"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
She slowly descended from the sky and came to rest next to L'arc and Therese.
"You two seem quite hurt. They must have given you quite a bit of trouble." She spoke.
"Yeah…" L'arc answered, still out of breath and looking at Motoyasu.
"Then allow me to assist you. The three of us together should make short work of those that remain." She spoke.
The woman was Glass and unlike before, there was no Naofumi to face her.
…
Ren readied his sword while Itsuki pulled back an arrow. They both inched closer together. Liviccic hadn't seen Glass before or heard a description, but the demeanor of those around him was information enough. He also moved near the other two remaining heroes. They all set themselves between Glass and the unconscious Naofumi.
Glass saw this. Her face turned slightly more serious.
"If you've dealt with Naofumi Iwatani, then the battle is all but won. Why are you two hesitating?" She sounded concerned more than anything.
"Naofumi was definitely a powerhouse, but it was Moto and that kid wielding the sword that wounded me." L'arc said, motioning to Motoyasu and Ren.
"And their companions managed to overcome my magic." Therese warned.
"Injure you, L'arc? Overcome your magic, Therese? During this wave…?" She seemed genuinely surprised by this information.
She looked over the three that remained, then those that weren't heroes, then Motoyasu.
"Then kill him and be done with it?" Glass posed it as a question while pointing to Motoyasu.
A moment of concern filled the area. Each of the heroes were prepared to rush in if needed.
But.
L'arc sighed heavily. He roughed up his hair and moved about a bit. "Sorry, Glassy, but… leave Moto be, yeah? …We've done plenty to him already." L'arc suggested, sounding clearly regretful.
"What are you talking about?" Glass asked aggressively.
"We were in his party. We fought alongside him when he had no one else… Turned out that he was a hero… It triggered… He gained a curse series…" L'arc didn't want to explain further.
Glass realized that the damage they took must have been from that event.
"Let us take out a different one, okay?" Therese asked.
Glass considered them both. She saw regret in their faces. Glass knew all too well the endless despair of the curse series. They had done the most awful thing imaginable to a friend… There was no reason to make them hate themselves more than they had to.
She looked at Motoyasu's still body for a moment. "I will respect their regret. L'arc and Therese took this fight up for me and for her, fully aware that we would be doing such awful things. Yet this made them buckle. I can only imagine the guilt they now feel. I refuse to add to it further… After all, Naofumi was down. I need only to reach him and the only real resistance I faced before will be gone."
She took a single step forward and readied herself. "Fine, let us finish either Naofumi or those that throw themselves in front of him."
"Before that." Liviccic yelled, grabbing everyone's attention.
"I'd like to know why this fight is even happening. You mentioned something about saving your world. I assume that means you all come from another world?" Liviccic inquired.
Glass looked at him. He wielded a weapon that seemed like it could be a hero's weapon, but she'd yet to see him before. She correctly assumed he was a vassal hero. "Yes. We have to kill you, so we will be forthright. The waves are destroying our world. Even now, our people are fighting to defeat the wave on our side. We have no ill will towards any of you…, but for the safety and future of everyone we know and love, you must die."
They all wore shocked faces hearing that information. Liviccic seemed the least affected.
"And? Doesn't that mean that killing you will likewise help us pull through these waves? That only incentivizes us to kill you lot." Liviccic responded.
Liviccic found his answer quick enough, but neither Ren nor Itsuki were able to say the same with such confidence. The idea of killing those that were trying to kill them was an easy enough thing to consider…, but dooming another world? Killing countless scores of people and everyone that would ever be born into that world… That was something neither could do. Itsuki's sense of justice would not allow it and while Ren would save Wyndia and Leon, he couldn't achieve it in such a way.
As Glass hoped, some of their resolve faltered. With that, she made the opening move.
[Zero Stance Rondo: Reverse Moonflower]!
Glass leapt into the air, then began to rain down numerous waves of energy at the opposition.
[Scatter Shot]!
