My, my, my, what interesting situations everyone is in. Between Mav and the rest of our main team heading off to deal with the spirit turtle, to the other three heroes going off on their own to face the turtle, to Ayuma and Fitoria meeting for the first time. What will come from them all? You'll find out soon. I'm going be making more adjustments to this story. I'm shortening the spirit turtle arc even more and merging it and my planned Act 4 into one act. So, we're technically in the final Act of this whole story now. The end is beginning. Now, let's not waste anymore time! Enjoy!

-POV: Shulu-

When the early morning came around, we all gathered together and headed off for the Eastern countries. The queens servants used teleportation magic to ensure we got there as quick as possible, and they placed us in a town that was already in view of the Spirit Turtle monster. In fact, we could see it over the horizon, or, at least we could see the mountain atop its huge shell. 

"So that's the thing we have to take down, eh? My god, it's enormous." Maverick said as we all agreed with him. Some guards from the royal family of this country were waiting for us upon arrival and they escorted us all to their base of operations. There we met all the leaders of each country. And, things weren't looking to good here at all. 

"What are the five heroes doing!? The only one present is the shield hero!!! From what I've heard, the whereabouts of the bow, spear, and sword heroes are currently unknown!!! And the axe hero is still missing as well!!" The king of this country roared with fury at the queen and Naofumi.

"It is the heroes responsibility to save the world!! Did they run away fearing their own lives!!?? Despicable! This will be Melromarc's responsibility, right!?" Several of the other leaders shouted and questioned, but we all remained silent, following the orders the queen gave us so she could do all the talking.

"Firstly, let me apologize for causing this misunderstanding. The bow, spear, and sword heroes went to stop the Spirit Turtle. The moment they were informed of its awakening, they made their way to this country before we could and have already engaged it. However, their current situation is unknown. And, as for the missing axe hero, I was hoping to ask if anyone from any of your countries had seen her at all. But, if all of you are questioning her whereabouts, then I see no point in asking. In midst of this confusion, I apologize for the lateness of this information." The queen spoke to the other leaders. 

"But the Spirit Turtle is still moving, right!? Are those three heroes already-" The leaders began to question but the queen cut them all off. 

"Those three heroes are still in good health. Most likely, they're next to the turtle as we speak, still fighting it." The queen spoke to everyone. 

"Is that true?" Naofumi asked her. 

"Yes. We received word from my spies before we left. And, if an accident would happen, we would let you know immediately." The queen said to him. 

"Are we..... So, if three of the heroes can't slow it down or destroy it, are we just supposed to watch the Turtle trample over our entire country?" Another one of the leaders questioned. 

"Not quite. It's our turn now. Unfortunately, because those three heroes haven't yet subdued the Spirit Turtle, we have no choice but to learn from the methods of the ancients. We, the allied forces, will establish a magic unit and attempt to seal the Spirit Turtle's heart." The queen explained. 

"A magic unit!? Do we even have the numbers to pull it off!?" Some of the leaders asked as the queen continued. 

"We've found the book which describes how the ancient heroes sealed the Spirit Turtle originally. But to recreate that, we require a large amount of people." The queen said as all the leaders began to mutter to themselves. 

"We have our army but is that enough men? How do we get on top of the creature? It's so big and is still moving...." The leader said. 

"We have a plan. Please, lend us your strength." The queen asked of the leaders as the king of this country stood up from where he sat and smashed his fist down on the table of maps before us all. 

"And how to you suppose we destroy the core, or even the heart of this great creature, your majesty!? As I recall, it requires grand magic or an equal force to destroy them, and if you're information you told me yesterday was correct, your son, the king of Melromarc, is incapable of using his grand magic spell! He passed it to the axe hero, and she's run off!! Without that magic, we have no way of harming the heart and core of this creature!!" The king roared as Alex stood up to oppose him. 

"We are aware, sir, now sit down!!!" Alex screamed back at him as the entire room went silent. 

