#sf2 randolf dongo

[starswordartblog]

“We came down here to escape this warped room, but there’s devils in the tunnel. They’re too ferocious. I wish I hadn’t left Desktop Kingdom...”

Shininginktober late Day 6: Tyrin + Randolf + the one who stayed behind. I didn’t have many ideas for this one but you can’t go wrong with the “ice mage conjure a ramp/stairway“ classic.

[claire-starsword]

Bloodline of the Sacred Dragons - Chapter 4-4

The one who volunteered to guide them was a centaur named Eric.

He had been traveling throughout the whole continent. Right now, he was searching for a treasured sword of light of the centaurs, rumored to be in the Fire Dragon's Tail.

"I have been living here under King Ponpei looking for clues on where the sword lies."

Eric spoke with a calm tone. His manners were far more elegant compared to the simple and big hearted king. He did not speak of where he was from, but perhaps he was of some noble lineage.

"That sage, what kind of person is he?" Karin asked.

"A shrewd one," Eric laughed bitterly. "It's because of that old man that I'm stuck here. His knowledge is certainly worthy of the title of sage, but he's an odd one, in any case. He hardly tells me what I want to know, even though I suspect he knows the sword's true whereabouts."

As they talked, the group arrived at their destination.

Odeeruc's mansion stood tall, almost as big as the king's.

Eric asked Odeeruc's servant to call for his master.

Finally, an old man appeared, wearing a lustrous reddish purple gown, the eyes on his bony face open wide in surprise.

"What, a Sacred Dragon? My, my, what a thing to see in my doorstep."

Odeeruc stared absentmindedly at Bleu as he listened to them. His eyes then moved to each of Bleu's companions, in order. Once he had gone through all of them, from Karin to Camallia, he raised an eyebrow with a huff.

"Oh, sorry. We should talk comfortably inside. Don't be shy and come right in."

Odeeruc brought Bleu and his group to inside the mansion. Eric announced to the old man that he would come by again later, and went back to the king.

"Goliath, guide our guests to the table," Odeeruc ordered, pointing the table of the living room with his bony fingers.

As he sat down on his designated chair, Bleu took a second room through the room, with curiosity.

There was perhaps something as too much decoration. The inside of Odeeruc's mansion was crammed full with many kinds of furniture and equipment, with no rhyme or reason to them. There were things like an eastern-style partitioning screen dividing the room, an armor made of black frosted glass, and a mechanical clock by the wall tracking the time.

Perhaps by themselves each one was an artistic masterpiece, but thrown together in a chaotic manner like that, they looked like mere trash.

The servant picked up an unfinished game of chess atop the table, and took it somewhere, being careful to not ruin the pieces' placement.

"Were you having a chess match with someone?" Bleu asked Odeeruc, who had sat in the furthest chair.

"The king enjoys it. He comes to play with me quite often. Sometimes I also go over to his place for a match," he answered, his disheveled hair wavering from under his purple bicorne. His hair was silver in color, but looked faintly purple from the reflected light of the clothes and hat.

"Speaking of, that chessboard is a work of the finest class. The black parts are obsidian from Mount Volcano, and the white ones are from the same white marble of Mitula's shrine. After all, it is made by a certain dwarf expert, and I got my hands on it when…"

Bleu realized his mistake too late. For the longest time, Odeeruc kept bragging on and on about his chessboard. A prime example on why you should never ask a collector anything about his collection.

Saying that he just had to run his mouth about stuff they didn't need, Karin lightly kicked Bleu's leg.

He took a glance at her, and asked Odeeruc about the Sacred Dragons.

"Before I answer, I want to ask you too, you actually came from another continent, didn't you? You aren't one of the dragons that live here in Fire Dragon's Tail." Odeeruc looked for confirmation. Bleu answered yes.

"Then, you didn't come all this way empty-handed, did you?" he asked Bleu, briefly running his eyes through Camallia. "I believe you brought the Manual with you, am I wrong?"

"We can't hide anything from an old man, I see," Randolf grumbled. Tyrin chastised him for the lack of manners.

What's the point of hiding anything any further, the dwarf laughed.

"The dwarf is right. It's useless to try to hide anything in front of me. Well, putting aside that bluntness of yours, perhaps I too should speak without hiding anything I know."

Odeeruc snapped his fingers, and his servant came bringing black tea.

He invited them to all drink the tea first.

After some sips of the very sour beverage of strong taste, suddenly the cups above the table began to dance. The ornament within the mansion shook wildly with clattering sounds.

Bleu and his group all looked around worried, trying to figure out what was going on.

The floor was moving. No, the earth itself was shaking.

As they weren't familiar with earthquakes, they had no clue of what was happening, panicking while still sat on their chairs. The only one who remained calm was Camallia.

There was a sound of something crashing down. Karna hurried, wanting to ran to the outside.

"Don't panic. It's a small quake. They have been happening now and then recently."

Paying no attention to the shaking, Odeeruc took a loud gulp of his tea.

Finally, the earthquake stopped, as suddenly as it began.

"You mean something that scary has been happening here aaaall the time?" Karna asked the serene old man, having come back fearfully to her chair.

"The Fire Dragon's Tail is full of volcanoes, as the name implies. It's not like they never happened before. However, a while ago, these small earthquakes became incessant. And they have become increasingly strong as the one just now."