Itsuki was distracted for a moment, but he knew his role in this fight. That was made all the more important with Naofumi down.
Each of his individual arrows intercepted and collided with Glass' blades. While her blades overpowered each of Itsuki's arrows, they were heavily driven off course and none found their mark. That was surprising to Glass. She hadn't taken Itsuki seriously before due to his lack of power, but his accuracy was truly a marvel.
Using the streaks of light created by the clashing skills as a cover, L'arc came in to take a swipe at Ren. Ren had the reflexes to block the attack and even the stats to contest it, but what followed was far from something Ren could deal with. Ren had a little bit of practice with Eclair, but he was still woefully less skilled than L'arc.
"C'mon, kid! You got the power, now show me your style!" L'arc said, getting into the fight.
As they exchanged swings, Ren was accumulating far more damage. He wasn't even of passing skill and L'arc's scythe play was so different from anything Ren had dealt with up until now.
Therese tried to assist L'arc in overtaking Ren by using [Shining Stone: Showering Thunder]. The attack was intercepted by Liviccic using [Drifa Seeking Skulls]. Now having the vassal staff had helped Liviccic in many ways. One of those ways was allowing him to cast his cursed spells as proper spells. Using 'First', 'Zweite', and 'Drifa' to increase them further.
The skulls met the bolts of lightning and exploded. Canceling her assistance. Liviccic wanted to rush her position, but they had to maintain the line to protect Naofumi. He decided now was the perfect time to use them.
Glass also rushed Itsuki's position. She attempted to strike him, knowing she'd win a physical bout. However, Itsuki seemed to know that too and used [Blink Arrow] to dodge the blow. He pulled back his bow, ready to hit her before she could reach him again, but she no longer cared about Itsuki and made no attempt to pursue him. The moment Itsuki retreated from his position, Naofumi became the main target again. She attempted to reach Naofumi, but Raphtalia and Teal were still awake and aware.
They were both hurt and tired, but took a defensive stance nonetheless. Glass reached them and used [Zero-Stance Rondo: First Spring Morning], trying to blow both of them away. Teal wasn't having it. She had anchored Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo and herself together and into the whale's corpse. The strong wind was jarring and took the breath out of them, but they stayed where they were. Raphtalia was already in the motion of swinging her sword. Glass wasn't expecting them to have not budged. The sword caught Glass in the neck and threw her to the side slightly.
Raphtalia was quite scared now. She had hit Glass in the neck when she wasn't expecting it and yet… She dealt no damage. "H-How?"
Before Glass could retaliate, she leapt back a bit to dodge [Bunker Shot] launched by Itsuki. Itsuki was not used to this. He was powerful, but not that strong defensively and yet here he was having to defend Naofumi. He was out of his depth and fighting an enemy he was already unsure he could beat and now doing things like this? He briefly considered abandoning Naofumi and the others to pursue fighting her more evasively. He disregarded that idea as quickly as it entered his head. He didn't like Naofumi and he still didn't want to think about what he did to him and his family, but he would not leave them to die if he could stop it.
He meant it when he said he wanted to act as a hero.
Ren was doing poorly and it was getting worse. He was able to separate them for a moment to take a healing potion, but this wasn't to last. If something didn't happen soon, he was going to-
Just as he was wondering if he'd get any backup, he got it. Keel had been swimming from one of the boats to the whale's carcass for a bit and had just managed to reach it. She wanted to rush to Raphtalia's aid, but she saw Ren faltering. She was behind L'arc and had the chance to help. While it was uncool, she knew that Raphtalia and the others were really hurt and Keel's pride wasn't worth all that much. She ran behind L'arc and used the move that Godiva taught her. The same technique that she stole from Lord Averill, the one that killed Wallace.
"Hyaa!" The fire magic erupted from her hands as Keel's two palms met in L'arc's back.
"Gwak!?" L'arc wasn't expecting it and took the blow to his lower back. He stumbled forward a bit.
