c363 (2/2)

“Then I’ll be going on ahead”

The agile Arc ran ahead of me on the path

I tried chasing him, but I couldn’t keep up

Just what sort of logic does this place run on?

The next place I found myself in was Fitoria’s ruins

It’s a place I’ve come to once before It’s nowhere unknown to me

I tried to ignore it, and proceed, but I couldn’t get through the Forest of Illusions

So I reluctantly proceeded through the ruins

Eventually… I reached the stone house that that bottle was housed in

“You’ve reached the goal For you to be able to co”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah Just let o on” (Naofumi)

“Calm down”

Inside the house, the bottle still hangs

“Have you heard anything about this bottle fro it?”

“Um… there was a bit of personal opinion added, but she did talk about it” (Naofumi)

『At that time, the Hero said, ‘the first sip is eternal pain, the second, eternal solitude, and the third… a dreadful end’』

Was it?

“Having listened to me, does it sound familiar?”

“A little” (Naofumi)

Iword, ‘eternal’, mixed in

“The first sip will give you everlasting pain, and the second will give you an immortal body to watch those around you die for eternity”

“The third was a dreadful end, right?” (Naofumi)

“This is, you see… The Elixir, Amrita, the Eternal Peach, Soma, Tajiku Nakaku All of the like that”

(TL Tajiku Nakaku is a end whose fruit is said to give eternal youth It is pursued by Tajimamori)

“Why so like that? She didn’t speak a word of it” (Naofumi)

“I think it was a promise Or else she would have been treated as an existence that threatened the world”

“I see” (Naofumi)

She uess

Thinking about it, she was an existence that opposed the near-i like that

“Dragons have a different role I’ their actions for now”

“I see” (Naofumi)

“And I ht add, in that world this medicine has been diluted several hundreds of times Its effects are low There are rules, you know”

“Rules, you say” (Naofumi)

“Looking at is, what do you think?”

“That’s unfair” (Naofumi)

“Right In this world, it’s against the rules, right? If possible, I would like to have the heroes kill her”

I see…

“This is the undiluted form If you take three sips of the diluted one, you’re forcefully summoned as a Hero, eventually set to die But what do you think will happen if you drink this one?”

“It’s the concentrate… right? What’s more, this is… not that world” (Naofumi)

“That’s right What do you think?”

“In the first place, is there any need to kill… ah” (Naofumi)

For incidents caused by those iuess

“I’ve left it with a trusted child, so I think it’s fine for now If so it”

So Fitoria is his acquaintance

two sips will ht?

Then after that…

“Yep, It will grant you power for a battle without end If you look at it froht?”

“…” (Naofumi)

“But… it uys I mean, after you’ve made it all the way here”

And Arc closed the bottle

“Us guys? Unnecessary?” (Naofumi)

“Ah, I’ht, you never noticed You guys, slipped through dimensions, so your awareness of it seems to be a bit off”

I try using the neer I had attained

Following his lead, I try to increaseinto the channel of world where all my comrades are

“Naofumi-sama!”

“Raphtalia”

And there, was Raphtalia

From her power, I could tell

Raphtalia also talked with hi the path

The fact that our thoughts coincided made me a little happy

“You guys continued walking your paths, and in the end, you changed yourselves Do you feel it now? You spent an unfathomable amount of time out there”

“Geh!? Then what happened to the world ere supposed to save?” (Naofumi)

“Ah, don’t worry about that That’s what the charht that if your wills were strong enough, you would be able to handle it”

“What?” (Naofumi)

It’s true that I thought about the concept of ic as I walked, but that was still within the bounds of humanity

Is hefun of me?

“To be more specific, you’ve taken the first step What do you want to do? Will you go further?”

“Please keep your jokes in moderation” (Naofumi)

“It’s not a joke, but… I still don’t think you guys have a chance of winning Just try increasing your perception a little more If you don’t decide your direction, you won’t be able to find your power”

“Direction…”

I could so

What sort of fighting style do I have?

What I’ve been doing has always been protecting

There were tie the enemy myself, but they number too few to count

My essential direction… It’s as if I’ my path to Class Up

As the Hero of the shi+eld, I never was able to, but this reasoning isn’t wrong

I also feel there’s so up in my field of vision

“What possibilities do you want to expand?”

Ark puts his hands together, and asks

“Ah, there was soht? Please think of this as so like that”

… What is this?

Since I’ve ain, I’ve become able to sense his presence better

So that sends shi+vers downfrom him

But for some reason, the person himself doesn’t seem to have any such intentions

And wait, that doesn’t matter

Let’s go become a God to beat up that bitch Goddess

“Even if you don’t decide, you’ll get power from the world you head to But can you ith that? I think you’ll need to get so extra to win”

“That’s right It’s a half-assed power I won’t be able to win against her” (Naofumi)

“But if you drink that h power to defeat her”

Saying that, he held out that red drink

My changed body could understand that it wasn’t out of any ill intent

But…

“… Understood” (Naofumi)

“Then take this–”

“Wrong, with a power given to ” (Naofumi)

Just like he has his own goal, I have mine

If I get the power to Soal will not be fulfilled

And with that, there’s no point

“Naofumi-sama…” (Raphtalia)

“Raphtalia… yeah, that’s right” (Naofumi)

My eyes meet hers

And what she was trying to say was transmitted to me

… I am the shi+eld that Protects others, and Raphtalia is my Sword

I have decided my direction

From the start, I could only ever become a shi+eld for someone else

Then what is there for e?

What Raphtalia’s decision as also transmitted

I… Iwatani Naofumi have the disposition to protect

I won’t go against it I’ll protect everyone from this absurdity

From all unfairness… The power to protect everyone

If I don’t get a dream-like power like that, there’s no point

Raphtalia answered s

And of course, it wasn’t just Raphtalia

My power cannot stem from me alone

There’s onlyin my pohen I have those I need to protect

“You guys really are connected I think it’s a You trust the other person so much, and decided your directions to complement each other”

I feel the world expand around me

I never noticed it before, but power is overflowing in my body

A power that transcends the previous me

… With this, I’ll be able to fight on an equal poith the Goddess Medea

I ht?

I’ve become the same sort of existence as the enemy

Now all I have to do is develop a physical plan for victory

It’s simple to understand A Symbol to protect everyone… It’s simple

I inject my oer, and the power outside into the shi+eld Strap, that had pretty

Three powers different powers fuse, and a new shi+eld is formed

Its strength is incomparable to before

All the power I have is sent directly to defense

This is truly the power to protect, fros

“Trust is the key to power, but dependence is soh I think you till do fine”

As our views expanded, we noticed that behind Arc was a gate

“Don’t you think it’s about time you set off? I don’t think you have too much time left, you know”

I open the Four Holy Weapons’ Manual

It ritten on the page

The Melromark’s ar in on Melty