Chapter Fifteen: The Spirit Tortoise
“It’s so big once you get up close.”
The enormous tortoise was before us, advancing step by step.
When its feet hit the ground, earthquakes occurred. I felt it rattling my bones.
“It sure is.”
“It makes me want to run away.”
“I know how you feel.”
A little over a month ago I was doing all I could just to try and keep up with the other heroes. Now I was facing off against an enemy they couldn’t defeat.
It was a real test. If we were in over our heads, we’d have to retreat.
It wouldn’t hurt me. If it would end up saving the world in the end—not that I was on Fitoria’s side here—that was always an option.
I hadn’t saved it for the Spirit Tortoise, but I went ahead and switched to the strongest battle shield that I had.
Whale Magic Core Shield (awakened) +6 45/45 SR: abilities unlocked: equip bonus, skill “bubble shield”: naval combat ability 2: special effects: water element, heat beam shield (medium), magic assistance, magic recovery (small), underwater time increase: mastery Level 65: item enchantment level 6, fire resistance up 15%: karma pengu familiar spirit, water element equipment abilities up: status enchantment, magic defense up 25
The abilities that came with the Inter-Dimensional Whale type shields ended up being better than the Soul Eater Shield.
The whale had used a heat beam attack and had shot it from a spherical crystal type organ. So the shield was like a semi-spherical crystal, and its counter attack was that same heat beam.
It was also a water-elemental type shield, so I expected it to defend well against fire and water type attacks.
I can only really explain that in terms of games that I’d played, but it would mean that water attacks didn’t work well against fire-based enemies and vice versa. Some games had elemental effects like that.
If I had a number of shields with different elements to choose from, then I could theoretically choose the shield with the best element for battle against each specific enemy.
The magic assistance and recovery effects would make it easier to cast expensive spells.
And if my magic power replenished itself, that would be much easier than trying to use soul eat to recover lost energy.
“That is one big turtle.”
“Fehhhhhh! Master Itsuki!”
The turtle was surrounded by clouds of bat-like servants.
That’s right—now that we know the name of the real enemy, I was able to see the servant’s real names.
“Shooting star shield!”
I deployed the force field and pushed Rishia behind me.
“Hate reaction!”
I used a skill that caused all the monsters in the area to focus on me. The bat-like creatures all responded by swarming in my direction, firing heat beams from their eyes.
There were so many of them. When they descended on us they blocked out the sun.
I could hear the sound of the shooting star barrier beginning to crack.
It wasn’t going to break yet, but it was definitely taking a beating.
“Leave it to me! Hi-yaaaa!”
The old lady jumped out of the barrier. She was spinning like a top, kicking anything that got in her way.
A tornado formed around her and blew away the tortoise’s familiars.
“You can’t have all the fun! Hya!”
Eclair held her hand to her blade, imbuing it with magic. Then she used the point to draw an “X” in the air.
It remained in the air, flashed, then flew at the enemy.
But there were far too many of them to be beaten back by the old lady’s attacks. Every monster she hit fell, but there were many left behind.
But she quickly used the attack again. Come to think of it, her attacks may not have had a cool-down time like the heroes’ skills did. If they did, it must have been very short.
It was a good attack. I didn’t know if it had levels, but if you worked with it from level one, it could probably end up really powerful.
If we made it out of this battle and ended up with time on our hands, I would love to make her my slave.
I almost couldn’t believe my own thought process. If I found a stronger fighter, I wanted them to be my slave.
If I said that out loud, someone would probably slap me.
If both of them had been with us when the wave came to Cal Mira, maybe that battle would have ended differently.
“Hatcho!”
“Hi-ya!”
Raphtalia and Filo left the protective barrier and started to attack the swarming familiars.
“Kiiiii!”
Each time a hit connected, the bat-like familiars let out a squeal and fell to the ground.
I was surrounded by excellent fighters. I could depend on them.
If everything went well . . . But before I could finish my thought even more monsters surged into the air.
“Ta!”
“Hyaaa!”
Raphtalia and Filo were batting them out of the air as fast as they could.
Was it safe to assume the fight was going in our favor?
If they weren’t able to break through the shooting star shield barrier, they weren’t really anything to worry about anyway.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. There are a lot of them, but they are not very powerful. We can handle them.”
