Armory of the Forgotten Hero

by Masked Spider

The legend goes that there are four cardinal heroes. But fact and fable are often twisted in the land of Melromarc, while others are left out completely. One such fact is that there is actually another hero, the Armory hero, who doesn't wield a primary weapon. But the world will soon remember as Darius Saxon is called to remind the people that there aren't four heroes, but five.

46. The True Will of the Spirit Tortoise

The True Will of the Spirit Tortoise

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! We got quite a fight lined up for this chapter, one you'll all hopefully enjoy. And we'll learn a bit more about the purpose of the beast itself. Also, gotta advertise, be sure to check out my Ebook, 'Plains Riders', on Amazon and Amazon Kindle. And since we appear to have no review questions this chapter, let's dive on in!

On the Back of the Spirit Tortoise: Reiki

"What's going on, what's happening?!" Demanded Naofumi as they made it out of the shaking temple.

"F-Falling rocks," the nearest soldier said as he pointed at a massive boulder that hadn't been in the city just a little while ago, "I think the rock face itself has become fragile."

"Izumi," said Darius, "go check around and tend to any wounded you find."

"Rishia," said Naofumi as he failed to locate the other members of his party, "go find Filo and the others and get them back here!"

"Right!" The two girls responsded before heading off in different directions. Izumi had little trouble traversing the rubble, though Rishia stumbled around a bit thanks to being in a character costume.

"Rifana," said Darius as he turned to the Weasel Girl, "looks like we're going to be doing some clearing work for a bit." She nodded her head while chanting a spell for earth magic. It would take them a good few minutes to remove all of the rocks that were in the way. After that, they determined that hanging around for too long might pose a problem involving possible rockslides and decided to head back to report their findings.

Later: The Camp of the Allied Force

"A fragile rock face, I see," said the Queen as Naofumi finished the explanation of what had happened on the back of the Spirit Tortoise. "In any case, it's good that you're all okay."

"It must have become unstable from the movements of the Spirit Tortoise," surmised Naofumi, "The real problem is I think the route leading inside the Spirit Tortoise got buried."

"What about the other three heroes," asked the Bearded Leader?

"The stench of decay was too strong for Filo or Johann to pick up anything," answered the Armory Hero, "and we didn't find any clues indicating whether or not they'd been by. So we're still on square one with them either being somewhere else outside or somewhere inside the Spirit Tortoise."

"Then our forces shall resume the investigation of the Spirit Tortoise, depending on the situation," said the Queen, "In the meantime, Sir Iwatani and Sir Saxon shall prioritize searching for the other three heroes." 'Goody,' thought Darius sarcastically as he nodded in understanding. The two exited the tent then as the Queen and the other leaders began their discussion on what to do next with the Spirit Tortoise.

"Master, what's up~?" Asked Filo in an almost singsong voice as their parties approached.

"Filo, Johann," said Naofumi, "I know it stank back there on the Spirit Tortoise, but if we went somewhere that didn't smell as bad, do you think you'd be able to recognize the scent of the other three heroes?"

"I think I can recognize it if they're close by," replied Filo, "and I guess the same goes for Johann." The dragon boy shot her a look but said nothing.

"Alright, then we'll start by tracing the path the Spirit Tortoise came from," said the Shield Hero.

"Are you sure they're not inside the Spirit Tortoise?" Questioned Raphtalia.

"If they managed to seal it correctly then we don't have to worry," replied Naofumi, "they'll find their way back on their own."

"But since they probably fucked it up," commented Darius, "it's more likely that we might find them back around where the Spirit Tortoise first awakened. Either way we'll be heading back in this direction at some point."

"Do we have permission to beat the ever livin' out of them if we do happen to find the pricks," asked Rifana while lightly hitting her other hand with her mace.

"I'll make sure everyone gets a chance to kick their asses," said Naofumi, "now let's move out."

Some Time Later: The Ruins of the Rest of Reiki

The trail left behind by the Sacred Beast was easy enough to follow, given that it was a gigantic swath that had been carved out of the earth and everything else in its way. Some of the towns and fortresses that had been stomped on by the Tortoise were so completely flattened that it was hard to tell at some points if there'd ever been anything there at all. As they went from one location to the next, the two parties noted that the Tortoise's path wasn't entirely straight, meaning it had indeed been aiming for highly populated areas. They also wondered if there was an actual destination in mind or if the massive monster had simply picked a direction and stuck with it.

