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.
"NAOFUMI-SAMA!" Sato's entire mind was focused on his idol even as he tossed his legendary weapon out again and again to help cleave a path towards the Spirit Tortoise. Which is how he was able to immediately grab the Shield Hero as soon as he fell headfirst towards the ground. He has no idea what's going on now. Did Naofumi-Sama over-spent his stamina using his miracle spells? Did that red colored [Crown Shield] worked exactly like how they did from [Beet the Vandel Buster] and caused him to faint like Beet when he overused his saigas? Or did that mutated turtle, or the Mirror Demon King did something? He realized that he doesn't know anything, because this didn't happen in the original story.
"What happened to Naofumi, damn it!?" The Spear looks back Naofumi-Sama slumped over his arms. Their eyes meet, and he lets out a snarl as he steps back and grabs him by his collar. "You were with Naofumi! How did he become like this?! Don't you supposedly know how we were supposed to turn out?!"
"I don't know! The only thing I can remember from canon was when Naofumi-Sama over uses his cursed Wraith Shield. He doesn't even seem to have the Wraith Shield here!" Sato struggles in the Spear Hero's hand, and finds he can barely wiggle. What happened in the story he was summoned into? An idiot like Motoyasu Kitamura shouldn't be this strong, unless this was the time repeating version from the Spear Hero side story? But he's not rambling insane nonsense and screaming about Firo either.
"Get your hands off Master Sato! He didn't do anything to your precious Shield Hero! That sixth grain eater just keeled over on his own!" Atla immediately jumps to his defence, shoving the Spear Hero back with a hard push. Sato is pretty sure that he should feel grateful for Atla's willingness to defend him. But he doesn't like how she's clearly not showing any loyalty, or even respect for Naofumi-Sama because he's pretty sure a 'sixth grain eater' is meant to be some kind of insult. The Spear Hero's two girlfriends also jump to his own defense, and the three girls start hurling curses and insults at each other.
"Stop bickering over each other and concentrate on the fight, our enemies are at the gate!" Another voice calls out to them all, coupled with a loud crashing voice. Sato turns his head around to look at the Hammer Hero fighting at the front. Slamming more and more undead into the ground. These necromorph-like undead seem to become stronger, as they are becoming increasingly hard to the touch to break apart. He... doesn't know how to feel about the guy, aside from this blonde man exuding a pure... Americana, for lack of a better word. The Hammer Hero didn't make any actual appearance in either version of the novels, or the manga and anime adaptation, having already become a casualty to the Whip Hero and his ambition to control all legendary weapons. That's another thing that Sato can't figure out.
In the original story, the Spirit Tortoise was a stepping stone for Naofumi to slain on his own with his allies. And how he gained enough prestige to shred any left over of being besmirched as the Shield 'Demon' and won over the public. The Gauntlet Hero was merely mentioned as a Siltvelt Hero, who (according to the Spear Hero side story) has already been secretly assassinated by Tact and replaced by his shapeshifting girlfriend. Yet here, he is alive and well, and the Whip Hero, Tact, seems to be afraid of him. And he's pretty sure this Dio guy even looks different from the Gauntlet Hero from the Spear Hero manga.
But more importantly, they could barely even get close to the body of the Spirit Tortoise even with all the heroes (except that Claw Hero Lung) gathered here, and fighting together as allies. Only the Gauntlet Hero Dio, and Whip Hero Tact, got close enough to the turtle to start damaging it, and they barely did any lasting damage. Was having the Wrath Shield that much of a difference? Canonical events should be ironclad laws that can never be changed, such as Naofumi-Sama being the only competent hero who will save the world, or Bitch was an irredeemably vindictive villain regardless if she's part of the evil goddess or not. But Sato is beginning to doubt if the Wraith Shield alone would have been enough to defeat this version of the Spirit Tortoise.
Chapter 54: Titanic Clash
"Kaiju turtle?" Naofumi wasn't sure what he expected. That the giant, world destroying boss monster was apparently trying to communicate with him, or its almost cute, plushy like form in front of him. What's he supposed to take from the green, crystal like turtle in front of him that's only about the size of his head (which to be fair, isn't that small as far as a normal turtle goes, but also not that big either since sea turtles exist and they can grow pretty big). Especially considering its mountain sized body. How is he supposed to take this? That the cute spirit in front of him is a youth form, and the giant turtle fighting his friend and their allies is its fully grown, 'perfect' form. Like a Digimon? "You look a bit … different."
