Have to say, I'm just a little disappointed that no one pointed out that I referenced something in the omake the last chapter. I'll have to see if anyone here gets it now that I'm pointing out having inserted a reference.
To the Guest reviewer, I'm sorry, that isn't how it works. If you want a more in-depth explanation, PM me, and I'll do my best to answer.
Chapter Forty-Four: Enemy Within
It took about an hour for the whole group to set up their base of operations. During that time, several more skirmishes against the minions of the Spirit Tortoise took place. Fortunately, the common soldiers and mages were able to handle them without too much difficulty, as long as they had at least one party member of the Heroes backing them up.
They were definitely the elites of their respective countries. It was a good thing they hadn't been killed by the Tortoise's surprise awakening.
With Werner and Mirellia both there to help with the organization process, things went by quickly between setting up resting areas and medical stations as well as securing the ways leading deeper into the cavern system.
It was strange to see humans and demi-humans working side by side. But the two leaders managed to make it work.
"Alright." Once Mirellia was finished receiving the reports from the Shadows that had survived, she approached the heroes with two sheets of paper in hand. "This is what my Shadows have managed to map out thus far since the Guardian Beast's reawakening."
"Shouldn't one of us stay here to help defend the main group? Just in case?" Naofumi asked.
"Time is of the essence. The longer we're inside, the more catastrophes occur outside." Mirellia calmly rebuked.
"Well, at least the Spirit Tortoise's drain effect isn't active inside it. So you'll be able to use magic a bit more freely." It was something Itsuki had pointed out to Naofumi while setting things up. Sometime during their descent, the MP bars of his party members had stopped dropping.
They weren't entirely sure why that was the case. Then again, the Spirit Tortoise still had an ecosystem living on its back. Perhaps the drain effect was weaker on the Tortoise and nonexistent inside of it?
Whatever the reason, at least they didn't have to worry about everyone running out of MP and dying on them while they were exploring the Guardian Beast. It also explained how the Shadows had managed to stay alive inside the beast despite its awakening. "However, if both of us are going, somebody will have to stay behind to make sure everything doesn't go to &^%$ while we're gone," Naofumi stated.
"Alright. I can stay to help protect everyone should the need arise." Mirellia conceded.
"I'll leave Dou-Lon and Eclair behind to back you up as well. Those two are already sparring anyway." Naofumi rolled in his eyes. In a corner of the cavern, the two were really going at it. A few of the hakuko Werner had brought along were cheering Dou-Lon on.
"Filo, Raphtalia, I want you two to come with me," Naofumi said.
"Right." "Yay!" The two responded simultaneously.
"Is it alright if I-" Ost began to ask.
"Actually, there are some things I wish to discuss with you first. In private." Mirellia said, her voice cold as ice.
"I… is now really the time…?" Ost sighed. "Alright. But afterward, I'll be helping the Shield Hero with his search."
"Don't do anything drastic, Mirellia. She's too useful to have around for you to turn her into a human-sized popsicle." Naofumi rolled his eyes.
"... I promise I will do no such thing," Mirellia stated evenly.
Naofumi gave her a nod. Then, L'Arc and Therese approached. "Hey, Kiddo-" Therese jabbed the Scythe Hero in the side, making him wince. "Naofumi, mind if I tag along?"
"Is Therese coming too?" He asked.
"No, I trust you'll be able to protect this idiot here better than I could." Therese smiled.
"You don't have to call me an idiot you know." L'Arc rubbed the side of his arm lamely. Therese just smiled happily at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about.
"Alright. Just know, I'll be telling your girlfriend how many times you called me Kiddo when we get back." Naofumi said.
"Wha- that's not fair!" L'Arc pouted.
"Tough. I find the nickname annoying anyway. It's time you learned to stop calling me that." Naofumi turned around and began walking down an unexplored cavern.
"Get going, L'Arc," Therese said sweetly. "I'll be waiting for your safe return alongside Master Craftsman."
The Scythe Hero grumbled, following along behind Naofumi and the rest of his entourage. He still couldn't believe Therese had asked him to help out Naofumi instead of forming his own search party. Did she think he couldn't keep up with the shadowy cloaked figures that were going off to explore the other caverns or something?
"Hero Itsuki, would you mind if I joined you?" Glass asked the blonde kid.
"Oh, um, sure." He responded, albeit a bit warily. He looked over at Therese, who gave him a thumbs up. "Anyone else want to come along?" Itsuki asked.
His friends looked from one another. Then their gaze focused on Rishia.
"F… fue?" She whimpered in confusion.
Nearly simultaneously, Aksel, Maya, and surprisingly, Granny pushed her towards the Bow Hero at the same time. "The rest of us will stay here to protect everyone!" Maya smiled widely.
"Yeah! Have fun you two!" Aksel cheered happily.
"Ah, to be young," Granny smirked.
"Fueeeeee!"
Itsuki cocked his head to the side in confusion. What was up with them? Oh well, better get going now. Fitoria was still outside fighting, after all. "This way." He went down a path opposite the tunnel Naofumi had gone through.
And so, the search for the core room had begun.
Mirellia and Ost sat down opposite each other in a small tent that had been hastily erected after the group's arrival. A few glowing magic spheres floated near the ceiling, casting the two women in their pale, soft light.
"Shadow, make sure nobody disturbs us," Mirellia stated evenly.
"Of course, Your Grace." A voice spoke as if from out of nowhere. Ost didn't move her head to follow the voice though. Her gaze was focused on the purple-haired ruler in front of her.
"What did you want to speak to me about, your majesty?" Ost asked politely.
"About your intentions. And the validity of them." Mirellia said icily.
"If this is about the summoning conference, then allow me to apologize once again." Ost sighed. "I truly am sorry for what I had to do back then."
"Apologies are meaningless. And saying you had to do it only makes it worse." Mirellia snapped her fan out to hide the lower half of her face. "It was beyond stressful, trying to keep the other nations from going to war with Melromarc, and you expounding on their anger didn't help me out.
"..." Ost stared silently at the Queen.
"The Heroes might be willing to trust you. But I have not forgotten what you did." Mirellia stated icily.
"To be fair, your nation did illegally summon all four Cardinal Heroes. Melromarc was also very much mistreating the Shield Hero, Naofumi." Ost calmly spoke in return.
"That was not the act of my nation! That was the act of my foolish husband, and the Three Heroes Church manipulating everything going on from behind the scenes!" Mirellia shot back.
"Yes. But it did seem unfair, did it not?" Ost sighed as she crossed her arms. "The other nations sent envoys to ask if the Cardinal heroes would come to them, only to be rejected by the Heroes. Then there was the Shield Hero, who nobody could find as he was too busy running for his life. The other nations were to get no help from any of the Cardinal Heroes thanks to them being summoned to Melromarc."
Mirellia breathed in and out deeply. "And yet I still tried so hard to make peace with the other countries because I did not want the innocents to get involved when they'd already had to suffer under the threat of the Waves. And I came back to Melromarc and tried to fix things as best as I could."
"Yes, the hot-headed Vixen of Melromarc bluffed and bluffed and bluffed some more all so she could protect her people. I remember it quite well. Though it still didn't prevent a war, did it?" Ost closed her eyes as she paused.
