Our heroes were now out on a journey through the countryside after Megumin got banished from the city. Naofumi had no problems with leaving at the time since he had just resupplied and he had gotten his hands on a good stack of gold coins. It was now 5 days until the next wave would hit, and Kazuma had questioned his son about the first one he had experienced as to know what they could expect. Megumin had gradually begun to regain her explosion technique, while Kazuma had to carry her back to camp. Her score had gone up from 50-points to 80-points over the last days.

As Megumin and Kazuma got back to camp, Filo dropped what she was doing and ran over to them. Raphtalia was sitting down with Chomusuke by the campfire watching intently, as Naofumi was preparing dinner. Today they were eating rabbit stew, with various vegetables, including cabbage, which Kazuma had cut up in an instant like he thought it would try to escape.

"That was amazing grandma!" she uttered in an excited voice as she started jumping up and down beside her.

"I have been meaning to ask Filo, how did you meet our son?" Megumin asked her pseudo granddaughter.

"Ever since I hatched from my egg, master Naofumi has always been there. He raised me from when I was just a little chicken." Filo excitedly informed her "grandparents".

"Hey! how did you acquire Filo's egg?" Kazuma spoke up catching his son's attention as he looked up from his cooking.

"Well, I bought it from the slave trader that lives in Melromarc. He gave an offer of playing a game of chance, for some silver I could get one egg that could contain pretty much any kind of monster in it." Naofumi informed his parents.

"Ah, a game of chance you say, no wonder you ended up with a great price," Kazuma said with a content smile on his face. (Good to see my son has gotten some of my luck.)

"I also bought Raphtalia from that slave trader, but he still seems very shady to me so I wouldn't trust him further than I could throw him," Naofumi said as he redirected his attention back at the food.

Kazuma went over to the tent he and Megumin shared, still carrying her and put her in there to rest. (I could give her some mana back with {Drain touch}, but she might as well just rest until dinner.) He thought as he exited their tent.

"Uhm, Kazuma I have seen your covert skills over the past few days, and I became curious as to how you became so stealthy," Raphtalia said as Kazuma sat down by the fireplace.

"Why are you curious Raphtalia?" He questioned the demi-human in front of him.

"You see I have also mastered some skills that are supposed to make me stealthier, but I would like to get your aspect on how I might improve, since you seem to have more battle experience than me," Raphtalia informed Kazuma.

"Yeah, we could do some stealth training." He said as he heard his belly rumble "But let us do that after we have eaten."

"Great, then after dinner, we will train," Raphtalia said as she clapped her hands together in joy, which Chomusuke took as an opportunity to jump into Kazuma's lap.

/2hours later

Kazuma and Raphtalia had gone away from camp to train, they now stood in a mostly open grass field with a big oak tree 50 meters away from them. They were both wearing their own respective adventurer equipment.

"Ok, Raphtalia as a test to see if I can really be of any help to you, I want you to try and knock me in the head. You may use any tricks or abilities you have at your disposal. I will do my best to counter you." Kazuma informed her as he drew his newly acquired blade.

"Understood, so when can I start?" Raphtalia questioned.

"You may start whenever you like." Kazuma retorted.

"Ok, then I will start on the count of three. One" Raphtalia cheerily informed, one could almost wonder why she would inform her opponent of her attack.

"Hmm, interesting," Kazuma muttered to himself

"Two" Raphtalia seemingly stretched to the right before she got into a combat pose.

"This will be fun for sure," Kazuma silently said to himself.

"THREE!" Raphtalia yelled as she appeared behind Kazuma and her decoy disappeared, but as she was about to hit Kazuma in the head she instead swung her sword through him like he was made of air.

"Wait what?" Raphtalia looked on in confusion as she looked on the mirage Kazuma had set in his place, disappear.

"Commendable effort, I am sure it could have worked on a more honorable opponent than myself, it is good to see you really took my "everything goes" statement to heart," Kazuma said as he appeared 15 meters away from the confused raccoon girl.

"When did you create this illusion?" Raphtalia asked curiously as she hadn't even noticed the creation of it, or Kazuma sneaking away.

"Oh, I created that one when we first left camp and then I snuck beside you, I am a little disappointed you didn't even notice. You still have much to learn about being sneaky." Kazuma uttered as he looked a little dejected.

"May I try again?" Raphtalia asked, seeing this as a good challenge for herself.

"Yes, of course, and this time I promise to only deflect your blows, so the target you see in front of you is indeed the real me," Kazuma said as he got into a fighting stance.

(Hmm, so he tricked me the first time, but will he be able to see me if I use {Hide mirage}) Raphtalia thought to herself as she got into her own stance. She then hid with {Hide mirage} and started to sneak up on Kazuma.

"Hmm, interesting" Kazuma said aloud as he witnessed Raphtalia suddenly disappearing from view.

As Raphtalia came up behind Kazuma she was about to strike, when Kazuma suddenly turned around and looked straight at her, like she wasn't invisible at all. Raphtalia instinctively jumped to the right in response to see if he could track her movement, but his eyes didn't follow her.

(So, he couldn't see me after all) she thought as she went in for a strike, only for it to be instantly deflected by Kazuma. In the same motion as he deflected her blade with his own he twisted his blade around quickly forcing her own sword out of her hand. Making it land a few feet away. Then Kazuma stepped forward and bopped her on the head.

"And you are dead!" Kazuma declared rather matter of factly as he flashed her a little smile.

"How did you keep track of me? I was invisible…" she managed to utter as she looked at Kazuma in both shock and astonishment.

"You might be invisible, but I can still see the grass you step on, so it was quite simple to know where you would come from" Kazuma informed her, as he went to pick up her sword.

