Chapter Fourteen: Liberation
Damn it! Things were already looking bad, and now we had even more enemies to fight! Now we were stuck between two major threats—what could be worse? They must have been waiting for the right time to spring their attack. We’d played right into their trap. They had waited until we were trapped in the deepest chamber. That way there would be no chance of escape.
Come to think of it, the mimicked forms of Glass and L’Arc had appeared just in time to guarantee their escape from the tunnel. Could this have been their plan all along?
“You . . .”
Everyone on my side of the battle bristled with caution. There was no way out. Could I use Portal Shield to escape? I concentrated on the idea, and that was when I noticed a blinking icon next to the skill name. Unavailable.
“Ha!” L’Arc leapt at me. I decided to block his attack and then send Raphtalia and Filo after him. Yes. I readied my shield.
But L’Arc flew right past me and swung his scythe into one of the approaching neo guardian types.
“You alright, kiddo?”
“What?”
Glass was slowly approaching us with those dance-like steps of hers. Therese never stopped shooting balls of fire at the familiars.
“L’Arc, aren’t you working with this guy?!” I shouted. I was sure they were on the same side, but now L’Arc jumped ahead of me and leveled his scythe at the approaching familiars.
“Come on! You really don’t know what you should and shouldn’t do, do ya, kiddo?”
“What do you mean? Aren’t you trying to destroy the world? What does it matter to you what we do?”
“Heh. Even if that does end up happening, we still have to protect what we can, right? The vassal weapon is crying about it,” L’Arc said in between thrusts with his scythe. It was making a strange sound.
Actually, so were Glass’s fans.
“As one who possesses a vassal weapon, you’ve entered a space you should not have. Therefore, we must join forces with our enemy, Naofumi, to defeat you, Kyo Ethnina, he who holds the book of the vassal weapons,” Glass said, stepping up to stand beside me.
“Huh? What the hell is going on?”
Everything was changing so quickly. I couldn’t keep up.
So this guy Kyo was Glass’s enemy too? They were going to fight him? Because he’d done something he wasn’t supposed to?
“Get it, kiddo? You can stand back for a bit.”
“Answer my question!”
“I already told you! We’re on the same side—for now.”
“You’re not very good at explaining things, L’Arc. Mr. Naofumi, please listen to me. This man you are currently fighting is from our world, and he holds the book of the vassal weapons. The vassal weapons we hold demand his punishment. Therefore, he is our enemy,” Therese explained.
Glass spoke next. “Unfortunately we don’t have the time to explain everything. To make it simpler, even if one is from another world, they must not be permitted to take control of the protective beasts. Therefore we must join forces with you to stop him, despite how unpleasant it may be.”
What about how the mimicked familiars that had seemed to protect Glass and L’Arc when we’d met in the tunnel? Was that the enemy trying to confuse us? Come to think of it, L’Arc and the others hadn’t attacked us. For a second, it had even looked like they were trying to attack the familiars that were after us. I guess I hadn’t imagined that.
“I thought it would take you longer, but you got here pretty quickly,” Kyo barked angrily.
“Yes, no thanks to all the trouble you sent after us. You even managed to keep us from teaming up with Naofumi’s party earlier on, didn’t you?”
“You expect me to tell you anything?”
“That’s all the answer I need.”
“Damn it.” Kyo spat.
That was stupid. Didn’t he realize that by pretending not to answer, he was telling them what they wanted to hear? He was obviously just pretending to be intelligent. I didn’t like him, not one bit. He really was Glass’s enemy.
“Oh man, after we saw you, kiddo, things got pretty rough. The floor caved in and we ended up in a really weird place,” L’Arc started to complain. But I didn’t have time to listen to him.
Kyo’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile, and he summoned more neo guardian types from the walls. At the same time, the three heroes squirmed in their crystal prisons, their faces growing more and more pale.
They looked like they could die at any moment.
L’Arc and his friends were going to help us, but the familiars in the chamber were increasing exponentially.
“Let’s go! Hya!” L’Arc swung his scythe and dispatched two of the neo guardian types at once. “Argh!” He strained to bring the scythe back around.
“Come on! You’re stronger than that!”
