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.
ALSO... FUCK THE OWNER OF THIS SITE for allowing it to deteriorite to its current unstable, sorry state.
The pope of the Three Heroes' Church rammed into the waiting defense of the Shield Hero with the force of a moving castle, and at the speed of lightning. Once again, Malty had to remind herself that this was a man who can bring down a leviathan-class monster with a single, well placed punch. Yet, the moment before impact an ethereal looking, emerald shaded shell that roughly looked like the shape of a fallen meteorite formed around the heroes. The loud boom of the resulting impact leaves the princess fallen back to the ground once again, her ears and her entire head ringing. She wonders how much worse it must have been for the heroes who are at the point of their clash.
The princess forces her head up and refocuses on the battlefield between the four summoned Cardinal Heroes, and the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church. The first thing she sees is that the young heroes are still able to stand on their feet, which is a great relief. The bulwark of Naofumi's shield and his own body managed to hold against the assault from Balmus, and he even managed to send his much older opponent railing back a step. The kind of feat that could only be achieved in such a short duration since his summoning, thanks to a Shield Hero's natural constitution, and Naofumi's willingness to focus on his own intended role of being the primary defender of the group rather than wasting time trying to subvert it.
His fellow heroes didn't waste any time to capitalize the opportunity Naofumi opened up. Itsuki immediately fires out two topaz colored energy arrows. Not at Balmus' body directly, but once again at the ground at his feet. As they embed into the ground, a faint but visible current can be seen shooting up both the pope's shadow and his corresponding legs. The Bow Hero's ability to bind someone by hitting their shadow is once again used on his opponent. Not in an attempt to cause damage and draw blood, but ensure their opponent is unable to immediately recover from their unbalanced posture and put on a guard against follow up assault.
Pope Balmus however, is an experienced fighter who had been through countless fierce battles before, during, and even after The Great War. He clearly wasn't someone who would be brought down as soon as he found himself in a disadvantageous position. Even as he lost the control of his lower body, he still has all of his upper body and more importantly, both of his limbs to defend himself. And he immediately assumed one tactic he clearly learned from warfare: the best defense is offense. He raises both of his arms, pointing them at Spear and Sword Hero charging at him. The veins on his muscle bound arms bulge up, making them look even more massive. "[Great Relief]!"
It's no doubt one of his self-created unarmed weapon arts like the one he used against the Spear Hero from earlier to crush Motoyasu's defense. The macabre theme of its name is the best indication. This one is wild, uncontrolled like the name suggests, unlike the previous punch technique he demonstrated. Which almost put Malty into a serene, near meditative trance simply by looking at it. Once again, the Spear Hero spins the shaft of his weapon like the world's fastest moving windmill as he takes three large strides ahead of the Sword Hero. But instead of using it as a makeshift shield and meeting the pope's attack head on, he leans his entire body down and angles his defense. No doubt with the intention to shift most of the force behind the attack away from himself, and his companion behind him. He wasn't entirely successful, as he was pummeled into the ground by the Pope's attack. But thanks to him, the Sword Hero is unscathed and continues his assault.
Ren didn't spare a glance to his fallen companion as he charged past Motoyasu's fallen body. The Sword Hero clearly knows that the most important thing at the moment is bringing down, or at least causing some lasting damage to Balmus with the opening his fellow heroes created. The form of the legendary sword he currently wield is the one made of Gaelion's scales, but it's shaped more like a dragon's horn. With its slightly bent curve like a katana, it makes for an optimum weapon to slash people up and the Sword Hero does just that as he holds it over his head, and brings it down on Pope Balmus. Ready to split him up down the middle.
Chapter 127: It Has To Be This Way
The supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church claps his hands together over his head, closing his palms with Ren's sword in the middle and stops it dead in its path in a vice grip. The Sword Hero grits his teeth and suddenly pulls his arms downwards. With a loud snap, the blade of the legendary sword snaps off from where Balmus was holding it, but Ren manages to wrestle his sword free as he continues to slash down at the gut of his opponent. This is far from completely breaking his legendary weapon beyond repair like a normal blade, but it would still weaken his weapon at least in the short term. The Sword Hero clearly decided that causing a possible wound to Pope Balmus is much more important than keeping his weapon whole. He manages to leave a gush on the stomach of the old battle priest, before Balmus claps his hands down like a collapsing mountain. The Shield Hero is knocked away from the shock wave alone, but he doesn't look to be hurt between the exchange. In fact, judging from the scowl Ren wears on his face, he is more annoyed than anything else. "You could have knocked me flying before I wounded you. Why?"