"But the parry you did, how did you know when I would strike?" Raphtalia questioned as she listened intently.

"The grass started to rise back up when you went in for the attack, and then I swung in such a way that would block all possible routes for my head," Kazuma explained as he picked up her sword.

"Ok, I have seen your offensive abilities now, but what about defending against a sneak attack, would you like to try that?" He asked as he handed her sword back to her, which she took ahold of immediately.

"Of course I want to try that," she said excitedly as she got into a defensive stance

Kazuma went back a few steps before he turned around and looked back at his opponent. "If I disarm you, or hit you in the head I have won, but if you manage to block just one of my attacks then you have won. Do you accept those terms?" Kazuma said as he drew his own sword.

"That sounds good to me," she retorted as she started to think of how she would counter Kazuma's attacks.

"Ok then, {STEAL}!" Kazuma yelled as he stretched out his hand and made a grabbing motion which made his hand give off a blue light when the light disappeared he was holding her sword.

Raphtalia looked on in shock as her sword was gone from her hand, but how. How could he have possibly been able to get her sword that quickly? Had she really lost that quickly to him, as she was about to relent and accept her defeat Kazuma spoke up as he saw her expression.

"Do you really have no other weapons than your sword, are you defenseless the moment you lose your sword?" Kazuma asked rhetorically, instantly changing Raphtalia's facial expression.

Of course, she had other means of defense, she had magic and she could use the environment to her advantage, like Kazuma had done in the city with all those potted plants, only using his arrows when it was absolutely necessary.

"So what is the verdict? Have you been disarmed and admit defeat?" Kazuma asked already knowing the answer from her facial expression.

"No! I can still counter your attacks," Raphtalia said confidently as she again got ready for battle.

"Very well then, let us see if you have learned anything {Concealment}!" Kazuma instantly vanished from sight, but this time Raphtalia knew what to look for as she stared at the ground looking for grass that bent over. After half a second she noticed the pattern, (When you first notice it, it is really obvious. No wonder he could predict my movements.) she thought as she followed Kazuma running pattern with ease

(Great she is noticing me, then let us take the difficulty up a notch) Kazuma thought as he brought forward a bag filled to the brim with rocks, he threw them all out of his bag flattening a huge area of grass making it impossible to see any changes in the grass as he started to run on the rocks instead.

Raphtalia was shocked when she saw all the rocks appearing from the previous spot Kazuma stood, for then to flatten a huge area of grass around her. This essentially made him invisible to her. Now it would be impossible for her to predict his route of attack. She looked frantically around for a possible way Kazuma would attack before she got the great idea of turning invisible herself and using the rocks just as Kazuma did to her advantage.

(Great she knows how to improvise) Kazuma thought as he saw her use his stones to her advantage. In theory, she should be invisible, but Kazuma had also put in some stones that had an unbalanced shape so they would wobble if someone stepped on it. Kazuma had essentially put out a minefield for Raphtalia.

(I can't see him, but how can I make him mess up?) Raphtalia thought as she gently danced around on the rocks, but she had already given away her position when she stepped on one of the wobbly rocks. Kazuma was currently tracking her movements, from when she would jump from the wobbly rocks to the solid ones.

(If you mess up even once in this, you will lose unless your enemy loses track of you.) Kazuma thought as he got up behind Raphtalia, always staying behind her.

(Hmm, this is at a standstill, I can't see him anywhere) she thought still oblivious to the fact that Kazuma was just toying with her, and she had already lost.

Kazuma still wanted to see if she could come up with some trick that could give her an advantage, this was a battle after all. The best ability to train for battles was the ability to improvise. One could only learn that if you pushed yourself to think outside the boxes and constrictions the enemy or you yourself set for the battle.

(I could use my illusion magic to surprise him, but what should I… A STONE.) Raphtalia realized as she quickly snatched up a stone. Using {illusion} she threw the stone to her side as she simultaneously created a dozen fake stones that all went in different directions. This was meant to both obscure where the real stone came from as to not give away her position, and force the enemy to make a mistake.

(I have seen enough, for now, we can work on this for now) he thought as he swung his sheathed sword to smack her in the back of her head.

"Ouch!" Raphtalia yelped out as she felt the smack signifying her defeat.

"You want to know where you went wrong, or have you figured it out already?" Kazuma asked the person in front of him that was currently rubbing her head.

"Sigh, was it when I picked up the rock?" Raphtalia said as deep disappointment showed in her voice.

"No, but good guess. A less experienced fighter would probably have seen that. Want to guess again or should I give you the answer?" Kazuma asked with a smug undertone.

"You are my enemy right, so I have to either figure it out myself or keep losing." She responded to his clearly rhetorical question, which Kazuma instantly nodded in agreement with.

"I will be nicer than an enemy would though, I will tell you if you are correct or not." He quickly retorted as he handed her sword back.

At this Raphtalia quickly went over the stones that she had been dancing on, first looking for footprints. When she didn't find that she started to examine the stones closer, she pushed down a few to see what would happen, then she came upon an unbalanced stone that shifted a little when she pushed it down. She instantly understood her mistake as she looked back at her teacher.

"You have put in unbalanced stone that shifts slightly when you step on them with others that wouldn't so that you knew how to navigate while I wouldn't." She confidently declared as she pointed at the stones she had just inspected.

"Very good!" He energetically responded as he saw how fast she learned.

He had tried to learn both his sons some martial arts, so they could protect themselves. That had however gone rather poorly, Naofumi didn't care for it all that much, while his youngest found it as another stress element from his parents. Luckily Naofumi did help his brother to find a way to chill before he went, full delinquent.

