Chapter 53

13 “It is futile, Akaboshi, futile! Your arrows will never break my shields!” “Bullshit! There’s nothing my arrows can’t break!!” Bisco’s bow creaked as he poured all his power into his arrow; until the blood spurted from his back teeth. He released it, sending it flying into the mirror of rust, breaking through the surface, true to his word, and piercing all the way through the shield. “Rrroooargh!” The arrow lodged itself in Kelshinha’s chest, and stalk after glorious stalk of Rust-Eater mushroom erupted with a Gaboom! Gaboom! from his back. The shock sent Kelshinha to his knees, and he glared up at Bisco. But even Bisco was starting to feel the heat. As sweat dripped down his brow, he looked once more at Jabi’s bow in his hands. There was a deep crack running straight down the middle of it, and it would be of no more use to him now. D-dammit! My bow’s finally giving up…! “Hmm! Splendid, Akaboshi! Now this is the majesty of a demon worthy of taking on a god! Gaze upon these fervent spectators! They are simply dying to see our historic battle!!” It had been a close battle indeed. Bisco’s bow and Kelshinha’s spear were evenly matched, and the idol’s hands, which served as their battleground, now ran red with the two fighters’ blood, overflowing like crimson waterfalls. However, even as the Rust-Eater inside him hurried to fix up Bisco’s wounds, his power of recovery was leagues behind Kelshinha’s. “Shaaa…” The old man stood and raised his hand to the air, and the rust swirling above their heads, taken from the worshipers, flowed into him. In the blink of an eye, his torn flesh knit itself anew, and even the Rust-Eaters lost their sheen and wilted. Meanwhile, the worshipers slouched as their life force was stolen from them, before collapsing to the ground, unconscious. Fresh believers rushed over their fallen bodies to replace them. “…S-stop! You idiots, stop! Can’t you see he’s just suckin’ out your life and leavin’ you for dead?” “That is exactly what they wish for. It is the greatest honor for their miserable lives to become my blood.” Dammit…! I gotta do somethin’…! For a second, an image formed in Bisco’s mind of him blasting away all the worshipers with a mushroom arrow, but soon that image clouded over and disappeared. Perhaps once, Bisco would have resorted to an idea like that, but he was a better man now, who knew the power of love and compassion. Unfortunately, it was that compassion that now put him at the mercy of evil. “You know what it is you lack, Akaboshi? It is this, the power of creation. The Rust-Eater knows only how to destroy. It cannot ever grant it to you. You can only ever become a god of destruction, not of creation!” “God this, god that! Shut up already! I’m a Mushroom Keeper!” yelled Bisco as he raised his shattered bow. Just then, there came a voice from up above. “Ladiiies aaand gentlemen! Are you really enjoying this bloody battle? Wouldn’t you much rather see something else instead?!” A cheerful woman’s voice quite at odds with the seriousness of the battlefield rang out over their heads. The mindless worshipers settled down and looked around fearfully. High up, at the statue’s breast, stood the girl with pink jellyfish hair, wearing a quite outrageously revealing outfit. “Look up here, guys! Just ’cuz the Metal Tower’s gone don’t mean the Gilded Elephants are outta business!” “What is that vixen up to…?!” growled Kelshinha. “Won-gewn-toreo-lib-snew! Go get ’em!” As Tirol completed her mantra, the huge swirling mass of rust floating high above the shrine turned into a trove of golden coins, raining down on the people below. “Whoa, it’s gold! Gold!” “Treasures! Treasures raining from the sky!” The worshipers, who had been so engrossed in Kelshinha’s battle a moment before, lost interest in an instant and started fighting among one another for the coins. “Whaaat?! You blasphemous whore! You are in the presence of a god!” “Ha-ha-ha! You’re goin’ senile, old man! Don’t ya know people in this world only care about two things: their lives and money!” “Tirol! Where did you come from?” “Just shut up and fight! He can’t regenerate while they’re distracted!” The ornaments of Tirol’s exotic garb jingled as she moved, dancing atop the giant statue. A mysterious wind swept up the coins and cast them far outside, and in a thunder of footsteps, the whole crowd ran after them. “Y-you fools! You irredeemable fools!” “Ha!” taunted Bisco. “Without their power, you’re like a deflated balloon.” “Silence, brat!” Kelshinha lunged, his spear only grazing Bisco as he dodged. Now that his Rust powers were limited, he