Mirellia's fan dropped to the table. She stared at Ost with a look of intense hatred.
"I understand you also tried your best to support all four heroes after returning home." The familiar then continued. "That same drive is pushing you right now to save the wielder of the sword and the wielder of the spear. Is it not?"
"What do you claim to understand? From my perspective, all you care about is war and destruction." The Queen frowned.
"No."
"No?" Mirellia asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"No. I admit that my actions at the summoning conference were to bring about a war that'd allow me to reap plenty of souls for the Spirit Tortoise." Ost stated plainly. "But my purpose is not war and destruction. They are only a means to an end that I had to do for the sake of our world."
"To gather the soul energy required to form a barrier around the world and protect it from the Waves. I know you know this. Do you still doubt my intentions even now?"
Mirellia bunched the fist that wasn't holding her fan together. "Had it been Zeltoble, or Siltvelt, or even great Faubley. I would have done the same thing to them as I did to you." Ost stated. "I cannot rescind that even if I wished to."
"After this then, I'll see to it that you're punished for your crimes," Mirellia answered in a grave, determined tone. "Though depending on your cooperation, you might receive a lesser sentence than-"
"I'm afraid that will be quite impossible," Ost interrupted.
…
…
Mirellia felt anger rising in her at first. However, Ost's face became downcast. At the same time, she grimaced in pain for just a second, and then, the grimace disappeared.
Come to think of it, she'd… been doing that a lot, over the course of their conversation. The queen just hadn't taken note of it till now.
"What do you mean?" Mirellia asked. "And what is causing you pain right now?"
"Our goal here is to reach the core of my body and destroy it," Ost answered calmly without addressing the second question. "After that, whatever potential threats and danger that my continued existence holds for the people of this world will solve itself."
"What do you mean?" Mirellia visibly furrowed her brows, but in reality, she understood exactly what Ost meant at that moment.
Ost grimaced again, and Mirellia saw the skin around her neck tighten.
…
"I see. So once the Spirit Tortoise dies, you'll cease to be as well." Mirellia stated after a moment of silence between the two people of power.
"... yes," Ost answered in the affirmative.
"But if that's so… then why help us?" Mirellia pressed on.
"Because, just like I told Naofumi, I exist to protect this world," Ost answered. "My main body is no longer capable of doing that. So the only thing I can do is stop myself before the world and all of its people are needlessly killed."
Mirellia continued to frown. On the one hand, she still held her anger for everything Ost did to start a war between all the nations. In fact, a war had started between Siltvelt and Melromarc. One that'd barely been avoided thanks to Naofumi's efforts. Had he not intervened, a lot of innocent people would have been killed.
Yet on the other hand was the knowledge that Ost was now helping them out, even knowing that she'd die.
Ost grimaced again. "The Queen of the Filolials is quite strong. I've lost track of the number of times she's cut off my head now."
"I keep on thinking that I'll get used to this pain. But I don't… it is unnerving." The familiar admitted. "I wonder if all of us servants feel it every time it happens."
Mirellia continued to frown, and raised her fan over her face to hide her now conflicted feelings from view. When they'd been fighting those familiars, perhaps there'd been more strain on the tortoise woman than the Queen had realized.
"May I inform the other Heroes about what I've learned here?" Mirellia finally asked.
"What for?" Ost replied, sounding curious.
"Though I might have no qualms with this… the Heroes will, I believe," Mirellia answered after another moment.
"Whether they will or not, it doesn't matter, this is the path that I'm on now," Ost said with conviction. "If to save the world and its people requires me to destroy myself entirely, then I will do so, gladly."
"I… I see." Mirellia sighed.
She couldn't quite let go of her anger towards the turtle woman. But it was unlikely for Ost to be lying right now. It was yet another bitter pill that the Queen of Melromarc had to swallow as she forced her personal feelings aside for the sake of diplomacy.
"Very well. If it's to save the world, then I promise not to get in the way of your decision." She said.
"Thank you." Ost bowed her head. "For what it's worth, Melromarc was considered a high priority task for me to deal with and eliminate not only because of its large population. Even if your husband is unable to wield his weapon at this moment, he still holds the capability of rising up to the challenge and claiming it again. Take pride in knowing that I tried to strike out against your land first because I was afraid of you the most."
Mirellia didn't respond to that and instead pointed to the entrance of the tent. "You may go. The next time Sir Naofumi or Itsuki come back, go with them and help us find the way deeper into the Tortoise."
"I will. Thank you for your time, Queen Mirellia." Ost nodded, standing up and giving her a respectful bow before leaving the tent behind.
Mirellia stayed seated, holding her fan to her chin as she was deep in thought.
"Your Grace." A shadow appeared beside her. "Should I inform my associates to alert the Heroes about what you just learned?"
"..." After a moment, Mirellia shook her head. "No."
"No?" The Shadow asked curiously.
"I know they might not forgive me for this. But Ost has already made her choice." The familiar had spoken with the conviction of someone who'd come to terms with themselves long ago. "I fear any pointless bickering this would arouse would only distract us from our goal of stopping the Spirit Tortoise."
"And that is something we can both agree on right now. Saving the world and its heroes should be our number one priority. Our views and opinions don't matter in the face of that important goal."
"Understood. I daresay, I will keep this information to myself unless you order me otherwise." The Shadow bowed her head.
"Thank you, Shadow. Return to your post. Warn me if anything happens." Mirellia stated.
"At once, Your Grace." The Shadow nodded as she bowed to the Queen. A split second later, she disappeared from view.
Mirellia rubbed the temples of her forehead.
Despite looking so young, it was times like this she felt so old. She couldn't help but notice the few gray hairs she had that fell from the locks on her head in front of her face.
She couldn't always be a kind loving parent.
Sometimes, she was required to be the cold, calculating Vixen of Melromarc.
Itsuki rounded another corner. Unleashing an arrow into the maw of yet another monster.
"Damn it, these things just don't stop." An experience notification appeared in his vision. He and Naofumi had separated enough from each other to gain experience again, apparently.
That really spoke volumes about how long the caverns inside this thing were. And to think they were all located in the outer shell. They still hadn't found the path to go deeper yet.
Would it even be the same as the one from his game? At this point, he was seriously starting to doubt it.
"D-Don't worry, Itsuki, I'm sure we'll find it soon," Rishia assured him.
"Yeah, hopefully." As he said that, Rishia drew onto their copy of the map of the section that they were exploring. Behind the green-haired girl, Glass followed them as silently as one of Mirella's Shadows.
Even with how different she looked now, he could recall what'd happened on the Ghost Ship and Cal Mira almost too clearly every time he looked back at her. The powerful woman he'd met in both instances seemed almost nothing like the figure behind them. Though that didn't keep the hair on the back of his neck from standing on end.
"Hero Itsuki, should you not be looking at the walls rather than myself?" Glass asked in a flat tone.
"Sorry," Itsuki replied in a flat tone as well. He shook his head, trying to clear out the memories. They were allies now, not enemies. He had to remember they were working towards a common goal. Saving their worlds from the Waves of Destruction.
The group continued in silence for a while. Itsuki sniped a few more familiars. And when they got too close, Rishia or Glass dispatched them instead.
