The Wave was very quickly approaching, ready to come in later on that day.

Motoyasu decided it was time to make final preparations, which mainly meant arming Buddy. Before arming Buddy though, Motoyasu needed his armor.

Old Guy waved to Motoyasu as he came in. "Hey! Right on time! Your armor is ready!"

"How dandy! Master Motoyasu, you should try it on posthaste!" Buddy commented.

Old Guy went completely still. "Did…your pet just talk?"

"Yes… Buddy learned to talk due to my spear apparently," Motoyasu replied as he went to claim the armor. "He's actually quite the conversationalist. And…much more intelligent than expected."

"I do fancy a good book, so I have been accepting handouts!" Buddy claimed as he came up to the desk. He was fully grown now, but he was still physically a bear. He was always on all fours unless he was standing still. He got up on his rear legs when he was close to the counter. "How are you today, Sir Erhard? Now that I am able to speak, I would like to thank you for taking such good care of my master." He fumbled and swayed a bit as he attempted an elegant bow.

"It's…not a problem." Old Guy was still staring at Buddy in shock, doing so as Motoyasu went to change.

Motoyasu stepped out, his right eye twitching. "Do you expect me to look like a supervillain while I fight?" His armor was a blood crimson color with black metal highlights. It was shaped like his normal coattails and a cape style, but his cape was supported by long spider legs. His chest plate was even adorned with eight large, glassy spider eyes. His spike-design collar was popped up noticeably high, enough to cover his mouth and nose if he closed the front of it.

"That's the Doomfang series of armor. Maybe you should have fought friendlier things if you wanted to look friendly," Old Guy suggested. "The leather is actually made of snake scales. Normally it would need normal leather, but that giant, snake body you brought in had too high of quality to ignore."

Motoyasu did find it really comfortable to move in though, something that surprised him. "Well…it does feel nice at least. I paid a lot in advance. How much more is it for completion?"

"Don't worry about it." Old Guy waved him off. "Most of it was already paid by how high of quality the materials you brought me were. Just survive the Wave, and we'll call it even."

Motoyasu nodded and gave Old Guy a genuine smile. "Thanks…for everything. Just in case I don't make it back."

"Don't get sentimental on me now! You'll make it back!"

Buddy wrapped an arm around Motoyasu's shoulders. "I'll keep an eye on him! This will be a dandy walk in the park!"

Old Guy looked around before grabbing a massive magic staff, bringing it over to Buddy. "Here. Just so you can walk like the rest of us. Can't have people calling you an animal and hunting you, now can we?"

Buddy took the staff and balanced on it, able to use it to stay walking on his hind legs. "Yes… Thank you. We will be sure to pay you back for this one after the Wave at least, Sir Erhard." He did his fancy bow again, nailing it this time thanks to having the staff to balance with.

"We'll just call it ten silver when you get back. It's too big for anyone else to use anyway," Old Guy said as he pat Buddy and Motoyasu on their shoulders. "Kid…be sure to get along with the heroes during the Wave at least. Be there for each other."

Motoyasu rolled his eyes. "As long as they stay out of my way." He then stepped out with Buddy.

Even with armor paid for, money was still a problem.

With that in mind, Motoyasu decided it was time he sold some of his inventory. He did remember the woman from before had told him that her boss would be happy to look through his inventory, and as much as he hated to trust her, he needed the money. "Bud, we're going someplace fishy. Be ready to fight."

"Of course, Master Motoyasu. I do know your enemies are numerous," Buddy replied. He was just happy to have his own walking stick to use now. He looked at his paw and wiggled his thumb. He was pretty sure he didn't have thumbs before…

Motoyasu stopped by the manor and opened the door. "I've come to do business!"

Clyde looked up from a hentai manga book. He stuffed it away in his back pocket before raising his arms in excitement. "The Spear Hero has arrived! Angel, we have business!"

Angel rolled in from seemingly nowhere and pulled out a sales display.

"…I'm actually here to sell," Motoyasu told them.

"Doesn't mean the display can't be out!" Clyde gestured at the display. "If you ever need monster materials but you don't want to go to that area, Angel had probably been there. She sells monster materials that you may have missed. She also collects requested items if you need them."

