"Talking"

"Thinking"

[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]

…

"And now let's see how you like taking a defense rating attack. I bet with your defense, it'll split you in two!"

[Composition Form Seven:-!

Suddenly the ceiling caved in, interrupting Kyo. A pillar of dust and rumble was now between the two. As the dust settled, everyone saw one person stationed atop the rubble.

Ren.

.

His curse series was fully visible, a dark gray, nearly black, orange glowing ornamentation throughout the length of the sword. The curse was stronger than ever, purple vapor seemed to flow from his entire body. His armor was now transformed. The oversized guard of the sword rested against his singular shoulder pad on his right side. It now looked like a deformed and horned skull. His armor took on the appearance of a ribcage. Both were the same dark gray.

As he peered down across all his potential targets, Ren looked unsettlingly happy.

"Again!" Several people shouted… Including Kyo.

"Why is it that every time you weaklings are about to lose, you whip out that silly little curse series? Like a trash gamer that only spams one move!" Kyo shouted.

Ren's head snapped to Kyo. Kyo's words sounded strong, but he flinched when met with his gaze. The two shared a look, both waiting for the other to act first.

A few of the golems managed to free their limbs enough to manage an attack on Leon, who had them pinned. He was forced to revert to his human form and back away from the golems. "Ren's here… What should we do, Dad?" Leon asked.

"..." Naofumi was lost for words.

Raphtalia tried helping Naofumi to his feet while speaking. "Things were already complicated, then this happened. But maybe…"

"We use him." Naofumi said with a grunt, only making it to one knee.

"What!?" Teal asked in panic.

"He is dangerous to everyone around him right now. We just got to make sure the person he's closest to is Kyo." Naofumi responded.

Ren, hearing his name, but too far to hear anything else, turned toward Naofumi. He saw an injured Leon. An easy kill. He briefly remembered how much EXP he got for killing Gaelion and leapt at him. The rubble he stood on shot in the other direction, boulders harmlessly colliding into Kyo's barrier as he laughed.

"See? And now he attacks you. Such a garbage tactic! At least the spear idiot knew to not bring allies if using the curse series is your trump card. What's even the point in using such a tactic with a dozen allies around?"

As Kyo went on, loving the sound of his own voice, Naofumi was still not able to do much to defend himself from Ren due to the skill Kyo used before.

[Meteor Slas-] Ren's attack was halted right in front of Naofumi by Monti. His replica in shield form managed to stop the strike and interrupt the skill. Had the skill actually fired, no one was sure if Monti could have blocked that.

"How?" Ren was completely confused, but saw the swirls in Monti's eyes spinning. Something he had come to understand only seemed to happen when he was being very serious and dangerous

14 power-up methods, and a curse series, yet Monti could match him in physical might? It felt like insanity to Ren.

"You're definitely worth killing!" He said through gritted teeth, both still fighting for dominance.

"You will not!" Ost commanded, then began chanting. [Extreme Gravity]!

Ren previously held the sword above Monti, but now found himself on his knees with Monti clearly having the upper hand. Naofumi finally recovered from the attack and stood.

Teal called out to Ost. "Wrong Direction! Make him fall sideways!" She shouted.

Ost was unsure for all of two seconds before she understood the reasoning. She did as instructed and made it so that instead of the additional gravity pushing Ren down, all gravity pulled him across the room, breaking up his clash with Monti and sending him hurtling towards Kyo.

"Oh you pricks!" Kyo said as Ren reorientated himself mid air and swung at Kyo.

[Lightning Slash]! Ren struck the barrier, electricity crackling. But just like every attack before, the barrier fended it off.

However, the attack was not without its uses. Kyo attempted to send out papers from the book again, but the moment they passed through the barrier, they were destroyed by the lightning.

Teal noticed this and started to realize something. "While none of our attacks can pierce it, Kyo's own attacks seem to meet no resistance in exiting the barrier…"

Ren kept striking the barrier again and again. It was a little amusing to Kyo, but Ren wasn't getting tired and the amusement gained was fleeting. He half turned to look at Ost.

