Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise

Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise (霊亀の足跡) is the second episode of Season 2 and the twenty-seventh of overall episode The Rising of the Shield Hero anime.

Synopsis
The leaders of all the nations’ militaries gather in the Spirit Tortoise Kingdom. Naofumi is there as well, and promises to offer his help as one of the heroes. But just before they decide on a plan, a mysterious woman appears…

Plot
After wiping out a horde of Spirit Tortoise familiar monsters with his cursed weapon, Naofumi takes a moment to recover. His party members rush into the crater he made but it turns out that he's alright. At the edge of the crater, a mysterious woman arrives. She asks the Shield Hero to kill her. However, before Naofumi can ask for more, a roar shudders through everyone, and the woman simply disappears.

Later on, Naofumi joins Queen Mirellia and army generals from several different nations to debrief on the Spirit Tortoise catastrophe. The Spirit Tortoise has already destroyed several towns and is currently in rest. However, in only a few days, it will head towards the next largest population group. Even an army with tens of thousands of soldiers were unable to stop it. As the leaders discuss a plan forward, they mention the Seven Star Heroes who wield the Vassal Weapons. Unfortunately, they are too far away and unlikely to make it in time. The conference is then intruded by the mysterious woman from before.

The leaders at the conference are surprised by the woman's entry but recognize her. She is known as the regent and concubine to the king of the Spirit Tortoise Nation. She introduces herself as Ost Horai and reveals that she herself is a familiar of the Spirit Tortoise. Up to now, her role has been to gather souls to power to Spirit Tortoise. However, this role is not malevolent, but is in fact to block the waves from occurring by using souls as a resource. She is currently because the Spirit Tortoise has been unsealed and is being controlled by some unknown force to cause destruction. If let to continue, it will destroy the world against its own volition. To stop this, Ost is asking Naofumi to destroy the Spirit Tortoise. Learning this information, the war council decides to move forward. However, as they start trying to position themselves to get credit, Naofumi reprimands them and then walks out.

After leaving the conference, Ost introduces herself to Raphtalia and the rest of Naofumi's companions - including Eclair and Elrasla, who recently arrived. Later that night, Naofumi strolls outside to think about what to do. Raphtalia meets him and encourages him to cooperate with the other leaders to protect everyone; after all, he is the Shield Hero. The next day, Naofumi and the combined armies of the nations travel out to a location to ambush the Spirit Tortoise. With such a large force, the Spirit Tortoise is guaranteed to head towards them. After figuring out a strategy, Ost and Rishia are assigned to research about the Spirit Tortoise. While preparing, Eclair gives Naofumi's party the equipment they ordered from Erhard. That night, the group relax and bond. However, they suddenly feel the roar of the Spirit Tortoise.

Light Novel & Manga Differences

 * A large portion of the episode was anime-exclusive content which filled in the gaps of the light novel and manga.
 * The conference with the army generals (with Ost revealing herself) only occurred after the first skirmish with the Spirit Tortoise in the light novel.
 * In the anime, Ost introduces herself to everyone at the strategy meeting. However, in the light novel and manga, she joins Naofumi's party first, is introduced to Queen Mirellia in Melromarc, and then brought to the strategy meeting.
 * In the light novel Ost is portrayed as more serious and with an air of mystery. However, in the anime, Ost is generally portrayed as more clueless which provides some comedy.
 * The light novels did not provide any information about the other nations attacking the Spirit Tortoise.

Trivia

 * The nations of Haikazuya, Lowhirot, and Mideus were all newly introduced in the anime.
 * Haikazuya has the largest army in the coalition, complete with dragon riders, cavalry, heavy troops, and archers.
 * Lowhirot has the largest number of siege weapons in the coalition.
 * Mideus provided mages which can cast large-scale ritual magic.