Reviews:
D3lph0xL0v3r: Well... Motoyasu doesn't totally see the light. The chapter will explain more but Motoyasu and Naofumi got some issues they gotta work through.
Guest: Yeah, Fitoria has done some scuffed stuff in the series and definitely deserves a good knock over the head (not that anyone can give one to her...)
Azure Star Dragon: ...Maybe? I know practically nothing about the Blessed series so I'm not sure what it fully does or how it would affect Wireframe. If it doesn't alter the user's personality and instead is a general stat booster (albeit a freakishly powerful one), then there's a couple options, either Wireframe's stats get boosted to A level or its something like the Requiem arrow, but I'll get there when I get there.
JtBlack Hawk3198: Why yes, my good sir, he did! He took part in Elina's reading crash course that was in chapter 17. And don't worry I have a plan for L'arc and Therese. They will be key in Naofumi's character development so we'll be seeing a lot of them in the coming chapters.
aperson1234567890: Glad to hear it!
guraguranomi2018: Thanks! That's some high praise considering some of the stories I've seen in on here and Ao3.
FyreDrakon: Well... not really. Naofumi does have different stands, but its based around the use of the cursed series since those set of shields have been shown to heavily alter the personalities/souls of the user, which would have a direct affect on the stand.
Kisame Hoshikage: :)
xionrabbit: That's completely fair, and I see your point, but this version of Naofumi isn't dead and bitter like canon, so there's going to be differences in his reactions to different people. Even though he just went through the trial, all he sees is some kids being treated horrifically poorly so he tries to fix that. It also isn't day two but week two (I won't blame you if you missed that since its literally just a single line of text but it is something to point out)
A Shield's Stand
Chapter 23: Mental Cracks
"With all delays finished, the council of the four heroes may begin."
Queen Mirellia's voice resounded through the small room. It was mostly bare, no decorations hanging from the four pillars in the corner of the room and only one window and a plain chandelier providing any light. In the center sat a table with five chairs, each one occupied by a different hero or the Queen herself. But where the other three heroes sat alone, Naofumi had his remaining party stand behind him.
No one objected, understanding that their presence was the most likely anchor keeping Naofumi tied to his calm mental state.
Mirellia lowers her fan, "Now, the actions of the Three Heroes Church have undoubtedly impacted all four of you in a negative manner, and as the ruler of Melromarc the fault of that is mine. But Melromarc and I would like to do anything to correct it. As luck would have it, a nearby archipelago, Cal Mira, seems to have activated."
Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki all perked up slightly at the name.
"And what exactly does that mean?" Naofumi asked, his voice monotone.
Ren turns to him, choosing his words carefully around the potentially volatile man. "It means that the island is generating a bonus field, so any monsters killed inside provide a far larger amount of EXP."
Mirellia cut in, "That is correct, Sir Ren, this event occurs only once every ten years, so this is an excellent opportunity for the four of you to catch up on any lost time spent on the conniving plans of the Church."
Naofumi hummed. This really would help his party catch up to the others in levels, but more importantly this could help him work out his anger. He wasn't an idiot, he knew he wasn't mentaly sound at the moment, so annihilating as many monsters as he could in a safe environment might be good for him.
"However," Naofumi's attention was drawn back to the Queen, "I believe it would be prudent for the four of you all to share any knowledge you have acquired during your time in our world. To fight the waves, all four heroes must be as strong as possible to ensure the best chance of survival."
The four heroes looked between one another and Rifana honestly wanted to storm out right then and there. They all may look calm but she could see right through each of them. Ren's usual calm and stoic attitude was nothing but a facade to hide his anxious and dorky nature. Alone, he isn't all that bad, but the other three were what worried her much more. Itsuki's determined facade was modest but nothing could really hide the sheer guilt laying behind his eyes. Rifana was somewhat thankful for that, he did awful things, and goddammit he needed to pay for it. Naofumi barely made any effort to hide his tired eyes, the smile on his face long gone. Finally, Motoyasu… there was something very wrong with him, there was some sort of crazed glint, resting in his eyes, waiting to flow out that just wasn't there even during the trial or execution. Calling it out honestly seemed like it would bring more trouble than letting it be, so Rifana stayed silent.
