The Strongest Shield

by oblivon2991

The legend! A walking disaster! The "Strongest" Man on Earth! Many titles he gained. Many times he "saved" Earth. His heroics, all a lie? Or all true? Not as it matters. Thrown into an entirely different environment, a new world, he will prove his worth. Hilarity and misunderstanding ensue when he appears! The King engine starts: 'Dub! Dub' "Man, I quit being a hero..."

6. King of the Wave!

Written by Oblivon2991

Proofread: The usual drunken gang of misfits and TranscendedPotato

Thank you for reading my fanfiction and for giving me a chance.

My mother tongue isn't English, so please be patient about the grammatical issues.

I don't own One Punch Man anime/manga/webcomic, it belongs to ONE.

I don't own The Rising of the Shield Hero (Japanese: 盾の勇者の成り上がり, Hepburn: Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari), it is written by Aneko Yusagi.

If you have anything to add or have questions, or remark, please review, or send a PM.

Thank you!

Now let's start the story!

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Chapter 6: King of the Wave!

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[ドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドド]

"Lo-Lord King! Please, calm down. What happened?" That rumbling sound that Raphtalia recognized all too well filled the hall.

Since traveling with King, she could say that she experienced what would happen when she heard it!

It was terrible news for anyone standing in the way of the Shield Hero. Yet, it was the sign of hope for anyone that stood on his side!

It was the rumbling sound that wrought both dread to foe, and courage to ally!

The sound of battle intent! The sound of King's bloodlust — or at least, that what she could get from all the times she heard that terrible and intimidating roar of [Rumble], seeing other people and bandits flee, or monsters would get absolutely annihilated when it started quaking from King's very being.

Every time she heard it, people or monsters were intimidated — some so much so they immediately conceded, retreated, or in the case of monsters — died — and thus, Raphtalia concluded that it was the bloodlust of King that was pumping, forming a strange, dark-red aura around the man.

"We have less than a day until the wave arrives," King answered with a cold tone, finally raising his head. His expression, unmoving and firm like always, showing no fear — it never showed fear on the outside, at least.

"Wha-What!? Less than a day!? But you said-"

"I miscalculated the time we had left. Let's go, there's no time to waste." With time running short, King needed to hurry and finish his preparations. There was no way he wanted to face the calamity without everything well-prepared.

"Look, if it isn't the Shield Hero? Or should I say the Shield Criminal?" A familiar voice called from behind him, making King turn around slowly. His slow turn was menacing; like his posture, every move he made had a feeling of precise calculation.

"Oh, you're here..." King waved to the blond spear hero, completely disregarding what the man just said. "You came to check the time left too? Moto… Motoyuki, was it?" He honestly forgot his name. It was about a month since he was summoned, and since he had only met him on the first day, he didn't leave all that much of an impression on King.

"How time flies…" King thought to himself, surprised at his progress.

If you asked him a month ago, King would have said without a doubt that he would have died here in less than three days. Yet here he was now! Only twenty-one hours away from a possible catastrophe! And he was still alive and kicking!

Surviving for more than twenty-nine days here without any help — well, Raphtalia was there to help him deal with monsters that would've taken too long to kill with his attack power; still, for more than a week, he was entirely alone, and that counted for something impressive, coming from a 29-year-old antisocial Otaku loser.

"IT'S MOTOYASU!" The spear hero yelled, clearly angry that King couldn't even bother to remember his name.

"Oh, sorry about that. It's been close to a month since we last met, and you weren't really all that memorable, to be honest." Ignoring Motoyasu's growing anger, King continued. "So, are you here to check the time left until the wave hits?"

"What!? No!" The spear hero seemed impatient and was obviously angry for some reason, even contorting his face in disgust.

King himself had no idea why, though. He only misremembered his name. That wasn't a crime or anything, right? He could forgive him for believing Myne without evidence, he seemed the sort to jump straight to conclusions. What was his problem this time?

"Lord King, who are these people?"

"Ah, He's the Spear Hero, and those are his companions. That blonde guy over there was also summoned like me."

"Oh! I see!" Raphtalia hummed a few times, inspecting the hero from head to toe. "Isn't he shorter than depicted in the books?"

"Is that so?" Books? Were there books about heroes? "Wait… she said something about those when she was still in her kid-form. Ah, right! She told me that her parents often read to her about the four cardinal heroes. I see… So Motoyasu's shorter than depicted in the books? Or are there other heroes that are summoned?"

"Mhmm…" Raphtalia hummed, confirming King's question.

"How dare you mock the Spear Hero, you mere demihuman! I'll…"

"So, you're here too, Myne." King's gaze fell to the girl, his tone cold and collected. Somehow, this was enough to place immense pressure on her. That unmoving, mocking gaze made the girl tremble in her boots, gulping nervously as her jealous green eyes met King's icy stare. It was as if her mere hatred was nothing more than a single drop of water in an ocean, compared to King's deep blue stare. It seemed deep, deeper than the ocean. Was he calculating something, even now?

"Eek!" That murderous, terrifying visage again! That constant, motionless stare of King made Myne tremble in fear, as she stepped back and hid behind the Spear Hero. "Yo-You!?"

"Are you feeling better? Or does your sleep-walking still trouble you? You should check a doctor if that's the case. You might get hurt at night again."

"I-I…" Myne couldn't speak; some unknown dread filled her chest, making her tongue go numb and unable to form coherent words.

This man knew! This man saw through her plans since the very first step she took! This monster was toying with her, savoring her fear, waiting for the moment to devour her whole!

"No! I can't fall apart! Not here, and definitely not now! Not before them!" This beast was playing around with her, dominating her since the first moment! Mocking and spitting at her every attempt and step of her plan!

But she would not give up! She would never give up! She would resist and show him what it meant to be the first princess of the country! Even if she were on the brink of death, she would never give up! Her pride wouldn't allow it!

"Just as I thought! You're a brute in every sense of the word! First, you rape poor Myne, and now you still keep her in terror! Just how low can you go?!"

At least her pawn was still under her control! Yes! As Motoyasu was still on her side, she was safe, and the plan could go on! The tactic of the carrot and stick worked well for now with this man.

"This horny idiot needs nothing more than a few sweet words, and to incite some guilt in him. Batting a few eyelashes to convince him is more than enough, and he believes everything I say. What a fool."

Myne smirked to herself, already weaving a plan to eliminate the Shield Devil from the game.

Back in the Adventurers Guild, she had almost lost Motoyasu thanks to the Bow and Sword Hero's logical arguments. She was actually lucky that those sages summoned such a gullible person like Motoyasu. She was also lucky that she chose him and not the other two heroes to join up with after betraying the Shield Hero, otherwise, her plan would've already fallen apart.

It couldn't be helped; the Shield Devil had already seen through her plan and convinced the Sword and Bow heroes. Who knew such a formidable man would've been summoned to the useless role of the shield? If she knew about this, she would have started differently, coming up with a better plan to frame him. Thinking about it, framing him for rape was perfectly stupid, as the Sword Hero did raise a point- if he really DID rape her, she would've been in much worse shape than she was that morning.

Hell, had he been summoned as the other roles, like the Spear, Sword, or Bow Heroes, she would probably have tried to befriend him- or at least get on his good side.

"But it's already too late. The path to the Crown leads through him." It was so close, Myne- no, Malty wasn't going back to the drawing board!

"Look, I-" King wanted to deny the claim of the Spear Hero. What was he talking about? This again? King really had enough. He's never even touched a girl before, much less rape one! Well, aside from Raphtalia, when she needed help cleaning up when she was still smaller. But she was more like a daughter to him. Not to mention, despite how she looked like right now- she was still just 10!

That was the final straw! He had enough already! Bring evidence of him raping her first, then suspect him with such serious charges! Honestly, did he come from a world where women never lied or something?

But before he could voice that out, something unexpected happened!

"Oh! And who is that cutie on your side?" Motoyasu was before Raphtalia in less than a moment, grabbing her hand and towering above her.

"Salutations, beautiful mistress! I'm the Spear Hero, Kitamura Motoyasu! If you were so kind, I'd appreciate it if you would save the world with me."

"Hey! Doesn't he have more than enough party members already?! Don't try and steal my only one!" King sweatdropped, seeing the attempt of Motoyasu to steal Raphtalia from his party- in broad daylight- no less! At least try to offer something to her when he wasn't around, like in those novels! Actually, no, that would be worse. Don't do either of them!

If she left him for this playboy, he would be in deep trouble. He may have a higher level compared to the weaker monsters around the city, and he might have various skills to incapacitate monsters, but he had little to no confidence that he could face the coming calamity alone — with the little to no damage output he possessed. Well, he could survive- if he ran away and hid like he always did. But according to the knowledge he gained- he would just teleport straight to where the wave was happening. Running away was sadly not an option for him this time. Meaning, he had to actually face the wave.

If, and only if his teammates weren't complete vacuum-brained dunderheads like this fellow, it wouldn't have mattered. The role of a tank was to direct aggro away from the DPS members and to take the majority of the damage so that the other party members wouldn't end up dead. Sadly, one was a brain-dead plant with blond hair, another was some kid in high school that thought he could solo the game like in open-world RPGs, and another was just a kid that looked and acted way too young for his actual age.

"If you remain with a criminal like him, It'll be bad for you! He'll just use you until he's had his fun, then he'll just throw you away! He already did that with poor Myne! You will be in grave danger, the longer you spend time with him! Join my party and I'll protect you from this beast."

"This again? This is ridiculous!" Muttered King to himself, and he couldn't help but sigh, long since tired of this charade. If he had the chance, he would take this person, sit down with him... and have a long talk about how to deal with criminal charges and the rights of the accused. He was no lawyer, but he was sure he could knock some sense into this numbskull's empty vacuum in place of his brain!

"I…I…" Raphtalia only hesitated for a moment before pulling herself away from Motoyasu. "You are wrong; Lord King is not like that! He saved me! He's even protected me from the beginning, even going as far as to risk his life for me! I don't know what happened between the two of you in the past, but the Shield Hero is not like how you depicted him. He's a true hero! A hero like what the stories depict! No! Even the stories can't describe how heroic he is!" Raphtalia said, a shine in her eyes like when a fangirl was to start talking about their favorite bands.

