Chapter 118. Re-Awake
Against all odds, the Resistance managed to make landfall.
Fighting an Ascendant Sea Druid on the open sea was just asking to lose. Granted, fighting an Ascendant Sea Druid on the shores wasn’t much better, but at least the fight would no longer be such a one-sided massacre. Shiba considered it a miracle that the final member of the Three Pillars, the legendary Water Archmage Ayako, wasn’t present. If she was, then the battle would already be over, all their forces condemned to a watery grave.
Shiba gritted his teeth as his men frantically gathered into a defensive formation on the black volcanic sand. The beach was surprisingly clean and well-maintained, not a single piece of litter or debris in sight other than their two battered ships collapsed on the shoreline. Normally, this place served as a prime tourist spot, or at least back when widespread tourism still existed in the country. Now, though…
It was about to become the graveyard for two thousand men.
Ahead of them, Minato leisurely strode across the surface of the waves. Behind him, a writhing mass of kelp formed a backdrop for the Spear Sage. Kaito hovered in the air above, controlling the megaflora effortlessly with an almost dismissive air.
Two against two thousand.
…
Yeah.
The Resistance was fucked.
But not without a fight.
“Mages! Archers!” Shiba roared. “Disregard all mana conservation doctrines! Utilize all potions! Get out your most priceless arrows! Give it all you’ve got! Fire!”
A resounding roar echoed his command, five hundred assorted mages and archers in the backline letting loose their skills in synchronized unison. Frost bolts, gigantic fireballs, lightning barrages, mana missiles, wind blades, crushing boulders, hails of arrows enhanced with so many different effects that it would be impossible to list them all… The air became a dense storm of prismatic mana and projectiles, so many attacks flying through the air that it was like a physical wall. The strongest skills unleashed by the strongest mages and archers of the Resistance.
The sight was awe-inspiring. One of the greatest spectacles Shiba had ever seen. There was enough concentrated mana in the air to sink a small island.
For a tiny moment, he dared to hope that it would work.
“HAHAHAHAHA!”
The pure, gleeful, almost childlike joy in the Spear Sage’s laugh completely dispelled that notion. The sound rang out over the battlefield, clear even despite the bombardment of spells. Through the thick mass of mana, Shiba saw Minato lower into a stance with a ferocious grin on his face, his spear held at his side.
Then, the Spear Sage exploded into a blur of motion.
Shiba’s eyes widened as Minato charged straight at them, black sand bursting upward with his every step. The Spear Sage didn’t even try to dodge or avoid any of the spells; instead, he crashed into them head-on, the tip of his spear a blinding green as he pierced through the attacks. Mana or arrow, lightning or fire, ice or gravity, it didn’t matter. The best defense was an overwhelming offense, and here Minato proved it loud and clear.
In the blink of an eye, the Spear Sage crossed the entire lethal distance and slammed into their frontline. A moment later, sound caught up to him, a deafening crack echoing through the air from where he’d shattered the sound barrier a hundred paces back.
“That was a good one!” Minato shouted. “What else can you do?”
The Resistance answered with a thunderous battle cry, the frontline surging forward in an effort to shield the vulnerable backline from harm. If Minato reached the archers and mages, then it would truly all be over. Melees were weak to ranged only at a distance. And so, the Resistance’s strongest juggernauts, bruisers, and tanks piled upon Minato, trying to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
A vain effort.
Minato became a whirlwind of death, elegant as he was lethal. Shiba couldn’t even see the tip of his spear, such was its inhuman speed as Minato carved through men with Constitutions high enough to tank a volcano. The air, originally humid and salty, became metallic from the increasing blood splattering the shores.
The mages and archers continued firing, but their attacks became slower as they struggled to not hit their own allies in the crossfire. Minato was simply too fast, a mere blur across the landscape. It became even more difficult as Kaito joined the fray, his seaweed bursting out from the sea like a tidal wave.
Shiba cursed. At this rate, they were going to lose.
…
He’d be damned if he lost while watching helplessly from the back.
A General led from the front.
“Rikimaru!” he snapped to his second-in-command. “Take control of our forces. I’m joining the fight.”
“What?!” Rikimaru whirled to him, shocked. “Wait, you can’t–!”
Shiba was already moving, mana coursing through his body. In one hand, he held his trusty curved blade. In his other hand, multiple potions materialized, invaluable potions he’d saved over years of adventuring. He tossed them back, the liquid running down his throat as with a shudder, his stats were boosted beyond measure.
