Chapter Thirteen: Soul-Healing Water
“Oh, if it isn’t Glass? What are you up to?”
“Clearly I’ve defeated the enemy and come looking for you.”
L’Arc was talking to Glass as if they knew each other.
Could it be? I’d considered the possibility before, but were they really connected?
From the look of it, they seemed to be friends. Damn! Filo and I had been about to win! With Glass in the mix, I didn’t see that as a possibility anymore.
“Now then. Naofumi, was it? We’ve met before.”
She regarded me quietly and spoke politely.
“I wasn’t hoping to see you again.”
“I’m impressed you made this much headway against L’Arc. And from the look of that shield, you hadn’t even gotten serious yet.”
“What?! He wasn’t trying?”
L’Arc was shocked.
“Correct. When he fights for real, he uses a shield that’s very different from the one he has equipped now.”
“Oh, then I guess I really never stood a chance.”
It’s not that I wasn’t fighting for real. It’s that the Wrath Shield asks too much from me.
“Heh. This guy was using a defense rating attack—I couldn't use my best shield because of that.”
“I see.”
Glass opened a folding fan and pointed it at me.
“Then I suppose I will have to join this fight myself.”
“I’d really rather not fight you, but I guess I don’t have a choice.”
I took a step forward and readied my shield.
“Counting the wave boss, this makes round three.”
Honestly I was annoyed. I didn’t want to keep fighting without a break.
But the other heroes were useless, and the queen couldn’t do anything to help. How was I supposed to fight these people without any support?
“Ha!”
She snapped open her fan and swiped at me. Her attack flowed like water.
Based on what I’d seen the last time we’d fought, I didn’t have to worry too much unless I was using the Wrath Shield.
I raised my shield and blocked her attack.
Soul eat activated and drained Glass’s . . . SP?
“What? That shield!”
Understanding the shield I was using, Glass took a long jump backwards.
What was happening? Glass was behaving like it was the first time she’d ever been hurt.
And her attack had felt much weaker than the last time we’d fought.
What was happening?
I had the Soul Eater Shield equipped.
It had a counter effect called soul eat, which stole the enemy’s SP.
If the enemy didn’t have SP, it stole their magic power.
“L’Arc, you understand, right?”
“Yeah.”
L’Arc stepped forward and Glass opened her fan wide.
“Circle dance break! Tortoise shell shatter!”
I felt like she was moving slower than she had last time too.
I used air strike shield to block her attack.
“Naofumi, I’m coming!”
L’Arc spun around my skill and moved in close to use his defense rating attack.
“Don’t even try!”
Before he could hit me, Filo reached out and grabbed the handle of his scythe, preventing the attack from connecting.
That was smart. If she held the handle then she could throw off his control of the blade.
“Ms. Glass! There’s no choice!”
Therese pulled out a gemstone and threw it at Raphtalia.
“All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Lend me your last light! Surrender yourself for the sake of our future!”
“Shining stone, shrinking explosion!”
“?!”
Raphtalia ran to get distance from Therese.
It was the right move. A second later there was an ear-splitting blast and a great rush of searing wind.
Had the gemstone exploded?
Her magic was so strange. From what I’d seen up until know, Therese’s magic worked by using gemstones.
If she would blow one up, did that mean that we were winning?
“Mr. Naofumi!”
Therese used the confusion of the explosion to reunite with L’Arc and Glass.
Raphtalia did the same, running back to Filo and I.
With us all back together, there was only one thing left to do.
“Shooting star shield!”
A force field appeared around us.
“L’Arc, hurry and show me your wounds.”
“Sorry, Therese . . . .”
Therese used magic to heal his gashed arm.
“You’re much stronger then the last time we met. You really are a hero.”
“I know.”
“It’s hard to call it a fair fight. But I won’t hold back now.”
Glass opened her fan wide and prepared to use a skill. It had defeated the other three heroes in one shot the last time we met. I remembered it.
At the same time, Therese was preparing a spell.
This wasn’t looking good. Were they about to use a combo skill!?
“All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Defeat them with a storm of ice!”
“Shining stones, blizzard!”
“Combination form. Reverse hail snow moon flower!”
Like cherry blossoms on the breeze, the wind carried daggers of ice on in a quickening squall.
“Shield prison!”
I used shield prison inside of the shooting star shield force field to protect us.
A few seconds after Glass initiated her attack the force field shattered. The shield prison rocked in the winds and ice.