"I know what I did and I do not regret passing my grand magic to my wife, the axe hero. Had I have not done it our country, your country, and the rest of the world would be dead right now. And do you really think we would've come here if we didn't already have a solution to this problem!? So sit down, your majesty and listen to what we have to say!!" Alex furiously shouted as the other king glared back at him as he sat down in his chair. 

"My son, sit down this instant." The queen said to Alex as he also sat down. 

"Now then, our plan. Including the magic unit which will be used to seal away the Spirit Turtle, there will also be the destroyer unit lead by the shield hero. Their first step is to remove the head of this creature. By doing so, it becomes possible to enter the innards of the Turtle. And then upon entry, the shield hero and his team will locate both the heart and core of the Turtle. The shield hero, as well as, the axe hero's brother here will combine their might into a combination attack that may rival that of a grand spell, destroying the core and leaving the heart vulnerable." The queen explained as doubt rose within all of the other leaders. 

"The shield hero isn't capable of such spells, and this boy you speak of, the axe hero's brother, what kind of magic does he wield? Because i'm sure it isn't enough, even with the aid of the shield hero." One of the leaders asked. 

"Maverick Saruwatari wields both Dark and Ice magic. And it's true, neither of them currently have the power to rival a grand spell. But, we have the means of matching it when the time comes. The axe hero may not be here, but we possess her mighty weapon." The queen explained as Maverick took the axe out of the strap on his back to show them all. 

"And how does this solve our problem!? This boy is no axe hero, let alone any cardinal hero! What makes you believe he can help us destroy the Turtle!? He can't even use the weapon!! Had the actual axe hero not have run away like a sniveling coward, we would not be in this hopeless situation!!" The king said as Maverick stood up.

"Listen to me, you so-called king. My sister is no coward. She is the bravest person I know, the bravest to ever exist. Her reason for leaving is justified and now, she's left her duty to me. While I may not be the axe hero, I can still use her weapon. It'll grant me enough strength to ensure we can defeat this great beast. I can assure you of that, so stop saying my sister is a useless coward!! We don't need her, and she won't come to help regardless!!! An while it may not be official, I will take up her mantle!! I will be the new axe hero!" He shouted to the king as the king walked over and stood right in front of him, glaring down at Maverick with intensity.

"You're nothing but a weak boy with a weapon meant for another. You will be the reason my country dies. But the blame will be on your sister. And here me, you stupid child. I will do all in my power when this is all over, I will use what remaining forces I have left to hunt down your sister. I will invade Melromarc or any other country she is hiding in and I will bring her to justice. And when I split her skull with my own hands, a new axe hero will take her place. One that'll surely know what they're doing." The king said as the queen now stood up an looked at both of them. 

"That is enough!! Both of you, cease this childish behavior!! In order to succeed, we must work together, not be at each others throats! Now, sit down. There is more to discuss." The queen said to them as they never once took their eyes off of each other. But, before either of them could go to sit down, a guard ran into the room. 

"Sir, it's nearing! We suspect it'll only be 20 minutes until the creature arrives!" The guard explained to the king. 

"What!? What about the three heroes!? What're they doing!?" The king asked them. 

"Sir, they've just disappeared! They're nowhere around the Turtle now! We suspect they found a way to climb on top of it but we're not sure! No one was able to see what happened!" The guard explained as nearly everyone stood up simultaneously. 

"What!? They've all just disappeared!? Oh terrific! What did those three idiots do now!?" Naofumi said as everyone began to head outside. This city was next to a large valley and we could see the Spirit Turtle was coming right through it. In mere minutes it would be trampling everything here.

"We've gotta stop that thing! Everyone, to the carriage!" Naofumi ordered as Filo turned herself into her bird form. The destroyer squad gathered into a carriage that the king graciously gave us upon arrival and we headed off down a path towards the Spirit Turtle. 

