by Aneko Yusagi
Why was the world worth protecting? I wasn’t going to ask that now. I could see how fervently she was committed to saving as many people as she could, even if it meant giving up everything she had. She was nothing like the ex-princess Bitch. Bitch would sacrifice anyone to get what she wanted.
Ost would do anything for the sake of the future. She thought her very life existed to safeguard the world for others. I certainly didn’t want to die for the sake of the world. No, thank you. But Ost’s goal was that exact thing: to sacrifice herself for the good of everyone else.
I couldn’t help but respect that.
She helped us so much in such a short amount of time. She’d put our needs ahead of her own from the minute we met, and she’d earned my trust.
Killing the Spirit Tortoise would mean killing Ost. But that was what she wanted. Just like always, this world forced me into the worse situations imaginable. I turned to face the heart.
“Filo!” I shouted as Filo came around after finishing her attack. “Did Fitoria mess it up?!”
Had I been wrong?
“She says she crushed the head!”
“. . .”
Then it must not have worked. Either that or the monster had another heart? Maybe it was the core that Ost had mentioned. Maybe we needed to crush the core too.
A loud sound echoed through the walls. I assumed it was the sound of the head falling.
But Ost was still standing.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Already regenerated, the heart resumed its shape.
“Dammit. We'd better retreat. My theory was wrong, so we better get the troops down here.”
“It was just a feeling, but I felt a slight energy flow. The sealing spell might be necessary to defeat my true form.”
“Really?”
“. . .”
She fell silent. She must not have had the confidence to say for sure.
We had no choice but to try.
“Got it. Filo, we’re falling back!”
“Okay!”
“Shadow, I’m going to need your help. Just like we talked about.” It was going to be a rough battle, but the shadow nodded as if he’d been waiting for it. “Underztood!”
“Sorry.”
“It iz my job.”
We retreated. Running back down the tunnel, we left the heart behind.
We had no choice but to try.
“Got it. Filo, we’re falling back!”
“Okay!”
“Shadow, I’m going to need your help. Just like we talked about.” It was going to be a rough battle, but the shadow nodded as if he’d been waiting for it. “Underztood!”
“Sorry.”
“It iz my job.”
We retreated. Running back down the tunnel, we left the heart behind.
Chapter Twelve: The Spirit Tortoise’s Heart
“Are you alright?!” Rishia came running over to meet us with the troops.
“We found the heart.”
“Oh!” the troops exclaimed in unison.
They hadn’t yet realized the problem. How were we supposed to get them to it?
We weren’t going to have much luck if we just tried to march them down the tunnel.
“How are you all holding up back here?”
“Monsters attacked nine times while you were away. There have been a few casualties.”
“The troops will have to come with us. The monsters’ attacks are only going to get stronger, so make sure you’re prepared for that. I can’t protect everyone all of the time. I’ll do what I can, but make sure you can protect yourselves!”
The group of troops cheered and nodded.
Now, although their strength didn’t exactly fill me with confidence, I had to take them down to battle the heart. How many of them was I about to lose?
A variety of anxieties ran through my mind as I led the troops toward the underground tunnel we’d found earlier. On the way there, I told them about how the heart had attacked us and about the different attacks it had used. I told them that I would use Shooting Star Shield, Air Strike Shield, and Second Shield to defend them and that I wanted them to wait for a break in the barrage before they tried to counter-attack.
“I wouldn’t have expected any less from you, Shield Hero. Thank you for planning this strategy to protect as many of us as possible.”
“Yeah, well . . .”
If I was going to protect them, I had to assume that the heart would retaliate with stronger attacks than I had yet seen. I just wanted to make sure they were prepared to face it.
“There were also a lot of white clumps that seemed to be monsters, too. We didn’t have time to figure out how they attack, so be on the lookout.”
“Roger!” the troops shouted.
We ran into plenty of familiars on the way, but we were able to handle them with the combined strength of Raphtalia, Filo, Ost, Eclair, the old lady, Rishia, and the queen and her troops.
When we’d progressed to the point that the walls of stone were replaced with pulsing flesh, the troops were noticeably repulsed. And when the sound of the thumping became more obvious, they all grew grave and serious.
We made it to the series of doors that opened and closed with red and blue sinews. The troops never really figured out what they were supposed to do about the doors, but we pressed on and made it through anyway. Raphtalia and Filo watched the rear of the line and defended it from any monsters that attacked from behind.
The biggest problem we ran into was when the parasite-like monsters suddenly appeared by tearing through the walls of flesh. They were on us in a flash, and we weren’t able to respond as quickly as I would have liked. We lost a few troops, and the morale of the survivors suffered for it.
A terrible fate awaited anyone caught in one of the immune system’s monster attacks. People were sucked up and melted down right before their friends’ eyes. Some of the troops with weaker stomachs threw up when they saw it.
“Keep moving! If you stop here, you’ll end up as feed for these things! Your fallen friends wouldn’t want that!”
