Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: The Past Heavenly Emperor 

“What now?” 
We’d invaded the town to find smoke filling the air as we approached the castle. Leaving the chaos in the town to our forces, we headed on toward the castle. The gates were open. It looked like we were free to come and go. There was more smoke too. Was the place on fire? 
“Those who can use water magic, put out the fires. No need to hold back if anyone is looking for a fight!” After giving these orders, I deployed Shooting Star Shield and advanced in the lead. I’d taken a look at the layout beforehand. 
Our goal was to capture the opposing Heavenly Emperor. Once we took out their leader, everything else would surely fall into place. That said, with all of this going on, it seemed unlikely our target would be sitting like a moron in the main keep. 
I knew I wouldn’t be. I’d have been right out of there. You can’t do anything if you’re dead. Escape, live, and make more plans. It seemed highly likely to me that he just wasn’t here. 
Considering these things while searching the castle, we came across the bodies of soldiers, along with some other well-dressed corpses. There was another noble nearby too, still alive and very frightened. 
“S-save me!” He bowed his head while begging for his life. So pathetic I could barely shake my head in disgust. However, this was also the kind of guy who’d spill his guts at the drop of a hat. 
“What happened here?” I asked him. 
“I don’t want to die! N-no, please! I can’t face the terror again!” 
“Stop whining and share what you know. Or do you want me to kill you?” 
“—suddenly appeared in the c-castle, using terrible power! Defeating everyone, one after the other! If we don’t get out of here right away, we’re all dead! So please—haaaaaaah!” With a look of sheer terror on his face, the noble looked up at Raphtalia and then collapsed on the spot. 
“W-what does that mean? He fainted after looking at my face?” she said. He’d been trying to surrender to us and then fainted upon seeing Raphtalia? 
“Were you making a scary face again? Like when I said I wanted S’yne to make some Raph-chan merchandise?” I chided. 
“Mr. Naofumi, just what do you think about me?” 
“You’re like a daughter—” 
“That’s enough. I don’t want to hear it.” Huh? Raphtalia’s mood seemed to have only got worse. So she really didn’t like me playing parent to her? She was at a difficult age, I guess. 
I decided to check out the corpses. 
“Some of them have had their necks slashed by something sharp. These others—man, what is this?” I questioned. The soldiers had been cut down by something sharp, like a sword, with clean cuts. The well-dressed ones were gorier, as though their upper bodies had been smashed into mush by something big and heavy. It was likely Shildina’s work, but how had she done this? 
 
“A blunt weapon?” Raphtalia wondered. 
“Hmmm?” Filo took her morning star out from under her wings and started swinging it around. Stop that! That wasn’t it. Something bigger than that. 
“It’s definitely bigger than the morning star Filo is holding. Look at the way they’ve been crushed. I’d say maybe it was a hammer?” Ren muttered as he carefully checked the bodies. 
“Sounds right.” 
“In either case, we need to proceed with caution.” 
“Understood.” And so, we proceeded with caution. 
Following the trail of dead bodies, we came out in the garden at the rear of the castle. 
This looked like a training area, lined with scarecrows equipped with all sorts of weapons, including shields, sword, and bows. 
There were even scarecrows dressed up to look like Raphtalia. These were definitely training dummies. It looked like there was a well here too. 
“This the end, eeeeeeeeeh!” we heard someone shout, and then the ground shook. A hole radiating with cracks appeared in the center of the training area, and then blood exploded out in a circle. 
“Seriously, how foolish, eh. As one standing above others—she was the vanguard. She was no good, even as a person, eh,” announced a girl standing there, dressed in a miko outfit and carrying a massive hammer. 
 
She looked a lot like Raphtalia—a shining, full tail, long hair, and beautiful features. If someone told me she was Raphtalia’s sister, I would have believed them. 
“I was surprised at Sadeena having a sister, but now Raphtalia too? Does she have a sibling as well?” I wondered. 
“I don’t think so. Maybe she’s the Heavenly Emperor that we’re here to kill?” That was Sadeena’s take on things, but Motoyasu II had called him a bratty kid, and Raluva and the others had talked about the opposing Heavenly Emperor as though he were a young boy. So this didn’t match the information we’d received so far. 
“Don’t tell me he’s a cross-dresser! One of those otoko no ko, ‘male daughters?’” 
“Just that coming out of your mouth, Naofumi . . . you really are an otaku,” Raphtalia reprimanded. 
“You, shut it,” I said as I glared at Ren. Of course, I was an otaku. A big one. 
“No, I don’t think she’s the Heavenly Emperor,” Raphtalia replied, hand on the hilt of her sword and ready to draw at any moment. 
“You’re right, eh. The me you see before you, I am no longer the Heavenly Emperor.” The girl in front of us, the girl who looked like Raphtalia, lightly lifted her hammer and placed it on her shoulder. The way she was speaking, I’d heard that before. 

“You’re Shildina, surely. Why do you look like this?” I asked her. Yeah, she sounded exactly like Shildina had before she flew away. 
 