The attack dealt some damage to L'arc and with it being a sneak attack and L'arc already being injured, it wasn't a small amount. She didn't stick around to see how much damage she did, as she ran over towards Raphtalia. That said, L'arc could have taken many more of those attacks and not fall. However, a fist wasn't his concern.
Ren wasn't proud of his tactics, but he came up and used [Crimson Sword] while L'arc was distracted. Even distracted, he managed to avoid all but two of the slashes. From there, they re-engaged in a series of slashes. Ren was starting to get used to the odd way L'arc used his scythe, but even still, he was on the losing end of the exchange. He used more skills than L'arc did and knew that if he simply spammed skills like he did when he fought Leon that he'd once again run out of Sp and then he'd be screwed.
He had to do something.
L'arc took a lengthy step forward as he pulled his scythe back. L'arc was going to strike Ren with a heavy blow and likely take him to the ground, but Ren saw something.
"His forward foot…" Ren realized.
He took his own step forward and placed his own foot just behind L'arc and used it as leverage. They clashed and neither could retreat due to their interlocking legs. Ren had copied something Eclair used on him to throw him to the ground, but L'arc seemed to not buckle as easily as he himself did back then. Ren knew he couldn't win in skill, but if he reduced the fight to a contest of stats like this, he might win.
Therese was being overwhelmed. Liviccic was serious about killing them to secure his own world and proved that with how he currently chose to fight. He was using the undead he had stored in his staff to attack Therese from all sides. Her magic was certainly devastating, but she had to chant like everyone else. She was slowly being pushed towards the water, but could not do anything to reverse the situation. Each time she cast a spell, she'd mow down a dozen skeletons or so, but she couldn't gain ground. Liviccic planned to simply force her into the water and drown her to keep her from chanting further.
"L-L'arc! A little help!" Therese eventually called.
L'arc was in a stalemate that he very well might have won, but he knew that Therese wouldn't have called for his help if she didn't truly need it.
"..." L'arc allowed Ren to win the exchange and get another deep cut on him and he turned to see Therese swarmed by undead and nearly driven into the water.
[First Form: Wind Blade]!
[Second Form: Sky Blade]!
L'arc launched both skills back-to-back. Tearing the weaker skeletons apart and throwing all of them into the water. Not one remained.
Therese was given all her ground back and began chanting a spell while running towards the center of the whale again. Liviccic was annoyed that Ren couldn't keep his target focused on him, but he still had several ways to win.
Therese considered her options carefully. She could attack her opponent, that was obvious. However, she saw an opportunity that made her want to cry.
She had a clear shot at Naofumi from her angle. At the master craftsman who made her latest treasure. Raphtalia and Teal stood a few feet ahead of him, ready to defend him from Glass, but Therese could simply attack from here. She had come to consider Naofumi a very kind person. She knew that he had many people that'd miss him if she did this… She began to cry.
"I am so deeply sorry…" She sobbed.
[Shining Stone: Ball of Flame]
Therese released the ball of white and blue at Naofumi. It streaked through the other battles, heading for Naofumi.
"No!" Liviccic cried out.
[Drifa Vile VI]!
Liviccic tried using his own spell to derail her own, but it barely moved. Her spell overtook his curse with ease. It landed next to Naofumi, no longer a direct hit. Naofumi was engulfed in fire for a moment. Raphtalia and Teal cried out…
But nothing happened. The spell only hit Naofumi, not even reaching Filo below him. His defenses were truly impressive, but that wasn't what saved him. The curse from Moto that lingered in Naofumi's wounds was erased and he briefly regained consciousness. He briefly eyed Glass. He nearly panicked, but he lost consciousness again before he could act.
Therese looked at her accessory in shame. "You… You refuse to harm the one that did so much for you? …I understand. I am sorry to have asked that of you. It was cruel…" Therese was still crying.
Liviccic would have capitalized on this, but was too concerned for Naofumi. He couldn't let him die, he owed the man too much. He repositioned himself between Therese and Naofumi.
"I'm unsure why Naofumi seemed to pull through again, but I can't just rely on his miracles." Liviccic slammed the vassal staff down. "You will go no further!" He declared.
