First off, thank you guys so much for the support! I've recently reached the 100 follows and favorites milestone for this story and it makes me immeasurably happy to see that you guys are enjoying the story. Here's to hoping the coming chapters continue to impress!

As a side note: The song showcased in this chapter does not belong to me. All rights belong to Square Enix for such an amazing song.

"So let me get this straight. You're telling me that the spear hero has not only successfully ended the famine in that village without any repercussions, but he has ALSO gained himself a party member during that time?" Malty was looking out the window at the night sky with a very displeased look on her face.

"That seems to be what has happened, First Princess Malty, degozaru." Malty's personal Shadow was bowing to the princess and had just given her a report..

Malty let out a low snarl. This is getting on my nerves. That spear hero was supposed to be my lap dog by now, but he somehow came out of that Alchemist Cave ordeal I set him up for even better than before. What was supposed to happen was the seed found in that cave would sprout into a monster, which would lead the citizens of that village and eventually the kingdom to doubt his credibility. Once he had no one else to turn to thanks to the unsavory rumors, I would be there to offer "comforting" words and bind him to my will. Yet now this PEASANT thinks she can take MY place at his side?!

Malty had been making due with jumping between the sword and bow hero parties in trying to level up more. She knew she couldn't afford to fall behind in that regard and, as such, was doing her best not to make the remaining two heroes suspicious of her motives.

"What does my lady wish to do going forward? The wave is almost upon us, degozaru."

Malty thought for a bit before she got an idea. "If the wave doesn't kill that girl off for me, I'll just have to get rid of her some… other way. I have a close associate in town right now that deals in "goods" of a particular kind. He'll take custody of the girl, while I'll convince the spear hero that she abandoned him. Yes… that'll be fitting." Her smile grew twisted; she will make the spear hero her loyal subordinate one way or another. "Fetch me that special paralyzing agent from the treasury. I'll make sure the peasant knows and feels what she deserves."

"The calm before the storm…" Chazon noted just how many adventurers are around them, silently waiting for the wave timer to hit 0. He had just finished using some of the ores he had mined in Lute on Smelting his weapons, though had had quite a few failures thanks to the lower-strength ores having lower chances of success.

Rino nodded. "There is much anticipation in the air now. But I'm not afraid; I have you to thank for that, Chazon-kun." She shifted the pockets holding her MP potions so that they were more comfortable.

The duo had managed to level up a bit more before the wave hit. Chazon had reached level 19 while Rino was level 18. In addition, she had gotten used to casting Faust Heal to the point where she doesn't need to chant; it'll be a boon to have during the wave when one doesn't have the time to pull out and drink a potion. Chazon made sure to get her some MP potions so that she could keep healing and casting light spells if the need arises.

Chazon had encountered Ren and Itsuki while they were waiting for the countdown and the younger heroes had inquired about what Chazon had been doing. Ren called the spear hero hardcore when he heard about the story with the Cyclops Mauler, while Itsuki praised him for going out of his way to help a famine-struck village. Those two still think this world is one big game… I sincerely hope they don't do anything stupid based on that thought process…

"Chazon-sama! Rino-chan!" The duo look to see Raphtalia and Naofumi approaching, both of them sporting a new look thanks to the custom armor Erhard made for them; Raphtalia got Ultralight metal armor in a similar vein to Rino's while Naofumi was sporting Barbarian armor.

Everyone said it looked good on him, though Chazon had offered the most logical reason; because of the benefits of being the shield hero, any and all defense boosts apply to any clothing or armor that Naofumi wears, meaning his cape is just as capable of defending as the rest of his armor. This meant that he could cover Raphtalia in his cape in a pinch and protect her a lot better than anyone else.

Rino smiles at the other party. "Are you guys as prepared as you can?"

Naofumi snorts at that. "No amount of preparation could help me here thanks to the trash king."

"Naofumi-sama is just being humble." Raphtalia thought of something and turned to Chazon. "Chazon-sama, can I say something?"

"I'm all ears, Raphtalia."

She puts her hand on her heart as she smiles up at him. "I just want to say how glad I am to have met you. You spared no amount of kindness when you met me as a little girl and I'll be forever grateful to you for that. You taught me something valuable… something I'll never forget." Chazon gave her a warm smile at that. She looks at Rino. "Besides, I'd never have met Rino-chan if it weren't for you."

