Chapter 9: Another Wave
Midoriya, Denki and Raphtalia, along with the Knights who are joining them are suddenly enveloped in a flash of light, appearing in the plains next to a town once the light dissipates.
"Haven't we been here before?" Asks Denki, looking at the surroundings, while tilting his head.
"We have been to plenty of places over the last month and a half." Raphtalia answers.
Midoriya looks around, spotting the other 3 heroes and their parties, as they run towards a specific area. The sky has turned read, with giant spirals appearing above them, with monsters falling from them.
"Regardless of if we've been here or not we should get moving." Midoriya orders. Grabbing his shield for a moment and changing its form to the Chimera viper Shield.
The group runs to the Village as fast as they can.
"Once we get there our main priority is setting up an evacuation. Ake, Blake and Kamila, you'll gather the initial group and along with the town guards are going to look for a safezone, protect them from there. The rest of us are going to go around the Village. Our priority is to search, guide and protect. Get the villagers to safety while keeping casualties to a minimum, if we can avoid collateral damage that's a best case scenario, but if it isn't possible then it's fine." Midoriya orders.
"After all, saving others is more important than some buildings that we can just fix." Thinks Midoriya, as he remembers the events of Kamino.
They arrive at the Village, with Ake, Blake and Kamila, splitting off.
The juvenile group of knights heads to the back entrance to the town, where a bunch of people are held up, with adventurers and the towns knights holding the line to keep the bystanders safe.
Ake runs at the monsters, cutting through one, while Blake takes another.
"Ca-Castle Knights? Here so soon?" Asks one of the village knights.
"We're here with one of the heroes." Informs Ake.
"Which one?" Asks a Villager.
"That's not important right now. What is is keeping all of you safe. Are there any structures, further away from the Village that we can fortify?" Blake adds, while cutting down another one of the monsters.
"There's an empty cavern not too far from here." Comments on an Adventurer native to the Village.
"Great. Then half of our fighters should stay here to keep the way blocked and guide others, while the other half goes to keep the Villagers safe." Ake suggests.
Some are reluctant to the idea, but end up agreeing after a monster shows up, almost slashing a kid's head off, but luckily Midoriya zoomed at it and slayed the beast in time.
"You should do as he says." Midoriya suggests, as Raphtalia approaches guiding two adults, along with their baby.
"I think I'll stay here and help out." Says an old Lady stepping out of the crowd.
"No, you should head with the others and stay safe." Raphtalia suggests.
"Nonsense." She responds, at the same time grabbing a stick off the ground and striking at an approaching monster.
"Who-Who are you?" Raphtalia asks, flabbergasted by the show of force. The lady did defeat the monster with nothing but a wooden stick.
"The name's Elralsa Grilaroc, no need to worry about me Saint Deku, or should I call you Shield Hero, regardless I'll be fine helping you out. I am indebted to you after all." She comments while bowing.
"Wait? Do you know who she is, Midoriya?" Asks Raphtalia, confused.
Midoriya thinks back for a moment. "Wait, you're that lady I gave the potion to."
"Yep, and thanks to you I'm back to fighting strength, much quicker than usual." the old lady says.
"We're losing time here standing around and talking." Blake says.
"Right." Says Midoriya, extending his shield to block an incoming attacker. "Let's execute the plan."
"After all, just standing around is how I lost so many points in the licensing exam. Probably need to get better at that before I get back home." Midoriya thinks to himself, pushing the shield forward to unbalance his opponent, then activating one for all and hitting it over the head.
"The rest of us should spread out and look for more people." He then orders.
"Right!" Says Raphtalia.
They then proceed to evacuate the Village, a task which they manage to accomplish in 2 hours and 39 minutes.
"Okay, that's everyone." Says one of the Village Knights, knowing exactly how many people live there and who was taken to safety.
"Great." Says Midoriya, having already thought of the next course of action. "Now we're dividing our forces even more. You five, head to the Cavern and make sure everyone's alright. Take this."
He throws them a flare. "If things come to their worst, then shoot it at the sky, if you do we'll all go running, the rest of us are going to keep the monsters out of the Village to reduce the damages as much as possible."
