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.
The enhancement of the Bed of Chaos grafted onto Mein's armor hardened, and tightened around the projectile that penetrated her defense, and then her skin. It wasn't enough to protect her body from further harm, but at least she doesn't have to worry about bleeding to death. Unlike the heavy armor worn by Naofumi and Oersted, crafted by shadowed bones by the Lestrange and then had wood grown around it, the one worn by the princess is a lighter variety similar to Ren the ex-highwayman. Tailored out of cured monster leather, and then have an extra liar of the dryad's vine woven onto. Something more focused on allowing the ease of movement for the wearer rather than providing the best protection. But it might not have made any difference with how the arrow punched right through her hastily conjured up [Hydrosphere] spell.
The pain drills itself deep into her shoulder, tearing through flesh and digs into bone. Mein's right arm falls uselessly down her side. For a brief moment, she wonders if her entire arm has been severed. The image of Nora dragging one leg behind her, even as the hellion doing her best to run forward to catch up to the rest of them flashes in Mein's mind. Would a similar fate fall to herself, would she lose the ability to use her dominant hand and arm for the rest of her life?
What brings Mein out of her near panic state is the visage of her hated enemy. From the corner of her eyes, she sees movement ahead, slightly towards her right side. Not the shack Zylden is currently imprisoned in (hopefully he hadn't drawn enough attention and got himself executed). But the one next over. Sister Amelia, the four eyed-witch, Iris' cousin and the most loyal lap dog of Consevatie The Younger, is knocking another arrow onto her bow. Her movement was a bit sluggish than what the princess expected from an otherwise experienced archer. What Amelia did to penetrate the [Hydrosphere] spell Mein used as a makeshift shield has clearly tired the raucous harpy out. Likely a fairly powerful bow weapon art. It gives Mein a chance to retaliate, despite the first blood Amelia managed to draw.
"You." The princess narrows her eyes and grits her teeth. For some mages, having the shaft an arrow sticking out of their shoulder and the metal is enough to render them useless from the sense of pain. But not for Mein herself, no. Naofumi, and Raphtalia had shown her the place for compassion and kindness. But at the end of the day, she is still someone who is most motivated by the grudge, and spite towards her enemies.
"Made." Star wand jumps from her useless right hand into her left. The form changes once again, into a red, coiling serpent. She had gotten a lot better at casting water magic since the first day when she flipped through the founder's grimoire of water. The spell [Hydrosphere] had become one of her favorites particularly due to its versatility at attack, defense and even manipulating her enemies. But at this moment when her life is at risk, she is still going to default back to her strongest affinity. [Hydrosphere] had served as an adequate shield for her, likely deflecting Sister Amelia's sneak attack from a lethal blow to something that might simply cripple her for the rest of her life. Then again, Mein is someone who always believed that the best defense is a strong offense.
"A Big MISTAKE!" The princess snarls at Sister Amelia as her vision turns red. Nine spheres of white hot flame forms in front of her. The face of the four eyed witch breaks into that of shock and fear. Despite being a priestess who utilizes miracle school, she clearly knows what it means when a fire mage makes their spell the color of white, rather than red or orange. Amelia gives up trying to fire another attack to finish Mein off, turns around on her heel and runs. But the princess isn't done with the priestess yet. Pointing her wand forward, she lets her gathered spell fly. "[Hellfire Ballista]."
Chapter 115: Hellfire
The nine orbs of fire Mein gathered jumps for a brief moment, before each of them turns into a shooting star flying across the field of the village. Anything in their path, didn't so much as catch fire, as they were obliterated almost instantly. The bespectacled witch didn't bother to try and put up a defense. She clearly knew whatever she could conjure up in such a short time would be vastly less helpful than Mein's earlier attempt to use a [Hydrosphere] as a makeshift shield. Instead, she throws herself onto the ground. Putting the fate of her own survival in Mein's aim being off, hoping the attack would miss her entirely.
Nine craters formed in the ground after a series of quick, consecutive loud booms. The concussive force behind her spell alone threw a large cloud of dirt into the sky. Yet despite the spectacle of her attack, when the dust settled, sister Amelia managed to crawl out from the blasted earth. Her priestess hat is gone, exposing her disheveled hair entirely covered in dirt. Her priestess robe now resembles the color of mud, completely unrecognizable from the untainted white that's supposed to represent the purity of the Chief God's faithful.
The pain did throw off her aim after all. Unless her accuracy was bad to begin with. Mein would have tried another attack to finish the harpy off for good. To deprive Consevatie a loyal asset, if not for her own grudge against Sister Amelia. But she already put all of her power and her focus into the last attack. She wouldn't be able to cast another spell until she rests a little, maybe have the wound on her shoulder taken care of (one way or another), and a potion or two... Regardless, the four eyed witch has the advantage once again. As she could simply attack the princess from a distance with her bow and arrows, Mein would have no way to retaliate unless she physically closed the distance.
