Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter, and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
The battle continues to rage on the plain around Stormwind city. For the heroes and their closest allies, their target changing from human soldiers under the command of Astaroth to undead creatures controlled by the Spirit Tortoise wasn't a huge problem. All they had to do was expand a bit more effort, and be more thorough against their target to make sure they can no longer cause harm. But for the lower leveled fighters who came with the heroes, this specific kind of undead is something to be feared. Particularly, the rebels who have come with the Hammer Hero are finding it hard to deal with these enemies. Shepherd throws a grenade over at a group of undead, blowing them apart as he stomps the larger bits of still twitching dead flesh and bones down with his boots. He hears the voice of one of his comrades in arms, the young man's voice is on the verge of panicking. "Our supply of explosives is getting low, Commander Shepard. We need to pull out! We don't have a good way to take these undead out once we use up all of our explosives!"
The former Shiltfreeden commander knew his ally was speaking the truth. Since most who joined Hammer Hero's cause of liberating the oppressed from the nobility and other elites were either farmers, or newly recruited soldiers. Those who lack proper training and skill at using more advanced weaponry. But he also knew they would dissolve without someone who can rally them together. "We can't leave Hammer Hero behind, Mr. Jenkins. He's still in the thick of battle right now."
Mr. Jenkins looked down in shame. But he also knew the fresh recruit spoke the truth. If they lose too many men fighting these monsters, they'll be destroyed by the army commanded by the nobles trying to exterminate them to put down their uprising. So he turns to another young man fighting alongside him. "Marcus. Cover our main troops' retreat. We'll move behind the retinue of the other heroes and give them fire support. They are better at dealing with these creatures than us."
"You got it, chief!" Marcus puts his meteor hammer back onto his waist, and begins to cast spells with the rest of his mage friends. Unlike freshly recruited soldiers or farms like Mr. Jenkins, Marcus and his group of friends were wild mages. Someone who learnt to use magic on their own. Not systematically trained from facilities like Faubley's Hero Academy, or even apprenticed under other mages. This made them outcast among the other magic practitioners, and drew them to Hammer Hero's cause.
Stone spikes rise up from the ground, the air itself seems to explode into fireworks, and thick rain drops that melt undead flesh and bones fall from nowhere. The archaic magic isn't doing as much harm to undead creatures without fear than an army who can think. But they are enough for the rebels to use the distraction to retreat behind the line of the retinue members of the heroes. For Commander Shepard, he goes forward instead of back. Cutting a path through the thick of the undead horde in an effort to find, and bring back the Hammer Hero who is more than a mere leader, but the soul of the uprising. An undead tries to swing at him with its boney sickle, but its appendage is shot off by someone, and Shepard notices Jenkins coming up to him from the side. "Retreat with the rest of your comrade, Mr. Jenkins! It'll be very dangerous to find, and bring back the Hammer Hero."
"I'm not letting you risk yourself without any backup, sir! You'll need someone to watch your back." New recruit Jenkins still both looks and sounds scared, fearing for his life. But there is also an underlying steel underneath his wavering voice that leaves no room for rejection. And the former commander of Shiltfreeden army knew that this young man would tag behind him even if he refused to take the new recruit. So he nods his head, and the two of them begin to run towards the direction where the Hammer Hero was seen last.
Chapter 53: Unexpected Intruder
"Mr. Zylden, do those thrashing vines look familiar to you?" Aultcray narrows his eyes at what he's seen growing out from the Spirit Tortoise's neck. The times Guardian Beasts are activated throughout the age are sparse compared to hero summoning. Since they are the last contingency and their wakening is always followed after a near end of the world scenario where most lives in the world are harvested to block out an out of control Wave of Catastrophe. So needless to say, records about their ability can also be sparse compared to a lot of things. But the commanding general of the entire Melromarc host is pretty sure plant control shouldn't be one of the abilities used by Spirit Tortoise.
"There's no mistake. That plant shares the same origin as my assistant Bed-chan. It might even be a seed spawned by her. Shield boy's little helper did ask her for a bunch of her seeds to be used in an emergency." The half man narrows his eyes, his head bobbing with contemplation. "And before you ask. Whatever it was originally, it has clearly since mutated. Probably as strong if not even stronger than Bed-chan right now. Probably growing off whatever power the Spirit Tortoise has. Chief God be damned... for all we know the Mirror Demon did something to it. So Bed-chan isn't going to be able to do something to stop it, or even having it help take the turtle down."