"Okay." Says everyone in unison, the five guards Midoriya pointed to running back to the nearby cavern.
Midoriya and company spend the next half hour protecting the entrance to the Village, making sure no monster enters.
"What's taking them so long. This has already taken twice as long as last time." Midoriya thinks out loud. "It's already been over 3 hours."
"Sir Hero, you really should go." Ake Suggests. "The quicker this wave is ended the easier it'll be on all of us, including the Villagers."
"Are you sure you have the situation handled?" Asks Midoriya.
"Just leave it to us." Says Ake, with a determined look on his face.
"Yeah, me and these young whippersnappers have this handled." Adds the old lady with a smile on her face.
"I suppose we should go then." Says Raphtalia.
"Yeah, let's do it. Denki!" Midoriya shouts, calling the filolial to him.
Denki takes care of another monster and then rushes at the group.
"What is it Midoriya?" He asks.
"Let's go, we're going to join the other heroes." Midoriya answers.
"Okay!" responds Denki, letting both Raphtalia and Midoriya mount onto him.
They then set off, running through a forest, heading to the epicenter of the wave. On the way raphtalia sees a flying ship, calling attention to it.
They head to the base of the mountain, where Itsuki and his party are trying to take down the figurehead of the ship.
"What's going on? Where are the others?" Asks Midoriya, stepping off of Denki, trying to evaluate the situation and the best course of action.
"Oh hey Midoriya." Says Itsuki, stopping for a second, before starting to attack the monster again. "I'm trying to take down the figurehead to spawn the souleater, em the boss of the wave."
"What about the others? What are they doing?" Asks Midoriya.
"They're on the ship. I told them that spawning the soul eater came first, but they wouldn't listen to me." Itsuki complains, while shooting another arrow.
"You don't seem to be doing too much damage to the structure." Comments Midoriya, looking at it objectively. "Destroying the figurehead might be easier from on top of the ship, not to mention, there might be a way of spawning it that we aren't considering."
Itsuki stops shooting for a moment, seeing how Midoriya is starting to doubt him, he can't believe that Midoriya, his friend and a fellow ally of justice, isn't taking his word on the situation.
"It's easier to take down from here. If you find another way to spawn the soul eater, then I'll join you on the ship to fight it." Itsuki coldly responds, grabbing another arrow and shooting it at the Ship.
Midoriya changes his shield to the rope shield, activates one for all and leaps at the ship, using the rope shield halfway through to bridge the gap.
Itsuki looks at him impressed for a moment before going back onto his task.
Denki jumps onto the ship himself.
"A fat bird?" Asks Malty, surprised, seeing the Filolial enters the ship. Raphtalia steps off Denki's back. "Oh, so he's with the Shield."
"Sir Motoyasu, look, another monster from the wave is here to attack us." She says, walking back as if to hide from it.
Motoyasu is about to attack it, but is stopped as he sees Raphtalia there.
"It's not a part of the wave." He comments objectively, turning his attention back to the kraken, as it attacks him again.
Midoriya zooms past them jumping onto the mast of the ship, from there he looks at both Ren and Motoyasu, while they discuss with one another over what they should be doing, the two turn on each other as if they were about to fight.
Midoriya jumps down from the mast, trying to stop the fight.
"Hey, we're all heroes here, we should be working together." He says, while creating some space between the two.
"You-" Motoyasu says, anger apparent in his voice. His spear changes as if on instinct into an omonose one and Motoyasu charges at Midoriya. Midoriya blocks the attack, canceling his Shield's counterattack mechanic, so as to not hurt his unfriendly companion.
"What are you doing?" Asks Midoriya, while holding the block.
"I'm riding this world of scum like you!" Motoyasu answers, glaring at who he perceives to be his opponent.
"Both of you cut it out!" Shouts Ren, causing both Motoyasu and Midoriya to stop. "Midoriya is right, we should be working together and focusing our attention on the wave in front of us."
"I'm not going to obey this slaverer." Comments Motoyasu, remembering the rumors that he added a little boy to his group.
"You don't have to like him, but he is a hero, so you should work with him. Once this is all over you can settle your differences if you want, but right now we have to consider our priority." Ren comments.
Motoyasu begrudgingly agrees with Ren, deciding to leave the situation to be resolved later.