Kyo began mocking her efforts. "You're close enough to the core to remember what you are, but even then, you should know your power isn't anything compared to mine!" [Extreme Gravity]! The power of the Spirit Tortoise gathered more around Kyo as he used a stronger casting of the same spell Ost did. This sent Ren falling in the opposite direction right back at Naofumi.

Filo, Teal, and Therese tried to keep the golems at bay themselves. Leon was still unhealed, and Glass and L'arc were the only ones that could pierce Kyo's barrier.

[Drifa Light Shield]! Raphtalia placed the first deterrent to keep Ren away. However, Raphtalia's abilities could not compete with a hero's. Ren stabbed the spell through, then carved a line through it from there, destroying the attempt.

Next was Monti. He held the holy weapon replica up to block, prompting Ren to attack elsewhere. But just as Ren attempted to swing under the block, Monti's tail shot out and deflected the blow. He was hoping to pin the holy sword, but the weight of the attack was off. He didn't consider that Ren was currently falling sideways and that made his momentum harder to slow down.

Ren allowed his weapon to be knocked away and used the momentum to spin around and attack from the opposing side on Monti. However, Naofumi knew when to step in.

"I'm not dealing with him, he's your problem." [Parry]! Naofumi swatted away Ren's sword when it came for him. The force of the skill knocked Ren away, sending him hurtling towards Kyo again.

"C'mon! Again!?" Kyo screamed in annoyance.

[Hundred Sword]! Ren came in and crashed into the barrier, dozens of energy swords formed and fell upon it in turn. Even still, nothing harmed the barrier. The skill fell helplessly around the barrier, but the bloodlusted Ren did not stop.

"Yeah, I'm tired of you and these damned curse series. Want to see how I beat the other two?" Kyo asked rhetorically before he pulled out a small metal object from one of his ridiculous number of pockets. "I declare no curses." He said as he struck the object and had it ring. The ground beneath Kyo began to glow as the area affected extended further and further. The Spirit Tortoise roared as the cursed energy around Ren began to be stripped off of him.

The effect didn't just affect the room but the entirety of the Spirit Tortoise. Liviccic went from a bad situation to a worse one, as now none of his cursed spells could work. Fitoria saw the domain expanding and narrowed her eyes. "It's the Spirit Tortoise creating this territory. That man thinks removing the sword hero's access to the curse series will be worth it, but does he not understand what he is doing? The Spirit Tortoise is undead now. You are crippling your greatest asset to remove an obstacle that can't even harm you. What a complete fool." Fitoria concluded.

She was fully aware of what was going on inside due to her connection to Filo. She knew she had a huge opportunity now. She was also a being of great power, and just as the Spirit Tortoise did, and she herself did before when she first met Naofumi, she began creating a competing territory. One not meant to overtake or stop the Spirit Tortoise's own, but simply to make Kyo have to use the ability longer for the desired effect.

The Spirit Tortoise's movements slowed, as did its heart. While Liviccic was crippled under the circumstances, it still gave everyone a moment of respite, as now the attacks from the heart were slower and less frequent. Just when they were running out of options, their enemy made a mistake.

Kyo was unaware of what his actions meant for the other battles, and he didn't care, but currently he was pissed.

"Not yet!" Ren swung again and again at the barrier, the curse series weakened, but not gone.

"Why the fuck is it still equipped? …Oh. That damned kaiju can make a territory as well… Well mine is winning." Kyo rambled again.

While several people had stopped trying to figure out what Kyo was saying, Teal did not. She knew there must have been purpose behind Kyo's words. Each time he posed a question, he seemed to just immediately know the answer, no matter how obscure the answer or how little information he had to go off of. She tried rationalizing and theorizing Kyo's ability. The implications, the applications. But it made no sense.

If it was as it appeared, that ability alone was easily more powerful than the Spirit Tortoise itself.

