"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
And then-
"Crack." The shield buckled.
"Wha-?" Naofumi was confused for a moment.
The three skills shattered and the Spirit Tortoise slammed Naofumi through all three of them. It felt like Naofumi was thrown through several buildings violently. He barely even slowed it down.
That shocked everyone. The Spirit Tortoise had now overcome Naofumi's defense. Given that, what chance did they have, and where the hell was Ren?
…
"Shit!" Naofumi used [Latch] to stay where he was. He didn't expect to falter here, but he had more to fight with. He felt the enormous force do its best to propel him away. It was hard to maintain himself, even with a skill's assistance.
"B-Buy me time!" Naofumi called to the others, still trying to catch his breath from the previous impact. He was not giving up and needed help. Usually, he'd try to put up a brave front for the others, but his desperation was out there for everyone to see.
Monti, Leon, and Filo rushed forward. They passed the Spirit Tortoise's main body, trying to place themselves between the Spirit Tortoise and the armies, just as Naofumi did.
The Spirit Tortoise responded not unlike the previous fight, as its mouth began to fill with lightning again. It was only because of Naofumi's direct blocking of that attack that anyone survived before. Momentarily, they considered if the Spirit Tortoise used this attack before they arrived… and if so, how many lives it claimed. If nothing was done, a heartbreaking number of lives were about to die.
"Monti!" Raphtalia called.
"Filo!" Monti called.
With little more than their names, they knew what they had to do. Filo leapt into the air and used [Blow Back] on Monti to launch him faster at the Spirit Tortoise. Monti rocketed below the creature until Raphtalia finished casting [Drifa Light Shield] for Monti to use as a landing pad to launch him and Raphtalia both off violently upward. From a distance, they were moving too fast to see, but the streaks of lightning left in their wake let everyone know what was happening.
"No, you don't!" Monti yelled as he crashed into the lower jaw of the beast. Even with its enormous size, Monti overpowered the Spirit Tortoise enough to force the head back as the lightning was unleashed. The lightning split the sky, parting the clouds instantly. The power on display was on a scale that humbled everyone there.
"Monti's here with them?" Chloe noticed.
"Then we don't have to worry about the lighting!" Walter rejoiced.
"Yeah, just literally everything else." Fitts still didn't see a way out for them.
Despite Naofumi's first attempt failing, he was back, and with him, Siltvelt's drive.
"The Shield Lord will find a way to protect us. We have to serve as his blades and take this beast down!" One of the Siltvelt royal guards yelled.
A Melromarcian soldier could not rally himself with that alone. "But the Sword hero r-"
Mirellia pointed to Liviccic to rally her men. "We still have the Staff Hero!"
"You actually got two more, y'know?" L'arc reminded everyone that he, Glass, and Therese were still there and helping.
"Naofumi will stop it. I don't know how, but when he does… We hit it with everything we got!" Aultcray announced.
"Agreed. The kid will surely find a way." L'arc agreed.
The maneuver Monti pulled off saved them in the short term, but the monster was still moving forward and could trample the army if they weren't careful. Filo made it to her father while she was close. "What do we do?" She asked.
"I can stop it… 12 seconds and I'll do it! Tell everyone!" Naofumi told her.
Filo didn't even consider that Naofumi had failed once. She had no fear that her father could not make it happen. He said he would, so it was going to happen. That was how much she trusted in his abilities. She sped ahead and called out to everyone to get ready. The army slowed to a stop and turned. They had been running for some time and were running on fumes. Better to bank on hope than drive themselves to a certain failure.
Naofumi began chanting, finishing before the cooldown was over. [Zweite Aura X]! "Now, let's try that again!"
Naofumi had doubled his stats and then employed the same tactic as before.
[Air Strike Shield]! [Second Shield]! [Dritte Shield]!
But with a twist.
[Parry]!
The Spirit Tortoise's advance came to an immediate and violent halt. The entirety of the colossal creature went through the motions of snagging on something it could not overcome, then pushed back a hundred yards or more. After all, [Parry] didn't just double defense for a second, it also pushed back any attacker that failed to do damage. Combined with [Zweite Aura X] it was among Naofumi's strongest combinations. He just never thought the creature would push him far enough to use it.
"Now!" Naofumi screamed.
It had to be now! The cooldown of [Parry] was too long. Naofumi wasn't sure if the effect of [Zweite Aura X] alone would hold under the weight of this god-like creature.