“MINATO!”
[Dividing Slice!]
His sword left afterimages behind as it sliced through the air. Minato kicked away a juggernaut before turning to answer Shiba’s attack, blocking with his spear’s shaft.
“Mythmaker Shiba!” Minato greeted, a bright smile spreading across his face. “You’re here too! It’s been too long, how have you been–?”
“What are you doing?!” Shiba roared. He pressed forward with a flurry of attacks, his face twisted in rage. “Why are you here?”
Minato blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve never helped the Emperor before,” Shiba said, frustration and rage boiling beneath his skin. “For the past ten years, the Three Pillars have stayed out of any and all civil conflicts, acting only to slay apex monsters and thwart ancient threats. You were supposed to be a neutral party!”
It didn’t make any fucking sense! Shiba hadn’t been the happiest about the Three Pillars not joining the Resistance, but he had known the reasoning. Ascendants, by nature, warped and distorted any battlefield they took to due to their unbelievable strength. Aware of their own power, they self-governed themselves by isolating themselves from mortal affairs. Most Ascendants across the entire world tended to refuse to take part in any war or conflict. During the entire Yukihasan civil war, the Three Pillars had stuck to that trend, and though many had condemned their neutrality, Shiba had understood.
But now…
“Yeah, well, what can I say?” Minato said. “There’s been a change of plans. What does it matter to you, anyhow–?”
“I looked up to you!” Shiba shouted. Minato paused, his attacks slowing ever so slightly. “I looked up to all of you! The Spear Sage Minato and the Sea Druid Kaito and the Archmage Ayako – the Three Pillars, the strongest adventurers of this land, the ones who sacrificed themselves time and time again for this nation, the fucking heroes of Yukihasa!”
During his entire career, from when he’d just been a lowly bronze-tier to when he finally ascended to Mythmaker, Shiba had looked up to the Three Pillars. Admired, revered, honored them. They had been his role models, the ones he aspired to be.
So to see them now working for the Emperor…
Shiba’s eyes burned with unshed tears.
It hurt more than it had any right to hurt.
Such was the pain of betrayal.
Minato faltered. “I…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, the customary joy in his voice nowhere to be heard. “But I have to do this.”
“WHY?!”
“Because–”
Minato froze, his next attack stopping in place. The shockwave it generated still blasted Shiba back by several meters.
“Hold on…” Minato said slowly, absolute confusion flickering across his face. “Why… Why do I have to do this? Why am I helping the Emperor? And… What’s this feeling of deja vu…?”
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Shiba frowned.
What?
Was this some sort of act–?
Death washed over them.
Instinctively, Minato and Shiba both turned to the side, their battle forgotten as their respective intuitions screamed at them.
They looked up…
And up…
And up.
A colossal tsunami loomed in the distance, five hundred meters tall and untold kilometers wide. It was still far out, but it approached the coast with frightening speed, too fast for it to be natural. It would strike the capital in a minute, maybe two, and with the Heavenly Barriers down…
All of Endo would no doubt be destroyed. Nearly a million people would drown.
“What in the…” Minato stared at the tsunami with wide eyes, all his previous confusion wiped away as this new threat took precedence.
Shiba whirled to him. “Is this Ascendant Ayako’s doing?”
His stomach dropped as Minato shook his head.
“No… I don’t know where Ayako is, she disappeared a few days ago, but this isn’t her attack. I don’t sense any of her magic in that wave. The mana feels almost… ambient in nature?” Minato turned around. “Kaito!” he shouted. “Do you–”
Both he and Shiba paused. Kaito was completely unconscious, collapsed at the edge of the beach. His seaweed shifted and curled around him in an automatic defense. Neither Minato nor Shiba had noticed, so absorbed were they in their own battle.
“What?” Minato snapped. “Who knocked him out?” He looked at Shiba. “Was it your shinobi?”
Perhaps… Shiba licked his lips, scanning their surroundings. But none of his men took credit. “I… I don’t think so…”
He felt an ominous feeling in his chest. For some reason, he got the sense that Kaito’s collapse and the massive tsunami were connected. But how?
“Shit,” Minato swore softly under his breath. “Where the hell is Ayako?”