And Kyo could have asked himself dozens of questions to gain whatever information he wanted prior to the battle that left them unable to muster any sort of fight at all.

"So while all evidence pointed to that being the case, it can't be. Even a child with that sort of power would have defeated the army and never let us step foot here…"

Her first thought was to assume that the vassal book had a special trait of some sort. Just as the vassal staff allowed one to use all affinities. But he never seemed to be reading his book when the answers came to him. He also never seemed to gain information silently, at least so far in this battle, meaning whatever it was, it likely required him to ask his question out loud.

"But again, if he could gain accurate information that easily, we'd already be dead. So what is it?"

Teal was pushed out of the way of one of the familiars' attacks by L'arc. Her worry would have to wait. The territory weakened the Spirit Tortoise, and therefore the familiars, but they could still pack a punch.

Naofumi watched Ren and Kyo and debated whether he should buff Ren or not. If he did, that could push Kyo to hurt his own forces more. But buffing Ren could end disastrously for his side if things went south. He couldn't help but remember how it felt when facing Motoyasu once he stole [Zweite Aura], how he dismantled them all in one hit each, even himself.

"I can't, I won't!" Naofumi shook his head. He looked around at the others, preparing to block an attack for Therese while trying to find another way.

He blocked the attack and turned to Teal. "Got anything?" He asked.

"Maybe. But I'd need to get closer." Teal replied.

"Consider it done." Raphtalia said as she began casting.

[Drifa Mirage] Teal was the target this time. Teal altered her feet to make as little sound as possible as she ran towards Kyo. He seemed focused on forcing Ren out of the curse series, with Ren's attacks slowing down more and more. Teal was nervous because Kyo had some sort of information gathering ability, but hoped it wasn't the type of ability that'd see her now.

Kyo glanced over to Glass and L'arc, making sure to be aware of their whereabouts. "Hehe, not even a scratch on the barrier. Only my fellow heroes from my world would have the skills or training to so much as chip this! Go ahead, swing until your arm falls-"

Shatters

"-off?" Kyo was cut off by what he was seeing. Along the corners of his vision, cracks spread along his barrier. He wanted to consider it an illusion, a lie. But there was something else that told him otherwise. As the barrier split more and more, he grunted from a sensation the barrier was supposed to prevent.

Pain.

Kyo turned his head in confusion to confirm what happened. There stood a stunned Teal, her hand shaped slightly differently, her pointer finger made larger and sharper, currently resting inside his back. At the sight of him looking at her, she stumbled back, pulling her finger from the fresh wound, blood escaping fast. Teal had thought of dozens of reasons why this shouldn't have worked. Yet, she just repeated the [Hengen Muso] training where she simply stabbed through stone with her finger. Somehow, despite not even Monti or Ren piercing the barrier, Teal had torn it open with a finger. Boring a hole right into Kyo's back, they finally made progress.

"W-What did yo-?" Teal acted immediately, turned her other arm limp and whipped Kyo in the mouth through the growing hole, splitting his lower lip, wounding him again, stopping him from finishing his question.

Kyo fully turned and raised his book. "You bitch! How dare you break my barrier! You must have cheated!" Pages began to fly, but Teal felt no fear.

"Huh, it seems I was right the first time." Teal said in amusement.

Kyo noticed she was calm. "What do you-?"

"Might want to deal with that." Teal warned, interrupting him again. Kyo's eyes widened as he realized what she meant. The front of his barrier was falling apart and Ren was tearing it open like a beast caught in a fence.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Kyo went to defend himself.

"Die!" Ren screamed out as the barrier finally broke fully apart and he came in swinging at Kyo.

Kyo's face was unrecognizable. He was facing a curse series without his barrier. His limbs locked up when faced with danger and the momentary hesitation cost him.

[Flurry of Blades]!