"Why is this happening?"

"The girl over there should know very well the reason."

At Bleu's question, Odeeruc pointed out to Camallia.

"The Power of the Earth has begun to run out of control. That's what I believe."

"Indeed." Odeeruc nodded sharply to Camallia's answer.

"The Power of the Earth that the Sacred Dragons protected is now in the hands of the devils. But, right now, that power cannot be used to create nor destroy anything. That means they couldn't get the Manual to control that enormous power. Or perhaps, they lost it along the way."

Camallia answered that it was the latter.

"From what God Volcanon said, the Manual the devils stole was destroyed during their battle with the Sacred Dragons. Because of that, the unsealed Power of the Earth is accumulating in a defective way. The earthquake earlier was a sign of that."

"God Volcanon, huh? That's another big name you bring up."

Odeeruc tilted his head a bit, as if trying to recall old memories.

"In any case, the Power of the Earth is acting out. And so you're headed to the mountains where the dragons live to stop it."

"That's where the dragons are, right?"

Bleu leaned forward. The chair he sat on creaked from the sudden shift of his weight.

"Is more accurate to say they were there. If they fought the devils, they might have driven them away, or they might have been wiped out. Seeing how the Power of the Earth is running amok, it's more likely that the devils have destroyed them."

The old man's answer was a punch to Bleu's face. If his brethren had died out, why did he cross a whole ocean to get here?

"Isn't that conclusion unbefitting of a sage? Hasty, I would say," Tyrin contested. "Couldn't it be like this, instead? The dragons are still fighting to protect the unleashed Power from the devils. Because the Manual was lost, they cannot stop it right now. In fact, hasn't Camallia seen the dragons still alive?"

He threw that last question at her.

"Yes, when I received the revelation, God Volcanon showed to me a vision of the Sacred Dragons. They have continued to protect the Power of the Earth from within the mountain," she answered with confidence.

"You don't need to look me in the eye like that. That doesn't prove anything."

"Do you doubt the messages of God Volcanon?" She retorted sharply.

"I don't doubt Volcanon. However, that doesn't guarantee that the situation remains the same now."

Bleu grew more and more distressed as the back and forth with Odeeruc continued. He came all the way there with the determination to see his brethren, but now that felt like a sandcastle wiped away by the waves in an instant before his eyes.

"Then, we have to confirm things. We will never know until we go there, so we should go."

Karin's words blew away Bleu's confusion.

"The devils may be waiting for you to go that way," Odeeruc warned. "If you leave things be, the Power of the Earth will destroy itself. There will be some damage, but it is far better for it to rampage at once than to be used by the devils. Reach for the fire and you'll get burned, that's common sense. It's best to not meddle if you don't know what you're doing… That's what I think. This is a town full of nice humans. Living here hasn't been bad. Maybe it's better to just go back to your home country with some souvenirs of Parmecia."

"You say there'll be some damage, how much are we talking about?" Randolf asked.

"Maybe one of the mountains, or maybe all of the Fire Dragon's Tail will be gone. I can't say exactly, but it's something along those lines. And then, the devils' ambitions will be stopped. A small loss compared to the whole world," the so-called sage answered calmly.

"Are you kidding me, there's nothing small about that!" Karin yelled. Her words reflected everyone's feelings.

"That's the big picture. A disaster is much better than obliteration."

Odeeruc's expression remained unwavering. Everyone understood that he truly believed that.

"With all respect, sage, I cannot agree with your advice to just go back home. If my brethren are still bravely fighting out there, I want to help even if but a single one of them. And if they have already been destroyed, then I believe that it's my job as Sacred Dragon to carry on their will and seal the Power of the Earth."

Bleu declared that with complete determination. Even if the Sacred Dragons were nothing but ghosts anymore, he had to get over that, or he'd be haunted forever.

"Your job as Sacred Dragon, huh?"

Odeeruc sighed.

"Well, I question how much meaning there even is on being a Sacred Dragon. An idiot about to throw food at the jaw of an expecting beast. Good grief, you should cool your heads down a little."

Odeeruc moved his hands horizontally at if pointing at the group, while wiggling his fingers.

At once, a strong feeling of drowsiness came over them. In an instant, they all fell asleep, helpless to stop it.

"What did… you…"

Bleu tried to get up, but fell over the table.

"The Sleep spell. Sleep a bit and rest from your journey."

Odeeruc stared down quietly at the group, trapped in their sleep.

Translation notes:

A bicorne is a type of hat, much like the one Creed wears in SF2. I didn't know that word, nor does my browser spellchecking apparently.

[claire-starsword]

Bloodline of the Sacred Dragons - Chapter 3-2

The following day, the tents set up around were all taken inside, and the Pao Train departed.

The soldiers from Bustoke parted ways with them there, and went back to their own country. Only Wendy wanted to come with Bleu and his team, but Zylo wouldn't accept that selfishness. Bitterly, she took the way back home.

For every departure, there are meetings as well.

Just as Lyle had said in Rindo, an old member of the Shining Force, Guntz, was on the Pao Train as well. It seemed he had been living there for quite a while already, to research the huge machine.

Bleu was overjoyed with the reunion, but couldn't follow much of Guntz's talk about machines. Instead, it was Krin who jumped at that topic. She spent almost all her free time on the cab and the power sources.

