Sorry, this came out later today than normal. I actually have a good reason for that (outside of flying to the East Coast Saturday) but I won't share it right now. I'd rather see if the reason pops up again after I update or not. Anyways, you've all been waiting for it, so please, enjoy the chapter!
Also, thanks to Pretty Lazy for giving me permission to take a small part of his work to use in this chapter. Keep up the great work man! The song I'm currently writing is because of you giving me access to what you wrote!
Since Last Time: 36 more Favorites, 30 more Followers (Total: 677 Favorites, 782 Followers)
Updated: December 17th, 2019 1:16 A.M. (EST)
Chapter Twenty-One: This Isn't A Game
The Present (35 Days before the next wave of Catastrophe)
"Ma'am Altara. I hope your trip out here was safe."
"There were only a few balloons attacked me on my way here. Nothing that I couldn't handle by myself." Altara the nun said dismissively as she dismounted her horse. "Now, explain to me why I was called out here."
She was currently outside of the nearby village.
"Right. We found these demihumans scouring Bellona Village for the Shield Hero a few days ago." The church agent informed her as the two of them walked up to a nearby tree. Tied to it were three dark hooded figures. A pair of church knights stood on either side of them, weapons out and at the ready, in case their captives somehow managed to escape their bonds. "One of their accomplices ran off, and we had a lot of trouble capturing these three. They proved to be experts at hand to hand combat and holed themselves up in a shop after killing two of our Knights in town. We had to keep them inside for a couple of days before we got a mage who knew smoke magic to the area. He smoked them out, and then we were able to capture them. However, we can't get any information out of them."
"... And why do you believe these three are so important?" Altara asked boredly.
"We believe they might have been hiding the Shield Demon in the general area." The Church Agent said.
The two of them stopped before the hooded figures. Two of them were still knocked out. The middle one raised his head and growled at the two of them. Altara proceeded to calmly pull back the hood, revealing the furry face of a tiger demi-human. "A Hakuko." She said curiously. As if she were inspecting a curious specimen.
His fangs bared, and the hair around his neck bristled. "A nun of the Three Heroes Church. How blasphemous." He growled out calmly, before spitting at Altara's feet.
Altara continued to look calmly look down at the restrained demi-human. Her eyes calculative, and her tone controlled. "Are you sure this one managed to kill two of our Knights?" She asked the Church Agent. "It doesn't look like it could kill anything that wasn't already dead."
"Rowr!" The demi-human roared and tried to burst free from his bands. The thick rope, however, held him in check. "You damn human! I'll slice you in pieces for this dishonor against the Grand Council's Elite Guard!" He yelled gutturally.
"Hmmm… It appears we've captured some 'important' demi-humans here." Altara said, adding a tone of mocking to her voice. "Of the Grand Council's Elite Guard you say? Tell me. Why would the 'great' Siltveltian Council be sticking their paws around Melromarc?"
The tiger demi-human stopped struggling, but he didn't stop glaring at the nun. "Because we heard of Melromarc's barbarity in their treatment of our God." He growled lowly.
Altara raised an eyebrow as if she was confused. "What God have we been mistreating? I can't remember mistreating any Gods lately."
"Don't pretend you don't know!" The demi-human yelled angrily. "Ever since he was summoned you've done nothing but try to kill the blessed Shield Hero! One of the great Cardinal-
Altara laughed, cutting the demi-human off. She continued for a few seconds, honestly looking a little crazy as she did so. "Oh, of course, such a silly thing for something so important to slip my mind. Getting old does that to you sometimes." The middle-aged nun said mockingly to the demi-human. "I almost forgot you animals looked to the Shield as your God."
Her laughter stopped. The crazed look in her eyes didn't disappear though. "The blessed Shield?" She added. "Don't make me sick. The Shield is nothing but a devil; going throughout the land to usurp the hearts of our people. To turn those of the righteous to the paths of wickedness." She said, venom and malice dripping from her voice. "The Shield chose to you over us humans. Even now the Shield Demon goes about with one of those abominations, twisting other humans to the combination of his sinful, dark and carnal desires. That devil is not worthy of the title of Cardinal Hero. He is no hero. And he is no God."
"ROWRRR!" The demi-human roared and tried again to break his bindings at hearing such blasphemous words. One of the ropes started to fray, and the two knights immediately moved into a position to skewer him if need be. But his strugglings to break free didn't break the rope. "YOU INSOLENT SWINE!" He roared in anger. "As soon as we find our Savior, we will rain vengeance upon your heads for everything this country has ever done to us demi-humans! We will repay every drop of your hatred and blasphemy IN YOUR BLOOD!"
…
Altara smirked. "You mean, you haven't found your Savior Shield Hero?" She asked for confirmation.
The church agent next to her appeared stunned. They'd been working off the assumption that the Shield Hero was hiding somewhere with the help of these demi-humans. But now, it turned out that not even the demi-humans had known where they were hiding.
The angry demi-human continued to growl. "We did find him! But now we'll never catch up to him! He fled to the East after your Knights first tried to capture us, and now he'll be too far away for us to track him down and take him with us to Siltvelt-" The demi-human's eyes widened as he realized the slip of tongue he'd just had. He'd been so frustrated with having found the Shield Hero, only to have these fools get in the way that he couldn't complete his mission. But now, he had just told the enemy all they'd needed to know... because a nun had riled him up.
Altara continued to smirk. "So you weren't trying to hide him. You only knew that the Shield Demon fled East from here. Most likely he's going through the mountain range to escape to another part of Melromarc. That'll definitely help with tracking him down." Altara's smirk turned into an evil smile as she looked down on the shocked demi-human. "You religious zealots are too easy to rile up. Loosening your tongues as soon as your 'God' is blasphemed against." She made to turn, but then stopped to look back down at the Hakuko's shocked face. "I should thank you. You made our job of catching up to the Shield Demon that much easier." Altara turned away at last and began to walk away.
'No… NO!' The Hakuko thought.
"ROWWWRRRRRR!" Snap!
With a loud roar and a loud snap, the tiger demi-human burst from his bonds. The two knights immediately moved to stab him through, but in a surprising burst of speed and strength, he grabbed the blades with his claws, ripping them away from the hands of the knights. "I WON'T LET YOU!" Using the tree as a brace, he leaped forward through the air. Claws and fangs bared to kill the 'defenseless' nun. The other knights in the area were too far away, and the two closest were unarmed. The Church Agent was still recovering from his shock at seeing a demi-human break out of such strong restraints.
"My lady-" The church agent started to say in surprise.
Altara turned so quickly and reached forward in front of her, it was almost invisible to the eye. "Holy Light Sword!"
