The next Wave was about to start, so everyone was finishing their final preparations.

"I packed you all I could. It's…hard on my budget, but just make it back, ok?" Clyde gestured at a wagon filled with goods.

Naofumi had gotten all the knights he had gathered the last time he had fought this Wave. He trusted them enough, and he let them got through the supplies for what they needed.

Ren was stretching his legs like a runner would. "Multiple Wave bosses appeared last time. We need to be ready to split up."

"Naofumi and I will handle bosses closest to towns. We have the highest defensive abilities, so we'll be most fit for protecting them.

"Itsuki and I will go against the rest then." Ren wasn't sure how well he would get along with Itsuki, but he had to try at least.

Naofumi actually smiled at them, happy at how much stronger they all had gotten and how smart they were all playing. "Everyone, good luck. Though I don't think we'll need it."

"Piece of cake!" Ren gave him a thumbs up.

Naofumi dug through his pockets. He had given Filo and Raphtalia new accessories earlier, so he thought he could also hand out some to Motoyasu and Ren. "Ren, Motoyasu. I have some presents for you."

"Presents? Naofumi, don't be too generous! You need money too!" Motoyasu told him quickly.

"It's just to help you out." Naofumi pulled out another silver ring for Ren. "This is a bit experimental, but this ring has an effect called 'Speed Charge V'. I don't know what Speed Charge is, but I accidentally got such a high quality item out of it that I didn't want to risk selling it for too cheap. Probably best with you."

Ren slipped the ring on and checked his stats, seeing no real difference. "I'm happy to figure out what it does for you then."

Naofumi then pulled out a wrist band. "And Motoyasu, this should reduce incoming pierce damage, since…I know you're afraid of that."

Motoyasu slipped on the band with a soft smile. "Thanks…this means a lot more to me than you know."

"Well then, it's about time." Naofumi watched as light started forming around them to teleport them to the location of the next Wave.


The Wave looked just as foreboding as before, turning the sky black and purple. The cracks in the sky rained down monsters without end.

Another slime golem of the same species as Orion came down. Instead of a giant metal body though, this one was made of black magic crystals that gave it a foreboding feeling of silence. It turned immediately, focusing on Motoyasu's party.

Motoyasu saw this and nudged Naofumi towards the nearby village. "I'll handle this one. You need to protect the village!"

Naofumi nodded, gesturing for Raphtalia and Filo to follow him. "Ren, look for a ship in the sky! Remember that this is different from your game!" He then ran off.

Itsuki was there with his party too, and he just glared at the other heroes. He hated all of them by this point, but he had a job to do. He went after Ren, remembering the ship in the sky from his game.

Ren gestured for Wyndia, Éclair, and Rifana to follow him and Itsuki. "We've got a boss to kill!" He didn't know how to deal with the ship other than take down the captain of it until the Soul Eater appeared, but he did have a good idea of a new way to handle it. He could certainly try to break things until the Soul Eaters emerged.

Motoyasu watched them all go. "Buddy! Akame! Jaw! We hold this line!"

The crystal slime golem towered over them. Its head glowed as it spoke. "Hand over my kin." It had a synthetic voice like it came out of a machine.

Motoyasu had the blankest look possible. "Listen, I get you guys have this voice theme going on, but that sounded nothing like Soundwave." He dodged when the golem blasted rings of energy at him.

Buddy stumbled back and clutched at his ears. He was more sensitive to sound. He quickly changed into his human form so his hat covered his ears for him. "Master Motoyasu! What is the plan?"

"We don't know enough yet! Be careful and find a weak point!" Motoyasu had a lot more weapons now, so he decided to poke for weaknesses with ranged attacks. "Shooting Star Spear!" He unleashed the attack as quickly as he could.

The golem rolled away quickly. It was very fast for something so big.

As it rolled away though, Akame rushed over in dragon form and bashed it with her tail.

Jaw then turned into a plant humanoid, extending vines to catch the golem and slam it into the ground.

"Master Motoyasu! Combo time!" Buddy suggested quickly.

Motoyasu raised his spear. "First Blaze!" He coated his spear in flames. "First Light!" He added holy energy as well.

