Rising of the Shield Demon - Part 1

by The Dark Dragen

AU Story: A young man named Naofumi is unwillingly summoned to another world to become one of the four Cardinal Heroes, the problem was the hero he became was hated by the kingdom that summoned him and was considered weak. Read as he overcomes this and the events surrounding this, where he slowly become a darker version of himself. This is a slow and dark story, not for children.

19. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Before we start on this story, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year, unless you are in China, I'll wait a bit longer. I hope you had a Merry Christmas or if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a great holiday and whatever event you do celebrate around the time of Christmas. I really hope that this year will be better than the last, only time will tell.

So you know, I'm planning to follow the plot up 'til Volume 5, changing things where I have to fit this story but keep things to the main story. But after that I'll be altering things, adding more Waves holding back on the Spirit Turtle Arc. So I can do a few things before she and the others go and deal with the Turtle.

To those who think this is a lust story, it is not, as there would be more smut in the story if it was. In this story, I only do smut if it helps move the story along somehow or it feels right to do so at the time. So if you don't like the smut in the story when the warning comes, you don't have to read it. But I can admit the smut in the last chapter could have done with some work, but it was more or less what I wanted to happen to help with the plot.

For those who haven't got it yet, seeing how there are reviews saying how dark and it having much suffering in the story, this is a dark story, plain and simple. It is to show the darker side of things, how things could have happened if the story was darker. This isn't about forgiveness, hope and the like that was in the LN, this is about Naofumi becoming the Demon of the Shield and the events that make him like this. Some of these events will also put at least a few of the other characters, Renka and Raphtalia, down a darker path too.

So if you don't like this sort of story, then please stop reading as you won't like what I have planned for the rest of the story. Reading this story you're leaving any hopes of seeing rightness and hope at the door, as I normally only write dark stories, darker the better. If you read my other work, you know what sort of stories I write, if you haven't read my work, expect anything to happen in this story.

Chapter Seventeen…

The Cardinal Hero's Path - Part 2!

The Kingdom of Melromarc, Alchemist's Cave - Motoyasu Kitamura:

We begin our story with Motoyasu and his group, they were entering an ancient temple, this temple meant to hold the Miracle Seed that should help the village that hired them to find something to help them with their famine problem. As they got into the temple, they came across a stone pillar, something like a gravestone, with some strange symbols that none of them was able to translate. Next to it was a stone treasure box.

Behind it was a monster that Motoyasu hoped he wouldn't see here in this world, a Beholderkin, which was in stone or a platform. It was a floating head with a huge mouth and one single, huge, cyclops-like eye surrounded by four smaller eyestalks. This worried Motoyasu as if there was a stone of this monster here, he feared that there might be real ones here, if that was true, then it was a highly likely possibility that there were True Beholders seeing how Beholderkin came from them.

Motoyasu hoped that if they did exist in this world, they would never run across one, otherwise they would be in a hell of a fight. As it takes a huge party, a decent plan of attack and lots of luck, and that was if they only came across just one of those things.

"Lord Motoyasu, what is that thing?" asked a young noblewoman, with medium-length orange hair and green eyes.

"Something that I hope we never have to face." Motoyasu told her and the other four women with him before he moved on by asking, "Can any of you lovely ladies read the message on a stone gravestone?"

"No my Lord." the four women said at once, as Malty went on to say, "It's an old text, one that is rarely used nowadays. But from the little that I can understand, it says something about a seed, being released and the desire to free those from famine. Or something along with those words."

"Good to hear, this is the seed we're looking for." Motoyasu said with a warm smile before it was hardened a bit as he looked at the stone Beholderkin. He felt uneasy, he was wondering why it was here for, could it be a trap or something. Now normally traps wouldn't be a big of a deal, they would either disarm or trigger them depending on the trap. If they triggered a trap and it was a monster they had to fight he would fight them himself, making sure that his women didn't get hurt. As he would only allow them to fight if he had no other option, like right now.

He feared that if there was a trap, they might have to fight this Beholderkin. He didn't know what type of Beholderkin this was, nor what level it could be. Now he knew that he could go back and say they couldn't get the seed to the villagers, saying it was too dangerous. He really didn't want to get into a fight where he could lose the women by his side. But he wasn't one to go back on his word, he would make sure that he would do whatever he could to complete his quest no matter what.