[Starry Night Sky]! [Drifa Tornado]! [Blightning]! [Drifa Holy]! Leon, Filo, Monti, and Raphtalia launched their attacks.
"Us too!" Liviccic yelled. [Oceanic Myriad]!
He used the skill he gained from the interdimensional whale, which mimicked its salvo of streams of light that curved to strike a moving opponent.
[Great Pale Tapestry]!
Sophia showed off a massive attack made of web in a constant motion forming a complicated image of a spider that cut finer than any blade.
"We are also with you!" Glass called, using [Flame Stance Rondo: Fierce Flutter], while L'arc and Therese did their favored combo of [Combo Skill: Lightning Firework].
And many more threw their best attacks at the beast, including Aultcray, Mirellia, Werner, the minotaur champion, Renair, most of the other council members, as well as Fitts, Chloe, Godiva, and Walter.
Dozens of attacks all came in at once. Unlike before, there were no familiars now, just the Spirit Tortoise itself. That meant that despite having more power than before, the army could focus solely on it. Meaning they could still compete with it.
The attacks washed over the massive creature in a dazzling display of force and variety. The light completely obscured the monster for a moment. Quite the feat for a monster that enormous. Naofumi felt the Spirit Tortoise stop applying pressure against him. A moment later the Spirit Tortoise collapsed, its head and neck still connected to the body, but heavily mutilated.
Naofumi was glad to know that while Ren was strong enough to kill it himself, they had enough power on their side that it was still possible to win.
Teal had to keep Ost from falling off Leon. She clutched the side of her face and smothered a scream, trying to ignore the pain. If she was in pain, then the Spirit Tortoise was probably dead again.
"Don't… stop…" Ost called.
"I don't like seeing people suffer, but that is a request I'll have to deny." Naofumi thought.
"Don't stop! It's not over!" Ost regained her senses long enough to shout out the warning over the silenced battlefield.
"RRRRAAAAKKKKSSSS!" The Spirit Tortoise bellowed, knocking away all the dust and debris to reveal itself.
Half its head was missing and some of its neck as well. It was not only extremely gory, but it made no sense.
"How can a living creature move under these conditions? How is it alive?" Godiva was stunned.
"Maybe… Maybe it isn't." Liviccic thought gravely.
"You think it's undead?" Sophia asked.
"It could be, but then again the Spirit Tortoise might just not play by the same rules as the rest of us." Liviccic entertained the idea but knew he lacked too much information to say anything conclusive.
Fitts was less concerned about the category of their opponent and more concerned with not dying. "We should-"
"RRRRAAAAKKKKSSSS!" The Spirit Tortoise created spikes on its back, just as it did before. However, there was now lightning dancing between them. Supercharging them would be bad enough, but that wasn't the worst of it.
They fired off just a moment after appearing.
No one could have known that it could fire its mortar-like attacks this fast now. No one, except Ost Horai.
She was chanting the moment she caught her breath.
"I, Ost Horai, command the heaven, command the earth, defy all reason, join and spit out blood. Unshackle them from earth and reason so that they flirt with the stars!" [Gravity Freedom]!
Ost finished her chant by raising her hands upward. A dark aura surrounded the spikes. From that moment the attack altered course dramatically. The lightning-charged mortars reached the apex of their arc, but seemed to almost unnaturally stay crested, flying much further and landing clear past the army.
Ost took a knee while Leon was floored at her magic. "That was [Dragon's Vein] and… a category of magic I haven't seen before." Leon marveled.
"Do not squander this opening!" [Drifa Rancor X]! Liviccic kept himself focused. Launching an attack just as Glass and L'arc were doing the same.
"RRRRAAAAKKKKSSSS!" The Spirit Tortoise shifted its head to the other side, protecting its vulnerable locations the previous attacks exposed. It would drag this encounter out as long as it could. Still, Naofumi was speechless. The Spirit Tortoise was once again hurt enough that it should die but remained stubbornly up.
"It's still draining our SP and MP… MP…" Naofumi wanted a smarter answer, but an overwhelming force was needed.
"Filo! Bring Liviccic here as soon as possible!"
"Right." Filo responded affirmatively, no playfulness in her voice. It was nice to see her serious, but Naofumi felt more reassured when she wasn't.
Before she even reached her destination, a light from behind her told her the worst had yet to happen. If the Spirit Tortoise was holding back in any manner at all, it no longer was.