Buddy pointed his Vassal Cane at Motoyasu. "Drifa Wind Wall! Drifa Static!" He added powerful wind blades and electricity to Motoyasu's spear tip.

Motoyasu then jumped up, doing a series of fancy spear twirls. "Lightning Fury Stab!" He slammed the spear into the golem's chest, audibly cracking it. When he landed, the Japanese kanji for "spear" appeared under him in an incredibly cheesy and dramatic way.

Akame and Jaw then went to try to bite off the golem's arms.

The golem laid still for a moment. "You are…inferior. I…am superior." It vibrated its crystal body, knocking them all away with a powerful blast of sound. It then grabbed Jaw. "Spear Hero. Overlord Draco will kill you himself."

Motoyasu got up, his legs trembling from how hard the sound had hit him. He hadn't taken much damage, but he had a form of paralysis status effect on him that he was struggling to push though. "Give him back!"

Jaw may have been big, but he was still a baby slime. Letting a baby be taken by a complete stranger… That was just wrong, even if Motoyasu had barely had him for a couple days.

Motoyasu kept trying to push through. "We're not done yet! Fight me for him!"

The golem didn't answer, just flying off. "Package secured. Delivering."

Motoyasu grit his teeth before letting out a roar of rage. "I'll find you! I'll find you!"


Ren returned his sword to his back. "Well that happened."

The power difference was insane compared to the last time. Three Soul Eaters weren't enough to stop Ren and his party.

"Wasn't much of an event," Wyndia agreed, looking for more of them due to the Wave not closing yet.

Ren stomped on the floor of the ship. "This isn't dropping either. There has to be at least one more."

Itsuki jumped onto the ship. "What is taking so long, Ren!? I've been peppering this ship with everything! Surely you've killed the boss by now!"

"I think one is hiding…" Ren admitted.

"How very disappointing… You needed more than yourself to fight weaklings like that?" Glass suddenly landed in front of them.

Éclair got back into her fighting stance. "Are you ally or enemy!?"

Ren felt a chill go up his spine as he got into his combat position as well. He knew this woman was too powerful for him.

"She's an enemy!" Naofumi said as Filo landed with him and Raphtalia on her back.

"Then she can help me work out some rage!" Motoyasu jumped up with his party as well.

Glass widened her eyes, having expected an easy time after seeing Ren's party fight. She wasn't sure how powerful these other men were. "Well then. Let's see which one of us is stronger."

"Don't hold back! Give her everything!" Naofumi said quickly as he changed to the Rage Shield.

"You got it!" Ren switched to his Greed Sword.

Motoyasu took in a deep breath. "Here goes nothing…" He switched to his Luxuria Invidia Spear, wincing as a swirl of emotions hit him. In a way though, the emotions weakened each other by always fighting for dominance, and he also had resistance thanks to the new holy dragon crystal embedded in the front of his armor. "I'm ready!"

Itsuki just changed to his strongest bow. "Thunder Arrow!" He unleashed his currently most powerful attack at Glass.

Glass deflected Itsuki's attack easily. "That one isn't a hero at least…" She didn't have time to comment more. This time, she was in danger to how Naofumi wasn't letting anyone waste time humoring her.

"Shield Prison!" Naofumi locked Glass away in the Shield Prison. "Change Shield!" He then put spikes through her with Shield Prison.

"Bar Cell!" Motoyasu put a bar cage around Naofumi's Shield Prison. "Electric Fence!" He made the whole Bar Cell and Shield Prison combo electrified.

"Chain Binding!" Ren summoned chains to go through the gaps of the Bar Cell and Shield Prison, wrapping around Glass inside of it. "Chain Needle!" He made his chains grow spikes.

The three of them then summoned up all the power they could muster, aiming to end this all in one hit.

"The foolish criminal will feel with their whole body the embrace of virgin iron in a single blow. Release a cry full of painful agony that will not be heard! Iron Maiden!" Naofumi summoned his Iron Maiden, closing it around the thick prison made by all three of them.