Ren's sword began to glow yellow as it sped up, slashing Kyo six times in an instant, his blood and screams escaping freely. Each cut was shallow because Ren swung the very instant he was in range, but the pain was very real.

"Get off of me!" Kyo scrambled to pull the same metal object from before out of his pocket and struck it as quickly as he could. "I forbid curses!" He screamed in desperation.

With that, everyone inside the Spirit Tortoise felt a strange weightlessness. Naofumi immediately understood what it was, having experienced it many times in elevators back in Japan.

They were all falling. Everyone fighting Kyo and everyone fighting the heart. The Spirit Tortoise collapsed in the middle of its fight with Fitoria as the heart grew still. Ren's eyes no longer seemed cloudy, his pupils no longer dilated. He began to try catching his breath as he swayed slightly. The first thing he saw was some terrified bookworm screaming at him, blood everywhere, just before the moment of impact.

As the Spirit Tortoise met the ground, everyone inside was thrown around as if they weighed nothing. Everyone was thrown from wall to wall, collapsing time and time again. Naofumi couldn't keep track of where he was, nor anyone else, besides Raphtalia. The two held together, Naofumi wrapped around her, shielding her from the worst of it as the quaking came to a stop.

As it came to a stop and rubble rested atop everyone, those with the strength began digging others out of the collapse. In the heart chamber, Sophia was able to halt the rubble with her webs, but the violent motion threw everyone around except for Werner, who used his flight to maintain himself. Everyone was so beat up at this point that few could make it to their feet. Werner and Vasteel stood. Sophia, Godiva, Fitts, and the elephant therianthrope were all conscious but losing the fight to place their legs below them.

Everyone else was out. Walter, Renair, Chloe, the other council members. Even Liviccic. Even as a hero, he'd done too much. He was rendered unconscious and left cradled by Sophia.

"Whether this is it or not, the Shield lord is counting on us." Werner said as he struck the motionless heart again.

Filo found everyone soon enough. Monti had transformed at the last second and with his wings spread, protected most of them. Ost was directly below him. Leon went straight to Ren, sensing the value of his armor and removed a large stone from atop him.

"Oi, you alive?" Leon called.

Ren's hand was cupping his eyes, coughing hard from all the dirt and dust that he was covered in. "W-Where…? Where am I? Who was I attacking?"

"We're inside the Spirit Tortoise… and that jerk is the one responsible for everything." Leon tried answering his questions, choosing his words carefully..

"Everything…?" Ren asked in confusion, looking side to side, recognizing none of his surroundings.

Leon took a deep breath and a step back before responding. "He's the real reason that… that your party was killed… Wyndia told me what hap-" He tried to explain further, but Ren interrupted.

"What!? He did this!?" Ren yelled. He threw himself to his feet too fast. He was too banged up and failed to catch himself. He went from laying on his back to falling on his front in a moment.

Leon tried helping him to his feet just as the rubble around Kyo was pushed away in every direction. The familiar light green glow encased him anew.

Before anyone could even ask, they felt the area move again. The heart of the Spirit Tortoise began to beat again as the few remaining fighters took a defensive stance. The main body began to lift itself from the ground, yet it was slower than when Fitoria caved its head in.

"Corpse fully animated again. And only a 9% loss in functionality. Not bad." Kyo said, speaking to himself aloud. He turned slightly towards Ost. "And here I thought having the living soul of the Spirit Tortoise right here would interfere with the raising process. That was your hope, wasn't it?"

"Wait, what? The 'living soul of the Spirit Tortoise'? Turtle lady said she was just a familiar." Filo replied. And it being Filo mattered. She should have been able to tell the lie was a lie in an instant, yet she didn't.

"I apologize. I had no intention of lying. I am the human familiar, and that was all I could recall at the time. But the closer I got to this room, the more I remembered. Strange feelings, dream-like memories… He is correct. I am the Spirit Tortoise's soul. I am the problem." She said with self-loathing.

"You're not the problem, he is!" Monti said, pointing at Kyo.

