Chapter 13: Endless Abyss.

So we've reached 100k words (sorta cheated at that considering I edited older chapters to make them better.) Honestly, the craziest part is the support which I'm surprised at considering how I literally started this whole thing because I was bored as fuck in the lockdown, regardless I appreciate every single one of you and if my eh writing entertains you then hey I'm glad.

All right go their owners.

Talking: "I am running out of ideas for songs."

Thinking: 'Ain't gonna lie just being listening to Lofi Hip-Hop which has no lyrics.'

"Where the fuck am I?"-Kane Stone.

A gentle breeze hits the army, most of them in high spirits with how easily the Wave has been repelled with all time low causalities. Some are quiet, their thoughts on their lost comrades who fell during the Wave. Kane stares ahead of him, blankly staring at the beaten dirt road, the grassy fields by the side, and the trees that stand tall alongside the road.

Time seems to speed up as Kane subconsciously walks with the others, a blank look on his face as he stares into the horizon.

"We handled that Wave pretty easily, eh Kane?"

Kane turns to his left, finding Keel keeping pace with him, a toothy smile aimed at him, the others in his party also turn to him, giving smiles of their own.

Kane returns Keel's smile with his own, patting Keel on the shoulder. "Hah. I'm proud of you guys, the Waves have got nothing on you four."

His party beams at his words and the noticeable prideful tone in his voice. They turn back to the roads ahead of them, a joyful spring in their steps, radiant smiles on their faces.

The sun begins to set as they enter the city. Kane walks past numerous random Demi-Humans, the civilians stopping in their day to day to watch the army walk past them, noticing the high morale of the troops confusing the civilians slightly before the joyful spirits from the soldiers slowly infected the civilians.

"That was quick…"

"Guess the Spear Butcher is good for something."

"Good to see so many soldiers come out alive."

The words of the surrounding Demi-Humans are ignored by Kane, not even paying attention to any of them his party however frowns and even scowl at some of the passerbys. The entire group reaches their destination, resulting in Tior stepping ahead of the group and turning around to face the force. His arms behind his back with his spine as straight as an arrow. He takes a deep breath in, filling his lungs with oxygen before opening his mouth, shouting out to the group, his voice carrying out to every man and woman present. "Raise your heads high for you have bled and fought for Siltvelt, every single one of you have done Siltvelt proud. Make sure you don't celebrate too hard for I want you at your posts tomorrow, dismissed!"

The Demi-Humans begin to thin out, walking off in general directions. Arms latched around each other in a familiar manner as they walk by. Kane stands there with the rest of his party, Kane still staring at Tior who looks back at him in return. "How about you Spear Hero, you gonna join the others in celebrating the victory?"

Kane gives a smirk, rubbing his nape. "Nah… I'm pretty tired, using all those skills drained me more than I thought."

Tior nods, huffing as he moves his head. "Well, the room you used before is still available to you so just head to it Spear Hero." Tior walks off, planning on returning to his office to write letters to the families of the soldiers that had fallen in the Wave.

Kane turns around facing his party. "You guys can go ahead and celebrate."

Shen just stares at Kane while the three Demi-Humans look at each other before turning back to Kane shaking their heads. "We'll just stick with you, Kane." Rifana looks out to the soldiers walking off. "We don't really know anyone here anyway so we'll just celebrate back in our room."

Kane nods, and motions with his head. "Come on then, back to our rooms." He starts making his way to his room, his feet hitting the stone pavement. 'Not going to a party for an early night? God, am I becoming a responsible adult?'

Kane's eyes suddenly open, finding himself sprawled out on the floor. His eyes look up into the sky, not questioning the endless white abyss above him. He sits up, finding the white abyss above to extend to all around him. A deathly silence permeates throughout the abyss, making the whole area feel unnatural.

Kane lifts himself to his feet, looking around. A tingly feeling going down his spine, making him feel uncomfortable as a sense of dread hangs over him. He spins suddenly, feeling eyes on him only to find… nothing just more of the endless white abyss.

