by Aneko Yusagi
“Heavenly Emperor, we act on your behalf as pacifiers! Let our whole beings become our blade! We combine our power with yours to bestow upon the foolish a fate of destruction!”
“Astral Enchant!”
I could see something flowing from their bodies into the bear’s winged spear. In return, they began to fall over limp, one after the other.
“Wh-what the . . .” I mumbled.
“Hmph! This battle is as good as over! Take this!” the bear shouted.
As soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to blur as he came speeding toward us. My shield may not have been functioning like usual, but he wasn’t moving so fast that I couldn’t react! I read his movements and prepared to block the attack. Fortunately, my shield was able to block his winged spear successfully. I grabbed the shaft of his spear and gripped it as tightly as I possibly could, determined to keep hold of it no matter what.
“Is that all you’ve got?!” the bear thundered.
His strength must have increased exponentially, because he swung the spear up into the air with ease. I was jerked off the ground and went smashing into the wall, but I wasn’t going to let go! Just how powerful had this bastard become, though?! He probably could’ve defeated the Spirit Tortoise on his own now!
“Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia called out.
“Don’t worry about me! Just be ready to attack!” I shouted.
“U-understood!”
Raphtalia gripped her katana and prepared to attack. I was glad she always responded so quickly.
“I don’t like being ignored!” said Sadeena.
“I can’t have you forgetting me either!” Gaelion added.
Our whole group was doing their best to restrain the bear, but they couldn’t stop him. I’d avoided any serious injuries so far, thanks to my shield, but I had no idea how long I could last like this.
“What the hell is with this guy?! Is this because of that magic they cast?” I asked.
“Yes. That was Astral Enchant. It’s specialized protective combat magic that allows one or more casters who have been blessed to imbue all of their stats upon someone who has received a high-level blessing from the Heavenly Emperor,” Raluva explained.
That was not what I wanted to hear.
“I never would have imagined he’d received such a high-level blessing,” Raluva continued.
But what he said reminded me of something. It sounded a lot like the buff I’d given Fohl just recently.
“Here I go! Hold him for me, little Naofumi!” Sadeena said.
“Got it!”
I planted my feet on the ground and crouched down low, holding the bear in place. But twenty or thirty seconds was probably my limit. After that he’d start swinging me around like a ragdoll.
“You just don’t know when to give up!” he roared.
Sadeena charged her harpoon with electricity and lunged forward powerfully, thrusting the harpoon at the bear. There was a heavy thud as it smashed directly into him—or so I thought, but it had crashed into a thin protective barrier similar to that of my Shooting Star Shield skill.
“Ugh . . . That thing sure is tough,” Sadeena said.
Just as her attack landed, blood began oozing out of the mouths of the enemy soldiers lying limp on the ground around us.
“How dare you injure my men!” the bear growled.
I guess that meant they were sharing their very life force with him. Combining the full abilities of multiple men would indeed make for an impressive soldier.
And then Raphtalia finished channeling magic power into her katana.
“Eight Trigrams . . .”
Huh? A magic circle formed around her and began sparking, as if attempting to obstruct the skill.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yes. Something is trying to interfere—probably the power of the sakura stone of destiny,” she replied.
“Are you going to be alright? Don’t overdo it,” I said.
“It’s not a problem. That won’t stop me! Watch out everyone! Blade of Destiny!”
She unsheathed her katana in quick-draw fashion and a rippling beam of light shot out of the blade, slicing through all of the enemies in the area.
“Like I’d let that hit me! You take it, spirit implement holder!” the bear thundered.
He swung his spear in an attempt to use me as a shield against Raphtalia’s attack.
“No thanks,” I said.
I let go of the spear and jumped behind the dumbfounded bear. I held him in a full nelson and forced him to take the full brunt of the attack.
“Ugh . . .”
Aside from myself, everyone else in our group crouched down and avoided the attack.
“You squirrelly little bastard!” the bear growled.
I’d managed to withstand the attack since I was behind the bear, but it definitely hurt. Taking it head-on would’ve killed me.
I was putting all of my past experience—and my training with Atla, in particular—into play now. I could dodge if the bear tried to attack me, and I could drag him down to interfere if he tried to attack Raphtalia. But how the hell was I supposed to stop this monster? The thought of there being even more powerful enemies to come made my head spin.
And then, all of a sudden, the same pattern produced by Raphtalia’s Eight Trigrams Blade of Destiny attack appeared on the trunk of the sakura lumina.
“Could it be?! Little Gaelion! Touch the sakura lumina!” Sadeena shouted.
She grabbed Gaelion, who had been perched on her back providing combat support, and hurled him at the tree.
“Watch how you treat me!” he grumbled.
Gaelion flew straight to the pattern on the sakura lumina.
“Ah, now I see. Like this,” he said.
The straw rope around his neck began to glow, and whatever power had enveloped the bear therianthrope seemed to weaken.
“What?! The power of the sakura stone of destiny is dissipating?!” he said.
I guess that was one more thing the sakura lumina could do. By seizing control of the tree, we had successfully weakened the opponent.