Rishia was really holding her own now. Even against the more powerful familiars that they stumbled across. With each one, it was like she reacted just a little faster than before. Hesitation she'd built up for months crumbled just a little more with each encounter. Despite her lower level and having poor base stats stacked on top of that, life force and Hengen Musou had made a clear difference in her battle capabilities compared to before.
He was proud of her. He truly was. Rishia had come so far since the day he'd met her caged up in that nobleman's mansion. And to see her working so hard to overcome her own shortcomings and her past almost made him want to smile, if not for the fact that he was so frustrated with coming across nothing but more servants of the Spirit Tortoise as they went along.
That frustration reached another level as they came across another dead end. "Are you kidding me?" He asked out loud.
They had no choice but to backtrack to the last intersection they'd been at and continue from there. Rishia made a mark on the map, indicating the section as a dead end.
The tense silence continued for a while. With Rishia glancing at the silent spirit woman every now and then.
"There is no need for you to be nervous." Glass suddenly spoke.
"Fueh!" Rishia nearly jumped out of her skin. "W-What are you talking about?" She asked hesitantly.
Glass let out a soft sigh. "I am not going to try and kill your world's heroes if that's what you're worried about." She clarified. "Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have the strength to do so right now."
"Oh, I, um, wasn't really thinking about that," Rishia said in a small voice.
"You weren't?" Glass raised an eyebrow at her comment. Visibly expressing her doubt.
"It really wasn't that! I was… I was just wondering why you volunteered to help us specifically, is all." Rishia finally said.
…
"Oh. Is that it?" Glass asked.
Rishia nodded quickly. Glass crossed her arms, tapping her fans on her wrists. "In all honesty, I just needed an excuse to avoid standing around, waiting to know what to do next. I wanted to be out here, being of some help instead of laying in a cot to rest for the coming battle. And since Therese convinced L'Arc to volunteer to go with Hero Naofumi, I felt it would be wise to assist Hero Itsuki instead."
"B-But don't you need to save your energy for the coming battle?" Rishia asked.
"I am doing that," Glass replied. "I am making sure to fight only as much as I need to."
"Fue…" Rishia quietly whimpered at Glass's reproachful look. She wasn't sure what to say next.
…
The spirit woman sighed. "Is there something else you wish to discuss?"
"I, well…" Rishia twiddled her fingers together like a kid who'd been caught with their hand inside the cookie jar. "Is there a reason why you don't want to rest?"
…
Glass remained silent. A frown appeared on her face which made Rishia frantically fidget in place. "Fue, um, i-if it's something personal. I… I understand if you'd rather keep it to yourself."
…
The spirit woman's frown slowly faded away. "Because if I pause to rest, I am afraid that I will lose much of the determination that is keeping me going right now."
Rishia stared intently at her as they walked for a while longer. Following behind Itsuki as they rounded another corner.
"Hero Ren… was wrong about me before," Glass admitted eventually. "I did not spare his life or the lives of the others on that ship. I fled simply because he dealt me a great wound, and if I'd stayed, I feared that I would not have enough time to finish him and Hero Naofumi off before the wave closed. I would be stuck at level one, and would die, alone, all by myself in a world foreign to my own."
"When we fought on that sea. He made it plain that he and the other heroes had plenty of time and plenty of capability in killing me at that point. But he did not. He spared my life even though I did not deserve it."
Glass looked down at her fans. "When I learned that Kyo had taken control of this world's Guardian Beast, I knew that I had to at least inform you about it. But when I learned that he had also kidnapped Hero Ren... I realized that I was honor-bound to help."
"I do not like owing debts to other people. And I have already done enough terrible things in my life. Allowing a hero that spared my life to die painfully as his world was destroyed would not sit well with me."
"So all I can do is to keep moving, because if I do nothing then my mind will start to wander, and make it harder for me to act when the time comes," Glass said, old pain clear in her voice.
"Fue… so it's almost like me with Itsuki then," Rishia said unsurely.
"I do not know what you mean," Glass said.
"I-I'm not talking about the second half of your statement, but the first." Rishia clarified. "You see, I-I met him when he saved my life. Back then, a nobleman was bullying my parents to get them to give up their land. He sent bandits to murder our merchants and to pillage our village. In the end, he had me taken as a slave so he could force my parents to do whatever he commanded them to do. And even then, I heard that he wasn't going to give me back even if my parents gave in to his commands. It was… a really terrible time for me." The girl finished sadly.
"But then, Itsuki appeared. He saved my life as well as the life of my family and the people living on our land from him. I... I was so grateful for what he did, that I wanted to join him on his adventures. So, here I am." Rishia smiled fondly as she thought about it.
"... what did Hero Itsuki do to save you?" Glass asked curiously.
"I killed the nobleman in his sleep. And then proceeded to free Rishia and all the other slaves he'd had there." Itsuki spoke up ahead of them. His voice was flat and as dry as sandpaper. "With him dead, the bandits became disorganized and were easy to deal with."
Glass immediately stopped in her tracks. "For such an honorable deed, I would not have thought that a hero would have done it like an assassin, sneaking around in the middle of the night like a coward." She responded, a little anger in her tone.
"I tried to minimize the casualties before. And that just led to someone slitting the throat of a little girl right before my eyes, just to spite me." Itsuki turned to glare at the spirit woman. "So excuse me for going for cold pragmatism over honor from that point onward."
…
Itsuki turned back around and continued to move deeper into the cave.
…
"I… am sorry. I did not mean to offend you, Hero Itsuki." Glass apologized humbly and began to follow him again.
"Whatever. It happened months ago." Itsuki waved her off dismissively. " There's nothing I can do to change it now. Nor would I want to, since it saved Rishia and all those other people from a life of slavery. Or worse."
Glass frowned. However, she didn't reply to the Bow Hero's barbed comment.
"D-Don't hold it against him please. Itsuki's usually a lot nicer than this." Rishia meekly apologized. "He's just spent all his time searching these caverns for the way to the Spirit Tortoise's heart ever since we first cut off its head. But we've had no luck finding it. And I'm afraid the time crunch we're under now is adding a lot of stress on his mind too. And-"
"It is fine. You don't have to defend Hero Itsuki." Glass calmly told her.
"F-Fueh…" Rishia looked off to the side. "I just… I just don't want people to think that he's a bad person. After all… he's helped out so many people since coming to this world. Myself included."
…
"Hero Itsuki," Glass spoke out again after a few more minutes of silent travel.
"Yes?" The Bow Hero responded in a strained voice.
"..." Itsuki turned to face her when she didn't respond immediately. Only to find the spirit woman staying still with a contemplative expression.
"Why did Hero Ren spare my life?" She finally finished her thought.
"...Is now really the time for such things?" Itsuki slowly turned back around with a hard-to-read expression.
"It is to me. Please, answer," Glass pressed on.
Itsuki shrugged after a moment. "He didn't want to be a murderer I guess?"
"It is one thing to kill someone in cold blood. It is quite another to kill someone in self-defense. And when it comes to protecting your world and saving it, there is no reason not to eliminate the one trying to destroy it." Glass rebuffed the Bow Hero's dismissive response.
"The fact of the matter is. I was trying to kill you heroes. My actions would have destroyed your world. So, why?" Glass asked, sounding a little desperate. This time, Itsuki sighed, unable to ignore the sincerity in her tone. "Why did you all decide to spare my life?"
