Chapter Forty-Seven: Showdown Part One: The Bastard
"Way to go Kizuna!"
"That was a good victory speech you gave there. Well done."
"Aw, L'Arc, Glass, you're embarrassing me."
"I have told you, you're supposed to… ah, never mind."
The small group was just one of the many who stood in the grand courtyard at the front of the castle of Sickle. A large festival was in full swing, as everyone celebrated the defeat of the Demon Dragon and the fall of its monster nation.
Kizuna, the hero whose appearance had saved everyone, was happily greeting every single ally and friend that she'd made along the way on her long and arduous journey. It was not a small number, judging by the size of the festival. There'd been many helping hands along their path.
One ally, however, stood near the back of the large party, away from everyone else. He nursed a glass of water in his hands, a look of mild disdain and frustration painted on his face while no one was watching.
'How utterly annoying.' It was all thanks to his genius plan and strategy that they'd achieved victory! Yet that dumb brat hadn't even bothered to mention that to everyone there?! But did anybody care about that?
Noooo. She was their savior. She was the one they were giving all the credit to.
"You saved my life out there. Thank you, lady Kizuna." An elderly nobleman bowed his head deeply.
"Aw shucks, it was nothing." The girl crossed her arms behind her head bashfully.
Kizuna this. Kizuna that. It was all that Kyo was hearing at this damn festival.
"The prince wasn't half bad himself." A noblewoman giggled.
"It's a shame he's only interested in that gem friend of his." Another noblewoman sighed.
"Maybe we could make a move on the Katana Hero instead." The first woman suggested. "I think he's still single."
"The Vassal Scythe and the Vassal Fans wielders did well commanding the armies against the monster hordes." A soldier said to his comrades. "It was almost like they read the Demon Dragon's every move!"
Of course, they did, because he told them what the dragon might try to do! Even the moody ghost bitch and that dumb redhead were getting bits of credit that should have been his. His!
Those strategies, the way they'd coordinated their armies, that had been all Kyo there! Not a single ounce of brain cells had been contributed by those two! ONLY HIM!
…
"Bah." The Book Hero turned away from the insulting spectacle in front of him.
It wasn't like it mattered anyway. Killing that stupid dragon was just a means to an end for him. Now, he would have time to pursue his own goals without the threat of anything else trying to destroy the world for at least a few years.
Yes. He'd show everyone. He'd make them all recognize his true greatness. He'd make everyone here pay for underestimating and mocking him.
Oh, he knew they were mocking him. No one was saying anything to him or even looking in his general direction, but it was evident on their faces. They all thought that he was just some lowly bookworm and paper pusher that didn't amount to anything.
Well, he'd show them all for restraining his potential, shoving him into some tiny cubicle, and designating him as just another desk jockey.
Yes, he'd show them-
"Hey, Kyo!"
The Book Hero was startled and nearly dropped his drink. "H-Hunting Hero-sama. Don't startle me like that!" He accidentally snapped.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Kizuna looked down apologetically. Kyo felt a little sick inside. Look at her, pretending as if she cared again.
Disgusting.
Right, he had to make a good show of faith and respect. "It's alright." He waved her off dismissively and shook his head. "What are you doing here anyway though Hunting Hero? Isn't the rest of the party over there?" Kyo tried to direct her back to her posse of idiots, but she quickly interrupted him.
"Geez Kyo, I told you to stop calling me that. Even Glass is calling me by my name these days!" The twin-tail-haired girl pouted cutely. Then, she immediately perked up. "Anyway, I'm here to personally thank you, obviously!"
…
Huh?
What did she just say?
He must have let his mask of indifference slip and revealed the dumbfounded expression beneath it because the girl grinned at him widely and continued. "It was thanks to you that all of our friends made it through safe and sound! Even the armies suffered very few casualties thanks to your strategies. I know you didn't get to fight yourself for the same reasons as Ethnobalt, but like him, you still contributed massively to our success!"
She… was she actually…?
Yea. Right. "I was just doing my job as a Vassal Hero. Nothing more." He responded casually, but Internally, he was seething.
That bitch. As if she really was thankful for his contributions. Why didn't she mention him specifically during her victory speech then?
"Oh, and also, I'm planning to make an announcement in a few minutes." Kizuna continued, unaware of the inner thoughts of the Book Hero. "To honor those who contributed the most to our victory and award them medals of recognition for it. Would, would you mind if I were to call you up first?" She asked hopefully.
…
Before Kyo could respond, she hastily continued, sounding slightly frantic.
"N-Now before you say anything, just know that I really want to do it! L'Arc and Glass and the others agreed that you and several others deserve this honor! But I wanted to ask you about it first since I know that you really hate surprises!
"I recall that you're not particularly fond of crowds and spotlights either, and I respect that, but we really want to give you and the others the recognition you deserve for all you did to save the world. That's the second reason why I came here personally to talk to you."
…
"I…" Kyo almost opened his mouth to accept her offer. Then, he shook his head. "No, it's alright, I don't need such cheap showmanship." He looked away and rubbed his arm awkwardly. This girl was infuriatingly sincere at times. "Your thanks is enough."
"Are you sure?" Kizuna asked, sounding a little disappointed.
"Yes...yes, you made the right call to come to me first about it, I don't particularly care about award ceremonies." Kyo looked over the rest of the party with bitterness. He especially didn't like it when others would be awarded alongside him. They hadn't contributed nearly as much as him. "If that's all then go and have fun, or whatever."
