Log Horizon - Volume 10 - Chapter 5.6

6 
“Defense of Doctrine Barrier!!” 
Minori fired an emergency Kannagi defense spell. The barrier’s level was in the fifties, and to Shiroe and the other players whose levels were over 90, it seemed fragile. However, Shiroe had been just about to order her to do that, and she’d stolen a march on him. 
He smiled a little. 
Minori’s response had been unexpected… In a good way, naturally. As a result, the attack team had gained a very slight advantage, a few seconds’ worth. The current members weren’t the type to let that chance slip by them. 
Their skills had already been sufficiently polished by the combat up to this point. 
In the first place, all the members except for the younger group from Log Horizon already had raid experience. But even that younger group was watching how D.D.D.—who had the basics down solidly—was doing things and absorbing their methods wholesale. 
Their advanced capacity for teamwork was the result of high morale and the ability to focus. 
They’d meshed tightly with the personality of their enemy Taliktan as well. Taliktan, who was waving his arms around, was no more than a typical close-combat boss now. The short-range attacks he unleashed with his staff and arms were powerful; he also had that aggro list–based lightning attack that wiped out a whole range and thunder that inflicted negative statuses across a wide area— But in a manner of speaking, that was it. He was the perfect opponent for a raid drill. 
When Taliktan turned back with a great flourish of his hand, several magic circles appeared, and goblins and giants manifested. Tension raced over the field, but Shiroe canceled it out. 
“That summoning didn’t use the iron tower, only his innate abilities. There aren’t many of them, and there’s a limit. Stay calm and deal with them.” 
He wasn’t actually certain about that. 
Still, it was important to be decisive here. As if playing off his words, Naotsugu yelled, “What, anything goes?!” in a joking voice and charged. Akatsuki followed him, hiding in his shadow; she flickered as she went, then vanished from sight. 
A tremendous number of attacks were striking Taliktan. Dread Weapon clung to Hien’s Assassinate. The teamwork between the Magic Attack and the Weapon Attack classes was growing more accurate as well. The powerful attack pierced a group of goblins, who sacrificed themselves to protect their master, and bore down on Taliktan. 
Lightning that streaked toward Kushiyatama was repelled by Tetora’s Reactive Heal. 
Their opponent’s defense had been pried open, and grabbing their chance, Nyanta and Koen rushed in. Soujirou’s Echo Rebound kept Taliktan from striking back. 
Isuzu’s spell-song reinforced Rundelhaus’s flame spell, and in exactly the same way, Henrietta chanted Maestro Echo, turning Riezé’s ice spell into a round. The two powerful Magic Attack teams were protected by Yuzuko’s golem and Isami’s katana, which had Kurinon’s support. 
Shouryuu launched himself into a run. 
He leapt across the red seats of the music hall, attacking Taliktan like a small storm of twin blades, and cut him soundly. Marielle gave a worried shriek, but he yelled, “Stay back, please,” and his desperate attack dealt Taliktan significant damage. However, as a result, he was flung away and ended up getting rescued by Hien. 
The battle was changing. 
Naotsugu, whose back had taken many recovery spells, pressed forward in fits and starts, stirring up the Genius’s aggro. The Guardians’ Aggro Charge showed its true worth when it was used to protect companions. 
The sound of ringing steel and the light of magic intersected in the great hall. In the midst of it, as Shiroe maintained his spell chanting cycle, he kept an eye on his surroundings. Taliktan’s HP bar was down to about 30 percent. As Shiroe lasted through Taliktan’s fierce attacks, issued instructions to his companions, or had them drop back to refuel, he was remembering the hesitation he’d felt up until now. 
For a long time, Shiroe had searched for answers, and he’d gotten nowhere. 
Even now, he wasn’t sure. 
However, it was likely that the time had come to make a decision. Touya’s and Minori’s words had urged him forward. So had Rundelhaus and Isuzu, Captain Nyanta and Serara. Actually, come to think of it, Shiroe had been surrounded by people who supported him. 
