Reviews:
Shadow55: Your wish is my command.
D3lph0xL0v3r: Thank you! I'm very glad you've been enjoying my story. To answer your question, Naofumi fed them all the same way canon did, by making a lot of soup :)
speedy24: Yeah, Fitoria can be really frustrating at times, but I can understand why. Its been a couple centuries (I think) since she spent any sort of meaningful time with someone like her Shield Hero. Spending that much time completely alone really makes a lot of stuff just seem pointless or dull.
SomeCallMeDrunk: Itsuki will have to do a WHOLE LOTTA work to even start to make up for everything he's done so far. And he will remember Naofumi's words for a long time to come. Also, the main event is here. I put way too much time into this, so I really hope you like it, my man :)
Akin2018: Thanks, I try.
Argenthem: I'm really proud of some of those jokes. My personal favorite is mushroom roulette in chapter 2.
D3lpho0xL0v3r: Hope you enjoyed the side story, I wanted to give Elina a little more screen time before this chapter.
SocietyEnder: Please do not end society just yet, I need to finish this fic's story before that happens.
Azure Star Dragon: You, my good man, have just given me a wonderful Side Story to write.
JtBlackhawk3198: If Naofumi ever does unlock the curse series, it won't effect him too much mentally. He'll still act a little different after unlocking it but that's more due to the reason why its unlocked rather than the shield itself affecting him too greatly.
A Shield's Stand
Chapter 20: The Culmination of Our Efforts (Part One)
It was a regular day for Leono. He woke up early, donned his armor and weapon and started to patrol the Castle Town border walls. There hadn't been any exciting news for a while, especially with most of their forces searching for the Shield Hero. He never really was one to buy too much into the Church's teachings, especially since the Shield Hero was doing more than any of the other three to actually help the people and the country. But if anyone asked, he wasn't the one who said that. He'd rather avoid persecution by the church, thank you very much.
Wandering along the wall, for an hour, looking along the same trees as always gets boring very quickly. Though one thing made Leono stop in his place. He turned and squinted at a weirdly colored dot that appeared at the edge of the forest. It was a person. Leono raised his brows and shrugged. It was a little strange to see someone come from a non designated path but it wasn't uncommon. But then another person exited… and another… and another. Leono's jaw dropped and his eyes widened as the crowd of people only continued to grow in size.
Hundreds of people flowed out from the forest and out onto the plains that served as Castle Town's beginner area. Leono stepped back in utter shock. The number of people flew into the thousands and only kept rising, and with his eyesight, it was more than obvious that this wasn't a regular visit to the capital.
Leono rushed to the closest siren bell, ringing it with all his strength. The siren bells lining the border walls rang one after another, bringing the whole city to attention. Knights flowed over to him, all of them sharing his shock at the enemy they were now facing. The captain came up to Leono.
Leono sputtered, "C-captain, we don't have the forces to stand up to their numbers! What do we do?!"
Resigned, the captain sighed and looked out to the crowd, "We uphold our duty and fight till the end."
The thought of battle brought out different feelings in different people. It was just one of those things that did so. For some it brought about a feeling of anticipation or excitement, eager to experience the rush that came with a good fight. For others it brought trepidation, fear, or anxiety, their fear of pain crushing any form of resolve they may hold. No matter what feelings it drew, battle always drew something from the people it involved.
For Naofumi? All he felt was a dulled sense of regret.
Regret that this battle couldn't be avoided. Regret that all of his efforts couldn't stop the pain and anguish this battle would cause. Regret that he had to involve his loved ones in his own mess.
So when Naofumi stepped up to the makeshift stand they had thrown together for him, looking over thousands of faces, ready to fight for his cause, he spoke without his usual upbeat kind tone. The crowd before him quieted instantly. His voice was calm, his tone was level, and his words were heard.
"The waves have ravaged your villages, destroyed your homes, and taken your loved ones. You all have experienced so much pain and despair and yet your King and Church have done nothing to save you." The crowd was hanging on to his every word, "To you all, this may have expected, it may have been normal. But to me… it is a sign of a King and a Church that do not care. They do not care that you were suffering loss, they do not care that you needed saving. While you all needed help, the King and the Church began a manhunt to stop the one group of people who did. But I say no more! No more should we listen to those who decide a petty grudge is more important! No more should we listen to those who think themselves beyond consequences! No more should we live under their tyrannical rule! It is time we take back our lives! It is time we take back Melromarc! It is time we fight the waves!"
They came here with a purpose, it was time they fulfilled it. The crowd let out a cry at the conclusion of his speech. Each and every person ready to fight for their kingdom, to fight with their hero.
Naofumi watched over the crowd's enthusiasm. He ushered them to settle down with his arms, "I know you all are angry, but please, let me ask for one thing." The crowd looked among one another in confusion as he bowed down to them, "The knights are not your enemy. They are your husbands, your brothers, and your sons and I do not want to tear apart any more families. So please, when we fight them, do not kill them, save them."
A hand fell on his shoulder, jolting him in surprise. Naofumi looked over to the hand and saw Melty's warm smile. 'I'll take it from here' she mouthed out to Naofumi. He gave her a relieved sigh and stepped back, granting her the attention of the crowd.
"The Shield Hero speaks the truth! Our enemy is not the knights, our enemies are the waves and those who refuse to fight them. I understand many of you may not-"
Naofumi stopped listening to Melty's speech, instead choosing to step down from the stand and head towards his party. Naofumi sank into Silver's metallic feathers, groaning from the stress.
"Not the best speech I've heard, but with the support you've got, Shieldy, you could say something stupid and they'd still cheer for you," Elina snarked.
Rifana giggled and Raphtalia sighed in exasperation
Taking a deep breath, Naofumi pulled himself from Silver's soft body and met the eyes of the warriors before him. Naofumi looked towards Ren, who nodded in response.
"I spoke with Erhard and with the Mayor of Lute. They've done their best to get everyone out of the city as quietly as possible, but there are still a lot of civilians inside. But if the siren bells are any indication, they will all be hiding inside their homes while the knights fight for them," Ren informed the group.
"How many knights are we dealing with? We might have numbers on our side, but their levels are going to be far higher than any of the villagers we've gathered," Raphtalia asks.
Riza spoke up, "The mayor guy said it was around five hundred, so really there aren't that many guarding right now." The red dragon girl looked proud, as if listening to basic information is something to be proud of.
"So we outnumber them almost ten to one. I don't think we'll have to worry about losing the battle, but there's enough of them to cause some serious casualties if we're not careful," Raphtalia responded worriedly.
Elina nodded solemnly, "We should have the more experienced ones lead the charge, they'll give us the most time to breach the castle with the smallest amount of injuries. Anyone with magic should be right behind them and spread throughout the middle. Support is going to be critical for everyone."
Naofumi spoke up, "What I'm worried about is outside reinforcements. We might outnumber them now, but they've already called for reinforcements." The villagers would not be able to maneuver and overcome a wide scale pincer attack. That meant they were on a very strict time limit.
Ren smirked, "I don't think we'll have to worry about that all too much. I've got a nice little weapon up my sleeve. Anything they try to ambush us with, it can handle without a doubt."
"I don't like it when you're vague," Silver pouted.
"Ah, shut it, chicken wings!" Riza shouted.
"Stupid lizard!" Silver shot back.
"Now is not the time for this!" Raphtalia scolded the two, "We need to focus on breaking through the castle, so take whatever stupid rivalries you have going on and ignore them, got it?"
The two transforming mounts stiffened at her words and her sickly sweet smile that promised punishment, "Yes, ma'am!" They squeaked out.
"-the fight to save the world! Do not forget our cause!" Melty's speech wrapped up. She spared a look towards the two heroes and the five party members with them, asking the silent question. Ren and Naofumi nodded, their expressions set in silent determination. "The strongest of you all, lead the charge! Any with magic, follow closely behind them, we'll need all the firepower we can get! Now, with that having been said," Melty said as she brushed down her dress, before turning around and pointing towards the capital,
"Charge!"
Naofumi, Ren, Riza, Raphtalia, Rifana, Silver, and Elina lead the charge. Their extreme speed and power making them the perfect wall breakers to let the rest of their forces into the city. They approached the front gate at incredible speeds, and Elina, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Rifana dismounted from Silver. The silver filolial quickly turned completely metallic, losing none of her speed and turning herself into a breathing wrecking ball. The arrows and magic attacks brushed off Silver as the metal beast crashed into the gate, tearing it to pieces and causing significant damage to the surrounding walls.