But those were all questions they'd have to ponder later. For now, they did as instructed and continued searching for any sign of the other three heroes until they eventually came upon a settlement that, while damaged in many places, had miraculously been missed by the Spirit Tortoise. It was there they got directions from some locals on the original location of Reiki. When they arrived, the two parties knew immediately that they were in the right place.

The corpses there resembled those they'd seen on the back of the Spirit Tortoise and the presence of several bat familiars further confirmed their suspicions. "Well this place seems charming," quipped Rifana as she, Darius and the others cut down several of the bat familiars, "makes me want to move to a city real bad."

"It's even more miserable here than the surrounding villages," noted Naofumi as they cut down the current swarm of familiars before taking a moment to breathe and look around at the destroyed buildings, "but the fact that there are so many familiars here so far from the Spirit Tortoise makes me wonder how important this place is-." His musings were cut short by a wretched sounding screech that seemed to be the combination of a lion's roar and that of a hissing lizard. The group quickly saw why as a large shape rose out of one of the buildings, revealing itself to be a grotesque formation of a lizard monster with both a lizard and mantis arm on its right side and the face of said lizard on the other. Most disgusting of all was the zombified lion head on top that could somehow still see them despite only having one, dangling eyeball.

"Now that is one 'ugly' motherfucker," Darius couldn't help saying as he switched his weapon to a large, studded club. His HUD quickly identified the abomination as Spirit Tortoise Familiar: Parasitic Chimera Form.

"How in the world did those eggs create not only a chimera, but a zombie chimera," questioned Naofumi in mild disbelief.

"I'll go in first," offered Raphtalia as the creature made to swipe at them with its lizard arm. The Raccoon girl struck even faster, slicing its whole arm off with a single swing of her blade. Ordinarily this would've been one problem dealt with, except the surrounding bats suddenly started swarming to the area where the limb had been cut off.

"Raphtalia, fall back!" Ordered Naofumi, "Filo, Johann, hit it with a combination attack to blast the bats away!"

"On it," they both said as Filo formed a tornado with her wind magic and Johann added fire to the mix, "Dreifa-fire Tornado!" The entire body of the Chimera was blown apart and set ablaze, yet somehow the bats were able to start pulling it back together again.

"How in the world is it still regenerating with so much of it destroyed," said Darius as he switched over to a replica of L'arc's scythe.

"You will need to destroy the core," informed a surprisingly familiar voice. Everyone turned to see a woman in a cloak, one that both Darius and Naofumi recognized. "Allow me." She raised her hand then, causing all of the bats to suddenly fall to the ground as if they were too heavy to fly. 'That's even better than my movement reduction spell,' noted the Armory Hero. "I can't hold this for long, so please hurry!"

"On it!" Said Rifana as she, Raphtalia, Figneria, Éclair and Izumi all struck at the Zombie Chimera with their weapons, tearing it to absolute shreds.

"Skybound Wheel Swing!" Said Darius as he used the copied attack to sweep all of the pieces up into a cyclone that torn them into even smaller pieces.

"Good," said the woman as she lowered her hand, "I'd just reached my limit." Darius was about to ask what she'd done when the fallen bats all suddenly leapt up and formed together, completely regenerating the Zombie Chimera once again.

"Oh come on they made a whole new one?!" Exclaimed Johann as the beast struck at them with its mantis arm. But Naofumi was there, this time with his rage shield out and a fierce looking expression on his face as the blow collided with his cardinal weapon. The result was a mass of dark flames that completely incinerated the familiar, this time leaving no bats behind.

"Master Naofumi," said Raphtalia, her voice laced with worry at the sight of the cursed series ability.

"Don't worry," he replied with a reassuring smile, "I only used it for a couple of seconds. I've already changed it back." He showed her that it was back to being the Isana Magic Core Shield from before.

"As expected of the possessor of the Cardinal Shield," said the Mysterious Woman, "and the possessor of the Cardinal Bands appears quite capable as well, though your presence here certainly underlines how bad the situation is."

"We've met before, haven't we," said Naofumi as a frown crossed his features.

"We've both met her before," noted Darius, "you're the woman who asked us to 'defeat you'."