Therese was now an emotional wreck, well, even more of one. She had caused Motoyasu such pain and she actually tried to kill Naofumi.
"What an awful way to live… any more of this and…" Therese thought.
She saw L'arc hurt badly, she saw Glass fighting admirably. She mustered what resolve she could and re-engaged Liviccic. She chanted again-
[Shining Stone: Showering Thunder]
Therese tried again to strike her enemy. Liviccic wished he could match her might with his own, but he saw well enough when she was matching Wyndia and Gaelion's [Dragon's Vein] that she had some truly powerful magic. He would not give her the luxury of a fair fight.
"You're going to need to try something else." Liviccic advised while removing five more undead from his staff.
The five undead were the former lords of Melromarc. The traitors that fell the day the Three Heroes Church failed.
Langiva's skeleton shambled forward. He was nothing but bone with the bits of metal from his armor now melted to the bone. Slight metal ran the length of its frame. It threw his glaive while casting a spell. The voice coming from the bones was not his own, but something foreign. It sounded like a loud echoing whisper.
[Drifa Lightning Rod]
The lightning of Therese's spell followed the glaive that landed near Ren. That would be a danger to him normally, but-
[Zweite Magic Enchant X]!
Ren stole the spell before it hit the weapon and used it to empower his sword. He immediately used [Thunder Slash] to launch the combined attack at L'arc. L'arc used a skill to weaken it, but it still reached him. L'arc was hit for the fifth time. He was about to lose.
Therese was taken off guard and hoped L'arc was okay. While she was distracted, Liviccic had Wagner's body retrieve Langiva's glaive. Wagner's head was never re-attached to his body after he recovered the corpse, instead, it was added to Wagner's morning star. Now the empty space within the armor was filled with the weapon's chain and the head of the weapon sat in place of the head when not in use. The slightly melted armor covered in ruined finery added to the dullahan look. He simply threw the chain around the weapon and pulled it back, returning it to Langiva.
Therese now faced her enemy with renewed concern. She eyed them all.
Veramir had several large wounds with matching holes in his armor. He had swords slotted in them for a total of ten swords that it could pull out at any time. Therese watched as the corpse took a moment to choose which two swords to extract from itself. She had to assume that each one had its own effects.
Grimwald was wrapped tightly like a mummy, but with fresh material. Fumes escaped out of the rotting body periodically and seemed to shake and rattle in an unnerving, jittery fashion. It had a number of knives at the ready.
Averill was a hulking monster of a man. He had heavy stitching top-to-bottom. All the fat he gained in his old age was gone. Likely removed, which explained the stitching. He didn't have fancy equipment or weapons. He was simply a 7'6" monster of a man that let off a slight heat.
Therese gasped at them. They were all so horrible. "What have you done to these people?"
Liviccic readied himself for a quick victory. "The same I do to all that raise a hand to me and my allies. You will soon join them!" At that declaration, he and his minions charged Therese, ready to end this.
Glass was eyeing enemies, looking for a fault to start her dance. Teal and Raphtalia both looked like they wanted to collapse, but their spirit wasn't faltering. Itsuki looked much the opposite. He was in good condition, but seemed unwilling to engage. Everyone tried to stay calm.
Glass attempted to gain ground, but a series of attacks came from Itsuki.
[Shooting Star Arrow]!
Itsuki launched a skill that left small stars as it traveled and then continued traveling in that same direction. It was powerful and the cooldown time was lower, but it costs a bit more Sp than other skills. Glass took one step back and used what appeared to be a defensive skill.
[Circle Dance Aloof Clam, Betrayal]
Glass' two fans grew and curved until they came together to form a clamshell in the air. Itsuki's skill seemed to go right through the object without colliding. Itsuki landed near Raphtalia and started giving thought as to how this skill worked. He wished he brought Rishia from the boat, he was sure she'd have figured it out.
For a moment Itsuki considered what to try. "Maybe magic?"