Rino beamed at Raphtalia and began an upbeat conversation with the demi-human. Chazon simply walked over to Naofumi, who shook his head. "I would have figured that Rino would be scared over what's going to happen, but even I can see her determination to see this through. You really did pick up someone special, didn't you?"

Chazon let out a soft sigh as he rubbed the side of his head. "She's strong, that girl. Stronger than I'll ever be."

"She's more fragile than she lets on and I'm not talking just her defensive stats." Naofumi looks at the sky. "At least that's what I feel. She'll need you more than ever if she wants to become someone everyone can depend on."

"If you say so. Oh, before I forget!" Chazon concentrated for a second before a notification popped up on Naofumi's status magic.

Alliance Invite:

Spear hero Chazon is inviting you to an alliance with you as the leader. Do you accept?

Naofumi looked shocked as he accepted the invite. When he looked at Chazon he nodded. "I reaffirm my stance from before that tanks make the best leaders. Rino and I will follow your lead into battle."

Naofumi thought for a moment before allowing himself a small smirk. "You just don't want to be a leader yourself, huh?"

"Guilty as charged." Both heroes shared a chuckle over that as they rejoined the girls and told them to ready themselves as the countdown neared its end. Naofumi equipped his Ultralight Metal Shield while Chazon equipped the spear counterpart.

00:00:03

00:00:02

00:00:01

The moment the timer reaches 0, the sky turns blood red as an ominous aura fills the air. Both parties were surrounded by a golden glow before they found themselves overlooking an area as the sky began filling with blue portals.

The Wave of Catastrophe had begun.

The other two heroes had immediately begun moving in a direction as black dots rained from the sky, but Chazon stood by for Naofumi's orders. He was about to say they should follow when Raphtalia said, "Naofumi-sama! Chazon-sama! The village of Lute!"

Rino looked and realized something with horror. "Have the villagers… no! They couldn't possibly have known to evacuate!" As if to confirm her fears, a flare popped from the outskirts of the village.

"Let's go to Lute Village!" Naofumi ordered as he started running.

"Right behind you, Naofumi!" Chazon shouted; he saw what was going to happen and he was glad Naofumi was on the same wavelength as him.

They had managed to save someone right before entering the village proper. Naofumi ordered Raphtalia and Rino to help the villagers evacuate to a safe zone while the two heroes saved more villagers.

Naofumi got the attention of a large group of monsters that were attacking a group of poorly-armed villagers, with Chazon taking out half of their numbers. "Chazon! Circle around and see if you can find any others that are in need of help! We'll be more efficient if we split up!"

"On it! I'll meet back up with you at the center once I do my rounds!" Chazon dashed off, taking full advantage of the movement speed bonus the Ultralight Metal Lance provided.

He managed to find other villagers pinned down by the monsters and made sure to switch to his Vicious Raven Feather Javelin for a better throwing spear. The javelin impaled the zombie soldier that was about to strike at one of the villagers, causing the rest of the monsters to change target. "S-sir Spear Hero!"

Chazon recognized the man that spoke as one of the ones that were rude to him during their time, but he cared little at that point. "Head to the village entrance; the other villagers are getting evacuated around to that area! GO!" They didn't need telling twice as the monsters chased him.

He found a young family as he continued, only to blanch as he saw the mother throw herself into a monster's attack meant for the daughter. The daughter screamed for her and Chazon quickly dispatched all of the monsters that were tormenting the three with Chaos Spear; a flurry attack that worked wonders on groups of enemies. He found he was too late for the mother, but told the father to carry her body with them to the evacuation point for a proper burial later. I was too slow… but I can't dwell. She knew what she wanted to do and I want to respect that… I'll be sure to pray for her afterwards.

At one point Chazon saved another small group from Inter-Dimensional Bees with Chaos Spear. "Get to the evacuation point now!"

"Chazon-sama!" Chazon saw Merlay was part of the group he just saved. "Thank you! I never expected to be in the middle of the wave like this!"

"I'm glad you're alright, but you'd better fall back. There's many people at the evac point and your healing spells will be a boon to them!" She nodded at that and left with the other villagers.

