Chapter Ten: The Importance of Anger
“Here we are then, Shield Hero. Have you ever considered that there must be a reason why I have developed such feelings for you and why my minions swore fealty to you so easily?” the Demon Dragon asked, ignoring the riled-up metal magic dragon completely. I had really thought that had been the moment the fighting would start. It sounded like she had something to say though, so I answered the question.
“Not really. It’s because of the hero power-ups I’ve given you, right? Now you are much stronger than the past Demon Dragon, right?” I said.
“Do you think that alone would allow me to forcibly take the power from Kuflika, one carrying one of my fragments, someone I practically created?” the Demon Dragon asked, pressing the point. At the time she had muttered about some kind of resistance, but she had also clearly become strong enough to ignore it completely. I didn’t really care about that. “I would have become stronger than my past self, even without you nearby. But that’s not all. I have obtained even greater power now.” Multiple magic circles started to overlap over the Demon Dragon’s body. I shook my head. My status floated up uncalled for, and the weapon book icon was displayed.
“Hey! You’re not hacking my stats again!” I shouted. It felt like a violation on the same level as having my account hacked. The Demon Dragon got a little power back and look what she did with it! Pretending to be on our side, just waiting for an opening to strike!
“Demon Dragon! Just what are you planning?!” Glass and Kizuna both shouted at the dragon.
“Shield Hero, listen carefully to what I am telling you,” the Demon Dragon said, a serious expression on her face, completely ignoring the questions and protests from our side.
“What do you mean?” I said.
“You heroes are trying to turn your back on the power of darkness and treat it as though it never existed at all. That is again why I ask this of you,” the Demon Dragon continued. The skill icon for Formation One: Float Mirror flashed, and at the same time a skill called Change Mirror, a conversion of Change Shield, also appeared. “The hatred, the disgust you felt for the world in the moment was justifiable anger. Do you think that denying that anger, pretending it never existed, and withstanding so many terrible things without ever getting angry . . . do you think that is the correct approach? Truly? You cannot truly believe that is mercy?” the Demon Dragon asked. I hesitated, unsure how to answer. My Shield of Compassion was a temporary power, bestowed upon me by Atla. When I walked between life and death and was reunited with Atla and Ost again, they had led me to a desire to save the world and save everyone in it—a desire that was real and true.
That said, the Demon Dragon was making a point I could not deny. Those feelings, and the anger I held within me, were kept in very different places.
“I don’t care what you say! I’ve made my decision. I will not rely on anger . . . will not use the power of rage again,” I said. With the power of compassion that I had been blessed with, I had already lost access to the Shield of Rage and the Shield of Wrath.
“Mr. Naofumi . . .” Raphtalia took my hand and squeezed it.
“Does the girl who gave you your compassion also deny your anger? Does she tell you to never get angry again?” the Demon Dragon said, pressing her point. I stammered for a moment, glancing over at Raphtalia. Atla . . . would surely have affirmed my rage in this instance.
“Demon Dragon . . . just what do you want to make Mr. Naofumi do? If you are trying to lure him off the righteous path, I will stop you!” Raphtalia declared.
“Holder of the katana vassal weapon, the Shield Hero’s rage and his kindness are both elements that comprise the Shield Hero. See now that losing any of those parts will have a negative effect. Understand my words. A time will come when something important will emerge. It must be obtained no matter the cost,” the Demon Dragon said cryptically. Change Mirror was automatically selected for me, and the mirror to change it to was then also selected. The shield selected was Mirror of Wrath. This was an item that the Demon Dragon had enhanced in the past by interfering with my shield. In principle it looked like a +11 AF. The Rage rank was now IV.
“Having rage is why you also have compassion. You have forgotten a vital component of your heart. Allow me to show you how to really use that power,” the Demon Dragon said. I could feel something flowing up from deep inside me and moving into the Demon Dragon. At the same time, Formation Two: Float Mirror and the Shield of Compassion were forcibly activated, trying to suppress the power of my rage.