“I have defeated the pus festering at the heart of this land—defeated Makina. Of course, the owner of this body put up a bit of a fight. The holder of a spirit implement and the descendant should understand that, eh.” 
“Understand?” 
“You don’t? Don’t understand even that?” she said. As we tilted our heads in puzzlement, the speaker nodded as though looking right through us. 
“R-rafu!” Raph-chan chose that moment to make a surprised noise. What now? What was she surprised about? As I wondered, Raph-chan smoothly jumped onto me, climbed onto my head, and pointed at the girl. With Raph-chan’s support, I saw that it was definitely Shildina. She was possessed, the power of the oracle over her, like a ghost covering her body. So the girl we had been seeing, who looked like Raphtalia, was an illusion covering the actual body of Shildina. 
“Rafu! Rafu, rafu, rafu!” Raph-chan was going crazy, as though to say I was looking in the wrong place. I narrowed my eyes further and behind Shildina—a blurry image rising from a smashed carcass on the ground—I saw another ghost-like figure appearing, something twisted and dark, like a Soul Eater or like Kyo. 
It looked like—a woman? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but her face unsettled me somehow. What was she? Her presence was so dark it almost put Kyo to shame. My cursed parts were jabbing me with pain. 
This evil-looking creature leapt and struck at Shildina. 

“W-watch—!” Faster than I could warn her, the patterns on Shildina’s body started to glow. 
 
“Gah! You’re stubborn, eh! I already defeated the caster!” Shildina struggled as she spoke, thrashing at the ghost clinging to her back. The creature was relentlessly reaching toward her chest. 
“Guh! There are still some—patterns left, eh,” she groaned. 
The evil-looking woman said, “I never thought you would resist the patterns and try to kill me. But if you think that’s enough to stop me, you’re making a big mistake. I prepared you, my spare body, for this exact eventuality.” Spare body? Hold on a moment! 
“You are twisted indeed, hag! One moment you disparage Shildina. The next you try to take over her body!” the hammer girl said. 
“Look at you! Like you’re one to talk,” Sadeena commented. Considering the situation we’d walked into, it seemed the poisonous Makina was the one Shildina—or should I say this hammer girl—had just smashed to a bloody pulp. Now it seemed she had turned into a ghost and was trying to possess Shildina. 
The ghost explained, “You talk about being an oracle, giving it all a mystic spin, but really you’ve just got a super-convenient body that can easily accept souls or remnant thoughts. I’m finally getting too old, unable to maintain my youthful beauty, and you’re also good friends with that piss¬stinking little brat, all of which makes you an excellent body to take over. That’s why I performed the ritual on you, ahead of time, just in case. The right decision, clearly.” 
“Gah! I won’t let you take Shildina’s body, eh!” the hammer girl said. 
“If you got a little feisty, I did think that I’d just kill you. But very well, that body belongs to me! Give it back!” Just how vile was this woman? She’d clearly had her eye on Shildina’s body from the start. All this talk of being easy to transfer to and taking over other people, the very ideas made me think of Kyo and his homunculi. It really pissed me off. Seriously, none of these bad guys had a single original idea among them. 
 
Taking over the body of someone else just because you were old and your beauty had faded? You had to be kidding. 
“Give it back? Eat shit! That body was never yours to begin with!” The vindictive ghost almost made it sound like Shildina had been born solely to give up her body. Maybe she hadn’t been created specifically for that purpose, but I could still easily imagine the life that Shildina had been forced to lead. 
Born to replace Sadeena, forced to do a job she had no interest in. She had looked so happy, had so much fun when she was playing with me. For just a few brief hours, that was all. 
“What are you so mad about?” Ren, who had been silently watching the unfolding events, asked me. 
“One of those people who had been killed has turned into a ghost and is trying to take over Shildina’s body,” I replied. 
“What! Is that a thing now?” he asked. 

“Yeah, and even worse, she reminds me of that one very special bitch. I want to help, but I don’t have any means of attack, do I!” I said. It would be perfect if I could attack with the Soul Eater Shield, but seeing as I could only aim for a counter, it wasn’t very efficient for me. Not to mention, if the enemy figured out that fact, then I really was rendered powerless. My bringing up Witch had definitely made Ren uncomfortable though. 

Itsuki as well, from the look of it. 
“This is bad! I want to help too, but what can we do?” Sadeena asked. 
“Got any attacks that will hit a ghost?” 
“I wonder if holy water might work?” 
“Mr. Naofumi, I’ve got this! This is the attack to handle ghosts!” Raphtalia said and changed to her Soul Eater katana, which was used for fighting spectral bodies. Ren and Itsuki matched her. 
“Save her, Raphtalia! Everyone!” I shouted. 
“We’re on it. Somewhere behind her, right?” 
“Yeah, that’s right!” 
“No problem!” Raphtalia dashed in, Ren behind her, and Itsuki fired an arrow. However, Raphtalia and the others couldn’t see ghosts for themselves. They headed toward the point Raph-chan and I were both pointing at, each swinging their weapons through the empty air with almost comedic conviction. 
“Hahaha! You’d be better off staying out of this!” Makina deployed a suspicious-looking defensive web, avoiding the attacks from Raphtalia and the others before extending black tendrils to envelop them all. 
“Guwah! Why is my body so heavy? A status effect from a ghost-type enemy? If only I could see her! If I could see her, I could defeat her!” Ren was groaning. She should be a ghost, but being unable to see her suggested maybe she was classified as a spirit. We managed to see Kyo partway through the battle when we fought him though. She was strong too, even though she wasn’t corporeal. She was clearly a vengeful ghost now, so why couldn’t we see her? 
 