At one point, he saved another group of villagers, only for a giant zombie to try and crush them. Chazon equipped his Stone Golem Spear and blocked the strike with the shaft guard. "GO! This pile of rotting flesh needs to learn a lesson in civility!"

"T-thank you, sir Spear Hero! You and the Shield Hero both!" They quickly ran off as Chazon forced the Giant Zombie's attack away.

"Now you guys are seeing how great of a hero Naofumi really is." Chazon chuckled before refocusing on his target and changing to his Golem Core Partisan for agility. He struck the armor on it and got deflected, but the damage to its HP was apparent. "Time to try out a skill I got so long ago; Needle Thrust!"

The skill allowed his thrust to pierce the armor and skewer the Zombie's heart, effectively killing it. He quickly moved on from that, trying to save as many people as he could until he heard a bell ringing in the distance and saw Naofumi perched on the bell tower. What is he doing?

The tower burst into flames and fell over, destroying most of the monsters that had been attracted to it by the bell. Chazon winced as Naofumi had a rough landing, but chose to keep circling; He was almost done.

After confirming that everyone was safely off his path, he ran as fast as he could to where he last saw Naofumi land. Raphtalia had apparently rejoined Naofumi and had helped kill an Inter-Dimensional Giant Zombie, but a second one forced them into an awkward position. "Time for more skills. Air Strike Javelin!"

The partisan embedded itself into the side of the Zombie's face and stopped it in its tracks, allowing Rino to show up and finish it off with a flurry of attacks. Chazon was notified that he reached level 22 while Rino was level 21. "Naofumi-sama! Raphtalia-chan! Are you two okay?"

Raphtalia wagged her tail at seeing their allies, ignoring that she leveled up to level 22. "We're fine thanks to you two, Rino-chan. How's the evacuation going, Chazon-sama?"

"I think I've saved everyone I can. Shall we join back up and keep the monster's numbers down?"

Naofumi nodded before turning to the nearby group of villagers. "We'll hold them off from here. Finish evacuating!" The villagers agreed and left with their injured.

The four of them regrouped as they stared down the large groups of Inter-Dimensional enemies in front of them. Chazon simply smiled. "We just need to keep this rabble away from them. Hopefully the other two heroes are almost done killing the boss."

Rino gripped her dual blades with confidence. "We can do this. I know we can!"

Naofumi was about to say something when everyone heard some noises. They all saw fireballs being launched into the sky, which converged and exploded into a fiery rain. "EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!" He grabbed Raphtalia and had his Ultralight Metal Shield cover the two in a blue light while Chazon grabbed Rino and switched to his Stone Golem Spear, holding it overhead while covering as much of Rino's body as possible.

The fire exploded all around them, with some explosions landing near Chazon and burning him, though he bared with the pain. Once it stopped, both girls looked at the destruction around them; the monsters were destroyed, but the buildings fared even worse.

A laugh rang out over the roaring flames. "We burned them all at once. Cleaning this mess should be a breeze." The knight commander noticed Naofumi, but not Chazon. "Oh? The Shield Hero was here? You're a lot tougher than you seem."

Chazon barely got up and checked to see if Rino was okay, with her trying to heal him with HP potions. Naofumi grunted in irritation. "They didn't even care that we were here… even though there were four of us?!"

Chazon saw red for the briefest of moments… for the first time in a very long while. You worthless capital pieces of-

His thought process was cut off when Raphtalia tried to attack the commander, only to get blocked by another knight. "Did you do this knowing we were here?! Depending on your answer, I'll have your head!"

The other knights drew their sword as she back-stepped. "Are you with the shield hero?"

"I am Naofumi-sama's sword! That's all the verification I need!"

"You think you can point your sword at royal knights, you damned demi-human?" The commander almost sounded insulted if he wasn't being so smug about it.

"I don't think you worthless maggots have any room to speak to her." A chill ran down everyone's spines as they heard a voice laced with cold venom. Turning to the source, it was Chazon who said it. While his face bore a frustrated look, Raphtalia saw his eyes as he walked by which changed her face from fury to worry.

Gone were the eyes filled with kindness that she loved seeing from him. Now they were full of deep, cold hate.

He stopped before the commander, who started stuttering. "A-ah, sir Spear Hero! F-fancy seeing you-"

He got cut off when he got lifted by the neck and slammed into a nearby wall, prompting cries of surprise from Rino and the knights. "Funny, and here I thought you royal knights were supposed to be protecting civilians. I didn't know causing more damage to the area than the monsters ever did was part of the job description. I didn't know that harming my party members was part of your duties!"

