Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
Got an reply back from Ace-Triad. He's been busy with work which is the reason for him going radio silent, so this chapter is unfortunately, once again is only half edited currently.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
The concept of a 'false hero' originated from the first Shield Hero. For him breaking the faith of both Tristan, the nation that summoned him, and his vow with his wife to side with the beastman in the end of the First Wave of Catastrophe. But the idea is truly cemented by the 'Seven False Heroes' after him. Soul Eater Kzinssie, Rage Beast Dantarg, Puppet Master Bokhohn, Subier the Leviathan, Blademaster Noel, Rocbouquet the Seducer, and their leader, Lord Wagnas the Ascended. Seven supposed 'heroes' who wielded weapons with the same infinite growth potential as the hero weapons. They took control of the newly formed beastman nation after the passing of the first Shield Hero, and curved their names forever into history with their many terrible deeds that span multiple generations, and terrible feats they are capable of.
Aside from their false heroic weapons, they are mostly well known for their profaned, evil magic: Fleshcrafting. A form of magic that seems to be some kind of unholy union between healing magic and necromancy, somehow making it much more foul than the latter could ever dream to be. For necromancy desecrate the cadaver left behind by the dead, after the soul had already left the body. Fleshcraft however, makes mockery of the flesh of the living.
When the Seven False Heroes wore the form of men when they first breached into their world. Yet by the end of their terrible reign of the fledgling Siltvelt, most of them took the form of monsters. The siblings, Noel and Rocbouquet, were the only two that maintained their general, human forms. But if their eternal youthful body was not enough evidence to show something unnatural had happened with the wielder of Katana and Mirror, Noel's three men tall stature, and Rocbouquet's unnatural, almost devilish beauty that would ensnare any men would be hard to deny. And they are the two more 'natural' looking False Heroes.
Of the other five, Kzinssie was a big eyed goblin with his skin seemingly flayed off. Dantarg turned into a multi-legged beast with horns and quills grown behind his head. Bokhohn became a boney demon that controls puppets with threads. Subier's hair was replaced by tentacles and his body had turned into that of a giant whale. But all of their changes pale compared to their leader Lord Wagnas. When he first set foot upon the earth of Medea, he was an elegant, handsome man with illustrious long black hair that could have any maiden fall into his arms. By the end of his reign, he had grown into a giant with the upper body of a well endowed, blonde woman that fused into his warship. Propelled by both his false heroic weapon and a giant pair of feathered wings behind his back, blinding everyone's gaze with the grand, radiant halo behind his head.
And despite the Seven False Heroes having long been vanquished by Germania's Avalon Dynasty that eventually joined hands with the kingdom of Tristan to become Faubley, their legacy lives on in those who continue to practice their cursed arts.
Chapter 118: Unspeakable Betrayals
"We need to run, Master Naofumi! There's no way we'll win against acolytes of the false heroes!" The princess immediately turned around to look at the Shield Hero. She realizes that he still seems to be in a stupor, looking up and staring at the rampaging giants with a mesmerized expression. Mein quickly hobbles herself over, giving a few quick tags on Naofumi's wrist. "Get yourself together, Master Naofumi!"
"Right! I'm not fighting against titan shifters and risk getting squashed or eaten. Fi-" The Shield Hero manages to recover his paralyzed mind. Mein turns around with Naofumi, looking for their steed and realizes she's still sprawled over on the ground. A large spot on her thigh seemed to be scorched clean of feathers, leaving a nasty wound on her exposed skin bleeding profusely. The Shield Hero immediately throws a healing miracle. "[Heal]!"
The broken flesh on Firo's leg knits back together, and the bleeding stops. But the gluttonous devil bird doesn't seem to be getting back up. Firo's head slightly twitches towards them, her eyelids slowly blinking, as if she's expending the same amount of effort in this simple action as she's trying to move a mountain. "Master Naofumi... Firo still hurts..."
For once, the bird's moaning doesn't sound like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. Even Firo wouldn't pretend to be hurt more than she did in a dangerous situation like they found themselves in. The princess belatedly realized that it was stupid of them to have neglected checking the health of their only mount when Firo was shot down by one of Ebonheart's lackeys (likely that crazy sharpshoot). As there are definitely ways one can take down a more durable target. "It could be some special weapon art designed to disable the target, or something with whatever arrow they used. Like poison. We don't have time for a full diagnosis! We need to run!"
