by Aneko Yusagi
“You sounded so pleased with yourself for a moment there. I’m sorry to spoil your mood, but that smoke is where your precious toy planes crashed into the ground,” I happily reported.
“No way! Not Rulina and the others?” Takt really couldn’t believe it, but it was the truth. By now, Trash’s strategy should have knocked all of Takt’s airplanes out of the sky. The planes he planned to use for bombing and troop deployment should have run afoul of the ore from the Glawick mines, which Trash had gathered in the air over Melromarc.
Glawick ore was basically rock that could float in the air.
This world had a lot of these kinds of rocks that could float, so Takt’s forces would be prepared to dodge them, but that was where the Raph species had come in. They were incredibly good at concealing things, after all. Using something on the level of cooperative magic, they had made it look like there was nothing at all in the skies over Melromarc. Even better, that day the weather was clear. It really looked like the perfect day to take to the sky. Of course, that sky was actually filled with floating Glawick ore.
Those airplanes were unable to make sharp turns. It wasn’t hard to imagine them being unable to avoid the rocks and just crashing right into them. It went without saying that the plan also considered that the rocks alone would not be enough to take all the planes down. The paratroopers they carried had then been targeted by wind and gravity multi-cast magic from Melromarc magic users working together and standing up on the rocks.
Parachutes had pretty obvious weak points, after all. Hit the chute part with some magic and they were screwed. Our enemies might have been planning to use wind magic to protect themselves in the case of an emergency, but they wouldn’t be able to cancel out an increase in their descent provided by gravity magic. Not to mention the poor fools would also have magic and arrows targeting them down below, so regardless of how high their levels were, they wouldn’t be getting away in one piece.
For once, things seemed to be in our favor. All thanks to the Wisest King of Wisdom.
“W-what happened?!” Takt asked.
“I’m not here to share my life story,” I said mockingly. “If I had to boil it down, you should have paid more attention to all that talk about the past genius of the Wisest King of Wisdom.”
“Bah!” Takt’s retinue raised their guns.
“That same Wisest King of Wisdom told me to tell you that your strategy is the lowest of the low. Every bad decision you could make, you made it,” I told him, really rubbing it in. The most idiotic strategy Takt could possibly have chosen was what had led to this exact situation. That he was completely unprepared for us reaching him was again was, according to Trash, proof of that fact.
The one that I’d personally considered pretty dangerous was Takt coming to the front lines and deciding to fight us singlehandedly, but according to Trash, that would have been a mistake too. Even if it had come to that, the combined heroes should have been able to defeat him, so it probably wouldn’t have been too much of a threat.
Immediately after the fighting started, Trash had muttered the following. “He’s coming at us with a strategy even worse than the most idiotic ones I considered for him . . . almost as though this is some kind of suicide attack. Is he trying to lure us in? Or does he just consider us incapable of opposing him? If this is a trap, then let us pretend to be caught in it and see what he does in response. If it isn’t a trap, that will still put us in an advantageous position.” Trash had now probably seized that advantage for himself.
Whatever. Right now, I just needed to concentrate on what I could do in this situation.
If there was something I was worried about, it was not having the old lady with us. She had looked very displeased about it, but due to her experience on the battlefield, I had been forced to put her with our main force. I’d told her that Raphtalia had already managed to escape, which had at least put her a little at ease.
The complicated smiles on the faces of the Siltvelt leaders at seeing Trash in action had also left an impression on me.
“I never dreamed the day would come when we fought on the same side as the Wisest King of Wisdom, our most hated foe for so many years,” one of them had muttered with deep emotion. “We really were up against a monster, weren’t we?”
He had also planned all sorts of strategies to use in the melee fighting. He had not shared them with anyone for fear of the information leaking out, but he had one or two hundred strategies ready for simultaneous deployment as required. These included providing combat support using our excellent means of communication.
