The Cursed Spirit Gear
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! Apologies if this is a little late but as you've likely guessed by now I'm a bit behind on all of my chapters due to holiday celebrations. But it's nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of work and if all goes well I should be some semblance of back on track soon. One thing that is already on track, though, is my book Plains Riders on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! And this chapter, too, so with no review questions this week, let's dive on in!
Kyo's Laboratory
The room had gone silent with the only sound being the noise of smoldering ashes slowly disintegrating and the other party member's somewhat labored breathing. Then, after another few moments, Filo cheered. "HOOOORAY!" She yelled while pumping her fist in the air along with Johann.
"No, don't let your guard down yet," Naofumi instructed, his shield still raised as he kept an eye on the vassal book.
"He's right," Darius added, "take a look, something's happened to the vassal weapon." It was an easily noticeable change when one looked close enough. The cover of the book had turned red and black with what appeared to be a split open rib cage surrounding the now red gem. It looked more like a tome of dark arts now as opposed to its original spellbook-like appearance.
"A cursed series," Rifana said as her eyes widened, "but that's supposed to be deactivated once the user has died, right?" The answer to her question came in the form of the red jewel suddenly glowing brightly as an evil aura emanated from the vassal weapon. The energy of the spirit tortoise in the tank on the ceiling responded and glowed brighter too as Kyo's voice rang out from the tome.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Cackled the madman as the floor began to crack under the vassal book. "Alright I'll admit it, I'm impressed! I didn't think I'd actually have to resort to this but screw it because I'm pissed like never before!" The lab began to shake as the cracks continued to spread along the floor.
"I think we need to get out of here!" Rishia exclaimed as one of the metal panels on the wall slid off and nearly landed on Raph-chan who quickly darted to Naofumi and changed back into a card that he tucked into his armor.
"This way!" Yomogi called as she signaled everyone to follow her. No sooner did she say this than the floor began cracking even faster, caving in from the vassal book as it fell into a dark abyss below. The sound of shattering glass alerted them to the fact that the container holding the spirit tortoise energy had broken and its contents followed the book down into the ever widening hole. The two groups knew that leaving the book behind probably wasn't the greatest idea but none of them had any idea just how deep the hole was or a desire to get crushed by rubble trying to retrieve it.
That became a secondary concern, however, as the sound of a horrid roar reached their ears. "Gah, what is that," Johann asked as he and Filo both held their ears while running, "it sounds like a dying wyvern roaring into metal!" But their was no time for anyone to give the dragon boy an answer as they leapt and dodged around the homunculus bodies they'd encountered on the way in. The sound of the metallic ceiling caving in greeted their ears almost as soon as the group exited the lab and continued to run through the mansion.
Yet even without looking back everyone knew something terrible was behind them. They could feel the shaking of the ground as a large form seemed to explode upward into the ceiling of the mansion, causng debris to fly everywhere as the collapse of the building was hastened. The sweeping of some sort of large arms accompanied the sounds of emergence as both the lab and much of the building behind them was swept away. The group was just getting outside when whatever creature had been unleashed broke through what remained of the mansion's roof.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Kyo's voice sounded again as they all turned around to see the complete collapse of the mad scientist's mansion and the movement of a massive shadow within the cloud of debris. "Bear witness, heroes, to the ultimate spirit tortoise familiar!" The monster swung one of its 'arms' then, clearing some of the debris cloud to make the creature stepping into view more visible.
"You have got to be shitting me right now," Naofumi commented as he and Darius took in the sight of the beast. It was over twenty meters tall and shaped like a bird but with no feathers and straightened 'wings' held out on either side of it. The crimson flesh of its body was covered in grey metallic armor, even its long tail that whipped about behind it had armor. It's red eyes glowed as they locked onto the two parties and in the center of its head was a red gem the vassal book had fused itself too.
"Never in my life did I think I'd be cursing Hideo Kojima," the armory hero added, recognizing exactly what the inspiration for this monstrosity was.