All four heroes of legend, said to be the greatest defenders against a world ending calamity, and they were all acting pitifully.
"...Alright then." Ren spoke up first, probably to get rid of the tension that had built up, knowing him. "I'll be the first to go. Firstly, there's the aptly named Weapon Copy System." Seeing Itsuki and Motoyasu give a nod, Ren shifted to face Naofumi more directly, "To put it simply, any weapon the same type as your legendary variant can be copied and stored in the weapon to be used later. So if you were to grab a heater shield, then the Legendary Shield would copy it and you would be capable of using it yourself."
That would have been nice to know earlier. All of Naofumi's party thought simultaneously, the exception being Silver who was sitting in her father's lap taking a nap.
"Next, if you give your weapon the materials needed, it can automatically craft items you have the recipes for, instead of having to do it by hand." Ren continued. That was probably one of his less used features as searching for the ingredients took more time and effort than just simply buying the product from a shop, but it's still something they should keep in mind. Motoyasu and Itsuki nodded again.
"Don't forget about the teleporting skill," Itsuki reminded Ren.
Naofumi clenched his fists, "The teleporting skill?" How much had he missed? How much stronger could he have been?
Raphtalia laid her hand on Naofumi's shoulder, and he took a deep breath.
"How do I unlock it?" He asked.
"Absorb some of the Dragon Hourglass's sand into your shield and at level 50 you'll be able to teleport to any previous place you've been every hour." Ren explained.
"Ok. I understand."
Itsuki and Ren shared a subtle glance before moving on. "Finally, there's one last system for the weapons, it's called Weapon Mastery. Basically whenever you use a weapon, it accumulates energy until it's full and can longer get more. Once that happens, it becomes 'mastered' and you can drain the weapon of its energy and spend it to make another weapon form stronger."
"Uhhhh… what?" Unlike what Ren had expected, the confused response came from Motoyasu instead of Naofumi. Wasn't he a game veteran like him?
"That's not what the weapons can do at all!" Motoyasu accused. Ren opened his mouth to defend himself but he saw that Itsuki was nodding his head in agreement. His first instinct was to assure them it is, to defend himself, but he stopped before a single word was uttered. He put a hand to his chin, this world isn't exactly like his game, other differences exist, mainly in the plot and characters, but who's to say it stops there. For all he knows the weapons could function entirely differently.
"Then how does your weapon work?" Naofumi's edged voice chipped the budding argument. Could they not be serious for even a single second?
"Don't listen to what Ren told you, Naofumi, the actual system is Weapon Refinement. You can use ores to try and upgrade a weapon form, upgrading its stats with completion and occasionally unlocking some other bonuses. But the more you upgrade it, the higher chance it has to fail," Motoyasu said with total confidence.
Itsuki raised an eyebrow and gave a deadpan stare at the blonde spear wielder, "Yeah, no. Listen, the actual system is the job system. Instead of upgrading the weapons, you can choose a job that you can level up in time to raise your own overall stats."
(AN: I'm not fully sure on Motoyasu and Itsuki's systems, I haven't read the LN or WN or the Manga, so all my info is coming from like… a single youtube video. If it's wrong and you know the actual system, lemme know please.)
Naofumi scoffed as the other heroes tried to talk out what systems actually exist or not. They couldn't even agree on the knowledge they're supposed to have. "Fuckin' jokes, all of them." He muttered under his breath. "I'll say this only once, so shut up." His words stopped the discussion between the others, everyone focusing on him.
"I don't have any stupid weapon specific upgrade method like you all seem to have, so I've had to make do with what I could find on our travels," Naofumi speaks indirectly, "First of all, don't pass up on even the most basic weapons. Any stat boosts help, no matter how small they are. I have probably one hundred shields in here that don't give me anything but small stat boosts, but they all add up. Second, the basic abilities are the most versatile." Seeing the other heroes confused glances, Naofumi sighs and continues, "You're all dead set on flashy and big damage based abilities, but sometimes, a basic ability will give you a greater advantage in a battle. Like when I used a bunch of abilities to force Ren into the air during the duel."