Some hours passed as Kazuma and Raphtalia perfected their covert skills. The training was very inventive and always changed up as Raphtalia tried her best to outsmart her teacher. It was an incredibly taxing and tiresome way to train for Raphtalia both mentally and physically. At the end of the training, one could see Raphtalia laying by the big oak tree visibly panting, while Kazuma was chugging water.

"Hey dad and Raphtalia, you should get back to camp we got a tight schedule!" Naofumi yelled as he wore a look of urgency.

"Don't you want to see how stealthy she is right now?" Kazuma asked as he was trying to sell something to Naofumi.

"I guess that wouldn't hurt, show me,"

"Hey, Raphtalia try to hit Naofumi in the head, while he tries to block you. If you can do that we are done for today." Kazuma said.

"Are you ok with this master Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked as she got up from the oak tree.

"Yes, go ahead, I will even let you wish for one thing from me if you can do it in less than a minute," Naofumi said as he thought a reward for his daughter, would be a great way to boost her morale.

"Really?" Raphtalia asked as her eyes went wide from excitement. She instantly knew what she wanted Naofumi to do for her if she won.

"Yes, really," Naofumi confirmed as he got into a battle stance.

"Ok then, I will signal for when the battle will start," Kazuma said as he raised his arm.

Raphtalia created an illusion of herself as she simultaneously went invisible with the help of her {Hide mirage}. Naofumi didn't seem to notice Raphtalia doing this since he had looked over at Kazuma for a split second. The stones that lay around on the ground was the perfect way for her to sneak up on Naofumi, but she still needed to use a lot of concentration to maintain her illusion.

"Ready?" both Naofumi and the fake Raphtalia nodded, "set!" Naofumi stared directly at Raphtalia's illusion as she got behind him "GO!" Faketalia jumped towards Naofumi drawing all his attention as he prepared for a strike from his front. The moment Naofumi went to block away from her illusion she moved in from behind and put her hand on his head. It was all over in less than a second.

"Bravo, Raphtalia wins!" Kazuma proudly declared as he started to walk back to camp, flashing his son a smug grin.

Naofumi remembering how his father tried to teach him to fight with his "Martial arts", grew angry at his father when he saw how Raphtalia had been taught to fight. It wasn't fun to train with Kazuma because he would use any trick to win. Kazuma had skipped all the "honorable" ways to fight. He did, however, remember that this wasn't like the annoying "fights" they would have in the past this, now it was a question of survival. Raphtalia tapped him on the head to catch his attention as he angrily looked at his smug father walk back to camp.

"Master Naofumi," she said in a similar manner to a child wanting attention from her parent.

"Ah yes, what is it Raphtalia?" Naofumi asked in confusion as he looked back at her.

"My wish, I want you to give me a piggyback ride back to camp," Raphtalia informed him as he looked back at her, with her pupils dilated to the maximum capacity, and her mouth opened wide as drool came out. She looked like a child that had entered a candy store and was told she could eat as much as she wanted, from Naofumi's point of view.

"Well," he sighed as he got into position for her to climb up "A promise is a promise I guess."

(I am so going to get back at dad for this later on.) he thought to himself.

Raphtalia quickly jumped on his back as she burrowed her face into his neck relishing in her reward. The moment Filo saw that Raphtalia was given a piggyback ride by Naofumi, she grew extremely envious of her.

"I can take the first watch tonight," Naofumi said as he ate the last of the supper before everyone else went to bed.

"Yeah, and Kazuma can take the second watch," Megumin proudly declared for her husband as she went to bed.

"Hey, I never…" Kazuma tried to protest, but as he looked into the tent where he saw his wife giving him "that" look, he instantly changed his tone, "I will gladly take the second watch!" he declared as he quickly entered the tent to be with Megumin.

(Most of the time they just act like an old married couple, but now they suddenly act as if they are lovesick newlyweds.) Naofumi thought as he masterly got as far away from the incoming lemon, I mean his parents' tent as possible.

Inside the tent, things started to get heated. As soon as Kazuma understood Naofumi was out of the earshot he looked back at Megumin. In the dimly lit tent, he could clearly see her crimson red eyes shine. He went over to her as he took a firm hold on her shoulders. In response, Megumin wrapped her slender arms around his neck. They just sat there for a minute staring into each other's eyes.

"Do you really want a daughter?" Megumin asked in a meek tone as she leaned in closer to Kazuma, still staring into his green eyes. It reminded her of the green grass on the field, where she had used her explosion magic in front of Kazuma for the first time.

Kazuma responded by pushing Megumin down on the futon, as he let his left-hand brush through her raven black hair, as he held the gaze with his wife. He was now on top of her, their faces were mere inches apart. The tent was so silent the only thing one could hear was heavy breathing and two beating hearts. Kazuma slowly lowered his lips towards Megumin's as he simultaneously pulled her head up to his. When their lips were no more than a hair's breadth apart, Megumin quickly pulled him into a deep kiss. Her tongue playfully wrestled with Kazuma's as he tried to push her head closer with his left hand, while his right hand wandered up her left leg.

"Hah, hah, we are really, hah, going to do it." Megumin managed to say while panting heavily as they broke their passionate kiss.

"Yeahhh!" Kazuma quickly retorted with a breathy voice as he pulled Megumin into another deep kiss, this time pushing her head deep into the pillow bellow. As he used {Steal} with his right hand to quickly and effortlessly remove her black panties. He quickly dropped her panties to the side as his right hand again traveled up her left leg. His right hand then started warming her up, making her lightly moan.

Megumin then easily removed his pants with her feet, revealing "Excalibur" as she had named it so long ago. When the port was properly prepared, Kazuma started the "docking" process. To ensure the crew would get safely to harbor, Megumin locked her legs around Kazuma. She gave Kazuma some room to swing "Excalibur" inside her, but took extra care in keeping the "ship" in "harbor".

