The Madman Beneath the Heart
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! Now just a minor warning, this chapter turned out being a little shorter than expected but I think you'll understand once you see the cutoff point. Also, I'd like to pose a question to all my readers about this story going forward: since the anime is out now and very quickly going through its arcs, should I continue with the manga like I've been doing up to this point, or should I adjust the story to the anime? Obviously I'm going to keep using the manga until the current arc is done, but it's afterwards that I'm wondering about. And before I forget, here's the usual advertisement about my Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited book, Plains Riders, be sure to check it out. Now I've rambled long enough so, with no review questions this week, on to the story!
Within the Body of the Spirit Tortoise
For the Armory Hero, Darius Saxon, it had been a little bit since his last anatomy and physiology class. But even he was pretty sure he'd recognize a giant, beating heart when he saw one and was also fairly certain that they weren't supposed to have giant eyes that fired heat rays on them. But the Spirit Tortoise's, or whoever was in charge, control of its flesh had allowed it to do many unusual things up to this point, so in a way it wasn't so surprising. What the Cardinal Hero found more interesting at the moment was that the eyes seemed to have a certain range when it came to attacking intruders.
"Well," said Rifana as Darius continued to wave around a replica of a spear with some spare clothing on it, "what's it look like?"
"It appears that initial attack might've been a warning shot or it might think we're too scared to get closer," replied the Armory Hero as he returned the items to his inventory and carefully peeked around the corner of a fleshy wall after summoning a replica of Naofumi's shield. Both his party and the Shield Hero's had taken cover after the first heat ray blast and had spent the last few minutes experimenting with different decoy methods to see how the eyes on the heart reacted. So far, they'd gotten little reaction at all, leading them to the conclusion that the eyes attacked targets which entered a certain range.
"Whatever it thinks about us being a threat we'll need to act soon," stated Izumi, "Fitoria is fighting this very moment and our chance to help her is sitting right out there."
"With fully loaded eye lasers," said Rifana, "any chance your darkness magic could obscure its vision?"
"It most certainly would," affirmed the Horned Girl, "though at this distance I'll need to cover a wide range, so we'll need to stick close to the other group in order to not get separated."
"We'll need to stick close to Naofumi's group anyway," Darius pointed out, "his shield can take more punishment than the replica I make."
"I think I might have an addition to that little plan," said Naofumi through the communication feature on Darius's HUD, "it'll require us drawing most of the fire, though."
"Any chance you got a mirror shield or something stashed away that you haven't shown anyone yet," asked Darius, only half-joking.
"No," replied Naofumi as he shifted his cardinal weapon back to Isana's Magic Core Shield, "but if that thing doesn't shoot lightning then I can at least use the best shield I've got."
"Then I guess we're not holding back," said the Armory Hero as he readied himself to summon the necessary weapon for the situation, "what's the plan?" He listened and nodded as the Shield Hero laid out what needed to be done before turning and informing the others, specifically Izumi.
"I understand," she said with a nod, "such a feat as that should prove no issue." She moved away from the wall slightly and held up her Naginata as black mist began to spread from it. "ZWEIT SHROUD!" A roililng fog quickly filled the chamber as the eyes on the Spirit Tortoise's heart began to dart around more quickly. The first figure it spotted was Naofumi moving towards it with his shield raised.
The orb responded automatically and fired its heat beam which clashed with the green barrier being produced by the shield. "A heat ray at this level," said the Cardinal Hero with a slight smirk, "won't be enough to take out my shield. Darius, you're up next!"
"Illusory Arrow!" Exclaimed the Armory Hero from within the mist before more than a dozen copies of him suddenly appeared in formation around Naofumi and began firing arrows at the heart. This prompted the second eye to swing around while the first eye began firing its beam at the copies of the Armory Hero. A black orb of magic formed in front of the second eye before being launched at Naofumi.
"Sir Shield Hero," called Ost in warning as she realized what was about to happen, "move before-." But it was too late. When the attack landed against his shield it seemed to carry no force, but it made his weapon suddenly feel a thousand times heavier as it crashed to the fleshy floor and refused to budge.
"Shit, gravity magic again," said Naofumi, struggling to lift his shield before calling out to the others, "it's now or never guys! Take it down!"
