Don't mind me, I'm just here for my 15 Planck instances of fame. I don't know when I'll be updating but in the meantime... here's a chapter.
I also changed the rating to M, just to be safe with all the cursing in future chapters and gore and violence.
3/12/20 2:12 pm, Pacific Time
Off in the countryside, the village of Lute was getting ready for the morning. The tavern was opened, children were on their way to school (minimal education), and fathers left for work while their wives looked after the house.
But a pair of adventurers have yet to wake up. Well, one of them was awake...
Naofumi laid on his bed, staring groggily at the ceiling. While SHIELD did set the alarm, he just hit the snooze button. Typical.
Naofumi went to move up when something, rather someone, stopped him. Looking down, Naofumi was met with a face full of hair and raccoon ears. Soft, rhythmic breathing could be heard as Raphtalia's chest moved up and down.
Inhale
Exhale
Repeat.
This was unexpected for two reasons. 1, he paid for the room with 2 beds. If he knew Raphtalia was going to sneak into his bed, then he would have gotten the room with one bed instead. 2, Yeah, they would sleep near each other while they stayed in the forest. But never this close. He was FULLY aware that she was only 10 years. The weeb part of his brain tried to say that she was 10 in raccoon years. That internal debate just left him with a migraine.
Deciding it was time to get up for the day, Naofumi shook her shoulder.
"Raphtalia, come on, it's time to wake up."
She just snuggled closer into his chest.
He shook a little harder. "Raphtalia, wake up."
A tired reply responded. "Mou~ five more minutes Master Naofumi..." She promptly fell back asleep.
Noticing the bedsheets moving, Naofumi could only assume that it was Raphtalia's tail swaying in her sleep. Watching the motion, an idea manifested into his mind. Letting a playful smirk form on his face, Naofumi's hands moved towards the extra appendage.
Naofumi's hands brushed up against Raphtalia's tail. The act alone caused her tail to go rigid. Naofumi's hand moved in for the kill.
'MASTER NAOFUMI!" The entire village seemed to quiet down after the resonating SLAP echoed through the valley. The men and children winced, knowing full well what that entailed. Some even rubbed their checks at the phantom pain from their mothers/wife slaps.
Two lessons were learned that day.
1. Never touch a demi-humans tail without permission. Bodily harm will ensue if not given the "all clear".
2. Always listen to Master Naofumi, especially in the morning.
00:00:00:50
00:00:00:49
00:00:00:48
00:00:00:47
Naofumi watched as the villagers rushed around. Word had gotten out from one of the villagers returning from the Capital that another wave was approaching. Suffice to say, they were panicking.
He let out a sigh as his nerves were no better than theirs. Sure he was a much higher level, but as the saying goes: Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.
And by now, he was paranoid. Everyone is a stranger, could be a spy, out to kill both him and Raphtalia. Seeing as everyone hated the Shield Hero in Melromarc, he was behind enemy lines. But, as long as no one found out, then it would all be good. Finish the first wave then leave Melromarc.
"Master Naofumi?"
Raphtalia interrupted his thought process. He turned to her, letting her know that she had his full attention.
She moved towards him, grabbing his hand and clasping it into her own. "As long as we are together, we'll be ok."
Naofumi smiled. Raphtalia had grown to be quite the perceptive woman during the last few weeks. She must've known how he felt and went to comfort him.
"Thank you Raphtalia."
00:00:00:04
00:00:00:03
00:00:00:02
00:00:00:01
00:00:00:00
A gong echoed throughout the land and a blinding yellow light engulfed Naofumi and Raphtatlia. Moments later, they vanished. And then, everything turned red. Swirling vortexes erupted from the cracked sky. Thousands of monsters fell from the rifts in space.
The 2nd Wave of Catastrophe began.
Naofumi's vision went black before red light started to shine through. A shield began to form over time, connecting with the lights until fully formed. A deep mysterious, distorted voice spoke out to Naofumi.
They are Rage. Brutal. Without mercy. But you... You will be worse. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE!
Holy shit! I just creamed my pants! Naofumi thought internally when the customized opening scene SHIELD had installed into his UI came up. The darkness had seeped out of Naofumi's eyes as the sky turned red. The dark hue gave a terrifying sense to the surroundings.
Both Naofumi and Raphtalia turned towards the shining ball in the sky.
"That would be the objective point. Defeat the monsters there and summon the Wave Boss. Defeat the Wave Boss to end the wave." SHIELD informed them.
The other heroes, who had been summoned with them rushed towards the objective.
With that information, the two started sprinting before a loud screeching noise was heard from behind. Looking back, a flare had been shot from the village of Lute.
" A Flare? Come on Raphtalia, let's go!"
"Right!"
Leaving the Boss to the Three Stooges, they rushed towards the village. Upon arrival, a horde of undead zombie soldiers broke down the gates and limped towards the living.
"Discus Throw!" Winding up his arm, Naofumi let the shield fly, its aim true, ripping throws several zombies and locusts. When called back, the shield crashed through half a dozen monsters.
Raphtalia leaped, saving the innkeeper from being skewered by a monster's talons. She turned and quickly dispatched off any near monsters.
"You okay? Can you walk?" Naofumi questioned the innkeeper. he deflected a blow from a straggler zombie before focusing on the villager.
"Y-yes, but there are more of us trapped in the houses!" he said with urgency in his voice.
"Raphtalia! Help the villagers evacuate! I'll handle the monsters."
While hesitant to leave him alone, Raphtalia quickly followed his orders and escorted the remaining villagers out of the village. Surrounded by monsters, Naofumi smiled.
"SHIELD, play BFG Division by Mick Gordon. Skip to the climax."