Everyone was suddenly surrounded by the same energy Ost had used a moment ago. It made them weigh so much that they could only crawl around on the dirt. Only exceptionally powerful people were standing now. The Siltvelt nobles were a mixed bag, some fell, some stood, and some were right on the edge. The Siltvelt royal guard collectively took a knee at first but rallied themselves to stand. Mirellia's new lords all withstood the spell, proving their time in Cal Mira and with the heroes was well worth it. That said, she could not keep herself up. If not for Aultcray holding her up, she'd have been down easily.
The remaining heroes, Liviccic, Glass, and L'arc all withstood it even better. The companions of the heroes, such as the kids, Raphtalia, Sophia, and Therese also powered through.
The spell took down most of the army, but if that was all it did, despair would not be as it was now. Even those that overcame the effects were slowed, and now it was using its mortars again. This time aimed lower.
"No! …It won't stop it but-" Ost again began to cast a spell. Leon turned back in concern as her skin began to pale and sweat, her breathing became ragged, and her veins became visible. It was clear to Leon that while Ost was talented enough to use authentic [Dragon's Vein], she was hurting herself-no. She was killing herself to do so.
[Extreme Gravity]! Ost shouted.
The same dark energy that both she and the Spirit Tortoise had been using now encompassed the spikes as they launched with the same accelerated charge time as before. Ost knew that with the more downward angle on the attack and the army's movements being removed, she couldn't hope to make the attack light enough to sail over them again. So she made them as heavy as she could instead.
With the angle already so low the attacks mostly missed, but sadly some landed close enough to end some lives. She could not save everyone. What came next was also shock.
[Spirit Tortoise Familiar - Lightning Spike Type]
The spikes were moving! They were not simply shells being fired, but yet another type of familiar. The spikes that had overshot before were alive as well and were slowly dragging themselves toward the vulnerable army.
And if all that wasn't enough, the Spirit Tortoise began to charge its beam again.
They were being attacked on all sides.
"Get me… Get me close to one of those." Ost could barely speak, reaching a hand out to one of the new familiars.
Leon looked at the monsters. They created a small field of lightning that harmed anything that got close. No matter how he looked at it, Leon saw no way to deliver her safely to the monster. He went to shout to Monti, but he was already beside him. Raphtalia leapt over to Leon's back while Teal used her growing limbs to safely hand over Ost to Monti. Monti took a breath and covered both of them in his [Overdrive]. He then dove at one of the familiars which was helped by the extra weight the spell put him under. He pinned the creature to the ground as his own green lightning overpowered the yellow lighting of the creature, keeping Ost safe.
"Now what?" Monti asked.
Ost smiled. She never told them her plan. They just gave her their limited time to respond to this threat and never even asked her what her plan was or doubted her. "What an odd bunch." She thought.
She reached out and touched the creature. Immediately it began to die and shrivel up as the color returned to Ost's face.
"As a familiar, our power source is the same. I simply need to take theirs." Ost explained.
She'd regained enough power to use another large spell, but the beam was already firing.
[Cover]! Naofumi shouted, throwing himself in front of everyone else.
He understood the moment he started blocking that this attack was not the same as before. It was not only much stronger, but the heat and electrical damage to his nerves was greater as well. He was also now taking the attack head-on without skills to back him up. He tried rectifying that.
[Shield Prison]! [Shooting Star Shield]!
If it was withstanding an attack, [Shooting Star Shield] was actually better than [Airstrike Shield]. The moment the skills manifested, Naofumi felt relief. The Spirit Tortoise had to have been twice as strong as before, but with [Zweite Aura X] so was he.
The attack outlasted both of his skills, but to Naofumi's surprise, Ost's hand met his back as she flooded him with power to make sure he withstood the attack without injury, even as doing so caused Ost to cough up blood violently. After several moments, the attack stopped. In the next moment, it started charging it again.
"Shit! It won't stop!" Naofumi was about to panic. He was still buffed, but most of his best skills were on cooldown.
"I got bone boy!" Filo exclaimed as she appeared at his side.
"What do you need? What do I do?" Liviccic assumed Naofumi had a plan.
Naofumi chanted for a moment. [Zweite Aura X] "Just win this already."
Naofumi knew Liviccic was behind the holy heroes in terms of power. He got a late start and the vassal staff also just seemed a bit slower in power accumulation from Naofumi's perspective. That said, he was the strongest person here. Probably stronger than Monti if he'd stop holding back. So that double would finish this battle.