L’Arc was a strong fighter. He could even manage to get through my defenses. Raphtalia could have taken down two of the familiars without too much trouble, so it was hard to believe that he had to strain himself to pull it off. Was he just pretending to be on our side?
“Ah, I guess you don’t know. I’m only that powerful during the waves. Now I’m just a level 75 vassal weapon possessor.”
“What?!”
If the vassal weapons were like the heroes, then it meant he was weaker now than he was the last time we’d fought him. Of course, that’s just what he was telling me. I didn’t know if it was true.
“And Glass over there is only around level 40.”
“L’Arc! Why are you telling them all of that?!” Glass snapped.
Her skills were still powerful enough to kill a neo guardian type with one hit, especially using Tortoise Shell Split.
“It’s because we haven’t spent enough time in this world.”
“L’Arc!”
“Oh, shut up, already! Don’t you see that we need this kid’s help if we want to win?”
“Ms. Glass! Stay alert!” Therese shouted.
Glass quickly turned around to find a neo guardian swing a sword at her. She quickly flipped open her fan to block the attack.
They were right. She wasn’t as strong as she had been the last time.
What did he mean when he said they hadn’t been here long? Was that why they were weaker? I’d have to worry about it later—at least they were on our side. This was our chance. I quickly sent L’Arc an invitation to join the party as a support troop.
“Thanks, kiddo! Glass, hurry up and accept it!” L’Arc accepted first, followed quickly by Glass and Therese.
“Did you pass the army troops on the way down here?”
“Yeah. But without Raphtalia around to see through our spells, we were able to get by them without getting caught.”
The troops had probably thought it was weird, but if L’Arc and the others pretended to be from the army, then they wouldn’t have stopped them. They just had to walk with confidence.
“Alright. That’s all I need to know. Shooting Star Shield!”
It would probably break immediately, but that was fine. At least it would stop one attack.
If we could just get a quick break from the onslaught, L’Arc and the others could get a few attacks in.
“Hya!” L’Arc swung his scythe at one of the neo guardians.
“Acho!” the old lady shouted as she charged one of the neo guardians with her shoulder. It must have been a defense-rating attack, because the familiar went flying.
“Tya!”
“Ha!”
Raphtalia sliced at one of the monsters, and Eclair followed up with a thrust to finish it off.
“Tah!” Filo shouted, clawing at a familiar with all of her body weight behind it.
We were actually holding our own.
“Alright! Filo, Raphtalia—” I didn’t have to finish the sentence. Both of them jumped back from the front line and started to charge up their attacks, when . . .
“You think I’ll let you get away with that?!” Kyo shouted, filling the air with fluttering pages from his book. He muttered a spell to himself and threw a glass bottle at the ground. It shattered with a big puff of smoke, and the whole room filled with green light, followed by a creepy, dull sound. It was like the buzzing of insect wings. “Expanding Composition Form Six! Invigorate!”
The fallen neo guardians all noisily climbed to their feet. They moved faster, and more powerfully, than before.
“Oh no!” L’Arc shoved Glass out of the way and blocked an attack.
“L’Arc . . .”
“Damn it. These things have gotten stronger!”
Three of the neo guardians turned to attack him at once.
“Air Strike Shield!” I shouted, deploying a shield to protect them.
“Thank you, Naofumi.”
“Thanks, kiddo!”
“Save it for later!” I shouted. We weren’t out of this yet. I cast Second Shield to protect Eclair. Behind them all, Ost and Therese seemed to be doing okay on their own, or so I thought. A neo guardian in the distance leveled an arrow at them. They might have been able to dodge it, but I didn’t want to take the risk, so I used Dritte Shield to block it.
I was surprised that the Shooting Star Shield barrier was still in place. Filo and Raphtalia were still focusing on preparing their skills, so they couldn’t defend themselves. I’d have to do it for them. The chamber was absolute chaos. Familiars were everywhere, and the air was filled with fluttering book pages. If we used a big powerful skill, there was a chance that some of our allies might get swept up in it.
Therese was using a convenient type of magic that distinguished between friend and foe, which helped a little, but the spells weren’t strong enough to turn the tide of the battle.
I had to start thinking about retreat. But if we escaped, the other heroes were as good as dead, and who knew what that madman would do next? No, escape wasn’t an option.
