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.

On the wall of Stormwind City, Malty is looking at the ensuing battle with the rest of the heroes and the allies they brought along to fight the Spirit Tortoise. At first things seemed to be going well for them. With the addition of two Dragon Aspects, a griffin queen that's only slightly smaller and weaker than King Waerjak, they were able to produce consistent damage to the Spirit Tortoise. But then things suddenly turned very dire as the black dragon turned around and knocked into the red dragon, while the smaller griffin started fighting King Waerjak. "What's going on here!? Why are they suddenly fighting each other!?"

"It has to be some plot from Astaroth. That two-faced coward! One thing you have to know about him is he has no sense of shame, and rather than fighting his enemy upfront, or even using clever strategy on the battlefield to outmaneuver them. He uses the most underhanded tactics in the guise of 'practicality'. He would never fight someone, if there is a chance to threaten them, blackmail them, or erode away their base of power and force his opponent into submission. The only time he goes on the offense is when he catches someone laughably weak compared to him out of position." The voice of the false hero of the book is filled with vitriol. Which implies that he is speaking from experience. It occurs to Malty that she doesn't even know his name yet. "That's how he got the real Mirror Hero of Malach and stole the weapon from her cold dead hand. He killed her when she was only level 1."

"That dirty coward! That's how he got Ren and Gaelion too!" Motoyasu's balled up fist and let out some cracking noise as he glared dagger in the direction of the Spirit Tortoise. Malty wanted to point out that the situation is different, since this Astaroth caught Ren out of position during open combat rather than killing him with an unexpected sneak attack while he is completely off guard. But she doesn't want to draw the ire of the enraged Spear Hero over to her, plus Ren was pushed into a very unfavorable position with the Mirror Devil's strategic maneuvering.

"All is not yet lost, my WEAPONs. I can feel it. My Sapphire WEAPON is still alive and whole. Simply... diminished and muted at the moment." An emotionless voice can be heard from them as Malty quickly turns around to look at the heroes. Standing not too far away from them was none other than the Avatar of Alaya with a large group of wild filorials behind her. Malty also noticed some figures sitting on the ground among the large fluffy bodies of the filorial monarchs and the long legs of the regular filorials. Isn't that... the crazed female apprentice of Emon from Faubley who tried to 'take the Shield Hero to custody for his crime'? She looks very frazzled with her short hair sticking out in every direction, her clothing and armor damaged and stained with dirt. But soon her attention is drawn away from the fallen Faubley inquisitor when Motoyasu stomps his way in front of Fitoria... and punches her right in the face. And the Avatar of Alaya, who easily took down King Waerjak without breaking a sweat, actually falls on the ground on her bum. The filorials she brought along begin to screech and jump, but she stops them with a raised hand. "Heel. I deserved that punch for not being here for my WEAPONs."

Chapter 39: Way of the Raccoon

"Why weren't you here?! You beat all of my children without even breaking a sweat! You could have helped against that giant turtle and the fucker controlling it! Maybe Ren would still be alive if you were here!" Motoyasu actually pulls Fitoria up by her collar. Malty quickly jumps forward and tries to separate him from the Avatar of Alaya. It really does them no good if they fight against an earthbound demi-god of their world while they are facing down both a controlled Guardian Beast and its puppeteer being a literal demon who also has an army of their disposal. She is having trouble with the Spear Hero's strength, but thankfully Naofumi, and especially Sir Lotheragain jump to her aid as they eventually manage to hold Motoyasu back.

"The newly ascended Axe Hero of our world was being hunted down by the Mirror Demon. I thought it was more important to save her from her predicament. To deny the Mirror Demon from gaining access to the Star Axe... I was wrong." The Avatar of Alaya slowly stands back up, ignoring the swell that appears on her face rather than curing it with her ability. Perhaps it's a sign of appeasement she is showing to her heroes. She didn't exactly apologize. With the mantle of Gaia lost, she is both the only active earthbound demi-god guardian of Medea, and the master of civilized sentient life. But she does openly admit her mistake to everyone. "But regarding the Sword Hero and the Storm Aspect. Both of them are alive and whole. I felt someone intervene from the divine realm during the time of their scattering, putting them back together. I do not know which one from the Chief God's pantheon had stepped in, nor do I know why they didn't immediately return my Sapphire WEAPON and the Storm Aspect to our world. But they are safe and well for the moment."