Kazuma had been in this cave many times before, so he knew exactly what challenges he needed to overcum. He had just passed the area were a flower he plucked once used to be, about 21 years ago. "Excalibur" would be swung past this spot many times this night, to great pleasure for both Megumin and its wielder.

The air in the tent started to get damp from all the heavy breathing and sweat that they managed to procure together. Megumin's moans were silenced by the deep kisses Kazuma pulled her into. She tightened her legs around Kazuma and made sure to hold him close as "the crew" left the "ship" and went into "the harbor".

Kazuma still holding Megumin tight rolled over on her right side, as he pulled out "Excalibur". Megumin was still shaking slightly from pleasure and panting heavily as she rested her head on Kazuma's chest. Kazuma in response lightly rested his chin on top of her head, as he simultaneously wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. He then let his right hand rest on her butt cheek, covering up her barcode birthmark.

"Nice explosion," Megumin lightly whispered to him, before she fell asleep on Kazuma's chest as she listened to his heartbeat slowing down to match her own rhythm.

After a minute of relaxing with Megumin resting on him, Kazuma also fell asleep. It had been a while since the last time they had such an intimate night together. Far too long.

/Meanwhile in Melromarc, in the pope's study

"So, we will have to delay our plans sir until after the wave." A robed man informed the man sitting in the pope's chair, Biscas T. Balmus.

"It is fine, patience is a virtue our Lord loves. Now then have you found out any more information about that little brat that appeared 5 days ago?" The pope questioned his subordinate.

"Sir, not that much, but a vendor told us she seduced him into buying her almost worthless orange balloon hides for, get this, 20 gold coins." The robed man said doing his best to not laugh from what he read.

"Anything more interesting than that?" The pope asked, not amused by some vendor getting ripped off.

"The vendor did also tell us he saw the shield hero with her, but that he didn't see much after that, because he quickly closed the store when he saw the shield hero approach him." The robed man quickly read from the report.

"Hmm, yes that would make sense since he protected her from the angry mob that would make sense." The pope confirmed gesturing for the man to go on to the next eye witness.

(That little brat could probably not even break a twig if she tried.) He thought to himself, which made him smile.

"A young man reported that the she-devil was seen kissing the shield hero in an alleyway." The robed man informed.

"Hmm, that is weird, when we questioned the mob they said that both the shield hero and the little brat looked disgusted when someone mentioned that possibility. This is interesting." The pope said with an evil grin emerging on his face, that was covered by his hands.

"How so sir?" the robed man asked clearly intrigued.

"Either, the shield hero is hiding an affair with this devil, or there is someone that looks like him with them. The ladder would explain how our assassination attempt failed, how the shield hero so seamlessly escaped from the other heroes, and lastly how the hourglass was activated 5 days ago." The pope explained to his subordinate, in a calm voice matching his holy façade.

"I see you are truly bestowed by the greatest of minds sir, there is no wonder why our Lord has chosen you as his spokesman." The robed man praised the very much (UN)holy person before him.

"Leave now, we will hold onto this information for now as the lords wills it." A monst… the pope ordered the man in front of him.

"Yes, sir." He said as he quickly left the room.

"Everything will go according to the Lord's plan," The pope said to himself as he sat up and went over to a closet unveiling a golden spear. When he picked it up he it changed into a golden sword. "Show me who will truly win in the end," he commanded as it changed into a golden bow, then a sword and lastly a spear. Content with this he quickly put it back in the closet as he closed the doors. The moment the doors of the closet closed the golden spear changed into a golden shield.

/Meanwhile in another camp

"Are you sure we will catch up to the shield hero in time Ake?" a male mage asked as he was about to go to bed.

"I am sure we will," Ake said reassuringly as he gave his comrade a warm smile.

/Back in Naofumi's camp, 4hours later

Kazuma had just taken over guard duty. He was idly poking the fire with his sword when a girl with silver hair in a purple nuns habit emerged from the woods. Her silver hair shone brightly in the moonlight, seemingly giving off a divine aura. If someone else had been sitting by the fire when she revealed herself, they would either be stunned by her beauty or be on guard. However, it was Kazuma that sat there, and he quickly recognized his old friend.

"Hey Eris, how are you holding up?" he asked politely as he kept poking the fire.

"I am doing ok, I guess," Eris said as she sat down next to her friend.

"How are my children holding up?" he asked as he stopped poking the fire and gave his full attention to the goddess of luck beside him.

"Well, as for your youngest son he is doing just fine. He is getting good grades, while he just recently got himself a boyfriend?" Eris informed as she looked to see how Kazuma would react to the news. To her great surprise, he just chuckled and smiled when he heard that.

"Does he keep that relationship secret or how is it, is he finally open about it?" Kazuma asked as he knew about his son being gay for quite some time, choosing not to intrude before he was ready.

"I am afraid he still keeps it secret when it comes to his IRL friends, but he talks to other people about it online when he is playing his games, so he has an outlet at the very least," Eris said as she gave Kazuma a comforting smile.

"Ok, well that is good." He said as a looked back at Naofumi's tent. (Why didn't I think of gaming.) He thought as he silently praised his son.

"As for your and Lalatina's children, your son still resents you for never being there, while your daughter still glorifies your deeds." Eris interrupted his thoughts as she told him about the children he had never met.

"Status quo, in other words." He said with a little scorn showing in his voice.

"Lalatina is still the queen of Belzberg, even after the death of King Jatis a month ago from a dynamite accident," Eris said as she felt for her longtime friend's loss.

