Disclaimer:
The Rising of the Shield Hero was created by Aneko Yusagi. Shin Megami Tensei was created by Atlus. Magic Knight Rayearth was created by CLAMP. Sword Art Online was created by Reki Kawahara. DanMachi was created by Fujino Omori. Digimon is owned by Bandai and Toei. Kono Suba was created by Akatsuki Natsume. This story uses reference material from them.
Heroes of Another World
By: RB3
Gathering Heroes 9: Enemy Domain
After learning of the Domain in the Shrine of Water, Abel called a meeting of his allies in the east annex commons room. During this meeting, Hikaru reported what the Vassal Heroes had encountered in the Domain and how they had escaped to Rurorona. "Rurorona Village was my home," said Raphtalia. "I used to live there until the soldiers captured us and sold us into slavery."
"Tch! This country can't do anything right!" quipped Naofumi.
"I want to visit home, but we can't risk it with that Domain there," said Raphtalia.
"Now that I think of it, I suspect this Domain is what's causing the worlds to collide," said Abel.
"You think so? How?" asked Takato.
"The Domain has entry points on both Cephiro and Melro, which makes it a connection between the two worlds. It acts like a rubber band pulling them together," replied Abel.
"So we'll just remove it. All we need to do is beat the demon in charge, right?" asked Yuzu.
"We saw a large palace there with several demons. We'd need an army to bust into that place," replied Sinon.
"We're here with a Babelite unit, so we can call upon them, but we'll take all the help we can get. The demons will surely retaliate once we come knocking," said Abel.
"Which means we'll need to talk to the king and the rulers of Cephiro," said Naofumi. "Great... Just great..."
"I'm sure we can convince Prince Ferio and Clef to go along with it," said Hikaru. "King Aultclay might be a tougher sell."
"Still, what do the demons have to gain by doing all this?" asked Fuu.
"Well, power comes to mind. Demons can gain power from collecting the souls of those who die in Waves," replied Abel.
"What should we do now?" asked Yuzu.
"Let's scout the Domain ourselves," replied Atsuro.
"While we're away, please train and get ready. You'll probably be headed there soon," said Abel. The Spade Mercs left their Domain and boarded Yog for a trip to the Saett Region.
Team Shield, Team Vassal, and the Magic Knights went to the colosseum to train in preparation for the invasion. With the discovery of the enemy's Domain and headquarters, things were getting intense. As Megumin opened her locker, she reflected on all that she had experienced since becoming the Staff Hero. The pressure was mounting to keep up and get stronger, and for her, it meant realizing her potential in magic and learning spells beyond Explosion.
She still clung to the notion of being a master of Explosion, but at what cost? What good would it do if she lost those she cared about along the way? Hikaru experienced this firsthand, wanting to save Cephiro and Princess Emeraude, but being forced to sacrifice her for Cephiro's continued existence. It devastated her to such a degree that it literally tore her in two and spawned an evil persona which embodied her feelings of grief. If Megumin continued down her current path, would she share the same fate as Hikaru?
The friends she had made as a Vassal Wielder were important to her, from Hikaru herself to Takato and Guilmon. If it meant she could be there for them, even save their lives, it was worth abandoning or at least reforming her current path. Her rival, Yunyun, did just that. During Megumin's studies at magic school, her sister, Komekko, had been threatened by a horde of monsters. Yunyun had learned intermediate level magic to save Komekko, despite being so close to getting advanced magic.
Megumin was thankful for Yunyun's sacrifice which allowed Komekko to live. If Yunyun was willing to do it, surely she could too. It was not like she was incapable. Megumin had all the knowledge and smarts to learn other forms of magic. It was only stubbornness that held her back. Abel, Takato, and the others begged to differ and believed that by learning proper supporting spells and abilities to complement Explosion, it would only facilitate her goal, not hinder it. Maybe it was time she took their advice to heart. Maybe it was time to develop a new spell of her own.