"I am," she said as she pulled her hood down to reveal a Chinese-looking woman whose black hair was pinned up in a chignon-style bun with the assistance of a special flower hair piece, "and at this time you haven't yet fulfilled that promise. So I've come to ask again: please defeat me."

"Master," whispered Filo, "this person doesn't smell like a human."

"Indeed I am not," she said, somehow overhearing the filolial, "you could say I'm another one of the many you've already encountered so far, a familiar for the Spirit Tortoise. The human version of one."

"WHAAAATT?!" Exclaimed the members of both parties as they all drew their weapons and pointed them at the now named familiar.

"Such a response was expected," said the Human Familiar with a very slight sigh, "but I no longer have the leeway to keep my identity hidden. So even though it may be shameful, allow me to explain the current situation. My body has been taken over and I cannot fulfill my duties. So I implore you, please kill this foolish version of 'me'."

"What do you mean 'taken over'?" Questioned Naofumi as everyone kept their weapons trained on the Familiar.

"The original mission of the Spirit Tortoise has been obstructed," she explained, "not only that, the appropriate steps were not taken to unseal it properly."

"Wonder who we have to thank for that," commnented Rifana, wondering if she should be keeping a tally at this point.

"My mission was to collect 'souls' and use them to create a barrier to protect the world from the Waves," said the Familiar, "it was not to cause suffering like it is doing now."

"You telling us to kill you is laudable," said Éclair as she advanced closer with her sword at the ready, "if you wish us to kill you here and now then I shall fulfill that request without hesitation!"

"Calm down Éclair," said Naofumi, "that's just a familiar like the others we've encountered, not the actual body."

"It's still the Spirit Tortoise, isn't it?!" Questioned Éclair angrily, "and just those familiars alone have taken numerous lives, so I cannot allow it to roam free!"

"It is as you say, from your perspective," replied the Familiar calmly, which made Éclair even angrier as she swore under her breath. "If it would all end with just killing me, a familiar, in place of the Spirit Tortoise then I'd gladly allow it. As it is, though, my real body would probably not even be fazed by my death." She narrowed her eyes then as she spoke her next words, "if I could've dealt with this myself, my real body wouldn't be engaging in such shameful behavior as it is right now."

"But someone has done something to my real body," continued the Familiar, "if it continues to bring destruction to the world it was meant to protect, then there is no other alternative but to take the Spirit Tortoise's life." Naofumi fixed the Familiar with a hard stare as he contemplated their options. It would be several seconds, but eventually he'd sigh before speaking his next words.

"Everyone, lower your weapons," he said as he put a hand on Éclair's and lowered her sword.

"You believe her, Master Naofumi," said a confused Raphtalia whose sword was lowered but still out.

"No," said Naofumi, "frankly speaking I've got no reason to believe her at all, but I have to know: what will you do for us in return?"

"I'll provide assistance in subjugating the Spirit Tortoise," answered the Familiar.

"Can you tell us how to defeat it?" Naofumi further inquired.

"I'm afraid I don't know how," replied the Familiar, "I do not know much other than how to complete my mission."

"Then it's not even worth considering trusting you," said Naofumi.

"Uh, guys," said Darius with a raise of his hand, "sorry to butt in on this but I've got a question that's hopefully not as pressing as I think it is."

"What is it?" Questioned the Shield Hero as he glanced over at his fellow Cardinal Hero.

"You said we haven't fulfilled the promise of defeating you yet," he said to the familiar, "if that's the case, then the Spirit Tortoise is still alive. It can't still move, can it?"

"I'm afraid it can," replied the Familiar, "which is why you'll need my help. Because the Spirit Tortoise has started moving again this very instance."

"What did you just say?!" Exclaimed Naofumi as varying degrees of shock became present on everyone's faces.

"Well fuck," said Darius, "should've known this was just round one."

Immediately After: Back at the Location of the Allied Forces

The good news was that they saved the location of the Allied Force's camp to their weapon's teleport ability, allowing them to return to it instantly. The bad news, the camp wasn't exactly there anymore when they arrived. In fact, the entire area had been demolished. The bridge they'd planned to drop had crumbled and the Allied Forces camp along with the majority of the town had been practically flattened.