I could feel the attack power rattling the shields around us. The winds died down just as the shield prison’s effect time wore out.
“He survived our combo skill?”
“We’ve gotten stronger since the last time we met. Don’t forget it.”
“It seems I’ve underestimated you.”
I thought I saw an expression of anxiety flit over her face.
Exactly. This fight felt a lot different than the last one had.
If we’d been able to survive that attack from Glass, it was proof that we’d become a lot more powerful since the last time we met.
But there was something even more intriguing than that. I had to know why Glass had seemed so intimidated by the Soul Eater Shield.
It looked like she had jumped back, almost scared, from its counter attack.
Alright, it was time for our attack now.
“Raphtalia, Filo, it’s going to be tough, but try to keep L’Arc and Therese at bay and focus your attacks on Glass. If you can’t avoid them entirely, you can let a few of their attacks through. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
“Alright.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“Mkay!”
We all agreed on the plan and turned to begin the attack.
“Shooting star shield!”
See, the force field also prevented anyone not in your party from crossing into range. So we couldn’t get a grip on them and restrain them, but by keeping my party members safe within the force field we were free to focus on attacking.
But if the enemy’s attacks exceeded what the field could withstand, then it would break instantly. So I’d have to keep an eye on it.
Raphtalia and Filo used the force field as a shield and drew Glass and L’Arc’s attacks.
Glass attacked and attacked, again and again, her impatience growing increasingly evident.
Finally, there was a splintering sound as the force field reached its limit and broke.
“Now! Circle dance form, tortoise . . . .”
“Hya!”
Filo drew back and clawed ferociously at Glass’s fan.
“You! Get off!”
Glass swung the fan to try and knock Filo back.
Now!
“Air strike shield! Change shield!”
I turned the air strike shield into what I had been using since the start— the Soul Eater Shield.
Glass’s attack was flying at Filo, but my skill was faster. Her attack collided with the shield.
“What?! No . . . .”
The soul eat counter attack activated, and Glass immediately made to dodge it.
I knew it!”
That confirmed it. Glass was weak against the soul eat attack.
“Raphtalia!”
“What is it?”
“Do you have the magic sword?”
“Yes.”
“That’s our trump card this time. Give it all your power and thrust it into her!”
We didn’t have any other way to use it, so we might as well put it to use while we could.
“Understood! Hyaaaaa!”
“Not so fast!”
L’Arc dashed over to cut her off.
“Don’t forget about meeee!”
Filo crosscut and stopped L’Arc from advancing. Now nothing was in Raphtalia’s way.
I followed her, bringing up the rear.
“Ms. Glass!”
Therese crossed her wrists and chanted a spell.
“All-encompassing power of the jewel, here my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Halt their advance with a wall of flame!”
“Shining stones, flame wall!”
A wall of raging flames surged up to protect them.
I leveled my shield and kept running right for it.
The force field was reaching its limit. The air was filled with crackling snaps—the wall must have been very powerful.
But it wasn’t enough.
“I . . . I can’t stop them!”
“Better not underestimate us!”
L’Arc and the others were so strong it was remarkable.
Honestly, I thought they might even be more powerful than the high priest had been, and he had a replica of the legendary weapons.
But they weren’t powerful enough to stop me.
Their best attacks were the defense ignoring and the defense rating attacks. Once I found away around those, I knew how to defeat them.
Still, if they got a chance to pummel us with close range attacks, we might not get control of the battle again.
We had to finish it before L’Arc got a chance to interfere!
“Raphtalia!”
“Yes!”
She fixed her grip on her magic sword and thrust it at Glass.
“I don’t think so!”
Glass judged the path of the blade and blocked with her fan.
This had happened in our last fight, and it had broken Raphtalia’s blade.
“Not quite!”
But the magic sword didn’t have a physical blade to break.
Raphtalia held back her magic power just before the blade hit the fan, and the blade wavered and vanished. Judging the timing, Raphtalia pivoted and then the blade reappeared—thrusting straight into Glass’s stomach.
But it hadn’t pierced through her. Was the attack power too low?
“What?!”
Glass was speechless.
For a single moment, the blade of the magic sword sparked.
“ARRRGHHHHHHH!”
Raphtalia screamed as she focused all her remaining magic power into the blade. It sparked and crackled and slipped into Glass.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Glass wrapped her hands around the crackling blade and tried to pull it out. But Raphtalia focused further, pressing the sword in deeper before releasing her grip and jumping away.