Newer adventurers always lean towards the cooler and more flashy attacks, believing them to be the greatest key towards winning a fight, however, more experienced adventurers will always rely more so on the basic and skilled use of their weapons alongside the most basic of skills and magic.
Ren nodded in response, "He's right, if I hadn't vastly overleveled him, he would have beaten me right there." He lightly massaged his neck, getting choked out by an invisible hand was not one of his favorite moments.
Itsuki looked away at the mention of the duel, shifting awkwardly in his seat. It was obvious exactly what he wanted to ask about, but given his part in the night's events, he had no idea if he even had any right to know. Luckily for the youngest hero, Motoyasu had very little sense of tact.
"Speaking of the duel, I have some questions for you, Naofumi." The blond pawn began, "Whenever we fight, you always use some weird skills or abilities I've never even heard of that a normal shielder shouldn't have access to. You launched me and knocked me out in a single blow at the wave celebration, you kept me at a distance during our fight outside Lute all while popping both yourself and myself into the ground without a single word or touch, and at the cliff, every attack just passed right through you. How the hell are you doing all that?!" He counted each event on his fingers.
It was times like this when Ren remembered that not everyone knows about Naofumi's stand. Well, he guessed he should be glad about that, better to keep the ace in the hole relatively unknown. It was certainly helpful against Glass all that time ago and has proved to be invaluable during their entire time here. And then Rifana showed up randomly with one of her own… what the hell happened there, anyway?
"I must admit," the Queen spoke from behind her fan, "Even I am curious about this strange ability you have displayed, Shield Hero."
Melty's eyes widened a fraction, hiding most of her surprise that her mother didn't know the cause behind the Hero's ability. Her extensive spy network was the root cause behind her seemingly endless stream of information and had been key to her incredible political feats. These included discussions with other countries or quelling domestic issues, like the Church's coup, though a large part of that was because of the Shield Hero's bold plan.
With all eyes drawn to Naofumi, the man stewed in frustration, "I don't have to tell any of you anything," he seethed out. With those words spoken he stood briskly from his chair and left the room.
The rest of the participants, bar Rifana, were taken aback by his sudden departure. Even the Queen wasn't expecting such a response.
"Naofumi doesn't owe any of you a damn thing. He's sacrificed more than he ever wanted to just to save your asses, so if you ever really want to know, you. will. earn. it." She spoke evenly, directing her words to Itsuki, Motoyasu, and the Queen. "C'mon Raph, these assholes are just wastes of our time. You too Ren, let's go." Grabbing the raccoon demi-human's arm in one hand and Ren's ear in the other, she pulled them out of the room, Ren desperately trying to ease the weasel girl's hold and Raphtalia giving an apology as she was dragged away.
"W-well then… I do believe that concludes the council of the four heroes, you may all go," the Queen concludes with a wave of her fan, exiting the room with Melty following behind her.
The last two heroes remained in their seats, however, looking between one another before Itsuki gave a long sigh. "We have a lot to make up for, don't we Motoyasu?" Motoyasu didn't answer. Itsuki stared at him incredulously, "You do plan to make it up to Naofumi, don't you, Motoyasu?" His silence was telling. "Even after the siege, after the trial, after everything you still haven't changed, have you…" the Bow Hero spoke with a discouraged shake of his head.
"I'm making up for it." It was all Motoyasu said as he left.
Bursting into Erhard's familiar shop, Naofumi gave a gruff greeting to the man who had given him so much and deadlined right for the shields. Practically tearing it off the wall, he tried to copy it for his legendary shield… except it didn't work. Anger tore through Naofumi as he gripped the shield in his hands, his strength nearly indenting the metal. He spiked the small shield towards the ground, Wireframe popping out to catch it before it crashed into the wooden floors.
"Of course it wouldn't work," he cursed to himself, "Why the hell would they know what they're talking about, they haven't done anything useful once! Not once! I can't believe I believed them for even a single second!"
"...is this a bad time, kid?" Erhard lightly prodded the enraged man.
Naofumi took a deep breath and rubbed his hands down his face, Erhard didn't do anything wrong, he didn't deserve his anger. "Yeah. Yeah it is." He sat down on the closest box, cradling his head in his hands.