He takes a deep breath, attempting to calm his beating heart. He turns back around to find the back of a small child in front of him, startling him at the sudden appearance of the child. Kane calls out to the child. "H-Hey kid? You alright?" The child ignores him, despite Kane's voice easily carrying over to them due to no other noise in the area to dilute Kane's voice.

Kane slowly steps to the child, every step makes the dread become more and more intense until it's almost crushing. He stands directly behind the child, towering over them, and yet the child still doesn't turn, still facing away from him, staring into the endless horizon, as if seeing something Kane can't. Kane takes in the appearance of the child, attempting to see if there's anything unnatural.

The child has orange fox ears with the tips of the ears being white, the rest of the child's hair is dark orange just like their ears. Kane doesn't seem to notice anything unusual, as such he reaches out for the child's shoulder. His hand planting on the little Demi-Human's shoulder. The child doesn't react at all. Kane swallows the lump in his throat and slowly turns the child around, his heart pounding as he does so.

Kane sits straight up in his bed, his fists clenching the covers. He looks around the room to find his entire party sleeping in separate beds except for Shen who's snuggled up with Keel. Kane takes a deep breath, the hairs on his arms standing up as the goosebumps form up and down his arms. He kicks off the covers, standing up, and walking towards the balcony.

Opening the door silently to not wake the sleeping occupants of his room, he steps out. The goosebumps on his arms are still present. He shuffles towards the stone railing, looking over the city. He leans on the railing, rubbing his eyes. "...What the fuck was that?" He pulls away from his hand from his eyes and stares at it, finding it to be slightly trembling. He clenches his fist, planting it on the railing.

Kane gets that tingly feeling of being watched again, quickly turning around. He frowns at the vacant space behind him but the feeling of eyes on him doesn't leave. His eyes flutter up. He crosses his arms. "...Might as well come down."

A familiar figure from Riyute village appears, hopping from the roof, hitting the floor with a muffled thud. Kane's eyes narrow, noticing the distinct lack of any animal features. "You from Melromarc?"

The figure raises itself, standing upright. "I serve the Queen of Melromarc…"

"So what's an assassin from the Queen doing stalking me?"

Honestly what else would this person be? A dark shadowy figure where you couldn't see their face or even tell their gender, just one look and all you could think of was an assassin. "I am a Shadow."

"The difference being?"

"Assassins can only do one thing; kill, as a Shadow, I can also spy and hide in plain sight."

"And kill?"

"If the Queen wishes it."

Kane hums, rubbing his chin. "So, why are you stalking me?"

The Shadow stares at him for a few silent moments. "The Queen has requested for us to keep an eye on you, to ensure your safety."

Kane's brow raises in confusion and suspicion at learning that was more Shadows stalking him. "In what way? From other Shadows like you?"

"You came to the correct conclusion rather quickly."

"Well I mean you're not exactly saving me from normal fights and considering how much I insult the King Dildo and Amber Heard I really wouldn't be surprised if I'm on a hit list."

"Amber Heard?"

"Malty."

The Shadow stares at him for a few moments, confused by the name Kane has taken to calling the first Princess. "I see, however no the King and the first Princess does not have an assassination order on you."

"Huh, that's surprising."

"That does not mean there are no Shadows out to kill you."

"So who is it then?"

"The Church."

"Really? I thought they were too fanatically to the Three Heroes to try and kill me."

"That is the reason why they are trying to kill you. As the Spear Hero your actions have results, results the Church does not like."

"My actions?"

"Defending and assisting the Shield Hero, being friendly with Demi-Humans and generally not following their ideals of the Spear Hero."

Kane deadpans at the Shadow, staring right into the masked figure's eyes. "So being a decent person pretty much?"

"If the actions go against the Church's teachings then yes."

Kane grumbles. "How much should I be worried about the Church?"

