Chapter Ten: Shield of Wrath
“!!”
I turned to the sky and screamed, but no noise came from my throat.
I hate it! What did I hate? The whole world! Everything!
I hated everything so much I thought I was going to lose my mind.
Everything was red and black, and everything I looked at caused more hatred to bubble up from within.
“!”
I heard someone speaking to me. For a second, it felt like I’d been doused with water. But even that was meaningless.
“!”
Everything I touched was irritating. I wanted to burn it all!
“Master, do you really hate everything?”
“Everything tried to trick me, to hurt me, to kill me! I hate everything!”
“Really? Really? Do you really mean it?”
Yeah… so what?!
“Did you hate all the time you spent with me and Raphtalia?”
I… remembered that voice.
I remembered a young girl that stayed by my side through everything. She was loyal through everything. She protected me even when she was hurt. It filled my mind.
There was one that hatched from an egg, grew up, and said that she loved me.
“That…”
“I knew you didn’t. I knew you didn’t because, Master, you always tried to do things for us!”
The black and red were giving way. Everything was clearing.
It was like they’d thrown water on the fire. I felt the water seeping into my heart.
“So, Master, I’ll eat your anger! I’ll eat your hatred!”
Suddenly everything was clear. I looked around.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“Are you okay?!”
It looked like only a few seconds had passed since I screamed at the sky.
Raphtalia was speaking to me. She was worried. Ren put his hand on my shoulder.
“Master, are you okay?”
“You… You held me back?”
“Yup. It was hard on you, wasn’t it?”
Filo was in her Filolial Queen form. She hugged me from behind. Her wings and legs were burned. They were black. She must not have been able to endure the power of the shield once it grew stronger. It must have been very painful. And yet… And yet she was worried about me.
“I’m… Raphtalia and I… and Mel, and everyone! We all believe in you. We believe in you, so… do your best!”
“…Yeah. You’re right… You’re right.”
I couldn’t afford to be swallowed by hatred.
All I had to do was crush the source of my pain. If I could just kill him, what happened later didn’t matter.
I’d… for Melty, for the heroes… I’d kill him!
“…I’m going.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to use my strongest shield’s strongest skill.”
“What’s with that Shield? It’s always been ominous, but it looks even worse now.”
The Shield of Rage II had an angry dragon shape on it, but when it became the Shield of Wrath it looked even scarier. The dragon’s face had twisted into a demon’s, and its corners were bent and warped.
“It’s a skill I’ll probably use on you some day. Attack him and give me a chance to use it.”
“You… Oh well. I guess we don’t have any choice but to rely on you.”
“That’s correct. You’re a hard guy to trust, but it’s our only chance.”
“Whatever.”
“We’ll use our magic to support you.”
The heroes all nodded and turned to face the high priest.
“Now, now… What a useless resistance. Let’s end this. Our preparations are complete. Your end is at hand.”
The air seemed to be filled with magic. The sky was filled with light, growing denser, ready to fall on us at any moment.
“Let’s go!”
When I shouted, all the heroes ran towards the high priest.
“Filo, put me on your back and fly!”
“Ooo-kay!”
Filo flipped me onto her back and leapt high into the air.
“High-level ceremonial magic, Judgment!”
The baptismal light in the sky came shooting down!
“Goooooo!”
I held my shield up.
A sound like breaking glass filled my ears, and the light fell on me.
But it wasn’t powerful enough to break through the Shield of Wrath III. Not a single photon made it past me.
“He’s not hurt by Judgment?! Could it be?!”
The high priest was shocked. Half of his smile melted away.
I’d paid a heavy price to use that shield. I hoped it was as powerful as it felt.
“You fool! You won’t survive this!”
The high priest raised his sword and brought it down in my direction.
“Phoenix Blade!”
A bird made of fire erupted from the blade and flew straight for me.
“I don’t think so!”
I readied my shield. Filo was chanting a spell, forming some kind of connection with me. I suddenly knew what to do.
The words appeared in my head. Rage Robe (medium) activation requirements?
“The Shield Hero and his tribe are the source of power. Hear my words and heed them. Turn these flames into strength!”
“Wrath Fire!”
My rage would be my power.
The bird of fire flew straight into me. The flames spread to try and burn me, but all the fire turned into power for me.
“What?! He ate my skill?!”
The attacks of the heroes and Filo’s powerful kicks cracked and then destroyed the high priest’s force field.
“Here I come!”
Filo used her best attack!
She was in her Filolial Queen form, but she was moving her wings in the same way as she had when she’d attacked Fitoria.
She had enough power to use it now, in a real battle. She was moving towards the high priest very quickly.
The high priest turned his weapon into a spear and readied it to block her.
He started to spin the spear in front of him. I was getting a bad feeling.
“State of Selflessness!?”
Motoyasu shouted in surprise. It must have been a powerful spear skill.
“You cannot resist the will of God! I am God himself!”
Everything but Filo’s attack flew back. The spear was filled with light.