Liviccic reacted to the power he felt enter his body. "This feels similar to that life force that old lady tortured us with… Leave it to me!" Liviccic then chanted two spells.
[Drifa Magic Up X]! First, he added his own buff on top of what Naofumi just granted him.
And then [Drifa Wicked Nirvana X]!
He fired his spell just before the Spirit Tortoise did the same. This was a stronger version of his formerly strongest spell, [Rancor]. It was a black beam that matched the Spirit Tortoise's own in size and ferocity. As the two clashed, the victory was not left for suspense. Liviccic's attack overtook the Spirit Tortoise's own, cutting through its light with an oppressive darkness that stole the entire head and neck of the creature. The creature fell silent and dead once again.
"..." A silence captured everyone. Many wanted to cheer, but how could they? They now knew that given time, the monster would resurrect. Naofumi turned to Ost, who was draining another familiar provided for her to help her survive. They both looked at one another and locked eyes. Naofumi grimaced. Ost's face said that this was not over. Not even close.
The kids took care of all the spike familiars, giving a few to Ost for her to recover. Walter was able to beg Monti to give him one. He wasn't sure what his fellow catboy would do with it though.
The various leaders of the joint army approached Naofumi. They were far less separated than they were before. They were so adamant about not working together more than needed, but in Naofumi's absence, they seemed to have no choice but to rely on one another.
Mirellia went to speak but saw Ost. "Ost Horai? To think you survived. You were in the Spirit Tortoise's country's capital when it awoke, yes?" The queen asked, shocked.
Shocked, but not glad.
"Greetings to you, human queen." Ost said with a spiteful smile.
Mirellia stopped. Saying something like that was not something she'd expected. As far as she knew, Ost was human.
"Stop trying to start fights. You suck at it." Naofumi told Ost, Raphtalia already helping him stand.
Ost felt a need to assert herself. "...Shield hero. I am their enemy, and yours. You ought to remember tha-"
"If you are still yapping, that means the Spirit Tortoise is still alive. Right?" Naofumi cut her off with a serious question.
Everyone turned to Ost for a response. "Yes. It lives. Whoever caused this will revive it in time. Each time it revives… it is with a shorter window of time. We can't afford to wait." Ost replied.
"You are just a woman the ruler of your country fancied. How could you know such things?" Jaralis asked, just now reaching the gathering from the rear.
"There is no point hiding it." Ost turned to the growing crowd, her face darkened. "I am Ost Horai, a familiar in service to the Spirit Tortoise for the purpose of killing as many people as possible." She said, a chill running down the spine of many.
It was a flawless delivery and gave the reaction she wanted, but others had different attitudes.
"Turtle lady is doing that thing again." Filo chimed in.
"The thing where she acts like a villain?" Teal asked.
"She did it well. I'll give her 4 stars." Leon praised her.
She turned to the kids in frustration.
The mood Ost had set was shattered. Ost went to scold them. "Stop trying to-"
"You seem to be doing a lot better. You were really hurting yourself to save everyone during that fight. Thanks." Monti said, seeing her flustered told him she was now alright.
And with that, Ost lost. She sighed, slouched a bit, and collected herself. Now was the time to gather information.
"First thing's first. Filo, is Fitoria on her way?" Naofumi asked.
Filo frowned slightly. "No… She says she's still busy hunting down Monti's mistake… and that you failing here still saves the world." Filo told everyone in disappointment.
Naofumi did not show much of an outward reaction, but internally he was pissed. All the same, he moved on to the next most important thing. "Why are you three here?" Naofumi asked Glass and the others.
"We came to get some more of that soul healing water, and a recipe for it if we could. If we are aiming for the harder goal of cooperation, then something that can power up Glass that much is something we thought worth pursuing." Therese answered.
"And this newfound sense of camaraderie drove you to help us?" Naofumi asked sarcastically.
Therese made a face. She was still so ashamed of what they did and how they acted. She had spent only a brief time with Naofumi and could not know his abrasive attitude was not a direct response to their betrayal before. She could only wonder if Naofumi hated them this much, how much did Motoyasu hate them?
"No. Once we re-entered your world we received something akin to a distress signal through our weapons." Glass said, gesturing to her fan as L'arc did the same to his scythe. "Another of our vassal heroes is already in this world. The weapon he carries asked us to stop him. He has strayed far from the path of the hero. Much further than even we found ourselves…" Glass added.
