Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Flash 

The two clashed, and the rest of us backed away to watch the duel. Motoyasu looked like he was just waiting for a chance to stab Ren to death from behind. 
“Don’t interfere, Motoyasu.” 
“As you wish!” 
He was being helpful for the time being, but . . . it seemed like I still needed to set him straight eventually. He did seem to be listening to me, which was more than I could say about Ren, but he had a really bad habit of running away. 
Eclair’s sharp thrust nailed Ren right in the shoulder. It hadn’t actually pierced his skin, but that was a point for her. 
“Hmph, is that all you’ve got? You weren’t this sluggish last time.” 
Upon hearing Eclair’s provocation, Ren’s eyes opened wide and he squeezed his hands tightly around the grip of his sword. 
“I . . . will not lose. I . . . am the strongest and . . . to become stronger . . . I will . . . gain all and . . . devour . . . all!” 
Ren’s speech became fragmented and his sword—what had been a sinister, single-handed sword—transformed into a soot-black long sword. On top of that, the black aura that it had already been emitting intensified. 
Would Eclair really be okay? That sword . . . I wouldn’t have been surprised if its stats had risen enough to overcome my defense now. Looking more closely, I noticed that there were lots of little decorations on the sword. There was a dog-looking animal on the guard . . . a fox, maybe. I could see something that looked like a pig on the hilt, too. 
 
But Ren’s speech had gotten even stranger when the sword transformed. Gain all and . . . devour all? If he’d meant “devour” in the literal sense, then it was possible that he’d awakened the curse of gluttony, too. 
“I . . . will become the strongest! Even now . . . in this very moment, I am evolving and . . . I will harness . . . an unfathomable amount of strength . . . and defeat you all . . . and devour the experience!” 
Ren swung the long sword up into the air and dashed forward. His movements were awkward, but they were also quite fast. 
“Raahhhhh!” 
Ren began swinging the long sword around furiously. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason to his attacks. Eclair was crouching, bending, and maneuvering her body to dodge all of the attacks. 
“Your swordsmanship is dull and simplistic. No matter how much your abilities increase, with swordsmanship like that you wouldn’t be able to hit me, even if I hadn’t improved a single bit since our last encounter!” 
Oh, nice! She was right. His movement was quick, but it was also haphazard. I guess if someone had been swinging a sword around as long as Eclair, they would be able to dodge that much. I had a feeling the situation was similar to when Raphtalia and Sadeena had fought. Sadeena had completely read all of Raphtalia’s attacks and dodged every one by a hair’s breadth. It was an incredible feat. So now Eclair had become strong enough to do the same thing to Ren. 
 
“Grr . . . Stop missing! Each of my attacks should be strong enough to destroy anything it touches!” 
Stat and ability-wise, Ren was most likely well ahead of Eclair. The reason he still couldn’t hit her was probably due to a vast difference in the levels of their swordsmanship. 
“Why?! Why am I missing?!” 
“There’s no way you could hit me. Not with that languid blade. With haphazard attacks like that, it’s as if you’re not even trying to hit me.” 
“Shut uuuuuppp!” 
I wondered how Raphtalia or Filo would dodge if it were one of them fighting him. They probably wouldn’t dodge by a hair’s breadth like that. They’d probably just use pure speed. It was probably because she had always fought by my side, but Raphtalia tended to fight really aggressively. I guess that only made sense, though. In all of our battles, her job had been to try to land the most fearsome attack possible while using me as a shield instead of dodging. Perhaps it was time for us to undergo some serious training, too. 
To get a better idea of Eclair’s skill, I decided to ask her fellow Hengen Muso pupil Rishia what she thought. 
“Hey, Rishia. What do you think so far?” 
“Fehh? Umm, the Sword Hero’s attacks are all rather monotonous. I’m sure anyone experienced at combat would be able to dodge them.” 
“Hmm . . .” 
I guess so. Ren was fast, but even I would probably be able to dodge those attacks. That’s how repetitive and tedious his attacks were as he swung his sword around. For the most part, they were either cuts straight down or slices to the side. Every now and then he would make a right-angle turn or something, but it was always completely obvious when he was going to change his path. 
 
