Chapter 44 – Meeting Ost
Author's Note: I'm going to start writing a bit slower because the old pacing was a bit too fast...
The waitress brought forth our order. I ordered a bowl of salad comprised of different foods provided by the BioPlants, while Naofumi ordered something similar to pork ribs. Everybody else ordered a wide variety of foods.
"So, Ost." I began. "Who are you exactly?"
Ost, by the way, was similar to the name of one of the new states of the Confederation, named Ostland. It meant East Land in the local language.
"I am a Spirit Tortoise familiar." She explained. "My true body is the Spirit Tortoise itself."
"Okay, Ost." Naofumi asked, while gnawing on one of the ribs. "Why did you abandon your mission and reach out to us? The Spirit Tortoise broke his own seal and started all this mess, didn't he?"
"There is a reason for that. As I said earlier, my true body is the Spirit Tortoise itself. However, the situation has gone so bad that the Spirit Tortoise is no longer able to fulfill his role in the plan. That is why I have come to ask you, the wielder of the holy shield, and you, the wielder of the holy bow, for assistance. An enemy has taken over my body, and it wishes to use it for evil."
I sort of understood what she was getting at, but I also was sort of confused.
"And this role you're talking about . . . "Naofumi continued.
"Is the creation of a barrier to protect the world, right?" I continued.
"Correct, but you have witnessed yourselves that my true body has not been defeated. At this rate, all of those that have been sacrificed for the sake of our goal will have died in vain."
I was getting quite pissed at this moment. Usually, I kept a calm composure while talking to others, but now I was truly mad. This woman wanted to kill my new countrymen to erect some stupid barrier? Unacceptable.
"Do you have anything to say about this? The fact that scores of my new countrymen have died because of a massive turtle?"
I thought of every possible possibility, while sipping on more Serade. Then, it hit me.
It was that god damn bird.
Fitoria must have caused the Spirit Tortoise to cause a great rampage across the land because Ren and Motoyasu weren't doing their jobs. She must have wanted the Spirit Tortoise to kill everyone just to create the barrier to protect the world.
"FITORIAAAA!"
I crunched the Serade bottle that was in my hand. The glass shards dispersed across the floor, causing a cacophonous clinking sound.
"Are you talking about my love?"
"Shut up, Indigo. Now's not the time."
"Wow there, man. No need to get mad."
"Do you know how many inhabitants of those lands died because of her? She must pay!"
"Say that one more time. I dare you."
"Fitoria needs to pay for causing this much damage."
Suddenly, Indigo leapt upon me and started whaling on my face. I flipped the guy over, slapping him repeatedly. We caused quite the ruckus, kicking over a neighboring table and smashing through a floorboard.
"ENOUGH!" Naofumi bellowed. "Satoshi, we all know you're pissed that the new countries that joined your country were devastated by the Spirit Tortoise, but that's already over with. Indigo. You too. Cut it out."
"Sorry, Naofumi. I lost my composure for once. It won't happen again."
Indigo and I sat back down in the booth, each one of us sitting on the opposite side of the other.
To break the awkward silence, I instigated another conversation.
"Who is this enemy you were talking about?"
"I do not know what they want, but it seems they are using me as a medium to collect energy, but they do not wish to use that energy to create the protective barrier for this world."
"So anyways," Naofumi added. "Your seal was broken, right?"
"Yes, but the proper procedure was not followed. Originally, I was supposed to slowly and secretively gather souls, and other familiars would gather the souls if I wasn't successful. Then, my true form would be unleashed in an effort to forcibly father the necessary souls."
"So the seal doesn't work very well, does it?" I asked sarcastically.
"In order to prevent a plan like that from being carried out, I have been entrusted to supply the holy heroes and the vassal heroes with hints on how to unseal the Spirit Tortoise. I cannot allow anyone to unseal my true body if that person is not capable of defeating me in combat."
"So you need to find someone that can kill you." I verbalized.
"Correct. I was wishing for one who wields a holy weapon to arrive and put an end to my ambitions." Ost spoke seriously.
"So the order of events is messed up, and somebody else was able to take control of the Spirit Tortoise. How is it still alive though? We shot a beam through its head!" Naofumi spoke.
"That enough is not sufficient to kill the Spirit Tortoise's true body. Unless it is properly killed, you will not be able to stop it." Ost explained.
"Mr. President! Mr. President!"
One of the SSS spies in training burst through the door.
"What is it?"
"The Spirit Tortoise has reawakened! All army units are on high alert! All surrounding areas under evacuation! Ministry of Defense requires your immediate assistance!"
Well, she was right. God dammit.
"Issue Order 15! Pigeon Melromarc for assistance! We will be there as soon as possible!"
"Roger that!"
The spy in training sprinted out the door, straight towards the direction of the Ministry of Defense.
"I will assist in any way possible, be it magic or interference with familiars, to help you defeat the Spirit Tortoise." Ost chimed in. "Please defeat me, Bow and Shield heroes. I beg of you."
