SCENE: Guardhouse in the city of Renlomel. A couple of GUARDS are playing cards while drinking beer. GUARD 3 enters the room, and looks at the pair in annoyance.
GUARD 3: Can’t you guys do this somewhere else?
GUARD 1: What, jealous? Take a sip, we won’t tell the captain.
GUARD 1 offers GUARD 3 a mug of beer. A sudden tremor sends ripples through the beer mug. GUARDS look around uncertainly. A distant, terrifying roar raises hairs on the backs of their hands. GUARD 3’s face goes white.
GUARD 2: What the fuck was that?
GUARD 3: Oh god, is it a Wave? My sister was in one.
GUARDS look at one another, then rush to pick up their weapons. GUARD 1 looks outside the window.
GUARD 1: Can’t be a Wave. Isn’t the sky supposed to go all red during them?
GUARD 3: How the fuck should you know? I’m going to the walls, it’s the safest place there is. I ain’t dying for this shit ass town.
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SCENE: Manor of the terminated IDORU REIBIA. The ground is shaking violently, shattering windows in the manor. FILO floats down to the ground, coming to rest next to SYNE, who is organizing the other DEMIHUMANS into groups of four.
SYNE: Same way we trained during the hunts, people! Two in front, two in the back, stay alert, stay moving.
SYNE turns to NAOFUMI.
SYNE: What the fuck is that?
NAOFUMI: A monster. Very strong one, I think. Go, to the village, I don’t want to be close when it breaks out.
They begin jogging towards the slave village.
SYNE: Can you get us out of here?
NAOFUMI shakes his head, a resigned look on his face.
NAOFUMI: Can’t teleport in combat. This already counts, as far as the system magic is concerned.
SYNE swears.
NAOFUMI: Yeah, tell me about it. I’m hoping it’s a distance limit, and we could still scram from the village.
NAOFUMI glances back at the manor, a frown on his face.
NAOFUMI: But frankly, I have rotten luck. Don’t count on it.
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SCENE: The group has reached the slave village, and pauses to take in their bearings, hiding behind one of the houses.
With a clap, a massive fracture splits the earth under the manor. The building begins to collapse into it. With a deafening roar a black shape bursts forth, sending chunks of the manor flying outwards, lifting clouds of dust into the sky. As the dust spreads, it reveals the form of an enormous T-Rex, its body covered in colorful, glowing feathers. It towers over the remains of the upper town, at least six stories in height at its mane. THE BEAST raises its head to the sky, roaring triumphantly. The red glow of its eyes grows brighter, and a pair of lasers shoot out of them, piercing the clouds.
RALUVA: Guardian beasts, help us all!
The other DEMIHUMANS echo him.
CONSTANCE: Mercy be upon us. To think that such monsters exist…
NAOFUMI: Damn it, the system doesn’t say what level it is.
RAPHTALIA glances at NAOFUMI.
RAPHTALIA: Any other info?
NAOFUMI: Just the name, “The Beast of Shrakarsth”.
Several DEMIHUMANS gasp. CONSTANCE’s face goes white. RAPHTALIA snaps her head to NAOFUMI. In the distance, THE BEAST begins to rampage in the upper town.
RAPHTALIA: What did you say?
NAOFUMI glances uncertainly between them.
NAOFUMI: The Beast of Shrakarsth? Have you heard of it?
RAPHTALIA swears.
RAPHTALIA: We can’t fight it. Run for the forest, quick!
FILO: Yes we can.
RAPHTALIA: No, we can’t! In the legends it was so fearsome the Heroes could not kill it, and imprisoned it instead. They were working together to do it, while we only have a single Hero!
FILO clacks her beak disapprovingly.
FILO: Unclench your buttholes from fear and really look at it. Yes it’s scary, yes it’s big, but size doesn’t mean much. Look at how it moves: it’s fast, but not that fast. Compared to the monsters we hunt, it’s actually quite average. It also doesn’t seem to turn very well: mostly it wants to move in straight lines, and only turns when it’s not running around. As long as you keep your distance and don’t stand in its path, you should be fine. Now look at those feathers: they are patchy, like it’s sick. Maybe the Heroes beat it up last time, maybe it’s tired from being sealed away, I don’t care why, but now it’s not fearsome, it’s weak.
The others look at THE BEAST.
NAOFUMI: Huh. You are right. You noticed all this with a glance?
