by Aneko Yusagi
After several moments, the flames died away. The area in front of me had been transformed into a field of smoldering ash.
“Hmph. Killing you would mean losing a source of power. That attack is not quite powerful enough to deliver a decisive blow. That’s its downside.”
“Ugh . . .”
I cast healing magic on myself and got ready to continue the fight. I had no doubt that he was trying to weaken me so that he could assimilate me into his body.
“Naofumi, you’re his target! You need to stay back, no matter what!” Ren shouted.
“Mr. Naofumi! The Sword Hero is right! Be careful! The dragon is clearly trying to weaken you!” Raphtalia added.
The Demon Dragon was taking a moment to recover after unleashing such a massive attack. Raphtalia and Ren took advantage of the opportunity and leapt at him to resume their attacks. Earlier in the fight, the two of them had attacked at the same time and the compounded effect had left a faint mark on the Demon Dragon’s scales.
Was there nothing I could do? If I paired up with Sadeena, we could cast our cooperative magic spell, Descent of the Thunder God, on Raphtalia and Ren. That should increase their attack power. Sadeena must have realized what I was thinking, because she nodded and took my hand into hers. But was that really all I could do? I couldn’t help but wonder.
The job of a shielder was to block the opponent’s attacks and to create openings for allies to attack. If they had some leeway, they could assist the other party members while helping to keep them alive. Naturally, that’s exactly what I had always done. There was nothing else I could do.
“Hmph . . . It looks like I’ll need more power. Let’s try this then,” whispered the Demon Dragon.
He started to concentrate. Naturally, his movements also slowed, but Raphtalia and the others still couldn’t land a decisive blow.
If he was leeching my abilities, then . . . Wait. Leeching my abilities? It was safe to assume that he was using the abilities of the Shield of Wrath. Ren had implemented the power-up methods, and yet his attacks were still ineffective. I was the only one with a high enough defense rating to pull that off. The Demon Dragon even said that he was using the Shield of Wrath as a medium. So what would happen if I intentionally failed a power-up attempt on the Shield of Wrath?
“He’s using my shield as the source of his power. I’m going to try intentionally failing a power-up attempt on the shield.”
Ren turned to me and nodded.
“That makes sense! I hadn’t thought of that! Give it a try, Naofumi!”
“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Rat.
“Failure is always a possibility when powering up our weapons. If I intentionally cause it to fail, then the Shield of Wrath will be weakened. In other words, the shield that is supplying his power will become weak. And that means . . .”
“The dragon will be weakened too!” she exclaimed.
“Exactly. If he’s getting his defense from my shield, then that should make it possible to harm him with our attacks. I’m sure of it!”
I made up my mind and got ready to power up my shield. And that’s when it happened!
“Did you really think I hadn’t thought of that?”
Chapter Nine: Forced Power-Up
“What?!”
The Demon Dragon cast a spell and magical symbols appeared on my shield. The power-up screen suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
Would you like to attempt to power up Shield of Wrath from +7 to +8?
Huh? Wait! I hadn’t done anything! The cursor moved to “yes” on its own and the power-up attempt initiated.
“What did you do?!”
“Heh . . . I’m sure you’re smart enough to have figured out what’s happening. I’m not against trying my luck either, you know.”
Warning: Power-up level will be reset to 0 upon fail —
The Demon Dragon selected “yes” before the warning even finished displaying. There was a clunking sound and the power-up symbol appeared.
+8 power-up successful!
Shit! Why the hell did it have to be successful at a time like this?! Ugh . . . I nervously looked over at the Demon Dragon.
“Bwahahaha! I enjoy a good gamble from time to time! Heroes! Feel my power!”
The Demon Dragon swung his tail. He was even faster than before! He flapped his wings and a powerful wind rushed through the air!
“Ugh . . .”
Damn it! Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse! At the very least, I needed to cast support magic on Raphtalia and the others.
“Zweite Aura!”
I wasn’t prepared to lose to this powered-up Demon Dragon. I cast my support magic on Raphtalia and Ren.
“Air Strike Shield! Second Shield! Raphtalia! Ren! Use those as footing and to protect yourself!”
“Understood!”
“Thanks!”
The Demon Dragon’s scales were glistening. In MMOs, it was common for a shiny effect to be added to a weapon’s appearance whenever a high-level refinement was successful.
“Umm, hey, Count. Is it just me or . . . Did he not just get stronger?”
“Yeah. He’s interfering with my shield. But I’m not just going to stand by and watch!”
Two could play this game.
“Careful now! I can’t have you going and causing trouble, my little medium.”
Locked.
When I tried to power up the Shield of Wrath, that was the message that appeared on the screen. Shit! I couldn’t power up my own shield! What the hell?! In MMOs, every now and then someone’s account would get hacked and they would lose control of their character. That’s what this felt like!
The Demon Dragon immediately attempted another power-up. Once again, he chose “yes” for both prompts immediately.
+9 power-up successful!
. . .
“Whoa!”
Ren was unable to dodge the next attack. He went flying and smashed into the wall.
“Ren!”
“I . . . I’m okay!”