“Good.”
I heard something like a heavy explosion and noticed that something seemed to be leaking from the Spirit Tortoise.
I soon realized it was hordes of monsters. They were like gorillas with shells on their backs, and they were running straight for us.
They must have been the yeti-like monsters we saw back in the village.
“Zweite Aura!”
I started casing support magic on everyone.
“First Guard!”
Rishia cast a defense-boosting spell on me.
That was a pretty good idea. Her stats may have been low, but she wasn’t an idiot.
“I’m going! Illusion sword!”
Raphtalia's sword flashed black and white as she swung it at an approaching monster.
The monster she hit was sliced clean in two, then those two pieces turned into black and white balls before running into other monsters and destroying them.
Two birds with one stone?
“That was great, Raphtalia!”
Eclair thrust her sword through a nearby familiar and shouted at Raphtalia.
“Yes, I did just as you instructed.”
“Let’s see if I can’t still show you a thing or two!”
“Alright!”
Raphtalia swung her sword in time with Eclair’s attack, and their attack effects seemed to synchronize. The monsters around them dispersed.
That was some impressive teamwork.
“Buchikuikku!”
Filo was running through crowds of monsters and kicking the life out of them.
“Ah-cho!”
The old lady followed behind Filo and took out any monsters that had survived her attacks.
“Fi . . . First Water Shot!”
Rishia, somewhat hesitant, shot a ball of water magic from within the safety of the force field.
It didn’t kill the monster it hit, but it did cause the monster to stop in its place.
“This isn’t so bad!”
It wasn’t, but then again, if we’d had trouble with just the servant monsters, then we’d have no chance against the tortoise.
What were we going to do about that thing? The other heroes had probably tried to battle it directly. Since they had gone missing, there was a chance that maybe they were still fighting inside of the giant’s body.
“Keep it up everyone!”
“Okaaay!”
“Yes!”
“Fehhhh!”
We kept battling the servants and advancing until we eventually found ourselves standing in front of the Spirit Tortoise.
It seemed even larger up close. Its face alone must have been the size of a village.
What was the next step?
The Spirit Tortoise looked down, directly at us.
“———!”
The tortoise roared so loudly we had to cover our ears. It didn’t look friendly.
The shooting star shield force field looked ready to cut out, so I used the skill again. Within it we were safe from the familiars. I looked up at the tortoise.
It was looking directly at us. It raised its front foot into the air.
“Dammit!”
The foot was swinging at us. I readied my shield.
The shooting star shield barrier broke with that same shattering sound I’d heard during the fight with Glass. Immediately after the field broke, the foot swung straight at me. I held up my shield.
The attack rattled my whole body.
“Ugh.” I was pushed back a few steps. Sure enough, shooting star shield wasn’t going to be enough to protect us against the tortoise. Seeing that the barrier was gone, the familiar monsters crowded towards us. “Not this time!” Raphtalia and Eclair jumped ahead of me and beat back the encroaching horde of monsters with a blur of techniques. Rishia crouched behind me, under my cape, understanding nothing of the situation and whimpering. “Here it comes again.” We’d been able to survive a direct kick and the tortoise’s advance. Things were looking good. “Hyaaaa!” “A-cho! Holy saint, be careful!” “Yeah! If you get in trouble, I’ll protect you!” The old lady and Eclair fought the hordes of monsters back and made attacks at the Spirit Tortoise’s head whenever there was an opening. I saw a spurt of blood issue from one of their attacks, so the tortoise must have taken damage. It didn’t seem to mind though. The shooting star shield force field ran out again. I deployed another. “Everyone, get over here!” “Roger!” “Understood!”
Immediately after we moved, the sky filled with heavy clouds. Bolts of lightning fell on the familiars as they rushed to attack us.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the monsters fell to the ground, electrocuted.
The lightning immediately killed whatever it hit, but the shock also spread out from the target monster, causing other monsters to fall.
It was the support magic from the queen and her troops.
If they didn't get the timing right, the spell could have hurt Raphtalia and the others.
They must have waited to see my shooting star shield barrier go up before casting it.
“Alright everyone! Back on the attack!”
I shouted as the lightning subsided.