"Silver, Riza, Elina! We need to open as much space as we can for the villagers! Tear down the front wall but avoid any damage to the houses!"
"Right!/Tch!/You didn't need to even ask!" The three named woman responded.
Elina used Bloody Sunday, cracks spreading from the war axe lodged in the ground, reaching out and under the wall, the soldiers atop the sections about to be pulverized fled from their stations, pulling farther back into the city. Riza charged forward, Ren riding atop her as she used her thick scales and skin to headbutt the wall, Ren slashing at the compact stone, leaving deep gouges and cracks within the stone. Silver pulled back once more, lining herself up with the very damaged wall before throwing herself forward.
The wall stood little chance from the moving wrecking ball, its weakened foundations crumbling under the force of Silver's charge. The entire front gate of Castle Town was destroyed and the villagers were beginning to catch up to the much faster seven party members.
The first battalion of soldiers planted themselves along the main street of the city, the rest of the city's soldiers spreading themselves out to meet the insane amount of enemies they would have to face.
"Raphtalia, Rifana! Breakthrough formation!" Naofumi called out, the two women taking point behind the Shielder as he rushed forward to meet the squad of knights.
The three charged the squad, Wireframe materializing behind them and grabbing hold of all three. The knights seem surprised that the three weren't stopping their charged despite being only a few meters away. The leading knight swung his sword with a 'Hrah!' but the sword idly phased through all three. Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Rifana completely bypassed the group of knights, leaving their unprotected backsides exposed. Raphtalia and Rifana utilized their opportunity, striking at the seven knights that tried to hold them back.
The knights crumpled under the weight of their blows, all of them knocked out or out of commission for the rest of the fight.
"You two ok?" Naofumi asked. They nodded. "Good, because the real fight starts now!"
The villagers had caught up to them, every person using the giant opening in the walls made by the hero's companions to flood the streets with cries of anger and battle. The knights did what they could, forming a decent barrier formation against the tide of enemies but there was only so much they could do. The villagers pushed against the knight's shields, their makeshift and low quality weapons scraping and denting the walls and armors of the knights.
Naofumi went to support where he could, taking out the largest groups he could or breaking up the biggest stalemates he found. Their plan was formed around overwhelming their defensive forces with their numbers. But that could only be achieved if the knights couldn't hold them back. The side streets and back alleys provided enough ways around the knights, making even the much higher level knights struggle under the power of their overwhelming pincer attacks. But there was only so much regular villagers could do against trained knights.
Wireframe materialized and grabbed Naofumi, hoisting him into the air. They rushed around the chaotic streets, looking for the very distinct members of his group. His first find was Ren and Riza, who were crashing through as many knights as they could before a swipe from Ren would take them out of the battle. Wireframe floated Naofumi down beside him, "Ren, take Riza and grab Melty. Bring her to the castle as fast as you can. We're going to need her to convince the King to stop all this." Ren shouted his approval, not taking his eyes off the enemy.
Naofumi jumped off, Wireframe taking him to his next target. Raphtalia and Rifana were together as usual, Raphtalia expertly dancing through the knights blades and striking back with her own while Rifana rushed forward with reckless abandon and unbelievable strength, chopping through her enemy's weapons and throwing them across the battlefield. Naofumi shoute down to them, their advanced hearing and sight ensuring they would get his message, "Raphtalia, Rifana, support the villagers wherever they need you and keep casualties to a minimum! Two streets over there's a big clash with the Knight Captain!" Raphtalia and Rifana nodded, finishing the last few knights in the area before darting off to take on the next group.
Their next find was Elina, though she was very easy to find, with her large size and her brightly colored hair. "Elina, I need you on the main road! The knights have retaken the shop district and are pushing them back, I need you to stop them!" Naofumi shouted as he and Wireframe landed on the large knight she was battling, holding him back and opening him up for Elina to crash her sheathed war axe into his face, knocking him out cold. Elina didn't respond, but her crashing steps in the direction of the main road was enough of an answer.
Finally, the two reached Silver, the filolial smiling at their appearance, "Silver, we need to get to the castle as soon as possible." He smiled at the mount, "You up for some bowling?"
Silver's smile instantly brightened, "Bowling? That's my favorite!" Silver bent forward, her back leg scratching at the ground signaling the start of her charge. She pushed off, her and Naofumi shooting from the ground and crashing through a small squad of knights, bowling them all over. The word 'strike' faded into the background.
Silver rode through the streets of Castle Town, most of the streets were caught up in the chaos but the rooftops were open space to run. Silver hopped up and ran along the roofs of the city, jumping over the gaps between the buildings, the castle slowly growing in size as they neared it.
Coming up to the grounds of a large skirmish, Raphtalia jumped in front of one of the knight's strikes, proficiently parrying the blade and counter attacking with a clean swipe at their armored body. The strike knocked the knight backward and the follow-up blow to the head was enough to knock them out.
Rifana sprang up beside her, eyeing the knights hungrily. She called back to the villagers that had been previously fighting the knights, "You guys can head somewhere else, we have these guys covered." The villagers mumbled amongst themselves before collectively backing away from the soon to be massacre.
While the support would be nice, Raphtalia had to agree with Rifana's words. Having the far weaker villagers here would only endanger them, especially if one of their attacks went astray or were knocked off course. "I don't want to hurt you, so please, lower your weapons!"
The head knight scoffed, "Please, you really believe you two demi-scum can overcome twenty royal knights? We might lose the city to that devil but I'll still skin you two to decorate my living room." The man sneered with a disgusting smile. Shadows sprang up from nowhere, the two demi-human's faces being covered up in darkness as their rage made itself known to the knights in the form of an overwhelmingly suffocating aura. Five knights wisely sheathed their weapons and went to their knees, their hands up in surrender. The head knight was apparently the only one not feeling the aura of the two incredibly dangerous women before him, "The hell are you doing? Get your weapons and fight for the king you dumbas-"
Two blows rang out, the unconscious body of the head knight flying into the wall of the nearest building, his outline cratering into it. The nineteen remaining knights gawked at the power displayed. And while they were staring, a small ball of light rolled into the crowd, only the kneeling knights noticing it and scrambling to get away from the familiar spell.
"As a companion of the Shield Hero, I order thee, show my enemies the depths of my anger, blind them just as their own hatred blinds them, Light Grenade."
The ball of light rapidly expanded, the blinding light encompassing all the standing knights, their cries of shock and pain ringing out as the searing light burned them all. The force of the spell knocked them all to the ground, Rifana quickly appearing and delivering a crushing blow to their heads, sending them to unconsciousness.
Rifana tsked, "Don't guys like that just make you want to pull your hair out, Raph?" She asked offhandedly.
Raphtalia brushed off her hair, "They really do, but I'm glad we're here to teach them that words can hurt. Quite a lot."
The five surrendering knights shivered in fear.
Elina stomped her way into the main street, all the smaller bodies bumping into her towering form and flowing around her. She looked over the sea of fighting, seeing a barricade of knights were ever so slowly pushing back against the tide of their forces, just like Shieldy had said. She sighed, none of these guys seemed like they would even pose a challenge to her, but she had a job to do. She raised her sheathed war axe over her head, commanding the people in front of her to move, who very quickly listened to the giant of a woman.
She swung her axe in a sweep, plowing through the line of smaller knights, completely disrupting the unity behind their barricade. Then, a large hand grasped her war axe and halted its war path. Elina looked up in anticipation, meeting a knight whose own size was comparable to her own.
"Now this'll be a good fight," she smiled.
The knight scowled, "You treat an insurrection against the king as a game? You really are nothing more than the minion of a devil."
Elina lost her smirk as she readied her war axe, "Yeah, yeah, shove all that religious crap up your own, bud. Shieldy isn't my demonic overlord, he's my family, and like hell I'm gonna let you walk all over him."
The knight scoffed, "Family? That devil cares for nothing but those disgusting demis. I'm truly surprised he willingly lets you follow his trail, you overgrown harpy."
Elina's smirk returned, promising a lot of pain behind it, "Please, for my sake, keep talking. I've really been wanting to let off some steam."
The knight readied his armored fists, taking up a boxing stance. He dashed toward Elina, far faster than someone his size should be able to, levying a right haymaker. Elina sidestepped the blow and tried to swing her war axe, but the knight closed the distance, getting up close for an attempted uppercut.
Elina stepped back and blocked the follow up straight with her handle. She huffed before tossing aside her war axe, bringing her own fists up. She hadn't fought without her war axe for a long time. Ever since she'd been gifted it from her old party, she hardly ever left the weapon from her body.