"ROWRR- Kuh!" The lion demi-human gasped in surprise as he felt something pierce his body, killing his growl and his forward momentum. 'What…' He looked down in shock.
A sword of pure light, grasped in the left hand of the nun, had stabbed him below his rib cage. 'But… how…' Blood spurted from his mouth, and then he fell backward onto the ground. Gasping for breath as he felt one of his damaged lungs filling with blood. The knights who'd had their swords ripped from their grasp looked amazed. The other knights who'd watched in shock were also amazed.
"Lady Altara... that was marvelous. How did you react so-" The church agent started to say in awe.
"Send word to all the knights and church shadow squads in the East. There are only a few paths the Shield Demon can take through the mountains. Scour them, locate him at once, and finish him." Altara said with finality to the church agent, cutting him off. "We cannot allow him to get away from us again."
"Yes... yes, I'll send word at once!" The church agent said quickly before he darted off.
"Nurgh… no…" The Hakuko demi-human gasped weakly on the ground.
"As for you." Altara lifted the head of the weak-eyed demi-human so he could look directly at her evil-looking face. "You aren't the first demi-humans tracking the Shield Demon that I've killed. And I doubt you'll be the last." She spoke, her voice laced with venom and an undying hatred of these beasts below her. "You can make all the erroneous claims you want, you can throw your worldly rank around to make yourself feel important, but none of it will save you from the truth. You are nothing but a vile pestilence to our world that needs to be purged. And as an instrument to God, blessed with his holy light magic, I will do just that."
The demi-human coughed up more blood and spat it in her face. However, she laughed at the pitiful action. "I've decided. I'll kill your comrades in front of you, and save you for last. That way you'll learn what true suffering is like." Her evil smile returned. "It's been too long since my magic sword last tasted demi-human blood... Only a day or two, actually."
She dropped the Hakuko demi-human to the ground, and slowly started to approach the two that were still knocked out on the ground. The demi-human rolled over and reached out weakly for his comrades. "No, Po, Han…"
Slash! Slash!
He could do nothing but watch as both his comrades and lifelong friends were beheaded right in front of him. As effortlessly as a knife cutting through butter. 'No… please Gods, no…'
Altara laughed gleefully as she watched blood soak the ground from each of her kills. "Yes! Yes! Be purged from this world you vile creatures of the Devil! Return to the pits of hell where thou camest!"
'What kind of monster is this?' The demi-human thought in fear, before coughing up more blood from his damaged lung. He wasn't looking so good.
Altara looked back at the fatally wounded demi-human lying on the ground at the sound of him coughing, and then shrugged to herself. "Let us go now. I am eager to finally rid the world of the Devil of the Shield."
"But, ma'am, shouldn't we dispose of-" One of the two Knights tried to ask.
"Leave him here. He'll die from his wound anyways." Altara said. "It'll give him plenty of time to suffer for being the abomination he is." She turned away and walked to her horse.
The Knight looked to Altara, then the demi-human, as if unsure. Then he finally nodded to himself. "As you command Lady Altara." The Knight said curtly.
Altara mounted her horse and turned to face the squads of knights. They had wasted enough time here. "It's time we found the Shield Demon and eliminated him once and for all!"
The knights cheered loudly in response. Altara faced her horse towards the Eastern mountains and kicked it into a gallop. "Yah! Yah!" The rest of the Church Knights followed after her on their horses... yelling as they gradually disappeared into the woods.
Their comrade who had evaded capture watched from his perch in the trees in shock. She had thought it was only a rumor that the Church had been capturing and killing their search parties for the Shield Hero. But to see it with her own eyes… and with members of the Grand Council's Elite Guard... 'I have to report this to the Grand Council immediately! Melromarc has gone too far!' She thought angrily.
The demi-human turned around on the tree and leaped lightly from one tree to the next. Gradually disappearing from the scene.
...
The wounded demi-human's eyes opened again, and he weakly reached out in the direction Altara had gone. 'No… I can't… let her… capture… my God...'
His hand tiredly dropped back to the ground. 'I… am dying… all alone... in this Gods forsaken country… having failed the Grand Council... in finding... and rescuing… our Savior... the Shield Hero…'
In his dying moments, the Hakuko first remembered a few days ago, seeing the hooded Shield Hero in person for the first time at Bellona Village. Ever since the time he had been a child, he had wished that he could meet the Shield Hero. He had worked hard his whole life just so he could be in a position that would allow him to meet the Shield Hero should he finally be summoned one day. Yet Melromarc had rejected all representatives from all nations from meeting with the Shield Hero and the other Cardinal Heroes after summoning them. Then, a week after they had been summoned, the other nations were finally allowed to send representatives to meet with the Cardinal Heroes... All except for the demihuman nations who wanted to meet the Shield.
He'd been forced with his friends to sneak in undercover, under orders from the Grand Council, to verify where the Shield was, to learn if he was being treated fairly, and if not, to retrieve him and bring him to safety… and for the last month, they and others had worked so hard after finding out about the Shield's mistreatment by Melromarc, yet had had no luck in finding him...
He had been so happy to have found him. To see him at last with his own two eyes… to find that he was okay... and that he had a demi-human fighting at his side... Yet, despite that, his two friends had argued with each other, saying they had to separate him from the demi-human. All because she was a Tanuki. One of the races looked down upon by the Grand Council.
He remembered the Tanukis next. Mostly from memories of his Father telling him about the war. He could have cared less about the opinions of his friends, or even the Grand Council about the Tanukis. He remembered times where his Father talked about having fought side by side with them during the last war when their illusion magic had been key to saving many lives and ending battles before casualties piled too high. He knew too well how it wasn't their fault that they chose not to cut off their alliance with Melromarc after the kingdom started warring fiercely against the Hakukos over a tragic betrayal. He knew how they'd feared the cause of the long drawn out war being blamed on them by Siltvelt. His father had told him so, and he'd trusted his father, even if the war had killed him…
A weary smile came onto his face. His mind jumped back to the Shield Hero. When he'd first noticed his hooded figure walking by his group.
The hooded Hakuko walked out of the pub on to the street with his two friends. They'd just finished another round of eavesdropping on other diners whilst hiding their identities from the waiters. They were discussing with themselves about meeting up with their other friend when something caught the Hakuko's eye.
Two hooded figures walked by him and his friends. One of them shyly put an arm around the other and leaned into him. "And... thank you for saying I'm beautiful Naofumi."
