Still here? Really? Huh… guess I must be doing something right…

But wait! This chapter isn't starting with Hollow! Blasphemy! XD

Yes, the beginning of this chapter will have a small focus on the Heroes proper with a tad more of a spotlight shining on the Spear Hero. Love him, hate him, love to hate him… Vanilla Yasu is surprisingly fun to write!

Now… I don't want to drop the happy. In fact, me writing this story, it has been a well needed distraction for me. Honestly, I hope this story finds you in good faith as well. Between the Saharan desert invading my home (I live in a little town called San Juan Lachao Nuevo) and with the way things are going not just for me and this town, but for all of us… Persevere. Not just for yourself, but for those around you who need you the most. Persevere.

Meanwhile…

"I'm sorry, Myne, but could we borrow Naofumi for a bit?" Itsuki asked as he walked up to the Shield Hero party. Myne smiled a sweet smile, doing well to hide her growing venomous frustration.

"Of course, Sir Itsuki! I'm quite certain you have very important battle plans to discuss!" Myne replied, cursing herself as Naofumi walked away with the Bow Hero.

"Itsuki? What's up?" The Shield Hero asked as he sat in a lonely corner table, Motoyasu having currently been the only occupant.

"It's about Hollow…" The Bow Hero replied sadly as Motoyasu cursed.

"That damn beetle head thinks he can go around enslaving poor defenseless women!" The Spear Hero shouted, "Once I level up that stupid Needle of his, I'm gonna shove it right through his stupid cracked face!"

"Come on, man," Naofumi muttered meekly as he felt rather intimidated by the shouting Motoyasu, "We still don't know if that rumor is true."

"The Hell do you mean!?" Motoyasu shouted as he slammed his hands on the table, "Did you see her!? He didn't even let her cover up the damn thing!"

"I don't want to jump to conclusions," Itsuki added, "But reviewing the evidence as it is…"

"Okay! Okay!" Naofumi relented, "Fine, Hollow-San has a slave… but what does that tell us about the king?"

"Woah, hey! What about the king!?" Motoyasu questioned.

"King Aultcray was the one who gave Hollow that poor woman as a slave," Itsuki offered, "Mald told me about the Demi-human trafficking laws here in Melromarc, but I was also assured that a lot is being done to outlaw the practice."

"Well, it's not like any of us are going to be getting slaves anytime soon, right?" Noafumi offered, "Anyway, it's getting kinda late, isn't it? I think I'm gonna turn in for the night."

"Lame!" Motoyasu exclaimed as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, "Fine, I guess it's up to me to get to the bottom of this!" He shouted as he walked away.

"Should we be worried?" Naofumi asked… no one as Itsuki had left not long after Motoyasu. Sighing, Naofumi lazily made his way to his room to turn in for the night, hopeful that this wouldn't drive a wedge between everyone.

Also Meanwhile…

Motoyasu bitterly left the inn, wallowing in silent anger as he sought out the oversized bug that was the Sword Hero, "Some Hero he is…" He muttered under his breath, "And here I was actually feeling sorry for him."

Though, despite his bubbling anger, Motoyasu had to stop and think, "If I were a giant bug pulling along a poor defenseless cat girl, where the hell would I go?" After what seemed like a headache inducing eternity, Motoyasu finally snapped his fingers, "The forest! Duh!"

With a plan in motion, Motoyasu rushed headlong into the night in search of his soon to be prey… only to be met with a literal roadblock.

"Whaddya mean you won't let me through!?" He shouted at the now cowering gate guard.

"I'm sorry sir! Those are the rules, I can't allow anyone in or out of the city without express authorization!" The trembling guard shouted as he shrunk in on himself while shakily balancing himself on his spear.

Motoyasu growled, but soon grew a mischievous smile, "But I do have authorization," He replied, "The king himself put me on a special mission."

Surprised, the guard ran into the gate tower and quickly returned, "I'm… reading the logs and I can't find anything ab-"

Quickly pushing the log book down, Motoyasu inches his face closer to the hapless guard, "Let me stop you there, see… I'm not going to appear in your books," He explained as he flashed the Legendary Spear, "The king wants this off the books, really super secret stuff we're talking about here."