The blade sparked again and then exploded with a blinding flash.
“Whoa!”
The light was so bright that I could hardly keep my eyes open.
I ran to Raphtalia and used my shield to block the light.
“Glass!”
L’Arc shout to Glass and tried to wrest himself free from Filo.
The area was filling with smoke. That’s how powerful the magic explosion had been.
We’d hit Glass in her weakest point. I hoped that would end the battle.
The smoke cleared.
Huff . . . .
“It’s . . . .”
Huff . . . .
“No problem at all . . . .”
Glass was still standing. She held her stomach and was breathing heavily. She looked like she might collapse at any moment.
Damn! It hadn’t been a finishing move after all.
But it had done plenty of damage. If there was a time for a follow-up attack, it was now.
“Ms. Glass. We must retreat for now.”
“No . . . . Not yet. I mustn’t retreat!”
“Glass! Dammit! Move!”
“Hey!”
L’Arc threw off Filo and ran to Glass’s side.
“Filo, are you okay?”
“Yup!”
Alright, we could still fight.
We’d backed Glass into a corner. Now even if they used restorative magic, she’d still be exhausted.
And I still had the Wrath Shield if I needed it.
As a last resort I could get the timing right and use iron maiden.
After powering up, the Air Strike Shield skill had a higher defense than it had.
So it was probably safe to assume that the attack power of iron maiden had gone up as well. If I defended with the Soul Eater Shield, then I could get back my lost SP too. And I could always drink a soul-healing water and use the skill in succession.
“Glass. Stay still.”
What? Something that looked like soul-healing water was dribbling out of L’Arc scythe and falling onto Glass.
That was all, but a strange look immediately crossed Glass’s face. She looked relieved.
“Rapid energy recovery?!”
Glass was as surprised as I was. What was going on?!
“Naofumi, you’re really something. You haven’t left us any spare room to maneuver, have you? I wanted to hang on to this, but you’ve forced me to play my trump card.”
L’Arc kept pouring the soul-healing water over Glass.
Her cheeks immediately flushed a healthy red.
I couldn’t explain it, but she looked even more powerful than she had before.
“L’Arc, what is this?”
“For me it’s a drink that refills my skill power. But for you it’s an amazingly powerful power up tool.”
“Oh yes. I see.”
Glass was on her feet in a flash. She narrowed her eyes at me.
I was getting a bad feeling about this.
“I’m going.”
Glass said it, and then she was right in front of me—before I could even blink!
Had she teleported? No, she had just moved so quickly that I hadn’t been able to follow her.
Luckily my shield was already positioned between us.
“Hyaaa!”
The strongest attack yet slammed against my shield. I felt it reverberate in my hands.
“Damn!”
The attack had been so powerful my arm felt numb.
What was going on? I’d been able to withstand her most powerful attacks just a few minutes ago!
All he did was pour some soul-healing water on her—why was she suddenly so powerful?
Glass could not have been human. She had to be something else. The Soul Eater Shield’s counter attack had been really effective against her too.
That would mean that she became more powerful when her SP was increased or something like that.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“Master?!”
Thinking that Glass had nearly broken through my defenses, Raphtalia and Filo rushed foreword.
“Wait! Stay back! Don’t expose yourselves to attack!”
Glass was extraordinarily powerful. I’d blocked her attack with my best shield, and she’d nearly broken it. If she scored a direct hit against Raphtalia or Filo, they would probably die. I don’t think they were fast enough to avoid Glass’s attacks either.
But Filo didn’t listen. She was already past me, using her fastest attack.
“Haikuikku!”
Filo rushed at Glass, and her claws flashed time and time again.
“Ugh . . . .”
Glass tried to brush off Filo’s attacks, but Filo had grown too powerful. Unable to ignore them, Glass was forced to jump back.
“Circle dance, tortoise shell break!”
Glass’s fan began to glow. She aimed a defense ignoring attack at my shoulder.
“Argh!”
Pain shot through my shoulder. I held it to try and regain my composure.
“I’m coming, Naofumi! This is it!”
L’Arc swung his scythe. It was a defense rating attack.
“Shooting Star Shield!”
The force field appeared just in time to stop his scythe.
And then the field broke—but his attack didn’t make it through.
“Damn. You just won’t give up, will you? I already used my trump card, and you’re still standing!”
