Chapter 25: Snow in the Summer
"Alright, everyone. Status report!" Naofumi ordered.
The legion of Siltvelt all stood at attention. Some stabbed their weapons into the ground while others took flight. Each battalion had its own unique salute, following the actions of their leaders. Werner and Jaralis weren't going to miss the chance to fight side by side with the shield hero. Though the reasons for both were completely different.
One would think this sentiment would be the same for everyone, no matter what opinion they had against him. He, at the end of the day, was still their God and, at the very least, a powerful figure in Siltvelt. But that wasn't the case. Only a few of the council members were actually there. And ironically, it was the half that voted against supplying him for the wave in the first place.
The hippo, giraffe, werewolf, and snake led their own forces. Along with Jaralis, they were the ones who were on his radar the most. Even if they were to do great in this battle, it'll take a lot more than a battle before they could be completely trusted.
"At your service, my lord." The legion saluted.
"Is this everyone? Where are the others?" Naofumi asked.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jaralis smirking as his Werner began to stammer. Naofumi wouldn't lie though. Watching Werner freak out was a bit funny. However, that didn't make Jaralis any less suspicious.
"Well, uh, they weren't able to come, so they uh."
"Sent us in their place." Naofumi looked over to Zalton as he bowed.
He already knew the Genmu wouldn't participate; he was quite old after all. But to keep his location and deal a secret, he had to act like he didn't know Zalton at all, which was quite easy, as the shadow was a pretty good actor himself.
"I'm Zalton, my Lord. Representative of the Genmu." Zalton tipped his hat.
To further sell his deception, he was his human form this time, with a different set of clothes, going from detective to the clothes of a certain inspector with wacky gadgets.
The other representatives also introduced themselves. But he didn't care. He wasn't going to remember all their names anyway.
"My master is quite old, you see, and is long past his prime. I hope I'll be a suitable substitute in his stead."
"Sure, whatever. If that weren't the case, however, I'll be having some choice words with him later." Naofumi looked over to the other representatives, seeing the guilty looks on their faces. It's not like he was really bothered by it; all the council members are shady in their own ways. But seeing as it was their entire world on the line. Not making some time to do the bare minimum and protect their country only made him lose even more respect for them.
"Is everyone in their subgroups? If you're not, step forward." Naofumi ordered.
A few raised their hands and came over to Naofumi, who quickly put them in their respective parties. The rest of the announcement was just him making sure everyone had what they needed.
Everyone knew the formations. Weapons were sharp, armor was polished, mages were full of mana, and everyone just had a meal. If there was any other way to prepare, Naofumi didn't know. The only thing he could do now was wait for the battle to start.
"What about you, a lot? Are you prepared?" Naofumi turned to his party behind him.
"All good here." Sakura swung her sword a few times, energetic like always.
"Same here. I'm ready to go." Raphtalia replied.
"I've got everything I need. I even stocked up on some extra healing potions just in case." Keel wagged her tail as she rummaged through her bag. She practically held their entire arsenal of consumables, including Naofumi's soul-healing water, some other unknown vials from the apothecary, some poison gas, and lightning in a bottle—something Naofumi had no idea how she even got.
She was quite prepared for any scenario. This only showed the flexibility of Earth Vein when it came to casting. And it was only the weaker version, scarily enough.
The last one to answer was Ake. And even mid-conversation, he was meditating.
"The new sword is a bit weird. It's like wielding a third magic affinity." Ake sighed as he got up, supposedly dejected at an unknown result. "I should be fine. Worse comes to worst, I just go back to the monster drop claymore."
"I might not be able to provide you with a new one mid-battle. So it's best to make that decision now rather than later."
"I guess you're right. New claymore it is."
"Are you sure that's a good choice?" Raphtalia asked, concerned.
"The best type of training is in battle itself. It's either I adapt or die." Ake slugged the claymore over his back, only to fall over as a sudden gust of wind blew him over.