Motoyasu actually was a little interested. He went to the display and looked it over, finding materials from areas he wasn't even of level to be in yet. He didn't like the price tags though, but it made sense to charge extra for these materials. He could see the other heroes stopping by to purchase monster drops they had missed to unlock new weapons. "And what do you do…?"

Clyde chuckled as he pointed to himself. "I'm a smith! The best diddly-darn smith in the multiverse!"

Motoyasu raised an eyebrow as he went to check Clyde's weapon display, finding no weapons Old Guy wasn't selling already. "…you have a lot of common weapons for a smith, and you're overcharging."

"Psh! My display is just a visual! If you want something real good, you'll need to commission it!" Clyde pulled out his forge hammer. "I can whip it up real quick."

Motoyasu looked at Clyde's forge hammer. He noticed a distinct gem on it, like what would be on the Legendary Weapons except this one was star shaped. He hadn't seen a tool like it before. "I'm not commissioning from someone who overcharges as much as you do. I get ripped off enough already."

"Then that isn't the only service we have here. We sell magic books from all over the world, crystal balls, potion recipes… Whatever you need!" Clyde gestured at a wall of books.

Motoyasu pulled a book off the shelf and opened it, trying to read it. He wasn't very good at reading this world's language yet, but he had been learning a lot from Buddy.

Buddy seemed excited to see the bookshelf though. "Master Motoyasu! This is truly a library of vast knowledge! Perhaps we can learn some magic here?"

Clyde jumped a bit when Buddy talked. "That's new…"

"Yeah, my puppy talks," Motoyasu explained.

"…puppy…?" Clyde cleared his throat. He then went to a table with a crystal ball. "You two shouldn't invest in magic books without even knowing what you specialize in. Come here, and I'll figure that out for you."

"For free?" Motoyasu asked suspiciously.

"Something tells me you two will be regular book customers. I can't have you wasting money and complaining to me about it."

Buddy excitedly went over and looked into the crystal ball. "An interesting trinket. Does it take long to learn how to use?"

"In relation to my lifespan? Not really." Clyde ran his hands over the surface of the crystal ball. He narrowed his eyes and tapped the top of the crystal ball like he was trying to get it to work. "…well I'll be damned. You have a magic prodigy here, Spear Hero Motoyasu. Your…'puppy' can use all forms and all elements of magic with equal affinity."

"Is that rare?" Motoyasu asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Is that rare? Is that rare? Now let me think about that. I'd say every one in a million people has affinity for all types and elements of magic. So…YES THAT IS RARE!" Clyde looked honestly stunned, and Angel seemed to have the same stunned expression as she looked over Clyde's shoulder.

"Where did you find your pet?" Angel signed at Motoyasu.

"In an abandoned alleyway, why? Buddy here is my best friend, so it doesn't matter where he came from," Motoyasu answered.

"Well…I don't remember much from back then myself," Buddy admitted. "But I do wish to help Motoyasu. Starting with healing magic if possible."

"Just…just take the fucking book." Clyde pulled down a magic book for basic healing magic and handed it over. "One time offer. Just take it."

"Jolly day! I should be able to polish this book off in time for the Wave!" Buddy said excitedly as he opened the book, moving over to let Motoyasu take his turn at the crystal ball.

"Is it possible he was an accident from the past Wave? Sometimes creatures fall through," Angel signed to Clyde.

"No point questioning it. We've seen enough crazy things…" Clyde gestured for Motoyasu to sit in front of him. "Your turn, demon king."

Motoyasu rolled his eyes, knowing Clyde was referencing his armor. He took the seat.

Clyde worked with the crystal ball for a bit. "Fire and holy magic affinity. Normal attack magic stuff. You might be able to score status and curse healing from the holy magic side, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that."

"I'm guessing I won't be scoring a free magic book as easily?" Motoyasu asked, still trying to save money.

Clyde pulled down a book on basic fire magic. "You look like you'll need it. I've seen the hell you've gone through. One free basics book. After this, you'll need to pay."

Motoyasu blinked in surprise, actually softening up a bit. "…thanks."