“Futile, you fools. Futile! You seriously think such pathetic attacks can touch me? Hahaha!” Her laugh sounded so much like Witch it only exacerbated my irritation. Was there no way to finish her off? 
“Rafu!” 
“Yeah, Raph-chan! Get in there!” I said. Raph-chan ran forward to support Raphtalia and the others. A foe who couldn’t be seen was a tricky thing. It looked like she had control of maybe half of Shildina’s body too, because she was using wind magic to blow Raphtalia and the others away. 
“Rafu!” Perhaps realizing that Raph-chan was providing support, she started to focus her attacks on Raph-chan. 
“That’s not—enough, is it. Draw out more—more power from the spirit implement. The weapon with the power to hunt souls, eh!” the girl who looked like Raphtalia and was possessing Shildina offered this advice. 
Draw out the capabilities of the weapon that hunts souls? I changed to the Soul Eater Shield and narrowed my eyes. It did have a special equip effect called “Soul Eat,” so maybe that was the key here? 
I focused my awareness into the shield, allowing me to vaguely see the shape of this vengeful spirit. 
“Raphtalia! Ren, Itsuki! Imbue your Soul Eater weapons with power! It’ll let you see her!” It seemed that the Soul Eater weapons had the hidden ability to let you see spirits. 
 
“Draw out . . . the weapon’s power—I see her!” Raphtalia shouted. 
“Yes! Right there!” Ren too. 
“I can hit her!” Itsuki yelled. 
Raphtalia and Ren repelled Makina’s binding, and then both of them unleashed attacks toward the ghost. Raphtalia took the lead, then Ren, while an arrow Itsuki fired struck right in her forehead. 
“That’s where she is? Then let me have a go too!” Sadeena took out some holy water and incanted some Way of the Dragon Vein magic, targeting the spot Itsuki’s arrow had struck. 
“I, Sadeena, draw out the power of this holy water and state my ardent wish! Dragon Vein, strike down my foes! Saint Aqua Blast!” 
“Gyaaaaaah! Curse yoooooooou!” 
The shot of holy water Sadeena created landed right on target, and the raging Makina turned into a demon and attacked. However, she was no match for us anymore. 
“Selfish creatures like you have no right to exist!” she spat. I stood in front of Raphtalia and the rest of the party and took her attacks on my shield. My Soul Eater Shield’s countereffect was triggered and stole away Makina’s strength. 
“Well done! Eh!” Freed from her captivity by our attacks, the hammer girl swung her hammer to the side and smashed it into the ghost of Makina. Then it looked like she cast some kind of spell. 
“Guwaah! You’ll pay for this!” But the evil ghost wasn’t giving up yet. 
“I’ll make you regret getting in my way with some serious pain!” 
 
“There’s no way left for you to survive in this world, eh!” The hammer girl stamped down hard with her foot, the sparkling of her hammer increasing in intensity, and a shockwave flew out. 
“Guwaaaaaah!” Makina vanished without a trace, scattering red and black debris in the air. It didn’t look like she was coming back from that. 
With a flash, the pattern that had been covering Shildina was completely removed. 
“That’s the end of her?” I asked. So this would be our only meeting with the venomous viper Makina. I was still disgusted by the idea of taking over someone else’s body, especially after death. 
There had likely been an execution in her future, anyway, so maybe we should just consider this the shortcut to her inevitable fate. 
“Killing her was the only way to save Q’ten Lo. I’ve finally done it, eh,” the hammer girl said, sounding very satisfied with the outcome, anyway. 
She went on. “Well then. Once this little trip ends, I’m not sure when I’ll get to come out again, eh.” That wasn’t her first comment like this. If she just stayed inside Shildina, that would make her no better than Makina. 
“You want a fight? Do you really think you can beat all of us?” I couldn’t be sure, but from our exchanges so far, it seemed like she wasn’t adversarial. 

“You’re not a number I couldn’t handle, if I push myself a little, eh. Your spirit implements don’t sound like they’re in the best of shape either. But still . . .” the hammer girl looked at Raphtalia and then thrust a finger at me. “Holder of a spirit implement, you have a card that Shildina gave you, correct?” 

“Y-yeah, you mean this?” I said and took out the odd-looking card. Then, for some reason, Shildina pointed at Raphtalia. 
“I stipulate the Heavenly Emperor who serves the holder of a spirit implement. If you agree to duel me, one on one, I will free Shildina, eh. Of course, you must also supply aid to the weakened Shildina afterward.” 
“What!” I shouted. 
“Holder of the shield spirit implement. That is a crystal taken from Shildina’s heart.” It sounded like I’d been given something pretty important without even realizing it. Shildina hadn’t held back with her gifts—this was some heavy stuff! Something was definitely controlling her too. 
If it came down to a choice between Makina and this mysterious individual who looked like Raphtalia. I wondered which one we should prefer. 
“She’s a strange one, giving something so important to someone she hardly knows. I struggle to understand why she’d do such a thing—I guess maybe, thinking she no longer needed it, she wanted the first person of the opposite sex she ever really liked to have that important part of her, eh?” the hammer girl wondered. 
“Oh my—” Sadeena exclaimed. 
“Former water dragon’s miko priestess! Stop right there. You may think you see an opening, but I assure you, attacking me will bring only pain,” she shouted at Sadeena. She stopped Sadeena in her tracks, before she even had a chance to move. There were no openings to strike at her. 
 