I didn’t know if our attacks would have any effect against the giant monster, but maybe it was weaker than it looked.
Maybe it was because of the queen’s magic, but there appeared to be much fewer familiar monsters than there had been.
We decided to ignore the servants when we could and started to direct our attacks at the Spirit Tortoise’s face.
“Take THAT!”
Filo charged up all her strength and kicked the tortoise hard across its giant chin.
“———?!”
The Spirit Tortoise raised its massive head to dodge her attack.
“Oooh, it’s so heavy!”
“My turn!”
The beast’s head was raised high to avoid Filo’s kick. Raphtalia dashed at the exposed neck and sliced at it with her sword.
There was a sound like a tomato being cut, and a cut appeared at the base of the tortoise’s throat.
Blood sprayed out.
But the tortoise didn’t seem hurt. The wound quickly closed itself, and the furious Spirit Tortoise turned its gaze to Raphtalia and Filo.
“I won’t be shown up by my students! Hengen Muso Style essence! Full moon!”
The old lady began to furiously kick in circles. Something shaped like the full moon appeared in the trail of her kicks and flew at the Spirit Tortoise.
It slammed into the tortoise’s face and exploded.
So that is what everyone was trying to learn how to do when they were practicing with the boulders.
It was too powerful for Raphtalia and Filo alone, but it had to deal with too many attacks.
“Now!”
“Magic thrust!”
Eclair filled her sword with power before thrusting quickly forward.
Her sword was glowing. The end of each thrust produced an impressive concussive force that slammed into the tortoise’s head.
The attack was weaker than the old lady’s, but the Spirit Tortoise was hurt by it.
“Fehhh!”
Rishia was also rushing to cast attack spells, but they were too weak to be of any use.
Still, she was trying.
Raphtalia and the others had become very powerful though. Thinking back on it, L’Arc and his crew had been oddly powerful, but the monsters you encountered in a typical wave weren’t. So even if the Spirit Tortoise was a very strong monster by comparison, was there any reason to think we wouldn’t be able to handle it?
“———!”
A huge magic circle appeared before the tortoise.
I didn’t like the look of that.
A second later, everyone outside of the force field fell flat to the ground.
“Ugh.”
“What . . . What’s happening?”
“I feel so heavy. It’s like I’m being crushed!”
“Control your energy!”
Only the old lady was still on her feet. The Hengen Muso Style must have really been powerful!
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. It feels like I’m being sucked to the ground. I can’t move.”
Damn! I didn’t know what was going to happen, but it wasn’t good.
Raphtalia and the others were in danger!
“Fehh?”
Rishia was still whimpering and hiding under my cape.
What was her problem?
The force field was shaking, which must have meant it was still protecting us from something.
I moved to try and get everyone into the boundary of the force field.
“That feels better.”
Once they were within the barrier, all three of them stood up.
Had the tortoise used some kind of gravity magic?
But the tortoise’s magic hadn’t been able to break through my barrier.
“———!”
“Wh . . . ?!”
The tortoise opened its mouth and howled.
Actually, no. I saw a shining object travel from its torso and up through its throat.
That made me nervous.
I quickly ran to the head of the group and redeployed the shooting star shield barrier.
Crackling electricity issued from the beast’s mouth.
Electricity?
Damn! I was using a water element shield!
I switched to the Soul Eater shield as fast as I could and used shield prison.
The monster’s mouth was filled with electricity now, and it roared, sending out a cloud of lighting in a straight line.
The stream of electric breath caught up any servant monsters in its path as it flew towards me.
It was like a particle cannon from an anime!
“Ugh.”
“Mr. Naofumi?!”
“Waaa!”
“Fehhhh?!”
The force field collapsed immediately, and I could smell burning skin.
Pain overtook my whole body, but I didn’t lose consciousness.
There was a second that seemed to last an eternity. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
“Huff . . . Huff...”
It was hard to keep focused on what was going on, but I could tell that the tortoise’s attack had ended.
I felt like my muscles were burned.
The last time I’d taken damage that bad was when I’d used blood sacrifice.
Actually, it felt worse than that.
That was close. If I’d still been using the Whale Magic Core Shield, I probably would have been vaporized.
“Master?!”
“Mr. Naofumi?!”