"Super secret?" The guard repeated as Motoyasu gave a nod, "The-the king?" Motoyasu's grin slowly grew wider.

"See, there's a small royal problem," The scheming blonde muttered, "There's been a kidnapping."

"Kidnapping…" The guards eyes grew wide with terror, a million and one scenarios now running in his head… each one involving: "THE PRINCESS!" He shouted as Motoyasu clasped his mouth shut.

"Shhh! Not so loud! Look, you let me through… and I give you a standing ovation~" His honeyed words changed the guards thoughts from nightmare to dream… A parade in his honor, a feast in his name… all dashed as his commanding officer had returned, his shadow looming over the hunched over Spear Hero.

"I see," The man stated, shocking Motoyasu to attention, "Please, tell me more on the kidnapping of our fair princess."

Motoyasu slowly turned his head to face the new guard, a heavily scarred face greeting him as he shrieked.

"Because I have it on good authority that not only is out princess safe, she is being escorted by a Cardinal Hero as we speak," With a surprisingly gentle touch, Motoyasu was pulled and pushed away unable to so much as utter a word, "Now go, lest we fine you for such a childish tale."

Deigning not to so much as breathe, Motoyasu released a sigh the moment he was out of earshot and huddled in an alley, "Damn it… there goes that plan, and what was that about a Hero with the Princess… what to do what to do… I mean it's not like I can fl-" Blinking, Motoyasu quickly began to review his spears.

[Hallowed Needle Rank: 4/25

Damage: 25

Passive: Arachnid Claw

Cling onto any surface

Active: Silk Thread

Summon a tout string of thread]

'It's worth a shot,' He thought to himself as he equipped the spear. It's stone-like finish glistened like silver under the pale light of the moon, the Needle's edges shining as if sharper than they really were. Without another moment to spare, Motoyasu lurked further away from the guard post, ensuring he stayed as close to the castle town's outer wall as possible.

"Here goes nothing!" He shouted to himself as he threw his spear, embedding it in the top most section of the wall… a thin, silver thread seemingly following the spear as it flew, "Okay… now what?" He asked himself as he pulled his right hand back, only to yelp as the thread pulled him towards the wall… face first.

Pulling his head back, Motoyasu began to rub his sore cheek only to shout once more as he stared down at the bottom of the wall. Shutting his eyes and clasping a hand over his mouth, the Spear Hero hugged the wall for what felt an eternity. It took quite some time, but he finally opened his eyes to see that his body was firmly stuck upon the stone surface.

Hyperventilating, he gulped and pulled his right hand again as the thread seemingly retracted into his wrist. Blinking, he threw his arm out at an opposite wall to no avail. Finding his spear, he attempted the action once more as the thread shot out and hooked itself onto the spear.

"What the…" Pushing his arm out slightly caused the spear to pull him further to it, his hand catching the handle as he flew over the wall… and into an awaiting stream.

Clawing his way out, Motoyasu gasped for air as he pulled himself out of the flowing river, cursing himself as well as the Sword Hero who put him into this predicament in the first place… but he had to admit. The Needle was a fairly decent weapon.

It was not long until he began his search, using the weapon's inbuilt map as a guide in hopes that whatever forest that surrounded the castle would be the one. Lo and behold, after a good half hour of walking and monster slaying, Motoyasu soon picked up on the surprisingly subtle whistling of metal slicing air and flesh.

Hiding behind tree after tree, the Spear Hero finally found his target. Within the middle of an almost gladiatorial clearing was the oversized bug himself and his cat girl slave maid. The two had come into contact with a swarm of Giant Bees and Horned Rabbits, neither worried of the fact that blade like stingers kept wanting to impale them while horned balls of fur wanted to bite their ankles off… or whatever the pointed stumps Hollow's legs ended on were.