"Thought I'd give you the courtesy of accomplishing something." Balmus looks down in his hand for a brief moment. The pope tosses his newly acquired legendary sword shard to his children. If he is worried about his bleeding wound, the supreme leader of Three Heroes' Church isn't showing it. "It's quite rude of me to not let you land a hit when you have enough conviction to damage your own legendary weapon. But don't expect another free one like this."
"Don't get distracted, Ren." Naofumi takes a few quick steps to stand in front of Ren. Motoyasu also pushes himself up from the ground and moves over to the Naofumi side opposite to the Sword Hero. Likewise, Itsuki runs forward and stops right behind him, making sure he is well protected behind his fellow heroes, but not too far away from them that allows their opponent to pick him off first. "This is still a fight to the death."
"Yeah. I know." The Sword Hero nods his head and stands lower. The weapon in his hand switches form, turning from the now half snapped dragon scale sword into the shape of an elaborate cleaver that Malty had seen a few times in the picture of her palace home's library. Clarent, one of the two relic swords that belonged to the old Albion royal family that has since passed down through House Arc. So the Sword Hero has met, and likely fought alongside at least one of Jaune's sisters. A new wave of pain courses through the princess' heart, as the thought reminds her that Jaune, the only other boy she had formed a genuine relationship with besides (and before, no less) Naofumi is now gone.
"Alright, everyone with me. Remember our training before the Third Wave." The Shield Hero by contrast doesn't really understand the connection between the sword Ren took and the noble scion who got killed by his daughter. He is completely concentrated in their battle against Pope Balmus, which they will obviously need. Before Malty even gets a chance to think over which part of their training he was referring to, the Shield Hero has already charged ahead of his companions at his current opponent with his shield weapon art [Shield Charge]. Rather than immediately follow him up, the other heroes all point their respective legendary weapons at the supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church.
"[Meteor Sword/Spear/Arrow]!" As three spinning five pointed stars fall upon Pope Balmus, Malty realizes that Naofumi is trying to use the same move he pulled on Captain Lotheringain to earn their only victory during their training session with the two royal guard captains. Instead of feeling relief, she is more worried for the Shield Hero. That plan worked back during the sparring session, because their coach was taking it easy on them by literally pulling punches to not deliver any lethal, or permanently damaging blows on the heroes. While Pope Balmus is certainly not exploiting every opportunity for victory as he sees this battle as his judgment from the gods, he is still fighting with all his power. Would Naofumi even get a chance to execute his plan, before he is struck down by his much stronger, skilled, and more experienced enemy?
"[Little Rest]." Pope Balmus brings both of his fists up. Mustering all his concentration into a meditative trance, the supreme leader and strongest fighter of the Three Heroes' Church swats the attacks launched by the three weapon heroes away before they have a chance to detonate and obscure his vision. The three weapon arts fired by Naofumi's fellow heroes harmlessly fall to the sides, still kicking up clouds of dust and debris, but unable to fulfill their intended purpose of covering the Shield Hero's approach while he is still locked in his own weapon art and unable to retreat. The Pope pulls both of his fists back, and brings them forward with the obvious intention of launching an attack on the fast approaching Shield Hero. Great Reli- Euh!"
Before Pope Balmus could launch his attack, a concentrated beam of pressure as thick as a tree trunk hits him right on his fists before he has a chance to bring out his intended weapon art. Malty looks back and sees the Bow Hero, whose facial expression is split halfway between gritted determination and satisfied smirk. It seems like after observing the Pope doing it a few times, the hero whose natural growth overwhelmingly prioritizes attack over defense had learned something. "You aren't the only one who can use offensive moves for defense!"