That was followed by a momentary staredown as everyone sprang into action. Each rushing Kyo like a rapid animal.

Kyo's golems would take a moment to form again, and his skills lacked the ability to catch everyone at once, and most importantly, there were now three people who could break his barrier and they were coming from all directions.

"Well then." Kyo mumbled to himself a moment then shouted. [Drifa Extreme Gravity]!

Everyone violently slammed to the ground, not unlike the Spirit Tortoise's crash moments ago. Grunts of pain gave way to enough silence for Kyo to speak.

"First time using this 'chanting magic' of this world. More utilitarian than our performance magic, but I'm not complaining." Kyo thought aloud.

Most of the Spirit Tortoise invasion force was now being crushed further and further into the stone rubble that fell, the stones breaking down more and more from the magical pressure. Soon they'd be sinking into sand made from these stones if nothing was done.

"Now this is more like it. You all are acting a lot more like the worms you are… most of you." Kyo's boasts were cut short as Naofumi and Ren took to their feet. Even Monti managed to take himself to his knees. The gravity magic of the Spirit Tortoise was certainly powerful, but with all the training they did on Cal Mira, and with the vassal whip's powerup method helping them get more out of the event, they were not so easily beaten.

"And what are you three going to do? That's what I thought. None of you three have the ability to pop this bubble, and the three that can, can't stand up. So I win."

"What does he mean? Didn't I get through that barrier before?" Ren could only vaguely recall himself attacking Kyo through the barrier's shattered remains.

"You wish. Only defense rating attacks can bypass it."

"...Then how do your skills and magic leave it so easily?" Ren asked. He didn't expect an answer, he was simply confused and lacked experience with these sorts of abilities.

And while Kyo didn't answer the question-"You're right!" Teal gave an answer.

[Sabre Solaris]!

Teal grew roots from below her to reorientate her body and allow her arm to point at Kyo while still trapped on the ground. The bright burning light Teal had reserved for the Spirit Tortoise pierced right through the barrier. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the barrier and light simply ignored one another.

"AARRGGHH!" Kyo screamed as he burned.

"Wait? You can apply life force to abilities already?" Raphtalia asked.

"No." Teal began. "It's just as Ren asked. Why can Kyo's skills and magic escape the barrier without issue? And that got me thinking. How have we seen each other with the barrier between him and us? And then it struck me." She explained.

"The barrier blocks many things absolutely, but clearly some things are ignored. Some self-evident things. So my non-magical light can travel through, because natural light has been traveling through the entire time." As Teal finished, Kyo emerged from the smoldering area, smoke still rolling off of him.

"You think you're so smart, but it took you forever to figure out!" Kyo yelled.

"Because I didn't have all the pieces. You did. You should know how your own abilities work, and you saw mine when I used them on the Spirit Tortoise. Yet you never put two and two together." Teal responded. Her roots could not push her up any further.

"Shut up! You'll never land that again!" Kyo spat.

"I disagree." Ren said, chanting a spell.

Kyo's barrier was ready to block anything, with Kyo trying to heal his burns. "Geez, I already know you don't have a way to get through the barrier." Kyo dismissed.

Ren finished chanting. "But you do." [Drifa Enchant X]!

Kyo's eyes shot open as Ren drew in most of the gravity magic affecting everyone as it came to rest in Ren's blade. He then swung at Kyo. [Meteor Slash]!

"Fuck off!" [Composition Form Eleven: Hardback Cover]!

A 12' ethereal book made of some sort of yellow energy formed at Kyo's feet. It then opened, creating a flat defensive barrier. While Kyo was strong, his defense was nowhere close to Naofumi's. Ren's skill tore through the skill and hit the Spirit Tortoise's barrier. The skill was blocked in its entirety, but the spell he had stolen did not.

Just as Ren assumed, if Kyo's attacks can exit the barrier, they can enter it. It was now Kyo's turn to be thrown to the ground, unable to stand.