"This girl… she idolizes me too much. A little compliment or some acknowledgment for what I've been doing was nice every now and then, but this is starting to become ridiculous." King felt as though he was back home again, receiving compliments and praise even when he did nothing, and this started to make him worry.

"You dare to mock Lord Motoyasu, you demi-human!? You dare accuse him of lying!?" Myne gathered her courage and stepped forward, glaring at Raphtalia. Of course, the other members of her party had also started to radiate intense ill-will towards King and his only party member.

One of the party members of Motoyasu was her close friend — who resembled her personality-wise. The others? The two of them kept them under control with subtle manipulation and lies.

It wasn't Motoyasu who controlled the party! All the aces were in her hand!

"I…" Raphtalia bit her lip, slightly intimidated by the amount of ill intent that the girls started to radiate towards her.

"You should know your place! Filthy demi-humans like you-"

"Myne. That's not a nice thing to say…"

[ド Rumble ド]!

The King Engine needed only to echo once, and the people in the hall already started to shudder, backing away as King stepped before Raphtalia, blocking all the glares aimed at her.

His inspiring, towering form was like a protective barrier before her, the girl felt truly safe against all the odds with the Shield Hero on her side.

"What changed in you, Myne? Since we first met, your personality took a 180-degree turn. You were so enthusiastic, so glad you joined me. Yet, after a bad dream, you completely changed. What happened?"

"I-I…" That face! That terrifying rumble! He just stared at her! He wasn't even blinking!? It was unnatural! How could someone glare for so long without even blinking!?

No! It was like his face was growing ever larger the longer he stared at her! It was immense! It was indescribable! It was able to turn the tides she meticulously crafted and reflected it back to her with sheer, unimaginable strength! Against his pure might, all her subterfuge seemed worthless!

"Despite the lies that you came up with, I'm still worried about your state of health. In your current state, you shouldn't go adventuring. Motoyasu, I hope you take care of her well. Her mind's a little unstable since that bad dream she suffered."

"Because you raped her, you beast! That's what broke her!"

"Sigh! This again…?" King really had enough of this senseless accusation. Did they have any evidence? If not, why would they continue accusing him of something he never did? Hell, after all the points he brought up, the only thing they seemed to do was filter out all the logic and lived in their little bubble of lies! Did logic even permeate their skulls?

"I'm getting tired of this already…" King sighed, shaking his head. It was as if this conversation no longer interested him anymore, moving forth without being bothered by Motoyasu and his party. They were no threat, but rather an annoyance; a fly that he could crush anytime. Yes, he gave away that feeling.

A feeling of dread and despair.

"How dare you!? I will-!"

King raised his head once more, almost as if looking down on Motoyasu. Immediately after seeing that pitying, unmoving expression, the Spear Hero faltered.

"As I said before, provide evidence that I even committed such atrocities. One shouldn't accuse others with such serious crimes, without any proof backing them in return. As someone who came from a similar environment like me, I thought that you'd know of the saying, 'Innocent until proven guilty'. It's been used in all court systems and has never once been changed. Until you can provide clear evidence, don't accuse others, or there will be trouble…"

"Yo-you!?" Motoyasu gritted his teeth, his head boiling over in anger! Hell, his teeth grinding against each other was audible!

He had nothing tangible to prove what the Shield Hero did!

More so, the logical argument that he came up with- even recanted by his two fellow heroes, even he started to have doubts about Myne's innocence. Of course, that was until she changed his mind with her reasoning.

Yeah, there was no way such an innocent-looking girl like her was lying! Why would she come up with such a plot? It just made no sense!

"If you excuse us, we still have a few things to do before the wave hits. There is no time to waste, especially not with such nonsense that would lead to nothing being accomplished. Myne, please, seek out a doctor, you need help, not just for your sleep-walking, but for your overactive dreams. I heard that it's a sign of not having enough sleep."

"Ho-How dare you!? I… Hey! Don't ignore me!"

Ignoring Myne's screeching, King walked out of the chamber the Dragon Hourglass was in. According to his experience- well, experience in terms of novels and manga, it was better to ignore such troublesome people, even more so if they were just people who did nothing but complain. Wasting more time or energy on them would be nonsense.

"Damn you!" Myne had pulled out a dagger and was about to throw it at King's head when King glanced back at her — needless to say, by complete coincidence.

"…"

The Strongest Man on Earth offered a stare that mirrored his utterly uninterested, bored expression, but it made Myne's entire body tremble, dropping the dagger as she fell to her knees.

Though he seemed uninterested, it was like that of an immense beast simply looking at an ant, barely noticing it before going about their day! It was like a great dragon uncaringly going back to sleep after noticing the poor peasant that accidentally wandered into its lair.

'Clang!' As the dagger fell onto the ground, it slightly scratched Myne's leg — she didn't even register the scratch on her leg due to the immense fear filling her body.

"Hmm…"

King noticing her current pathetic display and that shake of his head after a few seconds of a 'glare' was only the icing on top in her complete humiliation.

As King continued on his way, he stopped near Motoyasu for a moment, placing his hand on his shoulder. "…Be careful, Motoyasu; this is not a game. One slip and it's GAME OVER. Fight your hardest when the time comes, or you might end up dying. The chaos of battle and the monsters on the battlefield are unpredictable. Heroes can fall like flies, and don't forget... you only have one life."

[ドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドド]

"… Consider your next actions carefully…"

In all honesty, King had intended this to be a piece of good advice for the coming wave — coming from his experience with monsters and how unpredictable they could be — coming from his honest concern about his fellow Sacred Weapon wielder's good health. He's seen plenty of young, aspiring heroes dead because of their recklessness and underestimating the monsters!

But for Motoyasu, it sounded like a death threat intended to intimidate him. And it worked! Maybe too well!

"This pressure…!" Motoyasu froze the moment his gaze met King's cold expression. That unmoving face! The unimaginable pressure he exuded that made even Dragon level threats turn tail and run- much less attack King!

This man was a monster! Ren was right, he really wasn't normal!

In truth, just now, though he wouldn't admit it, Motoyasu considered him perhaps more of a threat than the coming calamity!

At this moment, he looked like a giant who was barely holding his leg back to squish the bug that was Motoyasu — only holding himself back by an inch needed to completely squish him!

The Spear Hero's legs trembled in fear! He could barely stand straight to support his weight!

"… Good luck out there." King patted his shoulder a few times encouragingly, proceeding out the room without even looking back. "Come, Raphtalia; we have a lot to do before the calamity hits."

"Ye-Yes! Lord King!"

With that, King and his companion left, merely passing by the people who watched them the whole time.

That day, King and his infamy only grew exponentially. The pressure he released, unknown to him, had made many passersby engrave this moment in their mind, spreading the news further, warning everyone to stay out of the Shield Hero's way. He didn't even feel like the Shield Hero. He felt more like an apex predator, or a natural disaster, given thought and free will! Earning his ire would only bring unimaginable consequences!

'Thud!'

At the moment they left the temple, Motoyasu fell onto his knees, his face blank and pale. His body was still trembling and limp, only managing to support himself with his arms.

"Barf!" Throwing up his meal, even his arms started getting weaker.

It would seem like a sorry sight if it wasn't for a more pathetic display coming from his party members. Some of them seemed to completely lose their bodily control, slumping on the ground, the more cowardly ones even peeing themselves. The majority of them were trembling like a litter of storm-tossed puppies on a massive whaling ship in the middle of a cyclone.

"He really is a monster… an absolute monster, no doubt about it!"

It was said that animals and even people could instinctively feel when grave danger was approaching them, and just now? Motoyasu felt as though he just dodged an apocalyptic threat!

His heart was still in his throat; he couldn't stop sweating, breathing haphazard. Every cell in his body was trembling, threatening to fall apart at any given moment!

"Lord Motoyasu! Are you alright!?" His more courageous party members that were in better condition immediately gathered around him, as they too were shaken by what happened, even ignoring Myne, who started to vomit intensely on the side, her skin taking an unnatural coloration.

"I… I… DAMMMIIIT!" Helpless, the Spear Hero slammed the ground with his fists. That day, unknown to King, he had once again disarmed not one, but two opponents who intended to hinder, or even eliminate him. At least… for a while.

Only one thing was for sure! The S-Class Hero King had earned two victories that day, without so much as lifting a finger to conquer his opponents.

…

"Sigh! What a bother!" Outside, King just sighed, glad that he managed to get away from that cultist-like church and that obnoxious Spear Hero — not to mention that mentally ill woman who was talking nonsense.

"Still, I am worried about Myne. She might be lying, but her deteriorating mental state is obvious…"

He had already notified everyone about it around a month ago, but they didn't listen to him. It seems as though they didn't intend to do anything to help her. She was obviously not right in the head; how else would her personality change so suddenly in just one day? Hell, if the problem started with that bad dream she had... how bad was it that she ended up getting a serious mental illness?

"She most likely has schizophrenia or some other mental disorder right now. Oh well, it's not my problem anymore. I warned them already, what more can I do? She's also no longer my party member; I can only hope someone recognizes this and helps her."

"Lord King? If I may ask... what was that all about in the church?" Raphtalia caught up with him, awaiting answers while staring at King with her big eyes.

"It's just a little misunderstanding. I'd rather not explain it right now. Maybe later…" King was already strained with how near the coming wave was; he had no mood for a long-winded explanation about how the king of this place seemed to favor the girl who accused him on a dime instead of one of the heroes that his sages summoned, even ignoring his clearly flawless alibi.

"Okay…" The girl accepted it without any further question. She was curious, but still, the Shield Hero was a good person, as well as a responsible hero! There was no way he would lie to her or want to hurt her like how those other people said he would. Her trust in King was absolute, and that's what mattered most to her. After all, if he wanted to just use and then leave her, he would never have cleaned her up and protected her so well.

…

Around ten hours later, they returned to Erhard's shop, just in time as the blacksmith finished with the preparation of the new gear.