"I-I-I'm sorry! I genuinely didn't know!" Between getting neck-lifted, getting slammed into the wall, hearing the Spear Hero's ice-cold voice, and seeing his face caused the commander to wet his pants.

Chazon dropped the commander with a hint of boredom on his face as he rejoined Naofumi. "I'll take your word for it… but you'd better make yourself useful for the duration of this wave. Or do I have to inform the king that you haphazardly ordered your knights to rain fire down on potential civilians?"

The commander shakily got up, only to note that the two heroes were standing side-by-side. "Spear Hero, I believe the king ordered you not to associate yourself with the Shield Hero! If you continue to do so, then I'm afraid your threat won't hold water."

Naofumi decided to answer for Chazon, not wanting his friend to be any more hateful than he already has. "I guess we have no choice. I suppose we'll just watch as you morons become monster feed." He flashes a savage grin which amused Chazon in that situation. "That doesn't sound too bad!"

During that whole ordeal, an Inter-Dimensional Giant Zombie and a whole group of its cohorts had somehow snuck up on the group of knights and were preparing to smash the commander. Naofumi managed to block the strike while Chazon quickly followed up with a strike of his own. "If you idiots are done gawking, get into formation while we buy you time. Raphtalia! Rino! On us!"

What happened next would later be described by the onlooking knights as a battle dance between 2 pairs of 4 party members. Naofumi was on point with blocking a lot of hard-to-dodge strikes from the Giant Zombies while working perfectly in sync with Raphtalia. Chazon was constantly spear-switching between defensive and offensive spears and covering where he could and Rino had turned into a flurry of blades that turned any nearby bee or normal-sized zombie into sliced ham while occasionally firing off a light spell.

The commander ordered the knights to leave the Shield and Spear Heroes to deal with that batch of monsters and that they're joining the other two. The captain had thought otherwise. "Assist the Shield and Spear Heroes! Phalanx formation!" The order was well received among the younger knights and they complied while the commander scoffed and continued on his way. Chazon managed to tell them that they had redeemed themselves in his eyes.

At some point, the pairings had changed. Raphtalia and Rino had become their own storm of blades, with high agility stats unimpeded by armor thanks to them being made of Ultralight Metal; their synchronization, while not on par with the one between Naofumi and Raphtalia, made for its own force of nature. Raphtalia even properly covered Rino whenever she used Faust Light Bolt to make quick work of a few zombies, since they were extremely weak to light magic.

But the other pair showed why the Spear and Shield Heroes were such a deadly duo; with Chazon fully dedicated to attacking with his Golem Core Partisan and Naofumi on point with blocks and call-outs, nothing could get past them. Even the girls had stopped at one point to look on in amazement. The stories had always shown what happens when the spear and the shield were at odds with each other.

They never had properly shown what happens if they cease to oppose each other. Both heroes had savage smiles of their faces, as if they knew nothing could stop them.

It had gone well… until a roar shook the very heavens themselves. Everyone had stopped to see what made it, no longer worried about any enemies nearby.

A giant white bear-like entity had landed and started prowling towards where the villagers had evacuated, very clearly seeking blood. It had two pairs of wings and a halo-like object over its back, giving it an almost angelic appearance… if the bear proper wasn't so savage and feral looking. Chazon grimaced at the appearance. Bears… why is it always bears...

Naofumi noted it's path. "It's after the villagers! We need to kill it!"

Rino looked on in horror. "Is this… the boss of the wave?! I thought the other two heroes had it covered!"

The knight captain shook his head. "There must be two, if my information on the other boss being a Chimera is accurate. But even so, it must fall for the wave to end!"

As the whole group rushed towards the boss, a haunting melody started playing in everyone's ears, including the heroes who were fighting the Chimera in the distance. The bear noticed them and let out a savage roar as the melody reached a crescendo and Chazon finally recognized it.

The road that we walk

Is lost in the flood

Here proud angels bathe in

Their wages of blood

At this, the world's end, do we cast off tomorrow

The road that we walk

Is lost in the flood

Here proud angels bathe in

Their wages of blood

At this, the world's end, do we cast off tomorrow

"Insatiable..." Chazon shook his head as everyone looked at him. "We can't stop. We can never stop!" He charged forward with Naofumi as they targeted the boss:

Inter-Dimensional Heavensward Mauler

Level ?