I protected the troops while Raphtalia and Filo took care of the monsters.
Finally, we made it to the last door, where I’d posted a shadow on the other side.
“Hey!” I shouted, and the door opened. “Have any trouble while we were gone?”
“If I had, I couldn’t have opened thiz door for you.”
“Good point.”
They were very good at hiding and hadn’t gotten into any trouble while we were gone.
“Alright, listen up! The heart is just over there. Are you ready to cast the sealing spell?”
“Yes. But you’ll have to weaken the heart if the spell is to be effective.”
I guess that made sense. Raphtalia and Filo were strong enough to have defeated it once before, and now we had more people with us. I didn’t expect too much trouble. And with Rishia, the queen, and all the troops working on the spell, I felt like it had a chance of working.
“Once we begin the incantation, it will take a little while until the spell can be cast.”
“I’ll keep the heart busy.”
Another battle of attrition. How wonderful.
“Is there any way you can prepare for the spell ahead of time?”
“Unfortunately not. The spell is only effective over a certain range, and we are not able to move once we begin the incantation.”
So we had no choice. Fine—I had my shield, and this is what it was made for. “I’ll protect the troops while you perform the incantation ceremony. The rest of you kill any monsters that appear to attack us. Raphtalia, Filo, you two focus on weakening the heart.”
“Understood!”
“Okaaay!”
“Roger that!”
Rishia peeped out from the hood of her kigurumi. “What should I do?”
“You can . . .” I had to be careful about what I entrusted her with. She was more useful than the troops were, but I couldn’t ask her to team up w
ith Raphtalia either. She moved faster than she used to, and she was a better attacker too, but I still didn’t feel comfortable putting her on the front lines. Her nonstop whimpering didn’t help. “You can help with support spells from the back lines. Don’t come to the front. The most important thing you can do is keep an eye on the battle and let me know when anything unexpected happens.”
“Oh, um . . . Alright.”
That was all I could think of for the time being.
We found the hourglass a little further down the tunnel. The troops didn’t know what to make of it. They were clearly scared of it.
Huh? It looked like it had a little less sand in it than it had the last time we saw it. Maybe I was just imagining things. The tunnel was shaking, so some of the sand had probably just shifted and settled.
Enough. It was time to finish this.
“That’s . . . that’s the heart.” The troops were speechless when they saw it. It was a pretty terrifying sight to behold, after all.
The heart noticed our arrival and filled the chamber with an enraged roar. The eyes opened wide, and the whole heart began to beat harder. It must have remembered us.
Good. We’d be the last people it ever saw. We weren’t retreating this time.
“Let’s go!” I shouted. The troops shouted back and immediately began to prepare the ceremonial sealing spell. Filo and Raphtalia dashed to the front line and started to attack the heart. The non-wizard troops pulled out their weapons and fought off familiars that got too close to the others.
I kept on eye on the incantation and used Hate Reaction, Air Strike Shield, and Second Shield to protect the troops from the swarms of familiars. Sometimes I used Change Shield when the familiars got too close.
I was using a lot of SP, but I was able to keep my head above water by using Soul Eat from time to time. The SP recovery (small) effect didn’t do a lot, but it helped. The heart let lose a massive volley of heat beams. That meant that it was time to switch to the Whale Magic Core Shield.
“Mr. Naofumi! There are too many familiars!”
“I know! They aren’t letting up!”
The last time we’d fought the heart, we’d only traded a couple of attacks, so the whole thing ended very quickly. Because of that, we hadn’t had time to judge the amount of support the heart was getting from the familiars. They came swarming from every direction. From the floor, the ceiling, the walls—everywhere! At the same time, the heart was busy blasting us with heat beams. There were too many things I had to block at once.
The heart’s eyes shot over to the wizards deep in their ceremonial magic preparations. It glared at them.
What now? Was it going to blast them with a heat beam?
The floor underneath the heart changed color, and I quickly realized it was the same mandala-like pattern from before. It was about to use its gravity attack! The pattern started to spin rapidly.
No!
I ran over to stand before the wizards and I readied my shield. Just in time—the eyes opened and emitted a huge heat beam.
“Ugh!”
A few people were caught in the blast, and they instantly vanished, leaving no trace. I caught the brunt of the blast with my shield, and the force of it pushed me back a few paces.
“Ugh.”
The beam was huge. If this were a game, it would have been a special finishing attack. It was the strongest attack the heart had used yet. Luckily, it was still considerably weaker than any of the Spirit Tortoise’s attacks we’d faced outside. But you’d be a goner if it hit you directly.
I hoped it wouldn’t go on forever, like the mimic monster’s attack had.
“AARRGH!” I changed the angle of my shield and forced the beam upward. The heat beam seared the fleshy ceiling of the chamber, and a spray of blood rained down on us.