“What if we refuse?” I said. 
“Then Shildina dies, eh.” Gah! A part of me wanted to ask if we really cared? She wasn’t a complete stranger though. She was Sadeena’s sister too, and I couldn’t bring myself to hate her. It was easy to imagine the suffering she had been through, and I also wanted to grill her—maybe just a little— about why she’d give something so important to me. 
“You’re starting to sound a lot like Makina,” I said. 
“Say whatever you like. This is payback for ever having listened to her venomous tongue, eh.” 
“Mr. Naofumi.” Raphtalia looked straight at me. “Let me do this.” 
“Hold on—” This was almost like she was trying to kill Raphtalia by holding Shildina hostage. We couldn’t just swallow these ridiculous demands. So what if it might appear cowardly? There was no need for Raphtalia to fight— 
“Please. This is all because I was unable to break the curse binding Shildina,” Raphtalia pleaded. 
“But still—that curse—” As far as I could see, the patterns had been destroyed. 
“Not to mention, if we run for it now, then I’m sure more damage will occur.” Raphtalia continued to make her case. 
“You said it. If you were the kind of Heavenly Emperor who’d made a run for it, then as a pacifier I would have to end you here,” the hammer girl announced. Pacifier? That was the name of the weapons the Q’ten Lo lot owned. 
 
“Just who are you?” I inquired. The person, whoever it was, possessing Shildina’s body looked at me and answered. 
“You need to understand the meaning of being an oracle to understand who I am. You may consider me a residual thought. Enough talking, anyway. Will you accept or not? That’s the only question here,” she barked. 
“Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia said, looking at me. If we didn’t accept, both Raphtalia and Shildina could be killed. I wasn’t keen on letting Raphtalia fight alone—but there was no more time to debate this. 
“Very well,” I said. If it looked like Raphtalia was about to lose, we’d jump in and save her. I’m pretty despicable, all things considered, so if this person possessing Shildina looked to be getting worn down in the fight with Raphtalia, I’d put an end to things by blindsiding her if I had to. 
With my approval, Raphtalia gave a bow. 
“Thank you very much,” she said. Meanwhile, the person possessing Shildina pointed at the card. 
“If you can place that against my chest, the hole in my heart will be filled and the binding broken. If you see an opening, go ahead, try for it, eh,” she jeered. Indeed, that sounded like it would be effective. It was a fragment of her soul, right? Maybe it would even heal her weakened, unstable emotions? 
“Rafu!” Raph-chan nodded multiple times. So that sounded like the truth? 
I gave the card to Raphtalia. 
“I’m counting on you,” I told her. 
 
“Fear not. I’ll win, I promise. For the sake of everyone who has brought me this far! Especially you, Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia gripped her sword tightly and tucked the card into her top, a position from which she could easily grab it if an opening presented itself. 
“That’s an odd wavelength your weapon has. A spirit implement’s vassal weapon? No, even stranger. The vassal weapon of a spirit implement from a different world, eh?” the hammer girl observed. Pretty impressive, being able to accurately account for Raphtalia’s katana like that. 
“Here I come,” Raphtalia stated. 
“Whenever you’re ready, eh.” Looking at the two of them, hammer girl and Raphtalia, they both felt pretty similar to me. 
“Have you worked out who is taking over my sister, Naofumi?” Sadeena asked. 
“I think so,” I replied. She’d talked about residual thoughts, and Shildina clearly had the ability to place something into her soul and perform complex magic that she couldn’t execute alone. And it surely didn’t have to be a soul. Then there was the tail formed from magic and big changes to her appearance. Seeing as Raphtalia could see her true form, they had to be some kind of illusion. If the residual thoughts were being gathered and forming a personality, there was a high possibility that those currently controlling Shildina belonged to a past Heavenly Emperor. That was why her transformed state looked like Raphtalia. 
The person possessing Shildina—the past Heavenly Emperor—looked at me. 
 
“I’m fine with a handicap, holder of the shield spirit implement. Go ahead and cast all the support magic you like, eh,” she told me. 
“You mock us, surely,” I stated. Just how much leeway did she have? If it would give us an advantage, anyway, there was no reason to turn her down. 
“Sadeena,” I shouted. 
“I’m right here, little Naofumi.” We were getting pretty smooth at cooperative magic now, but I wasn’t especially pleased about that, perhaps. 
“Descent of the Thunder God!” We cast Descent of the Thunder God on Raphtalia. 
“And this is okay with you?” Raphtalia asked. 
“It’s fine, eh. I’ll just use my own Heavenly Emperor powers,” she announced and smacked down on the ground with the handle of her hammer. That was all it took to make sakura lumina immediately start to grow in the vicinity, forming sakura stones of destiny and then creating a barrier. 
So we’d just have to also use the sakura stone of destiny ourselves to create a barrier and nullify it— 
“Ah, you just thought that using spirit implement fixed magic would be pointless, didn’t you? Regrettably, while I did make some settings, I’m not nullifying that, so no need to worry,” she told us. 
“As if we’d believe that,” I snorted. 
“What a suspicious holder of a spirit implement you are! In either case, your little Heavenly Emperor wouldn’t be able to cancel out a full-on barrier from me,” she replied. Raphtalia nodded, sweat glistening on her cheeks. 
“I’m sure you’re right. But it’s still a fact that I don’t like being made to dance on the palm of your hand,” Raphtalia said. 
 