"Adapted pretty well, it seems," Naofumi stated bluntly.
"Shut."
The party readied themselves as the timer gave him sixty seconds. The armies of Siltvelt gathered themselves as they prepared to fight their country's second wave. A few stood adamant in their abilities, having fought and survived the last wave with no hero interference at all.
The rest remained nervous, unsure of the battle to come. But the shield hero was here; their god was here. If there was ever a moment to rise up and stand defiant against the calamity that plagued their world. Now was that moment. With one last rallying cry, the Siltvelt combined forces roared as the timer hit zero.
With his fingers crossed, Naofumi watched as the world warped around him and his party disappeared in flashes of light. And before he knew it, he himself was teleported as well. Appearing in an unknown part of Siltvelt, Naofumi looked behind and found that Ren was correct. Everyone was teleported with him, and the hours he spent gathering everyone into sub-parties would not go to waste.
"Things just got a lot easier. Scouting team, you know what to do."
"Yes, my lord." The group of six winged demi-humans saluted and took off into the air.
"Wener, Jaralis. Are you familiar with this territory?" Naofumi asked.
The place they were teleported to was near the foot of a mountain. Snow fell upon the field as Werner shivered, unprepared for such conditions.
"We seem to be at the base of Mount Rinoth. That should be Vamperi's domain."
"Where is he now?" Naofumi looked back to the army, only to see Vamperi's representative nervously wave his hand.
Right, they didn't show up. Naofumi grumbled.
"You, over here now."
"Yes, my lord." At Naofumi's orders, the man ran over and saluted.
"Representative of the Vamperi, reporting."
"What can you tell me about this area? And is there anywhere we can fortify?" Naofumi asked, just as monsters began descending from the crack in the sky. "Preferably now."
"Yes, my Lord. Thankfully, this area is uninhabited due to the monster's presence. I'm not sure about the exact direction, but there is an abandoned village. We can fortify our positions there." The bat reported.
"Perfect. Werner, take your squad; find the village. Everyone else, hold positions here." At his orders, Werner and his men took off into the skies, while the rest of the legion shifted into position.
A simple strategy. But with the monster count in the thousands. A simple and effective strategy was the best choice.
"By the way, my lord, if I could say one more thing?" The representative asked.
"What?"
"These conditions aren't normal at this time of year. Chances are, the wave is causing this."
"The wave is making this place snow," Sakura asked.
"Unlikely, at least not the wave itself."
The foot of the mountain turned blue as ice slowly spread toward the group. On said ice were leopards and polar bears. All of them rushed at the army, unhindered by the ice.
"This makes things a bit more tricky. A snow-themed wave was not on my list of ideas."
"Think about it another time; here they come!" Raphtalia warned.
Naofumi raised his shield with seconds to spare but slid back as the polar bear hit his shield.
The battle just started, and the conditions were already hindering their defense. Only a few battalions were able to keep up, transforming into their therianthrope forms to leverage their claws against the ice. Many others, however, didn't have this liberty and would either overshoot their attacks or faceplant on the floor.
Their formation was broken, and they were losing ground fast. Naofumi was about to order a retreat, but he heard the sounds of glass shattering behind him.
"I call upon the power of fire, come to me and take form. Oh earth vein, lend me your power!"
Hearing Keel's voice, Naofumi turned around.
Keel had lit a match and tossed it onto the bottle of oil on the ground. The fire then animated itself and launched itself over to Naofumi.
What is he... she doing? Naofumi was about to yell at Keel when a pop-up suddenly appeared in his field of view.
Combo Skill Available
Erst Shield Flame Seal = Flame Shield
A combo skill? I don't remember Ren talking about this.
"Just trust me!" Keel shouted.
"I don't know what you're planning, but it better work! [Erst Shield!]"
Naofumi deployed the shield behind his. The flame then stopped and circled around the shield before being absorbed inside. Suddenly, the ice beneath the shield began to melt, giving everyone a decent area of warmth and solid ground to stand on.