Tyrin said he had orders from Otrant to not let Bleu and the Manual out of his sight. Bleu doubted if he was competent enough to oversee this, but couldn't easily refuse Otrant's wishes. Randolf too, with their deal from before still in place, wouldn't leave his side until meeting the Sacred Dragons of Parmecia. Bleu regretted having taken that deal so hastily, but it was too little too late. And Karna as well seemed to have no intention of leaving until she found some clue of Gong's whereabouts. More than that, she seemed more passionate about the task of helping the Sacred Dragons than Gong right now.

Their views are all different, but an odd feeling of unity grew between them as they traveled together. Perhaps, while their goals were different, their reason for traveling was the same. The center of all that had always been Bleu.

For Karin in particular, her desire to stay beside him was very clear in her face.

With nothing obstructing its path, the Pao Train continued on without issue. Of course, there was nothing that could stop the advance of that huge machine. If any careless creature stood in its path, it would obviously be crushed underneath it.

However, pretty much no creatures were hit by the machine. It crossed the plains like wind. Such was the defining image of the Pao Train that Queen Koron rode on.

It continued to run even as night fell.

The typical sounds of the engine could be heard through the walls, along with the wind blowing by the windows. Not drowned by any of this, one more sound rang through a small but cozy lounge, the clear melody of a lyre.

Bleu and his friends were spending their hours peacefully after dinner.

Everyone had made a circle, and Karna was in the center, sat atop a small box. Carrying a lyre of 16 strings shaped like a swan atop the waters, she sang a song. Her voice, clear and high pitched due to her youth, would go from cheerful, to sweet, to frenetic, weaving together the threads of the song.

In her song there were people, and beasts, creatures playing in nature, wind for the birds, water for the fish, everything finding its place in a cycle, everything finding harmony, their daily work spinning on the threads of time, like a spinning wheel singing a song, weaving together a singing voice, people finding harmony, and harmony giving birth to more people…

"Is that a song from your homeland, Karna?" Tyrin asked her once she finished a section, and took a break to rest her throat.

"No. I actually grew up among wanderers. I don't have a particular homeland. If I had to answer, I'd say all of Rune is mine."

"You mean 'my home', not 'mine'."

She stuck her tongue at Tyrin's correction.

"So, without thinking, I had become a traveler. It was in the middle of my travels that I met Master Gong. The song I just sang is one Master taught me."

"That song is Gong's…!?"

Bleu and Guntz immediately looked at each other. Neither of them could imagine it at all, that quiet man singing anything. Eventually, the image of the monk singing a broken and out of tune song while red in the face came to their minds. But, looking as how Karna talked nostalgically about it, that was probably not how it was. Maybe he was unexpectedly good at singing, the two whispered.

"Master told me: 'If you think I've been kind to you, share that kindness with many others. If you are grateful to me, then you too work every day to receive that gratitude from people.' That's why I'm coming along until Sir Bleu feels grateful to have me. If I didn't do this, I wouldn't be able to look Master in the eyes. Besides, while I'm with Sir Bleu, maybe Master will show up to see his fellow Shining Force members."

Karna touched over and over the White Ring that Gong had given her in the past. The ring was made of platinum with an Aquamarine stone inlaid in it, and glowed warmly in her ring finger, hiding healing magic within.

"I don't think Gong is coming to visit me any time soon though. Besides, I'm already grateful enough for you. What he was trying to say is that if you were helped by a certain someone, you can pay it forward to anyone else. You're misunderstanding things."

"Aah, so is it a bother that I'm coming along?"

Her eyes started filing up with tears.

"It's not like that..."

By reflex, Bleu averted his eyes, staring at the ceiling instead.

"I think you need a healer around for traveling, for when you get injured and such. I'm sure of it. I'll train with Karin too and become stronger, so I won't be a burden to you."

"I've told you already, I don't look anything like Gong," Karin jumped in the conversation to stop her, "if you want to train with someone, do it with Camallia."

"Nooo, a gallant big sister is my ideal kind of woman!"

Karna made heart-eyes at her.

"Wait, Bleu, help me out here!"

Troubled, Karin turned to Bleu. He laughed with Camallia, who was sat at their side, their shoulders rubbing together. Their carefreeness got on her nerves.

She dragged him away from Camallia, trying to get him between her and Karna.

Having watched everything from the start, Randolf was roaring with laughter. Many of the others joined him as well.

Karna got a grip on herself, and set to play the lyre once again.

The song went on. The birds to the wind, the fish to the water, the plants to the light, the people to all living things… They all gave their thanks to that which sustained them. They all gave them gratitude and care. They all gave their thanks and prayers…

Karna's song told of all living things, and the earth and sky and sea around them, with benevolence.

"What a strange song."

Once the song was over, Camallia mumbled her thoughts on it.

"Why does such a song exists? All things are not equal, the weak feed the strong, and the strong feed the even stronger. These relationships between them are what the gods decided."

"And if that's how it is, then the strong must be grateful to the weak. Master Gong talked much about it. Everything in this world is kept alive by someone else. Those who rule can do so because those ruled over allow them to, and those who protect can do so because those they protect let them do so. We can't forget to pray in gratitude to even the smallest bugs and the blooming flowers."