“Ahaha! Come at me! Give me all you’ve got! Ahaha!” Kyo burst into a fit of laughter but kept his dead eyes trained on me.
The odds weren’t looking good. Worse yet, our enemy was using the three heroes and the Spirit Tortoise itself for an energy source. So we were getting tired, and he wasn’t.
If we could destroy the core, maybe we’d have a chance of stopping one of this energy streams. But the core was too well defended.
Well defended?
“L’Arc!” I locked eyes with him, then raised my shield, pointed, and motioned to Kyo with my eyes.
Understanding what I meant, L’Arc nodded. “You’ll try anything won’t you? Alright then!”
I ran over and jumped into the spot L’Arc was defending. He jumped back a few paces, made the tip of his scythe shine, and then ran forward and jumped, using my back as a springboard.
“Hyaaa!”
He flew through the air, gaining a lot of ground—but not enough to reach the core or Kyo.
Kyo giggled and sent a group of neo guardians to surround the spot he expected L’Arc to land. They each raised their weapons.
“Shield Prison!”
I summoned a cage of shields in the air above them, and L’Arc landed on it, then leapt at Kyo, bringing his scythe down hard.
Crack! The barrier that had protected Kyo shattered and fell to the floor.
That’s right. The barrier had a very high defense level, which meant that L’Arc’s defense-rating attacks were all the more effective.
“Now!”
At my signal, the two people behind us who had been casting spells switched gears and attacked.
And of course, the rest of us didn’t let up with our attacks.
“Shining Stones! Rain of Thunder!”
“The source of all strength, the Spirit Tortoise, commands you! Read and comprehend all that is under the sun, and show your power to me!”
“Gravity Field! Extreme Gravity!”
Ost produced a black magic ball—much larger than the times she’d done so before—and shot it at Kyo.
But the incantation sounded different this time. She’d used a different name. Was she . . .
“Damn you!” Kyo shouted.
The fluttering pages in the air snapped into place and lined up in layers before him, just like I did with my shields, to block Therese and Ost’s spells.
“Hya!”
L’Arc had another chance! He spun his scythe and sliced at Kyo. Kyo shot his hand out, and the air before him crackled with magic, repelling the scythe blade. Then, reflexively protecting its commander, a neo guardian ran to attack L’Arc.
L’Arc wasn’t going to go down so easily. He knew when to pull back, and he did, jumping away to get some distance.
“Well, well. That was really something. I didn’t know you could use defense-rating attacks.”
“I’ve had trouble with those attacks before. I’m the Shield Hero, so I know a thing or two about dealing with high defenses.”
“Ha! Aren’t you smart? Let’s see how you like this!” Kyo opened his hand and the barrier reappeared. Then another appeared. Then another. Soon there were layers upon layers.
L’Arc and Glass gasped.
“I’d like to see you get through all of these!”
“Old lady.”
“What?”
“Raphtalia is going to stop charging up and take care of all the small fries. You focus on those barriers.”
“Understood! Filo—I’ll leave this up to you!” she shouted, slipping from the battle line and running over to Kyo.
“You’re wasting your time.”
“Acho!”
A neo guardian reached for her, but she jumped onto its shoulders and used it as a stepping stone. High in the air, she could almost reach the barrier —but not quite. Everyone had their limits.
“Air Strike Shield! Second Shield!”
Just like I’d done for L’Arc, I sent out shield after shield, sometimes to protect her, sometimes to form a platform that she could use to get closer to Kyo. L’Arc was approaching from the other direction, hacking his way through hordes of neo guardians.
“Take that!”
“Acho!” She slammed the barrier with a defense-rating attack and it shattered. Then the one beneath it shattered too. She kept crashing through them.
“What?! How can . . . How is she doing that?”
“What does it matter? You didn’t think we were out of ideas yet, did you?” I taunted him.
He glared at me, his eyes burning with hate.
His ego was fragile. He let himself get worked up over the slightest taunt! If he had to endure even a fraction of what had happened to me in this world, his head would probably explode.
“Acho!” the old lady shouted, shattering the final barrier with her elbow.
L’Arc was right behind her. He swung his scythe, and it slammed into Kyo.
“Filo!”
“Yup!”