Falling back a bit, Naofumi forced the monsters onto the dry land, where they no longer had an advantage. Battle them there now was as simple as fighting any other monsters, minus some minor ice abilities.
The leopard lept at this with claws of ice and temporarily frozen limbs and weapons of whatever they scratched. Thankfully, the holy shield was immune to this effect, making defending against them quite easy.
The bears didn't have much change from their real-world counterpart, aside from being stronger and a bit harder to take down. It took about three normal men to wrangle the beast down, with some of the more elite soldiers being able to take them down single-handedly. That list included each member of his party.
Throughout the battle, however, Naofumi noticed something with the monsters, once the Flame Shield finally disappeared, and called Ake over to discuss.
"You called?"
"I thought the ice moved with the monsters, but it doesn't. It seems there's another source that's not the bears or leopards." Naofumi surmised.
"You need me to find it then?"
"It can't be that far. And I have a sneaking suspicion that blizzard has something to do with it."
"You got it. As the source of my power, this disgraced knight orders thee. Decipher the laws of nature, and heat the area around me!"
Ake ran over, calling out to Sakura, who transformed at his call. "[All Zweite Heat Aura!"
Affecting Sakura and as many people as he could. The ice around them started to melt, and Sakura and he pushed forward.
Trampling through the monster hoard, they pushed into the freezing winds, protected by Ake's spell. It didn't take long for them to find the source of the ice. A giant yeti, even bigger than the zombie colossus from the first wave.
"Is that the boss?"
"Not menacing enough. Minion class at best." Ake lept off Sakura as a chunk of ice crashed into her, flinging her back.
"Okay. Maybe pushing mini-boss."
Sakura pushed the ice off of her and then kicked it back at the yeti, but it simply punched through the ice and shot more. Ake was quick to move, slashing through the ice and allowing Sakura to rush forward and kick the yeti in the face.
It tried to retaliate, but Ake got in his way again, catching its fist. With a grunt, he took a wide step and threw the yeti over his body, slamming it into the ground. Sakura then followed up, leaping into the air and driving her sword into the monster's head.
"Seal of Ruin: Unleash!" A putrid aura rose from Sakura's sword as the yeti's head was slowly eaten away by the decaying blade. After a bit, Sakura removed the sword as the snow began to clear up.
"Seal of Ruin? Really." Ake cringed.
"Don't diss my style." Sakura sheathed her blade and looked over to the mountain. Several more blizzards approached their position—too many to count.
"It seems we have more to deal with," Sakura observed.
"We should deal with this batch and find the boss. Or else they'll just keep coming."
"Then let's get moving on. Sakura will beat them all with one slash!"
"Just move."
Ake kicked Sakura's side as he climbed on.
"Rude." Sakura pouted as she ran off.
/~/
"Hya!" Keel shouted. She punched a polar bear, leaving an imprint of her fist in its skull. A leopard then tried to leap on her, but she rolled back and kicked it over to Raphtalia, allowing her to sever its head midair with a single slice.
"Everyone move back!" Keel ordered. The battalions looked back, questioning whether or not they should listen to her. But they soon began to fall back as a bright light began to emanate from the mages.
"Dragon Vein! Hear our petition and grant it. As the source of your power, we implore you! Let the true way be revealed once more, and burn our enemies with the unmatched power of the sun!"
Fire flurried from the mages into the air. A few people fell to the ground, unable to handle the spell. But for those who stood, they rose their hands to the sky, as a miniature sun was formed.
Ritual magic sure is something. Naofumi thought as Keel brought her hand down.
"[Mass Ejection!]"
Calling down a beam of fire upon the remaining monsters. The sun drove the monsters away, as their fellow kin were burned away or incinerated in an instant.