The Hakuko gasped to himself. 'Naofumi… could it be…' They only knew his name and what he looked like from a wanted poster. He didn't know how tall he was, or if he'd look regal or not, but hearing the name alone drew his complete attention. Hope filling him at the possibility...
Naofumi smiled and put an arm over her shoulders. The action caused her to turn her head to look at him. The Hakuko saw the sincerity and love in her eyes. And he recognized the Tanuki ears hiding under her hood on top of her head. He turned his head to look down at her, and he saw the face of his God, smiling for this girl.
"No problem." He replied. The two continued to walk on.
...
"Though I still don't approve of what you did to that poor shopkeeper." She added.
"Way to ruin the moment." He said dryly.
"You're welcome." She responded happily.
"Hey, Dou-Lon." The Hakuko turned to face his two friends. They were looking at him curiously. "Is something wrong? You were staring off-"
"I found him," Dou-Lon said, almost in disbelief.
"Found who?" Po asked curiously.
"I found him, I found the Shield Hero… and he has a Tanuki demi-human helping him…" He smiled happily. 'Our Savior is not alone.' "Come on! Let's go help him!" He said excitedly to his friends as he turned to excitedly follow.
Han grabbed him by the wrist. "Wait, our God has a Tanuki with him?" He asked skeptically.
"Yeah, is something wrong?-" He tried to ask.
The Hakuko's smile became pained. He knew what had happened next. 'If things had only worked out better. If I'd only kept my mouth shut about discovering the demihuman in love with the Shield Hero was a Tanuki. Maybe my friends wouldn't have suggested waiting to corner him. Maybe the Shield wouldn't have had to flee from the village when the Church Knights appeared. Maybe… maybe... my friends and I would be alive, and I wouldn't have betrayed the Shield...'
"I'm sorry, Shield Hero… I'm not... worthy to… see your face... ever... again… … …"
His eyes started to close. Giving up on the life he'd held dear. Dimly, he registered some faint outline hobbling towards him from the forest. Whatever it was, unknown.
But then his eyelids shut, and blood loss finally made him pass out.
Dou-Lon, the grandnephew of Tai-Lon, thought no more.
The Mountains outside Dragon Village
The Day Before (36 Days before the Wave of Catastrophe)
"Thunder Bolt Slash!"
Ren swept his sword forward, releasing a slash of lightning magic at the dark purple scaled dragon that flew overhead. It hit along its bottom wing, and it roared in pain from the hit as it soared away before swooping back in again for another strike.
Ren was quick to run, jumping out of the way of a cloud of poison gas that the dragon released from its mouth. The area of rocks behind him melted under the acidity of the gas. For once, Ren was grinning widely. 'We're close. It won't be able to stay flying for much longer with wounds like that.' He thought to himself as he looked up at the enraged flying red-eyed dragon. It had several wounds on its belly, legs, and wings. Dripping fat drops of blood down onto the ground.
It had taken Ren and his party about eight days to travel to Dragon Village. Grinding monsters all along the way there. The next morning, the guild representative had been waiting outside their inn like a quest marker to point the way for Ren's party to find the dragon. Now with Ren at level 53 and the rest of his party nearing 40, they were taking on the level 55 dragon emperor.
The dragon dived in, wanting to bash Ren away with its tail. But then Bakta, the unmoving tank of his party, switched with Ren. He took the hit with his shield, the enchantments on his armor helping him to stay in place as he stabbed his spear up into a chink in the dragon's tail armor. The dragon quickly flew back up into the air, wanting to escape further damage.
"And hit our target with a buffeting wind! Zweite Gust!"
Boom! Boom!
Two wind spells from the two mages of the party, Tersia, and Farrie, hit the dragon on one of its wings, causing it to roar in surprise. It hadn't expected the hits, and the force of the spells caused the dragon to go off-kilter in the air.
"Now, Sir Ren!" The last member, a sword wielder named Welt, said from where he stood ready to guard the two mage girls.
Ren nodded in thanks to his party, before kneeling on the ground. They had bought him enough time to drink an SP replenishing potion. Now he could use the skills he needed to win.
"One Hundred Swords!" Around him, many blue swords came out of the ground and flew up at the dragon. Most bounced off its remaining scales, but several cut into its wings and dug into wounds already created before.
The dragon roared in pain, but it managed to right itself and sent another blast of poison gas at Ren. "Sir Ren!" One of the mages, Tersia, yelled in worry.
Ren's sword changed, making it look like he was holding a long jagged piece of glass. "Reflect Slash!" He slashed forward right as the burst of poison gas was about to hit him, and as if being shot from a cannon, the gas reflected away from Ren back into the flying dragon's face.
Reflect Slash had a long cooldown timer. But it worked wonders in a fight like this. Taking the opponent's move and reflecting it back with his own attack power added to the blast.
Caught off guard, the dragon roared in pain at its own poison hurting its eyes. Even with its high poison resistance, it could hardly see through its own burning gas. It flew around effectively blinded by its own attack.
Ren took advantage, and ran towards the dragon with his sword held high. It changed to a sword that glowed like a meteor falling through the sky. "You have breathed your last!" He jumped onto a boulder and jumped up high into the air. Higher than any normal adventurer could hope to accomplish. His sword glowed blue as he activated the skill. "Meteor Slash!" Ren yelled as he slashed into the dragon's gut.
The sword released a blue slash of MP powered energy. For a second, the dragon and Ren were motionless in the air, then a shockwave came out from the point of contact as the cut, instead of just slicing partway into the skin, cut fully through it, and into the gut of the dragon.
The dragon roared in agony, and Ren pushed off the dragon's underbelly with his feet. He landed further away from where he'd launched off the ground gracefully, right as the dragon smashed into the ground behind him in a heap of limbs and entangled wings.
It did not rise again. And like that, the battle was done.
"Glad that's over," Ren said calmly as he sheathed his sword on his back.
"Sir Ren! That was amazing!"
All at once, his party members who had been playing support surrounded him. "I've never seen anything like it before!" Farrie said excitedly.
"You managed to reflect its own attack back at it," Welt said in amazement. He had not realized Ren had unlocked a sword like that. "The powers of the Cardinal Heroes really are endless."
"If we keep this up, we'll overcome the waves for sure!" Bakta said happily. His expensive enchanted chainmail armor he had been given from his noble parents had really come in handy for this battle. Without the added resistance the armor gave him to physical attacks, he knew even with his heavy shield the dragon's tail would have sent him flying. Though it would have been useless against the dragon's poison attacks.
Ren calmly looked them over. He honestly was not used to fighting alongside his party members. He usually let them grind for levels while he dealt with the more serious monsters. Except for occasions like this where he knew he would need support. And honestly, their support had really made all the difference here in this battle.