"If I prayed for every single one of those, my neck would end up pretty stiff."

Randolf laughed off Karna's words as lectures from a cute child.

"That's not how she meant it."

Sat by Karna's side, Karin came in her defense as the younger girl sulked, petting her head lightly as she took the chance to snuggle closer and be spoiled. It seemed that had Krin been around instead of exploring the train, she'd have to fight to get her sister back.

"We hunt birds and beasts," Karin said, "but we shouldn't ever kill them for no reason."

"Well well, there's no need to quarrel about this. Instead, I would like to request one more song. Would that be okay, Karna?"

Tyrin entered the conversation as if trying to mediate. In a better mood, Karna accepted, and began playing the lyre again.

And her songs continued.

Bleu wanted to agree with what Randolf had said. If living things needed other things to live, then they were too unreliable and frail. That went for Sacred Dragons too, how much of a fleeting dream it was to expect them to be allowed to live all this time just for the sake of protecting the Manual?

Bleu didn't voice any of those feelings, and Karin and Karna did not find out how much he disagreed with them in that night.

>To next part

Translation notes:

I feel there's a relevant distinction made here about Karna coming from a group of wanderers (さすらいの民), evoking the idea of people who have no destination, and as she puts it, went through all of Rune, while the Pao people are described as nomads (遊牧民), who usually have some set pattern of moving according to the season or some other resource.

Karna is described here with a high-pitched voice, but curiously, she has a lower voice game than any girl in game, matching young boys like Peter and Rick. I doubt anyone paid attention to that detail though, but it does strengthen a feeling i have that Karna was intended as an adult in the game, and it was the writer's choice here to make her younger.

A hard one that I'm still struggling with a bit. Karna refers to Gong as 道士, a term that seems mostly associated with Taoism, but that some dictionaries claim also apply to Buddhist monks as well, or simply someone of great morals, which is likely how it is intended here. I'm not at all knowledgeable to discuss the religious implications here, and I also don't think they matter in a series that has basically no worldbuilding for their own religion. Since she uses the -sama honorific as well and clearly has some unofficial master/pupil relationship she has already talked about, I've been simply going with "master". I feel capitalizing it makes it feel a bit more like a title though, so I'll be changing a few instances of it in the previous chapter.

Did you know? "Ring finger" in japanese is written as 薬指, literally "medicine finger". Apparently it comes from it being used to mix up medicine and such in old times. Either way, it feels curious to see a healing ring placed there. And for those who forgot, the White Ring not only raises defense in-game, but also allows you to use the Aura spell for healing. Its appearance also matches the description here just fine:

I don't need to put that in a translation note though, I'm just here to gush. This is the part I looked forward to read the most in the novel and i love everything about Karna in it. And the ring is, very much what I actually expect from a spinoff novel of a game, you know? Some little mechanic or detail being given more meaning in its world and to the characters. I'm never gonna look at a White Ring the same way again. That's fun.

[claire-starsword]

Bloodline of the Sacred Dragons - Chapter 2-7

[warning for violence and dismemberment on this one. yes you read that right. as opposed to me who did not pay attention to this on my first read. lol.]

The group emerged back into the fields, after safely crossing the mountains. They hurried on their journey, heading towards the Pao Plains.

By Krin and Tyrin's calculations, they should be a day ahead of the monsters. If they could get the mercenaries at Pao and come back, they would be able to ambush the enemies at the mountain path that led to the plains. The devils wouldn't be able to escape a trap in such a narrow pathway.

In the forest, Karin replaced Randolf as the lead. Tyrin gave the general directions by her side, and she decided the exact path to traverse according to the condition of the plants and other forest signs. Bleu was speechless on how observant she was, not letting the slightest detail pass unnoticed.

Bleu struggled the most with the thick cluster of trees. Unlike Camallia and Karna, he didn't have the power to heal everyone's exhaustion either. He grew frustrated with himself. Once they got to a wider place or a road he'd be able to stretch out his wings. He did his best to put up with it.

Once the sun had gone down, the group had finally come out the end of the forest, reaching the road between Bustoke and the Pao Plains.

And there, their calculations failed them.

They ran right into the monster squad that had stolen the Manual. A sudden encounter, one could say.

"They shouldn't be here by our calculations, so why…" Krin complained about the unexpected turn of events, as she stared at the twenty or so monsters that had appeared in front of them.

The devils were just as shocked as them.

"Impossible! Why is there a Sacred Dragon here?"

One of the monsters, accompanying the squad of harpies and armed lizardmen, stared wide-eyed at Bleu, with empty eyes devoid of light. Those eyes caught sight of Camallia by his side. The devil then understood everything.

"So you survived. And you guided them here. It's always you, always… Fine, if you'll be this much of a hindrance, then I, Ziduur, will end you just like those pursuing mages."

The monster's fangs showed over the corner of his lips, and his two horns, atop his head like a moth's antennas, swung backwards in a menacing stance. Deep crimson hair ran from the nape of his neck to his back like a mane, bristling. As if answering to that, the lizardmen raised their slimy triangular heads, their bifurcated tongues flickering through their lips. The harpies let out ear-piercing shrieks.

"If you want this, come and take it."

Ziduur held a box made of ebony. It was full of intricate inlay decorations with a foreign feel.

