Review Responses:

D3lph0xL0v3r: The curse on Dante is gone (sorta). All that's left is basically the aftereffect. It's like what happened with Fitoria. The curse was lifted, but the damage was done, like a scar that won't fade. Eyes are just more complex than arms.

setokayba2n: The guards refusing him and the hidden meeting was due to the last meeting Dante had with Aultcray, which ended with him telling Dante never to return. As for the dino boss, I didn't remember how the Tyrant Dragon Rex looked before, and now I see they look similar. It was entirely unintentional, no connection.

Giggity Master: Thanks. Don't worry, I don't usually push myself too hard. Even if I do most chapter writing on one day, I goof off more than enough to stay relaxed.

Chapter 35 – Wrath

"Dante, you have to use an axe to chop down trees."

"What~? But I'm punching one right now."

Dante sat next to Mary, controller in hand as the two played a familiar game.

"But axes go faster!"

"An axe made of wood can chop down a tree? That's just silly!"

It was one of Eddy and Gloria's date nights. Dante watched over his niece while the couple was out. More often than not, he'd bring over a pizza and the two of them would play a game. The one Mary had gotten into a few months ago was a neat one called 'Minecraft'.

"Here, I'll give you an iron axe."

"You don't like my tree punching skills~?"

The girl was trying her best to help her uncle play the game, and the man was trying his best to tease his niece about said game.

"You know what, forget the tree. I'm going to go beat up that mountain!" Dante proclaimed.

"Dante! You need a pickaxe to get stone." Mary tried to tell him. "At least make a wood one."

"Wood? To break stone? So silly~."

Dante had his character rush off to the mountain, Mary trying her best to give him the proper tool.

"Say, do you guys need any wood?" Dante asked, looking toward Marcus and Cassia as they sat in their small home.

"Wood, Lord Shield?" Marcus asked, confused by the question.

"Yeah, you know? From a tree? I can go chop one down for you." Dante offered.

"L-Lord Shield! We couldn't ask that of you." Cassia stuttered.

"You aren't. I'm offering." Dante pointed out. "Besides, I apparently have woodcutting skills and just want an excuse to try chopping down a tree bare-handed. That, or I can try punching a tree until it falls over. My stats are pretty crazy."

"Can you really do that?" Lucia asked, looking up at Dante.

"You bet I can!" Dante proudly proclaimed.

Dante continued to joke around with the family, enjoying the time he was spending there.

~The Wrong Hero~

Lazily, Dante shifted in his bed. It was another day in this videogame like world. Tomorrow, there would be another wave to fight in with his party, this one in Siltvelt. Two days after that, there was a wave in Zeltoble. There would be time today to plan for Siltvelt's.

Dante went to rub his eyes, but found his arms were preoccupied. His left arm…

Oh, right, we took that one off for the alchemist to inspect.

Dante found it somewhat worrying how easygoing he was about taking off his own arm, but there were so many things he'd witnessed in his nearly two months of being here. With all the magic, strange creatures, and transforming people, not to mention the harsh nature of the world, having his arm cut off didn't seem that big of a deal anymore.

His right arm, however, was currently being held captive by the woman lying next to him. With the easygoing smile on her peaceful face, one would be forgiven for thinking she was sleeping. Dante knew better. He'd gotten used to her slightly different facial expressions.

"I'm going to need that arm back." Dante whispered into her ear.

"Mm, maybe later~." She replied, cozying up to it more.

"Now, Sadeena, that's not fair." Dante told her. "I don't have a second arm to hold you with."

Sadeena hummed as she let go, repositioning herself on top of him. Her bare breasts rested on his chest as she looked into his eyes, her head propped up on her folded hands. "Is this better~?"

"Yes, thank you." Dante said with a smile, bringing his arm around her waist. He hadn't realized how much he missed sleeping next to her. Waking up next to her was even better, especially like this. It had only been a week since they arrived in Siltvelt, but it felt much longer.

"So~…" Sadeena trailed a finger across Dante's chest. "What are we doing today~?"

Dante slid his hand over the top of her firm ass, passing over her cool, rubber-like skin. "The Claw Hero should be here today. We'll meet with him and go over some strategies for the wave. There are a number of knights willing to go with us, so we'll need to figure that out. The Owl woman should have my new arm prepared. Hopefully, that one will stick. Before things get too hectic, I'll swing by Zeltoble to give Alta her medicine. Other than all that, light training."

"Hm." Sadeena nodded at his words. "I think we should practice our…endurance some more~."

"Hah! You're insatiable." Dante gave her a quick squeeze, earning a pleased hum.

"Do you not want to?" Sadeena leaned closer to him, her lips grazing against his.

"I never said that…" Their lips met, Dante bringing up his hand to run his fingers through the hair on the back of her head. "Not that I'm complaining," he said between kisses, "but is there any particular reason?"

Sadeena gave her answer in the form of a light bite on the side of his neck. "I just want to do this while I can."