"Wait! Are you saying that the Spirit Tortoise was caused by…?" Teal started to ask but was too upset by the potential answer to finish.
"We agreed with the sword and bow heroes to cooperate, but our fellow heroes seem to have reached a similar conclusion as we did before. But this… In our desperation, we thought to slay a hero from this world… But this hero seems to have come up with an even darker solution." Glass said, clearly worried about the entire situation.
"What kind of weapon do they wield? Do you know anything about them?" Aultcray asked.
"No. It couldn't be a holy hero, and of the remaining 6 vassal weapons… it could be any of five very different weapons." Therese answered.
Naofumi wanted to keep to the most important things. "Where is Ren?"
His answer was met with Glass, L'arc, Therese, and even the queen showing sadness. Many others seemed angry instead.
"Sir Ren… He…" Mirellia put her fan up, covering her face. Naofumi had come to learn that meant she didn't want her expression to betray her intent.
L'arc stepped up to explain. "Things got bad before you showed up and…"
"Naofumi!? Leon!? LEON!?" Suddenly a voice screamed, mixed with heavy crying.
Everyone turned to see a heavily exhausted and crying Wyndia. Her clothes were beaten up and a bit torn. She had been crying so heavily that her face was twisted into something barely recognizable. She was swaying from side to side, barely able keep herself upright. One look at her had Leon put on his rarely-seen serious face as he raced to her side. She practically threw herself at Leon, hugging him and placing all her body weight onto him to help her stay standing. Leon did what he could to support her.
Naofumi watched this and it made Ren's fate all the more pressing.
"Wyndia, what happened? …Where's Ren?" Leon asked.
Wyndia tried to stifle her crying. "Idon'tknowwhereheis! I'msosorry! Itwasmyfualt. Ishouldn'thavesaidthat… PleaseforgivemeRen." She spilled her words so freely that they mixed and understanding her was difficult.
Raphtalia and Naofumi were soon at her side. "It's okay, catch your breath. Take a moment… then tell me what happened." Naofumi spoke softly.
Wyndia did as he said and let her breath and tone reset.
"It all started after Glass gave us the warning…" She began.
…
Before with Ren
…
"And then… we received a message of sorts. You've recently felled one of your guardian beasts, no? We are here to warn you that the creature you defeated is not the principle threat! It's simply a symptom of the real threat! While we agreed to the ceasefire, one of our heroes has not!" Glass warned.
Ren's eyes shot open in surprise. "Of course! Just because these three agreed does not mean their other heroes and governments will. How do I- more importantly-" Ren bounced from idea to idea in panic.
"We need to warn the queen, right?" Bakta said, placing a hand on Ren's shoulder, pulling him out of his panic.
"Y-Yes… We have to go there immediately. Will you come with us?" Ren asked Glass.
"One of our heroes is acting against the wishes of their weapon. Even if we were not currently allies, we would follow." Glass assured,
Ren looked at them a moment, studying their faces. "Then we need to hurry."
They ran as fast as their legs could carry them. They ran for over half a day. They stopped once to rest, but Ren felt he could go further. When they finally arrived, Melromarc, Siltvelt, and the allied forces had just finalized their agreement of Melromarc and Siltvelt each keeping 10% each of the spoils, with the allied nations receiving the other 80% to be given out based on total damages their countries received. They would likely argue in the future about what that means, but it was after Melromarc and Siltvelt had their share. So it was of no concern of theirs.
As soon as Mirellia and the others that participated in the Cal Mira wave saw L'arc, they took a defensive stance, Liviccic stepping between the queen and those approaching. It was quite curious that Ren brought them here. He and the others all but collapsed upon reaching them finally.
"We *huff* have *huff* an *huff* emergency!" Ren tried warning everyone but was still out of breath.
Everyone gave them time and room. After a bit, Ren spoke again. "The Spirit Tortoise was unleashed by one of Glass' fellow heroes. It could be that Itsuki and Motoyasu decided to go for the win and climbed inside the Spirit Tortoise days ago. If so, this person could have defeated them. Even if the Spirit Tortoise is dead, we have another major threat and two holy heroes' lives are at stake." He warned.
Mirellia turned to Glass, suspicious. In response, Glass spoke. "It's as he says. Their very weapon has sent out a call to arms to us. It does not agree with its hero's actions and demands us to stop him."