"Sir Bleu, there's no doubt, the Manual is in there!"

With Tyrin's shout, the battle began.

"Randolf, Tyrin, take care of the girls!"

While shouting, Bleu bolted towards Ziduur, as if drawn to the Manual in his hands. Cerberus followed behind him.

"Wait, don't just rush in, it won't go well if we fight separated," Randolf hastily stopped Camallia, who wanted to jump ahead as well.

"Bleu, come back right now! Bleu!"

Karin's voice did not reach Bleu, and he began to fight the harpies in midair.

All his pent up feelings were unleashed at once. And at the same time, he had confidence in being the one who always broke through the enemy lines. With that amount of enemies, he believed he could strike the commander at once and end the battle with that. There was no reason to eliminate them all. Once he retrieved the Manual, he could just disperse the rest of the enemies. The shorter the battle, the less likely it would be for Karin and the others to get hurt. And by defeating all the monsters himself, he could prove his power to them. Maybe then the girls would stay behind without a fuss, Bleu thought.

However, his reckless advance did not go as he expected.

Superior to him in speed and number, the harpies put up a tough fight against him. Wanting to rush to Ziduur straight away, he had become isolated from his allies.

Randolf and Camallia shielded the others, facing the incoming lizardmen head on.

"Bleu, I'll burn down these enemies, get out of the way!"

Krin began chanting a Blaze spell, but Karin stopped her. If she cast the flames in a wide area, Bleu would certainly get caught in them.

"Krin, give up and target a single enemy," Karin ordered, while shooting down an enemy away from Bleu with perfect accuracy. Their lack of coordination was apparent. Karin bit down her anger at Bleu's stupid actions.

"I won't show mercy to any who interfere. Join the hateful corpses that sleep under this earth."

Ziduur took out a piece of a crimson jewel, and held it tightly within his left hand, as if squeezing it. Beams of light came through between his fingers.

"That light!" Camallia shouted, alerting everyone.

Ziduur punched the ground. Thin sparks of crimson lightning ran at once over the surface.

"What did he do?"

Karna watched in awe as the ground in front of her began to stir, and something jumped out from within.

"Eep!" She let out a strangled scream as she came face to face with a skeleton.

"Get down!"

Hearing that shout from behind her, Karna got down while covering her head with both arms. The end of a flail flew past her, sending the skeleton's skull flying like a football. As she pulled the weapon back, Camallia smashed its upper body as well.

In the brief moment where Karna breathed a sigh of relief, more skeletons jumped from below, one after the other. Those skeletal warriors, carrying all kinds of different weapons, were the warped forms of monsters once defeated in that land, and the travelers they once killed.

"Are we surrounded?"

Watching the growing swarm of skeletons and lizardmen around them, Randolf swung his Battle Axe once again. If the monsters attacked all at once, they certainly wouldn't manage to defend against all of them.

Karna shouted for everyone to get closer together.

"O benevolent ones who watch upon all, please hear our prayers. Gather the righteous light within our hearts, and make it into a shield of holy brilliance!!"

By her incantation, the faint shine of the supporting spell Boost enveloped the whole group from within. The monsters with no flesh nor blood were driven away by that light.

Not wasting the opportunity, Randolf and Camallia attacked. The mages covered the openings between them, Tyrin freezing the enemies to stand as shields, and Krin erecting walls of fire with her Blaze spells. They were doing their best to defend themselves, but the situation still wasn't good as they were outnumbered.

On one swing, Camallia's flail became entangled in another flail wielded by a skeleton. The resulting forces made both of them lose their grips on their weapons. Without delay, the skeleton took a short sword from the back of its shield, and charged at the now empty-handed girl. Another short sword was thrown at the skeleton as it did that. By reflex, the skeleton knocked it down with its shield. Camallia jumped at the fallen sword, grabbing it and swinging it at the skeleton's leg to cut it down. The monster fell down as it lost its balance, and Camallia stepped on its bony body from over its shield, using all of her strength to crush it.

"Thank you, Sir Randolf."

Picking up her flail, she stood back to back with Randolf, who had moved backwards. She extended a hand in his direction, trying to return his short sword that had saved her from her predicament.

"I don't mind. Keep it. Without a spare weapon, something like this might happen to you again."

Answering that, he swung his blade at another monster.

At that time, Bleu was also surrounded by even more enemies than before.

Sacred Dragons had tough bodies and powerful attacks, but were in no way invincible. Their thick hide was hard to penetrate with a blade, yet at some point he had been wounded, and it bled. While he had finished off many of the harpies, he had also hurt his wings. The injury was not severe, but it made him unable to fight the remaining harpies in the air. Having fallen to the ground, Bleu faced a concentrated assault from the group of enemies.

Sustaining minor injuries all over his body, Bleu had made a pile of corpses out of his enemies. Yet he was clearly exhausted. Taking a fierce blow to his chest, he began to cough violently.

In this terrible moment, a lizardman brandished his Large Axe. In Bleu's current condition, he couldn't dodge or spew out his lightning breath.

The monsters became agitated.

Steeling himself for the fatal blow, Bleu saw a silver blur pass through the corner of his vision. Fresh blue blood spilled by. With a deep gash on his torso, the lizardman turned around only to be cut again like a paper doll by sharp claws, this time on the chest.