“It looks like I managed to weaken that nifty power of theirs,” Gaelion said.
He continued to access the sakura lumina.
“I’ve just disabled the barrier to the outside world. I’ve also made it so that the tree cannot be accessed for a short period of time. All that’s left is to finish the enemy off,” he continued.
Was that supposed to be good news? We’d completed our original objective, but we still hadn’t defeated this monster. And then . . .
“Use these!”
Several objects came flying at us from behind. Without hesitation, I caught the one coming at me. And when I did, my shield sparked again.
Chapter Fifteen: Sakura Sphere of Influence
Weapon copy system activated.
Sakura Stone of Destiny Shield conditions unlocked!
Sakura Stone of Destiny Shield 0/ 100 C
special equip effect: spirit blessing, status chain, blossom blaze
mastery level: 0
The shield in my hand was the most intricate and finely crafted shield I’d ever seen. It was round, with a design that resembled the yin-yang symbol. Decorative cherry blossoms were inscribed along the edges and there was a jewel set in the center, like the one on my legendary shield. A large cherry blossom hovered faintly over the jewel like a hologram. It was strangely beautiful. I could only imagine there was something magical about the jewel and I wondered if perhaps it was one of the sakura stones of destiny.
Just holding the shield, I could already tell that its basic stats were high. How strange. I’d never felt anything like that before. From my own legendary shield, perhaps, but not from an original shield used to make a copy. When the copy completed, a list of categories appeared.
skills
magic
stat bonuses
growth adjustments
mastery level
rarity
refinement
spirit enchants
status enchants
reinforcement
item enchants
job level
remaining: 4
The categories were all grayed out. I selected “skills” and the category lit up and “remaining: 4” dropped to “3.” There was no doubt about it. This was an ability that could cancel out restrictions on the heroes’ weapons made by the sakura stones of destiny. It must have been the “spirit binding limited release 1” equip effect.
It wasn’t easy to decide, but I selected “skills,” “magic,” “stat bonuses,” and “growth adjustments” and then confirmed the selection. My shield sparked again, and I felt power flood back into my body. The only problem was that the shield’s abilities were locked, so I couldn’t switch to another shield.
I checked my status screen again and noticed that the stats of the shield itself had changed too. Maybe that had something to do with the “status chain” special equip effect. It didn’t look like I had any materials on-hand that I could use to power the shield up, but that ability was still sealed off anyway.
“You bastard!” the bear growled.
There was an expression of surprise on his face as he looked at the person who had just shown up and tossed us the weapons. It was the same bastard that tried to hit on Raphtalia! What the hell? But aside from the shield and katana he’d thrown at me and Raphtalia, he was passing out all kinds of equipment to everyone in our group.
“If you use those, your stats should get a boost even inside of the sakura stone of destiny barrier,” he said.
“I-I see!” one of the men replied.
The men gripped their new weapons and prepared to attack the bear therianthrope. Raphtalia did the same. But even if I could copy weapons, my legendary shield wouldn’t allow me to equip the original, so I threw the shield I’d caught to a nearby ally.
“I should be able to put up a bit of a fight now. Let’s try this again!” Raphtalia exclaimed.
“Oh? I’m suddenly feeling a bit feisty,” Sadeena said.
“Yes, it seems the effects of the growth adjustments have been partially restored,” Gaelion replied.
We still hadn’t defeated the enemy, but there was no doubt that our situation had taken a turn for the better. Now to use this momentum to pressure the enemy!
“Bastard! You dare betray us?!” the bear growled angrily at the skirt-chaser scumbag.
“Betray? Oh, come now. You misunderstand. It’s true that I made those weapons. I needed the money, so I accepted the order. But I’m no patriot,” he replied.
“And why are you helping this false god of another country and the false empress?! Answer carefully or face certain death!” the bear thundered.
His incredible bloodlust was palpable as he glared threateningly at the skirt chaser standing behind us. But the skirt chaser just shrugged and responded casually.
“You really don’t know? Come on, think about it,” he said.
He then stomped his foot down, clenched his hand into a fist, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“If I have to pick between a whiny little brat and a beautiful young lady to be the Heavenly Emperor or Empress I worship, you bet your ass I’m going to pick the beautiful young lady!”
His voice echoed throughout the area. An awkward silence followed, and everyone just stared at the skirt chaser. Was he really that dense? And what the hell kind of proclamation was that, anyway?
Raphtalia and I were staring at him in disbelief, when all of a sudden he turned to us with a really smug look on his face . . . Hm? That was the same face Motoyasu had made when he first met Raphtalia. The skirt chaser strolled up to Raphtalia and kissed her on the hand.
“We met earlier, didn’t we, little miss? You seemed to be in a bind, so I thought I would loan you some equipment to help out. Please use these weapons to slay that tyrannical government lapdog,” he said.
He probably thought he was acting like a gentleman, but his complete lack of refinement shined through clearly. “Please slay him”? Was that supposed to be classy?
“Umm, okay . . .” she muttered.