"Alright!" She smiled again and proceeded to hug him, making him go rigid in response. "Oh, and remember, my offer to join me and the others for our next fishing trip is still on the table!"
"Fishing requires a lot of careful attention and patience, you know! And you have those in spades!" Kizuna smiled at him happily.
"I'll… think about it," Kyo answered after a moment.
"I'll think about it...?" Kizuna smiled coyly at the book hero, making him sigh and roll his eyes.
"I'll think about it ...Kizuna."
"See! I knew you could do it!" She clapped her hands in front of her happily and grinned again. "Alright, gotta go do that award ceremony now! Hope you take me up on that offer! There's nothing more satisfying than fishing with friends, you know!" Kizuna waved happily at him as she ran off to another section of the party.
...
"Fishing, huh...?" Kyo muttered to himself and looked down at his reflection in the glass of water that he was holding. He never did have an opportunity to go camping with anyone, let alone, with a group of friends to hang out together. To be honest, it all sounded kind of stupid to him, but maybe...
…
Kyo's reflection in the water frowned at him and the book hero downed his glass before setting it down on a nearby counter. He started to walk away as Kizuna began her announcement.
No. What the hell was he thinking? Why would he want to stoop down to their level and 'hang out' with those idiots? And what the hell was that pity offer anyways? She should have been begging someone like him to join them on their %^^&* camping trip. Who the hell did she think she was?
...
And besides, it's not like he could, even if he wanted to. There were still things that he had to do and distractions such as these would just make it more complicated later on when the time for him to act would come.
He realized that he never did take her up on that offer.
Kyo stared vacantly at the crystal ball in front of him, not really paying attention to the battle against the Spirit Tortoise's heart that could be seen raging within as he reminisced on the past.
"Heh, you've gotten awfully quiet," Motoyasu spoke out above tiredly. "Did you crap your pants in fear already after seeing what my bros can do?"
Kyo didn't respond, merely continuing to stare vacantly ahead of him. His irrational fear had long since passed after gauging the shield and bow's power capabilities. However, it was now replaced with an equally annoying and irrational feeling.
Like something was wrong.
It appeared soon after he tested out his human mimic types, but it made no sense. They were expendable and their loss was projected to be at around eighty percent probability. The field test was a success and he managed to seriously rattle some of his enemies in the process, judging by how one of them was even reduced to tears and had been a breath away from taking her own life.
Was there something else then? But no matter how many times he checked and double-checked his defenses and systems, he found everything to be in cold, perfect order. So what was causing this gnawing feeling in his chest then?
It was as puzzling as it was annoying and troublesome.
"Uh? Hello? Did you finally figure out a way to soundproof these things or something?" Motoyasu called out again after no biting remark towards him came even after a whole minute.
"Not now your majesty," Kyo replied absentmindedly. "I am busy, go ask the Boat Hero if you need any assistance."
...
"...what?" Motoyasu spoke out after a pregnant pause.
The book hero stiffened in his seat.
"What did you just call me-GAAHH!" Another powerful current of electricity interrupted the Spear Hero.
"Silence! I am not in the mood for your idiotic ramblings!"
The Spear Hero sagged tiredly in his prison, though he was still conscious.
Kyo's eyes wandered back to his crystal ball. Oh, they'd killed the heart and opened the pathway. Figures. He stood up and let his desk and chair to sink back into the floor.
The rats had managed to make their way through the maze. How annoying. He would have thought the heart would have been powerful enough to beat them. But apparently, it wasn't.
Well, as the old saying goes, if you want to do something right, you should do it yourself.
It was time to put on a show.
"I've been expecting you!"
There they all were, in the core of the Spirit Tortoise.
It was bigger than Naofumi had thought. The room was long and wide. Perfect for them to fight in comfortably without needing to worry about any collateral damage.
In the center of the room, a giant, glowing core-spun in the air above a crystalline structure. Behind it on the back wall, two familiar figures were encased in crystal.
"Ren!" "Motoyasu!"
Wyndia and Rino immediately rushed forward upon seeing the two trapped heroes.
"Meteor Shield!" Naofumi barely stopped them in time as razor-sharp sheets of papers came crashing down from the ceiling in front of them, slamming into his barrier.
The bubble-shaped construct was immediately destroyed, and the Shield Hero felt his arms going numb as the pages hit his shield.
"Tch ch ch." The bastard appeared from behind the core. A smug grin on his face. "Come now. Did you really think I'd just let you walk in here and take my batteries away that easily?" He asked in a snide tone. "Common sense ain't so common now these days, huh?"
Naofumi felt his anger spike upon seeing him. Kyo was about as tall as Naofumi. And while L'Arc had described him as an alchemist, he really hadn't been kidding about his appearance.
The young man was decked out in the tackiest getup imaginable, with at least half of the ensemble being made out of various belts and bottles. He was loosely covered by a very gaudy gold-lined and jewel-encrusted cloak. And, if Naofumi wasn't mistaken, he was wearing double gloves and double boots over double jackets.
He was, unquestionably, a walking crime against fashion.
"You're going to tell us about common sense while dressed like some S&M fetishist who just mugged a king?" Naofumi asked skeptically.
…
"...hah. If you're trying to bait me into losing my cool, you'll have to try something that isn't such a childish uninspired remark!" Kyo straightened out proudly, even while his left eye twitched slightly.