"What? Are you disappointed that I didn't appear in the form of an attractive, well endowed woman?" He was further shocked by how the green crystal turtle replied back to him. In a tone that sounds almost playful, like he's joking around with some old friend. He didn't expect someone that's created with explicit task of genocide most of the world so whoever is left had a chance to rebuild as a final contingency during a world ending crisis to be this jolly. "Oh, don't act like you have seen a ghost. I have been existing for thousands of years thanks to my maker. I pick up on the mannerism of mortals. It would have been as sad as it is maddening if I treated my task with ultra grim seriousness. Also helps to know in case some random crazy guy who hates the world decided to randomly wake me up. Because they want the world to end, not because it's time to do my task yet. Not sure if my fellow guardians feel the same way though."
"Okay... good to know you are having fun. I guess. And for your question... no. I did not expect, or want you, someone made to kill most of the world to collect souls to look like some super attractive, well endowed woman. That sounds like something a horny, insane, pathetic loser who writes online fiction for a living would fantasize about." Naofumi shakes his head metaphorically. He's pretty sure his body didn't follow his mind to whichever place he is in right now. But it doesn't stop him from feeling completely out of depth in this strange situation. "But let's crack jokes at each other after our bodies aren't busy trying to kill each other. You seem to be aware enough to know that it's not the time for you to wake up and kill people. Can't you do anything to your body to stop it?"
"The interloper cut off my consciousness away from my body, that's how he was able to control it to his own whims. And with the way this mutated plant has traces of outer god magic flowing inside, I can't take my body back. Which means it's now halfway stuck between autopiloting the task I was given by my maker, and whatever the plant wants to do. Probably to stay alive, since it's a pretty young mind and it works off more of its instinct than actively thinking." Naofumi gets the distinct impression that the spirit of the kaiju turtle is scratching its head, sounding annoyed at the situation. But to him, the situation is way more serious than simply a nuisance. "That's why I called you here, actually. Someone obviously needs to stop my body physically, since I'm not supposed to activate and do my job, and I can't will my own body to stop."
"...You want me to kill you?"
"Kill is such a mortal way to consider the situation. Probably because most of your souls, or rather, your minds aren't equipped to deal, or remember what happens once your bodies expire. But for gods, or god construct like us, our mind simply returns to a place and waits for our next activation when another one of our physical bodies is prepared. But we can waste time discussing what happens to our mind after our bodies expire when our bodies aren't busy destroying each other, like you said. Do you want to hear my plan about how to help you stop my body or not? We are going to be here all day long if I explain to you how all these mechanics between gods and mortals work." This time, the turtle sounds actively annoyed at him.
"Sorry, sorry! Please continue." Once again, Naofumi metaphorically waves his non-existing hand as an apology for interrupting the kaiju turtle's spirit. He still isn't sure if he should take everything the turtle communicates at face value, since... well. He (technically an it? But the turtle feels like he with the way he jokes about if Naofumi was disappointed in not seeing a woman) was created for the purpose of essentially massacring an entire world with three of his fellows. Then again... if the turtle only wanted to carry on with his task, there's nothing he gains by trying to lie to Naofumi other than maybe holding his consciousness in this weird mental space.
"I can't go back to my body and retake control. But my consciousness... or soul if you want to get more esoteric, still have power. All I need is some kind of media to house my consciousness. And while the WEAPONs are created by Alaya, both of us are linked to the world's essence. So..."
"You want to piggyback my body, or at least my shield like a symbiote?" Naofumi always preferred manga over western comics, but he knew enough about superhero comics to see where this is going... and is aware of the potential danger. He has to admit, this is beginning to sound more and more suspicious by the minute. The turtle hasn't done anything to earn his trust for such an enormous favor, so can he trust in nothing but a verbal promise? What if this is nothing more than a front to steal his body? He doesn't even have anyone around to ask for a second opinion. So all he can do is to talk with the turtle to try and get a better read of his personality, which could be fake anyway. "There has to be drawbacks, right? Because all I have heard about the natives of this world mention about you guys are about you waking up if heroes like us are dead. And you start killing off the people to create a barrier with their soul. If this symbiote thing is easy, someone would have tried it before."