The princess risked one look behind them. It seems like most of Bartfort's loyal henchmen had been dispatched by the fleshcrafters, as bloody messes are left everywhere. The smug little shit himself is still swinging around the rampaging giants taking an opportunity to slash at them whenever possible. Mostly at the less well armored female giant. Say whatever you will about his nasty attitude, he is showing off some genuinely impressive skill of acrobatics mixed with a blast of precise wind magic here and there. Clearly realizing his female companion is the weak link against someone like Bartfort, the armored male giant begins to charge around with renewed vigor. Blocking Bartfort's movement with his own well protected body, while destroying trees to limit the little shit's available grapple point to limit his movement.
"Can you change back to human, Firo? I'll carry you." Mein looks back, and sees Naofumi knelt beside Firo. The giant bird bobs her head once and closes his eyes, seemingly trying to concentrate. After a few beats, a pop sound accompanies a small cloud of dust around her, and Firo's body changes back into the prone form of a child. Without one more word, Naofumi picks her up with his arms, and Mein feels herself being lifted up by both of her arms as Raphtalia and Sir Oersted carry her forward. The tip of her feet barely touching soil as she moves forward much faster than her weakened legs could currently take her.
The very ground seems to suddenly shake, making Naofumi, Sir Oersted and Raphtalia stumble onto the ground. Mein falls with her two companions face down onto the soil. She pushes herself up, and looks behind her. The only thing she was able to see were a pair of giant hands that seemed to cover up the sky itself. She manages to catch only a glimpse for a split second as a skinless face that seems to radiate an aura of pure malice before her giant pillar fingers tightens, wrapping around Sir Oersted, Raphtalia, and herself.
The demonic female descendant of the false heroes has her eyes set on them after finishing off most of Bartfort's men. And she had them caught tightly in her grasp. She'll squeeze them all to death, like bugs. Throughout a shrill scream that the princess belatedly realizes was her own, she hears Raphtalia crying to the Shield Hero. "Master Naofumi, RUN! SAVE YOURSELF!"
"NO! [FORCE]! [FORCE]! [FORCE]! Why isn't it working! Why can't I use the power I had in Balafon!?" The princess hears Naofumi desperate wail between the sound of loud boom on the other side of the fleshy prison she found herself in. The Shield Hero is clearly doing his best trying to free them with the concussive blast of his miracles. But she can't even feel any shake from the hand that's now tightly wrapped around them. All it takes is one quick and hard press... and she'll turn into a smear in the female giant's palm alongside the young Gallian knight, and the lost princess of Q'ten Lo.
At least Naofumi wouldn't learn of her betrayal when her real identity is inevitably revealed. That's the one, final consultation thought in Mein's hand when her heart jumps into her throat once again when she hears Naofumi's voice struggle against something. "Unhand me! You damn Marley dogs!"
Mein doesn't know what a 'Marley' is, but she assumes it's some kind of curse from Naofumi's world. Maybe some kind of particularly nasty breed of dog? The Shield Hero sounds like he is fighting against someone who had him restricted by the end. That's when she hears a new, unfamiliar voice. It sounds harsh in the way that it sounds like its master is exerting a great effort at doing something. "Please calm down, Master Shield Hero! We don't want to hurt you, or your companions. We are dispatched here to help you."
"What?!" Naofumi's shocked exclamation completely mirrors Mein's own. That's when she realizes that the giant hands, while tightly wrapped around her (and her two companions), are most definitely not trying to squeeze them to death. In fact, now that the princess is a bit calmer and looks around her with a more national mind, she realizes the hands are closed in a way that's trying to keep the content (in this case, Mein, Raphtalia and Sir Oersted) from slipping out. "Are you working for Lord Notches?"
That's the first thought that came into Mein's head as well. But she immediately discarded this hypothesis. Followers of the False Heroes are reviled existence. Even among the Siltvelt animals who were subjugated by them. And their flesh crafting ability is a taboo branch of magic that's even more infamous than the Imperius Slave seal which had stolen the mind of the last Sword Hero. Lord Notches knowingly employing them among his spies would be giving, no, practically gift wrapping excuses to other nations to openly attack Melromarc. The ability is clearly powerful and useful, considering how easily it killed Bartfort's men. But considering the potential political fallout, it's simply not worth it. Most likely, they are agents employed by a malicious foreign power no different from the Ravens, and the Shiv they already encountered from their last journey north.
