Hoooo BOY! How long has it been? Weeks? I sincerely apologise for that… Anyway, we meet back up with Hollow in this one as well as a precursor for the coming trials of the town.

Anyway, I hope you find this in good health. Let's hope the next one doesn't take as long…

ONWARDS!

Elsewhere, at an earlier point in time…

"Hollow…" Aultcray whispered in shock as he took a breath, "What is happening? Why are my Shadows attacking me? What is this Inquisition!? What madness has befallen us!?" His calm expression slowly morphed into one of anxiety as he took me by the shoulders and begun to shake me about.

"That is something I cannot answer," I replied, "Not without the proper information."

"What we do know," River added, "Is that this probably has to do with Malty and the Church."

"My daughter!?" Aultcray shouted in disbelief, "Though it is quite true that the Church of the Three Heroes-"

"Church of the Bow and Spear~" River corrected, Aultcray only staring wide open eyed at the implications.

"The… Church had supposedly been our allies as I may have…"

"May have?"

Aultcray gulped as he loosened his collar, "I may have urged my little Malty to ally with the Church…"

"And that, my wise king, explains much of what is now happening," Aultcray flinched as he quickly turned to look at Lute Village's elder, "I did not wish to interrupt as it seemed as if you had still been disoriented from your trip."

"You are the elder of this village?" Aultcray asked as he regained some semblance of presentability.

"A position I still hold if only because the Shield Hero had rescued our poor village from your mad daughter," The elder replied pointedly, Aultcray taking offense to this statement.

"You would dare speak ill of my daughter!?" Aultcray questioned as he drew his cane, "This village should be grateful she ever deigned to step foot in its borders!"

"What truly angers you about this, king?" I asked as Aultcray flinched, his hand shaking uncontrollably, "Is it that they ally themselves with your hated enemy, or that your daughter had given them reason to do so?"

"Both!" Aultcray shouted before reeling with regret, "N-neither! What is the meaning of this!? Are you putting into question my ability to rule!?"

"ERH! Wrooong~" River sang out.

"We are questioning your abilities as a parent. As a father."

Soon, the whole of Lute had gathered, neither face a happy one as Aultcray was pelted in the jaw with soft fruit, the explosion covering him in its innards, "Who would dar-" As he turned to look at the offender, he had been struck on the back of his head as he was forced to turn once more and once more as the villagers pelted him both with fruit and words.

They called him every name one could think of. Charlatan, usurper, jester, monster…

"HOW DOES IT FEEL KNOWING YOU FAILED TO KILL US!?" One villager shouted, the fear ever growing upon Aultcray's face.

"No… no I would neve-"

"HOW DOES IT FEEL KNOWING YOUR DAUGHTER COULDN'T ENSLAVE US!?" Another cried out as the king was brought to his knees.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know… I didn't know…" Tears filled Aultcray's eyes as various men and women encroached upon him with blades.

"Sorry doesn't bring back our boys…" A crying farmer muttered as he raised a blade, hand shaking as he cursed the very ground Aultcray walked upon. My hand upon the farmer's, I bid him leave as Aultcray was left alone.

"Do you understand your folly, Aultcray?"

"I understand that I am a poor excuse for a ruler if it meant overlooking the sacrifice of a village to kill an unkillable Hero…" Aultcray replied.

"Who do you curse? Naofumi or the Shield?" My question only rekindled his dwindled fire as he looked to me with conviction.

"They are one and the same! They will always be one and the same!" He declared, River popping in with her arms forming an 'X'.

"Wrong again, Uncle Cray!~ Seriously, it's like you're intentionally stupid!" The Filorial turned human then leaned in closer to Aultcray, "Okay, how about this. The ritual to summon the Heroes does what?"

"Wh-what?" Aultcray asked, River rolling her eyes.

"How are the Heroes summoned!? Are they pulled from the weapon itself!?"

"That is asinine!" Aultcray shot back, "That would assume we kept the Legendary Weapons with us well after their original wielders had died!"

"See!? That's why everyone's mad at you! The man you hate is already dead!" River shouted in the king's face, the two now butting heads.

"BUT THE DEMON OF THE SHIELD STILL LIVES!" Aultcray argued, sparks seeming to form as they stared each other down.

"So the last Shield Hero's name Is Naofumi Iwatani!? Is that what you're telling us!?"

"Absolutely not! Each summoned Hero is always randomized!"

"Then why hate Naofumi?" I asked simply, "He has done nothing to you."

"He violated my little girl!" Aultcray shouted with rage.

"I ask again, what has Naofumi done to you, or must I ask what the Shield has done to you?" This had been the correct question as Aultcray had finally broken down completely.

"My… my sister… stolen from me… taken to Siltvelt. They killed her… that damned kingdom. They stole away the only family I had…"

"And so you sought to destroy Lute Village for aiding the patron god of Siltvelt."

"I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT!" Aultcray pleaded, "I can not always control my captains! I'm not Mirellia… They do not respect me the way they do her…"

"Mirellia?" The elder took note of my curiosity thankfully and explained, "I am not surprised this… pitiful excuse for a man failed to tell you… failed to tell any of you who truly rules our kingdom. This sniveling dog has no doubt already sought his own wife's head."

"No… I would never hurt my Mirellia…" Aultcray pleaded.