relied only on his strength, which still far surpassed Bisco’s. Damn this old man…! Without his trusty bow, Bisco had only his feet and blade to rely on, and even with the Rust-Eater’s boundless energy filling him with power, it was all he could do to fend off Kelshinha’s relentless attacks. He’s… strong! Stronger than anyone I’ve faced! “I’ve changed my mind, Akaboshi. I shall kill you and take those organs of yours to be my new Scriptures!” “…Dammit,” muttered Tirol with ragged breaths. “They’ll turn back in five minutes. That old man’s power is off the charts! An’ Bisco ain’t gonna hold out much longer. Where the hell is Milo?!” “Ms. Tirol, ma’am!” “Nyeh?” “Ms. Tirol, ma’am, over here…!” Tirol looked over in the direction of the voice and saw Amli, fastened to the statue’s chest by chains of rust. She scuttled on over as fast as she could for a closer look. “How are you so pale…?! Is this because of all the rust you’ve been suckin’? At this rate, you’re gonna—” “Listen to me, Ms. Tirol, ma’am,” Amli groaned as the rust tightened around her wrists. “The rust inside me needs to be expelled. However, if I just release it into the air, Kelshinha can still reach it, and if an ordinary person like you takes it into yourself, he can always suck it out of you… However, if there was someone who could devour the rust entirely…” “Y-you don’t mean…!” Tirol’s cry of surprise alerted Kelshinha, and he turned his attention upward to see who was trying to steal his precious Amli. Spotting Tirol, he leaped up to meet her. “You bastard!” cried Bisco, jumping to intercept him. “Out of my way, demon,” Kelshinha said, readying his spear, and the two clashed. Bisco’s blade-like kick knocked Kelshinha out of the sky, but in return, the old man’s spear landed directly in Bisco’s eye. “Gh…aaagh!!” “Nooo!! Akaboshi!!” cried Tirol. “Muah-ha-ha-ha… I wonder, can you regenerate your brain? Well, it will matter little once I extract your organs and make them my new Scriptures…” Dammit! I can’t stand, my legs won’t move…! Kelshinha walked slowly up to Bisco when suddenly he felt someone approaching from the side and quickly leaped back. “Kraaargh!” “Hmm!” The heavy iron staff snipped off the tip of his beard and cracked the ground at his toes. “You bastard, what have you done to Akaboshi?!” yelled Pawoo. “Ahh, another rat has come to pester me…!” “Varuler-snew!” Just as Kelshinha blocked Pawoo’s attack on his spear, countless rust spikes emerged from the ground beneath his feet, impaling his torso and causing the old man’s face to twist with anger. “Make that two rats, you senile old fool!” came Raskeni’s shout. “Y-you vixen…!” Kelshinha looked as if steam were about to spurt from his ears, and his entire body flushed red with blood as he tried to fend off the combination of Pawoo’s staff and Raskeni’s mantras. While his three opponents stole his attention, Milo sprang high over all of them, landing atop the statue and smashing Amli’s restraints with his blade. “Mr. Milo, sir!” “Thank goodness I made it in time, Amli!” said Milo, stroking the girl’s pale cheeks and flashing her a broad smile. “Now we’ve gotta help Bisco, come on!” “Yes!” Milo nodded to Tirol and scooped Amli up on his back before bounding off like a hare, landing beside the bloodied body of his partner. “Bisco! Can you hear me? It’s me, Milo!” He was lying face up on the ground, eyes and mouth wide open, showing no signs of life. Even the orange glow of the Rust-Eater spores seemed dimmer than usual as they fluttered around him. “…Bisco! It’s no use, the Rust-Eater is too weak…!” cried Amli. “What do you need?” asked Milo. “Is it my blood?! I’ll…I’ll give him one of my organs if he needs it! Just please, save him!” he cried, his face filled with grief. Yet Amli strode toward Bisco with a peaceful smile and a calm step. She kneeled down and cradled his head in her arms before turning to Milo. “We are in luck. Mr. Bisco… My brother is strong.” She took Milo’s hand and placed it over Bisco’s. “You understand that more than anyone else…brother.” “Amli…!” “I must return to Mr. Bisco all the rust I have taken from him. The Rust-Eater will devour it all…and he will return to normal.” “S-so you just have to do the opposite of that thing?! The thing with your eye…?” “But Akaboshi’s belly’s all healed over now,” noted Tirol. “Where you gonna put it?” “That is true. The opening can be anywhere. I wonder…” She paused a little before turning to Milo and Tirol with a big bright smile on her face. “I know! Now that we are family, a kiss would not be out of the question, would it?” ““Whaaaa?!”” But before