"Truthfully? I honestly don't know." He shook his head. "Naofumi and I decided to give that decision to Ren since he'd be the one unleashing the attack. And he said he would spare you because he believed that you spared his life on that Ghost Ship. Though if what you said earlier is true, then he was wrong to think that. Not that I ever believed you spare him, since you sent me flying off that stupid ship."
Glass grimaced. "I… am sorry, about that." She then glanced at Rishia, who was staying quiet. "And, I apologize for hurting you and the rest of your companions. It appears I was wrong to call them your servants back then."
"It's fine. It's all water under the bridge now anyway." Itsuki shook his head. "We already decided after Cal Mira that we'd help you and L'Arc to find a way to save your world. No need to bring up past grievances."
"I… yes, I suppose so." Glass conceded, somewhat disappointed that Itsuki was unable to give her a satisfying answer.
And so, they continued on. Deeper into the labyrinth of the Spirit Tortoise.
Sensing the Bow Hero's growing frustration. Glass and Rishia held off on talking to deal with the familiars and anything else they came across.
"You know, with them appearing in small groups like this, it isn't quite as much fun killing them as before," L'Arc commented as he swung his scythe over his shoulder, cleaning the blade of the blood of his latest monster kill. "Hey, Kyo, could you at least give us a challenge?! I'm getting bored here!" He yelled at the walls around them.
"Don't tempt him." Naofumi rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not deal with another horde anytime soon."
They were going down yet another tunnel. Besides the occasional tussle with the familiars, it was dead silent. Naofumi wasn't sure how long it'd been. It'd at least been a couple of hours since they started. But it honestly felt like there was no end in sight.
All the walls looked the same to him. And the labrynth system seemed to stretch out all under the Tortoise's outer shell.
If they weren't careful, they could easily get lost in a place like this. Which made Naofumi somewhat glad that Mirellia had finished her discussion with Ost so the human familiar could help with guiding them once again.
"Hmmm…" Though she was having a difficult time trying to help them navigate. It was like she was second-guessing herself on every turn.
"Well, if he does send another horde at us again, I'll just wipe it out," L'Arc laughed.
"I'll let you do all the fighting then if that happens then." Naofumi crossed his arms.
"Hey, that's not nice! I get tired too, you know!" L'Arc complained.
"That sounds like a you problem," Naofumi commented, his arms still folded together over his chest.
"What's that supposed to mean?" L'Arc asked. "Did I say something to upset Kiddo here?" He asked Raphtalia.
"I think he's pointing out the fact that we can kill these monsters and he can't," Raphtalia said, rubbing Naofumi's shoulder from the side.
...
Based on how Naofumi's face soured, she'd gotten it right on the nail.
"Oof. I guess I never asked before, but like, is your shield entirely geared towards defense, or do you have some offensive options that would be useful-" The redhead started to ask.
"My attack stat is in the single digits. And besides my cursed shield, none of my shields give a boost to my attack stat when I equip them," Naofumi stated. There were a couple that he'd unlocked the equip bonuses for that increased his overall attack stat. But not one raised his attack stat when the shield was equipped. Not even that freaking Sword Shield or any of the other shields or gauntlets geared towards attack that he'd copied or unlocked raised his attack stat a single point when he equipped them. He was completely and utterly boned in that regard.
He was still salty about it too. And if it wasn't obvious by the first part of that statement, those equip bonuses he'd unlocked hadn't been enough to raise his attack stat to the double digits.
"I have shields with a few counter-attacks. But honestly, besides the ones that poison, paralyze, stun, burn, or inflict some other status effect on the target, they're not very useful since their damage relies on my attack stat too." He rolled his eyes. "And the shields they're attached to aren't very useful against these more powerful enemies. So I don't bother with using them anymore nowadays."
"Ouch. You really have it about as bad as someone I know." L'Arc laughed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naofumi asked suspiciously.
"Nothing really. It's just not my first time seeing a Cardinal Hero with a restriction like that is all." L'Arc elaborated.
"Yeah, well whatever. I guess in a universe full of other worlds, I'm not the only one that's restricted to being a defender. Yay me." Naofumi muttered sarcastically.
"You make a great defender Naofumi." Raphtalia comforted him.
"Yeah, Filo's happy that Filo can count on Daddy to protect Mommy and everyone else Filo cares about!" The little girl cheerfully said.
"... well, whatever." Naofumi shrugged in the face of their cheerfulness. "I can't deny it still makes me feel bitter." Yeah, it was kind of obvious since he complained about his lack of an attack stat at least once every few days.
It was getting tiresome wasting energy on it, really.
Would he ever move on so he'd stop annoying the others with this crap?
"Wouldn't it be weird if you were the only Hero with that kind of restriction Kiddo? I mean, it'd almost feel like the universe was trying to bully you at that point. Huh." L'Arc didn't help in the slightest with it either.
"Don't even." Naofumi muttered tiredly.
The group continued on for a little while until they eventually came across an intersection. Ost paused, looking down both ways.
"Is there something wrong?" Naofumi asked.
"I could have sworn I felt something over there." She murmured to herself, pointing down the right path.
"Raphtalia. You're up," Naofumi called to his girlfriend.
"Okay. Where is it?" Raphtalia asked seriously.
Ost frowned, then gestured to a wall. Raphtalia approached it, examining it from all angles curiously. She then breathed in deeply, touching it with the palm of her hand.
"I'm sorry, there's no illusion magic going on as far as I can tell," Raphtalia said, shaking her head. "There's nothing here."
Naofumi sighed. "Hmmm…" Filo walked up next to her mother curiously. "Filo doesn't smell anything abnormal going on here either."
"Since when can you smell illusion magic?" Naofumi asked with suspicion.
"Um, Filo isn't exactly smelling for illusions. Filo's… tasting the air?" The little girl tilted her head to the side as she tried to find a way to explain it so that her parents would understand. His daughter really had a way with words sometimes. "Filo isn't finding any strange magic though."
"Ok." Naofumi rolled along with it, looking to Ost again.
"I… believe the path to the left leads outside." She said unsurely. "Or, at least it leads closer to the outer shell."
"Alright, I guess we'll go to the right then. Keep an eye open, just in case." Naofumi said, still feeling suspicious of what Ost could have possibly sensed.
They went down the right tunnel. Traveling for a little way in silence.
…
"So, is there any particular reason why you're so close with the other heroes?" L'Arc asked.
"I mean, we've been through a lot together, and…" Naofumi began to answer, but then he trailed off as he realized that L'Arc had spoken in a mischievous tone. "No…"
"Kind of seems gay if you ask me, man." He grinned widely as he shrugged his shoulders. And here, Naofumi had thought the redhead would actually be serious. "Perhaps I was right to tell the guys to protect their butt cheeks in the Hot Springs back then."
… Nope. Naofumi found that he did not have the time nor the patience for this. If L'Arc thought joking around would cheer him up, he was sorely mistaken.
"Raphtalia, karate chop the back of his head for me, please."
He honestly didn't expect her to do it, since she normally took the stance of violence not being the solution to solving annoying problems. "Okay." However, she complied, delivering a hard karate chop to the back of the redhead's head.