Naofumi stopped and looked at the group of knights. "This thing is out of your league. Fall back and protect the villagers!" They nodded and took off as the whole party focused on the Mauler and charged it once again.

It swiped at the group, scattering them like leaves on the wind but Chazon was able to recover first. "High Jump!" He leaped onto the monster's back with a downward thrust and clung on, causing it to get distracted. "Raphtalia! Rino! Attack now! Fall back to Naofumi if things get too dicey!"

Both girls let out a battle cry as they jumped in, blades dancing as they tried to cut the Mauler down. Naofumi watched the movements closely as Chazon also did his best to damage the Mauler on its back, only to see the HP barely clocking any damage. Chazon was flung off the back and landed near the shield hero. "Barely any damage is getting through! Is its defensive stats too high?!"

Chazon noted that after one of Raphtalia's slashes, he thought the monster's fur glowed slightly. Switching to his Ultralight Metal Lance, he quickly dashed in and tried to impale the Mauler as it was distracted by Rino. His attack bounced as he noted the light effect. "Naofumi! This thing has a light-based barrier around it. Cover me for a minute!" Naofumi planted himself where Chazon set-up shop as he started chanting, "As Spear Hero, the source of thy power, I command thee. Decipher the laws of nature and strike my target with a bolt of shadows. Faust Shadow Bolt!"

A ball of darkness flew out from the magic circle in front of his hands and struck the bear. It roared in pain as the barrier shattered. Naofumi gave Chazon a flat look. "You learned how to use magic too?!"

"Less questions, more fighting! I'll tell you about it after this thing is dead!" Still, am I really so lucky as to keep getting boss weaknesses right before facing them? Even with my low magic stat, all I need to do is break its barrier and we can hurt it proper!

Sure enough, all three attackers started clocking better damage on the Heavensward Mauler. Naofumi was always able to tell where the monster was going to strike and either blocked the strikes outright, or used Air Strike Shield to move party members out of harm's way while making the appropriate call-outs. As pairs, all combinations had good synchronization but it reached its peak when all 4 worked together at the same time.

Whenever the Mauler was able to hit someone or whenever it released a burst of light all around it that damaged everyone, Rino would cease attacking and place herself by Naofumi to cast, since chanting healed more than just firing them off. "As the source of thy power, I command thee. Decipher the laws of nature to heal my target. Faust Heal!" She had a few Mp potions left and made sure to use them when needed. Everyone is counting on me to keep them healed! WE CAN'T LOSE!

Raphtalia was darting around, sword glinting with the blood of the boss, while Rino was on the other side dicing away at its side. It kept going back and forth between the two until it focused on Rino and started inhaling. Chazon saw that and the color drained from his face. "RINO, GET AWAY FROM THE FRONT OF IT! IT'S GOING TO USE A BREATH ATTACK!"

Rino took the hint and darted out of the way in time for the breath of pure light to cover the area she once stood in. Everyone knew that attack was deadly just by looking at it.

After some time, the Mauler flashed and damage done suddenly dropped. Chazon made his way to Naofumi and started chanting, but the monster wised up and tried to interrupt it. Naofumi, with Raphtalia's help, was able to keep the claws away from Chazon long enough for him to cast Faust Shadow Bolt again and shatter the barrier.

After some time Chazon knew that, even with the barrier gone, the hide of the Mauler was too tough even for Raphtalia and his own attack stats to properly pierce. His Needle Thrust did provide some burst damage, but he knew that he'd run out of SP for it long before the boss would reach one-quarter HP left. "We need to soften that hide if we want to kill this thing soon!"

Naofumi looked at him as if to say 'no shit, Sherlock' before saying, "Any bright ideas? I'm running low on SP and Rino is running out of MP and potions for healing spells!"

Chazon sighed. He didn't have enough SP for an Air Strike Javelin, so he knew he had to make due with High Jump. "I'm about to do something very reckless. Girls! Fall back and cover your ears!" He leaped onto the Mauler's back as the duo retreated to Naofumi.

