I was warned of riding through a forest when I was training as a squire. Especially one on the mountain like we are in. It should only be done by experienced knights who were well bonded with their steed. And only in a desperate situation when it had to be done. We are more likely to hurt ourselves." Mein turns her head to look at Sir Oersted. "It's much better for us to travel on foot till we leave the mountain. We can then run full speed to Stormwind where we'll be safe."
"Very well. At least allow us to accompany and protect you." Both Yomi and Akitsu change back to their human forms with another puff. The princess turns her head to look at the Shield Hero, noticing he is looking at her. She gives him a silent nod.
"Okay. We lost our guide back near Balafon Village. If you two had been patrolling around the mountain, you'd have to lead us north." Akitsu returns Naofumi's command with her usual blank looking face. Yomi on the other hand seemed rather happy, judging by her wide smile and energetic stride. She's clearly trying to make herself look good to the Shield Hero after her previous stunt.
Well, Mein suppose she should be happy that the sadist who joined them is at least a smart one who knows when to work and when to 'play'. She gave another look above the leaves at the griffin in the distance, and noticed a small group had detached themselves from the mass and was flying roughly in the same direction towards them. Either Yomi was loud enough to attract their attention, or something else near them made the griffins come to investigate. Either scenario is bad for them. "We need to go, Master Naofumi. Some griffins are coming our way."
"Right, you two in the lead. Come on." The Shield Hero gives a wave of his hand towards both filorial queens. Yomi immediately runs ahead into the thick of the trees, cutting down the shrubbery and clearing out their path as quietly as she can. Akitsu takes a bit more time to put her own body in motion. The possibly dim filorial queen still moves with the same airiness as before, but every step she takes now at least has a sense of purpose. And she's certainly not lagging behind anyone.
Mein might complain about Yomi leaving a clear trail for possible pursuers (be them griffin or men) to follow. But the biggest obstacle between them and the safety of a city with Naofumi's fellow heroes is this last stretch of thick forest and descending mountain. The plains to Stormwind City itself will provide no difficulties with two readily saddled filorial monarchs among them. The griffins would likely leave them alone once they escape the mountain range, and the Three Heroes' Church can't catch up to them with both the speed and stamina of two filorial queens.
The princess constantly stops her steps and looks back. Not because she is tired (although she is) from the long march to escape her life from the Three Heroes' Church that started south of Gallia city. She is still worried about the griffins, and the fear only grows as the group looming far in the sky she saw since their meeting with Yomi and Akitsu keep growing larger. She doesn't know how far they made it since they started their final stretch to their salvation, but when the griffins suddenly dived down somewhat south from them when they grew from the size of ants to the size of small birds. Not too long after, the sound of fighting can be heard from a distance. If the princess focuses her attention to hearing, she could swear there are loud, angry shouting in the distance too.
"Guess those griffins didn't come after us." Naofumi's voice sounds relieved. Mein wishes she shares his optimism. He pauses for a brief moment, clearly thinking about something. In the end, he shakes his head. "Let's... continue. It's probably a bit cruel to leave them with the griffins. But we need to make sure we are safe first."
"Someone is close to us. Very close. We can see them, if we are on open plains." Sir Oersted by contrast is much more cautious. He clearly shares Mein's own worry. It shouldn't have been a surprise if he was properly trained as a knight. They are supposed to lead the peasant levies and advise their ladies and lords in a war after all. Swinging a weapon is only half of the duty, providing strategy and logistical advice is the other. "It's possible they nearly bumped into us by coincidence. But the most likely one to find us among the mountain would be-"
"Consevatie. He must have used Raphtalia's slave seal!" A look of fear suddenly creeps up Naofumi's face. Before he has a chance to do or say anything else, Raphtalia suddenly runs headfirst towards the sound of fighting. At least she would have, if Mein didn't manage to grab her with both arms.
"Let go! Let me go!" Both of them fall onto the ground. Raphtalia kicking and screaming, while Mein wordlessly tightens her arms around the raccoon girl's waist as much as she can. "I'm going to check if the one fighting really is Consevatie. I have to lead him away! I can't let that creepy bastard catch Master Naofumi for a second time because of me!"