I wanted to cast a healing spell on myself, but I couldn’t concentrate.
A second later a warm, healing light fell on me.
I saw my wounds heal themselves, but it would still be a while before they healed completely.
“Zweite Heal!”
I cast a healing spell on myself and blocked the tortoise’s foot that was swinging at me to finish me off.
Yes, I could think again. I assumed that the queen had cast a spell to save me.
Someone had saved me anyway. Apparently the Soul Eater Shield wasn’t powerful enough to block that last breath attack.
Luckily, the tortoise needed to recharge if it wanted to use that attack again.
I turned to survey the damage. Everywhere aside from where I’d protected was completely uprooted and destroyed. A mountain in the distance had been ruined. It had been reduced to a pile of rocks.
“Filo, charge up your magic power.”
“Okay!”
I had a bottle of magic water prepared for times like these. I tossed it to Filo.
The Spirit Tortoise had noticed that we were still moving. It formed another magic circle in the air and raised a foot to crush us.
But I wouldn’t let it!
“Shield prison!”
A cage of shields appeared around the force field.
There was a cacophony of clanging against the shields, but when the shield prison broke, the force field beneath it stopped the foot.
I wasn’t sure if it could withstand the tortoise’s bodyweight though.
The barrier started to crack—it wouldn’t hold out much longer.
“We’re moving. Stick with me! Whatever you do, don’t step out of the barrier.”
There was no need to just stand there and let the monster step on us.
“Okay!”
“Okaaay!”
“Fehh . . . Alright.”
Once all five of them agreed, we took off running from the Spirit Tortoise’s foot.
There was a crash and an earthquake where the foot came down. Clouds of dust billowed up around it.
None of the dust crossed the shooting star shield barrier.
“Well, we were able to withstand it, for now.”
“It looks like he can’t find us in all the dust.”
“It looks like he thinks he already got you, doesn’t it? Is your magic already depleted?”
Maybe he could sense our magic power to find out where we were.
You could tell just by looking at the tortoise that it had lost us in the dust clouds.
Or I wondered if it used the eyes of its servant monsters to figure out where things were.
“Ugh . . . But our chance to attack...”
Familiars were dropping heavily out of the air all around us.
The tortoise was unsure. Maybe it was trying to check and see if we were dead.
There was no time—what to do?
“We don’t have another attack, do we?”
“We do, but it’s not ready.”
“Right. Using it once is exhausting.”
It sounded like they had a plan.
But if they could only attack once there could be a problem. If the attack didn’t kill the monster, we’d have to retreat.
“Raphtalia, can you use that thing again?”
“Yes, you mean the special attack I do with Eclair?”
“Yeah. Do your best!”
“Okay!”
“I’ll help the bird god loosen up a bit!”
The old lady ran around Filo and punched her here and there.
“Ouch! Stop that!”
“Old lady, stop being a pain.”
The old lady seemed to enjoy causing Filo pain. Creep.
“Huh? I kinda feel good! Master!”
“Oh yeah? I guess those were pressure points or something.”
She was a teacher of an impressive school of martial arts after all. And this was a different universe. I guess she could do things like that.
So that was good news.
“Can I leave this up to you two?”
We’d gotten in a good hit at its throat before. With any luck, maybe we could finish it off.
“Leave it to us.”
“Yeah.”
Raphtalia and Filo both crouched into position for their strongest attacks.
I recognized Filo’s immediately.
She started to flap her wings.
She was focusing her magic power, and it was strong enough to see with the naked eye. A whirling vortex of wind appeared behind her.
“I’m almost ready, sis!”
“I need more time.”
Raphtalia’s tail was all puffed up.
Then it grew even puffier. A number of magic circles, like mandalas, appeared all around her. She was condensing all of her magic power.
“———!”
The tortoise noticed them and started to lurch in their direction.
Damn. The dust had started to clear. He must have seen us!”
Just like last time, the Spirit Tortoise opened its mouth wide and howled.
Its torso started to glow, too. It was definitely about to use that electric attack again.
I thought we’d have more time!
“He’s attacking! Are you ready yet?!”
“We just need a little more time!”
“Fine. I’ll block it again. Use the extra time to charge your attacks as much as you can.”
“Okaaaay!”