An idea popped into her head as she arrived at the magic range. "As source of thy power, I command thee! Decipher the laws of nature and have the darkness snare my foes! Clinging Morass!" chanted Megumin as she enacted her new spell.
Upon utterance of the spell, a tar-like substance burst into existence, splattering the dummies and leaving a patch on the ground. The tar began to corrode the dummies as it clung to their bodies. When Megumin mentally asked the dummies to move, they tried, but could not follow through. The tar-like Clinging Morass kept them adhered to the ground, trapped and unable to escape. Megumin immediately followed with a casting of Explosion. Her signature spell consumed the dummies in an inferno which only left a smouldering crater in its wake.
Megumin immediately collapsed. "Megumin! Did I just see that?" asked Takato, who had been watching her from behind.
"You cast a new spell!" said Guilmon. "You really learned a new spell!"
"Yeah! Great huh?" Megumin asked rhetorically, giving him a thumbs up.
"I'll say!" said Takato. "It sounds like that spell is 'Clinging Morass.' It looks like it creates tar to glue people to the ground."
"Yeah, that's right," said Megumin. "I got the idea from the 'Bottomless Swamp' wizard spell of my world."
"Quick! Give her some potion, Takatomon!" reminded Guilmon.
"Oh yeah, silly me!" said Takato, who did just that so Megumin could recover and stand up again.
"Thank you, Takato," said Megumin as she arose.
"You know, if there was a way you could make it cost less to cast, that would help a lot," said Takato.
"Go ahead and practice. I'll make some adjustments in the meantime," said Megumin. She accessed her Skill Point function which displayed a window with a list of her abilities and stats, plus a pool of available points.
She selected the entry for Clinging Morass. As a dark element spell, Clinging Morass conjured what was effectively tar. As it stuck to its victims, it also eroded their vitality. She used some spare Skill Points to purchase a trait which passed the lost vitality back to Megumin as magical power. With this new ability, Clinging Morass could pull double duty, to set up the big Explosion or recover from it afterwards. Megumin also invested points into lowering the casting costs of both spells to make the combination more feasible.
"I'm ready to test my spell, Takato," announced Megumin.
"Okay, go ahead," said Takato. Once a new set of dummies respawned, she cast Clinging Morass upon them. When it got on the newly spawned dummies, the tar glowed a blue colour, an indication that its conversion trait was working. "They glowed blue?" asked Takato.
"That's right. That means they're draining the dummies to restore my magic power," said Megumin.
"Oh wow! That's great!" said Takato.
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The Spade Mercs found themselves east of Rurorona village, near the shore of the ocean. As they flew over a certain cliff near the ocean, their comps started to beep, alerting them to the dimensional distortions caused by a Domain. After disembarking from Yog, they found that the weak signal came from within a cave beneath the cliff, a cave which faced the sea. The cave had been formed out of the rock of the shore, worn down over the ages by the briny waters.
The interior was damp from sea water being mixed with the air. Deep inside, the Spade Mercenaries found a small rocky chamber. A hexagram of violet light flickered into visibility on the ground, then vanished just as quickly. Despite that, the Spade Mercs had noticed it, as well as the appearance of the mouth to a new cave. It had a swirling green vortex at its centre. "So, it was here the whole time," remarked Midori.
"This seal was hiding the Domain entrance. No wonder we didn't notice it at first," said Atsuro, consulting his comp.
Scarlet appeared and concealed the team between dimensions with the Darkstalker ability of Night demons. Inside, most of the Domain consisted of a grassy plain with a few scattered structures in the distance. Root-like tendrils formed the boundaries of this dimensional space. They transported Magatsuhi from the Expanse throughout the Domain to keep it powered and sustained. Under the effects of her Darkstalker ability, the demons would not realize they were there. Scarlet flew out northwards and scouted the land for any objects of interest.