In response, the Demon Dragon just started to demand more power from me. Beast transformation support appeared, which I had used on Fohl and Sadeena in the past. I grunted with the effort.
“Mr. Naofumi?!” Raphtalia stammered. My armor was starting to transform, like when I had used the Shield of Rage. This time, though, I could feel both anger and warmth mixing in the armor.
With a terrible roar, the Demon Dragon drew in more power from me and started to transform. She quickly became bigger and more powerful than when we had fought her in the past. I grunted again, alternatingly assailed by the rage that swirled in my heart and the images of everyone I wanted to protect—Raphtalia and Atla, Filo, Melty, Sadeena, Shildina, S’yne, Keel, Ruft, and everyone else in the village. I didn’t dislike it either—it made me feel strong and capable of protecting them. Having something absolute, something you had to protect at all costs, created hatred for those who would try to destroy it. That was what I was feeling.
In the weapon book, the name of the weapon somewhere between rage and compassion floated into view . . . but I was unable to read it.
“Don’t worry,” I finally managed to reply. “I’m not going to get swallowed by rage.” A time limit then appeared in my field of view, like the one I had seen when I was controlling the Shield of Wrath. It was set to thirty minutes.
“I’m still not sure about this . . .” Raphtalia said.
“She’s being so aggressive about it. The anger might win out!” I said pointedly, but the Demon Dragon just replied as mockingly as ever.
“That is one of my best features. You need to show the Shield Hero who is boss sometimes, holder of the katana vassal weapon,” the Demon Dragon said, looking over at Raphtalia. What was she trying to get Raphtalia to do, exactly?
“That’s not the issue here!” Raphtalia shouted back.
“Oh, but it is,” the Demon Dragon replied. “You must not deny the rage of the Shield Hero. Share that anger, share your tears, share the quiet moments, and share the struggle to overcome; that is true compassion.” The Demon Dragon was warning us that I was yet to overcome my anger. I needed to stay calm, stay calm without getting angry . . . but that just wasn’t possible right then!
“We’re going to discuss this again later!” I raged. The Demon Dragon just laughed.
“You don’t have to understand it now. Just make sure you don’t pretend your rage does not exist,” the Demon Dragon said. She really was a masochist, loving it even when I got mad with her. “Now then, heroes, take a good look at your weapons created from my materials,” the Demon Dragon suggested. Kizuna, Glass, Raphtalia, and S’yne all did so.
“The True Demon Dragon weapons have a rage effect applied to them now. They look much stronger,” Kizuna reported.
“Look at this power!” Raphtalia exclaimed. “They aren’t even cursed weapons. This is good. I feel such power flowing up from inside me, too.” I shook my head. Was this another dragon effect? Everyone, including Raphtalia, had something like a black aura surrounding them, indicating they had been powered up.
“I feel power rising from inside,” Kizuna said. The blood pudding was having an effect too, I was sure. I didn’t like the direction this was taking though. At this rate, my rage would be required for the Demon Dragon to reach her Wrath Dragon form every single time something happened.
“I think this . . . might be just what we need,” Raphtalia whispered, looking at the black and yet burning katana in her hand.
“Naofumi, what should we do? Who is going to fight who?” Kizuna asked.
“The Demon Dragon and Filo have been called out already,” I replied. The terrifyingly transformed Demon Dragon was facing off with the metal magic dragon.
“Boo! This isn’t my fault!” Filo was having a bad day, for sure. So it was the Demon Dragon and Filo versus the harpoon guy, his goons, and the metal magic dragon. The numbers seemed a little unbalanced.
“Aren’t you going to call in the other heavenly kings?” I asked.
“I sent them to the port. They would just get in the way here anyway. More isn’t always better,” the Demon Dragon replied. Okay . . . whatever.
“Hey! Don’t forget about me,” said a voice.
“Kizuna! Watch out!” Glass shouted as the guy with the ofuda holy weapon threw a card-like ofuda at her. Glass managed to knock the attack out of the air just in time, but her expression was harsh.