She stepped forward, her right fist flying forward, the armored blow crashing against the knight's guard. Another fist flew, once more hitting the knight's raised gauntlets. Elina stepped forward, the knight stepped backward. More and more fists struck the knight, slowly whittling the knight's defences down. A blow to the ribs, a strike to the shoulder, a kick to the shin. He couldn't block everything, yet he couldn't find an opportunity to counter without a direct blow to the face.
Then, Elina did something the knight simply couldn't believe. She dropped her fists, grabbed the knight's own gauntlets in her hands, pulled them away and delivered the mother of all headbutts to the poor man's nose, a terrible crunch ringing out across the street followed by the knight's scream. Elina threw the knight's arms out, wrapped her own around his waist, turned the man around and threw all her weight back, picking up the man and suplexing him into the stone streets he had been defending prior. The knight was buried to his biceps in stone.
Elina raised to her feet, grabbed her war axe and spat on the armor of the knight. "You act all tough but you can't even handle a fair fist fight, what kind of fool are you?" Then she just stomped away towards the castle.
Approaching the castle, Silver jumped up, landing softly on one of the guest room balconies. Silver poofed back to her child form, standing behind her Daddy. The castle guard's had to have seen them make the jump, but they don't know much about where they landed, other than the floor. That gave them some time to cause some chaos.
"Alright Silver, we need to find a tall grumpy guy with gray hair wearing a crown, think you're up for it?"
Silver nodded resolutely. Naofumi chuckled before turning to the inside of the guest room. He opened the balcony door and stepped inside. As luck would have it, he was in his room from when he had initially stayed at the castle, oh how fate loves to toy with him.
Shaking off his thoughts, Naofumi rushed through the room, Silver following closely behind him. He opened the hallway door and peeked outside, he could hear the clamor of some guards to his right, so left it was. The two charged through the lavishly decorated halls, coming across a few guards and maids along their way. They knocked out the guards and respectfully silenced the maids. They weren't dressed for combat, so it would be unreasonable to do any worse to them.
Naofumi wasn't exactly sure of the castle's layout, but he knew how to get from his room to the throne room, and that was all he needed. The rest could be guesstimated. Suddenly a loud crash resounded through the stone halls, the cries of guards ringing out alongside them.
Silver sniffed the air, "The mean dragon lady got inside with Uncle Ren and Melty! Follow me, Daddy!"
'So Ren decided to say screw stealth and broke through the front doors?' Naofumi thought, 'Actually, that sounds like more of a Riza thing than Ren.' Naofumi sweatdropped.
Naofumi followed his Silver haired daughter, his skills providing them an excellent end to any pursuers they came across. Eventually, they crashed through a closed door, finding a panting Riza in her dragon form, Ren and Melty riding atop her, the two disgruntled or pale and shaking respectively.
Ren eyed them, dismounting from Riza and helping Melty down herself, "Perfect, we need to get to the King, any idea where he is?"
Melty spoke up, her voice shaky from the action, "H-He would be in the throne room. He has some weird obsession with his last stand being in his place of absolute authority."
Naofumi and Ren sweatdropped while the two mounts sent subtle glares between each other. Well that's convenient.
The five ran through the halls, swatting aside guards that feebly tried to stop them in their path. Eventually they reached the very same doors Naofumi had run out of. The last time he was here, he was crushed, crying at the thought of his betrayal. Now, he would enter them with confidence and a plan to save the whole damn country. Oh, how the world works.
They burst through the doors, entering the room with a commanding aura. At the head of the room sat the king, the old man glaring heatedly at the two heroes who had entered his throne room after causing such chaos to come to his city. The doors shut behind them and with a quick Airstrike Shield they were effectively locked to any who tried to enter. Taking a quick breath of relief that things could calm down at least a little, Naofumi turned to face the king. The man looked as if he had seen better days.
His face had more wrinkles than the last time he had seen him, his eyes had considerable bags beneath them and his skin looked much too pale to be considered healthy. His colorful clothing and robe painted him as a skeleton dressed in their final days.
"What business does the Accursed Shield and the traitorous Sword Hero have with the King of Melromarc?" The King spoke with a level voice, "I certainly doubt you are here to return my daughter, what with the forces you've brainwashed under your command. Have you come here to dethrone me? To destabilize the region and leave it as free picking for the demi-human beasts from Siltvelt to steal? Do tell, Shield Devil."
Naofumi looked between the group of five, nodding to Ren. No matter what Naofumi says, the King would never listen to a word that came from his mouth. Naofumi didn't know why, but he couldn't be the negotiator here.
Ren stepped forward and kneeled before the King, "King Aultcray, I come to you with an urgent message."
Deciding to play along with this face, the King speaks, "A message? Certainly seems like a large delivery for only a message."
"It may seem that way, but you must listen to my words, sir. The church has corrupted its followers, it has corrupted its heroes, and it plans to corrupt all of Melromarc. They have planned a coup on the royalty of Melromarc, planning to reinstate themselves as the leading figure of the country. I know you have already suspected them of this, but I bring with me evidence to my claims."
This seemed to reach Aultcray. Initially, he had unshakeable faith in his friend, Pope Balmus, and the church, but their repeated failures and Balmus's blatant manipulation of him had fractured those unbreakable foundations. On more than one occasion, he had wondered why Balmus would attempt to so blatantly control him before shaking it off, believing it to be the stress making his mind weary.
Ren continued, "Firstly, they have manipulated their three holy heroes against one another. One multiple occasions I have overheard them discussing replacing one or all of us in an attempt to more tightly control the heroes of legend. Further research on my part and on the part of the Queen confirms this as many of their personal records of their movements indicate treason against the heroes."
Using the Queen's authority was a gamble, as they really didn't have her own research, just theirs but if it could make their claims more legitimate, then they had to take it. It just left the risk of the King seeing through their claim.
"Secondly, in the event of Melty's kidnapping, it wasn't me nor my companion who acted against the other party. It was the knights, under the command of the church, who had attempted to murder Melty and discredit us."
Naofumi could see Aultcray's hands gripping the arms of his throne fiercely, his already pale skin whitening further under the stress.
"Thirdly, the legendary weapons replica has gone missing from the church's possession. Seeing as the only ones who could access the chamber it was stored in are members of the royal family and Pope Balmus himself, I believe it is clear that the church are the ones to have taken it without permission and plan to use it to forcefully overtake the royal family."
The King slammed his fists into the armrests of his chair as he stood up, pointing heatedly at the group standing before him, "I have had enough of your slander! You betray the good names of the Spear and Bow Heroes and take arms with the Shield Devil? You have brought an army to my doors and demand that I turn against my own allies at the threat of death?! You are no better than the devil himself! I will fight you to the bitter end if that is what it takes to defend my country and my people from you monsters! So come forward and slay me now, you demon in human skin!"
Melty looked shocked at her father's outburst. She had never known his hatred for the Shield Hero ran this deep for the King to ignore any and all evidence and side with the very people looking to destroy him. "Father please, you must listen to the Sword Hero's-"
"GOD DAMMIT!" Naofumi roared. He took his place at the front, whispering quietly to Melty, "I'm sorry, but I need to get through to him."
Melty looked up in confusion and shock, as the normally very kind and collected hero was very quickly losing his cool. Naofumi turned to her and grabbed her by her long hair, forcefully pulling her next to him and hoisting her up into the air, Melty crying out at the sudden pain. Ah, so that's why he was apologizing.
"Melty!" Aultcray cried out, "You unhand her right-"
"Shut up!" Naofumi's voice rang out, "If you really cared about her, then you would work with us instead of against us, you idiot!"
Aultcray's face blew up with unfathomable rage, "You dare question my love for my daughter?!"
Naofumi scoffed at the man, "The waves threaten your entire world and the heroes are your best defence against them, yet you continue to hinder our progress at every turn. What happens if we fail? The world ends. Your country is destroyed, your people slaughtered, and your family torn to bloody shreds. So, if you really don't want to work with us, then I guess I'll spare you the wait for her death at the hand of the waves."
Ren hesitantly followed the act, raising his sword to Melty's neck, keeping his face carefully neutral.
Aultcray stepped forward, his hands clenching frustratingly at his sides, his inability to act destroying his willpower. "You wouldn't!" The man was getting desperate.