"You got it!" Exclaimed Johann and Filo as they both shot out of the mist from opposite sides. The dragon boy drove his electrified claws into the gravity eye while Filo viciously kicked the heat beam eye, their dual attack tearing both of the orbs into fleshy pieces. Raphtalia and Izumi moved in next and slashed both the top and bottom arteries connecting the massive organ to the rest of the body. Their cuts were so fast and precise that the heart seemed to be suspended in the air for a moment before falling to the ground. Rifana came in then with a powerful flaming mace swing which ruptured the now dying heart and caused it to explode in a shower of blood and red tissue.
The effects of the gravity attack disappeared immediately after that as Naofumi pulled his shield out of the ground and Darius ended his Illusory Arrow ability. Rifana was gonna comment that she'd gotten some tortoise heart blood on her but stopped when Ost collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest in pain. "Ost, are you alright?" Asked Raphtalia with a look of concern on her features.
"I honestly wish I weren't," said Ost, breathing heavily as she glanced at where the heart used to be, "things would've been better that way." As if to illustrate her point, arteries were already regrowing from the floor and ceiling, reconnecting in the middle of the room to form a brand new heart.
"Guess that confirms it," said Naofumi as everyone gathered back together, "we'll inflict the most damage on the Tortoise by destroying its head and heart at the same time. We'll also need the magic squad to cast a seal, just in case."
"We did more than just confirm that," said Ost as she got to her feet shakily, "I now know the location of the one behind all of this."
"Say what?!" Exclaimed Darius and Naofumi, more than a little surprised by this development.
"I was able to feel the flow of energy when the heart stopped for a moment," explained the Human Familiar, "it's just as you theorized: the other three cardinal heroes are here, alive, and their energy is being used to power the Spirit Tortoise's abilities."
"How do we get to them?" Questioned Rifana, voicing the question on everyone's mind.
"We won't be able to get anywhere until we seal the heart," replied Ost, "for now, we head back and make preparations with the rest of the magic unit. Once we return and take care of things here, we'll confront the one responsible for the Spirit Tortoise's rampage." The group nodded in understanding before heading back the way they came.
A Few Minutes Later: Temporary Base Camp
"They're back!" Called Éclair as the two parties returned, quickly noting how the chamber was shaking more without Ost's magic to suspend gravity. 'Good news is Fitoria's still putting up a fight out there by the looks of it,' mused Darius as Naofumi stepped forward to announce they're findings.
"We've located the heart," he informed loudly, "and we've confirmed how to take it out. So let's make preparations and head out immediately!" No one needed to be told twice as the chamber became a flurry of activity. Figneria, Rishia, Grilaroc and Éclair were quite happy that they were able to go along this time and worked extra hard to get the magic unit organized.
In what felt like only five minutes the entire force was marching down the stairway towards the heart. As they went along, Ost informed them further about one more obstacle they were going to encounter. "So there is a core," said Raphtalia, "and it's separate from the heart?"
"Yes," confirmed the Human Familiar, "while necessary for the Spirit Tortoise to move and utilize its abilities, the heart is not the most vital part but rather an organ designed to make use of the energy the core produces. It's the reason the heart can keep regenerating, so in order to reach it we'll need to destroy both the heads and the heart at the same time, slowing its regeneration to a crawl. Then we'll seal the heart and proceed to the core."
"The heart we can handle," said Éclair, "but the heads-."
"We've no choice but to ask the Filolial Queen for aid in that endeavor," stated Grilaroc.
"Filo," said Naofumi, figuring said Filolial Queen had been listening in, "has Fitoria got the gist of it?" As if in response, the tortoise shook again.
"She does," said Filo happily, "and she says okay!" 'Probably more like 'you make it sound so easy',' Darius couldn't help but think before focusing his attention on the task at hand.
"We've arrived," announced Ost as they all stood in front of the flesh wall from before, "beyond this point the heart will attack us."
"Alright then," said Naofumi as he turned to the Queen, "how close will you need to be for the spell and how long will it take?"
"As we discussed on the way," replied Mirellia, "only magic cast at point blank range can be chanted beforehand. What's more, group magic chants require the casters to remain stationary. If we start chanting here, we won't be able to move from this spot."