So with a sigh, he asked, "Do any of you ladies know a blinding spell?" He really hoped that at least one of them did, as Beholderkin, like a True Beholder, had one great weakness, their huge eye. If he could blind the huge eye, whilst it would attack aimlessly, it would be much easier to defeat.

"I can do it." called out the orange-haired.

"Thank you, Elena," Motoyasu thanked her with a winning smile, "if there's a trap on this box and it awakens this stone statue, I want you blind it the moment you can see its eye. Don't wait, just do it, as if you wait, it can become more difficult to defeat it." Then taking a few deep breaths, Motoyasu looked at the Beholderkin once again, before he said, "Listen, ladies, normally I would deal with monsters myself as you know so that you don't have to get hurt and only have you back me up. But should this thing attack, I need every last one of you to help me."

"Why Lord Motoyasu?" asked Malty, wondering what this monster was like if her hero needed their help. This was one of the reasons that she was with him, other than he was easier to control, they can get EXP much easier without the need to fight unless they had no other option but to do so. For the Spear Hero to need their help right away, this monster must be strong.

Whilst Motoyasu knew he wasn't the best person to explain things, it would be harder to explain about his world and games. So it would be hard to explain about Bebolderkin to his companions, so he did what he could and said, "Where I come from, these things, these True Beholder and Beholderkins, were powerful beings that took high-level people and loads of them to deal with them. You would also need a decent plan to deal with them most of the time. Thankful for us, if this is a real Bebolderkin, we lucked out, seeing how this one has been entrapped in stone. So as long as Elena is able to blind it before it could attack us if we attack it together and use buffs, we should be able to deal with it with ease."

The women there nodded, knowing that if the Spear Hero was giving them such a warning, they should be ready for anything. So when Motoyasu opened the box and took the seed out, nothing happened at first, making them believe that things were safe. But as they began to move away from the treasure box, there was a rumbling sound and the stone head began to break. To reveal it was a green head.

But as soon as the stone fully was removed from the front of the head, Motoyasu shouted out, "Elena! Do your thing now!"

Without another word, Elena cast a blinding light as her companions covered their eyes as they did so. Once the Beholderkin was blinded, and he could fully see what type it was, he realized that it was a Gazer, an unintelligent Beholderkin, that follows the True Beholder that created them like an aggressive pet. Thankfully, Gazers, whilst still a bit of a fight, were easier to deal with than other Beholderkin. And unlike the rest of their race, a Gazer couldn't really talk that well, instead, they have an ability to mimic any speech they heard, repeating it in a high pitched tone. Fights with them when they caught a word or saying that they like are anorring, as they would repeat in a high pitch until they were killed.

Although this Gazer was blinded, it still took some work to deal with it as it still could hear them and so used its power to attack the basic location. Motoyasu spear skills, as his companions used the magic to attack, heal and defend each other.

Even if it was a tough fight, they were able to win and in doing so got the seed that they came for and got Motoyasu a new spear: Beholderkin's Spear - Gazer.

Beholderkin's Spear - Gazer!

Equip Bonus:

Attack +15

Mage's Hand

Ray of Frost

Terror Cry

Motoyasu had to admit this was a decent new spear, it had good abilities and attack power. It should be useful for the upcoming Wave. So for the reminding time until a few hours before his first Wave, Motoyasu levelled up and gained new weapons, so that his companions didn't have to fight unless they had no other option but to fight. Now it wasn't like Motoyasu wasn't rewarded for this, as each night Malty and/or one of the women would visit him in his bed to thank him for protecting them.

What the fool didn't realize was that they were only doing this so that they didn't have to fight and have an easy ride in levelling up. As the women wanted an easy time and to be known to be with the Spear Hero who defeated the Waves of Calamity. If they had to do too much work, or in Malty's case wasn't able to use him somehow, they would throw him to the wolves and either give up or go onto the next hero who wasn't the Shield Hero. Although with Elena, she would be willing to work with the Shield Hero if it meant gaining comfort and benefits.

o0OoO0o

Kingdom of Melromarc, Castle Town, 19th of January 740 - Itsuki Kawasumi:

Itsuki was back in town, reporting his failed mission at saving the slaves. The guild wasn't happy that the Shield Hero was able to deliver the slaves, but knew that seeing how they were with their new masters, they couldn't do anything about the slaves. As the law was on the side of the owners now and there wasn't anything they could do to change this.