Thankfully, luck is on Mein's side this time. Rather than stand her ground and fight, Sister Amelia continued her mad dash away from the princess. Not even dare to look back. Mein could swear she sees the four eyed witch paddling with her arms on the ground at the start, and a few cases when she tumbles towards the ground. Apparently, the barrage of white hot fire spells the princess threw all around Sister Amelia has utterly shattered her morale, the harpy doesn't even dare to check back on Mein's current condition.
The princess shakily gets up to her feet, using the star wand more like a walking cane to help herself stand. When she found her balance again, she changed the wand's form into a sword wand again, and used its blade to cut off the shaft of the arrow still sticking out of her right shoulder. She can't do much about her wounded shoulder. There's no point in burning it to stop any bleeding since her bio boosted power armor is doing it for her by tightening around her wound. And she can't bandage it up more with only one functioning hand. But leaving the shaft on would leave a chance to rupture her wound even more when it hit something.
With her wound taken care of the best she could, Mein limps her way over to the shack where Zylden was imprisoned. She's half afraid that Sister Amelia has already killed the imp, considering how loud a commotion she made outside and how uncharacteristically quiet the dwarf is being. Knowing there's no point trying to prolong the inevitable, the princess kicks open the door and steps into the half collapsed shack.
When her eyes are adjusted to the relatively darker interior, she sees the condition for Zylden's makeshift prison cell hasn't improved. In fact, it looks to be in an even more sorry state with some lumps of dirt spread around the shack. Likely the cloud of dust her previous spell kicked up, and fell through the holes in the ceiling. As for the imp himself, aside from still being tied up he looks relatively unharmed. Although his eyes are opened large as a dinner platter, staring at the princess. "Well, I'll be. You actually did what you promised. My dear sister certainly wouldn't have come to my rescue like you just did. Although you look even worse than earlier, Your Highness."
"I probably feel worse than I look. And so would you for that matter, if one of those church thugs reach us." Mein snorts at the imp. She half walks, half stumbles over to Zylden and starts to cut his rope binding with the blade of her sword wand. "Don't wiggle too much. I don't want to accidently hack off a limb or two from you."
"I probably couldn't if I wanted to. My whole body feels a bit numb aftering being tied up all this time." Zylden grumbles under his breath, as Mein begins to hack the blade of her sword wand through his rope, trying to saw it loose rather than cut it down and risk causing damage to the imp. The act took longer than she would have liked, especially with the arm of her dominant hand hanging useless by her side. She's half expecting Sister Amelia, or someone else to have burst through the door and catch her in such an inopportune moment. But in the end, she manages to cut through the rope binding and free the half man.
Zylden slowly gets up to his feet. The imp rubs his wrist and takes a careful step forward. The princess can't help but feel impatient. "Are you done taking your baby steps, imp? Do you need me to hold your hand? If you can't tell, we are in the middle of a village wide jailbreak. Time is of the essence."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming, princess. Don't get your loinclothes all tied into a knot." Zylden shakes his head, as he picks up his paces, following Mein out of the half collapsed shack.
"I had to dig through dead bodies, and wear the clothes of dead men for disguise. You don't get to make jokes about my undercloth." Both Mein and Zylden recoil back at the unpleasantness mentioned by the princess. Any light hearted banter between them died after that remark.
It wasn't too hard to figure out where the Shield Hero, or rather, the Bed of Chaos is at. The giant dryad towers over all the buildings in the village after all. The fact that she is not moving around, or fighting suggests the situation has not deteriorated as Mein has feared. The two of them began to quickly make their way towards the center of the village where the enslaved villagers are supposed to be. Well... as quick as a pair where one just suffered a disabling injury, and the other suffers from dwarfism and therefore has very short legs.
The people of Balafon were all kept on the big open field in front of the town hall just as Yukari sensed. Consevatie, and his band of sycophants didn't even bother to construct any kind of makeshift shelter to protect them from the elements. It's lucky that the weather hasn't turned dire, or else the young and the elderly might not have been alive. The sight of over a hundred villagers lying, and sitting around might have been a rather impressive, if utterly sorry sight if Mein hadn't already witnessed something similar on a larger scale outside the wall of Gallia City. Regardless, they huddled together with their families and loved ones while they cast worried glances up towards the Bed of Chaos. The Shield Hero has his back turned against Mein and Zylden, while he's trying his best to reassure the people. "Please don't panic and keep calm, guys! Bed-Chan is on our side, and she's trying to save you. As soon as Mein comes back with Zylden, we'll get out of here and get you all to safety."