“That was powerful for just a probing attack,” she said, her hand looking numb. The simple act of repelling the incoming attack had hurt Glass considerably, meaning we were indeed facing very powerful foes.
“Glass! Are you okay?” Kizuna asked.
“It does hurt a little,” Glass managed after a pause.
“I have all sorts of ways we can fight you, so be careful. I can use magic too. If you think you can stop me, go ahead and try,” the ofuda guy said, a handsome smile on his face.
Then Shildina moved over to stand next to Glass.
“I think you could use some help,” Shildina said.
“Yes, I think so. I’m not going to be able to handle this alone. Shildina, please aid me,” Glass said.
“I’m going to fight for sweet Naofumi too,” Shildina replied. They combined their strength, overlapping again as the oracle powers were activated.
“Well, well, well, you do have some fancy tricks,” S’yne’s sister said.
“Indeed, I do. You would do well not to underestimate me in this form,” Glass warned. “Kizuna, please provide support from the rear. If you see an opening, you know what to do,” Glass said.
“Okay! We’ll annoy them as much as we can, right, Chris?” Kizuna said.
“Pen!” the familiar replied. Kizuna had summoned Chris and was ready to fight. It looked like Kizuna, Chris, Glass, and Shildina were going to fight the one with the ofuda while offering support to anyone else who needed it if an opening presented itself.
My only other concern was the ship floating in the sky behind the harpoon vassal weapon holder and his goons with its cannon trained upon us. I expected them to start firing at any moment. As it had formerly been Ethnobalt’s weapon, we knew what kind of attacks it could perform. But since it was stolen, we had no idea what kind of modifications might have been made. Withstanding whatever barrage it unleashed was where I came in, of course.
There was no sign of Bitch coming down from the ship.
“Dear little S’yne, I don’t need you making any trouble, so let’s play together again,” S’yne’s sister said.
“?!” S’yne replied, although I couldn’t hear any of it.
“S’yne has—since the last defeat and is—expect a result—last time!” her familiar said, maybe filling in some of the blanks.
“You’d better pull your weight this time!” Bitch complained down at S’yne’s sister. She had proven herself to be very strong, so I could see why her allies would complain about her only fighting S’yne.
“Well, well, well. Should I fight Iwatani? I don’t mind if I do, but what do you think S’yne will do then?” S’yne’s sister mused. S’yne decided to make her sister’s mind up for her, turning her sewing vassal weapon into a ball of yarn and launching a preemptive strike. Threads launched from the ball and flew out in all directions, striking at all of the enemies. That looked useful for keeping them all pinned down. Even the metal magic dragon was getting caught up in them.
Looking at the threads, S’yne’s sister slammed her own chain weapon down onto the ground.
“Binding: Multi-Headed Orochi!” she shouted. Chains appeared from four directions and blocked the passage of the threads.
“Hah! We can shred such attacks with ease!” Bitch said.
“But can you keep doing it?” S’yne’s sister asked. “The instant you let your guard down, those threads will get you. With Iwatani here, they have even more applications.” She just loved explaining things, regardless of the side she was on.
“I wasn’t sure you would notice,” I said. Using my mirrors made instant transmission of the threads a possibility. They could pass through my mirrors and spread freely across any desired space. What I really wanted to do was put a mirror behind Bitch and bind her up all at once.
“You must understand,” S’yne’s sister continued, giving a dose of reality to Bitch. “Having that dragon nearby will place restrictions on your own magic—magic that doesn’t work on Iwatani anyway. The point therefore becomes how well we can fight without their interference. And you want to just ignore S’yne? Please. You’d better start helping.”
“Whatever are you talking about?! You need to keep her off our backs and take all of the others out too! You can use magic, right?” Bitch said, issuing orders as haughtily as ever. I hoped they would keep fighting like this until it created an opening to strike.
