"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
...
[Please choose a target]
"The asshole that just hit you." Naofumi ordered.
...
The creature slowly dragged itself forward, its tips scraping against the [Cathedral]. The quaking of the earth and loud sounds gave everyone an understanding of just how massive and powerful it was. All four of them stared at the creature in awe.
"I'm lowering the walls!" Kalbur announced.
"No, we can kill this!" Balmus stayed stubborn.
"You need to kill the queen first!" Kalbur lied. He just wanted to escape with his life.
The [Cathedral] was being undone and while Balmus wasn't happy with it, he was running just as Kalbur was. The creature chased them at a slow pace. The clerics and soldiers alike gasped and screamed at the figure. Spells and arrows began to be lobbed at the creature, but it never slowed. Balmus began to rally his followers, he thought that [Judgement] being holy would deal with the threat. Kalbur, though, kept running. He pushed his fellow church goers aside and ran for his life.
The moment they were out, Naofumi saw his party was restored, everyone was still alive. A moment of resistance was given before he fell in relief.
"Naofumi-sama! We need to move." Raphtalia told him while lifting him to his feet.
"I-I feared the worst..." Naofumi admitted.
"I did too..." Raphtalia also admitted.
"They could have died. I sent them out there to die and they did it without any doubts." Naofumi began to get teary-eyed.
"I understand, Naofumi-sama. We sh-" Raphtalia tried to calm him down.
"I've never said it, y'know?" Naofumi was crying a bit now.
"Said what?" She asked.
"I liked to believe we all knew. Like it wasn't something we needed to say out loud. We've been through so much and you people have become this precious thing to me that I never ever want to lose..., but I never actually said that I loved them. Or that I love you. And I do!" Naofumi admitted it to himself.
He'd find the best time to tell them soon enough.
[Final condition for Family Crest series have been unlocked]
[Family Crest series unlocked]
.
[Family Crest Shield l]
+1 to all stats (excluding atk) for each other member of your family (currently +5)
[Unique Ability: Coat of Arms] Each member of your family gains a cloak that grants defense and magic defense equal to 10% of you own defense and magic defense.
.
[Family Crest Shield ll]
+1 to all stats (excluding atk) for each other member of your family (currently +5)
[Ability: Sharing] All members of your family gain access to your [Inventory].
.
[Family Crest Shield lll]
+1 to all stats (excluding atk) for each other member of your family (currently +5)
[Ability: Love] All members of your family can choose to not harm other members of your family with intention alone.
.
[Family Crest Shield lV]
+1 to all stats (excluding atk) for each other member of your family (currently +5)
[Ability: Inheritance] You may grant the power and abilities of one shield to each family member. Once chosen, this can't be removed and you can't regain/unlock that shield again.
.
Naofumi looked at the screen a moment, then switched to [Family Crest Shield l]. Raphtalia was immediately wrapped in a green cloak of energy, similar to the one he wore. Naofumi did his best to regain his composure as he and Raphtalia stood. This would grant the kids the protection they needed to see things through. With that done, they needed to participate in the battle more. They had to ensure victory.
...
Sophia vs Itsuki
...
"What do we have here?" The familiar woman's voice asked mockingly.
Filo turned to see Sophia just behind her. Itsuki's party had stopped due to webs she shot at their feet on arrival. Sophia glanced at the enemy, then to Filo.
"I'll take over here, help the others." Sophia announced.
"Are you sure?" Filo questioned.
"I am." Sophia sounded quite sure.
Filo nodded and went to leave, only for Itsuki to shoot an energy arrow at her. Sophia caught the arrow with her web and brought it to her hand. Her two large spider legs parted and placed an [Elastic Thread] between the them. She then used it like a bow and shot it right back at him. While her movements were quick, Itsuki had time to dodge.
"Filo, not that way. Leon will be fine." Sophia informed her.
"Right!" Filo turned toward the forest and took off in full form, using [Wind Walk] to run above the treeline.