The spell took out many of the monsters, but the beam suddenly stopped. The mages were out of mana and couldn't maintain the spell any longer. The monsters realized this and began their attack once again, but Keel held the armed forces back, a smirk on her face.
Bringing her hand down once again, the ball came crashing down, engulfing the remaining monsters in an explosion of flames. Naofumi summoned every defensive skill he had in order to defend against the shockwave. Thankfully, however, the flames didn't reach far and just narrowly brushed against his shield.
"Damn. Put too much power into that one." Keel grumbled.
"Doesn't matter. With Sakura and Ake on the move, future encounters should be much easier without the ice."
"There's still a lot more to go."
Raphtalia pointed toward the mountain as legions of monsters marched toward them.
"We just have to hold them for now. Prepare for another encounter. There's nothing holding us back this time. All Dreifach Bost VI."
"You heard him! For the shield hero, for Siltvelt!" The crowd roared as they charged into battle.
Affecting everyone he could with magic, the battalions of Siltvelt broke through the monster forces. Splitting them down the middle, the fighters took down the monster's weakened front lines and quickly circled them. Then they closed in, picking them off as they were unable to fight back from being squeezed together.
After taking down that group, two more approached. The battalions then split, each focusing on one group.
"[Dark Flame Pallet]"
With the mages still resting, the ground around Keel began to wilt as she stepped forward. Firing off a blast of plasma, it bulldozed through a group of monsters before engulfing one and disintegrating it. Her half of the battalion watched the dog dumbfounded as she practically took charge and lept into the fray.
She moved fast, striking the vitals of each monster with such force and precision that it only took two strikes to take the monster down. On some occasions, her gloves would glow slightly as she threw a punch that launched several monsters away.
Who knew the puppy would be so scary?
Naofumi looked to his right as Raphtalia engaged the enemy. Her squad had an easier time, her illusion causing many incidents of friendly fire, or just confusing them, allowing a safe and swift kill. Even by herself, Raphtalia was quite deadly. Unlike the others, aside from Ake. She focused on refining her swordplay and could handle most monsters in a slash or two.
Naofum was quite disappointed that her weapon didn't get anything special added to it, but it seemed she was managing even without one. Her illusions were enough to make up for the lack of power compared to the others, and the monsters stood no chance, as many were affected the second they got close, leaving themselves open to an easy kill.
The other squads were also doing well. Zalton weaved his way through the crowd, decapitating or delivering quick and lethal strikes to the neck in true assassin fashion. On occasion, he would flourish his blade, cutting through several enemies at once with a twilight-colored slash.
Jaralis on his end was also quite skilled, much to Naofumi's surprise. His footwork was like that of a trained boxer, also weaving through the enemies. And although he carried a sword, that wasn't his main way of attacking, and more or less a prop. Unsurprisingly, he fought shady, more shadow-like than the actual shadow. He used hidden daggers, caltrops, and smoke bombs to obscure his movement before striking with his claws or just hitting as hard, if not harder than Keel.
Whether he thought he could get away with this shifty fighting style due to the size of the battle or was displaying his skills on purpose was unclear. What Naofumi did know, however, is that he had to keep a closer eye on Jaralis whenever he came back and possibly be ready for a fight.
"MY LORD!" A voice called out.
Naofumi looked above and saw Werner descending from the sky.
"Fire!"
"[Dreifach Fire Squall!]"
"[Dreifach Lightning Ray]"
"[Dreifach Aqua Slash!]"
Flying over the approaching monsters, the battalions fell back as the aerial force began bombarding the enemy from above.
After a few passes, the enemy force limped forward, pushing through their injuries, in an attempt to kill the nearest person. But with their forces lowered, the battalions started their assault once more and began pushing them back."
"I'm back, my lord, and I've located the abandoned village." Werner bowed.
"The moment of respite we needed. How far out is the backup force?" Naofumi asked.
"I've gotten word that Vamperi's domain has sent out reserves about thirty minutes ago. They shall arrive soon."