"Calm down, calm down you stupid girl!" The princess rolls herself around with Raphtalia on the ground, till she finally manages to force herself on top thanks to both Naofumi and Sir Oersted holding Raphtalia down. She crawls towards Raphtalia's face, till she's looking into the desperate eyes of her surrogate daughter. "It's already too late! He'll already know we were near if that's really him. And he'll just continue searching for Master Naofumi around. And do you think Master Naofumi would let you surrender yourself to Consevatie a second time? He'll follow you, and we'll be forced to fight Consevatie with whoever and whatever he brought along! If you have enough energy to fight me, use it to run with us! We only have to make it out of this forest while he's busy fighting the griffins and then we can all escape to Stormwind!"
Raphtalia's crazed eyes and face slowly calms down as Mein's words no doubt sink into her mind. After a few brief moments, she nods back while the sound of fighting still rages behind them. Mein, Naofumi and Sir Oersted release her, and she slowly stands back up alongside Mein. From the corner of her sight, the princess notices Sir Oersted picking up the still unconscious form of Firo from Akitsu. She turns her attention to Yomi, who had frozen about ten paces north from them. "Continue! We are going full speed ahead!"
Yomi and Akitsu share a brief look and nod with each other. They dip their heads down, as their much larger bird body returns with a puff. Yomi flaps her wing, knocking the scythe into the air and catches it in her beak. Akitsu turns herself around, the movement of her bird form is ironically much crisp compared to when she looked like a human. Her speech also seemed to have lost its usual airiness. "Get on us, Master Shield Hero and companions. Yomi will open the path, we'll run full speed ahead."
Yomi also turns her head to nod at them before looking straight north once again. There seems to be a brief glitter coming from her eyes when she suddenly begins to wave her head around. Multiple wind blades shoot out of the weapon she clenched in her beak, cutting trees and any other shrubbery down ahead of them. Once again, Mein would have complained about the loud mess they are making if their situation hadn't gotten as dire as it did. Akitsu's last words helped alleviate her concern somewhat. "We have other siblings scattered along the mountain range. They'll come over when they hear the sound of fighting."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Mein quickly begins to shove Naofumi and Raphtalia towards Akitsu. She sees Sir Oersted running ahead and leaping onto Yomi's back. The knight's riding skill is clearly much better than them, considering he has no difficulties getting on his ride, and stays on using one hand while holding Firo with the other. Once again, Raphtalia changes into her raccoon form and jumps into Akitsu's head like she did with Firo. The princess pushes Naofumi onto the saddle using her hands as a step ladder. Hearing the sound of battle growing dim behind her, Mein quickly flies onto Akitsu's back as well. No matter who is winning behind them, the victors will quickly come over and check their location with how much noise Yomi made to clear the way ahead.
Sure enough, Mein hears a voice as soon as Akitsu takes her first step. The low, gruff yet loud voice sounds as giddy as Yomi when she were fantasizing about how Fitoria would have brutalized King Waerjak. It's a voice she hasn't heard that many times, but the princess doubts that she would ever forget. "SHIELD HERO!"
Neither Akitsu, nor Yomi stopped to look back at who was pursuing them. Good for them! Focusing on their own escape is obviously the more reasonable act, rather than seeing Roger of Ajax for his ugly face. Loud booms and the sound of something heavy sailing through the air can be heard behind them, and soon Mein realizes what's happening when a tree falls into the path 'cleared' out by Yomi. Said tree's crown now buried into a trench dug out by its own trajectory, large clouds of dirt still cling on its roots. The traitorous battle 'saint' of Romalia Four Heroes Church pulled out a tree, and threw it at them like a javelin. And judging by the sound of things sailing through the air, this isn't the first one.
Mein tries to turn around on Akitsu's saddle. She tries to return fire with her magic, distract the giant thug from attacking them like a human shaped siege engine even if she can't kill him. Unfortunately, she lacks the riding skill to do so. With how fast Akitsu is picking up her speed, Mein nearly falls off the saddle as soon as she takes one hand off Naofumi's waist. The princess had to give up her attempt at distracting Roger of Ajax, and settled to ducking her head down instead.
She hears something else behind her as trees and giant boulders fall around them. It sounds like glass shattering, but somehow in reverse. Against her better judgment, the princess twists her head around and tries to look at it with the corner of her eyes. She sees a great wall made of ice standing behind them. Mein briefly wonders how it got there, before noticed small glittering snowflakes on the edge of Akitsu's wings. This bird must be an ice mage!