"Alright, let's teleport there."
What?
The teleport skill failed?
That had never happened before.
"Uh. Why can't I teleport?"
"It could be that my body is exerting a strong interference, preventing any teleportation to that location."
"Now isn't that convenient."
We began heading in the direction of the Spirit Tortoise by filolial carriage, while Naofumi teleported back to Melromarc to get help. During our blazingly fast trip there, I received another pigeon message.
"New Army 1st Company defeated. 1st Company now in full retreat. All companies to withdraw from tortoise until arrival of further assistance."
God dammit. Guess my regular troops couldn't deal with this.
I received yet another pigeon report, right before I got to the tortoise.
"Raelenes down. Tortoise heading towards Montereira."
I had only a bit of time before it would hit the eastern wall that I had built a while before. The reawakened tortoise hasn't dealt that much damage so far except for the destruction of the city of Raelenes, since it was traversing through a sparsely populated hilly region. Luckily, I met it before it reached the major city of Prustein, one of the largest cities of the new lands of the Confederation.
It was like a world-ending catastrophe straight out of Fallout. Explosions were happening everywhere, trembling the ground and nearly rupturing my eardrums, even with hearing protection. Trees were ablaze, forest fires spreading uncontrollably, and the hills had massive footprints in them.
The tortoise looked different than the last time. Its eyes glowed red, and long strands of drool flowed out of its mouth. Its shell, formerly covered by a small town, was now covered by spiky thorns. It was surrounded by pillars of fire and smoke, the latter so thick that I would have passed out without a gas mask.
"There!" Indigo pointed. "There's the New Army and the Coalition Army!"
Both armies, motivated by the notice of my arrival, split up into smaller contingents and began drawing the tortoise's attacks.
"Satoshi! Wait up!"
Naofumi poked his head out of his carriage, drawn by Filo. Contingents of the Melromarc Army followed them, ready to help us in our endeavors.
"We need to hold a meeting to discuss our plans." I spoke. "Indigo, quickly create an earthen barrier."
Indigo cast his spell, creating four walls about a few feet in height. Using my fire magic, I blasted a hole into the wall, serving as our entryway. Indigo also cast a few more earth spells, creating stools and a table inside of the earthen building.
We all gathered inside of the meeting room Indigo had just created. I sat at the helm, followed by Mirellia and Naofumi.
"Mr. President! You're here!" One of the generals that had joined the Confederation greeted.
"I cannot leave my fellow countrymen to die. That would not be befitting of a President and a Hero."
"My apologies, Mr. President. We were not able to prepare an airship."
"That is only natural. The airships under Arcian development will not be complete for almost a year."
"We were developing our own airships? No, that wasn't what I was talking about. Faubrey had agreed to lend us one, but It hasn't arrived yet."
"An airship wouldn't be much help in defeating this tortoise, since it is far too large. Is there more information that you could share with us?"
"When the Spirit Tortoise reawakened, it had already taken on this new form. The town on the shell is still there. Here are the numerous reports we had conducted during this time."
"Thank you for these reports. These will prove most helpful. Rishia. Please read this at once."
"Yes."
I handed her the book in my hand, which she immediately started flipping through and thoughtfully analyzing.
"Shield Hero," one of the New Army generals asked. "Who is this woman behind you?"
"She's a Spirit Tortoise familiar."
"What?"
The generals were all agape and in shock.
"In another country," Naofumi explained. "She is known as Ost Horai. Please acquaint yourselves with her."
"Naofumi. Please allow me to explain everything to them."
"Go ahead. You are their President after all."
I then explained everything that Ost had told me to the army officers, and they eventually calmed down, though they were still upset at her. I was more upset at Fitoria than anything, though. I probably should give them a speech.
"My fellow Arcian commanders, and those who are allies to our cause. We all writhe in anger at the thought of the Spirit Tortoise, myself included, and that would lead us to want to strike down anything in association with it. But here, in these arduous times, these strenuous times, there is no time for these squabbles. We all know how much pain, suffering, damage and death this beast had caused us, but we must all unite in striking it down before striking down one of our only hopes in taking down this newly awakened, substantially stronger form."
Naofumi tried to add something, but the generals ignored him.
"Mr. President. You're right."
"Yeah. We will deal with this wench later."
"That's the spirit!" I told them. "Furthermore, some delusional individuals wish to sacrifice our lives to save this world. I, for one, think this is madness. To prevent that from succeeding, and to save ourselves and our loved ones, we must strike it down before the beast succeeds in its evil quest."
The army silently nodded and agreed with me.
"Anyways, how are the evacuations going?" I asked my numerous generals.
"They have all been completed. All citizens of Prustein are approaching the eastern wall, from which they will cross to Montereira where refugee camps have been built."
"Now that that's out of the way, please tell me even more crucial information about the Spirit Tortoise before we begin our battle." I spoke.
This was a long one. Chapter 45 out soon!