"Yes, behold my greatest creation!" Kyo's voice boomed from the head of the creature, "I call it: SPIRIT GEAR RAY!" The familiar raised its head and roared, the grating metallic sound echoing through the forest as the enchanted mist was dispelled by a powerful wind.
"'Spirit gear'," Raphtalia repeated, "what in the world is that?"
"It's just another shameless ripoff," Naofumi replied as he and Darius summoned their cursed series, "and like all the others, it's going back in the trash heap where it belongs!"
"You think so," the madman laughed as spikes suddenly sprouted from the familiar's back, "then why not try this!" The spikes launched into the air, quickly changing direction as they soared towards their targets.
"Meteor shield!" The two heroes exclaimed as both the cardinal shield and its replica cast twin barriers around the clustered party. Even with the strength of both they could still feel the ground shake from the impacts as the entire area around them was torn up by the bombardment. It was more than enough to shatter the replica barrier as Ray held its 'wings' out to the side. The armor plates opened up to reveal pages from the vassal book that glowed blue before firing a barrage of energy arrows that pelted the remaining barrier.
"Greed Series: Reign of Gold!" Darius declared as half a dozen portals opened in the air above them, just outside of the barrage of arrows and returned fire with multiple, golden weapons. Small explosions erupted from the impacts across the monster's body as it took a staggering step back. The blows also caused its own attack to end and none too soon as Naofumi's barrier shattered.
But he was ready with an attack of his own as he held the wrath shield up. "Dark Gas Burning!" A twister of green flames assaulted their enemy, causing it to roar out in a voice that was both Kyo's and the monster's. "Take him down, everyone!" Rifana and Raphtalia rushed out first with Johann and Filo transforming and taking off.
The Humming Fairy girl quickly cast a spell with her song that increased everyone's strength as Raphtalia and Rifana slashed and smashed the ankle of the monster's right leg. Rishia and Yomogi did the same with the familiar's left leg. "Annoying pests!" Kyo cursed as the beast swung its tail on the ground, nearly hitting Rishia as she was sent rolling away. Rifana quickly cast a pit spell that caused Ray's right foot to sink into the ground while Johann breathed lightning at its face.
The agitated creature responded by opening flaps on its mouth that released more vassal book pages, this time catching fire and exploding in both the air and when landing on the ground. Johann got slightly singed as both he and Filo were forced away from him. "Raistetsu Arashi," the armory hero called as he summoned and swung his signature ax, blasting away the remaining pages with a powerful blizzard wind that also covered Ray's face in ice. "Now try this," he said while switching his ax out for his replica of the vassal scythe, "Skybound Wheel Swing!"
The attack impacted against the side of the familiar's head, causing him to lurch sideways and nearly stumble over as his foot pulled out of the pit Rifana created. "Now," Naofumi declared as he rushed forward, aiming his strike for the creature's lowered face, "Self Curse Burning!" He slammed his shield into their enemy, the resulting flames blazing brightly as they engulfed the front of the monster. As they faded, however, the shield hero found himself gasping in surprise.
"Is that the best you can do," Kyo asked as Ray's head peaked out from behind its wing arm. Somehow the familiar had managed to bring it around surprisingly swiftly despite its size and blocked Naofumi's skill at the last second. "Well even if it wasn't, it's my turn now!" Ray moved with astonishing speed then as it reared up and swung its foot at Naofumi.
Even despite blocking the blow with his shield it was still powerful enough to send him sliding back several meters before he tumbled and rolled backwards a few more feet. "KYO!" Yomogi yelled as she charged her sword up with lightning and leapt at the beast's head.
"Try this!" He responded as Ray swung its right wing around to intercept the strike, red energy running the length of the limb as he did so. The samurai girl's blade met sharpened armor as the two energies clashed, battling for control as electricity danced in the air around them. It would be a battle that Yomogi would lose, however, as the cursed and spirit energy flowing through the beast overpowered her blade and sent her flying back into the wreckage of the mansion.
"Yomogi!" Rishia exclaimed as she summoned a fireball in her hands and sent it at the familiar. The impact seemed to more annoy it than anything before the beast swung it's other arm down, forcing the hengen musou wielder to flip out of the way. Rifana leapt in from behind with flames encircling her kanabo club but was batted away by Ray's tail.