"WE HAVE COMPANY!" River cried out as she whipped about, a massive wing batting back a sphere of spiraling fire. Laughing soon echoed and surrounded the town. A group of twelve heavily armored knights encroached upon us.

"S-SAVE ME!" Aultcray cried out to the knights, "THEY SEEK TO KILL YOUR KING!" His pleas had only been met with more laughter, the eyes of the knights shined with Radiance…

"The Church of the Bow and Spear has marked you for death, and the Inquisition obeys!" The lead knight decreed, "Burn this village to the ground in the name of his holiness and bring back the head of the false king!" The black of the Void had thusly enveloped their faces as they charged.

"Looks like they want to kill Uncle Cray too!" River growled out through grit teeth as she took on three knights, kicking them up before blowing them away, "You still want them to 'save' you?" Aultcray only paled at the more than obvious implication.

"No… I can't… my little girl would never do this to me…" He pleaded, tears once more falling.

"We protect him for now," I stated as I equipped the Holy Mackerel, poised for a fight.

"M-Master… I don't like the looks they're giving us…" River whispered as she shook. Talon however hissed at the company of knights, a raging hatred wafting off of her.

The knights gave bestial roars as they rushed forward, swords and spears ready to pierce and rend flesh and bone. With an equal roar, Talon and I rushed forth to meet steel with claw and scale.

"Uncle Cray! Now or never!" River shouted as she helped Aultcray to his feet, "You gonna stand here and let the Church play your daughter like a puppet, or are you gonna man up and be a parent for once in your life?" The low growl had been just what the king needed as he quickly joined the fray, isolating a knight from the collective before striking and breaking joints while denting and caving metal.

"What I do I do for my people!" He declared with burning rage, "What I do… I DO FOR MY CHILDREN!" The void infused knight shuddered as Aultcray struck his head, the armor falling apart as a black whisp rose and evaporated from the armor.

"Way to go, Uncle Cray!" River cheered, not yet over her growing dismay but more than willing to battle as she reverted to her giant form and barreled through a cluster of four knights.

"Aim for their heads!" I had shouted as I slammed my Mackerel against a great axe wielding knight as Talon lunged at a bowman behind their ranks. The dragon had spat out a torrent of acid upon the bowman's helm, dissolving it and releasing the Void essence holding the consumed fool together.

"Huh, these guys aren't so scary after all," River mused as she stomped upon a knight, crushing their body as a wisp licked her body and causing her to shudder, "But damn are they cold…"

Thankfully, our defensive proved far more than these… things… could handle, River and Aultcray snuffing out the lives of three more knights as I slammed a cyclone of Mackerel into what had been their leader, the scaly fish taking on a crimson, gold, and black metallic body courtesy of the MAXed Balloon King Blade and its 'Blast Charm'.

The ensuing explosion signalled the end of our struggle, Talon returning to roost within my crown, "Aultcray, do you see now why your selfish acts have wrought?" I asked rather pointedly.

"This… this only means that the Church has my little Malty in their clutches…" Aultcray replied shakily, still unsure of himself… at least I thought so.

"Okay! Enough pussy-footin'!" River shouted, "Will you just admit you tried to break Naofumi already!? This roundabout is getting annoying!"

Scandalized yet afraid, Aultcray once more found himself upon the floor having tripped as River overshadowed him, "I… must plead ignorance to your claim…" He murmured as sweat dropped from his cheek.

Unfortunately for the once king, Lute Village would have it's answers as well as it's long overdue revenge.

Meanwhile, back in Mirso…

The townspeople had, for the most part, acclimated to the more guerrilla-esque way of life they've had to endure.

It hadn't been more than an hour when the first sign of trouble had rolled into town, a group of six rather mouthy mercenaries laughing at and mocking the villagers.

"Can you fuckin believe it?" A rather short and scrawny man questioned with a sneering smile, "These idiots had a dragon protecting them and they still got slaughtered!"

"Hey! You heard the boss!" Another of the mindless grunts shouted, this one grotesque and rotund, "We're supposed to pick the place clean before the knights get here!"

"Yeah yeah…" The pipsqueak replied as he pilfered a necklace from a body, "Heh, damn Melromarc's gotten bloodthirsty now that the king and queen are out of the picture… that bitch is gonna end up torching the kingdom at this rate!"

"Hey, does this body look alive to you?" Another of the grunts questioned before getting a face full of Nail. As the bandit fell, more and more of the villagers began to come out of hiding before pelting the five remaining bandits with stones and ensuring they could do nothing to retaliate.

Feral rose to full attention, dust and earth falling from her body as she took a low, defensive stance. The rotund bandit, unbothered by the pelting rocks, roared as he threw himself at the cat eared woman only to be met bodily by a massive blue and emerald feathered Filorial. As the bandit soared, his face had impacted against Bargram's steel adorned fist as bone cracked and fractured.

"Haha! That's how it's done, Eustice!" The giant cheered along with the massive bird.

"Hey!" Wyndia called out, her outfit having tightened around her more young adult form as she tied three bandits together who had been allowed to survive, the last of their group having been slain by the townsfolk, "What are we doing with these guys;?"

Bargram sighed as Fera closed the distance between her and the trio, "The same thing they were gonna do to us," He said as he pooled magic into his fist, "We kill 'em."

The survivors could not so much as scream, stone pillars robbing them of the chance. It would be a long day for Mirso...