Itsuki wasn't happy at all, not only was he unable to free the slaves, somehow he lost to the Shield Hero of all people. He knew that Shielders shouldn't be that skilled or powerful, the Shielders in his game couldn't do things like Naofumi did, using fire magic and chain rope to defeat him and his companions. The only way the Bow Hero could think of that Naofumi could have beaten them as if he cheated somehow, that was the only logical reason for it. There was no other way for Naofumi to be able to defeat them.

So if Naofumi was cheating somehow, Itsuki knew that he would need something to equal the odds between them so that next time he would be ready for him. He needed something that would give him speed and attack power, as he knew that a Shielder if fast enough could block most attacks. This meant that speed was important, so that's the kind of bow he would need to find. Maybe find some better arrows, one that'll give him elemental abilities like Hawkeye from his favourite comic named after the character.

Hawkeye or as his public name was Geralt Wolfenstein, was a hero fighting crime in his city New York. His main enemy in the comic was The Goblin King or as the public knew him as, Victor Fisk, and his Goblin Army. In the story, Victor was a wealthy man who gets transformed into a goblin and over the comic, becomes the Goblin King and creates a Goblin Army of transformed criminals with different powers and skills.

For Geralt, he was trained by Abigail Whistler, better known as Huntress, who was hurt and betrayed by Fisk, to become Hawkeye. They used science to create arrows such as fire, ice and the like to defeat Goblin King and his army, among other villains, many times over, to bring justice to the world. The only time Hawkeye and Huntress fail was to move the plot along. It was a great comic and Itsuki loved the arrows that they used, Itsuki could only hope he could find some like that for his bows, as it might help him against Naofumi and the monsters/demons he'll face.

Because of this, we find Itsuki outside Erhard's store, the Bow Hero learned that Erhard was one of the best blacksmiths in town. He had hoped that Erhard would be able to create some new arrows for him. At first, Erhard wasn't in the mood to help, seeing how he feared to be like Naofumi. That was until he heard that Itsuki wanted to prevent Naofumi from doing such acts again, but to do that, he needed bows and new specialist arrows to do so. Because of this, Erhard agreed to help the Bow Hero but informed him that it would take a few days to create such arrows. The young teen was happy to wait if it meant to get decent arrows.

As he left the store, he accidentally bumped into Renka and her women warriors. Looking at her, Itsuki was upset how Naofumi's actions made her distrust all men now and would only work with women now. He had to admit he had a crush on the young woman, it was a shame that the bastard Naofumi destroyed her in such a way that she wouldn't trust men again. But he thought that if he could show her that not all men were like Naofumi, that he might have a chance to date her.

"I'm sorry Renka, I didn't see you." apologized Itsuki.

"Whatever Kawasumi." Renka said simply before asking, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you would be levelling up or doing quests."

"I have not long returned from a failed quest," explained the Bow Hero, "I was sent to prevent some slaves being delivered to their new master, but Iwatani was the one that was guarding."

"I know that he is a Shielder and someone lent him two slaves to protect the bastard, but are you telling me that you and your companions weren't able to deal with them?" Renka asked with a sneer, unable to believe that the foolish teen was unable to defeat a weak Shielder and his companions. "Were his two companions too powerful for you and yours? You do outnumber them don't you?"

Itsuki felt embarrassed about this, seeing how it was only the Shield Hero who defeated him and his companions and not the slaves if it was any other time he would make up a story about his loss. The problem is that he had to warn Renka about Naofumi so that if she faced him in the future, she would know what to expect. "This is embarrassing to admit, we weren't defeated by the slaves, in fact, we were defeated by Naofumi himself. He sent his slave off to take the other slaves to their new owner."

"You're kidding me right?" Renka asked, blinking in shock as she heard this, "Did I hear you right, you and your companions, all of which are able to attack, were defeated by a Shielder who can't fight back? How the fuck is that possible?"

"I have no idea, he must have found a way to cheat as that's the only way I can think of for him to win against us." Itsuki told the Sword Heroine, "You see…" and here he explained how Naofumi fought against them and won somehow, even now the Bow Hero was still having a hard time believing that he had lost somehow. He told her about the wolves, the fireballs, the ability to use a chain to attack and some sort of smoke bomb to escape.

