Chapter 235 - Remnants

Gaelion: “KYUA!”

Aboard Firo, we assault the heavily fortified church.

People fly left and right in the face of Firo’s charge.

… They’re fine, right? I don’t think they’ll die from something like this.

I somehow feel invincible right now.

And we reach the area where Gaelion was fighting.

Firo and Gaelion lock eyes and begin intimidating one another.

They’ll still fight in a situation like this?

They stare at each other, fighting with their gazes for a while. Suddenly, Gaelion lets out a laugh.

Firo: “Mu-!”

Naofumi: “This isn’t the time for that! By the way, what is supposed to be here?”

I pose the question to Rishia and Atlas, who are riding the same Filo Rial.

Atlas: “A sinister aura is intertwined with the flow of energy here. I’m not exactly sure.”

Naofumi: “Fumu.”

It would be nice if we finally found Itsuki, but that’s just wishful thinking.

We step over the Church’s threshold.

Inside are several people I have never seen before, busy at work tampering with the arrangement of the building

They are mainly scratching out the shield mark on the four saint symbol and destroying any shield-related objects of worship.

??: “Good job coming all the way here.”

A slightly familiar face steps forward and boldly greets me.

Who is this again?

There are too many people who I’ve seen before but can never remember. It’s quite troubling.

All of these people are wearing work clothes.

They’re probably not the people who are supposed to be managing the church.

I have way too many enemies to remember them all.

??: “To the Devil of the Shield, let me inflict God’s Judgment.”

Naofumi: “… Ah, so it’s like that.”

So the people who infiltrated the temple and began to desecrate it were the remnants of the Three Hero Church.

I think I saw some of these people when I tried to buy holy water and they tried to sell me low quality ones.

And, I remember the person in front of me.

It’s the Sister who drove us away from the Dragon Hourglass.

Naofumi: “So this is where the rebels went.”

Sister: “No matter what the Devil says, the religion of Melromark is the Three Hero Church. We will follow the late pope’s wishes and govern the world.”

Govern… the world.

It’s a psychology that runs rampant in cults.

A united world would just be unnerving.

Sister: “And… You’ve fallen into our trap, Devil of the Shield!”

A large magic circle lights up on the floor beneath my feet.

And at that moment, my body suddenly feels several times heavier.

“Ku…”

Ren, Rishia and the rest groan.

Gaelion: “Kyuaa!?”

Gaelion covers Taniko with his wings as if to protect her. He readies himself to attack.

Naofumi: “What did you do?”

Sister: “It would be troublesome if you moved, so we set up some magic to restrain you.”

Hmm… So this magic circle can prevent movement.

Firo: “Hm? It’s heavy?”

Firo slowly lifts her feet and begins walking towards the Three Hero Church remnants.

I guess they’re witnessing the overwhelming difference in power.

Firo received my stat corrections from birth, so I guess a normal level of restraint won’t hold her.

Sister: “Raise the output!”

The magic circle begins to glow brighter, and Ren slams onto the ground.

Where are they supplying the power from? I can’t tell…

Atlas: “Naofumi-sama, what should we do?”

… I wonder why Atlas is still fine.

She’s standing next to Firo as if nothing happened to her.

I’m also able to handle it to some extent with my stats.

… If I think about it, isn’t my situation still really advantageous right now?

As I thought that, brainwashed slaves begin pouring into the church.

It seems things just won’t go my way today.

Sister: “Those who have awoken to our faith. Even if they be stupid, vulgar Demi-Humans, if they are willing to lay down their lives for us, then perhaps God will forgive them in heaven. Now, fight to repent for your existence!”

That was a really dubious speech.

I really want to retort something now.

Why am I only ever surrounded by idiots?

Why are they sending them to fight with the assumption that they’ll die?

Maybe it’s because they’re people of the Devil’s village.

… And what does she mean by ‘perhaps’? She really left it open ended.

But, this is kinda bad. Rishia might be able to move, but Ren and the Filo Rials are immobile.

I think Gaelion and Taniko are fine as well.

Besides Ren, it seems that everyone above Class-Up level is alright.

Gaelion: “Kyua!”

Gaelion lashes his tail out at the approaching slaves’ faces, but the magic circle makes his movement too slow.

Ah… It seems that this magic is only affecting us.

What should I do? With Firo’s help, these guys won’t be a problem.

But if we leave Ren and the others behind, they’ll be in danger.

I’ll have to fight anyways, but I get the feeling there’s a better strategy here.

And then, I suddenly remember something.

I put my hand on the shield and change its form.

The shield I select is the Spirit Turtle Carapace Shield.

I’ve strengthened it to some extent.

It’s not as strong as the Soul Eater Shield, but its defense is considerable.

And its Equipment Bonus is Gravity Field.

Firo: “Oh? My body is lighter?”

Ren: “Yeah, a little bit.”

Everyone affected by the magic begins to rise up.

Right, the Gravity Field ability allows me to manipulate Gravitational force to some extent. This restraint magic simply made one’s body heavier. If they used something like magical rope to bind us, then we would be in trouble.