"Something like that. You'll see when we get to safety, Master Shield Hero." The traitor's reply confirms what Mein had feared. There's no point for him to not answer Naofumi's question directly with a yes if he was working for Lord Notches. Bertia's father had made his allegiance openly known when he used all his assets to rescue them from capture, and there's nothing to gain and everything to lose if his agents try to play coy with the Shield Hero now. The only explanation is they don't have anything to do with the spymaster... possibly any faction within Glorious Melromarc. She hopes Naofumi is smart enough to realize it. He probably is, or would have been. But the sudden development of them being ambushed by Bartfort, and some of the little shit's men turning out to be traitors might have distracted the Shield Hero enough to overlook the details.
The princess can feel the hand underneath them shifting, and she covers her eyes as the other hand of the female giant above them lifts to let in sunlight. As her eyes slowly adapt to the change, she realizes the posture of the female giant's hand had changed into a more accommodating manner. Whereas they formed a brutal cage of flesh around them to keep them in, now the female giant's hand is holding them up in a shape that resembles a bird's nest. Something more comfortable, but still keeping them from falling down and plunging to their death.
The princess takes a peek up at the female giant's head. Her eyes are looking forward at the road she's creating with her body rather than directly at them sitting in the center of their palm. Still, they can't hide anything from the flesh crafter if they try to resist. The female giant's hands could easily close back up into a clamp to restrict them again, if not outright crushing them to death.
With the ever presence of their giant warden in mind, Mein crawls forward. She wraps her arms around the shoulders of both Raphtalia and Sir Oersted lying to her sides. Pretending to be a distraught damsel who is comforting them, and seeking their comfort in return. But she whispers into their ears. "Don't relax yourself yet and keep your wits about you. They are not Lord Notches' men, and can't be trusted."
The young knight's expression immediately hardens, as he gives the princess a faint nod. It's barely visible to Mein even at eye level, and will surely not be picked up by the giant female head towering above them. Raphtalia on the other hand is more hesitant and confused. The princess can feel the shoulder of her adopted daughter tighten, almost like she wants to look up at the skinless face of the giant, but only just managed to fight against her first instinct.
Mein hears the sound of something drop behind them. She flips around to look, and sees the dark haired young man gently setting both Naofumi and Firo on the giant's palm about five paces away from them. The Shield Hero's face is passive in a stern way rather than a relaxed way. Which tells Mein that he too realized they are not safe yet.
The princess casts her glance over at the dark haired young man, and briefly thinks about the chance of them all jumping off the female giant's hand in an attempt to escape. The man was clearly trying to show them some good will by putting himself in the same position as them: in the palm of his gigantified accomplice. The female giant can't crash them without doing the same to one of her companions.
Mein sets her sight on Firo's still prone form besides Naofumi, and knows it's unfeasible that any potential escape plan they cook up would work. The jump from where the female giant is holding them (at her chest's level) to the ground is too steep a drop for them to shrug off the fall and instantly run for their lives. And even if they could do that, there's no way they can outrun a towering giant and a trained northern ranger without Firo's speed. No, as much as the princess hates it, their lives are in the hands of these dubious characters.
The female giant continues to run through the forest covering the foothill of Griffin's Spine. Ground quakes with every step she takes, trees decades old fall apart around her feet. The princess briefly wonders how could something as tall as a castle's watch tower, and making this much of a mess not attract the attention of Melromarc's border patrol. Surely, Bartfort and Ebonheart's group wouldn't be the only northern rangers patrolling around their northern border. Then, she realizes with a startling realization that other groups might have also had their ranks infiltrated by whoever truly holds these renegade's loyalty. This might have been a coordinated effort by the traitors' master in an attempt to secure the Shield Hero. The other groups of northern rangers could have been diverted to other paths, or taken care of like what they did to Bartfort's team. And now there is truly no one left to warn the Shield Hero's abduction to anyone within Melromarc's command structure (be it good or ill, and whatever it had left after the Three Heroes' Church's rebellion). It only remains to be seen if they want Naofumi alive... or dead.
Their titanic captor continues to tread forward, seemingly unknown, or perhaps uncaring about whatever thoughts floating in Mein's mind. Her currently human sized companion keeps his distance from the rest of their group, at the edge of her fingers. The dark haired young man clearly noticed their collective suspicion and trepidation towards them. But he didn't show any sign of discomfort, or concern about it. His eyes trained on them, watching them like a predator ready to pounce.
But even if these followers of the false heroes and their unfaithful masters managed to divert the attention of Glorious Melromarc, they still have one final obstacle to overcome. The kingdoms of griffins that make nest on Melromarc's northern mountain range, which gave it the name 'Griffin's Spine'. They are fiercely territorial creatures, and would not take kindly to something, especially something this huge treading on their land. Surely, even the profane follower of the Seven False Heroes would know the folly of trying to challenge the griffins that make their home in northern Melromarc's border?