"Damn! Now you look like a proper hero!" Donning the armor, King inspected himself before the mirror, watching his new form skeptically as Erhard praised his work.

"Indeed, this armor fits you a lot better than that chainmail, Lord King. Good pick! Thank you for your hard work, Sir Erhard!"

"Ahahahaha! Thank you! I put my best efforts into this armor! No monster or bandits will try to approach him without being suicidal, I can guarantee that!"

"Hmm…" King inspected himself in the mirror, subtly striking poses.

If the armor was white, then yes. He'd look like a proud knight from those medieval documentaries he watched before. But the plating was dark-grey, mostly black on some parts, and instead of the smooth look of knight's armor, the armor he was wearing was jagged in many places...

"What kind of weird tastes do they have? Now I look like a warlord! This is not what I described… It's not subtle at all!" Nonetheless, the defensive property of this armor was a lot better than the previous one. Also, he could move a lot better in this than in that chainmail — which wasn't segmented armor and was basically a simple chainmail shirt.

"But why am I even complaining right now? In games, if something had better stats than the one my character was wearing, I would change to that gear immediately. It doesn't matter if they fit my current set or not. To be honest, I wouldn't care even if I looked like a clown wearing it."

Oftentimes it made him look like an abomination, an assault to the eyes, wearing all out-of-place-looking armor pieces.

"But still, most if not all people would play like this, unless they have the skill to make up for it. I'd choose function over aesthetics any day…" King yanked the cloak that was draped over and fixed on his shoulders by a smart mechanism — so that he could remove it if needed — spreading it behind his back, caressing the material, and offering a grimace.

"Why the cloak?" He definitely didn't order a cloak or cape, as he considered them heavily impractical, a potential hazard that could cause death if something unexpected happens.

"I read the news back then about how several rookie heroes died because of their capes. They aren't practical at all…" Moreover, the Heroes Association also had a basic hero guide, which included a small section for hero costumes. It heavily advised against capes or cloaks as they could be a hazard if they got stuck or if the hero stepped on them and slipped while fighting a monster — also, the monsters or villains could grab it and use it against the hero if he was an amateur.

"Well, Saitama wears one..." King already tried to warn him about the potential hazard a cape could cause, but his friend only said that it didn't bother him, and heroes should wear a cape. How else would people know he was a hero if he wasn't wearing one?

Yeah, that was his reasoning. Not a good one, but King accepted it. To speak plainly, he recalled how strong his buddy was... and it was probably true that it wouldn't bother him in the least.

"Well… he's strong enough to plainly ignore the dangers, and even then, he's been wearing the costume for one and a half years before. He would probably be used to it."

But for him, who was essentially paranoid when it came to personal safety, it was not really a good idea to wear one. Unless they had stat bonuses or whatever, he wouldn't put them on anyway. Only when he's reached the highest possible level on a game would he even care about his appearance.

"It's weaved with metal fibers, and it's made of fireproof- and waterproof material. It can also keep you warm at night, and it protects you from the rain. It's quite flexible. Also, it's stylish. Girls would do a double-take when they see you wearing this!"

Erhard grinned mischievously and offered a thumbs-up, and King could only sweatdrop in response. He disliked such jokes, considering them poor in taste.

"I see…"

"On the other hand, count on Erhard to make even a useless accessory useful! Fireproof and waterproof? I could use it to put out fires if one were to break out, and weaved with metal fibers? He's a master smith, alright. I think I might even be able to take on a fully grown dragon like this. Well, if I had a better source of damage, that is."

As much as he'd like to dream, Raphtalia was nowhere near strong enough to take on a dragon. Even if he could tank the damage, Raphtalia's equipment just wasn't up to the task.

"Lo-Lord Erhard! Please don't joke about such a thing!" Raphtalia pouted with an embarrassed expression, an expression Erhard could only laugh at.

"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry, young lady. It's just a tasteless joke. One needs to find something to keep their spirits up, with the calamity approaching soon."

"Sure…" King checked out the other accessories he requested. Among them were a practical accessory belt, many hidden pockets that were perfectly integrated along with the armor, and several other things Erhard had time to incorporate in such a short time.

"So, what do you think? I couldn't make everything you requested in such a short time, and while working on it, I realized that I didn't have the precision tools necessary to implement some of the crazier ideas, nor did I have the necessary knowledge to work them in with a smaller scale to fit on the armor. Maybe other, more professional smiths would be able to implement them for you; unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable enough, nor am I an engineer…"

"Not a problem; in such a short time, this much is more than enough." King checked a small switch near his wrist, and immediately after, it shot out an expanding net, almost hitting Erhard.

"Hey, hey! Careful with that! You don't know how hard it was to make a crossbow small enough to fit on your arm, not to mention configuring the crossbow to make it shoot out a net properly! Don't go using it recklessly, I haven't perfected the system yet! Also, the reload is problematic!"

"I can imagine…" King was not a mechanic. In truth, he didn't have a lot of experience fixing things, so the most basic thing he could do was probably just replace leaking pipes. Anything that required tools was a no-go. What he could do relatively well, however, was putting together electronic devices following the guide, and fixing them if any problems popped up. Needless to say, when it came to electronics, he was pretty good at handling them.

"What are these?" King pointed at the empty sockets on his segmented half-plate. It was some kind of chamber, definitely for something to be fitted in there later.

"Oh, that! I prepared the armor to be able to install the missing elements later. It sticks out a little, but it won't hinder you while you're fighting, I made sure of that."

"Aesthetics are secondary." Raising his shieldless forearm and pushing a trigger; a small round shield folded out just like a fan. It would definitely be weaker than his legendary shield- seeing as it was indestructible, but as he couldn't use anything else as a weapon, it would serve a purpose to provide some protection on his other arm, not just the one that carried his actual shield.

"Heh! You speak like a veteran warrior. Not like those spoiled nobles. Of course, aesthetics are worthless when in real combat. I can vouch for that."

"You were a warrior once?" Erhard was a blacksmith, true. Yet, King was only mildly surprised. The man was built like an ox, muscles that didn't seem to originate from blacksmithing alone. Still, to think that he was an adventurer before? That was probably when Erhard got those scars on his face. King just couldn't imagine Erhard being clumsy enough to harm himself, so getting the scar from adventuring seemed more plausible.

"You can say that. I was an adventurer before…" Erhard sighed, looking towards one of the armors in the corner with an absent expression, remembering his days as an adventurer. "But it was a long time ago. Let's not waste any more words on it."

"Okay."

"Heh! That's what I like about you! No needless chit-chat, just action! If you were a little less intimidating, people might even call you a proper hero…"

"We are working on it, Sir Erhard! Am I right, Lord King?" Raphtalia grabbed his arm, hugging it closely. "Lord King might only speak when it's necessary; and his face might be intimidating for those who don't know him, but he is definitely a true hero!"

"Give me a break…" King thought reluctantly. Even when he only had that chainmail, people would mistake him as a bandit or some criminal. It wasn't his fault his face was intimidating for others! He had no control over it!

"With this armor, it might actually get worse…" The metal was darker than the previous chainmail he wore, and his cloak didn't help either. It just gave him a more robust, hardened look. Though it did look cool from a different angle, it made him seem more like a warmongering tyrant, rather than a proud knight.

"Oh, well… as long as it provides protection, it's good enough. Let's hope it'll actually be satisfactory."

"What do you think about yours, Raphtalia?" Urging himself to change the topic, King asked his companion.

"Ah! I think that it's quite good. It has chainmail and padding underneath, and I can still move my arms freely." She demonstrated by moving her arms around and hitting the air a few times with an imaginary sword. "It's quite flexible! I'm sure it won't affect my performance, Lord King!"

"That's good… so, how much do we owe you for all of this?"

"Well, about that…" Erhard scratched the back of his head sheepishly, offering a mischievous smile. King could already tell that he wouldn't like the next few words that came out of his mouth.

"Shit…" [ド Rumble! ド]

…

"Sigh…" King's steps were heavy as he treaded on the sidewalk, with the grave expression on his face, and the sheer intensity of the aura radiating off him; people couldn't help but give way when King passed them.

"Ah… Lord King, I don't think it's that bad. I think for such high-quality gear, Lord Erhard gave us quite a generous price. He even gave us a great discount after you convinced him!"

"A great portion of our funds are gone… and he still wanted more? I really should have given him a price range… Even though she's mentally unstable right now, I miss Myne telling me how much to spend on things."

King was unaware of it, but at first, Erhard wanted to ask for more, but when King towered above him and asked: "Don't you think that's a little bit much?" Erhard immediately gave King a huge discount, along with allowing for the price of the armor to be paid in installments. His reasoning being — "It's for one of the four Cardinal Heroes who will be fighting against the waves, trying to gouge a hero for more profits would just be plain stupid!" and "It would bring more customers if others see a Hero wearing the gear I made. The publicity that comes from it would boost my sales!"

"Typical trader mentality…" King thought, at first. Then again, a great portion of the price was probably just from how hard it was to design and create the armor in such a short time. Not to mention, it was made in such a way that pieces that were damaged beyond repair could just be replaced with other parts- making replacement and upgrading his armor a much easier process. Still- the price he gave was literally highway robbery!

But still, the real reason for the sudden discount was his immense fear that King would squash him like a bug if he gave too unreasonable a price. Erhard simply felt a tremendous pressure whenever King was around him. Though he was a hero, he was prone to anger, like everyone else. Annoy him too much, and... well, he didn't want to think about it.

"Five more minutes…" Ignoring Raphtalia's cheerful attitude, King checked his shield to tell how much time he had left.

The day had passed by so fast; King didn't even register it. Finishing all those errands around town had taken him a significant amount of time.

"How terrifying…" The adventurers and guards that he could see were visibly preparing, arming themselves, gathering in the town square for the wave to hit.

Certainly, the town was a lot busier than previously. If he could use a sword, he could probably cut the tension in the air. Or actually, if he could use a sword, everything would've gone much smoother. Hell, any weapon would've given him an edge! A mace, a shortsword, hell, even a dagger would've been nice! But no; he only had two options. Bashing enemies with his shield, and using his physical strength.