"How do we know we won't drop dead if we leave Balafon? They had slave seals tattoo'ed on all of us." One of the younger villagers, not someone Mein knows (not like she personally knows anyone from Balafon, as opposed to Lute) steps forward and throws a rather good question at Naofumi. He looks rather stumped at what to answer, as he simply stutters while looking back at the young man.
"We don't. But even if you drop dead with the slave seal, it'll surely be better than whatever fate Consevatie planned for you after tonight." Mein takes a few steps forward, using one of the star wand's abilities to help boost her sound. Her entrance makes everyone look towards her, and she notices how both Naofumi and Raphtalia's gaze are instantly fixed on her limp right arm. "I came to your village during daylight, disguised as one of Consevatie's men. I see how you are treated by his band of thugs already. Your elder was nearly beaten to death by one of them, simply because Raphtalia tried to help him. And after the Shield Hero comes to your rescue, you'll be seen as a supporter of the Shield Demon in the eyes of the Three Heroes' Church. Do you think Consevatie would leave you alone after this humiliation? He'll work all of you to death in the field, if not torture you to death just to build back his fragile ego."
"You and your Shield Demon shouldn't have come here in the first place! We are honest, tithe paying people of Lord Balgruuf. The Church would have no reason to turn us into slaves!" The young man's angry rant shocks the princess and takes her aback. After some of the things she witnessed during her journey with Naofumi, she has slowly left behind her mentality that the common folks are a bunch of lazy and ungrateful rabble. But no, apparently some of these commoners do fit her previous generalization. How quickly do they forget all the good things the heroes, Naofumi, specifically did for them.
"Seriously? You are blaming the Shield Hero for this. All of these shenanigans, this mess the Three Heroes' Church has done to you?" Zylden was clearly not pleased with the lot either, as he pointed his finger accusingly around the village. "In the chance you have a memory shorter than a worm, the Shield Hero alongside the Spear Hero are those who saved you from your food shortage in the first place. Those two helped turn your village from a barren waste on the edge of abandonment into a thriving farming community. And now that the Three Heroes' Church has seen what the Shield Hero helped you build and seeks to exploit you, you blame the Shield Hero for all of your trouble?"
Even most of the Balafon villagers are casting accusatory, if cautious glare towards the young troublemaker. The young man's face turns red, but he doesn't seem ready to back down yet. "We didn't need their 'saving' in the first place! Jarl Balgruuf already sent us aid. It's the responsibility of our lord to take care of us. You said it yourself, the reason the Three Heroes' Church came to us is because of the 'help' we got from these so-called 'heroes'!"
"Oh, that's rich. Not as rich as my father who shit gold, but still rich coming from someone who didn't complain about the help the heroes give you when you were enjoying the benefit." The imp puts his hands on his waists and stares back down at the troublemaker. "Because the reason that your precious lord was able to send you aid was also thanks to the Shield Hero helping him solve his dragon problem. Without him, there's a dragon hovering around the sky above Trumpet, and nobody was brave enough to leave their home let alone sending you guys a supply caravan to help you back to your feet. And even if the dragon didn't exist, how long do you think your lord is going to keep helping you when you can't even feed yourselves? Huh? My lord father certainly wouldn't. No. The reason you even have a chance to whine and moan about your mistreatment, by the Three Heroes' Church, was all thanks to the Shield Hero saving your sorry asses."
"That's enough! We can't be ungrateful, and antagonize someone who only tried to aid us in all of our times of need." A lanky young man with fluffy raccoon ears standing beside Yukari suddenly holds his arms up to get Balafon people's attention. Mein vaguely remembers him. He was the town's shepherd boy, and the one who led them to the lost laboratory dungeon where they discovered the magical seed. He was Yukari's older brother? Regardless, he looks determined, as opposed to unsure and awkward like the first time they met him. "I'll walk at the front of our group, and be the first to drop dead if you are afraid! Whatever the Three Heroes' Church or Consevatie planned for us isn't any way to live!"
The raccoon boy's declaration instantly drew support from the less selfish population of Balafon, which seems to be most of them as their cheers for Yukari's brother and offers their hands in support. Amongst their cheers, Logan and Jackson quickly ran from the direction of Balafon inn, each of them carrying a wooden crate filled with some bottles of water. Not just normal clear glass bottles used to contain magical potions either- it's very important that clear, transparent glass bottles rather than less quality dull, and dirty glasses or other opaque materials are used to contain magical potions. Since the vibrancy of their color is the easiest way to determine their strength and effectiveness) but decorated glass bottles with handles that shaped like little wings. The princess can't help but stare at them, her voice stuck in the middle of her throat like a stubborn bone refusing to yield. In the end, only a whimper came out. "...are these-"
"Holy water. Consevatie's personal stash he saved in case he needs them to treat cursed wound." Jackson spits on the ground when mentioning the reincarnate's name. The renegade templar confirms what the princess has suspected. Two entire crates of holy water, it wouldn't take more than half a bottle to erase the mark on Mein's chest. The enslaved princess can feel herself salivating at the sight. It wouldn't erase all the scars she had accumulated since she fell down the abandoned mine near Lute. It would not even erase the slave seal shaped scar Consevatie The Younger tattooed onto her chest. But it would turn her back into a freeman once again instead of a slave.