She found a large palace of French design adorned by crimson hexagrams to the west. This palace had numerous demons patrolling its grounds and a row of barracks further west. "Wow, they're so many of them!" remarked Yuzu, watching the feed from Scarlet on her comp.
The majority of the demons there were of the Fallen family. These demons were the ones listed in the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon as those a sorcerer could summon. They were once angels, but had joined Lucifer in his rebellion against YHVH. Heaven had defeated them and cast them out. They became warped by their embrace of Chaos, becoming bizarre creatures of darkness. Thus, they tended to employ darkness to combat their mortal enemies, the angels who wielded light.
"There are thousands here. There's no way these are random strays. They look like an invasion force!" remarked Atsuro as he took readings from his comp.
"Let's check deeper in," said Midori.
The group moved across the plain and found a Cathedral of Shadows to the north and slightly east. It was a dark, temple-like structure made of dark stone with candles burning with violet flames all along its upper wall. Like the palace and barracks, there were several Fallen demons guarding and operating this structure, which was meant to summon demons. Thus, it could call in reinforcements for the Fallen army. This was how the demons bypassed the line formed by the Babelite island ship.
Scarlet continued to scan from the sky and noticed a portal which displayed the interior of the Shrine of Water in Cephiro. This portal was at the northeastern part of the Domain, superimposed over a copy of the shrine's mural. To her surprise, she found a second portal further to the west of the first. It displayed the seaside cave at Rurorona, where the Spade Mercs found the Melroan entrance. After getting a good overview of the Domain's layout, the Spade Mercs recorded and annotated the information in their comps for future reference.
Scarlet returned to her master. "Good work, Scarlet honey," said Abel.
"Thank you, Abel darling!" said Scarlet, taking him into a kiss.
"We really need to question one of the demons here," said Atsuro.
"Why don't you go and do that, honey?" asked Abel.
Scarlet separated from Abel and flew up high. She scanned around the area and found a starfish-like demon, a Decarabia, standing a distance from the Cathedral of Shadows. After the intrusion of the Vassal Heroes, more demons had been posted on security detail around the Cathedral. Despite that, this Decarabia was alone and out of view of its allies near a bunch of trees. Scarlet moved closer and stealthily applied charm magic to the demon. A pink haze surrounded it. Its eye became vacant and unfocused, as though in a trance.
"Darling, who is your leader and what are you doing here?" Scarlet asked the charmed Decarabia.
"We work for Vepar. We're going to make Cephiro and Melromarc crash into each other," replied the Decarabia.
Scarlet was intrigued by this revelation. "How are you going to do that?" asked Scarlet.
"Easy! This Domain is connected to both worlds. With exits on both sides, having this Domain here will pull them together," replied the Decarabia.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Scarlet.
"Hey, you there!" cried another demon, a second Decarabia, from elsewhere. Scarlet released the charm and fled. "Stop daydreaming and get back to work!"
"Yeah yeah yeah," replied the previously charmed Decarabia.
When Scarlet returned to the others, they discussed what she had discovered. "So I was right. This Domain really is why the Waves are happening," said Abel.
"We still haven't learned why they're doing this," said Midori.
"Not yet, but I don't think we should stay to find out. They're going to catch us," said Atsuro.
"Time to head back," said Abel.
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The Spade Mercs and all of the heroes had gathered for a crucial strategy conference in King Aultclay's throne room. Also present were images of Clef and Ferio to represent the Cephiran side. Abel told them of what the Spade Mercenaries and Vassal Heroes had seen in the Domain. "Are you saying this 'Domain' is why we're experiencing the Waves?" asked Aultclay.
"Yes. Since it has exits on both worlds, it acts as a tether to pull the two towards each other through the Expanse. Needless to say, this is a grave danger to both worlds," replied Abel.
"What do you propose we do? How do we remove this Domain?" asked Aultclay.