"Ah." Dante slid his hand down to her lower back again. "How long do you have?"

"A little over a week until it's not safe again."

"Then there's plenty of time." Dante said, rolling Sadeena on her back and placing himself on top. "We'll just have to do something big to celebrate after the next wave."

"That sounds wonderful~." Sadeena wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up. Before she could make contact, however, a knock sounded at the door. She sighed and lay back down.

With a lighthearted scoff, Dante slid off of her. "What is it?"

They heard the voice of one of the castle maids. "You wished to be informed when the alchemist arrived, Lord Shield."

"Already?" It was still pretty early, though it was her time to shine, he supposed. "Alright, we'll be ready shortly."

Still with a pleased smiled on her face, Sadeena lay on her side as she looked at Dante. "I'm torn between taking you right now, and waiting for you to have your arm back."

"Show a little restraint, please." Dante said, getting up from the bed and moving to the wash basin that was left in the room. "I know you can. You behaved yourself in the throne room yesterday. You know, aside from lying on my lap in the first place."

"You loved it~!" Sadeena said, joining him.

~The Wrong Hero~

After cleaning up, the third alchemist was shown to Dante's room. Normally, the room would only be used for sleeping—and one other activity—but Dante decided using it to attach his new arm would be fine. Besides, he'd need to stay lying down while the arm was attached, if the last two attempts were any indication. This bed was the most comfortable place around.

The arm seemed to take well, but the same could be said for the last two also. The healer from the church had reiterated that there would be complications from what remained of the curse. Time might help, especially if it was cured early, but she wasn't sure about this injury. This alchemist had the benefit of learning from two failures, so Dante had higher hopes. At this point, if it lasted more than two days, Dante would be happy.

After that, there was a meeting with the knights who would be participating in the wave. Werner explained who the knights were—that being, their families—and their general abilities. Their levels were high enough to participate and they had enough combat experience under their belts. A commander was selected among them and they were left to work out their formations. The only mission they had was to protect any civilians during the wave. Dante and his party would handle the bulk of the enemy, plus the boss.

In the late afternoon, the Claw Hero was announced to have arrived. That fell in line with what he'd told the Siltvelt leadership about returning for the wave. It was also a good indication that he was indeed the Claw Hero, and not that fox woman, since he returned right when the portal location became available. Dante regretted not taking the time to listen to the drama CD he heard about, since the Claw Hero was supposedly talked about, but he got enough information from a later book and the spin off.

The doors to the throne room were pushed open. In their place stood a towering werewolf. He didn't seem to wear much in his therianthrope form, just a vest with shoulder guards and what could generously be called shorts. Blue fur covered his large muscles, a number of scars present on his body, and a rather fine looking metal claw adorned his natural right claw. He strode forward, passing the kneeling knights that lined the walls. He approached the throne Dante sat in. The rest of Dante's party looked at the Claw Hero cautiously.

Dante figured there was some chance this was the fox woman from Takt's group, but it was pretty unlikely. He didn't sense any bloodlust from the man—nor Lloyd, for that matter—not like he first did with Reiko. At the very least, if Takt did exist, he didn't seem to be making any moves. Of course, that might lead to other issues down the line. Dante was pretty sure Takt went around killing other reincarnated. Some had weapons, while others were something like competition for him. Now, those possibly reincarnated would potentially cause problems for Dante.

As far as I know, Takt doesn't exist. Or, at the very least, the soul that belongs to Takt isn't where it should be.

Storing those worries for later, Dante looked up as the Claw Hero finally reached the throne. "It's good to meet you." Dante said, standing up. "I'm the Shield Hero, Dante MacRory."

"Rhubaldt Warbaldt, Claw Hero of Siltvelt." The giant responded evenly with a bow. He stole a glance at an annoyed looking Werner as he leaned back up. "I'll transform at once."

In a puff of smoke, the werewolf was replaced with a rugged looking man. Dante placed him somewhere around his real age, likely a bit older. The man had a certain air of confidence about him, but not quite arrogance. He reminded Dante a little of Kat, honestly. Of course, Kat wasn't almost a foot taller than Dante. She did have a similar face scar, though.

"I look forward to working with you." Dante said, extending his hand.

"Likewise." Rhubaldt responded. Instead of shaking hands, the werewolf grabbed Dante's forearm. A little odd, but not too out there. That action reminded him of Kat's uncle.

"If you have some time, I'd like you to spar with some of my companions. Specifically…" Dante swept his arm around, landing in Raphtalia's direction. She stood tall in her therianthrope form, though Rhubaldt was taller while transformed. "She needs more practice in her therianthrope form, and I was hoping someone of your size would be able to instruct her on how to deal with smaller opponents."