"I warned her that if she raped me, I would leave Belzberg." Kazuma quickly said before he got smacked across the face by Eris.

"You didn't do anything to try and stop her other than telling her no, so don't you give me that bullshit!" Eris angrily said as she could feel her hand lightly throb from the smack she had just given the man next to her.

"I didn't fight back, because any pain I would have inflicted on her would just have made her more excited. I thought that doing nothing other than saying no, would make her back off. Also, I don't think she has any problems with being neglected, hell she is definitively getting off to it." He argued as he rubbed his throbbing cheek.

"Yeah, but still it was cruel to leave your own children behind, they have never been seen by their father, they won't inherit any throne as they aren't of royal blood," Eris said with anger still present in her voice.

"They are deemed nobles are they not?" Kazuma asked rhetorically, as he looked away from Eris.

"Yeah, they are in the house of Satou, and they don't have any financial problems…"

"Exactly the twins are doing just fine!" Kazuma quickly cut her off, he could live better with himself if he knew they were well off.

"They are not doing just fine, even if they have all of that, they still need to see their father. You know, you truly live up to your nickname when it comes to being a father, SCUMZUMA" Eris said, her voice filled with disdain.

"You say that, but didn't you also have sex with me. Knowing full well that I was in a relationship with Megumin at the time." Kazuma pointed out as he scowled at the goddess next to him.

She angrily stared back at Kazuma that gave her such a judging look, this filled her with immense anger. She smacked him across the face with so much power that he flew off the log he was sitting on and landed painfully on his back half a meter away.

"How dare you, how fucking dare you, be so arrogant towards me about that! You are just as much to blame for that yourself, I didn't force myself on you, and it was in the heat of the moment kind of thing. I still regret doing it, but I can't rewind time. That is not my domain after all!" Eris almost shouted at him, luckily no one woke up from all the sound she made.

"Well tell me then, how is my daughter doing after she was kicked out of heaven for being a demigod? Is it the same thing as always then, blaming me because she gets her memory wiped every year? Blaming me because you can't do anything to help her? Blaming me about the divine punishment you received, or are you finally going to blame the god and goddesses that decided to dish out such an unreasonable punishment?" Kazuma asked rhetorically as he got himself up, brushing off some dirt. He might have sounded harsh, but his voice also carried a sense of despair.

Eris calmed down as Kazuma went on his little rant. "The divine punishment also extends to you Kazuma, so you can't do anything either, even if you wanted to." She said in a comforting tone as she saw that it actually hurt Kazuma to say those things. She felt like he was berating himself more with those questions than he was her.

"Well, how is my daughter doing?" He quickly asked as he again looked away from Eris. He clearly didn't expect her to be comforting him, it was easier to deal with her when she was angry at him. He also couldn't look her in the eyes, if she has just more bad news about his youngest daughter.

"As for our daughter, she has finally gotten into a stable relationship, or somewhat stable," Eris said, her voice loaded with relief, as a tear emerged from her eye. She quickly pulled out a heart-shaped locket, and let hear teardrop into the locket. The lock itself was blue but started giving off a dim silver light after Eris put her tear of joy in it.

"What kind of relationship?" Kazuma asked as he looked back at Eris, this clearly intrigued him. The good news about his daughter was an unexpected delight.

"One where her memory isn't erased every year, she cares a lot about him, she even confessed her love for him." She informed him with a warm smile, she looked really happy about being able to tell Kazuma about this great development. The usual routine would be that she told him about how another guardian, just wiped her memory without checking if what the church told them was true. It was just as aggravating every time it happened.

"So she has a boyfriend now?" Kazuma asked as he moved closer to the goddess that finally brought some good news.

"No, unfortunately in the effort of helping her remove the curse that stupid church had put on her, he lost his own memories in the scuffle that occurred." Eris sadly informed Kazuma.

"Wait, that doesn't sound very…"

"Lucky? Yeah, but that is not because of the divine punishment. This guy just naturally wards off everything supernatural, whatever it is. Both curses and blessings don't work on him, trust me I have tried to bless him, to make his life easier." Eris said in a tired voice.

"How does his ability work?" He asked curiously.

"Everything supernatural that touches his right-hand gets nullified," Eris said as she lifted her right hand, as to better explain the situation at hand. "It is similar to how your and Aqua's luck cancel each other out when you are in close proximity to each other but goes back to normal when you get away from each other. The only difference is he needs physical contact with the supernatural element to nullify it."

"How is this guy she is with? He sounds smarter than all the other people that were supposed to "protect" her," Kazuma asked now extremely intrigued about this man, that broke the evil cycle she went through every year.

"He is very much like you, just more virtuous and not as scummy," Eris stated in a tone that carried both praise and spite.

"Hmm, if he keeps her safe there shouldn't be many problems," Kazuma said as he went back to the log to sit back down next to Eris since he no longer picked up any hostile intent from Eris.

"Then over on another note, any questions about the world you are in now?" She asked as her time started to run out, and there were more pressing matters they were supposed to discuss.

"What causes these waves Naofumi talks about?" Kazuma asked as he adopted a serious expression.

"You won't like what I am about to tell you," Eris said with some reluctance showing in her voice.

"Why not?" He asked inquisitively.

"You remember the devil king's daughter, right?" She asked as she lowered her head.

"Yes, I remember that bitch, wait are you telling me she is behind this. I definitively killed her, not even resurrection could save her afterward." Kazuma angrily informed her as he shuddered at the thought of her still being alive.

"The thing is Kazuma, you did kill her, trust me this isn't your fault in any way. It is just that the "Gods of judgment" deemed her life to be so unfortunate that she would be granted the rank of a goddess." Eris informed him.

