"So you're telling me the very nation that worships our chosen candidates was the reason why your candidate ended up in a whole different world, a world that not even they had touched!?"
A place… Something, somewhere absolutely empty… A space of some sort, a space that no one has ever been in before, unless meeting… A certain circumstance. A world that is filled with the very thing that is keeping the world alive. The world of legendary and vassal weapons.
Orbs of different specific colors floating around, as if they are in a special meeting of some sort—the meeting of the weapon spirits.
And the voice of a red orb that either sounds like a child, teen, adult, old man, or woman, speaking to another green orb. The weapon of the spear speaks to the weapon of the shield.
"Indeed, I admit, I was frustrated that my first choice candidate ended up somewhere where he isn't supposed to be. But after seeing and remembering that world, I admit it is truly helpful to my candidate, even to one of my previous candidates. Seven elements, tales of true gods that aren't like our enemies who call themselves gods, and people who don't have their conflict when it comes to our weapon-selves. A world where he can truly grow and develop as a true hero!"
The Shield Spirit looks absolutely proud of what Naofumi has been doing in the month. There were even images of Naofumi's adventures while he was in the new world. A world much better suited than what the spirit's previous candidates had to endure in that mess of a world.
"Anemo? Wind magic? Heh, so your candidate won't have to deal with your affinity for healing and support magic then? He actually has an attack method to truly do damage!"
The Bow Spirit, a yellow orb, laughed as it saw the negatives of having a Shield Spirit as the picker.
"Hey! It isn't my fault that my weapon doesn't have attack power, skills, and such! Besides, he didn't have the strengthening methods of your bow that one of my candidates used while he was the Shield Hero in that era, which allowed him to attack! Plus, I believe you have chosen your candidate poorly, Bow! Your candidate looks more arrogant and prideful than any of your previous candidates!"
Images show of Itsuki's behavior over the month when he was summoned to the world that required his aid to fight the waves. As the Shield Spirit said, he looked and sounded arrogant and prideful, along with one of his party members, the one in armor.
The Bow Spirit stopped laughing as it glared at the Shield Spirit. Then a blue orb put itself between the Bow and Shield Spirits. An orb whose color looks darker than its counterpart.
"Calm down, calm down, you two. Can't we go back to discussing the world we're speaking about?"
"Tsk! Hunting Tool, you just want to talk about your candidate being in that same world as the Shield's candidate."
"And what if I am? Besides, it is good for her to finally be free of that prison that the fake Mirror Hero threw her in. She even got the Geo magic that allows her to attack humans! Even the Mirror is happy that my candidate is finally free of that prison."
The Mirror Spirit, an orb of green, similar to the Shield's but a bit darker, nodded furiously.
"Absolutely! Had I known that the pawn had been with them, then I would have immediately rejected him. But alas, I was too careless to believe that he was a suitable candidate. But at least Whip didn't make the mistake in choosing that pawn that killed the candidates of Claw, Hammer, Projectile, and Axe."
Four spirits of their respective weapon forms let out angry noises as the Whip Spirit looks truly defeated.
"At least I didn't make the mistake you made, Mirror, but that didn't stop that pawn from stealing my weapon form when he 'won' that tournament. I'm truly sorry that my weapon killed your candidates, my comrades. But at least Gauntlet manages to recover its weapon form from its location, preventing being taken by that pawn."
Another weapon spirit, the Gauntlet Spirit, whose orb was light blue, hummed in agreement.
"The moment you began to warn the others, including me, about the fake Whip Hero slaughtering the other candidates, along with the disappearance of Shield's weapon form, I realized that the world was in more danger than it already was. While my disappearance did startle the group of people that formed a line to see who I selected, it would be much better to let them believe I chose a candidate to throw off the pawn's mission to gather our weapon forms."
"A good decision indeed. Then it was a good thing you four managed to quickly escape when you received the warning. Or else you would have been enslaved to that pawn's plan, whatever mission he had to collect all of you."
The Shield Spirit spoke to the Claw, Hammer, Projectile, and Axe Spirits.