He was pulled from his thoughts by Raphtalia who pulled him back as she brought her sword up to defend him. She saw through Glass' skill. It wasn't defensive at all, the clam was a ruse. Her skill cloaked her poorly while putting on an act. Glass was suddenly there, slamming her fan down as Raphtalia tried but failed to push her back. Itsuki pressed his bow on Raphtalia's blade and tried helping her push Glass back, but she wasn't budging.
Raphtalia took a hand off of her sword and tried her [Mana Blade]. The blade was much larger than it was a few weeks ago. It seemed to struggle under Raphtalia's power. It struck Glass as she cried out a wail of pain. It was somehow very effective on Glass. As she staggered back, Itsuki placed the bow at her side and let his arrow loose.
[Bunker Shot]!
Glass was sent flying and tumbling across the whale's corpse. She was hurt, Itsuki actually hurt her and not a little bit either. Itsuki had the highest attack of the heroes and conversely the lowest defense. Beyond that, he was the only one using the whip method to its full potential during the activation event. Lowering his level as well as Rishia, meaning more stat growth, but also gaining levels faster due to the activation event. With nearly 50 sacrificed levels under his belt, he hit like the truck that killed him.
"Raphtalia! I'm here to help!" Keel said, finally reaching them.
Raphtalia was happy for any extra help, but-
"Keel, please protect Naofumi-sama." She asked.
"Eh!? But I can fight too." Keel expressed.
"Outside of this blade… I can't hurt her. Which means you won't be able to either." Raphtalia looked at her [Mana Blade]. "It's already heavily damaged. The next attack will likely be my last…" Raphtalia warned aloud.
Keel was frustrated that she was being reduced to a guard, but she'd not argue. They were all so hurt.
"One more strike? I'll make sure to capitalize on it." Itsuki acknowledged.
As Glass slowed and came to a stop. She nearly lost her cool, but she resolved to calm down. She took a look at her allies to see L'arc heavily wounded and Therese fighting six nasty enemies at once.
"Should we retreat? No. If we retreat now, with such easy kills before us… We'll never succeed." Glass began preparing herself for a more dangerous tactic.
L'arc saw this and went to her. Ren tried capitalizing on that, only to be intercepted by [Floating Scythe], creating a second float scythe to deny Ren his advance a moment. It only delayed Ren a moment, but it was enough. L'arc ran up to Glass and pulled out three of the soul-healing waters that Motoyasu had gifted them.
"Glass, here!" L'arc called.
As he dumped the three bottles over her head, she gasped in shock.
Before Ren could reach them, Glass exploded with power she didn't have before. She was stronger than she ever was in her life.
"With something like this… We've won!" Glass determined.
The waves of energy rolled off of Glass, stopped the others' fighting, and drew in everyone's attention. Itsuki slowly inched his way away from Raphtalia and by extension, Naofumi. Ren readied himself for another battle he had no right to win. Liviccic also had to ignore Therese and focus on Glass, but he didn't see any way to actually beat someone this strong.
After a moment of letting the energy run wild, Glass took control of it fully and kept it in check. She leveled her sights on Itsuki. His ability to damage her before might remain the case, so he was her target. She struck the air with her fan and with it the air bucked and caved. Itsuki managed to dodge by using [Blink Arrow] to make it to the whale's horn, but as he watched the attack, his spirit was dropping.
The attack was violently powerful and seemed to split the ocean with its might. And that was from a non-skill attack, just a swing of her fan.
Glass was marveling at her own power a moment, but reminded herself to stay focused. She used her other fan and lashed out at Itsuki again. Itsuki went to dodge it again, but paused. Behind him was a ship, if he dodged the attack instead of overcoming it then that ship would be destroyed and a number of people would die. Itsuki was about to do something foolish like attempt to clash power with Glass, but luckily he wouldn't have to.
[Drifa Revive X]!
Liviccic revived the very corpse that they were all standing on. He then had it raise its head high. This placed Itsuki too high to be hit and out of danger while blocking the attack for the ship.
