Damn this was another tricky chapter to write, plus with my mainstory revamp finally debuting next month, my time to work on this project is much more limited. I didn't think this chapter would have been as difficult to write until I started putting pen to paper. (Or text to word document but you get my point.)
Replacing the Phrase was always part of my plan, but I've never been the best at writing action scenes. (Though practice does help somewhat.) Originally I planned for different things to happen, but it began to pile up and become one hell of a mess. So I did what I normally do when it comes to situations like this. I re-read my story and re-focused my plans.
So despite being a smaller chapter, I decided to split it to keep the focus and makesure it doesn't all blow in my face by having too much happen in one chapter. (It is more inline with my writing style anyway.)
Anyway, enjoy the chapter and part 2 of this chapter shouldn't be too far along.
In Another World With My Smartphone: The Lost Hero
Chapter Sixteen: Shadow of the Interloper Part 1
"There is no path. Beyond the scope of light, beyond the reach of dark, what could possibly await us? And yet, we seek it insatiably. Such is our fate."
– Lord Aldia, Dark Souls II Scholar of the First Sin
Celsior and the rest of his team hurried through the Western Forest as quickly as possible upon getting word from their guild spy that Princess Shera had been sent back to the ruins of the old capital with a new team of adventurers. The elves hated the idea of returning back to that strange place haunted by the echoes of lost souls stuck at the impasse of the worlds. However, with their target being out in the open this was their chance to finally capture the Princess and bring her back home.
"Captain Celsior!"
Celsior's team instantly came to a complete stop upon finding the team he had placed in charge of keeping watch of the West Gate.
"Ah, Soldore, I was hoping to come across your team," said Celsior with an improving nod.
"If you're here, then it seems like my hunch had been correct," said Soldore as he pointed towards the road that led toward the ruins. "We've been following a group of adventurers for the last few hours."
"How many?" Celsior questioned as he mentally relayed the details in his mind to compare.
"Five of them, sir," Soldore answer promptly as he extended his right hand with all five fingers. "Four female and one male."
"Was one of them wearing a hood?" Celsior asked with a serious expression. "A human woman? With brown hair and purple eyes?"
"Yes sir," said Soldore with an excited nod as his superior relayed the familiar details. "Exactly how you described her. So is that the so-called Fayn cloak that hides The Princess's features?"
"It appears so," Celesior concluded as his attention returned to the road. 'That lines up with our intelligence; the Prince did say that the Princess stole the cloak from the royal house.'
"Where are they now?"
"We believe they've gone to the ruins," Soldore answered as he pointed at a pair of horses and a large purple carriage secured to a few trees. Then he motioned to the sitting female elf, who seemingly sat in a meditation with her eyes closed. "The horses likely became uncooperative when they sensed those foul pulses. Lennai is using her Spirit-Link spell to connect with one of her insect summon. They could go leagues and Lennai would still be able to listen to them for as long as we don't break her focus."
"Good call," Celesior praised his subordinate's initiative as he drew closer to the forest's edge. "The Princess could likely sense us if too many of us bunched up together."
Before Soldore could respond; all the elves felt a chill down their spines as the ground began to rumble. A wave of dark energy began to pulse from the ruins; with it came the horrifying echoes of this country's past. The lost souls who remained cursing their final fate and seeking revenge upon the living.
'By the Great Mother!' Celesior beseeched to the greatest ancestor to all of the elves. 'What evil creature could make such a powerful quake?!'
The narrow hall rumbled and shook violently as Alex's phone continued to ring out its warning. Sensing the danger that was coming as a strange eerie crimson glow was pooling nearby the statue where the phone had once laid and the rumbling room that might soon come down on their heads. The young man acted fast to get his party to safety.
"Gate!" Alex called out as he opened a portal back to the surface and motioned for the girls to pass through. "Hurry! This way!"
Everyone except for Shera moved automatically as the elf had been caught off guard by the sudden display of Alex's ability to use another Null Magic spell.