This bastard really pissed me off. But he had helped us in a really big way, so I couldn’t complain. Oh, hell yes, I could!
“Who do you think you are?!” I shouted.
“Oh! And you must be the other young lady from earlier. You’re just as beautiful in your therianthrope form,” he continued.
“Oh?” Sadeena replied.
Wow. He was hitting on Sadeena in her therianthrope form. Even Motoyasu hadn’t tried to flirt with Filo in her filolial form before he went nuts. They were like two models of the same product, and this one was an even more pathetic version.
After standing there flabbergasted for a few moments, the bear therianthrope began shaking with anger. His face turned a bright shade of red and he screamed out.
“You blundering fool!”
He charged straight for Raphtalia and the skirt chaser like a battle tank at full throttle. I stepped between them and held my shield up. And then I tried a little something.
“Air Strike Shield!” I shouted.
The skill hadn’t functioned before because of the sakura stone of destiny barrier. But now my Air Strike Shield appeared in front of my eyes.
“Hmph!”
The bear sliced through my Air Strike Shield like it was a toy. But it hadn’t been completely effortless like before. I knew that because sparks flew when his spear made contact. The shield had simply been destroyed because my stats were too low at the moment. In that case, there was only one thing left to do.
“Second Shield! Dritte Shield! Chain Shield! E Float Shield!”
I produced two more shields and linked them with chains to restrict the bear’s movement. Then I used E Float Shield to obstruct his vision.
“Pathetic!” he shouted.
As soon as I restricted him, he jerked on the chains and tore them to pieces. But his movements seemed too slow. I wondered if status chain had something to do with that.
“The Heavenly Empress is relying on us! Don’t waste this chance!” Raluva shouted.
He and the other men all simultaneously began firing off their magic and skills at the bear. Several of them used spells to reduce his stats and ice magic to restrict his movement. His strategy had backfired. We could all focus our attacks on a single fighter. The bear’s men had already been removed from the fight and couldn’t even provide backup.
“Raphtalia,” I said.
“What is it?” she replied.
“We know of skills and techniques that are even more effective against an enemy with increased stats, right? Can you use any of those yet?” I asked.
Those attacks were Atla’s specialty and I was still in the middle of learning how to deal with them. But Raphtalia had been sparring with Atla a lot recently, so I was sure she had at least been dabbling with such techniques.
“Yes. I can’t do anything like Atla or the master, but I can use one,” she said.
I told her to get ready and she began preparing to attack.
“Alright!” I shouted.
Now we just needed to boost her stats, pure and simple. I motioned for Sadeena to come over to me and we began casting our cooperative magic. I’d become fairly proficient with the Way of the Dragon, so I could do the incantation rather quickly now.
“You help too, Gaelion. I know you can give an extra boost,” I said.
“You do, do you? I guess I’ll just have to pitch in then,” he replied.
The straw rope that Gaelion was wearing as a collar began to glow. The magical puzzle pieces faded into sight and we all began linking them together at incredible speed. But we each still had to do a lot of the work on our own too.
“Hmph!” grunted the bear.
He overpowered the i
nterfering magic with brute force, brandished his spear, and went charging forward at Raphtalia and the skirt chaser behind her. I finished my part of the cooperative magic incantation and jumped in front of Raphtalia to protect her. She seemed to be channeling life force into her katana.
“Die! False god, false empress, and filthy traitor—all of you!” he roared.
“Shooting Star Shield!”
“Whoa! Why me?!” the skirt chaser shrieked.
The Shooting Star Shield barrier activated and repelled him and the bear both, giving us a few more seconds to prepare. At the same time, Sadeena and Gaelion finished their incantations and our cooperative magic activated.
“Descent of the Thunder God!”
Of course I selected Raphtalia as the target.
“Here I go!” she shouted.
With the borrowed katana in hand, Raphtalia charged at the bear therianthrope, who was still rubbing his eyes and trying to recover from the bright flashes of light created by the pieces of the shattered Shooting Star Shield barrier.
“Hengen Muso Technique . . . Point of Focus!”
The attack pierced cleanly through the bear’s protective barrier and the life force she had channeled into her blade poured into his body.
“Ugh . . . It will take more than that to stop me!” he roared.
He was a tough bastard! I guess that much was to be expected of Q’ten Lo’s warrior elite. The country was practically full of Sadeena-level fighters. Blood sprayed out of the mouths of the men who had lent the bear their power.
“I can’t have you forgetting about me!” Sadeena exclaimed.
She leapt up nimbly into the air and called lightning down from the clouds that had formed from Descent of the Thunder God. The lightning jumped to the spear she’d been given by the skirt chaser.
“Lightning Strike Harpoon!”
The electrically charged spear shot forward, slithering like a snake, straight into the bear.
“Gahhh!”
But he still didn’t fall. Sparks of lightning jumped from his skin as he pointed his spear at Raphtalia.
“I’m not finished!” she shouted.
She blurred, as if using haikuikku, and swung her katana down at the bear.
“I’m going to try a new skill!” she said.