Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: Curse Series

“Wow! There are so many monsters!” 

The surrounding lands had always been pretty barren, but once we were in the mountains everything was crumbling boulders. 

There was a mountain path that led to the eastern countries, and because of it we were able to make progress, however slow. 

We had been climbing through the mountains for thirty minutes or so. 

I had brought restorative medicine, as well as healing medicine… and because the air was poisonous I also brought some antidote. 

Back in the village, before we left, I had declared my intention to leave the carriage behind. 

“No! These carts are all filled with my most treasured memories!” 

And Filo threw a fit until we agreed to let her pull the carriage. 

How long had she even been alive? A month? And here she was telling me about life. 

But I guess she had been pulling that carriage for more than 90% of the life she had lived, so it was only natural that she would have grown attached. 

As for the monsters, there were a lot of poison trees, and poison frogs… basically a lot of poisonous things. 

After defeating them, I let the shield absorb what it could. 

Poison Tree Shield: conditions met 

Poison Frog Shield: conditions met Poison Bee Shield: conditions met Poison Fly Shield: conditions met 

All the shields were poison-types, and the status booster abilities they came with related to Poison Resistance. The only shield that broke the pattern was what I got from butchering the poison bee and letting the shield absorb the parts. 

Bee Needle Shield II: conditions not met Equip Bonus: attack 1 

Special Effect: Needle Shield (small), Bee Poison (poison) 

The defense rating hadn’t changed much from the original Bee Needle Shield, but its special effect had changed from paralysis to poison. 

But let’s put all this aside for a moment. There were tons of monsters around. We’d beat them down, and more would come. Then we would beat THEM down and even MORE would appear. 

The wind was full of disease, and it blew over the harsh landscape, which seemed to ooze poison from every crack and crevice. It would have been a difficult undertaking for an average adventurer. 

“No matter how many we kill, there are more. Filo! Get us out of here!” “Okay!” 

Filo leaned into it, and pulled at the carriage with all of her strength. 

Running at full speed, an enemy or two got trampled here or there in the process. So we were actually still gaining a little experience. 

Down the road we came upon a new monster that seemed to be made of mud, but Filo kicked it to the ground so quickly that I never got a chance to let the shield absorb it. 

“We made it.” 

We’d found the dragon’s corpse, and the air reeked of rot and poison and death. 

The dragon was around ten meters and looked like what you picture when you think of a European dragon. Or must have looked like that before it had died. It was hard to make it out in its current state. 

It wasn’t even possible to tell what color it had been, as the rot and decay were so far advanced. Here and there blacked skin stuck to the bones. 

It appeared to have been killed by a single strike to its belly. There was a deep cut there with rotting organs spilling from the open wound. It smelled horrible. There were clouds of Poison Flies gathered over the rotting meat, and the whole place looked really creepy. 

“I’m hungryyyyy!” 

“How can you look at this and say you’re hungry?!” 

Filo stuck her head into the carriage and started fishing around for something to munch on. I looked in after her. 

“Raphtalia, you okay?” 

“Yes.” 

Raphtalia had always had weak lungs, so I was worried that the air quality would bother her. But she said that she was feeling fine. 

“If you don’t feel good, make sure you lay down.” 

“Yes.” 

We beat back the Poison Flies and inched closer to the dragon corpse. 

Ren and the other adventurers had already picked it over for materials. The horns and claws, scales, skin, and wings were pretty much gone. Even the tongue was gone. There was really only a pile of meat and bones left. 

The skin was gone too, as if they’d taken it in one giant sheet. 

The air smelled so bad we all twisted our noses up involuntarily. It was really awful. 

I had abilities that lent me some Poison Resistance, but I wondered if Raphtalia would be all right. 

“Filo, you take care of these flies while Raphtalia and I butcher what is left of the dragon. It’s too big to use right now.” 

Had we buried it, it might continue to impact the land, and its rot could stay on the wind or in the water. No—better to absorb it into the shield and get rid of it. 

“Okay.” 

Filo finished her carriage feast and nodded over her large, round belly. 

“I feel kinda yucky.” 

“You ate too much.” 

Raphtalia and I moved closer to the corpse to set our plan into motion. 

Rumble… 

“Did I imagine that?” 

“Um…” 

I could have sworn that the corpse had…twitched? 

It was probably an illusion caused by the shifting clouds of Poison Flies. 

Rumble… 

Nope. That was no illusion. 

The dragon began to move, and quickly settled itself into a defensive posture. 

“Gaooooooooooooh!” 

The dragon had no claws or fangs, but it reared up and let out a ferocious roar. 

“Why is this thing moving?!” 

“Mr. Naofumi, you have to calm down!” 

When the moving, dead dragon… the Zombie Dragon, reared up in front of me, I discovered that I was screaming. 

C’mon now, give me a break. No matter how you looked at it, this dragon was too strong for us to take down as we were! 

Zombie Dragons… I’d seen them in games before… and they were always stronger than the dragon had been before it died! 

Would it be the same in this world? 

The dragon rose to its feet, creaky and shaky, as all of its organs began to regenerate and resume their functions. Then it turned its face to us. 

Now it had wings, and its tail was thrashing. It’s claws and fangs would apparently take more time. 

The rotting meat turned into liquid and flowed over the body, only to reform itself into wings and a tail. The same process was happening to its internal organs. I looked, and the fatal wound on its belly had already closed. How were we supposed to fight this thing? 

“We’re running!” 