"OW! OW OW OW! W-WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" L'Arc rubbed the latest bump on the back of his head. It looked like Raphtalia hadn't held back either. Holy hell!
"Oh, I figured Therese wouldn't forgive me if I didn't try to keep you in line while she was gone." She smirked widely at Naofumi.
...
Naofumi began to smile widely. His girlfriend somehow knew just what needed to be done to cheer him up. The look of pain on the kindergartner's face was making him feel better already. "Don't get used to it Naofumi," Raphtalia then said. "I didn't like the thought of him implying other men could steal you from me."
"I promise, you have no need to worry about that." He continued to smile at L'Arc's pained expression.
"Come on Kiddo! I came along so I could get away from being treated like this!" L'Arc loudly complained.
"Three," Naofumi said calmly.
"W-What do you mean three?! What does that have to do with anything?!" L'Arc asked.
"I did say I'd keep track of how many times you'd call me Kiddo." Naofumi grinned widely at the redhead. "Better say your prayers. I don't show any mercy when it comes to getting revenge on people."
Raphtalia sighed. "It's sad how true that is." Not that it'd stop her from telling Therese herself in case Naofumi decided not to.
The less annoyances her boyfriend had to deal with, the happier off he'd be.
"C-Come on, Kiddo! You know I don't mean any harm doing this-"
"Four." Naofumi sang in a sing-song tone.
"Gah!" L'Arc began to pout at Naofumi.
Wow… really mature move there. Not.
"I'm starting to wonder which of us is the real kiddo here," Naofumi stated dryly.
"I'll have you know I'm definitely older than you!" L'Arc protested.
"Right. Older doesn't necessarily mean wiser in my experience." Naofumi drawled.
L'Arc continued to throw a tantrum. Naofumi continued to go along with it. Raphtalia and Filo hummed happily as they followed behind, and Ost stood in between them, staring ahead for any signs of danger.
…
"Heheheh, those fools. They don't realize the trap they've walked into."
Just a little more. He just had to wait until those morons were completely distracted with each other, and then…
"You could at least be a little nicer about it-" L'Arc began yelling.
Holes suddenly appeared in the walls and ceiling all around the group.
"Ha! Take this, losers!" Kyo shouted in triumph.
From all around them, heat beams exploded against the group. The rogue book hero laughed in his safe place.
Ha, it'd been too easy! He'd just have to wait for the Bow brat to walk down a similar tunnel, and-
"Really? Is that the best he's got?"
"... huh?" Kyo focused on his crystal ball again.
The smoke and dust kicked up by the blasts all cleared. Naofumi's hand was raised in front of him. His Meteor Shield and several other shields surrounded the small group. L'Arc had also been protected, despite his mouth still hanging open from being cut off from his yelling.
Naofumi had been right to remain suspicious after all.
"That's why I had a hard time sensing them. Naofumi, I'm unable to affect these familiars in any way." Ost explained. "It appears that, unlike the other servants, these ones are directly under the Book Hero's control."
"Hmph. So he's watching us then? And after everything else, I was expecting something a bit more creative." Naofumi looked at the walls around them. In the holes that'd opened, large red eyes were glaring back at the group.
Spirit Tortoise Familiar (Installation Type)
The heat beams had been shot from their eyes. If Naofumi hadn't known better, he almost would have thought this to be a tower defense sort of scenario. Only, it looked like Kyo had lined the walls and ceilings with these little pricks instead of beefing a few up along the corridor so they'd be far more powerful.
Seriously, what the hell was this crap show? His Air Strike Shield and other shields had been more than enough to block all the attacks. Especially with his Whale Core Shield equipped. Since he didn't have to worry about losing either MP or SP while in the Tortoise, he could use his stronger shields here.
"Alright, let's kill these things before we continue on. We don't want anyone else to get caught up by this trap. And try not to get hit, L'Arc." Naofumi said in a surprisingly laidback tone.
L'Arc's mouth closed and he shook his head. "Whatever, I'm raring to go! Hyah!" The redhead raced out, striking along one side of the wall.
"Don't count us out!" "Yeah!" Raphtalia and Filo also charged out. Attacking the wall and ceiling simultaneously.
Kyo simply stared as the group demolished the turrets one at a time. With Naofumi simply walking forward to give everyone a safe haven to retreat to when the heat beams from the turrets began to overwhelm them. Ost began casting support magic on everyone as well, beefing up their defense and their attack.
It was… irritating? No, that wasn't the right word. All that effort into designing an effective security system, and they were scrapping it like a bunch of trash mobs!
The Shield Hero was even mocking it! He was mocking Kyo's genius!
He then received another alert. Pulling it up, he found that the Bow Hero had come across another security section of the same type. Only, he and his compratriots were destroying the turret familiars faster than they could be deployed.
Only a couple of minutes later, it was over on both ends. The Shield Hero paused to cast healing magic on those who'd been hit by the beams, and then they continued on down the cavern. Just like the uninjured Bow Hero.
...
It's okay. Kyo was not mad. He was not mad. Only stupid people got mad. He was not mad. It was just a test run anyway. He was not mad. There were other things to fall back on.
He was not mad.
...
...
"Heh," Motoyasu smirked in his crystal prison.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"
The crystal ball shattered into a million pieces from the impact against the prison, each shard bearing the reflection of the Spear Hero's smug expression.
The two heroes eventually met up in the main cavern again. "Any luck?" Naofumi asked.
"Nothing besides some weird eyes in the walls, you?" Itsuki replied.
Naofumi shook his head. "We came across some installation-type familiars hiding in the walls too. Outside of that, nothing."
"Oh, that's what they're called? I kind of killed them all before I could read their names." Itsuki crossed his arms with a frown. "They weren't a thing in my game though. They didn't cause any trouble for you I hope?"
"Trust me, they were really weak. A bit annoying though between slowing us down and having lots of numbers behind them." Naofumi rolled his eyes. "I lost track of how many burns I had to heal off this boy here."
"Don't call me that!" L'Arc snapped uncharacteristically at Naofumi.
The two heroes looked at him in surprise. L'Arc, fortunately, recovered almost immediately and said something smart, for once. "Why don't you two rest? Glassy and I can continue the search from here."
"... Filo, is Fitoria still doing ok?" He asked his daughter.
"Mmhmm. Fitoria's keeping the big turtle pinned down near the mountain range for now. Fitoria isn't losing any steam." She said happily.
"Holy-" Naofumi shook his head. Fitoria was stronger than he'd even realized to be able to fight for this long.
"The turtle is firing its spikes more often than before, otherwise, the fight hasn't changed very much." Filo shrugged.
"Alright." Naofumi smiled. "Filo, stay with L'Arc and make sure he doesn't get himself hurt."
"What about us, Sir Naofumi?" Dou-Lon and Eclair approached. Despite the hard training and the fresh bruises on the Hakuko's face, both looked raring to go.
"You two can go as well. Wake us if you find anything."
"Got it, daddy!" Filo proudly saluted as the rose-haired knight and hakuko agreed.
Naofumi did pause Dou-Lon for a moment, however, just so he could use healing magic on his bruises. There were quite a few all over his body. "Did you piss her off or something?" He asked worriedly.