Slowly but surely, a small army started to gather in this town, prepared to clash with whatever the calamity would throw at them.

"Gee, I wonder why…?" King asked himself sarcastically, feeling more and more nervous as the time ticked towards zero.

"So, Lord King, how do you think we'll manage? With the wave so close, and all."

"I'm not sure. It's my first time experiencing the wave, after all…" Even if he had met monsters before, he's never really fought them before. This would be his first time fighting his earnest, aside from when he was farming tirelessly to raise his level.

"My experience in my old world doesn't really count, as I've always run away from the threat, managed to solve the situation with a bluff, or another hero in the vicinity appeared, defeating the monster, letting me sneak away unscathed…"

He feared that even with the experience of fighting monsters he gathered during the passing month and his increased stats were nowhere near enough to prepare him for what was to come. Fearing that no matter how hard he ground his levels, no matter how many new skills he got, despite all his preparations, when the wave finally hits, and the monsters start flooding the surrounding... he'd be an unrecognizable red splotch on the ground, dead within the first five minutes.

"Ah, you're right, I shouldn't have asked such an obvious question." Raphtalia lowered her head, ashamed for asking an obvious question. How was King to know? He hasn't even experienced it yet, being summoned only a month ago, sometime after the first wave.

"It's alright, you don't need to apologize. I understand what you mean, I'm as anxious as you are with the coming calamity." King tried to calm himself down beforehand, but it didn't help; he continued trembling nonetheless. Though it wasn't visible, he was definitely still trembling under the facade of calmness he tried to keep up. Somehow, he trembled at such a frequency that the man just 'vibrated', and with the increase in his stats, his trembling made the surrounding air feel heavy around him, and the stones were also vibrating from his feet.

"R-really?" Raphtalia blinked, confused by what the mighty Shield Hero said. He was 'anxious' like she was? But he was King! The Shield Hero! Even against monsters that she didn't think they would be able to fight against, he would always incapacitate them with ingenious tactics, allowing her to deliver the coup de grâce! Never once had she ever seen fear on her Lord's face, always facing monsters with a stalwart gaze!

"Yes, I don't know what will come from the wave. We've done our best to prepare for it, but that alone does not guarantee our victory. We need to be careful when facing the wave, as there might be unknown threats that might catch us off guard."

After remaining silent for a few seconds, Raphtalia started to giggle, covering her mouth with her fist.

"What are you laughing at?" King asked, puzzled. It was no joke! They could seriously die!

"Well…" Raphtalia started to play with her fingers, looking shy. "Lord King, you've always protected me until now, providing guidance to me. Even against great odds, you've always succeeded. I trust that you can guide us through even this storm!"

"…" King raised his brow skeptically.

This kid gave him too much credit.

What he did was something everyone could do. Hell, some people could probably do better. He was no one special, just a simple person who could bluff like a master, and that's all. Actually, it would be fitting to just call him a conman and be done with it.

He was no hero, he was just a nobody who was cursed to get into extremely dangerous situations most- no, all the time! He was just a 29-year old neet loser otaku that the Heroes Association gave too much credit to for being near dead monsters most of the time, and that just so happened to occur consecutively!

"You are the Shield Hero, are you not, Lord King? The stories always say that the Shield Hero is fair and just, and he is the savior of the people, striving to save everyone, even if it costs their life. And ever since I've known you, it's not a rumor anymore, it's a fact!"

"…" King just remained silent. He was really concerned about how the kid put too much faith in him. He feared that she would ultimately get disappointed once she found out about his true nature.

"Actually, no! Ever since I've met you, you've surpassed my expectations, and even the tales that my parents told me about the Shield Hero, Lord King!" The girl grabbed King's hand, holding them up and making eye contact with King. Her eyes were basically brimming with as much respect and adoration as those eyes could hold. They may as well be twinkling with stars.

"I am so grateful to have met you, my Lord. You've given me another reason to live, protected me whenever I needed it, and you've prepared me for what's to come, even if you don't think it's enough. You've given me a way to fight back against the wave! The means to protect others from the tragedy that occurred to me!"

"This-"

"I am your sword! I will follow you wherever you go! I swear, wherever you stand, I will strike down your foes, whoever they may be!"

King lowered his head, considering what she said. In the end, a small, thin, unnoticeable, but true smile formed on his face.

"Do you really think of me like that?" A warm, satisfying feeling filled him.

Was this is the feeling of being adored as a hero? Was this the feeling of someone giving him a compliment for something he truly worked for?

It was strange…

It wasn't that peculiar, empty remorse he usually felt when the Heroes Association gave him credit for killing monsters that he was around when he either ran away or knew nothing about them. No! It was a feeling that people typically felt when they arrived home after a long day of work. Or when he finally beat a really hard level after working for it for so long! It was a satisfying feeling that he could get used to!

"Yes, I do!" The girl nodded vigorously. "Without you, I would have died in that cage, all alone in the dark, helpless! Without you, I wouldn't have had the chance to avenge my parent's death and actually have a fighting chance against the waves! You, my Lord, was the one that gave me all of this, if not more!"

"…" King couldn't help but pale even more. Even after all that praise, he really didn't think he deserved this; some inner pressure, some guilt holding him back from fully accepting the praise she heaped onto him. Though the feeling of satisfaction of being praised for something he truly worked for was there, a formless pressure to live up to her expectations hovered over his shoulders, appearing out of nowhere.

It was as if... the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint her.

"My Lord? Is something wrong?

"I-" Suddenly, a notification popped up in his field of view, counting down from five seconds. "It's time."

And when the counter reached zero; suddenly, the space around them morphed to an unfamiliar one. The two found themselves in an entirely different area!

"W-Where are we!?" Raphtalia looked around nervously, not expecting to have been transported to an unknown location all of a sudden. Yet, King was strangely calm, perhaps already forming a battle plan. But on the inside, he was equally- if not more distressed than Raphtalia about what happened. His body trembled in a frequency that was unseen to others, but it definitely had a physical effect, lesser men would experience it as King radiating his killing intent- as if getting ready for battle.

"This is not good… were we teleported somewhere?"

He recognized this area, though not very specifically. He knew that they were outside of the city; even an idiot could tell. More importantly, just a few minutes from them, he could spot a village nearby, the place where they took up a quest previously.

"What was the name of this place again? Ah, right! Riyute village. The ones who lived here weren't as hostile as the ones who lived in the city. No, compared to them, they were quite nice, actually. I suppose the rumors didn't spread all that far, all things considered."

True, they still had various looks of apprehension and some reluctance to show him their wares — probably thanks to his 'intimidating figure' — but the situation was a lot better than in the capital where most of the time, he was always met with fearful, disgusted, or both expressions wherever he went.

"Sigh… that Aultcray guy really screwed up with his decree. I mean, did he really believe that mentally-ill woman without any proof? Was she his daughter or something? Damn it! This country really is messed up!"

'Crack!'

"That's not good…" Above them, the sky cracked open, and from the dimensional fissure, countless amounts of locust-like creatures and various undead started to rain from the skies, dropping all over the fields and the surroundings.

"What to do? There are too many of those things. And what the hell! Did the sky just crack open!? What is this anyway?! They expect us to fight that!?" King was uneasy-which was putting it lightly- about the situation. Moreover, he was terrified, unable to decide on what to do. Despite all his preparations, he had no idea how to proceed when it was time to act. After all- who the hell expected the skies to literally split open and pour monsters from above?!

"This is bad. I mean, the last time something on a similar scale happened was when that alien spaceship appeared and annihilated City-A instantly."

Of course, even back then, the only thing he could do was watch the spaceship from the top of the Heroes Association headquarters and let other the other heroes- and mainly Saitama solve the situation.

"Saitama even talked about a really strong alien he fought in the ship…"

Of course, besides his friend's word, no evidence had surfaced about that 'strong alien', but King believed him either way. Saitama was not a guy who would lie.

"They summoned me and gave me no instruction on what to do, and they expected me to fight that!? What a joke! And now, they expect me to defeat all these opponents, on top of sealing an inter-dimensional hole in the sky? What the hell! I doubt even Tatsumaki could do that!"

Don't fuck with him!

Fighting the enemies and defeating them was the obvious route, as well as manageable seeing as they were physical enemies they could damage.

The problem was… there were too many of them! On top of that, they had to seal an inter-dimensional opening!? How the hell did they think that he and Raphtalia could face such terrible odds- and win!?

"More importantly… where are those other three heroes?" He and Raphtalia were transported here when the timer hit zero, but no knights or adventurers that were around them in the city came along with them.

"That means that most likely, only the other three heroes and their party members are also transported here."

His fast, analytical thinking gained confirmation when he turned his head — running down from the hill, his fellow heroes and their party proceeded towards the forest in the opposite direction where the village was positioned.

"Hey! Where are you going!?" He shouted after them, concerned as they didn't even stop to at least discuss the tactics to overcome the wave.

"We're going to kill the wave boss!" Motoyasu shouted back without even stopping for a moment.

"Wouldn't it be better to go together or come up with a plan!?" But they were already too far away, not even stopping to listen to what King had intended to say.

"What a stupid bunch! They just run forward without any tactic?! And the wave boss? How do they know that thing is in that direction? Do they have a map marker or what!?"

Their actions reminded him of babies' first MMORPG experience. Rushing in without any plan, their only course of action being 'hit the boss until it dies'. It was forgivable if they were noobs to the game. But this was real life! And there was no respawning! At least, he didn't think so, and he didn't plan on testing it out! What the hell was in their jelly-filled brains?!

"Lord King! The village!" Raphtalia called for his attention, slightly panicked, pointing towards Riyute. "The villagers! If we don't do something, they will be swarmed by the monsters quickly! They are closer to the rift than we are!" She was slightly panicked, knowing firsthand what awaited the defenseless villagers. What would be the fate of the children if their parents died.

"Shit…!"

King was forced to make a decision.

The castle was close, but he saw no movement or signs of the knights or adventurers making their way towards the village.

"Maybe they were making their stand behind the walls where they could defend themselves better, and leaving everything to the four of us and our party…"

In games, tactics like this often worked; defending and exhausting the opposition, sending out a small, specialized task force through the backdoor to eliminate the enemy leader while the main forces were busy.

