The demi-human, Ajax hefted his ax over his shoulder.
"You three shits and the bow hero have been a pain in the ass. This time, I won't let any of you live."
Ajax began reciting an incantation and let out a battle cry. His body was cloaked in a transparent orange glow. Even his eyes were glowing orange.
Hastily, Naofumi checks his status menu and analyzed Ajax.
Status: Berserk.
PHYS ATK, ELEM ATK, and SPEED drastically increased.
PHYS DEF, ELEM DEF lowered.
"Shit," Naofumi says. "Guys, brace yourselves!"
"Too late." Faster than Naofumi could register what's going on, Ajax rushes to Rowan. Rowan blinks in surprise when Ajax is in front of him. He delivers a powerful kick to Rowan's stomach. The force of it was strong enough to send Rowan flying back, crashing into several potted plants.
"Rowan!" Rachel cries.
Rowan groans in pain, struggling to push himself up.
Naofumi checks his HP.
Rowan HP: 987/2,022
He lost more than a thousand HP!
"Your turn," Ajax grins madly and sprints towards Rachel, his ax held high.
"First Shield!" Naofumi yells.
Just before Ajax could bring down his ax, a green shield materialized in front of him. The ax hit the shield, causing Ajax to stumble back.
"The fuck?" He shakes off his confusion and turns his attention to Naofumi. "You little…"
This time he charges at Naofumi.
Just as he hoped.
Ajax was coming in fast, way too fast for Naofumi to keep up. It was now or never.
"Change shield! Ratkin Shield!"
The shield morphed into a wooden shield with tufts of fur and ripped cloth scattered haphazardly. Bracing himself, he brought up his shield. Ajax growled with fury and struck the shield.
The second he made contact; a light blue ring cascaded down on him.
"What the!?" Ajax backed up, completely perplexed by what happened.
Naofumi smirks. "Guess you underestimated me."
He remembers how the Ratkin shield gives a status ailment or debuffs any stat at random. While it was clear Ajax didn't get any ailment, one of his stats did get a debuff. Naofumi hopes it was either his physical or elemental attack.
He checks the status menu.
Ajax: PHYS ATK lowered slightly.
That'll do for now.
Ajax, seeing his own lowered stat, glowers at Naofumi.
"You're dead!"
He lets out another battle cry. His cry is cut short when icicles rain down on him. He uses his free arm to try and shield himself from the ice but it did little. Naofumi watches with satisfaction as his HP goes down.
On the other side of the room, Mina waves her fan as more ice rains down on Ajax from an ice sigil hovering over him.
"Hurry!" Mina shouts at Naofumi. "While I have him distracted!"
Backing up, Naofumi puts enough distance from Ajax.
"Change shield! Poison Dart Shield!"
He launched a volley of needles at Ajax. The Demi-human staggered against the barrage of needles. By no means was it doing massive damage. Naofumi was hoping it would inflict poison on Ajax.
Ajax broke free from the ice and needles, side-rolling, and then pounced on Mina.
Mina dodges each swing of his ax, but it was getting difficult. His increased speed made it harder and harder to dodge. As skilled as she was in using her dancing to avoid hits, she nearly stumbled a few times but always managed to keep upright.
Only this time, Ajax was faster. His ax caught her side. She cries out in pain before jumping back, narrowly avoiding a finishing blow. Her HP dropped drastically.
Naofumi looks to Rachel who was busy helping Rowan up and healing him. It was up to him.
He holds out a hand in Mina's direction. "Fast Heal!"
She became coated in a light green aura, shimmering glitters cascading down on her wound. Her HP wasn't fully restored. Naofumi cursed to himself. When this was done, he needs to learn more healing spells.
He needs to end this now. Ajax, even with his PHYS and ELEM defense weakened, is still bulky enough to endure some attacks. What's more troubling, he was only using physical attacks, no spells depleting his MP. Meaning he could use all kinds of spells on them. Meanwhile, Rachel and Mina had used a good chunk of their MP while Naofumi's SP gauge is at half. And it's not like Rachel could just toss them MP potions while a psycho was swinging his ax around.
Then, it hit him.
"Shield Prison!"
Ajax was then enclosed in the spherical prison.