"Then let's shift to our new forward operation base. Keel, do you think you can conjure up something to get them off our trail?"
"That's more of a Raphtalia, think, but let me see."
Keel called Raphtalia over and began to chant. Though for the first time, she was unable to match with Raphtalia's chanting.
"Damn it!" Keel grumbled. She was going to try again. She looked back to Naofumi. Without a word, she snatched his hand and dragged him over.
"I don't understand illusion magic," Keel grumbled. "Dragon Vein! Hear our petition and grant it! As the source of your power, we implore you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Show our enemies an illusion to confuse them!"
"[Form is Emptiness!]"
Using Naofumi as a conduit, the three of them cast the spell, affecting all the remaining monsters in front of them. The attack monsters all went crazy, attacking and dodging people who weren't there. They were easy to pick off, but before the first man could attack, Naofumi called for a retreat.
"Werner, your men have easy pickings for now. Return to base after the supplementary force arrives, and I'll give you the final debrief."
"Understood my lord."
Werner spread his wings and took flight. He flew high in the sky and positioned himself in front of the sun.
"As the source of thy power, the Shusaku orders thee. Let the way combust and incinerate my enemies."
Spreading out his wings. They joined together in the form of a sun as the center began to glow.
"[Dreifach Sun Flare!]"
A ball of flames shot out of Werner's wings and crashed into the ground. A wave of enemy flames then washed over the battlefield, engulfing the monsters, who thought they were safe from the original blast.
"Cool."
"Not the time, Keel, we need to move." Naofumi reprimanded as she dragged Keel away by her ear.
/~/
"Finally a break." Keel slumped against a crate, transforming back into her human form.
Despite everything that happened a few days ago, Keel insisted on keeping her bandages, even if she didn't have a necessary injury for them. Sakura did, however, properly teach her how to wrap her chest, a lesson Keel picked up rather quickly. Even if she accepted being a girl. She still didn't have the urge to start dressing like one, and certainly not any time soon.
"I really need to work on my mana consumption." Keel groaned.
"I thought Earth vein didn't use mana? [All Zweite Heal VII]" A green wave washed the party and others around Naofumi and got rid of the injuries they'd sustained during battle. Other healers in the area were working on healing as well, but Naofumi's was more potent by a mile, and people ignored the other healers just to get better treatment from him.
"I performed ritual magic, cooperative magic, and used my gloves, which also use magic." Keel took a sip of the mana-restoring potion.
"They do?" Raphtalia asked curiously.
"Yeah. I can punch hard already; it just makes things easier. However, once we get back out there, I'll have to limit the amount of group spells I use. This weather isn't helping my focus." Keel explained.
It was still snowing out. Despite Ake and Sakura killing the yetis, snow still fell from the mountain. It had gotten stronger as time went on, and Keel was the first victim of it, her vials of water being frozen. Her fires also didn't last long, making most forms of casting impossible for her.
"The snow is obviously tied to the boss. And I have a hunch that the mountain is its hiding place." Naofumi surmised.
"That seems to be the case, my lord." Zalton nodded, appearing behind Keel.
The dog girl yipped as she jumped away, unaware of his presence.
"I just finished talking to Lord Werner. We haven't found the boss exactly, but the storm is concentrated at the mountain peak. We assume the boss is inside causing the disturbance."
"Then that settles it. Even if we don't find the boss, clearing the storm will make things much easier on our end."
"Zalton, do you think you can find Sakura? We'll need her if we want to scale the mountain." Raphtalia asked.
"No need. If my guess is correct."
Before he could finish, a pink blur crashed into the ground behind him.
"They should be arriving in a few minutes. Damn." Zalton swore, his thunder ruined.
"We're baaack! And we got some souvenirs." Sakura showed off a yeti she carried back, very proud of herself.
"It may not be much, but we did take down as many yeti's as we could. Their ice generation is a real doozy." Ake kicked his own leg, breaking away some ice that formed.