"How do we summon the soul eater?" Asks Midoriya.
"We have to kill the skeleton captain." Explains Ren.
"No, it's the kraken, we have to kill." Protests Motoyasu, having a different idea of how to summon the enemy.
"No it's the skeleton." Restates Ren, adamant that his method is the correct one.
"You killed it earlier, but nothing spawned. It's the Kraken we have to kill." Motoyasu responds.
At that moment both the Skeleton Captain and the Kraken try to attack, but are stopped by Raphtalia and Denki respectively.
"We have to kill it more than once to make it work!" Answers Ren to Motoyas's taunt. Not backing down.
"All of you seem adamant that your method is the correct one. It could be a discrepancy, since you all played games that are like this world. Maybe there are differences." Midoriya comments, while thinking "Unlike me. I was busy actually doing something. Although it seems that me not having played a game puts me at a disadvantage it does give me an objective set of eyes in the situation."
"Maybe." Answers Ren, starting to think the situation over.
"Or maybe all your knowledge is just one piece of the larger puzzle." Midoriya responds, looking at both the Kraken and the Skeleton Captain, noticing something strange about the shadows.
"Raphtalia!" Midoriya calls for her, having a strategy in mind.
"Yes Midoriya?" She asks, parrying the skeleton's attack, before slicing at him, killing him again. She then jumps back, having a moment to herself.
"Shield Prison!" Midoriya casts around the reforming captain, wanting to get a moment.
"In a moment when the Shield Prison disappears I want you to cast first light." He says, turning to the other heroes. "Then you all have to stab the shadows."
"The shadows?" Asks Myne. "What good will that be? You can't hurt a monster by attacking its shadow."
"It's worth a try." Comments Ren, angering Myne with the comment.
Moments later the shield prison disappears.
"As source of thy power I order thee, decipher the laws of nature and illuminate my surroundings. Fast Light!" She casts. A ball of blinding light then appearing above her.
Faces appear in the shadows and as Midoriya suggested Raphtalia and Ren jump at different Shadows, stabbing them. Motoyasu follows suit, but only after confirming it worked.
"So you managed to find a way after all?" Asks Itsuki as he, along with his party, jumps onto the ship. "Soul eaters are now spawning everywhere. They're all over the ship."
The different fragments bulge together forming the boss of the wave.
"Thunderbolt Slash!", "Thunder Arrow!", "Lightning spear!" Shout the three heroes, unleashing strong skills at the monster.
The soul eater just seems to tank the attack.
"It's stronger than I thought." Comments Ren.
"Are our attacks even affecting it?" Asks Motoyasu.
"If the lightning element attacks don't work then try something else." Comments Midoriya.
Motoyasu grits his teeth and with frustration and a bit of anger says "Right."
Midoriya turns to Denki and says "Lightning doesn't seem to do much, so try sticking to wind magic. Sound Good?"
Denki nods and charges at the soul eater, unleashing zweite Tornado.
"What type of enemy is this even?" Midoriya asks, turning to the other heroes to do so.
"I need all the information I can get on this monster if we're going to defeat it." He thinks after asking.
"It's sorta like a ghost. Physical attacks don't do much against it, so we have to rely on magic attacks and our skills." Explains Itsuki.
"Great, so I'm useless as an attacker." Thinks Midoriya, before saying. "We should set up a formation. Itsuki, you head to the back along with the other mages, use the ranged moves you've got to attack. Try sticking to what will affect him."
"Who are you to boss us around?" Asks Motoyasu, the anger very apparent in his voice.
"That is true, you are speaking as if you were the leader. But we're all equals here." Adds Itsuki.
"Sorry, it's just the type of situation..." Says Midoriya, giving a confused smile at the group.
"This is no time for this conversation, we can have the discussion after the wave is over. For now the strategy is sound, better than us all just working on our own. At least this way we don't get in each other's way, let's follow the plan." Says Ren, on guard, since the soul eater started charging an attack. "We've got to take it out before it unleashes that thing!"
Both Ren and Motoyasu are about to charge at the boss, but Midoriya raises his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"I'm the Shield Hero, remember." Says Midoriya, turning to his Filolial. "Denki fall back."