Though what really stood out to all of them was the sight of the newly regenerated Spirit Tortoise itself. "What in the world happened to it?" Questioned Rifana from behind Darius as she looked at the altered appearance of the mountain that now more closely resembled a collection of ginormous spikes. Adding on to that, the Armory Hero was certain the Spirit Tortoise was drooling with a dead look in its eyes.

"Outstanding, it really did turn into an undead monster," said Darius as he urged Johann to slow down a bit. The reason being that, as he noted earlier, the bridge was out, meaning it was impossible for Filo to cross while pulling a full carriage.

"We don't know exactly how it was killed last time," said Izumi from behind Rifana. Figneria was down in the wagon with the others as four people would be pushing it for Johann right now when speed was definitely going to be needed. "Do we have any sort of a plan for dealing with it now?"

"Working on it," said Darius while opening his communication ability. He also directed Johann to fly back towards Filo and the others. Strangely, as he did so he noticed that they appeared to be lifting up into the air somewhat. "Hey Naofumi, you guys wouldn't happen to be floating right now, would you?"

"We are, actually," said Naofumi as he stuck his head out of the front of the wagon a bit and waved at them, "it looks like Ost's ability is gravity magic. One of them anyway."

"Ost?" Repeated Darius, "is that what we're calling her right now?"

"She decided it would be easier than calling her 'familiar' or 'Spirit Tortoise' the whole time," explained Naofumi, "but that's not something we need to worry about right now. We've been scouting for survivors down here and so far we've come up empty. Are you guys having any luck seeing anyone from your height?"

"Not a single bit of movement," replied Darius, "Johann says he doesn't smell the Queen, though. You think she got out?"

"The main force was in the process of moving out before we left," informed the Shield Hero, "so they probably all made it out. But for those who stayed behind to continue investigating the Spirit Tortoise…" He let the statement hang in the air because the answer was obvious: they were all dead. Raphtalia's voice came in from the background then, pointing out that they had a much bigger problem.

"Master Naofumi," she said, "the direction it's going, it's headed straight for Melromarc!" Naturally Éclair chimed in that they needed to do something.

"Well Rishia is suggesting decapitating the thing like it was before," said Naofumi, "what do you think?"

"We know it won't stop it permanently," replied Darius, "but it could buy us some time to come up with another solution. I seem to recall that we never made it inside the thing the first time and L'arc, assuming he was the one who did it, isn't the only one with a defense reversing scythe."

"Then we'll try working with that," decided Naofumi, "you start by getting its attention and we'll go from there."

"Nice to know we get the fun job," quipped Johann as they sped towards the Spirit Tortoise's head. Darius was honestly not sure if he was joking or not. Though it would turn out that the Tortoise could actually divide its attention a little. Case in point being when it seemed to glance in their direction, before it's back erupted, sending out numerous flying spikes all over the area where they were at.

"INCOMING!" Exclaimed Darius as he directed Johann into a fast forward dive. The Dragon Boy already knew what he had in mind as he moved side to side to avoid the massive projectiles, each one as long as an old tree. Several of them impacted on the ground below, tearing into the already demolished area. "Naofumi, move faster or cast defensive magic with your shield! Those spikes are probably gonna-BOOOOM!"

The projectiles from earlier all exploded, looking like a large bomb had gone off from the air. "Hey, are you guys alright?! Answer me down there!"

"We're fine just stop yelling in my ear," said Naofumi as Darius caught a glimpse of them in the clearing dust. It seemed the Shield Hero had already anticipated the spikes exploding and had cast his Meteor Shield ability. It shattered with the clearing dust but at least none of them had been harmed. Though the wagon was overturned and they were more than likely a jumble of limbs in there.

"Sir Darius," said Izumi as she pointed back towards the Spirit Tortoise who'd turned his whole head towards them. It was a haunting sight that told them something was definitely wrong. The head from before had been that of a powerful, majestic creature even despite its destructive rampage. But looking at the Tortoise's eyes now and the small river of froth dripping from its mouth, there was no doubt this was a mad beast being controlled by some kind of mad being.

And its next target was Naofumi's group as it tilted its head down and began gathering a mass of electrical energy in its mouth. "Johann, Izumi, hit it in the eye!" Ordered Darius with the first idea that popped into his head. The two complied as the Flying Dragon fired his lightning breath which was accompanied by Izumi's own powered up version of Aqua Slash.