"Hammer, Projectile, Axe, and my weapon forms barely escaped when that pawn used his power on our candidates. Thankfully, we had all of you to prevent the pawn from gaining complete control of our weapon forms. But that definitely causes the pawn to think something is wrong, would either keep searching to find us or would report it to our enemy."
The Claw Spirit spoke as it showed gratitude to the four cardinal spirits.
"Then we must make haste in getting in touch with our remaining candidates about the potential incoming danger. But I doubt it will be that easy with us being spirits, and that some of our candidates are still too delusional to believe the worlds they are in are real. And that half of the Vassal weapons form is stuck with other pawns in Hunting Tool's world."
The Sword, Spear, Bow, Jewel, Blunt Instrument, Ofuda, Mirror, Book, Musical Instrument, and Harpoon all sigh in frustration, anger, annoyance, and anything negative that expresses their predicament.
The Carriage, Fan, Scythe, Boat, and Katana watched as the four of them with their true candidates, while one, the Katana Spirit, still hadn't chosen its wielder, or so the spirits thought.
"If I'm truly being honest, had I just looked at the simple fact that my candidate died because he was two-timing, then I would have chosen someone else. Because now that very candidate is being manipulated by the princess of the nation that summoned him, along with Bow and Sword's candidates. Even to him, believing any pretty woman without seeing either evidence or the facts in front of him."
The Spear Spirit said, looking back to its third choice. The images of him just accepting the red two-face princess's words easily and ignoring anything that should have made him notice the red flags.
But then again, this candidate was its third choice of picking as his first two just kept on dying early, and it had to correct the summoning. It was also said to the Bow and Sword Spirits that, for whatever reason, the Shield Spirit had been the only spirit to ever get someone of its first choice.
"I believe my candidate might be willing to listen, but I could only hope. But he truly needs to snap into reality and overcome his shyness. Perhaps I could even try communicating with him by having the gem glow, but then again, who knows how that will work."
The Sword Spirit said as it was thinking of a way to communicate with its candidate. Images of the candidate look like he is heading his way to speak with a dragon. But if it is being honest with itself, it doubts it could even speak with its candidate, let alone even try to. If he had, then it would have saved many problems in the past, but no spirit was able to speak with the chosen candidates.
"Hey, Katana, I just realized, is your weapon form still stuck on that rock, waiting for someone to be worthy of it? I'm surprised our enemy hadn't gotten to it yet."
The Scythe Spirit spoke to its fellow vassal spirit as the Katana Spirit let out a complicated sigh, which got every spirit's attention. The Katana Spirit then explained.
"You would not believe what had just happened in this very moment. But it turns out the very scroll that was used on Shield's candidate, as well as Hunting Tool's, was used on the katana. Someone who apparently found it, thankfully not a pawn, used it on my weapon form without knowing what could have happened. Thankfully, it was a very old scroll that looked like it could not last any longer, as it was ripped to shreds after it was used. But it didn't change the fact that my weapon form is now in that very world both candidates are in."
"No way! At this very moment!"
"Sadly, yes, in fact, I was actually looking at a suitable candidate to wield my weapon form. A little demi-human girl. But the moment my weapon form was sent away, I accidentally picked her up in my attempt to retrieve it. So now that girl is in a place that looked like a previous era of the country where the cardinal spirits summoned their candidates from."
"To think there were more of those scrolls out there in those two worlds! How did they manage to create such a ritual in the first place!?"
The Shield Spirit expresses its anger.
The Fan Spirit, meanwhile, thought about how it could communicate with its candidate, as she is from a Spirit race. It was thinking about how the connection could be made.
Soon, more discussions, planning, and words were heard and said. It went on for a while, but it all stopped when a sudden appearance of a faint, yet broken purple orb was weakly trying to approach the group of spirits.
"Every—! — destroyed my —! Chain ————!My—— survived. She's ———— world! — Carriage's —!"
"Wait… Sewing Set! Is that you!? Wait! Carriage! Is Sewing Set's candidate with your candidate right now?"
"...Yes! Yes, she is… And my candidate is looking at her suspiciously. I hope she doesn't kill them like how she killed the previous heroes in your world, Shield!"