The council of Siltvelt could mostly follow the conversation thanks to Naofumi explaining these events when he briefed them before this crisis occurred. They all seemed suspicious of Glass and the others, and with good reason.
However. "You would gain nothing from lying to us as things are. If you were in league with them, ambushing Ren would have been the best move." Mirellia dismissed the idea that they were being deceitful. "Further, if you wanted only to wrest that weapon from an unworthy hero, you didn't necessarily have to come to us or explain anything… To save the heroes, we should mount a rescue and exploration team into the former city atop the Spirit Tortoise." Mirellia recommended.
"Melromarc can handle that. We are leaving." Jaralis announced.
Mirellia practically spun on one leg. "Did you not hear them? Two of the cardinal heroes could very well be at death's door."
"We fought on behalf of our god, who graced us by acting as king. We are not allies, nor will we ever be. Be grateful that we are leaving instead of turning our claws on you." Jaralis threatened.
"You damned idiot! The queen has multiple heroes on her side! Fucking try it!" Liviccic threatened.
"You think being a hero makes you unbeatable?" The minotaur-like bull therianthrope asked rhetorically, his voice proud and strong. "Yet you want us to go rescue two heroes that may need saving. Perhaps most heroes are not worth the fuss?" He chided.
Ren turned and shared a look with the bull therianthrope. This older warrior was confident he could beat nearly everyone there if it came to blows, but- "I already know. I said 'most heroes'. You could possibly kill me." The bull therianthrope turned and left the arguing to the leadership.
"This is ridiculous. You know that if Naofumi was here he'd tell you to cooperate and see this through!" Ren yelled.
All eyes turned to him, which wasn't something he liked. Jaralis took a deep breath. "He's right. The Shield Lord is testing us, testing me… Why would I choose to fail?"
Jaralis said what no one thought he would. "You're not wrong… We will do what we believe our god would want until he voices otherwise. We'll sp-"
He was cut off by the sky darkening slightly as the wind picked up. Every demi-human's hair stood on end as their animal instincts screamed at them. A dark purple miasma burst from the corpse of the Spirit Tortoise and enraptured it in its entirety.
"What the hell!?" Ren could not believe it.
"RRRRAAAAKKKKSSSS!" The Spirit Tortoise's head and neck grew back as it roared to life again. The purple miasma faded and the darkened sky brightened, but the darkest things had yet to come.
The Spirit Tortoise immediately began charging its strongest attack, the lightning beam from its mouth.
Ren held firm a moment, but froze when he realized… "Without Naofumi, how do we survive this?" He thought.
He turned to Liviccic, L'arc, and Glass. They together had to do something.
Glass was the one to speak up. "Naofumi would be the best option, but in lieu of water, let us fight fire with fire!" She said, preparing a powerful skill.
"All four of us should be enough to more than keep it busy."
Sophia appeared by Therese's side and handed her the bag of gems she had stolen during the Cal Mira wave. "I'm keeping one, but… If you are helping us, please take these." She offered.
Therese looked at her, then Ren, then L'arc. They were being given a chance to make up for their mistakes. If she was ever to be forgiven she'd need to do all that she could if she ever hoped to even be given the chance to apologize to Motoyasu.
Just as the attack came calling, they answered it.
[Meteor Slash]!
[Drifa Rancor X]!
[Flame Stance Rondo: Fierce Flutter]!
"L'arc, together!" Therese showed him she had her gems back.
[Combo Skill: Lightning Firework]!
The skills collided with the river of lightning pouring from the Spirit Tortoise. The skills were not a perfect match, as several bits of the stream shot off, destroying the area and killing many people. Still, the skills didn't lose. They pushed the attack back, making them think they could do it… However, that is not the way things went.
The skills were stronger, but they lost steam and began to slowly be pushed back as the lightning just seemed to keep coming.
"It's not gonna be enough!" [Magister Sanctuary]! Liviccic called out a skill's name as he dashed to be in the best position to protect the most important people. The queen, Sophia, and Ren were all within the forming dome. It would dampen elemental magic and see them through the attack. Just to be sure, he began casting [All Drifa Lightning Defense VII].
Therese pulled several gems from her bag and whispered to them before throwing them in front of her and as many people as she could. Glass had a defensive skill, but it wasn't that strong. So she used another offensive skill [Circle Dance Zero Formation: Reverse Snow Moon Flower].
