Chapter 9: Riyute wave

Shirou and his party stood outside Erhard's shop, waiting for Naofumi to put on his armor. Looking around, his party was visibly nervous. Shirou wasn't exactly sure what to do, or how to stop their worries. It annoyed him to no end.

Just as Shirou was about to speak, The door opened, with Naofumi stepping out with a frown on his face. Shirou took a look at the armor, thinking over what he was going to say. Farrie on the other hand, had no such restraints.

"Wow, you're really looking like a bandit, huh?" She spoke bluntly.

Naofumi nodded glumly, turning to face Raphtalia and Erhard who peeked out of the door. "See! This is what I said! Even Farrie thinks I look like a bandit! This isn't what a hero should look like!"

Tersia spoke up nervously. "Um, I'm not sure if its right to say this, but to most people, you're not exactly a hero?" Tersia shrunk as Naofumi turned to glare at him. "I-Ill be quiet for now…"

Raphtalia shook her head. "No matter what, I still think it looks cool, Mr Naofumi." She spoke with a smile. "And it doesn't matter what the armour looks like! As long as it defends you, it's doing its job."

Erhard let out a small laugh. "Come on kid, it's not that bad. Just think of the bonuses that come with it. It's the best way I could use the materials you have me." Naofumi grumbled at that, but reluctantly accepted it.

"So how much is it for the armor?" Naofumi asked. Erhard rubbed his chin.

"Well, let's see how it helps you through the wave first, yeah? Cant claim the armor is any good if you don't survive. As for payment, just pay me back with the reward you'll get after the wave. I trust you to do that, kid." Naofumi nodded, a small smile on his face at the display of trust the blacksmith put in him.

Shirou looked towards the corner of his vision, watching as time ticked down towards the wave.

00:00:01:22

00:00:01:21

00:00:01:20

Looking around, Shirou saw knights mobilizing, the other two heroes nowhere in sight for the moment. Turning towards his party and Naofumi he spoke.

"The wave is nearly here. Is everyone prepared? We dont know whats going to happen once we get there." Everyone nodded and Shirou continued. "Naofumi, I will default to you on this if there is a town or village nearby. If you think you can defend it on your own, I will leave it to you. If not, we will help." Naofumi nodded before saying his own piece.

"Whilst it's not much, I've made a few healing potions. I'll be handing them out. If you feel like you're in danger, run away, got it?"

The group nodded, thankfully taking the potion's from Naofumi as he quickly handed them out.

00:00:00:04

00:00:00:03

00:00:00:02

00:00:00:01

00:00:00:00

A bright light engulfed the heroes and with the sound of glass cracking, they found themselves on a hill. Shirou looked up to the sky, and saw the waves for the first time. The swirling patterns in the sky, even as monsters fell through, it was almost hypnotising. Shaking his head, he looked at Naofumi, who had a grim, but determined look on his face.

The wave had begun

Naofumi watched as Motoyasu and Itsuki ran off to where they claimed the boss to be. He looked around, eventually seeing the small village below them, and Raphtalia spoke. "Mr Naofumi! Isnt that Riyute village?"

Bakta nodded, turning to face Shirou. "Shirou, we need to protect it."

Shirou would nod, looking at Naofumi. "Looks like we are coming with you Naofumi. Hope you don't mind."

Naofumi shook his head. "Of course not. It'll be easier to defend the village that way."

"Then let's go, shall we?"

A nod from Naofumi and the two heroes began to move closer to Riyute

Shirou slashed at another zombie, the married blades easily slicing through it. Shirou ignored the lack of experience he was getting. It was to be expected when the heroes were all gathered, attempting to stop the waves. There was more important things to focus on. Shirou kept his eyes on everyone else, whilst making sure he wasn't surprised by any attacks on him, making sure that they didn't get overwhelmed by the amount of enemies.

Shirou let out a small breath as he stood up straight, having finally cleared his section of zombies. He was grateful he hadn't had to fight any of the interdimensional bees yet. He wasn't sure if he was going to be actually hit them if they stayed up there.