Or I thought the scythe had hit him. In a last, desperate attempt at defense, the fluttering pages shot down to block L’Arc’s attack. A shockwave expanded out from Kyo. It was so powerful it sent the old lady and L’Arc flying. They slammed into the wall.
Damn. Our timing was off. Filo hadn’t finished charging her attack in time.
“Spiral Strike!”
She moved so fast she was a streak of light. She shot through a neo guardian, and kept flying until she blasted through Kyo.
She appeared again on the other side and . . . yes! A huge hole sat where Kyo’s stomach used to be.
“Filo-chan! That was really something!”
“Yay!” Filo said, striking a victory pose. I wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet. Kyo tottered and looked like he was about to fall to his knees. But then, with a gushing sound, the flesh on his torso regenerated to fill the hole, and he stood there as if nothing had happened.
“I didn’t think anyone could hurt me.”
What kind of monster was he?
Restorative magic existed in this world, so it wasn’t completely unbelievable that someone might be able to heal their torn flesh. We’d have to hit him where it really hurt next time. In his chest or his head.
“Fascinating. You really surprised me with that one. But I’m smarter than you are, so it’s going to take more than that. Look, I’m as good as new!”
This guy couldn’t speak a sentence without insulting someone. Why did he think he was so smart? If the attack had hit him a little differently, he would have died—and we would have won.
“Good as new? Sure. Let’s see how many times you can pull that off. We can all see how this is going to end,” I said, flashing him a confident smile.
He was the sort of person that freaked out when you ignored him. He’d take any sort of attention he could get. Fine then. I’d entertain him with my answers and wait for him to show his back.
“But I’m getting a little tired of playing with you. I probably can’t get any more energy out of this place, so maybe it’s time to wrap this up,” he sneered condescendingly.
When he finished playing his hand, I hoped that he would shut up.
He formed another series of protective barriers around himself and held his hand out to the Spirit Tortoise core.
The air in the chamber began to vibrate.
What was going on?
“Ugh . . .”
“Ahhh!”
“Damn . . .”
Nearly everyone in the room fell to the floor. They squirmed, unable to move.
I could barely stand myself. Was it a gravity attack?
“Shooting Star Shield!”
The force field appeared and then shattered a moment later.
“That’s not going to work! It’s an offensive gravity field! I’m using the Spirit Tortoise’s best attacks against you now! Almost no one can move in here!”
I looked around the chamber, but there were a few people still standing: Ost, Glass, the old lady . . . and Rishia, who stooped but was still on her feet. Everyone else was pinned to the floor, unable to move.
The gravity field was so strong that not even Raphtalia or Filo could move to escape it.
The neo guardians and Kyo didn’t seem to be affected at all.
“Not . . . Not yet!” Glass shouted defiantly at a neo guardian that stalked toward her.
Anyone that could still move rushed to protect their friends from the neo guardians. I stayed on my feet to protect Raphtalia and the others. The old lady protected L’Arc and Filo, and Ost protected Therese, Rishia, and Eclair.
“Shield Hero!”
Ost cast a spell and a force field of some kind appeared around her. Then Therese, Rishia, and Eclair slowly climbed to their feet. I grabbed Raphtalia by the shoulders and dragged her into the force field.
“We made it.”
Kyo was smiling at us. He looked like he might burst out laughing.
“I wonder how long you can hold out?”
“Ugh . . .”
Ost was tiring. Her face was growing pale. It didn’t look good. No one could keep up their normal activity under the sort of pressure that the gravity field was exerting on us.
Not even the old lady or Glass.
Huh? I saw Glass drinking from a bottle of what appeared to be soul-healing water.
I suddenly remembered what had happened during our last fight on the islands. L’Arc had dumped a bottle of soul-healing water on her, and she ended up insanely powerful as a result.
I’d thought something wasn’t quite right when L’Arc had said she was only round level 40. But now I understood that she was boosting herself with that medicine this whole time. I pulled a bottle out of my shield and tossed it to Glass. There were still enough materials stored in the shield to make more if I needed to, but I didn’t have the time.
“You have my thanks.”
She covered herself in the water and immediately began to move easier and faster. She slapped open her fans and jumped forward.
Her attacks seemed to carry the same weight they had when we fought on the islands. She physically smashed through Kyo’s barriers, knocking aside any neo guardians that got in her way.