The Mauler once again tried to get him off, only for him to switch to his Stone Golem Spear for his most powerful skill; one he saved as a last resort. He drove the spear as deeply as he could into the boss' flesh before screaming, "SPEAR DRIVE!"

The effect was instantaneous. A chunk of the mauler's flesh was blown off its back and it dropped from one-third to one-quarter HP left. Chazon went flying due to the recoil and slammed into a wall, unable to move because of the shakes and the pain of the impact. The boss roared at him and tried to attack him with Rino screaming, "CHAZON-KUN!"

"Shield Prison!" Chazon got surrounded by a ball of shields kept together by chains right before the hit struck, causing the ball to go flying with Chazon inside. "He'll live. Focus your attacks on where his skill opened that wound!"

Rino, enraged by the fact that the boss tried to kill her hero, and Raphtalia both let out one final battle cry as Raphtalia embedded the sword where the heart logically would be, but couldn't force it through by herself. Rino used all of her strength to land on the sword's hilt and impale it through the heart, almost instantly killing the boss.

The Heavensward Mauler let out one final roar before the halo vanished and it fell over in a slump, the music fading away with its final breath. Because of that, everyone gained at least two levels. Naofumi looked at the corpse. "Is it finally over?"

"Chazon-kun!" Rino ran over to where the Shield Prison ball landed and saw Chazon was still shaken, but otherwise fine. She hugged him tearfully. "Please… don't scare me like that!"

He patted her on the head. "I never meant to sacrifice myself there. I just got unlucky with where I flew." looking at Naofumi as he approached, he gave a thumbs up. "Looks like you saved my skin once again."

"You helped end that fight a lot sooner. I'll take that as payment for saving your life." Naofumi stated flatly, though there was a small smile on his face.

"Naofumi-sama! Chazon-sama! Rino-chan! The sky!" Raphtalia got their attention.

Sure enough, the red sky faded away back to an evening sky and the portals closed, allowing sunlight to reach through.

The wave was over.

The sun was beginning to set on the day as Naofumi looked over the scene. The villagers had slowly trickled back into what was left of their home, with some having buried their fallen friends and family. Chazon was off praying with one particular family and offering words of comfort to the daughter and father to help cope with the loss of the mother. Damn it… If only… if only we got here sooner…

"Naofumi-sama…" Raphtalia and Rino had just gotten back from their monster subjugation mission to prevent leftover monsters from threatening the village. Raphtalia had a distant look on her face while Rino held her hand in concern. "Did we… win…?"

Naofumi looked at her, knowing full well what was going through her head; the exact same thought as him. "We did…"

"... I see…" Raphtalia started crying a bit as Naofumi patted her on the head. "If only… we had been faster…"

"Let's not think like that." Everyone looked at Chazon in surprise, who had finished comforting the family. He looked over the village. "Everyone here had someone they wanted to protect. To think that we could have saved them if anything else was different would besmirch their sacrifice; their decision to let their friends and families see the dawn of a new day in their stead." Chazon looked back at the trio and nodded. "We are not perfect. We did what we could... and that's all anyone could ask of us."

Naofumi looked at Chazon with wide eyes. Chazon… you… you really did think it through…

Raphtalia sniffled a bit before drying her face and nodding. "You're… right."

"Sir Shield Hero… sir Spear Hero." Both heroes looked at the town elder, who was bowing to them. "I must extend my eternal gratitude to the both of you. We couldn't have made it without either of you here."

Naofumi looked surprised, but closed his eyes. "Thank your lucky stars, not me…"

All of the villagers listed off why they had saved them. Naofumi was about to turn away, only to be stopped by a pat on the shoulder and a smile from Chazon. When did you become so strong?

Chazon approached the elder. "Could I ask you to gather everyone willing to listen? I'd like to address the people of Lute." The elder looked surprised, but complied, with the other villagers leaving to help.

Rino looked at Chazon with a puzzled look. "Chazon-kun, what is it you're going to say?"

"Something I'm probably going to hate myself for in the morning, but right now, I feel like it needs to be said." Chazon inhaled and exhaled deeply. I never liked doing presentations in high school, but here I am about to do something past me would hate.

After everyone was gathered, Chazon stepped in front of everyone and raised his hand for silence. "People of Lute village, I know you are still recovering from today's ordeal, but I wish to say some things to you."