Seeing the poor state of the once vibrant and lively kid, Erhard grabbed a chair and slid it closer. Sitting down with a quiet grunt (his body was getting up there in age, sue him) he let the silence between them ease the tension. This kid had gone through hell. He'd taken on the full force of the church, the kingdom, and the scorn of the people and had walked out smiling. All until the siege.
"I heard what happened, kid." Erhard offered, "She went down with one hell of a fight. I don't think she would want it any other way."
…
"...yeah. Yeah, she did."
"I met her way back in the day, she was with her first group, and let me tell you, they were some of the most annoying brats I'd ever had the displeasure of doing business with, Elina especially." Erhard retold his history with the large pinkette, "She would always hound me for some sort of discount or challenge me to some inane contest of strength." His smile told his true thoughts easily enough, "Then one day only Elina comes in, a new scar on her face, no one else following her. In our line of work, that was all she needed to say. She started working that stupid receptionist job and I would check in on her every once in a while. It was awful to watch. Sure, she was safe, but any sort of life was just… gone." He shakes his head, "Then you showed up, took her into your party and the next time I saw her, she was laughing just like last time, annoying as she is."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"You all made her happy." He said that as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "Kid, I hadn't heard that laugh in ten years. She would have done anything for you all. She did do anything for you. So don't spend it all just moping here, I think that would just piss her off more than anything."
Naofumi stood abruptly and left without another word. He walked to the carriage, finding everyone else standing there waiting for him.
"Yeah, we figured you'd come to the carriage eventually, you want to head to Cal Mira now or in a bit," Rifana asked.
"Let's head out." The group didn't comment on his low effort fake smile.
Silver transformed and was hooked up to the familiar feeling of reigns, happy to finally be back in a carriage. Naofumi, Rifana and Raphtalia climbed aboard, Naofumi taking his usual spot at the head. Ren sat atop a transformed Riza, the dragon girl making… lewd innuendos that Ren seems to finally have gotten used to.
The start to the trip wasn't eventful in the slightest, no one really had much to say so they busied themselves with menial tasks or just basked in the silence. Raphtalia waited in the back, studying one of their magic grimoires to learn more powerful spells, an effort that ultimately drew Ren's intrigue.
"What are you reading?" He asked. Riza huffed as his attention drew away from her. And Silver snickered at the dragon lady's misfortune.
Raphtalia looked up from her book, "Oh, this is an intermediate light magic grimoire. I figured since we have the time, I might as well improve on something, right?"
Ren nodded sagely, "I don't even know my own magic affinity and you're already learning second class spells."
"Do you know how to read at least?"
"..."
Raphtalia giggled at his embarrassment, "It's alright, we didn't know how to either at first, but after a little bit of practice we got the hang of it." She smiled, "You'll pick it up in no time."
"Who taught you how to read in so little time?" Riza asked, trotting alongside the carriage.
"Hey Ren, what are you planning on doing over on Cal Mira," Rifana piped in, "Other than killing monsters, of course."
"Not sure, but I've heard the beaches along the coastline are gorgeous. It might be fun to lay back, even if it's just a little."
"A beach day?" Riza spoke with a purr, "I hope you're looking forward to seeing me in my swimsuit, Ren."
A swift chop to her head was delivered by a now red faced Ren, "Stop that. Bad."
"LOVE ME!"
"NOT IN THAT WAY!"
"DAMMIT!"
Putting aside the familiar antics of Riza's failure of a love life, Raphtalia was only getting more and more concerned over Naofumi. After his… chapter across the woods, he seemed to be increasingly distant all while trying not to worry his group. The way he acted towards the other heroes and the Queen during the council, while more than justified given all they've put him through, intentionally or not, is still a far cry from his normal mannerisms. It didn't take a genius to see he was still grieving, but there was more to it, and Raphtalia couldn't quite place it.
"Daddy, do you think when we get on the boat, we could run around a little? I really wanna stretch my legs," Silver asks her father. It had been a long time since they could just relax, so maybe some playtime would do them some good.
"Sure thing, Silver," Naofumi said with a small smile, "Maybe we'll even find some monsters to toss around." Silver beamed at the prospect.