As Renka listened to the story, she couldn't help but agree that the damn Shielder had somehow cheated and got some skills to fight. From her experience, Shielders only had skills to heal and buff themselves and their teams, they were useless otherwise. She never used a Shielder in her team, as she had a decent Healer/Archer on her team to heal and buff them, and she had a few skills that would allow her to do that herself, so she had no reason to have a Shielder. Having one would mean they would have to look after them seeing how they were unable to attack only defend.

So he could only have cheated, to be able to use a chain and fireballs to attack, there were no two ways about it. It was impossible otherwise. But as for the wolves and the smoke bomb, that was easy to explain, there was nothing against a Shield to use potions to escape and make others stronger, so creating a smoke bomb wasn't too surprising to her. As for the wolves, that was easy to explain, "I think I can explain how he could use wolves Kawasumi," Renka informed the Bow Hero, "if you remember, this world is a bit different to the games we know, one being that we can use some sort of cores to give us extra powers. So it is very possible that Naofumi got his hands on a core that allowed him to summon wolves to fight for him, it would be something he would find useful and so not surprising for him to do if he knew about it."

"That would explain how he would have the ability to summon wolves, what about the other skills he uses?" Itsuki asked sceptically, "Do you think that he was able to gain cores for this?"

"Highly doubtful," Renka told him, she didn't think that it was possible, "in my world, and apparently in your world, Shielders can't attack with weapons nor magic. So I find it hard that Iwatani would be able to use these sorts of magic without cheating somehow."

"I agree," Itsuki agreed, "I just thought I should warn you just in case you face him again. If he is willing to deliver slaves to their new masters, something no hero should do, who knows what else he might be willing to do for money. I just feared that if you came across him in the future during one of his jobs and he is doing something wrong, you would be ready. I didn't want you to face him without what he is capable of doing."

Whilst the Sword Heroine was thankful for the information, she was pissed that it was given to her by Itsuki, a male. All she knew is that he might expect something from her, some sort of favour, and she feared that it could be something sexual. It was like all men, they expect something in return and normally that's sex and would take it if they feel they deserve it if the women didn't give it willingly.

"So what are you doing with this information about Iwatani?" asked Renka, not mentioning what Itsuki wanted for this information, in the hopes nothing would be said about it for now. "I doubt you're not standing about and do nothing about this."

"You're right I'm not standing about and doing nothing about this," admitted the Bow Hero, "I've already got a blacksmith creating some new arrows that'll have elemental powers to it. I'm also planning to find new bows whilst I'm levelling up and doing quests, bows that'll help me to become faster and stronger than I was before, in the hopes that when I face Iwatani again, I should be able to beat him if I'm forced to. If I were you, I would be finding new swords that'll help you to fight against Iwatani if you're forced to."

"I have to ask, why are you telling me about Iwatani?" Renka asked sceptically, she suspected that the Bow Hero had a hidden agenda, wanting something from here, "Do you want something from as thanks? If that's the case, I'll cut of your balls and manhood as I tell you to fuck yourself."

Itsuki paled at the thought of Renka cutting his manhood off, Naofumi really did a number on her trust in men and feared her state of mind and what she might do. "Listen Renka, I just want to show you that not all men are like Naofumi and those from your world."

"Oh please, you might say that but all men are like that," Renka scoffed at the Bow Hero, "they might say they are different, that they don't want anything. But all men want something, even if they aren't willing to admit to it, but deep down they want something and might try anything to get it."

Itsuki couldn't believe it, here he was trying to show Renka that not all men were like Naofumi, but thanks to the Shield Hero's actions, Renka had no trust left for men. Although, he did have to admit that he did want to date her and was trying to do this so that she might date him, so in a way she was right in that part. But, he wasn't going to force himself on her, which is why he was trying to be careful about it. It's not like he was doing anything wrong.

"Either way, thanks for the information Kawasumi, it would seem that I'll have to get stronger and find better swords." Renka told the young Bow Hero before she left before the young teen could say anything to her, she really didn't want to spend any more time with him than she had to.

Itsuki was upset at these turn of events, he had hoped that he could change Renka's mind about men, that all men won't like those from her world and Naofumi, but it wasn't the case. It would seem that nothing was going to change her mind now, not after what she has been though. He knew that for justice, Iwatani had to be brought to justice, he had to pay from his crimes.

But at the same time, the Bow Hero knew that until the Waves were dealt with, he couldn't do much about it. Even if the Shield Hero was weak and useless, there had to be some reason for him to be a Hero, something he could do that something the real heroes can't. Itsuki didn't know what that could be, but he wouldn't have been summoned otherwise if it wasn't the case. For now, all Itsuki could do was make sure that the Shield Hero couldn't repeat the same crimes as before or do any other crimes. That meant that he had to become stronger and gain new bows, gain more companions to help him.

