The Reimagining of the Bow Hero

Chapter 27 - Papal War Preparations

Chapter 27 – Papal War Preparations

Author's Note: Although the pope war won't be happening this chapter, it'll be happening the next.

"Queen Mirellia." I respectfully suggested. "It will be much faster for us to teleport to Castle Town."

"Wait," she stared at me confusedly. "What are you suggesting?"

"Upon my level up to 50," I continued. "I gained the skill to set three teleport points anywhere in the world, and I have set two so far. One in Castle Town, and one in Messeblick."

"That's amazing!" Mirellia exclaimed. "How do we begin?"

"I do not know the specifics, as I have not tried it yet, but I believe if you join my party, and I activate the teleport skill, we should be transported to Castle Town instantaneously."

"Well, I'll trust you on this one."

As soon as I added her to the party, I activated the teleport skill, and we were whisked to the center of town, next to a fountain. Exactly the same spot that I had set the teleport point.

"There is no time to lose," she said. "From the information that I have gathered from my shadows, Naofumi is currently headed towards Shieldfreeden. He is in grave danger, as the pope is preparing to cast Judgement upon him.

"Judgement?" Indigo asked.

"Judgement is an incredibly powerful ceremonial magic that deals incredible amounts of magic." Mirellia explained. "The church plans to use it to eliminate Naofumi, as he had been undoing the common belief that the shield hero is a devil, which is hurting their power."

"Then, let us make haste." I asserted. "In which direction is Naofumi currently headed?"

"He is heading towards the southwest. He should almost be at the border by now."

We all hopped onto Indigo's cart and headed southwesterly as fast as we could. The queen said she had matters to attend to in the capital but saving Naofumi took precedent. We discussed our plans for the oncoming fights on the way there, while Rishia spent most of her time filing more paperwork for Arcium.

The plan was for the queen to trap the pope with ice, leaving only a small crack for me to shoot through. I would then repeatedly fire my more powerful abilities at the pope while he was stuck, eliminating him and causing his followers to surrender as well.

We traveled for one day and one night, Indigo utterly exhausted from the sheer distance covered. Travelers tried their best to dodge as the speeding cart barreled its way down the Melromarc roads.

When we finally arrived at our destination, the sight baffled us.

A gargantuan crater had wiped out much of the border fortifications, with a small patch of grass left unscathed. There, Naofumi, Motoyasu and his party were engaged in ferocious battle with what appeared to be the church's forces.

But what really surprised me was the fact that a man, presumably the pope, used what appeared to be Motoyasu's spear against him. Even more, he looked like he was using a unique skill.

As we continued onwards, a large number of priests appeared, and began to shapeshift. They all pulled out replicas of my bow and began firing at Naofumi.

"Wait!" I screamed. "How are they using Mirage Arrow!"

What the hell? How did they get a hang of my bow? I checked my left arm, but the bow was still there. Something was seriously wrong. Even more, how did they learn to use Mirage Arrow?