"I admittedly have no idea how it actually works. My creator and the WEAPONs' creator aren't enemies per se, since they are both meant to be immortal guardians of this world. But they were always rivals because of their conflicting priorities. I only know it should work in theory, since we are both connected to the essence of Medea." The voice of the turtle doesn't sound like an old man, but Naofumi certainly has a rambling old man vibe from the turtle. It's probably because he spent most of his life sleeping away with no one to talk to. "Just to be clear. I'm going to try and dwell inside the core of your WEAPON, not your body. So you'll be fine even in the worst case scenario. If something goes wrong, my consciousness and the core of your shield destroy each other, and you'll be going along the rest of this wave without your WEAPON. But it'll at least be better than when you are running away from those idiot church guys. Since you would no longer be the Shield Hero. You'll be able to pick up any weapon and fight with them."
"You've been watching me?! Since when? I thought you were asleep." Naofumi found himself feeling incredulous about the turtle committing voyeurism more than anything else. Even though he probably should focus on something more important. He didn't expect the turtle whose task was to literally commit genocide against the lives in this world to help him, but he didn't expect the turtle to be interested in the political tomfuckery that was born out of man's greedy self-interest either. Guess they really aren't that different after all.
"Technically myself and my fellow have all woken up since the beginning of this current Wave. We simply haven't begun to construct our new bodies yet in case you WEAPONs can handle the situation. And haven't you been paying attention to my words? My consciousness is connected to the world. No wonder that hero from the other world complained about you not paying attention..." Once again, the way the turtle mumbles and complains makes him sound not very different from a normal person. "We are wasting time here. Just tell me your decision. Do you want me to dwell in your WEAPON's core or not?"
"Do I even have a choice? It's not like you are going to let me go if I say no, are you?" Naofumi didn't answer the turtle's question, but threw his own question back at the turtle, half expecting all the pretense to come down.
"Yeah, yeah. You are free to leave. Don't let me keep you. Mortals... always thought everyone else is interested in playing this 'politics' thing as they do." The turtle mumbles out a few more muffled complaints, as Naofumi feels a wave of force pushing against his consciousness as dark smoke begins to separate the two of them once again. He... didn't expect the turtle actually sending him away, after essentially kidnapping his soul to this place. And he doesn't know if something like this could happen again. "You'll collect part of my body and absorb it into your WEAPON's core after, right? Well, this will give us a stronger connection, so I don't have to take your consciousness away from your body the next time we talk. You'll have time to decide if you want to go with the merge in future."
"Wait, WAIT! Naofumi-Sama is waking up!" Naofumi blinks his eyes, his vision is still unclear, like he's seeing everything through a thick, white fog. But he can easily hear the loud voice of his self-proclaimed biggest fan. It seems like he was right, time definitely passed while his mind was together with the turtle. And of course, his friends and allies would be worried about him since he probably passed out without warning in their eyes. He still can't see everything clearly, but he can still make out two faces, one with short black hair, the other with a blonde ponytail. "Are you alright, Naofumi-Sama? What happened to you? Has the Mirror Demon done something to you?"
"No, I had a tea party with a shiny Terapagos." Naofumi tries to play the situation off light to not further worry his friend and his well meaning but clearly dimwitted (or maybe flat out insane) fanboy. It clearly didn't work, as their faces still hovered close to him rather than backing off. Naofumi reaches his hands up, trying to grab them for support. "Help me up, will you? What happened since I fell unconscious? I guess Astaroth did something again? It can't be as bad as trying to bury our friends and allies, right?"
"Yeah. That sore loser opened up another one of his portals. I wouldn't be surprised at anything he brings out by this point..." Naofumi can practically hear Motoyasu grinding his teeth together as he feels a pair of arms wrapped around him behind his upper back, probably from both Motoyasu and Tairou. And even with his sight still not perfect, he is still instantly proven wrong when he has to rub his eyes to make sure he isn't imagining things. "Motoyasu... why is Shin Getter of all things fighting that giant kaiju turtle?"
"It was crazy, I know. Guess we were wrong about the asshole demon turning his tail and running when he pulled his best fighters out. Because one of his mirror portals, a big one, opened south of the turtle on the army's head. He must have been trying to do something nasty again." As expected, Motoyasu sounds angry enough for Naofumi to imagine his friend baring his teeth even without looking directly at Motoyasu's face. But then, his voice began to have more mirth in it. "But you really have to see it to believe it! The thing that came out of his portal turns out to be Shin Getter! And it's fighting the kaiju turtle for us! I think the asshole demon played himself."
