Motoyasu stayed disguised by his hood as he went through the streets. He didn't like how many wanted posters of him were put up everywhere.

Jaw hopped alongside him, growling if anyone got close.

Akame was in human form and listening to Buddy about the city and how to act. Of course, she wasn't exactly listening very well.

"Geez…" Motoyasu pulled down a wanted poster for Itsuki as well. "What happened?"

"The pope called us false heroes. Said we cursed a girl to death," Ren said as he seemingly popped up out of nowhere.

Motoyasu jumped a bit in surprise. "…you've gotten quieter…"

"And faster," Ren added with a smile. "Clyde moved the shop. It's under Erhard's shop."

"…it will be nice to see the Old Guy's shop again…" Motoyasu commented softly. "Where's the rest of your party, Ren?"

"Preparing." Ren gestured at how he was wearing street clothes. "And I'm waiting for my armor to be upgraded. You should get yours done too. Maybe you will look less like an evil overlord."

"…I've gotten used to it, and the intimidation bonus is nice. Still, I agree that it is time to upgrade," Motoyasu replied. "Have you been caught by any bounty hunters yet?"

"If they see me, they can't catch me. Naofumi and Itsuki have been hiding well enough too," Ren replied casually. "You and Naofumi have really gotten stronger with your subclass things, huh? Naofumi told me."

Motoyasu nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I hit harder than ever, and my defense is solid. You should see what Naofumi can do with his strength stat now that he has attack power though."

Ren blinked curiously. "What can he do?"

"Trust me. You'll need to see it to believe it. I will say his strength stat is something I won't be matching," Motoyasu said modestly.

Buddy cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, we'll attract attention if we stay. We should get to Clyde's shop."

"You're not wrong." Motoyasu felt a few eyes on him, the people finally catching on to who he is.

Before they could move though, an energy arrow flew at Motoyasu.

Motoyasu quickly did a spear twirl to deflect the arrow. "What an unpleasant surprise…" He turned to the source of the arrow. "Itsuki."

Itsuki was aiming his bow at Motoyasu, a look of pure rage on his face. "Myne told me what you've done. You killed a girl and slandered all of our names with it. You really got so tired of being a criminal that you blamed it on all of us!? Have you no decency!?"

Motoyasu sighed in annoyance. "I didn't do it, but you won't listen to me, so…" He got into a fighting stance. "Let's dance."

Ren just looked between them. "Guys, we're in the middle of town. This is an awful idea."

Buddy nodded in agreement. "No worse place…"

"Don't worry, Ren. I'll deliver justice for us," Itsuki said confidently. "I am the most powerful hero after all."

"Not even listening to me…" Ren grumbled.

Malty ran out with another supposed royal decree. "This duel is upheld by royal decree! It is official! No one is to interfere!"

"But I have a shop to run!" One of the people said quickly, but he was immediately threatened by a knight's sword.

Motoyasu was already starting to think to himself. After training with Orion, I could easily win. The problem is not killing Itsuki. How do I prove how one-sided this is? He just stared blankly at Itsuki. "Oh! I know!"

"Know what?" Itsuki asked curiously.

"Hit me. Hit me with all you've got. No holding back. No arbitrary percentage. I want you to hit me with all you've got." Motoyasu put his spear on his back and spread his arms to embrace the attack.

Itsuki narrowed his eyes. "Are you taunting me!?" He pulled back his bow string. "Lightning Arrow!" He used his current strongest attack, blasting Motoyasu at full force.

The area was covered in dust from the impact, and people waited for it to clear.

Motoyasu walked right out of the cloud of dust, barely having taken any damage. "Aw~ That was precious~"

Itsuki stared at Motoyasu with wide eyes. "How!?"

Motoyasu got close to Itsuki and loomed over him, his intimidation bonus kicking in. "Because Itsuki. You are not the strongest hero anymore. You are the weakest. You are pathetic. Any hero could take you down now, so remember your place."

Itsuki growled as he pulled his bowstring back again. "Eagle Piercing Shot!" He hit Motoyasu again, this time with an arrow meant to turn defense against itself.

Motoyasu had been trained on what to do against attacks like that too, and it had been training straight from Naofumi himself. He made himself soft, letting the energy flow out of him. He barely took any damage again. "Come on. Give it up."

Itsuki stepped back in fear. "I'm holding back because I don't want to kill you, but this won't be the last of me. We'll talk again after the Wave." He then turned to leave. "Myne! We're going!"

Malty blinked in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Justice will be served either way," Itsuki said firmly, trying to still look cool after that.