"Now then…Angel and I have a fancy meeting thing to tend to. Some rich fuckboy down in Faubley wants to invest in my tinkering work, and we need the cash. That means we need to look good for the meeting. What do you have for us to wear?" Clyde asked with a grin.

Motoyasu pulled up the large back of clothes he kept with him. "I'm glad you asked."

Clyde widened his eyes at the size of the bag. "You carry that under your cape? That's a big no from me! Let me see your spear!"

Motoyasu curiously held out his spear. He didn't exactly think his spear could be messed with, so he didn't mind letting Clyde look at it.

Angel came forward and pulled out one of her hairs, dropping it into Motoyasu's spear.

Storage Spear Unlocked!

Special Equip Bonus: Infinite storage

Motoyasu changed to the new spear, finding it to be more of a long box.

"Drop anything in that. It will store it for you. Your storage will be in your status if you want to pull anything out," Clyde explained.

Motoyasu curiously dropped one of his items in, seeing it pop into a new storage window of his status. "…and how much is this?"

"Discount the clothes at least," Clyde told him. "Our bank is running low."

"I can do that."


Ren woke up late, annoyed at how it was already past noon. He didn't even have much prep time left. He looked over and saw Wyndia, Keel, and Rifana were all still asleep. He was still groggy from his pain medicine, and he knew he would still need to take more. He felt good enough to walk at least. He slid out of bed and went to leave the room. He opened the door, widening his eyes when he saw a full-grown grizzly bear on the other side.

"Salutations!" Buddy greeted giddily.

Ren quickly closed the door. "…I am so FUCKING HIGH right now…"

Wyndia slowly woke up and rubbed her eyes. "What is it, Ren? Is it time to go?"

"I think I'm seeing things, Wyndia. Open this door for me and tell me what you see."

Wyndia sighed and went over, opening the door.

Buddy was still on the other side of the door. "Is something wrong in there? I was simply taking a tour of the area-"

Wyndia closed the door and rubbed her eyes again. She then opened the door again.

"-and I just happened to run into Sir Sword Hero!" Buddy continued like he hadn't had the door closed on him.

"Yes…Ren is recovering from major injuries," Wynda replied, wondering if she was just as high on painkillers as Ren was.

"Oh dear me! If I may…" Buddy held out his paw to Ren, the gem on his magic staff glowing. "First Heal!"

Ren didn't feel too much better, but he could tell he had healed a bit. "…thanks?"

"You are welcome, good sir!" Buddy tipped his chef hat politely.

"Bud! We need to go!" Motoyasu called to him.

"Many pardons. I must be on my way! Cheerio!" Buddy did an over-the-top bow before going after Motoyasu.

Wyndia was silent for a few moments after. "The coast is clear Ren."

"I noticed…" Ren stepped out. "Clyde…was that a-?"

"Talking grizzly bear? Yes." Clyde still looked just as confused as he had before. "Now you two need to get food and get ready for the Wave. Time is running out."

"Right… We'll be heading out then. Can you watch the kids until we get back?"

"I can…but not for free."

"I'll pay you with the bonus I get from defeating the Wave," Ren told him simply.

Clyde gave him a simple nod in response. "Your medicine isn't cheap either. Bring pay for that too when you can."

"Don't worry. You'll be paid," Ren told him.

"Good. Because this world doesn't exactly have cup ramen to live off of."

Ren then stepped out with Wyndia. "Let's handle final preps, Wyndia. The world needs us."

Wyndia smiled confidently. "I've got your back."

"And know that I've got yours," Ren replied with a smile back.


Naofumi looked around the second he had been teleported to the Wave. He hadn't been able to recruit soldiers like he had hoped, but he was sure he could handle protecting Riyute Village by himself much easier this time. He was sure until he actually looked at the sky though.

The Wave looked much different this time…like the normal Wave but overlapped with multiple other Waves until the sky was an inky mix of black and purple.

"Naofumi! Look!" Raphtalia pointed at the nearby Riyute village which was already being swarmed with monsters.

Not only where the same monsters from the last time Naofumi had done this Wave there, but also these strange slime creatures of all different colors.

"Come on, Raphtalia!" Naofumi started running to Riyute to handle defending it.

"Bud! We're going with Naofumi!" Motoyasu suddenly caught up to Naofumi. "I can't have you mess this up."