"I wouldn't be so certain yet. Because depending on which continuity Shin Getter came from, it could be even worse news than The Burning Legion..." Naofumi grits his own teeth. Because if this Shin Getter came from the manga universe, it means Getter Emperor exists. And that thing is an infinitely evolving, mechanical abomination that goes through the multiverse trying to assimilate everything. But for now, they have something more immediate to worry about. "Let's not get too relaxed with ourselves. Shin Getter might lead to more problems in the future, or it might not be strong enough to kill the turtle. We can't expect someone to do our job for us."
"Right! You are right. Shin Getter still hasn't tried to use its strongest attack yet. But so far all it did was cut into that kaiju turtle, and make more tentacles burst out." Once again, Motoyasu focused on the wrong thing, but his misguided mumbling does help fill in the blanks for what Naofumi has missed. He can't help but think over a question nobody would be able to answer. Why isn't Shin Getter using its more powerful attacks, like its Getter Ray, or its Shin Shine Spark attack when the Getter Tomahawk clearly isn't doing enough damage?
That thing feels less like a demon, and more like some kind of construct. Like a golem. The voice of Prince Cleose rings inside Kal'thas' head, but the red phoenix doesn't pay it much attention. Not because he doesn't care about the real identity of the newest interloper summoned by the Mirror Demon, but because every airborne fighter is now literally fighting for their lives just to stay afloat in the most literal sense. That thing was HUGE, not the size of the Spirit Tortoise, but still one of the largest flying creatures, or thing Kael'thas ever witnessed in his life. Maybe second only to the Turtle Battle Barges the Ebony Turtle clan created out of the dead husk of their ancestors. But not even the Ebony Turtle clan's air battle fleet could generate the same amount of current because of one element: speed.
A leviathan class monster, demon, or whatever has no business flying around like a phantom, leaving after images all over. Yet, the armored demon somehow manages it. And the air it's pushing around with its mere movement is one of the deadliest attacks to any flying thing not sharing its size. The Silesse Pegasus Knights were all forced to make their crash landing the first moment it started fighting the Spirit Tortoise. And Kael'thas wants to follow their example. It's not like he, and his fellow Siltvelt Princes are doing any significant damage to the turtle, or to the armored demon. But their master hasn't called them back yet, (he didn't doubt his rightful king's ability to do so if he wants to, considering the verbal warning Spear Hero gave to everyone not too long ago) they can still serve their king as his eyes and ears in the sky.
Kael'thas, Cleose! What's THAT?! Over there, where the Armored Demon came out. The voice of Prince Mohammed draws Kael'thas' attention away from the ongoing battle between the fiend of sky, and juggernaut of the earth. At first, he wasn't sure what the Benu prince was talking about. But then he noticed a single, unidentified flying creature. Small, even insignificant compared to the two giants still clashing near the city of Stormwind. But it should still be the same size of any air cavalry, maybe even bigger than a common pegasus around the size of a large manticore. Kael'thas can't identify the beast, or the men riding on its back, for that matter.
Keep an eye on the battle, I'll investigate. Kael'thas command his fellow princes, and they comply with his order without any sign of complaint, or disgruntlement. As the personal slave of their king in the king's name, he is given more authority than his fellow princes even if they share the same rank. And while his two fellow Vermili princes continue to fight the current generated by the two clashing giants, he gets to fly away to relative safety, and investigate the new interloper appeared in the sky.
As Kael'thas flies closer, he realizes the darkly dressed man is riding atop what looks to be a creature covered in thick, black armor. It has a head that resembles a pegasus, but with a much wider face that almost resembles a feline but with eyes much further apart for wider field of vision. Its body resembles a feline predator even more with its clawed feets. Its single pair of wings look like a wyvern, with thin bones running down the leather membering and clawed hand on the tip. Some kind of chimera creature created through foul magic, or created by forcefully combining different parts of creatures together? It wouldn't have made much sense for this thing to come naturally with traits from both predator, and prey otherwise. "You are trespassing in an open combat zone. In the name of my king, state your identity and purpose, or face his wrath!"
