The Wrong Hero

Chapter 73 - Expect the Unexpected

"Dude..."

Motoyasu was the first to speak when he and Ren arrived, along with their parties and the rest of Dante's and Itsuki's.

Several minutes had gone by after Fitoria passed away. Dante hadn't moved from his spot. Atla and Rifana moved up to comfort him while Sadeena held a hand against JoJo's feathers. The filolials that came with Fitoria had settled on the beach, dozens of them surrounding them as they lay in the sand.

At his voice, Dante looked over his shoulder at the Spear Hero. "Motoyasu."

"What's going on?" The blond man asked, looking across the sea of feathers.

Dante slowly got to his feet with the help of Atla and Rifana. He carried Fitoria over to them. "The strongest person in this world just died." He told them.

Motoyasu grimaced. Ren seemed to look at Fitoria in disbelief, but it was mixed with apprehension due to all her wounds. If nothing else, he had the tact to not say anything negative.

"If you're done grinding, we should start returning to Melromarc." Dante said.

"Y-Yeah, sure..." Motoyasu gave him a nod.

"Everyone with a Vassal Weapon, go with them and save a location there, with someone saving this spot." Dante told them. It would be best to get this done quickly.

"Dad, what about Fitoria's flock?" JoJo asked, gesturing with his wing to the filolials.

"I...don't know." He wasn't sure what to do about them. Fitoria wanted one of his kids to replace her, but there was too much at stake right now. They weren't his monsters, so it wasn't as if he could teleport any of them. From what he recalled, grown monsters couldn't take a normal monster seal and the high grade ones were really expensive. Without Fitoria, they'd be more susceptible to attacks, both by other monsters and people.

"We could have them board one of the ships." Malty offered. "I...know a place they can go."

"Where?" Dante turned to ask her.

She shook her head. "Not right now."

"Alright." Dante didn't need the information right away.

With a plan coming together, everyone got to work. Malty went to speak with the earl of the islands to get the filolials set. The other heroes began teleporting their party members out, with the exception of JoJo. He wanted to stay close to Dante and the flock for now. That was one reason, but a more pressing one came to light.

The Vassal Carriage was reset. The only form available to JoJo was the Small Chariot. The largest issue with that was not having any skills available. Between all the heroes, there was plenty of monster parts to reveal carriage forms, plus what would be available to copy in the capital.

Once a ship was procured, JoJo herded the filolials onboard. As their new king, he would keep them calm during the voyage. Dante wanted to stay with his son, but there was too much to do to sit around for a day. Once the heroes returned, he returned to the capital.

The first thing he did was inform the queen of the situation. She held her fan up, covering the lower part of her face.

"I didn't know you met the filolial of legend." She said sadly. "I wish I could have met her before she passed."

"The only consolation is she killed an enemy before they even reached us." Dante said. This Mordigan came for him, but the current situation would have left the others with far less ability to deal with the Spirit Tortoise if he managed to kill Dante.

"Fortunately, as per your warning during our meetings, we've already researched the ritual to seal the Spirit Tortoise." Mirellia informed him. It was a precaution in case Glass couldn't take care of Kyo.