"Instant Blade," Raphtalia announced as she sailed just underneath the monster's throat, "Mist." A large cut appeared as the creature roared again, a cry of both pain and rage, before changing its stance, angling its body closer to the ground. The reason for this became clear quite quickly as more spikes sprouted from its back and fired into the air. There were even more of them than last time and the two groups struggled to get back together as Darius summoned some shields with his portals while Naofumi cast his airstrike shields.
Rubble and shrapnel still did a bit of damage to the group as they clustered together, sporting various cuts and burns as the two heroes cast their twin meteor shields yet again. "Hahahaha! Now who's relying on the same old tricks!" Kyo taunted as he slammed an energized wing on top of the barriers, "but then again I should be thanking you! I had another, perfected body waiting for me beneath the lab and I would've used it too, until you gave me that rousing speech of yours!"
He continued to hammer the barriers with his deformed limbs as his monologue continued. "I realized you were right, I haven't been taking enough risks! Instead of a human body I should try a monster body and look how it's turning out! I've got you all on the ropes now and when I'm done killing you I'm going to alter the 'human' body I have with the best monster traits I can find! Kyo Ethnina will at last be reborn as the most powerful being in this world!"
The first barrier shattered then as Naofumi glanced at his friends. "I guess we don't have a choice here," he said, "everyone, I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Raphtalia replied with a smile despite the continued thrashing on the barrier outside, "we're your party members. We all share the load, together." Rifana nodded to indicate the same to Darius as the two cardinal heroes held up their weapons. 'Here goes,' they both thought as they began chanting.
"I, the Shield/Armory Hero, borrow the power of demon dragon and wrath," they said while remembering the feeling when Ost had been chanting with Naofumi, " and command it to join the power of hero with magic, power, soul, and sacrifice!" 'It's different this time,' they realized, 'will it work the same without Ost's help?' But it was too late to worry about such things as the two heroes continued with the chant. "As source of thy power the Armoy/Shield Hero orders thee, decipher the laws of creation once again and grant them everything: ALL SACRIFICE AURA!"
By this point the barrier had broken and now there was nothing to stop Spirit Gear Ray from bringing its wing arm down on the gathered heroes and their party members. Or so Kyo had thought until he felt his blow being stopped at the last second. "What," his voice sounded in confusion from the familiar, "what just-GAAAAAAHHH!" A powerful blast of energy sent the arm flying back, red and black flames scorching it in the process. "No, it can't be, that powerup you used before!"
"Not quite," Darius replied in a low, ominous tone as the power of his cursed series not only surrounded him but his party members as well. The same was true for Naofumi and his party who were now radiating bloodlust as the Wrath Shield increased their power. "But it'll do for this!" Johann and Filo launched forward in their human forms then, ramming their fists into the chin of the familiar as its head whipped upwards from the violent twin uppercut. The beast took a staggering step back, the force threatening to knock it over.
Rifana and Darius both leapt forward then, one with her club while the other summoned a gold version of his tornado hammer. Ray moved to block it with his wing arm and succeeded, but still felt incredible pain as the twin blows badly dented the limb. "You persistent bastards!" Kyo exclaimed as the familiar opened its face armor again and launched more flaming pages.
"Drei Shield!" Naofumi called as the spectral barrier formed right in front of the beast's face, causing the pages to impact and explode, blinding Ray as Raphtalia rushed in beneath it.
"Instant Blade: Mist," she said while turning and passing behind its legs. A moment later, two massive cuts appeared on the backs of the familiar's ankles, bringing it down to one knee.
"Don't think this will go like last time," Kyo declared as he lifted his undamaged wing arm up, "you haven't yet learned how to defend against-huh?!" Despite his efforts, the madman couldn't seem to open the flaps that would allow him to fire his other assorted spells and skills. He quickly found out why when he turned to see that several white portals had opened, producing clawed chains that had wrapped around the limb, keeping it locked up.