Rifana scooted her way to the front, "Surely you don't think you can keep us out of this deal, do you?" She sassed, "It's been a boring couple of days with the damn Queen trying to clean her mess up so I really need something to do."
"We can take some time to mess around but we need to make sure we don't miss the boarding time. I don't want to have to ride back to the Queen and tell her we can't visit Cal Mira because we missed the boat of all things." Raphtalia turned on her mom mode.
Rifana shrugged, "Meh. What is she going to do? She kind of owes her kingdom's stability to us so it's not like she could just make us leave." Raphtalia gave her a small glare, "Yeah, yeah, we won't miss the boat."
Raphtalia nodded to herself, satisfied with the outcome of her nagging.
"Daaaaad, Raphtalia is nagging us again," Silver whined from the reins. Rifana sputtered, collapsing in a fit of laughter as Raphtalia desperately tried to deny any such thing.
Ren watched this all occur from his own spot, yet Naofumi failed to give a real smile at his family's antics. He looked away and continued trotting along the worn path of the dirt road.
After arriving with almost half a day left before departure, the group spent some time to themselves. Silver even managed to find a nearby balloon monster to use as a ball for games, so that was a pretty good find! For the group that is. The balloon monster managed to throw up at least three times from its high velocity travels despite not having anything inside of its rubber body. The monster met its unfortunate end (or merciful if you see their playtime as torture) when Silver may or may not have intentionally launched the monster into Riza's face at mach two. The two mounts ended up in a fight, only being pulled apart five minutes later and looking entirely roughed up.
"Well so much for peace and quiet…" Raphtalia lamented.
Boarding the boat, they were directed by an apologetic crew to a large room, being told they would have to share the room with others since there weren't any other available spots to load adventurers. None of them really minded since it was out of the crew's hands (much to the crew's relief, lord knows what the much much stronger heroes could do to them both physically or politically), so it was with that mindset that Rifana, Raphtalia, Silver, and Naofumi met two adventurers, L'arc Berg and Therese Alexandrite.
Hours prior, Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero entered a bland looking building, nothing very special about it. He walked through the door, checking behind him to see if anyone saw before quietly pulling it shut. The entrance wasn't lit, but he could see some light up ahead which meant things were probably going well.
Walking down the hall towards the light, Motoyasu rested his Legendary Spear on his back, trying to make himself appear as non-threatening as possible. He turned the corner and inside the room were nearly twenty young demi-human children, most of them confined to beds in various states of sickness or hopelessness.
The healthiest and oldest demi-human saw him enter and quickly rose to block his path, spreading their arms in an attempt to draw attention away from the younger and weaker children. They swallowed nervously, "Y-yes… Master Motoyasu? Is there anything you needed?"
Motoyasu's lips parted, rising higher until his deranged smile was on full display, "Oh, I didn't need anything! I just wanted to make sure all my dear children were healing well!" He said as he squatted down to be eye level with the young girl. "So, Kekal, how has everyone been since I left?"
The girl was practically flooding cold sweat, "O-oh, everyone's getting a little better but it hasn't even been a full d-day, Master Motoyasu… you c-can't expect them to get better in just a few hours… right?" Kekal hated this. She's had plenty of masters before. Some were cruel and loved torture for no reason other to hear their screams, some used her and others as a means of cheap labor before returning her when he was done, some just… Kekal shuddered. But this man? This man terrified her.
When she was with her other masters, she could tell what they were thinking after only a few hours of watching them. She would know how they thought, what to do to please them, when to avoid them. But Master Motoyasu? She couldn't read a single thing from the man, other than his eyes held the most deranged glint she had seen from any of her masters. Earlier in the day, he had barged through the circus tent flaps, announcing proudly that he would be purchasing every single child slave in stock, yelling something about saving all of his… precious children.
Kekal has never seen any man like this very clearly deranged man crouching before her.
"Oh…" the light behind his eyes dimmed a bit, but his crazed smile failed to fall, "Well I guess that means I just need to try harder to help you all!" He stood up and walked over to the nearest bed, summoning a bottle of something from thin air before he forced the child in the bed to drink it. "Don't worry, this will make you feel all better!" The child gagged and Motoyasu pulled the vial back. Without warning he threw his spear through the wall he had come from, crashing through it fully and leaving a gaping hole. On his face was a furious stare that left Kekal shirking back. If that anger was directed towards them with his strength, they were as good as dead. "I'm so sorry everyone, but I have to go for a little bit! It hurts me so much to leave you all so soon after saving you, but it's important that I go." He spoke with a genuinely hurt expression.