He shook his head, thinking of where everyone should be. He had already sent Bakta and Farrie off with Raphtalia to help protect the villagers on the way to mine, so that was three less people he had to focus on. He trusted Farrie and Bakta to cover each other, but with Raphtalia there, he was sure they would be perfectly fine. He turned to look at the others.

He watched as Naofumi hit his shield against the zombies, doing no damage, if the loud clang was anything to go by, but it was enough to grab their attention, easily dragging them away from the terrified villagers that Naofumi had used his skill on.

Shirou began to move forward again, but paused as Welt and Tersia moved in. Welt swung his axe at a zombie Naofumi had failed to get the attention of, his axe tearing through the zombies body rotting body easily, whilst Tersia chucked knives with great accuracy at the bees, with each knife ending up with a monster defeated. He moved quickly, dashing in to recover them when the moment allowed for it, the sword on his waist still sheathed.

Looking around, Shirou noticed that most of the monsters were following Naofumi, who had in turn begun to climb the watchtower. Shirou wondered for a moment what was happening, but it wasn't until Naofumi held the torch higher that Shirou noticed the liquid dripping from the bottle in his free hand. Before Shirou could react, Naofumi dropped the torch, already moving to jump out of the tower.

Shirou quickly lost sight of the Shield hero, instead choosing to focus on the now burning monsters moving slowly towards him. They all had injuries, from either burning debris from the watchtower, to burns covering their bodies. It made all of them easier defeat. Shirou prepared himself, holding the black and white blades in front of him. It was time for him to get to work.

Naofumi watched as Shirou carved through the monsters, the blades carving through them as if they were nothing more than a nuisance to the Sword hero. He could only look on as the horde of burning monsters thinned. He was quickly joined by Welt and Tersia, both nodding at the Sword heroes' work.

"Well, as far as we can tell, all the villagers are heading towards the mines now. The other three should be coming back soon, hopefully." Welt spoke. Naofumi nodded at that, turning to face the duo. "Thanks for helping defend this village. And also for believing Shirou about me."

Tersia shook his head. "It's no problem. We know how the Shield is treated here. It didn't sit right with any of us." Shaking his head, Welt held his axe tighter. "Let's get going, yeah? Can't let Shirou have all the fun."

Naofumi nodded, looking over as Shirou cut through another zombie, and he moved forwards.

"Airstrike shield!"

The skill easily blocked a strike from behind Shirou, giving Welt enough time to cut the zombie in half.

With another nod, Naofumi continued forward. They'd all be fine.

Motoyasu grunted as he struck his spear against the chimera's skin, only slightly grazing it. He pulled black slightly as Itsuki took another shot, aiming towards the dragons head.

"Wind arrow!" Itsuki shouted, Wind magic condensing around the arrow as he pulled the string back. The arrow was released, homing into the chimera's dragon head. The dragon head let out a roar of pain as it was struck, the head swinging wildly for a moment until it roared again.

"Chaos thrust!" Motoyasu shouted, charging in again. The spear struck the chimeras side, the first few strikes sliding off the chimeras hide, whilst the later strikes began to pierce the flesh. Soon enough the skill ended, and Motoyasu had to dodge another jab from the tail.

Motoyasu was panting as he pulled back, standing beside Itsuki as his party members distracted the Chimera.

"Are we sure this is actually level 30? It really doesn't feel like it. We should be easily beating it!"

Itsuki shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, to be honest. Where are Naofumi and Shirou? It would be easier if they were here to help out!"

"I don't know, alright? Last I saw, they were still on the hill. Only thing I can think of is that they don't know where the boss was. Couldn't you try some other attacks?" Motoyasu spoke.

"Well, why don't you get your party to help out as well! Maybe it would actually be dead if they helped out!" Itsuki replied, slightly frustrated

As the two heroes began to argue, The chimera began to move. It leaped past the two heroes, much to their shock, moving towards the village.