Technique-wise, L’Arc and Glass were probably far more advanced. Compared to them, these attacks of Ren’s were like a child’s sword-play. The strength gained from a curse was basically a stat boost. I had a feeling Ren had actually fought smarter and been stronger before he had been consumed by the curse. 
“Alright, I guess that’s all you have to show me. In that case, now it’s my turn.” 
“Grr . . . I’m not finished! My victory will be one-sided!” 
What a line. He was saying it was all about his attacks, and the opponent shouldn’t even get to counterattack. Oh yeah, Ren had mentioned that shielders had died out in the VRMMO he used to play. Maybe that’s why he was so caught up on defeating his enemies before they could counterattack. He’d also said something about expecting them to evade, though. It didn’t add up. 
Since even the earliest online games, it was usually in PVP where the existence of defensive classes really made a difference. It seemed to me like Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki were all total noobs when it came to fighting against other people. Of course, things probably worked just like they said in their own games. But that’s not how it worked in this world. That much, I was sure of. 
 
“Eat this!” 
Ren swung his sword down hard and recklessly. The instant the tip of his blade touched the ground, the earth shook and split open. Oh man, so it was one of those earth-splitting attacks. It seemed pretty powerful. 
“You’re full of holes!” 
Aiming for Ren’s shoulder, Eclair unleashed a sharp jab just like the last time they had fought. With a dull thud, her jab bounced off of Ren’s shoulder, ineffective. It was clear that Ren’s defense had risen even higher than it was several moments ago. 
“Mu-ha-ha! The sword that I am currently using features the highest level of automatic self-repair. Your measly attacks are meaningless. Quietly accept your defeat!” 
Ren’s eyes twinkled as he laughed sinisterly. I guess he was laughing because he’d realized that Eclair lacked a decisive blow. But what was up with the explanatory narrative? Actually, the armor I’d been wearing before had automatic self-repair functionality, too. 
“Hmm . . . So he’s not as tough as Mr. Iwatani, but he rejuvenates as soon as I cut him. That makes things difficult.” 
Eclair mumbled while looking at the tip of her sword. She must have still been pretty relaxed, because there wasn’t a single bead of sweat on her brow. 
“Quietly accept defeat and give me my experience points! Maneater! 
Shooting Star Sword!” 
 
That skill again! I guess it’s because it was a long sword now, but the cloud of black stars dispersed over an even larger area. Eclair’s appearance began to . . . blur as she went about dodging every single one. 
“That . . . that’s the Hengen Muso evasive form Shimmer!” Rishia cried out. 
Umm, yeah. Rishia had the fantasy world geek thing down pat, too. 
“Rishia, stop playing the narrator character. ‘What?! It was?!’ Is that what I’m supposed to say? Because you know I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 
“Well . . . You’re right about that much. But seeing Rishia and Eclair fight makes me think we need to do some training, too,” Raphtalia said. 
Raphtalia was absolutely right. I was starting to feel like I was lagging behind those two, from a technique perspective. And it seemed like it was only recently that they had just suddenly pulled ahead, too. 
“Yeah . . . I have a feeling we need to get serious about learning this stuff.” 
If it meant being able to move like that, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to prioritize learning the style. The heroes’ weapons made mastering it more difficult, apparently. But it couldn’t hurt to learn how anyway. Maybe we should go hole up deep in the mountains for a while. For the sake of being able to survive what was coming. 
“I’m not finished! Chain Bind!” 
“Hmph!” 
The chains that Ren had called forth went flying toward Eclair, but she swung her sword and they shattered into pieces. 
 
“What?!” 
“Just as I thought. Even strong chains or tough defenses shatter easily if you take advantage of their weak point.” 
“I’m not finished! Try my finishing move on for size! Hide Sword!” 
Ren began to waver and then disappeared. That idiot. He just kept using the same attacks. What happened to Hundred Swords? Or Thunder Sword? It didn’t matter how many attacks he had. If he wasn’t going to put some thought into how he was using them, he wouldn’t be able to beat Eclair. 
“Parlor tricks. When Raphtalia disappears in front of me I can’t detect her life force.” 
Eclair swiped her sword to the side. That’s all it took for Ren’s concealment skill to be canceled out, revealing him once again. Nice one. That was pretty impressive. 
“Is she telling the truth?” I asked Raphtalia. 
“What do you expect? I specialize in that kind of magic.” 
I guess that would be depressing if Ren had outdone her specialty magic. I’m sure I would have been annoyed if he’d outdone my defense. 
“Now then, how about you try another one of mine.” 
Eclair crouched down low before springing toward Ren, thrusting her sword at him. Ren didn’t feel it necessary to defend. No, he suddenly jumped backward away from Eclair. 
“That won’t work.” 
Eclair moved even faster than Ren could retreat and leapt right up against him. 
 