"[Swords of Revealing Light]!" Ren holds his copied Clarent high above his head, the relic sword that normally would have darker affinity begin to emit blinding white light from its embedded sapphire that only belonged to Alaya's Sapphire WEAPON. Construct of the same white light shimmers into existence all around Pope Balmus, but instead of the normally indescribable shape which only roughly resemble the outline of a sword, everyone looked like a pure white copy of Clarent with all of its blade pointed at the supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church trapped in the middle. If Malty squints her eyes, she can almost make out the elaborate decorative carving of House Arc's family artifact. Clearly, this is a stronger version of the sword art Ren had utilized a number of times. Pope Balmus visibly struggles against its constraint, with the veins of his muscles bulging up, looking ready to burst.
"[Air Strike Shield]!" The Shield Hero immediately puts up his barrier as soon as he breaks out of his charge state from his previous weapon art. An emerald colored energy shield comes up in front of himself, serving as the stage for the miracle he is preparing with his free hand. Five [Force] Miracles are immediately fired one after another into the center of his shield weapon art barrier, breaking through them like a flood overwhelming a dam. All of the concussive force behind his miracles are unleashed together onto Balmus as soon as he breaks out of Ren's own sword weapon art. The pope of the Three Heroes' Church only had enough time to put both of his hands in front of him before the wave of intangible washes upon him. Considering the amount of destruction Naofumi unleashed with a single [Force] miracle with his shield's super state, five [Force] stacked together in his normal state doesn't look as impressive in its visual spectacle. But the power behind it is still enough to knock Balmus, the strongest fighter of the Three Heroes' Church flying back, and reduce the ground under them to little more than dust and sand. "You're up, Motoyasu!"
The order Naofumi shouted out on top of his lung proves to be unneeded. The Spear Hero had already launched himself into the air with his spear as a leverage as soon as Ren managed to catch Pope Balmus in his sword art's restriction. He was able to stay airborne rather than dropping like a rock by spinning his spear over his head with his [Cartwheel] weapon art. Now that his opponent is being sent helplessly through the air, Motoyasu adjusted his own body to aim his fall right at Balmus. The spin of his own body no doubt further added to the force of both gravity's pull, and the spear art he had prepared to unleash by taking the higher point. "[Spiral Thread Meteor Thrust]!"
"Good showing... but not enough!" Balmus somehow manages to twist his body in the air just enough to flip upside down. Perhaps whatever body enhancement miracle he used at the start of their battle gave him more than enhanced strength and constitution. The giant of a man managed to show surprising agility and athletic capabilities both Roger of Ajax, and Tirion Fordring lacked as he pushed himself flying skyward with his hands, and the tip of his own feet serving like the head of an arrow shooting towards the sky. Despite being used by the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church, the most dogmatic and orthodox branch of the Chief God worshiping faith, this technique is simply too unorthodox to be an unarmed weapon art taught by the church, or any human civilization as a whole. And Malty is almost sure it is ironically something the beastman of Siltvelt came up with. "[Reverse Sky Charge]!"
The tip of the legendary spear meets the tip of Balmus' kick, and the pope manages to knock the Spear Hero completely off the course, sending him sprawling down towards the ground. And he wasn't down with his attack yet, as he pointed his free hands towards both the Sword and the Bow Hero. "[Great Relief]!"
Waves of unrestrained concussive blast rain down on both Ren and Itsuki. Naofumi quickly throws up two barriers, one with his shield weapon art, the other with his miracle magic. The Sword Hero also changes his weapon form into his defensive great sword again as he holds it up in front of himself and Itsuki like a shield. It didn't do them much good as Balmus' attack overwhelms all the defenses the heroes put up, and both the Sword and the Bow Hero are knocked down into the pit of sand and dust.
Pope Balmus didn't finish his wave of assaults yet. As he twists his body midair to upright himself again. As the strongest fighter of the Three Heroes' Church makes his landing, he places most of his weight on his right leg, and immediately stomps forward with his left. The torrent of dust makes the incorporeal wave of concussive energy he sends towards Naofumi look like a live, hungry animal leaping at its prey instead. The Shield Hero quickly throws up multiple energy barriers in front of himself even as he holds up his corporeal shield into a defensive stance. Balmus wasn't finished however, as he simply stomped forward between both of his legs, sending waves and waves of shockwave at Naofumi. The Shield Hero seemingly realized that he would eventually lose this war of attrition if he only stays on pure defense. He holds his free hand up, and begins throwing [Force] miracles forward, using his own concussive blast to cancel out Balmus' assault.