"And why wouldn't I?" Naofumi shot back, "I am the Shield Devil after all!" Aultcray turned away, unable to meet his daughter's fearful gaze. Naofumi sighed, calming his tone down considerably, "King Aultcray, we do not want to hurt you or your family. We do not want to destroy Melromarc. We just want to fulfill our duty to this world and protect the people we care about. We can't do that without your support. For the sake of your family, fight with us."
Aultcray was silent, his scowl unchanging as he glared a hole through the floor. Naofumi, Ren, and Melty waited with bated breaths for his answer. The sounds of battle could be heard from beyond the castle walls. It seemed the people were beginning to reach the inner city, the knights falling under the unending tide of opponents. Aultcray walked to the window, looking out over the city, its streets filled with battle.
He sighed, bringing his hands over his face, "I know you weren't the one to burn down the capital. I know you didn't rape Malty. I know you aren't the Devil I want so badly to believe you are. I will not apologize for my actions… but for the sake of my people, and the sake of my family, I will work with you. If I find you have betrayed my trust, Shield… Hero, I will ensure you and every person in your party meets a fate worse than death. Do you hear me?"
Tired smiles came over their faces as Ren lowered his sword and Naofumi helped Melty to the floor and on her feet. Obviously they would have never even injured Melty, to do such a thing simply out of spite would accomplish less than nothing, but with the King's refusal to listen to reason, drastic measures had to be taken.
"Of course, King Aultcray," Naofumi held out a hand, "I'll make sure to surpass your expectations."
Aultcray recoiled slightly at the hand before reluctantly grabbing it with his own, shaking it and sealing their pact of honor.
Naofumi, Ren, and King Aultcray walked out of the throne room, the guards desperately trying to break through jumping back at the sudden exit. They quickly readied their weapons and made to attack but a single wave of a hand from Aultcray was enough to stop them instantly.
"The heroes are not our enemies. They have opened my eyes to the face of Melromarc's biggest threat and have asked for my aid in combating it. So, with my word as King, stand down." Aultcray commanded efficiently. The guards lowered their weapons after only a moment's delay. The group of six now rushed out to the castle's walkway where Aultcray looked out over the sea of faces, all of them ready to put his head on a pike should the Shield Hero call for it. He briefly wondered what the Shield Hero had done to earn such uncontested respect among the people.
With a little bit of magic to convey his voice for all to hear, he spoke, "Royal Knights of Melromarc, stand down!" Any remaining knights turned their attention briefly to the king before slowly lowering their weapons and pulling back from the tide of angry villagers. Aultcray spoke once more, now to the people he ruled over. The people he had failed, "People of Melromarc, stop the fighting! Beside me stands the Shield Hero and the Sword Hero. Prior to this day I had believed them to be our enemy, to be the ones we must save ourselves from, yet their actions today have shown me that they are not the ones who seek to destroy us for power! I ask you all, cease your attack on Castle Town, turn your anger to the Church! The Royal Knights of Melromarc and the parties of the Shield and Sword Heroes will support you in this fight against our conjoined enemy!" He paused for dramatic effect, "We fight with the Shield Hero!"
The crowd erupted into cheers, the cries of victory ringing across the entire capital. Naofumi let his body untense, his exhaustion from the stressful events making itself more than evident. Honestly, he couldn't believe it. His insane plan worked. They had managed to gain the king and his royal knights as an ally against the Church, all while displacing them from their main base of operations. If this wasn't a resounding success, he didn't know what was.
With the most stressful week of his second life over, Naofumi walked through the streets, regrouping with Elina, Raphtalia, and Rifana. Though the plan was an incredible success, there was no way to avoid death in a battle such as this. While the people under his command had listened to his words and held themselves to non lethal battles, the knights were under no such orders. People had died. Some of which he knew, most of which he didn't, and all of which had died under his orders. Rifana and Raphtalia, bless their souls, did their best to keep his mind off the thought of the people he had indirectly killed, and he appreciated it. More than they would ever know.
Even so, it would be hard to sleep for the coming weeks.
Though, for a battle of this size, the amount of deaths were incredibly low. It seemed the knights tried to refrain from killing as many as they could, with only a few abandoning such reservations and fully embracing the spirit of battle. But why were there only a few knights like that? With the Church's influence, there should have been far more knights the likes of which Elina, Raphtalia, and Rifana had battled… so where were they?
Come to think of it, where was the Church? Not a single member was found inside the cathedral but they shouldn't have known about the raid. Did they catch wind of the Mayor of Lute and Erhard's evacuation efforts? Or did they…
Silver jolted in place, her breathing growing rapid and panicked as she looked around before looking straight up.
"Silver? What's wrong?" Naofumi knew how good Silver's ability to sense danger was, as rare as it was that the girl actually used it, and if she sensed something, then something was coming. Something big.
"An attack! From above! It's big, Daddy! It'll destroy the whole town!" Silver shouted.
Every single pair of eyes widened in total shock. "'Destroy the town'? How the hell?!" Rifana cried out.
"Shit! They're casting Judgement!" Ren informed the group of just how screwed they were, "I didn't think they could cast it over such a huge area, they have to be using all the MP they have! What the hell do we do, Naofumi?!"
'Crap! What the hell do I do?! Wireframe can't grab every single person here and none of my skills can cover the entire town!' Naofumi tried to come up with something, anything that could help. 'The only thing I can do is... but there's no way in hell I can make it cover Castle Town!'
"Screw it! It's our only shot! Everyone! I need you to spread out and bring as many people here as you can, I need as much strength as I can get! We don't have any time to waste, so go! NOW! Rifana, I need you to stay here and start thinking of a poem to transfer life energy from as many as you can to me, got it?" Rifana was startled but nodded.
Without a moment of hesitation, the five others darted off in different directions, telling every person on their way to go to Naofumi. Meanwhile, Naofumi raised his eyes to the sky, glaring at the shining dot he could see in the sky. The damn Church was willing to waste the entire capital just to get rid of him. How Motoyasu could still side with them was a mystery.
Waiting around as a giant beam of death was headed your way wasn't what Naofumi would call relaxing. But even so, that was all he could do as he waited for more people to pile around him. Off to this side, Rifana had her eyes squeezed shut in concentration. Naofumi didn't want to put her under this much pressure, but the situation called for it. He clenched his fists, helplessly looking towards the sky. If this worked, he would probably be down for the next couple of days, but they would survive. Pretty good deal if you ask him.
The crowd surrounding them steadily grew, soon flooding the main street with people. Naofumi didn't know how many people he had left, or this plan would even work, but they would just have to give it a shot.
"Everybody!" Naofumi called out to the crowd, "The Church has begun their attack on the King and the country, right now there is an extremely powerful magic attack hurtling towards Castle Town, and I'm going to need your cooperation to try and avoid it!" This naturally caused some very worried murmurs and cries to spring throughout the crowd, it was expected but they couldn't afford to waste time right now. "My party member, Rifana, will use one of her abilities to transfer your strength to me so I can defend against it, but it will work far much more efficiently if you are willingly giving that power away. When you feel a tingling along your body and a little bit of numbness, do not fight it!"
He turned to Rifana and smiled, "You're up, Rifana. You got this."
Rifana rid her body of nerves and took a deep breath. I've Been A Fool materialized, a slit in her forehead appearing and opening to reveal the signature third yellow and red eye.
All Seeing Eye I ask you a favor,
Heed my command, overcome the strength of our slavers.
Before us are thousands of willing donors,
Take a portion of their life energy and transfer it over.
Their hands are skyward and their soul is open,
To dodge their attack, take what we need from now till then.
When you have taken what they are willing to give,
Transfer it all to the man on a warpath.
"TRANSFERENCE!"
The effects of the stand were made clear ever so slowly. The people gathered around them began to grow numb, some feeling as though their very souls were being sucked out. It worried them more than they could imagine, but they had trust in the Shield Hero, they would trust his plan. Slowly, the thousands of people gave their power to the Shield Hero, the one man with the power to save them all.
Naofumi felt it. He felt it all. It felt as if his very soul was being inflated with the sheer amount of energy being pumped into it. It hurt. SO. MUCH. One body was not meant to hold this much energy, but he was defying that rule for the sake of everyone else, and his theory was right. Naofumi could feel Wireframe gaining incredible power as more energy was transferred into him. The stand's form felt clearer, more defined, and much, much more powerful. Naofumi and Wireframe threw their hands to the ground of the street, activating Opacity on as much ground as they could.
Naofumi could feel the ground merge with his ability, the radius of the effect growing as more energy was pumped in. The buildings surrounding them was consumed by his stand's power, the buildings behind them, and then the streets beyond. With more power, his area of effect grew exponentially.