“Four Cross!” 
Her short sword flashed brightly as its path traced the form of a cross. It was one of those magic sword techniques. Those were in a category separate from both skills and magic. Eclair had used that on our enemies earlier, too. 
“Ugh . . .” 
Eclair’s attack was a direct hit. I could see some kind of light cut through Ren’s body. But in the same instant he took damage, the wound began to close. Ren stood there grinning like nothing had happened. 
“To think that one of your attacks could actually touch me. Not too shabby. I guess you’re worthy of seeing what it looks like when I start to get serious.” 
What the hell was he saying? That bastard had been having the struggle of his life, and now he was saying that it had all just been an act? Get a grip! If we’d been serious, I’m pretty sure defeating him would have been easy as pie. 
And anyway, what happened to the aftereffects of the curse series skills? Was he not feeling the effects of the curse? He seemed to be moving around normally. I wanted to make a witty remark about it, but I kept my mouth shut. I figured he’d just say something like “no curse can touch me!” or “curses can only make me stronger!” 
“Hogwash! Nothing is more insulting than holding back against an opponent in actual warfare! Stop pretending like you’re not struggling, you fool!” 
 
Oh man, he went and made Eclair mad again. These two were as incompatible as it got. Even so, Eclair had seen right through Ren’s act. He was fast, but that’s all he was. Eclair could read his every move. If that was the case, being fast was pointless. 
That said, Eclair’s attacks lacked power, too. Even if she’d mastered the old lady’s defense rating attacks, they wouldn’t be very useful unless the opponent had an extremely high defense, like I did. I’m sure her swordsmanship was superb, but being pitted against a hero consumed by a curse put the odds against her. 
Those defense rating attacks didn’t really make sense in the first place. It was almost as if they were made to be used against the Shield Hero. I didn’t know where the Hengen Muso style had originated, but if it was Melromarc, then it was possible that hostility toward certain countries drove them to develop the technique for exactly that purpose. 
“My attacks will devour all. Yes, that includes your experience points!” 
“It doesn’t matter how strong your attacks are—if they can’t hit me, they’re pointless!” 
The fight had reached a stalemate. Ren couldn’t land any attacks, and Eclair’s attacks were ineffective. A long, drawn-out battle would put Eclair at more of a disadvantage. Ren’s attacks weren’t landing, but that didn’t mean they weren’t powerful. Judging by the way things were now, there was a high probability Ren would win this fight. 

“What do you want to do, Eclair? If this continues, things are just going to slowly go downhill until you lose, don’t you think?” 
 
“Mr. Iwatani, give me a little more time! I’ve almost reached through to the Sword Hero’s heart.” 
Heart, huh? Maybe she was dealing with something I couldn’t understand, since I could only use a shield. I mulled over it as Eclair asked Ren a question. 
“Tell me, Sword Hero. What is your objective? Mr. Iwatani says he intends to return to his own world.” 
“Leave me out of it!” 
Ren was obsessed with being the strongest, so she was just going to make him come after me! Sheesh . . . Oh? Ren didn’t seem to know how to respond. Hmm . . . Maybe this really was the key to getting through to him. 
“I . . . I . . .” 
“I’m asking what your objective is. What do you hope to accomplish by becoming stronger?!” 
Oh, come on. Asking him a question like that was only going to get an asinine response. You could see the crazy in Ren’s eyes. That guy wasn’t thinking straight, or even at all. 
“I have to become the strongest or I won’t be able to bear it! I will become the strongest across all worlds, all times, and all dimensions! This is my greed! This is my gluttony that seeks and devours all experience points!” 
Ren finished his spiel and the pitch-black aura emanating from his body intensified. I could tell he was about to use some skill. 
“You can help make me stronger! Give me my experience points!” 

“Let this foolish sinner pay for her transgressions with her being preyed upon in the name of a god! Accept as an offering the earth’s nourishment I have received—unleash its putrefaction upon her and let her be devoured!” 

“Strong Decline!” 
Ren clenched his fist tightly. His whole body began to glow like a firefly and then the light seeped away into the ground and disappeared. The ground began to shake and then suddenly split open beneath Eclair’s feet. Ah, so this must have been some kind of evolution of that other attack that had caused a fissure earlier. The incantation had been similar to the one I used for Blood Sacrifice. Fangs grew up out of the fractures and were attempting to bite into Eclair. 
“Your attack is full of holes! If this were Mr. Iwatani’s attack, I wouldn’t be able to avoid it!” 
“Stop comparing him to me! You’re going to make Ren come after me!” 
“Mr. Naofumi, just be quiet and watch for a moment,” Raphtalia whispered. 
“But . . .” 
“It’s going to be fine. I have a feeling this will work. Have some faith in Eclair.” 
Did it really look like it would be fine? I guess it was just one of those things you had to be a martial artist to understand. But if Raphtalia thought it would be fine, then I’d trust her. 
Eclair had successfully dodged Ren’s attack, by the way. It looked like it was pretty much the exact same attack as Blood Sacrifice. No, wait, I guess it was different after all. Some gray, foul-smelling substance started spraying up out of the ground like a geyser. The golden idol earlier had been off-putting, but this was just disgusting. Whatever that was, getting hit by it probably would have been bad, even for me. 
 