"When it rains, it pours... It looks like those vines are bursting out from inside the turtle's body. We'll probably have to get rid of that plant if we want to get inside the turtle and destroy its heart." The former regent king of Melromarc didn't say the other method, which was to fire an attack that's strong enough to cut right through the turtle's body and destroy its heart from the outside. But looking at the two dragon aspects fight on their side... they are barely leaving any lasting damage to the turtle's flesh even as they rain down meteors of fire, or send out spheres of violent airblades. The chance of them doing something not even achieved by the dragon aspects even with ritual magic, or forbidden magic is impossible.
"We might be able to turn this into an advantage. If the plant has burrowed into the body of the Spirit Tortoise. That means it's making up some of its internal composition." His daughter suddenly speaks up, drawing the attention from everyone. "It's a plant, even a highly magical, and highly mutated one. If we can set it on fire somehow... it might be able to do our job for us, depending on where inside the turtle's body it burrowed into."
Aultcray exchanged a quick look with Zylden, and he didn't see any objection in the half man's eyes. You can burn a plant isn't some incredible idea one needs an apprentice after a master mage to come up with, but he's still surprised at his daughter thinking of such a simple solution so fast. Especially since he's still pondering over Zylden's words about the plant being mutated and apparently enjoying some symbiotic relation with the Spirit Tortoise. At moments like this, a simple solution should be tried first even if they need to prepare for some contingency. "Lady Eclair, you have the command of the forces. Bring them back in an orderly retreat and protect my daughter while I gather our top fighters and mages to help the heroes."
"M-me?!" The young lady and sole survivor of House Seaetto jumps on top of her steed. She looks as shocked as unprepared at his command. "M-my liege. Perhaps someone more experienced should take over command? I have no experience commanding a large army composed of multiple hosts. Maybe someone older and more experienced? Like Lord Noches?"
Aultcray turns to look at his longtime friend. And just as he thought, the neck of his friend looks cranked out, as he furiously scans into the distance. At the east side of Stormwind. No doubt trying to find the trace of the Spear Hero, and his daughter who is following him. "Most of Lord Notches' mind is spent worrying for his daughter, and I will not have torn him between his duty to the army, and his duty to his daughter. Worry not, Lady Eclair. The Spirit Tortoise is being held down by the heroes and everyone helping them. All you have to do is to bring our army away slowly, and orderly to the edge of battle where they'll be safe, and then hold your position till further notice."
"You can do this, Eclair. The Mirror Demon has already run away, and you won't be caught off guard by a surprise attack this time." Aultcray turns to look at his daughter, and he is reminded of how in Lady Eclair's haste when she was commanding the heroes' retinue, she ended up force marching them ragged. Leaving the Mirror Demon using his transportation ability to pick up the left behind members with his raiders. He isn't worried about it this time. Since she is commanding well trained, elite troops everyone brought to fight the Mirror Demon, not volunteer militia or adventurers with no discipline. Even in the case of the Mirror Demon not making his escape and trying to stab them with another sneak attack, all it'll happen is he'll likely waste more of his men without much gain. But he still allows his daughter to comfort Lady Eclair. Building rapport with her fellow noble is important for Malty in the future, since he's willing to bet that his 'brother' hasn't given up on her yet.
Eclair visibly calmed down after some more encouraging words from Malty. Then she turns her attention to him next. "Father, I should be with you fighting the Spirit Tortoise, not retreating with the army. My strongest affinity is fire, something we should try first when we attack the plant coming out of the Spirit Tortoise. And I have experience dealing with this strand of monsters. I was the one who killed the original bioplant that grew from the seed."
"The princess speaks the truth, your grace. I was there with her, and I saw her turning that newborn outer god into ash." Aultcray turns his attention to Zylden next, and the half man speaks without any of his usual mirth in his voice. He's willing to bet the situation they spoke was way more complicated, since he doubted his daughter was that powerful a mage who could overwhelm a newborn god by herself. But he is surprised at her willingness to put herself into danger alongside him. A development he both laments, and feels happy that she's taking her responsibility more seriously. Her journey with the Shield Hero clearly had a good influence on her.