We were inside the body of our enemy, and that was a fact I had to take advantage of. Still, it would only be a few moments before the flesh regenerated and made it as if nothing had happened.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
The attacks we’d suffered outside of the body were stronger. The heart’s attacks were nothing I couldn’t handle.
“Are you ready to cast the sealing spell yet?”
“We need a little more time!”
“Alright! Anyone who still has fight in them, attack the heart and weaken it! Remember, we aren’t trying to kill it!”
“Okay!”
“Okaaaay!”
Raphtalia and Filo had been waiting for my signal to use their special attacks.
“Ying-Yang Sword!”
“Puchikuikku!”
With the damage the beam had done to the ceiling and the weight of Filo and Raphtalia’s attacks to deal with, everything started to shake violently.
Weren’t they ready yet?
The monster was so full of life energy that it restored itself almost instantaneously. How were we supposed to “weaken” a monster like that? All I could do was have everyone focus on attacking it. But I was starting to get a bad feeling.
“How’s that?”
“Take this!”
Raphtalia and Filo flew forward and sliced through a number of the sinews that were connected to the heart.
“. . . ?!”
The heart immediately began to have trouble beating. You could tell with a single glance. That ought to give the wizards enough time to cast their spell.
“We’re ready!”
“Great! Do it!”
“Roger!”
The wizards all shouted in unison. “We are the source of all power, and we command you. Hear this truth and heed it. Drive a wedge to stop the Spirit Tortoise, one of the four spirits of destruction!”
Did it work?
The heart began to twitch. White blobs covered the surface and then shot out in all directions!
“High ceremonial magic?”
The blobs flew through the air. There was no time! I quickly cast Shooting Star Shield, Shield Prison, Air Strike Shield, and Second Shield to protect the wizards.
“Ugh!”
“Ahhh!”
“Damn!”
I wasn’t fast enough to save them all. Some of the blobs made it past me.
I kept my shield up and turned to survey the damage. It was worse than I’d expected.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m sorry, we failed . . .” one of the wizards said, his head hanging.
“There’s still time! Report!”
“We’ve lost some men! I’ll report back when I know more!”
How were the front lines doing? I turned back to find Raphtalia and Filo clearly exhausted. Their shoulders were heaving with heavy breathing. They found a break in the fight and came running back to me, their faces pale.
“Are you alright?!”
“Raphtalia! What happened?!”
Eclair ran to Raphtalia’s side to support her, and they both shuffled over to me. In contrast, Filo looked like she was doing better. The old lady must have dodged the attack completely.
“I’m . . . alright . . . but I . . . My magic power is . . .”
“Yeah, um . . . That thing stole our magic power!”
Damn. This was not going well. The heart had the same draining attacks that the head had.
The report from the wizards was ready.
“A number of men have died after losing their magic power!”
“Can we still hold the line?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, we can still use the sealing spell.
“Good.”
The drain negation effect was proving more useful than I’d expected. We were suffering losses, but we were still able to hold our own. We didn’t have to retreat just yet.
“I know it’s tough, but get the next spell ready!”
“Roger that!”
If the heart attacked with any sort of pattern, it would use its heat beams next. Sure enough, it started to charge up for the att
ack.
I ran to protect the wizards and prepared to deflect the beam again.
“. . . !”
“Damn.”
The attack was even stronger than it had been the last time! I was still able to endure the brunt of it with the Whale Magic Core Shield, but this newest attack was by far the strongest yet. I could feel the skin on my hands starting to singe. It felt terrible.
The white blobs had returned to the heart, and they seemed to be driving the increase in power of its heat beam. The shield was holding out, but it was so hot that it was starting to hurt me. I began taking damage.
“Ughhhh.”
I struggled to deflect the beam upwards. With all the additional power behind it, it was proving difficult. I was afraid that I couldn’t control it. It reminded me of trying to open an umbrella in a powerful windstorm. If I couldn’t control the angle, I might end up vaporizing the troops!
“Hey! Don’t you hurt master with the energy you stole from me!” Filo barked and prepared to suck magic power back into herself.
“Everyone keep the monsters away from Filo!”
“Alright!”
“Understood!”
“Oh . . . Okay!”
Raphtalia and Eclair, along with Rishia and the old lady, all ran over to form a circle around Filo. They killed any monster that got close.
“Schwooooooooop!”
Filo started sucking in a lot of air, so much of it that I could feel the wind she was causing on my skin. Any white blobs that were trying to return to the heart stopped in mid-air and switch directions. Filo was pulling them all in, and they couldn’t get back to the heart.
Finally, the intensity of the heat wave began to weaken.
“Oh! The holy saint’s monster is very impressive! I did not think that she would have mastered aspects of Hengen Muso in secret!”
It was no time to stand around feeling impressed!
“Hey, old lady, if you can do that too, do it already!”
“Very well!”
The old lady began to suck in air just like Filo was doing.
Huh? The more air she pulled in, the more the old lady’s skin started to change. She looked like she was getting younger.