"How di-" Shera started up, but Alex wasn't having it. There wasn't a moment to lose with an explanation before they were crushed by whatever the hell was going on. This left Alex with no choice but to play his whole hand and reveal his arsenal of spells.
"BOOST, GATE!"
As the shakes became stronger and stones began to drop, Alex dropped the first gate, boosted himself to run and sweep the disguised elf off her feet, and summoned a second gate he leaped into in the blink of an eye. As the duo felt the sun and fresh air upon their bodies, the two watched as the gate released a wave of stone and dust before it was sealed. With a sigh of relief, Alex quickly dropped the boost spell as the rest of the girls ran up to them.
"Well...that was close," said Alex with a wry grin.
"Yeah..." said Shera with a slight blush as the boy held her like a bride.
"Are you two alright?" Linze asked with her wand at the ready; meanwhile, Elze and Yae seemed to be on alert, looking around for possible threats.
"Just peachy," said Alex as he gently left the elf down and pulled out his phone. It had gone quiet, but the screen remained blank as the warning had died down after leaving the hallway. Even the ground had stopped shaking. With the threat seemingly gone with it being buried underground, everyone took a moment to dust themselves off...
"Wait...what's that?" Yae suddenly asked as she pointed at something that was northward.
The group collectively turned to see where Yae was pointing as it seemed like another portal from Alex's Gate spell had been opened. Stepping out of the opening was a figure slightly taller than the twins but at least a head shorter than Alex. His features seemed obscured by a dark crimson shade covering him from head to toe. Still, the outline of his appearance seemed to match the Figure in the gaudy white cloak in the mural underground.
"Hey! Who are you!?" Elze demanded from the Figure as she got into a combat stance.
The Figure didn't answer. Instead, he simply disappeared...only to reappear directly in front of Alex with a wound-up fist swing.
'SHIT!' Alex moved to defend himself, but the Figure was too quick and managed last the punch him square into his chest, knocking him back clean off his feet. While Alex's new armor was enough to absorb most of the blow; the punch was still strong enough to knock the wind out of him as the pain began to spread throughout his rib cage.
"ALEX!" Yae yelled as she swung her blade at the crimson Figure. Only to be parried by the Figure with a strange-looking sword with an unusual handguard. Meanwhile, Elze moved to try to blitz the Figure with her gauntlets, using Boost to hopefully match the stranger's unnatural speed.
The Figure dodged Elze's follow-up attack by leaping over her reach.
"FIRE SPEAR!"
"LIGHTNING SPEAR!"
The Figure, however, quickly found himself surrounded by a fury of lightning and fire thanks to Linze and Shera, who had used the opening to attack. For a moment, the girls cheered as they thought they had finally managed to get the edge on him. Only for the inferno and electric shocks to quickly extinguish and break upon the stranger getting back up to his feet.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Elze yelled out in frustration as the Figure silently fixed his coat casually as if the fire had been nothing more than a simple nuisance to be brushed off.
"AW COME ON!" Shera cried out as she notched an arrow on her bow while kneeling close to Alex, who was busy healing himself.
"Is he immune to fire and wind magic?!" Linze exclaimed as she quickly thought of other offensive spells to use against their new foe.
"Regardless, be on guard, everyone!" Yae ordered as she adjusted her stance.
The Figure began to move again with a blur and instantly disappeared again. The girls readied themselves, only for the Figure to appear in front of Alex again with his sword raised high to bring it down upon his head. Alex instinctively threw himself to the side to dodge upon feeling that familiar sense of blood lust that was directed towards him. Shera had done the same but in the opposite direction, rolling in a way that allowed her to shoot an arrow at their enemy as she sat back up.
Their mysterious opponent simply cocked his head back to casually dodge the elven missile and then turned his attention to the elvish princess. Shera instantly felt her blood go cold as their mysterious foe stared at her without any visible eyes. However, she could still feel them as an expression of his wrath. The Figure slowly turned to face Shera and stepped forward before disappearing again.