Yomi and Akitsu continue to make their way forward, practically flying their way down the last slope of Griffin's Spine. Behind them, the sound of more ice walls getting knocked down by Roger of Ajax, and more getting raised back up by Akitsu can be heard. As Yomi clears more obstacles in front of them, the forest itself seems to part ways in front of them. Mein can even see the plain north of Griffin's Spine stretching as far as the eyes can see. That's when she feels herself get thrown into the air once again. She falls hard on the ground hard, seeing the world quickly spin in her eyes as her body rolls forward till she hits something and comes to a full stop. The princess looks back, and recognizes the 'something' she hits ends up being a stump with the rest of the tree cut down, no doubt by Yomi's wind blade.
The princess looks back, and sees Naofumi's body also comes to a rest against another cut tree. Raphtalia is running towards them a short distance in the back. Her small, agile raccoon form no doubt had a much easier landing than the two of them. The whole thing reminded her of how they were ambushed by Leon Bartfort's group barely half a day back. Unfortunately, Akitsu is no doubt in a much worse state than Firo found herself in. Her entire body had been covered by a fallen tree, Mein couldn't even see the form of the Spear Hero raised bird.
The greatest sign of divine comedy comes from how the stomp that stopped her body is located right on the foot of the mountain range they run down. Only a few dozens of steps, barely a few seconds with Akitsu's speed and they would have reached the plain where the only thing the birds would have to worry about is running as fast as their legs could carry themselves north to Stormwind. So close, yet so far.
A layer of frost suddenly begins to cover the fallen tree that buried Akitsu. A few moments later, it exploded into thousands, possibly millions of pieces of frozen splinters, forcing Mein to raise her hands and cover her face. When the princess puts her arm down, she sees Akitsu had once again assumed her human form. She is half laying, half sitting on the ground. Her arms move back, pushing her body back towards the foot of the mountain. The act alone tells Mein that something is wrong with Akitsu's legs.
The princess feels a warmth washing over her body, numbing the pain she is feeling all over. She knows it's Naofumi, dispensing his healing miracle to her again. Normally, she would be grateful for the treatment. Not this time, he has someone that needs his help more. She points her finger at Akitsu in the distance. "Heal Akitsu first. We need her to get away!"
Mein feels the support she has from her right side vanishes as Naofumi runs up the slope over to Akitsu. His hand glows with the golden healing light, while he pulls Akitsu back down the mountain with him. Raphtalia helps the princess stand up. She turns her head back, and sees Yomi running back at them with Sir Oersted riding atop of her. The two of them likely didn't realize Akitsu had been taken down till they ran much further north.
"Can you stand up, Akitsu?" Mein's attention is wrestled away from Sir Oersted and Yomi as Naofumi pulls Akitsu to a stop right beside her. The princess casts her eyes to the filorial queen still on her back. She's grateful not saying a large, bloody gash or Chief God forbid, broken bone poking out of Akitsu's legs. But the strange way her legs bend tells Mein that the bird's legs are definitely broken.
"No. I need stronger healing than what you can do. Master Shield Hero." Akitsu's answer (and Naofumi's question, for that matter) is rather redundant considering the state she is in. It's plain for anyone who isn't blind, or dumb to see that there'll be no way for Akitsu to stand up on her own legs, let alone carry everyone around and run like the wind. But it's still withering to hear the words coming from her own mouth. "I will stay with you, and fight your pursuers off to my best till my siblings, or Master Motoyasu comes to help us."
Akitsu's words successfully reminded Mein what should be their focus right now. She takes a step ahead of Raphtalia, nearly tumbling on her feet till her body half falls, half crashes onto Naofumi's shoulder. At least it caught the Shield Hero's attention. "Get on Yomi and run to Stormwind, Master Naofumi! You can't get captured by Consevatie again!"