Motoyasu and Itsuki stared at each other for a moment, their minds trying to figure out what had just happened.

Motoyasu moved first, shouting the name of a skill.

"Air strike Javelin!"

A glowing spear was shot towards the chimera, hoping to stop it before it could get further, but it shook the attack off, whilst also ignoring the array of arrows that Itsuki had pelted it with.

"Come on! We have to go after it!" Itsuki shouted, and Motoyasu groaned. Did they really have to make the stamina system so realistic in this game?

Shirou and Naofumi looked around, clearing up any monsters they could. Naofumi could only shake his head.

"What are those two doing? Surely they can take out the boss monster with just them two." Naofumi spoke, looking up at the sky.

Shirou could only frown. "I hope those two are alright. Maybe we should go help them?"

As Naofumi was about to speak up, to reassure Shirou that the other two would have it handled, the ground began to shake.

"W-woah!" Welt spoke suddenly, leaning on Tersia for support. "What was that? An earthquake?"

"It felt like something stomping towards us." Tersia spoke cautiously, looking around.

A roar was heard and the already damaged gate was smashed open, the Chimera facing the sword and shield hero.

Naofumi moved forward slightly, even as Shirou held his blades at the ready.

"We don't know how this thing attacks," Began Shirou, keeping a close eye on the boss. "So be careful. Shout out any information you can on it as soon as you learn, got it?" Everyone nodded, staring at the beast, even as it let out another ear piercing roar.

the boss charged and Naofumi moved to meet it.

Naofumi groaned as the Chimera smashed into his shield again, his arm going numb at the pressure it was applying.

Was this what a wave boss was? So incomparably strong to anything he had faced so far? He shook his head. He was a shield. He had to defend everyone else. If it rattled him this badly, how much worse would it be for everyone else.

Naofumi still kept wary of it. The trio of heads had done nothing yet, only snarling at him whilst swinging occasionally. He didn't know if the heads had any special abilities, but like every dragon, he presumed it would breathe fire, and he wasn't confident in his ability to take something like that.

Moving black slowly, Naofumi almost missed the sharb jab of the tail, only barely able to get his shield up in time. A hissing sound was heard as Naofumi realised what it was.

"The tail is a snake!" He shouted, eyeing it warily as it hissed, being drawn back. "Be careful! It might be poisonous!" A shout of acknowledgment was heard and Naofumi kept guarding.

Another grunt escaped him as the goat head rammed into him, pushing him back even further. Looking at it closely, he noticed that both the goat head and lion head seemed to be more aggressive, almost as if attempting to distract him.

Shifting his eyes, Naofumi saw the reason why, the flicker of flames in the dragon's maw as it looked at him.

"Everyone! Behind me!" He shouted, and with a rush, everyone stood behind him. The dragon let the flames escape it.

"Air strike shield!" The green glowing shield appeared, holding off the flames as Naofumi switched to his best shield. Soon after, the skill shattered, the flames bathing Naofumi. Soon after reaching Naofumi, the flames dissipated, with Naofumi letting out small grunts.

Taking a quick look at his health, it showed he had a good chunk remaining, but it was still worrying. If the lion head managed to get a good hit on him, he was sure it would injure him greatly.. They had to end this quickly. Looking again, he saw the dragon charging up its flame breath attack.

"Everyone! Try to get to cover! Arrows are coming in!" Tersia shouted.

Looking up at the sky, Naofumi swore. Was it Itsuki doing that? Or someone else? Did they not care they were here? Naofumi shook his head. He didn't know what to do! He had no mass defense skills. The best he could think of was shield prison, but that wouldn't fit all of them in.

Naofumi turned to Shirou.

—

Shirou took note of everything that was happening. The arrows from the unknown source, the Chimera's flames, and the other physical attacks.

The second Naofumi turned to him, he knew what he had to do. Quickly moving his hands, he let the shroud slip slightly, allowing Archer's arm to become active.