The man riding the black armored creature turns to look at Kael'thas. He can't get a better look due to the protective gear the man wears to keep him effectively fighting in the air, but Kael'thas gets the sense that he's facing someone on the younger spectrum, a few years older than his king, if he's generous. The man doesn't say anything, merely pulling a Katana out of the sheath on his waist and slashes at Kael'thas, sending an air cut his way. The red phoenix easily dodges the attack. "So, you have chosen death."
The wings of Kael'thas blow out gusts of red flame, making them coil towards the unidentified black armored chimera rider. The rider in term slashes his blade out, sending out an invisible blade of wind that cuts right through Kael'thas' attack as the two of them begin to dance around, and throwing attacks at each other away from the battlefield of the two clashing giants.
"Are you alright, Lord Kyo?" The voice of the blue haired knight looks back at Kyo. "I can feel half of your body heating up like fire, the other half freezing like ice. Should I take you to a healer?"
"It's merely a trick of the mind, an illusion. Although I'm surprised you can feel it too." Kyo waves away Seliph's worry. He didn't have a long time to study the full effect that so called 'ice fire ecstasy' pill had on his body before coming to this battle, but he also didn't have anything to do other than answering the questions of his interrogators. So he already figured out how it worked on the basic level. Just as he suspected, it's an illusionary effect on the mind, or rather, on the nerves, to fool one's mind, because a non-sentient pill of poison neither has the consciousness, nor the power to shift one's body heat constantly. Still a pretty clever use of poison, especially now that he knows it even had the effect to fool someone staying close enough with him that their bodies are touching each other. "Ignore it, and it won't actually hurt you. Focus on the battle ahead. I don't want you to ride me into a sinkhole."
"Right, of course!" The blue-haired knight nods his head, and refocuses on the battle ahead. Astaroth's dirty trick left more than a single, giant chasm on the plain south of the turtle. There are also plenty of pitfalls dotted around the turtle. It's a wonder the turtle itself didn't end up falling inside. Maybe it had something to do with those strange, clearly mutated plants growing out of its body, but Kyo suppose it's not important in the end. Or... is it?
"Cut me a piece of that plant. I'll analyze it with my tome." Kyo points his finger at the wildly thrashing plant over their head. Normally, he'd rather delegate tasks to things like magic construct, since they would follow his command to the letter and be less prone to make stupid mistakes like people. He'd even settle for doing the work himself, since all it took was probably a few well placed wind blades. But he can't do either now. He has none of his servants left, and his mana reserves has depleted to the point that he can't even negate that minor poison he had running in his body.
Kyo rakes his own brain trying to imagine how that self-important Astaroth and his servants avoid having their power massively reduced when they came into this world. Even in all his own brilliance, he had his soul level reduced back to the base when he used that ritual to cross over to this world. There's no way a lazy, cheap bastard like Astaroth could have the intelligence to do something he can't figure out. It has to be something special about him, maybe something one can only do because they are a devil, and not a mortal like him? Something he'll have to pry out of that two faced coward's mouth once he finally has the bastard on his knees and tied down. Yes, the pill he took would be worth it when he figured out how it worked on principle, and developed a stronger poison himself reserved for Astaroth. The inconvenience he subjected himself to now would eventually be worth the effort when he finally has his revenge.
"Got it. Lean down and hold on tight, Lord Kyo." The blue haired knight doesn't know what Kyo is thinking under his neutral mask. Not like he's looking back anyway. He leaned his body down on his steed, and pushed forward even harder. The undead creatures surrounding them can't even slow his charge down as they get cut into ribbons by his sword glowing with the white holy flame, or being trampled into mud by his steed.
Kyo narrows his eyes. The young man shouldn't be this strong, even taking account of his special sword that's clearly some kind of powerful artifact. So he changes the form of his hero weapon when the knight isn't looking. Rather than a spell grimoire, it now has less esoteric decorations over its thick sleeves. Only well printed words that resemble an encyclopedia. He doesn't want to admit it, but he has to credit at least 40% of his own brilliance to the codex form of his hero weapon. He silently gives the command in his mind: [Analyze]
The world grows gray around Kyo, but the body of the young knight sitting in front of him begins to shine with a green glow as Kyo's sight peeks through his skin, his flesh, down into his organs and bones, trying to unravel his power like a puzzle. To the surprise of the Tome Hero, he finds a stream of blood running through Seliph's veins, taking the form of a dragon. Not just any dragon, either - a dragon aspect, who has the power inherited directly from their world's Gaia. The demigod guardian of the world. And at the moment, the dragon aspect is directly giving a part of their own power to the young knight, letting him fight with power above his own.