Apparently, they did. The female giant stops her feet as Mein starts to see small black dots flying near the distant mountain top. She slowly kneels down, and sets her giant hands on the ground. The giant's normal sized friend wordlessly waves his hand at them, beckoning them to step down onto the ground. Having no other good options once again, Mein follows the young man's example. From behind her, she hears shuffling of feet, knowing everyone else did the same. Briefly, Mein considers trying to over power the two followers of the False Heroes and possible foreign agents. But she noticed figures starting to appear among the trees once again. About twice as many men Bartfort brought with himself.
From the shadows of the trees they emerge. Shady looking men in hooded traveling cloaks hiding most of their features. Their articles of clothing look sinister, but unremarkable except for one thing: Each of them wearing a black mask covering their lower faces, with a gray symbol of a closed hand with its index finger pointing up mimicking the hand gesture of 'be silent' over where their mouth would be. Unless this is the case with those two low rank Siltvelt spies pretending to be Raven Order repeating itself, their identity is clear: Unspeakables. The elite spy, assassin... and all purpose 'problem solvers' of Faubley.
Mein fights back the urge to shake her head at the morbid irony of her encountering all four undercover organizations in the world now. It seems like the Shadows working for mother had truly failed their task, if the border of (not so) Glorious Melromarc isn't even a suggestion to deter foreign agents.
"Master Shield Hero. I welcome your presence, on behalf of my nation. Noble Faubley." One of the Unspeakable steps forward, opens his arms up and then bowed down towards the Shield Hero. His voice, and the way he carries himself is much more jovial than Mein expected considering Unspeakable are supposed to take care of problems in the shadows. "Melromarc, and the Three Heroes' Church might not accept you. But I assure you, your reception will be much more different in Noble Faubley.
"Let me guess. You'll have me bound and gagged, and take me back to Faubley in a burlap sack if I refuse your offer." Naofumi raises one of his eyebrows. Considering the precarious position they found themselves in once again, he is certainly acting with a lot more confidence than Mein would have in his shoes. She would not have made the same kind of sarcastic comment like him at the expense of the Unspeakable leader. "That's what one of those Siltvelt Raven Lords did."
"Then it shall be my pleasure to prove we at Noble Faubley are not uncouth animals who impose our will on others with raw power. You will be free to leave if you reject our king's offer, Master Shield Hero." Mein has to fight back her urge to snort at the claim of the Unspeakable leader. Right... Faubley, particularly its king, is so noble that it forced mother to marry her to her lecherous pig of an uncle who is a few decades older than her.
"Good job. Anne, Bertholdt." Another Unspeakable step forward. His voice by contrast is filled with cold professionalism. Something more aligned to how Mein would imagine a glorified spy sounds. "Where is Reiner?"
"Warrior Reiner has stayed behind to cover our retreat. To make sure none of the Melromarc men were able to follow us." The young man replies back. A loud bang suddenly echoes in the small clearing of the forest. Mein jerks back, putting her arms in front of herself in a futile gesture to shield herself when she realizes she isn't wounded in any way. Five paces from her, Bertholdt looks down in disbelief at the bleeding hole that suddenly appeared on his body before he keels over, dead.
The princess completely freezes up at this unexpected infight among the Faubley Unspeakables. And judging from Anne's shocked expression and the way she simply stares at the dead body of her companion, she did too. This was a near fatal mistake. As the rest of the Unspeakables surges forward, over taking both speakers to swoop down at them. Anne included. The flesh crafter is quickly forced to defend herself when she's swarmed by three Unspeakables who fight her with short blades, rather than have the time to transform. And judging from the green shine on their blade, they are mostly coated with some kind of poison. Likely very lethal ones.
"Zeke! You traitorous bastard!" The original speaker roared with anger as he is being attacked by five of the rebelling unspeakables. Yet, he is faring much better than Anne. With a point of his left hand, a small purple nebula seemingly flashes into existence in front of his fingers. A dozen white, luminous tentacles burst out of the tear in reality, pushing four of his assailants flying back. Sure... why does Unspeakable not have someone who dabbles in taboo occult magic too. Because it seems like rules set up by all the nations don't apply to (not so) Noble Faubley. They already harbors fugitives who use the flesh crafting arts of the Seven False Heroes, maybe the Unspeakables have already rediscovered the Imperius Slave Seal too, and is about to use it on Naofumi which triggered this apparent infighting.