Enraged, he starts bashing the inside with rapid blows.
Naofumi and Mina regroup with the others.
"You OK?" He asks Rowan.
"I'll be fine. Just winded, that's all," Rowan replies. Rachel hands him an HP potion and he downs it, restoring him to almost full health.
Rachel looks to where Ajax was trapped. "That thing isn't going to hold him much longer. What now?"
"That's what I'm hoping for." Naofumi's words surprise his friends. He explains his plan. "We just need him to exhaust his berserk status and then go on a full-frontal assault. Leave no room for him to go back into berserk mode. It's the only way we can defeat him."
"You sure that will work?" Mina asks. "Even if he isn't able to go berserk, he's still strong."
"That's why we put distance between us," Naofumi says. "Rachel, you and Mina drink MP potions. Now!"
His command promptly makes Rachel reach into her satchel and takes out two vials. She hands one to Mina and they both chug the bluish liquid down. Their MP was nearly maxed out.
"Now, go to each corner of the room. When the shield goes down, attack him with elemental magic."
They each went to their corner of the room. Ajax still hadn't stopped his barrage of swings. The Shield Prison wasn't impervious, Naofumi knew. It would give out eventually after a certain amount of damage was dealt. They just need to wait longer.
He still had his status menu out, looking at the Berserk status.
'Come on… come on…'
Then, the status went away just as the prison shattered.
"NOW!"
Ajax didn't have time to register as Rowan blasted him with a powerful gale force. The force of the wind was strong enough, it shattered some of the windows.
Rachel then throws fireball after fireball, scorching Ajax's clothes.
Ajax was struggling to remain upright, but his HP was close to zero.
With one final swing of her fan, Mina sends icicles down on Ajax. He cries out in pain as he collapses to his hands and knees.
"That's," Mina says as she snaps her fan shut, "is for almost ruining my beautiful brown skin."
It was over. It's finally over. Naofumi breathed a sigh of relief. All that was left to do was tie him up and wait for the guards to come.
Ajax's breathing is haggard. He's still clutching onto his ax.
"Thank the Gods that's done," Rachel says.
"For now, at least." Naofumi goes up to Ajax. "Whatever the hell it is you wanted to do, it's over."
Ajax mumbles something.
"What? Speak louder."
"I… I said…" Ajax barely got his words out.
Then, a massive brown sigil materialized underneath him.
It came quickly, Naofumi didn't have time to bring up any shields.
"I said it's not over!" Ajax suddenly stands up and slams the head of his ax on the floor.
The ground shook violently. The tiled floor erupted, sending shards everywhere. Then came the shockwave. It flung them all back. They all slammed to the walls with a loud thud. Naofumi had the wind completely knocked out of him. His defense cushioned some of the impact but it still hurt like hell. He slid down the wall, trying to take in deep breathes.
His friends weren't so lucky. He saw their HP almost at zero. Something he learned when he was first summoned here was that zero HP doesn't mean death. The person is still alive but is too physically tired to fight back. Worst case scenario, they lose consciousness. They gradually regain their HP over time, usually if they take a potion or sometimes after a good night's rest. A person only dies if a fatal blow is delivered to them.
Each of them was still conscious but could barely move. Rachel tries to push herself up but couldn't. Mina, who is lying on her back, does her best to lift herself but to no avail. And Rowan only groans in pain.
Ajax's attack had caught them by surprise. Naofumi underestimated him. A big mistake on his part.
Ajax supports himself on his ax as he reaches into a pocket and pulls out a vial. He drinks it and he stands up straighter. His HP is now maxed out. He tosses the vial over his shoulder.
"Is that all you could do?" He sneers at Naofumi. "Is this really what the supposed Shield Hero can do? I don't know if I should feel sorry for you or laugh at you."
He lands a powerful kick to Naofumi's stomach. Naofumi could only grunt as he tries to cover his stomach but Ajax continues. "Hero? You couldn't do anything to help your friends. You couldn't even save the Count! You couldn't do anything!" His kicks became harder.
Naofumi curls himself into a ball. Was this how Itsuki felt? Weak. Beaten.
'Stop!" He begs anyone to end this suffering. 'Just stop.'