"Zylo!?" Bleu exclaimed in surprise, seeing the werewolf that had showed up behind the fallen lizardman.

"It's been a long time, Bleu."

Zylo's eyes had the glint of a wild beast hidden within, and he narrowed them in recognition for an instant.

Taking that as an opening, the harpies attacked from the sky.

"Watch out!"

Faster than Bleu's cry, Zylo jumped to the air. He spun next to harpy like a gear, hitting it with a somersault, and knocking it down hard to the ground. The blood from the harpy's torn neck ran in lines across her dead body.

"Before worrying for others, worry about yourself. Honestly, what a pathetic fight you put up. Have you forgotten your past experience? I'll show you how it is to fight as a group. Watch and learn."

Zylo howled.

The lizardmen and harpies flinched at the incoming chants of beast hunters. From its direction came the rushing sound of rain. A merciless rain of arrows…

Once the synchronized barrage of arrows ended, Zylo had also disappeared. Too fast for Bleu's eyes to keep up, he ran between the disoriented enemies, cutting them down as he passed them by. One by one they fell to the ground.

Having broken through the enemies surrounding them, Zylo reached Karin's group.

"It's Zylo, the king of Bustoke."

Krin calmed down the others, who were on guard, unsure if he was a new enemy.

"We'll regroup with Bleu. Follow me without delay," Zylo ordered, and turned away from them without waiting for an answer. He spoke as if certain that they'd obey. Not forceful. Just showing unwavering confidence.

"Diane!!" He shouted. In answer, a squad of archers appeared from the forest shadows, led by an elf girl. Their bowstrings rang as they once again released their arrows in unison.

Diane's archers concentrated their assault on the skeletons. The ropes tied in their arrows perfectly wrapped around their enemies. The skeletons hit by them fell down and tumbled through the ground. It seemed as if they knew what enemies they'd be facing, which made Krin impressed, but also a bit suspicious.

"Let's go!"

Zylo dashed away, heading towards Bleu, who had recovered some energy and continued to fight on his own. The others ran behind him as fast as they could.

"Karna, Camallia, heal Bleu, quickly!"

As Zylo and Randolf took the surrounding enemies down, Karin immediately asked the priests to tend to Bleu. While the archers of Bustoke kept lending them support, Camallia healed everyone who had been injured with Aura, the high level healing spell.

"Thank you, Camallia. You too, Karin…" Bleu thanked the girls.

"There's no time to waste," Zylo urged Bleu. "Let's retrieve the Manual at once with this."

Led by the wolf king, the group split apart the confused enemies. Separated from each other, they had no time to recover, and were shot down by Diane's squad.

"Now. Sir Bleu, the Manual!" Tyrin shouted.

Spreading his healed wings, Bleu flew over the skeletons. The monsters were knocked down by the wings and the gust of wind.

Ziduur held up the ruby in his hand. His body was enveloped in red light.

"Like I'll let you teleport!"

The monster had jumped away, but Bleu sliced him with his claws.

Ziduur's arm was torn and sent flying, tracing an arc in midair, weighted down by the ebony box it carried.

Bleu had his attention drawn to the Manual for a moment. Ziduur didn't miss that, casting a Blaze spell in that time. Bleu crossed his arms in front of him as the flames burst in front of him.

"Bleu!!"

Karin and Camallia left the few remaining monsters to Zylo, and ran to the dragon.

He looked down bitterly at the space Ziduur had teleported away from. It shimmered like hot air, proving that a devil stood there just a moment before.

He picked up the box with the Manual, and Camallia saw that both his arms were bleeding.

"Are you wounded?" she asked, walking to him.

"It's no big deal. Just scratches."

"Even a small injury cannot be left alone."

While he insisted that he was fine, Camallia softly kissed his wounds.

Bleu suddenly felt eyes on him, and tried to pull away from her.

"Please stay still."

Camallia's warm lips moved over his skin as she said the words. Her hot tongue traced over his wound, licking off the blood. Her throat made a glugging noise as she drank it. Her lips continued to move over it, trembling with her incomprehensible chants and sighs.

She let go after a while, and no trace of the wound was left.

"Bleu, the king of Bustoke is calling."

Karin only said that before turning her back and running away.

To next part>

Translation notes:

"Zidur" is apparently a word of a power to summon one of the creatures in the Necronomicon by Simon. I know nothing of that book other than a cursory look so I can't talk much about it, but do you know how hilarious it is to google a Shining Force thing and come up with a pdf full of demon rituals and absolutely no other results? Unparalled experience. Also, the character's name does have a longer "u" sound so I reflected that in my translation as well.

I don't recall Ziduur being explicitly referred to as a man, but his speech manners are pretty rough and he'll eventually be using the rough and masc "ore" pronoun, so unlike Otrant I just made the call to use he/him pronouns for him.

Zylo's species in the original game is given as "wolfling". His base class however is "werewolf", so nothing wrong here.

Up to this point I had been calling the dog "Cerberos" because that's closer to the japanese reading and I didn't think to look it up, but I was recently reminded that the games use "Cerberus" instead. I'd rather stick close to the official translations when it doesn't matter so I've updated past posts and will be using the game romanization from here on.

[claire-starsword]

Bloodline of the Sacred Dragons - Chapter 2-5

[warning for needles and coerced blood tests. Yes, in Shining Force. this one is a ride]

"No."