It had missed Eclair, though. Just like Blood Sacrifice, that meant that the user would have to pay the price of using it without getting anything in return. In my case, that would have been an utter tragedy, considering my current condition. Yeah, if I ever needed to use it again, I’d have to make sure there was no way it would miss. I couldn’t let myself forget that the reason it had worked on the high priest was because the queen had kept him in place. 
“F-f-fehhh . . . What is that stuff?!” 
“Who knows? Probably best not to let it touch you, though.” 
We were keeping our distance, so I figured we weren’t in danger, but the ground near where the attack had taken place started dissolving into a muddy mess. The surrounding area looked like it had been devastated by fire, and an unbelievably rancid odor filled the area as mushrooms and mold began to pop up out of the dirt. The rotten earth had become a putrid sea, and creatures resembling monstrous flies started to form in the muddy waters. That was a cursed skill if I ever saw one. Eclair seemed to be the only target. Before long, the monster flies began to swoop down on Eclair. 
“Take aim before attacking! Your attacks lack determination! When Mr. Iwatani unleashed his finishing attack while shouldering Ost’s final wishes, taking painstaking care to ensure it would not be wasted, that was an attack that carried weight. I believe it is that determination that is true strength.” 
 
The cursed onslaught of monster flies cannonballed toward Eclair . . . She swiftly leapt straight over the creatures and landed directly in front of Ren. Having lost their target, the monster flies continued to charge forward miserably before crumbling away and disappearing moments later. 
I sighed. I couldn’t help but feel like the whole area had been horribly contaminated. There was seemingly no end to the damage this bastard did to others. 
“Now, let me ask you once again. What is it that you desire after you become the strongest?” 
“After . . . becoming the strongest? After?!” 
“That’s right. You say you’re the strongest now, right? Then what will you do with that power?” 
“Grr . . .” 
Ren didn’t know how to respond. Ah, so that was it, after all. Now I understood why something about Ren’s greed felt so weak. I’d already noticed that the process and the goal had been swapped. But beyond that process there was nothing more to Ren’s greed. 
That might have been why I hadn’t awakened the greed curse series. I greedily wanted to make money. But to me, the money of this world was simply something I needed to survive the waves, and that was the extent of my interest in it. I would be returning to my own world eventually. So when that time came, giving any leftover money to Raphtalia as payment for everything she’d done was about all I could do with it. Of course, I would be lying if I said I never thought about living a little more extravagantly. But if I had money to spare I was going to spend it on equipment or invest it in facilities. 
 
The same went for Ren’s gluttony. It had probably awakened as an extension of his desire to be stronger, but after he’d consumed the experience points of an opponent, there was nothing left. Once he’d become the strongest, he would be satisfied. His gluttony would be satisfied once his stomach was full. It wasn’t the kind of gluttony that came from insatiable hunger, where a person could eat and eat and never be satisfied. 
My curse was wrath. I was filled with a borderline overwhelming sense of wrath toward injustice. The object of that wrath was this whole world, starting with Witch. Of course, I had hopes that my wrath might disappear when I returned to my own world, but . . . most likely, I would still become unreasonably angry at times even after returning to my own reality. I would just have to do my best to control it. 
So between being constantly consumed by unremitting anger and an unfulfillable desire to be the strongest, which would be more agonizing? Maybe the reason I had been able to withstand my wrath increasingly more lately was because I had been able to take revenge on Witch and Trash to a certain degree. It might have been that the power of the curse series would change depending on the intensity of the hero’s emotions. 
“I . . . I will . . . I will become the strongest and . . . s-s-save the world!” 
“I don’t want to hear about some mission you’ve been given by someone else! There’s nothing at all convincing about that!” 

Eclair discarded his response without hesitation. His eyes and voice had both completely lacked conviction, after all. 