"Right!" He says, zooming to the back of the formation.
"Everyone get behind me quickly." Midoriya orders, as a notification to merge parties appears on the heroes' statuses.
"Shooting Star Shield!" Midoriya commands. "Air Strike Shield!"
A barrier appears around Midoriya, with a green floating Shield appearing meters away in the air.
The other heroes observe this and realize what he's planning. They accept the invitation and they all move to hide behind Midoriya.
The soul eater unleashes its attack. It hits the Air strike shield causing an explosion that breaks the shield, but the resulting explosion is stopped by the barrier of the shooting star shield before it can reach the big party of heroes.
"Since it's incorporeal Raphtalia use the mana sword we bought." Midoriya orders. "Denki. You stay in the back, use both wind and lightning magic."
"Got it." Says the little Filolial, going into his human form and going to the back of the formation.
"The rest of you can pick your positions. If you have magic ranged attacks that can affect him, go to the back. If your magic acts in close range then go to the front. Those who don't have magic attacks stay in the center and protect the mages." suggests Midoriya.
Some of the warriors start obeying the orders, others ignore them, trying to attack the monster willy nilly and suffering the consequences, encouraging more to follow Midoriya.
"Sir Motoyasu, you can't seriously expect us to follow the Shield." Myne says in disbelief.
"Believe me I don't like it either." Motoyasu says, anger and frustration apparent in his tone, he's gritting his teeth and clenching with anger onto his spear. "But the idea is sound."
"Can I see that sword for a moment Raphtalia?" Asks Ren, as they're all getting into position, with some of the ranged attackers already firing their attacks.
"You want to admire my sword in a situation like this?" She asks.
"Just give it to me for a second please." Ren reiterates, with a serious tone.
Raphtalia follows the directions of the sword hero, handing him the mana sword.
He looks at it for a moment, once the notification pops into his screen he hands it back to her.
"It's pretty low level, but the only one of this type I got, so I'll use it." Ren comments.
The different combatants start attacking the beast, both from close and long range. This strategy also confuses the monster.
It tries to lash back, but every time it attacks someone, Midoriya is there to block the hit, using One for all to maneuver around the ship.
After about 14 minutes of fighting together, they finally manage to defeat the soul eater.
"Yay, we did it!" Shouts Denki, striking a victory pose, by raising his fist into the air.
"Not bad." Comments Itsuki.
"It took us a bit, but we managed to get the job done in the end." Comment Ren, thinking "I need to get better equipment and upgrade it before the next wave, can't keep relying on the others to save the day."
A strange feeling , sort of like a chill, passes through all the heroes.
"Did you feel that?" Asks Ren.
Another Soul Eater pops it's head from under the ship.
"Another one?" Asks Itsuki surprised.
"I definitely didn't see this in the game before." Adds Ren.
"It took us about 15 minutes to take one down, are more going to keep appearing?" Wonders Midoriya.
"All Right, let's all get ready to..." Mioriya manages to say, before small fan blades made out of light fall from the sky, stabbing and killing the soul eater.
The heroes, along with their parties look on in disbelief as the same monster that took their combined effort and 15 minutes of time to take down, was just defeated by one attack.
"How very disappointing!" Comments a woman, dressed in a jet black kimono and wielding two fans, as she comes crashing onto the ship, landing where the defeated soul eater was moments before.
"You really had trouble fighting weaklings like these?" She asks. "Are you really the heroes holding the world's fate in their hands?"
"There's only one here, worthy of being called a Cardinal Hero." She says, pointing her fan at Midoriya. "Your leader. And What is your name?"
"I'm Midoriya." Midoriya introduces himself, while being wary of the enemy in front of him, trying to come up with a new strategy to defeat her.
"Midoriya, well I'm Glass. That's all you need to know for may feel free to consider me your enemy. Now that the introductions are out of the way, may I suggest that we begin the only battle of this wave worthy of the name?" She asks, the hero in front of her, while opening her fans and getting ready to fight.
"Why aren't you attacking Hero Midoriya? Why not try sending some of the Vassal Heroes, or one of your servants after me first?" She wonders out loud, trying to get them to attack her.