The old lady flatly refused.

"Please, master. Don't be selfish. We just need Randolf's help for a little while," Krin begged the old lady with her hands clasped together.

This lady, known as Granny of the Experiments to the mages of Manarina, was Krin's teacher, Tyrin's friend, and Randolf's employer. She was an exceptional weirdo among the already weird mages.

As his boss, the old lady refused to grant Randolf permission to leave. No matter how one looked at it, she seemed to just be having fun causing problems for Tyrin and the rest.

He and Krin were at a loss on how to deal with her tantrum.

The other four, standing outside her laboratory, gathered near the half opened door without thinking, listening in to the discussion.

"If I said no that's a no. If I let Randolf go, I won't be able to continue my sublime research, will I?"

"Ma'am, this is an order from Master Otrant," Tyrin told her gravely. At least he hoped to impart the gravity of the situation. But it didn't work with her in the slightest.

"Otrant was once just a naughty brat I gave plenty of beatings and scoldings to. That one's a hundred years too young to order me around!"

She laughed, and Tyrin began sweating as he tried to persuade her.

"So this is the kind of place my sister's been studying at?" Karin whispered.

"I guess." Bleu scratched his nose at her words.

"Who was that? Is there someone outside?"

The old lady had heard Karin speak, and went to look outside her room. Her ears were apparently in pretty good shape for her age. With a bit of regret for having talked so carelessly, Bleu and the others entered the room.

"Ooh, if it isn't a Sacred Dragon. Good. Excellent. Alright, if you all help with my experiment, I'll let you have the dwarf."

The old lady's eyes shined as she saw Bleu, and Randolf angrily raised an eyebrow at what she had said.

"Hey hey hey, I'm not a thing. Don't go handing me over as you want. First of all, to let him help on the experiments, what do you want to turn him into? Or, are you gonna turn someone into a dragon…?"

Randolf looked at the machine in the corner of the room. It was bigger than Bleu. The imposing contraption, covered by a transparent dome, was a shapeshifting machine.

The reason the old lady was known as Granny of the Experiments was due to turning people into a bunch of different animals with that machine. That's why even the bulletin boards in Manarina had posters warning to beware of her.

"Even I can't turn people into Sacred Dragons. That's why I'm still researching. I hardly get the chance to pick up such a rare material to experiment with. Hohoho!"

"Bleu isn't any sort of lab animal!" Karin shouted.

"To me, all creatures are lab material, me included. You, and you, and you, and you…"

She spun around pointing each one of them.

"This machine, it looks a lot like the one in the Ancient Tower at Prompt… So you want me to get inside?" Bleu asked. Camallia wanted to say something, but the old lady was faster.

"The machine in the Ancient Tower was only for breathing lifeforce into an artificial creature, like Dark Dragon. It sucked out the life of living beings that entered it and transferred it to something else. This machine here is very different. It was dug out from the Bustoke Quarry a long time ago. Good ol' me here restored it, and it became usable again."

The old lady scolded Krin for not being awed and clapping like a pupil should. The poor girl praised her after way too long. A bit angry, she continued to explain the machine.

"This machine can transform a creature into another kind of creature. For example, it can turn giant worms and such into cute chickens and cows. Oh, it's such a groundbreaking invention."

She made a dreamy face, enchanted by her own words.

"But, I don't think anyone would want milk or stew from a cow that used to be a worm…" Karin mumbled, disgusted. Karna nodded, her lips tightened together.

"You don't understand the greatness of this research. Foolish little girls."

Karna got terribly angry at the old lady's insult, puffing her cheeks. But, suddenly remembering her reason for being there, she quickly calmed down.

"Old lady, have you seen a man called Gong, maybe?"

"Gong? Let's see…" She inclined her head, trying to gather her memories. "Ah, do you mean that huge monk? He helped me here a couple of days ago."

Karna beamed.

"It could be him. So, could you tell me where he is now?"

"He left."

"Ehh?"

She froze instantly, after having jumped in joy at first.

"He just suddenly walked out. I have no clue where he went."

He ran away, whispered Tyrin in Karna's ear. Probably, thought everyone who heard him.

Bleu too started wishing to ran away like Gong. He didn't have time to waste with this stuff.

"We can't spend too much time here. I enter that, then you give us him, right?"

"Don't give in, Bleu. This is a waste of time too," Karin rushed to stop him as he touched the machine.

"Whoa, whoa, who told you to enter? What I want is your cells. Turning a Sacred Dragon into a frog or a snake wouldn't be much fun now, would it?"

Rummaging through a box, the old lady chided the hasty dragon. Right after, she exclaimed "here, found it," and took out an odd tool with a needle.

"What, I'm just gonna take some blood from you all."

Her face contorted with glee as she carried the giant injection needle.

"Hey, hey, you don't mean even from me, do you?"

Randolf took a step away from her.

"I don't see why not. I still don't have many dwarf cells, after all."

Hurried by Bleu and Tyrin, who were fed up with all that, everyone agreed to her procedure against their will. Even Randolf and Cerberus fell in her clutches. The one who resisted the most was Camallia, who tried to plead religious reasons, and that she was a foreigner, but the old lady didn't care at all for that. In the end, she went after half of the group had already done it.