“Well, well, well. You should be the one to do that. The one who suggests something is normally the one to carry it out, correct? You’ve been awarded all sorts of blessings, and yet you still want more! And you think I’m getting full of myself. If I just start shooting off magic, that dragon is going to take steps to stop me. I don’t want to have to deal with that,” S’yne’s sister said, a taunting smile on her lips. Her entire attitude seemed to subtly suggest that this was Bitch’s last chance. Bitch clearly was on uneasy footing with her new friends.
I just wanted them to fight more. Fight each other! The rage surged to overtake me, and I struggled to force it down again.
“Which means I will pin down Iwatani and S’yne,” S’yne’s sister said.
“I’m not going to forget this slight!” Bitch shouted.
“Lady Malty! This is the time to show your worth!” one of her goons shouted. They were behind the others. Bitch had the whip in one hand, seemingly preparing to use a skill. She had learned her lesson about firing off magic at me—I would just send it right back. Maybe they would try for some cooperative or ritual magic, something a little harder to interfere with. It must be nice, I pondered for a moment, to be able to access forbidden magic using an accessory. These guys all sucked!
“Raphtalia, do you know what to do?” I asked.
“Yes. This time we have to fight her,” Raphtalia replied. That meant Raphtalia, S’yne, and I would be fighting Bitch and her goons—primarily Woman B II and the ship vassal weapon.
“Little Naofumi, can I fight the harpoon hero?” Sadeena asked.
“Think you can take him?” I asked.
“I’ll need support from you and the others, little Naofumi. I just want to see how good he really is with that harpoon,” Sadeena said. Of course, she used a harpoon herself. If this worked out, stealing the weapon away from him—like Itsuki had done against Miyaji—was not out of the question. Proving a clear difference in personal quality and claiming the weapon would definitely be a good outcome.
“Shall we begin? Allow us to demonstrate how foolish you are for turning your weapons on us!” At this shout from the Demon Dragon, both sides all started to attack at once.
“Now! Play our trump card!” Bitch shouted. It seemed a bit early for that, but the metal magic dragon and ofuda holy weapon holder both shouted in agreement. The two corrupted holy weapons started to release a kind of vibration that gave the air a purple tint. It scattered into the surrounding area. Bitch gave an unnerving giggle as my mirrors started to shake. It wasn’t just the mirrors either—Raphtalia and Glass’s weapons were affected too.
“What’s this? What’s going on?!” Kizuna didn’t seem to be affected. I glared at Bitch, wondering what she was planning. I was sure I had felt this before, somewhere . . .
“Vassal weapons! Respond to my call and obey my orders!” Bitch intoned. The mirror was shaking even harder, as though trying to resist.
“Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia looked over at me with a worried expression. More cowardly tricks—I should have expected no less from Bitch. This was also the same trick they had used when they stopped my shield and Itsuki’s bow from working.
“You are the true holders of those weapons, are you? So what! Is that enough to resist this power?” Bitch crowed. “I strip from you your right to hold those weapons!” Another vibration shook the air. The mirror, katana, and fan all seemed about to comply with Bitch—then the mirror fired off a beam to protect the katana, and the hunting tool holy weapon protected the fan. Her ploy didn’t seem to have worked.
“Bad luck! Looks like corrupted holy weapons can’t make the grade when it comes to stripping the right to use vassal weapons,” Kizuna said, sounding very pleased with herself.
“Hah. Your very first move is to try and steal our weapons? How very boring,” the Demon Dragon added, almost sounding disappointed.
“You are joking! It didn’t work? What a waste of time!” Bitch clicked her tongue, which just annoyed me more. I wanted to kill her so badly. I wanted to kill her right there!
“They have a holy weapon too, so it can’t be helped. Even if it comes from another world, working together with the vassal weapons allowed their holy weapon to stop you,” S’yne’s sister said, providing her normal, impartial analysis. In this case, she seemed to want to mock Bitch. These guys always tried to weaken us like this! I was just pleased it didn’t work, or we would have been right back to having to fight without weapons again.