“If it’s so hard for you to admit it, then let me spell it out for you directly. I’ll tell you exactly what it is that you want.” 
“What?!” 
Ren began trembling violently, and Eclair finally delivered her berating verdict. 
“You don’t want to become strong. You just want to get back what you’ve lost!” 
“Ugh . . .” 
“Like a fool, you went charging in thoughtlessly and you lost your companions, numerous others, and the trust of the people. All you really want is to get all of that back and becoming the strongest is simply a tangible goal that you think can make that happen! Nothing more!” 
“Sh . . . shut up!” 
“But even if you were a god . . . No, as a hero you are a god. But even so, getting all of that back is impossible. Do you really think becoming the strongest is what you should be focusing on right now?!” 
“Shut uuuuuuppp!” 
Ren swung his sword wildly at Eclair. I wondered if I should step in. I started to take a step forward, but Eclair held her hand out as a sign that I shouldn’t interfere. She then went about reading and narrowly dodging each and every one of Ren’s attacks. Man, she was good. 

“The truth is you already know this. You know you don’t have time to be rotting away in a place like this!” 
 
“Shut your moooouth! I don’t want to hear what you think!” 
Ren showed no sign of stopping and just kept swinging at Eclair. 
“Your companions believed in you until the very end, and for that they are but dust in the wind. It is on their behalf that I now swing my blade!” 
Eclair held her sword up in front of her chest and then launched a skill directly at Ren. 
“Hengen Muso Sword Technique! Multistrike Demolition!” 
Eclair unleashed a string of attacks that poured straight into Ren. I could see a flow of magic . . . or was that life force? I wasn’t really sure. It looked kind of like a special effect, but I guess it was probably life force. Anyway, some kind of light started swelling up inside of Ren. It was as if the technique was destroying him from the inside out. It must have been one of the old lady’s specialty defense rating attacks. It looked similar to one she had used on me before. Taking a string of that many defense rating attacks would be hell. And since I was particularly weak to such attacks, just watching sent shivers down my spine. 
“Gah!” 
“Sword Hero, you are weak. It is by accepting this that you can become stronger.” 
Eclair paused and returned her sword to its scabbard. 
“The people that you lost are never coming back. But starting now, you can live with enough purpose and fight with enough vigor for yourself and all of them, too. I will assist you in any way that I can.” 

She was making herself look good, but Ren hadn’t actually taken that much damage. But then again, he was a hero, even if he was a lame one, and he had unlocked two curse series. For Eclair, that was probably one hell of a close fight. If she had eaten even one of Ren’s attacks, she’d probably be split clean in two right now. 

“U . . . urgah . . .” 
And then Ren collapsed. Oh man, that kind of defeat was straight out of an anime. I mean, come on, he’d clearly had plenty of stamina left. 
“Don’t run from your sins. Every time you try, I will be there standing in your way. For the sake of your deceased companions.” 
“Urgh . . .” 
Ren was still collapsed on the ground, but he was crying. Was it involuntarily? He was completely still otherwise. His long sword had changed back into a normal sword, and the sinister aura had vanished. When Eclair finally turned around, I called out to her. 
“I never knew you were so skilled at psychological attacks.” 
Praising her too outright would be out of character for me, so I masked the compliment as sarcasm. Putting it like that was probably a safe bet. 
“It sounds so horrible when you put it like that.” 
Eclair responded deploringly, but it was true that she hadn’t actually physically defeated him. 
“This was supposed to be an emotionally moving scene! It was supposed to be a communion of two hearts, via the sword, guiding a troubled soul to harmony. But you just completely ruined it, Mr. Naofumi.” 
 
 
Now Raphtalia was giving me the evil eye. 
“Did I?” 
But seriously, it was basically a psychological attack, right? 
“Oh, looks like we have a little scrap going on here. Eeehehe!” 
And then with the worst timing possible, the same pair that had fled only minutes earlier faded into view. What the hell were they doing here?! This was not the time for them to show up again! They were supposed to be running away! 
“We were going to run away, but then we noticed a cloud of smoke and decided to check it out. Is that one of the other heroes?” 
“Shit . . .” 
This was bad. Ren and Motoyasu were so weak that they couldn’t even begin to compare to me. Not to mention, Ren had passed out and couldn’t even move. 
“Who might this be?” asked Motoyasu. 
For some reason, he was over by Ren and Eclair just standing there looking confused. He obviously had no idea what was going on. 
“Judging from the power of his attacks and that flurry of skills, he must be a weakling, unlike the Shield Hero.” 
“It wouldn’t make sense to pass up an opportunity like this. We might as well finish him off real quick.” 
“I won’t allow that!” 

Eclair pointed her short sword at the pair and readied herself to protect Ren. I couldn’t just let Ren and Motoyasu be killed, either. That would only make things a lot harder on me, after all. 