"Did the gods actually step in and do something? That's a surprise." The false hero of the book lets out another snort... and Malty belatedly realizes that she hasn't even learned the man's name yet. He pushes through the filorials over and walks by the downed Faubley inquisitor, and looks at her up and down. "The Hero of the Axe, hmm... I suppose you are pretty new at this hero business if you needed the earthbound demi-god guardian of your world to save you. Although what do you have here..."

The false hero of the book's words made Malty focus on the detail that she overlooked. Emon's vindictive apprentice is also a hero now. And she apparently holds the Star Axe. She obviously was not a hero when she challenged Naofumi, or else she doesn't have to jump through the mental game of claiming an inquisitor's right for self-defense. And more importantly, her weapon is the axe, which was owned by Faubley. Someone clearly decided to have this crazy bitch who has a personal grudge against Naofumi as an attack dog. And thinking over Cousin Emily's words... She can't tell if that someone was Lord Dumbledore, or her uncle King Egbert. Perhaps both of them agreed on this course of action, as they both have reasons to want to see someone fighting the Shield Hero.

The false hero of the book obviously didn't know, and probably wouldn't care about the political play of their world. He walks over to the few figures brought by Fitoria and her flock and filorials, and looks at one of them lying face up on the ground. Malty can't see the figure's face, although she has the body of a young-looking woman. She wonders why the false hero has his attention on her. Perhaps he is a lecherous fool like Prince Tact? Although the false hero's next words surprise her as he looks at the crazy former inquisitor. "Well. This is unexpected. Let me guess. Your little friend here has some pretty close run-in with the Demon pretending to be the Mirror Hero, and she got corrupted by his demonic energy? I'm more surprised that she isn't dead, or got fully turned into an insane demon and started eating your face."

Malty's curiosity is piqued by the false hero's word, and she edges closer to the flock of filorials in spite of her logical side beckoning her to pay more attention to the fight happening around the Spirit Tortoise. What she saw surprised her, as the young woman's skin has turned into a light blue color, and has a texture that looks closer to some kind of stone rather than made of flesh. As for her face... Malty isn't sure if she should be fascinated by the grotesque display, or feel disgusted or regretful. The young woman's face is completely misshaped, resembling a rectangular slab of rock but has many different protrusions sticking out. The most prominent ones happen to grow out of where her forehead probably is (She can't tell because the woman's face is twice as long as what can be expected), and they look like a pair of uneven, crooked horns. She looks much more strange then the pair of devil lords they fought in Balafon and then outside of the capital, who actually look close enough to pass for humans.

"Do you have a way to save Anadine?" The former inquisitor looks up from where she's sitting on the ground. The tone of her voice sounds scarily similar to Naofumi when he asks the false hero of the book if the Sword Hero is still alive.

"A nuisance for sure. The corruption is impossible to get rid of, especially when it has taken root in her body like this. Short of taking her soul into a new body, you can't get rid of a demonic corruption this powerful." The false hero pushes his glasses a bit up the bridge of his nose, the glass piece reflecting under sunlight. He takes some long needles out of his book. "But I can build a cage for the corruption and keep it contained in her body. She'll be able to live as a human mostly, with the ability to call out her demonic power for aid in battle. Don't let her get too reliant on it though. Because if my cage gets destroyed by her throwing around her new demon power recklessly, she'll turn into a full demon for sure and completely lose her mind."

"We can keep the people of Stormwind safe by transporting them to Alaya's secret realm and then open an exit somewhere else." While the false hero is working on the young companion of the Faubley inquisitor, the Avatar of Alaya is talking with Naofumi and Motoyasu. They seem to be coming up with a plan for a proper retreat. "Teleportation in worlds like ours is difficult, because we use the world's power to fortify our dimension to make up for the natural fragility of our dimensional border. And why my WEAPONs and world shard owners are the only ones who have access to them under Gaia and my authority. But the realm where Yggdrasil, Gaia and I preside is in a separate, pocket realm overlapping with the real world. Even if the Mirror Demon could breach our defense, he'll be severely weakened coming in and we can defeat him at his weakest."