So for over the next week or so until the morning of his first Wave, Itsuki trained to become stronger and help dethrone an unjust rule in a neighbouring kingdom. Not only that, but he worked on making his Angel Core stronger so that if he faced Naofumi or any other powerful monsters, he would have an Ace to use if things got out of hand.

o0OoO0o

Floating Ice Island, Narnia - Renka Amaki:

It has been a few days since Renka talked to Kawasumi and learned about what Iwatani has been up to. Now whilst she didn't care about the male slaves, in fact, it was for the best as that was the best way to control men in her option and allow women to have children without the men turning on them, she did care about the females. They didn't deserve to be treated like this and should be freed and their masters become the slave instead.

But she knew that if Kawasumi knew about Iwatani and that Iwatani had somehow cheated to be able to fight back in ways he shouldn't, then she had to find a way to become stronger, someway to get past the Shield Hero's defences. This led her to this Floating Ice Island, as she had learned of a sword that can cut past any defences, no matter how strong it might be. Hearing this, Renka knew that she had to get hold of the sword so that she could get a copy of it and allow one of her female companions to have the original.

This is why we see Renka and her companions on the island of Narnia, as there was a rumour that there's a sword on this island that can cut through any defence. There were two problems, the first was that the land was very cold and dangerous, there weren't many with the abilities to deal with such cold. The other problem was that the island was full of strong demons/monsters and not many had the weapons nor the skills to deal with them.

But to Renka, if she can get a sword to help her fight against the likes of the Shield Hero, she would be willing to go through hell to get swords to help fight against them. So when she learned about the rumour of this sword and got the clothing and items they would need for a cold island, they took a flying ship to the island and explored the island.

About an hour after arriving on the island, they found a woman fighting an ice skeleton with a longsword and using ice and teleportation skills to fight it. The young woman looked like she was in her early twenties, tall and slender build, blue eyes, her skin was light blue and thin diamond like lips, a small nose, long platinum-blonde hair, and finally had a light dusting of freckles on her face.

She was wearing a silver white skin tight pair of leather high-heeled pants boots, with an ice like belt, with light armor plates over her knees. On her right arm, she was wearing an ice blue arm guard, whilst he left arm had a silver white arm sleeve. And finally the woman was wearing some sort of leather corset vest which had different coloured blues, and she was wearing a blue cloak with a huge collar and ice spikes around it.

Renka was somewhat shocked by this outfit, whoever this was, not only must she be highly skilled if they could fight in high-heels, but seeing how cold it was here, she could resist the cold so well. Whoever this person was, she was someone that Renka wanted as an ally, not only to help with the Waves but to deal with Naofumi Iwatani.

Once the woman defeated the ice skeleton, Renka walked up to her and said, "Congratulations on your fight, I haven't seen anyone fight like you before. May I ask for your name?"

"How rude, one would think that before asking someone's name, they would introduce themselves first." said the ice lady, unhappy about Renka's rudeness.

"Forgive me, I'm Renka Amaki, you might have heard of me, I'm one of the Cardinal Heroes, the Sword Hero." Renka introduced herself, hoping that hearing that she was a Cardinal Hero, this lady might join her in the fight against the Waves.

"Elsa Oldenburg," the ice lady introduced herself, "nice to meet you. So what's this about being a Cardinal Hero, what is that? And why are you here?"

"Haven't you heard about the Cardinal Heroes?" Renka asked confused, "I thought everyone in this world knew about them."

"Well seeing how I have been captured when I was a child and only recently escaped, I would have no idea about who these Cardinal Heroes are." Elsa informed her.

"I see, so the Cardinal Heroes are…" and so Renka explained what the Cardinal Heroes were to Elsa and how she would like the Ice Mage to be one of her companions.

"Why would you want me, of all people, to be your companion?" Elsa asked, after she got her head around what Renka told her.

"I watched you fight that monster and I have to say that you're quite skilled as a fighter and I would like someone like you as my companion." explained the Sword Heroine, "I would be a fool not to ask for your help."

"Why should I believe that you're this Cardinal Hero you speak of and why should I join you?" asked Elsa, she didn't seem to believe Renka nor trust her.