"I see you have only learned how to use this miracle to push forward, Shield Hero. Let me show you how it can really be used. [FORCE]!" Pope Balmus opens his free hands even as his legs continue stomping on the ground to send more shockwaves to keep Naofumi pinned down. At first, nothing seemed to happen even with the golden orbs glowing brighter and brighter in his hands. Malty begins to wonder if he is simply charging up an attack till she begins to feel tremor below the ground. And then, a large black shadow pierces through the sea of dust and sand behind him like a leviathan monster leaping out of the ocean. The princess blinks her eyes, and realizes that Balmus is now levitating a giant piece of rock as large as one of those giant monsters they encountered during the Third Wave. This single feat made her realize why people back in The Great War would call him the Chief God's Miracle Maker. Using most battle priests and cleric knights barely have any finer control when using a miracle spell like [Force] to have it attract or pull something. Biscus T Balmus not only pulled a piece of bedrock deep from the earth with his miracle, he is floating it above his own head like it weighs nothing.
The supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church swings his hands forward. The giant floating 'island' above his head begins to fall towards the Shield Hero with the suggested weight behind it. Before Naofumi gets crushed to death by the giant piece of falling bedrock, multiple topaz colored energy arrows zoom past his head. "[Inner Eye Random Arrow]!"
The energy arrows fired up by the Bow Hero looks possibly miniscule compared to the giant rock formation. Like throwing needles at a fully grown gutterbeak. Yet somehow, the rock crumbles into countless pieces as they hit. The princess is reminded that the Bow Hero supposedly never misses. She wonders if he was able to hit the weak points of this piece of bedrock, and let gravity do most of the hard work for him. But even with the rock broken up, it can still kill the Shield Hero simply by burying him.
"[One Letter Stone Cutter]!" Ren jumps in front of Naofumi. Clarent is a much thicker blade than the form he wielded when he used this skill against the Shield Hero during their duel outside of Trumpet city. But the extra added weight didn't slow the Sword Hero down as he waves his blade in perfect straight lines, bisecting countless rocks flying down at Naofumi. Maybe Ren's increased strength since then, or perhaps he has better control of the sword art he is using, could even be the newer form of the relic sword he gained from the Arc family. Instead of simply cutting the fallen boulders in half but still having them fall down, the shock waves generated by the Sword Hero while he is performing his sword art is enough to knock the remaining debris flying away, and have them fall harmlessly besides himself and his fellow heroes.
"[Great Relief]!" Balmus' body suddenly pushes through the kicked up dust storm and fallen chunks of rock. Both of his fists hold high, ready to punch the heroes in front of himself. With how sudden he sneaks up on them when Ren is standing in the front, Naofumi has no time to put up a strong enough defense to protect the more fragile hero, and the Sword Hero has no time to switch to his defensive oriented Loptus Greatsword. Ren seems to grits his teeth, and simply continues swinging his impending sword art at Balmus' fast approaching fists. With a loud boom, Ren is knocked flying back while there's barely any spec of blood drawn from Balmus' fist.
"[Meteor Shield]!" Naofumi quickly steps forward. His body bulks up behind a great shield form. No doubt, it was the shield version of Loptus Greatsword he obtained after directly absorbing the cult's relic weapon. The Shield Hero manages to not only withstand Balmus' attack, but actually push the strongest fighter of Three Heroes' Church back a step with Loptus greatshield's strong defensive bonus, the ability it grants the user to reduce damage by half, and the protective power of his shield art.
Pope Balmus isn't done with his assault simply because his first attempt is stopped by the Shield Hero's bulwark. The supreme leader of Three Heroes' Church holds both of his fists up by his chest, and then pushes both out. The way he holds himself looks plain at first... until Malty begins to hear the sound of music in her head by staring at the Pope. It's the kind of melody that starts slow and peaceful, and then slowly picks up the tempo till it becomes a glorious symphony with its sound emphasized by the calling of trumpet. Something that's played by the church to send away a well revered saint on their last journey back to the Chief God. "[Final Paradise]."