"Very well, daughter. I will not have you forsaken your duty when you asked for them. But if your magic is ineffective, and I see the situation devolves into more danger, I will have Captain Lotheringan and Vice Captain Zellus escort you away from battle. My duty as a father to protect you outweighs your duty at fighting this war." Aultcray nods back to his daughter, then turns his attention towards his long time friend. "Douglas. Send messengers to all of our allies' hosts. Have them rearrange their command, and have all the high level veterans gather around me. Prioritize magic users. They'll be more important if we are going to go for my daughter's plan of damaging the turtle through the plant growing inside its body."
"What the hell? Why did the Bioplant come out of the Spirit Tortoise? This isn't how it's supposed to go?!" Naofumi feels a splitting headache climbing on top of his skull. And his current pain is less caused by the overwhelming odds he's facing against the kaiju turtle, and more on his self-claimed fan jumping up and down. In spite of Sato looking down on his three friends, he's acting even worse than them. At least they didn't start panicking and run around like headless chickens when things happen differently compared to their game knowledge.
"Get a hold of yourself, damn it! It must be the seeds Raphtalia got from Bed-chan." Naofumi fights back the urge to slap Sato right in the face. If he is having one of his normal shields, his palm would probably bounce off everyone's face without any harm. But he did bring out his [Crown Shield, which means he might accidently take someone's head straight off their shoulder if he's not careful. "THINK! Bed-chan was born from the seeds we collected from that Life Root tree god grew from the miracle seed. And Raphtalia is carrying a bunch of her seeds in case she needs to create some distraction. She saved Tact's sister the last time she confronted the Mirror Demon... which means that plant grew out of the same seed she used to divert the Mirror Demon's attention."
"Right, right! That means it must have mutated like the original bio plant. I'm calm now, Naofumi-sama. I'm your sword, so I won't lose your face with unruly behaviors..." Sato slaps his own face in an attempt to remain calm and to refocus. Privately, Naofumi doesn't care if Sato's actions are unruly as he puts it. He never cared that much about his reputation, being the maligned Shield Hero after all. But he does want Sato to focus more on the coming fight, and not get everyone else's way while they are against something created by a demi-god.
"Master Shield Hero, sir!" Naofumi turns his head, and sees Ren running up to him. The former highwayman bandit who fights with his dagger and pistol, not his Sword Hero friend. "I bring a message from Miss Raphtalia. She says the plant coming out looks like something she planted onto the back of the Spirit Tortoise to get rid of the Mirror Demon's guard. You can't have these thorny vines touch and grab you, because they'll kill you by sucking away all of your blood."
"Got it! Give Raphtalia my thanks." Naofumi gives Ren a nod to show his thanks, and then reaches out to touch Motoyasu on the shoulder. "You got a spear form to amplify your voice? I'll have to dispel and then resummon [Crown Shield] if I want to change the form of my shield now. We must let everyone, especially Dio and Tact know about what makes this plant dangerous."
"Got it!" Motoyasu takes a few steps back, letting his companions cover his space while beating down the still rampaging undead horde. The tip of his spear changed, turning into what looks like a bat with a wide, open mouth that takes over half of its entire body. He puts the speartip in front of his weapon over his mouth, like he's holding a microphone attached to a stand and yells on top of his lung. Booming voice rings out like rolling thunder. "DON'T LET THAT PLANT TOUCH YOU! THEY'LL DRAIN ALL OF YOUR BLOOD AND KILL YOU!"
From the distance, Naofumi could see one of the hands that grew out of Dio's back extend out, and snatches the body of Tact up. The hydra construct the Whip Hero made rises up from the ground it was knocked down, and its many heads lunge at the thrashing vines. They bite down on the plants, holding them in place while his dark dragon descends upon them, blowing torrents of flame onto the plant and the kaiju turtle's neck. Naofumi can't see what's happening underneath the opaque, red flame, so he didn't bother. Turning his attention back onto the undead horde that's stopping his own group from joining their more powerful allies.