Part of it was that, part of it was checking out this supposed Claw Hero, and part was to get practice with Raphtalia's new weapon. The Dark Tyrannosaurus had a few drops to it, with the best of them being a greatsword. Unlike others that he had seen, this one was made for someone bigger, around Sadeena or Raphtalia's transformed size. Its stats were much better than Raphtalia's current sword, and it had a rather large bonus to agility, balancing out its imposing size. For someone like Raphtalia, who was used to quick attacks and now had a strong form, it seemed like the perfect fit.

Rhubaldt gazed at the tall tanuki woman, who almost seemed to shrink back. "Is now good?" He asked.

Dante smirked while he nodded, looking between the two. "Yeah, now would be good. The courtyard should do. Shall we?"

"Ah, Lord Shield?" As they started to move out, Werner called out to Dante.

"Yes?" Dante turned, giving the rest of them the go-ahead to head out. A look from Sadeena told him she didn't sense anything from the supposed werewolf. Dante gave her the same indication. From his appraisal, Dante saw Rhubaldt's level was around 90. He somewhat remembered that fox could use illusions, but he wasn't sure if disguising status was possible like that. Even if it was, doing so now wouldn't really be beneficial. A high level hero would be expected.

When the others left the throne room, Dante and Werner were left with the remaining knights. "I know there are some procedures you don't understand, but I must speak with you about them."

"Oh…"

Werner proceeded to talk to Dante about how he should act with Rhubaldt in the future. Specifically, the Claw Hero had a habit of going off on his own and training for long periods of time with little contact with others. He also enjoyed a good fight whenever one was offered.

He sounds like a real meathead. Not that I'm complaining, Eclair sounded similar in the books.

When Dante came out to the courtyard, Raphtalia and Rhubaldt clashed, both in their transformed states. Raphtalia's speed wasn't to be underestimated, but the Claw Hero certainly seemed to have a number of bonuses to his agility. He deflected attacks Dante could tell were easily avoidable to the veteran hero. Rhubaldt looked to be the type to train others while sparring.

"Sir MacRory, a word?" Eclair asked as she approached.

"What's up?" Dante answered, keeping his eyes on the match.

"It's come to my attention that a few noble women of Siltvelt have been approaching Keel." She told him.

"Ah!" Keel shouted from across the courtyard. He started running over to them like a dog. "You didn't have to tell him!" His hearing was something else.

"I thought it best to make him aware of what was going on." Eclair stated evenly.

"Huh. Good for you Keel." Dante nodded. After the first night here, the castle staff became a lot looser about where the party could go. Dante's only real rule for his party—aside from not eating anything offered without him to check it—was to be in groups of at least two. "You sleep with anyone?"

"N-No…" Keel stuttered as he came to a stop and stood. "But I could!"

"Sure, you could, but you shouldn't." Dante said.

"Why not? You are!" Keel argued.

"I'm a hero, and the women I'm sleeping with are trying to get pregnant with a hero's child." Dante looked down at Keel. "Is that what you want? To have a child with someone you don't love?"

Keel lowered his head. His silence was answer enough.

"I pretty sure politics isn't your thing." He told the dog boy. "Politics isn't really my thing either, but even I can see what's happening. The nobles of Siltvelt care about heritage and bloodlines, even more so than what would be normal. To the women who are approaching you, your 'bloodline' is being a companion of the Shield Hero."

Keel looked back up. "So, what, the only women that are interested in me are trying to get close to you?"

"If they're nobles, it's a higher possibility. I'm not saying it's impossible that they genuinely want to be with you, but it's something to watch out for. You don't have years of experience watching people lie to your face." Dante said. Most of those liars were actually speaking to Eddy, but Dante usually stood next to him. More than once, someone thought it was a smart move to try and pull a gun on Eddy during negotiations. That also helped Dante hone his ability to detect bloodlust.

"What should I do then?" Keel asked.

"Wait until you find someone you love." Dante said plainly. "I've been with a lot of different women, most of whom were prostitutes. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that nothing compares to being held by someone you hold dear."

Dante gazed over at Sadeena, who seemed to be having a match with both JoJo and Dio. Watching her parry their attacks and move about, it was almost like dancing. Dante was fully aware it was part her skill, part his view of her.

"Or, I could take care of any pent up feelings you have." Dante said offhandedly.

"What!?" Keel shouted.

"Sir MacRory!? Eclair responded similarly.

"What?" Dante cocked his head with a smirk. "The only other real option would be hiring a prostitute, and I'm willing to bet a decent amount are human slaves." Even if the nobles didn't abuse slaves, businessmen were another thing. Even if they weren't slaves, or human, Dante didn't imagine things would turn out well, politically or personally. "I'm willing to do what I must for my party."

"I…you…" Keel couldn't seem to find the words.

Dante leaned down. "I was planning on spending the night with Sadeena, but I think she'd see this was more important at the moment."

"No thanks!" Keel yelled, running off towards Rifana. She'd kept watching both of the matches. Dante just laughed as he turned back to watch Raphtalia and Rhubaldt.

"Sir MacRory, are you perhaps…" Eclair trailed off with her question.