The electrified jet of water struck the Tortoise in the eye, making the creature actually flinch a little as it moved its head up and fired the still charging attack prematurely in their direction. Even if it hadn't been fully powered up, it was still lethal and Johann barely dodged the powerful beam by diving to the left. Darius's and everyone else's hairs stood on end as they felt the heat of the attack. "Rifana, Izumi," said the Armory Hero, "hate to do this but I'm gonna have to drop you both off on the ground."

"Don't worry about it," said Rifana loudly over the rushing wind, "Johann needs all the speed he can get and I'm nearly useless in the air."

"What should we do once you drop us?" Questioned Izumi as she looked between the Tortoise and Naofumi's party down below. They'd thankfully righted themselves and had gotten out of the wagon. The Shield Hero and Raphtalia were now on Filo's back, likely looking to keep the Tortoise's attention on them so that Éclair, Figneria, Ost, Rishia and Grilaroc could get in a more favorable position.

"I'll drop you both on the back of its neck," he said while Johann fired another blast of lightning to distract the Spirit Tortoise with minor success. "Hit it with everything you got and see if we can't carve this bastard's head off a second time."

"Got it," said the two of them as Darius directed Johann straight towards the Spirit Tortoise's face. The Beast opened its mouth and roared, causing them to shake in flight a bit as they covered their ears the best they could. Thankfully, it looked like the beam attack it used earlier would take another moment to recharge, allowing Johann the window he needed to fly down the bridge of their enemy's nose and between its eyes. Rifana and Izumi jumped off as soon as they cleared its head and landed on the back of its neck, sticking their weapons into its flesh to keep themselves from sliding off.

The two warriors wasted no time in slashing at the monster's neck while Johann circled around. Darius summoned his replica of L'arc's scythe then, looking for a good spot to place his attack. Filo, Raphtalia and Naofumi had already begun attacking at the bottom right of the Spirit Tortoise's neck while Éclair, Figneria and Grilaroc were attacking the opposite side. Rishia and Ost were working to back them up with magic. 'Guess we'll start with the upper right side,' thought the Armory Hero as he raised his weapon. "Johann, give me a light!"

"You got it!" Exclaimed Johann as he shot a powerful stream of blue flame out of his mouth.

"Combo Skill: Flaming Wheel Swing!" Exclaimed Darius as he swung the scythe, unleashing a miniature cyclone which mixed with the blue flames. An azure cyclone slammed into the Spirit Tortoise's neck, burrowing into it with an incredible amount of force which tore and burnt flesh into ash. The mad beast roared in fury as an entire chunk of its neck was torn off. It was quite a spectactle if not for one problem, the massive monster was still alive and its wounds were regenerating.

"Good shot, Boss, but I think we pissed it off," said Johann as the Spirit Tortoise shifted its enormous bulk, forcing most of the others at the bottom of its neck to move out of the way of its hill-sized feet. Energy was building up in its mouth again and this time its eyes were definitely on the two in the sky. The Armory Hero waited for several moments when it looked like the Tortoise was about to fire then had Johann dive again, just before the blast erupted. Thankfully its still healing neck made it extremely hard for the Mad Beast to turn its head while attacking.

Despite that, Darius could still feel the heat of the beam being much closer than he would've liked. The Spirit Tortoise roared again in what may have been annoyance or frustration as the Armory Hero and Johann turned about to get a better view of the area where Naofumi and the others were. They'd thankfully managed to regroup down below with Ost joining them. Rifana and Izumi had managed to remain on the back of the Spirit Tortoise's neck and were attempting to keep the damaged portion torn open with their attacks.

Darius's HUD lit up with the communication feature then as Naofumi appeared in the upper right of his vision. "How are you two doing up there?" Questioned the Shield Hero.

"I should be asking you that," remarked Darius, "Johann and I are probably in one of the safer places up here. You actually have to worry about getting stepped on."

"Filo's keeping me and Raphtalia ahead of that thing's feet pretty easily, but it's not so great for Éclair and the others. But the big problem is that thing's regenerating, and way faster than any of us would like."

"I can hit it with the scythe again," said Darius, "though it looks like a more direct attack will do the most damage. Even then I don't think I'll succeed at a full decapitation."

"You can if Rishia and I buff you," suggested Naofumi, "and if the rest of us concentrate our most powerful attacks on the other side of the neck, we just might be able to bring it down."