"You have already proven to be surprisingly resilient to the Church's attempts on your life, they were more thoughtful about what their attempts after you strengthen yourself and the Shield Hero from the Cave Troll."

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me the Cave Troll that almost killed me was there because of the Church?"

The Shadow nods, the black cloth moving with their head. "Correct, we planned on luring the Troll away from you but that had obviously failed. We planned to evacuate you after you were injured but you had already charged before we could intervene and you surprisingly killed it."

Kane shakes his head. "Did they try again at some point?"

The Shadow stares at Kane for a few moments, as if contemplating, eventually the Shadow speaks. "...They did but again in more discreet ways, one of these ways was to kill the Demi-Humans in your party while you were having them levelled up."

Kane's eyes widen, staring at the Shadow with a stunned expression before it turns into a dark glower. "They fucking what?"

"The Church attempted to kill your companions." Kane's fists clench as he takes a deep breath, his chest swelling with anger. "You should be wary of the Church, if they see an opportunity they will take it."

Kane's face twists into a snarl. He was already put off by the Church worshipping him as a Saint but now? Now he fucking loathed them, attempting to harm the people he cares about pretty much made them one of the tops on his shit list right underneath Malty and her father. He takes a deep breath, attempting to calm himself. Slightly burying the rage so as to speak to the Shadow.

"Tell me, how much do you know about the Church's activities and can you get me into contact with the Queen?"

Kane pops his arms, feeling the satisfying click of his bones as he does so, awaiting Keel and Rifana to finish with their baths while he, Leo, and Shen wait for their turns.

A knock on the door makes Kane and the others stare at it. "Door's unlocked." The wooden door is pushed open with Tior moving past the wooden frame. "Tior, something up?" A brown bag with a string tied around the top is thrown at Kane, his reflexes making his arm snap it out of the air, feeling the weight of it. He stares in confusion. "What's this?"

"Payment." Kane looks up at Tior, his hands on his hips. "Thanks to you the casualties are at an all time low, and morale has never been higher… although some couldn't control themselves drinking last night," Tior mutters the last part to himself. Tior shakes his head, refocusing on Kane sitting at the foot of the bed. "So can I ask what's the Spear Hero's plans now?"

Kane shrugs before absorbing the bag of money, smirking at the 60 gold coins Tior handed to him. "Go back to Melromarc and get ready for the Wave there."

Tior nods, a grim smile on his face. "Probably for the best, I won't deny you pretty much took out the Wave by yourself so having you around would be a big help but… The higher-ups don't really want you here."

Kane's eyes narrow in suspicion and confusion, Leo double takes at this. "Wait why wouldn't they want Kane and us here? Don't they want to limit lives lost to the Waves?"

Tior looks at him sideways. "They do, but see they don't want to rely on a Hero for it, some of them don't even want the Shield Hero to come in, the last thing they want is one of Cardinal Butchers to. Cyvor wasn't even supposed to bring you back, he was only supposed to bring back the Shield Hero and when that failed to like the other envoys he was supposed to come back but instead he went to all the other Heroes, he even pulled in favours to get those dragon mounts for you."

Kane snorts, crossing his arms. "Guess he cares more about his people than political bullshit."

Tior grumbles, nodding his head. "I don't care much for it either but political bullshit can ruin anyone, including you." Tior stares directly at Kane.

"What's the problem with me? This seems to go beyond me just being the boogeyman of their religion."

"You keep proving yourself as an actual Hero instead of a monster and the people will eventually side with you and the last thing they want is for the people of Siltvelt to side with one of Melromarc's Saints."

Kane's body slumps, rubbing his chin, feeling the hair against his palm. "When I first got summoned to this world I really didn't expect to deal with religious and political bullshit mixed together. So what, the sooner we leave the better? And why shouldn't I stay and change Siltvelt? Wouldn't it be more for the better?"

"Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't, would you say now is really the time to risk it?" Kane shakes his head, finding it difficult to argue against Tior's point. "Maybe when the Waves are all over you can come back and fix all the problems like a real Hero but now? Now you just need to focus on the Waves."