"As far as I know, Cardinal Heroes are the only one able to copy weapons based on the weapon that they wield." Renka informed Elsa and Renka's companion agreed that this was true, "So what if I copied your weapon, would you agree with joining me and help with the Waves of Calamity?"

"What's in it for me?" asked the Ice Mage, she wasn't about to allow someone to copy her sword without getting something out of it.

"What do you want?" asked Renka, "If it's in my power I'll give it to you."

"A way off this island," Elsa told the Sword Heroine, "the only other way off the island leads back to where I escaped from. With how rare it is for people to come to this island, I need another way off this island."

"Fair enough," Renka said with a bow as she held out her hand, "all I need to copy your sword is to touch part of it."

Elsa just held her sword out without another word, wanting to see this ability, to see if Renka really could copy her sword. As Renka touched the sword, her sword became a silver longsword with purple rune inscriptions going down the blade. For Elsa, she was shocked that Renka could actually copy her sword, this wasn't something she was expecting to work, but seeing how it did work, she agreed to join Renka.

For Renka, she was glad to gain another new sword, even if it was heavier than she was used to, but looking at the new skills she gained, it was worth it.

Zireael...

Equip Bonus:

Attack +15 (unmastered)

Blink (unmastered)

Charge (unmastered)

Rage (unmastered)

"So your sword is called Zireael and it seems to have three skills to it, Blink, Charge and Rage," Renka told Elsa, shocking her, "could you explain what these skills do?"

"So you really can copy weapons." Elsa said in awe, seeing how Renka knew the name of her sword, she realized the Sword Heroine wasn't lying to her. So seeing how Renka wasn't lying, the Ice Mage began to explain the skills of her sword.

Elas explained that Blink was a defensive skill, that would allow her to dodge attack by teleporting a short distance in a blue light. As for Charge, it was a power attack skill that allowed the skill to give the sword some energy into the sword and use Blink charge towards her target instead of dodging attacks. And as for Rage, Elsa explained that it was a multi-attack skill, where she would charge up the Blink ability to attack a certain amount of monsters/people, and more MP that she used to charge up Blink more monsters/people she could attack at once.

Renka had to admit that these skills were very useful, but as she looked at them, she found that unlike Elsa, she had to use SP instead of MP to use these skills. Not that it mattered that much, but she would have liked it if she could use some MP moves with her sword attacks. As at the moment, all of her sword attack skills use SP and so she was limited to what skills she could use at a time. Hopefully in time she could get skills that used MP instead of SP, only time will tell.

"So are you willing to help me to defeat these Waves?" asked Renka as she got to the ice skeleton and absorb it, in doing so gaining a new sword:

Ice Skeleton Sword…

Equip Bonus:

Agility Up (small) (unmastered)

Dexterity (small) (unmastered)

Speed (small) (unmastered)

Ice Resistance Up (small) (unmastered)

It didn't have any attack points, but the sword was useful nevertheless, seeing that it helped her in becoming a better swordswoman. Any swords that give her these three abilities, attacks points and sword skills were always welcomed to her.

Now as she got the new sword, Elsa said, "Yeah, I'll join you. It'll be interesting to see what these Waves are like." Then as she thought about it, she asked, "Why have you come to this island? I doubt you would come to this ice island for no reason."

"I came here for a sword that's rumoured to here," explained Renka, "the sword is called Yamato and it meant to bypass the defences of its target."

"I see," muttered Elsa, "I say that whilst I don't know if this is the sword you're looking for, but there is a cave nearby that has a chamber in it that has a sword in it. But the problem is that the path to the cave is surrounded by Ice Spiders. The next problem is that when you get to where the chamber where the sword is, it is protected by traps: ice and fire are the two that I know of. I tried to get hold of it once, and ice and fire were set off, so whilst I was able to handle the ice traps, the fire ones were too powerful so I had to escape."

"Hmm, I see, is there anything else you know about this chamber or the cave?" asked Renka, wanting to know what she and her companions would face to get this sword.

"Only that the sword is stuck in a pedestal and if you even touch the sword, it would set off the traps. I fear what would happen if you were able to pull the sword oustagnant t," Elsa explained what she knew, "so I wouldn't bother trying to get the sword. It's too dangerous."

"Hmm…" Renka hummed thoughtfully as she thought about the situation, she really needed this sword if she was going to deal with Naofumi at some point. As if she waited too long to face him, it is a possibility that she couldn't defeat him. In Brave Star Online, only certain monsters and weapons were able to get past a Shielders defence. So she really needed this sword.