"It's the best idea I've heard so far," said the Armory Hero as he turned Johann about and headed more directly towards the Spirit Tortoise. But then something strange happened: a magic circle appeared in the air. "What in the fu-UUUUUUUUUCK!" An invisible force seemed to yank down on them, sending the pair falling towards the earth below.

"What's going on," said a surprised Johann, "I feel heavy as all get out right now!"

"Of course, Ost has gravity magic and she's the Spirit Tortoise's familiar," grunted Darius as he tried moving his body to get a look at where they were falling, "that means that gigantic bastard has gravity magic too!"

"Well I can't fly like this," said Johann as he desperately tried to flap his wings, "what are we gonna do?!"

"Pull out another improvised trick," said Darius as he summoned a large portal near the ground, "Wind Arrow Storm!" The ground below was bombarded by arrows which created one blast of air after another, forming a massive updraft that buffeted the falling duo. He didn't keep a count of how many arrows he had to use, but in the end their fall was slowed just enough by the improvised cushion of air that they hit the ground with a thud instead of a splat.

"Ow, I hate eating dirt," grunted Johann as Darius tried and failed to get up off of him.

"You wouldn't know this but rubbing your face against dragon scales ain't exactly the greatest feeling either," quipped Darius as he managed to look up and note that some of the others were also being held down by the gravity magic. 'Need to figure out something quick,' he thought as he summoned a replica of Naofumi's shield. The Spirit Tortoise took this opportunity to fire more spikes from its back, resorting to them as it still needed time to recharge its beam. 'This is gonna hurt.'

Or so he thought until a strange light suddenly formed around him and Johann, like a bubble. "Quickly, over this way!" Exclaimed Ost. The Duo didn't need to be told twice as Johann reverted to his child form and the two dashed over to where Naofumi's group was. Ost had already cast her magic on Éclair's group as well and everyone huddled together near the Shield Hero.

"Together!" Ordered Naofumi, not needing to explain any further as he and the Armory Hero cast their abilities. "Air Strike Shield, Second Shield, Shield Prison, Meteor Shield!" The numerous barriers formed around the entire gathered party shortly before the spikes struck. Darius could feel the impacts on the ground around them and hear the sound of the projectiles breaking against the barriers, each strike seeming to shake and crack them little by little.

Then came the blast like the last time it used the spikes. Most of the barriers shattered under the force of the attack, likely assisted by the gravity magic, as shrapnel pounded against the final barrier. Thankfully, it just managed to hold as Darius's replica shield disintegrated. The final barrier disappeared then as they looked up towards the Spirit Tortoise whose full attention was definitely on them now. "It will take it only a short time to cast that gravity field again," warned Ost, "and I can only cast my magic on those nearby. So you must hit it with everything you've got in the next attack."

"Then we'll aim at a single point," said Naofumi as he looked at the throat of the massive beast, "Darius, you can still use High Quick while wielding a Cardinal Weapon, right?"

"Yeah," replied the Armory Hero, "where do you want Johann?"

"He'll carry Éclair and Grilaroc and hit the throat along with Filo, Figneria and Raphtalia. Rishia and I will back everyone else up," answered Naofurmi.

"And what about Rifana and Izumi?" Questioned Rishia, "They're still on the back of its neck."

"Send up a flair or a burst of light," said Darius, "that was our backup rally signal in case the communication ability was ever blocked. With luck, they'll see it and know we're up to something."

"Got it," said Rishia with a nod as she held up her hands and readied her spell.

"Alright everyone, hit it with everything we've got!" Exclaimed Naofumi. They quickly complied as Raphtalia and Figneria jumped on Filo's back while Grilaroc and Éclair jumped on Johann's after he transformed back into a dragon. As they sped off, a blast of flame like a flare was sent up before the Shield Hero and Rishia held out their hands towards Darius.

"ZWEIT AURA!" They exclaimed, generating a green glowing energy around the Armory Hero.

"Here we go," said Darius, feeling stronger than ever as he summoned his mask and L'arc's scythe, "HIGH QUICK!" The ground broke under his feet and seemed to explode as he shot forward at the fastest speed he'd ever gone. 'Holy Shit, I'm almost keeping up with Filo's current High Quick speed,' he realized as the surrounding landscape went by in a blur. For a moment he feared he might actually overtake his companions, but those worries were quickly put to rest as he looked to see they'd already come within striking distance.