"Everyone knows what we've gotta do, right!? Whatever it takes, we've gotta take the head off that massive creature!" Naofumi said as we all cheered with him. It didn't take us long to reach the Turtle as we stopped about 100 meters from one of its huge legs. This beast was ginormous, enormous, gigantic, and colossal all rolled into one. They really weren't lying when they said it was the size of a literal mountain. 

"What in all hell are we supposed to do to that thing!?" Xev questioned as it was honestly the same for everyone else. 

"Everyone go for its legs! If we can make it fall then it'll slow it down! And it may just give us our shot to take off its head!" Naofumi ordered as everyone went into battle against this monstrous creature.

"Feline Transformation!!" I said as my cat-like features grew on my body. My hands and feet grew claws and a cat tail grew from my lower back, as did whiskers from my face. I took off faster than everyone else towards the Turtle's front left leg. It had just brought it down to the ground, making it seem like a small earthquake had just happened. 

"My claws should help me climb up its leg! And, if I can get to its neck, I may be able to start scratching and tearing through its skin!" I thought as I arrived at the leg. I leaped up into the air and bared my claws into the tough skin of this huge creature. It had just begun to lift the leg as well so my timing couldn't have been any more perfect. 

"Shulu, look out!!!" I heard Maverick shout to me as I looked down to him. He was pointing above me so I looked straight up and saw hundreds of objects coming towards me. They all varied in size and when they got closer I saw they were all different creatures. Majority were bats but there were some bears, some wolves, and some boars. The bats flew for me specifically as the rest landed on the ground to attack my friends. 

"Get.... away.... from me!!!" I shouted as I let go of the turtle with one of my claws so I could use it to slash at the bats hovering around me. But there was so many of them that I had no chance to slay them all. They were biting my skin, pulling my hair, and scratching of my body as I was starting to lose my grip with my other hand. 

"No.... I can't.... hold on!" I yelled as my claws came lose and I began to fall from the Turtle's leg. I screamed as I was easily over 40 feet off the ground, and even though I have the features of a cat, it didn't mean I had the reflexes. I don't always land on my feet, and with these bats still on me, I guarantee I wasn't going to.

"Air Strike Shield!" I heard Naofumi shout as a large green floating shield appeared below me. I landed on it and stood up so I could attack the bats again. 

"Thanks, shield hero!" I shouted to him as the shield I was standing on tipped for some reason. I looked down and saw a bear had jumped up and latched its mouth onto one of its sides, weighing it down. I lost my footing and slipped off of it, but I grasped the back of the bear as we crashed into the ground. But luckily for me the bear cushioned my fall.

"Shulu, are you alright!?" Raphtalia asked me as she came running over. 

"Yeah, i'm fine but these damn bats are making it impossible for me to climb the turtle! If we can get rid of them then I can get up to its neck and start hacking away at it!" I said to her as the bear beneath me began to stand up. I jumped off of it as it stood up on its hind legs and faced me and Raphtalia. 

"I've got this, fur ball!" I said as I swiped my claws at the chest and neck of the bear. But, even though I made contact, I left no slash wounds at all. The bear simply roared at us and swiped its own claws at us. 

"Why didn't I do anything to it!?" I said as we both jumped back a bit to avoid the attack. 

"Master Naofumi has a theory. We ran into creatures with similar durability before a few days ago in a forest. And if they're coming from the Turtle, then that might mean they're connected to it as well. They share its power." Raphtalia said as she unsheathed her sword. 

"So then how do we take down any of these creatures?" I questioned. 

"Perhaps the same way me slow down the Turtle. We take off their heads!" Raphtalia said as she brought her blade to her left side and then swung it forward, she made contact with the upper neck of the bear and managed to chop about halfway through it. But, her sword became stuck afterwards and it wouldn't dislodge itself. 

"Uh oh...." She said as the bear swung its head around, taking Raphtalia with it as she was still holding onto her sword. 