Naofumi had only heard no more than a couple of sentences from Kyo, and yet he already hated the sound of his voice. It was like he had to make himself sound like the smartest guy in the room.
"You sure about that? You're looking pretty hot-headed down there." The exhausted, but defiant voice of Motoyasu called out from above. "If I could only get down from here to take a closer look, I bet I could even see the steam that is coming out from your ears, nerd."
Kyo immediately turned around, activating the crystal prisons behind him. "You, shut up!"
Naofumi's eyes widened in surprise. That… Motoyasu had been awake. And now, the prison he was in was shocking him and Ren. Both screamed in pain.
"Stop it!" Rino shouted in fear.
"You're hurting him!" Wyndia had tears in her eyes. Ren was so close, but he was being hurt before their eyes.
Kyo snapped his fingers, and the shock treatment stopped.
Motoyasu groaned and spat out some more bile. The front of his clothes was stained with it. Ren simply went back to sagging in his cell.
Wyndia's eyes widened some more. He… Ren almost looked like he was dead. Even though his health bar was still half full.
"Man, that blonde has been nothing but a pain in my #$%! He hasn't shut up ONCE during his whole stay here!" Kyo ranted. "If he'd only be as weak and submissive as that chuuni loser beside him, I'd be having no issues whatsoever!"
A dark look crossed Naofumi's features. He had honestly not felt this angry in quite a while. Literally every fiber of his being wanted to grab this guy by the throat, and… and...
Cursed Abilities Increased!
Shield of Wrath III Unlocked!
Huh? Had his Cursed Shield just gotten a power boost? That probably should have been extremely concerning to Naofumi. But he was simply too angry at Kyo to focus properly on that right now.
"Let them go!" Itsuki yelled at the Book Hero next.
"Now why would I do that?" Kyo chuckled and shrugged from his elevated position near the core. "They're the source of my power. I need them to make sure that my plans proceed smoothly."
"You're killing them in order to do it!" Itsuki screamed, finally losing his cool completely.
"Oh yea, that is a bit unfortunate, isn't it?" Kyo made a mocking expression of being thoughtful as he nodded at Itsuki's outburst. "To be fair, sucking them this dry was not my original intention. It's only because of that stupid, fat, ugly giant bird outside that I'm being forced to do this!" He suddenly frowned and threw his hands out in bombastic fashion. As he did so, part of the room's wall came to life.
They were seeing a projection of the fight outside.
The Tortoise had four heads now. Each maw opened up wide, revealing numerous lines of razor-sharp teeth within that weren't there before as they unleashed a combined electric breath attack.
A large fireball took up the view. Then, it disappeared, showing that one of the heads was badly burned. Fitoria appeared and disappeared, moving so quickly that it was hard to track her. Then, the burnt head was cut from the body, but the other three began snapping at the bird queen, forcing her to fall back as another head began to take the place of the one that'd been cut off. As well as that, a fifth head began to sprout.
"She's been fighting for almost a whole day now! And that stupid bitch just won't die! No matter how much extra juice I put into this thing!" Kyo screamed angrily. "It's beyond aggravating! I can't harvest the souls of this world as long as she's in the way!"
"Kyo!" L'Arc looked angry upon hearing the Book Hero's confession.
"Hmph, and to make matters even worse, all of you are proving to be just as annoying as she is!" Kyo pointed at the wall. Behind him, the prisons started zapping Ren and Motoyasu again to draw even more power out of them. They began screaming once more.
"Meteor Shot!" Itsuki fired off a skill towards the prison to destroy it.
"Oh no, you don't!" More pages burst out from the book in Kyo's hand. The skill was promptly intercepted by them and encased before it could make it even halfway across the room.
Itsuki's eyes widened in surprise as only a small explosion escaped the pages. Kyo started to laugh again at his reaction. "Oh, now that is a nice expression! Do you see the difference in our power now?! You managed to crawl your way into my lair like the flock of filthy cockroaches that you are, but you stand no chance of actually taking me on now that you're here!"
Itsuki balled his fists angrily. "Oh yeah, we'll see about that you… you…" It looked like the Bow Hero was trying to switch weapon forms. However, his weapon stayed in its current form. "What the… why is it locked?!"
"Ahhhhh, let me guess, you just tried to pull out your Cursed Series, right?" The Book Hero laughed at Itsuki's dumbfounded expression while Rishia looked at him in worry. "You can go ahead and forget about that. You see, I'm not like whatever dumb brutes you might have fought against in the past. I actually plan my fights out. Using such incredibly complex concepts like 'forethought' and 'insurance'. Things that you might have heard of but could never hope to comprehend, due to your cripplingly low intelligence."
"Get to the point already, you bastard!" Itsuki heatedly replied.
"Ah patience, patience my smooth-brained guests. It really is a virtue, isn't it?" Kyo chuckled and shook his head with a shrug. "But if you insist, during my brief, because it really did not take long, research of what you were up to before I arrived, I found out that you toppled over a church or some $%^&? By any chance, does the name [Sanctuary] ring any bells?"
…
As everyone's faces paled in recognition, Kyo threw his head back and laughed while clapping his hands.
"Oh, this never gets old! Gods above, I love seeing stupid people realize that they've $%^&ed up!"
"So it's Balamus'es...!?" Naofumi quickly scanned his HUD and sure enough, the familiar curse and blessing suppression field indicator were active.