"Of course I am." Dante said, a smirk and raised eyebrow on his face. "Can't you tell with how I am with Sadeena, as well as the women of Siltvelt? Of course I'm entirely gay."

"Right, right." Eclair nodded, understanding. "You are an impressive liar, that much is true."

"Oh, I was serious." Dante said, regaining her focus. "Not the gay thing, but about sleeping with Keel."

"You…" It was Eclair's turn to be at a loss for words.

"I mean, I'd ask for a favor from one of the tribe heads, maybe find out Keel's preferences first, and have a woman spend the night with him. They could do everything with the exception of actual sex. If he wasn't interested, then I'd step up."

"So, then, you are interested in men?" Eclair asked.

"Nope." Dante shook his head. "Totally straight. Tested that out years ago." It was a question Gloria had brought up at one point, though she didn't think he'd go out and hire someone for that.

Eclair didn't have any more questions about it—or she didn't want to ask—so they watched the remainder of the fights in silence. Raphtalia's use of the greatsword was pretty good. Dante thought she'd use more forms suited to a shortsword, but she adapted well. Eclair was quite the instructor.

"That's enough." Rhubaldt said, ending the fight. Raphtalia lowered her sword at his call. "From what I can tell, you have high stats, but your skill doesn't match with your level. If I had to guess, I'd say you were in a party where the others brought in XP for you."

Well, that's not inaccurate.

"But I wouldn't say you're an amateur with that blade." Rhubaldt continued. "With a little training, you could be a force to be reckoned with."

"Thank you, Mister Rhubaldt." Raphtalia said with a slight bow.

This was good. If Eclair could switch over her training, Dante could easily see Raphtalia being a match for Sadeena. That was before she got anything else from her heritage, if and when that ever happened. Fighting against anti-hero assassins wasn't something Dante particularly wanted to do at any point, though he was sure his luck wouldn't hold out forever.

As the day continued on, they all trained with one another to prepare for the wave. They practiced with the knights as well. Dante felt they were a bit lucky last time, since there didn't seem to be that many wave monsters. There were more zombies and locusts in Melromarc's wave than there were dinosaurs in Othil's. Dante figured the dinosaurs were quite a bit stronger, so there were less of them. Quality over quantity, that sort of thing. The higher levels of him, Lloyd, and their parties helped reduce the risk, but more troops on the ground would be better for crowd control, like the volunteers in Othil.

After a while, Dante pulled Rhubaldt aside. He switched to the Humming Shield to speak, while Rhubaldt reverted to his smaller form.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Dante said.

"Lord Shield, if this is what I think it is…" Rhubaldt didn't quite look uncomfortable, but maybe a little uneasy. "I don't swing that particular way."

"What are…or for god's sake…" Dante shook his head. "Does the Shield Hero really have the image of a sexual deviant in Siltvelt's history or something? Actually, don't answer that." Part of him was curious, but a larger part didn't want to know. Even if it was true, Dante wasn't going to try capitalizing on it, aside from the sex-merit proposal Jaralis put forward.

"Then how can I help?" Rhubaldt asked.

"It's how I can help you." Dante said, bringing up his shield. "Did you know there are ways to improve your weapon, aside from using Weapon Copy and unlocking monster part weapons?"

"How do you mean?" The Claw Hero asked.

"I'm going to share with you two methods for increasing the power of your weapon, both of them using ores."

From what Dante recalled from the books and web novel, the fox in Takt's group had some sort of issue with raccoons. In a later volume, he understood it better. Dante saw none of that in Rhubaldt's mock battle with Raphtalia. Add that to the occasional Claw skill he threw out, Dante was confident this Claw Hero was the real deal. That, or that fox was a very convincing actress and illusionist.

"I've never heard of such a thing." Rhubaldt said.

"I'm sure." Dante nodded. "But it does work. You just need to believe it does."

Rhubaldt gave him what passed for a blank look on his otherwise stoic face.

"I know, it's not such an easy thing, but it's the truth. Consider this: when we practiced, I took some direct hits from you and barely took damage, if any at all. Shield Hero or not, surely your strength isn't something to scoff at."

"Hrrm." Rhubaldt crossed his arms in thought. "You have a point…"

"I even know the power up method of the Claw." Dante said. "The short version: repeatedly using skills and spells makes them better."

"How do you know that?" Rhubaldt asked dubiously.

"Call it summoned hero knowledge. So…?"

The Claw Hero looked to think for a moment before responding. "Alright. How does it work?"

Dante clapped his hands together. "Great! So, here's what you do…"

He explained both the Smelting and Ore Equip methods to the Claw Hero. Rhubaldt nodded at his explanation, saying he saw the information pop up in his status. As a quick test, Dante had him say a few of the slot amounts for a couple of claws, as well as asking what ore was required to smelt them. Rhubaldt couldn't answer the second one, which was the right answer to give.

"You'll be able to use any ores you have in your item drops, plus you can absorb ores and store them in a separate inventory for the power ups." Dante explained.