"You all did well." Ren complimented calmly. "Are any of you hurt?" Ren asked in the middle of their praising him.
The party stopped talking and looked at each other. "No, it seemed like the dragon was focused on you for the most part," Bakta replied.
"We barely affected it really," Tersia said. "I was surprised by combining my strength with Farrie's that our wind magic did anything at all." She added sadly.
The party members looked to the mage. "I didn't really do anything," Welt said softly. "I just made sure that Tersia and Farrie weren't targeted while they charged up their spells."
The four bowed their heads in shame. It was times like this they wished they could be more useful. That they were not so low leveled as to barely be able to keep up with Ren in one of his major fights.
Ren would have said something more to them to help lift them out of their funk. The last thing his party needed was lower morale after their victory. He might have run the party more as a guild leader than as a friend, but he did care somewhat for these NPC's under him. However, he looked back at the dragon. 'Why haven't we gotten the experience notification from killing it yet?' He thought confusedly.
After a couple of seconds, he saw its chest rise and fall. Its eyes blearily opened again, but it still did not get back up. Ren's last slash had not only destroyed its gut but had almost completely severed it's back two legs. A pool of blood was forming under its belly. It's breathing continued to be labored. Even if it was not dead now, it would be dead within moments. Yet, despite its oncoming death, the dragon glared spitefully at him.
'It'll bleed out soon. Not like I should care about how it dies. It attacked us first when we arrived here.' Ren thought. All monsters attacked first, and this dragon had been no different. He turned to prepare to instruct his party on how they would harvest materials from the dragon.
"Dad! Dad!" Ren and the party turned at the sound of a young girlish voice piercing the air. A small person, a girl, was running down the hill into the crater towards the dragon. She was dressed in country clothes, her light brown hair neat and well-groomed down to her neck, with a braid going behind one of the dog-like ears on top of her head. She also had a thick dog's tail trailing behind her.
Rem recognized the girl was a demi-human. One that looked to be around nine to ten years old.
"Wait, it isn't safe-" Ren tried to yell.
He stopped speaking when the girl fell onto the dragon's snout and started to cry. The dragon did not react, other than its eyes softening as it sniffed the little girl's scent. It gently nudged the crying girl with its snout. Tears were also coming out of its eyes.
'What the hell…' Ren thought in shock. He'd never seen anything like this in any other game before.
"Dad, please, don't go." The girl, not even a pre-teen yet, cried softly. Barely loud enough for Ren to hear. "Don't go…"
...
"I'm… sorry… little one…" The dragon finally spoke in a deep, rough voice. Like a dying volcano. "I'm… afraid… I no longer… have… a choice."
The girl sniffled. "But… but you said you'd always protect me from those evil people who killed my parents… you promised..." More tears started to leak from her blue eyes. "You promised!" She yelled.
"I did… promise… But I'm… afraid… these… are wounds… I won't… recover from." The dragon spoke slowly, laboriously.
The rest of Ren's party appeared stunned at what was going on. Ren himself wasn't stunned and was instead approaching the dragon. He looked angry, whether at the dragon or at himself, he wasn't sure. But he had been told the dragon was preparing to attack the village! Yet it was sorry that it was dying!?
"Why, why did you attack us!?" He asked. "Why were you planning on attacking the village!?" 'And how is this NPC girl supposed to be your daughter!?' He thought incredulously in his mind. None of it made sense. This didn't match up with his quest parameters at all!
The dragon lowly growled. "You are… here to… kill and… enslave my children… just like… all the others…" The dragon said lowly.
"I didn't come here to enslave anyone!" Ren yelled in anger, his calmness disappearing at seeing this little girl crying at the death of this monster. Why was she crying over a beast like this dragon?! "I came here because I was told by the guild that a dragon was planning to wipe out a village! I came here to stop you!"
…
"Is that… what you… were told?" The dragon asked… it's rough voice holding a note of curiosity. It continued looking into Ren's eyes as if seeing into his soul... "Yes… I see it... now… ... you were played… just like me…" The dragon said sadly. "I was… reckless… I was... a fool…"
'... What?' Ren thought in shock. This definitely didn't match up with the boss he'd faced in his game. That dragon had been a warmonger, a being that delighted in bloodshed. It would have never thought about taking care of a child...
The more he studied the dragon's eyes, the more it was like knowledge poured into his mind. And then he realized that was exactly what was happening. The dragon did not speak, but somehow, a mental connection had formed between the two. Magic that Ren had not thought possible to exist in this world. The dragon brought thoughts and images into his mind to explain. Knowing it did not have much time left. And the thoughts and images opened up Ren's mind to the truth.
Gaelion, as Ren learned the dragon was called, had made a peace pact with Dragon Village long ago. He stayed in the mountains were his poison would harm no one, while the people of the village wouldn't go into the forest to hunt his offspring. He was a dragon of honor and had had no intention of breaking the pact. The people in the village, for the most part, had no intention of breaking the pact either.
No, this mess had been caused by others. By a group of outsiders who had plotted with those few who wanted him dead so they could increase their wealth with his lands. And they had lied to Ren, so they could use him to achieve their ends. It had been a set up all along.
'Why, how…' Ren thought in disbelief.
'You are strong, Sword Hero. Stronger than I gave you credit for in that battle.' Gaelion the dragon finally spoke in his mind. Ren took a step back, feeling like he had been punched in the gut. 'I am sorry I didn't try to defend my actions. I was blinded by my need to protect my children here from trappers… and my adopted daughter from the slavers who've tried, again and again, to come here and capture her. I saved her from a group of slavers when she was little. Her parents had been killed. I… I only wanted to protect her from those slavers... If I had only… spoken sooner… please… protect her… for me...'
…
It took Ren a moment to realize that Gaelion had stopped breathing. And that was why he had stopped speaking. As if to confirm, an experience notification appeared next to his head. Along with the heads of his party members. It was enough experience that he went up from 53 to 55. His party members, though getting less experience, went up quite a few levels too. Going from 36 to 40, and 38 to 40. Stars appeared next to their names, indicating that they were in need of class ups.
They had done it… they had defeated the dragon. They had gotten stronger... so why did he feel so terrible on the inside...
"No, Dad, please," The girl tried to say. But then she started sobbing, laying her head against the dragon's snout. "You promised you'd protect me from those bad people! You promised!" She cried again. "Noooooo!" She screamed in grief.
Ren stood stock still, shocked at what he was witnessing. Shocked as he felt the feeling of death cutting off something from his mind. Shocked that, despite the cut-off, he still saw the string of images like a motion film the dragon had passed to him over the link. Both its own, and of the little girl who had shared them with him. Images that overrode what he was seeing around him, and replaced it with what'd happened in the past.