“They might not all function, but some quick modifications should provide much of what we need,” he had said. All we needed to do was concentrate on defeating the enemy commander in the enemy base. I wasn’t sure if he was mocking the enemy or had some plans to win that I didn’t know about. The only thing I could say about that was, “You’ll have to ask Trash.”
Seriously, he was like some kind of genius general from a story or anime. Things were going so well I almost wanted to make a joke about him being some kind of psychic.
Honestly, I was just happy I never had to face Trash in the prime of his powers. If the Trash I had faced when I’d been framed had been on his game like this, I wasn’t sure I would have been able to prove my innocence.
“In that case, I’ll head over to the battle right now!” Takt deployed his claws and looked ready to dash away at once.
“Hold it. You’re not forgetting about us, I hope? We’re not the same guys you fought the last time,” I told him. We were here not just to stop him from leaving, but to defeat him.
“You really think you pond scum can defeat me?” he taunted.
“Of course. The whole point of this battle is to end your life. As you fight us, try and think about where you went wrong,” I replied. I was having so much fun thinking about how his face would twist once we defeated him that I couldn’t even get angry anymore. We hadn’t come here unprepared, after all. We were here because we had a good shot at winning.
“What are you talking about? You’ve come all this way just to help me get stronger, is that it? Then I guess I have to fight you,” he replied. Takt’s women raised their guns again.
“So? Another cowardly volley of fire and then you pick off whatever remains?” I said. This taunt had been scripted by Trash too. Takt’s expression tightened, his brow furrowing. He was incredibly simple, that much was for sure. A few choice words and he was hooked. “It sounds nice when you call it a ‘grand strategy,’ but really it’s just a coward’s way of winning.” If he didn’t take the bait, we had other plans too.
Crap, I looked around and didn’t see Witch anywhere. I didn’t know where she was.
“Very well. I’m enough to handle you rabble alone. I am level 350.” He had a relative sense of justice then. Or maybe he was just an overly proud moron.
In either case, Trash’s strategy for the fight against Takt proceeded to the second phase. From here it was about my personal fight and had nothing to do with Trash.
If I lost now, that would make me a laughingstock!
“You rabble? That’s my line. Why do you think I haven’t paid you back for the cowardly surprise attack you unleashed on us?” I questioned.
“No surprise attack will work on me!” Takt suddenly exclaimed. Was he even listening to anything I was saying? It seemed impossible to talk to this guy.
“In any case, in order to truly destroy everything you have established, I’m choosing to fight you head-on,” I told him. I had a trump card with which I could definitely win, but refraining from using it was what would prove my own claims. “I’m enough alone to handle a fake hero like you.”
“Brother?!” Fohl voiced his surprise at my comment.
“Sorry, Fohl. Just hold fast,” I said.
“But—” he started.
“Hold it. I’m not telling you not to fight at all. Just stay calm and watch what happens,” I told him. Then I took a step forward,
staff up on my shoulder, and made sure Takt saw it.
“Hmmm. That staff . . .” Again, he took the bait right away.
“Yeah. It’s one of the seven star weapons that you want so badly. I’m its current wielder,” I told him.
“What luck for me. I’ve already taken the shield from you, so taking another weapon won’t be an issue,” Takt jibed.
“If you think you can do it, go right ahead,” I told him. The two of us glared at each other. “Where’s Witch, anyway? Waiting amid all these people to launch a cowardly magic attack from behind us?”
“You mean Malty? Hah, she’s still back in Faubrey. Even with how low this place has fallen, she probably doesn’t want to see the end of her homeland,” Takt theorized.
“You have no idea who Witch is, do you?” I snapped. He had no idea who that bitch was. She of all people would be the one happiest to see Melromarc destroyed.
“Master Takt, let us fight too.” A number of his women stepped forward. There was the aotatsu who had fought with Fohl and the fishy-one who had been hostile to Sadeena during our last encounter. There were two others, as well: the lizard-like woman and the one with wings on her back like Filo.