Dante wasn't about to tell him all the different power up methods. He wanted to make sure he could trust the man first. That was the reason he hadn't told Lloyd any of them. The young man seemed earnest enough, but one could never be too careful when giving others a lot of power.

The rest of the day was spent going over the different plans for the wave. What spells and skills Dante would power up, how to allocate the Axe's stat points ability, that sort of thing. This would be Siltvelt's third wave, same as Othil's. Dante wanted to be prepared.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante stood with his party. The knights and Rhubaldt were nearby, as was a large gathering of nobles to see them off. Dante had on his Fire God Armor from Jaralis, ready to mow down any enemies they saw upon teleporting. Rhubaldt had a mount with him—a tyrella, or 'land dragon'—so he was ready to move quickly. It seemed rather well trained, since it didn't bat an eye at Dante's kids. The same couldn't be said for the two filolials, who couldn't help but give it dirty looks. The same was true for the tyrellas of the knights.

The Whip Hero, however, wasn't present. Dante asked him about it when they parted ways, but he was adamant about not coming. The agreement between the nations, after Melromarc summoned all the cardinal heroes, was that none of the seven star heroes were to go to Melromarc. Since Siltvelt now had a cardinal hero, plus the Claw Hero, Lloyd didn't want to overstep. Dante said that was fine, since he didn't really understand all the politics behind it all.

Dante had his powered up shields ready to go. His access to Siltvelt's resources helped bring up the Smelting Level of his shields, bringing his main ones to +5 or +6. He was also able to boost their rarity to SR (Super Rare). There were four in total that had their own uses. The Stout Shield still had the highest defense. The Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield came close, but its effects were suited to keeping a single enemy pinned. The Shield of the Beast King became available and ended up being his all-around shield; the stats had a good spread for a variety of uses, but nothing really stood out. Finally, his Spellcobalt Shield maintained its position as the anti-magic shield.

"All Zweite Power IV! All Zweite Magic IV! All Zweite Speed IV! All Zweite Guard V!" Dante cast every support spell he had, including one he picked up the past few days of studying. Zweite spells were getting easier and easier for him to learn. Drifa spells, unfortunately, were still out of reach. His higher level helped in learning spells, but the Drifa rank spells were a bit more difficult to comprehend. Rifana, on the other hand, was getting close.

I should find some time and go to Cal Mira for that Aura spell. Even if that place is part of Melromarc, it's not like anyone could stop me from walking around there.

The familiar sound of shattering glass echoed around them, and everyone was teleported to the site of the wave. Dante had begun casting Zweite Fire Squall, but there were no monsters near their destination. He looked at the cracks in the sky, but didn't see any monsters raining down, which was odd. There were a few larger cracks that caught Dante's eye.

According to both Lloyd and Rhubaldt, and what he remembered from Melromarc's wave, the wave boss was around one of the larger cracks that reached the surface. He was also informed that attacking the wave crack at ground level helped slow the spread of monsters. Sometimes it was also necessary to do so to end the wave, in addition to killing the boss. Dante figured it was because the world on the other side was still battling, but he wasn't really sure.

As he was about to mount Dio to head for the wave, Dante caught sight of the scenery. It looked familiar to him. Too familiar. His eyes darted around until he saw the outskirts of a village he'd seen too often.

Sadeena looked at what Dante saw. "Is that…"

"Korokan! That's Korokan!" Dante shouted, taking off in the direction of the village. He didn't get more than five steps before his arm was grabbed.

"Dante, wait!" Raphtalia exclaimed, holding him back. It seemed that while Dante's agility was still a little higher, she had him beat in overland speed, no doubt thanks to her enhanced form.

"Let go! I have to go!" Dante yelled, trying to pull himself from her grip. Before he could, a transformed Sadeena grabbed his other arm while Rifana blocked his path.

"Mister Dante, please stop!" Rifana yelled. "We have to fight the wave boss!"

"She's right, little Dante." Sadeena said. "If we don't, monsters will keep coming."

"I…" Dante knew they were right, but he couldn't leave the village. He couldn't let it happen again.

"Lord Shield!" The commander of the knights called, giving a salute. "Let us handle the village. That is why you brought us with you."

Dante wanted to argue, he wanted to leave the boss to the Claw Hero while he went to the village. But, he knew that wasn't the best course of action. He couldn't throw out the plan they all came up with just because of his personal feelings.

"…Alright." Dante said, accepting the situation. Raphtalia and Sadeena released him. "Go, quickly!" He ordered.

The mounted knights quickly took off in the direction of the village. At their speed, they'd be there in no time. Dante hesitated, but he knew what he had to do. He and his party mounted the filolials, three on each, and set off in the direction of the larger cracks.

The two they were heading for seemed like they wouldn't be too far apart, so the group started heading to a spot in between them to try and spot the boss. If they couldn't find it near either one, they'd move on to the next largest crack.