“Ugh!”
“Ouch!”
The light from the spear reached me. It felt like it was trying to rip me open from the inside. It was very painful.
A counter skill?! How obnoxious was he?!
“But you can’t stop us!”
“Can’t I?”
Then his weapon turned into a bow and he jumped backwards.
“Don’t let him escape! Filo!”
“Yup! Haikuikku!”
She was on him in a flash, kicking.
But the high priest vanished the second her kick connected.
He couldn’t get away. He had to die.
Where… Where was he? The minute I started to wonder, a large number of high priests suddenly appeared!
What now? All the disciples had suddenly switched form. They looked just like the high priest!
“Mirage Arrow?!”
Itsuki shouted.
“That skill forms illusions and confuses the enemy! Be careful!”
Damn… how were we supposed to find the real high priest?
The field was filled with high priests, and there seemed to be more and more by the second.
“Heh, heh, heh… That was interesting, but it’s time we ended this.”
All of the high priests raised their bows and pulled back the string. He was ready to use a skill.
“This is the most powerful single skill. Shield Demon, I hope you enjoy it.”
The bows were shining. Shit! I could probably survive it, but how would we get a counter attack in?
“I am the queen and the source of all power. Hear my words and heed them. Restrain them in a cage of ice!”
“All Drifa Icicle Prison!”
All of the high priests suddenly realized that their legs were encased in ice.
Then, one by one, the fake high priests all reverted to the original forms.
“Now.”
Who was that? No, I didn’t have time to worry about that now. I had to focus on defeating him. I had to take down the only real enemy.
Blood Sacrifice!
The moment I thought of it, the necessary words appeared in my vision. I spoke them.
“Let this foolish criminal be punished as I see fit. The sacrificial shout to heaven! Let his fool’s scream piece the sky! May dragon jaws born from my flesh erase him from this world!”
“Blood Sacrifice…. Ugh!”
Wh… Wha?!
The second I finished summoning the skill, blood bubbled out of my mouth and pumped from my pores, my flesh ripped, and my bones screamed out in agony.
Was it a suicidal skill?!
The high priest saw me howl in pain and smiled.
But a second later… a large, bear trap-like set of rusty claws appeared directly beneath the high priest’s feet.
No… I should call it a dragon’s jaw made from metal.
Unlike a normal bear trap, this had rows upon rows of sharp metal prongs… It really looked like a dragon had opened its mouth from underground, and like a shark, it had many rows of teeth.
“Wh…”
A loud, metallic snap echoed over the field, and the jaws sprung shut on the high priest.
“UGAHHHH!”
His screams filled the air.
There was a flash, a spray of red blood, and a dark shadow.
“What is this?!”
The jaws snapped shut, but all they did was heavily damage the high priest, who quickly summoned a skill to break the jaws. However, his attacks were not effective.
The jaws snapped shut twice, three times, and the replica legendary weapon was covered in cracks. The jaws snapped again, and with them came the sound of metal clattering and breaking. Again and again, like they were smiling, the jaws snapped shut.
It was… gruesome.
“Ugh… I… bl… God…”
Finally, the high priest was little more than a bloody clump. The jaw snapped shut a final time and sunk down into the earth—vanishing.
“…”
We all watched on in silence.
All the skills that came from the Curse Series were gory things. It was a soul-eating Shield, after all.
After watching that, I could agree with Fitoria’s warnings.
I realized, and agreed, that it was not the sort of thing to use normally.
The remaining disciples were whispering to each other in desperation.
“…And that’s the end of you all.”
The support troops charged into the crowd of disciples and began to restrain and then tie them up.
So I guess we won.
I was watching the support troops, but then I slumped forward and fell off of Filo.
The Shield of Wrath had unlocked a new skill, Blood Sacrifice.
It was very powerful, but asked for so much…
“Master?!”
Filo was covered in my blood. She was holding me, and she looked worried.
My shield had reverted back to the Chimera Viper Shield.
“You’re badly hurt! Someone! Someone help!”
A woman officer came running when Filo shouted.
“Mother?!”
Melty shouted when she saw the woman.
That was right… The officer who’d been leading the support troops…
She looked exactly like the queen’s doppelgänger.
Her mouth was hidden with a folding fan, but I was pretty sure.
“Your performance was very impressive, Shield Hero.”
She must have been the one who’d shouted and stopped the high priest in his tracks.
“Everyone! Treating the Shield Hero’s wounds is our highest priority! That’s a royal order. Whatever happens, the Shield Hero must live!”
“Yes!”
The medical team from the support troops ran over to where I lay and began to cast spells over me.
“Drifa Heal.”
I was surrounded by light, but my pain didn’t go away at all.
“This… This is a curse. But I’ve never seen one so powerful.”
The medics exchanged shocked glances. They began casting anti-curse magic. They sprinkled me with holy water. But nothing was working.
“We must investigate this further! Everyone please hurry! Yes, you too!”
The queen gave Filo and the medics orders, and they all ran off.