"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!" Ren summoned his Guillotine to cut through the Iron Maiden.

"The foolish criminal will only feel pain as this spike enters your body. Your cries will go silent as blood spills from your throat and drowns your lungs in iron agony! Field of Impalation!" Motoyasu summoned his torture device attack not from the sky but from the ground, making several metal poles stab into the Iron Maiden. "Zweite Field of Impalation!" He summoned even more spikes, actually making the Iron Maiden start to crack from the raw power of his attack. "Drifa Field of Impalation!" He then summoned only one spike this time, but it dwarfed the other spikes, the massive spike shattering the Iron Maiden as it went though.

The air went quiet, all of the heroes gasping for breath.

"Did…we do it?" Motoyasu asked as he fell to his knees, already starting to black out as he changed to his Jewelry Spear to put his weapon away.

Naofumi was silent as he looked at the sky. His eyes widened when he saw a figure falling back down to the ship. "No…"

Glass landed, shaking the ship. "How interesting… You three truly are Heroes!" She waved her fans, unleashing a whirlwind attack.

Naofumi instinctively moved to defend his party, but everyone else was blown right off the ship.

"I will kill you all one at a time, just to be certain I can safely handle you all," Glass said softly as she prepared to fight Naofumi.

Naofumi drank some recovery items as he prepared to fight back. He had to fight back, because he had no idea how he would survive now that he had Glass's full focus.

Raphtalia and Filo also got ready to fight, Raphtalia glowing in her light magic power she had been training.

The ship then shook again as an armored figure landed behind Glass. He gave off a deadly aura, and even though he was only a little taller than Naofumi, he still seemed to loom over them. His armor had a very familiar design, like the design used for the Legendary Weapons. His armor did have a major difference though, as it had four circular gems in it compared to how the Legendary Weapons only had one. It had one gem on the chest, one in the back of both hands, and one on the helmet. The armor let off a black, foggy aura. "You will not continue."

Glass whirled around to him, feeling power like no other that made her have a look of fear.

Naofumi had the same fear due to just seeing how scared Glass was.

The armored man looked over all of them slowly before pointing at Naofumi. "My goddess wishes your death to be by her own hands, so you may live. Do not expect this mercy to last, fragment of the Shield God."

Naofumi was wordless, just preparing to defend himself if he had to.

Glass took this moment to flee back into the Wave.

The armored man nodded slowly as he turned away. "We will see each other soon." He jumped up before flying away.

Naofumi finally let out the breath he was holding. "Raphtalia, Filo. Are you two ok?"

"Yes…" Raphtalia answered as she caught a breath.

"Scary…" Filo commented.

Naofumi then felt the ship start to drop. He knew the ship was dropping a lot earlier this time, so he ran to the front of the ship to see where it was landing. He widened his eyes when he saw it would definitely hit a nearby town. "…Raphtalia, Filo. Bring this ship down." He moved to jump off the ship.

"But Naofumi! What are you planning to do-!?" Raphtalia asked quickly.

Naofumi put on a smile of questionable confidence. "I'm going to catch this ship." He then jumped off, hitting the ground and running along under the ship. "Don't hold back and just hit it!"

Raphtalia put on a nervous look, summoning light magic to her katana before starting to slash deeper and deeper into the ship in search of what made it float.

Filo did the same at a different spot, clawing her way down the best she could.

Raphtalia got down deep before using light magic to look around. She found what looked like a red core and put her Vassal Katana through it.

The ship dipped as it started to fall much faster, a Soul Eater bursting out of the core and fleeing.

"Filo! Keep an eye on that monster and don't let it get away!" Raphtalia told Filo quickly.

"I got it!" Filo chased after it, eager to help Raphtalia.

Raphtalia then climbed back onto the deck. "Naofumi…please be ok." She then jumped off the ship to escape the crash.

Naofumi watched the ship dip down towards him, and he held out his hands to catch it. "No entry past this point!" He summoned his Rage Shield again for its strength bonus before catching the ship with his bare hands and starting to slip back. "RAAAH! COME ON! STOP ALREADY!" He pushed himself to his limit as he kept trying to stop the ship. He eventually dug his feet down and stopped the ship, slamming it down into the ground.