"It's not enough for the entire village." Raphtalia's voice feels like a cold bucket of water dumped right over Mein's head. The princess lets her head doze over to the masses of enslaved Balafon people. Signs of desperation and hope seem to flash back and forth on their collective faces. Even without a total count of heads compared to the bottles in the crate, Mein knows that her surrogate daughter spoke the truth. "Give them to Firo, and the children first."
"What about you, Raphtalia? And Mein..." The Shield Hero's protest is weaker than usual. His sight once again settled on Mein's wounded arm. Deep down, Naofumi no doubt agrees with Raphtalia's plan to help the people of Balafon first. The earlier words of that trouble maker no doubt got to him. Emotionally, he might be worried for Raphtalia, and Mein. But he still wants to help the innocent people who nevertheless became the victim of the Three Heroes' Church simply due to association with him. "You got hurt again."
She could still go against what Raphtalia suggested, and insist Naofumi save a bottle for both Raphtalia and herself. But it would paint her as someone who is selfish after Raphtalia's entirely selfless sacrifice. She can't afford to paint herself in a negative light in Naofumi's eyes, considering the precarious ground she's treading. Unless they manage to get to Zeltoble and completely disappear from everyone's view (which she can't bet on, since Naofumi is still the Shield Hero and might still be summoned right into the wave battle the next time it comes around. Yes, he has lost his shield and they don't know how to get it back, but his translation matrix is still working which suggests the summon system might also work regardless), his positive impression on her would be the only thing that might possibly shield her from harm. Be it from Mother, the pig king, the Three Heroes' Church or any other sycophant like Consevatie The Younger.
"Do what Raphtalia says." The princess waves her good hand in front of Naofumi's face. She can see Raphtalia watching every single one of her own movement from the corner of her eyes. "I got my ownership changed to you, Master Naofumi. I don't have to worry about dropping dead with you as my master. But do it fast! We really don't have any time to waste. This'll be the key to have the Balafon people trust in our plan. Although... maybe save a bottle for Raphtalia with Firo-"
"NO!" To Mein's surprise, Raphtalia actually interrupted and opposed her suggestion. "Mast- Consevatie wanted me. He didn't have any punishment settings activated on me. Only Firo will need it. Taking my slave seal off would be one extra Balafon life we could save wasted on me."
Mein's surrogate daughter speaks with absolute conviction, yet the princess isn't fully convinced. She can't tell if Raphtalia truly believes what she is saying (regardless of their validity or not), or if she has a death wish for her part in Naofumi's earlier capture outside the capital. Regardless, there's a flaw to her argument. "Don't be absurd, Raphtalia. He can always use the slave seal to track you, and can always switch the punishment setting back on to you once you escape. All it takes is him seeing you again after our escape."
"Then I'll just have to stay behind with Consevatie, and buy time for all of your escape." The determination in Raphtalia's voice only grew. It seems Mein's fear was well deserved. Their raccoon girl really did develop a death wish.
"NO! I'm not leaving you behind, Raphtalia! Not when I'm so close to save you from that mad wannabe isekai protagonist." The Shield Hero grabs her hand, and squeezes down. "If you don't want to have your slave seal removed... we'll just have to run like hell ahead of Consevatie. And find someone who'll change your seal's ownership to me like we did with Mein. No matter what, I'm not leaving you behind!"
"What are you fools lollygagging for? Get as many Balafon people freed as fast as you can! We don't know what'll happen if we stay longer in this village! Children first, and then women. Young men if you have any left." The princess turns her head around. She feels fiercely annoyed at how everyone is just staring mesmerized at the scene Raphtalia is causing.
As if shaken awake from a bad dream, the pair of church renegades jump to their attention, and start to distribute the holy water as Mein instructed among the enslaved masses. While everyone is busy doing that, Mein feels Naofumi's hand carefully touch the shoulder of her limp arm. "You got hurt again and I wasn't there..."