" BFG Division by Mick Gordon 1:00/8:26. Now Playing on Amazon Music."
Guitar rifts blasted through the air, fueling Naofumi's strength. Heavy electronic rock, had toned out any other sound.
He charged the horde.
Naofumi's movements matched the beat of the song. When a rift occurred, he'd hack and destroy. When it paused, he bashed them all with his shield. His high defense allowed him to concentrate on moves, allowing him to practice his fighting style without any repercussions.
Blades met his skin but didn't draw blood. Even the Juggernauts couldn't pierce his flesh. But he could do that to them. He focused on the small fry first, wanting to save the biggest for last. During that time, DOOM never went back into its sheath.
"Glory Kill! Bash. Glory Kill! Glory Kill! Blood Punch! Nature's Beauty! Glory Kill! Glory Kill! Glory Kill!"
Having dispatched the mindless monsters first, he then turned his attention to the few juggernauts left. Their high(ish) attack damage would never break his defense. Jumping high, Naofumi landed on a juggernaut's shoulders, ramming his shield into its head, briefly stunning the monsters before DOOM found a home in their heads.
Rinse and repeat a couple of times and that was his experience with the first wave.
Clearing out the juggernauts Naofumi paused, Thousands of monsters fell out of that portal, and yet, only a couple dozen were attacking the village. Something didn't feel rig-
"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia looked behind him to see a lone juggernaut bringing down its ax to split his skull open. Before he could react, Raphtalia was already on top of the monster, going rabid, protecting Naofumi from potential (not really) danger. Within seconds, the beast was turned into mincemeat from Raphtalia's sword.
After killing the monster, she began to breathe heavily, panting in anger and exhaustion. Naofumi went up to her and patted her head.
"That's my girl." He said proudly.
Hearts filled Raphtalia's eyes before she was abruptly pulled under Naofumi's cloak. He pulled up his Vibranium Shield and protected Raphtaila. Fire rained down on the village burning the houses and corpses that were still standing. But the majority of the shots fired, missed their targets, or were just useless.
"Hah, we killed them all in a single strike ."
Hearing voices, Naofumi changes his shield to a vambrace. He looked over his arm to see a platoon of soldiers with the Melromarcian emblem on the chest plates. The Royal Knights.
Tch, more like Royal Pains in the ass.
The royal knights walked around, scoping out the damage they dealt with the monsters. The commander stopped causing the others to follow. "Huh? What do we have here?" The knight surveyed the scene in front of him, trying to identify the people wrapped in a grey cloak. His answer was in the form of the studded gauntlet on his arm. "Oh, the Gauntlet Hero? How did you get into Melromarc?" His tone demanded an answer and respect.
Before a response could be given, Raphtalia soared through the air, sword drawn and leveled to run the commander through. Before she could do that, his lieutenant steps in and parry her blow.
"Did you know that my Master was here? Answer me or die!"
The Knights responded in the same way they would if they were attacked. "Draw swords!"
Enraged that a demi-human of all things would try to attack him, the commander yelled out. "You filthy demi! Who are you to level your blade at the Royal Knights!? And you Guantlent Hero, what are you doing with this damned demi-human?"
"I am his sword. None will disrespect him in my presence. I-"
"Raphtalia, just let it go, they're not worth our time."
"W- What did you say, you lowly Vassal Hero?! Go back to Faubrey, our three heroes can handle this just fine!"
"So you're telling me they can save you from the juggernauts that snuck up behind you?"
The commander turned and true to his word, a juggernaut had raised its ax preparing to cleave the man in two. Naofumi blocked the attack within a second, covering the distance in half of that. The loud metal CLANG vibrated in the soldiers' ears while Naofumi raised DOOM and stabbed the giant repeatedly.
"Pathetic. You take pride in being a knight but you can't even protect yourself. Just get out, you're more of a liability than assistance."
A stunned silence fell over the royal knights as their commander was insulted. Seeing as the man saved his life, he couldn't retort. He just clicked his tongue.
"Forget them, we going to assist the three REAL heroes." The Commanding Knight said, the condescending tone in his voice was not missed nor was the insult.
You just contradicted yourself. Naofumi thought bitterly before turning his attention back to the new wave of monsters.
The commander went to leave, expecting his soldiers to follow, but was surprised when they didn't move. Only a few knights had moved to get out of the ruins of the burning village, but the rest stayed still.
The vice commander, at least what Naofumi assumed was the vice commander, ordering the remaining soldiers to go into formation and take the newly formed horde head-on. Naofumi was surprised. Disobedience of a commander's orders could most certainly get you court-martialed at the very worst. But if a vice commander ordered it, then it can't be punished right? That's just a conflict of interests.
"Tch whatever. leave them here, We'll help the heroes." The commander said as he left with the few knights who obeyed his command.
Naofumi returned his attention to the forming wave as more monsters seeped through the gates of the village to feast upon the closest life forms.
"Alright! Let's go!"
Elsewhere, the Three Heroes and their parties were fighting the Wave Boss, the {Dimensional Chimera}. A beast with the heads of a lion, goat, and dragon with a snake as a tail. Yeah yeah, greek mythology is weird.
The Chimera fought desperately, trying to survive but any bystander would know its demise was to come quickly.
"Wind Arrow!"
"Crimson Blade!"
The two heroes called out their skills, damaging the Chimera to critical levels. The Chimera, in one last-ditch attempt, tried to blitz Motoyasu before he could land the final blow. But it was too slow. (oh bars.)
"I'll end this! Lightning Spear!" Motoyasu thrust his spear at the Boss, the air around the tip vibrating before a massive tendril of lightning shot forth, bringing destruction to anything in its path.