"Tanya, with me!" Naofumi quickly thrust his hand forward, calling down the Chief God's miracle once again to create that anti-undead circle under his feet. With his [Crown Shield] active and in its heavy flail form, he has his DEF rating added to his ATK rating at the expense of not being able to use any of his shield abilities. A small price for him to pay in this situation but with much greater gain. With his suddenly skyrocketing ATK rating, the [Circle of Banishment] miracle no longer simply keeps the undead away. Its previously white laylines all glow with golden flame, burning any and all undead creatures that step into its field of effect, and then pass the golden flame onto any other undead they touch in term. A more powerful and anti-undead reverse zombie virus, now that he thinks about it.
Tanya's face looks pinched as she once again fishes out the soul gem Devil Tatsuya left her (It's still completely pink without any shade of black even after she used it last time, now Naofumi think about it), and unlike the golden flame from his own circle, Tanya's miracle spell begin to slowly turn into a pink flame. Now that Naofumi thinks about it, the color of pink is associated with... Madoka Kaname herself.
"Tanya, I think the soul gem Tatsuya left you belongs to his sister." Naofumi still isn't sure if Tanya is an incarnate like Kyoya who has memories of her previous lives (regardless if it's the same as he knew from the manga), or a counterpart with his own past different from 'canon' like Hayate. But he leans more towards her being incarnation, and she would understand the meaning behind his words.
The (probable) new champion of Goddess Madoka didn't say anything back, merely maintaining her own [Circle of Banishment] miracle while letting her gun spewing out pink colored fire like a snake's tongue. The undead creatures coming after them also get ignited by her pink flame just like Naofumi's golden fire. And when she hit the one undead creature that's being consumed by the Chief God's golden flame without fully turning into ashes yet, something unexpected happened. The golden, and pink fire mixed together, turning the undead into a bomb that easily vaporized everything ten meters around it, even the ground itself turned into something resembling glass.
Some kind of violent reaction when the power of two gods belonging to separate pantheons are mixed together? That's the explanation coming to Naofumi's mind, but he looks at the ground again. Particularly at the area where both of their auras overlap each other. Thankfully, they haven't blown themselves and their allies sky high yet. Maybe it's because of the specific kind of spell [Circle of Banishment] were designed for, more of a defensive tool than an offensive one? He decided to put it to the test. "Tanya, launch a [Force] Miracle after where I'm aiming!"
Naofumi holds both of his hands above his own head, like Goku when he is charging a Spirit Bomb attack and creates a golden sphere of flame above his head. He tosses it far ahead, aiming at the kaiju turtle in the distance, away from any of his allies. Tanya copies his movement, and throws a ball of pink fire. As both of their miracle spells collide into the Spirit Tortoise where its hind leg connects to its body, a blinding white light forces Naofumi to close his eyes, and the loud boom nearly blows out his ears and makes him lose his balance. When he opens his eyes again, he sees a huge chunk of the turtle's leg is missing, to the point that it had fallen down on the ground. It worked, exactly like he guessed! He can perform a powerful combination attack alongside Tanya when she uses Goddess Madoka's (supposedly) soul gem for her miracle attack.
"Kyoya got dragged down by the undead horde!" Motoyasu's sudden scream makes Naofumi's heart jump up into his throat. He belatedly realized that one of his allies was ahead of them in the thick of their relentless enemies, without anyone there to back him up. And the result of his combination attack with Tanya was enough to even knock himself out, a hero who gave up his attack ability in order to focus on his defensive ability to his knees. The only reason the undead horde hasn't overwhelmed him and his allies was probably thanks to the [Circle of Banishment] miracle still active around himself and Tanya. And much further ahead, Kyoya had no such protection, or allies to watch his back. Before he has a chance to say anything, a dark figure leaps over Motoyasu, cutting a similar path of rotten flesh and bone towards where Kyoya had fallen.
"Wait for us, Master Renji!" The desperate wail of five young women dressed in Japanese style clothes draws Naofumi's attention. If he remembered correctly, they were the companions of Kirito's descendents from Faubley. So that's who charged out to get Kyoya. Their charge at the undead horde wasn't as easy as their master, and only the large woman with painted red skin that's clearly meant to resemble a red oni has a good matchup against their enemy thanks to her brutal strength. Thankfully, Motoyasu's children quickly reinforce them to make sure they aren't overwhelmed by their enemies.
"STAY BACK! I'll do this myself!" Renji replies harshly, as he only increases his speed going forward. The twin swords in his hand turn into a gust of hurricane, and his body turns into a dashing shadow as he shoots towards his fallen ally. But all Naofumi is reminded of was how Ren acted before their confrontation and talk near the city of Trumpet.
