by Aneko Yusagi
“Nice job, you two!” I shouted. Filo, now round as a ball, was waving at me.
“Take it back!” Filo shouted. She sharply exhaled in the direction of the heart, and something that looked like a concentrated ball of air shot through the room.
“Hengen Muso Technique! Full Moon!”
The old woman spun her arms in circles before pulling her palms together in a pose that I’d seen plenty of times in fighting games. A ball of magic formed between her hands, then shot across the room at the heart.
To be more specific, it was just like that move you get when you hit down, right diagonal, and right on the controller.
“. . . !”
The heart formed a force field around itself to block the attacks. At the same time, all the familiars in the room turned and flew at the ball of magic, trying to stop it before it could reach the heart. But they weren’t strong enough. The ball ripped them to pieces without even slowing down.
For a minute, all the powers in the room were focused on the ball of magic, locked in a draw. If the wizards were going to use the sealing spell, now was the time.
“Do it now!”
“Alright!”
“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!”
An enormous mandala of light appeared in the air surrounding the heart. It had been so focused on dealing with the old lady and Filo’s attacks that it was shocked to find itself surrounded by swirling patterns of magic.
“High ceremonial magic: Seal!”
The mandala multiplied until there were many layers stacked on one another, then finally contracted around the heart.
“ . . . ?!”
Thump . . . Thump . . . Th . . . ump . . . th . . .
The heart beat slower and slower. Then it stopped all together.
“Yes!”
The whole room erupted in cheers.
“We did it!”
Whew . . . but it was disappointing. Ost seemed to feel the same way, and the queen wasn’t able to hide the worry written all over her face.
If we’d bought ourselves some time here, then at least we could focus on finding the core.
“I’ll give these back, big sis!”
“What? No! Filo! I don’t want them!”
The white blobs flew out of Filo’s body and slammed into Raphtalia.
When they hit her, color began to return to her pale face. But Raphtalia didn’t look happy about it. She squirmed, like a bunch of bugs had crawled up into her clothes.
She’d shoot them at Eclair next.
“Unnecessary! None of my magic was stolen. Give it to someone else!” Eclair shouted. But Filo wasn’t listening, and she shot more of the white blobs at her.
Raphtalia threw one of the white blobs to the floor and started angrily chasing Filo around the room.
“Hey! Filo! I won’t forgive you for this!”
“Uh oh! She’s gonna get me!”
“Ha ha ha!”
Whew . . . Well, we’d finally managed to imprison the heart.
As far as I understood what Ost had said, the real seal had never been properly broken, so I guess it was safe to say we’d pulled it off.”
“So we’re safe for a little while?”
“It’s hard to say,” the queen said, hiding her mouth behind a fan.
She was right. Besides, Ost looked very grim.
“Filo, has Fitoria said anything yet?”
“Um . . . It sounds like the tortoise has stopped moving outside.”
So I guess we . . . won?
I didn’t even have time to finish the thought.
“Master?!” Filo stopped running and shouted at me. She looked scared.
Thump! Thump!
The heart started to beat again.
A sickening, shattering sound filled the room and the seal around the heart broke. The heart’s eyes opened wide and immediately shot a huge heat beam at us.
I ran to block it before it could hit the troops.
“What a sore loser!”
“Yeah!”
“It didn’t work?!”
“The spell was successful, but the heart was able to break free somehow!”
Damn!”
What were we supposed to do? We destroyed the heart and head at the same time and it didn’t work. We used a sealing spell on the heart, and it didn’t work.
There had to be another way. I couldn’t give up.
Think! What else could we do?
We had already tried everything that the reports had suggested. There was only one other thing we hadn’t tried—finding the core.
“Ost! Are you sure you don’t know where the core is?!”
“When the sealing spell restrained the heart, I felt a glimmer of . . . something. It may show us the way.”
“What?! Where is it?!”
“Beneath the chamber we are in now, there is another. The core can be found there.”
It was underneath the heart!
“Do you think I can punch a hole in the floor if I deflect the heat beam downward?”
“I don’t think that will work. The core will not be so easy to reach.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
Ost closed her eyes, then opened them again, with a look of determination. She pointed at the heart. “Shield Hero, friends, troops, I have an idea!”
“What is it?!”
Why did she have to drag this out for so long?! I was getting tired of blocking the heat beam.
“Destroy the heart and head at the same time, then use the sealing spell on the dying heart. If you do both, the path to the core will open.”
“Are you sure?!”
“Yes. It will work.”
I wasn’t sure I believed her—but I didn’t have a choice.
“Alright, let’s do it! Filo, tell Fitoria what we’re doing! Make sure she’s ready to crush the head! Raphtalia, get ready!”
“Okay!”
“Alright!”
I turned to face Eclair, Rishia, and the old lady.
“Eclair and Rishia—you two keep the familiars away from the heart. We can’t have them interfering. Old lady, if the heart tries to drain our magic power, you stop it.”
“Understood!”