"The Spade Mercenaries will enter the Domain and kill Vepar, who is likely the demon sustaining it. We'll have the Vassal Heroes, Magic Knights of Cephiro, and our Babelite allies will support the attack," replied Abel. "Do note that the demons will retaliate bitterly once we attempt this invasion."
"So, they'll effectively cause a 'Wave' of their own to get back at us," said Ren.
"Exactly. The problem is, the Domain entrance for Melromarc is very close to Rurorona Village in the Saett region. There are demihumans rebuilding there. They'll be caught in the crossfire when the demons come out to retaliate," said Abel.
"So?" asked Aultclay dismissively.
"You're just going to let them get killed?" asked Midori in response.
"You asshole!" cried Naofumi.
"Yeah!" cried Raphtalia.
"That was very cold," remarked Ren.
"I don't want to scold you, sire, but they have a point," said Itsuki.
"My father has a country to run. He can't concern himself with the lives of a few demis!" said Myne.
"Even so, we're on the offensive, so we decide when to attack. There's still time to evacuate the village, so why not do it?" asked Itsuki.
"The demons will be watching that village. They'll catch on the moment we move those demis out of there," said Myne. "We should strike first and strike hard, before the demons know what hit 'em!"
"We aren't ready on our side. Our entrance is in the Shrine of Water, which at the bottom of the ocean. We'll need time to prepare ships and aerial troops for the offensive," said Ferio. "Surely you'll need time as well? Rurorona is a coastal village. I'm sure you'd want the support of your navy and any aerial troops as well."
Aultclay sighed. "Fine. I'll have the village evacuated, but I'll do it my way," said Aultclay.
Once the meeting was adjourned, the factions involved mobilized for the decisive battle which would finally end the Waves in Melro. The Cardinal Heroes and King Aultclay's men set up camp in a forest beyond Rurorona Village. Melromarc's soldiers entered the town and rounded up the Ruroronan citizens into cages and transported them out like trapped animals. It wasn't until they were brought to Lute Village that they were finally released. In Cephiro, the defenders of that world had moved a fleet of ships and aerial beasts above the Shrine of Water's location in the ocean.
A group of soldiers in olive jumpsuits emerged from a portal near the camp in the forest. Following them were demons of all shapes and sizes. They were soldiers of the Babelites, members of their Counter-Demon Operations Group, or Cdogs. They were led by a Japanese man with a stern expression who was in his forties in age. He was Colonel Taro Fushimi, head of a regiment of Cdogs. Under his command, the Babelites set up several tents beside the Melromarcan camp.
In the command tent, he put an image of King Aultclay on a communications monitor. "Sire, we're ready to move into the Domain. When you give the signal, we'll strike," said Fushimi.
"Very well. Commence the attack!" commanded Aultclay.
The Spade Mercenaries and their Vassal Hero and Magic Knight escort emerged within the Domain. The Spade Mercs moved aside, then summoned all of their demons to their side. Aerial demons like Yog and Vidofnir flew ahead to the demonic palace and began to bombard it with orbs and ball lightning. Explosions rocked the area and brick and mortar burst forth, scattering dust everywhere. Soon after, the Babelite army entered the Domain, meeting the demons' main force.
A female Babelite soldier with short, spiky orange hair dove to the ground and started firing her Buddy, a Howa Type 89 assault rifle. She was Major Misaki Izuna, Fushimi's right hand woman and the spearhead of the Babelite forces. Fiery blasts flew by overhead, but Izuna kept firing. She perforated a Decarabia with overwhelming fire, causing it to collapse and die. A second fell, but the demons kept coming like an endless torrent. When she ran out of ammo, she got up and drew a knife.
Her demon, a masked oni ninja in fishnets and dark purple garb, suddenly appeared behind another Decarabia. He swung a staff, bisecting the demon with its crescent moon blade. The others noticed Ongyo-ki, then spit fire at him. He vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving their fire to hit a straw dummy left in his wake. The demons were confounded and unable to locate him. Suddenly, the shock wave from an explosion washed over them from behind. When the demons looked back, they saw the rubble left behind by the blast.