It was quite the feat and even Itsuki was coming to appreciate Liviccic's assistance, but one look at the whale took the wind out of their sails. It was mangled badly from enduring that one attack. It had already died again.
Just when a sense of despair might have gripped them, Raphtalia dropped her invisibility as she stabbed Glass yet again with her [Mana Blade]. This time it was too much for her weapon. Raphtalia saw the [Mana Blade] stop working and a large crack form down one on the hilt's sides. She had hurt Glass again, but this was likely the last time.
Everyone else noticed the strong power around Glass dampened from Raphtalia's attack and questioned it.
Glass and L'arc both attempted to strike Raphtalia in retaliation, but she wasn't the only person that was invisible.
[Sun Burst]!
Teal's invisibility was dropped as she covered the pair in her burning light. L'arc grunted in pain, but Glass seemed to endure the attack just fine. Either way, the attack worked as a means to obscure their vision and retreat. They were grateful that Keel was protecting Naofumi and Filo. Otherwise, they couldn't attack.
"You two! Watch out!" Therese called out.
Itsuki and Ren were not going to sit there and allow a chance to hit them while they were blinded go to waste. Therese wished she could help, but she was next to useless with Ren's spell able to steal her attempted assistance. He could turn her help against L'arc at any point. That and Liviccic's undead still very much wanted her dead and she was doing everything she could to keep them from reaching her.
Itsuki used [Arrow Rain] on Glass and L'arc, but used his ability to funnel the arrows into hitting their two locations, then ran in at Glass while Ren was already rushing L'arc again. The arrows pelted them both, but L'arc was now hanging on by a thread. The damage was piling on too greatly. Ren reached L'arc and they exchanged a few swings before Ren managed to topple L'arc. Glass was surprised that Itsuki would get so close to her. Perhaps he overestimates the blindness and wishes to secure another strong blow? She went to strike him, but caught sight of Ren and L'arc.
Ren had his knee in L'arc's back and his sword readied above him, his scythe pinned beneath him. In response, she grappled Itsuki and called out to Ren.
"Stave your blade, boy!" Glass warned.
She was now using Itsuki as a hostage. She had his offhand bound, meaning he couldn't use his bow, or so she thought.
"I'll release your ally in exchange for my own." Glass offered.
Ren paused a moment to consider this, but also knew of some of Itsuki's skills. He simply waited.
Itsuki changed his bow into the [Alchemist's Crossbow] he copied from Mia and fired it directly at Glass' head. It did some damage, but not much. She was angry, but still needed to exchange for L'arc.
"I hope you're pleased with that petty damage, but now you can't reset your weapon. Quiet yourself." Glass suggested.
Itsuki just smiled. He transformed his weapon into the [Poorman's Pistol], the form he copied when he handled Walter's gun. It had surprised Itsuki at the time, but his bow seemed to copy any weapon that launched a projectile. He proceeded to fire the gun at her several times, not needing to reload. After the fifth shot, Itsuki used [Escape] and placed himself near Ren.
The attacks did little damage, but every little bit mattered. She was furious now, but kept it in check. They held L'arc as a hostage now. She could still finish them all, but she'd not sacrifice L'arc and Therese to do so.
She stared at the pair as they stared back.
While this was happening, Liviccic had pushed Therese into a corner yet again and she didn't have L'arc to rely on. Liviccic would take her as a hostage if able, but killing her was very much on the table. He was worried this entire fight because she had the white and blue fire spell that destroyed curses. Had she been using that spell, she'd have already pushed him to drastic measures. He was thankful that she wasn't aware of all the rules of magic in this world.
Therese went to pull more gemstones from her bag. She was hoping to not use this, but she was about to sacrifice several jewels to utterly destroy Liviccic's better undead. She needed to help L'arc.
Unfortunately for Therese, she was even further outnumbered.
"What a lovely bag. I think I'll take it." Sophia spoke from behind her.