Mentally bracing himself he continues, "we have lost some great people today, people who will be missed dearly. However, while we will grieve for them now, what I want you all to remember is what they sacrificed their lives for. They had wished for their loved ones to see the dawn of a new day in their stead and entrusted the future of this village to all of you." The villagers murmured at that while Chazon continued, "they would not want us to grieve them forever. They would want us to look to a brighter future with clear eyes and a determined heart. Honor their sacrifices by making this village how it was!"

"But… the village has been completely destroyed… for all we know, this place exists no more…" More murmurs came from the crowd as some started to agree with the one that spoke.

"Then we shall build a better one on top of it!" Came Chazon's reply, full of certainty and with a rising voice. "We shall make this place a symbol of hope; that the waves can be pushed back. That we can and ever will stand against the tides of darkness that threaten to consume our world- our homes!" He puts his hand over his heart. "Everyone, I once again ask that we honor the sacrifices of those we lost today and work towards a brighter future where nobody has to die needlessly. That this village will become the beacon of hope the entire kingdom will look to for inspiration." Chazon closes his eyes, before they snap open. "For those we have lost… FOR THOSE WE CAN YET SAVE!"

He raised his fist at those last words and the entire village erupted into cheers, hope and inspiration in their voices. He could even hear the little girl he had comforted earlier saying how much she wanted to help rebuild in her mother's name. He gave them a respectful bow before walking back to his party.

Naofumi gave Chazon a knowing smirk. "You know, all you're doing is giving me more ammunition to use on you the next time you call yourself "the most useless hero". I certainly could never do something like that."

"It's odd… for the first time in the longest while, I feel full of confidence. That's why I made that speech. I wanted to share that confidence with the people of Lute so that they could be inspired. After all, there's more to being a hero than just killing monsters."

Raphtalia stood there, starstruck. Chazon had said words similar to what Naofumi had told her in the cave when they were fighting the two-headed dog in the mines of Lute. Not only that, but the amount of inspiration to keep pushing forward that came from him left her speechless, much to Naofumi's amusement.

"Chazon-kun..." He looked over and recoiled a bit at how many stars were in Rino's eyes as she looked at him. "You were so AMAZING! You really are a true hero!" Chazon rubbed the back of his head with a heavy blush on his face, which got a giggle out of the red-head.

"I must say, I haven't heard a speech like that for a long time, Chazon-sama." Everyone looked to see the knight captain addressing them, with his entourage of younger knights who were more inspired than ever before. "Your observation from before is very correct. The main strength a hero has is the power to inspire others and you have accomplished that today in spades." He bows in respect. "Now… I know Naofumi-sama holds no fondness for our king, but his majesty is holding a banquet tomorrow night to celebrate the completion of the wave. If you wish to join, please do so; you'll get your rewards for clearing the wave the next morning." With that, the platoon took their leave.

Naofumi grimaced. "I really don't want to go anywhere near Bitch and Trash, but that money would be a boon to our finances." He looked at Chazon. "What do you think?"

Chazon sighed at that before looking at the girls. Raphtalia wasn't willing to go either while Rino simply shrugged. "Might as well see what kind of monetary reward we get at the very least. If it proves too troublesome, we'll know for future reference." He got a round of nods at that.

Both Chazon and Naofumi decided to go around and start absorbing monster materials for new unlocks. Raphtalia and Rino had managed to bring back Chimera parts from the boss the other heroes killed to unlock all of its respective weapons, but there was only enough for each hero to have two.

Naofumi immediately wanted the viper parts, while Chazon wanted the lion parts. For the other two heads, they decided to just flip a silver to decide who gets what and Chazon got the dragon head while Naofumi got the goat head.

Chimera Lion Halberd

Equip bonus: ATK bonus (medium), AGI bonus (medium), Fire resistance bonus (low)

Special effect: ATK up (low), AGI up (low)

An alternative to my Golem Core Partisan, huh? Not as much agility or attack, but no defensive penalties.