The Chimera's health bar was at zero. Its body, heavily broken, fell to the ground, never to move again.
"Yeah, we did it!"
"Walk in the park."
"This wave was a piece of cake."
"And the next one will probably be easy too."
The heroes were so busy celebrating that they didn't notice one very important detail.
"Uhh... guys. Why is the sky still red? And why do I hear Boss Music?"
Suddenly a new beacon had made its appearance well known, glowing brightly against the burgundy sky.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
As Naofumi, Raphtalia, and the remaining knights had finished up clearing the village of monsters, Naofumi was getting irritated. If what Aneko said was true, then the other Heroes should be passed Level 40 by now. They should have easily defeated the first wave boss. Right?
"What's taking those guys so long? They should have finished by-"
"Master Naofumi, Look!"
Pointing towards a clearing, Raphtalia noticed a black ball exiting the swirling vortexes up above. The blackball touched down and started to expand. A black hole began to devour all the corpses, making them disappear. But moments later, the bodies began to gather and build legs. Next was the torso and then the arms. The whole area was devoid of any cadavers. The only evidence left behind were the bloodstains on the ground.
When the head finally formed, the monstrosity was over 30 feet tall. Decked out in broken armor and a rusty 15-foot sword, the creature was born. Bright red eyes flickered to life as the deformity stared down at the two.
True Boss Appeared!
{Interdemsional Zombie Juggernaut}
100%
3,500/3,500 HP
400 DMG
100 DEF
Have Fun!
"What the fuck! SHIELD, what happened!"
"There has been an interference with the wave. The Wave Boss had been killed but for some reason, it was a fake. This is the true wave boss." SHIELD said informing Naofumi of the predicament he was in.
Before he could yell out a command, the {IZJ} slammed its ax down, prompting Naofumi to dodge. The speed of the titanous monster surprised Naofumi.
"SHIELD, scan for status enhancements."
"Several buffs have been found, each coming from the other side of the wave vortex. These buffs include speed, strength, regeneration, and health. We are at great risk."
Having no choice, Naofumi needed to fight with his all, shield included. But the knights were there, they would see that he was the Shield Hero and all would be for naught. He needed to find a way to get them to leave. Ask? Yeah, like that would-
"All of you, go guard the evacuated villagers. They are taking refuge by the cave entrance. GO!"
As if noticing her master's inner turmoil, Raphtalia had spoken out for him.
"But what about you guys?" one of the nicer knights asked, worried about the "Vassal" hero.
"We'll be fine, just go. Your duty is to protect the people, not us." Naofumi said, catching on to Raphtalia's idea.
The knights did as they were told, after receiving reassurance that they can handle the boss, they hurried off to the caves. As the last one left his line of sight, Naofumi immediately switched to his {Vibranium Shield}.
"Discus Throw!" Winding up his shot, Naofumi released the star-spangled shield. Having used this ability primarily during the forest, he could throw the shield with the same accuracy as the original wielder. The shield sailed through the air, hitting the {IZJ}, momentarily stunning it.
"Now Raphtalia!"
Letting out a fierce battle cry, Raphtalia attacked the boss with renewed vigor. Her sword broke through the poorly made armor of the {IZJ} and cut through flesh. Staggering from the cuts, the boss regained its footing, before rushing to attack Raphtalia. Moving swiftly, Naofumi blocked the ax, it's kinetic energy filling up the Shield before Naofumi released all of it at the boss. The resulting blast of energy forced the poorly made armor to be knocked off the {IZJ}. The blast also made the boss fall over from the force itself.
{Interdemsional Zombie Juggernaut}
70%
2,450/3,500 HP
This is easier than I thought. If we just connect some more of our attacks then we ca-
It had only been 10 seconds since the boss fell over, but it took that long, seconds for the boss to activate its regeneration.
{Interdemsional Zombie Juggernaut}
90%
3150/3500 HP
"It gained that much health in 10 seconds!?"
The boss let out an even louder roar as it charged once again.
"Raphtalia, keep attacking it! If we can overwhelm its regeneration then we can kill this thing!"
Again, both Naofumi and Raphtalia charged the boss, blades brandished, gleaming in the dark red light. Splitting up after a powerful ax strike, the two targeted different parts of the body. Raphtalia going for the arms while Naofumi went for the legs.
Having its attention divided, one distracting it while the other struck its weak points. They managed to get in many good hits, but its health bar wasn't going done, it remained stagnant.
Panic began to eat at Naofumi's psyche. They managed to bring its health bar down before, why aren't they doing any damage to this thing?
In a desperate attempt to bring its health bar down, Naofumi jumped off its bent knee and drove DOOM straight through its head through the eye. The tip of the blade exited from the parietal bone. The monster howled in pain, throwing Naofumi off before clutching at its eye. But its health remained the same. Hell, even a "Critical strike" appeared out of thin air, but its health just wouldn't go down.
"Master Naofumi, you need to calm down!" Raphtalia said desperately trying to get him to calm down. Raphtalia had to slap Naofumi to get him to snap out of it.
"She's right Naofumi. Neural activity in your amygdala has skyrocketed. You are more vulnerable to rash decisions. Calm yourself."
"How am I supposed to do that if we can't even beat this thing? WHY can't we beat this thing?"
"The moment you inflict any sort of damage, its highly active regeneration will heal it, rendering your attack useless. To counteract this, you must use your {Carbonadium Shield}."
"... my what now?"
"You unlocked it when you went skydiving."
A blank face.
"It was your third shield. You should remember this." SHIELD chided the inattentive Hero.