After only a couples minutes of riding, they came across a few red robed people. The filolials slowed so Dante could speak with them.

"Hey! Have any of you seen any dangerous looking wave monster?" Dante asked, hoping for a hint at where the boss might be.

In response, the nearest robed figure turned towards him. Their face was covered with a hood and white mask, something like those theater masks. This one had a gleeful expression on it. Without a second of hesitation, the masked person leapt forward, slashing with their sword.

"Ow!" Dio yelped as the sword cut into her side. She swung her foot, knocking back her assailant while keeping her passengers onboard.

The next two robed figures lunged at Dio too, one wielding a spear with the other holding an axe. Dante was prepared this time.

"Shooting Star Shield VII!" He brought up his barrier, stopping the attackers. The party and Rhubaldt quickly dismounted, ready to fight as more robed figures came into view and ran at them.

"Who are these people?" Dante asked, watching as a closely grouped set of five came close. "Shield Prison V!" He summoned the sphere of shields, binding the group inside.

"Could they be from the Three Heroes Church?" Eclair mused, striking down the first robed figure to approach her side of the barrier. "I've never heard of them wearing such things."

"Maybe they're shadows?" Sadeena proposed. "They could be disguised."

"I don't think they're people." JoJo said, launching one away with his heavy mallet.

"Yeah, these weirdos kinda smell like monsters." Dio agreed, blasting a few back with her wings.

Dante looked at the attackers again with his appraisal. The same name appeared again and again: Red Robed Jester.

"These are the wave monsters?" Dante looked around at the approaching hoard. It was a strange sight to behold. Not only the sight, but the sounds too. It wasn't the moans like the zombies in Lute, nor the screams like the ones Reiko had created. Instead, cries of 'whee' and 'woo' were heard all around. Personally, Dante almost preferred the other two.

In any case, the monsters quickly gathered around them. Swords, spears, axes, staffs, knives, a whole assortment of weapons were present. Dante thought he also spotted a pair of nunchakus at one point, but he couldn't find them again. The enemy appeared quickly, but didn't seem too strong. They seemed to die in a single hit, though everyone present was pretty tough. That wasn't to say the wave monsters' attacks weren't strong. Despite his spell, Dio was injured, though it was light and Rifana was able to heal that injury quickly.

With a continued assault, they were able to break down his Shooting Star Shield. "Change Shield II! Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield! Tower Shield IV! Air Strike Shield VI! Change Shield II!" He quickly changed out his shield and expanded it, letting the enemy launch themselves at it and electrocute themselves on the shield's spikes. It was a secondary feature, aside from pinning down a single enemy. They really did have little defense, since they ended up dying quickly. The Air Strike Shield helped prevent the enemies from swarming all around them. That, and transforming it into his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield allowed it to shock more enemies.

Upgrading the Change Shield skill gave him a pool of charges. He could spend one to use the skill, putting the charge on cooldown. He could spend them all in a short period, but the charges replenished one at a time. So, he'd regain the skill about the same amount of time, but he could use it repeatedly in quick succession if needed.

Really, it was lucky these monsters favored the "straight line" approach.

"Zweite Fire Squall!"

"Zweite Chain Lightning!"

The spells of Rifana and Sadeena were great at thinning their numbers, especially Rifana's. Fire Squall had an area much larger than Chain Lightning, and it didn't have a target cap. The Drifa version of Chain Lightning only increased the damage output, not the number of targets.

Raphtalia was able to put her greatsword to good use. Each swing took out a few enemies at a time. Likewise, Eclair and Keel's fast movements allowed them to make short work of the low defense enemies. JoJo and Dio were blasting enemies away with gusts of wind from their wings. JoJo must have realized his close range mallet wasn't going to cover it here. As for the Claw Hero…

"Air Strike Slash! Second Slash! Whirling Blades!" Rhubaldt let loose two horizontal slashes that flew out and cut down more than a dozen enemies each before dissipating. His last skill let him swiftly attack in a small area, cutting down every enemy around that got close in a whirlwind of attacks.

That guy is really in his element here. Even without all the power ups, he's pretty tough. I'm almost scared to give him more.

"Shooting Star Shield VII!" With his skill off cooldown, Dante was able to bring up his barrier again to protect everyone. He reduced the size of his shield and began to cast a spell. With so many enemies around, they needed to thin them out more quickly. "Zweite Fire Squall VI!"

Like with the dark velociraptors before, the red robed jesters fell quickly. With two power ups affecting his spell, it was both more powerful and covered a wider area, more than twice as wide as a normal casting. It would give everyone a little breathing room and allow them to focus on another area for a bit…

A few monsters stayed standing after the rain of fire. These ones wore blue robes, and didn't have any masks on. Instead, their faces were obscured by shadows. In his status, they came up as Blue Robed Jinxes. Given the circumstantial evidence, Dante had a good idea what they were capable of. In the next moment, they proved him right.

