Author's Note: Here it is, the thing you have all been waiting for: The Wave. If you've noticed before this, you can tell that I've been walking around the topic of how Raphtalia's different master affected her, as well as what her training has made her capable of. Well wait no longer, for it is here that you shall see!

Review Response -

Abbade01: Sorry, but you're going to have to get someone else to create that. It'll be interesting to see though! Also, I'll do my best, but I'm not exactly skilled in writing completely new scenes overall, just adding my own little, "Hey, that happened as well" alongside the story. But, if you're wishing for a deviating story, I do have a second fanfiction already in mind. However, considering the plan and path I have for this, I am mainly sticking to canon events for now.

Also, thanks for the calming advice. It's nice to know that you're willing to wait for me to write and flesh out the chapters a bit more. Well see what I do in the future.

For now, without further adieu, chapter 6!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero or any of its characters, only my own.

"Dialogue."

"Writing."

Thoughts.

"You will hear thunder and remember me

And think: she wanted storms.

The rim of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,

And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire."

- Andreevna Akhmatova (1889 - 1966)

Once the bell rang, the sky turned to the color of deep crimson. Leo and Raphtalia both gasped in shock at the sight, having no idea what they had just gotten into. Suddenly, a bright light began to engulf them, sucking all the air out of them and dragging them to who knows where. After being teleported and regaining their bearings, Raphtalia was the first to look towards the sky.

"Master Leo, look!" She shouted, pointing towards the large cracks in the sky. It's as if someone took a knife and stabbed the atmosphere... Leo thought. Suddenly, strange bug-like monsters began swarming out of the cracks and into the lands of Melromarc. After taking a moment to watch the incoming hostiles, the sound of running was heard. Peering over the edge, the duo saw the other three heroes and their parties charging at the incoming horde.

"Raphtalia, let's move! We have to stop this before it can get any closer inland." Leo said, his training kicking in.

"Yes sir." Raphtalia replied. As they began to move down the hill, they heard a loud thunk. Tracing the source of the sound, Leo saw a flare flying over the Village of Lute.

Damn, Lute village must've not been able to evacuate fast enough. "Raphtalia! We're moving to Lute! Let's get going, on the double!" Leo shouted. With Raphtalia acknowledging the command, she quickly caught up with Leo as they made their way to the now under attack village.

"No no, please!" A random villager screamed in fright as he got trapped between a wall and an undead warrior. In a blur, something moved to block the attack before slicing the zombie - like creature in half, killing it.

"Sir, are you ok?" Raphtalia quickly asked. Once the man nodded in response, Leo provided her with a new order.

"Raphtalia, move! Get these people evacuated! Take them to the entrance of the mine, they should be safe there."

Raphtalia turned to quickly address the flaw in his plan. "But Master, what about you? You'll be alone here!" She said, worry taking hold of her voice.

"I'll be the bait. I have a higher natural defense anyway, so I'll be fine. Just go, that's an order!" He shouted in reply.

Conflicted, Raphtalia had no time to waste. "Sir, consider it done." She responded before taking off, trying to gather as many villagers as possible.

Towards the center of the town, villagers were being cornered by the army of undead and wasps. Armed only with farm and mining equipment, it was safe to say that they were struggling to hold off the large group. Upon hearing running, some of the villagers turned to see what could possibly be on its way. To their surprise however, it was the shield hero!

Charging through the mass of zombies and undead wasps, Leo quickly made his way to the front. "Everyone, listen up! I'll distract the zombies long enough for you to escape! Get to the mines, NOW!" He commanded before taking off again, using his shield as a battering ram against any foe who dared get in his way. As he dragged the army of undead with him, the villagers quickly scrambled to safety towards the outskirts of the village, heading in the direction of the mines.

As he ran through the destroyed town, Leo did everything he could to help keep people safe. "Air Strike Shield!" He shouted as he ran, blocking an oncoming strike from the undead to another villager. Upon hearing a child's terrified voice, he saw a mother clinging to her daughter in an effort to protect her from a swarm of wasps. "Shield prison!" He shouted, aiming at the two. The ball of shields wrapped around the mother and daughter, sparing them from a deadly fate. "All of you, get out of here! Head to the mines!" Leo said as he continued to draw the attention of the undead army.

Rounding a corner, Leo suddenly found himself trapped. After taking a quick look around, he saw a nearby tower. It's got to have an alarm, right? Maybe I could attract these freaks with it, help get more people to Raphtalia. Leo thought as he made a mad dash for the ladder. Climbing it at inhumane speeds, he soon reached the top. To his disappointment however, the bell he had hoped for was smashed, causing it to be utterly useless. Guess it's time for plan B.