The last Unspeakables tries to disengage, likely knowing he has no chance against the occultist. But it's hard to reverse course when his body is still leaping through the air. The enraged occultist didn't give the rebel any chance. He blocked the poisoned blade with a blade that suddenly released underneath his sleeves, and crushed the attacker's windpipe with a powerful punch of his fist.
"Get back, Mein! Raphtalia!" Naofumi's scream brings the princess back to reality. She realizes about a dozen of the rebelling Unspeakables are charging at them. With Firo still out, only Naofumi and Sir Oersted stand between them, and they are horrifyingly outnumbered. With nothing left to lose, Mein clenches hard on her star wand and swings her arm forward. She still feels weak, and her head is still ringing too much for any finer control of her magic. Thankfully, what she is trying to do now only requires her to push as much of her magic out as possible. A wall of fire instantly erupts up out of ground, among the ranks of the Unspeakable, lighting them and the surrounding forest on fire.
"Pick up Firo and run, Master Naofumi! We are too close to the griffin's nest! And what I just did definitely caught their attention! They'll kill us all for burning down their territory!" The princess quickly pulls the Shield Hero at his shoulder to catch his attention. Thankfully, the Shield Hero instantly follows her instruction rather than question her action. Mein doesn't know if she convinced him with her argument, or if he wants to get away with a new group of bad people that wants to kill (or enslave) him. Unfortunately, they don't get very far before a loud quake rumbles the earth around them. Making them all fall on the ground once again.
Mein looks up. Despite the heat radiating from the forest fire, she feels like someone threw her into a freezing river. An upright, giant ape with a torse as large as a small fort stands over them. Its head, limbs and (thankfully) crotch area are covered in thick brown fur. Its head and limbs look almost comically small compared to its body. Yet its head is still as large as a banquet table, and its limbs thick as the trunk of an ancient tree. The way it looks down at them with much more malice than the female giant ever did seems to be mocking them, as if telling them 'you are going nowhere'.
A barrage of light, aqua darts barrages the chest of the giant ape like a swarm of comets. An uneducated, normal person might mistake it for a series of arcane bolts. Yet Mein knows the color is too muted to be the concentrated essence of magic itself, which always takes the shade of deep azure. No, it's some other power, more defined, more specific, therefore more potent than unshaped mana. Likely originated from some eldritch, outer gods. It's enough to make the giant ape stumble on his feet, but not cause any visible, and lasting damage to the grotesque monster. Mein looks back, and sees the occultist standing among a liter of broken bodies. His arms crossed in front of his chest in an X shape, cloak billowing behind him from its power. More spheres shining with the same color frozen in front of him, like stars descending down from heaven. "Back off while you still have a chance, Zeke! I'm not letting you harm the Shield Hero!"
"You became too soft to get the job done, Thomas. Was it because of time you spent with that bedridden whore, or is it because you saw another woman who is around the same age as your dead daughter if she survived that bandit attack? Regardless, you are over confident in your own abilities..." The giant ape, who is apparently named Zeke, slowly adjusted his body to regain his balance. He raises his left arm, blocking a roundhouse kick by the female giant that suddenly emerged from the fire and smoke started by Mein. He then slaps her away, with a simple back hand. "...or the abilities of your one ally."
"Them's the fighting words, Zeke. I will enjoy eviscerating you. So be it! RUN! Shield Hero!" Thomas snarls as he releases whatever eldritch spell he either held back, or had been charging up this whole time. Letting the starlight dancing in front of his face turn into another barrage of blinding comets shooting at Zeke once again. Despite Mein's misgiving from earlier and his chosen profession, it seems like this 'Thomas' was truly a man of his words.
The female giant twists her heels around even as her flesh seemingly begins to burn and melt in the fire. With a head splitting roar, she charges forward at the giant ape once again. The surface of her body, despite still lacking something resembling skin, seems to harden like some kind of glassy rock. Some kind of quartz, perhaps even hardened dragon blood (granite, she remembers Naofumi used to call it granite). It doesn't look as durable as the plate covering the armored male giant from their fight against Bartfort's men, but it obviously offers the female more protection, maybe even more strength she can use against the much stronger beast.
"Come on, Mein! We need to GO!" Mein feels herself being dragged again this time, behind Naofumi as he has Firo over his opposite shoulder. The princess, not fully recovered from her ailment can't even keep her feet up with the Shield Hero. Thankfully Raphtalia notices this, and quickly slides herself under Mein's arm to help her along.