"Come on, not even the readers could remember that. The author takes so long to update-"
Not liking the fact that it was being ignored, the {IZJ} interrupted Naofumi with an ax to the chest. Luckily enough, Naofumi brought the shield up just in time to protect himself. This traded, immense pain via ax to the chest or immense pain via being flung into a building. It seems like a fair trade...
"Carbonadium. Now."
{Carbonadium Shield}
+250 DEF
+50 DMG
Abilities: Grevious Wounds (Passive) - using Carbonadium's highly radioactive properties, this ability can nullify any natural healing factor. This also reduces any outside healing of the target by 40-60% (depends on hero level)
Smiling to himself, Naofumi launched at the beast with ferocious animosity. He ducked under a horizontal swipe, sliding towards the beast, swiping the sharpened edge of the {Carbonadium Shield} at its leg. A clean-cut through flesh and bone, before the monster, toppled over after losing a leg. Naofumi looked at the boss's health bar this time. Finally getting some results.
The health bar dropped.
Naofumi needed to remind himself to infuse some Carbonadium into Raphtalia's sword. A situation like this is bound to rise again, and he can't be the only one doing damage to the thing.
Shouting out a strategy to Raphtalia, Naofumi went on the offensive with Raphtalia behind him. The plan was simple: Raphtalia would provide distractions and staggers while Naofumi would deal damage with the openings. While a plain and amateur strategy, it was the best one for this scenario. Slowly but surely, the health bar went down.
The duo was doing so much damage that the regeneration was essentially non-existent. Raphtalia began to injure the boss as well.
105/3,500
3%
One hit.
70/3,500
2%
Then another.
35/3,500
1%
Just one more and-
"Lightning Spear!"
An arc of lighting caught the beast in the chest before Naofumi's DOOM could. The Monster seized up in pain, lightning coursing through its body before falling over, dead. Smoke began to emit from the dead body and the electricity cauterized and burnt flesh thus taking the final blow from Naofumi.
The sky, once red, began to turn blue. The vortexes disappeared with a metallic CLANG.
Silence.
Naofumi, behind his masked face, was seething in rage. He slowly turned to the Spear hero who just had stolen his kill. He had switched his shield to its vambrace form when the lightning obscured vision around the monster for a couple of seconds.
"MAN, that took longer than expected. Good thing we got here just in time for the drops."
The other heroes were about to respond when a furious distorted voice spoke up first.
"Did you just steal my kill?"
Once more, the silence returned. The Three Heroes looking towards a masked man accompanied by a demi-human girl. Motoyasu's eyes immediately focused on Raphtalia. Ren and Itsuki were looking at the mysterious man who was fighting their wave boss.
"I don't know if steal is the right word to use. We more or less helped you." Ren tried to reason with the mystery man, knowing full well how it feels to have a kill stolen. Happened too many times in Legends of League: VR Edition.
" I didn't ask for your help. I was one hit away from killing that thing myself. You stole my kill!"
"I really wouldn't say steal, more like assisted."
"No you stole my kill, You got credit for it, like some stupid global range ultimate that no one asked for!"
It was at this time that she stepped in.
"You should be grateful. Sir Motoyasu has lent you a hand in defeating a boss that wasn't even yours, to begin with." The Bitch had said in a condescending tone.
"Right, as Myne says. So instead of arguing with me about 'stealing' the boss kill" Motoyasu used air quotations to emphasize his point "you should be thanking me."
"THANKING YOU!?"
"Stop it both of you. You, Motoyasu, you are a hero, act like it. A hero isn't one to argue with something so trivial."
TRIVIAL!
"And you..." Itsuki leads on, hoping to get a name from the man.. woman? Thing?
"Gauntlet Hero." He didn't have a name, thought up yet. That would make this hard if he wanted to communicate with Raphtalia in public.
"Gauntlet Hero... you should be more open to outside help. I apologize for us taking your kill, but what matters is that the wave is finished. It's over; what's in the past. is the past."
That's a lousy apology. It's not even an apology!
"Hey, the castle is having a reward celebration after this, how bout you join us?" Itsuki asked the duo.
"Yeah, it'll be fun, there's food, drink, and overall a good time. What do you say?" Motoyasu said, hoping to persuade Raphtalia into joining them at the party. He couldn't care about the other guy. He was focused on our most beloved fluffy-tailed waifu.
"No, absolutely not. We have business elsewhere" Naofumi said firmly, not letting room for anyone *cough* Motoyasu *cough* cough* to spout bullshit.
Motoyasu wouldn't take no for an answer. "And who are you to tell her where she and she can't go. She looks old enough to make her own decisions."
"I am her party leader, but most importantly, I am her master. If I feel like she shouldn't be at a party with a bunch of strangers in a country that hates demi-humans then she isn't going. "
"You're her master...? WAIT, YOU ENSLAVED HER!? WHAT KIND OF HERO ENSLAVES A GIRL?!"
"One who has enough empathy to give her a life better than her previous owners. I saved her from a life of pain and taught her how to fend for herself. I treat her like a human being, more so than the majority of the nobility that runs this fucking country." Naofumi said with contained anger in his voice.
Seeing an opportunity to get more on Motyoyasu's good side, Bitch intervened. " It's terrible Sir Motoyasu, he is probably abusing her, and as a slave, she can't do anything to fight back. He's probably ordering her to be quiet as to not expose him of his impropriety!" she exclaimed in faux concern.
"That's not true at all. Master has always treated me well, He never harmed me in any way and he-" she was interrupted and a spear moved with the intent to maim Naofumi.
Naofumi released the coil holding DOOM in its place. The blade extended and intercepted the spear before it could reach Naofumi. The blades clashed and sparks flew before Naofumi grabbed the spear tip and yanking it out of Motoyasu's hands. Surprise was etched on everyone's faces. Naofumi inspected the spear before electricity began to emit from his hands. But instead of pain, as everyone expected, he laughed.