The name of the Pope's self created unarmed weapon art has a note of finality with its name alone. The princess can't tell how it feels to be on the receiving end of the attack. She can only observe Naofumi's reaction as he tries to weather through its effect. As Balmus' fists collide onto Naofumi's barrier, the body of the Shield Hero suddenly goes unnaturally still. Almost like the young hero had been frozen in time. And then, his body starts to shake in a strange way. Almost like he is being torn between some kind of death rattle, and reaction to untold pleasure. It feels like an era has passed, but it happened in the blink of an eye as the emerald shell Naofumi puts around himself cracks like glass, and his body falls down like a puppet with its strings cut. And with himself down, there's nothing the Shield Hero can do to stop Balmus from pushing his fists down towards his head.
Itsuki jumps forward, the Bow Hero throws himself into the path of Balmus' attack despite his own fragility. The air distorts in front of his fully pulled open bow where a knocked arrow should be. With a deafening crack, the young hero detonates his weapon art right in front of Pope Balmus' fists. The resulting clash knocks Itsuki flying backwards, blood spewing out of his mouth. Malty can vaguely hear screaming from Rishia and Sir Crepe around her, but she only feels relief that the fallen body of Naofumi was also blasted away by the explosive air. That must be what the Bow Hero hoped to accomplish considering he had enough time to know the difference of strength between himself and Balmus. And speaking of the Pope, even the strongest fighter of the Three Heroes' Church was knocked stumbling on his feet from Itsuki's desperate attack. And then, the nearly unmovable titan bent over, his hand reaching up towards his own body. Fordring did mention he wasn't fully healed from the attack of Lautrec's goddess... It seems like the intense battle he is having with the heroes is causing his injuries to relapse even if the only visible wound is the one cut he allowed Ren to inflict into his guts.
"[Spiral Thread]!" Motoyasu runs up to Balmus from his backside. The Spear Hero twists his feet and spins his body around, shooting his spinning spear out with his hand towards where the Pope's heart is. The supreme leader of Three Heroes' Church twists his body with visible struggle, dodging away the Spear Hero's lethal attack once again but Motoyasu isn't the only one he is fighting. Ren managed to jump back into the fight with a crude looking overhead slash that's most definitely NOT a sword weapon art. But it manages to sink into Balmus' shoulder and wound him more.
The Pope wobbles on his feet, looking like a great tree that's about to be felled by a lumberjack. The Sword Hero may not have hurt him with a fatal wound like the Spear Hero if he managed to land his spear weapon art. But it no doubt caused further deterioration to the injuries Balmus suffered from The Lady, which was something that could have killed him. The mouth of the Three Heroes' Church's supreme leader moves, letting out words that don't sound like he's directly addressing his opponent. "Not yet... I have to hang on... just a little longer... HIS WRATH INDOMITABLE LIKE THE MOUNTAIN!"
A golden wave emits from Balmus' body after what sounded like a prayer uttered in feral roar, pushing both Ren and Motoyasu back. [Wrath of the Gods] miracle is hardly the only thing he does as what possibly will be his one final, desperate attack. Despite his injured shoulder, the Pope moves both of his arms up as he holds his head high towards heaven. Dark flame, the kind that looks exactly like what surrounded Naofumi when he went berserk with wrath shroud Balmus' body. The fire doesn't look self-destructive simply because it's called upon by the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church. The golden hue glimmering over his body is quickly overwhelmed by the dark flame, scorching his body black. Balmus doesn't look ready to let this final attack go to waste, as the supreme leader of the Church begins his one final dash towards the two heroes who had fallen barely ten paces from himself.
"[CHARGING STAR]!" Naofumi shoots right back into the battle like a fallen meteorite. He is using what seemed to be a shield weapon art that combined both the effect of [Shield Charge] and [Meteor Shield]. The emerald colored shell around himself collides against the dark flame surrounding Balmus. It holds for a few seconds before shattering. But the Shield Hero managed to steadfastly hold back against the 'Holy Fire of the Chief God' even as his weapon art faltered. And then, the attack of the Spear Hero finally finds its target with one final spiraling thrust, skewering right through Balmus. Both the dark flame, and the golden glow disappears from the Pope's body, as he slowly goes limp on Motoyasu's spear. His body, once ripped like a sculpture now scorched dark, looking far smaller than he physically is. The shield over Naofumi's hand shrinks back to its default state, and the bulging muscles on the Shield Hero shrinks back down to their original size. He stands back to his full height, and looks down at the fallen body of Pope Balmus, with what seemed to be sympathy in his eyes. "Your myth ends here."