“We haven’t lost yet!”
But we were running out of options.
“L’Arc, stand down. I’ll finish this by using all my power.”
“Right!”
L’Arc and Therese got as far from Glass as they could. What was she planning?!
“Circle dance of nothingness.”
Her fan grew very large, and then another fan materialized next to it.
She snapped the fan shut, and they released blades of energy as she did.
Then she held the closed fans over her head.
The circle path they formed as they rose remained in the air, glowing like the moon.
It was so beautiful, but I couldn’t afford to be distracted. I readied my shield and braced myself.
She brought the fans back down with force.
“Moon break!”
“Ah!”
I quickly switched to the Wrath Shield and held it over my head.
There was plenty of distance between Glass and I, but innumerable blades of energy rained down on me from above.
I couldn’t dodge them. They were too fast!
I did all I could to block them with the shield, but I couldn't keep it up much longer. Raphtalia and Filo were in danger!
“Raphtalia! Filo! Get out of here!”
“Y . . . yes!”
“Okay!”
They escaped to the left and right, away from me.
The shield was taking a serious beating from the energy blades. It felt like it might break at any moment.
“Ugggghhhh . . . .”
The attack ceased. The shield had survived it.
But I soon realized my shoulder had been cut anyway.
Even though the shield had survived the attack.
The attack was over. The blades stopped falling.
I turned to survey the damage. The ocean itself was split in two.
Just how powerful was she? I was surprised I had even survived.
Huff . . . huff . . . .
Huff . . . huff . . . .
Glass and I were both exhausted.
The Wrath Shield started to glow.
“It’s my turn now!”
Damn. It hurt. It hurt so bad!
Dark curse burning activated, burning everything.
Dark flames shot up from the ground and swirled around me.
“L’Arc! Therese! Stay back!”
“Right!”
I couldn’t let them get away! I immediately expanded the flames, burning the whole area.
Glass slapped open her fan to defend herself.
“Arrrghhh!”
The flames finally died down, but Glass was still standing there, exhausted from the effort.
My attack had been extremely powerful. How had she survived it?!
Did I need to use iron maiden?
The problem was whether I could use change shield (attack) without it breaking.
Actually, she might break the actual iron maiden. Glass’s attack had been powerful enough to nearly break the Wrath Shield. I couldn’t be sure that she wouldn’t destroy the iron maiden.
Glass began to use her powerful ocean-splitting attack again.
“Glass! It’s too dangerous! Stop it!”
“If we don’t defeat him now, he will only grow more powerful! Even if I don’t survive, we have to defeat him. If we don’t . . . do you understand what
I’m saying?”
“I feel the same way.”
I held my hand out and prepared to use shield prison.
“Mr. Naofumi!”
“Master!”
“Stay BACK!”
If they were swept up in this, they would die for sure. Glass was just too powerful.
After this attack exchange, which of us would be left standing?
“My queen . . . fueeee . . . .”
“What?!”
Suddenly, I don’t know how, but suddenly the queen was standing behind Glass. Had she used the confusion of the self-curse burning to sneak over? Another person in a squirrel kigurumi was clinging to a barrel, floating on the sea.
The queen’s hand shot out, and she used magic to send the barrel flying at me.
“Mr. Iwatani! Take it!”
A barrel? Why? The barrel came flying and landed between Glass and I.
For a second I thought she was just trying to make a distraction. But then I recognized the barrel.
“That’s . . . Shooting star shield!”
“What’s that?!”
The force field appeared, and I jumped back to where Raphtalia and Filo were standing.
Glass was still preparing for her attack when the explosive rucolu barrel exploded forcefully.
We’d been fighting on top of the inter-dimensional whale, and that’s where the barrel exploded.
The whole area was immediately filled with the smell of rucolu and a thick red mist.
“This . . . this is . . . .”
Glass couldn’t see in the thick red fog. She held her face in her hands and stumbled left and right.
“What is that? Could it be? The barrels they used to turn the sea red?”
The mist didn’t make it through the shooting star shield force field.
“Raphtalia, Filo, you understand?”
“Yes!”
It would be dangerous, but it was our only chance.
“This . . . .”
“Hya!”
“Yah!”
We all moved through the mist and maneuvered behind Glass. Raphtalia and Filo went right up to the force field boundary and attacked her from behind.
“Argh!”
After each attack, we moved back to hide in the mist.