Raphtalia quickly ran up to him. "Naofumi! Are you ok-!?"

Naofumi flopped onto his back, breathing deeply as he tried to recover. He didn't. He wanted to sleep now. "I just…need to rest…"

"The Wave isn't over Naofumi! One monster escaped the ship! I need help!" Raphtalia said in a panic.

"Let…the other heroes handle it… I'm done…" Naofumi felt his eyes start to close. He kept trying to force himself up though, but it felt like a black fog was enveloping him.

"Sleep. Sleep for eternity," a familiar voice boomed in Naofumi's mind. It was the same voice that came from the dragon whenever the Shield of Rage triggered. "You're tired. You can't move. Just…sleep."

Naofumi blinked as he ended up in a world of pure darkness. He was definitely in his dreams now. "What is happening!?" He bashed his head onto his shield, trying to shock himself awake. "I need to get up! I need to get back to the fight!" At the same time though, he really was so damn tired. Maybe…he could rest for a bit.

Shield of Sloth Forcibly Unlocked!

Equip Bonus: Strength Up

Special Equip Effect: Self Curse Weakening, Change Shield (Attack), Iron Maiden (Skill), Zweite Iron Maiden (Skill)

Combo: Shield Prison - Change Shield (Attack) - Iron Maiden - Zweite Iron Maiden

Raphtalia stayed with Naofumi even when he slept, doing her best to shake him awake.

Naofumi had his shield change into the Shield of Sloth, the foreboding shield flickering with purple and blue flames. He still wasn't getting up it seemed.

The Soul Eater that Filo was chasing around saw this as a chance though. It flew at Naofumi, raising its ghostly claws to attack as it let out a screech.

Raphtalia got up to defend Naofumi. "Don't worry, Naofumi! I'll be your shield this time-!"

The Soul Eater flew around Raphtalia, but it didn't attack. Instead it flew into Naofumi.

Raphtalia turned to Naofumi as Filo returned.

Naofumi slowly got onto his feet, his eyes not opening. He did a few jerkish moves like a zombie before snapping to a fighting stance. His mouth fell open as he let out the screech of a Soul Eater.

Raphtalia yelped when she dodged a quick punch from Naofumi, Naofumi's absurd strength creating a powerful burst of wind. "Filo… Get the other heroes…" She got into her fighting stance. "I'll hold back Naofumi.

Filo gave Raphtalia a worried look. "I'll be quick!" She then ran off.


Ren shakily got up, looking around for his party to find out he was alone in the woods. "Great… Just great…" He looked up at the sky, finding the Wave to still be in progress. "How could this get any worse?"

Glowing, red eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness ahead of Ren, a humanoid figure showing as the eyes got closer.

Ren drew his sword. "A monster?" He wasn't sure he even had time for this.

"No… Your worst nightmare, Ren Am-a-ki~" A deep, male voice said, intentionally spacing out Ren's last name. "I found you. After all this time, I found you."

Ren widened his eyes and clutched at his side as he remembered the feeling of a knife entering him. "How-!? How are you here-!?" He remembered how he died in his previous life. He had died to a serial killer when he and his friend somehow got caught up in the killer's case. He had managed to stop the killer, but at the cost of bleeding out shortly after the police had arrested the killer.

The voice of the man following Ren…it was the same as that of the man who had killed him. One of the most infamous killers in history of Ren's world, Argos Chime. He was known for his extreme luck in escaping police if anything, at least until a chance run in with some normal Japanese students.

Ren backed up from Argos, aiming his sword at the man. "Back up!"

The man didn't seem to mind. He was fully-grown, so he towered over a shorter guy like Ren. He pulled out a dagger, the dagger having the familiar gem of a Legendary Weapon. "You ruined my life, Ren Am-a-ki~ I'll gladly end yours again~" As he stepped into the light, his red eyes and white hair became apparent, and it was also all Ren needed to confirm his suspicion. "You're a hero too? Lucky us, Ren Am-a-ki~!" Argos laughed like a maniac before aiming his palm at Ren. "Firebolt!"

