"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
I screamed to match the roar, catching the shadow's arm with my shield.
It didn't hurt. Didn't even tickle.
"GYA!?"
The black shadow—the bastard had been mocking me, but now its mouth twisted in shock.
Pathetic.
"Die!"
I caught the blow and hurled the black shadow away.
The enormous black shadow went flying with a cry of surprise.
"GYAOOOOOO!"
But the giant black shadow paid my attack no mind, immediately scrambling to its feet and charging right back at me.
…So I still can't use this shield to attack the enemy.
Useless.
Undeterred, the black shadow extended its arms and tail from behind to pummel me.
"Not getting through!"
With a resonant clang, every one of the black shadow's attacks had zero effect on me.
"Ha ha… Are you an idiot?"
But I had no way to finish it off.
The moment I thought that, black flames erupted around me, scorching the giant black shadow's arms and tail.
"GYAOO!?"
The shadow toppled in shock at what had happened.
"Huh… So this counterattack effect has that much offensive power?"
The shadow tried to back away from me in fear.
"Wha—begging for your life now? As if I'd forgive you!"
I slowly began to chant the skill.
"Iron Maiden!"
But the skill didn't activate. Instead, the skill tree floated into view before my eyes.
Shield Prison → Change Shield (Attack) → Iron Maiden.
Activation conditions?
What a pain. Fine, I'd just charge at the shadow on purpose and trigger the counter effect.
"Just you wait…I'll kill you for sure…"
As I closed in, the killing intent and rage I radiated made the shadow flail its arms in terror.
I slammed my shield into it and set the black flames blazing across its body.
The fire burned away its flesh and melted its bones.
Not enough firepower…I wanted to annihilate its very existence.
"——!"
I see… So the Shield of Wrath apparently grows more powerful the more I lose myself to rage.
That's easy enough.
All I had to do was remember the feelings I held toward those bastards.
Malty Sfia… Her real name was Malty, wasn't it?
Just recalling the name made fury surge up inside me.
Next: the scum king, Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki.
I replayed every single thing they had done to me.
I hated them… I wanted to kill them…
My rage bled into the crimson shield, dyeing it black.
"This time I'll kill you…all of you…"
I caught the shadow's arm and incinerated everything with the flames of wrath.
In an instant, the fire engulfed the shadow's entire body, devouring all.
Then someone touched my hand.
Thump…
It was… that same gentle warmth from that time…
"Even if every person in the world tries to blame Naofumi-sama for what happened, I will tell them otherwise…over and over, that Naofumi-sama did no such thing."
…Huh?
My blackened, distorted vision wavered ever so slightly.
Somewhere in my heart, a restless feeling warned me that if I gave in to this rage, I would lose what mattered most.
I wanted to deny it. But…
"Please, believe me. I am convinced that Naofumi-sama has committed no crime whatsoever. A great Shield Hero who shared precious medicine to save lives and taught me how to survive and how to fight…I am your sword, and I will follow you no matter how arduous the path."
A voice whispered to me.
I couldn't let myself be swallowed by this killing intent.
I had to protect her.
Have I… forgotten my anger?
…I haven't forgotten. But more than that, I wanted to repay the person who believed in me with all her heart.
Are you defying me?
I don't like taking orders. I decide my own path!
…That dark voice had always been watching for an opening…
The black voice receded, and my vision cleared just a little.
"Cough! Cough!"
When I came to, Raphtalia was clutching my hand tightly, fighting to suppress her coughing.
"A-Are you alright!?"
She was badly burned.
There were no enemies here that could use fire.
What on earth… what happened…?
Oh…
I had dragged her into the Shield of Wrath's exclusive effect—Self Curse Burning.
"Raphtalia!"
"Cough—"
Raphtalia smiled as she crumpled to the ground.
Because of me… Raphtalia was gravely wounded.
『The Shield Hero, source of all power, commands it! Read the principles once more and heal this person!』
"Fast Heal!"
『The Shield Hero, source of all power, commands it! Read the principles once more and heal this person!』
"Fast Heal!"
『The Shield Hero, source of all power, commands it! Read the principles once more and heal this person!』
"Fast Heal!"
『The Shield Hero, source of all power, commands it! Read the principles once more and heal this person!』
"Fast Heal!"
I kept casting the spell until my mana ran dry.
Raphtalia… Raphtalia was the only person who had ever believed in me!
The burns were severe.初级 healing magic wasn't enough. I needed to get to the carriage quickly and use the Heal Ointment.
"GYAOOOOOOO!"
When I turned around, the Dragon Zombie roared and brought down its unburned arm along with a breath attack straight at us.
"Don't get in my way!"
I raised my shield and caught the Dragon Zombie's attack.
The shield glowed black and tried to activate Self Curse Burning.
"Stop!"
As if responding to my voice, the shield went silent.
If it activated here, it would burn Raphtalia to death along with everything else.
I couldn't allow that. But continuing to endure the poison breath like this would take too heavy a toll on Raphtalia's vitality.
As if responding to my will, the shield used Self Curse Burning to burn away only the poison breath. But the output wasn't enough to actually destroy the enemy.
What could I do?
The shield constantly fed me killing intent and rage, and I was barely keeping it suppressed through sheer force of will—but I could be consumed by anger again at any moment.