Pulling out a flare, he took off the cap and lit it, the blue smoke quickly filling the air. "Hey! Maggot horde, over here! Yeah, come and get me you undead freaks!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he waved the signalling device back and forth. Within a matter of seconds, it seemed like the entire wave had surrounded the tower, blocking any chance of escape. Dammit, didn't think this through! C'mon, think, think, what do I have?! Quickly glancing through his shields, he saw one that he had recently unlocked.

Breath of Death Shield

+26 DEF, +21 AGI, Poison Defense Up

Equip Bonus: Attack 1

Special Equip Effect: Field of Gas

[Releases mist of chemical gas at target]

[Cooldown - 1 Hour]

Jackpot! Summoning the shield, he had begun utilizing its effects. Focusing his attention on the ladder, he faced the climbing undead. "Field of Gas!" He shouted, a white mist quickly blowing out of the shield. The moment it reached the first zombie soldier, it froze before releasing its grasp on the ladder, falling dead. As it fell, it hit another soldier, which then began a domino effect, causing the mass of troops to fall onto their compatriots below.

Taking this time to look for anything he could use, Leo checked the lantern for oil. After unscrewing the metal that held said oil, he let it fall onto the crowd below, covering it in the flammable substance. Once it was empty, Leo tossed his flare into the mass of bodies, lighting them ablaze. As the fire spread, it began to attack the base of the wooden tower, catching it on fire as well. Without a moment to lose, Leo quickly figured out how he was going to escape. Getting the appropriate shield ready, the tower began to collapse on the mass of bodies.

"Shield prison!" Leo exclaimed, the green ball forming around him. As the tower fell and dropped the ball of shields, Leo braced himself for the inevitable impact of the ground. After a 4 second fall, his body slammed on the bottom of the barriers, knocking the air out of his lungs. Removing the prison, he took this time to look around. As dust filled the air, he could just barely see some of the undead moving. Damn, it didn't kill them all! Leo thought in surprise. When trying to stand up, he realized he couldn't, as a beam from the tower blocked him in once his skill had disappeared. His high defense stat was the only thing stopping the beam from completely crushing his legs.

As he tried to push the beam off, a giant zombie noticed him and began charging, intending to kill the defenseless man.

*BANG*

Before it could reach him however, a shot rang out. Turning his head, he saw Raphtalia, her clothing dirty and hair fallen into some sort of bob cut, but otherwise fine. In her hands was their emergency pistol.

How DARE they try to kill Master Leo! I'll make them regret their horrible existence! Raphtalia thought, rage consuming her for a moment. After shooting the large undead creature in the head a few more times, she managed to kill it.

+416 XP

Level Up!

Leopold Wisnieski

Level 20

+528 XP

Level Up!

Raphtalia

Level 22

Once the monster fell to the ground, she quickly ran over to Leo, lifting the beam just enough to get his legs out. Crawling out, he took a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, I thought I was done for." Leo said, relieved to have been able to survive.

"Don't worry about Master Leo, even heroes struggle sometimes, remember?" Raphtalia asked, having calmed down now that Leo was out of any immediate danger. After this, she offered a hand of assistance in getting up. Leo accepted the offer, taking hold of her own gloved hand as he stood up, wiping the dust and debris off his clothing.

Taking a quick look at her face, he noticed how her hair was before commenting, "Raphtalia, your ponytail."

"This really isn't the time Master Leo." She retorted.

"Right, right. Let's finish this, shall we?" He asked her, putting on a smirk of satisfaction.

"Sir yes sir." She responded, replacing her pistol with her sword. Getting into fighting stances, they readied themselves to fend off the oncoming wave.

Before they could move however, bright yellow lights began to shoot into the air from outside the village, similar to that of an artillery attack.

Upon seeing the lights, only one thought came across Leo's mind: cover. "Get down!" He shouted, grabbing Raphtalia and pulling her under him. He lifted his left arm over his head in an attempt to block the oncoming attack with his shield. As glowing red arrows came flying down to Earth, they lit everything in their wake on fire. Those that hit Leo's shield harmlessly bounced off, a blue aura protecting them from the barrage. Once it was over, they could hear someone begin to laugh.