—
"Who are you…? And why does that weapon feel similar to my carriage… But damaged?"
The Queen of Filolials spoke to a person who looked like she had just barely escaped with her life. She had just finished killing the wave boss to stop another wave, somewhere, nearly a nation that had a huge circle. Something she only thought of was the word colosseum.
Fitoria was in front of the girl, who she saw coming out of the wave, directly where the monsters were pouring out. At first, she thought it was an enemy, until she saw her supposed weapon with its broken gem.
A young girl is wearing clothing made of fabric and has visible stitching marks. She tried to stand up, but could barely manage to do so, so she had to use her weapon, a pair of big scissors. She opens her eyes, which are silver, along with her silver hair. The moment she lock-eyes on Fitoria, she immediately tried to speak.
"Your——!—— coming! — heroes need to be —! Enemies of the —! Dangerous —! — barely escaped!"
Fitoria only heard a few words, but the rest of what the girl was trying to say was all static. But that did not mean she didn't understand what she was trying to say. The way she appears, the way the gem of her weapon looks, it is clear to Fitoria that this individual is from another world, and by the looks of it, the girl's world has fallen.
Then suddenly, as if what the girl in front of her had tried to explain had reminded Fitoria of memories where her trust had been deceived again and again, by people who hunt and try to kill her. The ones who… That was when Fitoria realized what had happened to this girl. Ancient enemies from the deepest past, enemies that are the reason why the waves keep on appearing.
"It's them! The ones who tried to destroy Fitoria's world again and again? They destroyed your world!"
The girl nodded, hope filled in her now dull eyes as someone understood what she was trying to say.
"The heroes ———— found! ———— warned! Where——?"
She tried to say something, but the static was making Fitoria unable to understand her, but the words that she did manage to hear… She honestly wasn't sure if she could bring herself to appear before the heroes again.
But before she could say anything, a filolial appeared, looking frightened and scared. It chirps, speaking the language that only Fitoria can understand. But the moment she heard what it said, her eyes widened in utter disbelief.
"What do you mean the Shield Hero was exiled from this world!? Where did you hear this?"
The silver-haired girl with the scissors widened her eyes in shock when she heard this.
The filolial chirps again, explaining that it overheard a little blue dress human with other humans wearing silver things, that how much of a mess the humans in Melromarc had caused when they summoned the four heroes while sending away the Shield Hero to a different world. How they managed to do it was unknown to the filolial, but it overheard that they used something that could send away a legendary hero.
Fitoria was in pure shock that she couldn't even say anything. And yet, it explains why the waves have been growing stronger, because of the disappearance of one cardinal hero! But as if it wasn't enough, she heard something that shook her to the core.
"Even the seven weapons, five of them, the ones similar to my carriage, are now missing!"
The silver-haired girl now felt like she was going to faint any second now. As if a missing cardinal hero wasn't bad enough to hear. Even the five vassal weapons of this world are missing as well! She escaped to a world to warn them of the impending doom, only to hear that half of the weapons are missing. Did she arrive too late to warn them, or had it just happened recently?
The filolial continues to chirp, as if it were trying to explain something they manage to gain information about. Fitoria listens carefully, thinking about the information, then with a nod, she shoo away the filolial as it bows before leaving.
Fitoria's expression turns extremely serious as she turns to the girl, as she notices her expression. Fitora summons her carriage as it snaps the girl out of her shock state.
"We must make contact with the three remaining legendary heroes, and the two remaining Seven Star Heroes!"
The girl looked at Fitoria and the carriage, which she now believes is the Vassal Carriage. Suddenly, the motivation to help this world filled her up with determination. It may be a mess right now, but she can still help the best she can, even if she can no longer communicate properly.
With that, the two entered the carriage, as Fitoria had decided on who they should contract first, the Sword Hero.
"Portal…"
With a single word, the carriage immediately vanished to the location where the Sword Hero is heading. A place that Fitoria had wished for the Sword Hero to have been, anywhere other than heading towards a specific species that she didn't like in the slightest. Or at all.
—
"What do you mean, Chris can no longer feel Kizuna!?"