As soon as Filo was gone, Sophia used [Collapsing Thread] to move just past two of Itsuki's party members, closelining them to the ground. Between that hit, the webbed boots and Filo's earlier hit, they stayed down. That left one teammate. They began to cast a spell, but Sophia placed a web over her mouth, then used [Collapsing Thread] to connect her fist to the woman's head. It was just the two of them already.
"I knew that that lord was evil, it was so obvious. So I take you out and move on to the real boss?" Itsuki asked, drawing his bow again.
"..." Sophia looked at Itsuki a moment. "I really hate that I am not allowed to kill you. You have caused a lot of suffering for Naofumi's family and you invaded our home..."
Sophia started slowly walking towards Itsuki, placing thin webs in many places. Itsuki used [Piercing Eagle Shot], firing a straight attack at Sophia. She used her arms to make a spiderweb design to act as a shield. The skill went right through her web and struck her.
"Heh, of course the spider enemies rely on their webs and play defensively." Itsuki was already congratulating himself.
Sophia took the hit with a frown and kept walking towards Itsuki.
"It's exactly because I can't kill you that I have to tell you something. This idea you have that Liviccic is evil is as far from the truth as possible." Sophia tried to remain calm.
"Oh please. Don't think you're going to convince me that someone wearing bones is anything but a villain." Itsuki remarked in annoyance.
Itsuki fired [Blank Arrow], then pulled his string back and used [Long Draw]. Sophia moved out of the way of the arrow, she nearly reached him when he acted. He switched [Blank Arrow] into [Blink Arrow], teleporting away. He then shot a charged [Bunker Shot] at Sophia. He gained distance and used a powerful combination skill, he was sure this would hurt her badly.
Right after he fired it, however, Sophia appeared in front of him. She already got close enough to him a moment ago to place several [Collapsing Threads] on him, she'd not lose him for the rest of their fight. She struck him a few times, always in the face before taking a step back.
"That was for calling him a villain... Are you in a listening mood now?" Sophia asked, trying to remain calm in front of Itsuki.
"A villain is a villain. He's a necromancer and you're his pet. It's all much more simple than you want to believe." Itsuki responded, clearly mad at the hits to the head.
Sophia was shaking a little bit now. She was seriously about to freak out on him, but she'd give another warning. Itsuki went to fire off a skill, but Sophia once again moved to him. She put her left arm through his bow and grabbed his arm, her right went to strike.
Her spider limbs became straight and seemed to frame her human arm. In an instant, her punched Itsuki nine times. It was blindingly fast and not the kind of thing Sophia should be capable of. She achieved this by placing a series of [Collapsing Thread], [Puppeteer Thread], and [Elastic Thread] between her spider limbs and human arm. She then triggered them in a specific order to pull her arm forward and back. Creating something that could be described as a [Jackhammer Arm], at least that was how Naofumi would describe it.
Itsuki used [Escape] and tried to maintain distance. Sophia was annoyed to see that [Escape] removed all webs attached to Itsuki.
Itsuki was also about to lose his temper. These attacks felt all too real to him now. Filo and Sophia were the first times he was hit by something with sufficient stats when compared to his own. Everything else felt dampened, not real, but now it felt like Itsuki was being beat up back home. He felt his face with his hand and there was blood. He went for a health potion, but Sophia simply maintained her slow walk, allowing him time to drink it.
Itsuki was frustrated in more ways than one. Sophia had attacked his head too much. He lost control of the charged [Bunker Shot] and it struck the ground. He'd need to drink an Sp potion, but he was less than confident that Sophia would keep allowing him to use items like this.
"Are you ready to hear me out?" Sophia asked, still walking towards him.
"...You can speak, but I know whatever you say is a lie." Itsuki answered.
"...Liviccic's father was poisoned and killed along with two other nobles in the capital... Did you hear about that?" Sophia began, coming to a stop just three feet from Itsuki.
"Yeah, I heard about that. Is that supposed to justify his evil?" Itsuki asked condescendingly.
"...When Liviccic was told that his father died, he was driven out of his home within minutes. Without his father's protection, they rejected and condemned him. He became homeless and fatherless the same day." Sophia was shaking slightly.
"That does justif-" Itsuki went to argue, but Sophia continued.