Ren turned, realizing how small of a victory it was. Even with Kyo immobilized, what did it matter when no one with the ability to crack open his barrier could stand.

"Ren, give me some Soul Healing Water and I'll end this!" Glass managed to turn her head while it was sunken in the ground in order to ask that of him.

Ren immediately ran over to Glass while pulling several bottles of Soul Healing Water out. At the same time, all three of the golem familiars rushed Ren to stop him. Monti sent one to the other side of the room, the weight from Kyo's spell giving his strikes more weight, but the other two made it to Ren and started attacking him.

"Like hell I'm letting you do that!" Kyo shouted.

He was about to use a skill but heard a voice. It was Naofumi, he was chanting in a low voice. He was found out, but it was too late for Kyo to stop it.

[All Zweite Aura X]! With that, each and every one of them gained a golden glow and took to their feet. The extra weight still affected them, as their feet sank a bit into the crumbling floor. But now, they could all move again. And with that, Kyo lost control of the fight.

"What did you do? …Triple!? No, no, no!" Kyo panicked.

In the next moment, Filo and Leon transformed. Filo stomped one golem, sending it crashing into the opposing wall. Then Leon's tail swatted another golem, sending it crashing into the one Filo hit. Ren was now free and both he and Glass were running toward each other.

"I told you, I am not letting this happen!" [Composition Form Five: Blast L-]!

Raphtalia rushed at Kyo [Fast Light]! Blinding him for the briefest moment.

"That won't be enough to-" Kyo went to continue, believing Raphtalia's purpose was to simply buy time for Ren and Glass.

But L'arc's voice behind him said otherwise. "Sup." Kyo jumped out of the way of L'arc's defensive rating attack, his barrier merely chipped.

"No further!" Therese used the power in one of her gems as Ost used gravity magic to stop Kyo's retreat. While she couldn't bypass the barrier, she could halt its advance.

L'arc came for another swing.

"Dammit! Dammit! You're all buzzing around like flies!" Kyo's movements were limited by both the gravity magics Ren hit him with and now Therese and Ost had his retreat cut off.

.

As the heart of the Spirit Tortoise recovered from Kyo's desperate act, the few remaining combatants attempted to steel themselves. Sophia was at the front, preparing their attacks.

"I don't have much left in the tank." She spoke warily.

She glanced back at Vasteel. He had been key to their strategies, able to take any attack and swing with the same vigor without tiring. Yet now he was crawling on the ground. Kyo's holy field did a number on him and now Sophia had to lead them herself. Godiva, Werner, and the elephant therianthrope of the Siltvelt council remained standing.

As the eye formed, they tried repeating the victory they had several times achieved, but their moves were sluggish, their strength waning. Sophia's webs didn't cut that deep, the elephant therianthrope's weight was more burdening to his movements than bolstering his strikes. Werner's fire was far from a raging inferno, now much smaller and less bright. Godiva was handling it the best of them, having already fought Averill even after she was unconscious before.

But their combined attacks left the heart wounded, not defeated. And they were about to be struck with the clapback. It began to glow and was about to unleash several magical attacks.

"Fuueee!" A noise escaped Rishia as she arrived at the mouth of the chamber and tossed her short sword into the heart. Most of them expected little out of the assistance, but Sophia felt and saw the life force on the blade. The blade went through the heart and out the other side in an instant.

"I… did it?" Rishia was stunned, as were most of them.

Another person appeared behind Rishia, having been gaining ground on her the entire trip through the Spirit Tortoise's body.

Wyndia was now here. "Where's Ren?"

"Down below with Naofumi and the others. Given that huge holy field a bit ago, he ought to be back to his senses." Liviccic said, still firmly on the ground.

"How do I reach him?" Wyndia only cared about that.

"Through the floor. But no one has the strength to tear a way through open anymore." Liviccic began. "If we can keep killing this thing, we'll see them soon, I'm sure." He told her.