the two could voice their objections, Amli pressed her lips against the unconscious Bisco’s, and an unimaginable torrent flowed out of her body and into his. Ga-Boom! As the current surged into him, the sleeping Rust-Eater mushrooms suddenly popped to life all across his body. As the Rust-Eater inside him sucked up all the rust Amli was supplying, the wounds across his body closed, the blood surged once more in his veins, and even his hair seemed to flicker like a flame once more. “She just wanted an excuse to kiss him! Milo, are you okay with that?!” “What else could we do?! I’ll let her off this time!” Milo gazed at Amli with pale eyes, shouting to be heard over the intense gale emanating from his partner’s body. Ten seconds later, the wind died down, and Bisco’s eye shot open. Then he blinked a couple times and looked down at the source of the soft feeling upon his lips and around his tongue. “Ngmghhh!” he cried, writhing. Amli sat up with a “Paaah!” and wiped her mouth contentedly, her face bright red as she eyed Bisco shyly. “That was wonderful, Bisco, my brother…” “Wh-what?! Wasn’t I stabbed? Hey, what happened to the old man?!” “A-Akaboshi!” Tirol shrieked. “How are you still alive? Is this some practical joke?!” “Huh?!” Bisco placed his hand to his face and discovered that the spear Kelshinha had thrust into his eye was very much still there. “What the hell?!” Suddenly Milo cried out, “Bisco! Watch out for Kelshinha!” “Akaboshiii!!” yelled the old man as he called upon his superhuman strength to fling the two women aside. Then he brought the full weight of his mantras to bear and conjured up an enormous bell from the rust, which he heaved toward Bisco, Milo, Amli, and Tirol. “Die!” “That bastard! He’s tryin’ to crush us all at once!” “I’ve got it! Won/kard/syed/snew! (Protect my surroundings!)” “Me too! Won-kerd-syed-snew!” Milo’s and Amli’s mantras caused a green and purple dome to envelop the four, and no matter how many times Kelshinha hurled the bell against it, the barrier would not give. “You fools! Your makeshift mantras are no match for mine! I shall crush you!” “He’s right, we can’t keep this up for long!” yelled Amli, using up what little rust remained inside her to power the shield. “We have to take him out!” “Dammit,” muttered Bisco. “If only I had my bow…!” “Bisco, keep doing that.” “Huh?!” “Imagine the strongest bow you can,” said Milo. “Imagine pulling it, the most powerful bow you can handle.” Bisco looked at Milo and blinked, before nodding and dedicating the full extent of his imagination to his partner’s request. With the most beautiful form he could visualize, he mimicked pulling back the bowstring to full draw. “You are the Mushroom Keepers’ shining star,” said Milo. “Do you know why you are so strong?” “…” “It’s because you believe it, Bisco. The stronger you believe, the stronger you become. Your bow. Your mushrooms. Your partner. And yourself…” “Won/shad/add/viviki/snew. (Grant target desired weapon.)” As soon as the final syllable left Milo’s lips, the spinning green cube flew into Bisco’s outstretched left hand. Then, from that hand, a glimmering emerald bow appeared, tracing out a semicircle in the air, and a twinkling bowstring materialized between his fingers. Soon Bisco held in his hands a solid greatbow, incredibly tight, more powerful than any he had ever wielded, and yet held fast in place by Bisco’s strength. “Wha…?! What the hell is this?!” “Uhh, a bow?” “I know that, you idiot!” Suddenly, Tirol yelled, “Waaah! Pay attention, the shield’s collapsing!” and Bisco immediately shifted back into combat mode. With one eye, he locked his aim on Kelshinha and released the arrow. Fwip! “…?! Where did that bow come from? Won!” Kelshinha hurriedly threw up a shield, but Bisco’s arrow shattered it in one blow and kept going. “What?! Impossible! Won! Won!” Shield after shield rose out of the ground, and each was pierced straight through by Bisco’s mushroom arrow, which showed no signs of stopping and landed with a thud in Kelshinha’s collar. “…?! Grrrrrrh?!” “W-we got him, sirs!” cried Amli. “Yeah, but the mushroom didn’t take root. I ain’t got the hang of this bow yet…!” “Akaboshiii!!” As powerful as his shot had been, it was not enough to stop Kelshinha’s mantra, which powered up with rage. Bisco hurried to nock a second arrow, but the greatbow was too stiff, and he could not fire it with his usual accuracy. “Dammit, these arrows are too weak. We need a spear or somethin’!” “Waagh! Don’t look over here! How long are you gonna keep that thing in there?! Pull it out already!” Tirol shrieked. “Huh?!” “That