"What are Vassal Heroes?" Midoriya thinks for a moment, before snapping back into the fight.
"Are you calling us lesser than him?" Asks Motoyasu, a bit envious of Midoriya in the situation.
"Why yes. Haven't you heard of the Vassal Weapons? They are under the Cardinal Weapons in rank." Glass explains.
"Call me lesser than that scum again!" Shouts Motoyasu. His spear as if on instinct changes into a more ominous looking one. This one is mostly black with some red and white elements, having a couple carvings of what looks like snakes.
He charges at glass, using an untested skill.
"Machtkopie!" He shouts. Energy starts flowing through his body, as small red energy curtles appear on his arm.
With all his might, Motoyasu thrusts the spear at Glass. She opens her fan and just blocks the attack.
The moment the spear makes impact a huge gust of wind surges in the nearby area.
Motoyasu, all his SP having been drained from the attack steps back.
"Arght!" He shouts out in pain. His arm now broken.
Midoriya stares at the attack in disbelief, his eyes widening. "Wa-Was that One for all?" He whispers to himself, Raphtalia, behind him overhearing him.
"What was that Motoyasu?" Asks Ren. "How did you get that cheat power?"
Motoysu takes out a healing position and soul healing water from his spear, drinking them to both fix his arm and heal all his lost SP, but part of his armour was destroyed in the process.
"It appeared after my duel with Midoriya, I haven't been able to use it until now." Motoyasu explains.
"My, my, what a neat trick that was. But I have some of my own." Says Glass, as the adventurers have now surrounded her.
Itsuki and Ren take the front lines, ordering their party members to attack.
"Meteor Slash.", "Meteor Shot." They both call out as Midoriya evaluates the situation and Motoyasu heals up.
Glass just blocks the attack, with Motoyasu jumping at her, with his own version of the Meteor attack, she blocks it again and throws him back.
"Is that all you've got?" She asks. "Even for Vassal Heroes, that is disappointing. You aren't worth my time."
"0 Stance, reverse four seasons." She calls out, unleashing a skill at all her surrounding adversaries.
"Shooting Star Shield!" Midoriya calls out, blocking the attack, this time only managing to protect Denki and Raphtalia.
Most of the adventurers were taken down by the attack, Only Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu retained consciousness a bit longer, thanks to their augmented starts, but even they fall down having been defeated by that one attack.
"Motoyasu managed to copy one for all somehow. He was even firing it off at 100%, how did he do that?" Midoriya thinks to himself, shaking his head. "That doesn't matter right now. What does matter is she just blocked it like it was nothing. Even Muscular flinched slightly. Although Motoyasu doesn't know how to use it properly. Still I'm in trouble here. If I don't manage to defeat her, then... then One for All ends with me. In another world. I can't let that happen. I have to use all the skills and tools at my disposal in order to stop her."
"I hope you'll at least entertain me a little." Glass comments, shifting her gaze from the defeated heroes to Midoriya.
"I'll do my best." Says Midoriya, charging up one for all throughout his body to about 30%.
"Wonderful." Glass responds.
"Shield Prison." Shouts Midoriya, a ball of shields held together by chains appearing around Glass. Midoriya and Raphtalia both charge at Glass. She breaks the skill, but the moment she does, both Midoriya and Raphtalia are there.
Midoriya tries to kick her, while Raphtalia swings her sword. Glass blocks both attacks each, with the guard of one of her fans.
Denki then rushes down the middle, hitting her in the stomach. She's pushed back a little but the attack doesn't do much.
"High Quick." Shouts Denki, hitting Glass repeatedly, while Raphtalia and Midoriya step back.
Glass however manages to block all attacks. At the moment the last kick was blocked Denki focused his mana and unleashed a spell "Zweite Thunder Shot."
But Glass again blocks the attack.
"We're going to have to rethink our strategy." Comments Midoriya. He looks at the opponent in front of them, getting a similar vibe that he got from the soul eater.
"Raphtalia, use both your swords for this fight. I want to test my theory out." Orders Midoriya.
"If you have anything else you'd like to try, go right ahead. I'll wait my turn." Taunts Glass.