“I’ll do my best!”
“I won’t disappoint you, holy saint!”
Last but not least, the hardest problem remained.
“Queen, you and the wizards get ready to cast the spell again. We’ll have to get the timing just right, so make sure you’re ready!”
“As you command, Mr. Iwatani.”
Everyone accepted their orders, but they looked exhausted.
I was exhausted too. I needed a break—we’d been fighting all day. But it wasn’t time to relax yet. The fight wasn’t over.
We had to finish it.
Raphtalia and Filo prepared to use their special attacks. I kept holding my shield against the brunt of the heat beam and then turned to check on the wizards.
The familiars were swarming, and Eclair and Rishia were keeping them away. The heart shot out hundreds of those white clumps, but the old lady used her skills to keep them from hitting any of us. The wizards and the queen were furiously chanting incantations.
Filo had been focusing with her eyes closed, but now she opened them and shouted, “Raphtalia! Big sis!”
“I know!” Raphtalia said. She filled her sword with magic and jumped up onto Filo’s back. “Let’s end this. Ready, Filo? Directional Thrust of Heaven!”
“Spiral Strike!”
Filo raised her wings and charged at the heart. Raphtalia sat on her back, her sword leveled in front of them both. They shot through the chamber like a bullet and pierced the heart. Even with all the powered-up stats I had, they moved so quickly I couldn’t see them.
Filo landed on the other side of the room with a deafening crash. Raphtalia flicked blood from her bl
ade. The white blobs in the room all exploded and rained down on everyone like snow. The heart split open and sprayed everything with blood.
It was an awesome sight, but the Spirit Tortoise wasn’t dead yet.
When the heart split open and sprayed the room with blood, the wizards had just finished their preparations. The queen stepped forward and shouted, “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!”
“High ceremonial magic: Seal!”
The heart was trying desperately to regenerate itself when the sealing spell activated. Wrapped in the swirling magic, the regeneration began to slow.
“Ost!”
“I, Ost Horai, command the heavens, command the earth, defy all reason, join, and spit up blood. Oh self, I command you. Open the oath to my depths!”
Her hands were stretched out to the heart, and then, as if it were trying to swallow her, a square hole opened in the floor in front of the heart. Stairs filled the hole with a loud thunk!
“This . . . This must be the path to the core.”
“Great! Let’s go!”
“Wait just a moment,” Ost said, hesitating at the entrance.
“What is it?”
“Whoever has taken control of the Spirit Tortoise is down these steps. Anyone who cannot command an exceptional amount of strength will only slow us down in the battle to come.”
“I know what you mean, but am I supposed to just send them back?”
“No. But . . . Shield Hero, I do not believe we will be able to protect everyone from this point on. Please understand.”
Her eyes were serious, imploring. It was the same look she’d had the first time she appeared to me. She truly wanted to end all this. She was telling me that it wouldn’t help to bring the troops. She was trying to save them.
Maybe she was right. Whoever was down there, they were strong enough to take control of the Spirit Tortoise. Most of the troops with us could barely defeat a familiar. What hope did they have against this new enemy?
“Alright.”
“Shield Hero?!” the troops shouted in disbelief.
“Troops, retreat to a place where there are no enemies and wait for us to return. As for your protection . . .”
I would need Raphtalia and Filo for sure. And obviously, Ost had to come. Should I have Eclair, the old lady, and Rishia protect the troops?
“Mr. Iwatani, leave the rest up to me,” the queen said. “Your priority must be to stop the Spirit Tortoise as soon as possible. You do not need to concern yourself with the rest of us.”
“Okay.”
Honestly, I sort of wanted to leave Rishia behind. But thanks to the Filo kigurumi, she was proving herself more useful than she had in the past. And she’d been studying Hengen Muso tactics, too. Maybe she could offer an attack when we needed it most.
There was no need to split us up any more than necessary.
“Alright, everyone! Let’s get going!”
“Okay!”
There, before the slowly regenerating heart, we split into two parties and went our separate ways.
Chapter Thirteen: Who Pulls the Strings
The stairs went on forever. We’d been descending a dark, fleshy hallway for about 10 minutes when the tunnel began to level out. Finally, I saw light at the end of the tunnel. Something felt strange about it all. It was like my shield was pulsing in my hands.
I looked at Ost for confirmation. She was gazing at the light, determined.
If we didn’t defeat whoever was at the end of the hallway, then we wouldn’t be able to stop the Spirit Tortoise. But if we did defeat the tortoise, then Ost would die too. Everyone knew it, and they trudged on in silence.
I pinched my cheek to bring myself back to reality. We had to keep our priorities in mind.
“Everyone! This is it! Don’t give up!”
“Alright!”
“Yup! Imma do my best!”
“Feh . . . We’ll get out of this alive!”
“That’s the spirit! There’s no better time to put your training to use!”
“That’s right!”
Ost nodded. “It’s time to stop my true body! Shield Hero, everyone, let’s go!”
“Yeah!”
