Led on by the light of the orbs, Wataru & Co. were able to leave the Revant Kingdom on foot in a mere two hours. Eventually, they arrived at the base of the mountain, where a large forest awaited them.
The five orbs that Aria was holding still glowed with an intense light, beaming right into the trees.
“Good grief, there’s still more walking to do?” Résistance grumbled.
“All this walking is rather tiring, isn’t it? I wonder if the sixth orb really is located beyond this forest...” Aria joined in. Neither of them was looking forward to the prospect of having many miles left to go.
But Wataru would have none of it! “There’s no use whining about it! Come on!!” He charged into the forest, taking an animal trail that wove between the trees. For a guy like him, with legs strong enough to launch him forward at the speed of one hundred meters per second, the little two-hour stroll they’d just been on was a mere warm-up for the main event.
It was four o’clock in the afternoon, and the rays of sunlight that drifted through the forest cover were slowly becoming more orange.
As the three of them finally made it through the first, thick layer of the woods, they found themselves in a small clearing. There they found a one-meter-square stone box, just lying there in the middle of the open space. It looked as though it had been there for some time, judging from the moss growing on its sides. And, surprisingly enough—the beam of light from all the orbs was pointing directly at it.
“...Is this... where we’re supposed to go?”
“...What the hell is this!?!?” Wataru tilted his head to one side, puzzled.
Next to him, Résistance stared at the stone box rather suspiciously. “This must be... a ‘shrine’ type of thing...” she muttered, unblinking.
“Yeah! Which means... The last orb is... inside the shrine!!” Wataru shouted with an immediate conviction as he sized up the box. The force of his emotion transformed him into the spitting image of the demi-god Asura, come again.
At that very instant, the five orbs Aria was carrying stopped glowing, which must have meant they had arrived at the correct destination. This box clearly held the sixth orb.
“Careful, Wataru,” warned Résistance. “Shrines belong to the gods, not man. If you don’t treat it carefully, you might get cursed.”
“Yeah! You’re totally right!” Wataru nodded in agreement. He tread lightly up to the front of the shrine, then paused, and—
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
He shattered the shrine as easily as you or I might smash a glass bottle!!!!! In an instant, he had pulverized the shrine into a shapeless mound of stone shards!!
“W-Wataru, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?!?!?!”
“We need this to defeat the dragon!! The gods will understand!!!” Wataru didn’t appear the least bit ashamed at having just destroyed a holy object!!
Suddenly, a black light radiated out into the clearing from within the pile of stone shards!!
“Eh!?!?”
Wataru noticed the strange light and quickly swept aside the remnants of the shrine to uncover the source.
“Ahhhh!!! It’s the orb!!!”
Aria and Résistance both looked over his shoulders. Just as he’d said, there was a black orb there, glowing with black light! This meant that they had finally gathered all the orbs!
Congratulations, Wataru! Our Dear Readers can’t help but smile and burst into a round of applause!!!!!
—But then!!
“Wataru, wait—!”
Aria was the first to sense something “odd”!
“—!?”
Of all the most unexpected things! Out from the orb, with no warning at all, came billowing clouds of black smoke!
“Wh-What’s that smoke mean!?” Résistance was taken aback by this sudden turn of events!
“Dammit, this is really bad!!!!!” bellowed Wataru. “I’ve been cursed!!!!!”
“The Gods didn’t understand, after all...” explained Aria to no one in particular.
The gas, as if possessed of desires of its own, whirled in the air and spiraled directly towards Résistance!
“!!!”
Before she had even the slightest chance to react, the gas completely enveloped her face!
“A-Ahhhhhh!!”
Résistance screamed in sheer terror! She involuntarily breathed in the gas, twitched a bit, then fell face down onto the ground!!
“Re-Résistance!!”
“Résistance!”
Wataru and Aria immediately hurried over to her!!
“Yo! Get it together!!” Wataru was beside himself with worry as he shook Résistance as hard as he could! Seconds later, her eyes flashed open!
“Oh, Résistance!” said Aria in concern. “Are you all right?”
Résistance reacted not in the slightest, and merely stood up in complete silence! It was as though she had become a machine! No matter how cool she normally tries to act, this attitude of hers was frigid!!
Wataru found this very odd!
“H-Hey! Résistance......???”
She looked back at him with the frostiest of expressions and said:
“Résistance......? That is not my name. I am ‘Phantasm,’ Guardian of the Final Orb...” She looked the same as she always did, at first glance... But upon closer examination, one could see that her normally blue eyes had turned black!
“Huh? ...Résistance, don’t you think you’re taking this ‘emo’ thing a bit too far!?!?”
“That’s not what’s happening, Wataru! Résistance is being possessed!”
“Oh, so that’s what’s going on!”
Aria, with her sharp skills of observation and succinct explanation, quickly convinced Wataru of the truth! He slapped his thigh at the power of her insight!
“Hey... Listen to me, you human bastard. If you wish to take this orb, you must first defeat me...”
Phantasm, possessing Résistance’s body, glared angrily at Wataru with those black eyes of hers! The sound of her voice hadn’t changed at all, but those flat, emotionless words were as cold as the winter winds! Even our ever-eager fighter, Wataru, didn’t find this challenge of hers inviting at all!
“Wh-What’d you just say to me!? Résistance’s one of my best friends! I’m not going to beat her up just ’cause you’re possessing her!!!!!”
Wataru was, truly, a most noble soul! A class act! A model Japanese youth! And also very loyal to his friends!! Should Heaven and Earth switch places, why, not even then would he consider attacking one of his friends!!!
“Oho, is that so? You shall never possess this orb if you don’t fight me, you know, and I shall possess this body—forever.”
“.....................................................................We can’t have that!!!!!”
Of course, what happened next almost goes without saying! Wataru, aiming right at Résistance—or should I say, “Phantasm”—slammed his fists into her stomach with all his might!
Heaven and Earth just switched places!!!
“Ungh!!”
Phantasm took the full force of those punches! She was sent flying backwards through the air, and slammed into a massive tree at the absolutely murderous speed of nine hundred kilometers per hour! The force of her impact literally splintered the tree into a million pieces! “Chop-chop-timber” this was not! More like “wham-bam-BOOM!!!”
“Wataru!” shouted Aria. “Please, you have to hesitate before you jump into action in situations like this! You’re moving the plot way too fast!”
“Who cares about that!!” Wataru was simply pissed off! But—but then—!
“Well now, you can throw quite a punch...”