"Then we'll use a similar tactic to what we used before," decided the Shield Hero, "Izumi will cover us and the magic unit with her Shroud spell. Rishia, you and any other available magic users will provide her with support magic. Raphtalia, Rifana, Filo and Johann will attack the heart head on while Éclair, the Old Lady and Figneria supports them. Darius, use Illusory Arrow and every other illusion trick you've got to divide the heart's focus. As for me, I'll defend the magic unit from any stray shots."
"In that case," said the Queen, "the Shadows and I will act as the rear guard."
"As shall I," added Ost, "my gravity magic can work to keep the magic unit steady. I should also be able to sense if something is amiss."
"Sounds good," said Naofumi, "everyone standby. We're about to open the door!" He signaled Izumi who quickly chanted her shroud spell while Rishia and a couple of other mages enhanced her magic with First Power. In no time at all, a black mist covered everyone in the room as Ost opened the door.
"Illusory Arrow," said Darius quietly after summoning the replica cardinal bow and his mask. This time he spread out his projections to completely surround the heart as he began firing arrows into the organ. Their remaining party members charged out of the mist then, dispersing in a wide formation to make targeting them as difficult as possible. It wouldn't take them long to clear the distance and the eyes didn't seem to know where to attack first, at least that's what Darius and the others had thought.
'Why in the world isn't it firing?' He mused while firing an actual arrow here and there to make the barrage seem at least partially real, 'it should've fired at the closest person by now, but it's not sweeping either of its eyes around the chamber.' As if in confirmation to his gut feeling Ost suddenly yelled out.
"Everyone!" She exclaimed, "Look-." But she didn't have time to finish as fleshy white masses suddenly formed on the body of the heart before exploding outward in a shower of doughy projectiles. Raphtalia, Rifana, Filo and Johann wound up getting some of it on them due to being in close proximity to the attack. Éclair took a few as well, reacting too slowly to the surprise assault while the more experienced Grilaroc and Figneria managed to evade or deflect the attacks all together.
The barrage wasn't just limited to the frontline fighters, though, as Naofumi and the Shadows moved to deflect the white masses away from the magic unit. One unfortunate Shadow took a direct hit from the fleshy projectiles while defending Izumi and collapsed, prompting Rishia to go check on her. "She's alright," assured the green-haired girl, "but her energy's been drained!"
"It's the white mass!" Exclaimed Grilaroc while continuing to dodge the assault, "don't let it touch you!" It was a warning that came far too late as several of the mages who'd gotten even small amounts on them collapsed to one knee or were suddenly struggling to stand. On top of that, the main eye was glowing with a familiar energy.
"Shit, get out of there!" Exclaimed Naofumi as he realized the heart's target was Raphtalia and the others up front.
"DREI SHIELD!" Exclaimed Darius as his illusions disappeared and a large spectral shield formed in front of Rifana and the others. Not even a second later the eye fired, creating a large amount of smoke as it impacted against the barrier. Silence followed for a few seconds afterwards before movement was heard again.
"Eveyone's alright," called Figneria as she and Grilaroc came rushing out of the smoke carrying their exhausted companions, "we're going to get them somewhere safe to rest for minute!"
"But we need to figure out another approach before we reengage," said Grilaroc, "the energy that's getting stolen is being used to counterattack against us. If this keeps up, we'll have trouble just surviving let alone group chanting a seal."
"Then you guys work on managing what energy we have left," said Darius, desummoning his replica cardinal shield before raising his hand, "Phalanx Wall!" Several portals with shields opened up in front of the magic unit in response to his command. "Throw up as many defenses as you can muster around the magic unit while they get that seal going, Naofumi! Izumi, I'm going in and I'll need you to cover me."
"At once," she said, redirecting the mist away from the magic unit and towards the two of them.
"Darius, what are you planning on doing?" Asked Naofumi as he put up his airstrike shields.
"At best, taking that thing out," said Darius as he and Izumi began circling around opposite sides of the heart, "at worst, buying enough time for the others to recover!" He didn't get the chance to say much else as more white masses grew on the heart. The Armory Hero responded by summoning his mask and a replica of Izumi's naginata. "HIGH QUICK!"
He moved just as the heart sent out another barrage of fleshy projectiles, bobbing and weaving around each one while twirling his naginata replica to deflect the rest. Izumi mirrored him on the other side, albeit far more gracefully and with a few more flips as the two moved into the apparent blind spots of the heart and executed the next part of the plan. "Now, smother it with freezing mist!" Exclaimed Darius as he sent away the replica and summoned Raisetsu.