He felt each person come into his ability, Elina, Rifana, Raphtalia, Ren, Riza, Silver; their bodies becoming phasable. He felt his body strain under the weight, the pressure. Erhard's shop, the slaver merchant's circus tent, the castle, they all fell under his ability.
It wasn't enough. Struggling to open his eyes, Naofumi saw the people who had shared the very essence of their own souls with him collapsing to the ground, too weak to stand on their own. He couldn't take any more from any of them, they wouldn't be able to survive without it. It wasn't enough. Dozens of pairs of shoes were heard stepping through the street, avoiding the bodies littering the floor as they made their way to the Shield Hero. Naofumi, his body shaking under the sheer amount of energy it held, turned his head to see King Aultcray staring down at him.
He sighed, "I'll admit, I didn't expect the Church to launch an attack like this so quickly. If you have a plan, I suppose I can give you a piece of my soul, but I do want it back when this is over, do you hear me, Shield?" All Naofumi could manage was a strained nod, "Well, that will have to do."
King Aultcray thrust his hands forward, the knights behind him following actions, opening their souls up to the Shield Hero. The energy from so many powerful people burst into his body. His already straining soul was being pumped to the limit.
But it was enough. It was just enough.
Opacity reached the perimeter walls of Castle Town. The entire city was completely phased, now they just had to hold out under the strike of Judgement. It would hurt like hell, but they would survive, and that's all they needed right now. That was the one fatal flaw of Wireframe's ability, Opacity. It could phase through all manners of physical objects, but their energy could still affect anything phased. For example, if a fireball was launched at Naofumi, he could phase through the actual shot, but he would still feel the heat of the passing fireball, and be subsequently burned.
The spark in the sky fell with prejudice, targeting the capital, aiming to wipe it from the face of the world permanently. The unearthly glowing beam slammed into the city, drowning the city in a shower of gold blinding light. Everyone screamed in pain. The spell hitting them with its ridiculous levels of energy runoff.
"Just hold out! They can't beam us forever!" Ren called to Naofumi. The spell was burning him, but it was bearable, and he much preferred being a little burned to dying under a literal kamehameha.
The beam felt like it lasted forever, the burning and the strain of the life energy flowing through him subjecting Naofumi to an almost unbearable level of agony. But he couldn't stop. If he did, he, everyone else in the city, and his family would all die.
Naofumi slammed his hands to the ground with determination, burying them into the stone, "I WON'T LET YOU!" He roared.
The beam ended, the pain of a burning sensation fading away along with it. Rifana struggled to her feet, activating the second half of her poem with I've Been A Fool, transferring all the taken life energy back to its donors. The people around him climbed to their feet as Naofumi collapsed, his body wracked with pain.
Raphtalia, Rifana, Elina, and Silver rushed to him, Raphtalia looking for any injuries, Rifana and Silver worriedly asking him if he was okay, and Elina hoisting his limp body onto her back. They were about to rush back to the castle to rest before a slow, methodical clap rang out from behind them.
They turned around, coming face to face with the Pope himself, dressed in his usual white and golden flowing robes. He wore his infuriatingly smug smile as he looked down on the people gathered in the main street of Castle Town.
"Well done, Shield Devil," Balmus spoke condescendingly to them all, "Truly, you live up to your monstrous defences spoken of in the sacred texts. As much as I detest you, I must commend you for being able to withstand the combined faith of the entire Church of the Three Heroes, but your time on this world ends now. As a servant of god, I must reduce you to less than cinders, with your disgusting party members and the traitor Hero following behind you."
Raphtalia, Rifana, and Silver formed a wall between Pope Balmus and Elina and Naofumi. Naofumi climbed down from Elina's back and calmly brushed past their wall, ignoring the searing pain in his entire body and staring the Pope down defiantly. He raised his shield and stayed silent.
Scowling at the unspoken challenge, Pope Balmus swung his Legendary Weapons Replica, resting the butt of the spear form on the ground. "Surely you don't believe I have come here alone, do you?" As he said that, the march of hundreds of soldiers was heard. Turning towards the destroyed entrance of Castle Town, the Church's personal standing army was marching down main street.
Elina's eyes widened. Every one of those soldiers was armed to the teeth and clearly had no reservations with killing. Having the villagers here would be a death sentence for them. "Anyone that can move, get the hell out of here, and help anyone who can't move themselves! You won't stand a chance against these guys!" The villagers shook themselves from their shock, all of them hustling to evacuate the area, helping along those who couldn't carry themselves.
Riza called for the King, "Hey old man, get your soldiers ready for battle!" That was all she said before turning to face the very real threat before them. She took off her gloves, revealing her scaled hands and claws beneath them. "We're about to have a good old fashioned street brawl.
The Pope smiled, "Of course, the church alone couldn't hope to overcome the strength of the royal family's army, but with some… special help, I'm sure we could manage."
A figure jumped down from the top of a nearby building, their lavishly decorated armor gleaming in the sunlight. Lifting their head and parting the golden blonde locks, Motoyasu pointed his spear at the people before him. "Naofumi! The Pope and the Princess have told me everything! I had hoped to get here before you could begin your plan, but I'm sad to say that I was too late. But I'm not too late to bring an end to your evil ways! Release Rifana, Raphtalia, Elina, and that Silver haired angel from your brainwashing you scum! Oh, and the King too!" He demanded with an arrogant command.
Everyone gathered all stared at the blond haired idiot in disbelief, the Pope being the one exception. King Aultcray turned to Naofumi, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I forced you to deal with this idiot."
A tick mark formed on Motoyasu's forehead, "Oi!"
"In any case," Aultcray cleared his throat, "Men! Siege breaker formation! We will not allow these zealots to take even another step on our grounds!" The knights cheered a response, each one raising their sword and shield, or other weapons, assembling into a tight compact ellipse spanning the entire street. "Now, push forward!" The knights cried out, each one rushing to meet their foe in combat. "Shield Hero, Sword Hero, my men can hold these zealots off for now, but that replica's power is not something we can handle. Take your parties and-" He was cut off as he pulled out and swiped a cane at a stray bolt of light spell, slapping it away from the group, "Take your parties and take care of the head. The body will fall soon after."
He charged off, running surprisingly well for a man of his age, leaving the two parties to face off against a power hungry man and his fool of a hero. It hardly seemed fair, every single member of their group was exhausted, their bodies straining to even stand, and had just taken a literal death beam and survived all while Motoyasu and the Pope were not only ready to fight with their all, but had access to what could potentially be the most powerful weapon in the world.
Nothing too unusual so far. They could handle this.
"Ren, Riza, run interference with the Pope, keep his eyes off Motoyasu as much as you can. Raphtalia give them long range support with your spells. Rifana use your stand to weaken him as much as possible. Elina and Silver are with me," Naofumi ordered, "Don't attack the Pope, just distract him, we don't know just how powerful that weapon is!"
The group split off, Silver and Riza transforming to their mount forms and their respective riders quickly climbing atop.
Silver, Elina, and Naofumi charged Motoyasu, clashing with the easily manipulated hero. Motoyasu dashed back from their initial charge and parried Elina's follow up swing with his spear. His counterattack was blocked by Naofumi and he was shoved off. Motoyasu attacked with a basic thrust which was easily dodged and was left wide open to Naofumi right hook. It didn't do much damage, but it stunned him long enough. Wireframe materialized and wrapped its arms around the hero, driving him into the ground.
"Your old tricks won't work on me twice Naofumi!" Motoyasu taunted before throwing his spear towards the nearest building, the weapon lodging itself into its side. "Spear Drive!" The weapon sparkled a bit before Motoyasu vanished from his spot in the ground, reappearing beside the spear where he pulled it from the wall and pointed it at his opponents. "I don't know what cheats you're using that let you mess with the game's engine like that, but I've found some workarounds myself Naofumi! Now surrender before I pound you back to your senses!" He screamed as he charged once more.
Meanwhile, the other four continued to battle the Pope. Ren and Riza darted towards the Pope, his replica weapon shifting to its spear form. They ran circles around the older man, keeping just outside of his attacking range and peppering him with light slashes and cuts, all of which failed to penetrate the magic barriers he kept up around him. Raphtalia jumped to the roofs, launching beam after beam at the man from different spots, constantly drawing his attention and his ire with his inability to counterattack the demi-human. Rifana leaped back from the fray, her third eye opening and her stand beginning to slowly sap the strength from the Pope.