“But Filo has…!” 

Raphtalia was frantically thrusting her finger in the direction of the Zombie Dragon. 

I’d forgotten! Filolials and dragons never got along! 

“Hiyaaa!” 

Raphtalia had dashed for the dragon and run up its neck to deliver a solid kick to the head. 

There was a loud and satisfying bash, and then the dragon began to bend over backwards. 

“Can we… win?” 

Filo was a strong attacker, and this Zombie Dragon didn’t have any claws or fangs yet. 

Maybe we could win. I found it hard to believe that this dead dragon could hold out for very long. 

And if we were to run from the beast now, there was a chance it might go on to attack the village. 

Just like when Ren beat the dragon, the dragon would revive and make this place his territory again. But he was still regenerating, so this was our chance. If we didn’t beat it now, the next adventurers wouldn’t stand a chance. 

“Don’t be a fool! Back down!” 

“I don’t wanna!” 

“Dammit! All right, let’s take care of it!” 

“Okay!” 

Things were fine for a moment. I switched to the Chimera Viper Shield for its defense, and with that and my defense rating, I was able to stave off the dragon’s attacks. 

But then… 

“Gaooooooooooooh!” 

Something in the belly swelled and moved up the throat. Then the beast opened its mouth and breathed a heavy purple gas in our direction. 

Raphtalia and Filo did as we had agreed and rushed to hide behind my shield. 

I held up the shield to block off the billowing gas, but… 

“Wh…What is this?!” 

“Cough! Cough!” 

The breath was a thick and noxious poison. 

I had Poison Resistance, and even I found my head reeling and my breath coming in ragged gasps. 

Raphtalia began coughing violently behind me. 

Filo was undeterred by the gas, or maybe she had been holding her breath. Regardless, she rushed forward and kicked hard at the dragon’s soft underside. 

“R…Raphtalia! Are you okay?” 

“Cough Cough Cough!” 

She was trying, through her tears, to say that she was all right. But she was unable to say anything. The coughing was too intense. 

This wasn’t good. 

Filo and I could fight, but Raphtalia was incapacitated. 

“Raphtalia, get out of here. Head back to the carriage—there’s antidote in there. Take it and rest.” 

“Cough!” 

Raphtalia fell into another coughing fit, but she desperately pointed at the dragon through the ragged coughs. 

I followed her gaze and was dumbfounded. 

The dragon had opened its wings and risen into the air, only to swoop down and scoop Filo up into its mouth. 

The whole scene seemed to move in slow motion. 

I threw out my hand, but… 

“Ah…” 

Crunch! 

There was a deafening sound, and a wave of red liquid streamed from the dragon’s mouth. 

“Filooooooooo!” 

It was either Raphtalia or me that screamed, I don’t remember. Everything was a slow confusing blur, and I couldn’t be sure who was doing what. 

That selfish, childish little bird had only been alive for a month, but she’d wanted to be with me the whole time, she wanted me to spoil her. She didn’t want me to think her useless. She was just a little kid. 

Like a revolving light show, my memories of Filo came flashing back to me. 

What had happened? 

What had… 

The dragon chewed heavily on its catch, and then… 

Gulp. 

With a loud sound, it swallowed. 

“No! Filo!” 

My voice came wheezing from my mouth, and I stood still—shocked. It hurt. It hurt like I’d been kicked off a cliff. I feel like I finally understood what it meant to feel devastated, to feel hopeless. 

It wasn’t devastation that spurs you to action, or to revenge. It was deeper and sadder. It was the devastation that the clock couldn’t be turned back. 

“Mr. Naofumi!” 

Raphtalia turned to me and slapped me hard across the face. 

“Get a hold of yourself! This isn’t the time to be distracted!” 

Her eyes were filled with tears. 

She was yelling at me. She was saying that things would only get worse if we didn’t do something. 

But I couldn’t hear her. I was overcome with anger… anger at losing my close friend right before my eyes. 

You want power? 

I could hear a voice speaking to me from my shield. 

My eyes wandered down to look at the shield. I could hear the voice again. 

Do you hate everything? 

I felt my heart pound. 

I could feel darkness expanding from the depths of the shield. 

This had happened before, back when I had dueled with Motoyasu. 

The shield’s tree suddenly appeared before my eyes. 

The screen turned around, and the reverse was some color, almost red, almost black—with another tree on it. 

Curse Series. 

The phrase ran through my mind quickly. There was one shield listed on the tree that was shining. 

Curse Series: Shield of Rage: ability locked: equip bonus: skill “Change Shield (attack),” “Iron Maiden” 

Special Effect: Self Curse, Burning Strength up Born from the heart: Shield of Murder… 

This shield came with its own description and instruction. I didn’t know if I had willed it, or if it had been involuntary. But I followed my heart and discovered that the shield was already in my hand. 

The Shield of Rage. 

A great outpouring of emotion came from the shield, and the shield emitted a strong red-black light as it changed form. 

The shield was covered in ominous looking flames, and it was blood-red. 

Thump… Thump… 

My whole being was covered in anger, steeped in anger… 

The last time, when I lost to Motoyasu and they were threatening to take Raphtalia away from me… when I had only hatred for everything in the world… 

Everything in the world had looked black and seemed to be made of shadows… shadows that mocked me and hated me. 

I was overcome with that emotion. 

“Gaooooooooooooh!” 

An enormous black shadow turned to me and howled. It was reaching for me…. 

“Haooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!”