"He immediately went back to work as an adventurer. He planned to become strong enough to take back his home, but his first quest after all that... was killing me." Sophia was staring a hole through Itsuki now.
"..." Itsuki said nothing.
"We fought, I won. Right afterwards, before I could explain that I'd spare him... He cried more than anyone I've ever met." Sophia was talking in a lower voice now.
"He thought he was going to die. How is this supposed to get me to care?" Itsuki was getting fed up.
"He wasn't crying because he thought he would die. He thought he was about to die so there was no use holding back. He cried because the people he helped hated him, that his father was dead, that he had his home stolen... His father was apparently a very strict man and while it helped him in many ways, it also meant that was the first time he had cried since his mother died when he was four years old."
"Can we get back to fighting?" Itsuki was annoyed, sliding back and pulling his string back.
Sophia made no such movement, dozens of thread connected the two of them now, she had attached them while she spoke.
"He had always needed to be someone he was not around everyone else, but in that cave he was allowed to just be a flawed person. He-"
"I don't care. That doesn't justify his acts. How many people has he killed? How oppressed are those he rules? How-" Itsuki was beginning to argue, but he was interrupted.
Interrupted by Sophia striking him over and over again. This was not a few strikes and she was not holding back like the kids were, she knew what the limit was. It was so fast that Itsuki was stuck being assaulted. She'd use a combination of many of her strings to attack this fast. She'd bring her striking limb and her target location together using her thread, forcing both of their movements. This was her strongest and most complicated use of her threads.
[Marionette Theater]
As she began to assault him, she continued.
"When we got to Briarhaven, Liviccic had to kill some traitors. He hated doing it, but to secure his position, it had to be done."
She began using [Mending Thread] on Itsuki to keep his Hp from dropping too fast. She wanted to hit him more.
"That night, in his-our home, he cried over one of the men he killed. He found his balance. He could take being the person he needed to be throughout the day and at night, with me, he was allowed to be who he really is."
Itsuki was being attacked twice a second, sometimes faster than that and couldn't even say the word 'escape'.
"So when you barged in to our home, the private place for him to remain the sweet boy he is... When you accused him of being evil despite being the type of person to cry over his enemies... When you aimed your bow at my man, you pissed me the fuck off!"
Sophia finished her combo off by launched Itsuki into the air with a kick strong enough to hurt herself quite a bit. She then leapt up to him as they both kept climbing. Sophia reached him and transformed into her full form, which was now the size of a carriage.
"S-Stop!" Was all Itsuki could manage to say.
She placed herself above him and placed all eight legs on him, preparing to push him away.
"Don't... Sorry." Itsuki said, but Sophia didn't care.
The moment they stopped ascending, in that brief moment before they began to fall again, she spoke.
"You don't know what good and evil even are."
She pushed Itsuki away from her and he rocketed to the ground. Once he hit the ground, he didn't move. He was at critically low Hp. He looked up to see Sophia falling towards him. For a brief moment, he felt that same as when the truck killed him.
Sophia landed with a crash. Itsuki expected death, but he wasn't hit. Sophia spread her legs out to catch herself. She avoided him. She transformed to her human form and stood near his still body. She went to speak, but was beat to it by Mald.
"So, Blackcrown is actually a kind and good lord? And this supposed bow hero misjudged him evil on the spot?" Mald asked as he came to his feet after managing a potion.
"That is the case." Sophia answered, glad someone was getting it.
"Then his actions can't be forgiven." Mald said, approaching them both.
"Forgiven...? Maybe. He's to save the world. If he does that then I-"
Mald went to bring his axe down on Itsuki, to decapitate him. Sophia stopped him with a web.
"Why are you stopping me!? He's no real hero! He attacked the innocent and lost to a monster. No real hero wo-"
Sophia struck him with even the strength she held back from Itsuki. Mald's fullplate caved inward on his stomach as the air was knocked out of him. He tried to catch his breath, but with the caved in plate, his lungs didn't have the room to expand. He scrambled to rip his plate armor off which he managed to do out of sheer desperation. Sophia placed numerous webs down, holding him to the ground.