He and Raphtalia could no longer keep up with the Demon Dragon’s attacks. They were lagging one step behind now.
“Count?!”
This piece-of-shit shield! Did it want to kill me?! This was its chance to fight back by failing and weakening that bastard! If he succeeded again, we were screwed. And of course, the Demon Dragon attempted another power-up.
+10 power-up —
I immediately jumped out in front to protect Raphtalia and Ren. The swipe of the Demon Dragon’s tail threw me flying through the air.
“Ugh!”
My surroundings spun around before my eyes at high speed. As if to finish me off, a second swipe sent me smashing toward the ground.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“Naofumi?!”
I had been tossed around like a ragdoll. Tossing me through the air was a feat that not even Kyo or the Spirit Tortoise had been able to manage. The Demon Dragon’s scales were glittering brightly now. Or was I just seeing stars after being tossed through the air?
Shit. The Demon Dragon was steadily powering up to a level far beyond anything we could handle. But powering up was a double-edged blade. Go ahead, keep making attempts! The power-up level was sure to reset before long. And I was running out of power-up materials, so when it did fail, that would be the end of it.
“Hmph. I guess that’s enough powering up,” he announced.
“You’re running away from a little power-up? I expected more of a demon dragon with aspirations to rule the world,” I taunted.
I’d just have to taunt him and force him to power-up until he failed. But the Demon Dragon looked at me scornfully and puffed up his chest.
“I will not fall for your weak attempts to taunt me. I’ll have plenty of time to make more attempts after I make you mine!”
He saw through my plan!
“Count, is everything okay?”
“Does it look okay to you?”
What the hell? He’d ha
cked my account and now he was powering up my equipped weapon a ridiculous amount. It was like he stole my weapon and managed to turn it into an ultra-rare item, after it was no longer mine. This really sucked. It made me want to curse the whole world.
“Zweite Heal!”
“Healing again? Don’t think I’ll let you do that so easily. Anti-Zweite Heal!”
The Demon Dragon sighed and nullified the healing magic that Rat had cast.
“Naofumi!”
“As the source of your power, I command you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Unleash an attack like a blade of water and slice him through!”
“Drifa Aqua Slash!”
Melty focused her attention . . . Wait, since when could Melty use drifa-level magic?
“Anti-Drifa Aqua Slash!”
Once again, the Demon Dragon sighed and nullified her magic effortlessly.
Damn it! He was obviously adept at using magic. I wouldn’t have been surprised if “Magic” were his middle name. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t really seen Kizuna or any of them use much magic. They probably could, but they might have gone without, when fighting the Demon Dragon. It wouldn’t do much good if he just nullified the spells as soon as they were cast.
“Now then, I guess fighting you without holding back is the least I can do.”
The Demon Dragon began to cast a spell. The speed of his incantation was even quicker than before.
“Superb! With the power of the holy weapon, nothing is impossible!”
Would you like to attempt to increase rarity from SR to SR+?
Once again, he ignored the warning and continued. Something told me things were not going to get any better.
“Umm, he seems to keep growing scarier and scarier . . .”
“Goddammit!”
“Ugh! Shooting Star Sword!”
Ren’s Shooting Star Sword went flying at the Demon Dragon, but it didn’t even make him blink. The attack wasn’t even making sparks anymore.
“What was that? Are you trying to tickle me?”
“I have no choice. I’ll over-power-up my weapon too!” Ren shouted.
He opened up his settings and started attempting to power up his weapon, but he was forgetting one very important thing. He was still suffering from a curse with effects that reduced his luck.
“Ugh . . . It keeps failing!”
“Stop trying! You’re being reckless! If anyone should try, it should be you, Raphtalia!”
“U . . . understood!”
Maybe Raphtalia could catch up to the abilities of the Demon Dragon, even if only a bit. I would have her attempt a power-up with a possibility of failure. Wait, did she even have something like that? I had no idea.
But damn, when my luck was bad, it was really bad. What the hell was with this string of successes?! I’d lost track of how many times the Demon Dragon had been successful now. If it had been the Soul Eater Shield, things sure would have been a lot easier on me!
Around the time I saw the letters “LR” appear, I jumped out to protect Raphtalia and Ren and was tossed through the air, once again. Success again?! What the hell?! The likelihood of that being successful was probably even lower than powering up to +11! But dodging wasn’t a choice with the others there behind me. I had no choice but to guard against the attack.
“Ugh!”
I took the full brunt the attack, which had been bolstered by the newly increased weapon rarity. Damn, that hurt. I just wanted to go home now. It was bad enough when he was just feeding off of Filo’s ridiculously high attack power, but now he had powered himself up and even increased his rarity. Could it get any worse? Was there no end to my bad luck?
This wasn’t funny anymore. The next attempt to increase the rarity had to fail! He would be weakened this time for sure!
Increase to AF successful!
Was it impossible for this bastard to fail?!
“Hahahaha! No one can stand up to me now!”
The fiendish Demon Dragon was covered in a bright, blinding gloss from head to toe. He towered before us, calm and confident.
“Surely you have no chance of stopping me now. Shield Hero, accept your fate as an offering and give me your power!”