spear! Pull it out!” At this, Bisco finally turned his attention to the spear lodged in his eye. He slowly wrenched it out, until, with a sickening pop, he held in his hands something not too dissimilar to a greatarrow, glittering golden with Bisco’s Rust-Eater blood. “Of course! Tirol, I can use this!” “Gyaaagh! Still don’t look over here! There’s a massive hole in your face!” Bisco took a deep breath, and his body began to shine. He channeled all that power into his bow, slowly drawing back the Rust-Eater greatarrow. As if reacting to him, the arrow shone ever brighter the more he focused, until its golden light lit up the entire temple. As Bisco locked his aim on Kelshinha’s heart, Milo placed a hand on his back, and his breathing slowed and slowed until Bisco reached a state of pure concentration, completely free of impatience or anger. Milo recognized his partner’s breaths. They were those he always felt through his back when the two fought together. “…You’re going to win, Bisco.” “…What if…” Bisco expelled glittering golden dust from his mouth as he spoke. “What if I had ended up like him? I might have chosen the same path, to obsess over strength at the cost of my humanity…if I never went to Imihama…if I never met you…” “…” “The world might call that evil, but he was only chasing after what he believed in. And he almost reached it. Just one more step. He was devoted…his mind free of distraction…” “But he was lonely.” “Yeah. Which is why he’ll never beat me.” A flurry of golden spores erupted from the silent Bisco, falling around him like sparks. The Rust-Eater had now completely re-formed his missing eye, and there was not a single sign of emotion to be found within those jade pearls. “What is that look…? Where is your anger, Akaboshi? Your fear? Are you not afraid?!” When he saw Bisco’s unusual behavior, Kelshinha halted his attack and concentrated all of his Rust power within his stomach. “There can only be one god! One! Me! I alone rule over this rusted world! Only I! Akaboshiii!” screamed Kelshinha, his mouth open so wide it seemed his jaw would come off. Then an unbelievably large spear of rust, so thick it would be better called a pillar, erupted from his body with incredible force. Kelshinha gripped the spear in his hands and, with a single swing, sliced through the great idol’s neck like a hot knife through butter. The decapitated head crashed to the ground amid the worshipers’ panicked screams. “Wh-what strength! Mr. Bisco, sir! That will surely break through the shield!” cried Amli. “Waaaargh!” screamed Tirol. “Whaddaya waitin’ for, Akaboshi, my permission?! Fire! Fire!” “Akaboshi! Your subjugation shall be etched into the traditions of this land forevermore!!” Kelshinha leered down the length of his spear, at the tip of which stood his four opponents, and among them Bisco, who glared back stoically, glorious like a god of the sun. “Old man.” “…?!” “You were pretty tough. I wasn’t sure how to beat you without resortin’ to cheap tricks…!” As soon as Kelshinha’s staff pierced Milo’s and Amli’s shields, the spores around Bisco flared up, as if he were on fire. Multiple thin filaments of golden sparks ran along the length of the arrow, glowing orange as if magma were about to burst forth from them. Then, at last, the greatarrow shone a blinding white, as dazzling as the midday sun. “See ya later!” Fwoom! Bisco’s cataclysmic arrow became a streak of pure, burning light that rent the earth and sky asunder. It struck the tip of Kelshinha’s vast spear and stopped. “…Hah. Ha-ha-ha! Is that all? …?!” Gaboom! Gaboom! Gaboom! Then, just as it looked like the arrow had lost its momentum, a great glimmering Rust-Eater burst out of the tip of Kelshinha’s arrow, running a fissure right down the haft. The arrow slowly sped up again, advancing and picking up speed as though burrowing through the spear. In the blink of an eye, the culmination of Kelshinha’s Rust power was eaten up by the mushrooms and exploded into rubble. “No… Nooo!” Thinking fast, Kelshinha dispelled the rust spear and refocused his power into a multitude of shields arranged into a line, but Bisco’s arrow showed no signs of having slowed down at all and crashed straight into the first shield, denting it magnificently. “I-impossible… Impossible…!” With a Crash! Crash! the glimmering arrow broke through one after another of Kelshinha’s shields. “I cannot lose! I am the Rust Lord! The great god Kelshinha!” As the sweat dripped down his body in buckets, Kelshinha was soon reduced to his final shield, the tip of the arrow mere centimeters from piercing his skin.