"MIA WATCH OUT!" Elze yelled out just as the Figure appeared before the elven girl like he had done with Alex.
Fortunately, Shera managed to barely avoid the swing by falling flat on her ass. Still, the sword managed to slice the front of her cloak breaking the enchantment and revealing her true form to everyone else. Unfortunately, Shera now found herself between their enemy and a large pile of rubble behind her with little chance to dodge a follow up attack.
"What in the world?" Linze froze upon seeing "Mia's" true form, while Yae and Elze ignored the revelation to charge to try and save their ally.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
Almost everyone was forced to recoil as three loud flashes of fire came from where Alex now stood, wielding a strange weapon in his hand with an expression of cold fury. All of the girls, especially Shera, had to cover their now violently ringing ears as the bullets impacted against their opponent. Unlike the magic, the bullets seemed to have worked as the Figure shook violently as if he was in a massive amount of pain as the shots riddled his back.
"GATE!"
Shera, who still couldn't hear much of anything, instantly fell as a portal opened underneath her. She instantly found herself next to Linze.
"BOOST, POWER RISE!"
While the girls were busy trying to keep their ears from ringing, they watched Alex holster the weapon and disappear, only to reappear behind the Figure with a wide punch, much like their enemy's opening move. Only this time, he didn't relent after the first strike. Alex continued striking their foe with a well-practiced combination of magically enhanced punches. What ever immunity their foe had to elemental magic, the same couldn't be said about physical attacks.
"Now, Yae!" Elze yelled out as she took the chance to back Alex up once the ringing in her ears stopped. "While he's distracted!"
"Understood!"
While their opponent initially seemed quite strong, he seemed to lack direct combat strength and experience. He was quickly overwhelmed by the trio combination of Alex, Elze, and Yae. Curiously, in every counterattack, their opponent seemed to be trained exclusively on Alex while actively avoiding attempting to harm the girls. Unfortunately, Alex and Elze were both starting to feel their mana reserves strain as the battle continued with their uses of enhancement magic just to keep up the pace. Meanwhile, while Yae couldn't use magic, she was starting to physically tire as the fight continued.
"Come on! Why won't you leave us alone!?" Elze roared out after another successful strike to the face of their shaded foe, feeling that her Boost spell could go out at any moment.
"Focus, Elze!" said Yae breathlessly as the katana felt increasingly heavier with every swing, and the muscles in her arms began to plead for respite.
The same, however, could not be said of their attacker. Despite the damage dealt, their opponent seemed to not show any signs of slowing down and was now starting to get the upper hand back in the battle. The mysterious Figure took a long jump back as Elze and Yae collapsed having been wholly spent. With a wave of his hands, Alex suddenly felt like the floor was as slippery as wet bathtub, causing him to slip and fall flat on his face.
While unharmed, Alex couldn't find anyway to find purchase on the impossibly slippery floor. The Figure's body moved in a way that showed him to be laughing hard—albeit silently. Exhausted and with Alex reaching his limits, he decided to lay flat as he released Boost but maintained Power Rise to try and extend the use of his remaining mana. He half expected the Figure to attack again. Still, instead, he was surprised when the Figure turned his attention to Linze and Shera, the former helping the latter, who was still suffering from temporary tinnitus from the earlier gunshots.
'I think he's only targeting me and Mia,' Alex realized as he figured out the stranger's next move. In a split second, Alex could feel a familiar chain of events that led him here as the Figure began running towards the ranged duo with his sword raised. Fight or flight, were his options as this battle seemed to be without end. And for a moment, Alex did consider fleeing using Gate to leave the girls to their fate with this strange man.
But only briefly, as Alex would again decide everything with a gamble...that could cost him everything if his mana ran out.
"Gate..." Alex whispered as he fluidly moved his hand to draw his gun. 'Bullets...don't fail me now...'