Then an idea came to mind, so she asked, "Listen, how long after you touch the sword would the traps be set off?"

"Hmm, I would say about five or so seconds," Elsa admitted thoughtfully, "but the sword is so stiff that you would need to work on it for longer to pull out the sword and claim it as your own."

"I see," Renka said thoughtfully as she thought about her plan, "in that case I would like you to show me this sword."

"But what about the traps that I mentioned?" Elsa asked in shock, even her own companions were confused about this. It would seem too dangerous to get the sword.

"I understand your fears, but I have a plan to get the sword or at least a copy of the sword." Renka said with a smile as Elas got what the Sword Heroin was planning.

"Oh I see, you're planning to touch the sword and have your Legendary Sword copy it and escape before the traps are set off." Elsa said knowingly, as she realized what was going on.

"Yes, and with the Blink ability that I gained from copying your sword, that shouldn't be too much of a problem." Renka informed the Ice Mage.

"In that case, let me get my things and I'll lead you to the sword." Elsa informed Renka as she went to an ice tree where some things were, meat, water and a self made blanket. But as she bent down to pick up the stuff, she whispered into the bushes, "Tell Mistress that I have made contact with the Sword Heroin and things are going to plan. I'll be in contact when I can." With that she got up as there was some slight sound from the bushes, the sound of something moving away.

Once she got her things, Elsa led Renka and her new companions to the sword.

o0OoO0o

As Elsa led her new companions to the cave, Renka asked about who she escaped from and why she was captured in the first place. So Elsa explained that she was captured by a demoness known as Lilith, the Mother of Monsters when she was young and first showed signs of being able to use Ice Abilities. Then over the years, Lilith would experiment on her, changing the way she looks, which is why she now had light blue skin and pointed ears, that Elsa covered up with her hair. Renka expected there was more to the story, but Elsa didn't seem to be ready to tell them about it and she wasn't going to push her to tell the story.

Now as they traveled toward the cave, they got ambushed by ice skeletons and ice spiders. The ice spiders were snowy white and huge, not only that but difficult to defeat. But with her companions and her new ally, Elsa, they were able to defeat them. But thanks to the defeat of the spiders, Rne got a new sword, Ice Spider Sword.

Ice Spider Sword…

Equip Bonus:

Attack +5

Snow Camouflage (small)

Ice Walk

Spider Climb.

Special Effect:

Ice Bite.

Although the sword didn't have the best attack points and two useless abilities if you weren't in an area with ice and snow, it did have two good skills. The worst skills were Snow Camouflage and Ice Walk from the Equip Bonus, Snow Camouflage would allow her to sneak in the snow much easier, whilst Ice Walk would allow her to walk on ice much easier. These two abilities were something she would rarely use seeing how there didn't seem to be too much snow in this world apart from this island.

As for Spider Climb from the Equip Bonus and Ice Bite from Special Effect, these were the most two useful skills from the sword. Spider Climb would allow her to climb up walls and such like a spider, whilst Ice Bite would give her 10% chance of doing an ice attack to her target which might freeze them. These skills were very useful.

After getting another new sword, it wasn't long before they got to the cave that Elsa told them about. The cave didn't have any monsters in it, which Elsa explained was because she often came here for meat and fur, as Ice Wolves would spawn here every few days, and seeing how she came here the day before, it would be another day or so before they respawn here. In which case Renka told Elsa and her other companions to stay here as she looked in the chamber and see if it was the sword she was looking for. Once she did this, she made sure that she summoned Zireael, so that she could use Blink when needed.

The chamber was a plain room made of what looked like marble, where in the middle of it was the sword that Elsa talked about, stuck in a stone pedestal. This reminded Renka of the story Sword in the Stone, where a young man named Arthur Pendragon pulled a sword out of a stone and ruled England. Over the years ruling over England, he took many women, even his own half-sister Morgana or she was better known as Morgan le Fay.

Either way, putting that thought aside, she tried to pull at the sword, hoping that like the bastard Pendragon, she would be worthy of the sword and it wouldn't be hard to pull out. But sadly it wasn't to bed, as within seconds of her trying to pull the sword out, magical cycles appeared around the room.