"Okay. Then let's do it. Motoyasu, take all of our filorials and gather as many of the people who have escaped already as you can, and have them ready for transport. I don't think they'll all come back, but we have to save as many as we can. The rest of us will stay by the wall and buy time for the transport if this Astaroth guy gets through Dio." The Spear Hero didn't wait to be told twice by the Shield Hero. He jumps off the wall, followed by the filorial monarchs they have and the ones brought by Fitoria... except Firo. "Firo. That means you too."

"NO! Firo doesn't want to go with the Spear guy. Firo wants to stay with Father!" As Malty expected, the most problematic child that she raised with Naofumi immediately goes into a tantrum and refuses to do what's the right thing. "Firo has been separated from father for too long! Firo doesn't want to be separated with father anymore!"

"This isn't the time to act like a brat, Firo! People's lives are at stake here!" Naofumi takes a step forward and glares at Firo right in her face. The gesture makes her take a step back, and look away from Naofumi's eyes. But from the way her mouth pouted, she doesn't really understand, let alone agree with the reason Naofumi is angry at her, even if she acts intimidated.

"If Firo wants to stay, let her." Malty takes a step forward, and taps on Naofumi's shoulder. Normally, she wouldn't pamper the gluttonous devil bird. But under the circumstances, it's more important to save the lives of Stormwind people, not getting Firo to start behaving. She whispers her reasoning to Naofumi's ears. She can see Firo narrow her eyes while looking at her with alarm. The spoiled little bird thinks she's saying something bad to Naofumi. "If we force Firo to go gather the escaping peasants, she might take her anger out on them and kill them. One bad tempered filorial monarch sitting with us and taking her anger at our enemy is better to set her loose on innocent people."

Naofumi stays still for a brief second, seemingly pondering over Malty's words. He nods his head to Firo next, accepting Malty's reasoning. "Very well, Firo. If you don't want to go with Motoyasu to save people, stay with me. But you'll have to fight as hard as you can if the mountain turtle comes at us."

"YEAH! Firo doesn't have to go with the spear guy and his mean daughters!" Firo jumps up and throws herself onto Naofumi's body. She turns her face over to Malty and blows her tongue, clearly not understanding how she got her wish. Malty doesn't have time to get fuss over the dumb bird. Her eyes are focused on the battle between the two dragon aspects, and the two large griffins in the air. With them too busy fighting each other, there's nothing stopping the Spirit Tortoise from continuing its way towards Stormwind. Its movement is slow, but its size means that it wouldn't take too many steps for it to reach the port city. And the steps it's taking are already causing tides to crash into the port, and forcing all the ships to take off or risk being smashed to pieces onto the shore.

I'm going to die. That's the only thought Raphtalia keeps repeating in her head. She wasn't one of the fighters Ren gathered with Gaelion to fight the Spirit Tortoise. Considering she can't even beat Raki or Keel in a one on one sparring fight, and even her two friends are nowhere near ready to fight a Wave battle. But she has a feeling that Naofumi and Malty would come to the fight, and she wanted to do her best to help them even if she's not a strong or skilled fighter. So she used her illusion magic to create a substitute of herself, while she snuck onto Gaelion's tail in her raccoon form, and held on for dear life as the dragon lord flew its way over to Stormwind.

The Spirit Tortoise already looked huge from the distance as it's literally a walking mountain. But at this close distance and with her body shrunken down, Raphtalia gets a first glance at just how gigantic the Guardian Beast truly was. She has already encountered some leviathan class monsters during her travels with the Shield Hero. None of them, maybe except the giant life root, can compare to the turtle's size. And even the giant plant was more tall than it was wide. While Gaelion was flying over the mountain sized turtle, Raphtalia jumped off his tail towards one of its legs. She misjudged the distance and her strength, nearly plunging to her death, but she managed to grab onto the leg, even if she ended up much lower than she aimed for. She's been struggling to climb up onto its back since to avoid falling to her death and it hasn't been easy. Raphtalia is pretty sure that she accidently swallowed some of its blood in her mouth when Ren left a wound on its leg and had the turtle's leg pouring down onto her body. And when Itsuki rains down his arrows, the violent shakes from the chain explosions nearly send her tumbling down. But she managed to conquer her perilous climb journey in the end. Now that she has managed to climb up all the way onto the literal mountain on the turtle's back, she doesn't know what to do.