"That's it. Run, little boy." Motoyasu put on a creepy grin as he watched Itsuki go.

The area cleared out, a few people thanking Motoyasu for how easily he had defused the situation.

Ren sighed in relief that the area hadn't been damaged. "Good work, Motoyasu."

Motoyasu cleared his throat. "I will say though…" He gripped at his chest and winced. "Anti-defense attacks still sting like a bitch…"

"At least you have defense. I have the defense of paper," Ren replied.

Buddy cleared his throat as he placed healing magic on Motoyasu. "I won't repeat myself. Clyde's shop. Now."

"Ok, Bud." Motoyasu pat Buddy on the shoulder in thanks.


Clyde set out Naofumi's armor for him, having added the dragon core to it. "I added a purity effect to your armor. It should help ease the Curse Series a bit."

Naofumi took the armor and slipped it on over his clothes. "Thank you, Clyde." He nodded to another case that had been on display. "Another Vassal Weapon?"

"Yes. This…green-haired man came in and asked what to do with money. So I told him that he could donate to help a hero. Motoyasu could use a Vassal Weapon wielder in his party too, so I cooked up something for his bear." Clyde smiled when he saw Motoyasu come in with his party and Ren. "Speak of the devil…"

"-and he shall appear." Motoyasu pulled off his armor and set it in front of Clyde. He then pulled out a shard left over from the holy dragon crystal he had fed to Jaw. "I need an armor upgrade. I'd like this added to it."

Clyde blinked as he took the crystal. "This would really help with your Curse Series weapons." He went through Motoyasu's spears, and seeing the Luxuria Invidia Spear was Motoyasu's best spear, he was more than happy to add the extra protection. "That new spear. The one you made from combining your cursed spears. That thing will kick like a mule. I'll give as much protection as I can, but try to avoid using that spear if possible."

Motoyasu nodded. "I've barely touched the Curse Series. I'm really hesitant to rely on it, but I can't deny how powerful it is."

Clyde nodded before grabbing the case from the display behind him. "A green-haired man paid in advance to get Bud this." He popped it open, showing off a Vassal Cane.

Buddy came over. "Green-haired man? I guess even Orion has stopped by here." He took the cane and grinned excitedly when it was just the right size. "My, my~ How positively dandy!" He started going through the systems of the weapon.

Motoyasu was silent for a moment as he watched Buddy play with the cane. "Hey, Clyde. I don't have much money left, but could we have a few simple unlocks? Storage, transfer, communication, and…a way to hide the weapons?"

Clyde thought for a bit. "I guess I'm due to give you guys another favor." He quickly unlocked new weapons for the Legendary Heroes.

Motoyasu changed to a spear labelled as the Jewelry Spear which would help him better make accessories if he even knew how to make them. He the used the ability of the new spear to turn it into a necklace. "That is a huge help."

Naofumi blinked before trying the Jewelry Shield, changing his shield into a bracelet on his wrist. "That is nice."

Ren turned his sword into an ear ring and put it on his right ear. He then blinked as everyone was staring at him. "What?"

"You look even more like a girl now than you did already," Motoyasu said bluntly.

"I-I do not!" Ren said quickly.

"I mean…I wasn't going to say it, but I had the same thought," Naofumi told him. "Maybe you need a haircut?"

Ren blinked and check his hair, finding it to be shoulder-length now. "Is it really that bad? I like it!"

"Dude, you're turning into a trap. Men will start flirting with you. Especially since you started working out and got booty," Motoyasu told him.

"Wha-!?" Ren instinctively felt up his own rear.

"Not gonna lie, you are getting the hourglass frame," Motoyasu added.

Ren blushed awkwardly and crossed his arms. "I'm sure I'm fine!"

Naofumi let the two continue speaking as he checked his new abilities. He had the Storage Shield for storing items, the Comms Shield for communicating with other Heroes, and he had the Transfer Shield for sending items to other Heroes. He honestly wondered why these abilities weren't passive, as they would be so helpful.

Keel came in with Angel. She blinked when she saw Ren from behind. "Who's the hot babe?" She had become bolder around Clyde it would seem.

Ren turned to Keel with one of his eyelids twitching in annoyance. "Still a boy."

"…you still got a great ass!" Keel said as she gave Ren a thumbs up.

Ren groaned as he left to go meet with his party again.

Clyde tossed Ren his upgraded armor. "Don't make the frogs gay!"

"I know it's a reference, but it's still insulting," Ren grumbled as he caught the armor and went to go to the room his party was staying in.