"Hold on, i'll save you!!" I said as I leaped forward over Raphtalia and onto the bears head. I repositioned myself so i'd be sitting on its shoulders but it raised up its claws to try and pull me off. The bear grabbed my left arm and dug its claws into my skin as it pulled me down its left side. But, as I was being pulled as reached out with both of my arms and grabbed onto two ends of Raphtalia's sword.

"Come on..... use.... all your..... strength!!!" I roared as I pulled as hard as I could on Raphtalia's blade. It dug into the skin of my palms but I was breaking it through the rest of the neck of the bear. And, in time I got it all the way through, taking off the head of this bear as it ceased its assault and slumped over on the ground. 

"Why did I agree to help with this.....?" I said, utterly exhausted already. Then, I felt a hug sting in my left arm. It was from the bear tearing into my skin on it. And the wounds were deep, most likely going down to the bone. 

"Hey, are you two okay!? It looks like you got hurt!" Maverick said as he rushed over after decapitating a wolf with his rapier sword and the axe. 

"I'm fine but Shulu was injured by the creature. She needs help or it may get infected." Raphtalia said to him as he crouched down next to me. 

"Naofumi's too busy to heal you right now, but there may be a way to keep you going without the worry of infection. Frost Breath." Maverick said as he let out a freezing cold wind from his mouth. He encased my wounds in a layer of ice that actually made the stinging go away. 

"Thanks...." I said to him as he gave me a nod. 

"No problem. Always gotta look out fo-" He began to say as Raphtalia pushed us both all of a sudden. 

"LOOK OUT!!!" She screamed as we all dove out of the way of the Spirit Turtle's giant leg. It came down right next to us so if Raphtalia hadn't done that we would've been crushed. 

"Thanks for the save Rapht-" I tried to say as a boar came rushing out of nowhere and charged into Raphtalia, knocking her down. The boar then stepped onto her and tried baring its tusks into her. Raphtalia tried to reach for her sword which laid on the ground to her right but it was just out of reach. 

"Hold on, we'll help!" Maverick said as he unsheathed his sword and ran for the boar. He jammed it through the back of the boars neck, making it stick out of its mouth. He then lifted the boar up and swung his blade to his right. The boar slipped off the blade and he sent it flying about 20 feet away. But the boar got up shortly after and squealed at us. But, before it could charge us again, the Turtle brought its leg down and squashed it. 

"That's one way to kill them, I guess." I said as I helped Raphtalia up to her feet. But, we were still far from being out of danger. After taking a quick glance around, another bear and three wolves were now surrounding the three of us. 

"I can handle the bear. You two take on the wolves, okay?" Maverick said as he took out his axe as well. 

"Be careful. That bear is tougher to take down than it looks." I told him as he gave me a stern nod before attacking it. Meanwhile, me and Raphtalia rushed the three wolves. Each of them stood their ground and howled at us before the one closest lunged at me. It was too close for me to counterattack so all I could do was raise my arms and claws up to defend myself. The wolf knocked me down and stood on top of me, attempting to bite my face and neck. But, i'd lean my head around or hold it back with my claws. 

"Sorry, pup..... I'm more of.... a cat person!!" I yelled as I swiped my claws across the wolfs face, slashing its eyes and blinding it. The wolf whimpered and fell off of me, allowing me to stand up. 

"Time to put you down...." I said as I now stepped down onto the wolf, flattening it on its back and I moved my claws in. I dug them into the neck of the wolf and slashed away until I made it all the way through, severing its head from the rest of its body. The grossest part, like the bear before, the wolf wasn't dead. It was still breathing and was alive despite it losing its head. 

"Shulu, help!" I heard Raphtalia yelled as she was on the ground again, holding the mouth of a wolf open as it tried to bit her. 

"Take my sword! Hurry!" She said as her sword laid next to her. I ran over and picked it up and raised it over my head. 

"Get off of her, damn dog!" I screamed as I swung the blade down and took the head of the wolf off with one swing. Raphtalia then threw the wolf head away and got up. Only one wolf remained now, but this one was bigger than the last two. 