It probably helps that she knows what not to do in this situation: transform into her demi-human form. There's a bunch of tough looking people in armor, or elaborate clothing and Raphtalia is pretty sure they aren't friendly. The fighting she can see happening between some red haired guy she doesn't recognize, the Gauntlet Hero Dio of Siltvelt who she met on Cal Mira Island... and the Whip Hero Tact of Faubley (?) is a good indication that something dangerous is happening before her, and she shouldn't give herself away to them. She tries to sneak her way closer to the people, to get a better understanding of what's going on. Even if it increases the chance of someone discovering her and realizing she isn't a simple animal.

The ongoing battle makes it more difficult. In her smallest form, the shockwave from each clash threatens to knock her flying if she doesn't hold onto something. And in her raccoon form, she can't utilize the breathing technique Granny taught her... or, can she? Raphtalia realizes that she doesn't lose anything by trying, so she does. It's hard to get the breathing interval right since now she's running on all four rather than two, so the rhythm of her steps are different from running in her two human forms. But the principle of Granny's teaching was the same: get the beat of her breathing just right to make sure she doesn't waste air while running and jumping. And to her surprise, she does gradually find her body lighter, her breath easier as she dodges in and out of the uneven ground as she gets closer to her target.

Aside from the fiercely battling Gauntlet Hero and the Whip Hero, she doesn't know any of the people standing around, but she can still tell who is in charge. Standing not too far from the battle, in front of what looks like a gilded throne is a young man with short, black hair, and equally dark colored, and very elaborate looking suit. His lips are slightly pursed, giving away his feeling of displeased malice. His head leans slightly to the back, pointing his nose straight at the fight in front of him. And he looks at everything from the bottom of his eyes like he's regarding everyone and everything like they are dirt under his feet. The man carries the air of a noble who thinks he is the most important thing in the world, and even spending his precious time with you is nothing more than a bothersome formality, or some kind of gracious act one needs to feel grateful for. Raphtalia knew this kind of people well. Lord Seatto wasn't a noble like them, and he doesn't hold parties or balls for other aristocrats every excuse he has. But there are still celebrations in his realm back when the time was good, and a lot of nobles who come to 'congratulate him' act this way to the common people around them.

"How many cannons do we have on reserve, Eve? How many men?" The man opens his mouth, seemingly addressing the woman standing besides him. Her clothing is much more simple compared to him, consisting of a simple but well groomed white blouse, and a dirt colored skirt. With a notebook and pen in her hand, she looks like a common attendant, or an assistant. But the crooked horn atop of her head tells Raphtalia not to underestimate her.

"We have about one hundred cannons saved in the back, meant to be installed on the wall of Stormwind once we take it over as our first foothold in this world. As for our reserve troops, we have more of; five thousand men ready, and can instantly be committed into battle with us on the Spirit Tortoise. And we have ten times that number in the other world ready to be brought over by you. Not counting the local troops we need to maintain our stronghold. In the meantime, we are assembling more engines of war at our base." The horned woman speaks, her voice is calm, but Raphtalia can almost hear the slight... something at the end of her sentences. "But at least... half of the troops are badly trained conscripts who we can't ensure the loyalty of."

"You are making light of the situation, Eve. Do you take me as someone who can't even hear critique from my most trusted companions? The poorly trained conscripts in our force are probably closer to two thirds, or maybe even three quarters." The dark man's face slowly morphs into a smirk. His words might make light of the situation, but his tone has a similar pompousness that reminded Raphtalia of her previous owner Fuckboy. "But we might not even need to bring out these reserves. That's the beauty of the Spirit Tortoise, and why I choose to start with this particular Guardian Beast to take over. You see, just as its name implied. It has the strongest tenacity which makes it the perfect guardian for our foothold into this world. But more, he is a master of spirit. That means... any troops we lost, and any enemies we took down can be brought back by the Spirit Tortoise as our loyal subordinates."