Sacrificing rural areas were often necessary to spare resources and hold back the enemy until the main objective was completed — albeit, good players with divide and conquer tactics and skills could even save those areas outside of the walls.

"Usually, such players just send out small units to aggro the raiders, drawing them away from the main force near a walled section that is under lesser pressure, but equipped with enough ranged units to eliminate the baited opposition…"

It required immense precision, coordination, and timing for such a tactic to work — as the small unit could be easily overwhelmed and caught off guard by the immense horde on their tail before they could draw the enemy to the range of archers.

"Of course, an advanced enough AI enemy or a veteran player would be able to see through such basic tactics and easily come up with counter-measures against it."

However, with real people's lives at stake, King needed to consider what route to choose, and how to proceed. His decision would decide how many people would live and suffer later.

The other three were confident in heading out and charging forth without any formation- or seemingly any tactic, most likely seeking the strongest beast — thinking as though it would be the boss enemy of the wave.

"Carelessly leaving trash mobs behind is also no good. They can easily overwhelm even the strongest parties once the biggest beast calls the smaller ones to their aid."

He encountered situations like these many times with such algorithms.

It worked using a surprisingly simple trigger.

The moment the boss's health was lowered to a low-enough point, it would then activate a skill that called for or directly summoned all remaining trash mobs to itself to aid it. It was a no-brainer; the group that refused to clear the dungeon beforehand was overwhelmed in no time and died. The only way one could survive something like that is if one was high-leveled enough to one-hit the trash mobs in one fell swoop. But King honestly doubted that they were at that level yet. They only spend a month leveling up, after all!

"Tch!" King needed to make a decision now, or there would be dire consequences coming from his lateness in taking action

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

It was a decision that even made his King engine beat harder than usual, making him gulp, though inaudibly and unheard by Raphtalia.

"We'll help the villagers…" In the end, he came to such a decision.

"Aside from the basic direction, I have no idea where the other three are headed. Getting lost or doing nothing will be worse than helping the villagers evacuate and killing the trash mobs." Instead, it was better to help who he could, and head towards the only place he could directly confirm.

He made another gulp, still inaudible.

Maybe he would die here. Perhaps he would be overwhelmed by the monsters that stormed that place. In truth, just now, every cell of his body trembled in fear and urged him to turn tail and escape the situation. Even if he wanted to lie to himself that his higher stats would protect him- if the enemies could ignore his defenses, he was screwed.

"Damn those three idiots for running forward without a tank! If they die, I'll have to deal with it alone!"

There was a reason behind the existence of tank-like characters in games — such as him now.

The sword, spear, and bow heroes were not meant to soak up damage, but to deal it. They were DPS characters, and he was the tank character! It was apparent; they were summoned in a typical RPG composition! They were meant to work together! The only character missing was the healer, but they had their own party members, which would probably have their own healers.

But any party without a tank was doomed to a total party wipe unless they were so high-leveled that they could ignore the damage from the boss, or skillfully dodge every attack the boss threw at them! But it was as clear as day that that was not the case! Why- just why did he have to deal with such idiots?!

"What would the other heroes of my world do? What would Saitama do?"

He was alone, with no party members other than Raphtalia to support him. Yet, looking at the girl who was a meek little girl just a few weeks ago— who grew to be such a confident warrior — made King gather his resolve, as he remembered Saitama, talking about how he fearlessly faced monster day after day, even after strenuous training!

Say, that gave him an idea, but that had to wait until after the wave.

"Inhale…" King gathered the little courage he had. There was no time to waste. "Follow me!" And thus, he charged down the hill! His cloak billowing behind his back from the sheer speed at which he ran.

He was sure it would not end well. But something in him made his legs move faster than ever before! Be it fear or his newfound heroic spirit, even he didn't quite know.

…

"Ahhh!" Everywhere one looked, there was just mayhem and chaos!

The village was in utter disarray as the locusts and undead soldiers poured from the interdimensional rift, starting their attack on the village. From left to right, they targeted the living, no mercy in their evilly glowing eyes.

The few adventurers stationed in this small town couldn't hold them back for much longer; the enemy would overwhelm them at any moment!

Just now, a family was cornered by several smaller zombie soldiers, a bigger one leading them, heavily armored and even more menacing.

"Mommy!"

"Is this the end?" The father looked at the undead soldiers with a fear-stricken expression, holding his simple farming tool. His hands were trembling, definitely not trained for combat, but simple rural work.

Though it wasn't as though other people around the village were faring any better; people were still dying left and right. Simple untrained people had little chance against these monsters.

'Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!'

Although, something odd happened in the next moment. The noise of something heavy rolling down from the nearby hill, making the surrounding undead and locust turn their attention towards it and leaving the civilians alone for a moment.

"AHHHHH!"

A sizable ball, glowing and formed from shields rolled down from the hill, making a jump through the air with a great velocity using a perfectly placed and naturally-formed dirt ramp.

A scream could be heard from that ball; and following this strange phenomenon, several rocks rumbled down from the hill, squishing the undead in their way mercilessly.

The round object immediately annihilated the locusts that tried to get in its path. This strange thing sped like a bullet through the air, unimpeded by any being that got in its way!

The biggest undead turned towards this strange thing that raced towards it.

"Grrr!" Growling menacingly, the giant undead used its sizable ax to hit it.

'Clang!' 'Boing!'

In return, the ball formed from shields deformed for a slight moment, enduring the strain, regaining its original round shape under a moment, and like a rubber ball, it started to gain more momentum as it was reflected by the weapon!

'Clang!' 'Clang!' 'Clang!' 'Clang!' 'Clang!'

More and more undead were devastated as they tried to stand before this terrible speeding bullet of death! And it was strange, but it was like some kind of screaming was audible from within this thing. Or was it a mighty battle cry mixed with some loud rumbling?

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

No one could tell! The ones who saw the scene unfold only knew that it painted a terrifying picture! The rolling, unstoppable sphere of death annihilated everything that stood in its way!

'Clang!' 'Clang!' 'Clang!' Like a ricocheting bullet, the ball accelerated to unimaginable speeds, devastating even the biggest undead in its way, bouncing back from solid objects and continuing the devastation it wrought!

Strangely, this strange thing only seemed to hit the attacking undead and locust, almost as though there was an invisible hand controlling it, precisely avoiding the civilians, even saving many of them in their supposed last moment as the ball started to turn the enemy into a gooey paste in its carnage!

"W-what happened!?"

"Are we saved?"

"Have the heroes come to save us?"

Many civilians questioned what happened, but when they raised their heads, the only thing they saw was a wildly bouncing ball formed from the glowing shields. Its movement was confusing, even stunning — Confusing the interdimensional monsters long enough to eliminate them altogether!

The undead and locust still poured into the small village, but their numbers were significantly reduced thanks to this strange phenomenon.

"W-what is this thing!?"

"It's devastating even the biggest undead like they were nothing!"

Who- or what controlled this strange, but even more effective contraption? No one knew! But they were about to receive their answer soon enough!

"The Shield Hero gave you enough time to evacuate! Quickly, move before it's too late!"

Honestly, Raphtalia didn't quite know what just happened.

First, her Lord started to charge down from the hill, when seemingly he slipped, stepping on his cloak, rolling down seemingly uncontrollably from the steep slope. After this, he activated one of his skills, forming a ball of shields around himself to protect himself from the impact with the ground- or, if you asked her, it was him initiating his perfect plan to reach the village in time and thin out the monsters before the casualties grew.

Doing this caused the strange ball roll to down from the hill, picking up speed, and knocking over every stone in its way that started to roll with it, raining down on the undead in the way.

"Lord King truly is amazing! He's already calculated everything like this, and even the rolling stones are seemingly avoiding the civilians! He truly is the best!"

Her respect and awe started to grow ever more, raising King's image to never-seen heights- reaching the absurd.

"AHHHHHH!"

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

Meanwhile, the 'mighty' battle cry and the terrible rumble of the King Engine continued, echoing throughout the whole town. This echo continued to spread thanks to the houses aligned in such a way that the effect of the King Engine increased exponentially, making the undead falter, stunned from the sudden rumbling noise of the King Engine.

This gave Raphtalia just enough time to cut down many of these monsters, evacuating the civilians in need with help, alongside the nearby adventurers-

'Crack!'

The 'shield prison' King encased himself in suddenly disappeared, making him spin in the air wildly.

"AHHHH!"

"Lord King!" Raphtalia watched in fright as her Lord rolled in the air uncontrollably, heading towards the biggest towering undead she had ever seen. Then, following the conservation of momentum, he suddenly collided with the towering undead's head, stopping his uncontrolled movement immediately!

'Bang! Crack!'

With full force, his armored shield managed to collide with the undead's face, arriving at the perfect angle. Immediately, the sharp end of the shield found itself in the fault of its armor; its head tilting in all wrong directions, it's spine breaking immediately from the pressure of the shield, the combined weight of the man, and its own heavy helmet!

'Crack!' 'Pop!'

Just like that, King separated the undead's head from its body, making the towering creature collapse on the spot in but a moment!

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

King tried to get himself together after the wild ride, still confused and dizzy on what happened, adrenaline coursing through his veins intensely.

"My head…!" Grabbing his head, he didn't even know where he was. All he remembered was that he stumbled onto his cloak.

Immediately, he started to roll down the hill uncontrollably, getting dizzy, only having enough composure to activate his [Shield Prison] skill on himself — which wasn't the best choice of skills at the time. Still, nothing else came to his mind at that moment.

Miraculously, he landed on his feet after the undead was destroyed, completely intact; Landing in such a way, he created a small crater under himself, feet slightly embedded into the ground, and the man stood completely straight, like a heroic statue!

His stomach was completely emptied from the intense 'bizarre rolling adventure' a long time ago, his face completely pale; the sound of the King Engine intensifying as adrenaline coursed through his veins! He was not in good condition. He was going to be- actually, he's already sick!

"I might throw up… again!"