"Sloth Series: Chains of Lethargy," Darius stated as a few more were summoned to hold onto Ray's swinging tail.
"What's going on," the madman exclaimed in confusion, "this shouldn't be able to hold me, it's like my body doesn't want to move!"
"That's the Sloth series for ya," the armory hero said, "what better chains to use than ones that'll make people not care about escaping? I can't maintain 'em for long but it'll be more than enough time for what comes next." Darius summoned his sword, Blast Fang, then and ran forward with Raphtalia and Johann on either side of him. The trio leapt up and slashed at the trapped limb, severing it while Rifana, Filo and Rishia all attacked the trapped tail, cutting it off as well.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Ray roared in anguish as it stumbled and crashed to the ground, shaking the area around it. "You bastards! That hurt!"
"If you think that hurt," Naofumi growled, having moved right in front of their adversary's face, "then this next one is gonna be agonizing for you! Dark Gas Burning!" Green and black blames once again engulfed the familiar, this time far more intense than before as both armor and flesh were scorched by the onslaught. Ray shrieked in agony while this was happening, the fire sticking to it like napalm as everyone else moved back to gather around Naofumi.
"Alright," Darius breathed out, his voice distorted by his curse series, "now we just need-." Both he and the shield hero collapsed to one knee then as pain shot through their bodies.
"Darius, Master Naofumi!" Rifana and Raphtalia exclaimed as their party members moved to see what was wrong. 'Shit, the price for the curse series, now of all times,' the armory hero recalled as he put a hand to his head, feeling an ominous noise rising in it.
"Hahaha," a deep voice chuckled slowly, "well what are you waiting for, finish the fight." 'I know that voice,' the cardinal hero realized, having heard it the first time shortly after he'd awakened his curse series. "And once you're done with that, why not use the abilities you copied to take his energy, along with everything else of value here."
"You're, the cursed spirit in my bands, aren't you," Darius asked in his mind as the image of a leshen wearing the greed and sloth bands appeared. Since it was inside his head, he was the only one who could see it, much like Naofumi was the only one who could see the dragon in his.
"I am your desires manifested," the cursed spirit replied, "your desire for more along with your desire to be done with this way of life. And let's be honest, play your cards right and you could have more than you ever dreamed this very day."
"What are you talking about," the armory hero thought, "I've already got more than I deserve."
"Do you?" The leshen apparition asked, "all you've done since becoming the armory hero is deal with everyone else's blunders and clean up their messes in addition to fighting the Waves of Catastrophe. Even now, in another world you've had to deal with the shortsightedness and bad judgement of others, a problem you could solve."
"You're still not making any sense," Darius commented, "not that I expected you too."
"That's part of the problem, you don't see what you could easily do," the cursed spirit replied while pointing at him, "you could bring down the shield hero right now and make it seem like an accident, a possession, or say you did it to prevent him from killing everyone else. The others won't blame you and in their grief his party shall be yours for the taking. You can then swoon the Yomogi girl, worm your way into the heart of the hunting hero and by extension the fan hero. With all of them and your acquired might in the land of Melromarc, you could take control of the entire kingdom then use your fame to influence Siltvelt."
An image formed in Darius's mind then, one of him on a throne of weapons surrounded by all the mentioned women in scantily clad outfits while knights, samurai, nobles, kings, queens, empresses and emperors alike bowed to him. "Everything will fall into place then once you direct all the efforts of the major kingdoms to the Waves and once you save both worlds your rule will be secured along with everything you could possibly desire. The world, no, two worlds can be yours if you just take one single step."
"I," the armory hero said as he felt his mind cloud a bit. He hated to admit it, but there was some truth to what was said. Why was it he was going through all of this effort to save the world when he could use this power to just take what he wanted. The countries both here and in Melromarc had proven they didn't completely have the best interests of their world at heart so why shouldn't he just take over and make them care about the interests of the world? Sure it would be a lot of work at first, but once the Waves were over and both worlds owed him everything he could just kick back and bask in the splendor of it all.
