Chapter Fourteen: Known Vassal Weapon Heroes
We reached the path that Ren and his party were using to patrol the sanctuary. They had probably faced the same kind of attack that we had: trapped in a cage to prevent escape with a dragon Sanctuary over the top. I could only pray that they were safe. We hurried in the direction Raph-chan indicated. It didn’t take long to see the same kind of cage that had held us.
“Raphtalia!” I shouted.
“Okay!” she replied. I launched Attack Support at the cage and Raphtalia cut into it with a skill. We rushed through the hole and into the cage itself. We found Ren, Eclair, and Chick all breathing hard, badly wounded, and standing in formation to protect Wyndia and Melty from further enemy attacks. The sword Melty was holding was creating a wall of wind, offering further protection. I guessed Raph-chan had managed to reach us thanks to that Filo-based sword. But even these defenses weren’t enough to protect completely against an incoming hail of spear attacks. All of them were bleeding from multiple locations.
“Naofumi!” Melty said, her expression brightening as she noticed our arrival. “Naofumi and the others are here!”
“That’s good,” Ren managed. “Nice to get some reinforcements.” There were countless spears circling around him, waiting for an opening. They had used swords with me, but now these were spears. Maybe they were worried about Ren, the Sword Hero, copying one of their deadly weapons.
“Reinforcements?” exclaimed one of their enemies. They looked to have a similar composition to the group we had fought against: one with the axe, another with the gauntlets, a wolf demi-human, a tiger therianthrope, and another that looked like a human. Piensa was apparently a mixed nation of humans and demi-humans. It looked like the human was in charge of this group.
“The Shield Hero?! I thought the first squad took care of them!” the human said.
“Would you believe us if I told you we drove our friends off?” I asked. That shut their leader up for a moment. I could see the cogs turning.
“They’re here, so we have to deal with them!” said the one with the gauntlets. “I’ll handle it!”
“Hold on!” said the leader, but it was too late. The Gauntlets Hero—who was dressed in clothing a lot like Fohl—closed in and unleashed a series of skills at me.
“Air Strike Rush V! Second Rush V! Torrid Rush V! Moonlight Kick V! Boldest Boulder-Busting Body Blow V!” he shouted in a sequence I had definitely seen before. Fohl had used the same combination when I was sparring with him. I blocked the spears flying toward me with my shields while taking the impact from each Gauntlet strike on my main shield, dampening, deflecting, or dismissing each attack.
“Impossible! He’s reading my every move!” the Gauntlets Hero exclaimed.
“You know we have one of you guys too?” I said.
“Yes, but that’s no reason to give up!” the enemy Gauntlets Hero replied, glancing over at the one with the axe—a short, stocky girl—and signaling her with his eyes. A hockey mask appeared. I’d seen this trick before as well.
“Jason Murder X!” the Gauntlets Hero shouted. Yep, I’d definitely seen this! This version looked more powerful than the one Armor had used. Slashes from what looked like a red chainsaw were attacking everyone around us.
“Get down!” I shouted. This attack had something of a fixed trajectory. I ducked down to avoid it and then grabbed the arm of the Gauntlets Hero.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked. “Turtle Crush X!” He used his other arm to unleash a skill on me. I felt the impact coming and knew what kind of skill it was. I used life force to redirect it back into my opponent, but I was lacking enhancements in this time. It still caused me some damage.
“A counter?” the Gauntlets Hero said with a grunt, blood exploding from his mouth. He gritted his teeth and punched at me so hard again it looked like he wanted to shatter his own arm.
“Let go! Crescent Break X!” This came from the Axe Hero, who jumped toward me to protect the Gauntlets Hero while swinging her axe in a wide arc. It was a powerful attack that left a crescent moon shape in the air as it came down.
“I won’t back down!” Raphtalia shouted.
“Don’t forget about us!” Ruft added. S’yne and Shadow shouted too, all of them using their own weapons to stop the axe and knock it away.
“Keep the pressure on!” Melty shouted, raising her sword. Wyndia, Raph-chan, and Chick all shouted their agreement and transitioned into some cooperation magic.
“Filo! Lend me your strength across time! Mother Earth, pure flow of the Dragon Vein, lead those who wish to live, and bring us power! Dragon Vein! Hear our petition and grant it! As the source of your power, we implore you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Give us the power to overcome the obstacles before us! Intense Cooperation Magic: Thunder God!” Melty incanted. Their combined magic appeared in the air above them, raining lightning similar to Judgment down on the Piensa forces!
“Lightning magic? Take this!” the leader shouted, working out the effect of the incoming attack and then spreading out some of that cloth that bent space. The falling lightning hit the cloth and then stopped, vanishing in the air. What a pain in the ass.
“We expected that!” Melty shouted, slashing her sword to the side. Chick squawked as well, flapping her wings. Blades of wind slashed out that were mixed with droplets of poison.
“Nice try!” the tiger said, spinning his spear skillfully to catch all the incoming droplets. It might have poisoned him if they had landed . . . but then the tiger put a hand to his mouth. His face was pale. “Is this . . . blood?” Raph-chan and Chick had knowing smiles on their faces. A purplish mist appeared around the Piensa forces. It looked like Chick had been quietly dispersing her poison as Raph-chan had been concealing it. We had a ninja sucking up enemy blood and using it like a weapon and Ren throwing out attacks left and right. Raph-chan and Chick were showing them how a real ninja rolled.
“I’m zenzing an unzettling prezence!” Shadow said. “Where’z it coming from? Zomeone iz making fun of me!”
“If you can tell that much about it, you don’t need to look any further than Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia quipped. He seemed to have an impressive sixth sense, but this wasn’t the time to deal with it.
“They’re using poison mist!” one of the enemies shouted.
“We have some healing spray!” another replied. “Deploy it at once!” They seemed ready for anything. The wolf demi-human got out a canister and stamped down on it, spreading a mist around the Piensa forces.
“Go! Gae Bolg Custom!” shouted someone from the Piensa forces, throwing out a horde of spears. They were targeting . . . Melty and Wyndia!
“Melty!” I cried out. Eclair and the others were also shouting her name. Eclair had been fighting alongside Ren, but she broke off and dashed toward Melty. Shadow repelled one of the Axe Hero’s attacks and then did the same.
“Wyndia!” I shouted. I sent out Attack Support and then dashed over to protect Melty. Ren slashed into the spears with a roar in order to protect Wyndia.
“Shooting Star Sword X! Phoenix Gale Blade X!” he shouted. He scattered stars from his two swords to send the spears flying as he charged in, surrounded by fire.