"As you wish!" Izumi called back as she quickly cast a new spell that caused the mist surrounding both her and Darius to leap towards the Tortoise's heart, swirling around it as the temperature dropped quickly.
"Raisetsu!" Exclaimed Darius as he swung his favorite ax, unleashing its ice attack which, aided by the icy mist, froze the heart, imprisoning it in a block of ice. "Filo, tell Fitoria now's the time!"
"Right!" Yelled Filo as she and Johann both stood up with energy suddenly racing to their bodies, "let's make this nasty thing pay for using our energy to hurt our friends!" The two mounts let out a yell then as an electrified ball of energy formed between the two of them. 'Don't know what's going on but I can roll with it,' thought the Cardinal Hero as he swung his ax.
"ARASHI!" The blast of lightning from his ax was launched at the same time as Filo and Johann's own energy blast which, upon impacting, not only destroyed the Spirit Tortoise's heart but most of the arteries connecting it. An impact also occurred at that moment which shook the body of the Tortoise. No doubt it was Fitoria blasting the Sacred Beast's heads off once again.
"Now, cast the incantation!" Yelled the Queen to the magic unit who quickly complied.
"As source of thy power we order thee," they chanted, "decipher the laws of nature and become a bond to stop the tortoise of calamity. High class group ritual magic SEAL!" Just as the heart was beginning to regenerate, several circular magic seals formed in the air, surrounding the location where the organ had just been. The moment they formed completely, the regeneration stopped, almost like it was frozen in time.
Everyone stood and waited, expecting another possible attack at any moment. As the seconds ticked by, though, nothing happened. The once powerful beating of the Spirit Tortoise's heart was silent. "It's a success!" declared Mirellia after waiting a whole minute. The gathered magic unit let out a cheer as the two cardinal heroes and their party let down their defenses and breathed a sigh of relief.
'Fitoria,' Darius thought, hoping it was safe for her to use her more advanced telepathy now, 'has the Tortoise stopped moving out there?'
"It has," she replied, exhaustion clear even in her projected voice, "as soon as you can, deal with the one responsible for this. I'm going to have to sleep for a bit." Her voice cut out then, likely the result of the Filolial Queen transforming back into human form and collapsing. Everyone else did much the same as those few who could still move well were going around to check on the injured.
"Man I'm freakin' hungry now," groaned Johann as he fell back on his rear, "stupid energy thief heart." Filo had similar comments as she also sank into an exhausted sitting position.
"You'd be hungry right now even if we hadn't just had our energy sucked," commented Rifana, "speaking of which, what in the world did you and Filo just do, anyway?"
"They demonstrated their instinctive understanding of Hengen Musou," explained Grilaroc, "what wonderful students they are, being able to reverse the flow of the Ki being stolen from them and manipulating it into an attack. It was a sight to behold for these old eyes."
"It definitely earned them some rations and a potion," said Rifana, "and I hope they aren't too exhausted from using it, because we need to get our strength back as quickly as possible."
"Agreed," said Éclair while still breathing somewhat heavily, "our battle is not over just yet."
"Indeed," said Ost as she stepped forward, "but rest for the moment and leave this next part to me." She held her hands up in the air then as she began chanting. "As source of thy power I, Ost Hourai, order thee, decipher the laws of nature and expel forth the impurities from within. Oh 'me', open a path to the deepest parts of myself!"
The bottom section of the heart reacted to the incantation by going back into the floor before swirling around and opening a large hole, complete with a long flight of spiraling, flesh-made stairs. "The path to the core is open now," announced Ost, "it is down there where we shall find the mastermind behind all of this."
"Figures we'd find an asshole down the path that looks like an asshole," Darius managed to quip as they all gathered around. It was clear they might not have been as rested as they would've liked, but thanks to several potions they at least had all of their energy back and were capable of moving forward. Even so, Ost still felt the need to warn them.
"Be prepared," she said, "as you may have gathered from our battles so far, the mastermind specializes in stealing the energies of others, including those holding Cardinal Weapons."
"So what if they do," said Naofumi, "do you really think we'd turn back now after coming this far?"
"No," said Ost, "it is merely a word of caution. When we get there, I urge you to prioritize destroying the core over anything else. If you can do that, all of the energy gathered from the world should be returned to it." The two parties voiced their understanding before proceeding down the stairs.