“You think I’ll change the settings if it looks like I’m going to lose? That’s quite an insult directed at a pacifier responsible for the fate of this nation. If that was my only alternative, I would simply choose defeat, eh,” she said. 
“Perhaps not to the extent of Mr. Naofumi, but if you are lying I will teach you a painful lesson,” Raphtalia told her. Not sure what I had to do with that, but very well. Point made. 
“Well then. Let the fight begin!” The past Heavenly Emperor moved in an instant right up into Raphtalia’s face and swung her massive hammer horizontally. 
“Haaaaah!” Rather than block the hammer, Raphtalia leapt forward and —went through it? W-what just happened? Was there something wrong with my eyes? 
I looked at the others to see that everyone else also seemed to be questioning their vision. 
“Take this!” 
“No, you take this!” 
The past Heavenly Emperor swung her hammer, and fire, ice, and—my God—meteorites started to fly, not to mention that the Heavenly Emperor herself started multiplying into multiple copies of herself. At the same moment, Raphtalia also did the same thing, intercepting all the incoming attacks. 
What was this? Some kind of illusion battle? 
 
These incorporeal illusions started to trick the spectators. This was bad! I really wanted to follow the action, really needed to, but I was starting to have no idea what was actually going on. 
“Naofumi, try looking not with your eyes, but your other senses,” Sadeena offered. I narrowed my eyes to view the life force and tried again. 
By doing so, I finally saw both Raphtalia and the past Heavenly Emperor striking away at each other. 
“Impressive! Keeping up with these tricky illusions. Good, good!” 
“You won’t fool me with magic tricks!” Raphtalia drew her katana from its scabbard, entered into her pseudo-accelerated state, and slashed. Her strike missed, so she followed through with the swing and unleased a skill as well. 
“Stardust Blade!” Stars scattered from Raphtalia’s blade and slashed into her opponent. This attack not only increased the attack power of her sword itself, but also offered an attack that could hit across a wide area. It also left the user pretty safe, a good all-round skill with effects much like the Shooting Star Sword, the skill Ren really loved. The stars flew toward the past Heavenly Emperor and struck her multiple times. Good! That one was her real body! 
“Found you! Brave Blade! Crossing Mists!” Raphtalia drew her other sword and slashed at the past Heavenly Emperor. She was looking to weaken her first, then finish her with the card. 
I clenched my fists in support, thinking Raphtalia almost had her— 
“I’m not finished yet, eh!” The past Heavenly Emperor that we had both clearly thought was the real one dispersed like a puff of smoke, and then the actual real one appeared behind Raphtalia and attacked with her hammer. 
 
“Guwah!” Raphtalia barely avoided the attack by jumping, landed, and her opponent immediately followed up. She barely got out of the way in time. 
“You’ve got some resistance to illusions, eh. But you can’t let a little trick like that catch you. You need to feel out a trap with a trap of your own before actually attacking.” 
“I can’t believe I couldn’t see through that,” Raphtalia said. 
“You are inexperienced with illusions, that’s for sure. You have some resistance, and some knowledge, but you lack technique, eh,” the past Heavenly Emperor told her. Yeah. That was probably my fault. 
There was a time when I had Raphtalia learning magic. 
Back then, I’d thought it best that I do as much as I possibly could for her, and so Raphtalia was responsible for raid attacks on the enemy, using magic to conceal herself and then striking at them from behind. However, from around the time we gained the ability to go to Kizuna’s world, she had started to rely more heavily on just the power of the katana vessel weapon, which had led to her magic ability to get left behind. Then they’d said it would be hard for her to learn the Way of the Dragon Vein due to the katana vassal weapon too. 
That said, I didn’t consider it a mistake. 
Using someone with a tool as powerful as a vassal weapon just for raids was, especially in light of our past battles, simply not the best strategy, although it might have been a failure that I’d let her magic suffer a bit as a result. That was an issue for the future, anyway. 
 