"Yes... but it wouldn't have mattered in the end." The arms of Balmus suddenly move forward again as the dying leader of the Three Heroes' Church grips Naofumi's arms. "The status quo will go on ... for a little longer. War will continue through blind faith. For in the end, we are all weak as individuals and seek strength in something greater. But greater evil always comes with greater power. Because... because men will fight for reasons they don't understand, causes they don't believe in... when they are used by ambitious men for their own ends. A world where everyone is 'happy' is a world filled with compromises, where no one is truly happy. And the ambition... of men will not allow it. But at least I'll leave a worthy successor... YOU, Shield Hero."
The sound of barely holding back sobbing makes Malty look around herself. Abaddon Abel isn't the only one who is openly crying, as Balmus' children are all shredding tears. Some more openly than others as they collectively witness the dying moment of their father. Cain, despite stoically not letting any sound escape himself, also has two trails of tear dropping down his chiseled face as he kneels down besides Abel. One of the merciful son's hands is resting on the shoulder of the wrathful son, as Cain lends some of his strength to the peacock.
"You carve your own path, use whatever methods you see fit... You don't let legal or religious nonsense get in the way. And if it costs a few lives, if you have to tell a few lies to the unenlightened masses to make your own myth happen? So be it..." The hands of Balmus slips down from Naofumi's arms as his head finally drops low, almost like he is bowing down to the Shield Hero standing over himself as his voice grows more and more faint. Yet, a content smile freezes on his face, almost like an engraved statue. "Deep inside we're... kindred spirits... you... and I..."
The few times Malty met with Balmus since she started her journey with the Shield Hero resurfaces in her mind. But unlike Uncle Aldrecht, the princess still can't tell what kind of person Pope Balmus is now that he is gone. She knew that he was a long time family friend, trusted by father and tolerated by Mother due to what he did back during The Great War. But beyond that... she has no idea if he is secretly a well-meaning, sincere and faithful man who was forced to learn deception due to need, or the greatest liar that would even put herself to shame. Was his confession with the Shield Hero before, and after their final battle spoken from heart, or is it more of his manipulation to win Naofumi to his side even beyond his own death? Malty supposes she'll never know now.
"Malty, here. Lean on me." The princess turns around and sees Katarina running over to her. Of course, the first one of her childhood playmates to recover from the battle and come to her aid would be Katarina the monkey girl. She is built to be tougher than any Melromarc lady (bloodline from the crusaders or not) had a right to be. Malty didn't refuse the aid as she slowly stands up with Katarina's help.
The princess casts another look at where the heroes are standing. Ren is helping Itsuki up as both Rishia and Sir Crepe run towards them. On the other side, Motoyasu is slowly pulling his spear out of the dead body of Balmus with Naofumi's help. It seems like the pope had earned the heroes respect. Rather than simply kicking his corpse off the Spear Hero's weapon, their movements are slow and careful to not upset his almost prayer-like dying gesture. Movement all around Malty made her look around, and saw all of Balmus' children, lead by Cain, are congregating towards the heroes down in the sand blasted pit that was the battle ground between them and Balmus.
"Stop it! Don't hurt Raphtalia!" The desperate wail of a young boy makes Malty turn her attention away from the demi-humans who are walking towards Naofumi. She sees Raki, the village boy from Lute standing in front of Rapthalia, who is in term standing over the unconscious form of Firo. On the other side, Pyrrha is walking towards them all, her spear gripped tightly and menacingly in her hand.
"Move aside, boy. This doesn't involve you. I will only kill the animal who murdered Jaune in cold blood." The cold voice of Pyrrha proves that despite her supposedly denouncing the worship of the Wrath God, she still has a lot of Zeltoble blood in her. With her noble exterior peeled away by hatred, no matter how justified, she looks ready to shove both Raki and Raphtalia aside so she can end the life of the one who murdered Jaune. Malty honestly can't disagree with Pyrrha's nearly all consuming rage, considering she feels like strangling a certain gluttonous devil bird disguised as an angel herself.