Memories came unbidden to the front of his mind, but he pushed forward, ignoring the memories and attack from the arm. He shut his eyes.

"I am the bone of my sword"

The pressure was felt by the others in the vicinity. Shirou kept going, ignoring Welt and Tersia staring at him.

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood"

Again, memories of Archer`s last night flashed Infront of his eyes. He remembered as the servant stood, impaled upon the corruption, yet still doing his utmost to protect his master. The final words he spoke still ringing in his ears, begging to leave his mouth.

Shirou's eyes snapped open as he finished.

"Rho Aias!"

The familiar four petalled flower appeared before him, angled up to allow the flames to easily slide off it whilst providing ample protection from the arrows that would be raining down on them.

Shirou could immediately feel the pressure on his reserves as the projection took its toll. He could feel the flames heat through the shield, but he kept struggling. Even as the flames died down, and the arrows began to pelt the projection, he didn't let up.

But neither did the Chimera.

With a roar, it lunged forward again, the goat's head slamming into the shield with all the force it could muster whilst the lion slashed with its claws.

Whilst it wasn't enough to fully shatter the shield, it was enough for a petal to shatter, turning into pink wisps that floated down. As Shirou kept struggling, he paid no mind to the shattered petal, his mind being occupied by defending everyone.

The pink wisps floated down, unwatched by anyone but Naofumi, who slowly raised his shield up to it.

The gem glinted hungrily, and the wisps were absorbed. Naofumi quickly dismissed the pop up, taking a note to look at it later.

Moments later, Shirou released the projection, quickly changing to Kanshou and Bakuya and moving forwards, narrowly dodging the strike from its tail.

Naofumi moved forward, letting his shield be struck by the tail as he changed his shield.

"Dog bite!"

The two dog heads stretched, biting the tail before quickly retreating, earning a loud hiss and the Chimera's focus, letting Shirou attack freely for a moment.

Shirou swung the married blades into the creature's leg, a spurt of blood flowing from the cut quickly. Shirou moved for another cut, but was stopped as the dragon head faced him, quickly moving in for a bite.

"Wind arrow!"

Before Shirou could react, an arrow pierced the dragon's eye, with it letting out an enraged roar.

A shout followed the roar.

"Chaos thrust!" Multiple jabs thrust into the dragon's head, with it now bleeding profusely.

"Sorry we're late Shirou." Motoyasu spoke, a smile on his face. "Let's finish this, shall we?"

With the arrival of the other two heroes, the victory easily went to them as they worked together, each targeting one piece of the Chimera at a time.

The first to go was the dragon's head, with it already having been injured due to the efforts of Shirou and Naofumi to distract it. It allowed Motoyasu and Itsuki to hammer it down.

The next to go was the lion's head, with Shirou dealing the final blow to that. Motoyasu held it at bay with Lightning spears, whilst Itsuki shot lightning arrows towards it. The lightning based attacks ended up obscuring its sight, allowing Shirou to plunge his sword into it.

The last was the goat's head, which was dealt with easily by Itsuki, the bow hero spraying it with arrows every time it headbutt Naofumis shield.

With the Chimera now dead, the heroes relaxed.

"Well, I think Shirou should get the dragon head." Motoyasu spoke clearly. Itsuki nodded in agreement, and when they turned to Naofumi, he shrugged. "Sure. I have no issue with that." With a nod, it was decided unanimously.

The next was the lion's head, which was given to Motoyasu, with a small amount of grumbling from Naofumi. The goat head was given to Itsuki reluctantly by Naofumi, who was given the Chimera Viper tail.

The heroes all quickly absorbed their part of the Chimera, each unlocking a weapon from doing so.

Chimera Dragon sword.

Attack +10

Flame resistance (medium)

Equip skill: change sword

Skill: flame strike

Shirou nodded at the sword he unlocked, quickly tightening the shroud around his arm, as knights walked up to them.