"I'll admit it's tempting when you put it like that," he continued, "but there's just one problem." He felt a hand on his shoulder then as an image of Ost materialized behind him. "If I go down that path, I'll end up possibly worse than the bastard we're facing now. What's more, I'd rather die than bring a single tear to the eyes of my friends and I most definitely won't betray them for some headache like ruling the world. Because what I want most in this life is for the people I love to be happy!"
His bands glowed then as the cursed series reverted back to the Spirit Tortoise bands. The image of the leshen roared as it was blasted away in a cloud of black smoke, vowing that he'd be back. Darius felt his mind clear in that instant, a triumphant smile crossing his features. "And besides, this is the power we should be using to strike the final blow anyway," he said as Spirit Gear Ray got to its feet.
"Darius," Naofumi spoke up as he also got to his feet, his shield having changed back to the Spirit Tortoise shield, "are you still with us?"
"I'm here one hundred percent," the armory hero replied as he put a hand on the shield hero's shoulder, "and it looks like I'm not the only one ready to end this." His friend was about to ask what he meant until a streak of light came from the rubble of the mansion and attached itself to his shield. The cardinal hero smiled when he realized what it was before the stomping of Spirit Gear Ray demanded their attention.
"You annoying bastards are so pathetic," Kyo said as an image of him, or what used to be him, materialized on the top of the familiar's head where the vassal book was located, "you couldn't even handle that power for five minutes and now you're going to waste the energy of the Spirit Tortoise?" An ominous aura erupted from the beast then as black mist shot out of the stump that used to be its other arm, forming a type of pseudo black wing. The creature then opened its mouth and armored face plates as far as they could go, gathering energy for its final attack. "That energy belongs to me, now let me show you how to really wield power! Forbidden Tome: Revelation!"
An orb of purple energy quickly formed and grew as Naofumi summoned up the winged energy of the spirit tortoise shield's beam attack. Both parties fired at the same time as purple energy met yellow energy, their collision lighting up the whole area as the ground beneath it was torn up. "This is it for you," Kyo proclaimed, "you put up a far better fight than I ever could've imagined and I won't soon forget it. So here's my thanks, a quick death catapulting you all the way to your next life gacha!"
The beam intensified then as Naofumi was forced to brace his footing. His party members along with Darius's were quick to brace him against the strain. "Heh, seems you really haven't learned anything at all," the cardinal hero said while he and everyone else wore a look of determination on their faces, "none of this power was ever yours, not even the vassal book you're using now. You keep trying to force things to go your way, believing there won't ever be any consequences for it. But everything you've done is catching up to you now."
As he said this, the item which had attached itself to his shield moved into position. "What, it can't be," Kyo exclaimed in shock, "the mirror vassal weapon?! That piece of property moved to help you without a master to give it a command?!"
"You disregarded it at the time, when L'arc and the others said their weapons were telling them to stop you," Darius reminded him, "and you still didn't get it when I said the vassal book was fighting against you. These weapons aren't pieces of property, they're extensions of the world's will. They choose the ones they want wielding them. And someone who steals power instead of earning it, will never be able to truly wield them." The vassal mirror lit up then and added its energy to the blast, turning the gold energy into a whitish green that pushed back against the purple beam.
"No, this isn't right, this is impossible," the madman yelled as he tried and failed to put more power into his own attack, "I am the great Kyo, I can't lose in a simple power showdown like this!"
"Congratulations," Naofumi said, "it's time to pull your next life gacha. May it be even more shit than this one!" The beam from the spirit tortoise shield broke through Kyo's attack then, disintegrating the familiar as the mad scientist howled in agony. So intense was the attack that it tore a long swath into the forest behind their enemy. When it finally ended, there was only the burnt remains of part of the remaining wing arm that soon dissolved into ash and blew away on the wind.
Everyone let out an exhausted breath then as they nearly collapsed to the ground. Darius and Naofumi's weapons changed back to normal before they both took a knee. "Did we do it," Rifana asked between ragged breaths.