"Oh yes!" Kyo wiped some tears away from under his spectacles. "But don't go around celebrating your success at making me take you seriously just yet. For one, no, I did not waste my time hunting random rogue clergymen to find a counter against you. An ability like it already exists in the world that I came from. It didn't take me much effort to direct the energy from the Spirit Tortoise to replicate the same thing here. And two, it's not for any of you that I set it up."
The zapping at the back of the room stopped and the two trapped heroes sagged lifelessly inside their prisons again. "Indeed! It's that chuuni bastard that I was most concerned with!" Kyo continued while casually pointing over his shoulder at Ren. "When he lopped my pet's head off the first time around, I won't lie, I was legitimately worried! I knew I had to bag him no matter what after that! And to make sure that no repeats of his psychotic cursed series episode came up, I set up this lovely little ward that has now conveniently turned all of your best weapons useless. Isn't multitasking great?" The book hero asked mockingly.
Naofumi immediately tried equipping his own Cursed Shield. No reason to take the bastard's word on it, and besides, he'd had it by then! Screw the consequences! He was too pissed off to care about what happened at this point!
However, the Cursed shield was locked away. Naofumi wasn't allowed to equip it. "I did warn you it might not be so simple," Ost stated quietly while looking cautiously at the rogue Book Hero.
Oh come on! He couldn't even get the privilege of punching this smug bastard in the face?! Glass looked similarly pissed off. All the heroes there who had it unlocked couldn't equip their Cursed Series.
"Well good job, you've shown that you're a little stronger than us and prevented us from using things that we shouldn't be using in the first place. Are you going to keep on talking us to death with that power now?!" Naofumi yelled.
"Just a little stronger? Really?" Kyo looked down at the Shield Hero in disbelief. "Are you also blind on top of being stupid to not see how utterly outmatched you are?" Kyo made a gesture, and a swarm of pages flew from his book towards the Bow Hero.
Naofumi got in the way of the attack. However, each page felt like a large car slamming into his arms over and over again. It was surprising that he managed to hold his ground against the page onslaught that felt like it was grinding the bones in his arms into dust.
"Tch. Cockroaches are known to survive even nuclear fallout, I suppose." Kyo clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Your thick skull makes you more resilient if nothing else. Too bad there's only one of you to block my most basic attack." Several of the pages went around Naofumi before he could block them, slamming into the Bow Hero.
"Gah!" Itsuki fell to the ground, his HP bar dropping drastically. His arms were covered in deep cuts.
"Itsuki!" His friends yelled worriedly.
Kyo began laughing again. "Do you see!? If you try to fight me, there's no way you'll win! I'll squash you insects beneath my boots!"
"You bastard!" Aksel screamed as he hefted his ax.
"Running short on insults already? Guess you can be the next example then." Kyo threw his hand out casually.
More pages flew out, this time directed towards the tank. Naofumi summoned a skill shield to protect him, but the pages cut through it effortlessly.
"No!" Maya jumped in front of the armored man against all reason.
"MAYA, NO!" The knight screamed in horror.
However, instead of eviscerating the raccoon girl, the pages stopped just short of her.
"Hmmm, you know, for a vermin, this chick doesn't look half bad." The pages began to withdraw to everyone's surprise. "Actually, now that I'm looking more closely, you've brought quite a few cuties along, haven't you? Is that because you all are 'heroes'?"
Wha- what did that have to do with what was going on right now?!
Kyo looked over the women present. "Hmmm, nah, this one's too tall." He scoffed at Eclair. "This one's breasts are too small. Though she is cute in a way." He pointed out after looking at Wyndia. "The rest though, not bad, not bad at all. Perhaps I can brainwash some of you after I'm done dealing with your handlers," Kyo then muttered to himself.
"W-What?!" Maya took a step back towards Aksel in disgust and shock. Raphtalia, Farrie, Ost, and Rachel also looked uneasy, as the Book Hero's gaze had lingered on them. It was weird because instead of lecherous, it'd been mild curiosity in his eyes. As if they were just another experiment for him.
Wyndia was shaking. Though not in fear. If she'd had a hero's weapon, she probably would have increased its cursed series by at least a dozen ranks from how angry she was right now.
Kyo's lack of a moral compass was strangely disturbing… and yet all too familiar somehow at the same time.
"Kyo, that's enough! Stop this right now!" L'Arc yelled angrily.
"Oh, would you shut up already, musclebrain! I did tell you not to interfere before, but no, you just had to come here!" Kyo scoffed at the redhead.
"You should already know that what you're doing won't save our world!" L'Arc yelled again, ignoring the Book Hero's dismissive reply. "I know your weapon told you this! If we try to steal the soul power of this world's guardian beast, then our world will risk being destroyed by it!"
"So?"
…
The three otherworlders stared at him with mouths agape. "W-what do you mean "so" ?!" Therese asked in disbelief.
"It means exactly what it means, rainbow hair," Kyo replied tiredly with a sigh. "I know I said earlier that I like to watch people act stupid but your inability to comprehend basic language terms is highly concerning. Honestly, it's a miracle that you idiots managed to follow my basic instructions before and defeated a dragon without &^%$ing up somewhere along the way."
"But, but... but you live in our world!" L' Arc managed to croak out.
"Eh, that's why the keyword here is risk. Doing this only risks our world being destroyed." Kyo shrugged noncommitedly. "Risk management is what I'm all about. And if this does end up destroying it, well, that's what the wave rifts are for. Even you dum dums figured it out. It's not too hard to hop worlds and escape destruction that way."