Kane and Tior stare at each other for a few moments before Kane slightly nods his head. "No idea when I'll stop all the Waves but… I will be back when it's all over Tior, I promise you this."

Tior nods with a toothful grin. "I'll be waiting kid." Tior makes a fist and plants it against his chest. "It was a pleasure fighting with you Spear Hero."

"You too Tior."

Tior turns around and leaves, closing the door on his way out, leaving the room silent until Leo breaks it. "So… we're going back to Melromarc?"

"Yep, go back to Castle Town so I can register with the Hourglass in the Church, go to Erhard's to get some upgrades."

Leo stares at his hands before popping up his head at Shen who's playing with a stuffed toy Rifana got him. "Do you think we really to spend money on upgrades?"

"Wouldn't hurt, stronger we are the easier the Waves get. It's not like we're hurting on cash either, we were already doing quite well before coming here and that payment from Tior is just icing on top at this point."

Leo rubs his forehead. "Well… you're the leader."

"Yep, so get ready, I'm gonna tell the girls and once we're all ready, we're leaving."

Itsuki sits down at a table in a bar, his bow holstered to his back. He waits for his companions at the table, Itsuki raises the mug and takes a sip, the alcohol slightly burning his throat, giving a slight cough as he takes a small sip. Itsuki listens in to his surroundings, wanting to find out if anyone is talking about the revolution, or to be more specific, his actions in helping the revolution.

Listening in to the surrounding occupants of the establishment is rather easy, everyone here is to unwind from their lives through alcohol, food, or company, maybe even all three.

"Did you hear about the Sword Hero?"

Itsuki's ears perk up at hearing the group of men, wearing leather armour and weapons attached to their hips, the adventurers speak about Ren.

"Hear about what?"

"Apparently the Sword Hero killed a dragon and not just some wyvern or drake but a full on dragon. He cut through the dragon's hide like it was nothing, killed the dragon as if it was no threat to him." The man raises his hand, punctuating his story with hand gestures.

One of the men plants their mug back down on the table, smirking. "You know I've actually met the Sword Hero."

The surrounding men stare at their friend. "No shit? What was he like?"

"Really quiet, doesn't talk to others, doesn't even eat with his own party. To be honest with you at first I thought he was a really small girl until I saw the Cardinal Sword on his back." He chortles as he finishes speaking, the other men join in, all of them taking a swig from their drinks.

One of the men after finishing their sip of the drink raises the mug, staring at the barkeep. "Can I get a refill over here barkeep!"

"I'll be there soon!" the feminine voice of the barkeep somehow not being drowned out by the other voices in the bar.

"Damn shame the Bow Hero is doing jackshit compared to the Sword Hero or Spear Hero. I've heard more good things about the damn Shield Devil than him."

Itsuki scowls, staring hatefully at the table. 'I've saved an entire country from a tyrant! The others have nothing on that. NOTHING!'

"Lord Itsuki…" A seductive voice tingles Itsuki's ears, looking up he finds Malty swaying her way to him, taking a seat next to him and pressing herself into him.

Itsuki blushes at feeling Malty's breast press into his arms, the action making his thoughts run with lust. "Malty… Where are the others?"

Malty presses her body even harder against Itsuki, smiling at him. "Come now Sir Itsuki why does it matter where the others are?" Malty snakes her way to Itsuki's ear, whispering sweet nothings into it. "Oh Itsuki, I've been wanting to get you alone for so long. I crave the mighty and just Hero that you are, who wouldn't?"

Itsuki blush is in full throttle, his face completely red, becoming more and more aroused from Malty's seductive words. "I… Ugh." She pulls away from Itsuki who snaps his head at her confused by her actions, finding Malty glaring at something or rather someone. He follows her sight to find Naofumi entering the bar, with her party following suit. "The very sight of her disgusts me, her and those monsters of hers," Malty speaks in a haughty tone, the seductive and arousing tone that Itsuki was enjoying so much suddenly gone and Naofumi was to blame for that.