Naofumi wanted to tell Motoyasu the same thing, but he was happy Motoyasu had his mind in the right place.

"You two are heroes! You need to focus on the boss-!" Itsuki called after them angrily.

"Don't blow a vein, Itsuki. I'll fight the boss with you," Ren said as he ran up with Wyndia.

Itsuki clenched his teeth when he saw Wyndia with Ren. He now knew Naofumi was right, and that pissed him off more. "I thought you were near death?"

"I was. Thanks for not pushing me over the edge there," Ren told him before running in the direction where he thought the boss spawned.

Itsuki ran after Ren, already pissed off even more with how Ren was sassing him. "You would have respawned at the hospital, and you know it!"

Ren didn't have time to argue with him. He had to focus on the boss.

Wyndia twitched her ears before speeding up to catch up to Ren. "We're close. I hear something big."

If it had really been the exact same Wave, it would have been a chimera boss, but fate had changed.

The boss was a massive humanoid rock golem, its head being a stronger version of the small slimes that had been hopping all over the place.

Itsuki immediately loaded up an arrow. "Aim for the head!" He ordered his party before unleashing a volley of arrows.

The slime golem staggered back, letting out a twisted, gooey roar as it turned focus to Itsuki.

"Wyndia! I'm going up!" Ren told Wyndia before running up the side of the golem. He then stabbed his sword into its head repeatedly. "Crimson Sword!" He unleashed attack after attack into it.

The golem jumped up high and slammed into the ground, shaking the area and flinging Ren off.

Ren flipped and landed as softly as he could. "It's pretty tough…"

"It's ok. We just need to keep it up." Wyndia made sure Ren hadn't hurt himself with that stunt. "Dark Fire Palette!" She sent black fire at the head of the golem.

The golem suddenly rolled out of the way. It was oddly fast for something its size.

"Hit it again!" Itsuki ordered his party, preparing his bow again. "Shooting Star Arrow!" He shot the golem mid-dodge to knock it over and make it need to recover.

Suddenly a loud roar could be heard from up in the sky.

Wyndia paled noticeably. "Ren…that was a dragon's roar."

Ren looked up just in time to see a white dragon emerge from the Wave, the dragon flying off to Riyute. "Why didn't I consider the possibility of multiple bosses-!?"


Naofumi hit back an enemy with his Sentinel Shield. He was very much enjoying the new shield. He had found that the Shield Bash and Shield Throw abilities were attacks that used the defense stat for calculating damage instead of the attack stat. He wasn't really a full attacker with the shield though, as both abilities had cooldowns. He used Shield Throw to throw his shield, the shield bouncing off of multiple enemies like a comic book hero he remembered seeing back in his world. Unlike that hero though, he never had the shield return to him.

Shield Throw would always explode to do wide damage after bouncing off of three enemies, but it would take fifteen seconds for another shield to reappear on Naofumi's arm, leaving him much more open for that whole time.

Raphtalia followed through to attack more enemies that remained after the attack. "Mr. Naofumi! Everyone is evacuated here!"

Naofumi nodded and turned in the direction Motoyasu and Buddy had gone. "Motoyasu! How is evac!?"

Motoyasu waved back. "We're good here!"

"Sir Naofumi! Master Motoyasu! I believe one last run around the perimeter is in order! We cannot be careless!" Buddy told them. He raised his staff, healing both parties.

Naofumi nodded in agreement. "Then we'll run it again." He pointed his hand at Motoyasu. "Air Strike Shield!" He created a shield just in time to protect Motoyasu from a monster that had appeared behind him. "And stay safe."

Motoyasu grumbled in annoyance. "I'd tell you to stay safe too, but that seems to be what you're best at."

A shadow suddenly loomed over them, making them all look up.

Naofumi immediately got into a defensive stance the second he recognized the shape. "A dragon!? So soon!?"

Motoyasu looked equally stunned. "Isn't this only the second Wave!?"

The dragon landed outside of the village, likely planning to go after those who had been evacuated. It wanted to make a meal out of any humans it could find.

"Air Strike Javelin!" Motoyasu created a spear of wind energy and chucked it at the dragon.