“I’m not leaving this opening unexploited!” The Demon Dragon twisted a paw and countless balls of black magic appeared in the air, flying toward the metal magic dragon.
“My universal collaborators! Respond to my call and materialize your magic power!” Even as she launched the first attack, she was incanting the second.
“Fool! Have you forgotten who I am? Gyah-gyah!” the metal magic dragon spouted.
“We’ll see who is the fool here . . . I am the Demon Dragon! Now you will learn that your comprehension of me is fatally flawed!” the Demon Dragon replied.
“And so what if it is? Eat this! Lightning Strike Dragon: Ten!” The harpoon vassal weapon holder lifted his harpoon and then charged right at the Demon Dragon, his body wreathed in lightning. It was a power-up skill! But without knowing which holy weapon it was coming from, there was no way to copy it. Life just kept getting harder.
“Little Demon Dragon, he’s going to appear to come at your head but then aim for your body,” Sadeena said—at some point, she had climbed onto the Demon Dragon’s back and was now giving advice.
“Then I know how to respond,” the Demon Dragon said, lowering her head and avoiding the attack. The harpoon vassal weapon holder circled around, still a crackling ball of lightning, and tried to strike at her body, but she knew what to expect and shut him down. She followed up with a grunt as she swung her tail, striking the harpoon guy hard. He grunted in turn.
“What was that?!” he exclaimed.
“That was a pretty powerful attack, from the look of it, but easy to avoid once you know where you are targeting,” Sadeena told the harpoon guy from her perch on the powered-up Demon Dragon’s back.
“I’m surprised you could see that,” the Demon Dragon said.
“I’m pretty good with a harpoon myself,” Sadeena responded.
“Very well. Stick close to me now!” the Demon Dragon shouted.
“Of course! Let’s both win some praise from little Naofumi!” Sadeena replied. The dragon made a sound of agreement, and I shook my head. I didn’t need that pair, of all people, starting to get along.
“Now! This is the moment to form some magic! Have a taste of my power with my complete command of magic!” the Demon Dragon roared.
“Fool! I’ll show you that I’m superior with magic in every possible way! You shall learn the terror of a holy weapon! Gyah-gyah!” the metal magic dragon sniped back. Then they both started to intone the exact same magic!
“This power, a precursor to victory, is the ultimate magic that can eradicate all and give mercy to my companions . . . The Dragon Emperor, ruler of this world, commands it! Provide almighty power!” The Demon Dragon finished first and turned to look at us, while the metal magic dragon was frowning for some reason.
“I’m not going to help my master’s enemies,” Filo said. The Demon Dragon’s magic could be made more powerful by borrowing power from those who had contracted or collaborated with her. And Filo—who had been appointed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings—had denied that request from the metal magic dragon. Then Filo took her bolas out from her wing, spun it around, and threw it at the harpoon guy.
“Uwah! No way!” The harpoon guy toppled over, his legs tangled in the bolas. He was back up almost at once, but it bought us some time. Filo’s throwing attacks were pretty useful too; I had to give her credit for that.
“Gah! Curse you, Heavenly King, and your failure to see which of us is your true ruler! But I can manage even without your aid, you will soon find! Gyah-gyah!” said the metal magic dragon.
“Too slow. No matter how fast you can incant, magic from a king without any subordinates will never match mine!” the Demon Dragon exclaimed.
“She has someone collaborating with her! Me!” the harpoon guy roared. It looked like maybe he was helping out.
“Let us see how you fare under our assault. It will be interesting to see how big a gap we can create. Blessing of the Demon Dragon’s Four Heavenly Kings!” The magic that the Demon Dragon composed flew right for me. It was coming in really fast. But seeing as we hadn’t been plunged into the chaos of open battle yet, I could still respond. “I will determine when it goes off. Shield Hero, multiply it!” the Demon Dragon said.