They raised their right hands and magic flew out of them. One sent out a blizzard at the party, another launched a flaming meteorite, and a third threw a ball of lightning at them.

"Change Shield II!" Dante quickly changed to his Spellcobalt Shield, allowing his Shooting Star Shield to more easily tank the magical attacks. "Rhubaldt!" Dante called out.

"I see them! Air Strike Slash!" Rhubaldt ran past Dante and unleashed his skill, the energy slash cutting two of the jinxes in half and clipping the third. They really did have little defense and HP, since that was enough to take out the third one.

"Above us!" Sadeena yelled. Dante turned to see half a dozen robed figures descend from the sky. Like the jesters, these ones had masks on, but they were all the same. They wore expressions of surprise on their white masks, with dull yellow robes over their bodies and long scythes in their hands. His appraisal labeled these as Yellow Robed Harlequins.

"Second Slash!" Rhubaldt launched his skill upwards, but these monsters had a bit more evasion. Combined with easy access to a third axis for movement, only one was struck down by the Claw Hero's attack.

"Change Shield II! Hate Reaction III!" With a charge that just came off cooldown, Dante switched over to his Stout Shield. Like the jinxes, these few monsters seemed like they'd be more dangerous. His Hate Reaction would help deter them from using too many dangerous abilities. With the remaining ground attackers running out, they'd be able to take out these fliers long before they pierced—

The Shooting Star Shield shattered the instant the scythe of the harlequin made contact with it. Dante backed up a step as a second one neared him. The blade of its scythe had a sickly green glow to it.

Shit! I can't change—

Unable to evade in time, the blade sunk into Dante's shield, easily passing through it and piercing his body. Blood violently spat out from his mouth as the wound split wide.

"Dante!" Keel was the first to take notice, quickly leaping at the nearest harlequin and cutting it in two. The one that struck Dante pulled back its scythe, ready to attack again. The other three quickly floated down next to it.

"Gale III!" Dante blew back the attackers with his skill, giving himself some breathing room. Luckily, the attacks from the ground enemies didn't have any special properties, letting his defense handle them easily while his party wiped them out.

"Zweite Chain Lightning!" Sadeena's spell was more than enough to kill off the remaining harlequins.

Rifana approached Dante and cast her spell. "Zweite Healing Warmth!"

Dante felt the wound close a bit, letting him breathe easier. "Thanks, Rifana. Zweite Healing Warmth V." He chanted his spell, letting the wound heal even more.

"What was that?" Sadeena asked, inspecting Dante's wound, only to find no damage to the armor.

"A defense-rating attack." Dante said. "It does damage based on my defense. A hell of an attack, one I didn't think I'd be taking yet."

"Are you okay?" Raphtalia asked, letting her greatsword rest on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, nothing too bad. Just caught me off guard is all. I'll be prepared for them next time." He said, looking around. The field was littered with the robes and masks of the dead monsters, their bodies having already dissipated like ghosts. Not even their weapons remained. No other enemies were around them. These wave monsters kind of felt familiar to Dante, but he couldn't place how.

The quiet was a little eerie, but Dante had a thought about this wave. There were lots of enemies all at once, and then nothing. The other waves so far had monsters falling from the skies, but Dante hadn't spotted any, aside from the harlequins. If this wave operated like he thought, then not only were they most likely going in the right direction, but the village wouldn't have to worry about any attacks, aside from monsters that slipped past them.

Dante relayed his thoughts to everyone present and passed out potions to those that needed them, letting them keep the ones they had on hand. He seemed to be the only one to take any damage, outside of the initial attack on Dio. Really, it was just Rifana and Sadeena that needed mana potions, plus some stamina recovering potions for everyone. Dante and Rhubaldt used quite a bit of SP, but he had potions for that too.

"Alright, let's keep going." Dante said. Everyone mounted up again and moved out.

Dante's hypothesis seemed to be correct, as they encountered the same type of group as before after another five minutes of running. This group seemed a little bigger, but with their experience with the last group, they had less trouble taking them out.

As they neared the split off point between the two large cracks, they could make out a grouping of jesters a short distance away. They were gathered by one of the cracks, leading them to believe that was the right way to go.

At their approach, the red robed jesters turned and ran right at them. A single casting of Zweite Fire Squall from Rifana was more than enough to wipe out the much smaller group.

With the area cleared, the group dismounted and approached the wave crack. Dante stopped in front of the crack, Rhubaldt standing next to him.

"So, do we just strike it, or…?" Dante looked to the older hero.

"That should give us time to fight the boss, at the very least." Rhubaldt said, slashing at the crack with his claw.

Dante saw how the crack seemed to waver. Following his lead, Dante bashed it with his shield.

"Whoa." Keel sounded from behind. "The swirls in the sky stopped spinning."

Looking up, Dante saw what Keel did. The red sky was still there, but the spirals no longer moved. "Well, that's progress."

"That's new to me." Rhubaldt said. "The last wave crack I attacked didn't do that."