All around them, the Resistance members lowered their weapons as they stared at the tsunami. Shiba did as well. What could a sword do against a wave half a kilometer tall? The tsunami was large and powerful enough to wipe the entire capital off the face of the map. Shiba didn’t even know if the Emperor himself could do anything against it, not with the barriers down.
What cosmic irony. The Resistance’s plan to disable the Dragon’s Leyline turned out to lead to their downfalls.
“We’re going to die,” Shiba said, a certain clarity to his words. He felt an inner peace wash over him as he accepted their fate. He was too old, too weary, to rant and rage against the unfairness of it all. Perhaps the Emperor would die here. Perhaps not. Either way, it wasn’t Shiba’s problem anymore.
He couldn’t wait to see his children again–
“Damn you, no we’re not!” Minato snapped. His eyes flickered around rapidly as he analyzed the tsunami for any points of weakness. “I… I can – ack!” He winced, clutching his head, and Shiba watched with horror as the Spear Sage’s expression suddenly distorted, his facial muscles twitching rapidly as though a puppeteer was trying to reassert control. Then, Minato’s face smoothed over, completely emotionless. “Ah, right,” he said, his tone impassive. “I remember why I was sent here now.” He glanced around. “Where’s Levi Ironwood? I need to–”
Shiba’s eyes went wide.
Minato looked down.
His own spear impaled his gut, blood running down the shaft and intermixing with the sands below.
“What?” Minato murmured, seemingly not feeling the pain. “Why did I just – nO mORE!”
He staggered back, his expression twisting and rippling once more as his body began jerking in sudden, unnatural movements. Shiba tensed up, feeling unsettled and more than a little afraid, as Minato descended into a seizing fit.
“nOt nOW! noT whEn i hAvE a dUtY to fUlFIlL aNd a cItY tO sAVE–!” Minato’s head snapped to Shiba. His eyes burned with an inexplicable lucidity. “Punch me.”
“W-What?”
Minato’s entire body shook and convulsed, his voice distorting into discordant brass tones. Even so, his next message rang clear.
“I said punch me, NOW!”
Shiba hesitated only for a moment. Then, he set his jaw and unleashed a powerful haymaker that slammed into Minato’s cheek. Minato was sent flying, crashing to the ground a solid meter away.
One moment passed. Two. In the distance, the tsunami drew closer and closer.
Then, down in the sand, Minato let out a chuckle.
“Heh.” Slowly, he picked himself up, back hunched over and face hidden from view. “Ha. Hahaha. FUAHAHAHAHA!”
Shiba watched with pure bewilderment as Minato suddenly tossed his head back and began laughing maniacally, his spear still lodged through his gut.
What in the–
Minato’s head snapped to Shiba once more. “Mythmaker Shiba!” he shouted, and this time, his voice sounded different from before. Less hollow. More genuine. “For the past seven years, I have been bound in an unending slumber. But your punch just now… It held enough conviction to wake me up. I felt your strength of heart resonate in my very soul. For that, I commend you!”
Shiba’s brows furrowed. Bound in an unending slumber? Wait… Forgotten memories from his training as a priest resurfaced. Had Minato somehow been controlled this entire time? Some sort of spiritual possession or will puppeteering? It explained everything, from his inconsistent actions to the horrific fit he’d just suffered.
But then that meant…
“Do not lose hope,” Minato thundered. “Do not falter, do not give up.” He whirled back to the tsunami, tore his spear out from his gut, and lowered into a stance. Blood steadily dripped from the tip of the spear, staining the sand below crimson. “Ayako may not be present, but that does not matter.” He grinned. “Because I am here.”
Shiba stared at him. A lump formed in his throat.
If Minato truly had broken free from whatever controlled him…
Then this was the true Minato.
This was the Pillar he had always known and admired.
This was one of the Three who earned their Title for how they always unceasingly supported the entire nation on their backs.
A small vial materialized in Shiba’s hand. His most priceless potion, the last remaining remnant from his time as a priest. He had been saving this for the final fight against the Emperor. But he felt this situation called for it.
Maybe Minato was just acting. Maybe the tsunami was actually Ascendant Archmage’s attack, and this was all some elaborate buff or psychological ploy.
But Shiba chose to believe in the Spear Sage.
“Minato!” he called, tossing the vial at him. His gaze was solemn. “May the Goddess be with you.”
Minato turned his head and caught the vial with his teeth in a fierce grin.
“My eternal thanks!”