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

Slowly, as it echoed through the village, the King Engine's mystical rumble even managed to find its way into the nearby mine, the natural echo of the cave increasing its effectiveness and making it serve as a loudspeaker, radiating the sound for miles!

…

"That's it! We've almost got it!"

"Hold it in place better, Motoyasu!"

"Hey! I'm doing my best here!"

Fighting with a chimera, the three heroes and their party were struggling, yet, as they held their ground steadily, they were slowly starting to gain the upper hand over the beast. Soon, they would defeat it!

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

"What's that!?"

"That sound!"

Yet, suddenly, a familiar echo appeared, filling the battlefield, and even suppressing the sounds of monsters and the nearby battle.

Most immediately recognized the menacing rumble, echoing throughout the entire cave area. It practically drove the surrounding monsters into a crazed state, making them thrash uncontrollably and disrupting every fighting party.

"He is here!?"

"But how!?"

Ren remained silent. He didn't like this! Not at all!

Although, if that man was here, they would've most likely finished this ordeal sooner than later. With how he decimated the entire section of the forest with a single calculated, might-filled strike, he shuddered to think how he would've fought the beast.

"Actually, I thought that he would've followed us to get rid of this beast."

Alas, the hero of the sword was wrong, as until now, his fellow hero didn't appear.

Was he just playing around? Testing them? Or was he simply looking down on their effort and only stepping in when needed?

It was rare when Ren Amaki was unsure of something, and this was the rare few occasions that it happened. Where was the Shield Hero? What was his plan? He could only guess.

"That man is a monster, no question about it. But what does he want? If he wanted to, I am sure he could have ended all of this in an instant."

"Awwooooo!"

"Hey! Hey! It's escaping!" The towering Chimera they fought suddenly howled, it's expression turning even wilder as it moved in a frenzy. It was as if it gained more mass and muscles; wait, it did, actually. Its size grew twofold!

"Grrrr!"

"Bind it! Bind it!"

"What is this!? Is it evolving!?"

Several party members threw nets at the beast, but it tore through them right away, making a run, breaking the encirclement as it started to sprint towards the rumbling sound coming from the direction of the village.

"It's running towards the village!"

"If this monster reaches it…"

"Damn that maniac!" Ren bit his lip. This mission started to grow more troublesome than he initially liked it. As he suspected, it was the fault of that man! Damn it! Just what did that maniac plan for!?

…

"I'm alive?" King checked himself once again through rapid breathing, still unable to believe he survived such a fall- and consequent bouncing in the shield prison.

"Well, my defense is quite high now…"

He needed to give his compliments to that blacksmith once they survived this. But what really happened?

All he remembered was stumbling onto his cloak, then starting to roll down from the hill. To block the damage from the fall, he activated the ability of one of his shields, the skill called [Shield Prison].

"In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best idea…"

Nonetheless, earlier on, that was the only thing that came to his mind so suddenly, and thus, his seemingly infinite roll started.

From the entire thing from start to finish, he was too dizzy to do anything besides bear with the horror that he had to endure encased in that rolling death-ball which was the shield prison he cast on himself. And thus, his path towards the village started…

"Just as I've said before… no capes!" He needed to make the people in this world understand; it was dangerous, and not at all worth it! He barely survived the earlier experience- though unknown to him, his damage resistance grew to such a point that falling directly from that height would've actually been the same as tripping over a pencil.

For a convenient blanket and raincoat, as well as a fireproof cloak, the cape was more of a hindrance to him at this moment. Perhaps it would show its worth in the future, but for the moment, it almost killed him.

"Ugh… my stomach." He was still nauseous, the world spinning around him.

He barely ate anything for several days due to the stress that came with the coming catastrophe, emptying the contents of his stomach while in the rolling ball of doom, King emptied every last remainder from his stomach.

"Lord King, are you alright!?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine..."

"That was amazing, Lord King! You rolled down from the hill and destroyed all the undead and locusts!" Raphtalia's eyes started to shine even more; her inner fangirl slowly beginning to appear.

"Really?" What was this girl talking about? He did no such thing! He barely knew where he was now.

"I already evacuated the civilians, they're all safe, thanks to you, my Lord! You've saved them all!" She beamed brightly. "Well, all of them when we arrived..." Raphtalia suddenly became somber.

"I suppose that's good… At least we managed to save some people." King immediately tried to comfort Raphtalia, which worked like a charm.

"You're right. We saved as much as we could!"

Still, King was clueless about what happened. Nonetheless, he was glad for whatever miracle that helped them survive this ordeal.

"Although… we have another problem." Raphtalia pointed out. And just by looking around, King started to tremble.

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

Despite the devastation that his ball of death wrought, despite the countless amount of undead he unintentionally killed, more came, replacing the fallen ones.

"This is DEFINITELY not good…!" It took only a moment for King to recognize the undead and locust, all of them aiming their hateful gazes at him, radiating some kind of repulsive aura.

This made his King engine beat even harder, echoing throughout the small town. The composition of the houses even strengthened this echo, making all the monsters around stop whatever they were doing and seek the source of the annoying sound.

"I-I… so many! What should we do!? There is no way we can…!" Raphtalia muttered. Even with King at her side, the undead in such a number intimidated her.

At that moment, many variations of the possible situation ran through King's head, and he immediately realized that they couldn't possibly deal with this many. As there were no civilians around, it would be better just to flee and withdraw. Yep! With no civilians in danger, it would be foolish to remain around any longer. He didn't have any AOE skills, or any attack skills, to be honest, and Raphtalia definitely couldn't deal with them.

"Huh?" But only a moment later, he recognized something from the corner of his eye.

Many balls of fire were heading towards the village, preparing to bombard the area.

"Shit!"

King realized that these balls of fire were approaching too fast to find any cover; thus, his only remaining option was to yank Raphtalia closer, cover the both of them with his metal-woven cloak, and he activated one of his shields.

"[Light Metal Shield]!" A diamond-shaped shield appeared on his forearm; when it was actively equipped, he gained +1 Magical Defense.

King gritted his teeth, prepared to be squished by the terrible flaming balls. But as a result of his incredible luck, something miraculous happened! A transparent barrier appeared above him, forming a defensive shield around him and Raphtalia.

"Lo-Lord King…?" Raphtalia was flabbergasted, being held so close by her hero made her blush intensely.

'Bang!' 'Bang!' 'Bang!'

The fireballs bombarded the area around them, scorching the whole village and starting intense fires, making many houses collapse.

For some time, the bombardment continued. Miraculously, in the end, only the two of them remained intact, the undead lying in shambles, dead, or crawling in pieces.

"W-We survived?" Raphtalia blinked, checking herself. Though amazed and happy that they survived the bombardment, the fact was that her Lord was the one that protected them! He truly was amazing; a bombardment like that couldn't even harm him!

"Huh… that was close." For the first time since he was transported here, King considered himself lucky for having this shield. Although, it would have been better if the bombardment didn't happen in the first place. But looking around, with all those undead destroyed, maybe it was better this way.

"Let's just get…"

"Look at that! Isn't that the Shield Devil? You are quite tough, surviving our bombardment."

"Oh, hey… wait? You bombarded us?" King couldn't believe it! Why would they do that?! He was on their side. This was bullshit! Fine, being clearly discriminated against was basically the daily experience after that stupid rumor spread. Now? They were just outright attacking them! If he wasn't so sure that he'd immediately get arrested for it, he'd sock the captain in the face for good measure.

"Y-You!?" Raphtalia's vision went red with rage! Reaching for her sword!

Attacking her Lord and possibly endangering the lives of civilians!? How preposterous! How dare these failures for knights endanger their lives!?

"You attacked us despite not knowing whether there were civilians!?" 'Clang!' Raphtalia was before the captain in less a moment, and the man barely raised his sword to block the strike, groaning slightly, needing to push his sword back harder to hold his blade against the girl's bizarrely high strength. "Despite not knowing if there were civilians around, you attacked?! Depending on your answer, I will either cut you down or let you off!"

Her glare was such that if she had psychic powers, her eyes would shoot lasers, burning a hole right through the guard captain's head! Or putting it in nicer terms, if looks could kill, he'd be dead a few times over.

"What's your problem!? I just did what was needed! What are a few civilians compared to victory over the wave! Stupid demi-human! Don't you know the meaning of sacrifice!?"

"YOU-!?"

"So you attacked us despite knowing we were here?" King asked in a cold tone, interrupting Raphtalia's angry statement.

He was honestly uneasy. Why would they do that? Killing their own civilians? Were they stupid, or what? Actually, are the people of this world just fundamentally retarded in the first place? Only a few people seemed to be exempt from such a curse, like Erhard, Raphtalia, and reluctantly, even that slave merchant. Everyone else seemed to just be plain stupid!

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

The King engine started to roar uneasily, and when mixing this with the menacing, unmoving expression of King, and his new segmented dark armor pictured an immense beast only restrained by his sheer will!

Indeed, King looked even bigger than he truly was, expressing an unimaginable pressure with the fires and burning buildings around them! The air basically shuddered around him from the heat!

His cold tone and 'glare' made even the veteran Guard Capitan hesitate, his guards trembling as they raised their swords and shields, gulping audibly.

The rumors didn't lie, nor did they exaggerate! This man was truly a monster!

"I-I…"

"Sigh, how troublesome." King couldn't believe it!

He did his best, and these people did something like this? He didn't know if he should be disappointed or angry. Actually, he knew. Disappointed at their sheer stupidity, and angry at the fact he had to save people like them. All in all, a balanced mix.

"Err…"

"W-What do you plan to do to us? If you kill us…" No! He wouldn't dare! The heinous crimes he was already accused of would only get worse if he killed them!

Even if the king couldn't provide clear evidence, the guard captain was sure that Aultcray would not lie to his people!

The Shield Hero would never clear his name if he killed them here and now! Surely, if he killed them now, the country would be against him even more than they already were!

But that brought a more terrifying prospect. All he needed to do... was kill them with no survivors, leaving no leakage of the news.

"…Something's behind you." King pointed behind the guards, tilting his head slightly.

"Ahhh!" While they were exchanging a few words, behind the guards, a large swarm of undead gathered.