"From our observations, the boss may be the cause of the snowstorm, so we need to head to the mountaintop immediately."
"Funny, you should say that; we just came to that exact conclusion."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"A much-needed break, Sakura. That's what." Ake sat down before rummaging through Keel's pouch.
"Damn, everythings frozen. Actually, hold on."
Ake held two bottles of water that were unharmed. But Naofumi snatched one and put it on his hip.
"That one for my SP. You can have the other."
"Thanks, I guess." Ake took a sip, only to suddenly feel invigorated.
"Woah, this is a... familiar feeling?"
"Are you alright?" Raphtalia asked.
"Yeah. It made me feel warm; my mind calmer."
"Really? Mind if I take a sip?"
"Sure, go for it." Ake handed Zalton the vial, and he took a sip. Immediately, Zalton's eyes widen before he calms himself down.
"Keel, might I ask? What is this item?" Zalton asked.
"I got it from an apothecary. It's water that's supposed to increase one's vitality. He only had a few in stock, but it's pretty useful to have around with the magic I use."
"Why do you ask? Do you know something we don't?" Naofumi asked.
"It may be faint. But it seems it can draw out ones."
"Ki? Like, life energy?"
"Yeah. It's something I've been trying to learn. It seems I found a shortcut."
"It's best to stick with what you know for now; this is a battle after all."
"Yeah, you're right." Ake relented with a sigh. "Though no promises."
"Fair enough." Zalton chuckled.
"Good. Now that the cryptic conversation is over. Zalton, you and Werner will be taking command of the army in my place. The rest of us will head to the boss and kill it. Do we all understand?"
"Yes, master." The group answered, aside from Zalton, who replied with his usual "my lord."
With the final encounter coming up, Zalton disappeared to rally the troops, while Keel distributed her supply of potions, restoring everyone before the final fight began.
/~/
After some rest, the party formed up and rushed toward the mountain. Sakura was unapologetic in her running, trampling over the monsters in her path, with only slight comments about how bumpy the path was. She was always grim with her humor, even if it was faced with scrutiny from her favorite person. This reckless route "driving," however, was Sakura's way of showing she was going as fast as she could. Nothing was going to get in her way, as long as she had a mission to uphold.
"OUT THE WAY! [FAST WHIRLWIND!]"
It didn't take long to reach the foot of the mountain, and Sakura barreled through the enemies, rushing through like a bullet of wind.
A yeti then stepped forward, freezing the ground in an attempt to trip her up. But Sakura just slid across the ice, unhindered from her many encounters before. She then reeled her foot back, kicking the Yeti in the face as her passengers held on for deep life.
"Enough theatrics, Sakura! Just take another route."
"There is no other route!" Sakura grumbled.
"Then we'll make one. Keel, be ready with some ice."
With a nod, Keel began chanting, the snow flurrying around her.
At his command, Naofumi deployed an Erst Shield, and Sakura lept to it. She then took another leap as it was about to disappear and used a spell herself to leap off the harsh winds. As she began falling, Keel quickly cast her spell, shooting out a pillar of ice from the mountain snow and giving her an area to rest.
The party continued this tactic, avoiding all the monsters falling off the mountain. It was a struggle to keep perfect; one wrong move meant potential oblivion for all of them. But after a bit of jumping, they finally landed back on the intended mountain path.
"Oh, sweet ground." Ake fell to the floor in relief, obviously not enjoying, teetering over death.
Raphtalia too was also relieved, with the three adrenaline jockeys who enacted the plan praising themselves.
"Please tell me that's the last time we're ever doing that."
"No promises, Ake. It's just one of the things you signed up for."
"I didn't sign up for this!?"
"Oh right… Well, you'll be fine."
Naofumi looked at his team, everyone looking up at the whirlwind of snow blocking their path.
"Keel."