The instant their opponent appeared before them, Linze tried to smack him with her wand, knowing that any of her current attack spells would likely be useless. With a simple shove, the younger Silhoueska was knocked aside as the Figure moved to stab the defenseless Shera with his blade. Only for Alex to drop in from a portal just above them, allowing the sword to meet with Alex, only to shatter as it met the American's magically defended body. At that instant, Alex dropped Power Rise and raised his pistol to the Figure's face now that he was at point-blank range.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
The Figure shook as he dropped his shattered weapon and felt to his knees. The strange shade coating the stranger seemed to be swirling in the pattern of a rapidly beating heart. He reached for Alex in defiance, only for his arms to drop as the Figure collapsed. The shadows from the Figure parted, and for only the briefest of moments, Alex saw the true form of a dead-looking Touya Mochizuki looking hopeless before the corpse turned into some kind of strange mist-like energy that had begun moving toward him.
'The hell?' Alex tried to back away, but the energy quickly surrounded him, only to disappear. That being said, Alex instantly felt a whole lot better than before. As if all of his mana had instantly been replenished by the remnants of Touya's remaining energy. Which only made things more confusing.
BING!
Alex pulled out his smartphone to see if he had received a text message.
Invader Touya Mochizuki has been vanquished.
'But...why did he attack us?' Alex wondered as he pocketed his phone and instantly returned his attention to his party members. "Is everyone alright?"
"WHAT?!" Shera yelled with painful tears in her eyes as she was currently busy dealing with the violent ringing in her ears made worse by the last three shots. "I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!"
'Yeah...I should have suspected that would happen,' Alex thought with a guilty expression as he began using Recovery to try and help her while turning his attention to the rest of his party. "You guys alright?"
"Y-yeah," said Linze with a sharp hiss as she managed to stand up. "What was that?"
"Not sure," Alex answered vaguely as he continued working his magic on the elf. He actually had a pretty good idea on who or what that was. But he couldn't confirm it with out any objective evidence to back it up. "But it's gone now."
"Thank goodness," Yae followed up with a relieved sigh. "I suppose we should count ourselves fortunate. I feel like our foe was holding back or at least seemed limited despite his initial assault."
"It seemed to be after you and Mia in particular," Elze interjected confusedly. "It didn't even try to hurt us. So what happened at the end there? We saw that weird mist go after you."
"I don't know," Alex answered honest as he gave himself another look over. "I mean...I feel fine...hell even better than fine. I actually feel pretty good. Like I got a good night's sleep."
"Strange," Linze commented with a puzzled expression. "So what should we do now?"
"Well, the first thing we should do is get our story straight," Alex said as he finished up and smiled at the elf. "Hello, Mia."
"Oh," Yae exclaimed as their collective attention focused on the elf in their mist. "I had almost completely forgotten about that."
"Oh...right..." said Shera, as she could hear normally again. She suddenly looked worried to the point that her long ears drooped. "About that..."
'Okay...that's actually kind of adorable,' Alex couldn't help but think with a smirk.
"Is there a reason for the deception, Mia?" Yae questioned softly with a neutral expression, contrasting Elze's suspicious frown.
"There is...but...it's...complicated," Shera answered awkwardly, fidgeting with her fingers. "And Mia isn't my real name. It's Shera."
"Alright, Shera," Elze followed up with a huff. "So, is there a reason you hid your true identity from us?"
"Easy, Elze," Alex interjected to calm things down. "No need to bite her head off."
"You're one to talk," said Elze as she rounded on the lad. "You knew she was an elf from the beginning! You've been so weird and said you would explain what was up with you earlier.."
"Huh?!" The remaining three girls exclaimed in surprised as they shared at Alex and Elze.
"And I will," Alex answered the elder Silhoueska twin calmly while ignoring the stares from everyone else. "All I am saying is to give Shera some breathing room. I'm willing to bet she has a good reason. So...do you have a good reason, Shera?"