"Stop it! This is madness!" Before things could escalate further between the former gladiatrix and the two children, Yatsuhashi steps in between them. His back is slightly hunched over rather than straight like he usually carried himself. Everyone was hurt, or badly exhausted fighting against Balmus and his children after all. But the sworn shield of Naofumi isn't ready to back down. "I understand your anger at what happened. But as Lord Naofumi's sworn shield I can't allow you to kill someone he considers his children in cold blood! If you truly believe she is damned, let a court judge her actions!"
For a moment, Pyrrha hesitated. Malty briefly wonders if her nobler aspiration is coming back, or if that's the influence Jaune no doubt had over her is fighting control over her Zeltoble upbringing. In the end, her fingers tighten around her weapon, making her intention clear. Thankfully, a giant mud golem rises up from the ground behind them and firmly wraps its arms around the struggling former gladiatrix. The princess notices the texture of this golem is much more coarse and shoddy than Keith's usual construct, but it still restrained the female templar nonetheless.
Malty turns her attention back to the heroes and Balmus' children with this brief unpleasantness wrapped up. The heroes all turned around them, as they stood in a circle back to back and got back to their fighting stance. It seems that in the heat of their battle with the Pope, they forgot that there remains a sizable force of the Pope that's alive, and ready to battle. And then Cain stops his march about twenty paces from the Shield Hero, as the battle priest kneels down. Every single one of Balmus' children follows his example, even Abaddon Abel. "You are our Father's appointed successor, Master Shield Hero. You have my brothers and my loyalty."
"OH! Fucking come on! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Needless to say, the one who disrupted this solemn moment with a loud, ear gritting yapping is a certain insane reincarnate. The idiot who got lucky enough to steal and claim Avalon is still bound, and can only wiggle around like a dying worm. But he is making the most of his limited movement to kick up a fuss. In hindsight, someone should have gagged him when they bound him. The most lethal part of this jester is definitely the things he spews out of his mouth. "These fucking losers killed the man you see as your father, and you turn around to swear loyalty to them? I always know Balmus is a stupid loser, but what are you? Are you men, or are you bitches wagging your tail to whoever will throw some scrap at you?! Help me up, and I'll lead you all beating the shit out of these stupid losers!"
"Really? I seem to recall you got instantly slapped, and spanked by the Spear Hero when you rushed at him like a blind fly. And that was because the Spear Hero took easy on you, and didn't simply hold his spear forward to let yourself impale yourself. Yet, you think you of all people have the strength, or better yet, right to have a second chance at challenging the legendary heroes?" It's probably petty, but Malty can't help it. The princess turns her nose up at Consevatie The Younger to gloat at the defeated reincarnate.
"BAH! He caught me when I wasn't ready, that's all! I'd beat his head in before this stupid loser had a chance to lift his weapon!" Consevatie continues to kick his feet around while barking like a rabid dog who refuses to give up and die. "You think you win now that your manipulated fuckboy beat some stupid loser who pretended to be a big deal, you ugly scarred Slut? You are dead! You hear me? DEAD! You'll be put in your place as soon as your Mother comes back, and it'll be the most cathartic thing ever!"
"Lord Consevatie is right! We should follow him and kill the false heroes, avenge his eminence! Lord Consevatie is the only one who will truly prevail as Pope Balmus' true successor!" Another ear piercing screech interrupted Malty's thought before she even registered what Consevatie The Younger spat back at her. And speaking of someone else that should be gagged... Sister Amelia had somehow survived the battle. She is currently being brought over in the tight embrace of a mud golem, no doubt belonging to Katarina's brother.
"Your Lord Consevatie openly admitted that he wants to kill our father after he takes care of the heroes. For his personal greed no less." Cain slowly turns his head around to face sister Amelia with a wax dry expression. "And you believe he would inherit our father's goal?"