What he’d hesitated over had always been the question, “Is it all right to choose that?” The world was vast and deep, and both the people around him and the people he didn’t even know were living their lives with a variety of thoughts he couldn’t begin to fathom. Was it okay for him to shape the world? Was it all right to touch it? That had been the worry he’d harbored. He’d been afraid of doing anything. If he acted a certain way, it might change things. Something terribly beautiful and splendid might break. That was why he’d been afraid to touch the world with his clumsy hands. 
That had been cowardice. 
True, if Shiroe did something, the end results might change, but that would happen even if he did nothing. For everything in the world, there was a season, a time limit, and postponing making a choice would mean he’d chosen to avoid acting at all. 
When Taliktan, the Genius of Summoning, had appeared, Shiroe had been forced to understand that, whether he wanted to or not. In this world, there were things that could be broken by hesitation, and it was probable that Shiroe wouldn’t be able to run from failure and regret. 
Going in the direction she, Kanami, had indicated, had been fun, and it had made for wonderful memories, but he had to do more than that now. Shiroe had guild members who would support him and walk with him, and Marielle and William had shown him what guild masters should be. 
“Rest in peace and wait.” 
He couldn’t. 
“If you go to sleep, your safety will be guaranteed.” 
He couldn’t. 
“A return home can be achieved in exchange for six hundred and forty million units. Contractors who agree, accept access, choose to sleep, and wait on standby.” 
He couldn’t. 
Accepting Taliktan’s words might be the right thing to do. At this point, though, to Shiroe, that would be the same as “postponing a choice.” Just gaining one option wasn’t good enough. 
People had an obligation to live. 
They probably had an obligation to be greedy as well. 
Shiroe had thought of himself as a person who could get by with being mildly satisfied, but he’d been wrong. It was easy to not get involved with other people, to avoid wanting anything. However, the more fun times you spent with your friends, the keener the prayer that began to grow inside you. You couldn’t help wishing that kindness, warmth, smiles, and peace would stay just as they were for a long, long time. Because the most important things were fleeting and easily lost, Shiroe had been afraid of actively wishing for them. He’d been afraid people would think he was greedy. 
However, there were things you couldn’t get without wishing for them, and right now, that was Shiroe’s role. 

It was probably what his parents had wanted, long ago, and what the guild masters who had gathered on the Round Table Council had wished for. 
None of them—not Ains or Isaac or anyone else—had wanted things for themselves. They had all tried to be faithful to the people they wanted to protect, and as a result, they hadn’t been able to reach a consensus. 
Like a big sister. 
Shiroe remembered a phrase from Roe2’s letter. 
The Travelers also prayed for light for others’ futures. 
When he realized that, something hot constricted his chest. His hands clenched so tightly around his staff that they ached. It wasn’t unpleasant; it churned inside him. 
As if severing something, Shiroe struck at the monster. 
“Taliktan. I can’t do that.” 
“—A return from this transient world is possible.” 
Taliktan’s words were the trigger. 
He really couldn’t accept conditions like those. 
And apparently, Shiroe’s companions shared his feelings. 
“Forget about it.” 
“After all, we can’t trust you.” 
“Mew’re much too late.” 
Other words of refusal were spat out, along with attacks. Right now, whether or not it was true wasn’t the issue. 
Touya had said it: They’d go home after they’d settled everything. 
In the end, we are greedy. Ordinarily, the thought would have embarrassed Shiroe, but now he was able to look at it honestly. We want to walk this world, to travel through it on our own two feet. We don’t know whether that’s right or a mistake. However, because we don’t know, we want to question ourselves in the midst of unexplored landscapes. 
Whether this world was transient was something for Shiroe and the others to decide. We won’t let even the gods get in our way, William had yelled. He thought it was a blush-worthy declaration. However, Shiroe felt the same way. 