“Oh, I’m not done yet!” Raphtalia’s tail swelled up, and she incanted some magic. “Hide Mirage!” Vanishing in a blink, Raphtalia moved through the illusion-filled surroundings, coming around behind the past Heavenly Emperor and swinging her katana—but the attack was intercepted on the haft of the hammer. 
“Just vanishing isn’t enough. If you can confuse your real position and then close in, that’s the way to trick your opponent, eh.” The past Heavenly Emperor continued to school Raphtalia. 
“Gah!” It had only been a short battle, and already the strength of her opponent was becoming all too apparent. Just how many monster-level trump cards did hammer girl have? 
“If this is going to be a clash of weapons, let me have a turn too,” she said and the tip of her hammer started to glow, and then the past Heavenly Emperor swung it toward Raphtalia. 
“Mighty Quake!” 
“Ah!” Raphtalia barely avoided that too, and then the hammer crashed into the ground. Earth and dust were immediately thrown up, along with a shockwave from the ground, sending Raphtalia flying away. 
“Just how strong is she?!” Raphtalia muttered, landing and falling back a little, shoulders heaving as she breathed heavily. 
“You can’t underestimate others just because you have spirit implements and vassal weapons.” The past Heavenly Emperor was taunting in good form, bouncing her hammer on her shoulder as she offered this pearl of wisdom. That hammer—it looked like quite the piece of work. 
 
I couldn’t be sure, but I saw something that looked like a vassal weapon gemstone. Was she also using illusions to display the weapon that she used during her lifetime? 
“I can’t even land a single blow,” Raphtalia gasped. 
“You show potential though.” This visitor from the past was still completely at ease. Indeed, she was toying with Raphtalia—who, by now, had become pretty strong—like she was nothing more than a baby. 
Could Raphtalia really hope to win this fight? 
“Hah!” With quick footwork she closed in with the past Heavenly Emperor and then sliced down into a space with no one in it. 
“Powder Snow!” 
“Aha! You did well to see through that one, eh!” the past Heavenly Emperor complimented. Sparks grated out into the air, and the past Heavenly Emperor appeared from a spot that had appeared to be completely empty. 
Huh? She’d used our chat as an opening to trick us again? She could even fool my eyes when watching the life force? What kind of high-level trickery was this?! I was willing to bet that only Raphtalia and Raph-chan were truly keeping up with what was going on. 
“Oh? That’s a nasty skill, eh,” she stated. Power scattered like snow from where she had taken the blow, and then it looked like the past Heavenly Emperor placed her hand on the damaged area and healed it. 
So that attack had been effective? 
“Well then. I think I’m pretty warmed up now. Time for me to show you what the Heavenly Emperor can really do, eh,” she announced. With that, the past Heavenly Emperor swung her sword downward while at the same time her tail swelled up. 
 
The next instant she appeared in front of Raphtalia. Raphtalia tried to dodge the attack, but the past Heavenly Emperor used light footwork to switch to a horizontal strike. 
Just the swing alone created a buffeting wind. 
“Five Practices Destiny Split!” 
“Uwah!” She scarcely avoided the attack—no, it actually hit her, barely —but then Raphtalia unleashed a skill. 
“Kagura Dance of the Sakura! First Formation! Blossom!” 
“You naïve little girl!” Five types of sphere started to float around her. That was the same attack that took Sadeena down! Just the barest hit was enough to activate it? 
“Fire Defeats Metal!” The miko outfit worn by Raphtalia was ripped open, and a red line appeared on her katana. 
“A status effect?” I wondered. 
“You temporarily can’t use that weapon, eh,” she jeered. Just how versatile were her attacks? Then Raphtalia turned her katana into a different shape, one made with Demon Dragon materials. 
“That skill you just used. It looks like you can perform a pseudo-recreation of Heavenly Emperor techniques. But if you don’t hone them further, ready them for use in actual battle, then you’ll find they just get repelled, eh,” the past Heavenly Emperor continued to inform Raphtalia. 
Raphtalia returned her katana to its scabbard and prepared for a draw slice. 
 
“That stance! That focusing of power!” Rishia immediately responded. She was doing the whole exposition thing again. I remembered her doing that with Ren too. 
“I know!” Now Ren himself was getting in on the explaining action. “It’s a technique adapting the Hengen Muso Style, Moon Ripple!” Raphtalia unleashed a swift horizontal cut, and a crescent moon–shaped slash flew toward her opponent. 
“Oh my! An attack technique that isn’t a skill? However—” The past Heavenly Emperor began and took the crescent moon slash on her hammer. “—eh?” Raphtalia allowed herself a slight smile. She was probably sure the attack had landed. 
However— 
“Hengen Muso Style. I’m quite surprised you’ve learned such techniques, eh,” the past Heavenly Emperor admitted. With just a slight swing of her hammer, she canceled out whatever it was Raphtalia had placed into her attack. “I’ll give you credit for the idea. Let me have a go too, eh.” She smashed the hammer onto the ground with a heavy thud, and with that, countless balls comprised of life force flew toward Raphtalia. 
What the hell was that? Was each and every one of those was an attack with life force—a defense rating attack, which I could personally barely manage to draw out of myself? 
Just how many techniques did she have access to? 
“I can’t let those hit me—” Raphtalia shouted and leapt into the air, just to find the past Heavenly Emperor standing where she came down, already swinging her hammer. 
 