"We all had our roles to play, Master Naofumi. You can't keep hanging around me, or feel guilty whenever I get hurt. Don't worry, the one who ambushed me got it worse." The princess reaches her left hand over, but gently brushes Naofumi's fingers away. She understands his concern, but his touch is sending some sharp shoots of pain through her shoulder once again. "Don't cast heal on my shoulder yet. My armor wrapped it around my wound to stop the bleeding and I cut off the shaft. The arrowhead is still in there. If you cast heal, it'll seal the metal inside. I'll have Sir Oersted help take it out once we are safe. As a knight, he should have been trained in this kind of battlefield first-aid."
"...Okay." The Shield Hero takes a pause, as he silently sits down besides Mein. The two of them wordlessly watch as the supply of holy water dwindles, taking away the chance for Raphtalia and Mein to become freeman once again. The princess silently curses how the gluttonous devil bird is the first to have the slave seal washed away from her body, but she understands the need. With how volatile Firo's personality is, Consevatie would be a suicidal fool if he didn't activate any punishment setting on her.
Soon the only thing left of Consevatie's personal stash were the empty wooden crates and the glass bottles. The princess stands up from where she was sitting, and addresses the crowd of Balafon people, whose eyes are no longer completely dull and lifeless. "Alright, we freed as many of you as we could. Now we really need to-"
"Something big, and fast is coming at us from the south! It's much larger than a man or a filorial, but smaller than a gutter beak!" The princess didn't finish her rousing speech before she's interrupted by Yukari. A loud boom of crashing and snapping wood is heard from the direction Yukari warned almost as soon as her voice drops. Splinters and bits of wood from the now broken palisad fly into the air, some of them dropping into the crowd, making them jump and scream trying to dodge the debris.
At the entry point of the broken wooden wall, hulking giant with graying hair, dried up blood covering most of his body squints his eyes over to their direction. Even with most of his armor gone, the princess still recognizes the distinct giant figure of the Four Heroes Church's Battle Saint who betrayed them outside the capital, Roger of Ajax. Only a small amount of monster leather straps, connecting to broken pieces of metal, is left of his heavy, expensive titanite armor. And with the zigzag shaped scar on his muscular body, it looks like he escaped the sheering mow of a very large monster. Despite his sorry state, his face twists into a mixture of a snarl and a maniac grin. "Shield HERO!"
Mein really shouldn't be surprised at how many different ways someone could twist the word 'hero' into a dirty curse. Yet it still catches her off guard when she hears it. And with the way he 'greets' Naofumi, it's clear he hasn't realized the error of his way and is looking for the Shield Hero to make amends like Jackson. Spit flies out of his foaming mouth, the giant brute breaks into a full charge towards the Shield Hero's direction. "Your head will bring me more glory than all I have lost, Shield Hero! DIE! Like the little bitch you are!"
Balafon people, thoroughly intimidated by the sudden appearance of the insane giant, begin to scream, and run in every direction as Mein feared. She understands their panic, considering most of them are in the way of Naofumi and the charging giant. With most of them never having a chance to level up, they'll be trampled like fallen leaves by the blessed battlemaster of the Four Heroes' Church. But it certainly complicates the plan for their rescue. Mein desperately waves her remaining good hand, trying to get some order to the mess of undisciplined peasants. "NO! Don't panic! Move to the side and let the idiot pass through! Yukari will lead you all to safety!"
"[Barrier]!" Naofumi puts his hands forward, conjuring up a wall of golden light. Despite the splendid display of his miracle, it didn't do anything to stop Roger of Ajax from his rapid advance. The giant brute tore through his spell like tearing through a thin sheet of paper, making the people of Balafon panic even more, as they began to run into and trample each other.
The Bed of Chaos lifts up her roots, and steps over the pulsating mass of bodies that were the enslaved people of Balafon. She buries her wooden 'feet' into the ground, and spreads her vines and branches around in front of the people into a protective wall. Bracing herself for impact to- *BANG* *SNAP*!
A loud, eldritch screech makes Mein drop onto the ground with the wave of head splitting headache. As she fights back against the pain to look up, she notices how the upper 'body' of the giant dryad had mostly snapped in half with only a few thin sheets of bark connecting to her rooted 'legs'. Despite her being created with the divine domain of the Chief God, her low level was not enough for her to withstand the full body charge from a seasoned and distinguished war veteran from the Great War. Who was a monster in his own right. And seeing the way how her body had fallen on a group of Balafon people, who are most definitely not moving. And on how Mein's own experience bar had progressed slightly towards her next level... Yes, the Bed of Chaos has crushed some of the people she tried to save to death. But at least the giant dryad managed to stop the full sprint of Roger of Ajax. If she hadn't moved to the front, more people would have no doubt been killed by the undeserved battle saint.
"You want a piece of me, you hulking asshole?! Come and get me! Leave these people out of it!" The Shield Hero's eyes seemed to turn red at the display of more people dying in front of him. Instead of avoiding danger, he begins to run head first towards the brute who is trying to kill him.