"Crap! They got our Cathedral!" cried one of the Decarabia.
In the meantime, the Spade Mercs had reached one of the walls of the palace. "Hector, why don't you knock for us?" asked Midori.
"Here Hector! Me come to smash you!" cried Hector, before punching the wall as hard as he could. The brick and mortar burst into the courtyard with a loud boom. With another blow, he had smashed open a hole large enough for even him to walk through.
Midori rushed in and saw Decarabia coming to investigate. After bombarding them with pillars of holy energy, they got disintegrated into nothingness. The Spade Mercs reached the double doors which made up the front entrance of the palace. Hector opened them by smashing a hole through them like he did the wall. A swarm of Gagyson descended upon them from above, to be met by a volley of ice shards from Abel. One after the other, the demons got speared and tumbled from the sky.
"I'm going for Vepar. Please hold off the other demons," said Abel.
"Okay, good luck," said Atsuro.
Abel teleported to the top of the palace, above where the sovereign's chamber would be. He disintegrated a hole through the roof with a beam of violet, almighty energy. When Abel descended into the chamber, he stood face to face with the demonic commander. She was a topless, buxom blonde from the waist up with hair which reached her back. From the waist down, a silvery violet fish tail extended from her waist. Although she looked like a mermaid, she was really the demon Vepar and not a true mermaid.
"I was wondering who was attacking my palace. So it's you, King of Bel," said Vepar.
"Why are you forcing the two worlds to collide? What do you hope to gain from killing so many people?" asked Abel.
"We're demons of Chaos, the purest form of existence, the natural state. Do we need any other reason?" asked Vepar in return.
"So, you won't say anything? Fine," said Abel. "I'll just remove you and collapse the Domain."
"If you can. Taking your head will be a fine prize for Lord Lucifer," said Vepar. "He will surely promote me once I present it to him on a platter."
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At the ocean above the Shrine of Water, hundreds of Cephiran ships converged. They spotted several creatures resembling manta rays swimming in the water beneath them. They were the Forneus, one of the demons of the Lesser Key of Solomon. "We've made contact!" cried Lafarga from one of the ships. "Drop the barrels!"
The crew started dumping barrels of explosives over the side of their ships. Muffled explosions rang out, blowing up geysers of water. One of the Forneus got blasted by a barrel, floating to the surface of the ocean before vanishing into the darkness. Another jumped out of the water onto a ship carrying Lantis. "Enemy on deck!" cried Lantis.
Lantis closed to engage and received a shower of ice shards in response. Lantis activated his barrier and blocked all of them. Forneus charged forward to bite him, but Lantis dove out of the way. It tried to stab him with its tail, but got parried. Lantis pushed back, then sliced the Forneus in half through its open defences. "Hard to starboard! Circle the enemy!" cried the captain.
As the Cephiran ships manoeuvred to surround the demons, Ascot saw another Forneus leap onto deck from the starboard. As the crew engaged it, Ascot summoned an air spirit, a creature resembling a humanoid mass of air and clouds. Nearby, Forneus lunged with his tail, impaling a crew member in the chest, leaving him bleeding on deck. The air spirit met it and made a backhand which expelled a massive gust of wind. Forneus got blown over the side. The rest of the crew rushed over to tend to their wounded comrade with magical healing.
In Saett, the demons had appeared on the grassy plain as predicted. They started their advance towards Rurorona Village in order to secure it as a base of operations. Nobody was there and the village was eerily quiet. As soon as they came into range of a dwelling, Itsuki popped up from behind an open window and let loose an arrow. It pierced through a Decarabia's eye, felling it. He lobbed a second arrow at a Decarabia into the horde. Despite the demon avoiding it, the arrow stuck to the ground and exploded, blowing all aside.