"Stop the Shield Hero!" Six Unspeakables emerge from the wild fire that's currently burning out of control around them. They were either strong enough to survive Mein's initial attack, or they hanged back far enough to avoid the brunt of it. Regardless, they charge at them once again. Their poison coated short swords dripping malice like the venomous fangs of snakes. Sir Oersted pulls out his sword, and Naofumi is forced to drop Firo once again to summon his miracle construct shield to stand between them. With the numbers of Unspeakables severely reduced by Mein's sudden magic attack, they stood a better chance at actually resisting. But they are still outnumbered, and fighting against someone who is more skilled (definitely more experienced) than themselves.
One of them easily gets through Sir Oersted and Naofumi to come after Mein and Raphtalia. The princess pushes her surrogate daughter away, changes her wand into the standard sword wand and gets into what passes for a fighting stance. Normally, the longer reach of her weapon would give her an edge over her opponent. But it's too heavy in her hand, especially with her body still not recovered from her state of sickness. It took barely two exchanges before the Unspeakable agent kicked her onto the ground, and she could almost feel Coach Zellus' disapproving gaze on her despite the sword master being nowhere near. The only consolation she has in this situation is how her opponent didn't use her body to demonstrate the effectiveness of the poison on his blade. Most likely because the professional killer is going to use her to threaten the Shield Hero.
Something flashes before her eyes, and the forearms of the Unspeakable fall onto the ground together with Raphtalia's body, cut off from his elbows. The raccoon girl swung the Hidden Purple too hard like it's an axe rather than a very light sword that shared some trait with a whip, lost her balance, and then her footing. But the shock of losing his arms and the sudden pain managed to paralyze the assailant long enough for Mein to push her remaining magic into a prominent fireball and engulf the man's head with it.
A burst of tentacles suddenly descend upon the rebelling Unspeakables Sir Oersted and Naofumi are struggling to hold back. The princess turns her head, and sees Thomas swing over their head using a void tentacle wrapped around his arm like a grappling hook. Further away, she sees both the female, and the armor-covered male giant are holding back the giant ape. It seems like Anne's other companion had finally taken care of, or chased away Bartfort and caught up with them, joining the battle against Zeke. Unfortunately, they are still doing precious little more than getting knocked onto the ground by the giant ape, struggling back to their feet... and then getting knocked down again to repeat the process.
A loud crack of hurricane suddenly assaults all of them. It blew Mein right off her feet, and she would likely meet her end when she violently hit something if not for more void tentacles wrapping around her body. The sensation feels as slimy and unpleasant as she imagined, but she's willing to overlook it on account of it saving her life. The princess looks around, and realizes the wild fire she started with most of her magic had been completely put out. Burnt trees, fallen everywhere on the ground in a display as messy as the aftermath of the mountain burst caused by the Bed of Chaos. Even the three giant flesh creatures, including the much stronger giant ape, were sent falling on the ground.
"WHO DARES TO SULLY THE REALM OF GAIA'S CHILDREN?!" A forceful voice boomed in the sky as a dark cloud covered Mein's body. It takes her a few moments to realize it, but it's not a cloud, but an enormous griffin with his wings fully spread out that seems to be able to cover a palace. The princess' heart seems to temporarily stop, as she is reminded of Gaelion's first appearance. Something that's enough to bring out the deeply buried, primal fear of herself as a human harbors. Something that made her pride and accomplishment in herself, her bloodline... even her entire civilization feel meaningless. And for a brief moment, she feels like something laid bare, an animal hiding, shivering in a cave as she hides away from the true apex predators.
The gigantic griffin casts its glare around the land, it seems to scoff at the three giants on the ground as its gaze swings past them. "Descendants, and disciples of Malith Shards? You have no place in the court of Medea Gaia's Children. Begone, before I evict you by force."
Finally, the griffin king sets his eyes on Naofumi's figure. His eyes seem to narrow. "Emerald WEAPON of Alaya, why did you invade your presence in the realm of Gaia's children? Go back to the presence of Alaya's Children before you taint this land with the stench of your fellow men!"
Naofumi looks left and right, till he points at himself as he looks up at the leviathan griffin king. "Are you talking to me? Look, I'm sorry we made a mess in your home. But just so we're clear... I didn't come here because I wanted to. I got my shield stolen by some invading Outer goddess. And now everyone apparently wants me dead. I'm just trying to keep myself, and my companions alive."
