Chapter 210: The Heart

  The look Destiny was giving Prota was likely one of doubt. Well, that was fair. The quest they’d taken definitely seemed like some kind of trap.

  It’d taken some convincing to get him here. Even Albert had personally come out, strongly opposed to two children taking on such a dangerous quest.

  It was such an event that had caused Prota to realize just how different her current life was.

  To begin with, taking the quest wasn’t forced, and it wasn’t being used to garner respect. Draco wasn’t here to pass it off to them, and Albert wasn’t the one who’d suggested it. The most important thing, though, was how early they were taking this quest. She wasn’t sure if there would be consequences to this, but at this point, such a thing wasn’t worth worrying about.

  Ultimately, a small but somewhat messy series of events had led to their current situation.

  “...training?”

  “Nn. Training,” Prota nodded. “Inside. Haunted armour. Won’t die. Good training.”

  “But- wait, hold on, are you saying you know how to train me?”

  “Destiny is too weak right now,” Prota pointed out. “And I can’t wake up power.”

  “Wake up… what? What are you talking about?”

  “God Slaying Sword,” Prota sighed. “Last time… someone else did it. But I can’t do it. So this time, different way. Ok?”

  Destiny might have been troubled. It was hard to tell with his mask on. Still, after closing his eyes for a moment, he nodded.

  “You know about- right, you already know about that. Fine. I get it. After seeing your strength… I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I? So, how am I supposed to train?”

  Prota turned to him, somewhat confused.

  “Um… fight.”

  “Fight? There’s no, like, training plan? No goal? You just want me to fight?”

  “Last time… Destiny woke up power because someone almost died. I can’t do that. Um. Can’t almost die. So Destiny has to figure it out on his own this time.”

  Suddenly, Prota was forced out of the body as Anta took over.

  “Ah, seriously, that girl has no idea how to explain things… look.” Anta walked up to Destiny poking him in the chest. “Do you not understand your own ability? Your sword allows you to cut through anything, and that’s not an exaggeration. If you put your mind to it, you can cut through mana, time, space, even gods. I mean, the name is pretty self explanatory.”

  “But-”

  “We don’t know how to activate it. There was a guy who sort of understood in our past life, but he’s not around right now. Then, even still, he didn’t actually know how to activate your ability. So it’s something you’re going to have to figure out yourself, got it? There are some other reasons we’re here, but this is one of them, so you’d better start putting some effort in.”

  “I… alright. Thanks for trying, guys.”

  With that, Anta gave control back to Prota, who began walking toward the mansion. She heard Destiny muttering something about talking to two people in one body, which amused her to some extent.

  “He’s not going to wake up on his own, you know that, right?” she heard Anta sigh.

  “...nn.”

  Prota, too, sighed.