A group of slave hunters chased two desperate demi-humans through the forest. A couple. The mom held her four-year-old sobbing girl in her arms. The dad leading her by the hand, trying to lead them along across the rocky root strewn ground. Trying to cross the mountain to the country of Zeltoble beyond where they'd be safe.
'No… I was just doing what the guild assigned me to do… I… I thought…' He'd thought it was a quest. He had thought it was only another challenge in this game. He'd thought it was only a game.
An arrow suddenly pierced through the woman's gut from behind. A scream came from her, the sense of loss overwhelming her. Still, despite the pain, she passed the child, the crying girl screaming for her mommy, to her husband. "Get her out of here! Leave me!" She yelled, knowing this was the end, and only wanting to keep her daughter safe. It was almost too much. Too much.
"No, please-" The husband tried to say.
"GO!" The woman ordered, pushing her husband and crying daughter away as she collapsed to the ground.
"Hey Ren… Remember that this isn't a game..." Naofumi's voice rang in the background of the images.
Ren fell on his knees, watching as the husband tearfully ran on. Crying as his wife collapsed onto the ground behind him in her effort to get back up. Crying more as, seconds later, the slave hunters overtook her. Several staying behind to torture her, now that the arrow had pierced vital organs, she would soon die. She was worthless, except for the entertainment they would provide them as she screamed up till she died. The rest continued chasing the Father. Releasing more arrows in an attempt to stop him from running away.
'No, it can't be!' Ren thought. 'He can't be right! He can't! This is a game! This is a game!' If this wasn't a game… then…
The husband climbed onto a large rock and saw a large cave. He somehow knew that safety could be found there if he only reached it. Before he could start climbing down though, an arrow pierced the man in the back. Making him fall down the side of the rock, with his daughter screaming as they landed hard next to the entrance. He grunted, gritting his teeth in pain, and looked down at his cradled crying daughter. The one who would be taken for running away, who would grow up in slavery worse off than he had. All because he and his wife had tried to flee from their master after their slave crests had been removed by a hooded figure.
All of Ren's thoughts stopped. He stared at the image, as if frozen in time, wide-eyed. The Father held genuine emotion in his face, his eyes, in every little facet. The look mirrored what Ren had seen on the roof of the ambulance back in his world. When he'd realized in the gurney that he wasn't going to make it. When he'd realized he had sacrificed his own life so the girl he'd loved would continue to live.
Yet, despite that, like this Father, he saw the same look he'd had. The same look that said, even if I die, he'd be happy that she would have the chance to live on.
"This isn't a game." Ren murmured in realization.
"I'm sorry… my little Wyndia…" He whispered to the now quietly crying girl. He kissed her on the forehead and laid her small body in a shadowy crevice near the entrance. Pausing only long enough to give her one last head pat. It was enough that she stopped crying to look confusedly up at him. "Stay silent. Know that daddy will always love you."
"Puh, Papa?"
He smiled sadly, memorizing her face one last time, before forcing himself back up. He took off away from the cave, acting like he was still holding the child.
"There he is!" "Capture the damn demi!" Yells came as he ran back into view of the slave hunters. He hustled towards the summit, blood dripping from the arrow in his shoulder as the group of slave traders followed after him.
"No, Papa, no!" The young Wyndia cried.
Her dad bravely disappeared over the rise. The group of intent slave hunters still on his tail. In a moment, they too disappeared over the rise after him.
Wyndia stared in shock for a moment more. "No… mama… papa…" The little four-year-old Wyndia sat back against the wall of the cave and started to cry anew.
"Protect her…"
The images around Ren finally stopped. He stared at the ground, wide-eyed in shock. He had no thoughts. He had no feeling. All he had was a realization that had slammed through everything he'd thought he'd known since he'd woken up with the Legendary Sword in his hand.
"This isn't a game."
Then, everything around Ren turned to black.
"... en... Si.. Sir... Sir Ren! Please wake up!" A voice yelled worriedly.
Ren slowly opened his eyes. His party members surrounded him up above, their worried faces looking down at him. He had been lying on his back next to the dead dragon. The dragon who still had the demi-girl crying next to it. He felt at his own face, finding tear tracks under his eyes. At the sign of him coming too though, relief came onto their faces. "Oh thank the Gods," Tersia said gratefully.
"What… what happened?" Ren asked confusedly. His throat felt dry. 'Was that… was that all in my head?' It couldn't be possible. He had never had an experience like this before in this world. Yet it had all felt so… real...
"You passed out several minutes ago. We tried to wake you up, but nothing was working." Welt explained nervously as Ren worked on standing up. It wasn't hard, it just felt like he was… weighed down. 'I killed a dragon. A dragon that was only looking at protecting its home… protecting its children… protecting this girl...'
"You started crying after you passed out… we had no idea what to do…" The young man said worriedly. The other party members shared in their worry for Ren. They had never seen the Cardinal Hero crying before. "What happened there, Sir Ren?"
…
Ren looked at his party members. The knowledge of his revelation finally opened his eyes. These people were looking at him with genuine concern in their eyes. Not programmed. Not built in. But real, human concern... His party members were not NPC's.
He looked to the sobbing demi-human girl, Wyndia. The little girl he had seen in his vision. She was not an NPC either.
He looked to the dead dragon, Gaelion. He had not been a raid boss, a boss monster, a threat to the village…an NPC. He had never been a preprogrammed monster set to destroy a town at a certain time like in his game. He had been a real being, with real hopes, dreams, and desires. And Ren had cut them short.
Ren felt the sorrow of the memories go through his mind again, enough to drop him back onto one knee. Like the husband, before he had been killed, using the last bit of effort he had to hide his only daughter in the shadows of the cave before running off and sacrificing himself so she would have a chance at survival. Running off so the slave hunters would chase him instead of her. Leaving her in the dragon's cave. Protected… from the slave hunters… until now… because those slave hunters had used him... used him to kill a peaceful dragon...
"Sir Ren?" Welt asked again in worry.
Ren stayed still for a moment, his mind drinking in the realization… finally, he calmly stood back up. "Take up lookout points. Warn me if anyone approaches this crater." Ren said, doing his best to sound calm. "I need a moment to recover."
The party members looked at each other again. They weren't sure if it would be for the best for Ren to be alone with this demi-human if she had been raised by the dragon... But they trusted him, and without question, each one went to different parts of the crater to either hike up or climb up to a spot where they'd be able to keep a lookout for anyone approaching from anywhere around them. In less than a minute, Ren was all alone with Wyndia and the dragon's corpse.