"Tell me how her life was UNFORTUNATE, how the fuck was her life UNFORTUNATE!? She was worse than the devil king himself." Kazuma was furious, as he questioned how this monster could get pity from the gods.

"She told them about how she was born into the devil king army and never received any love, and then later in life when she first fell in love she was tricked by him, and then later brutally murdered by the same man, twice," Eris said as she twiddled her thumbs and directed her gaze towards Kazuma. Silently saying "You."

"So, you are telling me." Kazuma said in an unnaturally calm voice, "THAT THESE FUCKING STUPID GODS CAN BE THAT EASILY BE MANIPULATED, BY A FUCKING GENERIC SOB STORY!" Kazuma yelled as hard as he possibly could manage, fueled by unrivaled anger. By some miracle no one woke up, maybe a goddess was nearby.

"Calm down!" She said in a commanding tone making him stop speaking, but she could still see him brimming with anger. "Yes, "The Gods of judgment" needs to do an assessment of a person when they have been affiliated with a demon king. They need to see if it was by unfortunate circumstances or willful intention. So even Medea was entitled to that trial." Eris explained.

"She w-was g-g-going t-to kill Megumin in that way, she told me in g-great detail what she would do to her, s-so I could n-never see her again. I just made sure, she got that treatment FIRST! She deserved divine punishment, she did not deserve to become a goddess. That fucking yandere bitch." Kazuma stuttered as he struggled to hold back his rage.

Kazuma looked back at the tent where his wife was sleeping, making him calm down. "Why, is she causing these waves?" He asked as he kept his gaze on the tent.

"A goddess or god can gain more power and less dilution of their powers, if they merge worlds they watch over, together. That is why most gods/goddesses don't have more than one world they have control over, to avoid them abusing their powers and merging them together." Eris continued as she could feel her heartbeat increase.

"How did she end up with control over more than one world then?" Kazuma asked with a judging tone.

"She obliterated the god that was supposed to take care of this world and forced it to merge with her domain. This is the 8th world she will merge if she is successful." Eris said as she facepalmed. "I even warned them about her manipulative tricks, but "The Gods of judgment" are unfortunately not omniscient. Something they need to get through their miraculously thick skulls." Eris said in a frustrated tone as she stared at the fire.

"Stop her now then she killed multiple gods, after all, doesn't that warrant any punishment?" Kazuma asked in a frustrated tone.

"You see the thing is, there are two ways to kill a goddess/god you have to either be more powerful than them, or you need to be a god killer. The problem now is that she is too strong for any of the other gods to do anything about her by themselves, and everyone is afraid of contacting a god killer since that would mean putting their own existence in peril." Eris explained as her voice carried a tone of despair.

"Why aren't you contacting a god killer then, or are you also afraid of being killed by him? HELL, why aren't the gods working together to take her down?" Kazuma asked extremely frustrated by the cowardice these supposed gods now showed.

"I don't know where to find a god killer, the gods that know won't tell since that could put themselves in danger. Everyone are paranoid about god killers, or how another god could possibly manipulate one to take down another god. So no, I am not afraid of risking my own existence for my friends." Eris looked up from the fire and stared at him, clearly, that statement had offended her.

"And the gods aren't working together about taking her down, because that would either mean leaving control of their world to other gods or working together with gods they don't like," Eris answered his second question, as she started to pull on her own hair in frustration.

"Absolutely wonderful, heaven is filled with a bunch of over-powered and spoiled children, and the ones that want to help can't, because of that would mean possibly causing the same problem to their own domain," Kazuma said as Eris nodded in agreement, which caused him to also pull on his own hair in frustration.

"Will you tell Megumin and Naofumi about Medea?" She asked.

"I don't know if I should tell it to Megumin, as she could become too unpredictable when she gets emotional. Naofumi, on the other hand, should probably be informed about this, I just need to find a moment where we can be alone with him, and have a father to son talk." Kazuma thought out loud, while Eris nodded in agreement.

"That would probably be wise, but make sure the "heroes" you meet along the way don't die. Restrain them, knock them out or threaten them, just DON'T KILL THEM." Eris said with as much urgency as she could muster.

"Hmm, yeah at the very least they could be used as a distraction if I ever meet that bitch again." Kazuma jokingly said, as his face twisted with disdain at the end.

"Well, I must leave now, here take this and make sure to use it wisely. Oh yeah, and don't die, again." Eris said as she got up and handed him the heart-shaped locket containing her "tear of joy". She then walked into the forest, for then to promptly vanish in a flash of silver.

The next four days went by really quickly as they had adopted a new routine. In the middle of the day, Kazuma and Megumin would go for their daily explosion. Then after dinner, Kazuma and Raphtalia would go to do some battle training. The training was supposedly so taxing that Naofumi had to carry Raphtalia back to camp after each and every training session since Kazuma could barely get himself back to camp. Raphtalia loved this new routine, while Filo got envious of it. She couldn't complain too much though since Megumin gave her so much attention and pampered her every day. Chomusuke found it super relaxing to sleep in Filo's fluffy feathers, so when Kazuma wasn't around she found herself there most of the time.

Due to this new routine Ake and his squad was able to catch up to them, on the last day before the wave was about to start. Kazuma used his thief outfit while the Ake squad was around, to hide his face so there was less to no chance for them figuring out he was Naofumi's father. Megumin was very happy to see him wear it, as she thought it made him look really cool and mysterious. Something she found as a major turn on.

"Ok are everyone ready for this, we don't know exactly what we will be facing, but it won't exactly be easy or, some dance on roses," Naofumi informed the Ake squad as the clock started to tick towards zero.

"Yes! We are ready!" they quickly responded in unison, as they drew their own respective weapon, and got into formation.