  Taking responsibility really was annoying.

  ~~~

  Prota and Destiny had been fighting for an hour, and just like before, the armour was showing no signs of relenting. Prota had been expecting this, of course.

  However, she had refrained from telling the hero that this would happen.

  “Seriously, this can’t be normal,” Destiny muttered, kicking one of the armour sets on the ground. “What’s going on here?”

  “...hm.”

  “That’s all you have to say?” Destiny sighed. “You can’t explain anything?”

  “Try a bit more,” Prota shrugged.

  “Seriously… I mean, it is good training, but there’s gotta be another reason we’re here, right? Is there…”

  His voice trailed off, and Prota could practically see the cogs turning in his head. Well, he was the [Protagonist] for a reason. Even if she hadn’t intervened, he likely would have come here on his own to begin with. Prota was only rushing the process.

  “Wait. Is something… no, but that doesn’t make sense. Haunted armour is supposed to die after a good beating. Then…”

  Destiny looked at his hand, then began to mutter a chant. A bright flame appeared, its light dancing in his eyes.

  “Do we need to stop it from reforming?”

  Prota’s eyes widened. She hadn’t even thought of that, but it was a decent idea.

  This, however, created a problem. Should she let him continue as he wanted? While she saw nothing wrong with doing so, there was always the possibility that something could go wrong. Additionally, if he did manage to permanently defeat these monsters, they’d never find what they were here for to begin with.

  However, forcing him toward their goal might create a different kind of problem. For starters, if he failed to awaken his ability here, they’d have to manage this somewhere else, and Prota couldn’t think of a more controlled environment than this one. Additionally, there was the threat factor known as the [Author]. She didn’t know what determined a “boring” story, but she did know that simply rushing to the solution was definitely something she shouldn’t do.

  “Prota?” Destiny said. “Hey. Was this the solution?”

  Prota snapped back to attention. She looked at Destiny, then the flame in his hand, then at the armour laying on the ground.

  “Nn… try it,” she shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t… huh?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “But-”

  “Might work.”

  Destiny looked like he was about to lose it, but managed to restrain himself just in time.

  “I… right. I see. But… you didn’t bring me here just to clear the quest, did you?” Destiny said quietly. “Fine. Let’s keep going.”

  Prota couldn’t say anything. All she could do was nod.

  Her nerves were slowly turning into resolve. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but slowly, she was realizing that if she wanted things to still be under control, she would need to take action.

  That action wasn’t very pleasant. But what other option did she have?

  Slowly, the two began going through every room in the house. Prota managed to speed the process up by shaking her head whenever they were somewhere that wasn’t the basement. This also meant that the two weren’t fighting as many sets of armour, but that was fine. Destiny seemed to be handling himself fine, and if he really needed more training, Prota could just spar with him.

  Eventually, they made it to their goal. Prota looked around the basement, a memory involuntarily playing in her head as she did so.

  “What kind of bet?” Fate said, lifting his mask a little to take a sip of water.

  “We’ve gotta find this source of mana or whatever, right? I’d be willing to bet that, once we do that, some giant armour is going to rise up and be some kind of final boss battle.”

  “Seriously? That’s a little…”

  John shrugged. “I dunno. It just feels like that kind of area. The boss might be something different, but… ah, it’s just a hunch. I don’t have a way to explain it.”

  Fate just stared at John. “Seriously, what kind of prediction is that?”

  “Hey, I just said I can’t explain it. It’s just a hunch.”

  Soon, they’d be facing that giant monster again. It was fascinating. Back then, it had been the strongest thing she’d ever faced, but in retrospect, it really wasn’t all that strong. It was big and heavy, yes, but it was slow and clunky, and very easy to beat once you understood its weakness.

  She was starting to see how John chose some of her training opponents. If she could understand how the enemies worked and had a good handle on how strong her allies were, choosing a suitable foe was relatively simple.

  “Prota, there’s a… oh, I get it,” Destiny muttered. “It’s a little strange, though. It’s not like modern Earth technology is supposed to exist in this world… Are there other reincarnations here besides me?”