"I...I...do," Shera answered as she put the now disenchanted cloak over herself. "You really could see my true form even when I was wearing my cloak?"
"Yeah, but I really don't know why I could," Alex admitted with a shrug as he continued to resist the urge to stare at her generous chest.
"Mayhaps it has something you do with your ability to use every Null Magic spell?" Yae suggested with a hand to her chin.
"WHAT?!" Shera exclaimed with wide eyes. "Is that how you were able to use all of those spells?!"
"Well, that cat's out of the bag," Alex said with a laugh. "Thanks, Yae."
"Oh, damnation!" Yae quickly chided herself. "Please forgive me, Alex!"
"Well, considering that I might be asking Shera some very personal questions, I think it's fair to share of my own."
Shera actually managed to smile with that comment; it was nice that he was at least trying to be a bit more considerate.
"I think we should focus on a more important question," said Alex as he gathered their collective attention again. "Why did you feel the need to have such a disguise from us?"
"My full name is...Shera Liliana Greenwood," The elf admitted with a meek voice. "I am the Princess of Greenwood."
Instantly, the three girls reflexively knelt before the elf while Alex remained standing, albeit he had inhaled sharply.
"Girls, get up!" Alex said quickly as he saw Shera looking extremely uncomfortable by their reaction. "Can't you see that she's trying to keep herself low-key!?"
"Oh crap!" said Elze as they all rose up again. "Yeah, good point."
"Sorry," Linze followed up with a guilty look.
"But, My Lady why the secrecy?" Yae asked with a hand to her chin.
"My best guess is politics," Alex interjected as he suppressed an annoyed sigh. "Am I close?"
Shera nodded but remained silent.
"Does the Chapter Master know about your situation?" Alex asked gently as he knelt down to her level.
"She does," Shera answered softly. "She knows everything and has been helping me hide since I left Greenwood a little over a year ago. She even got me the room at the guild after all of the Mismede citizens arrived in town."
"But why hide?" Linze asked with a gentle hand on the elf's shoulder. "Shouldn't all of the Demi-Humans arriving be good for you?"
Shera suddenly gripped her cloak as tears began welling up. She began spilling out everything she had been holding in about the death of her oldest brother, how she suspected Keeran of murdering him for the throne, but had no proof. How Keeran wanted her to service him as a breeding cow and would likely stop at nothing to find her. It wouldn't surprise her that those loyal to Keeran could use this time to kidnap and spirit her away once the treaty summit is over. No one would notice one less elf running around town.
"So..." Shera continued between tears and sniffs. "All I could really do was run away! I don't want to marry my brother! I don't want to be hidden away to simply produce children!"
The twins were quick to embrace the elf as the emotional dam broke.
'What the fuck?! Ugh! Is Greenwood just Elf Alabama or what?!' Alex thought he cringed at the details. He had always tried to be careful when heeding stories like this, lest he be taken for a song. But the American couldn't detect any hint of a lie; everything from her voice and body language told him she spoke the truth. Still, he would be confronting the Chapter Master to verify Shera's story as soon as he could.
"Alex..." Yae spoke up softly as if pleading with him to help her.
The boy simply nodded without a word as he pondered their next move.
Despite his reservations about getting involved in anything too political, the fact that it hinged on the idea of leaving Shera to such a horrifying fate was too much for him. Then there was the situation with the summit he would be dealing with in a few days; if Shera really is a princess of one the Elven territory of Mismede, it could go tits up for either side, depending on how things stood if it went public. On the one hand, Shera might be able to claim asylum, but that could give the Mismede delegation ammo for their negotiations, which could likely land him on the Royal Family Shit List. On the other hand, if Shera is right and there are people from Mismede who are here operating with the intention of kidnapping someone within Belfast, hell near or in the Capital city; that shit could lead to a goddamn war if history mirrors aspects of his previous world.
Whatever they decided to do, it needed to be done with extreme caution.
"Shera," Alex spoke up after thinking it over momentarily. "We'll help you."