Itsuki watched in horror as his party member just tried to kill him. He looked at Sophia with confusion.
"I was sent to stop you. You were helping the church and some of the lords in their attempted coup. Both princesses and all four heroes would be dead if they got their way. I will do what I can to keep you alive, but I'll also keep you from causing any more harm." Sophia explained.
Sophia wrapped Itsuki up in a web sack with only his face visible. She made sure to add some [Mending Thread] into the bindings.
She needed to return to Liviccic's side. Not because he needed her right now, but just because that was her place to be.
...
Leon and Gaelion vs Ren
...
"Rahahahahahahahaha!"
Ren felt a rumbling behind him and half-turned towards it. He was struck in the head by what remained of Gaelion's tail as the skeletal remains made its presence known. Ren was launched through Leon's [Firewall], breaking the spell. His teammates ran to his side to assist him.
Leon simply grabbed his staff and stared at the remains of Gaelion a moment. He was still larger than Leon, but not by much. While it lacked eyes, it seemed to shift between looking at Leon and Ren. Likely his orders were to defeat Ren and protect Leon. Leon didn't entirely know how to feel about this, but the fact that the consequences of Ren's own actions were coming back to bite him was not lost on Leon.
After a moment, he turned to Ren, who also stood united. His teammates were at his side, but Ren seemed less than cooperative with them.
"How does it feel to stare your victim down like this?" Leon asked.
"How are you not furious that he's being used like this!?" Ren was seeing things differently.
"...It's not that it isn't upsetting, It's just that it's a corpse. Gaelion no longer resides there, I assure you. You should also know that this thing is stronger than the Gaelion you fought. It was made stronger as an undead twice and I'll be fighting you too... Abandon all hope of winning." Leon was back to bragging. With the tables turned, why wouldn't he?
"Sir Ren... What should we do?" One of his party members asked him.
"I need you all to handle Leon. I'll finish that thing and come back to your side." Ren answered.
"No, you fight us both!" Leon transformed and the two of them breathed fire with everything they had.
Their combined flame was very deadly, sending Ren's party reeling on low health in a single combined assault. Ren faired far better, having cut through most of the fire with his [Dragon Buster]. He ignored his critically hurt teammates and rushed at the pair.
Ren's teammates desperately fumbled for their health potions, but before they could, Gaelion took control of Leon's body. He then took advantage of Leon's class to quickly cast a spell.
[Decay Field]
A strange aura covered the area, but at first no one knew what it did. After Ren's teammates drank their potions without anything happening, they received their answer. Healing was now restricted within this area.
"Don't you ever do that again. This body is mine alone!" Leon demanded.
"Not even a 'thank you'?" Gaelion grumbled.
"If you do that again, I will find a way to purge you." Leon threatened.
"So you hate me? Is that it? Was it because I failed?" Gaelion asked with a hint of shame.
"I don't hate you, I admire you. Other dragons should try to be more like you... and if failure was to be considered, he beat me before your bones showed up." Leon corrected.
"..." Gaelion considered this.
"But admiring you is all. Just as that girl is your daughter because you raised her, I am the shield hero's son because he raised me. I already have a big family." Leon informed.
"...That is fine. I just wanted you to grow up strong and you're well on your way. Growing under the wing of a holy hero will surely only spur greater growth." Gaelion thought.
"Well, feel free to praise me as often as you like..., but seriously, never try taking me over again. I'm grateful for the life you gave me, but it is my life." Leon finished.
"...Understood." Gaelion went semi-dormant again.
Ren was growing more concerned, but as long as he had [Dragon Buster], he would not lose. He ran at the pair, but a straight forward attack did little to the two of them together. They simply spotted for one another. If Ren went to attack one of them, the other intervened. Ren could dodge most of their attacks, but the wind coming off of them would throw him around a bit. The exchange was intense, but also uneventful. Ren couldn't land a good hit on either of them and they couldn't commit to attacking him because the danger his skill posed.