Their little game of cat and mouse continued as the other three battled with the easily manipulated hero. To be frank, it was beginning to annoy him. "You all are proving to be incredibly aggravating. But I have one more thing to show you all," Balmus said with a smile. "A good friend of the Church oh so graciously lent us a specific monster after learning that all his wonderfully treated slaves were stolen from right under his nose. You should have seen how devastated he was, the poor man. But that's a story for later. Right now, however, I'd ask you all to open your ears, and listen to the power god has granted us."
Beyond the roar of battles across the city, an absolutely ear shattering roar sounded out across the city. A brief glance towards the entrance to the city was enough to see the massive beast the church had unleashed on the city.
Tyrant Dragon Rex
LV: 150
The Pope smiled at the group's despair, but that smile vanished at the Fake Sword Hero's determined face.
"Riza, pull back. Raphtalia, Rifana, give me some time and I can deal with that thing!" Ren called out.
The two named demi-humans wordlessly followed his command, blocking the Pope's path to the Fake Hero as he pulled away from their battle. But how could that one foolish child believe he can take on a beast of such undeniable power.
Ren lifted his sword, its form changing from a scaled and sharp shortsword to a lavishly decorated tool, one incapable of cutting well. It was shaped in the form of a dragon's head, its jaw open to reveal the dragon's many sharp teeth. Ren took the sword and blew into the handle, a high pitched sound emanating from the tool. Suddenly, a shadow appeared over the group, growing in size as the object steadily closed the distance. A massive figure crashed into the ground, the debris clearing to reveal a giant dragon.
"You have called for my aid, Sword Hero?" Gaelion asked.
Ren nodded resolutely, "There's a powerful monster that we can't fight alongside the Pope. I need you to take it out of the city and take it down for us."
Gaelion hummed, looking over the creature that was beginning to rampage, "That disgusting monster has a fragment of my father's core. I would have killed it even without your request. Thank you for bringing it to my attention." If a dragon could scowl, Gaelion's scowl would kill a man dragon twice his size. Gaelion roared, charging at the Tyrant Dragon Rex, grabbing its neck in his jaws and driving it out to the plains. Ren left him to it and re-engaged the Pope.
"Tch!" The Pope scoffed as the failure of a Sword Hero and his mount once more attempted to break through his indestructible barriers. While they posed little threat to him, they were still quite annoying with how they were retreating just outside of his range of attack. The Sword and even the Spear were too short to reach the mount and the Bow's arrows were easily dodged by the four fools daring to attack him.
'Well,' he smiled in thought, 'I suppose I will have to use some of this weapons power to deal with these annoying bugs.'
Swapping to the Sword form, he charged the weapon with some of the MP his followers were oh so dutifully providing him from outside the city. The Sword glowed lightly, signalling its destructive power.
"Ren! Pull back now!" The annoying Tanuki demi-human called from her position atop the roofs of the buildings.
The Pope scoffed internally, even in the face of certain death, demi-humans refused to accept the inevitable. He slashed the sword as the Sword Hero followed through with her call. Unfortunately for the hero, he found himself unable to avoid the blade of light that shot from the sword and crashed into him. He barely managed to block it with his own Legendary Sword but the two were still sent crashing through the wall of a nearby building, sending debris and rubble into the air.
"Ren! Riza!" The tanuki cried out as she charged and blasted another beam of light at him.
"Do you see now, demi-human?" Balmus called out to her, "The power of faith in God? God is displeased with the state of the world, he is displeased with how the King and his foolish wife have been destroying our fair country and he has sent me, his valiant and loyal messenger, to dispense his solution. Now, die like the beast you are." His eyes lost that ever present fake smile to them, becoming cold and ruthless as he began to charge another blow.
"I'd like to talk to your God, and tell him to shove his faith up his own ass!" A voice came from his right. Balmus turned to meet it and saw a blurred figure crash into his barrier and bounce off it, pushing him back and cancelling out his next attack. He recovered and glared at the owner of the voice, the Shield Devil's other demi human, as she levelled her axe at him.
"You dare speak out against God's will?" Balmus scolded, "Then I will have to send you to him myself."
"Good luck trying, Glasses, but with the speed I've been stealing from you, I don't think you'll be able to even scratch me," she cockily smirked at him as he noticed that the demi human had a third glowing yellow and red eye seemingly piercing into his very soul.
"So the Devil turned you into his own experiment, did he?" Balmus questioned, "Just another sin to add to his name. And now that you mention it, I do feel just the slightest bit slower, so thank you for letting me know, young lady."
The weasel scowled, "Don't mention it."
She blurred from her spot, reappearing behind him and sending her axe directly at his skull. Balmus more than matched her speed, turning in an instant and effortlessly blocking the blow with his Sword. The weasel tsked before blurring away again. She ran circles around him, her speed creating the illusion of clones circling him, ready to attack.
'Afterimages? That eye is really proving to be a bother.'
He swapped to his Spear form and dealt a blow to the ground beneath him, blasting away the surrounding area and everything in it. The weasel was sent flying, ragdolling as she tried to gain control in the air. She hit the ground and rolled to a stop.
Balmus took notice of the area around him. It seemed the battle between his forces and the King's had begun to spread out around the city. In his section alone, he could count thirty members of each force duking it out. He scowled. It wouldn't do to hit one of his own with his weapon, his followers would lose faith in him if such a thing happened. He'd pull back for now.
Dodging a stray fireball, Naofumi ducked under Motoyasu's slash, grappling the hero and throwing him towards Elina. The giant woman sent a crushing fist forward to incapacitate him but his aggravatingly annoying Spear Drive skill made any openings they could capitalize on, vanish just like that as he teleported away from her blow. And now with the church and royal knights forming a damn mob in the area, she had to dodge blows from the other idiots and keep them off Naofumi's back. God she was tired of this bullshit.
Elina grabbed a church soldier and threw him at Motoyasu, "YEET!"
Motoyasu gaped at her, "Did you just throw an entire person at me?"
"Fuck you!" was her response.
Silver tried to sneak up on the hero in her far smaller child form. She sent a crippling right hook at him but that armor was definitely used for more than just aesthetics. The devastating blow was absorbed by the armor, only leaving a small indent as proof it even happened in the first place. Motoyasu backpedaled away from her, once more resetting the entire battle to exactly how it started.
'Dammit, we're not getting anywhere!' Elina cursed to herself, 'This idiot is wearing the best armor this hellhole country has to offer and won't listen to a word we say!'
Elina jerked in place as a thought hit her. Naofumi would not like this plan, at all. Elina ran forward brushing the knights out of her way as her crashing steps caused Motoyasu to turn towards her. She threw her war axe at him, making the blow easy to parry, since her plan wasn't meant to attack the hero. Well, not physically at least.
Motoyasu intercepted the strike, smirking in his supposed victory, "Oi, Spear Hero, you know a place called Lerno?"
Motoyasu raised a brow at her questioningly, he didn't break their power struggle yet, so she had all the time in the world to mess with him. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"Answer the question, blondie, do you know a place called Lerno Village?" She repeated.
His eyes said they didn't trust her, but he went along with the conversation anyway, "Yeah, I do. What about it?"
Elina smirked evilly, "Just thought you'd like to know you killed every single person in it."
Motoyasu paled, "W-what?"
Hook, line, and sinker. "Well, I don't know the whole story, but I was hoping you could piece together what happened if I tell you what I do know. Does that sound good to you?" Motoyasu didn't respond, and the strength he pushed against Elina's war axe lessened. "While we were leading the Church on a wild filolial chase, we came across a little place called Lerno Village. Well it wasn't much of a village, I guess it was more of a jungle than anything else." Motoyasu looked at her eyes in recognition. Good, he knows what he did, "We broke through the jungle walls and fought through waves of plant monsters in complete darkness. Eventually we found the village and you want to know what we found inside?" Motoyasu looked to her, pleading with his eyes for her to just stop talking. His strength weakened more and Elina pushed him a step forward. "We found a village of dead men walking. Their corpses piloted by the very same plant monsters we spent all day killing." Elina pushed him back another step. "And you wanna know what's even worse?" Elina pushed him to the ground, picked him up by his armor, and brought him to her scarred face.
"Shieldy had to walk into a suicide house. He had to read the words of a dying woman sparing her children from a fate worse than death. He had to bear the knowledge that one of his fellow heroes, heroes who are meant to save people from their deaths, had doomed an entire village to be infested by a monster he could have destroyed."