It didn't take long for him to drag Kyoya back to their main group. The incarnate's dark, titanite armor is badly scratched, dented in some places. But they don't look to be broken anywhere, and it probably saved his life. The champion of Aqua turns his head up at Renji, to which the Faubley swordsman quickly looks away. "Thank you, Sir Renji. You saved my life."
"Don't lose yourself and stray too far from our main group. It's my fault this time, but who knows if the giant turtle might do something. Go to the backline if you need some rest." Naofumi gives a quick tap on Kyoya's shoulder. He didn't bother with Renji. There will be time to give correcting his standoffish behavior a try, but it's not this moment when everyone is busy fighting against a giant monster that'll kill most of the world if left unchecked. In the distance, thorny vines similar to ones that burst out of the turtle's neck like tentacles grow out of its wound near its hind leg. Two of them burrow into its leg that's hanging by a few threads of skin and muscle strands, almost like it's replacing the turtle's lost bones as flesh. Others wildly whip around, chasing away the pegasus knights that's been harassing it like a bull trying to chase away flies and mosquitoes with its tail.
"Let me take point. I can keep going, Lord Shield Hero! But I'll be careful and more aware of where I am from now on." Kyoya's face is hidden in his full helmet, but his voice is still full of energy. Him being surrounded, nearly overwhelmed by undead like what came out of a zombie apocalypse scene. Naofumi was half expecting he would be at least shaken if not traumatized. Then again... this is Kyoya they are talking about. His nerves were probably made out of thick, reinforced electric wires that one used to build starships.
"Alright. You stay on point, Kyoya. Your hard light construct is very good when we need a heavy hitting bruiser at the front. We'll keep going to join our-" Naofumi suddenly feels a wave of dizziness hitting him. He grabs his head with his free hand, trying to fight back... or at least adapt to this increasingly distant sensation he hasn't felt since being summoned to Medea. His vision grows dark as he feels another sense of weightless loss, and he can hear distant shouting as he falls headfirst into the dark abyss. Yet in the distance, he could see something. A single, faint shimmer of green. He feels, more than hearing these words in his head: Shield Hero...
Malty suddenly feels like her heart is being clinched by something. A similar sense she had when they were facing the newborn outer god they accidently grew outside the village of Balafon. It's probably because of the plant monster that's forming some kind of symbiotic relationship with the Spirit Tortoise. And she tries her best to convince herself that she's overreacting. There's no way it would be as strong as its predecessor even if they take the Spirit Tortoise into consideration.
She's nowhere near as confident about her own plan compared to how she carried herself. When she burnt the newborn plant god into ash using her own power, she was in that strange state where she could easily see, hear, and feel the movement of all magic from inside her body, to everywhere else around her. She hasn't been able to tap into the same state of mind since that one time. And Malty secretly wonders if that was the fabled 'Avatar State' that's supposed to be the ultimate technique used by the greatest magic users throughout history. The closest she got to that state was when she was repairing the Star Wand, and she can only use it when diving her consciousness into the wand. So her plan on how to set the plant that's been growing inside the Spirit Tortoise hasn't been made further than trying to set it on fire the old fashioned way. Maybe by grabbing it with her hand and trying to burn what she can wrap her finger around. Although Motoyasu's warning quickly obliterated that idea before she even tried to put it in practice.
"Focus on the enemy, little princess!" Coach Zellus' voice brings her attention back to the present. The undead creatures coming from the guardian beast weren't strong individually, but they are relentless unless they are turned into ash, or dust. The vice captain of the Melromarc royal guard swings his weapon forward, cutting anything in front of him into half by their hinges, making sure they can no longer move their bodies. Malty quickly releases her own fire spells torching up the undead creature alongside her former fencing coach.
"Don't hold back and clear a path through the undead creatures! If we are going to ignite the bioplant growing out of the Spirit Tortoise, we need to get closer to our target!" Father's words are less of a command, and more of a cheer to inspire those around him to fight harder. Although he isn't being wrong in this case. It would have been easy to simply throw their strong weapon arts, or magic spells at the mountain-sized target. But to truly ignite a target to the point that it would burn, or otherwise disintegrate even the part it isn't showing on the surface would require much more precise magical control. And there's no way they can do it from a distance even if they aren't going to directly touch the bioplant.