"Hahahaha, we managed to kill them all with a single strike. Good job men." A knight commander spoke. After taking a quick look around, the commander noticed Leo's crouching form. "Ah, the Shield Hero? What a surprise for you to be here. You must be pretty tough in order to survive something like that, huh?" The commander mocked.

Breathing heavily after having taken the brunt of the attack, Leo stated, "Damn, they didn't even care that we were here. They almost killed us!" This one statement made Raphtalia's blood boil, even more so than when the giant zombie had almost killed Leo. Sparing a glance at Raphtalia, Leo noticed how angry she must've been right now.

"Raphtalia, calm down. We're alright. Attacking him isn't going to change anything." He told her calmly, trying to keep his own emotions in check at the same time. Standing up, Leo and Raphtalia faced the group of royal knights.

The commander, upon overhearing what Leo had said, took one look at Raphtalia before stating, "Yeah demi - human, listen to your master before you do something you'll regret."

Taking a deep breath to ease her mind like Leo had trained her to do, she opened her eyes and stared at the group smugly. "Ok then, I'll stay back. We'll just let the undead kill you all if that's the case." She said. Not a second too soon, another giant zombie had appeared behind the knights. Turning around, the group of royal knights had backed away in surprise, the commander himself having fallen on the ground, a wet spot forming between his legs. Just as the giant axe wielding zombie swung, Leo had jumped between it and the knights, blocking the strike.

"Instead of being cowards, how about you actually help defend this place? We'll buy you time to get set up. Raphtalia, hit it!" He called out. With a war cry that would make the depths of Hell cower in fear, Raphtalia leaped into action, slicing the giant zombie's head off in one foul swoop. With the momentum she had built up, Raphtalia was almost a blur as she moved on to kill more of the undead, either slicing zombies' heads off or in half.

The knight commander, upon seeing this, decided it was time to abandon Lute Village and the shield hero. "Let's go, the shield can handle this, we'll go offer reinforcements to the other three heroes!" He ordered.

A few seconds after the order was given, another knight, a Captain or so it seemed, gave off an entirely different order. "Phalanx formation! Assist the Shield Hero in his defense!" The morale amongst the younger and lower ranking knights seemed to skyrocket at the command. The commander however just scoffed and walked away, with only two other knights following him. With these new batches of reinforcements, Leo and Raphtalia's job was made ten times easier as they held off the rest of the zombies.

+1583 XP

Level Up!

Leopold Wisnieski

Level 21

+1742 XP

Level Up!

Raphtalia

Level 23

As the rest of the zombies and wasps were taken care of, everyone had taken a seat somewhere in the surrounding area, tired after the day's events. Raphtalia had taken a seat next to Leo against a burnt down building. Turning to her, he saw just how tired she truly was, both physically and mentally. Smiling, he lifted a hand to her head, giving her a head pat which seemed to boost the fluff ball's energy. It was then that he noticed a bullet casing stuck in between the creases of her uniform. Grabbing the casing, he put it to his shield, wondering what he was going to unlock.

Industrial Shield

+32 DEF, +19 AGI, Defense Up, Magic Penalty (Medium)

Equip Bonus: Advanced Ammunition Crafting 1 (Level 23)

Before he could even process what he had just unlocked, he heard someone begin to shout. "Master Leo! Everyone! Look at the sky!" Raphtalia called out, pointing upwards. As Leo and the knights looked up, they saw the portals flashing. Then, in one large take, the flash dissipated, the cracks in the sky disappearing, and the crimson sky turning back to the aqua blue that it had previously been.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Leo spoke up, "It's over. We did it."

As the minutes went by, the townsfolk slowly came down from the mine, eventually reaching their home village. They could only stare in shock at the damage that had come to their homes and shops. Leo had taken a moment to look at the villagers, analyzing them. Most of their eyes were desolate. Some were full of gratitude. The rest… Leo knew that look all too well, the sense of loss and sadness being obvious to the infantryman. Changing directions, he began to walk around the area, assessing the damage the knights had caused.

Upon crossing the main courtyard, Leo found himself face to face with the knight captain who had ordered the rest to help him and Raphtalia.

"Thank you for standing by us and helping clear out the undead. Who knows what would've happened had you left as well." Leo said, genuinely grateful for the help, however little it actually was.

"No problem, but I didn't do it for you. I did it for the villagers and their homes." The knight captain responded. Leo nodded before giving his own input.

"That's fine. We don't have to fight for each other, nor do we even have to like each other. Our common goals are what brings us together. So, as I said, thanks." The knight captain looked down towards the ground, contemplating the younger man's words. With a silent look, the captain stared Leo in the eye once again before nodding. Motioning for the other knights to follow him, the group of royal knights finally left Lute Village, leaving Leo, Raphtalia, and the villagers to go about with whatever they pleased after such a disastrous event.