After a few minutes, Ren and Leon were both getting tired, while the bones suffered no such weakness. Leon decided to let the bones take the lead, while he downed his rest potion. Ren thought he had finally received a lucky break now that it was one on one, but that lasted 10 seconds at best. Ren quickly saw the effects of Leon's small reprieve as Leon came back in full force. Ren's strength was waning, but Leon's and Gaelion's corpse were at full.
Ren had no choice but to use other skills. He'd keep [Dragon Buster] going and use [Second Edge] to use other skills at the same time.
First he used [Shooting Star Sword] to hit them both with a ranged attack so he could follow it up, but Gaelion's bones took every one of the projectiles for Leon and seemed to care little about the damage. Ren decided to exploit the skeleton's altruistic behavior. He'd keep him taking free damage to protect Leon and once he was beaten, finish Leon in a single slash. He began by using [Hundred Sword] to pelt them both. Most were still blocked by the bones, but many made it past it and went to hit Leon.
Leon was quickly wrapped in a green cloak that bolstered his defense. The skill still did damage, but much was negated by the extra defense.
"What kind of spell is that?" Ren asked.
Leon looked at it a moment and smiled. "...Father is protecting me, as always." Leon thought aloud.
Ren hadn't the time to talk, he needed to pull out a win, now. He slashed at the air three times, leaving a line of light where he swung, after the third one, a triangle was formed.
[Trinity Slash]
The light shot off towards Leon, but he simply transformed into human form and jumped through the center. He didn't make it through unscathed, but the cloak helped. Leon was more concerned when he saw the shape of light make contact with the rock behind him, slicing right through it, as if the skill was a series of projected slashes.
Ren tried reaching Leon while he tumbled through his skill and watched its effects, but Gaelion's bones sprang at him with a surprising amount of effort. Its claw came down hard in front of Ren, stopping him in his tracks. It then pressed the ground harder and tore into the earth a bit. It then dragged its claw at Ren, scooping much dirt and rock up with Ren and throwing him back. Ren took little damage, but a safe distance was restored.
Ren was growing desperate. He needed to close the distance and beat Leon, then focus this monstrosity. Ren was changing his mind again. He couldn't decide on a course of action, because nothing seemed right. If he kept wasting time, the wave was going to-
"What?" Ren said aloud.
He saw that the distant wave was no longer in effect. He had to assume the pope or lords had finished Monti off. That took some stress off of him, but that wasn't the same as not needing to win still.
He was running out of options and was beginning to use skills just to use them. He next used [Meteor Slash], a skill Leon had seen before. Right before he launched the skill, Leon transformed back into his dragon form and flew up. Ren corrected his aim, but it still missed. Ren would have hit if he had corrected his aim to lead the target.
Ren was discouraged further, but he'd continue. He went to use another skill, but nothing happened. Even his [Dragon Buster] stopped.
"Shit." Ren thought.
Ren had been keeping [Dragon Buster] on for too long and spammed other abilities as well. He had ran out of Sp. Leon saw this and rushed him in case he had a potion to recover Sp. Ren saw this and went to swing in retaliation. Leon transformed back into his human form and dodged just under the blade. He stabbed Ren in the chest with his horn, then blasted him with fire to throw Ren back further. Ren wasn't used to long fights like this, it showed his lack of endurance.
Leon rushed again as Ren tried to get to his feet again. The bones stayed still in the back, not needing to assist. Ren stood before Leon reached him and the two crossed weapons. Ren had more stats, but Leon had a fury on his side. He was also able to take more hits thanks to the cloak that now protected his body. Ren was losing more and more as time passed. His frustrations only led to him performing even worse. His failure was spiraling even further down.
Leon baited Ren, he went to swing high and prompted Ren to duck. Leon stopped his swing and placed his staff behind Ren's neck with both hands, then kicked him in the face.
"That was for threatening Monti!" Leon yelled.
Now Ren's head was held by his staff. Leon then head-butted Ren, splitting the skin of his forehead with his horn.
"That was for Gaelion!" He continued.
He let one of his hands go from his staff, allowing Ren to fall back. Ren wasn't seeing straight, nor could he stand straight. He'd need a moment to regain his senses, but Leon wasn't going to let him. Leon came in with another hit, Ren simply couldn't see it coming to defend himself.
