The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 10

Prologue: The Spirit Tortoise’s Barrier

After saying our goodbyes to Kizuna and the others we were transported, and just like when being summoned to a wave, our surroundings instantly changed. We were in . . . Yes, these were familiar fields, along with their view of the Melromarc Castle Town.

“We made it back.”

Raphtalia’s voice was overflowing with emotion. I guess it did feel a bit like a homecoming.

“Looks that way.”

“Fiiinally!”

Filo seemed to feel the same way.

“We’ve returned at long last!”

Even Rishia was getting emotional. Just as I felt a sense of relief begin to settle in, a brilliant light shot out of my shield and high into the sky . . . and then faded away as if it had dissolved into the atmosphere.

“Whoa!”

“Wh . . . what was that?!”

“I’m guessing that was the Spirit Tortoise’s energy returning to this world.”

The whole Spirit Tortoise ordeal hadn’t lasted that long. Even so, there was something deeply emotional about it all. Thinking about it, it seemed short, but it had actually been a long battle.

The Spirit Tortoise was something that existed to create a barrier that would protect the world, but someone seized control of its body, and so Ost reached out to me for help. It turned out it was Kyo that had manipulated the Spirit Tortoise and inflicted great damage upon this world, and we ended up chasing him all the way to another world.

In that other world, we met Kizuna, who was one of the four holy heroes just like me. Kizuna joined us to fight Kyo, and together we made Kyo pay for what he’d done. Then we took back the Spirit Tortoise’s energy and returned to this world.

The Spirit Tortoise was one of the guardian beasts, which were monstrous creatures meant to consume the souls of living things to create a barrier that would halt the fusion of worlds—a phenomenon known as the waves.

Apparently once enough of this energy used to produce the barriers had been collected, it would be possible to make the waves stop. But even if less than the full amount of energy had been collected, it would still be possible to stall the waves for some time . . . or so I had been told.

We had taken back that energy, and now it had been released out into this world to serve its original purpose. It was a magical sight, and I had a feeling it had probably been visible from far off in the distance.

I had been staring at the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield on my arm and lost in thought when suddenly I realized something. The very last of the light had left the shield. I guess all of the energy that was stored inside had been released. Even the faint glow that had remained for a moment had now faded away.