So before the magical traps could activate, she used Blink to escape before the traps could get her. At the very moment she got through the doors of the chamber, fire and ice began to fill the room up. As she watched, she knew if it wasn't for her new Blink ability, she would have been killed, the traps in the room were no joke. The only way to get this sword was if someone could pull the sword out on their first try, or they had high resistance against ice and fire. She could now understand why no one was able to get the sword before and why no one tried to get it for so long and people only know rumours of it, it was near impossible to get.

But it didn't matter to Renka though, she was one of the Cardinal Heroes and she had the ability to copy any sword that she touched and thankful she was able to copy this sword and thankfully it was the sword that she was looking for, Yamato. Finally she had a sword that should get past Naofumi's defences if the stories about this sword were true.

Yamato…

Equip Bonus:

Attack +10

Special Effects:

Judgement Cut

Dimension Slash

Looking at the skills, she found that the stories were right, whilst Judgement Cut was a skill to allow her multiple attacks on the targets in front of her, Dimension Slash was the skill he wanted. As the skill allowed her to cut through anything, even defences, this was the very sword that she wanted. The only problem is that it took a huge amount of SP to use, so she would need to be careful how she used this skill. But still, even if it took a huge amount of SP to use, she was now able to fight against Naofumi with ease if she used it right. She just to make sure that she had potions to heal her SP when using it.

Now having a copy of Yamato, Renka and her companions led Elsa to their ship to leave the island. The reminding time was to level up and get stronger for their first Wave.

To Be Continued!

Author's Note - PLEASE READ 'TILL THE END: Here ends another chapter, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and could leave some feedback to what you think of it. Before you ask, yes Elsa is from Frozen and before you ask how and why, that'll be explained either here or in the side-story at some point, but her full back story will be explained when I get around to it.

Now just a heads up, I'm getting close to the end of part one of this story, which means that when I get to part two, there'll be less world building and more action from canon other than the parts I change. I think I can safely say most of you will be happy to hear this, as you have been telling me how much you hate my world building part of the story.

Now I have thought long and hard about this, but this will be the last chapter I'll be doing about the three Cardinal Heroes. It's not that I don't want to do more, but we don't hear much about them for a while and seeing how I have plans to change things up after the Pope fight and the island where they gain bonus EXP, or at least from what I can remember. So I decided to stop writing about their deeds in the main story.

Whilst I won't be writing about Motoyasu and Itsuki, unless they are mentioned or part of the plot, I'll be going to write about Renka when the time comes. As I'm going to have her go a darker path, but seeing how many of you might not like what I have planned for her, this'll be written in the side-story when the time comes, so if you want to learn more, I hope you read the side-story.

Now someone mentioned that I couldn't make Naofumi too dark just yet, as Fitoria would just kill him and the other Heros without even a thought. The only reason she didn't kill him was because of how he raised Filo. I'm sorry to say as I think about it, whilst Filo might be part of the reason seeing how she wanted Filo to be the next Queen and killing Naofumi would make Filo reject the idea, I highly doubt she would and saying she would was nothing but a big bluff.

Not because she didn't have the power because she does, seeing how she was over two hundred years old and more than likely over level 150, but killing them now would spell the end of the world.

But by the time we met Fitoria, there would have been at least three Waves appeared, with each one being stronger than the last one. So if she went on and killed the heroes, it would have been at least weeks before new heroes would be summoned seeing how there would be a new meeting as to who summoned which hero. It could take longer seeing how Aultcray fucked up the last summoning and how him and his kingdom treated the Shield Hero. So if they were even summoned before the next Wave, they would have a short time to level up and seeing how Fitoria isn't in the mind of helping the main heroes seeing how she don't want to interact with humans, it would be difficult for them and they would more than likely die because of it.

Now if the new heroes were summoned after the next Wave, two things would happen. The first would be a lot of people would be killed as there would be no heroes to protect them and defeat the Boss of that Wave. The other would be once the new heroes were summoned, within the next thirty to forty-five days these heroes would be killed, as the Waves would get stronger and one month wouldn't be long enough for them to get strong enough to level up to the place where they could do any good.

Because of this, I highly believe that Fitoria's threat of her killing the heroes was nothing but a bluff, as unless a miracle happens the new heroes would be dead within a month and their world would end. So this set of heroes were her only hope in saving her world and all she could do was bluff about killing them in the hopes that Naofumi could get the others to work together.

One last thing, do you guys think that this story has become stagnant as one review stated it was?