The two fought the oncoming horde of creatures as if their very thoughts were linked. Their every swing, a precalculation, their each step so abhorrently in sync it was almost like watching professional ballet! Not that he… watched professional ballet…

Then there was what he could only guess was magic, Hollow blasting out blinding white spears from his palms while the cat girl maid sent out a short burst of magic that stunned the monster mob for a good five seconds. The more he saw the pair fight, the more and more he realized… and it did pain him to admit… Hollow wasn't actually doing anything wrong.

Did he have a slave girl? Sure! It was why he was here in the first place! But… he wasn't mistreating her. He wasn't forcing her to do all the work, he was right there with her kicking ass and taking names. The only problem he really had was… well… his own party was missing a demi human or two.

Then again… she couldn't be the only mildly attractive half human in the world… and he could always buy one or four… right? "No way… what am I thinking! I can't buy a person! Wait… I'm not actually buying a person… I'm just… emancipating them… yeah…"

Sending Hollow one last silent curse and swearing he would overpower him one day, Motoyasu readied the Needle Spear and flew away…

Even Moreso Meanwhile…

The Spear Hero has left. Fera's thought echoed as we fought. Yes, curiosity no doubt… curious still was the Needle he used. Instead of a 'Spear' of this world, he instead chose to wield Needle of the Nest. He may have been a lost cause… but at least he was not a hopelessly lost cause.

How many hides and stingers have we accumulated? How many indeed… the night's restless hustle had earned us a hundred and three Stingers, eighty three Rabbit Horns, and a hundred twelve Rabbit Hides… not counting the twelve Golden Stingers, eight Golden Rabbit Horns, and six Golden Rabbit Hides.

The night grows colder, my master. May we afford rest? Rest… it was still such a foreign concept to me. Yet, my partner, as I have come to see her, is human. Humans require things like food and sleep. They feel pain both physical and emotional. They exist in a way I believe I could have…

Shaking my head of these dreaded thoughts I carried my visibly tired ally away, doing my best to avoid further conflict. I was thankful that the beasts we ran across cowered before us… yet I could not help but feel a heavy presence.

I feel it as well… a ravenous hatred permeates the air. It screams of vengeance for the fallen… there are tales of this. Should a hunter over step the bounds of nature…

Her thought had been interrupted as a beast of blackened fur and stripes of grey had fallen before us bearing a steel horn atop its head. Blood red eyes stared at us before releasing a wild roar that spoke of bloodshed. It had soon been followed by massive black and grey hornet with similar blood red eyes.

Yes, I believe this is what they call a 'Boss Monster'.

I had to drop my partner to parry the hornet's stinger only for the rabbit to ram its horn into me, pushing me backwards and away from Fera. Thankfully, the she had stabbed the beast from below causing it to roar in pain. I could not allow my attention to be divided however as the hornet once more chose to attempt to impale me. I had been gone from its path in an instant, reappearing atop it once more wielding my Hallowed Nail.

The Nail had shorn through its back, pinning it to the earth as a ring of Soul Nails pierced it from below. Not one to show quarter, I took hold of its right most wing and pulled. The beast roared and writhed as it attempted to dislodge me from atop its body, unknowingly assisting in its own demise.

Quite unfortunately, Fera had not been as successful in her own battle as she was unceremoniously ragdolled by a slam of the rabbit's hip to her abdomen. Her back had struck a tree with enough force to shatter its bark as she fell limp, but alive to the floor. Slowly the beast approached her, maw wide and salivating as it twitched its nose.

How very unfortunate it kept a one track mind. Before the beast knew it, a Soul Needle pierced its skull. Oh Fera…

My master, apologies. I had been careless. No, not careless. Tired. Unprepared. I shall help you stand, and you shall focus your Soul.

Gently I took hold of her, aiding her injured form to stand as I felt her gather her Soul. It was not as before… before, her haphazard focus could only stun the creatures before her. This instance however felt… familiar. As her Soul erupted, it formed a vortex above her before returning to her core.

With a heavy sigh, she focused once more as her Soul rebuilt her battered body.

The Lore Tablet… I believe it showed me how. It would appear so, but for now, help me collect these remains. Earhart will no doubt rejoice at such gifts.

[Rampage Drill Sword Unlocked

Murder Scimitar Unlocked]