"NO! Come back, Master Naofumi! He'll snap you in half like a twig!" The princess extends her good hand towards Naofumi, but fails to grab him. The only solace she has is Sir Oersted, Firo and Raphtalia all ran forward with him. But with Roger of Ajax being their opponent, she isn't sure how long they'll last. Nora runs at the battle saint too, but her limping leg makes her lag behind everyone else.
A golden shield made of light appears right over Naofumi's right arm, similar to the gauntlet Father Gordon conjured up when he was delaying the Three Heroes Church templars for them in Graile Chapel. It seems to be another miracle the Shield Hero learnt from Uranus before the retired battle priest given his life to cover everyone's escape back in the capital. With his miracle spell shield over his arm, Naofumi charges towards the hulking brute that masqueraded as a battle saint to stop the human shaped monster from killing more innocent people. When the two of them clash together, Naofumi's body is instantly blown back onto the ground. Even with the miracle shield he has, it's clearly not enough to gap the stats difference between them. Maybe he isn't strong enough even if Lautrec's fucking goddess hasn't stole his shield.
The princess' left hand falls on the ground, clawing at the dirt to help propping herself up. She suddenly hears a voice screaming towards her back. "Lord Consevatie! This isn't what it seems! The Shield Demon just came out on his own without us asking him! We are your good, loyal servants! Have mercy- GAH!"
The ungrateful troublemaker suddenly grabs his chest with both of his hands as his entire body convulses. He quickly drops backwards onto the ground, and his twitching body stops moving with one last spasm. Mein whips her body around behind her, and sees Consevatie The Younger glaring daggers at them, Sister Amelia standing right beside him. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who freed the fop. Just as Mein suspected, the insane incarnate has no clemency to give to someone he doesn't even consider to be real people. "Mercy? Nameless NPCs like you exist only to serve me! If you betray me for the Shield Loser, you will di- GAH!"
Once again, the incarnate wasted his chance gloating rather than going straight for the kill. He drops unceremoniously face down into the dirt, when he is roundhouse kicked on the temple by a figure in a light green short sleeved shirt, and a pair of black pants. Sister Amelia gasps at the figure, or perhaps his action rather than instantly retaliates or runs for her life. "Set! You dared to betray us?! AH!"
The four eyed witch two, gets dropped onto the ground. Courtesy of an elbow drive from the free fighter. Set shrugs his shoulders over the fallen bodies of his... superior? Employer? "I might want a promotion more than anything, but I draw the line when you are executing civilians for stupid reasons. Honestly, you don't strike me as a good leader."
"YOU! You dirty commoner N- GAH!" Somehow, Consevatie is still conscious and managed to crawl back to his knees after a hard kick to his head. But his intelligence obviously didn't improve through said blunt force trauma, as rather than play dead or actually using the element of surprise to attack Set (or executing more Balafon villagers), he screams as loud and obnoxious to the one who is effortlessly beating him as possible. Resulting in an elbow drop to the top of his head this time.
"Still awake after that? I must be losing my touch sitting behind a counter all day long." Set smirks down at Consevatie. He begins to raise his leg, and drops his heel on Consevatie's head over and over again, almost like he's working up a rhythm between the sound of feet crushing against Consevatie's skull, and the yelp of pain from his victim. "Oh, well. No better time than the present to pick up my exercise again. Lucky you, my lord. You get to be my personal training partner."
The princess turns her head around, from the rather pathetic... and comical display of Consevatie being beaten up by his own men... or maybe his ally. As much as she would normally enjoy such a sight, she can't afford to focus on that while Naofumi is no doubt fighting for his life. To her surprise, she didn't turn around only to see that the Shield Hero was flattened (either figuratively or literally) on the ground by Roger of Ajax.
Naofumi is most definitely down on one of his knees, being pushed into the ground by one of Roger's feet. His shield (or rather, a disk) of golden light is still holding strong over his right arm, which he is using to stop the giant. Raphtalia in her raccoon form is on Roger's face, biting and scratching at the brute. As for the battle saint himself, other than trying to crush Naofumi with his feet, he is trying to swat Firo away with his right hand, while swinging his left fist like a hammer at Sir Oersted.
A loud bang echoed near Mein, and she sees Ren firing his pistol at the cruel giant. A small ripple appears on the left side of Roger's chest, where his heart is no doubt underneath. Yet there's no blood drawn from him, only a small ripple in his skin where a thin trail of smoke rises up. The damage caused by the ex-highwayman isn't enough to penetrate the giant's skin and hit his vital organ. They need something that hits much harder to bring down the traitorous battle saint of the Four Heroes Church. Mein holds her fire viper wand up, trying to focus her anger into power like she did against Sister Amelia, yet the spheres of fire simply fizzle out before they have a chance to fully form, let alone turning white hot.