Ajax finally stops. He spits on Naofumi. "Pathetic. And to think I thought you would put up some kind of fight. So much for being a hero."
He turns his attention to Rachel. She was the closest to them compared to the others.
Ajax walks to her, dragging his ax, leaving a sharp cut on what's left of the tile.
"I always keep my promises," Ajax stops in front of her. "I said I would kill you all. Starting with her."
"N-no!" Naofumi tries to stand but collapses. The pain in his stomach was too much. Even breathing hurt.
Rachel sees Ajax approaching. She scrambles away from him. He grabs at one of her feet, dragging her back.
This was it. Ajax was going to kill her. He would show her no mercy, just like how he brutally killed the Count.
And Naofumi was too weak to stop him.
'Come on!' He again tries to stand. He barely gets on his knees but falls to the ground. It's no use.
'No. Not like this. She doesn't deserve this!'
Deep down, he knew it was his fault. If he hadn't suggested they save Itsuki, they wouldn't be in this mess. But what would that make him if he just left Itsuki behind? Should he have saved him?
Rachel will die because of him. And the rest of his friends too.
And it was all his fault.
"Is IT TRulY YOuR FAUlt?"
The voice startles him. It sounded like it came from his mind. It wasn't his inner voice. It sounded like someone else's. It was deep yet garbled as if he was speaking through some kind of filter. A man's voice.
"Is it NoT The FAulT OF The BOW HeRO FoR BEIng REcklESS? iS IT NOT thE faULT oF THE DEmi-HUman and HIS SensELESS NeeD FOr ReVENge? IS anY of ThiS YoUR FauLT WheN YOu ArE JuST A PAsserBY? ASk YouRSelF ThiS, NAofuMI IWaTaNI."
Naofumi was too startled to respond. This voice just came out of nowhere and started asking him weird questions. Questions that… he was thinking.
Was any of this his fault?
No, he realized.
Whoever this voice is, he was right. If Itsuki hadn't been a dumbass, he wouldn't be here. If Ajax and the Black Foxes just kept to themselves, he wouldn't be here.
It was their fault he was like his. Their fault his friends were about to be killed.
"EXacTLY," the voice says. "HAd it NOT BeeN fOR TheM, youR frieND oVER THEre wOulD noT bE in DANgER. It WOulD BE So EaSY for YOu if THeY BoTH haD DiED.
Yes, it would be easy if they were dead. Itsuki treated this world like it's a game, carelessly putting himself and his companions in danger. And Ajax… just thinking of his name made the fire in Naofumi flare-up. If Ajax wasn't so caught up in his revenge on the nobles, he would not be here killing the Count.
'It's all their fault. They're the ones who did this.'
"AnD WHAt WilL you DO AboUT it, NaOFumI? WhAT Will YoU DO?"
'I…'
"ThINK NoW, or Your FRIneDs WiLL DIE. YouR INDECisivENeSS WilL BE YOuR FAUlt."
'I…'
"Or DO You WISh foR ThE DeaTH Of YoUR FRieNDS? WerE ALL ThoSE MemorIES YOu MadE WiTH THEm FAlsE? YoUR HEArT Is StiLL FilLED WiTH DIStruST. Do YoU NoT TRusT ThEM? ArE ThEY ReaLLY YouR FRieNDS?"
'Yes! They are!"
"IF sO, thEN YOu KnoW WHat to Do."
'I… I do.'
"ThEN I WiLL LenD YoU mY StrENGTH."
A sharp pain exploded in his arm where his shield is. He gritted his teeth, holding in a scream threatening to come out. The shield began to transform. It grew wider, the gem in the middle changing to a crimson red. The silver metal changed to a deep red lined with black on the sides and down the middle.
"RAGe, AnGER, WRaTH. TheSE aRE ThE THREE EMoTioNS yoU haVE felt SiNCE YOuR ARRiVAl. YoU HaVE BeEn FAlSLEy AccuSeD fOR A CrIME YoU havE noT ComMITTed. StranGERs WHO dO noT KnoW You SeE NoT A hUMan, BuT A MonstER. MaNY WiLL WiSH YoU DEad. ArE YoU JuSt GoiNG TO LEt SuLLY yoUR namE? YouR EXISTANCE?!"
"No."