“Understood.”
To survive the attack I would need to have the shooting star shield barrier in place.
I tried to recall what I’d learned in my week of training.
I didn’t know if I could do it yet, but I needed to try.
I focused all my magic into my hands.
“Shooting star shield! Air strike shield! Second shield! Dritte shield! Shield prison!”
Before me three shields expanded to protect us from the front. Behind that line of shields the shield prison cage appeared. Our defenses were set.
It was the most defensive position I’d ever taken. Last time the tortoise used this attack the barrier and shield prison had broken. Let’s see what it could do this time.
When the skills deployed I felt my magic power drain away.
I didn’t know what that meant or if it would help.
I wasn’t sure that I understood what the old woman’s energy was or if I could use it.
But I bet I could survive one more attack from this monster!”
“———!”
A dense stream of particles flew from the tortoise’s mouth.
The attack broke the air strike shield, then the second shield cracked, and finally the particles burst through the dritte shield.
It was a very powerful attack, but it lost power each layer it went through.
It hit the shield prison next.
It stayed put for a few seconds before a hole appeared on one side. The stream of particles flew into the hole.
The interior of the prison filled with light for a moment before breaking.
I held my shield with both hands and readied for impact.
“. . . !”
The power of the stream as it slammed against the shooting star shield force field was amazing, but it wasn’t as strong as last time.
A crack appeared, and then the barrier fell.
The attack was coming straight at me.
I moved my magic power into my hands and gripped my shield with all my might.
“Ugh!”
The shield conducted the charged electric particles. My whole body, inside and out, sizzled painfully.
I grit my teeth against the pain and pushed forward with my shield.
The attack ceased a few seconds later. I had survived it.
My shield was smoking in my hands.
But Raphtalia and the others were safe behind me.
“I’m ready! Filo?”
“Yes!”
Raphtalia climbed on Filo’s back and released her charged up magic power.
“Spiral . . .”
“Directional . . .”
Dust and light began to swirl around them.
The light split into eight black and white balls.
Raphtalia’s attacks always had a somewhat eastern flair to them.
“Strike!”
“Sword of heaven!”
In a flash, they flew straight through the tortoise’s throat. They moved like a beam of light.
The Spirit Tortoise was shocked.
But no, its body was already sliced apart. It didn’t even have time to react.
That’s right. The massive head was torn clear from its neck, and it flew through the air, showering the whole area with hot blood.
The tortoise’s torso fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
“We did it!”
If its head was gone, it was safe to assume we’d won.
The battle had been easier than I’d expected.
I guess we didn’t really have to get inside it and seal its heart away.
The army behind us was cheering.
“Fehhh...”
Raphtalia and Filo landed and then collapsed.
“We did it.”
“Yeah, you did it. Good work.”
If we could come up with attacks like that, then we weren’t going to lose.
We were definitely much stronger than the other heroes now.
“Yes, that was amazing. Even after all the training we did together, your power was astounding, Raphtalia.”
“Only because you taught me how to do it, Eclair.”
“No, your attack was very surprising. You must be more powerful than even the Sword Hero.”
Compared to Ren? Actually, yeah, she probably was. The other heroes were far too weak.
But he could still power-up, if he’d only listen.
But where were they, anyway? What were they doing?
“And the Shield Hero, Mr. Iwatani, you were amazing. You defended against that terrible attack not once, but twice. You truly are the Shield Hero.”
“Yeah well, that’s all I can do.”
Glass’s attacks in the last wave had been very powerful, but the Spirit Tortoise was no pushover either.
How much longer could I count on being able to defend against these attacks?
If the day came that I couldn’t stop an attack, I wouldn’t be the only one to suffer for it. All my friends would die, too.
I had to remember that.
I didn’t tell anyone, but I promised myself not to let that happened.
“I’m glad that’s over.”
“You were amazing.”
Rishia was very impressed.
I wanted to say something, so I opened my mouth.
“Rishia, you can do everything we did if you work at it.”
“Fehhhh. . . I could never!”
“You can. You will!”
“I could never!”
Rishia just kept saying that she could never do it. I guess we would have to start working on her attitude, too.
We went back and forth for a little while, savoring our victory and the defeat of the Spirit Tortoise.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login