"And this is for-"
"Her name is Wyndia." Gaelion offered.
"-Wyndia!" Leon finished.
He used his fire magic to create jets again that propelled his whole body and especially his arm into Ren. He planted his fist firmly into Ren's face. The shockwave was felt by Ren's downed party members even many yards away and they began to fear the worst. Ren's body fell back, limp. He was alive and even conscious. He tried to force himself to stand.
Leon walked up to the barely conscious hero and stared down at him. They stared at each other a moment.
"Gaelion?" Leon prompted
"Right." Gaelion understood.
Gaelion took over Leon's body with his permission and he removed the [Decay Field], after which Leon tried something he was unsure if he could do. Leon began chanting.
[Sleep Bind]
Leon placed Ren's teammates under a sleep spell. While it was difficult, Leon had just shown the ability to use magic of an affinity he didn't belong to. He smiled at his success. He looked down at Ren, he was asleep too. He tried using [Fast Heal] as well, but even with the chanting, it was difficult. Leon hoped he'd become good enough to do these without chanting later. He picked up Ren and slung him over his shoulder, ready to return and brag about his victory
He had won.
...
Filo and Teal vs Motoyasu and Malty
...
"If you think your twisted version of trust can beat a proper family, then allow us to prove you wrong!" Teal yelled.
Filo crashed down next to Teal just after she said that. Filo was already ready for a fight, but when she saw a hole through Teal and her arm was burnt off, she lost all sense of playfulness. She had been softer on Itsuki because she could afford to be. Since she was by herself, she was the only person on her side who would get hurt. So she had slowly ramped up the strength on Itsuki, not knowing how much would be too much.
Seeing Teal like this changed everything, she'd not hold back, she'd trust Teal to stop her before she killed someone.
"Ah, Filo-chan. Please don't fight me, I don't know what I'd do." Motoyasu pleaded, which Filo ignored.
"Who did this to you?" Filo asked with a frown.
"Heh, the arm was me actually, the chest, those two." Teal answered, pointing at Malty and the other mage.
Looking at them, Motoyasu noticed something.
"Where's Rino?" He asked.
Malty was annoyed by the question, but when she thought about it, it was odd. Rino was missing since they left Briarhaven, but Motoyasu was just now noticing. She always seemed to slip off to somewhere else (like the magic shop) before Malty could take care of her.
"Thinking of slipping away... and not wanting more on our plate-" Malty thought.
She took out a small blue sphere and charged magic into it. After a moment, she threw it in the air.
[Lightning Cage]
The ball shined brightly for a moment, then transformed into a large wall of lightning that surrounded everyone.
"Now you can't escape. You-" Malty went to say something.
"Tag them." Teal told Filo, interrupting Malty.
Filo used her [Mana Talons] and [High Quick] to hit all three of their enemies. Filo at full speed was a complete blur to Motoyasu's other party member, Elena. Malty and Motoyasu could both see the attack coming a bit better, but seeing it coming didn't mean they could block or dodge it in time. They were all struck and took double damage. Elena went down hard. She seemed to have the Hp left to get up, but completely refused to do so. Malty fared better, but seeing the damage freaked her out quite a bit.
Motoyasu was also surprised, but he needed to act.
Motoyasu attempted to move between the two groups, but Filo was not letting that happen. Motoyasu went to take a step and suddenly Filo's foot was underneath his own. He had no time to react as she raised her foot and his with hers and had him stumbling back.
"See here, I am not going to hurt you. So please stop." Motoyasu tried talking Filo down.
"It's true that he tried beating me in the least harmful way possible, but remember that he-" Teal advised, but was interrupted.
"He still wants to hurt big brother and he's attacked father." Filo stared daggers at Motoyasu as her mana began to rise.
Teal thought pushing Filo further was unnecessary, otherwise she would have reminded Filo of the cart.
"P-please, Filo-chan. I don't want to hurt you." Motoyasu really hated the idea of fighting Filo even more than fighting women in general.