"No, this is about normal for our sparring sessions." Dou-Lon shrugged his shoulders. "Though Miss Seaetto's new sword has a lot more impact behind it than the old one. I think it's safe to say that she'll have an easier time on the field of battle now."
Naofumi frowned to himself. However, he didn't try to press the crazy hakuko any further. At least it sounded like he could count on Eclair in battles again.
"Aksel, Maya, go with Glass," Itsuki told his two friends in a dry, tired voice. "Make sure that she doesn't get in over her head or whatever.
"Of course!" The two pulled out their weapons and stood behind the spirit woman, giving Itsuki bright enthusiastic smiles.
"I-I'll go with them too!" Rishia decided to keep searching with Glass as well.
Itsuki looked conflicted upon hearing that but shook his head. He wasn't worried or anything. Especially after seeing Rishia's strength today. His friends could handle themselves just fine without him around. "Alright, good luck. And don't do anything stupid."
"Don't worry. I'll keep my knight out of trouble." Maya said happily.
"More like I'll be keeping you out of trouble." Aksel smirked, causing Maya to giggle.
"Oh bother." Glass groaned. Was this punishment for trying to talk to Itsuki earlier?
"I daresay, we shall continue to assist as well." Shadow briefly appeared alongside several of her cohorts.
"Got it. Be careful out there. Tell us if you find anything." Itsuki told Mirellia's spy network.
The group of cloaked figures nodded, disappearing into thin air to search alongside L'Arc and the others.
"How are they doing that?" L'Arc asked out loud.
"I am still figuring that out myself," Glass admitted.
L'Arc and Glass left with the hero's party members. Itsuki went off alone to an empty tent while Naofumi and Raphtalia walked together, arm in arm into an empty tent on the other side of the cavern where they could take a few hours to rest up.
Some of the soldiers were resting in other tents. Others were keeping watch at the main cavern's entrances alongside figures like Granny and Chen. Many of the mages were with Mirellia, going over the sealing ritual together to make sure they had it down.
In another part of the cavern, after having taken turns throughout the day to protect the various entrances, a different kind of magic lesson was going on before they were to retire for the night.
"Are you sure you're not leading us on?" Farrie glared with distrust at the turquoise-haired girl.
"Of course not." Therese smiled. "My friends are all doing their best to talk to you right now. You just have to listen and ask them for vitality for your spells."
Rachel, Crystal, Tersia, Farrie, and Wyndia sat around a glowing lantern. Therese was standing, walking among them as they tried to listen to the gems in their hands.
However, none of them were getting it. "Vitality? Why am I even doing this? I hardly know anything about magic as it is." Crystal grumbled.
"You could always keep watch with Karn-" Rachel began to reply.
"On second thought. Trying to listen to rocks beats listening to that idiot any day." Crystal frowned deeply.
"Keep that attitude up, and I'll just have to assume you're in love with him." Tersia lightly teased. "Anyone else think Crystal's acting just like Wyndia in those early days?"
"Yeah. Wyndia really tried to act like she didn't like Ren at all when it was easy to tell she actually did!" Farrie said excitedly.
"I… I wasn't that obvious." Wyndia scoffed.
"The only way you could have been more obvious was if you painted 'I love you Sword Hero, let me have your babies' on your armor." Farrie giggled to herself.
"..." Wyndia began to blush heavily at that statement.
Crystal said nothing. She only continued to frown as she concentrated on the gemstone in her hand.
"I'is strange. I thought magic used MP as its source. I'm still not certain what Therese means by asking the gemstone for vitality." Rachel said, looking at the amethyst in her hand curiously. "Is that another form of MP from her world?"
"What about you, Wyndia? Do you have any thoughts?" Therese asked.
Wyndia frowned. She was holding a blue sapphire in her hands. "Not really… but… I think I'm starting to understand a little bit better."
A puzzle appeared in her mind. After taking a moment to arrange the pieces, she began chanting under her breath. After another moment, she pointed a hand at Farrie. "Sapphire's Melody."
A light blue glow surrounded the girl. She looked at herself curiously. "I… don't feel anything different." Pulling up her HUD, she shook her head. "I don't have any buffs or anything."
"Damn it, that spell was a bust then." Wyndia sighed.
"Not entirely. Look." Therese pointed down at her hands. Looking down, Wyndia found the sapphire was still intact.
Therese smiled widely. "See, you took vitality from my friend without breaking him." She said happily.
"I… I did." Wyndia sounded surprised, though she frowned. "I… I guess it really is similar. Just different."
"What do you mean? Did you hear a voice that time?" Tersia asked curiously.
Wyndia shook her head. "No..." She thought about it some more. "I'm sorry, I think I get it now. I don't think any of you can use Therese's magic."
"Really, why's that?" Rachel asked curiously.
"To explain. I think I recognized it before at Cal Mira. But Therese's gem magic is similar to our world's Dragon Vein Magic. Only, instead of taking vitality from the environment around her to cast spells, she uses gems as a medium instead."
"In other words, she isn't using our world's standard magic, but a type of Dragon Vein similar to Earth Vein. So this isn't something someone with only knowledge of standard magic will be able to do." Wyndia shook her head. "Actually, you wouldn't even have a chance to try and learn to use gems as a medium for casting magic unless you received a blessing from a dragon, or some other creature that could bestow a similar blessing that allowed you to draw on the vitality of the land."
"So that's what she meant by vitality." Rachel looked like her curiosity had been satisfied for now. The mage hoped she'd have the opportunity to try and learn this branch of magic one day. It seemed very useful to be able to cast magic that didn't harm one's allies.
"Aw, really. And to think we wasted all that time trying to listen to rocks." Farrie said sadly while looking down at her lap.
"This has been an interesting experience regardless," Tersia said, looking up with a smile at Therese. "It's not often we get to learn about magic from other worlds. Thank you for trying to teach it to us."
Therese smiled back and bowed her head politely. "I'm sorry if I wasted your time. I guess I should have consulted with Wyndia on it a bit more."
"Well, this hasn't wasted my time. Honestly, after how the Spirit Tortoise cheated me during the last battle by draining all the vitality from the land around it, I could use this as a good backup." Wyndia felt the sapphire in her hand. She hadn't been able to draw upon any source of vitality since they'd landed on the Tortoise. It looked like these gemstones were going to be the only way for her to use Dragon Vein Magic while they were here.
It was rough trying to learn how to use gems as a medium without breaking them. But Therese had helped her to make great progress with it today thus far. "Again though, I still haven't heard any voices." Wyndia pointed out. "Are you sure they're trying to talk to us?"
"Oh, yeah. The gemstone in your hand right now likes how warm your hands are." Therese smiled widely. "It says it's like it's being held by a dragon."
...
Wyndia began blushing at that but smiled a little. Was she actually believing that a stupid gem was equating her to dragons?
"And yours has a cheerful personality, just like you Farrie."
"R-Really?! That's actually kind of awesome!" Farrie held the emerald up to her eyes, staring at it in awe. It was like she honestly wanted to become best friends with the gemstone.
That was a weird sentence Wyndia never thought she'd think before in her life.
"What about mine?" Tersia asked curiously.
"It is just as dirty-minded as you are," Therese smirked.