…
After a moment, Ren finally walked up next to Wyndia. For once, he looked unsure of what to say. She had gone silent, just... staring down blankly at the dragon's corpse. The dragon who had taken her in as one of its own, and raised her these last five to six years...
…
"I'm sorry," Ren finally said.
The girl's ear flicked, acknowledging that she had heard. Ren forced himself to continue speaking. "If I had known… that Gaelion wasn't an evil dragon… I would have-" He tried to say.
"Would have what?" Wyndia spoke icily. "Spared him? Let us continue living our lives in peace?" Each word was like a punch to his face. It was obvious that she didn't believe him. He wasn't sure if he would believe himself. Up until a few minutes ago, he'd treated this whole thing as a game. "I thought the Cardinal Heroes were supposed to protect us from monsters. But you're no better than the slavers who wanted me because my parents managed to run away. Because my real dad had fooled them away long enough for my adoptive father to wake up and find me in his home." She said, continuing to look down at the dragon. It sounded like she was close to crying again. "When he realized what had happened to me, he took me in. He drove off all of those horrible people. He raised me… and gave me everything I wanted. He let me visit the village with some of his children acting as my bodyguards. He gave me his scales to pay for my clothes and anything else I needed when his children said it was safe to go to the town… he did everything he could to protect me... but now… now I have no one left." She hugged herself. "I'm all alone."
...
Ren didn't speak for a few seconds. He wasn't sure what he could say in response. "Please, I-"
"Leave me alone Cardinal Hero," Wyndia said bitterly. "Take what you want from my Father's body and cave and leave. That's really why you came here after all." She spoke icily again, wiping away a few sad tears from her eyes. "The Cardinal Heroes use the parts of monsters to fight monsters. I remember learning that much from my parents while we were on the run. Before they..." She didn't continue, as she had to force down a sob.
…
Ren still did not move. She was right. He hadn't just come here because the guild told him too. He had been looking for a strong high leveled monster to take down to help increase his own strength along with the strength of his party. A monster he could harvest for its various parts so he could unlock more weapons, and use the energy his swords would have gotten in the fight to upgrade his best weapons. There was nothing he could say in his defense. He had been led in like a fish; hook, line, and sinker. There was nothing he could say in his defense to this little girl... so why did he not want to walk away and leave her be like she asked?... why did he want to stay when she didn't want him around?...
...
"Sir Ren! A group of men is approaching from the forest!" Tersia yelled to him from where she was keeping a lookout. She could see down the narrow gap that led downhill towards the forest. "I think one of them looks like the person from the guild."
"What are your orders, Sir Ren?" Welt shouted from his spot. Figuring there was some reason why Ren had thought to have them keep a lookout for anyone approaching now other than needing to recover.
Ren finally looked away from the girl. He could not see the group himself yet, with the walls of the crater in his way. But his face hardened to its normal calm. "Stay where you are for now," Ren ordered. "Don't interfere unless I ask for your help." He was beginning to get a feeling about why he refused to leave.
The members of his party looked to each other from their vantage points across the crater and nodded to each other. Whatever was going on, they trusted that Ren would be able to take care of it.
Wyndia stayed looking down at Gaelion's corpse. Unmoving, merely waiting for fate to take its course. Ren took a few steps away from the corpse... and waited…
...
Eventually, the group of men walked into the crater. For members of the guild, they didn't look the part. They were dressed in brown leather outfits, armed with shortswords and bows. They were laughing up a storm amongst themselves and were pushing each other around in glee at the sight of the dead dragon.
If he hadn't known any better, Ren would have mistaken them for a group of robbers. The only giveaways as to their true profession were the whips some had tied to their belts. Along with the man in front. The person who had given Ren the quest. He held a slave collar in one hand, ready to be attached around the neck of those unlucky enough to be caught by this group of slavers.
'It was true…'
Ren calmly looked down at the ground as the man approached, one of his hands balling into a fist. 'It was true. This man only hired me so he could capture this girl. The dragon wasn't a monster, it was never a threat to the village… it never was…'
The group stopped short of Ren and became silent. He was still staring calmly at the ground as the leader perked up. "Looks like you did a good job on that dragon, Sir Hero!" The man said happily, looking at the dragon's corpse. "I wasn't sure if even you would be strong enough to deal with him despite being a Cardinal Hero, but I see my faith in you wasn't ill-placed after all!" The men behind him gave a loud cheer at their leader's words.
Ren did not speak.
The guy started to smirk. "You can keep anything from the dragon, of course. There's only one thing we're here for. And she is rather worthless to anyone besides her former master." He held up the slave collar, looking to the now defenseless demi-girl looking down at her adopted father's snout. "And he's willing to pay a fortune to have her back."
"Or maybe we could sell her to Idol Balred. He pays through the nose for the chance to torture runaway slaves!" One of Balred's men said excitedly behind him.
"... You'd sell this girl, just for someone to torture her?" Ren calmly asked.
The leader grimaced at his friend's poor choice of words. "Well, I mean, business is business. And that girl is run away property. So however her Master desires to punish her is acceptable in-"
Ren was still staring down at the ground. There was nothing he could say in his defense. However, our actions always speak louder than our words.
"No." He interrupted.
…
Balred had stopped speaking, processing what Ren had just said. A confused expression came onto his face. "I'm sorry, what did you say-"
In a flash, Ren was in front of Balred, sword in hand. The look adorning his face was like the calm before the storm. And then, in a split second, the storm finally broke. "I said, Air Strike Bash!" He yelled.
Before the man could react, a gust of wind burst from Ren's sword, hitting Balred square in the chest. He screamed as the force of the hit sent him flying back into one of the walls of the crater.
"Sir!" The men Balred, the guild representative, had brought with him immediately moved to unsheathe their weapons and attack Ren. Ren, however, gave them no opportunity as he held his sword up into the air and changed it again.
"Flashing Sword!"
A bright light emitted from Ren's sword. Since all of the slavers had been moving in to attack him, they had no warning. All of them screamed as they dropped their hastily drawn weapons, covering their eyes after the bright light had burned their irises.
Ren wasted no time after the skill going from slaver to slaver. Punching them in the gut, kicking them in the face, hitting them with the flat of his sword so hard that they went flying like limp rag dolls. He turned into a beast who had been unleashed. These men had tricked him, used him, put him and his party at risk, and for what?! To capture a defenseless little girl!?
Within fifteen seconds of Ren's impressive melee rampage, each one of Balred's friends was lying against the crater wall next to Balred. Some were fortunate and had passed out from the pain. Those who were less fortunate moaned in pain from the injuries they had received.