Ren rolled away quickly as a fireball flew by him.

Argos quickly kicked Ren away mid-roll. He was a skilled killer. He wouldn't lose his prey. "You know, when Momiji came back with her findings from this world, I couldn't believe it! She found her lover and the person I hate most!"

Ren was knocked into a tree by the kick. He wasn't skilled enough or strong enough to fight Argos. He had to run. He turned and bolted at top speed.

Argos just chuckled as he watched Ren run. "Run, little boy~ I'll see you soon enough~" He wanted to instill fear before the next Wave where he would see Ren again.

Ren didn't make it far, collapsing the second he broke the tree line. He just let himself rest when he was far out of the sight of Argos.

Filo happened to run up at that time, finding Ren unconscious. She didn't think Ren could be useful to her right now, but she picked him up on her back anyway and continued running. She had to check on Motoyasu next. She knew everyone couldn't be too scattered with how they all had been knocked away by Glass at the same time. Her hope to bring Motoyasu to help also faded quickly, because she found Motoyasu equally unconscious.

Buddy was doing his best to heal everyone, no one even in condition to keep fighting. He himself wasn't doing great either, and he kept having to force his eyes back open.

Filo looked over everyone in panic. "Raphtalia and Naofumi are fighting! Naofumi got taken over by one of the scary ghost things! They need help!"

"I'm afraid we are absolutely smashed…" Buddy grumbled as he kept healing everyone to the best of his ability. "Like...completely botched up..."

"But Naofumi could hurt Raphtalia!" Filo panicked, knowing just how big the power gap was between them right now.

"Are you sure, Filo?" Buddy put on a reassuring smile. "If anyone could fight Naofumi, it's Raphtalia. She is his sword, and he is her shield. She knows him better than anyone. It won't even be a fight. Trust her to knock the Soul Eater out of Naofumi. We'll have caught up by then."


Raphtalia had been dodging for a while, thinking of how to get Naofumi back from the Soul Eater. She considered herself lucky that Naofumi was out of SP, but she had no idea how to save him or even wake him up. "First Light!" She unleashed light to try to wake Naofumi up.

Naofumi didn't wake, but he stumbled back with a loud Soul Eater hiss coming from his mouth.

Raphtalia watched Naofumi's reaction, a soft smile coming to her. "Don't worry, Naofumi. I'll save you." She summoned light magic to her katana before getting in her stance. "It will just hurt a lot." She then rushed at him.

Naofumi attempted to backhand her away, missing entirely when she ducked under it.

Raphtalia slashed at Naofumi. She couldn't piece his defense very well, but her attacks did hurt the Soul Eater controlling him.

Naofumi staggered back, doing more creepy, twitching movements. "Raph…talia… Run…"

Raphtalia was just happy to hear some of Naofumi back. She was already making progress. "No, Naofumi! I'll save you!" She rushed at him again.

Naofumi moved to block it with his Sloth Shield. His new ability Self Curse Weakening had a counter effect that sucked energy out of whoever he blocked attacks from.

Raphtalia knew not to trust a shield from Naofumi though, twirling around him with some fancy foot work Orion had taught her. She then slashed Naofumi's back.

Naofumi let out more Soul Eater sounds before punching the ground and ripping up a large chunk of said ground, turning to throw it at Raphtalia.

Raphtalia got ready to dodge, waiting for Naofumi to throw it.

Naofumi didn't throw it though. His arms sparked to try to get him to drop the piece of earth due to him having the intension of using it as a weapon. When a hero tried to use another weapon…it would fly out of their hands. He let the boulder launch from his hands, way faster than anticipated.

Raphtalia quickly tried to move away, but she didn't anticipate it flying at her that fast.

"Don't worry, Raphtalia. I've got your back." Motoyasu suddenly fell from the Wave above, smashing the rock with his spear. He was…different.

Raphtalia realized that this wasn't the Motoyasu she had known, this new Motoyasu having emerged from the wave.