Midoriya steals himself, trying to manage his emotions. He then lets out Black Whip, the newest extension to his quirk, the attack goes out of the newly made gauntlets, being directed at Glass. This time they didn't go all out of control and Midoriya actually managed to focus the attack on his enemy.
Glass tries to block the attack, but too many tendrils appear and they end up enveloping her.
"My, this does seem to hurt me a little, but not enough." She says, swinging her fans again to rip through the attack's energy.
This moment gives Raphtalia enough of an opening, she rushes at Glass, swingin her sword, which Glass manages to block, breaking the sword with her other Fan. Before she lands on the ground Raphtalia grabs her mana sword and swings it at Glass. Glass again goes to block the attack, but Raphtalia stops the flow of mana before it makes contact reactivating it after slashing through Glass's chest.
Glass lets a pained expression show on her face as she steps back.
"Congratulations, you found a way to damage me. But I do believe now is my turn to attack."
Glass gets ready to unleash her attack, so Midoriya orders Raphtalia and Denki behind him.
"Shooting Star Shield! Shield Prison!" He summons as Glass unleashes her own Skill "Reverse four seasons."
The attack hits the barriers over and over, breaking them and even managing to damage the ones being protected by them.
Midoriya is the only one left standing after the last attack.
"I have to say I am surprised that you're still left standing after that." Glass comments staring at Midoriya. "But so far I'm mostly unimpressed, a bit surprised, but unimpressed."
"Rupture Stance. Tortoise Shell Cracker." Glass calls, unleashing a purple blade that flies towards Midoriya.
"It seems like a powerful attack. My best bet is dodging but..." Midoriya thinks, looking behind him, seeing both Denki and Raphtalia, getting back up from the previous attack.
Midoriya decides to block, using the Chimera Viper shield.
The attack sits on the surface of the shield for a moment, before penetrating and hitting Midoriya in the arm.
A pained expression appears on MIdoriya's face, but he fights through it, trying to force a smile on his face.
"Interesting, even that isn't enough to bring you down. And you're still smiling after enduring that. You are tougher than I gave you credit for. Your defense lives up to your title of hero, if nothing else." She remarks after the attack.
Since Glass seems to have left her guard down. Midoriya pushes past the pain in his arm, having felt worse from his own attacks. He places his thumb on top of his middle finger, charging one for all to 40% in it before letting it go.
A gust of wind flows towards glass, she just tanks the attack.
"What a nice breeze." She comments.
A timer appears on both their fields of vision, one that's counting down from 1 minute, as it does the ship starts descending onto the ground.
"The time limit?" Exclaims glass in surprise, still wearing a calm expression on her face. "I didn't expect it to hit this quickly."
"So this is a game of keep away now." Thinks Midoriya, whispering to Raphtalia to have some light magic ready. She nods at the request, putting the mana sword back in it's sheath.
"The battle of the wave will end in our victory., there can be no other outcome. I have nothing against you personally, but it is what it is." Glass says.
Midoriya nods, giving the signal to Raphtalia.
"Fast Light!" She shouts, unleashing the attack to blind Glass.
"Fast Heal! Fast Guard!" Shouts Midoriya, augmenting the weakened Denki, while getting on him.
"Denki you have to get as far away from here as fast as you can." Midoriya orders.
"Okay." Shouts Denki, running off the ship and jumping into the ground as Glass tries to get a good shot at the hero, but missing her attacks, because of the blinding light.
She tries to attack the fleeing Hero, but having enough distance from the opponent Midoriya manages to block the attack without much trouble.
"She didn't perceive the others to be a thread, so they should be alright." He thinks, as he gets ready to block.
Glass sends attack after attack, trying to hit Midoriya as he flees from her, but using a combination of his most used skills and the shield itself Midoriya manages to block all the attacks but one that hit him in his shoulder, but it had so little potency it didn't do much damage, so he managed to survive with 10% of his health still intact.
Glass then retreats stepping through a dimensional rift, right as the sky returns to normal.
Moments later the ship containing the other three heroes and their parties crashes into the ground.
"What happened? Why did she let us get away?" Asks Raphtalia, looking at the spot where the rift she escaped through was.
"I don't know, but we should get to work." Midoriya comments, stepping off of Denki, getting ready for the wave's cleanup.