Watch out! 
Even as I thought that, even as I took a step forward, Raphtalia turned into smoke and vanished. I narrowed my eyes and finally saw that Raphtalia had actually avoided it by jumping in the opposite direction. 
“You did well to avoid that, this time. I’m wondering if maybe I should just kill you, eh,” the past Heavenly Emperor bragged. She was getting some dangerous ideas. This wasn’t just about training or testing Raphtalia. That said, if Hengen Muso Style wasn’t going to work, how could she fight this opponent? I just couldn’t see a path to a finishing strike. 
“I’m not out of tricks yet. Not yet—” With that Raphtalia raised her katana in front of her and adopted the stance for the Eight Trigrams Blade of Destiny. In the moment she started to focus her attention— 
“You’re completely exposed!” the past Heavenly Emperor announced, and as she closed in, Raphtalia was forced to drop the stance. As I’d feared, that was an attack she couldn’t unleash without some allies pinning down the enemy. That also meant she couldn’t use the Supreme Ultimate Slash of Destiny. That could only be unleashed quickly with the Sakura Sphere of Influence and blossom blaze protection. 
In either case, attacks that didn’t rely on skills just took too much time. I really couldn’t think of an approach here. 

Was the only option to deploy a new weapon and rely on a new skill, then? Was that it? 
 
Even as I considered that, the past Heavenly Emperor—looking like she’d had enough now—poured power into her hammer and swung it down at Raphtalia. 
“Could you have failed my expectations any more completely? How the bloodline of the Heavenly Emperor has fallen,” the past Heavenly Emperor contemplated. 
“Kuwah! Haaah!” Raphtalia desperately parried and avoided the attacks, but it was really starting to look like little more than a child trying to fight an adult. 
Shit! My only choice was to step in and protect Raphtalia. Just as I was about to take a step forward, Raphtalia—who was closely watching the past Heavenly Emperor—realized that her tail was full and fluffy. 
For just an instant, she appeared to sparkle right to her hair. 
“Haaah!” 
“Woah!” Raphtalia’s counterattack forced the past Heavenly Emperor to take a big step back. 
“Keep showing me the same attack and I’ll eventually learn to beat it!” Raphtalia pointed out. Then she placed her hand on her katana blade and adopted a stance. It looked like the sword had started glowing with something other than life force, magic, or SP. 
Not to be outdone, the past Heavenly Emperor struck at Raphtalia with her hammer. 
“Five Practices Destiny Split!” 
“Five Practices Destiny Thrust!” 
 
Raphtalia’s katana and the past Heavenly Emperor’s hammer clashed, and then again, over and over. Perhaps due to the clashing magic, petals of magical power scattered around them, causing all sorts of illusions to form. 
“Fire Defeats Metal,” shouted the past Heavenly Emperor. Raphtalia quickly responded. 
“Metal Quells Fire!” As a result, this time she repelled the weapon-destroying attack. So she’d found a way to nullify it? 
“Ah, your true Heavenly Emperor powers provided the answer, eh?” the past Heavenly Emperor commented with a whistle. “Try this then, eh! Water Defeats Fire!” 
“Fire Quells—” Raphtalia couldn’t complete the cancellation in time, bouncing from the clash of weapons and blowing away the magic from the blade itself. Was that nullifying the imbued effects or life force or whatever? 
“I can’t change!” Raphtalia lamented. No! Interference with weapon changing! I’d suffered it myself numerous times, but I hadn’t expected to encounter this technique here! “No! Tree Grows Fire!” Raphtalia’s katana bloomed into fire, and the blade started shining. 
“Hmmm, a little rough, but well done. Yet all you’ve really done is left yourself open!” the past Heavenly Emperor shouted and flickered out of existence, then appeared a little distance away, charging a massive amount of power! What was with the quickening of this power? 
“Now observe! This is the technique of the Heavenly Emperor!” she boomed. Countless clones all flew together toward Raphtalia, whose only choice was to narrow her eyes and try to spot the real one. 
 
“There!” With both swords back in their scabbards, she gave that shout while adopting a draw slash stance. “I can’t focus my strength as quickly, as potently, as you. This is the best I can do—try it out!” Raphtalia stamped down heavily on the ground, causing a large ying-yang mark to appear there. “Kagura Dance of the Sakura! Second Formation! Beginning Blossom!” Readying a deep swing, the past Heavenly Emperor smashed her hammer down toward Raphtalia. 
“Ying-Yang Eight Trigrams Split of Destiny!” The clash of strength on strength caused a wave of oppressive pressure to spill into the surroundings. The very air crackled, throbbing with the ferocity of the conflict. 
“Five Practices Destiny—” Raphtalia and the past Heavenly Emperor continued to beat at each other. Five balls started to float around the past Heavenly Emperor, and it started to look like they were defending her during her attacks. As though competing with her, five balls were also floating around Raphtalia. 
That wasn’t all though. 
The sakura lumina growing close to the city all started to glow, and even though it was still daylight, they started to shine into the sky like spotlights. 
“Spring Blossom Tree!” 
“Kagura Dance of the Sakura! Third Formation! Third Blossom!” The two attacks clashed, scattering light and darkness in the vicinity, which then scattered like petals. 
It felt like the first time I truly understood the meaning of the magical nature, both light and darkness, possessed by Raphtalia. The light was for more than just refraction, and the darkness for more than concealment. Her basic nature comprised both light and darkness, like the ying-yang, allowing her to make use of seemingly opposing attributes. 
 