“Well now . . . look at that . . . the spirit strives . . . come on then . . . come on.”
Her attacks landed powerfully as she beat her way across the room, but she began to slow down. Before she reached Kyo, she seemed to be losing power and speed.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. The spirits have no endurance.”
What was this “spirit” he kept talking about? Glass?
Huff . . . Huff . . .
“I’m not done yet.” She opened her fans and looked like she was about to use her special move, Reverse Snow Moon Flower.
What could I do? Was I supposed to just sit there and watch?
Ost reached out and touched my shield, resting her weight against me.
“Lend me your power. As the Shield Hero, lend us that magic power. Let us move in this gravity field. Let us shatter the barriers.”
The voice was very weak. It was like it was speaking to my soul. It was different from a human voice, but I heard it speaking to me.
I quickly imagined myself casting Zweite Aura.
“That’s not it. That will not overcome this.”
“But . . . But I . . .”
“Relax. Think of the spells you know. Imagine yourself spinning the highest magic.”
What was she talking about? Before I could say anything, she continued.
“The shield you are currently using has magic assistance properties. It is not so difficult, so please concentrate. I will help you.”
Was she talking about the Whale Magic Core Shield?
Come to think of it, it did have a special effect called magic assistance, but I never knew what that was supposed to mean, so I’d ignored it. I had just thought that it made my healing and support magic more effective.
But Ost seemed to know exactly what it meant.
Which made me wonder, could she see all my stats and abilities?
“I, the Spirit Tortoise, command the heavens, command the earth, defy all reason, join, and spit up blood. Oh great strength . . .”
As Ost spoke, I thought I could feel the power in the room gathering around us. What was happening?
I knew that she was using that unique form of magic she had, but . . . something . . . something different was happening. I could feel something flowing into me.
“A while ago, I told you that I wanted to teach you this spell. I’m sure you’ll be able to cast it on your own someday. Please, remember this feeling.”
I nodded silently.
Ost was our last hope, and she was using me to carry out her plan.
I had to do all I could.
Something appeared in my mind, like a puzzle.
It was fuzzy and hard to make out, but it looked like a series of pieces that could fit together. My intuition told me that different magic spells would result from different arrangements of the pieces.
With what I currently knew, there weren’t very many shapes I could hope to make from the pieces. But Ost was arranging them for me, indicating the pieces and where they needed to go. Each time I placed a piece incorrectly, it faded away and disappeared. Luckily, they reappeared after a moment. In all likelihood, without Ost there to help me, the disappearing pieces would probably be lost for good. When the shape assembled the wrong way, Ost somehow reversed the process. To finish the puzzle, I just had to follow her lead.
Watching the pieces arrange themselves in my mind, I almost felt like laughing. The puzzle was so difficult that I didn’t see how anyone could have possibly figured it out.
If I had to spend this long arranging pieces in my mind during battle, I’d be dead for sure, especially considering how much concentration it required.
As the pieces arranged themselves, I could feel them drawing SP and magic away from me. Ost must have been feeding the spell with her own energy, too. All the spells I’d known about so far just required the user to use a particular phrase or incantation with some of their magic power.
I thought back on the learning curve I’d gone through to learn magic, and I think it was actually harder to learn to read the magic book than it was to actually cast the spells. In some ways, magic was actually pretty easy to use.
But this spell was different. The spells we had already learned were simple enough. Learning them wasn’t so different than learning spelling or vocabulary in school. But this spell felt more like . . . it felt more like math. The pieces were like different numbers, and arranging them in different ways would produce a different result—a different spell. Before I knew what was happening, I was speaking.
“I, the Shield Hero, borrow the strength of the Spirit Tortoise to command the heavens, command the earth, defy all reason, join, and spit up blood. Oh great strength of the dragons—join the power of the heroes with magic. The source of power that is the Shield Hero commands you. Read and comprehend all that is under the sun, and show your power to me! I command you—give them everything!”
“All Liberation Aura!”
The field of effect was . . . all of my allies?!
What was “liberation?” I thought the highest magic level was “drifa!”
The spell activated, and my magic power and SP quickly began to drain away. I felt faint for a second, but it was nothing like what was happening to Ost.