Kekal tried to diffuse the man's bad mood, "Don't worry, M-master Motoyasu, umm… we'll be fine by ourselves until you return. Y-you've given us more than enough food and medicine to heal from being slaves." That was another of the man's terrifying oddities. He so adamantly claimed that they were no longer slaves, despite having slave crests with his blood linking them to him. It unnerved Kekal. If they weren't slaves to him, then what were they?
Motoyasu sighed, "I guess you're right, sweet Kekal. Kekal, since you're the oldest, I'm putting you in charge while I'm gone. Make sure everyone gets plenty of rest and eats all they need to. There's no shortage of food so don't worry about rationing or anything." He said as he walked to the entrance of the room. The gaping hole next to the entrance was a dangerous reminder of his strength. "Alright, I'll be gone for a week, everyone! Stay safe!"
Kekal deflated, tears instantly brimming to her eyes. It took all she had to stand before the man and draw his attention. Choking from behind her reached her ears. Turning, she saw the boy her master had given medicine was choking on the medicine he had drunk. Rushing over to him and leaning him up, she helped the boy cough out the excess medicine he hadn't been able to swallow, saving the boy from drowning on the life saving liquid. She cursed whatever gods existed for forcing them all under this crazed man.
All she could do was make sure they survived his misguided and maniacal fantasies.
Naofumi collapsed on to the boat, Abbacchio and Narancia crying out in alarm at seeing his bloodied and bruised state. He passed Trish off to Narancia, who held the unconscious girl in his arms tenderly. He only had a moment before Abbacchio wrangled Naofumi's jacket into his fists and brought him close for his classic interrogation.
"What the hell did you do?" He growled out.
"Saved her," was all Naofumi said.
Seeing Naofumi and Trish would be fine, Mista dashed back for the church, gun and stand at the ready. The world glitched again and Narancia choked on air. "Guys, I'm only getting two dots on my radar from inside the church!"
"Shit!" Naofumi threw Abbacchio's hands from his jacket and tried to run for the church, collapsing after only a few steps. His body was failing him. "Dammit! I have to move! GHK!" He was knocked out from Abbacchio's swift kick to the back of his head, ending his struggling.
"Abbacchio, what the hell!" Fugo screeched as he picked up Naofumi and slid him back into the boat.
"He only would have hurt himself more, struggling like he was," Abbacchio looked at the black haired man, sighing tiredly, "Dammit Naofumi."
"We have three approaching from the entrance!" Narancia's callout focused their attention, Aerosmith hovering above them. From the door, three people emerged. Giorno and Mista looked unharmed but Bruno looked a bit roughed up. None of them were running so that meant any potential danger had left.
As they neared the boat, Abbacchio stepped up to them, "What the hell happened in there?"
Bruno looked to the boat, seeing Naofumi and Trish unconscious. Looking back at his white haired subordinate, Bruno spoke the truth, "Naofumi fought the boss."
Fugo coughed in shock, "What?!"
Bruno raised his hand, silencing the rest of the group, "I'm not sure of the entire reason, but from what I can understand before Naofumi left the fight, the boss only wanted to meet his daughter so he could kill her and prevent anyone from using her to learn his identity."
The group was silent with shock.
"Jesus…" Mista muttered under his breath solemnly.
"Since Giorno, Mista, and I have also fought the boss, the five of us are now considered to be traitors to Passione. I don't doubt the boss has already sent stand users our way to silence us." Bruno kept his face even, his voice level, "Fugo, Narancia, Abbacchio… none of you were involved with the battle so you may leave if you so choose. I will not force you into a fight you don't wish to be a part of."
Without hesitation, Abbacchio stepped aboard the boat, joining Mista, Naofumi, Bruno, and Trish. "I was never one for the mob really, I mostly just followed you idiots around. Besides, I don't have any places I want to go, or anything like that." Accepting his reasoning, they returned their attention to the final two members, Narancia and Fugo.