The dragon barely flinched, but it turned to focus on Motoyasu.

"We can't fight it in Riyute, Motoyasu! Everything will be destroyed!" Naofumi told him.

"Then we lead it off! Can you do that? You're supposed to have agro abilities as a shielder!" Motoyasu asked.

Naofumi nodded and ran off, happy he had used the Weapon Copy System early. "Hate Reaction!"

The dragon changed focus to Naofumi and started flying after him.

Raphtalia ran after Naofumi. "Mr. Naofumi, what is the plan of attack?"

"Just do things as we always have. I'll take the damage, and you will attack." Naofumi knew he couldn't trust Motoyasu to handle the damage, so he would rely on Raphtalia. As much as he wanted to believe Motoyasu could handle this fight, he knew Motoyasu was of a much lower level than the last time he had fought this Wave.

The dragon unleashed a holy fire breath attack, sweeping it up after Naofumi.

"Shield Prison!" Naofumi protected himself and Raphtalia.

Naofumi jumped out of the prison the second it broke. He guarded with his Sentinel Shield until he was close to the dragon then hit it with Shield Bash.

Shield Bash had three charges that each had a five second cooldown for a total of fifteen seconds if all three charges were used. It also had noticeable end lag, making it better for small targets instead of big ones. As things stood now though, it was Naofumi's best source of damage.

The dragon skidded back from the impact. It actually took noticeable damage.

"When you give the tank a way to attack…you've removed its biggest weakness." Naofumi hit the dragon again.

Raphtalia and Motoyasu ran next to the dragon, dragging their weapons through its flesh.

"Chaos Spear! Chaos Spear! CHAOS SPEAR!" Motoyasu kept using up his SP to keep using Chaos Spear.

"First Flare!" Buddy unleashed an explosive fireball from his staff that didn't seem to really do anything. Seeing this, he jumped back. "My damage is of no use! I will support!" He then cast First Heal on each of them.

Naofumi used another Shield Bash to knock the dragon back again, but he now needed to let the cooldown timer start. He then used the Sentinel Shield's third skill, Defensive Wall.

Defensive Wall was a blocking skill that made the Sentinel Shield expand into a see-through wall of energy that covered a wide area in front of Naofumi. It also had the bonus of buffing the damage of attacks that passed through the barrier if the attacks were made by his allies. This skill lasted a while, but it had a whole minute cooldown and greatly reduced Naofumi's speed while in use.

Naofumi was able to block another wave of holy fire from the dragon, the flames split by his barrier.

The dragon suddenly changed focus from Naofumi though, turning to Motoyasu.

"Finally got your attention, big guy?" Motoyasu had been focusing on the joint of the dragon's right wing. "This should piss you off then!" He then slashed through the joint, letting the wing fall off.

The dragon let out a bellow of pain, quickly biting at Motoyasu.

Motoyasu flipped his spear back. "Eat this! Chaos Spear!" He then unloaded the attack into the dragon's maw. He then ran into the dragon's mouth like a madman.

Naofumi widened his eyes in surprise. "Is he suicidal!?"

"No. He simply can't trust you to keep agro off of him. So the best place to attack from without risking attacks from the dragon are inside. If he plays his cards right…" Buddy was silent for a moment, watching as Motoyasu's spear burst out of the dragon's neck. "Windpipe and major artery down."

"One last time! CHAOS SPEAR!" Motoyasu blew off the dragon's head from inside of its neck before climbing out to stand on the dragon's corpse. "That…was disgusting…" He twirled his spear and returned it to his back before the head even landed.

Naofumi sighed in relief. "Save some materials for the others. I'm going to check the area over one more time."

Motoyasu jumped down from the dragon's neck hole. "Don't take too long. There could be more bosses."

Naofumi wearily looked up at the Wave in the sky. "You're not wrong." He then went to patrol around again. "Raphtalia! Let's go!"

"Right!" Raphtalia went to go after him.

As if on cue, two new bosses fell from the sky. They were pure metal golems, though they were advanced enough to look like robots.

Motoyasu slumped his shoulders and groaned. "We fought a dragon, and now there are Gundams? Give me a fucking break!"