He tossed the spear to the flabbergasted hero.
He chuckled darkly before saying "You won't be doing that again."
Turning from them he motioned for Raphtalia to follow him as they were leaving. But then, Motoyasu's party members blocked his path. Turning the other way, he was faced with another group of people. He sighed in annoyance. They had surrounded him, in hopes to take him down.
Thinking he had won, Motoyasu laughed before punching Naofumi in the face.
He would have followed up with a cool one-liner. Something like 'You're not getting away from this you coward' or maybe 'I kick your ass and free Raphtalia from you'. That's if things went as they should have.
As soon as his fist made contact with Naofumi's face, a loud metal CLANG vibrated through the air. Naofumi's face remained immobile, even with the newly found forces acting against it. Motoyasu pulled back his hand, shaking the pain away, before staring in disbelief at Naofumi. Cold, orange eyes stared into his red eyes, lighting up against the dark grey metal.
"Pathetic."
That was all Naofumi said before retaliating with an uppercut. The fist connected with Motoyasu's chin before anyone could react. Motoyasu was launched into the sky, and Naofumi followed him instantly. He spun around before connecting a kick with the Spear Heroe's chest, sending him flying a good 20 feet.
The other heroes pulled out their weapons but did not attack. Hesitance was seen in their eyes. They tried scanning the mysterious man but were met with "Error 403" (1).
Ren spoke out, cautious of Naofumi. "Alright everyone calm down. If we all put our weapons away, we can talk this out." Ren knew that Motoyasu wasn't the brightest man, but he certainly was powerful. And for his attack to do nothing against the Gauntlet Hero was unprecedented.
But no one moved. Naofumi saw this as a bad sign.
"On my signal Raphtalia..." Naofumi whispered to her.
Just as Ren was going to speak up, Motoyasu got back up, huffing in pain." I... won't let you... get away with this!"
"Ooooh? If you continue to be persistent then I have no other choice but to finish this fight. I always save it for last, but because you're special, Ill use it on you."
A final attack? If his passive attacks were that strong then, he must have some heavy power. What level is he? Who is he?
"I'll even give you a hint. I'll use my legs." his distorted voice said, filled with complacency.
Sweat began to build upon Ren's brow. His muscles tensed up, ready to call out a skill and swing his sword. Itsuki wasn't fairing much better. His bowstring was pulled back to his check ready to attack whenever this man did.
The tension in the air was thick, arrows were notched, swords were drawn, axes were raised, the whole nine yards. All of them were waiting for this powerful man to move.
Suddenly, Naofumi raised his fist, balled it, and crushed the ground. A heavy cloud of dust obscured everyone's view. The sudden loss of vision made everyone panic and attack.
Switching to his infrared vision, Naofumi picked out the first target he saw. Some guy in heavy knight armor.
You don't look important. Naofumi thought before a flash of green indicated a weapon switched. He equipped his {Vibranium Shield} and bashed the armor dude in the head. A pained cry and a thump indicated a success before Naofumi and Raphtalia, ran through the gap of the encirclement.
"NIGERUNDAYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RAPHTALIA!"
The dust settled and everyone saw the man and his slave running away. For a moment everyone stood still, unsure what to do. But then anger kicked and they gave chase. That is until they started flying away.
"THIS ISN'T OVER ASSHOLE!"
"Just let it go, dude..."
"Can we please stop, just for a second, Master Naofumi?"
Raphtalia had been sitting on Naofumi's back as he flew superman style. While flying was a convenient form of escaping, it was not meant for transportation. Not to mention, Raphtalia's extreme motion sickness. Let's just say, someone, somewhere was NOT having a good day.
Touching down on the ground, Naofumi let Raphtalia off his back. She wobbled for a moment before smiling. That quickly went south when her face turned green and she ran to a bush before throwing up. Naofumi grimaced and quickly started making some medicine.
"How far are we did we travel, SHIELD?"
"In the DC comics, both Hawkman and Hawkgirl were able to fly at 200 mph. However, you were flying at speeds around 100 miles per hour. Given that we were flying for roughly 12 mins at 14 seconds..."
Ahh, this is what Ms. Smith said, word problems do apply in the real err... fantasy world.
"Applying the formula Distance= Speed x Time, it is safe to say that we have flown 20 miles from Lute village."
He thanked the AI before finishing the medicine. Once he finished compounding, he walked over to Raphtalia who was lying down with her eyes close, in hopes to stop the world from spinning. He knelt, lifted her head onto his lap, and brought the glass vial to her lips.
"Here, something to help with the motion sickness." Raphtalia blushed before accepting it. Silence enveloped the duo like a warm blanket, with the occasional loud sip of medicine in between. When all the medicine was gone, the vial was put back in Naofumi's inventory before his attention was back on Raphtalia.
He began stroking her hair causing a fierce blush to appear on Raphtalia's face.
"You did well today." He said, praising her for her work during the wave. Raphtalia smiled at Naofumi before closing her eyes, enjoying the feel of his hand running through her hair. Her ears wiggled in delight.
Minutes passed as the two sat in silence, enjoying each other's company. Then came the time to leave. As the duo was getting ready to head out, SHIELD began to act differently.
Nao- N̡̺̰͎̐̈́͐͠ḁ̲̯̱̣͐̒̈̎̀ô͓̥̠̟̔̌͌̓͢f̖̦̙̆̾̚u̞͊m͍̤̟͙̺͂̔̈̾̃í̙̖̦̗́̿͋ ̺̓...
"SHIELD?..."