Motoyasu was breathing heavily, his eyes growing teary, "I-I didn't… Malty said that it would... I didn't mean to-"
"Didn't mean to what? To kill everyone in that village? To plant a seed that could have destroyed the entire world if we hadn't dealt with it? To be the biggest failure of a hero this world has ever seen?" Each line caused Motoyasu to sink further into his lavishly decorated armor, "It doesn't matter what you did or didn't mean to do. All that matters is you killed innocent people. You killed innocent people and continue to dance on their graves by fighting with those who sent them to their deaths." She lowered him from her face, "You disgust me," Elina said as she threw the hero to the floor.
Motoyasu made no effort to get up and fight.
"Elina… you didn't need to tell him yet. He wasn't ready…" Naofumi looked at the woman with a disapproving look. She hated to admit it, but that look hurt.
"He needed to know the people he hurt. The people he killed," she said. "He can't be a hero without acknowledging the sins he's committed."
Naofumi sighed, his body aching, "We need to regroup. The others won't be able to handle the Pope for very long. Let's go."
Silver transformed and the three were off.
They arrived at the scene of the battle, Raphtalia helping Rifana to her feet, gashes scattered along her arms and legs. Ren and Riza weren't anywhere they could see.
Naofumi dismounted and rushed over to them, "What happened? Are you all okay?"
Rifana grunted and stood up by herself, ignoring Raphtalia's fussing, "Yeah, I can keep fighting, but Ren and Riza are out for the rest of the fight. They took a pretty bad hit from the Pope. Is the casanova dealt with?"
"He's… he's thinking over some stuff right now, we shouldn't have to worry about him for now," Naofumi decided to omit the rest. They needed to focus and getting heated over how Motoyasu was handled would do very little to help. "The King's forces are holding their own for now, the path to the castle is clear. We need to get Ren and Riza out of here and to safety. I don't want them getting caught in the crossfire and unable to defend themselves."
Elina immediately objected, "No, we cannot afford to split up any further, we need as much strength as we can to fight the Pope."
"I'll take them to the castle," a familiar voice sounded from behind them. The group turned around and standing there was Itsuki, a few cuts littered along his body. "The castle staff have set up a healing station, and have begun to pull wounded soldiers from the battlefield. I've been doing what I can to help, so let me take them there."
Naofumi gave a thankful and very tired smile, "Thank you, I'd really appreciate that. I'm glad you took my words to heart, Itsuki." Itsuki nodded, his eyes downcast as he picked up Ren and Riza from the shop they had crashed through. "Hey, Itsuki." Naofumi called out. Itsuki turned to face the shielder, "Fighting for the people is a good start. I'm proud of you." Itsuki would deny the small blush that rose to his cheeks till the day he died. The sniper rushed off, carrying the two unconscious front line fighters to the medical area.
"How sweet, the heroes are learning to care for one another," Pope Balmus spoke as he reappeared in the center of the cracked road. "It's sad that it takes certain death looking you all in the eye for you to learn to cooperate. It's why you're all failures who need to be replaced with a new set of heroes. Heroes who are mmm… more receptive to our suggestions."
The five members of the Shield Hero's party readied their weapons, all focusing on their biggest threat.
The Pope scoffed, shifting his Replica Weapon into its Bow form and taking aim at the group. The Bow glowed as it built up power before he fired. The arrow blurring away from its sheer speed. It crashed against Naofumi's shield, pushing him back, his feet sliding along the ground and he resisted the attack.
Silver was the first to charge forward with Steel Wall, her metallic form crashing into the Pope's barriers with a resounding impact. Raphtalia landed atop her and jumped over, firing another beam of light as she passed overhead, the Pope idly raising his Replica Weapon to dissipate the blast. Before he could counterattack, Rifana's form blurred into existence beside the tanuki demi human and pulled her away from harm. From his backside, Elina slammed her war axe into his shields, the barriers groaning but resisting the blow.
Bullrush activated, Naofumi flew into the barrier, firing off a Lion's Roar at close proximity. The Pope was unaffected by the status effect, shaking of the attempt with a smile. He stabbed his Sword through the open chest of the Shield Hero, only for it to shimmer out of reality. Another Naofumi, courtesy of Minor Illusion, attacked from behind, Wireframe phasing through the barriers and attacking the Pope. A punch landed on the Pope's temple, cracking his head to the side.
The Pope pulled back, his cocky smirk gone as he rubbed his jaw. "Ah yes, I had forgotten about your own personal demon. Such a troublesome thing it is." He aimed his Bow at the hero, switching his target at the last second and firing off a blast at Rifana. The arrow phased through her harmlessly, the Pope smirking. "All I have to do is put your companions in danger and I won't have to worry about it."
The Pope shifted his Replica Weapon to the Sword form, raising it to the sky, "As a servant of God, himself, grant me the power to send the Devil and his sinners to the bowels of hell where they belong, Cathedral!"
Just as in the fight against Motoyasu all that time ago, yellow walls began to form around them, building themselves into a building, cutting them all off from the chaos of the city. As the name implied, the walls took the form of a cathedral, pillars and rising to the sloped ceiling. Painted glass versions of the Pope appeared on the ceiling slopes, each one armed with the very same Replica Bow. They began to fire, raining arrows down on the group. Naofumi dashed back and used Airstrike Shield raising it above him to protect them all from the rain of arrows. The Pope aimed at the group and fired another full powered shot. Silver taking on her steel form and tanking the blow.
"Raphtalia, blind them! We need to get closer!" Rifana called.
Raphtalia threw a Light Grenade to the roof of the cathedral, the spell blowing up and blinding the painted glass popes. Rifana activated Blind Rage and charged forward, her form blurring as her stand granted her even greater speed. She bounced around the cathedral delivering blows from every side, whittling down the barriers around the Pope.
"Rifana pull back! Shield Prison! Tether!" Naofumi shouted. The ball of shields formed around the Pope, but was blasted apart before Naofumi's Tether could reach it.
"I think you've had enough fun for now," Pope Balmus rang out, "I think I'll end this farce of a battle and eradicate you from this world, Shield Devil!"
The Pope charged forward, his weapon in its Sword form, as he met Naofumi's own Legendary Shield. Naofumi was launched back, unharmed but unable to stay on his feet from the blow, Wireframe being forced to follow him because of its poor range.
Rifana struck out at his exposed side, but the Pope managed to parry the blow and knock her back. He caught Raphtalia swing with his hand and forced her off him. Elina stomped forward and sent blow after blow at the Pope, each strike being easily redirected towards the ground. The Pope levied a blow at the woman and she was sent skidding across the ground, with a smirk.
"Thanks for making my plan easy on me," Elina raised her war axe, "Bloody Sunday!"
The war axe crashed into the ground, the cut up the stone under the Pope launching itself out from the pressure, taking the Pope along with it. Elina jumped up, coming level with the pope and batting away the stone with her war axe. The Pope narrowly avoided being sent flying like a makeshift baseball.
The two landed on the ground, the Pope falling to his feet and stumbling while Elina landed atop Silver and began another assault, Rifana and Raphtalia joining in. Their slashes and chops attacked the Pope from all sides, his magic barriers struggling to maintain their form. With Silver's permission, Elina hopped off and kicked the metal filolial straight into the man with incredible force. The barrier strained, cracked, and shattered. The Pope stumbled back in shock, before slashing away the metal girl. Silver cried out as she was sent careening into Naofumi knocking the both of them away from the fight.
The Pope swapped to the bow, and shot at Elina who dodged and was met with a spear shaft to the stomach for her efforts. She slid back and fell to her knee, her wind sucked out of her. Rifana and Raphtalia tried to stay strong under the Pope's powerful blows but were only managing to hold the man back. The Pope lashed out, slashing away Raphtalia sword and kicking Rifana away from the battle. Disarmed, Raphtalia could only watch as the Pope shifted his replica to its spear form and thrust it towards her. She had no time to dodge.
"Shit! Get out of the way, dammit!" Elina shouted as she pushed Raphtalia away and raised her war axe to block the blow.
The spear met the head of the axe and shattered it, the thrust continuing unimpeded. The blade sunk into Elina's torso, puncturing easily through her armor. The ends of the blade could be seen coming out of Elina's back.
"ELINA!" Naofumi, Rifana, Raphtalia, and Silver cried out.
Elina stayed standing, blood leaking from her wounds, and she grasped onto the Pope's hands, beginning to crush them under her strength, "You… you really think that's all it's gonna take to kill me?" A little blood flying from her lips as she spoke. "I've had worse."
The Pope didn't look disturbed at all, his smile refusing to leave his face. "I expected nothing less from an experienced adventurer. Though I don't expect you to live much longer."