"Really?" Shera managed to say between sniffs.
"Yeah," Alex continued with a nod. "But I'm going to need your full cooperation. I wasn't kidding when I said that the Duke of Ortlinde is a friend of ours. I'm pretty sure we can use his influence to help us out. "
"O...okay," Shera nodded in agreement, sounding far more relieved.
"So what's the plan?" Elze asked as she continued to comfort the elf.
"The first thing we should do is get the cart and return to Reflet," Alex said with a confident smile. "And bring her with us."
"Aren't you low on Mana, Alex?" Linze questioned knowing how much magic Alex must have expended during the fight.
"I thought I was," Alex confessed with a shrug as he took a moment to stretch his limbs. "But I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. Which is why I'm confident enough to have enough magic to open another Gate. Right now, I think we could all use a good meal, a hot bath, and soft beds tonight. Shera can rest easy since there aren't any Demi-Humans in Reflet except for the occasional trader or adventurer. Plus we need to get our story straightened out about our discovery since I really don't know how to explain that thing that attacked us and how to report it to the Chapter Master."
"That's a good point," Elze followed up as she folded her arms. "But you still owe us an explanation about how weird you were acting earlier."
'Damn, she really isn't letting me slide...' Alex thought keeping the same face. "And we can talk about that over dinner tonight. Tomorrow, I return here to verify that the pulses are gone and let's face it. If that guy somehow returns, I know I can easily fight him without worrying about you guys. From there, I can talk to the Duke to drop off the info and get retroactive permission for our excavation to avoid any problems when we report our report to the guild. That's when we can collect the reward and keep Shera in Reflet for the time being until the delegation from Mismede returns home."
"What about work?" Elze asked with a frown. "All of the work in Reflet is pretty dry right now."
"Well I have that job moonlighting as security for the Duke in a few days. But for the rest of you that's a sacrifice you'd have to make if we want to help Shera for the time being," Alex stated firmly, given that all of the girls had motioned to help the elf out; Elze couldn't complain. "Besides, not all of the work in Reflet is dry; it's mostly just normal Guild work. You would always take some side jobs for extra cash. Not to mention the big pay out we're getting when we report our findings. Fifteen Gold each is nothing to sneeze at."
"True enough," Elze agreed with some reluctance in her voice.
"Any other questions, comments, or concerns before we go?" Alex asked as he gave each girl a chance to add anything else.
"A hot bath does sound heavenly right now," Yae confessed with a longing sigh as she rubbed her shoulders.
"It would be nice to get a good night's sleep," said Linze as she thought about her soft, fluffy bed back at the inn.
"Umm..." Shera asked awkwardly as she shakily raised her hand. "I don't have much money right now. I might now be able to afford to stay at the inn tonight."
"I got you covered, Shera, don't worry," Alex answered promptly. The young man paused as he looked at his whole party again, seeing their tired faces and having one hell of an emotional bomb shell dropped on them. It didn't sit right with him to see morale seem so low, especially since he was partly responsible for this due to his earlier impatience, and his party had put him in the leadership role again. Plus, it might make the conversation he needed to have with his team easier.
'I really messed up today. So I need to make it up to all of them.'
"Aw, to hell with it; I'll make a full-course steak meal for all of you again."
"YAY!" The trio of Linze, Elze, and Yae instantly leaped to their feet with a victorious cheer upon hearing the day's best news. Shera, however, jumped because of the sudden noise and looked confused by the sudden shift in the party's mood.
"YES!" Elze roared with excitement.
"I cannot wait..."Yae followed up with drool oozing from the edge of her mouth. "That salad was divine..."
"With the buttered potatoes?" Linze asked with a hopeful glance that Alex found adorable.
"The whole nine yards," Alex reassured them as the trio let out another trio of cheers.
"What are you all talking about?" Shera questioned with a slight tilt of her head.
"The greatest food of all time!" Elze answered with a massive grin. "The perfect meal!"