Balred tried to get back up, but the point of Ren's sword appeared under his chin, stopping him in his tracks. "You lied to me," Ren said icily. All the calm was gone from his voice.
The man looked up, and for once Ren's face looked livid. It was one thing for him to think this had been a game, with the only real people being the other Heroes. It was another thing for Naofumi to treat it as reality, and for Itsuki to dive into his antics in going after other nobles to save NPC demi-humans that were being mistreated. It was an entirely different ballpark for Ren himself to realize that Naofumi had been right and that he himself had been used by corrupt individuals. Individuals who had made him kill a monster that was not a monster, and only so they could be monsters to this girl who was real.
This man was vile. Just like the moderator who had almost raped his girl in a VRMMO, and that paired with his perception of those he had merely thought to be NPCs programmed in this world. The King, the Princess, the Church. They were not NPCs following a storyline he didn't understand. No, like this slave hunter, they were real people, doing despicable things not because of programming, but because they wanted to.
How sickening to realize this whole land had been real the whole time.
"I… I…" The slaver had paled, seeing how Ren now held his life in his hands.
"I didn't sign up to kill a peaceful dragon." Ren continued icily. "I definitely didn't sign up to help you enslave a girl."
"But, but that's a damn demi-human! She's run-away property from the Pope himself-" Ren dug his sword in a little, and Balred stopped speaking in fear as the point rested against his Adam's Apple.
"Not anymore," Ren said. It was amazing how he could look so angry, and yet speak so calmly, but coldly. "You won't touch her. You will leave this place immediately and never go near her or another free demi-human again. If you try…" His sword point dug in the littlest bit, drawing a line of blood from the man's neck before pulling back an inch. The man whimpered, realizing how close he'd been to losing his life, and started to nod his head, not trusting himself to speak. A wet spot also formed in his pants. Ren noted the blood and wet spot. They weren't the result of programming. They were the result of actual fear.
"Take your friends, and don't ever bother me again." Ren finished. After glaring for a moment more, he finally pulled back so his sword would no longer threaten the man's life.
Balred quickly stood up, still staring fearfully at Ren. The others got up with him, picking up their unconscious friends before booking it back towards the forest. Ren watched to make sure they all fled.
...
"Why didn't you let them take me?" Wyndia asked coldly behind him. It sounded like she would have preferred being enslaved by those horrid people rather than being saved by the person who had killed her adoptive father.
Ren turned around and stared at the demi-girl. She was still staring down at Gaelion's face. He took a deep breath. It had been a while since he had last been so angry at somebody. The last time had to have been when his girl back in his world had almost been raped virtually by a horrible man.
"Because I made a mistake, a serious one," Ren said solemnly, sheathing his sword on his back again. He still felt guilty for what he had done. But… "And I'm going to make up for it."
Wyndia still did not lookup. "You killed my adoptive father. How will you make up for that?" She asked again coldly. "Can you bring back the dead Cardinal Hero? Can you bring back my dead parents? Can you bring back everyone who died by the hands of those cruel slavers?!" She yelled at the end. "If not, then get lost! Leave me alone here to grieve until the next group of slavers comes back to retrieve me! Or until my father's other children decide to eat me now that I no longer have him protecting me! Just go! I hate you!" Wyndia yelled with finality. 'Leave me alone so I can grieve in peace!' She thought despairingly inside her mind. She knew what the darkest parts of life were like. She had been born into slavery. Gaelion had been like a light to her, a light that had lit up a brand new world she'd never known. And now, her light was gone. She was all alone… and soon, she would be placed back in the cold dark cellar that was called slavery...
…
After a moment, Wyndia received a notification on her status magic screen. She blinked her eyes, trying to tell if she was seeing things or not. But she was not seeing things. She had just received a party invitation from the Sword Hero himself. She looked up at last and turned to face the Sword Hero for the first time.
"There's nothing I can do to fix what I did here," Ren said solemnly. "I can't apologize for killing your adoptive Father. I can't apologize for all that I've done up to this point. You can hate me if you want, but I won't let you go back to being a slave, and I won't let you die." Ren felt like a part of him, however small, was beginning to change. That was why he'd stayed. He was stepping onto a different path. A path he hadn't realized till then had been available to him all along. "Yes, you're right about why I came here. I won't deny it. I want to become the strongest swordsman in the land by any means, but not so I can claim the title of strongest swordsman, but so that I can save everyone from the Waves of Catastrophe. So, I can save people from vile men like those slavers. That is my duty as the Sword Hero! And I'll do everything I can to prove this sword chose me for that reason!" Ren yelled determinedly at the end.
Wyndia stared, his words bringing a memory from long ago back to the surface of her mind.
"Mama?"
"Yes, dear?"
A very young version of Wyndia looked up at her Mom. Both of them were in chains, lying against a stone wall under the Three Heroes Church. "Can you sing the stowy of the Cwadinal Heroes." She whispered.
"..." Her mom let out a weary sigh. "I'm sorry, Wyndia. I don't think I can tonight-" The mom tried to wearily tell her daughter.
"Pwetty pwease?" She begged quietly. Making cute dog eyes up at her mom...
"Yes, dear." Her mom gave in, and hugged Wyndia close, cradling her in her arms.
"A person of great strength
The Sword Hero became to be...
In terms of pure raw power,
He outgrew the other three.
The Sword brought as much destruction
As the disasters gave off themselves.
But the Sword it fought for honor
And cut down the forces of hellllll."
...
Her mom, her voice first starting soft and unsure, continued on with more confidence into the first song of the Sword Hero.
...
"The Sword never surrendered
And he never ran away.
The Sword would fight forever
If only to save a day.
The Sword lit up the darkness
It brought light to those in need.
The Sword trod down the rough path
And planted a hopeful seedddd."
...
"He was the promised blade
That would lead to victory.
He always fought for honor
For our rights and liberty.
He'd fight till his last breath
If he could help the other three."
*Pause*
"... The Sword it held the power...
To free those like you... ... anddddd meeeeeeeee..."
...
Wyndia snuggled tiredly in her mother's arms as she hung onto the last note. "Do you weally think so mama?" She quietly asked. Too tired to hear the rest of the song for the other heroes for the time being. "Do you weally think he'll come to fwee us?"
Her mom kissed the top of Wyndia's head. "I believe one day all the Heroes will bring light once again to this world." She looked at her daughter's innocent eyes. "And that, one day, they will come and free us. You just have to believe it sweetie."
"... Okay…" The little Wyndia replied.