"Sheffield." Prince Joseph exchanges a quick look with his battle mage, and they hold their hands up together. A massive torrent of cyclone rises up from the ground, carrying sand in its current that flays the undead's drooping skin, rotten flesh, and eventually reduces their bone to dust. The spell opens up a clean path towards the giant turtle Guardian Beast, making them only have to worry about the undead creatures trying to shamble towards them and clawing or slashing at them from the side.
Even as they begin to make good distance towards their target, Malty can't help but feel a growing sense of dread creeping up her back. She looks up, and sees a large mirror hanging over everyone's head to her shock. The Mirror Demon... he abandoned his troops, leaving them to get killed by the Melromarc host or turned into undead fodder used by the Spirit Tortoise. But he didn't immediately escape their world. No, just like before, he had remained hidden to wait for the opportunity to send them a surprise attack when they weren't expecting to maximize the damage he could cause. A pair of horns, covered in what seems to be red colored armor begins to rise out of the mirror. As the figure further emerges out of Astaroth's dimensional mirror, just like its horns, its body is also covered in blood red armor with white accents (She half expected black), and it has a pair of dark blue, bat-like wings extending from its back. It easily stands taller than the highest towers at any castle, and its body is built like a fortress too. A long shafted halberd, with a head almost as large as its body held in its hand. It's still much smaller than the mountain sized Spirit Tortoise, but it still easily stands over everyone, even the giant size the Gauntlet Hero Dio somehow took.
The giant, red armored demon turns around with its glowing, golden eyes. Almost like it's taking in the surroundings to decide how to best approach the task its master no doubt laid in its mind. But then one of the wildly threshing vines grown out of the turtle's neck swings at it. Seemingly cut the giant demon right through until its body grows faint and then disappears in the sky. Some kind of illusion? While Malty is still wondering why did the Mirror Demon went through all this trouble to only lay down a giant sized illusion to cover his retreat, the huge axe falls right over the turtle's neck, nearly cutting its head right off if it wasn't for another wave of thorny vines bursting out to reconnect it. She belatedly realized that the giant, armored demon was no illusion. It was moving so fast in spite of its size, it's leaving an image behind where it was a moment ago. And just like that, the demon summoned by the Mirror Demon begins to dart front and back, all the while swinging at the Spirit Tortoise, whose shape is increasingly becoming more and more twisted due to all the mutated plant matter bursting out of its body.
It seems like the Mirror Demon only ended up playing himself in the end. He could have probably gotten away with either setting the turtle loose, or summoning his armored demon. But in doing both, he only has both of his contingency plans (no doubt aimed to cause harm to Medea to help cover his retreat) fighting each other instead. Yet, Malty can't help but worry about what happens once a victor emerges through between these two giant nation ending, if not world ending monsters. Do they have what it takes to take out the one that remains?
"Our allies that you have recalled have all arrived at our fortress in the world of Malach, Lord Astaroth. We should follow their example." Eve waited till all of her allies entered into Lord Astaroth's mirror. She looks back after her master, beckoning him to join his subordinate in the safety of his realm. She then realizes he's still looking down at the battle below the Spirit Tortoise. While he needs to know what's going on among their enemies, ready to intercept them in order to cover their allies' retreat, it doesn't explain why he is still completely fixated on the ongoing battle when it's their turn to escape. "Master Astaroth? I thought we were going to retreat?"
"Don't you think the natives of this world had gotten themselves too easy, Eve? They would not have defeated us so easily if I wasn't fighting at my best from the start with the intention to make an example out of them. Yes... I think I shall leave these natives a parting gift. That old man wasn't wrong when he remarked that we still have our enemy back on Malach. What do you think would happen, if both of our enemies knew about each other?" A smirk found its way back on Lord Astaroth's lower face, indicating that everything is now going according to his plans once again. By all means, it should have been a good thing for Eve, yet she can't help but feel trepidation.
"You are going to exhaust more of your power to link this world to Malach, and have the exit connect to the realm of the Katana Hero? I thought you used up all of your power with your last attack, Lord Astaroth?" Eve can hear the trembling in her own voice. She can't help but think about all the men she was forced to leave behind to cover her own retreat. She didn't know them as well as those under her command from her original world. But they still trained under her, and followed after her command because they thought she would lead them to victory. She had a duty to them as they did to her. "If you still had power left, wouldn't it make more sense to save as much of our men as possible? They would have been invaluable in our battle against the Katana Hero... and when the Burning Legion caught up to us. We are not going to take this world as part of our realm to rule, what advantage would we have if we try to bait them into fighting the Katana Hero?"