"So you don't even care that you're slaughtering two worlds full of people with your scheme?!" Naofumi angrily asked while the three otherworlders stared at Kyo in horror. "If it's not to save your world, then what the hell do you even plan to do with all that soul power!?"
"Ahhh, that's the one million dollar question, isn't it?" Kyo chuckled. "But that's for me and me alone to know." Of course, he just wouldn't disclose that, wouldn't he? "As for the people? What about them? Why should I care? This world's full of cattle whose only purpose is to be raised and slaughtered to feed the never-ending hunger of the waves.
"Tell me. Why shouldn't I use your worthless souls to further a cause more grand than 'die horribly'? After all, without me coming along, you all would just waste away in the void after your world ends up destroyed like every other one."
Naofumi breathed in sharply. This… this went beyond bad alchemy experiments. This guy planned on killing everyone in the world… and possibly his own world… and he didn't even care!
This went beyond what he'd thought before! This guy did what he wanted no matter how bad it was to other people!
He… he was cut from the same cloth as Bitch!
"Now, are all of you done processing the futility of your pointless existence down there yet?" The Book Hero asked, sounding bored. "If so, then I have a proposition for you. Despite what I may have led you to believe, I'm not completely without mercy."
Kyo smiled widely before continuing. "So here's the deal. I need to overclock your heroes to power my pet this much. But if you willingly become my batteries alongside them, your precious heroes will get to live.
"I won't have to overclock my systems when pulling power from all four of you fools. And as a sweet bonus, I'll even let the rest of your vermin friends go. Oh, but I'm not done yet! Once I finish harvesting all the souls of this world, I'll release you, so you all will be able to live to see your world end together alongside your friends."
...
He was met with a silence so thick that a pin drop would have been heard.
"So? What do you think? You're not going to get a better deal out of me than this!" Kyo finished smugly.
…
...
"You know, it does sound like a steal," Naofumi said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "I have a counter-offer though." He tried it, and sure enough, he was able to switch to the Shield of Hope II. This caused Kyo's eyes to widen in surprise.
Ha. So it really was just like Sanctuary. Only Naofumi's Cursed Shield was locked away. His blessed skills wouldn't work properly like before besides maybe Pandora's Box, but at least he could still use the shield itself for its higher stats. And judging by the look on the bastard's face, he hadn't expected Naofumi to be able to pull it out.
"Here is what I'll offer you!" The Shield Hero pointed at the bespectacled white-haired man. "We kick your sorry little $# , save Ren and Motoyasu from their prisons, and make you pay for every single person you've killed in our world with your blood.
"So, how's that, does that sound fair to you?" Naofumi finished with a grim, determined look.
…
Kyo's eye twitched again but he quickly smirked to cover his surprise. "Ohohoho! Well well! Look at you! The big strong neanderthal is chimping out and bashing his rocks together to assert dominance!" His smirk then turned into a deep scowl as his voice took on a more sinister and disdainful tone. "Are you actually that stupid?"
"Are you?" Naofumi immediately interjected with a frown. "What? You think that you're special? Too bad, insane egomaniacal and power-hungry sociopaths like you are a dime-a-dozen in this world. I've had to take out at least three already just off the top of my head."
Naofumi shook his head confidently. "If you think that you're any better than them, then you're definitely the actual biggest idiot in the room. And on top of that, you've been hurting my friends… no, my brothers." Naofumi's shield glowed brightly. "You won't get away with this! I'll make sure of it!"
…
"Hmph. You idiots are beyond reason then. Oh well." Kyo shrugged nonchalantly. "I've stalled you for long enough to get all of my defense systems going anyways."
As if on cue, the entire room began to shake, making some of Naofumi's allies stumble.
"Thanks for being so patient by the way." The Book Hero laughed and spread his arms out again as the walls glowed brightly. A swarm of pages began to gather around him. "Like I said, it's a virtue!" The core in the center of the room let out a low ominous sound as light began to surge from within it into the veins lining up the surface of the room..
Naofumi quickly readied his shield, and Itsuki, who'd finished drinking a healing potion, readied his bow. He still had some bleeding cuts on his arms though. He'd taken quite a bit of damage from that one attack. All of their allies readied themselves as well.
Naofumi debated in his mind what the best course of action here would be. If Kyo had such a full range of attacks, the best option would be for the Shield Hero to try and take up Kyo's attention and force him to attack Naofumi. If he could just be annoying enough then… but, how could he annoy him outside of grapples if the Book Hero could destroy his skills so easily?
Might as well start out with something safe.
"Itsuki! Aura and Down!" The Shield hero called out.
"Got it." The Bow Hero replied. Both heroes began to chant.
"All Zweite Aura!"
"Zweite Down!"
The light of the debuff and buff combo washed over the crowd, boosting and draining the fight participant's stats respectively.
"Ha! This again?! How uninspired! Do you think that'll give you an advantage over me?! You're not the only ones with tricks like that! Observe!" Kyo took a vial from his belt and threw it on the ground in front of him. "Expanding Composition Form Six: Invigorate!"
Fog burst from the broken bottle, washing over the Book Hero.
Itsuki's debuff could still be seen on the Book Hero's form in everyone's HUD. But the green mist he had conjured made a buff status effect appear next to the debuff. He then sent a wave of pages at Naofumi, who hastily blocked it with his Blessed Shield.