Fugo looked between the people he had known for the last five years, the ones who had listened to him and withstood his monstrous bursts of rage. Then he looked at Naofumi, the man who had waited patiently and stood by him no matter how badly he screwed up. The man who showed him unending waves of kindness and patience, just as he had with every other member of their group. Leaving him to fend against the boss left a sour taste in Fugo's mouth, so in his mind, there truly was only one option. Fugo stepped aboard the boat with a determined and steely gaze.
Narancia… hesitated. Stepping on that boat meant his life would be in constant almost insurmountable danger. If the boss got to him, he was as good as dead. Someone who could rein with uncontested control over an organization like Passione, which was filled to the brim with powerful stand users, someone who could defeat Naofumi and Wireframe, was someone to be feared. The boss would most likely be able to eviscerate him in seconds. And it was that fear that prevented him from taking that fateful step.
Bruno removed his gaze from the shaking Narancia, "I don't blame you for your decision, Narancia, the boss is a terrifying man, one who could very easily destroy us all. But even so, we won't allow his power to scare us into submission." He turns to the conscious members of his group, "Let's go."
Mista took his position at the motor of the boat, starting it up and maneuvering it out of the dock and away from the church. A heavy silence suffocated the group. The days ahead would be filled with brutal action and danger. No doubt the boss had already commissioned their deaths from either other members of Passione or his personal hitmen. Truthfully, Bruno didn't know if everyone would escape from this war alive, and he dreaded the thought.
"Bucciarati!"
The voice drew their attention. Turning around to see Narancia paddling desperately to catch up to them.
"I'll go! I'll go, too! I'm coming with you!" He screamed as he swam through the water feverishly, "Don't order me not to go with you! Trish is me! She's me! The wound on her arm is my own!"
They stopped the boat, allowing Narancia to catch up to them. He scrambled up out of the water, and Mista clapped a hand to Narancia's back.
"Glad to have you, Narancia," Bruno smiled towards the youngest of the group.
With the entire gang together, their prospects looked brighter than ever. So they started up the motorboat and drove off towards Venice with a determination unmatched.
Naofumi Iwatani
Class: Shield Hero
Level 50
Legendary Shield,「Wireframe」
Bizarre Otherworldly Clothing
ATK: 61
DEF: 442
MATK: 52
MDEF: 346
DEX: 135
AGI: 193
Stand Arrow Charge: 91%
Raphtalia
Class: Demi-Human Knight
Level 47
Magic Iron Sword
Swordswoman's Dress
ATK: 173
DEF: 104
MATK: 154
MDEF: 58
DEX: 108
AGI: 203
Rifana
Class: Demi-Human Rampager
Level 46
Steel Dagger,「I've Been A Fool」
Short Furred Covering
ATK: 211
DEF: 97
MATK: 64
MDEF: 58
DEX: 210
AGI: 258
Silver
Class: Adult Filolial Queen
Level 47
Steel Wings
ATK: 200
DEF: 247
MATK: 202
MDEF: 295
DEX: 93
AGI: 196
Notes:
Umm... Hi?
Alright, first things first, I'm REALLY sorry it took this long to update the story. I never meant to leave this story on hold for so long but a combination of Midterms (and Finals), starting an internship, and one hell of a writer's block screwed me over so bad. I had no idea or motivation to write the four heroes council scene so i just kinda... didn't? Oops.
Regardless, I'm back now and I'm gonna try and get back to weekly updates until the end of Season 1 events, so maybe four or five chapters, as well as the Stand Battles i said I would write for 50K views or 400 favorites... which I still haven't started... uhhhhhhhh ANYWAYS! I'm back and I'm here to write.
Now onto the actual chapter. Naofumi can't copy other forms of the weapons because he's lost trust in other people, his closest friends and family included. Yeah, Elina's death is messing him up bad. As for Motoyasu, people were saying in the reviews last chapter that he's all better now and he's doing great but he ain't. He's not being manipulated anymore, which is good, but he's now a danger to other people, which is bad.
And for the flashbacks, yup, Fugo's here for the ride :)
That's all I have to say now, I'll see you next Saturday :)
- RandomA99