Jaw hopped up to Naofumi. "Shield…good. Remember shield from egg. Good shield."

Naofumi blinked at Jaw. "Motoyasu, is this the egg Orion gave you?"

Motoyasu nodded with a smile. "I fed him the last Wave boss, so he's growing fast!"

"Too fast to feed…" Buddy added as he tested out a fancy cane twirl, absolutely nailing it.

"And I got to help dig it up!" Akame added with way too much energy.

Naofumi gave them all a smile. "I'm…happy to see everyone growing so strong. This next Wave…I think we'll be ready this time."

"Hopefully…" Motoyasu remembered how his ex-girlfriend Momiji had showed up during the previous Wave. He wasn't ready to face her again. He was still scared of yanderes…

"Have some confidence, master Motoyasu!" Buddy said as he went through the magic books. "As long as we are together, we are unstoppable!"

Naofumi stood up after finally going through all of his new shields. "Motoyasu, there's someone I'd like you to meet. It's been a long time coming. She will be a huge responsibility on you too."

Motoyasu blinked curiously. "Who?"

"The crown princess."


After everyone had gotten geared up, Naofumi went to take Motoyasu to meet Melty.

Most of their parties had to be left behind to make them stealthier, but Raphtalia followed in the shadows.

Raphtalia had also gotten training from Orion, and her abilities in stealth and magic had really improved from them. Though admittedly, she felt creepy watching Naofumi from the shadows.

They entered a simple café because it was the only other meeting place they had besides Clyde's shop.

Naofumi would have told Melty to meet them at Clyde's shop, but he wasn't sure if she would spill the location to her father.

Melty had multiple guards with her, which was rather expected but also annoying.

The guards didn't act up though, knowing Naofumi had safely gotten Melty back to the castle.

Melty brightened up when she saw Naofumi. "Hello, Shield Hero."

Naofumi was still adjusting to Melty again. He was used to them being on first name basis, so he decided to push for that immediately. "Call me Naofumi, Melty."

Melty nodded politely. "That is more comfortable. And this is the Spear Hero you told me about."

"Yes, I'm Motoyasu." Motoyasu was already giving Melty a suspicious look.

"So what did you call me to speak about, Naofumi?" Melty asked.

"Simple really. Something is going wrong in the kingdom due to your sister, and I believe your life is in danger," Naofumi said casually.

Melty didn't even look surprised. "Of course…"

"So after the chaos of tomorrow's Wave, I want you to run away with Motoyasu." Naofumi cast Shield Prison on Melty's guards so they wouldn't hear more of the plan. He knew he couldn't trust the guards.

"With me-?" Motoyasu asked in shock. "You really want to leave her with me? She's a princess, and I'm not exactly gentle."

"You're gentle with Akame. You'll be fine, Motoyasu." Naofumi pulled out a map. "We'll be passing Melty between us as we go for the Melromarc border. We will likely be accused of kidnapping Melty no matter what we say, so Itsuki will be after us. Fighting him is easy at this point, but it wastes time. I'll leave Ren to lead Itsuki on a wild goose chase for as long as he can."

Motoyasu nodded as he memorized the handoff points on the map. "I guess it is time we saw another kingdom."

"Motoyasu, there will be the biggest fight yet at the border. Something will happen there. I can feel it. We will group up with Ren there," Naofumi marked the border as the final point. "After that, we follow our guts."

Melty just looked curious as she also went over the plans. "…thank you, Heroes. You barely know me, but you're going through such trouble."

"If it was up to me, I would group you with your awful sister, but since Naofumi trusts you, I will do my best to help you. Do not break that trust," Motoyasu told her with a glare.

Melty nodded as she sank back into her seat, thoroughly intimidated.

"Then we're good." Naofumi then pointed at the Shield Prison he had holding Melty's guards. "Don't trust anyone, Melty. Your sister can order them around too."

Melty put on a worried look and nodded.

"Then we're good!" Naofumi dropped the Shield Prison. "Now all that's left to handle for now is…tomorrow's Wave."


My shortest chapter yet, but I want the Wave to be its own chapter. This is more prep, but this time for saving Melty.

The next Wave is still a mystery. Multiple Wave bosses showed up last time, so things could definitely go wrong. Also, who will come through the Waves with Glass?

Also is Naofumi completely out of his league even with his newfound attack power? Could it be used against him? Only time will tell.

What I will say is that this next Wave will start Itsuki's redemption arc.

The last chapter got a quiet response, so I am trying to get to the big boy chapter! See you all soon hopefully!