“Die, holy heroes!” 
The small man began to cast a spell and the large man started spinning his kusarigama around and running toward us. 
“Not on my watch!” 
“Not happening!” 
“Please make it in time!” 
Raphtalia and I swiftly broke into a sprint, and Rishia threw her knife and was trying to obstruct the men by getting them caught in the rope. Should I use Attack Support and fire off a skill? I was almost close enough for Ren to be in range of Air Strike Shield. The large man was headed toward the collapsed Ren and it wouldn’t be long until he reached him. Neither Eclair nor Motoyasu had an attack strong enough to deliver a decisive blow. 
“Blast it! I didn’t want to use that technique before I had mastered it, but it appears I have no choice!” 
Eclair crouched down low and readied herself to perform some kind of technique. What was she going to do? 
“Mr. Iwatani! I won’t be able to fight after using this technique, but it will buy you some time. I leave it to you to protect the Sword Hero!” 
“Got it!” 
I guess she still had an ace up her sleeve. Eclair was going to buy us some time so that I could protect Ren. 
“I’ll help, too! Muso—” 
 
Rishia was focusing in preparation to use some kind of technique, too. I wanted to jab her about not waiting until the last second to play her trump card, but I guess this wasn’t the time for that. 
“Are these your enemies, Father? They shan’t defeat me!” 
Motoyasu sprung forward and stood next to Eclair. 
“Stay back, Motoyasu! You’re no match for them!” 
His efforts were commendable, but frankly, him jumping into the fray would just make things messier. What the hell was I going to do if Ren and Motoyasu both died on me here?! 
“Outer Hengen Muso Secret Technique—” 
“Looks like we win this one!” 
The large man grinned and swung his kusarigama at Motoyasu and Ren, while the meteorite summoned by the small man appeared in the sky above them. I just had to hope that Eclair’s and Rishia’s attacks would make it in time. I was concentrating while running to prepare to cast my support magic on Raphtalia and the rest of us. 
Finally! Ren and Motoyasu were finally in range of my defensive skills! 
“Air Strike Shield! Second Shield!” 
That should buy us a little time. 
“Eat this, I say!” 

Motoyasu thrust his spear at the large man out from behind the shield that had appeared in front of him. The enemy had some mysterious rippling defensive barrier. Motoyasu’s attack wouldn’t be able to touch him! Even if he did have a cursed weapon, just like Ren, his attacks wouldn’t be powerful enough to— Pop!
 
A sound like a balloon popping echoed out. I’m pretty sure it was louder than when Filo and Rishia had just barely managed to break through the barrier. 
“Gah!” 
Motoyasu’s spear had pierced through the barrier effortlessly and straight into the large man’s chest. The spear went clean through the large man, and Motoyasu started swinging the spear around like it was a toy, with the large man still skewered on the end. 
“Wh . . . what?” 
Both the large man and the small man were flabbergasted. 
“Ugh . . . gah . . . stop . . . damn it!” 
The large man was struggling to free himself from the spear while being flung around. 
“There’s a meteorite coming this way. You needn’t lift a finger, Father.” 
Motoyasu was looking up at the sky and staring at the meteorite rushing straight toward him. 
“How long do you intend to be stuck to my spear? It’s unsightly!” 
Despite being the one that had skewered him, Motoyasu reprimanded the large man while looking at him like he was a piece of trash. 
“G . . . go to hell! Urgah . . .” 

It was everything the skewered man could do to squeeze out a response while he continued to struggle. Blood spurted out of his mouth. He had almost managed to pull the spear out of his chest. “It seems that you two are Father’s enemies. Death to enemies, I say!” Motoyasu gripped his spear tightly. “Burst Lance!” The tip of Motoyasu’s spear began to glow a bright red. “Wha . . . urgaaaahhhhh!” The skewered large man was screaming while trying to free himself from the spear, but a loud blast echoed out and a massive explosion occurred at the tip of Motoyasu’s spear. “Gaaahhhhh!” Still stuck to the end of Motoyasu’s spear, the large man exploded into pieces right before our eyes. Luckily it wasn’t one of those disgusting scenes where chunks of flesh went flying. The explosion had reduced him to atoms. “Wh . . . wha . . . You’re kidding, right?” The small man was dumbstruck. But he must have pulled himself together quickly, because he flashed a vulgar grin before making a comment. “Eeehehehe . . . I never expected he would get killed. Resurrecting him is going to be a pain.” He was laughing flippantly about his own companion’s death. These creeps really did have a game mindset. They were even worse than Ren. “Translocating Light . . . doesn’t seem to be usable, I guess. This has turned out to be a real hassle.” “You’re next, I say!” “I’d like to see you try!” 
 