"Really?" Dante looked towards the crack again. He brought forward his shield, smacking the edge of the crack. It seemed to dim slightly. When he looked up, the swirls had disappeared from the red sky. Gripping his shield, Dante hit the crack a few more times. Soon, his shield hit nothing. The crack closed up, all the way up into the sky. It changed from the blood red color into the yellow-blue of early evening.

"What happened?" Dio asked. "No more monsters?"

"I guess not." Dante answered. "Strange…"

I don't recall something like this ever happening. Then again, this wave did seem a bit different. It was more like waves of monsters in some sort of tower defense game. Or, the wave boss was already killed by someone else, and we just finished the job. Whatever, I'll take the win.

The only downside he could see was not getting materials from a wave boss. Maybe if the wave lasted longer, one would have appeared, but Dante wasn't about to let that happen. This wasn't a game.

They started back towards the village, Dante and Rhubaldt absorbing the enemy remains into their weapons. It was only robes and masks, but they were able to get reveals from each enemy type, plus an assortment of item drops.

Red Jester Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: agility bonus (high)

Blue Jinx Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: magic bonus (high)

Yellow Reaper Shield
(abilities locked) equip bonus: defense rating adjustment (small), immutable defense rating (small)

No new skills. I'm not really surprised. If I was any other hero, I bet that red jester would have given me a high attack bonus. I like the sound of that defense rating adjustment, though.

If it was what Dante thought, he would receive less damage from defense rating attacks. Given that his job was to have a massive defense stat, it was pretty amazing. Following that theme, the second bonus sounded like he'd have at least some defense against defense ignoring attacks.

Rhubaldt basically confirmed his thoughts. The Red Jester Claw did indeed give him a medium attack bonus. The Yellow Reaper Claw didn't have an equip bonus, but it had an equip effect called "Pierce". It didn't take a gaming master to determine what kind of effect that would be. Once Dante got on better terms with the other three summoned heroes, he'd give them some of the monster remains for weapon reveals.

They came close to the site of the first battle with this wave's monsters. The robes and masks were still there, but off in the distance…

"Dante…" Sadeena's voice got lost in her throat, and Dante immediately saw why.

Korokan village was in flames.

"No…NO!" Dante shouted, spurring Dio toward the village.

This can't be happening. This can't be happening. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! Did one of the jinxes get past us? Was there actually a boss and we missed it? Oh god, please be okay!

Once they were close, Dante hopped off of Dio and ran to the entrance. A guard was there, lying on the ground, dead. Dante looked at the wolf therianthrope and saw he was stabbed in the chest. Another one was a few feet away, in a similar state.

Damn it, we missed a group! How!?

"Hm? What is that over there—ah, Sir MacRory!" Dante didn't wait for Eclair to finish. He darted off to the center of the village, where there seemed to be something going on.

Every house he passed on the way looked the same. The door was broken open, sometimes off the hinges, and the building was burning down. The occupants of those homes were on the ground outside, lying in pools of blood. House after house, flames danced around. The fields he passed were on fire as well. Nothing but a great inferno as he ran down the dirt path.

Finally, he reached what used to be the village center. The rest of his party and Rhubaldt had made it with him, but he couldn't focus on them. All that was in his vision were the knights from Siltvelt. They stood near an erected wooden pole, a single woman tied to it with her throat slit open. On the ground before her were a man and a little girl.

The ears sticking from the helmet of the commander twitched. The man turned to look at Dante, a wide smile on his face.

"Lord Shield! You've arrived." He said, arms stretched out at either side. "Rejoice, Lord Shield! The witch of this village has been dealt with! You're free from the charm she's placed on you!" His eyes gleamed as he spoke, his mouth seeming to stretch into a wider and wider grin.

Dante could barely stand. His heavy breathing was all he could hear. His eyes darted around, picking out every knight before him. These men and women of Siltvelt…they took his family from him.

They murdered them.

They deserved to die.

Slowly, his breathing quieted down. The knights, the dead bodies, even the burning houses faded from his vision.

Soon, all he could see was red.

Author's Notes:

I misspoke a while ago. Last arc should be something like the Siltvelt Arc. Now is the Downward Spiral Arc.

Well, I went and wrote 80% yesterday again. It's really not so bad, since I write down a lot of my ideas during the week at work and then copy them over to my Word documents when I get home. Some are for the current chapter, some are for the future. I would like to start getting in the habit of listening to my writing alarm more, instead of continuing to stream shows, but it is what it is.

I remember hearing someone mention the waves used to be basically like a tower defense game in the past. It was probably mentioned in a blog post, or possibly in one of the later chapters of True Reprise that I've neglected to catch up with. In any case, no boss in this wave, for reasons unknown.

If anyone wants to take a guess at what these three enemies were references of, feel free. If I had kept in the original idea for the boss, a lot of retro nerds like me would have figured it out. I'll say what it was in my next chapter.