The last skills were cast and it was now up to fate. Just as Wyndia went to brace herself, she felt someone grab her. Farrie and Tersia grabbed Wyndia and threw her. She had no time to think as Bakta caught her. He in turn took Welt's arm, using himself to sling Bakta as he threw Wyndia into the protective barrier Liviccic created.
Wyndia's face turned to horrified realization. "What are you doing!? Run inside bef-"
The Spirit Tortoise's skill won the exchange and covered the area in blinding lighting. Ren and Wyndia cast their gaze on their party members. They knew what was about to happen. They were scared. They were sad. Their eyes said it all. In spite of this, they managed a parting smile as the light overtook them. The attack was devastating. Even with all their skills weakening the attack, anyone not covered by one or more of the last protective actions were gone.
It was of small comfort that the beam was concentrated, meaning the army as a whole was okay, and those that took the attack…
Ren and Wyndia opened their eyes as the light faded. There, where their party members once stood was nothing. Less than nothing. An image colored the ground. A slightly darker shape on the rocks took on the appearance of four familiar shapes.
"We have to hit it with everything we got before it fires that again!" Aultcray yelled.
Everyone stood frightened but felt cornered. They had to fight.
Ren however felt differently. "There's no way, right? They were right here. Right beside m-, within a few yards of me…"
"They're missing. We have to go looking for them." Ren announced weakly.
"Ren, stop. Get your shit together. We need you to win this." Liviccic told him.
He didn't pay attention. He just kept looking back to the rock and then Wyndia. Each time Wyndia looked sadder than the last. Finally, as tears started streaming down Wyndia's face, it clicked.
"Oh… They're gone…" Ren froze.
"Any day now, Ren!" Liviccic called.
Ren thought about many things. Thought about how he just failed greater than he ever had before. "Have I really done a single thing I was supposed to?"
And with that thought he turned to Wyndia. "I promised Gaelion I'd protect her. I promised Leon. Welt, Tersia, Bakta, and Farrie… died to save her."
With the panic and anxiety going non-stop, Ren made a decision. One he would be hated for. He grabbed Wyndia, scooped her up, and exploded the ground beneath his feet, fleeing the battlefield with all the desperation he had.
"You fucking coward!" One of the soldiers yelled.
Liviccic tried thinking of how to win without Ren but… there wasn't one.
"Full retreat! Primary escape route!" Aultcray announced.
Many people did not want to retreat, especially Siltvelt's men. However, to ignore that even Aultcray thought retreat was the best option would be suicide. From there, the army ran as best it could until Naofumi arrived.
Meanwhile, Ren just kept running. Wyndia had been yelling at him to put her down, to turn around and fight. That she thought he was better than that. Ren wouldn't listen. Wyndia was all he had left, both of his party and his promises. If she died too, what would be the point of any of this, even being summoned in the first place?
Wyndia was already in tears and pounding on Ren's chest but he wouldn't stop. She felt she had no choice. When Ren would not listen to her, she had always used guilt. It was a shitty thing to do and something she said she'd stop doing, but countless lives were at stake.
"You complete failure! What do you think you're doing!? Go back and protect those people! Now!" She screamed with everything she had.
Ren stopped, looking at her in shock. "I have to at least protect you or-"
"You're a hero! You're supposed to protect everyone! Not just me!" She yelled somehow even louder. She already got him to stop. She just needed him to turn back around.
"You and Lord Blackcrown just need to work together. If he casts his strongest spell and you steal it to add to your next attack, you'll finish it just like last time!" Wyndia argued.
"...Like last time?" Ren asked in an angry tone.
"..." Wyndia felt something wrong with Ren. His sword felt differently. Just being near it seemed scary.
[Sword of Hunger I Unlocked]
"It's stronger than last time! These damned things keep getting stronger!" Ren argued, deflecting.
"..." Wyndia didn't disagree.
"Naofumi isn't around to stop its attacks!" Ren thought of another excuse.
"..." Again, he wasn't wrong and Wyndia was left listening.
"I can kill it. Maybe. Just maybe. But if I can't everyone dies. If I try, there's still a chance it'll kill me… or you. I'm not strong enough to beat it. Even with everyone's help, we failed!" Ren was yelling more at himself than her, she understood that.
"..." She let him work through this out loud. He never shared his problems, so this was probably the only way to have him share anything with her.
"If I was stronger, then this wouldn't be an issue…" Ren said bitterly.