  Prota just shrugged.

  “I’m not from Earth,” she said simply. “Sorry.”

  “Yeah, that sounds about right. Alright. Then… is this safe to push?”

  To answer the question, Prota simply walked up and pressed it. There was a loud screeching sound as the rusted hinges and gears began to turn, opening up the giant set of doors that led to the secret Prota had come here for.

  She walked up with confidence and strolled through, looking around. Sure enough, it was the same as it’d been in her past life. That much, at least, was good.

  “Destiny,” she called out. “Over here.”

  “You… well, I guess it’s fine if you’re saying it’s safe,” Destiny sighed. “All right. What am I looking at?”

  “This. It’s called… um… I forget.”

  “It looks like a blender,” Destiny said slowly. “But… again, that shouldn’t exist. Why is this here? And what is it for? There’s even a power cable… but connected to what? And what are these things inside?”

  Kit hopped down and began to trot around the area, also looking around, but she wouldn’t find anything. Prota didn’t know how either of them were meant to find the souls, let alone figure out that the things in the walls were souls to begin with, but that was fine.

  She’d been the one to find them in her past life, anyway. Then, surely that meant it was fine for her to find them this time around, too.

  Closing her eyes, she ignored the hero’s rambling, and started to look for the souls that were hidden behind a wall. Like before, she continued to search until the feeling grew strong, then blew the section wide open, revealing the stache of marbles.

  “Destiny,” she called out again.

  The hero wandered over, frowning as he saw the souls.

  “What’s this?” he asked. “It looks like some kind of power source… is that what was keeping the armour alive?”

  “Nn,” Prota nodded. “Smart.”

  “...so what are they?”

  “Souls.”

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  “Sou- what?!” Destiny exclaimed, jumping back. “Wait, what do you mean, souls? And what- what would anyone even need all of this for?”

  “Destiny,” Prota said quietly. “Three souls… enough to power armor. Not all.”

  “What?”

  Suddenly, Anta barged into Prota’s body, her facial expression shifting from sleepy to annoyed in an instant.

  “Seriously, you need to work on your explaining skills… alright. Destiny, look. Do you see that blender?”

  “Yes, but- wait, you know what a blender is? I thought you weren’t from Ear-”

  “That’s not the point. The living armour in this place was powered by just those three marbles in that blender looking thing. Do you understand how powerful each of those are?”

  “Those… wait, you’re telling me just those three marbles were able to create immortal living armour?”

  “Yes,” Anta nodded. “Do you understand? The reason this place is indestructible. The reason so many adventurers have died trying to complete this quest, the reason it’s so hard, it’s because it was a trap. This wasn’t meant to be possible in the first place.”

  “But- but why? Why would someone set up a quest- oh. Oh, my god.”

  Destiny’s eyes widened as he connected the dots.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Anta said with a grimace. “It’s a whole operation. Are you gonna do something about it?”

  The hero drew his sword prepared to strike it down, when he suddenly paused. Anta sighed.

  “What? Having second thoughts?”

  “It’s just… why tell me all this? Why involve me?” Destiny turned to Anta. “You could’ve easily solved this on your own. You’re stronger than me. We both know that. So why bring me here?”

  He pointed his sword, not at the machine, but at the girl.

  “Because you’re the hero,” Anta said simply, not batting an eye. “Didn’t Kit explain this to you? Some things can’t be changed. Trust me. Prota would love to play the hero. I think she’d be a lot more comfortable doing all this on her own. Didn’t you say you wanted to help? This is how you can help. Get stronger. Understand the dark side of this world. It’s something you have to do, because if you don’t, things will get a lot worse.”

  “But how? That doesn’t make sense. Is me learning about this going to suddenly make me stronger? You could easily teach me techniques I need to learn, right? Then what’s the point?”

  Anta stared deep into his eyes, a fierce glare on her face.

  “Hey. Hero boy. Use your lie detector, right now.”

  Destiny almost flinched. Almost. Still, his resolve remained strong as he activated his ability.

  At the moment, the only reason Anta wasn’t going off on him was because his suspicion was completely reasonable. To any normal person, this would definitely be a little fishy. However, Anta wasn’t willing to put up with more nonsense than necessary, and so she wasn’t willing to back down, either.