That clearly stumped the four eyed harpy for a brief moment. But she quickly recovers as much as she can. "At least he would protect what is his. Not selling our faith, our country out to the highest bidder! You think these summoned heroes would save the people? They have no attachment, or loyalty to any of us! That's why they need to be put down as the dogs they are!"
"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING, FAITHLESS MON-KEIGH!" A booming voice rains down from heaven before Malty had a chance to open her own mouth. She looks upwards, although she doesn't need to see the person to know who had decided to grace the battlefield with his glorious presence now that most, if not all fighting is done. Sure enough, a large beast the size of a castle, covered in midnight black scales is descending down from the sky. Before Gaelion even has a chance to touch down, a figure clad in red jumps down from his back and slows himself down to gently touch the ground with the wings of golden fire.
Now that Malty's attention is no longer focused on their immediate surroundings, she realizes a sizable army is moving towards them like a rumbling lake. Instead of a well disciplined army that matches in set formation, it looks like a pulsating mass of fur, limbs and muscles crawling towards them. Although that would massively underplay the speed at which they move. With the heads of lions, hyenas, bulls, gazelles and boars... all of them ride on massive wolf creatures: Dire wolves, or commonly known as Wargs. The mount easily showed the identity of this massive company of newly arrived riders. The Siltvelt Prideland raiders all wielding or carrying massive cleavers, Sweat gleaming on their massive muscles as they do their best to follow a flying dragon lord on the ground.
"My king! I will not ask for forgiveness for coming late to your rescue." The Phoenix Prince throws himself on the ground as soon as his feet touch earth. The Prideland raiders come to a rowdy stop behind him, but they quickly pull their wolf mounts to heel and kneel down behind Prince Kael'Thas. "Myself, and the raiders behind me are all yours to command. Have us escort you back to Siltvelt where you can assume your rightful throne, strike back at these unfaithful betrayers to settle your grudge, or even put me down as a punishment for failing you. You only have to say the words.
End Note:
The Pope dies, his 'children' accept Naofumi as his successor, and the climax of the Three Heroes Church Saga draws to a close. But that's not to say this entire storyline is over yet.
What's that? Alenko thinks this kind of nation shaking crisis can be wrapped neatly in a bow tie by a good, just, skillful ruler without any long term consequences except the organization of the 'villain' gets completely eradicated from the roots? Well, too bad I'm not Alenko. I want my story to have lasting consequences, especially political unrest like this. So no, the queen isn't going to do a Thanos finger snap, and make everything go back neatly into status quo.
Yep, there will be a few chapters run on that deals with the fallout, and consequence of Balmus (mostly Cromwell, to be honest)'s action before the Three Heroes Church Saga is officially over.
Hopefully the final battle between Pope Balmus and the four cardinal heroes didn't disappoint. It's not one of my longest. The duel between Eclair and Weiss, and the battle against Zellus at the end of Act II both had more word count. But with him haven't fully recovered from Goddess Raphtalia skewer through him, a longer fight simply for word count feels like doing Pope Balmus' final hooray a disservice. At least I hope there's no sense of padding in his final battle.
The four young heroes truly fight together, not Naofumi carrying the battle while the other three watches on like deers in headlight. And they still get pushed to their limit in their teamwork, and individual skill. And honestly... here in this final battle is where the second major inspiration from Balmus' final characterization comes in: Bian Zoldark from Super Robot Wars. Particularly his Original Generation incarnation.
As you guys probably realized with how close the final battle was. If Balmus used the Replica weapon, he would have killed the heroes. If he let Abel fight alongside him, he would have killed the heroes. If he didn't still suffering from Raphtalia's attack, he could probably have killed the heroes. So while he didn't throw the fight per say, he give the four young heroes a fair chance at beating him. Much like OG Bian Zoldark, Balmus here is testing the heroes to see if they have strong enough power and determination to triumph over him. If not, then he truly believes himself is the best chance for the world's survival, but if the heroes prove they are stronger, he is willing to leave the world's fate to them.
And with that, it's finally curtain calls for Biscas T Balmus. The disciple of Shirou Emiya the Mayter of Bow, the Chief God's Miracle Maker, the Pope and Supreme Leader of Three Heroes Church. Hopefully, I successfully managed to make him into a much more memorable character after so many thoughts, and three different iterations.