"Raphtalia, here. Give these to those who are seriously injured. I'll go see if I can find the leader of the village, see what he wants me to do to help." Leo told her, giving her a bag of the universal healing pills that he had made the previous night. Raphtalia nodded, acknowledging the command before taking off to tend to the wounds of the injured.

Going up to the closest villager, Leo saw that it was a man and a son, both standing over some flowers. He likely lost his wife, his mother. I'll let them mourn, it's not my place to interrupt. Leo thought, all too familiar with the loss of family members. He moved on, walking up to the next villager he found. "Hello there, do you know where the village leader is by any chance?" He asked the man. Taken by surprise, the man took a moment before recuperating himself.

"Oh! Shield Hero! I had thought you left already. Uh yeah, he should be over at the south side of the courtyard, checking on the injured." The man said in reply. Leo nodded, said thanks, and moved on.

Approaching the area, Leo saw that a temporary tent like shelter had been set up with tarps and pieces of wood that survived the inferno. Upon entering he saw an older man with a green cloak. Likely the man I'm looking for. Leo simply thought. Walking up, Leo took the man by surprise when he made his presence known. "How can I help sir?" Leo asked the graying man.

"O- oh! The shield hero! Just the man I was looking for. Where's your companion?" The village elder asked.

"She's off helping take care of the wounded. I came looking for you to see if you need me to help do anything." Leo replied, awaiting any sort of command, order, or suggestion from him.

"Well, before anything, I do wish to thank you for your help. We would have lost much more than we had today if it weren't for you and your tanuki friend." The elder stated, grateful for the shield heroes assistance.

"No problem. It's my duty as a soldier to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Unless that flare had been shot, I doubt I would have known about this place being under such strain in the wave." Leo replied, thinking back to the signal that caught his attention at the beginning of the Wave.

Without missing a beat, the elder responded, "Which is why we wish to provide you with these funds. Think of it as our gratefulness for your help."

Once Leo's surprise and confusion had left him, he quickly and firmly replied, "I can't do that. You people need the money to help rebuild your village. We may be low, but I do not want to effectively rob you of your rebuilding funds." Leo insisted, hoping the man would keep the silver coins.

It was the elder's turn to be surprised, obviously not expecting Leo to deny over 300 silver coins. "Very well, we all wish you the best of luck. You may help out wherever you can. However, I do prefer if you go see what those knights are doing here." He said, motioning with his hand towards the group of knights that had just arrived.

"Alright, I'll do that first, then I'll see what I can do about helping tend to the wounded." Leo said, leaving the tent.

As he walked over to the medieval soldiers, Raphtalia jogged over and caught up to him before informing, "Master Leo, I've managed to provide the villagers with all the healing pills I could." She stated before noticing the knights. Upon seeing the knight commander amongst them, she couldn't help but scoff at his return. "What are they doing here? I thought they left us to die." She said flatly.

"No idea, but that's what we're about to find out." He calmly replied, placing a hand on her shoulder, signalling for her not to do anything rash.

Once Leo and the commander were face to face, the commander held up a piece of paper before boldly stating in a loud voice, "Shield hero! The king has requested that all heroes partake in a banquet that is being thrown tonight in the main castle." He said, but not before lowering the piece of parchment in his hands. "But I personally suggest you don't come, you criminal. Your mere presence would only ruin the food provided by his majesty." The commander spoke, a smug grin curled onto his face.

Leo, in less than a millisecond, quickly shot back with his own idea. "Then it seems like we're going! Raphtalia, how does free food sound?" He asked, turning to the girl in question.

"That sounds like a great idea Master Leo! Who doesn't like free food, especially when we're personally invited!" Raphtalia exclaimed with a smug grin of her own. Scowling, the commander just grumbled, muttered a few words at them, and left, not wanting to be near the pair any longer, his attempt at insulting them backfiring miserably.

"Alright then. Once we're done here, we'll head out. Remember, don't over-stuff yourself, you need to be ready for tomorrow morning's training exercises." He told her.

"Yes dad." She said, rolling her eyes as they made their way back into the village.

Author's Note: I apologize for this chapter being a bit shorter than normal guys. Due to time constraints, along with my plan for the next chapter, there wasn't much left to write about. Anyway, like I said, sorry for the shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless. Stay safe, bye!