Naofumi looked over at Raphtalia and Filo, which gave him reaffirming nods, and got prepared themselves for battle.

Then for some weird reason, Kazuma and Megumin didn't seem to care that much or take it too seriously. The only thing Kazuma insisted on telling Megumin in a serious tone over and over again was, "Don't use your explosion on the first enemy we meet."

The clock ticked down, 10, 9, 8, Kazuma told Megumin to not use her attack before he said so, which she kind of listened to. 3, 2, 1 and off they went. When they first regained their vision they were standing in a village, the sky blood red with some rainbow wormholes scattered around on the sky.

"Look over there!" Ake yelled as he pointed at a group of 20 earth golems, all 10 meters tall and 7 meters wide. Around them flew oversized wasps with eyes shining red, and in the front was an army of undead in various sizes. Ranging from as big as a normal human, to a small giant.

"EXPLOSION!" Megumin instantly yelled, totally ignoring what Kazuma had JUST told her, as the explosion roared up totally annihilating the army in front of them, and in usual Megumin fashion, she collapsed face-first into the ground after casting it.

"UGH!" was the only sound Kazuma was able to utter out as he walked over to his wife's side and picked her up. (Why couldn't she just listen to me, for once) Kazuma thought as he let his wife rest on his back. He couldn't help but facepalm over how trigger happy she was. When he turned back to look at the other people that just witnessed the explosion, they wore a mixed expression of both fear and astonishment.

"Amazing!" Filo instantly yelled out as she saw the massive crater Megumin had left behind.

"So how many points is that Kazuma?" Megumin whispered into his as he carried her back to the group.

"The nerve on you, first you do the one thing I told you not too, and then you dare to ask for a score!" Kazuma angrily yelled as he turned his head around, to see his wife brandishing a content smile on her face.

"Come on just give it a score." Megumin prodded as she didn't understand how angry he was since his face was obscured by the mask given to him by Vanir.

"Do you think I will relent if you just give me a cute smile?" Kazuma asked as he stared at her face.

"Yes," Megumin whispered as she flashed him a bright smile and winked at him.

"You damn right, that was certainly 90 points, but I am still mad at you for not listening to me." He said with subdued anger showing in his voice, Megumin didn't really listen after she had gotten her score, she just nodded in agreement.

"Well, she is going to be out for the rest of the battle," Kazuma informed the shocked Ake squad, bringing them out of their trance/shock.

Naofumi gave the explosion a passing glance as he looked back to the village, there he saw an old woman standing by herself as some monsters approached her from behind. He was about to yell out to warn her when she turned around and did a backflip and drove her feet into one of the monster's skull killing it instantly. She then jumped from that monster and spun around in the air as she kicked the head clean off another monster. After she had taken care of the monsters, she spotted Naofumi

"Ah, shield hero good to see you again." She said as Naofumi remembered where he had seen this woman before. He had given her some medicine sometime back when she was sick, after the request of her son.

"How did you do that?" Naofumi questioned the old woman before him.

"I might be old, but my level is as high as my age. The medicine you got me really helped me out though, so I am thankful for that." She said, her voice filled with appreciation.

Then suddenly a flying ship appeared in the sky. It gave off an undead aura Kazuma was far too familiar with, Aqua tended to attract undead all the time, so he came to instinctively recognize the aura of an undead. Kazuma wandered over to the old lady, with Megumin basically napping on his back.

"Can you take care of her for the time being, while we go up on that ship over there?" Kazuma asked as he gestured his head in the direction of the flying ship.

"Certainly, she handily destroyed most of the incoming enemies so that won't be a problem, but may I ask who are you?" The old lady asked, intrigued by the masked man before her.

"I would first like to know who you are before I tell you anything about who I am." Kazuma quickly retorted with, in an attempt to make her back off.

"My name is Elrasla Grilaroc, a former adventurer lv.95, which incidentally also is my current age. I see you are hiding your level, while this young lady is level…" Elrasla stopped speaking as she rubbed her eyes and took another look.

"How is that even possible?" She asked in pure shock. "How is she lv.400, I thought one couldn't go past lv.100?" Elrasla explained as she walked around Kazuma and Megumin, studying her intently.

(Hmm, the level cap is 100, that could explain why the hourglass saw me as an error. So I and Megumin are game-breaking elements, that is good to know.) He thought to himself as Elrasla stopped in front of him and gestured him to bring Megumin inside her house.

"Put her down on the bed over there," Elrasla said as she pointed to a worn-down bed in the corner of the room. Kazuma put her down on the bed as quickly as he could before he tried to leave, but Megumin still held a solid grip on his arm.

"What is it, we have a time pinch?" Kazuma asked in a hurried tone as he looked back at Megumin, in response she just drew him closer to her before she leaned in next to his ear.

"Don't get yourself killed, again." She whispered to him in a commanding tone, squeezing his arm to force a quick answer.

"I will do my best," he quickly retorted with, which made Megumin finally let go of him, as she leaned back to rest in the bed provided to her.

Kazuma quickly left through the door, while Elrasla that witnessed the whole exchange between them went over to the now sleeping Megumin. She took a closer look at her, this level 400 archwizard laying before her was very interesting. It wasn't every day she saw something new, or to put it in another way blew her mind.

(There are a lot of baffling things about you and that mysterious man, but I can tell you love each other, that much is obvious to an old lady like me.) Elrasla thought as she remembered back to her young days.

"Ok, so what is the situation right now?" Kazuma asked in a distorted voice as he came out of the house.

"Ake and his squad will help defend the village, while Filo flies us up on that ship. Is there anything you would like to change?" Naofumi asked his father since he had the most battle experience.