Wyndia shook her head coldly. "I don't believe you." She whispered. Whether it was to Ren, or the memory of her mother, she was unsure.
…
However, she did not decline Ren's party invitation, and instead accepted it, joining Ren's party. "I won't forget what you did here today." She added coldly. "But since I have no choice, I'll tag along to make sure you stick to your promise, Sir Ren." She said the name mockingly.
It was only then how Ren noted that despite her age, she seemed far more mature for a nine-year-old. In a way, she almost reminded him of his girl back home. Albeit, a much younger version with demi-human features. But the same cold hard resolve that would appear in her eyes when she decided to stick with something was also in Wyndia's brown irises.
Ren calmly nodded in response. "I'll stick to it." He promised before he finally looked back up above at his party members. They were still in their spots, having been watching the whole scene without moving. He then looked at the dragon's carcass, which had not disappeared after a few minutes of being dead. Like it would have in his VRMMO game, Brave Star Online.
'It's real. This is all real.' He thought to himself. This… this changed everything.
"Alright. Come down." Ren ordered.
The party obediently came down from their perches, and within minutes were gathered around the Sword Hero. "We're going to harvest the important parts of this dragon to help us increase our strength," Ren said, before looking at Wyndia. She was looking at the dragon. "Then, we're going to bury the remains of the dragon Gaelion in his cave," Ren said more solemnly.
The party looked surprised at that. "But, but that could take hours. That thing is massive-" Bakta, the noble's son, tried to complain.
"We'll cut him piece by piece if we have to," Ren said, looking to Bakta. "He deserves an honorable burial." Gaelion had been a strong opponent, and despite being a dragon, he'd tried to be good, fair, and honorable. He did not deserve to rot in the sun, to have the vultures of the air feasting upon him... Also, if this was real, then who knew what would happen if the poisonous dragon's body was left out to rot.
His party members slowly nodded and walked over to the corpse at last. Each one pulled out daggers, and started to slice off the important parts. The scales, the talons, the meat; anything that Ren could use to unlock new weapons. Anything they could use to craft new armor. If it had a use, they would make sure it was harvested.
Wyndia still stood by her Father's snout. She helped to remove Gaelion's fangs. Her hand lovingly rubbed her adoptive father's snout as she did so. An apology for having to take his fangs away. She then directed a glare back at Ren. Even though she was going to travel with him now, this eight-year-old was going to have a hard time growing to trust him.
'I can't be her father figure. And I'm not sure I can be her friend.' Ren thought as he watched. He was likely around eight years older than her. 'But I can try harder to work with my party. I can try harder to protect them and her. We'll level up and train together. That way we can all get as strong as we can, and survive the waves together.'
Without his party members noticing, he finally took a moment to adjust his party settings for the leveling parameters. Now, they would all share experience they got from their kills, 50-50. No more would he look at their monster grinding as a means for their programming to obtain skills.
Yes, he was a loner at heart. He'd likely still want to face monsters on his own every now and then. But that did not mean he could not care for these people. And though he had not had a demi-human as a party companion before, he somehow knew that she would be a great help for his party. Like Raphtalia had been for Naofumi. Even if she was only nine years old right now. Somehow, he got the feeling that she would be of great help to him.
'I'll make it up to her. Somehow, I swear, I will.' Ren thought determinedly.
It was the least he could do after realizing this was not a game anymore.
Author's Notes:
You know, back in Chapter Twelve when some of you reviewers talked about this scene, I didn't realize how long it'd be, or how much Ren's character would grow because of it. This story is mainly focused on Naofumi, but I'm glad you readers inspired me to write scenes and chapters for Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu. I know some of you wanted the dragon to live. Or that you wanted Naofumi to help Ren with the dragon. Or that you wanted to see Naofumi in general with the dragon. But I thought that this would be a better route. And quite honestly, I think this helped out Ren a lot more.
Also, forgive me if I got anything wrong with Wyndia. I couldn't find her exact hair or eye color and things like that. But I've been looking forward to publishing this for a long time. Also, if you haven't noticed, I like coming up with lyrics for songs too. Maybe one day I'll post the rest of the song to the Cardinal Heroes. Hope you all continue to have a great week!
Hero Clips!
The Most Traumatizing Experience
"So, you went through something traumatizing too?" Itsuki asked. He, Ren, Motoyasu, and Naofumi were gathered around a table.
"Yeah. It sucked.." Ren said in his normal bored tone.
"Well duh. That's the meaning of the word traumatizing." Motoyasu said airily. "But I think the real question we should be asking ourselves is who had the most traumatizing experience out of all of us!" Motoyasu said.
"Well, I had flashbacks to my best friend killing herself," Itsuki said informatively.
"I was used to kill a girl's father so she could be enslaved," Ren said boredly.
"Adopted Father, no way that dragon was actually her father." Motoyasu said. "And besides that, I was confronted by the fact that I was killing a town!"
"That was more so because of your own naivety and stupidity," Naofumi muttered under his breath. None of the other heroes heard him.
"Motoyasu, I literally watched my friend dying in front of me all over again," Itsuki said a little angrily.
"And I got my butt handed to me in a fight!" Motoyasu responded heatedly.
"Not our fault you suck at close combat," Ren muttered louder than Naofumi had.
Motoyasu lifted Ren by his collar. "What did you say to me loner boy!?"
"You heard me Girlyasu," Ren responded evenly.
"I had to remember being called Icksuki! Icksuki of all names!" Itsuki yelled angrily.
The three of them continued to argue with each other. Each on the verge of getting into a fight over who'd had the worst experience of them all.
Naofumi continued to watch with a bored expression from his end of the table. 'I doubt any of them were falsely accused of raping someone and forced into exile.' He thought to himself as he continued to blankly watch the other three heroes bicker. 'Or forced to take up a new identity and learn magic the hard way and learn the world's alphabet; all while having a Church hellbent on Inquisitioning me to hell. But hey, what do I know?' Naofumi thought sarcastically.
"I had the worst experience!" Motoyasu said angrily.
"No, I had the worst experience!" Itsuki said angrily.
"This is ridiculous," Ren said boredly. "It's obvious I had the worst experience out of all you idiots here."
"You take that back!" Motoyasu and Itsuki said while drawing their spear and bow.
"Why don't you make me?" Ren said as he drew his sword.
'And that's my cue to move on to the next chapter.' Naofumi thought as he got out of his chair and walked towards the exit.
Boom!
The table exploded.
"Take that Icksuki!"
"Shove it up your *** Girlyasu!"
"You stay out of this Mr. Edgelord!"
Till Next Time
Allen