CRAP! His arms numbed even more than with the first attack, he also took a bit of damage. Whatever that mist was, it'd been more powerful than Naofumi's support spell and Itsuki's debuff spell combined.
"Saint Arrow's Rain!" Itsuki's spread skill fell from above, but Kyo's pages arranged themselves above the Book Hero in a way that he was shielded from the attack.
"Going with area of effect stuff right off the bat? What? Not confident that you'll be able to land a direct hit on me?" Kyo smugly pointed out.
Itsuki deeply scowled, his hands balling into fists. "Lightning Arrow!" He sent the attack straight at Kyo.
Pages arranged themselves in front of the Book Hero, completely blocking the attack. "Not like that would work either since you're so weak compared to me," Kyo added smugly.
Damn it. Itsuki had already felt useless when Kyo countered his debuff magic. For none of his attacks to be landing at all though?
L'Arc charged forward. At the same time, Therese chanted behind him. "Shining Stone: Thunder Rain!" Instead of casting it at Kyo, however, she cast it at L'Arc!
"Hmph!" L'Arc raised his scythe overhead. "Flying Circle!" As his scythe spun, the lightning spell hit it and began to combine with it. "Into Combo Skill: Thunder Rain Flying Circle!"
"So much wind up on this one, geez." Kyo rolled his eyes. "You haven't improved at all since we parted ways at Sickle, haven't you?" As L'Arc swung forward, unleashing the electrified energy attack, pages from Kyo swarmed L'Arc.
"Shield Prison!" Naofumi surrounded the redhead with the skill.
"Bejeweled Shining Protection!" Therese cast a spell Naofumi wasn't familiar with. But she targeted the skill he'd summoned to protect L'Arc, and a multiplier appeared next to its defense stat.
The pages cracked the skill. But this time, they didn't destroy it. "Feh." As for L'Arc's attack, Kyo swatted it to the side with the remainder of his pages. It exploded against a wall of the room, not even leaving a mark on it.
"Zero Stance Rondo: Reverse Moonflower!" As Glass slashed forward again and again, Kyo positioned his pages to soak up the attack.
Naofumi frowned. It wasn't that Itsuki, L'Arc, and Glass weren't powerful. Even the weakened Glass's attacks were leaving cuts in the pages. It was just that they couldn't attack effectively with Naofumi being so handicapped in protecting them all. If they could only get up close so their attacks would be more effective.
Kyo suddenly turned around, his hand gripping the air.
"Ack!" Raphtalia's illusion disappeared. Kyo was holding her up by the throat with an annoyed look.
"You think I wouldn't notice you and that other girl disappearing in the group?" He sent a swarm of pages to another area. Maya reappeared from her illusion, forced to defend herself from the attack alongside Rishia and Rino, who she'd also disguised.
"Let mommy go!" Filo rushed forward to attack in her large bird queen form. However, that made it a lot easier for the pages to target her, and she was slowed down trying to avoid being hit.
"Hngh… notice… this!" Raphtalia suddenly twisted in the book hero's grip and swung her booted foot between his legs with all her might.
"GUHOOO!" Kyo's eyes bulged out in agony and surprise, making his spectacles go lopsided. His grip weakened and the half-raccoon managed to wrestle herself free and jump back.
Ok. The battle was going badly for them, but Naofumi was grinning a little bit now. Was it wrong to take joy in his girlfriend fighting so dirty? Probably. Then again, he could care less as long as the bastard suffered for it.
"Y-You bitch! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Kyo summoned more pages from his book to attack the Tanuki girl while backing away. She didn't look like she'd been that powerful, but he'd clearly underestimated her strength.
"Don't you dare! Air Strike Shield!" Instead of using it for defense like before, Naofumi sent the skill flying at the Book Hero.
Kyo looked caught off guard by that, but a barrier appeared around him, shattering the skill before it could connect.
"Wha- he has the same freaking barrier as the heart?!" Itsuki yelled angrily at the now familiar form of protection. He'd just been charging up another skill, but at the sight of the barrier he quickly dismissed it.
"Oh, it was just the shielder." The Book Hero readjusted his spectacles. "I guess with your low attack stat, that skill wouldn't have done much to me anyway. Still, I didn't know you could move those shields of yours around. Guess you had a modicum of forethought to keep some surprises up your sleeves!" Kyo chuckled as healing magic washed over him. The others in the room gathered around Naofumi again. Looking somewhat worse for the wear.
Their mages hadn't even tried to launch an attack yet. Because there wouldn't be time if Naofumi couldn't protect them from any attacks. And their front line fighters weren't doing any good either.
"Meteor Shield!" Naofumi summoned the defensive barrier around himself and his mage allies. They opened their mouths to begin chanting.
"Oh no you don't!" Kyo's pages then subsequently destroyed the barrier once again, and Naofumi and those closeby desperately moved to protect the mage girls from getting hurt.
Damn, that hadn't even bought them a second! And it'd only focused the bastard on those most vulnerable to his attacks!
Wyndia had a death grip on the gemstone and katana in her hands as the Shield Hero protected her and her friends. She'd come this far, she'd put in all the effort to learn a new branch of magic so she'd have her ace attacks again. But she couldn't even use them!
It was beyond infuriating! They couldn't touch the bastard who'd kidnapped Ren! And the worst part was watching as the cage activated from time to time to hurt him more!
"Well? Do you see it now?!" Kyo gestured around him. "There's no way you can win against me! I know every move you've made up to this point to reach me! So unless you have some sort of super secret ace in the sleeve deus ex machina hidden up in your collective ^&*es, you don't stand a snowball's chance in hell at winning!"