"No, Eve. The more practical thing to do in this situation is to take the commanders and champions who showed promise back to Malach with us, and leave the rest to cover our retreat. As much as I hate to admit it, our forces had been routed already. They would not be able to conduct an orderly retreat. Taking these men would be less than useless when they fight, and trample over each other trying to escape back to Malach. If anything, most of them will die under each other's feet anyway." Lord Astaroth shakes his head without any sign of malice, only cold, emotionless practicality. "The so-called 'heroes' of this world however... You have to remember this about those who think they are the 'good guys', Eve: They are the most petty, self-righteous, and vindictive beings. Especially when they decide that you embody evil. They will keep coming after us until we die, or they die like a sticky snot you can't get rid of. Even if we cut them off from our world, they will try to find a way to reach us. In their hubris, they might even lead the Burning Legion to us before we are ready. That is why the best way to deal with them... is to stick them to a different target. One that will benefit us in the future."
Eve isn't sure that she agrees with her lord, but as a lower ranked demon who was born to serve Lord Astaroth, all of his will are her unbreakable commands. So she simply stares at him while he weaves his dimensional magic together with the Vassal Mirror he grabbed off the cold, dead hand of its last owner. A dimensional mirror appears in the sky ahead of the now out of control Spirit Tortoise. But the demon king's attendant suddenly realized something. Lord Astaroth's face... he looks strained, maybe even pained while beads like sweat run down his dark hair. "Something is wrong. The mirror portal didn't connect properly back to Malach. Someone, no, something is trying to come through from The Void Between Worlds."
Eve doesn't know what she can do to help her master. With the reigning gods and demigods doing everything they can to fortify this imperfect world, dimensional magic becomes extremely difficult to use on its own. And even her king, a master of dimension magic, could only use it thanks to the unique property of the Vassal Mirror he took from the last owner. But she suddenly feels something by instinct. Someone had aimed at her master. So she leaps forward, pushing Lord Astaroth onto the ground and shielding him with her body. The pain that digs through her skin, her flesh, straight into her bone tells her that her instinct wasn't wrong. "EVE!"
As Eve's body is being flipped around on Lord Astaroth's arms, she manages to catch a better look at the one who launched the attack on them. A figure is levitating in the sky, the sun behind him gives him a glowing halo around his body as pure, white feathers fall down. Such a holy sight is something to be celebrated for mortals, yet for a demon, it's something much more sinister. "An... angel?"
"No, not an angel. Just a birdman with white feathers. I am beset by short-sighted fools from all sides." Lord Astaroth hisses under his breath. Eve can feel more than see more arrows raining down on them from the birdman as her master carries her into the portal mirror that links back to their fortress in the world of Malach. "These self-serving natives can have whatever's left of their world. They have nothing but themselves to blame no matter what abomination comes out of my mirror now."
"What did an old lizard like me do in my last life to deserve this... A Guardian Beast, and then an otherworldly giant, armored demon. These are more up to Captain Jared's alley." The mumbling sigh came from a green skinned lizard-like beastman. Unlike his brethren, he has a quill right above his eyes, and drips down like long eyebrows, and more quills that grow from underneath his chin that look like a long goatee. Both features give him a more aged look compared to other lizards, or amphibian beastman.
"Don't sell yourself short, Vice-Captain Manman. You are still young... Especially considering how springy you are." Manman feels a hand gently patting him on the shoulder. He turns to look at the side, and sees the young adult woman. Her platinum blonde hair tied into a pair of tails that looks too young for someone her actual age. She's also hopping with more energy than she should, considering the situation she is walking into.
"Don't make light of the situation, Irina. A fully-awakened Guardian Beast is already a blight on the land in its own right. Now it has some kind of mutated plants coming out all over its body, we aren't even sure what threat we are facing. And we aren't even counting that giant, armored demon that's chopping the turtle up all over." Manman feels a splitting headache climbing up his head. Captain Jared really put him in a bad spot instead of personally commanding the Phantom Bug to this battle. Not only is he fighting enemies way above his own level range, he also has to fuss over Irina who barely takes anything serious when the captain isn't around.