A red-eyed, pale, attractive, long raven-haired woman in a black kimono yelled in worry, anxiety, and fear. With a fan that has a purple gem. And she is currently yelling at a young boy with light silver hair, in heavy robes, while holding a staff. His eyes are sharp, red, and black. And there is a boat that he is standing on and floating.
The young boy looked startled but quickly calm as he tried to explain what he was trying to say, as a man with red hair with a scythe on his back, trying to hold back his companion from doing anything rash.
"Calm down, Glassy, give Ethnobalt the chance to speak."
The red-haired man somewhat manages to calm down the woman named Glass as she looks at Ethnobalt with pure seriousness in her eyes. Ethnobalt first thanked L'arc for calming Glass down, and was thinking how to say this without causing too much harm to Glass, but knew she had to be told anyway, so he braced himself.
"I believe that where Kizuna was after she went missing, she is no longer in that place, or within this world. Chris can only trace either you or her within your world, but apparently, it seems he can no longer track her, because if Kizuna were still in our world, then Chris would have immediately found her with a map. Or at least felt like she had felt her like times before. The location where she was only made Chris feel her presence for a moment before he could; it was like that ever since she first went missing.
"But because she isn't here anymore, Chris could still feel her, but it is so tiny that she doesn't know which world she manages to get herself in. Apparently, at least in my theory, she managed to get herself into another world. I don't know which world, but she is currently away from our world."
Glass was quiet for a moment, which made the red-haired man, including a woman with light blue hair and a jewel on her forehead.
"So the chances of her being in other worlds with other heroes are certain?"
Her voice was asking, like a desperate woman just trying to find the other half of her life. Ethnobalt slowly nodded.
"Yes, I believe so. How is it possible? I am not sure. I have a theory about what may have happened to her… Kizuna was in the Infinite Labyrinth."
The moment Ethnobalt mentioned the location, it caused Glass, L'arc, and Therese to widen their eyes in pure shock, but Glass was the most shocked of the three. They heard of that labyrinth, and rumoured it was inescapable, and no one knows what even inside that prison. And that it was unheard of for anyone who ever entered to manage to escape.
The moment Ethnobalt said the location, Glass nearly fainted before Therese caught and kept her awake by shaking her.
"Glass, Ethnobalt said Kizuna was in that prison, which means Kizuna must have found some way inside to escape if Chris couldn't be able to fully locate her."
"Which also means it is proven that Mikakage is truly responsible for putting Kizuna there. Because that inescapable prison is located there. And given how we had no idea where she was, or found nothing that linked to her sudden disappearance, which means the bastards there got a jump on her, given her weapon's disadvantage against humans."
L'arc said with pure seriousness in his tone. Gone was the usual tone he would use. Glass looks at L'arc for a moment.
"Then normally we would already declare them as our enemies for trapping Kizuna, but unless we actually have proof of their involvement in imprisoning the best we could do is just declare them as our enemies."
"As if that was already easy enough to do, Glassy, considering how every country in this world is already at odds with one another. Still, if Kizuna is in another world, then it could be possible that we could find her by hopping in one of the wave cracks. The researchers did find notes that said we can technically travel to other worlds by the waves."
Glass nodded, recalling what the researchers found.
"Then it is best if the next wave timer reaches zero, I should travel to another world from the waves to see if I could find Kizuna, whichever world I end up in. If not, then I can just kill the four legendary heroes there."
The text the researchers found explains that if another world's cardinal heroes are killed during the wave, the world is destroyed, leading its energy to go to a surviving world to extend its lifespan and delaying its destruction. Why it was known to them is because the texts are found in L'arc country, so only the three of them know about it.
The three cardinal heroes of this world aren't taking their roles seriously and only focus on politics and influence. And Kizuna was by far the only cardinal hero actually active despite not being in the waves herself even after she went missing. And that was before the waves began appearing.
And it was desperate as waves kept on appearing, and the three other heroes, which included some vassal heroes, weren't doing anything. Only Glass and L'arc are taking the waves seriously.
Before any more could be said, one of L'arc's advisors came rushing in, calling out to his majesty as L'arc looked puzzled.