Now, the demons knew of his location and started to pelt his window with fire. "ATTACK!" someone cried. His companions appeared in other windows and pelted the demonic horde with arrows and spells, stalling their advance.
The Decarabia started hurling fire back, forcing Itsuki's companions to take cover. "We've done what we needed to here. It's time to run!" said Mald.
Itsuki and his companions fled out the back side of the buildings they once occupied. They made a phased retreat, with Mald and Welst the magician firing back at pursuers as the others retreated. Once Itsuki and Abazure the amazon were in place, they lobbed smoke arrows so Mald and Welst could flee safely. Eventually, all of them were past the village limits and escaped into the forest. Suddenly, Melromarc's navy appeared over the horizon of the ocean. They proceeded to bombard Rurorona with cannon balls and spells, flattening the village with the demons in it.
In the Domain, Megumin cast a Clinging Morass spell upon the demons near the exit to the Shrine of Water. The black tar coated her foes, entangling them in its sticky, syrupy threads. Her spell started to corrode the demons in a blue glow, refilling her magic power reserves. Those that were missed by her spell charged at the Vassal Wielders. Hikaru and the Magic Knights peppered them with spells of fire, water, and wind. Dozens more fell to their magic, but one leapt out of the horde at Hikaru.
She parried its descending strike and pushed it back. Her foe was an Ose, a demon resembling a leopard man who wielded two swords. Ose charged in and swung for her chest, but Hikaru parried. With a burst of strength, she knocked the sword out of the Ose's hand, then blasted him with Flame Arrow. Beside her, Growlmon sliced his way through the horde, taking the side of the Magic Knights. He spit a Pyro Blast into the horde, blowing up a trio of assorted demons.
"Mass Digimodify, Power activate!" announced Takato.
His entire team and the Magic Knights became empowered in a red glow. Sinon unloaded Air Strike Bullets, perforating dozens of demons with just a single shot each. In the distance, she noticed an explosion come from the direction of the palace. "The fighting has started at the palace. I hope Abel can beat the boss," said Sinon.
"We have to keep fighting. They're depending on us," said Takato. He spotted a Gagyson descending upon him, deflecting its rake attempt with a Barrier. He called the Bio Plant Bonsai, a Trinket created from a Bio Plant seed. He had it squirt acid at the Gagyson's chest. The acid corroded a hole through it, then rapidly spread until nothing remained.
At the palace, Vepar expelled a torrent of water at Abel, who did not flinch. The King of Bel waited patiently for Vepar to tire as he absorbed every drop of water. "That won't work, but this will," said Abel, before arcing bolts of lightning at Vepar.
They connected with Vepar cleanly and hurled her across the room, down to the ground just before the opposite wall. Abel advanced, but Vepar detonated a Megido spell in his path, blowing him back to the entrance door. He suddenly teleported to Vepar's flank in a flicker of blue light, then unleashed an almighty beam. The beam sent her through the wall, causing a loud boom as stone fragments scattered everywhere. She hit the ground near the forest ahead and below with a thud and blew up a cloud of dust.
Abel appeared near where he saw her land. When the dust cleared, she was gone, which confounded him. Abel scanned around, trying to figure out where she had fled. A sphere of almighty power exploded behind him, sending him through a wall into a barracks. The concrete burst into rubble as he crashed inside and created a large cloud of dust. Vepar emerged from the nearby trees to confirm that she had struck Abel. Yog spotted her from above and launched an orb right into her back.
She got blasted out of the forest, rolling with her momentum to come to a stop in the palace grounds. Yog launched more orbs, which she weaved around to evade. She expelled water at Yog, pushing him up and crushing him against the upper border of the Domain. Blasts of fire and lightning struck her in the back, causing her to lose concentration and release Yog. She turned around and saw Scarlet and Mao. Annoyed, she blasted them with water, leaving both sprawled on the palace grounds.