The magic unit and the Shadows were too exhausted from the previous battle to follow after them, but they'd done their part and then some. Now it was time for the Cardinal Heroes to do theirs. As they descended the stairs, though, Raphtalia found she couldn't shake a persistent thought from her mind. "Master Naofumi," she whispered to him, "once we defeat the Tortoise, Ost will die, right?"
"Like I said before," replied the Shield Hero, "we've made it this far…."
"I know," said Raphtalia, "I was just thinking about when she said, 'be prepared'. Ost is prepared and even hoping to die for the world, and for her to actually be granted that hope."
"Raphtalia, we should-," Naofumi started to reply but his companion already knew what he was going to say.
"I'm know, I'm sorry," she said, "it was just a nagging stray thought I was having."
"Don't worry," said Darius as he lightly elbowed the Shield Hero, "whether or not it's for the world we're going to give this our all. We've both got things we're willing to give our lives for."
"Right," said Naofumi, taking the hint as he gave Raphtalia a reassuring look. It seemed to work well enough as she gave a light smile in return. The group proceeded on in silence for the rest of the walk until they reached the bottom of the stairs. When they did, most of them couldn't help the look of awe that spread across their faces at the sight before them.
"We've arrived," said Ost, "this is the core of the Spirit Tortoise." And it was an impressive sight as the room seemed to be a combination of flesh and stone with several maze-like designs running around the walls and floors, almost like a circuit board. Floating at the other end of the room was a large glowing crystal which was suspended in the air, no doubt with the Tortoise's gravity magic. Darius couldn't help but note how its shape resembled that of a kite shield with some extra points on either side.
"Again I urge caution," said Ost, "somewhere in this room is our enemy and they've been expecting us."
"Everyone look," said Rishia as she spotted something more than a little conspicuous. It was like some sort of bubble or glass container with liquid inside of it and it was large enough to fit a few people. But what was more interesting was that people were already inside it, very familiar people.
"So this really is where the three douchebags have been this whole time," commented Rifana, "this is one of the few times I wish we'd been wrong." But it was plain as day what had happened. The other three cardinal heroes they'd been looking for ever since they fled to fight the Spirit Tortoise, were now prisoners inside of the strange glass container in front of them, suspended in the liquid.
"We should proceed to free them quickly," said Éclair as she drew her sword. But before she could advance, Naofumi held up his hand.
"We should be careful here," said Naofumi, "something feels off about this setup."
"Johann," said Darius, already one step ahead of his comrade, "mind giving that thing the hot lugee treatment?"
"You got it boss," replied the Dragon Boy before making a rather loud slurping noise. He then proceeded to spit out a surprisingly large, flaming piece of saliva at high speed which impacted against the glass. The moment it did, electricity shot out as everyone backed a foot or two away. It lasted only a second as the image disappeared and was replaced by a small sheet of paper.
"What the, an illusion," said Rishia in mild confusion before jumping at a sudden loud noise, the sound of laughter.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cackled the voice of a man as another area of the Tortoise lit up, revealing the true location of the three heroes was in fact in a glass orb connected to the wall. "Oh so close. If you'd let that woman take another couple of steps forward she would've been charcoal. But you're much more perceptive than the last three who came here. They didn't even notice the irregularities until they were too weak to fight."
The man stepped into the light then. "So I brought them here. And now I'll welcome you here too. Do you have any thoughts regarding this place?"
"Uh yeah, actually," said Darius, raising his hand out of habit, "could you say all of that again but in a German accent? Because now that I see you, I'm having an awfully hard time taking you seriously."
"Say what now," replied the man as the wicked smile he had before turned into a frown.
"I'm with Darius on this one," said Naofumi, "I was expecting someone a bit more impressive. Instead we got, who the fuck are you exactly?"
"You fools should really wipe those smug looks off your faces," said the man as he produced a book with a familiar looking jewel in the center of it, "don't think that just because you've made it all the way here that I'm cornered. After all, I am Kyo Ethnina, a genius and soon to be the destroyer of your entire world!"
At last the mastermind stands revealed! But even if the puppeteer has stepped out of the shadows, will our heroes be able to stop him? Stay tuned to find out. 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 do battle with the now named villain, Kyo Ethnina! And if you got the time also check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! 'Til then.