This new Motoyasu had much nicer armor, covered in Filolial feathers. He must have really liked Filolials because he even had Filolial feathers in his hair. He seemed…much stronger than the Motoyasu Raphtalia knew as well. He looked up at Naofumi. "I'll free you, father."

"F-father-!?" Raphtalia asked quickly.

"Focus, Raphtalia!" Motoyasu smashed another boulder. He wasn't as defensively-capable as the Motoyasu Raphtalia knew, only focusing on attacking. "I'll defend you against attacks you can't block, but your light magic is all that can make progress!"

Raphtalia nodded, accepting help from this mysterious new Motoyasu immediately. She rushed at Naofumi again.

Motoyasu ran along next to her, his eyes glowing with red flames of determination. "I won't lose you again, father!" He jumped and went to try to impale Naofumi.

Naofumi had to block Motoyasu's much more powerful attack, leaving him to take more attacks from Raphtalia.

Motoyasu then swept Naofumi over to buy Raphtalia more time. "See? Easy! You didn't even need me, Raphtalia!" He winced though, his power going down immensely from having attacked the Sloth Shield directly.

Raphtalia nodded and smiled at him. "Thank you, Motoyasu!"

"You have a Motoyasu here too don't you? Call me Kitamura!" The Spear Hero grabbed Naofumi by his shirt collar before he could recover. "Raphtalia! Light him up!" He let out groans of pain when Naofumi started beating him with the Shield of Sloth. "Hurry!"

Raphtalia nodded and raised her katana to the sky, summoning all of her MP to finish this off. She didn't know of any katana skills that harnessed the power of her light magic, so she made up her own. She then got in position with her katana held at her side. "Dynamic Light Slash!" She sped up to Naofumi and slashed him with all the light magic she could muster, an explosion of light erupting from Naofumi a moment later.

Naofumi let out a roar of pain, this time in his own voice as he was finally able to force the Soul Eater out. He was still trapped in his sleep though, falling over once the Soul Eater left his body.

The Soul Eater looked absolutely pissed, willing some of its magic to lift the ship that had previously been its home.

"Kitamura! I can't dodge that!" Raphtalia said quickly.

Kitamura was already drained from the abilities of the Sloth Shield, and he ended up passing out.

Raphtalia widened her eyes before running to Naofumi. "Naofumi! I-I'm sorry! I can't do this! You need to get up!"

The Soul Eater moved the ship over Raphtalia and dropped it.

Raphtalia winced as she waited for the impact, but the impact didn't come.

Naofumi growled loudly as he hefted up the ship. He was still asleep, but it was like he was sleep walking. "I will protect my party. I am the Shield Hero!" He then threw the ship at the Soul Eater, knocking it away.

Raphtalia sighed in relief, but her worry returned when Naofumi fell right back over. "I'll wake you in a bit, Naofumi…" She grabbed her katana again and went after the Soul Eater. "I need to finish this!"

Buddy suddenly appeared next to her on her right side. "Let the Legendary Heroes rest! The Vassal Heroes will fight for them!" He said giddily.

Éclair appeared at Raphtalia's left. "This Wave needs to end! Not just for our sake but for everyone's!"

Raphtalia knew the two were still beat up and tired, so she was happy that they had still managed to push themselves to make it over. "Thank you… Let's do this!"

The Soul Eater set up its final stand. It wrapped itself with the remains of the ship, turning into a humanoid of ancient wood. The giant then went to slam its fist down on them.

Buddy raised his Vassal Cane. He was so experienced now that chanting magic mostly didn't matter, but he was still used to saying the names of the magic. "Drifa Barrier All!"

A barrier formed over each of the three, protecting them from the attempted attack.

Éclair and Raphtalia hopped onto the arm of the beast.

"Hraaah!" Éclair did some trick flips as she ran up the beast's arm, extending her claymore as she did to make her tricks into a powerful flurry of slashes.

Raphtalia just slashed up the arm as she ran up to. "Buddy! I need MP!"

Buddy slammed his cane into the dirt. "Drifa MP Boost!"

Raphtalia saw her MP start filling up immediately as she glowed with the magic. "Thank you!" She ran in hopped up onto the monstrosity's shoulder before willing her light power to her. "Light Speed Attack!" She moved at absurd speeds, hitting the giant's head with light-element slashes.