The dark man walks away from the ensuing battle, which is now three against one with the Whip Hero Tact, the red haired man in silver and gray armor, and a woman in pink armor with a pair of white feathered wings all attacking Mr. Dio. But they can't seem to beat down the Siltvelt Hero in spite of the battle being three against one. If anything, it seems like Mr. Dio is having a fairly easy time dealing with his three opponents with the Whip Hero constantly stepping into the two unknown fighters' way, making them have to dodge, or even have to protect themselves from Tact's attack rather than concentrating on Mr. Dio. Knowing the Gauntlet Hero is safe for the moment, Raphtalia quickly, and carefully follows after the dark man who is obviously the leader of this group of people who enslaved the Spirit Tortoise.

"Axel and Lamia can't concentrate on attacking the Gauntlet Hero. He seems to be intentionally using wide attacks, rather than the ability to concentrate his attack on a specific target. I'm not sure he is very loyal to you, Lord Astaroth." The horned woman Eve also noticed what Raphtalia has been seeing, but she seems to be even more analytical. Raphtalia steals another glance at the ensuing battle and realizes Eve was correct. The Star Whip has turned into what seems like a stream of dark flame in Tact's hand, and he's wildly swinging at Mr. Dio with it, which sends chunks of stone in every direction in addition to the harm his weapon is causing. Needless to say, they cause more disruption to his 'allies' rather than the target he is aiming at.

"Something to be expected. The Whip Hero might have a grudge against the Gauntlet Hero for beating him into the dirt a few years ago. But it's merely a matter of bruised ego. I, on the other hand, captured and hurt his younger sister. The few people he cares for, and used her to threaten him into submission." The detached way the dark man Astaroth talks about how he (at least from Raphtalia's understanding) kidnapped and tortured a fairly young girl makes Raphtalia more of a shudder than even Fuckboy.

Her previous owner was someone who doesn't care about the lives he ruined, seeing everyone around him not even as people. But he also looks down on other people with the kind of arrogance backed bravado that makes his action come off as... pathetic. Like he is constantly putting other people down to make himself feel better, because as Raki said, he himself was nothing more than a thief mooching off from his own father. The cold, emotionless way this Astaroth person talks about his own cruelty on the other hand, makes him come off as someone who truly sees other people not even as a victim to be put down, but like mere objects.

"Honestly. It would cause me more nuisance if he felt nothing when my subordinate dug that dagger into his sister's shoulder. That would mean the boy has nothing he cares about, like the Claw Hero Lung. She would put me into more of a disadvantage alongside the Gauntlet Hero. She would have caused me to use some of the other contingencies first." The dark man Astaroth isn't aware that Raphtalia is listening to him, as he continues his speech.

"It's a great shame we had to resort to such actions. We could use someone strong like Gauntlet Hero and Whip Hero when the Burning Legion chased after us again. A well-equipped, numerous army is important at maintaining the world Lord Astaroth wishes to build ;we would need powerful, god-like beings to defend it when we are beset by an army of demons." The horned woman Eve shakes her head in regret, and also a sense of fear when mentioning a familiar name. The Burning Legion... Raphtalia wasn't sure if she believed the Avatar of Alaya, or the narrator of Yggdrasil when they talked about it. But now this army that's invading their world, who has taken control of one of their Guardian Beasts, and have killed Ren and Gaelion is talking about them as something they clearly have encountered... and also something to be feared. "I know you did not enjoy using this kind of method, Lord Astaroth. Or else you would not have treated us, and your vassals with nothing but kindness. It would have been so much easier if the heroes of this world would simply help you fight back The Burning Legion."

"This is why there was no point in trying to work with these worlds so-called 'heroes' to begin with. They are nothing more than a myth to twist the minds of unenlightened masses." For the first time, the dark man Astaroth's voice isn't completely devoid of emotions. He looks down at a little mirror in his hand, which his fingers are casually flipping over. "They are either a group of self-righteous hypocrites who are convinced that they are always in the right. Or they are insecure fools who think the world revolves around them. Too bad for them, I'm not a virtue parading hypocrite like Ryubi. I am a realist. My actions would be driven by practicality. That's why the best way to make use of these heroes is exactly that: make use of them when they are useful tools, but take them out of the picture at the first opportunity. And make use of whatever resources and artifacts they left behind."