"Here we go," said Raphtalia as energy built up in her sword and Figneria's daggers. She'd learned how to do it from Éclair. Likewise, the swordmaster herself was also building up energy in her weapon while Johann and Filo built up energy in their claws. "Now, Eight Trigrams Blade of Destiny! Spiral Strike! Dual Searing Blade!" Said Raphtalia, Filo and Figneria as eight glowing balls of energy formed in a circle in front of them, seeming to act as an accelerator as the trio shot through like a bolt of light and tore a massive crevasse into the Spirit Tortoise's throat.

"Our turn," said Éclair as she held up her sword which now glowed in the shape of a cross, "Four Cross, Full Moon, Lightning Talon!" Grilaroc added a kicking attack which formed a type of moon-like circle while Johann spun forward in a variation of his attack using his electrified claws. The Light from the three techniques seemed to form into a moon-like buzzsaw that tore another massive section out of the Spirit Tortoise's throat, leaving a good-sized target for Darius to aim at.

"Here goes," said Darius as he leapt up and spun in the air with the assistance of both Zweit Aura and High Quick, "Skybound Wheel Swing!" This time he physically hit the Tortoise's throat with his scythe and the added force from the attack and its special ability led to a spectacular result: An enormously powerful slash seemed to explode from out of nowhere as the giant head of the Mad Beast was separated from its neck. The ground shook as it landed a short distance away, then quaked as the Spirit Tortoise's body collapsed onto the earth. A large amount of dust and debris was naturally kicked up with the impact and several moments would pass before it cleared enough for anyone to see.

When it finally did and it was obvious the Spirit Tortoise wasn't getting up again any time soon, that's when Darius decided he may as well speak his mind. "YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHH!" He exclaimed while laying on the ground exhausted with his hand up in the air, "L'arc and his group can kiss all of our asses because we can do this shit too!"

"Barely," said Raphtalia as she and the others approached, most of whom were breathing somewhat heavily. And all of whom were covered in Spirit Tortoise blood to one degree or another. The Armory Hero himself noticed that he was almost entirely covered in monster blood.

"Hey," called the voice of Rifana as Darius looked over to see her and Izumi running towards them, on ground level.

"We saw that flare you shot up," said Rifana, "figured it was a good time to get off. Is everyone okay?"

"I used up a lot of mana in that last attack," said Éclair, "I think it's safe to assume we're all relatively exhausted. And filthy."

"But at least the Spirit Tortoise has been halted for the time being," said Figneria as she helped him up, only for the Cardinal Hero to get glomped by a very happy Izumi whose height had her hanging a bit below his neck. And she didn't seem to mind getting an extra amount of blood on her outfit.

"And it was spectacular," she said more happily than they'd seen her up to this point, "you have slain a mountain-sized beast! Truly you are still the master of the mountains that my clan reveres!" She moved up and whispered the next part seductively in his ear. "I have another mountain you can climb later, should you so desire."

"Uh, well, I-," Dariu stuttered before Izumi was bonked on the head by the back of Rifana's handle.

"There's a time and a place for us to be in his pants and now is not it," said Rifana.

"And besides," said Naofumi, "it was a group effort using nearly everything we had. And it's not over yet."

"Yeah that's the real pain right there," said Darius as he was able to regain his composure and untangle himself from Izumi, "I was only able to cut that thing's head off after some boosting and you all hitting it with those combo attacks beforehand. Somehow I get the feeling when it grows back again its gonna be even stronger."

"If cutting its head off won't work," said Rishia, "what should we do?"

"We regroup at Melromarc," said Naofumi, "we find the Queen and gather the magic unit. Once that's done, we head back and hit it with everything we've got. Because I got a feeling too, one that says we're not gonna get so lucky against the Spirit Tortoise a third time." Not that luck had ever been the most dependable thing for them in the first place. Nor would it be in their next desperate encounter.

And once again the Spirit Tortoise has been temporarily halted. But with each new life the more sinister it seems to become. What vile intelligence is pulling the strings from behind the scenes and what are their ultimate intentions? That's something we'll find out in the next few chapters, in the meantime, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes plan out a full scale operation again the Sacred Beast! And do check out my Ebook, 'Plains Riders', on Amazon and Amazon Kindle. 'Til then.