"Weren't you the last Champion of Sea Realm, Vice-Captain Manman? Shouldn't you be more like that guy over there? The current Champion of the Sea Realm?" Irina points her finger towards the left of the Phantom Bug sellswords band. At the Siltvelt reinforcements who came to help the Melromarc Host (or more likely, the Shield Hero, their rightful king) against the Spirit Tortoise. The one who leads them is also an amphibian lizardman, but with a more dark blue accented skin rather than Manman's green.
"NU! The Brave of the Sea Realm will not lose! Not even to a Guardian Beast!" The blue-skinned lizard man opens his arms up as if trying to embrace something before pulling his arms together to knock an arrow onto his bow. Currents of water rise up around him, seemingly from nowhere as he releases his arrow, sending a spinning, crushing wave forward at the target in the distance. Behind him, the warriors of Siltvelt fearlessly charge over him, even against an enemy that they can not win on their own strength. "NU! Our king stands before us! Show no fear! We shall march to victory, follow our rightful king!"
"Ah... to be young and think you are invincible." Manman covers his face with his hand. He's no longer young, or controls the power of the sea realm. But he's pretty sure that he's never this... exuberant even during his youth.
"Captain Manman, the enemy leader, has escaped through his portal, presumably back to the world he came from. I'm sorry I could not stop him." A man with short, blonde dreadlock descends down beside Manman, carried by his pure, white dove wings. His face is full of blue, tribal-like markings.
"It's not your fault, Lotion. You are fighting against someone with a strange, dimension manipulating sorcery. Chasing him away was the best outcome." Manman, the Vice-Captain of the Phantom Bug mercenary band, waves his gesture towards his two lieutenants, and all the lizard, and amphibian beastman members. "Come on. Let's cover the advance of our allies with our arrows. Let's not keep our employer waiting."
Naofumi feels like he's dreaming, or perhaps he is sleepwalking. He's not fully in control of his body... (his consciousness?), yet fully aware of every moment at the same time. Not that it means anything, since he seems to be wrapped in a smog of pure darkness. Even less visible than that strange, dark, chaotic dimension Riser Phenex pulled him into with his two friends. The only reason that he knows something is going on is that faint, green glow in the distance which seems to be getting closer and closer to him.
Slowly, he seems to peel through layers of dark smoke as he gets closer to the faint glow. And before him, a turtle roughly the size of his head is levitating in the void, its head, tail, and four little feet half coiled inside its crystal like shell. It seems to sense his approach, as it opens its star like eyes. Once again, Naofumi feel, more than heard the voice:
"Shield Hero. I've been waiting for you."
End Note:
In case my writing suck too much for everyone to tell, this chapter marks the point where the Mirror Demon leaves the story, for now. Obviously he's coming back much later, and not getting off'ed by someone else. But for now... he's as Kyo (and his own story) calls him, a 'two-faced coward' who would place his own survival first. So he's not getting easily cornered in this current arc.
The seed Raphtalia planted before comes back to hurt everyone isn't something I long planned to happen for my version of spirit tortoise fight (just like something else in later chapter). It's someone I once again, decided to happen as I'm writing this arc because I want previous actions to have further consequences later in the story. Obviously, Raphtalia saving Tact's little sister is a good thing, and she only managed to do it by using Bed-chan's seed as a distraction. But because she didn't have the power, or opportunity to clean up after, it grew out of control and now become an obstacle her adopted father has to deal with.
In case anyone got curious. Irina, Manman, Lotion and as of yet unnamed Champion/Brave of Sea Realm all came from the same Chinese UserJoy Technology (which is completely different from their actual Chinese company name) Strategy RPG game Legend of Fay/Fancy (yeah... they couldn't even keep the English subtitle consistent between two games) Realm 2. The same game Bright and Set was taken from.
And in case anyone wonders, the turtle at the end is the spirit of the turtle. No, the spirit of the turtle is not (yet again) a well endowed woman. That is something I (once again) intentionally changed again just to avoid the accusation from sad, butthurt shield simps from accusing me getting the canon wrong because I didn't know better. Your canon sucks monkey fuck and I want no part about it most of the time, deal with it.