"Ok, I don't believe that," Wyndia said icily.
"You don't believe I'm dirty-minded?" Tersia asked curiously.
"No, I know for a fact that's right. What I don't believe is that a freaking stone would be one to talk about nothing but sex."
"I don't know. It looked like you believed me earlier when I was whispering all those-" Therese was responding.
"Anyway. Let's call it a night here. It's late, and I'm sure everyone here is exhausted." Wyndia cut the turquoise-haired girl off, causing her to giggle.
"Yeah. I think I could use some sleep. Teasing you all day long gets rather tiresome." Farrie giggled happily as she stood up.
"And to think we had such a tender bonding moment last night." Wyndia shook her head in bemusement. But she still came forward and hugged the young nun. Tersia joined the hug shortly after.
At the end of the day, they were still a pack. And they still cared deeply for one another.
"I'll look forward to when this is all over so we don't have to deal with this kind of dirty talk anymore." Rachel rolled her eyes.
"And I'll make sure to tell you that when you and your husband are reunited with each other again." Farrie winked at the mage.
Rachel actually chuckled. "You just reminded me. We never did seal our marriage after our wedding. I'll have to make sure to enjoy that after this."
"Yes, and another one joins the fold!" Farrie cheered.
"Careful. We know how uncomfortable Wyndia gets when we press this kind of conversation too much." Tersia cautioned.
"It's fine. You don't have to worry about me. It's good to see us all getting along like this." Wyndia smiled at the older nun.
"Well, in that case, you're welcome to let me know when you need the house to yourself after this is over. I won't mind giving you and Ren some privacy. And if you ever need protection, just ask and I'll-"
"Good night!" Wyndia waved her off.
The two nuns laughed as they went off to bed. Rachel and Crystal walked off to another tent to get some rest.
Wyndia stayed in her spot though, holding the sapphire in her hands.
"You're not going to sleep?" Therese asked curiously.
"Not yet… I want to practice some more." She admitted. She had to get this down if it'd at least mean she'd have something besides her katana and her limited knowledge of standard magic to help her out.
"Ok, just don't overdo it. Even gemstones need a chance to rest." As Therese said that, she pulled out some more gemstones from her pouch. Emeralds, rubies, amethysts, there was a wide variety.
Wyndia picked them up one at a time. Trying to practice listening to and connecting to the gemstone as Therese had instructed so she could use it as a medium for a spell.
"Do you think their morale is holding up?" Therese asked during a pause when Wyndia was taking a breather.
"It looks like it to me at least," Wyndia said. "I don't see any of them freaking out or anything, so that's good."
"Perhaps they were a little too cheerful though for what could be considered a suicide mission." Therese pointed out.
…
"Yeah. Hopefully, they'll feel better after the rest." Wyndia agreed with the gem girl.
She hadn't broken any of the gemstones at this point. But she wasn't pulling off anything major either.
"You're holding back?" Therese asked curiously.
"What makes you think that?" Wyndia asked.
"My friend just told me." Therese gestured to the jade she was holding. "She tried giving you the energy you needed for your spell, but you didn't take all that she was offering."
"Oh, I just, um… I was afraid if I took too much, it'd break, just like that ruby." She admitted, her ears falling on her head.
"It's fine. We're not in a life-or-death scenario right now. And I'm here to tell you if you take too much vitality from them." Therese reassured her.
Wyndia nodded, and she continued practicing for a little while longer…
She couldn't hear the stones still. But it did feel like something was there. With Therese's guidance, she was learning to tell what was too much and what was too little. It was rough finding that area in between that was just right for pulling off magic without destroying the stone. But, it was getting easier. Maybe because she had so much practice with this from Earth Vein, or maybe because Therese was a good teacher. Perhaps it was both?
Wyndia's smile shrunk but didn't entirely disappear. "It… it feels good, being like this for once." She suddenly said. "Feeling like, like there's a chance that everything will work out. That my hard work and effort won't amount to nothing… does that make sense?"
"Of course…" Therese stayed sitting next to her.
"Before, when I only had my katana facing him, I… I felt so small." Wyndia admitted. "Without my magic, it was like I couldn't do anything… I was just getting in Eclair's way… I made things worse instead of better... and unlike Eclair, my strikes hurt him..."
The two girls sat in silence together as one learned how to use gems as mediums without breaking them.
…
"Therese… have you ever struggled with self-doubt before?" Wyndia asked after a moment as she paused her practice.
"I can't imagine any girl who hasn't," Therese responded.
"I… I just don't want to lose this confidence. Not like before." She turned her head to look at Therese, her amber eyes serious. "I want to help Ren… but I'm scared of what'll happen when we do find him. If… if I'll even be able to reach through to him, or… or if he'll want to keep living after this is over."
She knew they'd already covered this before. But thankfully, Therese didn't point that out, but patiently listened to her as she tried to be honest with herself. "I want to give him a reason to live. More than that, I want him to be happy… Do you still think I'd be able to help him out? Do you think I could help him to be happy despite everything that's happened?" Wyndia eventually asked.
"Of course." Therese smiled widely.
"... Even after seeing what I was like yesterday?" Wyndia pressed.
"Yes. After witnessing you in action repeatedly today, I have no doubt what I said to you last night is true." Therese answered honestly. "You're truly a brave girl. You're growing up and facing this head-on. The fact that you're putting such care into taking care of my friends, even if you think they're nothing but rocks, only reaffirms to me that I was right that you care about others."
…
The dog girl's shoulders sunk in relief. "You don't have to make it sound like I'm a child, you know."
"You mean you aren't one?" Therese asked in mock surprise.
The two girls giggled. Wyndia smiled as she picked the sapphire up from the ground next to her again.
Odd. She could almost picture Ren's eyes looking at this thing. Also, reflecting off its surface was the scarf she still had wrapped around her neck.
Heh… the two blues really did match up with each other. She liked it. Maybe she could see about getting a sapphire necklace to help boost her stats… or perhaps a sapphire accessory that'd go well with Ren's eyes…
She wasn't one for jewelry. But... she'd really like something like that.
…
...
"I'll do it," Wyndia spoke. "I'll save him, no matter what."
Therese gave her a nod. She knew there was nothing left to say. Wyndia was only making sure that her self-doubts wouldn't get in the way of her goal again.
They continued practicing for a while longer. And then, eventually, Wyndia yawned as she stood up. "Alright, I think I've had enough practice with 'rocks', I'm going to turn in for the night."
"Ok. I'll stay up for now," Therese said.
"Are you sure? If they find the way to go deeper into the Tortoise, you're going to want to be well-rested for it." Wyndia pointed out.
"It's fine. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, knowing that L'Arc is out there working so hard to help you guys out." Therese admitted with a soft smile. "If we have time, I'll help you practice some more in the morning."
"Heh, I'm still wondering why you don't confess to him already." Wyndia rolled her eyes as she chuckled.
"Because there's nothing more fun than playing hard to get." Therese winked. Her face turned serious after that though. "Just know, I do it since I know L'Arc can take it. If you play hard to get with your Hero after we've rescued him, I will come back to this world and kick your &^%."
"I promise, you won't have to worry about that." Wyndia held her hands to her chest. "I… I'm still not sure what I'll do after this, but… but I'm going to help him. And I'm going to make sure he knows he's not alone. Never again."