If only she didn't waste her strongest spell on Sister Amelia earlier! She could have used her most powerful attack on this hulking beast instead. Once again, her own anger, and pettiness had been her worst enemy.
The princess looks around once more, and sees Yukari and her brother are gathering the group of children they freed around them. At least some of them realized how bad their situation is, and are trying to save as many people as they could. Mein extended her good hand out, grabbing Zylden by his wrist. "Get as many people as you can and take them away, imp! Follow Yukari, she'll lead you to safety! The Shield Hero will buy you time to escape."
"And you?" To Zylden's credit, he actually looks unsure. A far cry from his usual impish indifference to everything around him. He does seem to care about what'll happen to Naofumi... and maybe even Mein herself.
"I'm with the Shield Hero. He won't try to escape if innocent people are being slaughtered! GO!" With a push as hard as Mein could muster, she sends the imp forward to help the pair of raccoon siblings. She turns to the ex-bandit next. "You know what to do, like we talked before. You go with them! There's no place left on Firo's back with me, Shield Hero, and Sir Oersted."
The ex-highwayman gives Mein a brief look of hesitation before he runs to catch up to his childhood friend Nora. The princess turns her full attention to Roger of Ajax, who is currently in the process of pulling his left hand back. No doubt to take another swing at Sir Oersted. That's fine, it gives the opening she is looking for. "[Hydrosphere]."
A thick 'glove' of dense water forms around the balled up hand of the battle saint. He actually turns his gaze over to his hand even as Raphtalia in her raccoon form continues to scratch his face. No doubt, the brute felt the anomaly around his hand and was curious what's happening. Bad move for him, since the next thing the princess did was to conjure up a layer of sustained fire around her [Hydrosphere] spell. Something that'll quickly begin to make the water reach the boiling point. And the battle saint begins to let out an agonizing scream of pain. His DEF rating might be high enough to let him shrug away a shot from Ren's pistol, but it's useless when his left hand is being cooked.
Raphtalia suddenly changes back into her demi-human form, and shoves a handful of... something from her cloth into Roger's wide open mouth before flipping away from his shoulders. Before Mein realizes what's going on, an explosion suddenly happens inside the giant's mouth. Did Raphtalia just feed the brute a mouthful of the explosive fire ballet they got for her sling?
Nora finally catches up to everyone at this moment. She swings her hammer at Roger's knee, making a loud banging sound. It's hard to tell if she managed to break through the battle saint's defense and cracked his kneecap. But the brute definitely look wobblier on his feet now. Before she had a chance to take a second swing, her childhood friend catches up and drags her away from Roger's retribution.
"[Saint Alicia]!" "[Thunder Baller]!" Seizing the opportunity, both Sir Oersted and Firo launched their strongest attack at the hulking monster of a man. Both the beam fired out of the golden princess, and the full body slam of a giant bird the size (and weight) of a boulder would have sent a man flying through the air on their own, if not outright kill the victim of their assault. It instead only pushed Roger of Ajax to stumble away from Naofumi a single step. But that one step was apparently what Naofumi needed.
The Shield Hero cups his hand in front of him into a triangle (ironically, the triangle is the religious icon of Three Heroes while the one associated with the Shield is usually a circle). His hair seems to raise up as if some air is rising up from him, while a thin aura of black seems to coat his body. The color of miracle associated with the Chief God is usually white, or gold. But it's not unheard of when one's focus is tainted by wrath, it would instead take a much darker shine instead. The faithful of all branches of the hero faith (technically Chief God faith, but they all recognize the heroes as either the messengers, or the mortal avatar of the Chief God among certain Shield Hero worshiping sect) claim it to be the holy fire of the Chief God's righteous wrath. The first princess of Melromarc simply called it unnerving. "[FORCE]!"
A white circle surrounded by black aura fires out of Naofumi's hand. When it came into the body of Roger, it instantly knocked the giant flying back when he previously shrugged off the strongest attack of both Sir Oersted and Firo with a single step back. And Naofumi is clearly not done yet with the selfish brute, as he keeps firing his dark miracle at the battle saint over and over again. "[FORCE], [FORCE], [FORCE], [FORCE]..."
The giant is slowly, but surely slamming into the earth itself with Naofumi's effort. There's no enhancement spells active on him to enhance his attack rating, like Mein's own [Unstoppable Force] spell. Yet, he is clearly doing some damage to the Four Heroes Church's renegade blessed battle master. More damage than everyone else dealt him together, if Mein's eyes weren't deceiving herself. But then again, if Naofumi is able to tap into the same well of power from the Chief God himself, like certain members from the church after fierce training and discipline (like those Redeemers), it really shouldn't be that much of a surprise.