FILO snorts.
FILO: I know what I’m talking about. What, you think just because I fall asleep during your lectures I’m a complete featherbrain? Fighting’s what I do.
SYNE looks between NAOFUMI and FILO.
SYNE: Why the hell should we fight it? Weak or not, it’s a massive monster, we should run the fuck away.
FILO shrugs her bird shoulders. NAOFUMI, RAPHTALIA and CONSTANCE bob up and down on her back.
FILO: Dunno. Deciding who to fight is Naofumi’s job - I am just saying that if we had to, we could. I think it’d be fun, though a bit dangerous.
NAOFUMI rubs his forehead.
NAOFUMI: If we don’t, it will destroy Renlomel. Look at it - they won’t have a way to stop it. Without Filo, me and Raphtalia, you’d need some magical artillery to take it down. On top of that, you guys are stronger than the guards in this town. If anyone has a chance of stopping it, it’s us.
SYNE: So? How is that our problem?
NAOFUMI: What?
SYNE crosses her arms. In the distance, THE BEAST raises its head, sniffing the air.
SYNE: What did those humans ever do for us? Half of them would be glad to own a slave, if only they had the money for it. I say we let them have it.
NAOFUMI looks at her as if she has grown a second head.
CONSTANCE: It’s not just the humans. Your plantation was the largest around here, but not the only one. And in the town itself, there are slaves too.
SYNE scowls in anger and advances on CONSTANCE and NAOFUMI.
SYNE: To protect one slave we’d have to save ten humans, and even you don’t think that’s right! Those human servants we tied up when we took the manor? All dead now, no doubt. You didn’t even think about them, did you?
NAOFUMI winces. THE BEAST turns in their direction and advances, quiet despite its size and weight. The others are too focused on the argument, and only FILO’s keen eyes see it.
FILO: Out of your hands now. Get ready!
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SCENE: DEMIHUMANS scatter from the path of THE BEAST. NAOFUMI, RAPHTALIA and CONSTANCE jump off FILO. NAOFUMI takes point, with the other two taking out their crossbows. FILO rushes forwards, and comes at THE BEAST from the side. She leaps up, accelerating on the wind, and crashes into the side of the head, her claw just barely missing THE BEAST’s eye. THE BEAST stumbles from the hit, tripping, and it crashes down, sending quakes through the earth.
NARRATOR: There are two key parts to any strategy: a plan, and its execution. Even the best plan is worth nothing if it relies on an impossibility! You can plan out battles all day, but if your soldiers cannot execute their orders, then it all becomes moot.
Half of the DEMIHUMANS fled in terror as soon as THE BEAST got close. The others hold their ground, shooting it with their crossbows, but not dealing much damage. THE BEAST picks itself up from the ground, growling, and swishes its tail through the air twice. FILO backs off just in time, and THE BEAST starts to spin in place, swinging its tail around itself in wide arcs. RAPHTALIA tries to aim for the head, but keeps missing.
RAPHTALIA: I can’t hit the fucking eyes, it’s moving too much!
THE BEAST stops its spins and turns to face NAOFUMI, stepping towards him, its jaws open wide. FILO flies in close again, and slashes her powerful talons at the leg. With a crunch, one of THE BEAST’s toes breaks. THE BEAST yelps and stumbles again, roaring in anger. FILO circles around the back, avoiding THE BEAST’s gaze, and slams into the other leg, breaking another toe.
NARRATOR: There are many reasons why soldiers could fail! Lack of training, morale, or information are common killers. The best bet is to keep a strategy simple: then, at least, you have some chance of success. But there is one thing you cannot plan for: the unexpected! The unpredictable! The unknown unknowns!
THE BEAST tries to bite at FILO, but she avoids its jaws easily. THE BEAST growls, its feathers flashing with ominous yellow light, and crouches close to the ground. It closes its eyes, and the feathers on its body stand up, glowing brightly. With a grunt, some of the feathers shoot out, scattering around the area. Each feather glows orange, spreading light in a small area around itself. Where the light touches, people slow down, as if moving through tar: moving slower, reloading slower, even speaking slower. One of the feathers lands in the middle of the group of DEMIHUMANS led by RALUVA; another catches FILO in the area. THE BEAST moves towards RALUVA’s group. NAOFUMI rushes to intercept.