Raphtalia's body shakes as she listens to the dark man Astaroth nonchalantly laying down his plan to use, and then murder the heroes. Which would obviously include both Naofumi and Malty since they are also heroes. This man might be claiming that he's fighting the demonic legion that's about to invade their world, but he is a demon of his own right. And he has to be stopped! Raphtalia cast one last look at Dio. He doesn't seem to be losing the battle, especially with the Whip Hero being more of a danger to his 'allies' than his opponent. With her mind made, Raphtalia sneaks away from Astaroth. She could try to jump the dark man and take him hostage, but she has a bad feeling about it. He managed to kill Ren and Gaelion, and he might be hiding something that could kill her too even if she gets him with a sneak attack. But I stayed hidden... didn't Astaroth reveal that he only has the Whip Hero fight Dio because of a hostage situation? Maybe she'll have better luck rescuing Tact's sister.

The situation is as bad as Malty expected it to be. Without Ren's special sword art to freeze the Spirit Tortoise, Gaelion, and with Tact's dragon and griffin fighting on their enemy's side, it's not possible for anyone to even slow down the giant Guardian Beast. Motoyasu's effort to bring people back for evacuation also didn't have much result. Out of the thousands that have already escaped Stormwind on foot, only a few dozen were willing to run back towards the super leviathan monster they are trying to run away from. Fitoria opened up the path to her sanctuary like she promised, and at the moment the civilians had all escaped to the other world.

Malty sees what seems to be a small, black dot flying at them from the sky. As the dot gets closer and grows larger, she realizes that it's a carrier raven with a letter tied on its clawed feet. Duke Arvis snatched the bird up, and quickly pulled the message open before releasing the messenger monster and letting it fly back. "Her Majesty has written us a message, based on some gossip from the Throwing Weapon Hero. Apparently, the boy thinks one of the Cardinal Heroes except Lord Shield Hero, or an invading otherworld hero, had released the Spirit Tortoise.He also mentions we have to destroy its head and its heart at the same time to stop it."

"Not really helpful information, since we can't even slow the beast down let alone destroy its head or heart." Malty fights back the urge to scream. Of course, someone as ridiculous as Naofumi's clearly insane fan would think about falsely accusing one of the Cardinal Heroes for doing something right. Although the act itself does remind Malty of something Duke Arvis stated before they teleported over to Stormwind. "You said something about your son coming over to Stormwind with his dragon, Lord Arvis. Is it possible to inform him of our situation, and have him turn back. Given we lost both Lord Sword Hero and the Storm Aspect, repelling the enemy away from Stormwind is impossible. We need to think about reforming our defensive line away from Stormwind. If he arrives after we are gone, his force will be taken out by the Spirit Tortoise."

Technically, Malty as a slave should have addressed the Duke of hellfire with a much more respectful title. Or maybe not talking directly to him at all. Thankfully, Duke Arvis isn't a vapid man who cares about formality in the face of immense danger and destruction, so he didn't say or do anything about Malty talking to him out of her term. "Unfortunately, there is no way to inform my son and daughter about what has happened. But Julius is no fool even if he can act like a typically arrogant heir. If he sees that there's not enough resistance around the Spirit Tortoise from far away, he will have Midir hang back, maybe even retreat from the danger. The Spirit Tortoise should not be able to catch up to a great, immortal dragon like Midir."

The entire wall of Stormwind City shakes with each step the Spirit Tortoise takes, it's close enough to the city that Malty can't even see the top of the mountain it carries on its back no matter how much she rises her head. The body of the beast has completely blocked her view. Malty quickly reaches over at Naofumi, who is still futilely launching miracle attacks at the turtle's leg. She quickly reaches over and taps Naofumi on the shoulder. "We need to go now, Master Naofumi! It's too dangerous to stay!"