"NONe OF ThIS IS YouR FAulT. EvERYONe ElSE iS To BlaME. Do nOt HiDE YOuR TruE EMOTions. LeT the Rage SWeLL IN yoU. Let YoUR ANgER StOKE the FLamEs WiTHiN YoU. AND UNLEASH YOUR WRATH UPON THOSE WHO ARE YOUR ENEMIES!"
'I…'
"WHAT WILL YOU DO, NAOFUMI IWATANI?!"
There was only one answer.
'I will kill them.'
His HP skyrocketed beyond its max capacity, as did his MP and SP. Whatever pain he felt from Ajax's kicks was gone. Nothing hurt. He didn't feel much of anything.
Only rage.
Rage, anger, and wrath.
His vision turned red, as red as the gem on his shield. Several notifications popped up but he cast them aside.
"Stop."
His voice became deeper. It surprised Ajax, who turned around. He froze on the spot.
Rachel, Mina, and Rowan looked to Naofumi and like Ajax, they were frozen in… was it fear or shock that they felt? Maybe both.
They were looking at Naofumi, but it wasn't him. His face, which was always seen as babyish, suddenly took on a menacing form. His green eyes were now red. Anger seemed to radiate from him, it made them all shudder in fear.
"Naofumi?" Rowan calls out.
Naofumi ignores him, his gaze set on Ajax.
"It's your fault," he says.
Ajax took a step back.
"It's your fault," Naofumi repeats. "It's your fault. It's your fault. It's youR FAULT. It's yOUR FAULT. IT'S YOUR FAULT!"
He launches himself at Ajax.
"Crystal Shield!"
The crystals that normally came with his original shield, their lustrous colors turned red.
Naofumi could feel the sharp crystals sink into Ajax. His HP dropped drastically.
"Naofumi!" He hears one of his friends yell. He wasn't sure which one. Everything sounded like he was underwater.
He would focus on his friends later. Right now, he needed to kill Ajax.
"Change Shield! Poison Dart Shield!"
Needles showered Ajax, each hit inflicting more and more damage than usual.
"Naofumi, stop!"
"What's gotten into you? Fucking stop!"
No. He would not stop. Not until Ajax is dead. Then his friends would be safe. No one will hurt them anymore. No one.
Ajax staggers back, nearly falling but using the wall behind him for support.
Naofumi just needs one more hit and it's done for.
"Change Shield! Two-Headed Black Dog Shield!"
The two dogs now looked like hellhounds, their eyes glowing red. One bit down on Ajax's arm. The other on his neck. Its fangs sunk deep into the flesh.
"Naofumi!" This time, it was three voices that called out to him.
They were familiar. Rachel. Mina. Rowan.
Why were they yelling? He was saving them.
Then, he hears something.
It is the sound of flesh being torn from a body.
The redness in his vision vanished. Sounds became clearer to him. And that's when he sees it. The dog that bit Ajax's neck had bits of skin and blood in its mouth.
Ajax reaches a hand to the gaping wound, covering it. But it's no use. The bite tore an artery.
He collapses, blood endlessly pouring out from his neck. He tries speaking but blood comes out instead.
Naofumi stands there in shock.
He did this.
But that was what he wanted, wasn't it? To kill Ajax? That was his plan. That was the voice's plan.
Ajax looks up at Naofumi. He then smiles. A smug smile as if he was right about something.
"I… kn…ew you we…re a.. monster."
With his final words, Ajax slumped to the floor.
Dead.
Blood. There was so much blood. It continued to gush out of the wound. It wouldn't stop. The metallic scent rushed up Naofumi's nose.
He… he killed.
He… killed someone.
'I… I…'
His vision blurs. His body feels exhausted all of a sudden.
He collapses to his side.
"Naofumi!" He's for sure it was Mina who says his name.
He could make out three blurry figures running to him. He then looks at his shield. It's still in this new form.
The voice. That was where it came from.
'Who… are… you?'
He never got an answer.
Everything went black.
"I Am ThE BeING ThaT HolDS truth. I aM thE One WHo BriNGS FeAr tO ThoSE uNAwaRe. I HolD THe KEyS BeTWEEn WorLDS. I StaND IN ThE EnDLess VoID.
"I am Providence."