“Are you okay?!”
“Yes . . . I . . . I can stand.” She jumped to her feet. Something about it didn’t seem right. Sure, she was a familiar, and we were close to the heart so she could regenerate faster than normal. But how could she just jump to her feet after using so much of her energy?
The spell she used earlier was strange, too. She had said “Spirit Tortoise” instead of “Ost” when she cast it.
Could Ost really be . . . No—I had to focus on what was happening before my eyes.
“Ha!”
Glass was running around at three times the speed she had been, slicing at Kyo with her fans. L’Arc and Filo leapt to their feet as if nothing had happened. It was a strange sight to see.
“What is . . . ?!”
“What the hell?! You had a move like that up your sleeves? You liars!” Kyo screamed.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. I really want to snap at him. He was calling us liars? Ha!
“Everyone! Hurry and attack! You should be able to move freely within the gravity field now!” Ost shouted. Everyone nodded and took off running.
Rishia was still tottering on unstable legs. She was the last to start moving. “This . . . This magic power . . . It’s . . . unbelievable!”
Therese shot ball after ball of flame at the endlessly replenishing stock of regenerating neo guardians, charring them on the spot. Raphtalia followed the spells with her sword, which slipped through them as if they were made of butter.
The neo guardians were falling like flies, and everyone was pressing towards an increasingly helpless Kyo.
“This is it!”
Glass led the charge, followed by L’Arc, Raphtalia, Filo, and the rest. They all had their weapons out and were moving in for the kill. Was I supposed to join them? It felt strange to sit back and watch.
“Hyaaaaa!”
I couldn’t tell who had shouted first, but someone moved in for the final attack.
Just then, Kyo smiled. In a flash, another barrier—like my Shooting Star Shield—appeared around him. How many tricks did he have up his sleeve?
“I didn’t want to do this until everything was over. But I will show you my true strength. You should be grateful.” He opened his hand, and energy began to swirl around the room and gather at his fingertips. The energy was coming from the Spirit Tortoise core!
“No thanks! Everyone! Charge him together!”
I didn’t want to stand back and watch him fill his hands with whatever that stuff was. At my call, everyone in the room attacked his force field.
But every time they broke it, it reappeared in a flash.
“Ugh.”
And every time it broke, Ost squealed in pain beside me. Everyone noticed the pattern.
“Huh? Oh? You mean you don’t know? Well, now’s a good a time as any to show you!” Kyo shouted. Cords of light immediately appeared and bound Ost’s feet together. They pulled her up into the air and then inside of his barrier.
When she entered it, it grew even thicker!
Desperate to save her, everyone furiously attacked the barrier.
With each attack, Ost twitched and yelped in pain.
“Ost!”
“You idiots! You really don’t know who this is?”
“What are you talking about?” When I asked him, Kyo nodded to himself, pleased.
“Oh, Shield Hero. I know you’re stupid, but you must have some idea— right? Don’t you know who she is?”
I don’t think Ost knew who she actually was until we started getting closer to the heart. The only reason we’d made it as far as we did was because of her help. She was also the only reason we stood a chance in this fight.
“My . . . My real name, my real form . . . I am the Spirit Tortoise itself. I am its very soul, manifest in human form.”
“But then . . . But all this time we’ve spent together!” Raphtalia shouted, unable to hide her surprise.
“If the Spirit Tortoise dies, then so will I. That much hasn’t changed. So do not worry,” Ost said. Seeing the worry on everyone’s faces, she choked down her pain and smiled to tell them it would be alright. They all eased their attacks.
“Well, this is a good time to take the energy she’s absorbed this whole time.”
“U . . . Ugh . . .”
The cords of light around her arms and legs started to drain away Ost’s remaining energy. At the same time, a translucent blue ball appeared in his hand. It almost looked like it was filled with water.
I knew that color. It was the same color as the sand in the blue dragon hourglasses. It started to shine.
“Ain’t it pretty? It’s the energy that the Spirit Tortoise gathered. And now . . .”
The ball flashed and became transparent before melting into his hands.
The air in the chamber began to vibrate.
What was going on? I’d seen something like it in manga and video games. It was the kind of thing that normally happens at the end of a major battle, when the enemy’s power skyrockets.
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