We ran for the light, and when we reached it, we found ourselves in a large room—much larger than I’d expected. The walls were solid, yet they seemed somehow alive. I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was like they were made of marble, but they was pulsing. When my eyes adjusted, I couldn’t believe what I saw.
“What the . . .”
The first thing I saw was a strange object hovering in the air. It must have been the core. It was a giant shining green crystal, and it spun very slowly on its axis. The light it gave off must have been the collected souls of those who had lost their lives in the rampage.
But I couldn’t look at the core forever. Something behind it drew my attention. There were three large transparent crystals set in the far wall, and locked inside of them were . . . the three missing heroes!
“Sh . . .”
“Ugggg . . .”
“Uhhhh . . .”
They seemed to be unconscious, but they all had pained expressions on their faces and were muttering in agony.
“What is this?”
“Master Itsuki!” Rishia ran to the crystal where Itsuki slept, but something fluttered down and knocked her away before she could get close.
“Ahh!”
It was . . . a sheet of paper!
The paper was covered in electric sparks of some kind. It had knocked Rishia to the ground.
“I can’t believe my eyes! To think you would make it this far—not that I ever doubted you. Nice work!”
That voice. I felt like I’d heard it before, when we were searching for the heroes.
I searched for the source and found it. A man stood before the faceted green crystal.
He was about as tall as me.
His hair looked . . . white? But it also seemed to have a sheen to it. Maybe it was silver. It was long and shaggy and hung around his white face. His face itself wasn’t so bad looking.
But meeting him for the first time, I immediately knew that we weren’t going to be friends. It was his eyes that made me feel that way. They were stagnant, rotten—like the eyes of a dead fish. The air around him was dark and gloomy.
He reminded me of the sort of person you never wanted in your group of friends—the sort of person who only thought of themselves. He felt like the sort of person who talked nonstop about what they liked but never contributed to anyone else’s conversation, all the while telling themselves it was because they were smarter than everyone. His face looked very self-satisfied.
He wore a long coat, which made him look a bit like a scientist. He wore a strange belt around his chest that almost looked like it was made of test tubes. It’s hard to find the right word to describe him, but he sort of looked like an alchemist. Not that I really knew what an alchemist looked like—I’d only seen them in anime.
He wore leather gloves and shoes and seemed to be the kind of guy that worried incessantly about his appearance. I’d learned a bit about medicine formulation since I arrived in this world, but I still didn’t know anything about alchemy. I’d seen books and tools related to it in stores though, and I could tell that the person standing in front of us was the real deal.
I couldn’t ignore the evil look in his eyes or the strange book he gripped in one hand. A gemstone was affixed to the cover, one that I’d seen somewhere before. I didn’t like the look of it.
“When you first blew this thing’s head off, I have to say I was a little nervous. But then you just went on your way without even looking for this place! I had to laugh at that. You heroes are so stupid.”
“. . .”
He was probably trying to piss me off, so I didn’t pay him the courtesy of responding. I didn’t have to listen to everything he said to
know that he was not a nice person.
“Welcome to the deepest part of the Spirit Tortoise. What do you think?”
“Master Itsuki!” Rishia said, climbing back to her feet.
“Oh, you know those guys? I was a little freaked out when the four heroes tried to get in here—but they were so weak it was funny! Ha! Are all the heroes from your world this dumb?”
“What are they doing here?” I asked, pointing at the three heroes.
“Oh, you don’t know?”
Their weapons glowed faintly, as if they were trying to . . . resist something?
But no. That wasn’t it.
“You’re stealing their power.”
“Bingo! You might be an idiot, but you must be the smartest of the bunch! Ahaha!”
He broke into peels of vulgar laughter. It bothered me. I guess from his perspective, we did seem stupid. We’d defeated the tortoise once, only to let it reawaken and go on another rampage. Our ignorance had cost thousands of lives.
How was I supposed to know? I didn’t know anything about this world, much less how to defeat the Spirit Tortoise.
I was just the Shield Hero—all I could do was defend!
“You should have seen the way I caught them. The Sword Hero kept right on attacking me after all of his party was dead! He was like a boar! And the Spear Hero took off running the minute his support started to fail. I just had to chase him down and scoop him up! And the Bow Hero—he had a falling out with his friends. They tied him up and left him alone! Ahahaha!” He went on laughing like a hyena.
That was why we couldn’t find any trace of the heroes. He’d captured them all. Worse yet, they were the reason that the Spirit Tortoise was stronger after its reawakening—the tortoise was feeding off the power of their weapons. The heroes might not have known how to use them, but their weapons still contained a great deal of power.
I knew how powerful their weapons were because of how powerful my shield was—I’d just survived attacks from the Spirit Tortoise, even when it was blasting me with the strength of the other heroes’ weapons.
“What do you want!?” Eclair yelled, stepping forward.
I wanted to know too. How could he have possibly benefited from all of this? Wasn’t the Spirit Tortoise supposed to protect the world?