Damn it . . . I’d always relied on the Shield of Wrath to save the day when the going got tough, and now I was paying for it, with interest. I was facing a beast that had all of the same abilities as I did. If I didn’t overcome this obstacle, everything I had worked so hard for would have been for naught. But what could I do against such a savage enemy?
“Feel my wrath!”
The Demon Dragon swiped at me with his claws. I cast Shooting Star Shield and summoned all of my skill-based shields to guard against the attack.
“Impudent fool! Hmph!”
His claws smashed right through all of the summoned shields and even shattered my Shooting Star Shield. I went flying through the air.
“Ugh!”
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“Now then . . .”
The Demon Dragon squinted and puffed his chest up, as if to say he was merely toying with us. He began to cast a spell.
“Great power in this core stone of mine! Hear my plea and . . . ”
An unfamiliar incantation echoed throughout the air surrounding the Demon Dragon. Actually, the incantation seemed to follow a pattern similar to what Therese had used for her magic.
“I won’t let you!” shouted Raphtalia.
She leapt forward and swung her katana in an attempt to interrupt the incantation. Ren followed her lead. But the Demon Dragon continued to focus on the incantation, as if to imply that their attacks would have no effect on him.
Their attacks couldn’t harm him because he had my defense rating. There was no doubt about that. But there had to be something we could do. There just had to be! I imagined what it would be like to fight myself. I tried to think of what attack would annoy me the most right now.
“Sadeena! Help me cast Descent of the Thunder God! As quickly as possible!”
“Sure thing!”
I started reciting the incantation with Sadeena.
“What are you doing, Naofumi? Things are completely one-sided now. We can’t win like this,” said Melty.
“Don’t worry! Ren, Raphtalia, imagine you’re fighting me. Use any defense ignoring and defense rating skills you have!” I shouted.
“G . . . got it! I’m pretty sure I have a few!” Ren replied.
“Understood!” shouted Raphtalia.
“. . . show yourself! I am the Dragon Emperor, ruler of the world. Form a barrier to obstruct them!”
“Demon Dragon! Encompassing Mirrors!”
When the Demon Dragon heard my plan, he twitched and stopped reciting for a brief moment. Immediately after, he initiated the spell.
“Life Force Blade! Guard Breaker!”
“Eagle Blade!”
Raphtalia and Ren each focused their attention on their own blades and then fired off their skills. Both of their attacks smashed into a transparent wall before reaching the Demon Dragon.
“Damn . . . A barrier!” Ren shouted.
“It’s like your Shooting Star Shield, Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia added.
With a loud crack, the barrier shattered and dispersed.
“Hahaha! Did you think I wouldn’t be prepared for this? Fools!”
That Demon Dragon bastard! I assumed he had been casting a magical attack, but it had been defense magic! Raphtalia and Ren tried again using different skills, but those attacks were also blocked by the barrier the dragon had created. It was safe to assume that there were multiple layers.
“Raphtalia.”
“Yes? What is it?”
I used my eyes to communicate my intentions to Raphtalia. I looked at Raphtalia’s and Raph-chan’s tails several times and acted like I was focusing my attention. Raphtalia seemed to understand what I wanted her to do. She nodded. Next, I looked over at Wyndia and Melty. Wyndia just stood there looking confused, but Melty sighed
and nodded. She must have understood what I was asking her to do.
“Power of two, lend your strength to support them! Re-spin the threads of fate and turn their defeat into a victory!”
“Now then, I suppose it’s time to add the finishing touch. One that will kill all but the Shield Hero, of course.”
Having secured himself from attack, the Demon Dragon began reciting another incantation. But his oversight was the chance we needed to win. Only worrying about attacks from Raphtalia and Ren was a big mistake. He paid no attention to the fact that Sadeena and I were reciting an incantation. At best, it would just be a buff for Raphtalia, and he would have no problem dealing with that. I’m sure that’s what he was thinking.
But he was forgetting something important. Sure, Eclair hadn’t reached her full potential and probably couldn’t even keep up with his speed. Rishia and the old lady weren’t here, so it probably seemed like there was no one else to worry about. But . . .
“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! Give us the power to overcome the obstacles before us!”
“Descent of the Thunder God!”
The Demon Dragon kept his attention focused on Raphtalia and slowly continued to recite his incantation. It was obvious that he considered her to be the primary threat. But had he not noticed while he was in my shield that there was someone else who could unleash a barrage of the attacks I feared most? And this whole time, she’d been focusing her mind to prepare herself!
“ATLA!”
I turned to Atla and cast Descent of the Thunder God on her. With the slave maturation adjustment, Atla was level 45. But she had an inherent grasp of the essence of the Hengen Muso style. She was a fearsome opponent that had impressed even the old lady!
“My time has come!”
Lightning poured down onto Atla. Bolts of electricity jumped from her skin and turbocharged her speed.
“I’ve only observed Eclair, Rishia, and the master, but I’ll do my best to mimic their movements!”
“I’m counting on you!”
“Bwahahaha! To think such a low-level weakling would dare face me! Insolence!”
