Shaking Land

Shaking Land (揺れる大地) is the third episode of Season 2 and the twenty-eighth of overall episode The Rising of the Shield Hero anime.

Synopsis
The Spirit Tortoise begins its march once more, appearing at the border of the kingdom bearing its name. Naofumi volunteers to lure away its familiars while the army tries to bring it to the mountains. The Spirit Tortoise’s familiar, Ost, fights alongside the humans…

Plot
The Spirit Tortoise has once again started its march - leaving a path of devastation in its wake. However, this time the defense coalition is preparing to counterattack. While some of the coalition prepare an ambush, the Shield Hero Naofumi and a massive army led by Eclair will act as bait for the beast. Shadows like the Queen's Shadow will act as intelligence during the operation. Before leaving camp, Naofumi attaches the flag of Lurolona Village to his cart. As the coalition marches towards the Spirit Tortoise, Naofumi drives by to boost morale before he leads the charge.

Naofumi's party consists of himself, Raphtalia, Filo, Rishia, Elrasla, and Ost Horai. As they move closer, they are approached by an unending swarm of Demon Bat familiars. Naofumi uses his Hate Reaction skill to draw them in towards himself and lure them away from the bulk of the army. Eclair's troops split up to draw the Spirit Tortoise into ambush, and to reinforce Naofumi. Naofumi's party is eventually forced to stop and fight the horde of familiars. Ost uses her powerful gravity magic to immobilize the monsters while everyone else destroys them. At the same time, the ambush against the Spirit Tortoise is triggered. Catapults and ballistae are fired at the powerful beast, with very little effect. However, after significant effort and casualties, the beast's right foreleg is wounded, and the commanders order their troops to concentrate fire on that particular wounded leg. After everyone retreats due to the Tortoise's incessant march, the commander of the Spirit Tortoise Kingdom sacrifices himself to set off explosives. The surrounding terrain collapses on the Spirit Tortoise - trapping it.

Now that the Spirit Tortoise is restrained, everyone takes a moment to catch their breath before cutting off its massive head. However, as Rishia is reading through an ancient book describing the beast, she learns that the danger is not quite over. Suddenly, massive spikes of energy materialize around the Spirit Tortoise. According to the old tale, Eclair explains that the Tortoise uses this energy attack to absorb souls at a distance when there are no big crowds nearby for the creature to feed on. Before anyone has a chance to react, the energy spikes are launched like missiles are the surrounding soldiers. The coalition army is devastated. Ost reveals that this is likely due to the one controlling the Spirit Tortoise. Naofumi and his party then rush towards the Spirit Tortoise's head. Eclair leads her troops to draw away the Spirit Tortoise's fire. Naofumi's party is nearly stopped by a powerful familiar, but Ost and the coalition army move in to intercept instead. Ost uses her powerful magic to save as much soldiers as she can.

Upon receiving Naofumi's plan to attack the Spirit Tortoise, she orders the coalition's mages to use their single-use, large-scale ritual magic to attack. After the long chant, they are able to cast Judgement - the spell the Pope used to nearly annihilate Naofumi. However, this time it is only able to leave a minor gash on the Spirit Tortoise's neck. Raphtalia and Filo then strike next into the wound, but are unable to cut much deep. As they prepare for their next attack, Naofumi - with the help of Ost - places a Shield in the wound to prevent it from healing. Rishia then casts magic to boost the power of both Raphtalia and Filo. Finally, working together, they are able to cut through the neck and behead the creature.

Seeing the Spirit Tortoise beheaded, the coalition army joyously celebrates their victory. During the celebration, they also pay respects to those who have lost their lives. As Rishia starts to grieve Ost's apparent death with the Spirit Tortoise, they are all surprised to find that Ost is still alive. Therefore, the threat of the Spirit Tortoise is not over yet...

Light Novel & Manga Differences

 * The contributions of other countries outside of Melromarc were not mentioned in the Light Novels. While the ritual magic, siege weapons, and troops were mentioned, they were all under the control of Queen Mirellia.
 * The Spirit Tortoise is portrayed smaller in the anime. In the light novel and manga, the defence coalition was unable to restrain its movement. In addition, the spike-like missiles were not used until the Spirit Tortoise was first beheaded.
 * In the Light Novels and Manga, Naofumi had not yet received Lurolona Village and the Seaetto Territory, therefore he did not fly its flag to improve troop morale.

Trivia

 * TBA