It was as though they nicely waited for their little chat to cease, and immediately after that, they jumped onto the guards to devour them!

"[Air Strike Shield]!" King activated his shield in the nick of time, projecting a transparent shield before some of the guards, saving them.

Right after, Raphtalia was before the undead, jumping up and embedding her sword in the head of the biggest one, toppling the towering creature with but a strike.

Chaos and panic ensured amongst the guards; even the guard captain couldn't get them together as the undead started their intense counter-attack.

King tried to be brave, but after seeing the number of enemies gathered, he questioned if they could even get out of here alive.

Hell! He didn't even know how they reached this point! Everything just blurred together into a mishmash of events, starting from the point he started to charge and stumbled onto his cape. Then all he remembered was rolling down the hill in his shield ball; and these people bombarding them despite knowing that he was there.

It was crazy!

It was chaos in its purest form, facing a lesser army of the undead!

It would not end well! King was all too aware of it!

He was forced to move and defend, block strike after strike. Despite his nature, even getting before a guard and a possibly lethal strike and blocking them with his shield. Raphtalia was like his shadow, following him and striking down any potential danger!

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

His heart started to beat even louder and more intense. Right now, the only thing he knew was if they did not work together, none of them will survive! Thus, he did what was the logical option, trying to bring order in this intense chaos!

"Get yourself together!" King shouted in the end; his booming voice echoed through the whole area, making the undead stop for a moment, and giving a chance for the guards to push them back!

"Do you think I will listen to a criminal like you!? I am…!"

"THERE IS NO TIME TO ARGUE WHO IS WHO! WORK TOGETHER, OR DIE HERE!"

On King's face, sheer terror was pictured, though to anyone who saw him just now only saw one thing. A fiery, battle-hardened expression, in his eyes: Sheer determination to solve the problem! An inhuman rage that said: If you don't do something, I will, but it won't be pretty!

Combining this with the sound of the King Engine, it commanded respect, fear, and willingness to follow the only person who could save them! Making King look both like a beast and a true battlefield commander as he stood in the middle of the chaos and gave his unrelenting command!

His terrifying visage, his dark armor, and the red cloak... he truly looked like a general that weathered a thousand wars!

"What are we waiting for, you lot!? Will we leave the Shield Hero to take all the kills!?"

"NOOO!"

The shout echoed in unison from the guards around them!

Ignoring their guard captain's stuttering orders to obey him, the guardsmen finally started to work together with King, pushing the enemy back, despite their terrible odds.

And just like that, the guardsmen, combined with the Shield Hero and his companion, started to push the undead back, managing to even thin their numbers enough to inspire hope!

"I can't believe it! We'll survive! We WILL survive!"

Miraculously, no soldier had died thanks to the immense teamwork King somehow inspired. His orders were sharp and instant, never once letting a single man die!

Although their happiness came too early, as in the next moment, the terrible roar of a beast hit their ears.

"Awooo!" The ground started to tremble when the large, empowered Chimera charged towards the small town, cutting through the rubble as though it was nothing, swiping away even the biggest undead in its way as though they were mere toys.

"W-What is that!?" The guards immediately stopped in their tracks, staring at the terrible beast in fear.

"L-Lord King! What should we do?!" Raphtalia also stopped her blade. Some fear still lingered in her after seeing the towering beast.

"Shit…" King already gave up hope that this 'wave' thing was going to end anytime soon. Still, this was too much.

First, undead and giant bugs! Now, this!? There was a limit to how much his poor heart could take, and the world seemed to love finding new ways to bring him to the cusp of an actual heart attack! Why? Just why was the world-beating him around?

"What is this anyway?! A lion's head? Half-goat at the back, and a snake tail? Is this some kind of Chimera?"

He was pretty sure it was some mutant chimera. But how was he to deal with it? He had no idea. Worse! Why did it even appear!? Weren't the other three heroes supposed to deal with the wave boss? As stupid as their plan was, he hoped that they would've at least succeeded in it!

"Let's see… the tools Erhard implemented into the armor might have some use."

His heart in his throat, his blood long ago leaving his face, King forced his hand to raise with his sheer will, pushing a switch forth and shooting a web around the beast from the wrist crossbow implemented in his gauntlet.

"Guahhh!"

The thing writhed, trying to get away from the net entwined around it, slowly clawing its way through.

"Dammit! As I expected, it's not working!"

Why did he even try, then? Bosses were usually immune to status effects! Maybe he was too hopeful after what he had gone through.

A little luck would be nice to have every now and then! Unfortunately, if you asked him, he was flat-out of luck. He was always all out of luck… It was as if all of his luck was spent on his S-Class status, just for that sweet paycheck every month- and a cool bonus every time a monster died near him.

"Where are those three idiots when you need them?!"

They were missing since the start of the battle! What were they doing instead of helping him!? They were heroes, and they were just lazing around? What the hell!? 'Fight the wave-boss' his ass; it's right in front of him!

"Die!"

The soldiers — the few who dared to approach and attack the beast — charged towards the Chimera, but they were like stones on the sidewalk, as they were kicked away just as easily, thrown far away.

"Lord King! Look out!"

"Ahh! Run! Flee for your lives!"

[ドドドド Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ドドドド]

As the beast whose size dwarfed even that two-headed Cerberus wannabe started to charge against King, all the courage and composure he managed to gather until now shattered like a glass pane against a sledgehammer, as he ran in the opposite direction!

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

"AHHHHHH!" And thus, King started to shout as loudly as he could, making a 'tactical retreat' in his path. Of course, that shout of his and the continuously roaring King Engine annoyed the already injured beast, as it immediately followed him to silence this ant!

"What he is doing!?"

"Is he running away!?"

No matter his high defense or his levels, King was not stupid enough to pit himself against such a mountain of muscle!

It was the most dreadful thing he encountered since coming here!

"No… my Lord is drawing it away!" Raphtalia, of course, right away recognized King's immense 'tactical genius'!

That was right! How could her Lord abandon a battle? This was all part of a bigger plan — just like the shield ball, which thinned out the undead and gave them time to evacuate!

"Don't wanna die! Don't wanna die! Don't wanna die!" Meanwhile, as King made his escape; he repeated this mantra, only to glance back and see the beast literally right behind him.

"AHHHH!"

"Grrr!" 'Gnaw!' The beast was inches away from biting down on his head; it was literally right behind him!

Having no other choice, King started to throw the various potions and plant grit he kept in his pouch behind him. "Leave me alone!"

"Grrrr!" The beast growled louder, annoyed as different potions, various plants, and other alchemical ingredients collided with its face.

One of these items was swallowed by the snake tail, making it choke, the second blinded the goat on the back of the beast, causing the Chimera to limp and continue its charge funnily. The main lion head already had a face full of glass shards, the poisonous plants making it suffer as it infiltrated its wounds!

"Crap!" Taking a wrong turn, King reached a dead end! It was over! He was gonna die here!

"Grrr…" The beast approached him slowly, madness and rage apparent in its eyes! Not only did this human emit that annoying sound, it even threw various items at it, actually harming it with various cuts from the glass shards!

"Just leave me alone…" King muttered fearfully, as the beast could take it no longer! It wanted to silence that annoying noise from this human! It also wanted it to suffer as much as possible for causing it a fair bit of pain!

"Gruahhhh!"

[ドドドド RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! ドドドドRUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! ドドドド RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! ドドドド]

"JUST GO AWAY! GRAAAAAHHHHH!" Recognizing that this may very well be his last act in life, King shouted with all his might, raising his hand, and punched forth with every fiber of his being! This was his final attempt! If he was to die, he wasn't gonna make it easy!

It was an instinctive move he made. The beast swallowed his arm at that moment, and incidentally, one of its teeth pushed one of the switches on the wrist!

'Kaching!'

In his shieldless hand, a new shield folded open from the wrist protector, immediately splitting open the mouth- and by extension, the head of the Chimera like a circular blade through a tofu block!

"Aiiiii!"

With its head cut in half and its remaining brain functions barely hanging on a thread, the momentum of the charging jump made the beast spin above King helplessly, breaking down the already cracked wall behind him.

"Auuuuuu!"

The beast whined one last time in pain, impaled by the sharp, broken beams hidden behind the walls of the already dilapidated house.

Its blood gushed like a fountain, covered King from head to toe, making it look like he ended the battle extra violently.

'Thud!' The suffering of the beast ended as a heavy beam hanging from the wall fell upon its exposed head, making it look like King ended its suffering by splattering its brain matter around with a broken beam.

"I-I'm alive?" King got up, covered in the blood of the Chimera, looking around in confusion about what happened. "I-It died!?" Even King was surprised. Looking at the impaled beast in shock, with its guts splattered about, the sharp beams piercing its insides out.

It was a scene to befit a horror movie! "H-How gruesome…!" If he still had something in his stomach, he would have thrown it up right now. It was lucky he didn't recognize the brain matter and intestines hanging from his armor, otherwise, his stomach would attempt to expel whatever was in his stomach — including any stomach acid.

[Level up! Level up! Level up!]

[Congratulations! You reached level 39!]

[You earned the title: Conqueror of the Wave! Savior of People!]

The notification appeared immediately after the beast died.

It was about damn time! He was stuck in level 37 for some time and was unable to level up, no matter what he did! Even a few straight days of grinding didn't make his level budge in the slightest!

Still, he was still confused about what happened or how he managed to survive. For King, everything happened too fast. One moment he was running away from this thing; in the next, it was dead behind him; him being covered in blood — again.

Too much was happening all at once! He couldn't process it all so fast!

The only thing he did know, was that he survived through sheer dumb luck. Who would know that the shield that Erhard put on his wristguard would end up saving him in the most unexpected way possible?

Only noticing the stench of the blood on him, King wrinkled his nose.

"I need a thorough bath after this…"

"Damn! What a mess!"

"Were we too late?"

Moments after leveling up, Motoyasu and his fellow heroes arrived, spotting King in the middle of the destruction, covered in blood and guts, with the Chimera that they had to work together to slowly weaken, brutalized in the short moment between them chasing the Chimera and arriving here. It was less than a few minutes since the Chimera went wild and rushed towards the village, yet it was dead in that short period of time?