Sophia was done treating Monti and Leon and was originally going to treat Naofumi and Filo, but decided it would be better to aid in ending the fighting than continue any further. She cut the straps of Therese's bag and snatched it while pushing Therese forward. She barely managed to escape the undead just moments later. Therese lost most of her gemstones and was exhausted. Meanwhile, her enemy's numbers only went up.
She hated doing it, but she had no choice but to retreat to Glass' side. She couldn't win this fight anymore. She ran towards Glass and no one tried to stop her.
Everyone understood that if they killed L'arc that Glass would cut them down without mercy. In fact, had Glass cared even slightly less about L'arc, she'd have considered that they'd not risk their hostage and charged in regardless.
Either way, Ren and Itsuki were not on the same page as everyone else. While Glass, L'arc, and Therese had determined that they would save their own world at the cost of another, and Liviccic adopted that same stance when the information was presented to him, Ren and Itsuki rejected such a notion. They saw L'arc's scythe and the gem in it. They easily determined that he was a hero. He was a good enough person to become a hero and fought for his world. Ren's guilt and Itsuki's justice would not allow them to kill L'arc.
"We'll hand your friend over…, but you have to leave and never come back." Ren offered.
"You should be using that power of yours to fight the waves in your own land." Itsuki suggested.
Glass was stunned, but she wasn't the one to pipe up.
"Idiots!" Liviccic yelled. "She's alone and not in peak condition. Together we can do it!" Liviccic was still set on battle.
No one spoke for a moment. Glass agreed with Liviccic in tactics. If they wanted to win, they'd come at her together and maybe win.
00:00:03:00 Countdown until the end of the wave
00:00:02:59
"If she agrees to retreat then we'll let her. If you try to stop them, you'll be fighting us." Ren said definitively.
"After what they did to the spear hero? After what that did to Naofumi and his family?" Liviccic questioned.
"...They helped subdue Motoyasu and save Naofumi… They aren't simply villains." Itsuki said.
There was another pause.
Liviccic was beginning to feel he was out of line, but at the same time felt the other heroes were not acting on all the new information they had.
Glass paused.
"I'm so close! They're all right here! …but… If I'm saving the world for her and she finds out the cost… And L'arc is such a dear friend." Glass turned to Therese.
Therese would have been in pieces from seeing L'arc in such a position either way, but this day was weighing so heavy on her. She was crying and begged Glass to take the deal with her eyes, even if she hadn't managed to say it yet.
"But wait… L'arc has a skill that can escape them. He'd need only use it and I could-"
She looked to L'arc. He was tired, bloody, and resigned. The wind left his sails after what he put Motoyasu through. Now these heroes thought they had him at their mercy and they offered peace? L'arc lost his will to fight.
"L'arc! Please! We can still win! Remember the Legend!? We have to protect our world until she's free! We promised!" Glass' emotionless facade was completely gone and her tears began to fall.
L'arc tried looking away. He hated seeing either Glass or Therese crying.
"What legend?" Itsuki asked.
Glass tried to compose herself. "Do you know what the waves are?"
There was a pause, no one answered.
"The waves are the consequence of two worlds colliding. Like an earthquake, but with reality itself. If both worlds survive long enough, they fuse together. If they fuse together any further, both of our worlds will be destroyed. The legend says that we must destroy the colliding worlds on the other side of the waves. By killing the holy heroes of your world, we'd no longer deal with its waves or suffer the threat of a failed fusion."
Glass took a breath. "We must add to the life of our world. So get up, L'arc! …For Kizuna…" Glass' voice went from a shout to a whimper.
Ren took a step forward. "That's a lot to hear, but… Who the hell kills people and destroys entire worlds while spouting 'legends say'? That's what you're going off of?" Ren asked with some annoyance.
"You're trusting that a legend can justify something that awful after the fact?" Itsuki was equally bewildered.