"Alright, time's short," Alex interjected with a strong clap of his hands to get the girl's attention, happy to see everyone in a better mood. "If you want to eat steak tonight, we need to be quick!"
"OKAY!" The girls—sans Shera, said in unison.
"Cool, bring the carriage here, and then we'll head out," Alex ordered as the girls quickly got to work while no one noticed the small beetle that had perched itself on a nearby rock.
"Are you certain of this, Lennai?" Celsior questioned the kneeling elf who was giving her report.
"Yes, Captain," Lennai answered with a firm nod. "I can confirm that the Princess is with them and was unharmed in the battle. Two of them are heading here right now to recover their carriage."
"Then we should arrange to ambush them at once! We can hold them hostage in exchange for the Princess," Soldore declared quickly, but Celsior raised his hand.
"Belay that order," Celsior commanded in a low but firm voice. "If the report is true. Our biggest threat is the male, and even if we held hostages, it would still put us at a disadvantage. If he really can use all kinds of Null Magic that could also make him immune to certain kinds of Elven magic. No, we need to regroup."
"Then what should we do instead sir?"
"They are planning to take the Princess to Reflet," Celsior noted with a hand to his chin. "And keep her until the delegation from Mismede returns home. Thankfully, the summit hasn't started yet, and the intelligence we've gathered thus far concludes it won't be for another few days. Even then, The delegation won't leave for at least a few weeks."
"Meaning the Princess will remain in Reflet until then," Soldore realized with wide eyes.
"Indeed and since the male will be working for the Duke during that time," Celsior nodded with a growing smile since the town was much closer to the border with Mismede. "I think I might have the perfect solution to our problems. Let us return to collect the rest of our team and make our way to Reflet."
"Can't wait to eat some steak!"
"Get down, everyone," Celsior ordered quietly as they heard and saw the human twins appear to collect the horses. Luckily for them, the twins' minds seemed to be elsewhere to focus any of their observant grazes on them. After a while, the group watched the twins set up the carriage with the horses and return to the ruins. Once the coast was clear, Celsior motioned everyone to rise slowly and motioned to follow him back towards the Capital.
'We might have to delay our plan for now my Prince,' Celsior mentally pleaded with the mental image of his master. 'But rest assured that your patience will be rewarded!'
Author's Commentary
So in my original plans, Touya wasn't opposed to be the original invader. Instead it was supposed to be Naofumi the Shield Hero. However, as I looked ahead into my future plans. I realized I might be playing a future element way too soon before I have all of my ducks in a row. So I had nixed my plans and brought Touya which considering what will happen in the next chapter will make more sense from both a thematic and narrative prospective.
As for the combat, some might say that Touya got defeated too easily. And to some extent I would agree, however this isn't canon Touya and even from that point, this is a Hollowed version of Touya who doesn't have all of his mental facilitates in place. (For those who remembers how works hollowing works in Dark Souls. Hollowing can lead to becoming a mindless entity.) I wouldn't say Hollowing works exactly like in Dark Souls, but explaining it deeper would go into spoiler territory.
Now for the elves. The canon version of Celsior is a fucking idiot and the world building in How Not To Summon a Demon Lord while stronger than IAWWMS, it's not by much. Here, I wanted Celsior to be smarter actually consider the pros and cons of how to approach kidnapping Shera. Making Mismede a confederacy was easily one of the best decisions I made to try make the political ramifications actually have some weight.
Again we're not done with the day's events. The next chapter will have more through answers that should be able to keep up the pace of the story before the Summit arc. (Watch me make an half-episode into a whole arc into itself.) On that note, Shera still technically isn't a full party member just yet and won't be for awhile. This is a relationship that I want for it to take some real time, and have it be more like a friendship first. (Elze and Linze definitely have feelings for Alex; Yae can feel something but doesn't equiate it to romance just yet; Shera is just happy to have people who are willing to help her.)
That should cover things for now!
Until next time!
-ZX