“Uh…”
My entire body was screaming in pain. But I couldn’t lose consciousness… not here.
Because I still didn’t know if the queen was a friend or an enemy.
“Y… You’re the queen?”
“Yes, I am the Queen of Melromarc, Mirellia Q. Melromarc. I apologize that it took us so long to get here.”
“Yeah… that was really… slow.”
Slow, slow to do anything and everything. Did she have power, or not? Did she run the country, or not?
Didn’t she have a grasp of everything that had happened?
I had so much I wanted to say to her.
I wanted to tell her just how terrible her daughter and husband were… I had so much resentment.
“It’s true… All of this was my fault.”
“Mother…”
“Mama, why are you apologizing to the likes of him?!”
Bitch was pointing at me and screaming hysterically. Veins were standing out on her forehead.
“Malty… There are things we must discuss when we get back to the castle. I suggest you prepare yourself.”
The whole scene seemed to rumble and shake.
No one was mad at me, but I still felt my nerves tense up and my blood run cold.
The queen snapped her fingers, and two shadows appeared behind Bitch. They tied her up.
“But, Mama!”
“Shut that fool up.”
“Ha!”
They stuffed a gag in her mouth and led her off.
“What are you doing to Myne?!”
Motoyasu was standing there, unable to believe his eyes.
“I am Myne… Malty’s mother. I have simply exercised my authority to have her transported back to the castle. Now then, Heroes, the battle is over. Let us return to the castle in peace.”
The queen had a powerful aura that shut Motoyasu and the others up immediately.
As for myself, I didn’t have the energy left to complain. It had been a hard battle.
“As for you, Shield Hero, or should I say Mr. Naofumi Iwatani? The treatment of your wounds is my highest priority, so please try to get some rest. I will make all the necessary preparations.”
Medics appeared with a variety of medicines, tools, and holy waters.
It felt a lot like being in an ambulance back in my own world.
“But… But I…”
What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the country to the southwest? I had so many questions.
“I understand. Why have I been away this whole time? Why didn’t I help you? If I was supposed to be in another country, why am I here, leading an army? There is so much for us to talk about, but for now please just focus on getting better.”
“Mr. Naofumi!”
Raphtalia looked very worried. She was crying as she walked up to my side.
“I thought my heart had stopped! Please tell me you’re all right!”
“Well… I…”
I really did feel like I was seriously injured. Everything pulsed with pain, and I was exhausted.
Filo seemed to understand that everything was going to be okay. She transformed into human form, and she and Melty came over to the carriage they were loading me into.
“Your wounds are serious. Hurry, this way.”
Filo was also hurt. Her limbs were all burned black with cursed flames. The medics called to her.
“No! I have to stay with Master!”
Maybe she was just too concerned with my wounds? I could only guess why, but she refused to go with them.
“Filo, it will be okay. All these people are here to heal your Naofumi.”
Melty was very worried. She held Filo and ran her fingers through her hair.
“But Master…”
“You know that Naofumi would want you to have your own wounds treated. He wouldn’t want to see you like this, would he?”
Perhaps wondering if that were true or not, Filo cocked her head and looked at me.
I swear. She was so selfish all the time, but now she was worried?
“It’s fine. Go get treatment.”
My words came out almost as a whisper. Then Filo nodded, and she went over to receive treatment from medics. They began to chant spells that were supposed to be effective against curses.
“This curse is very powerful…”
The medics were whispering to each other. I guess it really was a powerful curse.
The Curse Series suddenly seemed aptly named.
The shield was powerful, so I’d been careful to only use it when I really needed to. Still though, this Blood Sacrifice was an entirely new matter altogether. It asked of so much from me, just as Fitoria had said. It invited my own destruction.
“Hurry with the ‘Sanctuary’ preparations!”
Was that the magic that had nullified my self curse burning?
The people gathered around were not only from the Church of the Three Heroes…. but they seemed to be part of some other religion… but what? Maybe it was the Church of the Shield? That seemed like something I could get behind…
I was thinking it all over when my eyes began to feel very heavy.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“Naofumi!”
Raphtalia and Melty shook me awake.
“Huh? What?”
“You have to stay awake.”
“What are you talking about? You’re acting like I’m dying or something. But I’m not. I’m fine.”
Though I couldn’t fault them for thinking that. I really could have died.
I certainly wasn’t going to die in a place like that… but I was very tired.
I wanted to sleep… even if only a little.
But I couldn’t yet. I wasn’t safe yet. We weren’t in a safe place yet, but I couldn’t even move.
And so…
“Raphtalia, if anything seems strange, you take Melty, jump on Filo, and run.”
“All right. But if it comes to that, I’m taking you with us.”
“Sorry. I don’t think I can make breakfast for you tomorrow. I need to… rest.”
As I spoke, I felt my vision fading. A moment later, and I was in a deep sleep.
“Mr. Naofumi! You can’t sleep. You can’t! Mr. Naofumi—”
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