Į̢͈̣͂̃͊͡ ̧͠c̡̖͆̐A̛̖n̞̚T̢̗̥̈͊͛ ̯͡f̧͙͐̊e͘ͅE̝̞͓̓̍͝L͎̺̓̔ ̨̛̙̟̊̃A̧̺̝̳͑̽̆͐̄͢N͓͝ỷ̯̓͢T̡̺̳́͆͘h͖̰̗́̊̊͆ͅĮ̙̽̈́ǹ̙Ǵ͔...
The usual bright green glow of Naofumi's shield gem died down, becoming its original lackluster form, compared to when SHIELD had inhabited the gem.
"SHIELD?! SHIELD!"
Naofumi only had seconds to yell out in concern for his friend AI before his vision went black and words appeared in front of him.
Your path to misery is only beginning.
And you will fall, just as intended, Shield Hero.
The last thing Naofumi remembers before falling unconscious was Raphtalia's desperate pleas for him to wake up.
The world around him began to gain light as Naofumi woke up. Naofumi was laying on his back, he had been moved when he was unconscious. It took him a moment to realize that Raphtala was trying to get his attention.
"Master Naofumi! Thank goodness you're alright! I was worried about you."
" It's alright, I'm fine. More importantly..." Naofumi paused, taking more time to take in his surroundings. More specifically, the position he was in. He was looking up at Raphtalia, her face was only a couple inches away, and his body wasn't propped too high up meaning...
"Raphtalia..."
"Y-Yes!" Raphtalia answered, practically knowing what he was going to say. A light blush had begun to develop on her face. He slowly lifted his head from her lap. He turned and looked her in the eyes.
"Thank you. For everything."
"Ohh it's nothing, I..."
"No, I mean it. After all I have been through, you are still with me. Sure your a slave, but say the word and I'll free you. But I want you to know, you are my rock. You are the only thing keeping me sane and having the will to fight. It's because of you that I will save the world. So thank you."
"You don't have to worry anymore Master Naofumi. I promise, that I'll be your sword forever. Through fire and brimstone." Raphtalia said in a watery voice, completely contradicting the fierce determination seen in her eyes.
"Through fire and brimstone." Naofumi repeated. He stood up and pull Raphtalia up with him. "Alright. We should get going. We need to make some distance between us and the capital. He started walking before realizing he didn't know where to go. Sighing to himself, he pulled out a few materials before kneeling on the ground.
" Uh Master Naofumi, what are you doing?"
" It seems that SHIELD isn't responding, or rather he stopped being in my shield." The bright gleam of green light Naofumi had grown accustomed to had disappeared, leaving the shield gem looking lackluster. He continued " Since he can't tell me where to go, I am making a sundial. It's essentially a clock used to tell the time by the position of the sun."
"How does that work?"
"Well, if we know what time it is, then we know what direction the sun is setting. Assuming that this world has the same solar cycle as mine, then the sun rises east and sets west. Knowing this much, we can also tell which way is north and south."
"Wow, that's amazing Master Naofumi! Where did you learn this?" Raphtalia asked curious to learn new things.
"I had to take an oceanography class back in my senior year of high school. It's the study of the ocean's physical, biological, and chemical properties."
"What does making a sundial have to do anything with the ocean?" Raphtalia asked, clearly confused, not seeing a connection between the two.
" To be honest, I don't even remember." Naofumi answered before chuckling. "Anyway, this way is east, that is west, and if I remember correctly there was a map in the castle. The best place to go would be east."
Having his directions and plans, Naofumi looked at Raphtalia. "We should make use of the day's light and then rest in the evening. Can you walk?"
"Yes, I can. Ready when you are Master Naofumi."
"Alright, come on Raphtalia, we'll follow that trail!"
"What trail?
"The trial that we blaze!" Naofumi unsheathed DOOM and swung wildly at an obscuring patch of vines. The vines fell only to reveal an ungodly amount of trees grown so close together. It was obvious that they would be able to go that way. An awkward silence befell upon the two before Naofumi bounced back.
"THAT trial that we blaze!" pointing north, where a clear path could be seen.
Raphtalia had an amused look on her face and followed Naofumi.
The slave merchant was back to counting gold after some noble bought their son his first slave. It was so beautiful, the slave merchant almost shed a tear.
Almost.
"And now, to implement my new system: Gambling, but with actual rewards, hahaha... huh? Didn't I fill all the slots with eggs? Why is one missing? Oh well, that was just a filolial egg, I can afford to lose that."
Kar En Tuk
Kuss ten Ve Tar
Deep within the chambers of the Three Heroes Church, a group of hooded figures surrounded a blood-red magic circle. Tossed off to the side was the body of a demi-human slave girl, her throat slit, blood still leaking out. Blood was needed for this ritual so even filthy abominations like these had their uses.
Kar En Tuk
Duum tay ex Suts
Little balls of energy began to appear in the chamber, illuminating the darkroom. The light shined before fading out. It would do this for quite some time.
The Pope was overseeing the procession. He had to be attended to 24/7 due to a recent injury. And it kept getting worse.
Kar En Tuk
Kuss ten Ve Tar
Immediately following the attempt on the Pope's life, every known healing and divine spell was used on the Pope, in an attempt to cure him of this curse. All treatments led to failure. The next call to action was to find the assassin to interrogate him on any possible cures. It was practically common sense to never work with a poison you don't have the antidote for. (A/N: It's not really. An example would be Ricin, as there is no antidote, yet it is still used in assassinations.)
Kar En Tuk
Duum tay ex Suts
The mission was still in effect but the dispatched spies have come back empty-handed for some time now. While many followers of the church didn't want to, it might be time to assume the worst. Should God grace his believers with a miracle from the earlier years of the church, then the Pope would continue to live. Then in divine retribution, the church would smite any heretics.