He bit down on the vial with an audible crunch. Concentrated holy mana flowed into him, healing all his wounds and empowering all his stats.
Then, he disappeared.
Dear Goddess – Minato was fast!
The black sand beneath vaporized from the sheer devastating force of Minato’s charge. The Spear Sage tore forward, space bending and mana distorting. In a split second, he reached the sea, his steps boiling the water beneath. He sheared across the landscape, his spear held by his side as he approached the tsunami head-on.
“What is he doing?” Rikimaru gasped, panting as he came to a stop next to Shiba. “Is he… Is he out of his mind?”
Shiba laughed. “Perhaps. But who would ever dare accuse an Ascendant of being sane?”
The entire Resistance seemed to hold their breath as they watched the Spear Sage’s charge. Man against nature. It didn’t seem possible for Minato to be able to do anything, not against a tsunami that large and powerful.
Yet, Shiba wasn’t surprised one iota when Minato did.
Right in front of the tsunami, Minato leaped into the air, his spear held behind him.
“[SOARING SPEAR OF THE DRAGON’S FANG]!”
And Minato hurled his spear. A massive shockwave blasted outward, the shallow sea directly under him outright geysering outward to reveal the coral floor beneath. Half the Resistance was knocked off their feet, and it was with tremendous effort that Shiba stayed upright. He refused to miss a single moment of this.
As the spear soared through the air, a viridescent snarling dragon of pure mana manifested around it, glowing mana so dense and potent that it appeared almost tangible. The dragon stood just as tall as the tsunami, perhaps even taller, and in that moment, Shiba knew that Minato wouldn’t look one bit out of place if he stood next to the exalted Heroes from the Age of Heroes.
The dragon crashed into the tsunami with an earth-shattering shockwave. The tsunami slowed down, millions of gallons of water straining against the purest expression of the unyielding human will. The dragon fought and snarled, pushing the tsunami back with all its might. If the tsunami were a natural wave, then it would’ve simply flowed around it, but since the water was infused with mana, it obeyed a different set of natural laws, acting more as a single discrete entity. One that could be fought.
One that was fought.
Slowly, the tsunami came to a standstill.
Even from the shore, Shiba saw the vicious, triumphant smile that tore across Minato’s face.
“YES–!”
Then, the second tsunami struck.
It had been hidden behind the first one, roughly the same height and shape so they hadn’t seen or sensed it at all. This one held even more mana than the first, and as they collided, the two combined to form a wave a thousand meters tall. The dragon strained and snarled as Minato roared and poured more mana into the attack, but it was futile. The dragon burst apart with the sound of a million reverberating gongs, and the magical backlash sent Minato hurtling back.
He crashed into the beach like a meteor a few meters away from where Shiba was standing, a cloud of black sand billowing up. The Resistance watched in absolute silence, fearful for what they would see.
The cloud dispersed to reveal the Spear Sage utterly broken and battered. Blood poured from a dozen wounds across his entire body, his arms and legs were bent at awkward angles, and shards of bones poked out his sides. Fatal injuries by any measure.
Shiba made to turn away, not wanting to see one of the legendary Three Pillars perish before his very eyes–
He froze.
Minato was standing back up. The entire Resistance watched with wide, disbelieving eyes as despite his debilitating injuries, the Spear Sage shakily rose to his feet through nothing but sheer force of will.
“Hah,” he said, his face tearing into a grin. “Only… Only but a flesh wound–”
He collapsed.
Someone caught him.
“Sorry I’m late,” Levi Ironwood said. “That was a good stall. Well done.”
Minato weakly focused on him. “You’re…”
“Rest. I’ll take it from here.”
“You can’t be serious,” Rikimaru spat, despair overtaking his voice. “You think that you can do something here? When even an Ascendant failed? One of the Three Pillars, no less? Just who do you think you are?”
Shiba didn’t say anything. He watched Levi with narrowed eyes. While he himself didn’t really think the near-unknown adventurer from Luminarche could do anything here…
He didn’t fail to notice how Minato relaxed completely at Levi’s words.
Levi chuckled. “Many things, really. Failure, murderer, cheater...” He gently set down Minato before turning to face the tsunami. By now, it was close enough for Shiba to feel the sea spray. “But right now?”
A magnificent cloak materialized around him, billowing wildly from an unseen wind.
And he smiled.
“I think I’ll be the guy who’s gonna stop that big-ass fucking wave coming our way.”