Itsuki himself glares at Naofumi. Malty notices this and smirks. "I think a monster such as her should be refused service, after all, that would be justice, no Sir Itsuki?

Itsuki nods immediately, angry at being pretty much blue balled by Naofumi and the ability to stick it to Naofumi. Itsuki stands up, walking over to the barkeep with Malty in tow. The two stare at the barkeep who in turn stares back, confused at the glares she's receiving. "Can I help you two?"

Itsuki points at Naofumi, who calmly sits down at a table, Raphtalia following suit while Filo and Sakura are more energetic, excited at the upcoming food. "Deny her service and remove her from the bar."

The barkeep follows Itsuki's finger to find The Shield Hero. The woman frowns, planting both hands on the long table, sighing as she does so. "Can't do much to her, she might be a rapist but she's still a Hero."

Malty steps up, motioning to Itsuki. "This is Sir Itsuki, the Bow Hero." The barkeep's head moves back in shock, Malty plants a hand on her chest. "And I am Princess Malty, remove that… dirty bitch from this bar."

The barkeep raises her hands. "My deepest apologises for not reconsigning the two of you, and again my deepest apologises to you both but again I can't remove her. She threatens anyone who tries to do such a thing with monsters."

Itsuki frowns. "You needn't worry. As the Bow Hero, I will protect you from her."

The woman lowers her hands, staring at Itsuki in curiosity before nodding with a smirk. "Well… if you're willing to make sure she doesn't harm me then I'll get rid of that cunt, she's bad for business. I get occasional complaints about her, I've just never been able to do anything about it now." The woman walks past them walking over to Naofumi.

Itsuki and Malty watch as Naofumi turns to the woman, they can't hear the conversation but they can definitely tell what's going on, especially when the barkeep points to them, Naofumi following her finger and instantly scowling at the sight of them. Naofumi stands up and grits her teeth, opening her mouth to speak to her party members and leaving.

The barkeep comes back, a satisfied smirk on her face. She moves behind the bar, giving a respectful nod to Itsuki. "Thank you for that Bow Hero, you really saved me some trouble."

Itsuki crosses his arm, giving a smile to the woman. "As the Bow Hero, it is my duty to protect others, even from other Heroes if it's necessary." 'This is what it means to be a Hero.'

The two go back to their seat and Malty goes back to rubbing her body against Itsuki, who would of guessed being hit by a truck was one of the best things that ever happened to him?

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Kane rushes past, being chased by a horde of spiders and ants. The monsters completely ignoring his party resulting in them picking them off one by one as he runs around distracting the oversized insects. Eventually, the swarm of bugs is completely wiped out, with Kane stopping and taking a deep breath.

Rifana walks up with a cheeky grin on her face. "Do you regret offering to use yourself a bait?"

Kane looks up and sighs, standing up. "Nah, I was mostly just complaining about the sake of complaining." Kane walks over the monster bodies and begins to absorb them. Every once in a while checking up on his party members to make none of them have any injuries. He sighs, going back to absorb the parts of the monsters, filling his inventory with excessive parts. Although none of the Spears garner his attention.

After finishing absorbing the monsters, he walks up to his party who all stand around, waiting for him. Keel tilts her head at him. "How much further away from Melromarc are we?"

Kane opens his map skill, finding himself on it and the border that separates Siltvelt from Melromarc. Kane hums. "About… A day, maybe slightly more. Let move on from here, I don't want to camp out near bug blood."

The group moves on, finding a nice spot to camp out for the night, Kane once again taking night watch. He sits on the chair, staring into the blazing campfire, doing his best to not fall asleep for fear of nightmares.

End of Chapter 13.

A shorter chapter but tbh writing has been kinda hard, just having no idea what to write or how to write it.

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and I'll see you in the next chapter.