"I guess the last patrol will have to wait-" Naofumi staggered back as the golems started fighting each other instead of intentionally causing destruction, shockwaves being sent by from the force of them colliding. "…or we wait for them to weaken each other." He hadn't seen two bosses of the same monster species fight before, so he had to wonder what they actually were.

It actually made sense that if Waves connected worlds, some of those worlds wouldn't have humans as the only intelligent life, and intelligent life lead to wars among the species.

"…Raphtalia, we need to keep those things from crashing into Riyute." Naofumi changed plans as he went to get close to the battle between the two giant golems that were easily bigger than most of the village houses.

"Good luck with that! I'm not going up against anime-style mechs! No way in fucking hell!" Motoyasu called after Naofumi as he watched Naofumi and Raphtalia leave.

"Then what do we do?" Buddy asked.

"We take the best materials from this dragon for ourselves. I got left without shit when I had barely started in this world. I'm not giving charity." Motoyasu took parts of the dragon and put them into his spear. He sadly only unlocked spears that he was too low of a level to even see, but he did find a large crystal inside of the dragon though, the crystal imbued with an absurd amount of holy element magic of some sort. "Score. This is all mine." He pocketed the crystal to use in his armor later.

"Master Motoyasu, if you have enough materials, the Wave hasn't ended. We should get back to the fight," Buddy told Motoyasu.

"Yeah, I'm good." Motoyasu hopped down from the dragon's corpse and downed a health potion. "On to the next fight-" He froze as he picked up a familiar smell, one of a perfume he hadn't smelled in a long time. He looked around in panic. "B-Bud! Battle position now!"

Buddy immediately got ready to cast magic, unnerved to see Motoyasu so scared. "What is it, Master Motoyasu?" He didn't see a boss monster nearby, most of the nearby monsters being easy enough to kill in one shot.

Motoyasu kept pointing his spear around, looking for what was currently scaring him more than anything. "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! WASN'T MY LAST LIFE ENOUGH FOR YOU!?" He had flashbacks to dying in his last life, two girls repeatedly stabbing him until he bled out. "Momiji! I know it's you! I got that perfume for you!"

"Oh, Motoyasu…" A girl dressed in all black came out. She looked like the typical shy nerd girl and was absolutely beautiful in every way. She gave him an awkward smile and adjusted her glasses to try to look cuter. "I told you that we'd be together in the afterlife…forever." She suddenly put on a sadistic look as she grabbed a knife she had on her side. Her knife had a familiar gem in it…just like the legendary weapons.

Motoyasu eyed her up in fear, his hands trembling as he tried to keep his spear leveled at her. "Back up! G-go away!" He saw Momiji hadn't changed, because after all…she was responsible for taking his previous life.

Momiji rushed at him, her expression going from shy and awkward to what a predator would have on when stalking prey. "MOTOYASU!"

Motoyasu couldn't fight her. His chest burned from all the cuts she had put in him before, even if he didn't even have those wounds anymore. Of all the places he could have met her again, he met her in a Wave, and he was more afraid than he had ever been before. He turned and ran.

Buddy got between Momiji and Motoyasu, blocking a knife swing from Momiji with his staff. "Graaah!" He slid back, his bear strength somehow not being a match. "Master Motoyasu! What do we do!?"

"RUN!" Motoyasu ordered immediately.


Ren looked in the direction of Riyute. He had no idea if Naofumi and Motoyasu were safe after that dragon went after them, but he felt noticeable danger in Riyute. He could only spare the thought for a bit as he turned back to the slime golem boss. "We need to end this soon!"

"Not likely. We've been at this for half an hour," Itsuki told him.

The boss wasn't even halfway dead, even with how much of a beating Ren and Itsuki were giving it. Thankfully it had been easy to stun-lock with projectiles, but it was still taking way too long to fight when others could be in danger.

"…I will defy that." Ren started going through his swords. "Wyndia, I'm about to do something drastic. If things go wrong…run like hell."

"What is with your hero streak, Ren? I'm not leaving you. I'm sure I've made that clear enough," Wyndia told him firmly, even at the risk of her slave seal going off.