“Yes, I’ve got it. Formation One, Formation Two, Formation Three: Glass Shield! Into . . . Mirror Cage!” I adjusted the angle of the two floating mirrors to catch the incoming magic. In the moment it touched the Mirror of Wrath floating mirror, it turned a sickly color. It reminded me of Sacrifice Aura. Immediately after that, it touched the Shield of Compassion mirror and turned back to a normal color—the compassion had purified it. My gut told me that we would have paid some nasty price, just like with Sacrifice Aura, if it had been activated after hitting the Mirror of Wrath. Getting the order in which it hit the mirrors mixed up could definitely be dangerous.
That risk was also worth it, however, because I could tell it had been increased by more than just a normal reflection. Then it hit the third glass mirror . . . and that was when I trapped it in the Mirror Cage.
“Here it comes. Everyone! Get ready!” The Demon Dragon roared. In that same moment, the cage was ripped apart. Then the Demon Dragon support magic that I had multiplied rained down on us.
My stats saw an immediate jump upward. It was hard to calculate exactly what the modifier was, but it was at least equal to if not above Liberation Aura VIII.
“Demon Dragon! Harpoon and Dragon Protection: Ten!” The metal magic dragon did not miss a beat, casting some support magic on her own allies.
“Well, well, well,” S’yne’s sister said. “You shouldn’t be relying too heavily on support magic.” Both her and the metal magic dragon started to incant more magic.
“They are leaving an opening for us, so let’s take it,” the Demon Dragon said.
“Come on, little Filo! Let’s pull our weight!” Sadeena called.
“Okay!” Filo agreed. The Demon Dragon flew straight for the metal magic dragon, while Sadeena grabbed Filo’s legs (Filo had turned into a monster that looked like a big eagle) and they flew straight for the harpoon guy.
“What?! They don’t even have vassal weapons, but look at that speed!” their target shouted.
“That’s because little Naofumi has piled so many enhancements onto us! We’re not giving any ground to you!” Sadeena shouted back.
“That’s right! Master’s meals give me lots of energy!” Filo added. The wind wreathing her also enveloped Sadeena’s harpoon, and Sadeena also used some gemstones to access the Way of the Dragon Vein as she charged right for the harpoon guy.
“This is a copy of that technique you just used,” Sadeena said. “If you don’t avoid this, I’m not going to have any fun today at all.” Transformed into a bullet of speeding wind, Filo shifted her trajectory slightly from the harpoon guy, zooming high up into the sky while Sadeena continued flying directly toward her target.
“You think such a direct attack could hope to—” But his bravado was cut off with a grunt as he avoided Sadeena’s charge but then got hammered by that same bullet of wind, which turned almost 180 degrees in the blink of an eye and smashed into him. The two of them had known exactly where the harpoon guy would dodge.
“Oh my, you didn’t avoid that? I even showed you which hand I was holding it in to make it easier for you,” Sadeena jibed, still completely in her comfort zone. She might be lacking in output compared to him, but she was completely winning when it came to technique.
Not one to be left behind, the Demon Dragon grabbed onto the metal magic dragon in that same moment, opening her mouth wide and taking a breath. A blast of black fire was unleashed from deep inside the Demon Dragon’s throat, glimmering with light as it burned.
“Have a taste of this! New Star Blacksun Fire!” the Demon Dragon roared. The metal magic dragon gave a complementary roar of pain. I’d seen flames like those before. They were the same as Dark Curse Burning.
The Demon Dragon breathed fire on the metal magic dragon for a while and then backed off again. Her target groaned.
“Cursed fire . . . the recourse of a coward,” the metal magic dragon finally managed to say.
“You will have a difficult time purging the fire of my rage! So hot it burns even the darkness. Do you think you can treat it? Well, just in case . . .” She snapped her claws together and I felt something change in the air around us. “I’ve created a magic pocket that delays healing. Any who stand against me . . . had better not need medical attention for a while.” The Demon Dragon seemed to have every base covered, including creating a field that impaired the effects of healing magic.
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