Naofumi scowled as Kyo laughed. This guy was beyond annoying. And… he was also right.
Damn it. No one here besides Naofumi had the defense needed to withstand the bastard's attacks. But unless Therese buffed all his skills like his Shield Prison, he'd have no choice but to block every single attack with his own body. That wouldn't be an efficient way of defending everyone. They'd never take down Kyo like this.
He was internally debating what to try next when a voice suddenly cried out from across the room.
"NAOFUMI! ITSUKI!"
…
All heads turned to the crystal prison in surprise. "Oh god damn it, he's up again!" Kyo snarled angrily and turned around to face the prisons with his arms spread out mockingly . "What is it this time, simp!? Got some more witty and hilarious commentary to add to our fight here maybe? Perhaps an outdated joke or a reference to some %^&*ty anime that you watched once to spice things up?"
The strange remark made Naofumi and Itsuki pause. Come to think of it, didn't Kyo say something about nuclear fallout and neanderthals earlier?
The rest of their teams looked confused too. "What's an anime?" Eclair asked with a frown.
Hold on. Was this guy actually from Japan? Why hadn't L'Arc mentioned that before?
The spear hero meanwhile gasped a few times, struggling to remain conscious, and using the last vestiges of his power, he pulled his face into a smug grin.
"Yea...got a good one this time... so make sure to write it down, you googly-eyed bastard!"
Motoyasu inhaled sharply before shouting out with all his might.
"MY MAIN WAY TO GET STRONGER IS TO USE THE SAME WEAPON FORM OVER AND OVER AGAIN! IT'S KNOWN AS WEAPON MASTERY!
…
It took a few seconds, but then, the meaning of the Spear Hero's words reached Naofumi.
That was one of Motoyasu's strengthening methods! There was no hesitation after that. The Shield Hero didn't doubt that the blonde man was telling him the truth even for a second.
The stats of his shields immediately shot up on his HUD as Motoyasu's method appeared on his help guide under the new Spear Power-Up Methods section. Those shields he'd used in battle more often than others had a more significant boost.
So that was it, huh. The more he battled and got used to using a particular weapon form, the stronger it'd become. It'd only work if he had said weapon form equipped too.
With an ability like this, even beginning equipment could become endgame viable. Though that wasn't the main thing Naofumi got as he finally understood something about the strengthening methods he hadn't thought about before.
For number's sake, imagine having 1 stat in something. Then, you get a multiplier of 1.2 The new stat is now 1.2. Then you add another multiplier of 1.2. What's the new stat? 1.4?
No. 1.44.
The reason? The new multiplier affects both the stat and the other multiplier(s). Meaning if you added another 1.2 multiplier to the mix, you'd get 1.728. Then 2.0736. Etc.
Essentially, each added multiplier increased stats exponentially instead of additively. And with Motoyasu's multiplier added in, Naofumi's stats increased not only due to the multiplier on his base stats, but the multiplier's effects on Ren and Itsuki's multipliers as well.
Useful. Very useful indeed. This might have been just what they needed to turn the tables.
"Itsuki!" Naofumi turned to face the Bow Hero.
"Yeah. The same thing happened to me." The young man grinned widely.
"Next, I-" Motoyasu tried to shout again.
"NOOOOOO!" Kyo screeched as he activated the prison again. Both Motoyasu and Ren were shocked at a greater level than before.
The Spear Hero, however, had played his part. And boy, had he played it wonderfully. 'Give him hell, my young bros.' He managed to think even as the pain became too much and he finally blacked out again.
He was too weak to do anything by himself. But his determination had won out. Naofumi and Itsuki now stood a chance at beating this idiot.
Kyo was seething. He'd thought that he'd been fighting heroes that shared all their power-up methods with each other! To think he could have allowed the blonde man to pull one over him!
This wasn't good! This wasn't good at all-
"Hey, Male Bitch!" Naofumi suddenly yelled.
"What?!" Kyo turned at the Shield Hero's voice.
"Yeah, that's right, you! From this day forward, I refuse to call you by your name! For something like you, Male Bitch is a title that's more than fitting!"
Raphtalia sighed. "Sadly, I can actually see it myself."
"Yeah," Itsuki was grimacing, but even he could agree with Naofumi's word choice.
It really was like looking at the male counterpart of that red-haired pig. It was too bad they'd never get to meet. Maybe living with each other might have actually gotten them to realize how annoying they were and they could have possibly changed for the better.
"H-How dare you call me that! I won't even ask why mere roaches would think to call me something so demeaning! You are beneath me!" Kyo ranted. He sent another swarm of pages at the Shield Hero.
"Air Strike Shield!" The pages slammed into the shield, cracking it. But this time, the skill held.
"Urgh!" The remaining pages dodged the skill and slammed into Naofumi's Blessed Shield. His higher stats made his arms only feel a little numb. But he didn't take any damage this time.
Good enough for him. Four minutes were left on the timer now. And he could use his skills to defend his allies.
It was time to kick some &^%.
"Prepare yourself, Male Bitch! For all you've done, you won't be leaving here in one piece!" Naofumi announced, his voice dripping with anger. "Your funeral will need to be a closed casket by the time we're done with you!"
"Who the hell do you think you are, you pathetic worm!?" The book hero's vein bulged out above his eye while it twitched again. "You think that you're better than me now just because you got a little stat boost?! I'll show you the error of your ways, and force you to power up this stupid beast!"