A Megido spell exploded near Vepar, blasting her into the ground. It left behind the spade-like Seal of Bel, which glowed an intense violet as it began to sap her strength. Vepar spotted Abel appearing beside her in a flicker of blue light. She hurled a mighty blast of air, but Abel blocked it with a violet barrier. He turned his hand into a vine and wrapped it around her neck. As its grip tightened, she struggled to break it and clear her wind pipe. After Abel towed her in, he tossed her into the air, right into the path of an oncoming orb from Yog.
She got slammed into the ground hard, skipping along three times before coming to a stop at the base of a tree at the forest's edge. As she started to rise, a jet of flame erupted from the ground, blasting her into the air. Abel finished her off by forming five Reality Fractures over her. The gaping black fissures shredded her body and disintegrated the pieces as they were dragged into oblivion. "We did it Abel darling!" said Scarlet as she took him in for a warm embrace.
"Yeah, we did. That should end the Waves in Melro," said Abel.
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With the death of Vepar and her demonic followers, her Domain had collapsed, dumping everyone in it outside to the area near Rurorona. A raucous chorus of cheering erupted from the joint army as they thrust weapons into the air. The Vassal Heroes exchanged high fives for a job well done. Everyone was glad to have defeated the demons and ended the Waves completely. "Magic Knights," said a telepathic voice.
"Master Clef, is that you?" asked Umi.
"Yes, it is. We won in Cephiro too. Now that the Domain is gone, our world and Melro will drift apart. You'll be stranded there if you don't return to Cephiro soon," said Clef.
"Okay, we'll come home as soon as possible," said Umi.
"Thanks for helping, guys, but I can't go back yet. There are things I need to do here as a Vassal Wielder before I can return," said Hikaru.
"Will you be okay without us, Hikaru?" asked Fuu.
"Of course. I've made new friends who will fight beside me. You don't have to worry. In fact, I'm counting on you guys to take care of things until I come home. Thanks for all that you've done," replied Hikaru. She raised the Katana to the sky, transporting the other Magic Knights back to Cephiro. After parting hugs, she separated and returned to Melro.
Some time later, Melromarc held a feast to celebrate the end of the Waves. At a banquet hall in the capital, numerous men and women wore their finest dress to meet and sample the finest cuisine Melromarc had to offer. Guilmon and Filo stuffed their faces with all of the food they could find from one of the tables. When Guilmon looked away, Filo snatched a piece of bread from his plate and ate it. "Hey! You took my bread!" said Guilmon.
"No, I didn't," said Filo, though the crumbs on her lips and hands told a different story.
"Filo! What did I say about stealing food from other people?" asked Naofumi. "Say sorry to Guilmon."
"I didn't do anything wrong. I won't say anything," said Filo, looking away indignantly with arms crossed.
Her slave crest activated, giving her a shocking punishment for defying Naofumi. "You were saying?" asked Naofumi.
"I'm sorry," said Filo. "Stupid dragon," she whispered offhandedly.
"I heard that!" said Guilmon.
"Filo, stop being such a jerk to Guilmon," said Takato.
Raphtalia fetched some pastries from another table and fed Naofumi a small bite of it with a fork. "Mmm! That's delicious!" remarked Naofumi.
"Let's have a toast, to beating Vepar and stopping the Waves," said Yuzu, raising a glass to the other Spade Mercenaries and heroes at her table.
"Cheers!" they said in unison, clinking wine glasses together, then taking a sip of their drinks.
The festivities continued late into the night and as the next day dawned, the sun started to rise. It cast its golden rays across the land of the Shield and its capital of Shieldheim. It was quiet in the Church of the Shield, as none of the priests had awakened. In the chamber of the Dragon Hourglass, the sand had completely piled up on the bottom, as no more Waves were waiting to occur. Suddenly, the hourglass flipped upside down. The sand started to trickle through the bottom of the funnel, slowly piling on its new bottom.
END OF CHAPTER