The Shield Hero drops down to one knee. He is covered in sweat from head to body. The increased exhaustion of maintaining his 'Saiga' weapon form, plus his constant launch of powerful miracles had brought him to exhaustion. His finger scraps over the rocky wall, scratching out a layer of stone dust. Malty quickly takes a step over, and throws his arm over her shoulders to tell him up. She can hear him mutter under harsh whispers. "I can't do anything, because I'm still too weak against real threats..."

Knowing that there is no time to waste, Malty spins around and half carries, half drags Naofumi along with her. The fall onto the ground would have been hard, but they have mages who can cast the basic utility air spell [Feather Fall, so they don't have to take the long way and run down the stairs. As they are about to run head first into the opened up dimensional gate, Malty looks back and sees the Spirit Tortoise breach the wall with one of its legs. As the gate begins to close behind them and Fitoria, she wonders if the Griffin Spine Mountain would offer any more resistance to a mountain-sized, Super Leviathan-class monster than this city wall.

Raphtalia knows that she is in way over her head. The dark man Astaroth obviously wouldn't leave one of his most important hostages unguarded. And she doesn't even know where the sister of Tact is being kept, or where she is going for that matter. But she's still running around the mountain, dodging patrolling men in armor while doing her best to scout out the area around her. She can't find anything that resembles man made buildings, so her first target is the mountain at the middle of the turtle's back. If there is no building, then a natural cave should be a good guess on where people take shelter in.

Her guess was probably correct as she reached the foot of the mountain. The problem being she is now faced with more choices she has to blindly make. There are at least a dozen and more cave entrances on the side of a cliff, none of them look particularly different. Each of them are about the height of an average grown man, width that allows two, or maybe one to enter at once. Each entrance also has four guards standing in front, with the sign of an empty, dirt field that's been plowed through that was probably used to clear out the foliage. There are also dozens of guards patrolling around the area, making it impossible for her to sneak through.

Raphtalia hides in a bush that's closest to the cliff, but it would still take a fully grown man a hundred steps and more to reach even the closest cave. There is no way she can go through all the guards without them noticing her. She has seen other wild animals while running around on the turtle's back, but she would look extremely out of place if she pretended to be an animal who goes towards a group of humans rather than run away from them. She could use her illusion magic to maybe bait them away, but she can maintain one illusion at the time, and there are too many guards around to draw out.

Raphtalia knows that she needs to be extra careful, and make sure she herself stays safe first. What if she gets captured? She has heard of the Whip Hero before the Wave of Catastrophe even started (kind of hard not to, not only was he a peasant who got chosen by the Star Whip. He even gets adopted by the King of Faubley because of it), but she didn't know anything about the peasant family he was born into. And the dark man Astaroth not only knew about his younger sister, he captured her without anyone realizing it. Surely, he would know about what Raphtalia means to Naofumi and Malty, and would use her to threaten them if he captures her too?

The surrogate daughter of Shield Hero and Wand Hero forces herself to remain calm. She wants to help her parents defeat this invader who took control of their world's guardian beast, and blackmailed one of their fellow heroes with a hostage. But if she's not careful, she would only give the dark man more advantage. Raphtalia carefully changes herself back to her child form, and reaches her hand into her cloth for all the items she has on her body. After Malty, she was one of Naofumi's first companions, but she has never been a fighter. Her kind aren't known for being great warriors (aside from her great grand uncle Isshin), and Naofumi had treated her as a child who needed protection since day one. Now that she made up her mind about learning how to fight to help them against The Burning Legion, she has already lagged behind.

But Raphtalia knew there's also ways she could help Naofumi and Malty. Tanuki are good traders, and even better tricksters. Especially when she had become a Gyoubu Danuki thanks to Naofumi's legendary shield unlocking her full potential. And aside from her affinity in illusion magic and shapeshifting, using items to trick her enemies is another avenue for her to pursue.

The last survivor of House Hirata (Kyutenrou) looks down at the items she lined up in front of her. Particularly, the few seeds she got from Bed-Chan. Particularly, a red seed she didn't even dare to leave on the ground. Because according to Mr. Zylden. Out of all the seeds Bed-Chan produced, this one has the strongest mutation trait.