"Then get ready…because I wasn't exactly mentally aware of what happened the last time I did this, and I'll need to do it quickly." Ren navigated his status until he found his Sword of Greed. He barely remembered using it before, considering he had been running purely on adrenaline when he unlocked it. He didn't want to risk it, but he could feel that things had gone wrong in Riyute somehow. He couldn't risk Motoyasu and Naofumi's lives by continuing to slowly take down this boss. He had to go all in.

"Just what are you planning to do?" Itsuki asked as he and his party kept staggering the boss with projectiles. "I'm the highest level here. If I can't quickly kill this boss, surely you can't."

"Why kill the boss…when you can execute it?" Ren sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes before switching to the Sword of Greed. He swayed on his feet as his emotions suddenly all changed. He wanted everything. He wanted to take and take until everything belonged to him.

Wyndia took his hand and smiled at him. "I'm still here, Ren." She then shivered as the air started to get cold around Ren.

Instead of the flaming aura of rage, Ren was engulfed by the cold aura of greed.

Ren opened his eyes, forcing himself to hold onto his will with the help of Wyndia's trust in him. "This…was a lot easier when I was close to dying…" He had frost building up on him, but he still felt warmth from Wyndia's hand.

"You got it." Wyndia slowly pulled her hand away before pushing Ren towards the fight. "Be a hero. I'll make sure to pick you up when you're done."

Ren gave her a thumbs up before walking closer to the boss. "Chain Binding!" He summoned chains to wrap around the boss and force it down to its knees.

The boss turned its slimy head to Ren, letting out another of its creepy, gross roars as it tried to break the chains.

"Oh trust me… It won't be easy." Ren pointed his hand at the boss. "Chain Needle!"

The boss let out another roar, this time in pain as the chains grew spikes to stab it.

"Now to finish it off…" Ren triggered Guillotine for the first time. "The foolish criminal will lose all feeling as the unholy blade severs head from body. Your cries will go silent as death is delivered in one quick drop! Guillotine!"

A giant guillotine came down from the sky in the same way Iron Maiden would, the guillotine placing itself in just the right spot to remove the boss's head.

Ren pointed at the boss before snapping his fingers.

The blade dropped, cutting the boss's head clean right off.

The boss went limp instantly as its slime head rolled off and melted, a stream of slime leaking out of the remaining body.

Ren watched his SP drop to zero. "It's done." He quickly switched back to his default sword before stumbling to his knees and coughing out blood. "…I'm probably not supposed to do that."

Wyndia helped him back up. "You can walk it off. Naofumi and Motoyasu need us."

"Right… Just give me a moment…" Ren was feeling very light-headed after all of that.

Itsuki and his party watched stunned, not having expected anything like that.

"What cheating sword was that!? Where did you get that!?" Itsuki asked quickly, his pride severely wounded after that.

"It's too long of a story to tell now." Ren narrowed his eyes as he saw a new Wave timer. "…we need to get to Riyute. Naofumi and Motoyasu could be in danger."


Motoyasu ran through Riyute, ducking and hiding where he could. He could compare this feeling to being a potential victim in a slasher film, and he wasn't ready for a second painful death. He had split up with Buddy a while ago, the bear running off to try to distract Momiji but probably getting caught up fighting smaller Wave enemies.

Sadly the distraction didn't work, and Motoyasu was all alone.

Motoyasu had come up with a new plan immediately. He could still see the two titan golem bosses fighting nearby, and if he got to them, odds were he could meet up with Naofumi and get the help he sorely needed.

The problem was getting there alive.

"Motoyasu, isn't this fun~? We're playing together just like old times! It's just like when we would play Emerald Online with Ikuyo!" Momiji walked close to Motoyasu's hiding place, her shadow seeming to loom over him. "Then you would be all lovey-dovey with her when you should have been loving me!" She clenched her fist tighter on her knife. "Don't worry though~! She's not in the way anymore~!"

Motoyasu turned to flee to another hiding spot. He had no idea why Momiji was so much stronger than he was, but he did know not to risk getting in her line of sight when her speed stat was much higher than his.

"Motoyasu, why do you run~? I just want to feel your warmth again~" Momoji kept seeming to find him, popping up out of nowhere each time Motoyasu turned a corner.