The small man pulled out his shamshir and readied himself to engage at any moment. Then he turned to Motoyasu and just as he was about to dash forward . . . Motoyasu was already standing directly in front of the man. When did that happen?! Aside from defense, all my stats were currently reduced by more than half due to a curse, but even so, surely he couldn’t move so fast that I couldn’t see him, right?! 
“M . . . Mr. Naofumi?! Do you think the Spear Hero . . .” 
“Spear Hero?!” 
“Fehhh . . .” 
Motoyasu had just blown a man to smithereens and yet he was acting completely unaffected. Something about his expression seemed crazy. Oh, that’s right. Motoyasu was using a cursed weapon, too. I’d forgotten since he had actually been listening to me, but Motoyasu obviously wasn’t in his right mind. 
“Rah!” 
“Too slow! Death to Father’s enemies, I say!” 
Motoyasu swung his spear to the side. It sliced clean through the small man’s shamshir . . . and his neck, too. 
“Wha . . .” 
Blood spurted out all over Motoyasu. Red had been one of his favorite colors to start with, and now he was covered in blood. He was red from head to toe. Having just seen two seemingly formidable enemies effortlessly killed in a single instant had left us speechless. 
“Motoyasu . . . You . . . How did you get so strong?” 
 
“Your words can never be wrong, Father!” 
“In other words, you used the power-up methods I told you about?” 
Motoyasu nodded without hesitation, as if to imply such a thing was only natural. That meant that the Motoyasu here with us had implemented all of the power-up methods of the four holy heroes. On top of that, he had probably powered up his curse series weapon, too. It was probably at stage IV, like my Shield of Wrath, or perhaps even stage V. 
That shield had made a huge difference when fighting the Spirit Tortoise and Kyo. It was ridiculously tough and had some powerful abilities, but what about in Motoyasu’s case? It only made sense that his weapon equivalent would have extraordinarily high attack power. In other words, Motoyasu now possessed a colossal amount of power. It would be a far cry from the mediocre strength that Ren had displayed. That was certainly reassuring. 
Crazy. To think that he’d been able to so effortlessly and brutally annihilate enemies that I’d had such a difficult time with. 
“That takes care of all of the enemies,” he said. 
“Yeah, it does.” 
The enemies had appeared unexpectedly, but we’d narrowly managed to protect Ren, thanks to Motoyasu. The completely unanticipated turn of events had thrown me for a loop, but now we needed to focus on Ren. 
“Anyway, let’s get Ren out of here.” 
“Got it.” 

Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at the fallen corpse of the small man as Eclair and I hoisted Ren up off the ground. 

“Let’s put him in the carriage and take him to the village,” I said. 
“That’s right, we left it back by the bandit hideout, didn’t we?” Eclair replied. 
“Yes. We’ll need to find Filo, too,” said Raphtalia. 
“Yeah, since she ran off somewhere with Raph-chan.” 
“Fehhhhh . . . What have we doooone?!” 
Rishia was just now noticing the state of things and making a commotion. Curious, I gave our surroundings a quick once-over. Headless corpse. Putrefied earth. It would have been hard to describe the fierce battle that had occurred here in only a few words. 
But wait a minute, the men’s corpses hadn’t turned into light. I wondered why. It would have been nice if they could give us a clue about how to prevent our enemies from resurrecting. 
“Alright, Motoyasu, you come with—” 
I looked over to where I expected Motoyasu to be standing, but there was no sign of him there. Then I heard a high-pitched sound, so I looked over in that direction. A short distance away, Motoyasu was walking off whistling, for some reason. 
“Motoyasu!” 
I was about to call out for him to stop, but he turned around and replied. 
“The hero should always make his exit upon saving the day! Farewell, Father!” 
“There will be no making exits! Stop screwing around!” 
He was using a cursed weapon. It would be a problem if he just went and disappeared again at a time like this! I don’t know what the consequences were for using it, but I was sure they wouldn’t be pretty! But before I could tell him that, something came speeding toward Motoyasu from behind. Was that . . . Filo’s carriage? 
 