She still remembers the time when they planted the original miracle seed with Motoyasu. It quickly became a giant plant that extended its way right into the sky. It even tore through their world and tried to grow its top into the void between worlds. This seed probably isn't as powerful as the original miracle seed, but if it has similar properties... She knew what she had to do. With her mind settled, Raphtalia shoves the seed into her mouth, leans her body back and begins to draw in as much air into herself as her lungs can take, to the point even her stomach begins to blow up like a balloon. When she feels like she's about to burst, she pushes her head forward and blows the air and the seed from her mouth out.

It's only been a little more than one week since Raphtalia started practicing the breathing technique of Granny's Peerless Change style. She hasn't built enough power inside her body for any body enhancement technique yet. If she tries to throw the seed towards the guards, it probably wouldn't even travel half the distance. But with the breathing technique which she practices every day, she should be able to send Bed-Chan's seed much further if she blows it with her mouth. Now that she had already put her plan into action, Raphtalia can do nothing but to focus her sight on the seed she sent out, and hope it grabs as much attention from the dark man Astaroth's subordinates as it could.

The red seed quickly grows smaller till it completely disappears from Raphtalia's eyes. She changes her body back into her animal force once again, ready to use to catch any opportunity in the upcoming distraction. For a while, nothing seems to happen, and she was almost afraid that maybe Mr. Zylden exaggerated the effect of the seed. But then, her raccoon ears shakes as she hears one of the patrolling guards begin to talk to his fellow guards. "Did you hear something? You think someone's coming to rescue our hostage like Lord Astaroth warned us?"

"I don't see anyone. It's probably nothing. Maybe some rock got shaken loose by the turtle. Don't forget we are on the back of a moving monster even if you can't see it." By contrast, the other guard walking alongside the first speaker sounds nonchalant. But then, his face quickly grew grim as the ground began to shake below their feet. "What the- is this a tremor? Is the turtle fighting someone its own size- THE FUCK?!"

All the guards and patrols bring their weapons forward. But they are all frozen between getting into their fighting stance, and completely dumbfounded when dozens and dozens of red vines, all of them the size of a fully grown tree trunk, suddenly erupt out from the ground. Their pause only remained for a few seconds, as the vines that's growing towards them begin to tightly wrap them up, and Raphtalia could easily see that the people got ensnared by the Bed-Chan's plant begin to wither like their flesh and blood are being slowly sucked dry by this plant. She didn't have time to feel regret about the people she unintentionally killed in the most cruel way possible, or stay and look at the ensuing battle between the blood sucking vine and the people fighting it. She doesn't want to know what would happen if the Whip Hero's sister gets killed by the plant she throws out as a distraction. Raphtalia quickly runs out of the bush she's been hiding in, and bolts towards the caves at top speed.

More and more red vines burst out of the ground before Raphtalia even reached the cliff. To the point she can see nothing but dozens upon dozens red vines spreading in every direction like an angry beast. She didn't dare to stop, fearing what would happen if she didn't find the sister of the Whip Hero first. She had completely underestimated the growth rate, and the power of the seed Mr. Zylden and Bed-Chan gave her. And she has no doubt that the blood sucking vines would kill her too if it grabs onto her. But she has no choice left by this point. Raphtalia jumps, flips and runs through the red jungle that's quickly growing towards the cliff side, doing her best to ignore the skin covered, lifeless skeletons hanging on them. She manages to break through the growth thanks to her small size and agility. Not daring to look back or stop, she charges head first into the nearest cave, hoping she will find the Whip Hero's sister and save her before they are both pushed into the corner by the monster she unleashed.

End Note:

Does Fitoria revealing that Ren, Gaelion and Wyndia are still alive count as a spoiler? Personally, I'm more surprised if I find out anyone who honest believed I killed them off. Anyways, here's something you won't find easily in Shield Hero stories. Motoyasu punching Fitoria right in the face. Yes, he likes filorials in this story because his friends (who happens to be girls) like them, but he's actually NOT a filorial fetishist.

And I'm dedicating Raphtalia in her infiltration build, as she once again begin to work on an infiltration mission even when most of the other heroes have already forced to GTFO. She's not going to be the major power house in my story like most other shield hero stories. Doesn't mean I won't have her do the heavy lifting for some other situations.