"W-what the-!?"

"Y-You!?"

"It's about time you lot got here…" King muttered, sighing in dissatisfaction. Were these heroes actually that incompetent, or were they painfully inept on purpose? His face offered his usual blank expression, but with hints of discomfort. After all, who would be comfortable, being caked in blood with various bits of meat hanging off their body?

"H-He managed to kill the wave boss so quickly!"

"Don't be ridiculous! There's no way that the Shield-"

"He's right! The body of the Chimera is right there!" Itsuki pointed at the carcass of the Chimera, cutting Malty short — who looked extremely sick. Her previous lush red hair was missing in patches, her face was bandaged—the signs of poisoning present on her. The only thing she was missing was the sickly green skin that would've sold the 'deathly diseased' look.

"If you have a weak stomach, don't get any closer..." King advised, looking out for their goodwill. Though they were awfully inept as heroes, the macabre scene he was standing in might been too much for them.

The cracked rift above them slowly started to fix itself, and then the sky went back to the state it was before the wave as if nothing happened. That meant that they managed to survive, and the wave had finally ended.

Ren, Motoyasu, and several of their companions walked closer, inspecting the corpse.

It was in a horrible state, impaled throughout its body with various beams and laceration wounds all over it, with its head nearly unrecognizable with a sizable beam stuck through its skull. Though with the state the rest of its body was in, the beam through its skull seemed like a mercy kill. It was honestly nauseating. Even the veteran adventurers that joined them could hardly stomach how terribly and how cruelly King took care of the poor thing. Despite all the innocent lives that it took before they got to it — most of them thought that it didn't deserve its eventual horrible fate.

The signs of an absolute slaughter were present — many undead lay utterly decimated, barely recognizable aside from the old armor it wore and the shards of bone on the ground. Like the Chimera, they stood no chance against him!

"J-just what kind of monster are you?" Motoyasu asked with a trembling voice, audibly gulping. He could still hardly believe a human was capable of such a thing! No, in fact, it all seemed like someone set the whole thing up!

On that day, it was laid bare before them. King was an absolute monster. There was no hope for those that went against him! And for those foolish enough to try... there would be no mercy for them.

---

Scene Change: Saitama's Apartment: King's World:

"Sensei, I'm back."

"Ah, Genos! You're back."

Saitama waved lazily, inviting Genos inside his apartment.

His apartment was situated in City Z—the city which was famous for its increased monster activity, filled with mysterious disappearances and strange cases.

A plain, small apartment was his home, and it was small enough that Saitama could rent it from the little payment he gained from being a hero, and from working at construction sites from time to time when money was scarce — whose numbers increased thanks to the destruction caused by monsters.

Most — if not all the mysterious beings — or monsters that he met all just loved to devastate buildings and cause property damage in general. Why they would do so in the first place, Saitama had no idea. Maybe it was just their hobby. Not as he cared. Monsters were monsters. Who knew what they wanted?

He only knew that as a hero for fun; it was his task to stop them. It was just too bad that they all died from just one punch, barring that one alien he met. What was his name... Borat? Boris? Beerus? Whatever, excluding that purple alien that called himself the Denominator Of The Universe, Fighting monsters just wasn't interesting anymore. The rush from a hard-fought battle no longer there, replaced with utter boredom after using but a single punch to utterly annihilate them.

"How was your day, Sensei?"

"Nothing much…" Saitama answered lazily, scratching his stomach, wearing a pair of shorts and a shirt with the text 'Oppai' on it along with a crude drawing of boobs on it. Saitama just watched TV, unbothered by Genos — who just placed the bag filled with groceries on the counter-top.

"What about you? Anything interesting pop up on your end?"

"Yes, there have been a few events that occurred recently, just notified by the Heroes Association."

"Oh…" Saitama acknowledged his disciple's statement, almost interested in its contents — of course, he never turned his eyes away from the show he was watching.

"Since the disappearance of King a month ago, the monster and criminal activity in M-City and the surrounding cities have drastically increased."

"Ah? Did King disappear? When?" Saitama scratched his bald head in confusion, his expression still as blank as always.

"You didn't know about it?" Genos was surprised. His master usually always hung around with King, sparring each other within their virtual battlefields. If anything, he would've known about the missing hero.

"I tried to return the games that he borrowed me last week, but he wasn't home at the time. I thought he was just busy…" The bald hero picked his nose, flicking away the booger he dug up.

"No, he disappeared around a month ago. Didn't you watch the news?" Genos started preparing their meal, putting some water to boil on the gas stove.

"Nah, it's too gloomy, always full of bad news. They should really lighten up a little, not just whenever they get on sports." Saitama said, before suddenly spitting out something in his mouth. "Ptui! Ptui! Damn mosquitoes!" One of those pests flew into his mouth once again! For all his overwhelming strength and feats, the only thing he couldn't destroy or get rid of were these damn mosquitoes! Flies, bees, and other insects, he could deal with. Only those stupid black pests that went 'nywiiiiiing' around his ears were the bane of his existence!

"I see." Genos hummed, acknowledging his Sensei's views.

Indeed, the news and other various media outlets were sometimes too depressing. He completely understood what Saitama thought.

"Wait... is this another of Master Saitama's lessons? To not think too deeply into the pain and sorrow, and push forward? That must be it! If one's mind is clouded by various thoughts and sadness from what they failed to accomplish in a battle, one cannot fight to their fullest potential! I must write this down immediately!" Genos took out his notebook, jotting down his master's wise lessons! They would prove useful, in time.

"How did he disappear?"

"According to the recordings of cameras around at the time, after he defeated a monster, he picked up an unknown book carried by the owl monster, and a bright light swallowed him, and when the light faded, he disappeared…"

"Heh… it's an Isekai cliché." Saitama let out a small laugh, almost finding it ironic. He remembered when King said once that if someone gave him the choice to be sent to a fantasy world, he would probably not. Something along the lines of the stress of making choices and needing to save lives, and all the expectations weighing on him would be too much for him. Playing games here was much easier in comparison.

"What?"

"Nothing." Of course, Saitama was concerned about King — about his friend's wellbeing. But he was sure he could manage. Though he wasn't actually very strong, he was a smart guy, after all. He only hoped that the light that swallowed him was not some disintegration ray that vaporized him.

"That would be a real pity…" Who would lend him games, or play them with him if he died? — Even if King always did beat him, even while holding back or with a massive handicap.

"Anyway… Most of the heroes are now working overtime to push back the monster activity and the growing criminal influence in the affected cities. While King was around, his presence was enough to suppress them, but now, they're getting out of control with King out of the picture. The organization even ordered many other S-Class heroes to help out."

"Is that so?" Saitama started to munch on chips, slowly savoring their taste. It was a rare occasion for him to snack on junk foods like this — always spending his money as frugally as possible. But thanks to his recent work at a construction site, his nice boss at the time gave him a bonus for doing nearly five men's worth of work.

"Indeed. With the continuous earthquakes happening around the globe and that Hero Hunter's appearance, we need to work harder and be on guard for anything."

"Yeah… those earthquakes are really starting to get annoying." These earthquakes had interestingly started a month ago, right after King disappeared. Was it a coincidence? Maybe. Saitama had no idea.

"What 'Hero Hunter'?" Hearing about some 'hero hunter', Saitama sat up, tilting his head in intrigue. What was Genos talking about? Was someone hunting heroes?

"Ah, Sensei, you really don't read your mail, do you?"

"Hey! It's not my fault! My data ran out!" Saitama fumed angrily.

It was all thanks to that stupid anime he watched on his phone. Damn King for recommending it to him! It was so interesting and funny! By the time he was done watching it, he barely had any data left! He blamed King! Both him and that useless blue-haired goddess.

He might need to end up borrowing some Wifi off Genos again...

"Then I will give you a shorter explanation." Genos continued after a small pause. "A criminal has been appearing recently, aiming for and actively hunting heroes. First, he was only aiming for low ranking ones, but as time passes, he's slowly been 'hunting' higher-ranked heroes. The Hero Association sent a mail to every hero under their employment to be careful and report if they detected strange activity regarding this criminal."

"Huh, what a hobby. Couldn't he find a less dangerous hobby? He's causing quite a bit of trouble."

"Indeed, worse still, he's doing so this such grave times. Perhaps he's taking advantage of the current situation without King around?"

'Quake!' 'Quake!' 'Quake!' 'Quake!'

The earth started to tremble again.

It happened more and more recently, sometimes weaker than before, sometimes stronger — though the latter started to become more and more frequent!

The earthquake was always messing up Saitama's apartment. A thing that annoyed the bald hero for fun greatly!

"Aww man, I need to clean the house again!" Now, it only lasted a few seconds this time around, but it was enough to mess his house up again.

"Don't worry, Sensei! I'm on it!" Genos was about to start his usual cleaning duty when his mobile provided by the Heroes Association started to ring.

"Hello. I see, Hmm... alright."

Saitama returned to his laying position, supporting his head with one hand, using the other to scratch his butt. Meanwhile, Genos dealt with whoever was calling him.

"Sensei, I apologize, but I need to go. All the S-Class heroes have been called to headquarters. I think it's important; you should also come. If it's something like the alien invasion a few months ago, we might need your assistance again."

"You think so?" Saitama raised his brow — though, from the wrinkles on his forehead, his minimal interest was visible — as he had very little eyebrows, another side-effect of being bald.

"Yes. I think it will important, so having you around will be able to minimize any damage if problems occur."

"Well, I'm bored anyway, so why not. Wait for a bit, I need to change into my hero costume."

"Of course."

And thus, Genos waited patiently while Saitama changed into his hero getup.

The reason why the S-Class heroes were called... they would find out soon.

---

A/N:

Well, that's it!

Sorry for the long wait!

Life, laziness, lack of willingness to write, and work took my time!

RnR!

Read and review!

Tell me your opinion! Send PM if you have further questions!

Sail safe! Safe winds! Good day! Good night! Until next time!

Stay away from corona!

In the next chapter: The banquet! The announcement of the hero association!

Until next time!