"Whoa, hey, calm down! Is something the matter?"
The old man took deep breaths before looking up to L'arc.
"My king! We heard rumors from Raybul… The Vassal Katana… It's missing!"
This caused everyone to be silent until L'arc spoke.
"Explain!"
"We weren't sure if what we heard was true, so we had someone there to investigate. And they came back with information. A person was using a scroll, a chant, or something to possibly attempt to make the Vassal Katana his, but the moment he finished chanting, the weapon vanished, from what I've been told. A huge manhunt was issued to locate whoever took or became the new wielder, but no one could find the katana.
"The man who had the scroll was questioned and executed as the scroll he had was ripped to pieces, but still couldn't get answers about the whereabouts of the katana, as the man did not have it."
This was not good news to anyone at all. Everyone knew the Vassal Katana had not been chosen by anyone so far, but to hear that it was missing. Truly cause shock and confusion. Especially if a Vassal Weapon is now missing. Now the world's survival is more desperate by that information alone.
—
Meanwhile, back in Teyvat, the location was at the top of a mountain where a shrine is located, where sakura trees stand, and sakura blooms are falling and landing on the ground. Shrine maidens work to keep the shrine clean or sell charms or fortune slips. With one very unique shrine maiden, wearing a unique miko outfit, who is currently reading a novel manuscript that was recently sent to be published.
The woman with pink hair, a beautiful figure, fox ears, and looking bored but waiting for something. A shrine maiden came and bowed to the fox woman as she looked and spoke.
"Maki, how is our little tanuki guest? Have you and the others managed to heal all those terrible scars that are on her?"
The shrine maiden Maki spoke up.
"Miss Miko, we managed to heal the scars that were on that poor little girl. But it seems whatever she went through or who she was with that did that to her, caused her immense trauma as she woke up screaming and crying, regarding her parents. We managed to calm her down, but we believe the nightmare she woke up from won't be the last."
Yae Miko nodded before asking Maki another question.
"And the katana that was on her?"
"We couldn't get it off of her. It was like it was stuck in her hands. We found out we can move it as long as it remains physically touching her body. But overall, it is the most unique katana we have ever seen."
Yae Miko nodded as she took out, laid the manuscript on the ground, and headed inside the shrine with Maki following her. Yae saw the little girl sleeping with another shrine maiden putting on new bandages and healing ointments on her. A little girl with tanuki ears and tail, and on her hands was that strange katana with a green gem.
Yae Miko admits that the katana is the most unique katana she has ever seen. She approached and sat beside the girl as she ruffled her hair gently. She then looks at the gem as she gives it a tap, but nothing happens.
"I wonder what disgusting monster would do such a thing to her."
Yae mutters as the other shrine maiden, Kano Nana, nods, agreeing with her.
"Truly, a pure heartless monster did so much harm to this girl. But Miss Miko, there is something I've noticed."
Yae look with interest.
"When I was changing her bandages, one of the old ones got near that particular gem, and the gem glowed as the bandage went inside the gem before I could do anything. Out of curiosity, I put the used ofuda by the gem as well, but it did nothing, until I moved the ofuda to directly touch the gem, and it did the same thing. I believe what happened was that the katana stored the bandage and ofuda inside the gem."
Yae hummed in fascination, to her, storing items was something a Vision could do, yet this katana seemed to hold the same ability as it.
"Perhaps once this little one awakens, I will calmly ask her questions regarding her origins and the katana. Maki, Kano, once I get what I need, I will later ask you both to fetch me Ayaka and Sayu. Ayaka, in case this little one does need to learn how to wield a katana, and for Sayu to possibly teach her techniques to the girl as well. But not immediately, this little tanuki does need to heal after all."
The two shrine maidens nodded and left the room, going back to their duties as Yae's smile turned to a genuine curiosity.
"Truly, this day has been interesting. But make no mistake, I hope whoever did this to you will have all their sins crawl against their backs. Still, it is fascinating. The only thing I heard of a green gem on a weapon was that special shield Makoto once told everyone about. I wonder if you came from that very world where the Shield Hero originally came from."