NAOFUMI: Stay away from the feathers!
NARRATOR: The thing to do when the unexpected happens is to move away! To analyze the situation! See what the problem is! But once you are in too deep, you could be stuck. And just like a shark, once you are stuck, you will be dead!
FILO pushes herself out of the slow area with wind magic, but now she is too far away. NAOFUMI gets in front of THE BEAST, and gets its attention. THE BEAST doesn’t slow down, scooping its head down, and opening its jaws for NAOFUMI. NAOFUMI tries to jump to the side, but the maw is simply too large. Just moments before the jaws would slam shut he activates Shield Prison around himself.
The teeth grind on the ball of shields, but it holds, and THE BEAST thrashes its head in frustration, then spits out its uncooperative prey. One of the houses explodes as NAOFUMI, safe within his ball of shields, rockets into it.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
NARRATOR: Filo is tired! She is frustrated! For just a moment, her focus slips, and she makes a crucial mistake!
FILO flies in close, heading for THE BEAST’s head again. THE BEAST roars, and its feathers pulse again. Every other feather on the field winks out. RALUVA’s group falls prone, put off balance by sudden lack of the slowing field, and THE BEAST suddenly speeds up. FILO cannot react in time, and THE BEAST’s jaws slam shut on her, swallowing her whole. RAPHTALIA screams in dismay.
RAPHTALIA: Filo! No!
No longer kept off balance, THE BEAST rushes after RALUVA’s group. RAPHTALIA manages to place a crossbow bolt straight in its eye, and THE BEAST roars, but does not slow down. Two of the DEMIHUMANS manage to run away, but THE BEAST catches RALUVA and another person, and eats them alive. Blood streams from its teeth.
RAPHTALIA: Raluva!
NAOFUMI stumbles out of the remains of the house THE BEAST threw him into. He looks around.
NAOFUMI: Where is Filo? I can’t see her stats.
RAPHTALIA is fighting back tears, but keeps shooting despite it. Her bolts stick in THE BEAST’s hide, but don’t seem to deal that much damage. Other DEMIHUMANS scatter.
RAPHTALIA: It ate her.
NAOFUMI’s eyes go wide, and his hands start to shake. Black smoke starts to come out of his shield. RAPHTALIA drops the crossbow, takes out her sword, and rushes towards the left leg of THE BEAST, but is hit with its tail, and flies into a nearby house. Black smoke envelops NAOFUMI completely.
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SCENE: NAOFUMI’s mindscape. Flat, featureless gray plane stretches out into infinity. Above it, the sky is a void of darkness. DARK NAOFUMI is lying on a seat made out of black smoke. The exact shape of the seat isn’t clear, obscured by billows of smoke, but it looks something like an armchair. DARK NAOFUMI lies across the armrests, instead of sitting normally, supporting his head with one hand. His other hand holds a glass of wine. He looks the same as last time, black and white, with no other colors.
NAOFUMI stands in front of the armchair, wearing his Earth clothes, without his shield. He is biting his lip.
DARK NAOFUMI: Well, well, well. Look who crawled right back!
NAOFUMI: Cut the crap. I need help.
DARK NAOFUMI: Of course you need help. You always need help. But you don’t even realize why you need it, do you?
NAOFUMI scowls.
NAOFUMI: What the fuck do you mean? There is a giant monster about to eat everyone. You said you had power, I need it now.
DARK NAOFUMI: Is that your real problem? If you fall off a cliff, then what is about to kill you is the ground, but the ground is hardly the reason behind your problems. It’s whatever made you climb up that cliff in the first place, or whatever made you fall.
NAOFUMI: What?
DARK NAOFUMI chuckles.
DARK NAOFUMI: Why do you need power in the first place? Because you were too weak to kill the monster on your own. And why did that happen? Because your precious demihumans were too disorganized. Half of them fled as soon as it came close. If you would have drilled them on how to hold together, put them up against stronger monsters during the training, then they would have stood. See, your basic problem is that you wasted your time on training them all more or less equally. Instead, you should have formed a close group and trained them up as high as they would go. A couple dozen troops at level 16 would do you much better than a hundred at level 8, most of whom aren’t even here.
NAOFUMI: What? How the hell was I supposed to know there is a bloody dinosaur under the manor? We weren’t training them to use as a fucking army, but so they could defend themselves and keep themselves fed by hunting. Unequal training would defeat the bloody point!