"You truly have no clue what's going on there, are you? Did the children of Alaya collectively forsaken their duties and forgot what they have to inform you?" The griffin king seems to actually be taken aback for a brief moment before he growls with annoyance. He seems even more upset when Naofumi shakes his head. "FINE! I should have expected the short lived, and short sighted children of Alaya to falter in their duties! I will do their job for them only this once, so you better not make me repeat myself! Your WEAPON, in your case, your shield can NOT be stolen by anyone, be it mortal or a goddess. For you are the WEAPON! Alaya's Emerald WEAPON. Just like your fellow, Ruby, Sapphire, and Topaz WEAPONs. The aspects of you four were originally created by Alaya to strike down Medea's enemies, while my father Gaia created the GUARDIANs to safeguard Medea as a last line of defense. Now begone from this untouched land favored by my father Gaia before you taint it further with your presence."
Naofumi's eyes open wide, but not as much as his mouth, which almost make Mein worry that his jaw had came loose from his face. She suppose this kind of reaction is entirely warranted when someone reveals to a man that their power is much more eldritch in its origin than he previously understood. Regardless, not following the griffin king's instruction would be very detrimental to their collective health considering he is another ancient, leviathan class monster similar to the ancient Thunder Lizard they only barely managed to kill back in Rabier County. Feeling the void tentacles summoned by Thomas loosen around her, Mein crawls her way over to the Shield Hero and shakes his shoulder. "We better do as he says, Master Naofumi."
"Right. Sorry about the mess we made. We'll be going now..." Naofumi nods his head as if his soul had left his body. He slowly stood up from the ravaged ground, his legs shaking. He moves over to once again pick up Firo, but Sir Oersted manages to do it before him. They were just turning around, ready to leave when Mein noticed how the giant ape's arm seemed to be bending in a strange way. Almost like it's trying to scope up something...
"NO! STOP HIM!" Mein points her arm towards the giant ape while shouting it as loudly as her voice is still capable in an attempt to get everyone's attention. Once again, Thomas is the first to react as he shoots more void tentacles from both hands, pushing himself flying towards the towering ape. The two giant flesh crafters on their sides also act, a bit slower than the Unspeakable with their larger size, and slower relative speed. But none of them managed to stop the giant ape in time, as he scopes up a giant clump of earth, and throws it towards the griffin king in the air like they are ammunition fired out of a trebuchet.
The princess doesn't know what's going inside Zeke's head. Why does the madman choose to attack the enormous griffin king after being shown clemency to simply leave. Does the idiot believe the form he took is truly more powerful than the ancient griffin, and seeks to destroy an ancient monster that acted as Melromarc's (if somewhat unreliable) bulwark against foreign invasion? Or is he trying to simply provoke the griffin king into attacking everyone's presence, therefore killing the Shield Hero. Giving Faubley an excuse to invade while still allowing them a plausible deniability?
In the end, the reason for Zeke's doing is pointless as his barrage hits the side of the griffin king. What would have been a lethal hit to anything else merely made the leviathan monster slightly tip to the side. But from the way its face seems to physically darken, Mein knows that the ancient griffin is fully enraged. "How dare you strike a child of Gaia, disciple of the world shard! I have shown you grace by letting you leave unharmed, and this is how you repay me? You will suffer my wrath, children of Alaya!"
Once again, the sky seemed to darken. But not from the shadow cast down by the enormous beast. No, the self proclaimed 'child of Gaia' seemed to truly have some power over nature itself, as darkness seemed to settle in. Even covering the glorious incandescent sun itself. What's more, a spinning vortex of a golden lightning bolt gathers above its head like a halo. It barely took a blink of one's eyes, as a stream of lightning bolts suddenly descended down. So bright, one could be forgiven to think it's a ray of sunlight piercing the darkness itself rather than a simple collection of lightning bolts. The result speaks for itself. The giant ape, which took the combined might of Thomas, and both female and male giants to hold back has its form almost entirely obliterated. Only the charred, indescribable lump of rotten flesh remains where once a mighty beast of war stood.
Did Zeke himself die? The princess can't be entirely sure. The young man he gunned down did jump out of that giant rib cage he created to abduct Naofumi earlier. So he could have done something similar. Slipping out of the giant flesh form he created before the ray of sunlight obliterated it, and ran away under the cover of the blinding ray. Regardless, the crisis he started for everyone else is far from over. Destroying Zeke's giant ape form did precious little to calm the griffin king's wrath. As more rays of lightning begin to descend on everyone's head like a flurry of rain. It's too fast, and too much to dodge, to hide, or to defend against. They really are going to die this time.