Right now, I needed to get back to the carriage and treat Raphtalia as fast as possible.
My will was held together by barely enough—just the determination to protect Raphtalia.
"GYA!?"
While we were locked in that back-and-forth, the Dragon Zombie suddenly let out a strange sound and began clawing at its chest, writhing in agony.
"Wh-what is…"
What was going on? Was the flame from Self Curse Burning corroding it?
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Eventually, the Dragon Zombie stopped moving entirely and reverted to a lifeless corpse.
Now was not the time to analyze what had happened.
I looked around—the Poison Flies that had been buzzing everywhere were gone. The Dragon Zombie's rampage must have scared them off somewhere.
I carried Raphtalia back to the carriage, applied the Heal Ointment and an improvised burn-healing herbal poultice to her wounds, and then gave her an Antidote to drink.
"Ah…Naofumi-sama."
Raphtalia's breathing had calmed. She opened her eyes and smiled at me.
"Are you okay!?"
"Yes… thanks to Naofumi-sama's medicine…"
Still, the burns were pretty bad. The simple burns had healed thanks to the medicine, but… some kind of black magical effect, I guessed—dark marks remained. They were slowly getting better, but healing was sluggish.
"M-Me… rather than me… hurry and… the dragon…"
"The Dragon Zombie isn't moving anymore."
"That's not what I mean… you need to dispose of the corpse quickly…"
"…Alright."
Raphtalia's gaze was firm, reminding me that I needed to deal with the dragon's corpse.
"Is it safe to leave you here?"
"I can fight well enough to protect myself."
"Okay… understood."
I stepped down from the carriage and walked toward the dragon's corpse.
I had to dissect it and have the shield absorb the materials.
And Filo… I had to at least drag her remains out and give her a proper burial…
When I approached the corpse, I could see the innards wriggling and squirming inside.
What the hell was about to happen now…?
As things stood, I barely had any means of fighting.
The Shield of Wrath…
This dangerous shield that eroded the mind possessed immense defensive power and devastating counterattacks.
But my mind couldn't take keeping it active all the time, so I had already swapped to the Chimera Viper Shield.
Still, I stayed ready to switch at a moment's notice.
I drew close to the corpse.
The writhing stopped at one spot, and something tore through the stomach to emerge!
"Pwahhh!"
There, drenched in decomposing fluid from head to toe, was a familiar bird pulling itself out of the dragon's carcass.
"Phew… I finally got out!"
"Filo!? You're alive!? Are you hurt?"
"Yup. I'm not hurt at all."
"Then… what was all that blood when you got swallowed?"
"Blood? When the dragon swallowed me, it squished my tummy and I threw up my food."
Filo had been eating those red fruits that looked like tomatoes—so she threw them up and it looked like blood!?
She had indeed been stuffing her face before the fight.
"Don't scare me like that! I thought you were dead!"
"An attack like that doesn't even tickle Filo!"
What a monster, this bird.
Well, she was technically a monster, but still…
Seriously… she'd really scared the hell out of me.
"Master, were you worried about Filo~?"
"Like hell I was."
"Master's blushing~"
"Next time, should I put you down myself?"
"No waaay."
Sigh… as long as she was safe, that was all that mattered.
Filo was grinning and it was pissing me off. Just you wait.
"So what happened in there?"
"Yep! I tore my way through this dragon's tummy and found a big crystal that was glowing purple…"
"Huh…"
Could that be it?
Was that massive crystal the core that had been animating the Dragon Zombie's body?
Filo had emerged from around the chest area… the heart, then.
But why would something like that be in there…
Because it was a dragon? The magic power that remained in its body after death had crystallized in the unattended corpse and reanimated it…
That was possible.
"So… what happened to the crystal?"
"Gefuuuuuuu!"
Yeah. That reaction could only mean one thing—she ate it. And her belly was still glowing a little.
I wanted to smack this kid…
"I had a tiny bit left. A souvenir for Master."
Saying that, Filo popped a small purple shard into my hand.
…What to do with it.
I split it in half and fed one piece to the shield.
As expected, the skill tree and level weren't enough to unlock anything.
"Raphtalia's hurt, so Filo, you're going to help me clean up this corpse."
"Okay~!"
Seriously… this bird never failed to surprise me.
Watching Filo, I thought to myself.
It was a good thing I hadn't given in to my rage back there.
I'd swapped shields to avenge Filo, but in the end I'd completely lost myself to anger.
If Raphtalia hadn't stopped me, I probably would have burned Filo too.
Wrath… the cursed shield.
It had even seized the consciousness of a Hero—what had it been trying to make me do?
All I could say was that, had things continued as they were, I would have gone off to kill every last one of them.
…At the very least, back then, that was the only thought in my head.
"Dig in~!"
"Hey Filo, that meat is rotten! Don't eat it!"
"Meat is best when it's starting to go bad, Master~"
"It's not starting to go bad—it's completely rotten!"
Without any sense of tension, the disposal of the Dragon Zombie was finished.
There were bones, meat, skin, and all sorts of things, but none of it was enough to fill the skill tree.
Still, the Dragon Zombie's hide and the dragon's bones looked like they could be useful materials, so I loaded what I could onto the carriage.