"We should head back inside," Rishia suggested, "and make sure the job is finished. Just in case." And so, despite their aching bodies yelling in protest, the two parties proceeded back inside the now devastated mansion, hoping they'd be in time to stop any other machinations the madman might've had remaining.
About the Same Time: The Lower Level of Kyo's Ruined Laboratory
"Those absolute dickheads," Kyo cursed as the vassal book floated along down the stairs leading to one of his most secret rooms, "that familiar was the best one I've ever made and now both it and my laboratory are destroyed. But it's no matter, I always have a backup plan." The vassal book entered the chamber which housed another tank with a homunculus, one that resembled him. "Enjoy your victory while you can, shitheads, because in the end you'll be the ones looking like….fools?"
Instead of being greeted by an intact tank, what he instead found was a trashed room and the homunculus he'd cultivated on the floor, with it's head missing. "Fate is a strange thing," sounded a voice that was very familiar to the mad scientist as Yomogi stepped out of the shadows, "in your attempt to end me, it seems you instead sowed the seeds of your own demise."
"Yomogi," the floating vassal book said as Kyo's soul fully materialized, "did you do this?"
"Yes," she replied simply, "when I saw that the others had gained an advantage over you, I thought it best to ensure there would be no intact homunculi for your spirit to transfer too."
"You useless, ungrateful bitch!" Kyo howled as his spirit twisted and disfigured, his body becoming little more than a sickly cloud with arms, eyes, a round nose and a mouth that was much too big, "do you realize what you've done?!"
"I'm doing what needs to be done," Yomogi replied as she withdrew the gift Rishia had given her, "I'm ending this." She threw the tag then as it exploded and materialized another spirit being. "Summon Ofuda: Soul Eater." The large white predatory ghost roared before advancing on the much smaller evil spirit.
"You must be joking," Kyo taunted, "something like this is nothing to-HUH!" The monster clamped down on part of his smokelike body and began sucking in his essence. "No way, this can't be, I'm losing to a monster like this!" He turned and attempted to flee but it was already too late, the soul eater had a hold of him and his soul was disappearing far faster than he could run. "I'm supposed to be a genius, I was supposed to attain the perfect life after my reincarnation, I was supposed to be the strongest!"
"You had more than enough for your life to be perfect," Yomogi pointed out, "if you had just seen that, everything might've been different."
"Y-You're right," Kyo said hastily as he continued to shrink, "I made a few mistakes, but it's not too late. Just spare me, Yomogi, give me another chance! We can start over, I'll be better this time, the two of us can even be together. That's what you've always wanted, isn't it? I can give you that! If you still love me then save me, don't let me die like this!"
"What I loved was a lie," she replied in a monotone voice as her eyes hardened in indifference, "one that I refuse to believe any longer."
"NOOOOOO! YOMO-CRUNCH!" And just like that it was finished as the soul eater bit down on and extinguished the last of Kyo's soul. The green-haired swordswoman walked over and picked up the vassal book then.
"Goodbye, Kyo Ethnina," she said before turning towards the entrance as Darius, Naofumi and their two parties entered. The room became illuminated then as the remaining energy of the Spirit Tortoise was absorbed by both cardinal hero's weapons. 'Mission accomplished,' came a notification on their HUDs, 'you successfully retrieved the spirit tortoise's energy.'
"Looks like that's the last of it," Naofumi confirmed for everyone who couldn't see the message, "you can rest easy now, Ost."
"Yes," Yomogi agreed as she hugged the vassal book to her chest, "it's finally over." She choked out a sob then as tears filled her eyes. Darius was quick to put a hand on her shoulder but she moved even closer, burying her head in his chest as he encircled her in a hug. He paid no mind to the stains on his outfit, preferring to let the tired swordswoman release her emotions.
"Come on everyone," the armory hero said when her tears finally began to subside, "let's go home."
Hehehehe, you didn't think they were gonna get off that easy in the final fight against Kyo, did you? But more importantly I hope you all enjoyed their battle against Ripoff Ray (crap, could've used that) and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Also, don't forget to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! Plus, don't forget to stop in next time as our heroes say their goodbyes to their fellow vassal heroes! 'Til then.