Gaelion and Filo stared down each of these respectively.
“Nelshen, Shate, Leludia, and Ashil too? Very well. Better than just having you watch. Show him what you are capable of! It will be the true hero and his allies who win this battle,” Takt said.
“True hero, you say? Doing all of this, there’s no way any of you are heroes!” Ren declared, taking a step forward. The woman with the lizard-like tail glared at him and Gaelion.
“Master Takt isn’t a hero?” she responded. “You must be blind. You four holy heroes are known for nothing apart from being weak. We’ll show you who the real king is!”
“Allow us to beat the truth into you!” added the aotatsu woman, moving up to stand in front of Fohl. “We’ll show you how noble, how wonderful the man is who you face. That you hakuko with your faith in the Shield Hero—that all of Siltvelt—are just backward rejects!”
“Move aside! I don’t care about you!” Fohl shouted.
“Fohl,” I calmly said. “You can join in with my battle once you take care of her. If this idiot hasn’t been defeated by then.”
“Understood. I’ll be right with you, brother! Leave this to me!” Fohl returned, continuing to glare at the aotatsu . . . Nelshen, wasn’t it?
“Who am I going to fight?” Sadeena asked. “You?”
“Female orca! You are not allowed to exist!” said the fishy woman. Then she transformed. She was a shark-like therianthrope.
“You look like a noid and kusha mix. Do you have something personal against me?” Sadeena asked.
“Such impudence! You orca have always mocked my kind!” the shark woman spat back.
“I don’t know anything about that, but if you want to fight me, then I’m game. You fall back, little Shildina,” Sadeena said. The shark woman seemed to be holding some kind of inter-species grudge. I didn’t have time for that. Sadeena seemed to consider the chip on her shoulder to be an annoyance too.
“What? I want to fight too!” complained Shildina.
“Then go and help Filo. I think she’s going to struggle,” Sadeena commented. Shildina looked at Filo and the Griffon and nodded.
“Oh my. I’ll finish that quickly and then get serious with you,” she said.
“Good. Just do your best,” Sadeena replied.
“Enough joking around! I’m going to finish you both off!” the shark woman raged. Immediately after that, Sadeena unleashed her own murderous wave of energy. Shildina’s face had a huge grin on it. The two were acting like members of a certain warrior race—I almost expected their hair to change color!
“You think you can handle Shildina and myself on your own? Joking around like that is more likely to make me mad than make me laugh!” Sadeena shouted, pushing out another wave of pressure to put the aggressor in her place.
“That arrogance!” The shark-like therianthrope was pushing back for a moment and then shouted back in rage. “I’ll show you what I can really do!” As the bickering went back and forth, S’yne suddenly stepped forward from my side and deflected an incoming bullet using her scissors.
“You’re getting—”
“Ahead of yourself a little, aren’t you?” her familiar said for her, while she pointed her scissors at the maid-looking woman at Takt’s side. She’d apparently attempted to make an advance move on me with a rifle.
“You will pay for the crime of upsetting Takt,” she said.
“I won’t allow that!” It looked like S’yne and the maid were going to be fighting.
“Holder of a Dragon Emperor fragment, you got away once and then came back again? You must really want to hand it over to me,” said the lizard-like woman.
“Kwaa!” was Gaelion’s response.
“Hah. Let me show a weak, pathetic fragment like you the terror of a true Dragon Emperor!” she shouted. With a series of cracking sounds, the lizard-like woman started to turn into a dragon—a big one. She was even bigger than father Gaelion. I couldn’t quite say what it was, but I felt something from the dragon as she faced down Gaelion, something crackly, similar to the Spirit Tortoise and the Phoenix. The place my shield had been ached too . . . There was definitely something about that dragon.
To be honest, I hadn’t been able to understand why I needed to bring Ren along when I was facing just Takt. But Trash had sent Ren along with me just in case, having a bad feeling about the whole thing. Maybe this was what he had been worried about.