"One Sacred Dragon, one dwarf, one elf, one half-elf, three humans, and one cerberus… Hohoho. Now, what crystals should I use…"

This time, she began rummaging through another box, full of crystal slabs shining in every color of rainbow. It was as if she had immediately forgotten about everyone else in the room.

"Hey, you're a bother to my work. Out."

She ushered them out of the lab. Camallia wished from the bottom of her heart that this old mage's research with their cells never got completed.

"Well then," Tyrin relaxed his shoulders, then asked his old friend, "guide us."

"Hang on, why do I have to do this?"

Randolf grabbed Tyrin's orange-brown robe, stopping him from running ahead.

"What do you mean 'why', I explained everything before. And the old lady has allowed you to."

"The old lady is the old lady, I'm talking about me. I'm no kid to be sent out by my guardian. I do what I want to."

"Then, can't you consider it?" Tyrin requested once more.

Randolf stubbornly rejected it. "I refuse. I shouldn't take anyone who isn't a dwarf through the secret path. Besides, I have nothing to do with this Manual and what it will be used for. I'm not sticking my nose in that kind of trouble when it's not worth a cent."

"Cheapskate."

Someone murmured.

"What did you say?"

Randolf turned around, and saw Karna with her puffed cheeks.

"I said you're a stingy miser, that's what you are. Lending a hand to people in trouble is the right thing to do."

She began preaching to the stubborn dwarf as a priest was bound to do.

"That's my decision to make."

"Cheapskate," she made the same face again. Of course, it was useless to preach to a man several times her age. Besides, Karna wasn't one to keep a dignified front for long.

"C'mon now, a young girl shouldn't talk like that. Not to mention, you seem to be a priest too."

"Oh, I can speak however I want to a dwarf like you. I don't think the gods will forgive your actions."

"My, what a difficult kid."

"You're the difficult one!"

Karna had got angry to the point of tears, and Karin hurried to calm her down. She hugged Karin, burying her face in the older girl's chest.

Randolf felt a bit troubled, as he did not intend to make her cry.

His gaze fell downwards, and when he raised his head again, the white dragon was right in front of him.

"Randolf the dwarf, I beg you once more. We need your help."

Bleu's long neck was bowed down all the way to the dwarf's face.

"Bleu, you shouldn't ever have to go this far."

Karin tried to push his head up. A proud and noble Sacred Dragon, hero of times past, shouldn't lower himself to a mere dwarf. But, Bleu's head stayed firmly where it was.

"If you want us to beg, then, please."

Joining the plea for help, Karin also bowed down towards Randolf, by Bleu's side and as deeply as him. Not leaving her sister alone in that, Krin also bowed by her side.

"I ask of you as well, dwarf, sir."

A bit late, Camallia joined them. Hers was a more elegant gesture, bending her upper body without lowering her head as much.

"Now, what will you do, dear friend. I will ask of you once more as well. To retrieve the stolen Manual, we require a dwarf's assistance..."

Tyrin bowed.

Karna quickly lowered her head as well by Karin's side, her face stained with tears.

"Fine, I get it, stop pestering me, you all. I'll guide you, now get these heads back up already."

Randolf had at last joined the group.

To next part>

Translation notes:

With thanks to Spriters Resource, here's a refresher on what the shapeshifting machine looks like:

And the machine in the Tower of the Ancients that gives power to Dark Dragon (we only see it after it's destroyed by Cain):

The similarities between them kinda start and end with having a glass dome. I don't see any entrances in the last one and Darksol does not put anyone inside it to supply Dark Dragon with energy, so yeah, the writer took some liberties here. Of course, there's no original explanation for it so it's not a big deal.

Karna is confirmed here as a half-elf. According to the afterword at the end of the book (which I'll be translating eventually), the writer did contact someone (he doesn't clarify who exactly) to ask on the issue of her looking like an elf while listed as a human in the manual. The way he talks about, it was very likely a mistake, and deciding to make her a half-elf was just a hasty fix. They decided the same should go for Taya even though she's not even in this book.

Rolling my eyes at the dwarf racism that seems to be going on here. I don't recall dwarves being established as a lesser race anywhere in the first game and its extra content, with Gort even being a legendary hero in Guardiana (despite centaurs dominating the army there in general, but that's mentioned more as centaurs being the prejudiced ones, as opposed to everyone else being on it). The SF2 encyclopedia has a note on Randolf being from a "rougher" subrace of dwarves, so he seems to attract this kinda comment, but in the same sentence that book establishes regular dwarves as respected, so the portrayal here still sticks out as the writer doing his own thing. Which feels pretty bad, especially when Randolf is so far the only character defined just as a worker as opposed to having some special heritage, religious or academic connection.

[starswordartblog]

The very obvious edit of not letting these dwarf dudes be recolors of a human guy anymore. Since I don't know how to edit weapon animations and am just swapping slots around I had to make these match the male sorcerers, which are already kind of jank, but alas, still better than Blue Lemon. Warrior and Gladiator sprites on the other hand are already epic so i just edited palettes, only included them here for completeness and to show the overworld edits. Speaking of overworld, if anyone knows what is the sprite of Gyan sitting let me know, I don't recall seeing it in game but it is in the ROM, and TCRF doesn't list it as unused graphics, though it might be missing the info idk.