Mein feels someone pulling her up from the ground by her collar, yanking her away from a stray bolt of lightning just as it's about to turn her into charred remains. She is being carried under the two remaining giants, who throw their bodies over everyone like a pair of giant sentries. The ashen smell of burnt flesh and bones fill Mein's nose, as their forms disintegrate above her in a shower of gore. Two loud thuds landed on the ground, followed by some faint groans of pain. Both the bodies of Reiner, and Anne are covered in soot and some burn, but they are both still alive... for now. Which further fueled Mein's suspicion that Zeke must be alive as well.
The flesh crafter's luck won't hold for long. Neither would anyone else. Their sacrifice had carried everyone through the griffin king's first barrage of assault on the same level as a forbidden spell casted by a large group of mages working in conjunction. But as the princess looks up, she sees the golden halo is still spinning above the leviathan monster's head. No less incandescent than it started out as. He is definitely preparing another attack.
Mein feels herself being gently set on the ground. She looks back, and sees Thomas giving her a gentle nod. Confirming her suspicion that there's nothing they could do to avoid their demise. She walks over to the Shield Hero, who is raising his hand seemingly ready to put whatever defense he could muster to try and save their life. She holds his arm, catching his attention, and shakes her head at him. Letting him know that their journey is at the end. Short of an actual divine intervention, there's nothing that could save them.
The griffin king lets out another barrage of blinding, golden streams of thunder on their head. The same attack that annihilated Zeke's giant form. The princess lowers her head, leaning into Naofumi's shoulder waiting for the inevitable. At least in the end, he never learnt the full depth of her treachery.
Except the end never came. Mein feels like she has been waiting for what felt like an eternity of... whatever transitioned her consciousness, or soul into the afterlife. Only to still be inside her corporeal body. She looks up, and sees the sky has returned to blue once again. The princess briefly wonders that perhaps the griffin king had finally seen reason. Maybe he was only trying to scare them, to assert his dominance over the Shield Hero, rather than taking his life. But the way his avian face seems somehow even angrier than before convinced her otherwise. After another pause that felt like it took a century, the ancient monster lets out a single word. "YOU!"
Somehow, that one word managed to convey more hatred... and absolute contempt than everything else he said since his appearance. Mein looks back, trying to get a glimpse at who, or rather, what had saved their lives from the furious son of Gaia.
A single hand, small and delicate as a child, holds up a ball of condensed lightning as bright as a small sun in the middle of her pawn. She is only slightly taller than Firo, with a face just as youthful yet devoid of all emotion underneath her short, silver hair. A pair of pure white wings sprout from her back, giving her the look of a cold angel garnished by her flowing white dress with a deep rose accent. A flock of filorials, both monarchs, and the common variety, but all pure of color surround her. Giving her the commanding presence and regalness of a true royalty.
The girl waves her hand, seemingly dispels the deadly sphere of lightning into thin air as she opens her mouth. Her voice is as devoid of emotion as her face. "You will not harm my emerald WEAPON, King Waerjak."
End Note:
Faubley's elite spy makes their belated (compared to the other three nations anyway) appearance here. Well, better late than never. And they immediately devolves into infighting.
For anyone who is curious. The giant griffin is a canon character. Sort of. He is meant to be the giant griffin Motoyasu effortlessly killed in the Siltvelt timeline of Reprisal of the Spear Hero. Although the name Waerjak is something I taken out of Heroes of Might and Magic 4's base game. It's the name of the player hero of the barbarian campaign, which literally means 'griffin' in their tongue. I felt it's pretty fitting. But yeah, he gets a massive buff in my story to the point he's on the same level as a Dragon Lord like Gaelion. He's actually stronger than Gaelion is currently, since Gaelion is actually massively younger than he seemed to let on.
And speaking of someone younger than they carried themselves... Fitoria makes her first direct appearance. Even if Motoyasu mentioned he had already met her multiple times off screen. I actually thought about putting it in an omaka where Fitoria mets him and tests his birds, but I ends up forgetting about it.
XDDD
To answer the question of one of the previous reviews. Yes, Three Heroes Church Saga is slowly but surely crawling its way to the finale despite I wrote much more chapters than I originally planned. This is actually the second to last chapter where Naofumi's ground meet Fitoria and learn a lot of the truth regarding the world they are in. After this one, it'll be a few interlude chapters again, and then the final major arc where they have the final big fight against 3HC before the whole political wrap up.