  “This world isn’t what you think it is. I’m not going to tell you what that is. Neither will Prota. But if we tell you something that doesn’t entirely make sense, you’re just going to have to accept it, all right? I’m not telling you to be a puppet. But I’m also telling you that it’s ok to not understand some things. I can guarantee you this. We will not betray you. We will not knowingly lead you into a trap. All right?”

  Destiny sighed, lowering his sword. “Fine. I…”

  “No, it’s not your fault,” Anta said. “You’re being smart, and that’s fine. But right now, we don’t need more conflict than necessary, alright? There are people’s lives on the line.”

  “Right,” Destiny nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  He raised his sword, glaring at the hateful machine before him, and in one swing, smashed it to bits.

  “...is that it?” Destiny frowned. “What-”

  “Nn. Dodge.”

  “Wha- Prota? When did you- And what do you mean, dodge-”

  Suddenly, a giant metal hand crashed through the ceiling, rubble and debris raining down. Destiny barely managed to roll out of the way, while Prota had already formed a barrier of ice to protect herself.

  “Dodge,” Prota said again, shrugging.

  “You’re getting a little cocky, aren’t you?” Destiny grunted, but he seemed amused. “Alright. I get it.”

  Light poured in as a giant set of haunted armour rose, its sword raised high.

  “Last one,” Prota said. “Time to kill.”

  The barrier was dismissed, and a gust of wind formed at her feet as she leapt up, landing on the thing’s arm. She began to scale the plates of metal, making her way toward the head, where an explosion launched her into the air.

  “Prota!” Destiny yelled in concern, but it was fine.

  After all, such an opponent would never even come close to touching her as long as she did her job properly.

  There was a flash of light as a Frozen Flame formed before Prota, aimed directly at the giant.

  “Go.”

  The spell flew down, creating a massive explosion as it made contact with the helmet, blowing the armour’s head smooth off. A gust of wind caught Prota as she fell back down, landing next to Destiny.

  “Wha- hey, am I even helpful?” Destiny said, amazed. “What am I even here for?”

  “Keep watching.”

  Just like last time, the metal began to reform, and the giant was moving once more.

  “Move.”

  With that, Prota was running one more, her vision focusing on the souls. Just like before, the armour had three cores in it, one in the head, chest and stomach. Technically speaking, she could end things now. She had a variety of spells that were focused enough to take them out, and this amalgamation didn’t have much defensive capabilities.

  However…

  “That was a neat trick,” Anta said. “Condensing Frozen Flames? Pretty clever. That was, what, on par with a Frozen Cannon? Have you considered shooting one of those?”

  Prota’s eyes widened. Yes, that was an option.

  “You’re pretty funny,” Anta laughed. “Using this as a training dummy. You don’t need to risk your life to do this, you know?”

  “Nn. But Destiny does.”

  “Yeah, fair enough. Have fun.”

  “Ok.”

  Anta’s suggestion was incredibly interesting. The only problem was…

  “Um… how?” Prota said hesitantly, still flying through the air. “Mana doesn’t-”

  “Oh, my god! You still don’t get it! Prota, listen to me. Your innate talent isn’t about mana. It’s about imagination! Your core is [DEM], not magic! Magic is just the thing this world has, but that’s not all you are! Think about it. Think about your talent, your ability to create new spells, all of that! Did you think you were just a one in a million talent? If that were the case, there would’ve been others like you! No, just do what you want!”

  Prota’s eyes widened.

  “You’re free, Prota. You are a [Character] in the most pure sense. Go wild.”

  Right. Mana could do anything. Of course, she was still limited by the rules of this world, but if Anta was right…

  “Ok.”

  A Frozen Flame began to form, finishing off whatever mana was left in Prota’s core, but that was fine. She had a near infinite source of mana in front of her, and she planned on using it well.

  Still, she’d have to act fast. With her current core and skills, she couldn’t cast this spell and use mana reinforcement on her body at the same time. In short, this had to be done quickly.

  Thankfully, her skill in creating the vortex necessary to shoot spells at incredible speeds was, at this point, but a minor inconvenience. The only complication was ensuring the spell wouldn’t fizzle out while moving.