"Well, good news; it's not a barrier. Bad news, it seems our boss can control wind and ice." A block of ice flew out of the storm but simply headbutted the ice, shattering it upon impact.
"As I was saying. We should be good to go."
"Then there's no time to lose. Let's finish this already."
Everyone nodded, as Naofumi was the first to step in. Immediately, he was attacked by shards of ice. But he raised his shield, effortlessly blocking the attacks. The attacks continued for a bit before they suddenly stopped.
The monstrous honk of a penguin was heard as it stepped into view. It was just barely taller than Naofumi, but its steps shook the entire mountain. Its body is covered in ice in the shape of armor. And around it were the frozen weapons, most commonly used by the old warriors from Naofumi's previous world.
The boss they were facing was none other than a penguin samurai. And all it did was bow before drawing its flippers back, forming a bow of ice in its hands.
"KWA!" Releasing an arrow, the penguin didn't aim for Naofumi but instead at Sakura, who was the last to enter.
Naofum raised his hand, ready to deploy his shield. But Ake got in the way, swinging his sword and picking up a barrier of wind that protected the two.
Wasting no time, Raphtalia and Sakura rushed forward, attacking from both sides. But the penguin tossed its bow into the air and formed ice on both of its flippers. Both blades struck, Raphtalia's stopping midway through, with Sakura's just narrowly making it past. But all it did was slightly make the penguin bleed before it pushed them both away with a gust of wind.
"KWA!" Swiping its flippers, the bow shattered into a hail of ice.
Naofumi quickly deployed an Erst Shield over Raphtalia, while Sakura attempted to jump away. But she didn't gain as much distance as she expected and was pelted by the ice, leaving her open to an attack.
Before it hit, however, Ake stepped forward, grabbing the penguins flipping and raising his own blade. But when he brought it down, it only chipped through its armor a bit. In retaliation, the penguin stabbed its flipping into Ake. His armor took the hit, knocking him to the ground as the boss failed to pierce him.
It went for Sakura next, aiming for her head. But the bird drew her blade, unleashing its seal and cutting into the penguin's ice. But she was shocked to find that her corrosion didn't work and only left her open to a cut across the chest as she tried to back away.
"[Erst Shield!]"
Naofumi deployed a shield in front of Sakura, preventing the penguin from getting any closer. All this did was make it angry, however, as it summoned another bow. Instead of ice, however, it shot balls of condensed wind at them instead of ice.
Without missing a beat, Sakura lept in front of the bunch with Ake. Knowing wind magic the best, she took charge and formed a barrier that dispersed the balls upon impact.
She then rushed forward with Ake. But just like before, all their attacks failed to pierce through.
"I don't understand; they should have plenty of power to break through," Naofumi grumbled.
He began chanting a boosting spell, hoping it'd turn the tides, but Keel stopped him mid-chant.
"Call Raphtalia over; I think I know what's going on."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me. Now trap it in a ball."
"[Shield Prison!]"
"[Skybound Stormcall!]"
Naofumi trapped a penguin in a shield prison as Keel opened her lightning bottle. Using the time to chant, once it disappeared, she brought it down upon the penguin. It attempted to block the attack with its ice, but it broke through and shocked the boss.
"Kya!" Raphtalia ran forward once the prison ended. Using the moment to her advantage. She trusted her blade, aiming right at the penguin's head, but it leaned back, taking the hit to the shoulder instead.
It struck back, stabbing the raccoon through the chest before tossing her into the knight. It then rushed for the filolial, the girl unable to escape as her head was decapitated. He conjured its bow, aiming for the final three enemies, but it stopped itself.
Its arm hurt, but moved just fine. It expected some pushback from the pain, but that's all it was. Pain, no struggle at all. With a shout, it sent a wave of ice through the ground. The wave continued until it bumped into an invisible person, an invisible person that just so happened to appear as it fell.
"Ow," Keel grumbled.
"I think it found out about our trick."
"You don't say [Shield Prison!]" Naofumi announced.