DARK NAOFUMI: Too bad, because what you need is an army. What good will most of those people be? Out of a hundred, how many will decide that a good life in Shieldfrieden is good enough for them? How many will actually help you here, out of the goodness of their heart for others in bondage? Twenty? Ten? It is simply wasted time. You should have picked those most loyal to the cause and trained them exclusively.
NAOFUMI stares at DARK NAOFUMI.
NAOFUMI: You are talking about doing fucking loyalty tests on a group of slaves? With an implication that if they don’t follow me, they and their families will be stuck there? In what possible world is that even remotely ethical?
DARK NAOFUMI waves him off.
DARK NAOFUMI: Oh come now, nobody is talking about forcing them. Look at Syne: she is ready to kill slavers any day of the week. Find a dozen more people like that and you’d be set.
NAOFUMI: They will still be there after we evacuate them all. I already told them if they want to help, l’ll take their help. You think we should have pushed the issue before? All because of what, a remote chance that a bloody dinosaur would show up?
DARK NAOFUMI: No, because you don’t have time to waste. Will you do this every time? Any time you hit a plantation, you will waste nine tenths of your time? You need a strong army core to do what needs to be done. You think the other Heroes will go along with it?
NAOFUMI crosses his arms.
NAOFUMI: Why wouldn’t they? Itsuki may be a Leninist, but at the end of the day, he seems to be in it for the people. Even Motoyasu, for all his problems, got into a fight with me because he thought I owned a slave. All of them would support the abolition of slavery, even if their methods would differ.
DARK NAOFUMI laughs.
DARK NAOFUMI: You think a simple abolition will be enough? Look at yourself, naive to your very core. What do you think those slavers will do once the slaves are freed? You think they would simply fold their paws and accept it? Of course not, they will fight to bring it back. If they can’t get it by force of arms, they will do it by force of law. You can think of a dozen ways they could do this. For example, they could outlaw walking around without a job, and then make sure that demihumans could only be hired on plantations, for starvation wages. “Criminals”, of course, would be put to work on the same fields on a lease from prison. Sure, Motoyasu may oppose “slavery”, but would he oppose a criminal system which amounts to the same thing? Somehow I doubt it.
NAOFUMI: Yeah, obviously that’s a problem, but there are solutions here. We’d need to take legal power and push a lot of aggressive reforms through. But what does that have to do with other Heroes?
DARK NAOFUMI: You think that would work? You have no knowledge of law, why do you think you could manage legal reforms? Or will you try to rebuild the government from the ground up, with no experience? Do you think you could reform the guards, so that they would enforce your new laws? No, there is a much simpler solution here.
NAOFUMI: What?
DARK NAOFUMI shrugs, and takes a sip from his glass.
DARK NAOFUMI: No person, no problem. Get rid of all the slave owners, and the institutional power trying to bring back slavery will go with them. Their families too, so you don’t have any problems with familial revenge.
NAOFUMI’s eyes go wide.
NAOFUMI: That’s something like a third of the province. You are talking about a genocide.
DARK NAOFUMI: Oh, soon enough you’ll see the sense of it.
NAOFUMI steps back.
NAOFUMI: Is this your plan? Hold promise of safety over my head until I agree to do a fucking genocide? Well you can go fuck yourself then. I’d rather die and hope Itsuki doesn’t fuck it up.
DARK NAOFUMI laughs and stands up from his chair. NAOFUMI pedals backwards.
DARK NAOFUMI: Oh, don’t you worry. You don’t have to agree to anything. I was never going to refuse power. You’ll have more than enough to kill that overgrown lizard.
DARK NAOFUMI takes a couple quick steps forwards and clasps NAOFUMI’s hand. NAOFUMI doesn’t resist. Color drains out of his cheeks and into DARK NAOFUMI. Colors explode across his monochrome complexion, his skin rapidly turning pink. As the process goes on, NAOFUMI starts to look sickly. DARK NAOFUMI releases his hand, and NAOFUMI stumbles back.
DARK NAOFUMI: It’s done. Go, do your thing. We will talk more later.
A portal of smoke opens up behind NAOFUMI, and DARK NAOFUMI shoves him through it.