"Heroes!" The leader spoke up, sneering at the shield hero. "Congratulations on defeating the wave quickly. The king has asked that all of you come to meet him in the castle."

Motoyasu and Itsuki were quick to agree, with Naofumi speaking against it.

"The king obviously doesn't like me, so what point is there in me going?" He asked stubbornly, staring back at the leader.

"Shield. It is an order from the king."

Naofumi bit back what he was going to say, with Shirou speaking instead.

"Would it be fine if we wait a moment? My party members as well as Naofumis need to come back before we depart."

The leader nodded slowly. "That is acceptable." With a nod, Shirou moved to sit on the floor, Naofumi, Tersia and Welt by his side.

"Hey, you ok Shirou?" Shirou nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I just… need some time. Doing that took a lot out of me. Shaking his head, he spoke again, turning to Welt and Tersia. "If Bakta asks, just say projection to him. He'll understand." The two nodded slowly, and Shirou smiled.

The parties were quickly reunited, and they set off towards the castle, with the four heroes in one wagon whilst the parties were in different wagons, the spear and bows put together, and the sword and shields together.

Shirou took a breath, looking at his three fellow heroes.

"What I am about to tell you, it's not to leave this place, got it?" Looking around, the heroes were nodding, all looking at him.

Shirou began to speak. "Where I'm from, what you call magic is real. Although to us, it's not true magic. We call it Magecraft." Already, Shirou could see questions popping up, so he decided to nip them in the bud.

"Please leave your questions until I'm done speaking, ok?" With another nod Shirou continued.

He spoke of his limited experience in Magecraft, of its uses and abilities. He spoke of the holy grail, quickly summarising it for them. He paused there for a moment.

"You can ask questions before I move onto the next bit." He spoke clearly.

Motoyasu spoke immediately. "Man! You're world sure is unique huh? I wonder if my world had anything like that.".

Itsuki added his thoughts as well. "Yeah, it all seems so weird… A secret organisation of people, the ability to use this so-called Magecraft… it all seems like a conspiracy theory."

Shirou had to agree. If they hadn't been chucked into another world filled with magic, he truly doubted any of them would believe him.

Naofumi spoke next. "This… holy grail… was it the actual holy grail?" Shirou shook his head.

"From what I understand, it was just a name. Not the actual thing." Naofumi nodded and after looking at them he continued.

He spoke of his experience in the grail war, the legends he had encountered, and his small battles in the war. He spoke of his ideals he had discarded, of the ones he had replaced them with.

Protect those that he cared about over anyone else.

He paused there, letting it sink in as the others thought it over. He wouldn't speak anymore about it. Not now. He was still caught up on it, trying to process it himself, what had happened over a month ago.

The timeframe seemed impossibly short to him. So much chaos, caused only in a single week.

"Shirou…" Itsuki spoke quietly. "Do you really think that being an ally, no, a hero of justice is impossible?"

Shirou pondered it for a moment.

"Whilst it's a nice dream to have, it's just not realistic. I was working myself to exhaustion every day. I was picking up every task I could, and it was driving me into an early grave. It just isn't healthy. As for an ally of justice? I'm not sure, not anymore."

He looked at Itsuki for the next part.

"You can't be everywhere at once Itsuki. I tried it before, and it hurt me. I couldn't see what I had in front of me. I was blind, and I was hurting myself and those close to me with my recklessness."

Itsuki nodded, looking down to his feet in silence.

Naofumi spoke next. "So, you were dragged into it against your will. What you told us before, about sacrificing your life to save others, was it true?"

Shirou nodded.

"It's the end of the war. I sacrificed everything. My mind, my body and my future. I gave it all away to save those I loved. I hurt them again, but I don't know if they'd see it that way." Naofumi nodded, staring out of the wagon in silence.

Despite the few comments Motoyasu made to try and break it, the silence remained for the rest of the trip.

Hope this chapter was good, wasnt exactly sure how to do fights and such, but i tried my best.