"You're not the only one who needs to be stronger. We all do." Wyndia tried not to make the issue about only Ren.
Ren didn't like something she said. "So, you agree? I'm not strong enough! What does going out there and failing again and losing more gain me!? I'm not doing it! That thing can take anyone away in a single attack! One of us will be next! I am not strong enough to stop that from happening!" Ren shouted louder and louder. The evil feeling Wyndia felt grew with it.
[Sword of Hunger II Unlocked]
"Stop it… You can't focus on if-only's and just-maybe's." Wyndia thought but did not voice aloud. "Dammit Ren! What do I have to say to get you to move!?"
"Ren!" Wyndia started shouting even before she knew what she was saying. She faltered and used guilt. Again. "Welt, Tersia, Bakta, and Farrie are dead because of you! Do something!" She shouted as loudly as she could.
The moment the words left her lips, she covered them with her hands. They both fell silent. Wyndia because her words were a lie, Ren because he took them as the truth.
"They're dead because of me…? Because my skill wasn't strong enough… If I was stronger, I could have saved everyone…" He briefly thought. "Why the hell am I even still here!?" Ren shouted.
Wyndia started feeling something stir within Ren. Something strong, but also something scary. Something that made her scared of Ren, something she'd never felt before. A dark vapor began to come out of the holy sword as Ren's eyes began to glaze over.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that. Ren? Ren!? Can you hear me!?" Wyndia shook his head but got no response.
"What do I do? I need to find Naofumi. He'll be able to-" Wyndia's train of thought was derailed.
[Sword of Gluttony III Unlocked]
Ren's hand came out and grabbed Wyndia's head and drove it into the ground. She grew still.
"Over already? Too weak. Farming a weakling like you isn't going to give enough EXP for the effort… Something around should though." Ren ran off, leaving a Wyndia that was bleeding from her head, but regaining consciousness.
In her moment of desperation, she blamed Ren and pushed him the wrong way. Failing to see that he was also just as desperate, if not more so.
…
Back to the present
…
"And he ran off…*sniff*" Wyndia tried to stop her crying.
"Damn, even Ren. I never said anything, but after him stopping Wyndia back then, I thought he would be the last one to fall to the curse series." Naofumi thought a moment. "...Filo."
"Yes?" Filo struck a pose to show strength.
"Tell Fitoria that Ren is under the influence of a curse series and is missing. She has no excuses not to help with that at least." Naofumi told her.
The tuft of hair of Filo's head wiggled back and forth a moment, like an antenna receiving data.
"Fitoria said she was listening when Wyndia was telling the story and is already on her way." Filo replied.
Leon was at Wyndia's side growing in anger. "I can't believe Ren hit you. I swear when I see that bastard again, I'll-"
Leon was cut off by a firm slap on the face, courtesy of Wyndia.
"Wha-?" Leon tried to ask but she cut him off.
"He just lost his friends and I blamed him for it! I might as well have laid their corpses at his feet! Stop blaming him! It solved nothing before and it won't now!" She shouted between cries.
"R-Right, sorry… Fitoria is strong enough to find him and bring him back…" Leon tried changing the words he used.
"But we won't be here for that. Mirellia, Jaralis, Werner. We are invading the capital while we have the chance." Naofumi declared.
"Agreed. We can send only the best." Jaralis continued being oddly accommodating.
Ost went to warn everyone. "We need to-!"
The same energy as before seeped out and again the Spirit Tortoise drew breath.
"RRRRAAAAKKKKSSSS!" The now all too familiar roar echoed.
"It's been less than 30 minutes!?" Teal exclaimed.
"Has the time shrunk that much?" Monti questioned.
"It might never stay down!" Raphtalia said full of doubt.
Naofumi eyed the enemy again. "We'll buy what time we can to invade the back. Even if it stays down for even 30 seconds, we just need an opportunity." Naofumi rallied everyone.
They would fight the beast one final time before taking it to the next arena. Will they be given the time to make it there though?
.
[Author's Notes]
Been over a month, sorry about that. Life never seems to want to be easy enough for me to just write. Switching jobs again, nothing new.
The big takeaways here are that Ren is cursed out somewhere and they are going to try invading the Spirit Tortoise, assuming they can keep it down long enough to do that.
Trying to portray the kids as being too wholesome for Ost to do her scripted villain thing.
Anyways, onward to the next chapter!
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