Buddy kept supporting them as he moved to Kitamura. "Another master Motoyasu…?" He grinned as he tapped Kitamura with his cane. "Drifa Vitality Boost."

Kitamura suddenly snapped awake and looked around. "Thank you, kind bear!"

Buddy gestured at the giant. "We need help here!"

Kitamura blinked before hopping up. "I am at your command, kind bear!"

Buddy pointed his cane at Kitamura. "Drifa Impact Boost!"

Kitamura felt a lot stronger physically. He hadn't even seen much magic on the level of this bear.

"Topple the giant. I can't have it moving. I am finishing this." Buddy then went to be as far as he could while still being in range. Most magic he didn't need to chant for, but he needed to in order to access Liberation level magic.

Kitamura sped over to the giant at speeds that could make Ren jealous. He then hit the giant's foot.

The giant toppled down to one knee.

Raphtalia stumbled when she giant dropped to one knee, not having expected the jerky movement.

Éclair quickly grabbed Raphtalia's hand. "I got you! We need to take off this thing's head and release the Soul Eater!"

"So soon-? Why-?" Raphtalia asked, but she suddenly heard Buddy's voice start to boom.

Buddy was chanting in a different language, what most would think was an ancient language. Really though, he was chanting in Japanese, as it was the language of the Heroes, and Heroes were the only ones that could use Liberation level magic.

Raphtalia nodded, letting out a yelp as Éclair tossed her high into the air.

Éclair then jumped up high as well. "You get the left side of the neck! I'll get right!"

"I got it!" Raphtalia got into her stance even as she was falling. "Spirit Blade! Soul Slice!" She used an attack meant for draining SP, because such an attack was more effective on ghosts.

Éclair got into her stance as fell "Four Cross! Line Focus!" Her Four Cross was usually two attacks that made the shape of a cross, but she focused it into two linear slashes this time.

Raphtalia and Éclair cleaved through the wood, cutting off the giant's head to reveal the Soul Eater hiding under it.

Buddy sucked in a deep breath. "Liberation Art!"

Liberation Art was Buddy's own technique. It dropped a mix of all elements onto the enemy, the blast falling right from the heavens.

The beam of focused magic let out a screeching sound before hitting the Soul Eater, the area shaking with an earthquake the second the magic hit.

The Soul Eater stood no chance, dissolving within moments under the raw power.

Buddy let up the magic once he was sure the Soul Eater was dead. He then fell onto his back. "My my… You are all going to give me grey hair…"

"Did…we do it?" Raphtalia looked up as she watched the Wave clear.

"Yes, but…we're not finished." Éclair spotted the sleeping Naofumi.

Raphtalia sucked in a deep breath. She had an idea on how to wake him. She needed to reach Naofumi's heart and pull it out of the darkness. "It's ok. I know what to do, Éclair. Now I do anyway."

Éclair blinked curiously. "You can wake him?"

"I think so…" Raphtalia got on her knees next to Naofumi. "…it's time to wake up, Naofumi." She lifted Naofumi up and gave him a full-on kiss.

Naofumi didn't react for a few seconds, but eventually his eyes slowly opened. He then widened his eyes in shock when he noticed Raphtalia was kissing him. He pulled away quickly. "R-Raphtalia-!?"

Raphtalia smiled at him, a light blush on her face. "Good morning, Naofumi."

Kitamura nodded slowly as he watched, clearly approving. "Finally father is realizing that love was next to him the whole time."

Naofumi still had a shocked look on his face. "I'm…back Raphtalia."

"It's good to see you back, Naofumi. I missed you." Raphtalia gave him a kiss on the forehead. "It looks like true love's kiss woke you up. Just like the stories."

Naofumi was silent, finally realizing Raphtalia's womanly charms. His own blush got a lot brighter. He mentally kicked himself for not realizing sooner.

This really was love.

"I…guess it did," Naofumi replied softly.


The Heroes were eventually able to regroup, all worn out from the Wave. They hadn't even had time to talk before they had been summoned.