  Well, it was fine even if it did. After all, she’d compressed the Frozen Flame to be at least three times stronger than usual. If this didn’t hold, she didn’t know what would.

  The primary concern Prota had, however, was the destructive firepower of the spell. Frozen Flame was an explosive spell in nature, not one meant to penetrate high levels of defence, so the high levels of speed weren’t entirely required. Frozen Cannon had a similar issue, but because it could be shaped as an icicle, it was to be used against opponents that even Frozen Bullet couldn’t pierce.

  Frozen Flame, however, wasn’t an ice based attack. It was more of a flame based attack that used ice to lower an enemy’s defense before striking. If this spell were to be effective, she would need to detonate it while it was moving, something she didn’t know was possible.

  But if what Anta said was right, possible wasn’t something she’d ever have to worry about.

  “Ok. Here we go.”

  There was an explosive bang as the spell shot forward, a blue blur flying through the air, aimed straight at the amalgamation’s chest. Even as she was falling, she managed to keep track of the spell, pointing at it with a pair of finger guns.

  “Bang.”

  At first, there was silence. Then, the metal froze over for a brief second before a massive explosion ripped the metal to shreds, shaking the ground and whatever walls were left standing.

  “Wha- Prota?!” Destiny yelled. “Was that you?”

  She landed, albeit a little roughly, but she was fine.

  “Nn,” she nodded. “New spell.”

  “Wha- I thought you were leaving things to me?”

  “Sorry. Wanted to try it out.”

  “You’re just like Kit, I swear,” Destiny muttered, his eyes glowing as his sword was coated with blue flames. “Fine. I assume it’s not dead?”

  Prota looked toward the rubble, eyes glowing as she scanned for a mana signature.

  “Nn,” she nodded. “One left.”

  “One- huh?”

  Prota didn’t bother explaining. She just pointed toward the scrapyard of metal that was slowly reassembling itself.

  “Aim for the chest,” she said simply. “Good luck.”

  “Good- dammit!”

  Destiny ran forward, even while muttering to himself, and got to work. The monster swung, but its arms were too clunky, its movements too slow to keep up with the hero. Even at this stage in his life, the boy was good.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  “Argh!” Prota heard him yell. “Seriously, how am I supposed to cut through something this big? This is impossible!”

  Still, he was going to work at it, slicing over and over again, but the cuts just kept healing. Of course, Prota had been expecting this. If he didn’t take down the core, he would never get it done, and at this stage, he didn’t know how to sever the flow of mana with his ability. That was something he wouldn’t figure out until he was taught by Kit’s mentor himself, and even then, it had been something John had taught, not a Mystic.

  This ability was what had nearly defeated John, and what had forced a [Reset] more than once. Then, if she could nurture it early…

  Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts as a fox nudged her leg.

  “...Kit?” Prota said, surprised.

  The fox looked at the ongoing battle.

  “He’s ok.”

  The fox continued to look.

  “...ok,” Prota sighed. “Fine. One more.”

  As if to question her words, Kit tilted her head. The message was clear.

  What if she was wrong?

  For a moment, Prota began to doubt herself. If this failed or went wrong, there was likely no going back. She was risking it all on this one gut feeling that was based in a very unstable source.

  Still, she had faith. In what, she wasn’t sure, but her heart was telling her this would all work out in the end.

  “If something goes wrong… tell Destiny, chest. Ok?”

  With that, she ran forward, charging toward the battle that was beginning anew.

  “Destiny!” she yelled, waving her arms. “Here!”

  “Wha- Prota? Hey, how do I beat this thing?”

  Prota didn’t answer. To be honest, she didn’t really know how to act convincingly, but that was fine. It would only be a little longer until Destiny could take over, anyway.

  She fired a weak icicle at the amalgamation’s foot, drawing its attention.

  “Prota? What are you-”

  She looked up, her heart racing. Was this how John had felt? No, he likely hadn’t cared at all. If anything, he’d probably seen it more as a bother than anything else.

  Then, surely she could do the same.

  She looked up. Destiny was probably too far away to hear her, but that was fine.

  “Good luck,” she muttered. “Hero.”

  Then, the boot of the armour slammed into her body, sending her flying into the forest nearby. She watched as Destiny reached out, his glowing golden eyes the last thing in her mind before passing out.

  “Prota!”