“Noooo! My carriaaaage!” 
Huh? Filo came running up from a short distance away. 
“Gweh!” 
Filo’s carriage was being pulled by . . . huh? It was three . . . filolials— one red, one blue, and one green. 
“Farewell, I say!” 
Motoyasu went running away alongside the carriage while holding on to the side as if he were preparing to leap into a speeding vehicle. 
“Filo-tan! Father! Should you ever find yourselves in a predicament, know that I will come running!” 
“Give me back my carriaaaage!” 
Filo went chasing after Motoyasu with her cheeks puffed out and fury in her eyes. I sighed. But I guess I’d be mad, too, if someone just went and used something of mine, like it belonged to them. I could understand how she felt. 
“Rafu!” 
As Filo ran past us, Raph-chan jumped down off of her and onto my shoulder. 
“Welcome back, Raph-chan,” I said. 

She’d probably had a rough time, with Filo carrying her off somewhere like that. Filo had gone chasing after Motoyasu, so if everything worked out, maybe we would be able to capture him, too. Although, judging by the way he was now, that wasn’t going to be easy.
 
“Rafu! Rafu rafu!” 
For some reason, Raph-chan jumped up onto my head and pointed at something just like she had done when pointing out Kyo’s soul before. I was suddenly able to see the souls of the pair of men we’d just defeated. 
“Oh? It looks like the Shield Hero can see us. Eeehehe.” 
“Oh yeah? Whatever, that’s fine. We lost this time, but we’re going to kill you and your friends next time! I’m going to make you pay for doing this to us!” 
Hmm? Something about this situation . . . It seemed like we should be able to do something. 
“S’yne, I can see those creeps’ souls over there.” 
“Yes. The souls will resur———” 
Her speech was breaking up like usual and I couldn’t understand what she was saying. But! I knew of an attack that would likely be effective on an opponent like this. Indeed . . . The situation was exactly like when we had defeated Kyo. 
“Raphtalia, see those spirits over there? Use Spirit Blade to . . . mince them.” 
“U . . . understood!” 
“Wh . . . what?!” 
The pair’s voices cracked when they cried out. They’d probably thought we wouldn’t be able to do anything to their spirits, but they were wrong. We couldn’t be sympathizing with enemies that were trying to kill the heroes. If we didn’t do anything right now, they would just come back for revenge. We needed to take action now while we had this chance. If we managed to kill them, it’d be like hitting the jackpot. That would mean we had figured out a way to keep enemies from resurrecting. 
 
But in online games, whenever you resurrected, you would return to some kind of save point. So why were their souls just hovering around over there? And then I remembered what had been going on here just a few moments ago. Now it made sense. Motoyasu and Ren had destabilized the Earth’s magnetic field here. Their souls must have been stuck here for the same reason teleportation skills couldn’t be used. 
“Eek! S-s-stop! Stay away!” 
“Wait! Listen! If you let us go, we’ll make a special exception just for —” 
“Unfortunately for you, I’m not willing to trust anyone that talks like that. Raphtalia, snuff ’em.” 
“Understood. Spirit Blade! Soul Slice!” 
Raphtalia used the katana that had been unlocked by the soul eater materials and sliced through the air where I was pointing. 
“Gaaahhhhh!” 
Her soul-slicing skill cut through the pair’s souls, which then dissipated and vanished. It would be a real feat if they somehow still managed to resurrect. I looked back over at their corpses, but they showed no sign of turning into light. I guess they were honest-to-goodness dead now. 
 
“We beat them———we beat them? To think you could———” 
S’yne’s voice broke up as she whispered. A look of relief was on her face. I wasn’t sure exactly what she had tried to say, but I’m pretty sure I understood how she felt. We’d finally defeated an enemy that kept coming back to life, no matter how many times they were killed. Of course she would be relieved. 
“We ended up having to take their lives. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” Raphtalia whispered as she returned her katana to its sheath. 
“The creeps were going on about their world being the strongest. It wasn’t like the sense of purpose that Glass and the others had. They were sickening. There’s no need to feel sorry for them,” I told her. 
I could tell they weren’t the type that would listen to reason. It felt like we’d been fighting against children in adult bodies. Mortal combat was a game to them. I’m sure the reason they had been talking like it was all a game while we were fighting is because they were confident they would be fine even if they died. It was a setting where we had one life, and they had infinite lives . . . No thanks. 
I had the urge to complain about how our problems always suddenly piled up all at once like this, but . . . I guess right now I should just be happy that we had won. 
“There might still be some of their companions around. Let’s be cautious as we head back. Don’t let your guard down.” 
“Understood.” 
We waited for Filo to return and then headed back to the village. 
 
By the way, Filo had gone chasing after Motoyasu but ran out of steam before she could catch up with him. Sheesh . . . Motoyasu was nothing but trouble. Still, I wanted to think that the fact he’d been acting on our behalf was a sign that he’d changed. If he was that strong, I was sure he wouldn’t end up dying easily, anyway.