Keel threw her bottle of poison in as the prison formed around it.
"Focus on the plan, hurry!" Naofumi ordered.
Everyone quickly lept back to Naofumi as they got into their positions.
"Sakura."
Keel touched Sakura's hands as they began chanting.
Breaking out of the shield, it lept away to get away from the gas. Sliding across the ground, it raised its flippers, ready to block Raphtalia's strike. But the raccoon fizzled through his body as a golden light appeared, revealing Ake from behind, carrying a drink in his hands.
Focus on that feeling; keep it burning.
Ake breathed as he cleared his mind. Ever since the church, he had a hard time doing so, but the thoughts of a familiar bird girl of his held back the bad memories. He was at peace. Even if it only lasted for a moment, a moment was all he needed.
He searched deep within his heart, finding the war feeling before. His vitality was vibrant, his life force flaring up. The training he did to find it all culminated into this, and now all he had to do was unleash it… but how?
Observing Zalton before, he had a whole skill-like attack that came from his blade. But even he could tell that was too advanced for him. So he looked at it another way. If one part of his body can be affected by the life-force water, then could others.
He only had one shot to test it out, or this surprise attack would be in vain. Focusing on his arms, he flexed them hard as the warm feeling from his body transferred only to his arms. The warm feeling suddenly felt like a fire, as he was burning through everything he had. But it was all worth it, for this single strike.
/~/
"I think I figured out what's going on. It's the wind." Keel surmised.
"Sakura knew she felt something off. The wind is blowing against us, and hard. Our movements are slower, and our attacks are weaker. Even Sakura has difficulties countering it." Sakura added.
"So we need a way to get past this wind, or we'll be here all day chipping away at its armor."
"I've already been working on it. I can counter the storm. I don't know for how long, but it should be enough for Sakura to kill it."
"Sounds like there's a catch?" Naofumi stared, skeptical.
"Well, I need Sakura to do it. Unless one of you has a wind affinity I can abuse?" Keel asked, only to get shaking heads from the crowd.
"Thought so. I'll keep thinking, but-."
"If I could interject. I may be able to do something about it. I'm not 100% about the idea, but if it fails, I should be able to use my fire magic."
"Be my guest. Raphtalia, can you give him an opening?"
"I should be able to. Its mind is very susceptible to my illusions." Raphtalia nodded.
"Then we have a plan. Once it breaks out, move on the signal. If this fails, we're retreating, so make every move count okay."
"Right."
/~/
"Now or never, Keel!"
"[Anti Whirlwind!]"
Keel and Sakura spun around, a cyclone bursting from their position that countered the rotation of the current storm. As quickly as it was cast, the wind around them burst, the snowstorm finally ending.
Ake felt his body unhindered by the wind and took a big step, his blade carrying the leftover air around it.
"[Self Taught Sword Style: Beginners Flourish]"
Ake gracefully swung his blade, gracefully slashing through the penguin's neck. The grace suddenly turned to gore as Ake violently ripped through the rest of the penguin's head as he suddenly lost the feeling.
Falling to the ground, there was a moment as the snow stopped falling and the wave closed up. The sky returned to its natural blue color as the timer for the next wave appeared in Naofumi's field of view.
The battle may not be over yet, but this was confirmation.
They had successfully defeated their second wave.
/~/
Meanwhile, far away from the battle
"Quite impressive. The shield hero is in Siltvelt and is doing quite well for himself." A shadow dressed in white as she put away her telescope.
"He's nothing compared to Master Takt, though. If he were here, the wave would have been over in two seconds. One to teleport, and the other to obliterate the boss the second it falls out of it's hole." The shadow shook with glee.
"Master Takt. Your new weapon is coming soon!"
/~/
Mache kun: It seems Ake has stumbled upon a cheat code for his training. On the flip side, Keel has been a big help this wave as well.
Thanks for reading. We're back to Melromarc in a few chapters