While the battle saint is being hammered into the ground by the Shield Hero, Mein manages to steal a look around her. Consevatie doesn't seem to be getting up for good behind her. And the people of Balafon that hadn't been killed by Roger of Jax's initial slaughter had managed to finally pull themselves together. Although in this case, they have some major help. After being nearly snapped in half by Roger of Ajax, the Bed of Chaos had managed to knot her two halves back together. And she had helped gather the previously panicking pheasant into a single group. Forcefully using her branches and vines. And now they are running out of the village from the hole Roger of Ajax made.
The princess breaks into a run herself too. As fast as she can, without breaking her balance and falling to the ground. She's not sure she can still stand up on her own if she falls down now. She managed to reach the rest of her group, and reached her good hand out towards Naofumi's shoulder. "The villagers are running away, Master Naofumi. We have to-"
Her hand feels like it's being burnt before she even has a chance to physically touch the Shield Hero's armor. Causing the princess to immediately retract her hand with a yelp. Seeing this, Raphtalia opens her arms, and wraps herself around Naofumi's back. Her body shakes, either through the pain or in an attempt to get the Shield Hero's attention. "Snap out of it, Master Naofumi! You hurt Big Sister Mein!"
"What?!" The raccoon girl managed to get Naofumi's attention. He looks back, seeing Mein and more importantly... the black scorching marks he left on Raphtalia's white church robes. "What have I done?"
"You have tapped into the Chief God's holy fire. At least that's what I think happened. But that's not important. We have to go now!" Mein swings her good arm around, guiding Naofumi's attention to look all around him. "The villagers of Balafon are gone now. And more importantly, the Bed of Chaos with them! Those church people she bonds up with are going to get free without her, and they'll all be coming at us! We need to go! FIRO!"
"Firo doesn't listen to you, bad woman..." Firo grumbles under her breath, but she lowers her body enough to let them climb on. Raphtalia turns into a raccoon once again to jump on Firo's head, while Naofumi and Sir Oersted help Mein onto Firo's back before they climb on themselves. From the corner of her eyes, the princess sees that Roger of Ajax climb up the crater Naofumi slammed him into, and breaks into another run towards them. But Firo was faster, and she ran away before the giant managed to reach them.
Behind them, they hear the angry roar of the battle saint, and the enraged screech of Consevatie The Younger. "You dare to steal away my girl, Shield Loser?! You are dead! Mark my words, I'll catch you even if you escape to the edge of the world! You will die the most excruciating way possible! I'll electrocute you, burn you on a stake, and throw you down a pit of acid!"
Thankfully, the insane incarnate's mad ramble quickly turns to howling wind as Firo runs north through the night. And he didn't use Raphtalia's still active slave seal to kill her. Unfortunately for them, with it still pointed to Consevatie as the owner, their only chance at survival is to stay at least one step ahead of the mad incarnate, and find someone to temper with it like the Lestranges did before the incarnate caught on with them.
End Note:
Thanks for everyone who give opinion about Malty's wound going forward. While I myself already leaned more towards not giving her one more permnant wound going forward, the fact everyone who commented were against meant that Malty finally catches a minor break this time.
XD
And speaking of catching a break... Naofumi just can't catch one in my story. Originally, I was going to give him a complete victory in this mini-arc. The plan was having Bed-chan use her plant manipulation ability to fool SIOC into thinking there's a plant zombie outbreak and smuggle the Balafon people out this way. Sort of an homage to what happened to canon's bioplant arc. But I had two problem with that idea.
First, narratively it would be hard to explain this plant to Balafon people. And without explain his whole plan, they would surely panic and make SIOC (or rather, everyone around him) realize there's something wrong.
Second, from the metanarrative perspective. It's probably not a very satisfying payoff to just have Naofumi's group hide in the shadow while they pull a fast one over SIOC's eyes without having any confrontation with him.
So this whole mini-arc's final part get changed into them physically go into the village, cause panic with Bed Chan's help, and break the villagers out. Of course, I threw in Roger of Ajax as a big final obstacle for them to get through since otherwise Bed Chan just rolls over SIOC and his men without having to kill them. Which obviously, turned Naofumi's victory into a much more flawed version this chapter had even if SIOC obviously still got a solid L.
I'm assuming everyone knows what the blackfire around Naofumi would be leading up to. Especially with it allowing him to overpower the Battle 'Saint' at the end. Yeah... I might have been laying a bit too thick here. *wink wink*
Now we have a chapter titled Hellfire, I wonder how will I work Heaven's Light into the title for a chapter.