"Not much, other than I would like to be invisible when we get on the ship, so I can be an observer and if the situation requires it I will step in." He quickly answered.

"Then we should get going, it looks like the other three idiots have started without any plan in mind if I am correct," Naofumi commented as he gestured for Filo and Raphtalia to come to him and Kazuma.

"{Concealment}{Lurk}." Kazuma chanted as he vanished from sight. Raphtalia and Naofumi were expecting him to sit on with them on Filo's back, but they soon realized that he had strapped himself to Filo's feet instead. A slight unnatural weight shift in feathers was a risk he didn't want to take, Raphtalia figured. As soon as Filo confirmed that something had indeed been strapped to her legs, it was time for take-off.

Filo's speed on land was amazing, but in the air, she was a little wonky. Probably since she wasn't as used to the air, or it could have been the turbulence the ship caused. When they could see the deck of the ship it was utter chaos. Filo landed gently on one of the masts so Kazuma could get time to unhook himself, while they took a minute to observe. Ren was fighting what looked like an undead pirate captain, while Motoyasu was fighting what looked like a many-headed hydra with three red eyes on each head. Itsuki was still on the ground shooting at the ship. They were supposed to spawn a soul-eater, but for some reason, none of them could understand that what they were currently doing wasn't working.

"Ren come on we have to take out this Kraken, or else this soul-eater won't spawn!" Motoyasu yelled in frustration at Ren that just defeated the undead captain for the third time.

"It is the fucking skeleton that will spawn the soul-eater so come over here and help me!" Ren yelled out with the same sense of frustration. This bickering, suddenly spread to their party members, as they started throwing insults at each other, totally forgetting THE FIGHT.

"Stop bickering like little children!" Naofumi yelled out in a commanding tone as he landed Filo on the deck, in a pretty cool way from Kazuma's view.

"Oh, it is Naofumi," Ren said in a monotone voice.

(Don't throw it, I can use him as a meat shield) Kazuma argued with himself as he was about to throw the potted plant at Ren.

"Why don't you go and save some village and leave this to the real heroes!" Motoyasu said in a mocking tone.

(Oh, I really want to throw it at you, oh my god, how badly I want to throw this right in your face.) Kazuma thought as he leaned his arm backward, barely restraining himself from throwing it at him.

"Yeah, an incompetent hero like you…," "CRASH!" Bitc… I mean Myne was promptly knocked out as a potted plant crashed into her face and broke her nose.

(Ah, much better.) Kazuma sighed in relief as he scored a perfect hit on her face.

"Myne!" Motoyasu screamed out in panic as he looked at his knocked-out party member.

"You are clearly the incompetent once here, you are just doing your own things without working together," Naofumi complained as he pointed an accusing finger at both heroes standing before him.

"It is clear that we need to kill this skeleton!" Ren yelled out with conviction.

"You just killed that thing and nothing happened," Motoyasu pointed out.

"We need to kill it 5 times for it to spawn the soul-eater," He said in frustration.

"STOP IT!" Naofumi commanded promptly shutting the kid… I mean "heroes" up. "There has to be some other way of spawning a soul-eater," he muttered to himself. Then he saw what looked like an evil smile present itself in one of the shadows, that belonged to the Kraken. He got an idea.

"Raphtalia cast light magic, NOW!" Naofumi ordered.

"Ok, as source as thy power, I order thee, decipher the laws of nature and illuminate my surroundings, cast {First light}!" Raphtalia chanted as she illuminated the deck, making all the surrounding shadows squirm in agony.

"Now Raphtalia, attack the shadows!" Naofumi ordered, which she promptly did. This made the shadows transform into transparent white ghost-like beings. When the other heroes saw this worked, they also started stabbing the shadows, which made even more ghost-like beings spawn.

"Look soul-eaters are spawning all over the ship." Itsuki needlessly pointed out as he got on deck.

(How the fuck did you get up here?) Kazuma thought to himself in confusion.

Suddenly all the ghostly white spirits started merging with each other until they coalesced into a soul-eater. Everyone on the ship looked on in pure shock at what had just appeared in front of them, well everyone except for Kazuma.

(Why are you so surprised, weren't you guys trying to summon this thing.) He thought as he readied he bow, just in case something went wrong.

The three useless idiots, then immediately attacked with their most powerful attacks. Not even taking a second to assess their enemy, or look for where its weaknesses might be. Then when their attacks hit, it did absolutely nothing. Naofumi, on the other hand, ordered Filo to use wind magic on it, mixed with her devastating kicks and Raphtalia's swordplay. This did damage, but it was minimal. They had only been able to take 5% of the soul-eaters total health. Naofumi felt an obligation to get back to the village as quickly as possible and utilized rage shield.

(WTF is going on with Naofumi, why is he burning. I might have to step in here.) Kazuma thought as he drew his bow backward.

"{Shield prison}," Naofumi yelled as a ball metal appeared around the soul-eater trapping it inside. "{Change shield}," He chanted as the ball stuck spikes into the soul eater. "I call upon the {Iron maiden} where you shall be skewered to death." His son roared as his eyes shone red. This made a giant iron maiden filled with spikes on the inside appear in the air. The inverted spike ball containing the soul eater was then lifted into the iron maiden, where it was promptly skewered to death.

(Cool, but I am not allowing him to use that again.) Kazuma put as a mental note before another soul-eater appeared through the deck. He was about to light it up with his arrows when it was suddenly executed by an unknown third-party.

Then a woman with pale skin, red eyes, and black hair appeared in front of them. She was wearing what looked like a traditional Japanese kimono while holding a metal fan in each hand.

I will end this chapter here because this was a very long chapter. Thank you for reading all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed it. I promise the next fight scene I make will be better.