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SCENE: Little time has passed in reality. Black smoke is blown away from NAOFUMI. His shield transforms into a large, draconic shield, black and red in color. Transformation does not stop there, and goes up his arm, turning his armor into scales and carapace. His eyes start to glow red, and red lines spread across his skin, linking together small sigils. From up close, it’s obvious that each sigil is a different symbol of a shield.
SYSTEM MESSAGE: Curse shield transformation activated!
NAOFUMI screams, and raises his shield in the air. The gem at the center of the shield flashes red, and a red glow surrounds him. A similar glow surrounds RAPHTALIA as she gets out of the remains of the house.
SYSTEM MESSAGE: Curse skill: Ward of shallow death! All party members cannot die while the skill is active. Attack and movement speed is increased inversely proportional to the percentage of the health left.
RAPHTALIA rushes out to THE BEAST again, but this time, she is moving twice as quickly. She easily avoids THE BEAST’s tail, and slices through THE BEAST’s leg, the amputated foot flying loose. THE BEAST roars as it topples over. It turns its last eye, glowing brighter and brighter, towards RAPHTALIA. Lasers shoots out, but RAPHTALIA dodges to the side, moving faster than THE BEAST can track her. In no time at all she is closing in on its head.
Before she can reach it, THE BEAST chokes and the laser cuts off. From inside of THE BEAST’s stomach come cracking and squishing sounds. THE BEAST howls in pain, rolling on the ground. The sounds get louder. In a fountain of blood, meat, and bone, FILO bursts from THE BEAST’s spine. She is in her human form, drenched in blood, and down to a single HP, but she moves with vigor. RAPHTALIA takes this moment to stab through the last eye of THE BEAST. FILO climbs atop THE BEAST’s head, and starts punching until its skull cracks.
NAOFUMI runs out of mana, and falls to his knee, the skill ending. FILO breathes deeply, and falls on her back, no longer kept moving by the skill’s magic. With THE BEAST blind and without a leg, RAPHTALIA makes short work of it, and finally it goes quiet.
NAOFUMI gets up and stumbles over to FILO, beginning to heal her. RAPHTALIA goes back to THE BEAST and, with a grim look on her face, starts to cut open its stomach. She keeps at it, digging through tissue and organs, until the contents spill out. She drags the remains of RALUVA and his partner to the clean ground, and sits down next to them, crying. NAOFUMI and FILO approach her. At this point, all three are covered in blood. FILO is trying to pick out blood from her ears. CONSTANCE, a picture of cleanliness compared to the three, comes close. Their skin is reddened in patches as if burned, exactly where the red glow was strongest.
RAPHTALIA: I hoped that if Filo was alive, maybe they were too.
NAOFUMI hugs her, and she buries her face in his shoulder. They stay like that for a while. DEMIHUMANS who fled start to come back, looking quite a bit horrified. RAPHTALIA sniffles and breaks off the hug.
RAPHTALIA: Let’s get the others to Lute.
In a few short trips, all DEMIHUMANS are gone. FILO and RAPHTALIA are the last to be picked up. RAPHTALIA gets up off the ground as NAOFUMI appears out of the air, and turns to FILO.
RAPHTALIA: Filo, you think you have one more trip in you for today? We can do this tomorrow if you can’t.
FILO shrugs.
FILO: Sure. Fucking peachy. Would be nice to find a river to wash off though.
RAPHTALIA: Lurolona shouldn’t be that far from here. I want to take Raluva there, and bury him. He would have wanted that. The other one too - he wasn’t one of ours, but I don’t think he’d want to be left here, of all places.
FILO shrugs, and NAOFUMI nods.
NAOFUMI: Let’s go. There is nothing more left here.
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE
SYSTEM MESSAGE. The voice of the system.
NARRATOR. The voice of drama.
NAOFUMI IWATANI, THE SHIELD HERO. The first socialist. Protagonist.
DARK NAOFUMI. Clearly evil. Has power. Ideological inclinations unclear.
RAPHTALIA. The second socialist. Good at fighting.
FILO. Bird. Master of fighting. Doesn’t lead others well.
CONSTANCE VON MARUKIEVICH / FREDALIA. Countess. Organizer of the slave liberation groups. No experience with fighting massive monsters.
SYNE. Childhood friend of RAPHTALIA. Previously enslaved by IDORU REIBIA. Proactive.
RALUVA. Childhood friend of RAPHTALIA. Previously enslaved by IDORU REIBIA. Old.