"NO! I'm not leaving all of you behind! I can help you with my miracles even without my shield-" The booming sound of a pulled up tree sails over their head once again. The princess turns around, and sees it falling towards Yomi and Sir Oersted. It seems like Roger of Ajax, or perhaps someone with him knows the importance of keeping a filorial monarch away from their target. The Gallian knight throws himself on the ground, and Yomi jumps away from the makeshift javelin. But more gigantic projectiles flew towards her. After a few failed attempts, the bird seemed to realize her enemy's goal of keeping her away from rescuing everyone. She promptly turns around, and leaves everyone behind as she runs north towards Stormwind in the distant horizon. Mein can only hope the garden-breed filorial queen is going to bring them reinforcement, and not leave them all behind as she runs for her own life.
Sir Oersted, with Firo in his arms, continued running towards them on foot. Now mercifully free from boulders and logs fired from a humanoid ballista. He reaches them only a few moments before Roger of Ajax. The traitorous battle 'saint' of Romalia isn't the only one, as about three dozen armed men with the triangle symbol of the Three Heroes' Church, or House Consevatie's golden feather over their chest walks beside him. The very ground shakes under every single step the giant made. He is still mostly naked, showing a well built body that's ripped with muscles and covered by scars. Mein notices some newer looking, scorched marks on his chest, possibly from whatever Naofumi did to him shortly before their escape from Balafon. He sneers down at them, and spits on the ground in front of his feet. "End of the line for you and your little followers, cunt boy."
"And what an end it was. Shield Hero. You caused me quite some trouble, and two of my girls." Consevatie The Younger strolls out from behind Roger of Ajax. His eyes slowly drift over to Akitsu, as a perverted smile appears over his face. "And what do we have here? A little bird who is looking for Ashikabi? Don't worry, I'm sure you will find me very much suitable for your needs."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Akitsu holds her hand up at Consevatie, and a jagged ice berg erupts up under the feet of their pursuers. Screams of pain and rage breaks out among Consevatie's men, while Roger of Ajax tries to get through Akitsu's attack by punching and kicking the ice blocks.
Mein grabs Akitsu's left side while Naofumi is still holding onto her right. The two of them carry Motoyasu's wounded child back north while Sir Oersted and Raphtalia hold their weapons alongside them. The princess herself doesn't know what the purpose of them backing away serves now considering Akitsu can no longer run with her legs broken. Perhaps it's to get as far away from a monstrous thug, an insane man with a delusion of grandeur, and the lackeys they brought along. Or maybe they still want to get as close to Stormwind as they can. Either way, her body seemed to make the decision for her mind.
The princess soon comes to regret the choice she made in haste when a group of riders come at them on the road. Even in the distance, they can see the golden triangle on the banner they fly being. Reinforcements from the Three Heroes' Church.
The riders themselves have blood on their armor, and the scale on the raptors they are riding. Still fresh, not yet fully dried up which showed they went through a recent battle with someone. The posture they take on top of their steed shows, with over a half of them hunched low towards the back of their ride. Strangely enough, the raptors they ride seem to be more energetic than their riders with their clawed feet and arms shuffling about. A few even snap their jaws at those beside them as the riders come to a stop. Yet, despite the fatigue the knights showed, their battle formation is still orderly rather than chaotic. Ready to jump into battle at a moment's notice.
"Nowhere left to run, you little-" Roger of Ajax steps through the icebergs created by Akitsu as he stomps his way closer and closer to Naofumi. He cracks his knuckles, sneering menacingly at his intended prey while mumbling vulgar taunt. Yet, his ramble is suddenly stopped when a spear gets tossed right at him, hitting him on his chin and causes him to recoil back. He glares his bloodshot eyes over at his supposed allies. Confusion written all over his face. "ARGH! WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"Roger of Ajax, former Blessed Battlemaster of Romalia church of Four Heroes. You are being charged for committing treason and heresy!" A young voice breaks the silence of the newly come Three Heroes' Church knights. Mein didn't recognize him due to the speaker completely covered in armor, but she still knows the voice of Jaune. "By the power vested in me, you are under arrest! If you attempt to resist, you will be put down on the spot!"
End Note:
We are finally back to the final arc of Three Heroes Church storyline. What I considered to be the relative high point of canon Rising of the Shield Hero. Well... I'm hitting the ground running (hopefully) with this chapter and bringing back some old faces from before. He's not here in this first chapter of the final arc, but time is definitely ticking down towards the final clash with Pope Balmus. For those who are used to seeing the Pope of Three Heroes Church being portrayed as a bigger clown than Palpatine... I hope there's some surprise waiting for this last arc for you.