Glass went to speak. "That's all we have. We-"
"Ignorance is no excuse!" Ren shouted. "You can't do that! You can't allow yourself to remain ignorant! How much research was put into these 'legends'? You are killing heroes and dooming entire worlds! You better be damned sure about this kind of stuff! I was following legends of a sort and it led to mistakes and regrets. You can't undo these kinds of mistakes… You can't take back a murder…" Ren's own guilt led him to this conclusion.
He was yelling at himself as much as he was at Glass. Wyndia was on the closest ship. With the water so still from the earlier spell from Therese, she heard him.
"Even if it was true, which you can't know… Those in the other world didn't decide on this collision! This isn't self-defense! We never had to take up this adversarial role. We could have worked together. Two entire worlds' worth of people, power and resources. We could find another way." Itsuki spoke with his sense of justice.
Liviccic was regretting his quick decision earlier, if only in part. "You attack with such flimsy thinking, but I took your word for it, so I'm just as stupid. I imagine you felt quite desperate… If the cardinal heroes yield, I will too. If you stop now we will not invade your world in kind." Liviccic offered.
Glass was shocked again. She never considered the opposite. That someone from this world could invade her own. If she stays, L'arc and possibly Therese will die. Liviccic might invade her world and his undead proficiencies would be bolstered with the nature of her own world.
"Those that I killed… all of this struggle… Was I only spreading grief? Grief that will find its way to our world if I continue…?" Glass felt so conflicted.
She stole a glance at the downed Naofumi. Raphtalia, Teal, and Keel formed a tighter defense and readied themselves.
Glass looked at the downed Motoyasu.
"Don't… Please stop." Therese asked, fighting the tears.
"..."
00:00:00:59
"...I yield." Glass finally said.
Everyone collectively let out a breath of relief, but stood vigilant. Glass folded her fans up and placed her arms at her sides. She turned to Therese.
"I'm sorry. I put the both of you through such awfulness, and for what?" Glass was upset with herself.
Therese went to collapse in tears of it being over.
[Float Scythe]
L'arc formed a scythe between Ren and himself, pushing Ren off of him. He then rushed to Therese's side in time to hold her before she fully fell.
"Thank goodness… I-I tried to kill Naofumi, *sob* despite his kindness. We drove Moto to despair *sob* when all he did was trust us." Therese was inconsolably upset with herself.
The rest were only now aware that L'arc could have escaped.
"Why?" Ren asked.
"I spared your life because Moto needed help… You spared my life because…?" L'arc asked.
"I told you, because I don't want to do this again. I don't want to be a murderer again. If there's a peaceful option, I'll take it."
L'arc couldn't help but smile. "Well… to answer your question, I guess I wanted to know what you and Glass decided. If she decided to attack, I was going to free myself and attack. You both chose peace, so there was no reason to act." L'arc answered.
L'arc always seemed to be the kind of guy who went along with others, or maybe more accurately, the kind of man who was more interested in the actions and thoughts of others than his own. It seemed it reached even this extreme degree.
00:00:00:11
Before anyone else could say anything Glass lifted the three into the sky towards the rift. No one made a move to stop them.
"We will thoroughly examine the legends and proceed from there… If fate permits it, we may ask for cooperation for everyone's sake in the future." Glass said, as the three of them passed through the cracks in the sky.
The wave finished. Several people collapsed in relief, Teal among them. They all helped Naofumi and the rest return safely to a ship. Many were heavily wounded, but everyone they knew had made it through this wave.
They'd have much to tell Naofumi and Motoyasu when they woke.
.
[Author's Notes]
Some fighting here and there
Ren and especially Itsuki are showing themselves to be much stronger than before. Ren's spell leaves magic users useless and he's showing slow but steady promise with his swordsmanship. Itsuki's stats are much higher, but still seems very dependent on his weapon's skills.
Liviccic got to show off his good undead
Sophia stole most of Therese's gems.
And diplomacy won. I bet very few people predicted that.
Next chapter will be recovery and discussing what they learned and possibly the end of the Cal Mira arc.
I might take a break from uploading soon or just not commit to upload so regularly for a while. Not sure.
Please leave a review!