Imagining the feeling of becoming lighter, I deployed a field.

Of course, it’s an ability I’ve tested before by myself.

Its weakness is that once one becomes lighter, they are unable to put the same amount of force into their attacks.

Contrarily, by increasing gravity, it becomes harder to move, but you can put more force into your attacks.

Another disadvantage is that it can’t differentiate between friend and foe. An interesting use is that if an enemy is sent flying, it can increase their impact, and if you are sent flying, it can decrease yours.

There’s no question why this was such a difficult material for the Old Man to make a weapon out of.

Naofumi: “This should let you move a little. Please endure it until we can dispel this trap.”

Ren: “Ah, like this, I can fight.”

Atlas: “I’ll also try hard.”

Rishia: “Yes.”

Rishia and Atlas nod

Rishia: “Let’s go!”

Rishia throws her knife, and it rapidly blocks the escape of the Sister who deployed the trap.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As I thought. She’s moving well under these conditions. Atlas follows her lead and thrusts at the brainwashed slaves.

Slave: “Ugu-”

The slaves that take on Atlas’s strike cry out.

Atlas: “I’ll have you sleep for a bit.”

“I apologize! 「Meteor Sword」!”

Ren apologizes as he uses Meteor Sword to send Shockwaves at the Slaves and Remnants.

Sister: “What are you doing!? Increase the radius and output further!”

As the enemy formation is thrown into disarray, some of us are able to step out of the circle.

I sit on Firo’s back as I direct the battle.

Well, the difference in power is quite evident. They’re all pretty much small fries.

The representative, annoying Sister continues to scream out orders.

Sister: “Rain down your spells on the Demon!”

Finally!

I’ve been waiting for this.

I bring out the Spirit Turtle Heart Shield.

Equipment Bonus: C Magic Snatch, C Gravity Shot, Tenacity Enhancement.

C is short for counter. I need to be attacked to use them.

I’ll finally be able to test out Magic Snatch and Gravity Shot.

The Three Hero Church faces me and begins to cast Choral Magic.

「Choral Magic! Lightening Judgement!」

An electrified mass of magical energy in the shape of a cross flies towards me and Firo.

I lift up my shield and take it head on.

Ren: “Naofumi!?”

Atlas: “Naofumi-sama?”

Rishia: “Naofumi-san!”

I feel some static coursing around my body, but I don’t feel any pain.

Firo: “Waaaaaah… Firo’s feathers are standing on end, master!”

The static electricity seems to have made Firo ecstatic. Ignoring her, I look at the enemy.

I even needed to protect the brainwashed slaves from the large scale magic assault.

Aren’t they supposed to be allies now? These guys are scum as always.

Naofumi: “There’s no problems.”

Atlas: “As expected of Naofumi-sama!”

Taniko: “Amazing…”

Rishia: “Yes.”

Gaelion: “KYUA!”

Taniko and Gaelion also chime in as they prepare their magic.

Both of them specialize in the same magic system, so they can do joint spells.

Taniko: 『I order of thee to guide Gaelion’s power,and to request for it to materialize. Earth Pulse, give me power.』

Gaelion: 『KyuaKyuaKyua!』

Taniko: 「High Fire Blaze!」

As Taniko finishes the chant, a large ball of fire appears from Gaelion’s mouth and flies towards the Remnants of the Three Hero Church.

Oh, it’s got quite a bit of power to it. It also gives off a joint attack-like vibe, which is cool.

Not that I really care or anything…

Anyways, while Gaelion and Taniko were busy showing off, I had just been hit with Choral Magic.

My shield shines blue, and the Counter Effect begins to activate.

And from the shield, several Blue and White balls fly back out at the casters.

“Wha-”

It must have been an unexpected attack. Quite a few people are unable to avoid it.

Well, the balls are quite fast. Besides people who have classed-up and people that are hiding special powers, most will find them difficult to dodge.

Sister: “W-what!? Nothing’s happening isn’t it? Devil of the Shield, don’t surprise us like that!”

Naofumi: “The surprise comes later.”

I give a wide smile.

These people have no idea just what sort of attack they just took.

Sister: “Gu… My body is!?”

All of a sudden, she puts her hand on the floor. She desperately struggles to lift herself, but it’s not working.

Oh? The restraint circle is fading. I guess the casters lost their concentration.

And the blue and white lights leave their targets and return to me.

I check my status and find that my Mana has recovered.

Right, Magic Snatch and Gravity Shot fulfilled their duties.

These two will be a useful counters against mages.

Magic Snatch, as its name suggests, steals magic from its target. Gravity Shot immobilizes them with Gravity Magic while Magic Snatch does its work.

But, as expected, it doesn’t do any damage.

Naofumi: “Attack!”

On my orders, my comrades nod.

Atlas: “Okay!”

Ren: “Leave it to me!”

Gaelion: “KYUA!”

The Three Hero Church remnants use the brainwashed people as shields to retreat further into the church, and we eventually lose sight of them.

Of course, we tried to pursue, but there were too many enemies.

Naofumi: “Damn… Running is all they’re good at.”