Interesting... Kyo isn't a stranger at the method of boosting someone's natural ability by grafting the body parts of powerful monsters onto them. But for all of his brilliance (or belligerence, as some of the old fossils or cowardly fools would accuse him), even he hasn't tried to graft some features, or the enchanted essential blood of a near-demigod onto humans. Yet, he had discovered evidence that such a process could clearly be done. That's something for him to experiment on once he has fulfilled his revenge against that two-faced coward...
"Lord Kyo! Catch!" The loud yell of Seliph brings Kyo out of his fantasy as he looks up. Sure enough, a part of the mutated plant is falling straight at them. Not something huge, like an entire segment of the vine. But a throne that has some skin connected the young knight no doubt cut off with an airblade. Kyo might have his level, and power reset to beginning, but he certainly didn't lose his reflex as he holds the book weapon above his head, managing to let the thing land straight between the pages. It quickly melts into the pages even as Seliph immediately turns his steed and speed away from the vines that wildly and aimlessly thrash behind them, sending mounds of dirt and rocks flying into the sky.
"Let's see what secret you hold- huh?" The flippant smirk on Kyo's face quickly disappears as he begins to realize the full extent of the threat. "Wha- what is that damn plant's origin? The codex is showing it has the power of some eldritch outer god?! And now it's slowly taking over the body of a Guardian Beast with its mind gone! It might end up summoning the eldritch god into this world if we let it continue! Forget about that coward Astaroth, or even the Burning Legion he's running from. If we don't put this abomination down, this world will be taken over by an outer god!"
"I wasn't there when Lord Spear and Shield Hero recovered the original miracle seed, or planted it near Balafon. But I did hear a rumor of it giving birth to a newborn outer god." Seliph's explanation makes Kyo feel better, if only slightly. If what he said was true, then a more powerful version of this threat had already been dealt with by the natives. They should know what to do. The Tome Hero feels a slight tinge of envy. He used to be more powerful than most, and is definitely smarter than all of the native heroes in this world. Yet, even his personal record of achievement doesn't include facing, let alone beating an outer god, let alone a newborn one. Seliph clearly doesn't know what he's thinking, but he continues to speak his mind. "I still think we need to let the other heroes know the true threat we are facing. If they don't realize the full extent of this crisis, we might miss the best time to stop it, and let the worst come to pass."
The Tome Hero begrudgingly agrees that the knight has a point. The Cardinal Heroes of this world are amateurs no different from those four girls from Malach. They don't even have veteran heroes acting as their mentors like those girls of his world. But they did show some more initiative than he expected. He wouldn't do something as unbecoming as screaming on top of his lung like that brutish Spear Hero, but he has his own ways to communicate with his fellow heroes. The codex in his hand changes again, into a booklet with a thin cover. He begins to write the message he wanted to pass onto the other heroes.
"You look very blue in the face, Malty. What's happening?" Aultcray sees his daughter's face change from the corner of his eyes. Considering she's the only one who suddenly looks different, he's going to assume that it has something to do with her being the holder of the Star Wand.
"Kyo sent a message after analyzing our enemy. The turtle doesn't have its mind inside of its body. And the mutated plant inside of it could eventually connect back to the eldritch outer god that spawned its power." Aultcray can't see his own face, but he knows it doesn't look pretty. The gathered fighters and mages around him all look various states of worry or grim. "The original Bioplant, the Life Root. It had enough tenacity to live through the attack of a forbidden spell. I got lucky last time that I got into some kind of state, and I was able to turn its magic against it. Burning it up from the inside. We can't bet on us getting lucky again."
"Then we have no time to waste. We certainly can't wait till the armored demon and the turtle have a victory before fighting the one left. And lucky for us, we do have one meta mage among us." Aultcray gives a more thorough look of the faces of all those around him. Trying to decide who will be fully supportive of his decisions. His focus was particularly on Prince Joseph. "Use all of your full power, don't hold anything back on the turtle and the plant growing inside. We'll worry about the armored demon later."