The king had requested them and had assured them that they wouldn't be arrested for the pope's accusations or Naofumi's murder charge since the Heroes needed to be ready to fight the Waves. He had likely pulled strings to make things easier on Itsuki at least.

Motoyasu was weirded out by Kitamura, but he tried not to comment. He was more focused on thinking of how to save Jaw anyway, though he would definitely need to ask Kitamura a lot of questions later.

Kitamura was spending all of his time flirting with Filo anyway, something that made Motoyasu uneasy.

"Disgusting lolicon," Motoyasu grumbled as he watched Kitamura.

"Once again, the Wave has had no casualties. I would thank you, Heroes, but you are all criminals now. I believe it is in my interest not to hand out rewards anymore. You can make your own money," the king said firmly.

"What did I do!?" Itsuki asked angrily. "I am no criminal!"

"Princess Malty has been watching you, Itsuki. Do you want a list of charges? If anything, you're the worst out of the bunch," the king growled as a look of pure rage came to his face.

This was new. Why would Malty slander the only Hero willing to put up with her now?

Naofumi had a look of pure concern as he thought about it. He also remembered the king demanding he share the secrets of the Rage Shield with the other Heroes at this point, but the king was asking no such thing.

What had changed? What had happened?

Malty then came out with an excited, evil smirk on her face and brand new armor on her body. "I'm sorry, Heroes. It is time you all left Melromarc and never came back!"

"Why-!? After all I did for you, why-!?" Itsuki demanded angrily.

"All you did was put me in danger, Itsuki! But don't worry about me! After we were knocked off that cursed ship, a true Hero found me and brought me back to the castle!" Malty told him.

"No wonder you vanished…" Itsuki put on a defeated look.

He's been replaced? By who-!? Naofumi was panicking now. He definitely didn't remember this.

Then the armored man who had scared Glass away came up behind Malty. "How dare you put the great Goddess Medea into danger, Bow Hero! I should end you now!" He folded back his helmet to show he was a handsome man with silver hair and purple eyes. "I am Carbon, personal guard of the goddess!"

"Guarding a pig… How unsightly…" Kitamura grumbled.

Carbon suddenly kicked Kitamura out of the window, shattering it in progress. "The Goddess Medea is of unmatched beauty!"

Kitamura was the most overpowered person there, and he had just got tossed away like trash…

Naofumi looked at Motoyasu and Ren, all three of them having a bad feeling about this.

Malty now had a powerful enforcer to carry out her will.

The lives of the Heroes had just gotten a lot harder.


Another Wave down, and without needed Orion's help this time!

Itsuki has been replaced by Carbon, a mysterious hero with a weapon as powerful as four legendary weapons. With Malty having such a powerful enforcer, I do believe it is time to see other kingdoms.

Speaking of Itsuki, he's losing his foothold, but...I'm sure someone still believes in him at least.

Design notes on Argus Chime, the killer who has a hate boner for Ren. He was actually based off of a mixture of characters. Death Gun from SAO and Bell Cranel from Danmachi. This is because I view Danmachi as being pretty much an SAO ripoff with Bell being a good foil for Kirito which Ren is based off of.

Kitamura is in play! For those who don't know, he is a version of Motoyasu from The Reprise of the Spear Hero except that I only have wiki pages and some manga to go off of for those stories. Kitamura mentioned losing Naofumi though...so something clearly went wrong in his world.

The Shield of Sloth has been unlocked! It is something I toyed with for only a day before writing, but I really liked the concept of it. It is the strongest Curse Series weapon on its own, but it also forces the user to sleep. In order to counter this, the user must train until they can fight in their sleep. That is the only way to use the Shield of Sloth.

Speaking of the events with the cursed shield... Raphtalia and Naofumi are finally a couple! I can only see things getting adorably awkward!

Next time...well, it's time to prepare to save Melty. Even now that the Heroes are being forcibly removed from the castle.

Thanks again for everyone's reviews! I know this is a long chapter, both story-wise and ending note-wise. I just do these end notes because I am so excited about how well this story is doing!