Chimera Dragon Spear

Equip bonus: ATK bonus (low), MAG bonus (medium), MDEF bonus (medium), Fire resistance bonus (small), 'Fire Spear' (Level 25 required)

Special effect: MAG up (medium), MDEF up (medium), AGI penalty (high)

The Chimera Dragon Spear was interesting to Chazon in that it was his first dedicated magic caster spear. He noted the level requirement for Fire Spear and realized that he was level 24 now. I wonder how close I am to the next level. He went into his status magic. "TWO?!" That got the attention of everyone around him including Naofumi. "TWO EXPERIENCE POINTS TO THE NEXT LEVEL?! REALLY?!" Chazon's exasperation gave away to genuine laughter as he facepalmed.

Naofumi couldn't stop a smirk from forming on his face. "Sorry Chazon, but I don't envy you one bit."

"Oh come on, Naofumi! Don't act like this has never happened to you before!" Chazon tried to be accusing, but it failed horribly because he was still laughing too hard. Naofumi started letting out the first genuine laugh he's done in a long time at that as well; it really was funny in the grand scheme of things.

Raphtalia heard Naofumi's laugh and started wagging her tail in happiness. Chazon-sama… thank you for being who you are.

After recovering from their laughing fit at Chazon's luck, they continued absorbing monster parts while saving the Heavensward Mauler for last. Chazon noted one of the spears that he unlocked:

Inter-Dimensional Bee Wing Javelin

Equip bonus: AGI bonus (low), 'Air Dash'

He tried out the Air Dash but nothing happened when his feet were planted on the ground. He jumped then used it and he did a midair dash forward, much to Naofumi's surprise. My inner Insect Glave user is rejoicing at this very moment. Turns out it was not only usable in tandem with High Jump, but he could manipulate his trajectory and even use it to dash straight down, making airborne downward thrust attacks even more potent. It had no cool-down and an almost negligible SP cost, so he could dash around in the air for almost as long as he wanted.

The other monster parts didn't unlock anything spectacular, so the two heroes got to work on the Mauler Corpse. Like the Chimera parts before it, the weapons it unlocked did not disappoint.

Heavensward Mauler Fur Spear

Equip bonus: DEF bonus (medium), MDEF bonus (medium), Light resistance bonus (medium)

I think this is the first spear that I unlocked that ONLY gives defensive boosts, unless I'm having a blond moment.

Heavensward Mauler Feather Javelin

Equip bonus: MAG bonus (medium), DEF bonus (low), MDEF bonus (low)

Special effect: MAG up (low), Fall damage mitigation (medium), 'Heaven's Piercer' (Level 30 required)

The Feather Javelin became his new go-to throwing weapon thanks to that skill even though he was still technically 5 levels away. The magic bonus wasn't unwelcome either, but the piece de resistance was the next one:

Heavensward Mauler Claw Glave

Equip bonus: ATK bonus (medium), MAG bonus (medium), 'Light Spear' (Level 30 required)

Special effect: MAG up (low), Slashing bonus (high), Thrusting penalty (high)

I'm getting a headache from trying to keep tabs on all of my weapons. I should ask Naofumi how he does it… though he is a lot smarter than me, so that might extend to better micromanagement.

"By the way, Chazon. I've been meaning to ask something." Naofumi had a thoughtful frown on his face. "When that song we started to hear when that boss showed up reached a certain point, you said "Insatiable" or something. What the heck did you mean by that?"

Chazon let out a sigh at that. "Because that was the name of the song that played… I never thought it would find a way to follow me into this world."

Raphtalia thought for a second before shuddering. "The lyrics said… "The road that we walk is lost in the flood". That… almost sounds like the waves and the "flood of destruction" that follows in their wake…"

Rino nodded at that. "And the next part, "here proud angels bathe in their wages of blood" could reference the monsters the wave brings even though all but one were as far from angels as you could get."

Naofumi's frown deepened and crossed his arms. "That last part is what concerns me the most. "At this, the world's end, do we cast off tomorrow",as if the singer is aware of the waves being the potential end of the world and wondering if we should just accept our fate. If so, then screw our fate! We'll fight until the bitter end!"

The girls agreed with Naofumi while Chazon sighed, knowing the actual meanings behind the lyrics. Even so, he couldn't deny what the other three were saying; if anything they were astute observations on their parts.

With any remaining wave monsters routed, Chazon joined Rino in helping the villagers out. Many of them regarded him highly alongside Naofumi, much to his embarrassment. This is Lerno Village all over again… Looking to the slowly darkening sky, he wondered how things would go forward from here. And… why do I sense a storm on the horizon...