“Puny Dragon Emperor fragment! Takt said to leave the women alive, but that doesn’t apply to you,” the dragon spat.
“Hey. Don’t forget about me,” Ren quipped, leveling his sword at Gaelion’s side. “Naofumi, who should I fight?”
“That dragon looks the strongest. You help Gaelion fight it,” I told him.
“Okay,” he replied with a nod and then leapt onto the now large Gaelion. It looked like a combination father Gaelion would have something to say about. It would probably be along the lines of the twist of fate that now put two who had tried to kill each other on the same side.
“You think any of the four holy heroes stands a chance against me?!” the dragon roared.
“Leludia, you can take the hero?” Takt asked.
“Who do you think I am, Takt? Any number of these fools can’t hope to take me down!” the beast responded. At her side, the woman with the wings also transformed. She was the griffon. Filo faced her down.
“Filolial. Our hated foe who crawls along the ground! I am the griffon who shall end the bloodline of the queen,” the creature spat.
“Wow, are you a bird? Or a cat? Either way, I’m not losing to you again,” Filo responded, her face as relaxed as ever. Her opponent was meant to be a higher level than Filo . . . but she wasn’t letting it show at all.
“Bird God . . . let us fight together. I will end this quickly and prove I am superior to Sadeena,” Shildina said. So she called Filo “Bird God” too? Of course, in Q’ten Lo, a proclamation by Ruft had meant that Filo was treated as a bird god.
I had to shake my head and push these unnecessary thoughts to the side.
“Let’s get this farce underway then—a battle with a conclusion that is already determined.” At my words, Takt gave a provocative laugh.
“Well said! The start of a battle we will definitely win!”
With that, each individual fight started.
Chapter Eight: X
The fortress’s terrace was too narrow for this.
In order to better conduct their battles, everyone other than Takt, the woman at his side, and me quickly moved down from the terrace and started fighting each other inside the fortress. Gaelion, Ren, Filo, and Shildina headed into the sky. Gaelion was flying with Ren on his back, while Shildina was supporting Filo while using magic to make her float.
“Raph . . .” Raph-chan’s tail w
as all puffed up as she stared down the fox woman from among Takt’s retinue. So the enemy was stooping to using illusion magic. They really were filthy. And Raph-chan was blocking it for us. She really had been making great progress recently. The fox woman was probably trying to conceal herself in order to provide surprise support for an ally just when they needed it.
Bad luck, foxy.
I had to focus on Takt, anyway. He was already laughing.
“You have one seven star weapon, while I have five of those and a holy weapon too! That makes six! And you think you can beat me?!” he crowed.
“Power obtained by illegitimate means. I’ll teach you how a fake can never defeat the real thing,” I replied.
“You talk a good game,” Takt cackled back.
“Tell me. Why are you spitting toward heaven?” I asked.
“Huh? What are you rambling about now?” he asked.
“You’re so dumb, so let me spell it out for you. You’ve got a big boomerang coming right back at you,” I told him.
“What do you mean?” he raged. Surely it wasn’t the number of weapons one possessed, but the number of power-up methods one knew that was important. While it may expand a range of available strategies, there was a limit to the number of different weapons a single person could hope to effectively wield alone. To be quite honest, rather than one person hoarding them all, I would have been more worried about facing a group of people each armed with one weapon.
From that perspective, Kyo had been smarter than this guy.
I immediately held the staff in both hands and started to incant magic. The Seven Star Staff had an innate ability to reduce the time it took to cast magic. Trash had told me that, once mastered, it allowed even Drifa-class magic to be used without any incanting time. It also allowed magic for which one had no aptitude to be learned. That had proven pretty useful too, enough to surprise me when I tried it out. Simply holding the staff in my hands made me painfully aware of how difficult a weapon the shield was to wield.
I almost didn’t want to have to give the staff back to Trash.