Kar En Tuk
Kuss ten Ve Tar
Peering down into the chamber, the Pope saw the priests reach the final section of the incantation. Chuckling loudly, he smiled before the curse acted again, causing him to stumble, gripping his newly acquired cane. Aids rushed to his side, but he shooed them off. Down below was the reason why he asked the King for the body of the Shield Demon.
"Imagine the look in their eyes when they see their "god" slaughtering their own. The church will rule over the world and I will be at its center. I have no one else to thank but you, Shield Demon." The Pope said ominously, before laughing maniacally.
KAR EN TUK
DUUM TAY EX SUTS
The ball of energy fell onto the body below, before a final flash of light emitted from the epicenter. Once the light dispersed, the head had been reattached to the torso. A pair of eyes opened showing a dead green iris, before filling in with a glowing red.
Yes. The Shield Demon would rise again.
Aneko had been staring at her monitor screen for what seemed like hours. She was trying to type something but the words just wouldn't appear in her head. But then suddenly she had an idea! She gasped as she recomposed herself at her keyboard and was about to begin typing anew until...
"My Lady. It appears that I have been locked out from the shield. I believe this is a sign that she is beginning to make herself known to us."
The same cloaked figure that Aneko had sent to stop Fitoria from killing the other heroes, appeared before her in physical form, rather then the computer code he was fro weeks inside Naofumi's shield.
Aneko looked annoyed before shrugging and nonchalantly replying. "Figures. I guess that what happens when you invade another god's realm. They tend to retaliate violently."
"My lady, shouldn't we try and regain access to assist Naofumi on this journey?"
"Not now. Medea just put up a barrier, which means it's at its strongest. We need to wait until she spends her energy elsewhere to have the best chance at breaking it down. And besides, Naofumi has gotten a lot of help from both of us. He can't continue relying on that. The readers wouldn't like it if the main character had no growth or always had divine intervention."
The cloaked figure that was now revealed to be SHIELD looked hesitant, about to retort but simply sighed. "By your will, my lady."
The goddess turned back to her desktop. Her hands ready to type before she turned around and glared at SHIELD.
"SHIELD YOU FUCK! I JUST HAD AN IDEA FOR MY STORY AND YOU MADE ME FORGET IT!"
"I apologize-"
"I DONT WANT YOUR APOLOGY I WANT MY IDEA BACK!"
Omake: It's too late.
Naofumi and his party were headed toward the boss fight during the third wave. After securing the village, Naofumi took it upon himself to go and help the heroes defeat the boss, seeing as how they were three hours in and still haven't finished the wave.
They arrived at the scene and were welcomed to the sight of the three heroes and their parties uterly decimated. Weapons, armor, and other forms of offensive attack were scattered, broken, and useless.
At the epicenter stood a figure, She was relatively small, only reaching about 150 cm (4'11'') tall, with blonde hair and green eyes. At her side was an oddly curved sword one that Naofumi had never seen before. But her appearance did give off a sense of fear within him. Which was odd, as she was wearing a red dress with an almost transparent...sheet?
"You... you're much stronger than the others. At my current level, I wouldn't be able to take you on. Congratulations, you get to see my true and final form."
Orbs of light began to gather around the figure as she started chanting. The rhythm of the chanting sounded familiar to Naofumi. Wanting to know what she was saying Naofumi asked SHIELD to translate it. He was given back this:
Hashire sori yo
Naofumi's breath hitched as his eyes widened in fear before he turned back to Raphtalia and Filo. Both of them were oblivious to the incantation meaning but Naofumi knows. He would never forget the horror that had haunted him every December.
Kaze no you ni
"Raphtalia, Filo! You need to get out of here! We can't stop this thing!"
"But what about you Master Naofumi?! We just can't leave you her-"
Tsukimihara wo
"That's an order. Both of you go NOW!"
However, before the order could take effect, the woman was enveloped in bright light. The light shielded her from their vision for a couple of seconds before she said the final words.
PADORU PADORU
The light faded out before they saw an even smaller version of her a chibi of herself except this time she was wearing a Santa suit and had a sack at her side.
"Do not presume that you can escape mortals. Your laws of physics have no authority over me." The objectively cute girl dressed as Santa said before spinning around as if she were on ice and hopped towards the group.
Suffice to say, the world was doomed.
Omake 2: Pilot- Naofumi saves the Universe. So basically, this is an idea I had for a while for a fanfic (grammar). It's essentially where Naofumi who [Web Novel Spoiler] becomes a god and splits himself into pieces to go into other worlds. This whole thing is wish fulfillment and essential just a way to give characters from various media happy endings.
A/N: Naofumi has age digressed to make himself blend in. He's physically 14 in the other universe.
On a hill overlooking the sea, the newly ascended Naofumi looked to the sunset. The months of grueling work to ending up here, at this very moment. The hardships he had to go through, was in his opinion, the best thing that ever happened to him. If it wasn't for the fact that Medea was dead and everything about her was erased, he would have thanked her, then quickly kill her again.
"Soooo... what are you going to do now?" inquired Aneko, the one true goddess. Naofumi looked over and thought for a second. He looked back down to his now-wife Raphtalia, asleep in his lap, and then answered.
"Now? Now I save the universe."
"I figured that, but-"
"All of the universes. Every single last one." Naofumi said with determination in his voice.
"It won't be easy, you'll encounter other god killers, who aren't friendly," Aneko informed Naofumi.
"I have the power to do what I now want. No one will stop me."
"Even me?"
"I'll sure put up a damn fight if it's you. But..." Naofumi chuckled. "I've always wanted to do something."