"That weird field isn't here… I'll kill it with [Way of the Dragon's Vein], then I'll see Ren." Wyndia said, already gathering power from around her.

Liviccic looked on in relief. "I thought when that holy field went up, we were finished. I keep forgetting that despite my abilities… living hands should be the ones securing our future." He thought while glancing at the Vassal staff. He was about to throw away the rest of his undead, but then backup arrived.

.

[Composition Form One: Bird of Flame]!

L'arc had to retreat as flames in the shape of birds approached him. While Kyo's barrier couldn't hold up to L'arc's defense rating attack, L'arc could not afford to take a hero's skill head on at all. But as Kyo turned to stop Glass, Naofumi stood in his way, Filo now next to him.

"If light can get in because we can see him… And we can hear him…" [Change Shield]! "Filo, scream into this!" Naofumi told her, now wielding the [Voice Genger Shield].

"Okay~! AAAAHHHH!" Filo's scream assaulted Kyo, Therese, Glass, L'arc, and Ren. Naofumi and his family had a ringing in their ears, but no pain, thanks to his shields' effects. Kyo was brought to his knees and forced to place his hands over his ears.

Before the screaming stopped, Teal was already on top of Kyo, placing puncturing holes into his barrier with her fingers. "Break dammit!"

Kyo did what he could to fend off Teal and L'arc as he was recovering, and that meant Ren and Glass reached one another.

"Here!" Ren poured 5 bottles of Soul Healing Water on Glass and with it a rumble that got everyone's attention.

Glass now covered in multiple layers of light slowly approached Kyo, radiating power. "Kyo. It's over. Stop it now and retreat. Despite everything you did, your country needs you." She offered him a kindness he didn't deserve, likely because she did awful things as well.

"Go to hell! You think the Spirit Tortoise's power can't be used offensively!? You got such a big head that you think, in this moment, you have access to as much power as me!? Well, I know the answer, you don't! If I use everything, I can wipe all of you off the map!" Kyo said as he gathered up energy.

The entire Spirit Tortoise began to glow. Even Fitoria felt it best to not engage.

While most of them were panicking, Ost did not. "Kyo, you fool. They don't have to be stronger than you… They just have to be stronger than me." She said in a sad voice. She took a step back and used her arms to usher Glass' attention to the Spirit Tortoise's core.

"What!? NO!" Kyo attempted to attack but it was too late.

Glass and Ost exchanged looks. Then Ost glanced over to Monti and the others, giving them the softest smile she could.

[Rupture-Stance Rondo: Tortoise Shell Cracker]

And with those softly spoken words, Glass' skill shot through the barrier, shattered the core, and pierced through the barrier again on the other side.

The power that clung to Kyo just a moment before began to peel free of him, his barrier gone.

Ost collapsed, the children running to her side.

Naofumi, Ren, and Glass stared down the weakening Kyo. Hate in their eyes, all four of them.

The Spirit Tortoise fell again. One. Final. Time. Never to rise again.

.

[Author's Notes]

So… Yeah I have got to get these times between chapters under control. Just getting back into so many things that I just sorta stopped doing at some point. Re-connecting with several series I used to love, got back into gaming, and took up RPing OCs for a series I love. And in all that, this unfortunately took a back seat.

But there will always be another chapter. This series has gone on longer than I ever could have guessed when I was writing chapter 1.

Speaking of, I have decided that after chapter 100, or maybe alongside it, I am fixing up my first 10 chapters. Part of me wanted to keep them as is, to see how far I came. But frankly, those first 10 chapters are just nowhere near as good as my current level. I originally started this just to have something to write, to get better. And I like to think my work in chapter 99 is miles better than 1.

As for this chapter, Ren dogged Kyo! And Teal did too. And Glass.

While Naofumi taking out the core was a great moment in canon, it seemed unnecessary here. They have more back up and the way Kyo played off Glass when they met makes taking him out more about her burying her sins and less of Naofumi stopping the bad guy because MC goes Brrrr.