"We take it together." Raphtalia said to me. 

"I was about to say the same thing." I replied as the wolf barked and then charged us. 

"I'll go first!" Raphtalia said as she swung her sword at the wolf. But, the beast was quick enough to chomp down on her blade and make it come to a complete stop. It then tugged on the sword and took it out of Raphtalia's hands. The wolf tossed it away as it then lunged at her, trying to bit her right arm. But Raphtalia jumped back as we swapped places. I jumped forward and grabbed onto the face of the wolf, covering its eyes and trying my best to keep its mouth shut. 

"What're you doing!?" Raphtalia asked me as the wolf began to shake its head around, taking me with it. 

"I'm not sure myself!! Wasn't really thinking at the time!!" I said as I tried my best to keep my grip on the wolf. But it was so strong that one flick of its head upward made me let go. But I landed on its back so I quickly turned myself around to face forward. I then grabbed onto the beasts neck with my claws as it was still trying to get me off of it. 

"Raphtalia, do something!" I said to her as the wolf was trying to reach its head back to bite me. But, I was luckily just out of reach of it. 

"As source of thy power, I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and blind my target with a flash of light! I cast Fast Light!" Raphtalia said as she held her hands straight out. A blinding light emerged from them and I shut my eyes so I wouldn't be affected by it. The wolf whimpered as it closed its eyes in pain from the intense light, and this gave me my opening. As it whimpered again, I reached over and grasped the roof of its upper jaw with my claws. I dug my claws into it and pulled as hard as I could. 

"Cats.... always.... beat.... dogs!!!" I roared as, with all my might, I tore off the entire upper portion of the head of the wolf. Its body slumped over, meaning it was beaten. It still breathed, just like the others before it, but it couldn't move anymore. 

"Thanks for the help...." I said to Raphtalia as I got off the wolf. 

"Nice work, you two. I knew you could handle those mutts...." Maverick said as he came walking over. We saw the bear was down without its head, meaning he was able to defeat it. 

"Hey, look alive! Something's happening!" We all suddenly heard Naofumi shout a we looked over to him. He was pointing up at the turtle so we looked and saw all the creatures were now running and flying back up onto its shell. 

"What's going on!? Why are they retreating!? They had us outnumbered!?" Krystal questioned as the Turtle then stopped its march forward. It turned its head and looked down at us. It's eyes were a terrifying blank white and it let out a roar with wind that nearly blew us away. 

"Looks like we got its attention!" Xev said as the Turtle opened its mouth as wide as it could. A massive ball of magical energy began to form within it, meaning it was about to attack us itself. 

"Oh no!! Naofumi, it's now or never!!! We've gotta hit that thing with everything we've got right now!!!" Maverick shouted as he ran over to him. 

"Curse Shield!!" Naofumi called out as his shield changed forms. 

"Do it, Maverick! Hit me with everything you've got and channel it all through the axe!!!" Naofumi roared as Maverick began his chant. 

"As source of thy power, I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and annihilate my target with a dark light that consumes all!!! Dark Matter Cannon!!!" Maverick roared as he channeled his magic spell into the legendary axe. The magic coursed through its black and purple steel and Maverick swung the weapon at Naofumi's shield. He struck it with all his might and Naofumi's Curse Shield absorbed the blow and the magic all at once. Then, he thrusted his shield up as dark energy began to resonate from it. 

"With the power of pure darkness running through this chilling steel, I sentence thee to suffer in the jaws of the dreaded dark ruler who consumes all!! BLACK DRAGON FLAME!!!" Naofumi roared as the top of his lungs as his shield unleashed a monumental sized dark flame in the shape of a literal dragon. It even let out a roar as the attack soared up to the Turtle. And, mere moments before the Turtle could unleash its own devastating attack, Naofumi's made contact and resulted in a huge explosion. 