Teal saw that the two of them together were not going to lose, but still sought further victory. Without prompting, she used [Living Wall] and ran towards Malty with her sword. The sudden spawning of trees was still jarring, but they had seen this once before. Motoyasu went to defend Malty, but Filo held him back. He held back for a moment, but seeing Malty was going to be in serious trouble, he used his full strength.
"..." Filo moved some, but ultimately held her ground.
"Wha...?" Motoyasu was not believing that Filo had the strength to contest him.
Teal swung her sword at Malty and she responded in kind. Unlike with Raphtalia, Teal was not skilled in swordsmanship in the least. Without the gap in skill her mother possessed, Teal would need far more time to beat Malty with swordplay. If that was the plan.
Teal was attacking Malty on multiple fronts. Her swordplay was merely one front. She also lashed out with vines to whip her when the opportunity presented itself. Lastly, she was pushing Malty back, towards her own electrified barrier. Malty had power, but she lacked intelligence or any real mental skills. She couldn't handle paying attention to so many things at once.
Just as she pushed Malty to the wall and heard her scream in pain, she backed off, dodging an [Air Shot] From Elena. Luckily, Elena wished only to do the bare minimum to say she did her job. She had no desire to fight them earnestly. Though dodging her spell was not why Teal backed off. She was playing a simple game on the simple minded.
Malty pulled out her own expensive bottle, but it never reached her lips. Teal's vine shot out and snatched it from her grasp. Teal immediately downed the potion herself. She couldn't contain her laughter as the high-tier potion, combined with her regenerative abilities, healed her body and even restored her mana. She charged her mana to repair her clothes as she tried stifling her laughter.
"Now I'm good to go. Had the three of you all focused me in my weakened state, it would have forced Filo into defending me, something she's not that good at. Doing so could have led to the only way I could see of you winning..., but now?" Teal lost all forms of playfulness and her smile vanished.
Teal rushed Malty, growing her arms to overpower her, whipping her hard enough to cause bleeding, pushing her against the shocking field. Malty was beyond screaming and even Elena just stopped helping her, fearing that she'd be next. Malty thought she was going to die and did the only thing she could think of, she undid the [Lightning Cage]. Without the wall to hold her up, she fell to the ground.
"You lied about father. You accused him of something he'd never do. I believe that your lies are partially to blame for his reluctance with mother. That you wounded his heart or mind with your bullshit and it keeps him from being as happy as he deserves to be." Teal said as she looking down at her.
"..." Malty tried to think of what to say to get Teal to stop.
"It's important that you live. Father's name needs to be cleared and that requires you. If you were unneeded... I'd have torn your limbs off and planted flowers in you myself." Teal threatened before striking Malty in the head, knocking her out.
"I'm not used to such strong emotions yet, but this anger is almost intoxicating. I really can't blame father for what the shield made him do. This wrathful feeling has me wanting to act in such cruel ways, ways I'd never even consider before." Teal needed to stop herself here, at one hit.
While Teal took care of their confinement, put Elena in her place, and captured Malty... Filo was bullying Motoyasu.
He tried to pass her, but she was faster. He tried debuffing her with his [Sleep Lance], but she ignored it with her wealth of energy. He tried striking her with [Paralyzing Spear], but she simply caught it. He then tried to throw her out of his path while she held his spear, but she just held on and crawled up the spear to attack him. His only option was to use [Triaina] while Filo was on his spear. It would certainly hurt Filo enough to send her flying, but Motoyasu refused to resort to that on Filo.
As he tried thinking of another way to win, two things happened. Malty was defeated, but left alive, which left Motoyasu relieved. The other was that now Filo and Teal were surrounded in a green cloak of energy. All three of them looked at the change with brief confusion.
"It's kinda like dad's..." Filo commented.
"Then this is probably meant to help us." Teal concluded.
The pair nodded and turned to Motoyasu, who flinched at their combined gaze.
"Now hold on! This has gone too far, I say. Everything up to this point can be forgiven, but any further and I won't be able to defend you two when this is all said and done." Motoyasu argued.
He's words were so dumb that Teal refused to think about them herself. Instead, she turned to Filo.
"Is he serious?" Teal asked in disbelief.