"You don't mean..."
"That right. I'm going to save that girl."
February 7th.
The graduation ceremony was rapidly approaching, where all the 8th graders would graduate and move onto the next level of education. The atmosphere at school was lively. Teenagers were chatting, planning their short breaks before high school started. All seemed fine. But looking closer, an outlier can be seen. Sitting alone in the library.
The girl was quietly reading a book. Not necessary because she wanted to, but it was the only thing she could do. She didn't have many friends, due to her insecurities and self-loathing. So she spent the majority of her days, alone either studying, reading, or gaming. She was fine with it at first, but then resentment grew in her heart, causing her to look down on those who went out and had fun together. Thankfully, she would be going to high school in about two months. This would be a fresh start for her, a new opportunity in life to right the wrongs she made.
A new presence made itself known to the girl, in the form of a screeching sound. A chair was being pulled right beside her, and on it, was a handsome young man.
The man's vibrant green eyes beautifully contrasted with his black hair. His face was perfectly structured, seemingly carved out of marble. He was tall, well over 177 cm in height. Overall, this teenager was gorgeous.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked with a voice that flowed through the air like silk.
"N-No. You are welcomed to sit anywhere." the girl responded, a bit dazed.
" Thanks," he answered. It was quiet for a second before he began to talk. "What book are you reading?"
Momentary stunned at the fact that this boy wanted to speak, let alone sit with her, she took a couple of seconds to answer, looking at the cover of the book.
"Oh, Just some Percy Jackson," she said. This was by far the most she has ever spoken to someone outside of her home life.
"Ah man, that's a name I have heard in a long time. I thought people had forgotten about him." the boy told her.
"Yeah, it's an old series but I just keep coming back to reread it."
"How many times have you reread it?" the boy inquired.
"This is my fourth go." The girl asked a bit embarrassed.
"Wow, I mean that's impressive. I've reread it 3 times but wow." He remarked. 'Who is your favorite character?"
" I would have to say Annabeth. I just like how her character is played out in the books. I also like how Percabeth became a thing." the girl said.
"I know right. I just love their chemistry. I'm so glad Rick Riordan ended the Last Olympian series like that. If only he did it for the Heroes of Olympus series." the boy gave his two cents.
"Wait, there's a continuation to the series?!" the girl all but exclaimed, receiving a glare from the librarian for the outburst.
"Yeah, you've never read Heroes of Olympus before? Oh man, you're missing out on a lot. How bout this: you can borrow my set at home. I hardly read them, but you're more than welcome to even keep them."
"Really?! Thank you so much." Here she was, the quiet girl usually stoic, showing so much excitement. "By the way, I never got your name." She hoped to get this boy's name. If their short time together was this good, then she would want to continue to speak to him. Maybe she could even be his friend.
'Oh. I'm so sorry, where are my manners? My name is Naofumi Iwatani, I transferred rather late into the school year, what's yours?"
The girl adjusted her thick-rimmed glass and adjusted her pigtails, so they would be behind her shoulders."Saki. Saki Yoshida."
What seemed like a bright future ahead of her, became brighter. Saki found him. Her first friend.
I LIVE!
This chapter took SO MUCH longer than expected too. I ran into some dead ends before choosing the current path to take. I was going to have Naofumi go to the capital by some forced shit but that didn't really make much sense to me.
Yes, I know Raphtalia ages physically, mentally, and emotionally as she levels up. I read Allen Blaster's Reddit post so please don't comment about how I am wrong and such. I know that, but Naofumi doesn't as of now.
Please leave your thoughts on the omakes in your reviews. Do you hate how your favorite character died? Well, Naofumi could save them in my hope-to-be new story. It also gives me the excuse to watch more anime, with me trying to understand the world and all. And as you can tell, the list of people saved isn't exclusive to anime. yep, that's right. I already know what the first 5 chapters/universes are going to be, but I'll need help in deciding who else to save.
(1) Error 403 happens when you open a webpage that you're trying to access, but you don't have permission to access it. However, this can be changed and certain people can have access. So it's not affecting everyone.
I know that the Slave Crest doesn't allow the slave to harm the owner but come on. Give me some leeway for the sake of comedy. And Mofu Mofu. Definitely Mofu Mofu.
Anyway, I finished my first semester of college, so now I'm on break. I told my friend that I would be watching Fate so not all of my time will be spent on the next chapter. Wait next chapter? HAHA, what's that? But for real, my time will be unevenly divided by gaming, eating, doing nothing, anime, and this. My friend recommended that I watch UBW then Zero then HF, in that order. So I'm watching it in this order. I don't care if watching it wrong, I just need to watch it, I already spent too much brainpower trying to figure out everything with Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Speaking of NGE what the hell was Anno thinking about writing the rebuilds? They're ass. Like I get it. the animation is better, But that's a given. The story, the characters, the plot all seem rushed because of their movie format. And don't even get me started on Mari. OH MY GOD, So much potential adding in another badass girl who can pilot an EVA, but no, her soul purpose is (\uwu/). THAT'S IT. If you like the rebuilds, more power to you, but I don't. If they got a soft reboot like Higurashi did, in show format then yes, it would have been amazing. Hell, they would have been done with it before 3.0+1.0 (or as I call it 4.0 *gasp*) ever comes out. (2007-2021) 14 years later.
But I digress. Thank you for reading this fanfiction. I know that I am not the best at updating and that's the biggest understatement of the season. I still have plans for this fic but I just don't know when I can put those plans into action. I'll try and update when I can. That is a promise.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year. Let's fucking hope 2021 will be better. We can't take any more of this shit.
-FF1987 out.
12/24/20 4:27 AM Pacific Time