The Replica Spear glowed, its power building.
"ELINA!" Naofumi shouted in desperation as he charged desperately to make it in time.
Elina looked at the weapon lodged in her torso before looking over to Naofumi, her eyes soft. "Hey Shieldy, take care of the raccoon for me, will ya?"
The Replica Spear let out a blast of condensed energy, ripping a hole through most of Elina's torso. The blast shot clean through her body, exiting the hole in her back and flying into the wall of the cathedral.
Elina's hands relaxed, letting go of the Pope's weapon and she fell back, her body crashing to the floor with a heavy thud. The puddle of blood beneath her body continued to grow. Her eyes were faded, not a trace of life in them. A smile rested on her lips, a small trail of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.
Elina was gone.
Naofumi stared at her, unable to rip his gaze from the corpse of his family. The outline of her form being burned into his mind. He stepped closer to her, coming to her side and falling to his knees. The Pope didn't laugh, he didn't speak, he just watched. He watched with a smile that held no regret. A smile that watched giddily as her closest family mourned her death. A smile that he would rip off the fucker's face and turn it into pulp.
Naofumi grit his teeth so hard they felt as though they would shatter, his nails dug into his palms, and tears cascaded down his face. His shield glimmered, the weapon undergoing the process of changing to a new form. Red lines formed over Naofumi's skin, shaping themselves into the Legendary Shield's normal interface and marking Naofumi's body. They glowed with red hot fury. His shield changed to a black shield with red marking covering its face. The shield was covered in flames.
Beside him, Wireframe tossed in agony, the stand's body being overtaken by the same lines that decorated Naofumi's own. Cracks formed along its body, a dim red light pouring out from the fissures. Wireframe looked at its arm, pieces of its body falling away to reveal crimson colored skin, the cracks only growing larger in size, now reaching and covering its face. A screech rang out as the last of its white and brown body fractured away, an entirely new form was revealed.
The newly revealed stand was larger than Naofumi and was rippling with muscle. Its skin was a deep red crimson and unlike Wireframe, this new stand had facial features, including an incredibly deformed mouth with jagged and long teeth peeking out from between its lips. Two lines of pure black flowed through its eyes and down its body, extending all the way to the stand's much more hairy lower half. Silver fur covered the Stand's groin and entire legs, its hands now sported claws that could rend flesh from bone.
Rifana gasped at the new form, being the only one capable of seeing the much more monstrous being float idly beside its user.
Naofumi stood up, turning towards the Pope, the red lines glowing fiercely in his rage. "I'LL TURN YOU INTO FUCKING PASTE!" He roared as he charged the Pope. He thrust his shield at the magic barrier, black flames erupting from the small shield and washing over it all. The Pope recoiled at the obscenely high temperature but was otherwise unaffected.
The Pope spotted Naofumi through the torrent of fire and thrust his Replica Spear towards the enraged shielder. A loud clang rang out and the flames quickly subsided, revealing that the Replica Spear had met the shield.
"Explosive counter!" Naofumi shouted as the shield aptly exploded. The Pope cried out in pain as he felt his arms burn from the power behind the blow. "Fahrenheit!" The newly named stand materialized slashed, its claws rending through the barriers and shattering it instantly.
Warning: Descriptions of gore, please skip to the end of the section if you are not comfortable reading.
Naofumi socked the Pope in the Jaw and shoved his flaming shield into the Pope's stomach. The flames melted away the robes and skin that met the flaming metal. Balmus cried out in agony as he stumbled back. Fahrenheit closed the distance and seized the Pope's left arm. All Balmus could do was watch as his arm liquefied before him, before disappearing completely.
Balmus screeched as he looked at the stump of his arm, blood pouring from the opening at his bicep. "WHAT MANNER OF MAGIC IS THIS, YOU DEVIL?!" He screamed.
Naofumi didn't answer, wrenching the Legendary Weapon Replica from the man and having Fahrenheit sublimate it from existence. The Weapon built to combat the very world ending calamity the heroes were summoned to fight dissolving in the blink of an eye.
Naofumi threw a right hook to the Pope's face, knocking the older man to the ground. Fahrenheit seized his legs, melting them into puddles of flesh all as the Pope begged for the pain to stop.
Naofumi climbed on the man, raining blows on his face. He didn't care that blood coated his knuckles. He didn't care that the man stopped screaming long ago. All he wanted to do was make the fucker pay.
He felt hands wrap around his arm and he threw them off throwing some cursed fire to throw them away. They tried again and were met with the same result. He felt his body begin to weaken, his strength being sapped from his body before they grabbed him and refused to let go no matter what. He trashed in rage as they pulled him from the body of the Pope, his face a cratered and bloody mess.
Gore ends here, anyone who skipped can read from this point.
"Naofumi, please, calm down, come back to us!" A voice cried out.
"'Fumi, I know you're upset but you have to stop!" Another voice sounded out.
"Daddy! Big Sis wouldn't want this!" A younger voice reached his ears.
Naofumi spared them a glance, seeing his three remaining members of his family, their bodies burnt and their faces drenched with tears. Naofumi blinked, his rage dissipating as he looked at the three girls holding on to him. Unnoticed to them all, Fahrenheit faded back to Wireframe, the stand patting down its familiar body.
Naofumi turned and pulled them into a tight hug as the cathedral walls faded from reality, revealing the King, Itsuki, and the king's nights, surrounding their battleground, their eyes widening and gasps ringing out as they saw the sight before them. He collapsed to his knees, his family following him down as he sobbed into their arms. All of them mourning the loss of one, Elina Poli.
Naofumi Iwatani
Class: Shield Hero
Level 48
Legendary Shield,「Wireframe」,「Fahrenheit」
Bizarre Otherworldly Clothing
ATK: 59
DEF: 426
MATK: 50
MDEF: 334
DEX: 129
AGI: 185
Stand Arrow Charge: 72%
Raphtalia
Class: Demi-Human Knight
Level 45
Magic Iron Sword
Swordswoman's Dress
ATK: 163
DEF: 101
MATK: 146
MDEF: 54
DEX: 102
AGI: 193
Rifana
Class: Demi-Human Rampager
Level 45
Steel Dagger,「I've Been A Fool」
Short Furred Covering
ATK: 206
DEF: 95
MATK: 62
MDEF: 56
DEX: 205
AGI: 252
Silver
Class: Adult Filolial Queen
Level 46
Steel Wings
ATK: 196
DEF: 242
MATK: 198
MDEF: 289
DEX: 91
AGI: 192
Wireframe
Power:
D
Speed:
C
Range:
C
Durability:
E
Precision:
C
Development Potential:
A
I've Been A Fool
Power:
C
Speed:
E
Range:
C
Durability:
C
Precision:
A
Development Potential:
C
Fahrenheit
Power:
A
Speed:
A
Range:
D
Durability:
C
Precision:
C
Development Potential:
E
Notes:
14k words, 33 whole pages, and a lot of stuff to go over.
Firstly, yes, Naofumi has a different stand when he's under the Wrath Shield. I did this because it gave the Shield in this fic a more unique quality than just being the exact same as canon while also serving a pretty important part in the plot to come. The way I see it, the curse series affect the user mentally, altering them to have different personalities and just overall making them into different people. And since stands are reflective of a person's fighting spirit, when the Wrath Shield alters Naofumi's mind and soul, the stand will reflect that change to display his far more animalistic and rage filled fighting style. Fahrenheit (from Queen's song: Don't Stop Me Now) has the ability: Phase Manipulation, which means the stand can alter the phase of any matter it is able to touch, aka, turning a solid into a liquid or gas, or vice versa. I won't acknowledge plasma or other phases just to keep things simple.
Secondly, yes, Elina is dead. She will not be returning to any future chapters, but she will be mentioned, especially in the next two or three as the group tries to recover from their loss. Additionally, this was planned ever since the start of the fic, because I needed to find a way to introduce the Wrath Shield in an impactful and unique way.
Thirdly, the siege of Castle Town. I tried to make it as cohesive as possible, and make the scale of the battle recognizable by jumping through different scenes, but I think it still feels a little fragmented. But I don't want to delay this chapter any longer to try and iron it out, so this is how it'll be.
Finally, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I put a lot of work into it (and the rest of the fic) and I really appreciate all the support everyone has given me. We're very close to the 50k view/400 favorite milemarkers and I really just wanted to thank you all for reading this far into my silly little story.
Have a nice week everyone.
- RandomA99