His royal guard captain and vice-captain immediately answered with their action. Lotheringan's face begins to change, eyes becoming more draconic as black leather wings grow out of his back. Zellus tosses away the standard forged steel blade, and pulls out the katana from his waist. It begins to change shape in his hand, becoming more jagged and resembling a dark flame.
"If you truly think that is the wise course of action, then you will bear the full responsibility if something goes wrong later went unsaid by Prince Joseph. Moments like these makes Aultcray begrudgingly agree that his wife does have a valid concern, and isn't simply being a paranoid fool like himself when it comes to other powers in the nation. Their regime had fierce competition. Thankfully, even the Mad Prince of Gallia wanted to rule over a nation of people, not ashened land, so he and his concubine can both be trusted allies on this battlefield. They rearrange themselves, fighters at the front to protect the more squishy spellcasters, as they detach themselves from the larger host of their army and start to ride towards the giant monster in front of them.
Old Beast Diaz clearly saw the unusual movement of his group, because a small detachment split from his main group and rode towards them. He only took about a dozen men under him, yet they rode like ten of thousands of men kicking up dust all around them. Not fully linking up with his own group, but riding parallel and turning their single pointed charge into a two fronted cut into enemy numbers. The undead creatures won't panic, like any normal enemies, but the act still took a good deal of pressure off his own men's back. "How close do we need to get to the turtle, Joseph?"
"The closer, the better. Void spells get progressively weaker the distance it travels." The rule Prince Joseph brought up is common knowledge for any spell that doesn't take solid state. So for him to say it outloud, it must mean the void spell's reduction is much greater than most other magic schools. Aultcray takes another look at the target in front of him. The armored demon had opened enough wounds on the turtle's body that the mutated bioplant had bursted out of its body from all angles, leaving it without a single point of blind spot to exploit. And the undead creatures under its feet are also the thickest. Not to mention the miasma of death. They'll be fine thanks to high level priests among them, but General Diaz has no such luxury.
"Vicar Vitorio. We'll need your miracle to protect us from the death magic from the turtle's body. Captain Lothergan, sends a message to General Diaz. Have him ensure our escape route." Aultcray's royal guard captain takes the signal flare out of his armor. But before he has the chance to open it, something falls towards the general like a blue comet. It lands on the ground ahead of them, and a ghostly knight glowing with white light runs out of the crater and the cloud of dust, holding a blunt, bronze sword in his hand. He doesn't look like he's running, more like he's taking a step forward. Yet, his ghostly visage moves faster than those who ride beasts. The undead creatures could not even touch the ghost knight, as their bodies quickly shrivel and fall on the ground like dead, rotten mush.
"That phantom knight is draining the undead creatures of the death energy reanimating their bodies." Vicar Vittorio quickly explains, Aultcray nods his head. It was Lady Eclair's doing, because the phantom knight has to be the spirit of her ancestor that's been dwelling inside of her new sword. Even if she's tasked to lead their larger host away to safety, she's still contributing to the ongoing battle in her own ways.
In the distance, the many vines growing out of the spirit tortoise finally caught the armored demon with one of its many tentacles. With one mighty swipe, it manages to slap it away. And the giant demon begins to disintegrate in everyone's eyes. Its massive red armor unravels itself, almost like it was made of paper, or some kind of fabric ribbon revealing... nothing inside? No, not exactly nothing. Aultcray, and most likely many other people, manages to catch three streams of light, one red, one blue and one yellow shooting away into the distance. It almost reminded him of the porting skill used by the heroes.
That wasn't Shin Getter. Only something that looked like it. This is the thought running in Naofumi's mind as he sees the three streams of light escaping away after its body is being slapped by the mutated bioplant. Regardless of what it was, the fake Shin Getter had been beaten by the combined Spirit Tortoise and mutated bioplant, they'll be next if they don't figure something out, and fast.
"You have to stop holding back and get angry, Naofumi-sama. Your [Wraith Shield] form was what defeated the turtle in the original story." His number one self-proclaimed fan unhelpfully advises him. Was he holding back? Maybe. Since the last time he used that particular form, he completely lost his mind. It was lucky to him that he was surrounded by enemies back then, because he certainly doesn't remember being able to tell friends from foe. That's not the case this time.