Motoyasu also had a second option, which was waiting for the Wave timer to end and for everyone to gather at Riyute once the Wave was over. He didn't expect to make it there without any help though.

Momiji suddenly grabbed Motoyasu from behind, holding her knife up to stab him in the neck. "I found you~!"

Motoyasu couldn't react, just flinching as he braced for the painful death he was about to get.

There was the sound of metal hitting metal, and Momiji was flung away from Motoyasu.

"Who dares get between me and my Motoyasu!?" Momoji screamed angrily as she looked around.

One of the golem bosses was looking over at them, the other having flown up to retreat through the Wave. The golem had its hand pointed at Momiji, and a familiar shield on its extended arm. "Weel." It had a voice, a booming voice, but its language was too different for Motoyasu's spear to translate.

Motoyasu blinked, not understanding the creature at all.

Momiji pointed her knife at the giant golem. "I'll kill you too if I have to!"

The golem started coming over. It indeed looked like an anime-style mech with a green and silver color scheme, but it was worn from battle. "Akoo akoo au bakudat." It switched its shield to a Siderite Shield.

Momiji screamed like a lunatic as she ran at the golem. She had high stats already, so fighting something as big as the golem didn't scare her. She should have been scared though, because the golem just knocked her away with a solid kick. She recovered quickly though, barely taking any damage. She grit her teeth angrily as she watched the Wave timer ticking down fast. "I'll get you next time, my Motoyasu!" She then switched her knife to one that would allow her to warp, teleporting away.

Motoyasu watched her go before collapsing to his knees. "Thank you…" He didn't take any extra time to think of what his help had looked like, just happy to have had some help.

The golem was really big, but it got down on one knee and gently gave Motoyasu a pat on the head with one of its giant fingers. "Re ue sume?"

Motoyasu still had zero idea what the thing was saying, just happy Momiji was gone for now.

"Shooting Star Arrow!" Itsuki came in and shot the golem down with his bow, the golem hitting the ground loudly. "Stand back, Motoyasu! We're here now!"

Ren and Naofumi came back at about the same time Itsuki did.

"Final patrol is done. One last boss." Naofumi said as he got ready to fight the golem.

Motoyasu raised his hand to stop them. "Wait-! This one is-!"

"Shooting Star Arrow!" Itsuki fired again. "Open fire!" He then let his party continue bombing the golem with attacks.

"Akoo akoo au bakudat! Akoo akoo au bakudat!" The golem cried out as it crawled away, holding its shield up to block Itsuki's party's attacks the best it could. It looked around in panic, turning to look at a broken carriage. It then melted into liquid metal, reforming as a metal version of the carriage. It then leaked out green slime that turned into filolials that pulled it away.

"It's escaping! It can't be allowed to after what it has done!" Itsuki prepared to go after it.

"Don't. You'll never catch it," Motoyasu said firmly. He knew if he tried to call the golem friendly, it would fall on deaf ears.

Right on time, the Wave closed.

"Did we do it?" Ren asked as he flopped onto the ground tiredly. "FINALLY!"

Wyndia actually laughed as she flopped down on the ground next to Ren, her tail wagging excitedly. "Finally some rest…"

"That was the first Wave? What the hell…?" Naofumi grumbled, not having expected so much from one Wave.

Buddy returned right on time, casting First Heal on everyone before going to Motoyasu. "I went to find help, but I had no luck with the nearby soldiers. Are you doing ok, Master Motoyasu?"

"No… Not mentally." Motoyasu was just thankful that whatever that golem was had saved his life.

"If you all weren't so weak, things would have gone better. How many died because of you?" Itsuki asked firmly. "How many!?" He was trying to make a statement, but he wasn't ready for Naofumi's response.

"Zero casualties," Naofumi said confidently. "Absolutely none." He actually smiled, because with how much harder this Wave had been they had still made it through. He now had to think ahead about what would happen at the castle during the after-Wave party…


And so the second Wave for the world and the first Wave for the heroes has ended. Things may have changed a bit because of it. What has slipped through in that time?

This was actually meant to be split into two chapters to give something to read in advance, but depression hit like a freight train and made it much harder to work up the effort to post, so I just kept writing instead. It's here now though! So hopefully you all enjoyed!