"Bunker Shot!"
Itsuki's skill traveled more quickly through the air than before, passing by the flying pages and impacting against Kyo's barrier.
It shattered under the explosion.
"No. You won't." Itsuki prophesied in a cold tone.
The Book Hero scowled, and the barrier reappeared around him. "We'll see about that, you cockroaches! Die!"
And like that, the battle had begun once again in earnest.
Author's Notes:
Just a follow-up to the above. It's not that Motoyasu's method is the most powerful or the easiest to use. We have Ren's main being that weapons get stronger as you level up. And Itsuki's main is that weapon forms automatically become stronger the rarer they are (separate from Ren's method that increases a different rarity stat that Itsuki's weapon rarity method doesn't measure). There are other methods they use that provide other multipliers to their stats. And don't even get me started on Naofumi's methods, which are still unknown to you all, but which also provide some pretty useful multipliers that are easy to use.
What makes Motoyasu's methods crucial here is that they provide more multipliers and base increases to stats that, in turn, work off the multipliers and stat increases of the other methods. This makes each added power-up method exponential on stats and not additive.
This also provides the biggest reason why Aneko never wrote down any solid stats besides page count. As you add more multiplier power-up methods to a hero, the increase in stats becomes more and more drastic. Alongside that, math becomes more and more complicated. Even small additions to the base stats become more powerful when you factor in the multipliers affecting them.
In short, the methods work exponentially off each other. And with the bonus of Motoyasu's core method, Naofumi and Itsuki are able to go toe to toe with Kyo at the moment. This also means that, when Motoyasu gives his other three methods to Naofumi later on, Naofumi will be stronger than his canon self once again. Yay!
I should also add. This is why I'll never make new power-up methods out of thin air. With four cardinal heroes and eight vassal heroes methods shared amongst each other, the Cardinal Heroes will already get beyond freaking OP later on. Imagine if the number of power-up methods they had access to was double or triple that?
Let me tell you, it won't be an additive mess you'd be dealing with there. That is a story where I'd expect the Hero to treat the setting as if he was Goku.
Hero Clips!
You wouldn't hit a guy with Glasses, would you?
"Ack!"
Kyo was on his knees, completely defenseless.
The other Heroes and their allies had completely bested him. There was nowhere for him to run.
Naofumi slowly approached, a dark, red shield in his hands, and his eyes aflame with anger. The Shield of Wrath III, which he'd unlocked earlier, looked very intimidating.
"H-Hey now, you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?" Kyo suddenly asked, pointing to the spectacles he was wearing.
Naofumi paused. Staring at Male Bitch with an expressionless face.
Kyo slowly gulped. He swore, he wasn't peeing his pants right now.
…
"Yea, you're right, I wouldn't." Naofumi switched out from the Cursed Shield. The red in his eyes disappeared.
Kyo breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, he couldn't believe that idiot was actually-
"Raphtalia, Filo, sick him!" Naofumi ordered.
"Got it!" "Okay, Daddy!"
Kyo screamed as both girls began to assault him at the same time. Naofumi observed alongside everyone else as the three disappeared in a cartoon dust cloud, with the added sound effects of Raphtalia and Filo punching him into oblivion.
"What? I personally wouldn't hit a guy with glasses." Naofumi said when he saw the others staring at him.
"That's what you think we're concerned about?" Itsuki asked.
…
Naofumi slowly realized it. Of course, why didn't he realize it sooner!
"Feel free to join in the slug fest!" Naofumi proudly announced to their allies.
"Yes!" "Wahoo!" "Finally!" Like a dam being broken, the rest of the hero's party members charged into the dust cloud to beat on the book nerd.
"Ack! Get off me, you savages!" Kyo screeched in terror.
"Take this you son of a bitch!" Aksel screamed inside the dust cloud as he jumped up and brought his elbow down on the Book Hero's gut.
"Nice one! Try this!" Dou-Lon slammed both his fists down on the bastard's face.
"Ack, mercy, mercy-" Kyo tried crawling out of the dust cloud, but a hand grabbed him by the hair and dragged him back in.
"Hold him down for me! I'm going to make sure this idiot learns what happens to those who hurt my Ren!" Wyndia snarled as she sharpened the edge of her katana with a whetstone.
"Wait, no, I'm sorry, please stop hurting me!" Kyo screeched in terror.
"Naofumi…"
"What?" Naofumi looked back at Itsuki, Glass, and L'Arc.
…
"Oh. Fine. Feel free to join them too." Naofumi rolled his eyes.
"Thank you." Itsuki nodded his head and ran in after his friends.
"Appreciated." Glass simply unfurled her fans and walked into the dust cloud. "Wyndia, I shall assist in your endeavor."
"I'll help Therese hold him down!" L'Arc happily called.
"I'll make sure to shoot anything you miss," Itsuki added.
"AIEEEEEE!"
Was it bad to note that everyone was still beating on him as the Heroes plus Wyndia prepared to euthanize the poor bastard?
Yep, Naofumi wouldn't hit a guy with glasses. But he'd definitely watch as his friends beat him up and possibly castrated him.
Ahhhhhhh, watching bad people get their karmic retribution was much more satisfying than simply punching them himself. Naofumi pulled out a crystal ball and began filming the rest of the show for posterity.
It'd become one of his most treasured possessions in his later years.
Till Next Time
Allen