The truth did exist. He’d met Naotsugu and Akatsuki, had journeyed, flown through the sky, gotten in touch with Captain Nyanta, and started his guild. He’d brought in the twins, and his number of companions had increased. He’d spoken with People of the Earth. He’d become good friends with people of very different ages. He’d stayed up late, being noisy and fooling around, and he’d tucked blankets up over sleeping faces. There was no way those things hadn’t been true. Maybe they’d begun as something transient, but nothing said they had to stay that way. 
That was why he couldn’t respond to Taliktan’s inorganic temptation. 
“Sleep, all of you. Sleep, all of you.” 
Taliktan kept groaning in a broken-sounding way, over and over, as if he’d forgotten to keep up appearances. His body began to swell up like a misshapen water balloon. The figure, which had formerly been a brown-skinned old man, grew enormous, wrapped its white hair around Naotsugu like melted vinyl, and sent him flying. 
“Fifteen percent HP remaining. It’s the last phase!” 
Behind him, he heard Riezé’s shout. This was a characteristic called “insanity,” and it was often seen in raid bosses. When their HP fell below a certain percentage, their forms and attack patterns changed. In most cases, they also grew much stronger. However, the attack team didn’t shrink back. On the contrary, they launched even fiercer attacks. 
A freezing wind blew from behind him. Someone had used the effect of a fantasy-class item. Nazuna and Minori were dancing Kagura Dance, and the shining madder-red effect came from the barrier spells they were casting on the frontline warriors, one after another. 
Even though they hadn’t discussed it beforehand, everyone understood: It wouldn’t be possible to sustain a long fight with Taliktan now that his attack power had grown. They’d just have to force him down. 
Shiroe shouted as if to expel the tightness in his chest, then wove together spells and released them in rapid succession. He fired Electric Fuzz as a decoy, then killed its firing range with Brain Vise. He layered Mind Bolt over Nightmare Sphere and slammed them into him. 
He had become a guild master, and now he was leading this capture unit. He couldn’t not choose something. Choosing was the only way he could repay them. 
It was his duty to wish for a lot. For the sake of the companions who walked alongside him and for the future companions he’d meet someday. 
Akatsuki had flipped high into the air, and their eyes met. 
Shiroe nodded, then belatedly realized why he’d done it. The calm part of himself whispered that it had been an illusion created by the high-density combat teamwork. However, just now, he was sure he’d touched Akatsuki’s soul. It had been like anger, but clearer, a fierce determination without a target, and the emotion had matched Shiroe’s to a startling degree. 
“I don’t want that to have been temporary!” “That shore we walked along together.” 
Shiroe’s Sewn-Bind Hostage struck Taliktan’s white, expanding body, and purple briars manifested. Akatsuki leapt, again and again, over the howling blizzard, the lightning, and the raid team’s front line as they pushed back. She flickered and blinked, and then many overlapping Akatsukis swung the short swords they held with backhanded grips. 
Akatsuki’s Mystery divided her shape, and her slashing attacks burst the secret-level Sewn-Bind Hostage like a rain shower. Smoothly, Shiroe released the spell he’d had ready. He slipped another Sewn-Bind Hostage in, landing it in the less than half a second that Akatsuki spent out of sight. 
“We’re extravagant, so…” “This place isn’t like that!” 
Akatsuki didn’t stop. 
She wasn’t expecting to fail. 
This was true for Shiroe as well, so he moved on to the next stage of the cycle without waiting to see the results. 
Sewn-Bind Hostage had bound their opponent with almost no time lag. Then came Akatsuki’s series of five attacks. A total of ten briars, and slashes from ten copies. The black-haired girl had pulled off that team play as if it were only natural, and she blurred, running up through empty space. 
“Assassinate!!” 
With the roar of an especially loud lightning strike and the sound of something scorching, Taliktan turned into dark bubbles as if he was being absorbed into himself, then immediately disappeared. 
That was how the Shibuya Eternal Moth Fortress Raid that had rocked Yamato came to an end.