Whenever Filo stuck her face out of the force field, she sniffed the air and made a disturbed face.
“It stinks! If they’re stuck out there, they’re not gonna like it!”
“Damn . . . .”
“Ugh . . . . You guys don’t stop!”
I could hear L’Arc shouting. They weren’t able to attack because they couldn’t find us in the mist.
There was a splash. L’Arc and the others had dove into the water. They swam. Then they climbed up on the hull of the sinking ship. If they used more soul-healing water on Glass to heal and power up, the fight would not turn in our favor again.
“Didn’t expect an attack like that. This isn’t looking good.”
“L’Arc! We’re finishing this now!”
I still had iron maiden.
And I still had blood sacrifice, but I couldn’t use that here. If I hit L’Arc with iron maiden, I thought that would end the battle.
“It’s not over yet.”
Therese stood next to L’Arc.
Maybe I could use iron maiden on both of them at the same time . . . ?
“Not yet!”
A tornado appeared and the mist vanished. Glass was standing there, breathing heavily. She was holding her head in her hands and stumbling left and right.
Damn these people were tough! Come on. What was it going to take to end this?
We’d tried strategy after strategy, and nothing was enough to finish them.
I had no other choice. I had to use my last trick.
“Glass, I’m sure you understand. I have to finish this!”
I thought about whether to use it on L’Arc or on Glass. They were both very powerful. But L’Arc’s attacks were trickier, so I decided to focus on him first.
“Shield prison!”
“Oh!”
L’Arc was caught in the shield prison.
“Stop!”
Glass immediately started pummeling the prison with long range attacks while L’Arc rocked it from the inside.
It wasn’t strong enough to survive both attacks, and it broke.
Damn. It took too long to set up the iron maiden attack.
First I had to trap them in the shield prison, use change shield (attack), and then I was free to use iron maiden. But if it took so long that they could break out of the shield prison first, I couldn’t do it.
“That was close!”
I had no other choice. I’d have to keep using self-curse burning. But to use that I’d have to survive one of their attacks. In the very worst case, I would have to use blood sacrifice and kill them both at the same time.
Suddenly I heard a beep.
00:59
The numbers appeared in my field of view.
I remembered something like this happening the last time we fought Glass. She had retreated immediately after the counter appeared.
Would she escape again? I couldn’t let her.
We were about to win. It was time to put an end to all this!
“It seems there really is no other choice, is there L’Arc?”
In a flash, Glass was right before me.
“No . . . Ms. Glass!”
She opened her fan.
When Therese saw her, she covered her mouth with both hands. She looked terrified.
What was happening? After all those attacks, did this mean that they still had a trump card?
“Glass!”
L’Arc was furious. He ran behind her and hooked his arms around her torso, restraining her.
“What are you doing? Let me go!”
“You can’t do it. You haven’t thought about what will happen!”
“Think L’Arc. Think of how powerful he is. We must be prepared to give our all if we are to defeat him.”
“But Glass . . . .”
L’Arc leaned over and whispered in Glass’s ear. She suddenly looked very surprised.
L’Arc and Therese both nodded.
“Very well. Then we must retreat today.”
She nodded slowly. What could he have said?
I didn’t care what their strategy was. I couldn’t let them escape this time.
“You think I’m letting you go?”
“Try to stop us. Naofumi, next time we will emerge victorious.”
Glass immediately used a ranged attack, filling the area with gale-force winds.
What? The soldiers in the boats were all being sucked up with the wind!
“Looks like you guys won this one. Naofumi. I don’t like that name. Is kiddo all right with you?”
“Why?!”
L’Arc didn’t seem worried at all. He waved to us as they jumped into a rift.
“I bid you farewell. Goodbye.”
Therese cast a spell, saving the soldiers from the winds. Then she threw a gemstone down and it exploded, making room for her escape.
“Wait!”
We chased after them, but they were too fast. We couldn't reach them before they were already in the rift.
I hesitated for a split-second. I wondered if we should follow them. But it was too late. The rift closed.
“Dammit! We were so close!”
They’d escaped.
We’d grown so powerful that I really thought we were going to defeat Glass this time. But we were never able to land a winning blow.
The next time we met, we’d be starting all over.
With their defense ignoring and defense rating attacks, they had too many tricks up their sleeves.
I was breathing hard—exhausted. All I could do was survey the destruction the wave had left in its wake.
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