"Yup. He's one hundred percent honest." Filo responded.
Filo was never wrong, but it was hard to believe. He was actually worrying about them. If that was the case, words might work, but Teal wouldn't use words alone.
"You seem to genuinely care about us. That's nice and all, but if this actually turned out the way you wanted and Monti died... and when you found out that this wasn't a lie, that we really do love each other as a family... What the hell could you possibly do to make it up to us? For killing our brother? Getting our father killed as well? Do you really think those words of yours will mean anything to us? To Filo?"
Motoyasu didn't know what to say. Placing the question in such a way that it assumes he's wrong was very uncomfortable to think about. He turned to Malty-
"I'm asking you. Stop running to others. Do you really think anyone is going to want to be by your side when you can't even answer a question about your own actions without running to someone else for an answer? How do you expect to save this world or earn another person's respect acting like this?" Teal was tearing into him.
Motoyasu stuttered a bit and felt called out on such a deep level that he had no course of action.
Except to actually answer the question.
"If it were... If it was a lie and that happened then... an apology would be all I'd have to offer though..." Motoyasu answered honestly and his words hurt himself more knowing that was the case.
Filo and Teal both saw his mannerisms as he said this, saw that he was ashamed. It did little to quell their growing anger. Someone with Motoyasu's power, someone with the title of hero would just ruin lives and offer an apology? It echoed Ren's flat 'sorry' he offered Leon and made them want to fight Motoyasu all the more.
They both rushed him and he simply went to block with his spear. He already didn't want to fight them, but now he was feeling terrible about nearly everything. Teal and Filo struck his spear on its far ends and their combined strength easily overpowered Motoyasu and pushed his spear back into his throat. This caused him to falter and fall backwards and Teal jumped at this opportunity.
She grew wooden arms as fast a she could and they struck Motoyasu over and over again. The arms were hastily put together and broke to splinters upon contact with him. She didn't care, she kept going. As she rained these attacks down, she continued to lash out verbally at him.
"To think that one of the only people who can save everyone is some idiot that never thinks for himself!" Teal yelled while attacking.
Motoyasu tried blocking the attacks at first.
"You killed people in Lerno!" She continued.
Motoyasu now considered what it meant if this was actually true. He defended himself less.
"You followed the orders of someone so evil that they wanted to kill their own sister!" She berated him.
Motoyasu was surprised by those words, he didn't want to consider them. He'd not betray her trust. He'd-
"Do you really think that relying on others to make all of your decisions is the same as trust!?"
Teal's earlier words hit him again and he didn't know what to do, he didn't even know what to think.
"You care about people while you ruin their lives and kill their loved ones and you expect for them to care about you back!?" Teal was screaming more than yelling at this point.
Motoyasu didn't know what to do, so he did nothing. He stopped defending himself and let Teal attack him, he felt he deserved it. Teal continued a bit before Filo placed a hand on her shoulder. Teal stopped. Teal had exhausted herself inefficiently, but it felt good. She had to pull herself in and calm down.
She turned to Filo. "Thanks."
They looked down at Motoyasu. He was heavily injured at this point, but could easily still fight. His will was broken, however, and with that the fight was over.
Teal wrapped Motoyasu up and began to drag him behind her. Filo grabbed Malty and began dragging her instead.
They were off to see their family and tell them of their victory.
.
[Author's Notes]
Sophia beats Itsuki's ass in no time. Unlike the kids who have to hold back because they can't tell how much is too much, Sophia has nearly 100 years of experience and can just stop herself before killing him.
She also gave him some parting words, will they stick?
Mald being Mald. Anyone who reads reprise knows he tries this same crap.
Leon has begun to cast other magic with difficulty and still needing chanting, but I'm sure he'll brag about it.
Maybe losing to Leon will help Ren get his shit together?
Teal's words seemed to reach Motoyasu once Malty wasn't talking in his ear.
Now the kids have won, but a other major battles remain. might be 1 chapter, but be huge, might be two or three, IDK yet.
I've recently got back into gaming after being pretty much sick of it for a year. Because of that, chapters will be less frequent, but I'll still aim for once a week.
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