Clashing, the two weapons bouncing off each other sounded as though they were going to ring into infinity. 
“Wood Defeats Earth! Earth Defeats Water! Water Defeats Fire! Fire Defeats Metal! Metal Defeats Wood!” 
“Kagura Dance of the Sakura! Fourth Formation! Fifth Blossom! Sixth —Blossom—ugh!” It looked like maybe Raphtalia was losing ground. But no, the past Heavenly Emperor was also starting to crack. 
“You’ve done well to keep up this far. Those strings of attacks are likely increasing in attack power with each skill you unleash, but they also burn through your strength in a short period of time, eh,” the past Heavenly Emperor observed. 
“You think I don’t know that! I’m still not giving up! Haaaah!” Raphtalia responded. 
“Have a taste of my own special attack! Divine Clash of the Five Practices!” Countless clusters of five balls each gathered together and vanished into the hammer, preparing an attack imbued with incredible power that then swung straight for Raphtalia. The magic symbols running across the floor formed a five-pointed star and now appeared to be exerting pressure on Raphtalia. 
Responding, Raphtalia caught it on her sword and scattered the pressure from the area around her, but then another pattern appeared on the ground. 
 
Without backing down, Raphtalia unleashed all of the power of her sword. The balls around her started to rotate at high speed. 
“Finally, I can do it! I’ll use the yang to oppose the controlling power of ying and cancel them out!” Raphtalia declared. 
“I saw you honing that ability even as we fought, eh. Now this all comes down to a single moment! If you don’t want to die, come at me, eh!” the past Heavenly Emperor dared. 
“Haaaaah! Divine Birth of the Five Practices!” With a cracking sound, the magic symbols deployed around the pair of combatants shattered. In the moment the past Heavenly Emperor realized her attacks had been neutralized, she tried to get some distance, but Raphtalia immediately closed in and swung her sword. 
“I’m not finished yet! Hazy Moon!” Seizing the smallest of openings, Raphtalia’s attack splintered the haft of the past Heavenly Emperor’s hammer and bit into her shoulder. 
“I just need a little more! Just a moment more! Haaaah!” she roared and drew the other katana from its scabbard. The accessory with the special effect pseudo-haikuikku wouldn’t work in this world. What Raphtalia was currently using was something that slightly increased her current speed. Still, that slight increase could be enough to make all the difference. 
“I’m still right here, eh!” The past Heavenly Emperor wasn’t giving up yet, swatting at Raphtalia one-handed with the shortened hammer. But just before it landed, Raphtalia vanished. 
“Huh? Remarkable. Vanished in an instant.” The past Heavenly 
 
Emperor almost sounded impressed. 
“Illusion Blade!” That was the first technique she had learned and was now her final attack, carrying all of her remaining strength—all of the magic and SP and life force she had. Raphtalia popped back into existence behind the past Heavenly Emperor and slashed down with all her might. “This is the end!” Raphtalia screamed and took the card out from her top, which looked like it gave the Heavenly Emperor room for a counterattack. But the past Heavenly Emperor did nothing and just accepted what was coming. 
“Gah. I guess that’s a passing grade, eh,” she conceded. The card hit her chest, and with a flash of light it vanished inside her. “You’re lacking in many ways, but you’ve also got real vigor. I think I may well make an exception and leave things in your hands rather than eradicating you here, eh.” After ruffling Raphtalia’s hair, the past Heavenly Emperor gave her a round of applause. Raphtalia kept her sword up and watched, suspicious. 
“Hold on a moment. You weren’t fighting seriously?” Raphtalia gasped. 
“I wouldn’t say that. I fought you with the maximum power I could place in this body. If you can’t surpass me, you have no right to be a pacifier, especially if you are in collusion with the holder of a spirit implement.” 
“A pacifier? Aren’t they the ones meant to stop the heroes?” Raphtalia wondered. 
“If you failed to display the power to overcome me, then you would be unable to give the fools that will surely appear what they deserve. I pray that you will continue the bloodline of the Q’ten Lo Heavenly Emperor, free from the claws of pride,” she concluded. That was the past Heavenly Emperor’s murmured response to Raphtalia, and she placed her hand on her chest. The general atmosphere wasn’t really conducive to anyone else butting in. “You’ve caused quite a lot of turmoil across this nation, but you showed me something interesting here at the end, eh. Do your best not to lose to them! Now then, the ghost from the past . . . will return there, eh.” With that, the hammer held by the past Heavenly Emperor cracked, shattered with a splitting sound, and her glowing tail also turned into mist—the transformation ended, revealing Shildina, who promptly collapsed. 
 
“Got you!” Raphtalia caught hold of her. 
“Looks like you won,” Shildina whispered. The rest of us dashed forward and checked Shildina out. She was breathing raggedly, and her vitality was low. We needed to take certain steps or her life would be in danger. We still didn’t know if she would respond to us, but she was Sadeena’s sister, and I did have a lot of sympathy for her situation. 
We needed to care for her as best we could. 
“I’m going to treat her. Those with healing magic and knowledge of healing herbs, help me out. Everyone else, prioritize taking the castle! You must be exhausted, Raphtalia, so you stay with me. Sadeena, you help with the healing too!” 
“Y-yes!” 
“As you say!” With that, we paid witness to the battle between the Heavenly Emperors and then started taking care of the aftermath.