"I'm not feeling angry at all... maybe a little at the Mirror Demon for leaving us with this mess. But not enough to bring the [Wraith Shield] out like when I was forced into a corner by the Three Heroes' Church." What he says back to Sato is also the truth. Because he looked through all of his unlocked weapon forms. Even if he wants to take the risk of bringing out that cursed form (he doesn't! He just wanted to know if he has the option when push comes to shove), he sees it exists, but completely grayed out. Which tells him that he probably needs to get angry to use it. Angry enough that he would have gone completely berserk, and start to hurt everyone around him. That's definitely NOT going to help in this situation.
This would be a good time to let me in. I can't make you as strong as my constructed body, but I'll boost your power so you don't need to use that cursed form. The voice of Spirit Tortoise begins to complain inside of his head, or maybe his shield. Naofumi can't tell. It sounds like the voice is coming from his arm, but apparently nobody else can hear it. Didn't he refuse the turtle's offer? How come he's still speaking from his shield like the turtle asked him to.
"Master Washington! We finally found you!" Naofumi looks to the side, and sees a dark skinned young looking man running up to the rich boy... the Hammer Hero. He can't be much too much older than Naofumi, or the Hammer Hero, and his demeanor exudes a similar enthusiasm towards the Hammer Hero like his own number one fan does towards himself. Besides him is a much more seasoned-looking man with a shaved head, chiseled chin and proper armor on his body unlike most of the rebels following the Hammer Hero. Wasn't he the same guy who got dropped onto the ground by Dio during the conference? The veteran narrows his eyes and glares at Naofumi, but the younger one doesn't pay him any attention. "It's getting too dangerous for you to risk yourself! Let us cover your retreat!"
"I'm no one's master, Mr. Jenkins. We all stand equal. But more importantly, Hold steadfast. Time like this requires courage, not caution. One of our allies has warned us that the plant growing out of the turtle would bring down an outer god into this world if we leave it alone. There will be no place to run if that happens." Naofumi narrows his eyes, trying to find any sense of falsehood on the rich boy's face. But he can't. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, the rich boy is as sincere about helping fighting the kaiju turtle as he is himself.
"I know... but what can we do against a mountain-sized leviathan monster? Even that giant, armored demon was defeated-" The voice of Jenkins is interrupted when balls of fire begin to descend from the sky, falling onto the turtle's back. Naofumi looks up, and sees what looks like a ship flying high in the sky.
End Note:
So, originally I was saving (not) Shin Getter to deal the final blow to the Spirit Tortoise and introduce the characters behind it. But then I got the inspiration to add Hammer Hero to this encounter and in the spirit of having him actually doing something (kind of important) rather than having him simply be another random mook, I changed how this battle goes and have the Bioplant Spirit Tortoise defeat (not) Shin Getter and have the coalition army having to kill it. So yeah... spoilers? He's going to play a somewhat important role in the following chapter(s).
The character of Team (not) Shin Getter will have their introduction a bit later than my original plan. But I like how this new version of event played out better. I will probably get more into it as this battle wraps up in following chapter(s).
Pretty off topic, but to my knowledge, a hero in English language doesn't have other equivalent words and usually have some adjectives in front to differentiate different kind of heroes (I will wait to be enlightened about how little I understand the English language). But in Chinese language, we actually have multiple different term all have heroic meaning behind it.
The most equivalent to the English word of a Hero is 英雄 which can be rough translated to English as 'Outstanding/Fine Male', which is used to describe someone who is heroic and usually virtuous, who made great contribution to the nation and the race.
A 豪杰 (Valiant Elite) is more used to describe someone who is not as what's considered to be traditionally virtuous, but achieved martial excellence. Usually used to describe generals or warlords.
And finally, there is the term 好汉 (Good Man) which is opposed to its literal translation, more akin to a dark age anti-hero who can be used to describe someone who has very severe personality flaw but has other great redeeming qualities (usually their loyalty/faithfulness to their companions) and can often be used to describe actual bandits and criminals.
And of course, as we imported more and more Japanese pop culture, the term Yuusha 勇者 (Brave One) is more wildly used in Chinese pop culture as well (the Champion/Hero of the Sea Realm from last chapter was written as '海(Sea)界(Realm)勇者' in the original game, for example). And there is the none-official, pop culture differentiation that a 英雄 who is better at commanding/fighting with an army, while a 勇者 is better at one on one combat.