"Was that enough!?" Alex questioned as an object came crashing down from the cloud of smoke before us. The head of the Spirit Turtle. 

"That's it.... They did it!!! It worked!!!" I cheered as the smoke cleared away. The head had truly been blown off the body of the Turtle and an opening could be seen inside its neck. That was our way inside it. But, before anyone could make a move, a loud *SQUISH* sound could be heard. 

"No..... there's no way!!" Naofumi said in utter disbelief as we all watched the Spirit Turtle regrow a new head near instantly. Within seconds it had a brand new head and it let out a roar as it looked down at us again. It opened its mouth and began charging that same attack before. 

"Not again!!! Maverick, hit my shield again!!!" Naofumi shouted but Maverick was on his knees, breathing very heavily. He looked exhausted, most likely from using a large portion of his magic to strike Naofumi's shield before. 

"I can't.... it won't be strong enough..... not anymore...." Maverick panted as the ball of energy in the Turtle's mouth grew even larger, meaning it would be finished charging soon. 

"Everyone, get over to me, NOW!!!" Naofumi roared we all frantically rushed to his side. 

"Xev, you and me have to defend everyone!! I'll shield us but you've gotta try and hold back that attack for as long as you can!!! Shield Prison!!" Naofumi shouted as all of us became encased in a large ball of metal and chains. 

"Now, Full Reflect!!!" Xev said as he began using his magic on the outside of the prison. The Turtle finished charging up its attack and then fired on us. It unleashed a colossal beam that effortlessly broke through Xev's spell and began to quickly break apart the shield prison. 

"No.... way...... We're not.... DYING!!!!" Naofumi shouted as he ran in front of us all and raised his shield up. The moment the Turtle's attack broke through the prison, he stopped it with his shield. He stood his ground as much as he could and eventually, the Turtle let up and stopped. We all still lived thanks to the shield hero, but he collapsed to his knees. His shield and parts of his armor were smoking from the attack, and he looked like he was about to pass out. And, just when we thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. The Turtle, seeing us still alive, began to charge up that same attack yet again. 

"I can't..... I can't stop it again..... Everyone..... run..... run away!!!" Naofumi shouted to us all but the Turtle suddenly stopped charging its attack. It raised its head back up and then all of a sudden began to turn itself around. After a minute, it faced the end of the valley which extended out into a large and flat desert.

"What's going on!? Why did it turn around!?" Raphtalia questioned as we all had the same thought. 

"Look, in the distance!! I can see something!!" Maverick said as we could see a huge cloud of sand forming way in the distance in the desert. 

"Huh? Is that...." Filo began to say as her antenna feather on top of her head began to flick a bit. 

"What's wrong, Filo? I asked her. 

"I can feel something big approaching. It feels.... familiar....." She said as we could see the shadow of something gigantic inside the cloud of sand. 

"What is that?" Alex questioned as whatever it was came bursting out of the cloud of sand. 

"She's here! She's here!" Filo cheered as we all laid our eyes on a truly enormous Filolial. She had the most gorgeous white, blue, and pink feathers and she rode upon a giant chariot filled to the brim with lances and cannons. 

"Is that...." I began to ask as everyone gave me my answer. 

"Fitoria is here!!" They all shouted as the massive Filolial was riding into battle. The Turtle let out a roar, showing it wasn't intimidated by her as it began to move towards her now and not the city. 

"Wait, there's something else!!! Look, on her head!!" Krystal said as we all tried to focus there. Her antenna feathers were a bit in the way but there was something there, like she said. It was a person. 

"Who is that!?" Maverick asked as we got a better view when they got closer. We could see it was a woman. She had long golden blonde hair, and she wore a bright white and gold patterned armor, with two white angel wings coming from her back, and a gold eye patch over her left eye. 

"Oh my goodness....." Naofumi and Alex said simultaneously as they clearly knew this person was. 

"What, who is it!?" Maverick and I asked them. 

"That...... THAT'S AYUMA!!!"