…
Therese smiled. Truly, the dog girl was growing up before her eyes. "Good night, Wyndia."
"Good night, Therese." Wyndia smiled at the turquoise-haired girl, giving her a brief, but meaningful hug before heading off to a tent to crash for the night.
Therese stayed sitting by the lantern. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
She heard fighting at one of the entrances. But it didn't last long. Another successful skirmish. Though a soldier was helped from that entrance to one of the medical stations right afterward.
The gem girl frowned to herself. Even if they were holding off the familiars, for now, the army here was still experiencing casualties. They weren't as strong as the force Therese remembered L'Arc leading into the depths of the Black Tortoise.
Not to mention, there was still the battle going on outside…
Standing up, Therese took the soldier's spot at that entrance. For most of the night after that, she helped fend off the groups of minions that appeared to attack at the various entrances around the main cavern.
It was long, and dull, and grueling… but it allowed Wyndia and her other friends to sleep in peace. So the Gem Girl gladly did so until L'Arc came back, and it was finally her turn to rest.
The rest of the night went by without incident.
"Naofumi." Ost suddenly spoke out.
"What is it?" After sleeping for only a few hours, they were back at it again. With the shadow's and the Bow Hero's help, they'd searched nearly the entirety of the branching cavern system at this point.
The only thing of note they'd discovered had been by Itsuki. The Bow Hero and his group had found a weird temple-like area different from the temple they'd explored after the Spirit Tortoise's awakening. However, most everything in it had been destroyed.
They did find a piece of pillar with more Japanese writing on it though. It looked like another copy of the message they'd found in the first temple. Because of the age of the writing as well as the complete fragmentation of the pillar though, Itsuki had only gotten the words "head" and "heart" out of it.
They weren't entirely sure what it meant. Only that it did appear that the Spirit Tortoise's head and heart were important for... something.
If only they'd found the room before the Tortoise had awakened. They could have read the message before it was destroyed.
"There's somebody approaching from up ahead." Ost informed him.
"Is it another familiar?" Naofumi raised his shield. The only people with him this time were Raphtalia, Ost, and a Shadow. Filo, Eclair, and Dou-Lon were resting after helping L'Arc for most of the night.
"I… I don't believe so." Ost stated.
Naofumi stayed on guard, just in case. But after a moment, he sighed as he found it was only Itsuki and a Shadow, as well as his silver-haired spearwoman and his roguish swordsman. "I thought you were exploring another section of the Spirit Tortoise?" Naofumi asked.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing in the cavern I was searching?" Itsuki asked.
"This is the cavern I'm supposed to be searching!" Naofumi rebutted.
"Wow, anyone experiencing deja vu from this?" Karn joked.
"Yes… this seems oddly familiar for some reason." Crystal admitted, looking between the two heroes. Cal Mira was on their minds, apparently.
"It appears this cavern looped around to Sir Shield Hero's group." Itsuki's shadow said to Naofumi's shadow.
"Indeed. That is unfortunate." Naofumi's shadow replied.
He was going to have to learn if the Shadows had names eventually. It was hard to distinguish them when they all looked the same and had the same title. At least he could tell which were male and which were female… unless their skills in disguise were high enough that even that was possibly false.
Boy, that'd be awkward if he assumed Mirellia's body double had been male all along.
"Fine, let's find somewhere else to search then. We found diddly squat here." Naofumi said.
"Is there anywhere else even left to search?" Itsuki asked his shadow.
…
The shadow looked over the map they'd made. Naofumi's shadow looked over it as well.
…
"What's with the long silence?" Naofumi asked.
"I'm sorry, it appears we have no more caverns to map out." Shadow informed them.
…
"What?" Itsuki asked flatly.
"There is nowhere else to search. All these caverns either lead outside or lead to dead ends." The Shadow repeated.
…
…
…
Itsuki began breathing in and out deeply. "Deep breaths Itsuki. Just take deep breaths." Karn told him.
A look of worry came over Naofumi's face. "W-We've checked for illusion magic and all that, right?" He asked the Shadows.
"Of course. But we have found no illusions hiding any hidden entrances or anything of that nature." The Shadow reaffirmed.
"I haven't found anything like that either," Raphtalia admitted.
"I haven't sensed any secret passages hidden from me during our explorations, Naofumi." Ost gravely informed him. "Though I haven't personally walked all these passages myself yet."
"Alright, then that's fine. We can have Ost go along the areas we haven't searched yet, and then we're bound to-" Naofumi began to say in a tone that bordered between optimism and desperation.
"Daddy!"
The groups looked up as Filo raced into the cavern. "What is it, sweetie? You're supposed to be resting!" He asked.
"Fitoria woke Filo! Fitoria says the fight outside is really beginning to ramp up!" Filo said worriedly.
"What do you mean? Is Fitoria in danger?" Naofumi asked worriedly.
"Filo doesn't know if Fitoria is in danger or not! But Fitoria says the big turtle is growing more powerful!"
"It's using its attacks more often, and not only that… Fitoria says the big tortoise has grown a second head!"
… What?
"Fitoria and Fitoria's flock are still keeping up for now! But Fitoria's starting to worry about keeping the turtle in the same area if it keeps on growing more powerful like this!" Filo finished worriedly. "Fitoria wants us to find the heart as fast as possible!"
…
&^%$.
A more frazzled, deranged-looking Kyo stood in front of the crystal prisons holding the two heroes.
Both Motoyasu and Ren were screaming in agony inside, their bodies convulsing like crazy. After a long moment that felt like an eternity, the zapping finally stopped, and the two slumped over.
"Get used to the new treatment," Kyo remarked giddily. He was really pulling off the mad scientist look now. "Until that bird gives up or dies, you'll be cranking out a lot more power into this thing than before."
"H… Ha." Motoyasu was somehow still able to weakly laugh. Even though it felt like his very life had drained out of him with that last series of shock treatments. "Keep this up, and I might actually grow to hate you more than someone else I know."
"See if I care, idiot!" Kyo snapped at him. "The fact that you're still awake after all that is beyond aggravating! If I wasn't busy using you as a battery, I would dissect you just so I could figure out how to give that same grit to my own creations!"
Motoyasu grinned in his prison. In the corner of his vision, he could still see Ren slumped over. Eyes clouded with pain, misery, and despair.
"Someone like you would never understand." Motoyasu shook his head. "I'll endure whatever it takes so I can make you pay, bastard!"
Kyo didn't waste energy by replying. He merely activated the drain again, zapping both heroes and causing them to scream as a larger amount of power was extracted from their weapons to power up the Guardian Beast.
He didn't care that overclocking his carefully constructed systems like this risked killing their power source. He had a schedule to keep, and souls to harvest. Either that dumb bird would get out of his way, or these pathetic losers would die.
Fortunately, even if they would die, two fresh replacements were on their way here already. And if they didn't die, their battery capsules were already prepared.
Kyo had nothing to lose.
Author's Notes:
Well, I'm going to end this chapter off here because it's getting a little long. And I want to get these next ones ready as I have been looking forward to them for months.
Next up, the Heart of the Spirit Tortoise. The way to the core is revealed.
Till Next Time
Allen